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Williams, William Carlos: Egy hölgy képmása (Portrait of a Lady in Hungarian)

Portre of Williams, William Carlos
Portre of Kodolányi Gyula

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Portrait of a Lady (English)

Your thighs are appletrees
whose blossoms touch the sky.
Which sky? The sky
where Watteau hung a lady's
slipper. Your knees
are a southern breeze - or
a gust of snow. Agh! what
sort of man was Fragonard?
- As if that answered
anything. - Ah, yes. Below
the knees, since the tune
drops that way, it is
one of those white summer days,
the tall grass of your ankles
flickers upon the shore -
Which shore? -
the sand clings to my lips -
Which shore?
Agh, petals maybe. How
should I know?
Which shore? Which shore?
- the petals from some hidden
appletree - Which shore?
I said petals from an appletree.

 
First published in the Dial, August 1920



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationhttp://www.writing.upenn.edu

Egy hölgy képmása (Hungarian)

Combjaid almafák,
virágjuk az égbe ér.
Melyik égbe? Amelyikre
egy hölgy papucsait aggatta
Watteau. Térded délszaki
fuvallat - vagy
inkább hóvihar. Ajj! Milyen
ember volt Fragonard?
- mintha számítana is az
valamit. Szóval –
a térded alatt,
mert arra lejt a dallam,
nyári reggel villog,
sudár fűszál-bokád
megrebben a parton -
Milyen parton?
Homok tapad a számra -
Milyen parton?
Vagy inkább szirmok. Honnan
tudhatnám?
Milyen parton? Milyen parton?
- a szirmok néhány rejtett
almafáról - Milyen parton?
Azt mondtam, szirmok az almafáról.



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationK. Gy.

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