Found in TranslationGuest UserDecember 10, 2019Comment

Found in Translation: Kalandadze's "Sun of the Dead"

Found in TranslationGuest UserDecember 10, 2019Comment

Ana Kalandadze | ანა კალანდაძე

Though men have traditionally dominated Georgia’s literary tradition, Ana Kalandadze stands as an exception. On the reading list of the national curriculum for high schools, Kalandadze is known throughout the country by children and adults alike.

While her work has been accused of being apolitical, Kalandadze’s poems are home to some of the most genuine displays of emotion - mostly hopelessness - and have no trouble depicting the everyday world she lived in, a political act in itself. Below is an example of this and a translation of one of her most famous works.

The ‘Queen of Georgian Poetry’ and a translator of Russian and European verse, Kalandadze has been one of the most influential female figures in Georgian literature. Being a member of the Georgian Language Permanent Commission for several years, Kalandadze was a prominent academic on the boards of the Georgian Writer’s Union and the Academic Council of the Institute of Linguistics.

“On the border, border of two countries I stand,
Oh, my heart, why are you closing?
I am the flickering, dimming sun of the dead,
In my rays, the sparrows are rejoicing…
Violet, Persian Violet seeds have melted,
Like steam goes on the humid breathing of the earth;
In the music of the creak the corncrake rested…
Hearing sparrows’ cheep-a-chirping, feeling mirth…
I can hear the grass is breathing as it grows,
And yet… why is my heart still closing on me?
Dry seeds left over on the branches of the rose,
The sparrows peck them up and then the sparrows flee…
On the border, border of two countries I stand,
Oh, my heart, why are you closing?
I am the flickering, dimming sun of the dead,
In my rays, the sparrows are rejoicing…”