Mitteleuropa by Zbigniew Herbert: A Translation
A short project which has often been in my head.
I’ve liked this poem for a few years, since my sojourn at the southern end of Mitteleuropa. Particularly some of the Polish rhymes like oto/Otto which are particularly tricky to render into English
This is my own translation. I am not a translator and whatever Polish language ability I once had has pretty much faded away. The nice part of a written text though is that it’s not going anywhere. Think of this more of an English language re-telling of the original, which is available here.
Mitteleuropa
It’s neither fish nor fowl.
Where does it all go to?
Mitteleuropa
It flickers and fades
As if from Aesop’s fables.
An emperor is found out,
a special sort of Otto.
A decent sort of chap.
Still wearing his Bourbon colours.
But speaking seriously,
They don’t measure up to him.
People drive themselves to anger or delight,
With this trifle for the masses.
Suddenly though, an escape
Appears on the far horizon,
Moving in a blue circle,
like the moon across the sky.
Let it shine a little more
like a colourful children’s toy.
It’s the elder’s nostalgic dream.
But to be quite honest
I don't believe in any of this
(just between me and you)
I believe this is about the last Habsburg pretender.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Habsburg