"I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky,
And at every drifting cloud that went
With sails of silver by."

Λυπηρό και όμως όμορφο, μία κραυγή διαμαρτυρίας για την χείριστη μεταχείριση ανθρώπων από συνανθρώπους τους. Απλό και σύντομο, "παίζει" με τις έννοιες της συγχώρεσης και της μετάνοιας. Σκέψεις που έχουν αντίκρισμα και στη σημερινή εποχή.

Η μετάφραση είναι πολύ καλή και εξαιρετικά προσεγμένη, ωστόσο θα πρότεινα σε όποιον έχει τη δυνατότητα να προτιμήσει την αγγλική έκδοση που μεταφέρει πιο αυθεντικά και άμεσα τα μηνύματα-συναισθήματα.

“Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard
Some do it with a bitter look
Some with a flattering word
The coward does it with a kiss
The brave man with a sword”

Oğuz Baykara'nın yapmış olduğu çeviriye dair açıklamalar ve notların yer aldığı bir sunuş bölümü ile Wilde'ın baladına giriş yapıyoruz.

İngilizce ve Türkçe metin paralel olarak akıyor. Özgün dildeki metin kadar çevirisini okumak da bir o kadar keyifli. Emek yoğun bir çeviriye sahip bu esere aynı zamanda Latimer J. Wilson'ın orijinal çizimleri de eşlik ediyor.

Wilde, bu eserinde, bizzat kendisinin de tanıştığı ve karısı Laura'yı bir kıskançlık krizi sonrası öldürmesiyle birlikte idam cezasına çarptırılan Charles Thomas Woodridge'in gün geçtikçe artan vicdan azabını, çilesini ve de kaderine teslim oluşuyla birlikte gelen tevekkülü gözlemleyerek bunu ölümsüz kılmaya karar verir. Bunun için de şiiri seçer.

Woodridge'in kendi içinde yaşadıkları gerçekten de bu kadar şiirsel ve de destansı mıydı hiç bilemeyeceğiz. Ancak Wilde'ın anlatı konusundaki yeteneği ile yüceliyor.

Wilde gerçekten çok ilginç bir yazar. Kişileri gözlemleme ve o karakterin duygularını aktarmakta çok başarılı. Ve bunun için kurduğu dilsel biçem de.

Kitap sever herkese öneririm.

Oğuz Baykara'nın akıcı çevirisiyle.

Keyifli okumalar!

Kitaplarla kalın!

No auge de sua carreira literária, Oscar Wilde processou um Marquês que lhe caluniava .O Marquês inverteu o processo e Oscar Wilde acabou indo para a prisão. Lá ele escreveu o  seu mais belo poema onde ele procura entender porque o próprio homem se destrói, porque o homem destrói aquilo que mais ama.

Ultima operă a lui Oscar Wilde, Balada închisorii din Reading, este o expresie a complexității naturii umane, care îmbracă forma unei pledoarii pentru iubire și libertate. În timp ce ne bucurăm de poveștile sale fermecătoare pentru copii, de piesele sale de teatru care au marcat istoria dramaturgiei universale, de romanul său Portretul lui Dorian Gray și de paradoxurile sale filozofice, care încântă și provoacă atât publicul larg, cât și pe cel specializat, uităm adesea că toate acestea sunt rodul unui suflet chinuit de o suferință imensă. Balada închisorii din Reading este forma sublimă pe care a luat-o drama personală a lui Oscar Wilde, care a fost condamnat la doi ani de detenție pentru că a avut curajul de a-și asuma identitatea sa.

Uzun zamandır okumak istediğim bir kitaptı Reading Zindanı Balladı. Fatih Bey’in dört yılda çevirdiği bu harika çeviriyi okuduğum için çok mutluyum. Özellikle Önsöz bölümü ile daha da anlamlı oldu kitap benim için.

very much a reductive review
anywhom

4.5!! there is something so moving about this poem & it's honestly quite horrific how the comments on the ethics around capital punishment (and what that says about how quickly we can stop viewing people as human) is still relevant today. although this poem is inspired by charles wooldridge (objectively a horrible person), i kind of view it as just a wider comment on the psychological effects of prsion life and the overall injustice of the penal system (esp in context of the Victorian 'separate system'). and there is definitely more to say about this poem that i can't rlly substantially write ab w/o re reading but it was pretty great.

Öncelikle Özdemir Asaf değil Dedalus'un bastığı Piyale Perver yani Fatih Demirci çevirisini nefis buldum. Şiirden öte; öykü, hatta roman... Oscar Wilde Reading Devlet Hapishanesi'nde iki yıllık mahkumiyetini tamamlamaya çalışırken karısını öldürmek suçundan idama mahkum Charles Thomas Woodridge gelir. Üç haftası kalmıştır. İşte bu balad o üç haftayı anlatır. Muazzam.

n  n    "Ni una rosa blanca como la leche ni una roja
pueden florecer en el aire de la prisión;
cascos, piedra y pedernal
es lo que este lugar ofrece
porque se sabe que las flores sanan
la desesperación de cualquier hombre."n  n

Reseña completa en: http://mdmemories.blogspot.com/2018/0...

