Marianne Larsen
Marianne Larsen was born 1.27.1951 in Kalundborg, Denmark. After taking her General Certificate she studied comparative literary history and Chinese at the University of Copenhagen, and has translated modern Chinese poetry into Danish.
At age 20 she made her literary debut with the volume of poems Koncentrationer, which established her as a poet who experiments with language.
First and foremost she is a lyric poet. But she has also written several novels and books for children and drama.
Marianne Larsen is translated into many languages, and has received many awards and prizes. In 1989 she received the prestigious life grant by Statens Kunstfond. She has traveled widely in the North and the rest of Europe and China and Australia. She lives in Copenhagen.
Poems by Marianne Larsen
(1)
WORDS
When a perfectly ordinary body gets something to eat
it doesn't spontaneously die
What happens to words and exclamations
like
I love you
running like damp down prison walls
do they spontaneously die
do they find enough nourishment in the cold walls?
-----------------
in Danish
Ord
Når en ganske almindelig krop får noget at spise
dør den ikke af sig selv.
Hvordan forholder det sig med ord og udbrud
som
jeg elsker dig,
der driver som fugt ned ad fængselsvægge,
dør de af sig selv,
finder de næring nok i de kolde mure?
CODIFIED SEARCH
They said, go out into nature and find happiness.
And I went out into nature, and I learned how to receive
the touch of the sea and the wind as if they were
created of dreaming senses. Through experience
I discovered that trees are without desire. After long
wandering I met in myself the art of how to be fuddled by the
slightest scent of a bird. I found out that the grass whispers
something like a goodnight when you lie down at evening
in a field to sleep. I felt wordlike substance from the colours
of wild flowers blending with my consciousness and the
darkness. The manifold elements of the air spread
themselves like the smallest symbol of braille upon my
stars. I trained myself to see the blank light of the stars.
And when I returned to the town they asked if I had found
happiness.
The great solitude? So what! No matter how high you
climb, another human being fits best in every embrace,
idiots.
-----------------------------
in Danish
Kodificeret søgen
De sagde, gå ud i naturen og find lykken.
Jeg gik ud i naturen, og lærte hvordan man skal modtage havets og vindens berøringer som om de var skabt af drømmende sanser. Jeg erfarede, at træer er uden begær. Efter lang tids vandren mødte jeg i mig selv evnen til at blive ør ved den mindste fugleduft. Jeg gjorde den opdagelse at græsset hvisker et eller andet til godnat om aftenen, når man lægger sig på en mark for at sove. Jeg oplevede ordlignende stof fra vilde blomsters farver blande sig med min bevidsthed og mørket. Luftens mangeformede elementer lagde sig som en blindskrifts mindste tegn over min hud. Jeg trænede mig op til at se ved stjernernes tomme lys. Og da jeg kom tilbage til byen, spurgte de, om jeg havde fundet lykken.
Hvad da? Af alt hvad man kan nå til passer et andet menneske bedst i enhver omfavnelse, idioter.
LIT UP
all the air is lit up
people's cars and shopping bags look
full of presents
all the air is lit up
you'd think there was going to be a party
that every technological advance
was due to a growing need for more
and more delicate musical instruments
that experts at drawing boards
are using numbers and rulers
to find out how to make room for
straws and joy
all the air is lit up
in the mornings
-------------------------
in Danish
Der er lys
der er lys i hele luften
menneskers biler og bæreposer må være fyldt
med gaver
der er lys i hele luften
man skulle tro der skulle være fest
og at teknologiens fortsatte udvikling
skyldtes behovet for stadig flere fintmærkende
musikinstrumenter
og at fagfolkene ved tegnebordene arbejdede med
tal og linealer
for at finde ud af at give plads til græsstrå og fryd
der er lys i hele luften
om morgenen
MOMENTS
moments
and what unforecasts
them
our soft
inner
sundials
-----------
in Danish
Øjeblikke
og det der uforudsiger
dem
vores bløde
indre
solure
LIGHT
light
comes looking
and plucking
the harp
it's violet
these mornings
----------------------
in Danish
Lys
Lyset
kommer søgende
samtidig
spiller det på harpe
der er violet
om morgenen
A CHANNEL
It gave me
a start.
I was a channel
switched on and suddenly
turned off again.
Who was it
that just wanted to see
and then after all
didn't care?
