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I like George Bacovia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bacovia)

Here is his probably most known one:

   Plumb
   
   Dormeau adanc sicriele de plumb,
   Si flori de plumb si funerar vesmant -
   Stam singur in cavou ... si era vant ...
   Si scartaiau coroanele de plumb.

   Dormea intors amorul meu de plumb
   Pe flori de plumb, si-am inceput sa-l strig -
   Stam singur langa mort ... si era frig ...
   Si-i atarnau aripile de plumb.

(Translation from: http://www.aboutromania.com/bacovia1.html)

   Lead

   The coffins of lead were lying sound asleep,
   And the lead flowers and the funeral clothes -
   I stood alone in the vault ... and there was wind ...
   And the wreaths of lead creaked.
   
   Upturned my lead beloved lay asleep
   On the lead flower ... and I began to call -
   I stood alone by the corpse ... and it was cold ...
   And the wings of lead drooped.
Translating poems is pretty hard. That was an ok translation. It doesn't quite sound quite right.



Regarding poetry translation (and a lot more), there is this book:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Ton_beau_de_Marot
By Douglas Hofstadter, that I quite like and recommend!


This is (arguably) a better book than GEB ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödel,_Escher,_Bach ) for the literature-minded folks out there. I can't recommend it enough.




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