# długo jeszcze poleżę w szklanej wodzie



## Briatska

Hello!

I have been trying to find a decent translation for Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska's poem "Ofelia", but Google translate has not helped me much.  I know translation of this poem might be hard since she is writing in an artistic language, but can anyone help me to get a proper one please?
The poem goes like this:

Ach,długo jeszcze poleżę 
w szklanej wodzie,w sieci wodorostów 
zanim nareszcie uwierzę, 
że mnie nie kochano,po prostu.

Thank you very much.

Briatska 

- -


----------



## wolfbm1

How about that:
Ah, long will I lie 
in glassy water, amid the snare of water plants
before finally will I realise
that I was never loved, even once.


----------



## Briatska

Thank you wolfbm1, that sounds much better and much more beautiful than Google's translation. Serdecznie dziękuję!

- -


----------



## Ben Jamin

wolfbm1 said:


> How about that:
> Ah, long will I lie
> in glassy water, amid the snare of water plants
> before finally will I realise
> that I was never loved, even once.



To be faithful to the original one should translate "uwierzę" here literally, that is as: "I will believe" (which sounds clumsy in English, but makes a difference, as one may realise something but refuse to believe). I think that Spanish  "creeré" reflects the meaning better.


----------



## jasio

To be even more faithful - though not necessarily poetic - I would write something 'so long I will need to repose'. "Poleżę" may express some relax, perhaps negligence but also passing time. At least in my perception.


----------



## Thomas1

A closer translation of "sieć" offers the Spanish word "red". It has got both the literal and some of the figurative meanings of the Polish word.


----------



## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> To be even more faithful - though not necessarily poetic - I would write something 'so long I will need to repose'. "Poleżę" may express some relax, perhaps negligence but also passing time. At least in my perception.



"Poleżę" has a durative meaning, which lacks in "I will lie", so a future continuous would reflect the meaning better: I will be laying. Moreover the word itself used in future tense has a connotation of relax.


----------



## Thomas1

Ben Jamin said:


> "Poleżę" has a durative meaning, which lacks in "I will lie"[...]


I'm not sure about that. For at least two reasons: (1) the verb "lie" does seem to have a durative nuance too; some of the first definitions of it:
*1. * To  be  or  place  oneself  at  rest  in  a  flat,  horizontal,  or  recumbent  position;  recline: He lay under a tree to sleep.
*2. * To  be  placed  on  or  supported  by  a  surface  that  is  usually  horizontal: Dirty dishes lay on the table. See  Usage  Note  at lay1.
*3. * To  be  or  remain  in  a  specified  condition: The dust has lain undisturbed for years. He lay sick in bed.
*4. **a. * To  exist;  reside: Our sympathies lie with the plaintiff.
*b. * To  consist  or  have  as  a  basis.  Often  used  with _in:_ The strength of his performance lies in his training.

*5. * To  occupy  a  position  or  place: The lake lies beyond this hill.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lie​ (2) the adverb in the clause significantly contributes to the durative reading of the whole.


----------



## Ben Jamin

Thomas1 said:


> I'm not sure about that. For at least two reasons: (1) the verb "lie" does seem to have a durative nuance too; some of the first definitions of it:
> *1. * To  be  or  place  oneself  at  rest  in  a  flat,  horizontal,  or  recumbent  position;  recline: He lay under a tree to sleep.
> *2. * To  be  placed  on  or  supported  by  a  surface  that  is  usually  horizontal: Dirty dishes lay on the table. See  Usage  Note  at lay1.
> *3. * To  be  or  remain  in  a  specified  condition: The dust has lain undisturbed for years. He lay sick in bed.
> *4. **a. * To  exist;  reside: Our sympathies lie with the plaintiff.
> *b. * To  consist  or  have  as  a  basis.  Often  used  with _in:_ The strength of his performance lies in his training.
> 
> *5. * To  occupy  a  position  or  place: The lake lies beyond this hill.
> http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lie​ (2) the adverb in the clause significantly contributes to the durative reading of the whole.



Your examples are fine, but what I actually meant, but did not express it uanambiguously enough, was that most English verbs have no marked lexical aspect, as the Polish (and other Slavic) verbs have. So, "I will lie" may mean both a durative, and a momentary action, while the Polish verb has a clearly marked durative aspect.


----------



## Thomas1

I think it doesn't matter; even if it did, the adverbial would do away with it.


----------



## mutant12

I'm not sure I understand all the wise stuff you're saying here, but I think Ben Jamin used "laying" instead of "lying", hence (part of) the confusion. 



> "Poleżę" has a durative meaning, which lacks in "I will lie", so a future continuous would reflect the meaning better: I will be laying.



Laying is the gerund of lay; lying - of lie. I suppose you know it and it was just a typo, anyway. 

As for the translation, I really like the one proposed by wolfbm1


----------



## Ben Jamin

mutant12 said:


> I'm not sure I understand all the wise stuff you're saying here, but I think Ben Jamin used "laying" instead of "lying", hence (part of) the confusion.
> 
> 
> 
> Laying is the gerund of lay; lying - of lie. I suppose you know it and it was just a typo, anyway.
> 
> As for the translation, I really like the one proposed by wolfbm1



You can interpret my "laying" instead "lying" as a typo (as the original translation was "lying"), but also as a more folksy English usage, as in everyday speach "lying" and "laying" are often used interchangably.

A Google search for "was laying in bed" gave 75 000 finds and "was lying in bed" 262 000.


----------