-------------
in Danish
En kanal
Det har lige givet et sæt
i mig
jeg var en kanal
der lige blev åbnet for
og straks slukket igen
hvem kan det være
der lige ville se
og så alligevel
ikke gad
LEARNING BY HEART
Learn by heart a butterfly on the pane.
Its outstretched white wing patterns.
The glass draws back from it.
The butterfly vanishes into the garden.
The glass slowly flows over again.
No trace remains on the pane
of the impossible.
But I have learned it by heart.
-----------------------
in Danish
Udenadslære
Lærer en sommerfugl på ruden udenad.
Dens udbredte hvide vingemønster.
Glasset trækker sig tilbage for det.
Sommerfuglen forsvinder ud i haven.
Glasset flyder langsomt sammen igen.
Der efterlades intet spor
på ruden af det umulige.
Men jeg har lært det udenad.
HEREABOUTS
it's life we have here
it looks like insecure office workers wearing coats
it looks like my crippled dreams
the strange cars
when they suddenly stand still
reflected in each other
the elctronically-controlled doors
between my customer identity and yours
the formalised unfriendliness
caused by account numbers
we carry around with us
language reduced to numerals
mathematics reserved for the cost of living index
it's life we have here
it's the dwindling of our
forests and fields
it's the feeling that it's normal
for no one to
start singing suddenly
and for nothing to be regarded as true
hereabouts
I stand on its polished floor
life here
it looks like a selection
of all sorts of other things
product-controlled and ready-made
once and for all
it's life we have here
it's what we don't avoid
it's what we go for
when we go wrong
and when we go right
life here
television without comments on reality
days like a serial
about postponements
without a beginning and who knows when they'll end
life here
we have to go on with it
and with all the hardened apologetic smiles
because things aren't different
they can be different
the names of our talents can be different
and the names of our feelings can be valid
as can words as far as they'll go
it's life we have here
it is huge
close by and embraces the world
---------------
in Danish
Lige her omkring
Vi har livet her det ligner usikre frakkeklædte kontorister
det ligner lammelser ved mine drømme
de fremmede biler når de pludselig står stille
og spejler sig i hinanden
de elektronisk styrede skydedøre
mellem min kundeidentitet og din
den formaliserede uvenlighed
der kommer af kontonumrene
vi går rundt med på os
det sproglige indskrænket til talord
det matematiske forbeholdt prisindekser
vi har livet her
det er vores skove og marker
der svinder ind
det at det føles almindeligt
at ingen mennesker synger
uden videre
og at intet regnes for sandt
lige her omrkring
jeg står på dets bonede gulve
livet her
det ligner et udvalg
af alt muligt andet
varedeklareret og færdigproduceret
en gang for alle
vi har livet her
det er det vi ikke undgår
når vi går forkert
og når vi går rigtigt
livet her
fjernsynet uden kommentarer til virkeligheden
døgnene som en føljeton
der handler om udsættelser
uden begyndelse og hvem aner hvornår de slutter
livet her
vi er nødt til at være ved ved
og alle de forhærdede undskyldende smil
fordi det ikke er anderledes
navnene på vores evner kan blive anderledes
og navnene på vores følelser kan komme til at gælde
og ordene så langt som de rækker
vi har livet her
det er enormt
nært og verdensomspændende
OPINION POLL
What is your attitude to daybreak?
Do you go for the way the winds blow?
Is dreaming in colour admissible?
Or should it be banned?
Is it right that breezes and birds be allowed
to come and go across the world-systems unchecked?
What do you think of winter aconites?
Would it pay to woolgather over the sea?
Have we got enough stars in the sky?
----------------------------
in Danish
Meningsmåling
Hvad er din holdning til morgenlyset?
Går du ind for vindens retninger?
Er det rigtigt at nogen drømmer i farver
eller skulle det forbydes?
Kan de atomare verdensvæsner være tjent med
at briser og fugletræk fortsat kommer og går?
Hvordan stiller du dig til erantis?
Skal det kunne betale sig fjern i blikket
at se ud over et hav?
Er der stjerner nok på himlen?
BLOOD
blood
cannot be forced
out of its own circulations
if somebody tries
it hardens in protest
--------------------
in Danish
Blod
blod
er ikke til
at tvinge ud
af dets egne baner
forsøger nogen
størkner det i protest
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