Modern Poetry in Translation Series Three, No. 17 © Modern Poetry in Translation 2012 and contributors ISBN 978-0-9559064-9-7 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Charlesworth Press, Wakefield Editors: David and Helen Constantine Reviews Editor: Saradha Soobrayen Web Editor: Ben Gwalchmai Managing Editor: Deborah de Kock Administrator: Angela Holton Board Members: Caroline Maldonado (Chair), Amarjit Chandan, Sasha Dugdale, Ben Gwalchmai, Daniel Hahn, Graham Henderson, Amanda Hopkinson, Chris Meade, Saradha Soobrayen, Rachel Stevens Founding Editors: Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort Submissions should be sent in hard copy, with return postage, to David and Helen Constantine, Modern Poetry in Translation, The Queen’s College, Oxford, OX1 4AW. Unless agreed in advance, submissions by email will not be accepted. Only very exceptionally will we consider work that has already been published elsewhere. Translators are themselves responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions, and should be aware that work published in MPT may also appear on our website and as an e-book, and will be accessible to readers who have subscribed to the digital version of the magazine. Subscription Rates: (including postage) UK Overseas Single Issue £9.95 £12.50 / US$ 21 One year subscription (2 issues, surface mail) £19.90 £25.00 / US$ 42 Two year subscription (4 issues, surface mail) £36.00 £46.00 / US$ 77 To subscribe please use the subscription form at the back of the magazine. Discounts available. To pay by credit card please visit www.mptmagazine.com Modern Poetry in Translation is represented in the UK by Central Books, 99 Wallis Road, London, E9 5LN For orders: tel +44 (0) 845 458 9911 Fax +44 (0) 845 458 9912 or visit www.mptmagazine.com Modern Poetry in Translation Limited. A Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, Number 5881603. UK Registered Charity Number 1118223. Contents

1 Editorial 10 The next issue of MPT 11 Pindar, Victory Odes, translated from the Ancient Greek by

Cameron Hawke Smith 17 Pindar, Olympian XIV, a version by David Constantine from

Hölderlin’s translation into German 20 Constantine Cavafy, four poems, translated from the Greek by Ian Parks 25 Li Bai, three poems, translated from the Chinese by Julian

Farmer 27 Michael Mackmin, ‘My Sweet Redhead’, an imitation of

Guillaume Apollinaire’s ‘La Jolie Rousse’ 30 Umberto Saba, three football poems, versions from the

Italian by Martin Bennett 36 Mary-Ann Constantine, Canu Penillion: singing stanzas to the harp in Wales 40 Claudia Rosenzweig and Jennie Feldman, Improvising in ottava rima 43 Zoltán Zelk, ‘Congratulatory Rhyming Telegram’, translated from the Hungarian by John Ridland and Peter Czipott 48 Vladislav Khodasevich, three poems, translated from the

Russian by Peter Daniels 54 Dane Zajc, three poems, translated from the Slovene by

Angus Reid 59 Luis Rosales, from ‘The Trap-Net’, translated from the

Spanish by Gonzalo Melchor 69 Kerry Featherstone, five poems from Ingrid Thobois’ novel

Le Roi d’Afghanistan ne nous a pas mariés 79 Lutz Seiler, five poems, translated from the German by

Alexander Booth 84 Stephen Watts, three poems after Tudor Arghezi 89 Anthony Rudolf, two extracts from Silent Conversations:

A Reader’s Life