Home

Speaking

<---- Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 ---->

Grammar: Part 15

A prayer to the grammar gods:

I'm getting the hang here -
Can we just hang here ?

Lesson thirty-six: I'm your silence

No need for so much activity.

Csönded Vagyok
Cseh Tamás
****
****
Most elmondom, mid vagyok, mid nem neked. Now I will tell you, what I am of yours, what not to you.
Vártál ha magadról szép éneket, You were expecting a pretty song about you,
dícsérő éneked én nem leszek, a praising song I will not be,
mi más is lehetnék: csak csönd neked. what more can I be: just silence for you.
****
****
E szó jó: csönd vagyok, csönded vagyok. This word is good: I am silence, I am your silence.
Ha rám így kedved van maradhatok, If you are in the mood for me like this, I might stay a while,
ülhetsz csak tűrve, hogy dal nem dicsér, you can just sit and endure how a song doesn't praise,
se jel, se láng csak csönd, mely égig ér. neither sign, nor flame - just quiet, stretching to the sky.
****
****
S folytatom mid vagyok, mid nem neked, And to continue what I am of yours, what not to you,
ha vártál lángot, az nem lehetek, if you waited for a flame, that I can't be,
fölébem hajolj, lásd hamu vagyok, lean over me, see I am ash,
belőlem csak jövőd jósolhatod. out of me just your future you can divine.
****
****
Most elmondtam mid vagyok, mid nem neked. Now I have told you, what I am of yours, what not to you.
Vártál ha magadról szép éneket, You had been expecting a pretty song about you,
dícsérő éneked én nem leszek, a praising song I will not be,
mi más is lehetnék: csak csönd neked. what more can I be: just silence for you.

The challenge in this one is the poetic language. For example, how common is the word "mid"?

"Mid" is a poetic way to say "your what," as in "what you have" or "what is yours."
So "mid vagyok" means "I am your what" or more elegantly "what I am of yours."

A similar structure is in the phrase "nekem senkim" ("I have no-one").

"E" is a poetic form of "ez a."
As in: "E szó jó: csönd vagyok, csönded vagyok."

"S" is a poetic form of "és."
As in: "S folytatom mid vagyok, mid nem neked."

"Fölébem" is a poetic form of "fölém" which means ("to above me"). The "be" in the middle puts an extra motion "into" the motion.
As in: "fölébem hajolj, lásd hamu vagyok."

This was a short one.

Meant to be relaxing :)

<---- Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 ---->