The Sea Shell

By Marin Sorescu 1936–1996 Marin Sorescu

Translated By Michael Hamburger

I have hidden inside a sea shell

but forgotten in which.

Now daily I dive,

filtering the sea through my fingers,

to find myself.

Sometimes I think

a giant fish has swallowed me.

Looking for it everywhere I want to make sure

it will get me completely.

The sea-bed attracts me, and

I’m repelled by millions

of sea shells that all look alike.

Help, I am one of them.

If only I knew, which.

How often I’ve gone straight up

to one of them, saying: That’s me.

Only, when I prised it open

it was empty.

“The Sea Shell” from Selected Poems by Marin Sorescu, translated by Michael Hamburger. Published in 1983 by Bloodaxe Books. www.bloodaxebooks.com

Source: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 1983)

Biography

In 1964 the Romanian government relaxed its censorship policies, signaling a new openness to free expression. The nation's poets heeded that signal, and Romanian poetry experienced a striking revival. Poet and playwright Marin Sorescu is perhaps one of the most popular figures to emerge from Romanian literary culture in the years since.

Sorescu writes in a plainspoken, down-to-earth style spiced with sly humor. He responds to . . .

Continue reading this biography