The Bloody Sonnets #1

Adaptation of Krvavé sonety.

There is a great work called The Bloody Sonnets. I will explain them, but first here is my free-verse adaption of the first of thirty-two sonnets.

---

Who will sing Songs about Blood?
Singing needs blood in the veins,
     or for a face full of shame.
So do a daughter's rosy cheeks

who dreams of angel's love;
Or the blood that weaves with the spirit
     with the oracle at the burning altar.
So let's sing with full sips!

What life blood gives! Our
     aged wine flows from our heart's cup
     spilling into muscles like roaring waves
     flushing through arteries, 
     spinning a wheel of creative will, of speech and life...
Do butchers ever think of this?

---

The original is in the Slovak language, which was originally written in 1914:

---

Spev o krvi: — ký divý pomysel!? —
A o akej? — Ak o tej, ktorá žiari
sťa ruže kvet, pýr studu v dievčej tvári,
či jejž crk u decka v smev zabronel,

keď v snách ho láska anjel-pestiteľ;
alebo o tej, čo sa s duchom spári
u veštca v zápal čela na oltári:
tak nech by spev, nech plným dúškom znel!

Ó, krv je vlaha divotvorná! — Skrytá,
jak vzácny mušt, vrie v srdca pohári,
až udrie v ústroj silou vlnobitia;
s tým v tepnách v ruch sa, v mluno prevarí
a vôľu tvorčiu, zajme kolo žitia…
Či myslia na to kedy mäsiari?

---

Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav is now known as one of Slovakia’s most famous poets. There is a prominent statue and square in Bratislava for example. He lived from 1849 to 1921. A few things are coalescing that are piquing my interest in Hviezdoslav and there’s enough of a spark here that I think you will also find interesting.

The first item of note is these Bloody Sonnets as they are know are anti-war poems written during World War I — while WWI is occurring. Hviezdoslav is 65 years old when the war breaks out. The drums for war rang so strongly in 1914, when these poems were written, that they were effectively censored.

Besides the strong antiwar themes, there are other connections I wish to explore. Personally, I am of Slovak decent and over the last few years I’ve been trying to fan these Slovak fires before they completely dwindle. I have learned a bit of the language, have visited Slovakia a few times now, and have some very nice friends there. So, I feel that given my antiwar focus and the content of these poems, I’m primed to help spread Hviezdoslav’s passion.

But I am rather late to the Hviezdoslav band-wagon. I will note that an amazing English translation already exists, which I will be leaning heavily on (my Slovak is maybe A2 level). And I will say, my strength lies not in sonnets, but I am developing muscles in free-verse. So I will be less translating these sonnets as I will be adapting them. This allows me perhaps some more leeway than John Minahane’s excellent translation, which maintains the sonnet form.

I don’t want to project my voice into Hviezdoslav — this is not my intention. Instead I want to channel the suffering, the grief, the pains of war that Hviezdoslav and I see and honor this poet and the Slovak people.

Lastly, I have some additional personal connections to this story. I have a friend in Slovakia, Jonathan McCormick, who used to work for Radio Television Slovakia as a reporter for the English section of the radio broadcast. We sat one night in Bratislava, in Hviezdoslav square, sharing stores about our time in the Navy and how it has affected us since. Jonathan interviewed John Minahane when the translations were published. The coincidence of this discussion, in this square, was lost on me at the time, but now it seems as if by fate.

Furthermore, I have another friend Eva Staroňová, who through her organization, helped to produce a live stage production of The Bloody Sonnets. These premiered, in English, in Bratislava recently. It’s of no surprise to me that the production was well-received.

To my antenna, all of these extremely strong signals are pulling me to tune-in further and pay attention.

And that’s what I intend on doing. Over a course of time, I intend on adapting these thirty-two sonnets into free-verse. All of this I’m approaching not with expertise, but from amateurism by which I mean a passion and curiosity for the subject matter. I am standing on John Minahane’s broad shoulders here. During this journey I hope I will honor this amazing poet, his work and the many Slovaks either by birth or by heritage that I now care deeply about.

---