The Time of Aeneas and other poems
by Mario Lawi
Translated from Indonesian into English by Sebastian Partogi
Waktu Aeneas
Si penyair menyanyikan,
Dalam heksameter ketiganya,
Kisah seorang buangan
Terasing di lautan,
Terancam selalu, kehilangan
Kampung halaman, ayah, istri,
Dan orang-orang terkasih.
Kita sangsi: pernahkah Martialis
Menulis epik, pernahkah syrma
Dan cothurnus yang menggerakkan
Para penonton lahir dari ujung
Penanya? Benarkah Tucca adalah
Duri dalam daging popularitasnya?
Tetapi ia bersaksi, sang pendahulu
Adalah agung, tertinggi,
Tak terlampaui.
Kita bergerak ke masa depan untuk
Mencari jejak masa lalu, seperti
Orang-orang yang meluncur ke
Ruang angkasa, mencari tahu rahasia
Semesta dan asal-usul kehidupan.
Ilium yang porak poranda karena seekor
Kuda mengandung prajurit-prajurit musuh
Adalah arena pertama penguji kesalehan.
“Di manakah istrimu?” kita dengar
Gema suara Venus, berdiri menantangnya
Di celah sempit seperempat-Odysseia.
Di celah itulah angin pertama
Menghantam pelayaran putra Ankhises,
Dengan pertanyaan yang lebih menikam
Dari dendam Iuno setelah api berkobar
Di unggunan Kartago.
“Dia di sini, tetapi tak bisa kurengkuh,”
Kita dengar jawaban, lebih mirip pengakuan.
Ada yang luput kita dengar, karena
Disamarkan si penyair, bisik kecil
Setelah permintaan untuk mencintai
Sang putra, “Masihkah obor kita
Bercahaya dalam ingatanmu?”
The Time of Aeneas
When the poet sang,
In third hexameter,
The story of an exile
Astray at sea,
In the threat of losing
His hometown, his father, wife,
And loved ones.
We were doubtful: had Martialis ever
Written an epic, was syrma
And cothurnus who moved
The audience born from the tip of his
Pen? Was it true Tucca was
a Thorn in the flesh of his fame?
Yet he testified, his predecessor
Was great, the highest,
Beyond transcendence.
We moved toward the future to
Find traces of our past, just like
Those who launched themselves into
The outer space, to comprehend the secret
Of the Universe and the origins of life.
Ilium who was ruined by
a Horse that harboured the soldiers of the enemy
Was the first test of godliness.
“Where is your wife?” we heard
The voice of Venus echoed, standing in defiance
On the narrow quarter gap-Odysseus.
On the gap where the first wind
Thrashed the sail of Anchises’ son,
With a question that pierced much more
Than the fire of Iuno’s vengeance
On the bonfire of Cartago.
“She is here, yet I cannot embrace her,”
We heard his reply, his confession.
Something escaped our ears, because
It was disguised by the poet, a tiny whisper
After his request to love
The Son, “Does our torch still
burn brightly in your memory?”
Variasi Kreusa
Seandainya aku jadi hiasan rumah-rumah Myrmidon
Dan Dolopia, atau budak bagi para perempuan Yunani,
Sedangkan Hesperia telah menawanmu dengan kemakmuran,
Seorang ratu dan kerajaan yang damai, dan aliran Tiber
Menumbuhkan semua yang dibutuhkan oleh Ilium baru,
Menyesalkah kau telah membiarkan aku tertinggal di
Belakang, sebagai umpan bagi anjing-anjing Yunani?
Variation on a theme: Creusa
If I turned into the ornaments in Myrmidon’s house
And that of Dolopia, or a slave of the Greek women,
While Hesperia holds you hostage with prosperity,
A queen and a peaceful kingdom, and the flowing Tiber
Nurturing everything the new Ilium requires,
Will you regret leaving me
Behind, a bait for their hounds?
Nubuat
—Aeneis VI
Aku tanya:
Mengapa kau menangis?
Mengapa kau takut?
Kau bilang:
Badai akan membawa fitnah,
Kita akan binasa,
Dan waktu
Akan menghapus ingatan.
Prophecy
—Aeneis VI
I asked:
Why are you crying?
Why are you afraid?
You said:
The storm will bring tribulations,
All of us will be annihilated,
And time
Will erase all memory.
Mario F. Lawi is a translator and writer. He is involved in Dusun Flobamora Literary Community, Kupang. He is the translation section editor of bacapetra.co, a literary site based in East Nusa Tenggara. His poetry books are, among others, Ekaristi (2014), selected as 2014 Best Poetry Book by Tempo Magazine, Lelaki Bukan Malaikat (2015), and Keledai yang Mulia (2019). His published translated books from Latin are, among others, 60 Epigram tentang Puisi dan Penyair (60 Epigrams on Poetry and the Poets) by Martial, Ecloga I by Vergil, Pervigilium Veneris, and Medicamina by Ovid.
Thank you to Sebastian Partogi for translating Mario’s poety.