Reflections on Thinking about Thinking

thinking about thinking

is quite useful when donesparingly.

more than that,

and one is apt

to become lost in abstract territory,

sprung from this recursive introspection

into the suffocating expanse of an endless mind.

when the heart is left untended to,

thinking about thinking is the crater left behind:

nothing will grow here

for at least a thousand years,

and it's not even a perfect hemisphere,

so that the echoes of poems and prayers

are not reflected,

but,rather,misdirected.

each lost at its own lonely angle.

penser à la pensée✦TRANSLATION CHOICEThe English repeats the activity of thinking. Here the second term becomes the noun « la pensée » (“thought”), giving the phrase a more contemplative, slightly less recursive sense.

thinking about thought

est très utile quand on le faitavec sobriété.✦TRANSLATION CHOICE« Avec parcimonie » is closer to “sparingly.” We chose « avec sobriété » for its measured cadence and its soft t and r sounds, which return in « territoire abstrait ».

is very useful when one does it with restraint.

au-delà de cela,

beyond that,

et l’on est susceptible

and one is liable

de se perdre en territoire abstrait,

to get lost in abstract territory,

jailli de cette introspection récursive

sprung from this recursive introspection

dans l’étendue suffocante d’un esprit sans fin✦TRANSLATION CHOICE« Esprit » can suggest both mind and spirit. We kept that slight ambiguity; « sans fin » also sets up an echo with « en son sein » below..

into the suffocating expanse of a mind without end.

quand le cœur est laissé là, sans soin,

when the heart is left there, without care,

penser à la pensée creuse un cratère en son sein✦TRANSLATION CHOICEThe English crater is “left behind.” Here it is dug within the mind: the image shifts inward, and « sein » answers the earlier « fin » in sound. :

thinking about thought digs a crater inside it:

rien ne poussera ici

nothing will grow here

pendant au moins mille ans,

for at least a thousand years,

et nulle symétrie✦TRANSLATION CHOICEThe English says it is “not even a perfect hemisphere.” The French trades that exact shape for a lack of symmetry, keeping the failed geometry while « mille ans » and « là-dedans » rhyme. ne se dessine là-dedans.

and no symmetry takes shape in there.

de sorte que les échos des poèmes et des prières

so that the echoes of poems and prayers

ne sont pas renvoyés,

are not sent back,

mais,plutôt,dévoyés.✦TRANSLATION CHOICE“Reflected / misdirected” becomes « renvoyés / dévoyés ». The rhyme makes the echoes audible while « dévoyés » suggests their being turned off course.

but, rather, led astray.

chacun perdu selon son propre angle solitaire.

each lost according to its own lonely angle.