Rondelul lucrurilor
- Author
- Alexandru Macedonski
- Date
- 1886
- Language
- Romanian
- Country
- Form
- Rondel: three stanzas (4 + 4 + 5 lines) on two rhymes, with a repeated refrain
- First published
- 1886
The source
Oh! lucrurile cum vorbesc,
Și-n pace nu vor să te lase:
Bronz, catifea, lemn sau mătase,
Prind grai aproape omenesc.
Tu le crezi moarte, și trăiesc
Împrăștiate-n orice case. —
Oh! lucrurile cum vorbesc,
Și-n pace nu vor să te lase.
Și câte nu-ți mai povestesc
În pustnicia lor retrase:
Cu tot ce sufletu-ți uitase
Te-mbie sau te chinuiesc. —
Oh! lucrurile cum vorbesc.
“Oh, how things speak, and won't leave you in peace — bronze, velvet, wood or silk, taking on an almost human voice. You think them dead, and they live, scattered through every house, telling you everything your soul had forgotten, enticing or tormenting you.”
Commentary
Dr. Ruxandra RouxHead of Literary Research & Development
Alexandru Macedonski, 1886. A rondel is a fixed French form that Macedonski brought into Romanian: two rhymes, thirteen lines, and a refrain that has to come back twice.
The subject is things that will not leave you alone: bronze, velvet, wood, silk, objects that refuse to stay quiet and keep talking whether or not you listen. The form does the same. The opening lines return in the middle and again at the very end, the way a haunted room keeps closing in. Form and subject recur on purpose. The poem ends exactly where it began, with the things in the room getting the last word. They usually do.
Songs
The song made from Rondelul lucrurilor.
