ჩემი შვილი დედაჩემი My Mother Daughter

ჩემი შვილი დედაჩემი

ზოგჯერ დედაჩვენები რომ ვიშვილოთ.
ზოგჯერ დედაჩვენები რომ ვიჩვილოთ.
კალთაში ჩავისვათ,
მკერდზე მივიყუდოთ დაჭაღარავებული თავები.
ცხელ შუბლებზე ხელები შემოვაწყოთ,
დავარწიოთ და ვუღიღინოთ,
დავარწიოთ, დავუნანაოთ:
ნანა, ნანა დედასაო, 
ჩემ გამჩენელს, ჩემგან გაჩენილსაო.
შენი დარდი მე, დედი, შენი ცრემლი მე, 
შენი ცეცხლი მე, შენი ნაღველი მე, 
მე დამწვას, მე დამლიოს,
დამნაცროს, მიწას გამრიოს. 
დაიძინე, ჩემო შვილო დედაჩემო,
დაიძინე, დედამზევ, დედამიწავ.
შენი სიკვდილი მე, დედი, 
ჩემი სისხლი შენ,
ჩემი სიცოცხლე შენ. 
მზე ჩადგეს, ჩემი გული ამოვიდეს.
შენი ხელები, დედი,
უბეში, უბეში.
მკერდზე მომიკაკუნე. 
ნანაო, ნანაო, დედაჩემის ხელებო, 
გულში ჩამომიწექით, დედაჩემის ხელებო.
მიმღერდეს ძარღვი ყელზე:
ნანა, ნანა დედასაო, 
ნანა დედაჩემის სუნთქვას.
ჩემ კალთაში დაბერდი, დედი, 
ჩემი კალთიდან ამოჩვილდი. 
ადგეს მზე-დედა, ავდგე,
შავ მატყლში გავახვიო თოთო დედაჩემი. 
წავიდე, შავ წყალში ხელები ჩავყარო,
სისხლი გამოვუშვა, ნაღველ-ბალღამი გამოჰყვეს. 
წყალმა წაიღოს სიბერე, 
წყალმა წაიღოს სიკვდილი. 
დედაჩემი ვიშვილე, ვთქვა,
დედაჩემი გავაჩინე.
 

My Mother Daughter

If we sometimes adopt our mothers
If we sometimes baby our mothers
Cradle them in our laps
Lean their greying heads against our breasts
Lay our hands on their hot brows
Rock them, hum a lullaby
Rock her, lull her
Lulla-lullaby to mother
To she who bore me, I gave birth
Let me take your gall, mummy, your tears
Let me take your rage, your melancholy
Let it burn me, let it drain me
Let it turn me into ashes, let it mix me with the earth
Sleep, my mother daughter
Sleep mother sun, mother earth
Let me die for you
Give you my blood
Give you my life
Let the sun set, let my heart rise
Pat your hands, mummy
On my chest, on my chest
Pat my breasts
Lulla-lullaby, my mother’s hands
Lay them in my heart, my mother’s hands
Let the vein sing in my neck
Lulla-lullaby to mummy
Lullaby to my mother’s breath
You aged in my lap, mummy
You crawled out of my lap
Let the mother sun rise, let me rise
Let me wrap my baby mother in black fleece
Let me go and thrust my hands into black water
Let bile and pus follow the blood I let
Let the water take away old age
Let the water take away death
I declare: I have adopted my mother
I gave my mother birth
 

My Child (Daughter) Mother

If we sometimes adopt our mothers,
If we sometimes make(imagine) our mothers as babies,
Sit them on our laps,
Lean their grey heads against our breasts ( chests)
Rock them, sing the lullaby ,
Lulla, lulla by to my mummy,
To her who gave me the birth, to her I gave a birth to,
Your sorrow to me, mummy, your tear to me,
Your fire to me, your dejection to me,
Let it burn me, let it make me parish ( exhaust me),
Let it turn me into ashes, let it mix me with the earth,
Sleep, my daughter mother,
Sleep mother sun, mother earth
Your death to me, mummy
My blood to you,
My life to you,
Let the sun set, let my heart rise,
Your hands, mummy
To the breast pocket, to the breast pocket,
Knock them to my breasts,
Lulla lulla by , my mother’s hands,
Lay in my heart, my mother’s hands,
Let the vain ( blood vessel) sing on my neck
Lullaby, lullaby to mummy,
Lullaby to my mummy’s breath,
You aged ( got old) in my lap, mummy,
You as a baby grew out of my lap,
Let the sun mother rise, let me rise
Let me wrap my baby mother in the black wool,
Let me go, throw the hands into black water,
Let me let the blood, let bile and pus follow it,
Let the water take away the old age,
Let the water take away death,
Let me say , I have adopted my mother,
I gave a birth to my mother.
 

Our translator, Natalia Bukia-Peters, explained to the group that Lia Liqokeli is from the Khevsureti region of Georgia and that this area has a particularly strong oral poetic tradition. Although Liqokeli sometimes works in received forms this poem was in free verse and yet several of the Georgian native speakers attending the workshop agreed that the poem carried this inheritance of Khevsureti lyricism when read aloud. Spoken in Georgian, we were all struck by the emphatically woven quality of the sound patterns. The assonance and alliteration seemed to mimic the lullaby that the poem describes. As we worked at the English version we tried to create repetitions and alliterative chimes to intimate these qualities. .

Although the poem begins with the possible fate of all mothers – the likely consequences of aging – it draws its poignancy from the singular experience of the speaker’s relationship with her mother. The plurality becomes singular. This transition is particularly subtle in the Georgian, where specifying the object is required. In English we chose to make this moment explicit: “Rock them, hum a lullaby / Rock her, lull her”.

Mirroring the poem’s movement from general to personal experience is a journey from reflection to declaration. The poem opens in the conditional and becomes declarative, and the suggestion to end the poem ‘I declare’ seems particularly apt, providing an alliterative yoke between “death” on the previous line and “adopt” in the coming phrase, a subtly altered repetition of the first line.

Edward Doegar – PTC Commissioning Editor

Original Poem by

Lia Liqokeli

Translated by

Natalia Bukia-Peters with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Georgian

Country

Georgia