Ein Sommertag, par Χαρούμενη Ελιά [Charoúmeni Eliá]*

A version of Mary Oliver’s A Summer Day (1992) compiled by Catherin J Pascal Dunk with assistance from Google Translate (2026)

Quem criou o mundo?
Quem criou o cisne e o urso negro? (1)

Qui a créé le sauterelle ?
Cette sauterelle, je veux dire —
celle qui s’est précipitée hors de l’herbe,
celle qui mange du sucre dans ma main,
celle qui remue sa mâchoire d’avant en arrière,
au lieu de haut en bas —
celle qui regarde autour d’elle
avec ses yeux énormes et complexes. (2)

いま、彼女は青白い両腕を上げて丁寧に顔を洗います。
[Ima, kanojo wa aojiroi ryoude wo agete teinei ni kao wo araimasu.]
そして、彼女は羽を広げて飛び立ちます。
[Soshite, kanojo wa hane wo hirogete tobitachimasu.]
祈りというものが何なのか、私には分かりません。
Inori to iumono ga nani nanoka, watashi niwa wakarimasen (3)

Je sais comment prêter attention, comment tomber
dans l’herbe, comment s’agenouiller dans l’herbe,
comment être oisif et béni, comment se promener dans les champs, (2)

é isso que eu fiz o dia todo.
Me diga, o que mais eu deveria fazer? (1)

No fim, não morrerá tudo demasiado cedo? (4)

Rakontu al mi,
kion vi planis,
kun via unika, (5)
urip galah tur ajeng ajengan? (6)

^{TRANSLATION NOTES:}

* The original poem fed into Google Translate was ‘A summer day’ by Mary Oliver and a transcript and reading can be found here: https://www.stjames-cathedral.org/PoemoftheWeek/oliver-summerday.aspx. The poem’s title was translated into German; the ‘by’ into French [par] ; and the author’s name from modified English [merry olive] into Greek [Roman alphabet transcription provided].

(1) casual Brazilian Portuguese – checked by Elly Belfort-Mattos
(2) casual French (from France)
(3) casual Japanese; the kanji and hiragana script version is followed by the [romaji version], which facilitates the pronunciation of Japanese by speakers of other languages – Google translation amended by Hideaki Anzai-san
(4) formal Portuguese (from Portugal) – Google translation amended by Nuno Rodrigues de Sousa
(5) casual Esperanto
(6) standard Balinese

[Image from Pexels Free Photos.]