Oscar Wilde escribió este poema después de pasar dos años en prisión condenado por homosexualidad, ya que el padre de su amante lord Alfred Douglas divulgó su relación. Wilde tuvo que pasar por un proceso de vergüenza pública, donde su reputación fue arruinada luego de estar en la cumbre de la popularidad.

Durante el periodo de encarcelamiento, fue testigo del ahorcamiento de uno de los prisioneros: Charles Thomas Wooldridge, quien estaba condenado por haber asesinado a su esposa. Fue tal el impacto que tuvo esta ejecución en Wilde, que tuvo que plasmarlo en su obra escrita, además de los sentimientos encontrados durante su estancia en la cárcel. Originalmente el poema fue publicado con el nombre C.3.3, que hacía referencia al Bloque C, Piso 3, Celda 3, donde estuvo encerrado Wilde.

Es increíble como Oscar Wilde logra en estos versos tocarte todas las fibras. Vivir en la cárcel lo cambió todo para él, y en esta obra se nota. Se sentía triste, extrañado y resignado. Muchas veces se pregunta en sus versos dónde están los que se dice son hijos de Dios, ya que Cristo murió por ellos y aún así ellos se lo agradecen, con la falta de empatía e interés hacia otros hombres que por ser pecadores, merecen malos tratos y la muerte en vida. ¿Se imaginan a un hombre escritor, sensible, soñador y enamorado, encerrado durante dos años en medio de los peores tratos? Su pecado fue amar a un hombre, y aún así fue encerrado con asesinos y ladrones. Ahora imaginen cómo después de haber salido de la cárcel tuvo que enfrentar su nueva realidad en el exilio, arruinado material y espiritualmente.

Oscar Wilde refleja en sus versos la sensación de opresión, decepción y angustia que acompaña sus días y reflexiones en la cárcel. El pensamiento de un condenado que tiene que ver a un compañero morir, más sus días posteriores cuando la esperanza ya no existe en su vocabulario. Lo que quedaba de él y del escritor tan aclamado, terminó con La Balada de la Cárcel de Reading y De Profundis, sus últimos rastros de inspiración luego de morir en el anonimato. Poseen la misma calidad literaria en pro de expulsar sus demonios internos por sus experiencias tormentosas. El repudio y vergüenza vividos por su condición homosexual, hizo que Wilde escribiera sus últimos poemas como un ejercicio de expresión del dolor y la traición.

Conocer a un autor por medio de su obra se entiende perfectamente cuando lees trabajos como este, donde se reflejan los sentimientos directos desde el alma sin la intención de popularizarlos, sino de sacarlos del pecho. Un autor que terminó tristemente en la huida, por las consecuencias de un crimen absurdo.

“Alas! it is a fearful thing
To feel another's guilt!
For right within, the sword of Sin
Pierced to its poisoned hilt,
And as molten lead were the tears we shed
For the blood we had not spilt.”

“And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter love,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!”

Incredibly sorrowful and desolate, but so very powerful. Given that Wilde drew these depictions from his own experience, he questions the morality of punishment and criticises how the prison system strips humanity away and offers no source of redemption. These themes of sin, guilt, and redemption are disputed throughout the poem and are immensely heavy. The imagery was beautiful.

Discovered this incredible poem when I was reading an article about Humility. As an example, the author used Oscar Wilde's fall from celebrity and ease into shame and suffering in the Reading Prison. This Ballad of the same name describes some of the horrors of that place which Wilde experienced firsthand. I know prisons today are still harsh, but then they were beyond anything imaginable. Wilde's experience there led to his conversion.

November 13, 2023: Reread again last night. This is one of those poems to return to on a regular basis.

Often there are two sides to the jester. The individual who mocks the superficial conventions of society often does so because, not blinded by those conventions, he can see more deeply into the human condition that lies beneath. Such was the case with Oscar Wilde. The other side of the comic genius who gave us The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere's Fan gave us The Soul of Man Under Socialism, De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

This has to be one of the saddest poems ever written - an account of the reaction of Wilde and other prisoners to the execution of one of their fellow inmates for the murder of his wife. Wilde documents the routines surrounding the execution with an eye to detail, while at the same time uttering a passionate cry of protest against the inhumanity of capital punishment and the prison system generally. He points out that the man who ends up on the gallows for murder is not so very different from the rest of us. Capital punishment is an act of denial of our common failings as a species.

The poem is also a deeply felt expression of faith in Christ, which even an unbeliever like myself can respect and be moved by. The prison and the gallows are man's law. God and Christ, Wilde maintains, are far more merciful.

This is a poem which is still as relevant now as it was when it was written. On a metaphorical level, we can see how the best in us can only flower in a state of freedom and that, wherever freedom is compromised, evil flourishes. On a more literal level, while the death penalty was finally abolished in Great Britain, it still continues in less enlightened parts of the world, and prisons are not that different now from how they were in Wilde's day. The technologies of control have advanced, but psychological effects of imprisonment remain the same. As Wilde said :

The vilest deeds like poison weeds
Bloom well in prison-air:
It is only what is good in Man
That wastes and withers there