Translation of a few lines from Akhmatova

[George Butchard]

Yes, the average standard of what my internet searches have thrown up
is why I was hoping someone would have a definitive translation to
hand.

I think I will use what is online and the reference Kevin gave me as a
basis for my own translation.

Many thanks for the pointer regarding "ode" - luckily I do not need
the title, so resolving that tricky question is for another day.

Best regards,

George

On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:19 AM, R. M. Cleminson <rmcleminson at post.sk> wrote:
> There are any number of English translations out there (none of them, as far as I can see, good, but it depends what your criteria are): google "Akhmatova & dandelion" (without the quotation marks) and see what you get.
>
> While we are the subject, I cannot refrain from commenting that we are not dealing with "regimental odes".  The poem is about the origins of the creative process, not its outcomes, and A.A. did not write "ратные (or полковые) оды", but "одические рати", and I strongly suspect that she is using рать in its older sense of "warfare".  I would be tempted to suggest "epic battles", were it not for the niggling awareness that ὠδή and ἔπος are not the same thing.
>
> ----- Pôvodná správa -----
> Od: "George Butchard" <georgebutchard at GMAIL.COM>
> Komu: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Odoslané: štvrtok, 24. júl 2014 20:31:04
> Predmet: [SEELANGS] Translation of a few lines from Akhmatova
>
> Dear Seelangers,
>
> Does anyone have to hand a good translation of the following lines
> from Akhmatova's poem "Мне ни к чему одические рати" - "I have no use
> for regimental odes" from "Secrets of the Craft" (1940).
>
> They've cropped up in a text I'm working on at the moment, but I don't
> have a copy of Akhmatova in English.
>
> Когда б вы знали, из какого сора
> Растут стихи, не ведая стыда,
> Как желтый одуванчик у забора,
> Как лопухи и лебеда.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> George
>
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