George Bacovia, “Rar” (Slowly)

In Romania, you say "rain," you say "Bacovia" (and sometimes, but less so, Minulescu).

George Bacovia
Rar

Singur, singur, singur,
Într-un han, departe -
Doarme și hangiul,
Străzile-s deșarte,
Singur, singur, singur…

Plouă, plouă, plouă,
Vreme de beție -
Și s-asculți pustiul,
Ce melancolie!
Plouă, plouă, plouă…

Nimeni, nimeni, nimeni,
Cu atât mai bine -
Și de-atâta vreme
Nu știe de mine
Nimeni, nimeni, nimeni…

Tremur, tremur, tremur…
Orice ironie
Vă ramâne vouă -
Noaptea e târzie,
Tremur, tremur, tremur…

Veșnic, veșnic, veșnic,
Rătăciri de-acuma
N-or să mă mai cheme -
Peste vise bruma,
Veșnic, veșnic, veșnic…

Singur, singur, singur,
Vreme de beție -
I-auzi cum mai plouă,
Ce melancolie!
Singur, singur, singur…

Geoge Bacovia
Slowly

Lonely, lonely, lonely,
In a distant suite—
Innkeeper’s asleep,
Empty are the streets,
Lonely, lonely, lonely…

Raining, raining, raining,
Time to get real drunk—
And listen to the void,
–Melancholy funk,
Raining, raining, raining…

No one, no one, no one,
And I don’t give a damn—
For a long time, no one
Has known where I am
No one, no one, no one…

I tremble, tremble, tremble…
Irony—my fate
I leave up to you—
And the night is late,
I tremble, tremble, tremble…

Always, always, always,
Wandering, it seems
Won’t do anymore—
Frost over my dreams,
Always, always, always…

Lonely, lonely, lonely,
Time to get real drunk—
Hark the falling rain,
Melancholy funk!
Lonely, lonely, lonely…

The video below–another Nicu Alifantis adaptation of a classic–perfectly captures the mood.

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5 Responses to George Bacovia, “Rar” (Slowly)

  1. swiss says:

    wow, a flurry of posts!
    i particularly like this one because it’s got the words, the translation and then the guy singing it whiuch seems to be the way i’m getting (very slowly)into romanian pronunciation these days.
    an obvious question, and apologies if you’ve been asked too many times before, but as i’ve promised to read some romanian to romanains (and not just for a laugh!) can you recommend me some sort of learning aid, preferably with some sort of audio content?
    for idiots, big linguistically challenged idiots. that’ll be the one for me!

  2. di says:

    Less concerned with rhyme or rythm:
    Alone,alone in a faraway inn
    even the innkeeper’s asleep
    the streets are desolate,
    Alone, alone
    Raining,raining, drinking weather
    and to listen to the wilderness
    what bittersweetness,Raining, raining
    No one,no one, even better
    it’s been so, so long
    since anyone’s heard from me,
    No one,no one
    Forever and ever, Wonderings henceforth
    Will beckon no longer
    Dreams are frost covered
    Forever and ever

  3. di says:

    For me, poetry is less about form. It’s about the envy and awe I feel when a poet, in three words, can capture an experience that not only the rest of us can not articulate in an infinite number of words, but most of us won’t even dare to bring into our awareness or consciousness. When I attempt to translate, which I rarely do, this is what I strive to convey to the English speaker.

  4. mary says:

    i’m sorry but English isn’t a null subject language so it needs a subject for raining as well. do add the “it” in (is) raining.

  5. Ben Toma says:

    It’s a great translation. As I had read it just in Romanian before, I centainly enjoy reading it in English! Great work!

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