ASTROPOETIC THEORY

-older and newer poems by
Zigmund Tauberg
(teacher of mathematics, popularizer of astronomy, and “veteran” of astronomical poetry;
born in 1927)-

English translations from the Romanian by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Photographs by Valentin Grigore (President of SARM):
1. Comet Neat (May 2004)
2-4. International Astronomy Day in Targoviste (April 2008)
5. Moon-Venus Conjunction (February 2009)
6. Alpha Capricornid Meteor (August 2008)

Design by Florin Stancu





MAY NIGHT

I call you, breeze of May night,
With my thought, with my voice,
With all my feeling,
I call you, breeze of May night,
When love calls young people.

In the magic night, I feel you close,
When willows lower their silence to waters,
When flowers await you, raising their tender heads,
And quiet stars
Weave with their beams,
With mysterious signs,
The old story
From disappeared worlds and living worlds.

I listen thrilled in the night
To your coming through leaves and flowers,
With romantic verses,
Caressing mildly my cheeks and my temples,
Flourishing petals of thought, and calling me
Towards infinity.


EULER’S IDENTITY

Euler’s equation,

A profound mathematic synthesis,
When his fecund mind
Reunited algebra, analysis and geometry
As an equality,
Elaborating perfectly a whole from all,
Showing the harmony
Which leads the existence,
And pointing out its deep essence.

Euler’s equation,

A triumph of living mathematics,
A short, simple and genial thing,
And a gate towards the Universe
For the rational being.


SYMPHONY IX
(to Schiller and Beethoven)

The sunbeam gathers
People to people,
It is the will that crowns
Their immortal genius.

When the symphony resounds
Carrying the old longing,
The sunbeam gathers
People to people.

The message of the great choir
Is quite sublime,
We have to be brothers,
And those who want this are a team
Gathered by the sunbeam.









ADVENTURE
(parody)

I started from a lunar crater
Towards the Earth.
There, the wind carried me,
And I landed on an oaken leaf
And bathed in the morning dew.

Passengers looked curious at me,
And merchants took me
To exhibit me in a market
In order to obtain more money.

I didn’t like this, so
I escaped and went
To the Middle Orient,
But I saw there
An attempt,
And then, in other territory,
I saw a military conflict.

Afterwards I looked for
Some state without such incidents
And I found an amazing place
Where dishonest people became rich
And rascals came to power.

So, disgusted, I asked myself: Why should I stay
In this cruel and crazy world?
That is not my way!

Thus, later
I came back on the Moon,
Into my quiet crater.





THE TEACHER

Although knowing the subject,
He still prepared it home
Because his profession
Must be very luminous.

He likes the subject,
It is interesting,
And he will make it
Quite captivating
For his students.

It will be a complex lesson,
He thinks
And zealously explains
The structure of the Universe,
And the scientific evolution
Over time,
Which made clear
So many mysteries
And now attacks
New problems.

He explains
How great people
Discovered fundamental truths,
That the Earth is a planet
Which turns around its axis
And also moves annually
Around the Sun,
Or about the colossal fights
For verity
And the sufferings
Of those who asserted it
With the price of their freedom
Or even with the price of their life…

He spoke so passionate
And so vibrant
That many students
Were really fascinated.

But suddenly the teacher
Felt something foreign and strange,
Went to the rear of the classroom
And saw something like a precipice:
Two students threw the dice
With an ignorant peace.

And the whole Universe collapsed…
Into the abyss.


THE BEAST (BLACK HOLE)
or
ASTROPOETIC THEORY

The hard beast
is hungry,
lying in wait for anything.

She doesn’t know fear,
and nobody can escape
from her claws.

Although she is so small,
she can gulp at anytime
a star with a bigger ray.

Although she is unseen,
she can keep any light
in her own darkness.

But maybe some day
she will break herself
because of too much food
as a big and stormy outburst,
and will liberate
all her subjects
through fireworks:

clouds,
new stars,
lights,
and all that hopes to gain
again
life’s universal train.





-ROMANIAN ORIGINAL VERSIONS-


NOAPTE DE MAI

Te chem adiere de noapte de mai,
In gand si cu grai,
Cu toata simtirea,
Te chem adiere de noapte de mai
La ceas cand pe tineri ii cheama iubirea.

In noaptea vrajita te simt pe aproape,
Cand salcia-si pleaca tacerea pe ape,
Cand flori te asteapta naltand delicat gingasele creste
Si astre tacute
Din raze ne tes,
Cu tainice semne, de neinteles,
Cea veche poveste
Din lumi in fiinta si lumi disparute.

