The Starling's Song (belated) in Kash
From: | Roger Mills <romilly@...> |
Date: | Thursday, June 1, 2000, 4:15 |
acirakni tuprambat ri angesh tombandri
shusharos rundoshin kunishni trumoriyi
yalali tukrayo, teyashu añoli tingaya
a sisami
tukrimi haniyunka lunda potimbat?
The rather free Engl. version even retains much of the triple meter:
tuprambat shrieks of his fame in the trees–
trumori's colors are bright with the dew–
tukrayo sings, she yearns for the evening star–
Oh my love,
can the soul of the tukrim ever be known?
Interlinear:
añ+shirak+ni tuprambat ri ange+sh tombar+ni
NOM.shriek.poss t.... in tree.(ACC).PL fame.his
shusharos rum+toshin kuni+sh+ni trumori+(y)i
dew CAUS+preen color.(ACC).PL.his t.....GEN
ya+lali tukrayo, teyashu añol.i tingaya
3S.sing t.... yearn star.GEN horizon
a sisa+mi / tukrim+i haniyu+n+ka lunda+ka po+timbat
O love-my / t.....GEN soul.ACC.QUES ever.QUES. POT.know
Preparatory to the upcoming Relay, I looked in on the last one at Irina's
site, and was delighted. Perhaps a good thing I wasn't in on that one, as
this might have confused matters. _Tukrim_ are not birds; rather,
lizard-like creatures with flaps of skin enabling them to glide from tree to
tree. Tukrayo (we could call her the "Sunset bird") is particularly loved;
she is held to be the daughter of the Evening Star, and her "song" resembles
that of a child crying for its mother.
The poem follows a favorite Kash form, called _sisami_, always addressed to
one's beloved. The relationship between the first 3 lines and the last can
be rather cryptic/tenuous.
(Irina: should you ever want to put this in the Addenda, please contact me,
as I would prefer to see it different spelling.)