Meow :3

binghe: what if.... i wasnt as good a person as you think? would you still spend time with me, yuan ge? sorry just forget i said that...

Have you ever read a poem in its original language and felt exactly what the author intended to convey, but then read it translated into another language and no longer felt the same way?

Sometimes I feel that poetry doesn’t fully survive translation.

The words move from one language to another, but something is left behind, as if the poem leaves part of itself along the way.

I recently read a poem in spanish that felt deeply profound, almost as if it carried its own weight, as if every word was exactly where it was meant to be. But when I translated it into english, even though I understood every word, it didn’t feel the same. It had lost some of its intensity, its aura; it was no longer the same.

It’s not just spanish. There are many russian, chinese, and poems in other languages that lose part of their essence in translation. Some words exist in their original language but have no true equivalent in english, and there are certain words that carry a lot of weight and intesnsity in the original language but not in english, even if the literal meaning remains.

When translated, the meaning may stay, but the essence changes. What was once dense becomes flatter. What had power becomes more neutral. What once felt almost mythical becomes more ordinary, more explainable.

Perhaps poetry isn’t broken when translated.

Sin respuestas ni preguntas

Que monotonía la mía

Pues de ti ya no se

Y si de tu hora de comer

Ya no es la misma

Qué música escucharás

Si al igual que la mía

Retrato mi amor

Mi agonía

Y si olvidarme de ti no puedo

Cuánto tiempo me tomará

Para avanzar

Empezar a caminar

Marie grows desperately lonely whenever her beloved wife, Etienne, leaves for war. These campaigns can last up to six years, and during that time Marie is left alone while Etienne conquers distant lands far from home - and far from Marie herself.

In Etienne’s absence, Marie begins an on-and-off relationship with Imogen, a deeply religious knight. Imogen worships Etienne with complete devotion. Etienne is literal God after all. Later in the story, when Marie marries Ettie, Imogen worships Marie too.

Imogen and Marie find themselves falling deeply in love. Their relationship is tenderly genuine. Marie finds comfort in Imogen’s serious nature, while Imogen is enchanted by Marie’s affection. There is love between them - but both women understand that it can never rival the holy and eternal bond between Marie and Etienne. Marie and Etienne are gods - their love is everlasting, sacred, and beyond the reach of mortal things.

Imogen is not being taken advantage of. She is far too devoted to resent Marie’s place at Etienne’s side. She loves Etienne above all else, and because of that, she can’t bring herself to be jealous. In her eyes, Marie is Etienne’s holy wife, and to be loved by Marie at all feels like a blessing she doesn’t deserve.

When Etienne finally returns home from war, Marie leaves Imogen and devotes herself wholly to her wife once more. This happens often. Imogen does not complain. She accepts it with grace. Imogen is just a common knight standing in the shadow of gods.

Imogen is the daughter of a preacher and a pr*stitute. She was raised in faith and took a vow of celibacy when she was young (Mo wanted to be a nun), but she realises that such a vow means little when the wife of God herself desires her.