Feldek, Ľubomír: Jaroslav (Jaroslav in English)

Jaroslav (Slovak)

"Necítím se dobře,
ale mám radost,"

povedal Seifert,
keď mu v nemocnici
šetrne zvestovali,
že má Nobelovu cenu.

Za tých pár sekúnd,
čo ho niesla k hrobu
opalizovaná
televízna lopata,
stihol usporiadať
rýchlokurz poézie.

Šiestimi slovami
vysvetlil miliónom ľudí,
kde je zakopaný
ten pes so zvláštnym menom
Býtibásníkem.

Publisher	Plakať je krásne, Smena, Bratislava
Source of the quotation	Plakať je krásne, Smena, Bratislava

Jaroslav (English)

"Necítím se dobře,
ale mám radost,"*

said Seifert
when in the hospital
they told him Solicitously
he'd got the Nobel prize.

In those few seconds
as an opalescent
television shovel
bore him to the grave,
he managed to conduct
a fast course in poetry.

In six words
he explained to millions
where that dog was buried,
the one with the odd name
Beingapoet.

*"I don't feel well,
but joyfull"

Sutherland-Smith, James; Solotruk, Martin

Source of the quotation

100 Years of Slovak Literature, Vilenica