Продайте мне улыбку, сэр... 1861 Эмили Дикинсон

Oльга, большое спасибо!
Мне понравилось, как стихотворение трактуется в одной статье (ссылка что-то не проходит, постараюсь дать в отдельном замечании) и я "пoшла на звук". Нaдeюcь, этo тoжe рaботaeт нa нacтроeниe.
:)

Ирина Бараль   18.12.2012 19:43   Заявить о нарушении

Ссылка не проходит, приходится текст прямо так:

The first stanza is full of “s” sounds: smile, single, smile, smallest face, suit, else, miss, shone, small, sir, sell. The effect is sinuous, suggestive of snakes – and so of the serpent’s temptations to sin in the Garden of Eden. The stanza is soft, teasing, seductively wheedling.
The second stanza is quite different. The humble shopper pleading for just a tiny smile turns out to have diamonds. Not just one diamond, but diamonds plural. Diamonds in those days (as today) came from Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and India. They hadn’t yet been adopted as the ‘must have’ engagement and wedding ring stone, but with increased trade from the growing English empire, the gem was becoming popular with the upper class – not just royalty.
She is also sporting rubies and topaz – two other precious stones worth a small fortune if of any quality. Her rubies are of good quality, red as the “Evening Blood” of sunset spreading across the sky. Her topaz shines as clear and gold as a star.
The narrator is willing to trade all of these riches for the smallest smile. This, she points out would be “’a Bargain’ for a Jew!” This sounds a bit derogatory and it is in the sense that because of their role in finance and jewels, many people, Gentiles, thought Jews were money-centered. Background: Jews were forced out of many locations and many occupations (probably because their resistance to intermarriage and mingling with other cultures created suspicion, while their successes generated resentment) they became moneylenders – financiers across northern Africa, the Mideast, and Europe. Because diamonds and other precious stones were used for collateral for loans, Jewish communities developed a specialty in diamond assessment that eventually became dominance in global diamond markets. The assumption in this poem is that a knowledgeable Jew would find her offer of a trade a very favourable one for the shopkeeper!
Unlike the soft sibilance of the first stanza, the second stanza is all hard consonants – like the jewels it lists: Diamonds, fingers, rubies, blood, Topaz, Bargain. The last line goes back to the wheedling “s” sounds of “Say” and “Sir.”
The poem uses slant rhymes throughout. The first stanza has smile, well, small, and sell; as well as face and miss. The second stanza has are, star, and Sir. Both “Blood” and “Jew” end their lines and are without rhymes. This strengthens the already strong words, the effect being to underscore the value of the deal. The result is that along with the playful, teasing tone of the poem there is an undertone of urgency. Dickinson’s shopper really really needs that smile!

Ирина Бараль   18.12.2012 19:48   Заявить о нарушении

Конечно, звук не может не помогать настроению, в моих переводах я нередко между смыслом и звуком делаю выбор в пользу последнего. Спасибо, Ирис. Я в курсе бурных споров вокруг этого стихотворения.) Моей версии этого стихотворения скоро год.
:)

Ольга Денисова 2   18.12.2012 20:02   Заявить о нарушении

Ольга, я как раз пытаюсь у Вас найти. А "споры" эти уходят корнями даже отнюдь не в сор, а в донельзя унавоженную одним известным Вам лицом почву :(

Ирина Бараль   18.12.2012 21:16   Заявить о нарушении