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World Poetry Translation Project


Submit Human Translation | Discuss Poem | Post Poetry | Listen McGill Live

I Knew A Woman

by Theodore Roethke

I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;
Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:
The shapes a bright container can contain!
Of her choice virtues only gods should speak,
Or English poets who grew up on Greek
(I'd have them sing in chorus, cheek to cheek.)

How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin,
She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and stand;
She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin:
I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand;
She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake,
Coming behind her for her pretty sake
(But what prodigious mowing did we make.)

Love likes a gander, and adores a goose:
Her full lips pursed, the errant note to seize;
She played it quick, she played it light and loose;
My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;
Her several parts could keep a pure repose,
Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose
(She moved in circles, and those circles moved.)

Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:
I'm martyr to a motion not my own;
What's freedom for? To know eternity.
I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.
But who would count eternity in days?
These old bones live to learn her wanton ways:
(I measure time by how a body sways.)


American Review | www.PaperLyon.com | McGill Live Radio | Publish
 

  Translations for this Poem
 English  Spanish  French  German
 Italian  Portuguese  Korean  Russian
 Chinese  Japanese    
 

  Poems by Theodore Roethke
  1. Cuttings
  2. Dolor
  3. Elegy For Jane
  4. Epidermal Macabre
  5. In A Dark Time
  6. I Knew A Woman
  7. Journey Into The Interior
  8. My Papas Waltz
  9. Night Journey
  10. Pickle Belt
  11. Root Cellar
  12. Snake
  13. The Far Field
  14. The Geranium
  15. The Minimal
  16. The Reckoning
  17. The Saginaw Song
  18. The Sloth
  19. The Storm
  20. The Waking
 
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTVWY[ALL] 
  T.S. Eliot 
  Ted Hughes 
  Ted Kooser 
  Theodore Roethke 
  Thom Gunn 
  Thomas Carew 
  Thomas Flatman 
  Thomas Gray 
  Thomas Hardy 
  Thomas Otway 
  Thomas Warton 
  Tony Harrison 

Volunteers needed to translate poetry into different languages. Please help us correct the translation of these poems. We currently have 79,663 translations and are trying to create the largest and most accurate database of world poetry translations. We have started with machine translations which are very inaccurate. Please translate your favorite poem on this site. You will be given credit for your translation and a link to your site if desired. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: These poems have been gathered and submitted by many of people, and from many sources. Most have no copyright. However, some may may have copyrights. We have tried to collect poems that appear on many external sites where the author seems to want to disseminate. If you are an author and do not want your poetry translated into other languages then send a removal request and it will be promptly removed.
 



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