Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

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Written by Nurel Javissyarqi
Translated by Agus B. HArianto

Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925), American poet born in Brookline, Massachusetts. She was descendants of scholars, her brother Percival Lowell was an astronomer, and A. Lawrence Lowell was president of Harvard University, the poet James Russell Lowell was a cousin of his grandfather. Amy was raised by her mother, whom interested to the language and fans of music. Her childhood was often visited in Europe and America, she was well known as poet since she followed the stream of magic developed by Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington in England; which prioritizes appropriate choice of words to the new rhythm then the freedom to choose the thought, or concerned to the density of poems.
Her anthology of poems are “Sword Blades and Poppy Seed” (1914), “Men, Women and Ghosts” (1916), “Can Grande’s Castle” (1918), “Pictures of the Floating World” (1919), “Legend” (1921), “Fir-Flower Tablets” (adapted from China poems, translated by Florence Ayscough), “What’s O’Clock” (1925), “The East Wind” (1926), “Ballads for Sale” (1927). She wrote critiques, and they are; “Six French Poets” (1915), “Tendencies in Modern American Poetry” (1921) and “A Critical Fable” (1922). Her study was deeply about the English poet John Keats, besides China and Japan poems, which left an impressive influence to her. She was the winner of many literary prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize (American arts award). Amy, her daily eccentric was, like a rough, hardy, hard cigar smokers, and maintain a lot of dogs.

AWAN MALAM
Amy Lowell

Kuda-kuda betina dari bulan memburu sepanjang angkasa
Memukul dengan tapak-tapak emas pada langit-langit kaca;
Kuda-kuda betina dari bulan semua tegak pada kaki belakangnya
Memukul gerbang porselin hijau dari langit-langit jauh.
Melayanglah, para kuda!
Kerahkan seluruh tenaga!
Deraikan debu bintang membima,
Kalau tidak, mentari -harimau sergap dan binasa kamu
Dengan sekali jilat lidahnya merah.


Clouds of Night
By Amy Lowell

Mares of the moon, hunt along the space
Beat with a gold starfish on the glass skies;
Mares of the moon, all stand upright on hind legs
Beat green porcelain of the gate from the green skies further.
Hover, the horse!
Muster all the power!
Spread dust of star to form Milky Way,
If not, the sun-tiger attacked and you will be perish
By one lick of its red tongue.

(From the book World Poetry, Volume II, Compiled by M. Taslim Ali, Balai Pustaka, 1953, which is retranslated into English would be more or less like above)
***

Amy forged her poems with the freedom of imagination interrelated with reasoning and magical feeling. Like thousands feet of the mare, on the moon stirred up the depths of space.

If masculine from the stinging sun along the scorching afternoon, beat the gold starfish to visit in the full moon, startling the sky of glass.

The natural magic was collided to daily atmosphere; witchcraft was intended to be combined to infiltrate the absolute consciousness.

I imagined Amy speak out frankly, without mild reasoning behavior, her feminine hearts derived from prowess of thinking.

Gold-horned white horse is flying through the night, with the mysterious braying to frighten listeners, mastering the cloud.

The foundation is falling into pieces; a snow is falling to break the glass of skyscrapers. Rumors has shadowed to the nature of dreaming.

Amy reaching changes the colors and incarnates to be brilliant and exact compositions, containing archives of ancient that she built through the rock.

Like the far stake bursting into sprinkles, the pieces of porcelain in the palace of the beauty.

Resembling like woke up from the dream is half awake; the shock of reader is achieved and forwarded, to reach the heights of brilliant.

Almost come near to the crossing of unequal century. Sculpture of values is irregular of its combination, flowing along the strains of silence. Anesthetize is not odd, but to create the meaning of renewal.

Horse fused an army of ideas to battle field with the power of streams, her poems reap thousands of understanding to the reader.

The curve of the comfort words gives millions of inspiration, perhaps the step to go there is as much as a passion of movement.

The civilization is shaded by the skies of knowledge, its light shiny-sheen and extends to the universe of unity.

Here the similarity of the poet with the philosopher, refines the world by fascinating words, hopes on the golden era would be studded.

Then the revolution of thought exploded from sparks of the fire star, the reflections of night swallowed up by the afternoon god of savage.

The clear sign of consciousness broadens the echo, colored the sound of poetry to record the events.

The various characters are uprooted from their home, to be wished it is not becoming. Maturity of considerations inhabits the promised land.

Conservation and change is swinging, anxiety did not run out to the seeker, the density of time from the stones of life is continuously.