Si-ascult iar in noapte, cuprins de fiori,
Cum vii furisata prin frunze si flori,
Cu viers de iubire,
Sa-mi mangai obrajii si tamplele bland,
Sa-mi fluturi chemari si petale de gand
Spre nemarginire.


FORMILA LUI EULER

e la i pi egal cu minus unu

Sinteza matematica profunda
Cand Euler cu gandirea sa fecunda
A reunit intr-o egalitate
Algebra, analiza, geometria
Elaborand perfect un tot, din toate,
Punand in evidenta armonia
Ce guverneaza-ntreaga existenta
Si relevand profunda ei esenta.

e la i pi egal cu minus unu

Formula scurta, simpla, geniala,
Triumf al matematicii in mers
Fiind pentru fiinta rationala
O poarta de intrare-n Univers.


SIMFONIA a IX-a
(geniului lui Schiller si Beethoven)

Raza Soarelui aduna
Pe popor langa popor
E dorinta ce-ncununa
Geniul lor nemuritor.

Simfonia cand rasuna,
Poarta-n ea stravechiul dor,
Raza Soarelui aduna
Pe popor langa popor.

E sublim ce vrea sa spuna
Tuturor maretul cor,
Fi-vom frati toti, impreuna,
Iar pe cei ce asta vor,
Raza Soarelui i-aduna.


AVENTURA
(parodie)

Am decolat dintr-un crater lunar
Inspre Pamant.
Acolo eu am fost purtat de vant
Aterizand pe-o frunza de stejar
Cand m-am scaldat in roua diminetii.

M-au observat cu interes drumetii,
Apoi m-au dus de-acolo precupetii
Sa ma expuna intr-un galantar,
Sperand ca sa obtina un castig.
Nu mi-a placut si-am inceput sa strig.

Apoi am evadat,
Am mers in orientul apropiat,
Dar intr-un atentat am nimerit,
Am fost prea norocos ca n-am pierit,
Si-n alta parte-am dat
Peste-un conflict armat.

Am cautat
Un stat fara conflict si-am nimerit
Un loc ce m-a uimit,
Unde cei fara cinste fac avere
Iar ticălosii-s la putere.

Si dezgustat
M-am intrebat,
Ce caut in lumea asta cruda si nebuna?

Dezamagit
Am revenit pe Luna
In cel crater de unde am pornit.


PROFESORUL

Desi subiectul nu-i era strain
El indelung s-a pregatit acasa
Fiindca in profesia lui nu lasa
Nimic ce n-a fost lamurit deplin.

Subiectu-i place
E interesant
Si il va face
Cat mai pasionant
Ca sa starneasca-n clasa interes
Va fi o lectie plina de-nteles.

Asa socoate el
Si-ncepe plin de zel
In clasa sa arate-n chip si fel
Cum e structura Universului
Si cum, in timp, stiinta omului
A descifrat mister dupa mister
Si-ataca noi probleme care cer
Raspuns:

Cum au ajuns
Unii mari oameni din trecut
La adevarul cunoscut
Cum ca Pamantul este o planeta
Ce se roteste-n jurul axei lui
Si de asemeni executa,
In jurul Soarelui,
Miscarea sa anuala,
Ce lupta colosala
Pentru-adevar s-a dat
Si ce au indurat
Cei ce l-au afirmat,
Cu pretul libertatii
Sau chiar cu pretul vietii.

Si de pasiune, cand vorbea,
In suflet, dascalul vibra
Iar multi elevi emotionati
Erau de-a dreptul transportati.

Insa profesorul deodata,
Simte ceva strain, ciudat,
Spre fundul clasei se indreapta,
Unde zareste imediat
Cum doi elevi, fara habar,
Jucau cu-n zar
Care era din creta intocmit...

Si-ntregul Univers s-a prabusit.


FIARA
(teorie astropoetica)

Flamanda
E fiara cea grea
Mereu sta la panda
Si prinde tot ce-i iese-n cale,

Nu stie ce-i frica,
Din ghearele sale
Nu scapa nimica,

Inghite o stea
Chiar daca aceasta-i mai mare ca ea
Ca raza de ori cate ori

Si ce de orori
Mai face tacuta
Si e nevazuta,
Ca nici o lumina nu lasa
Sa iasa
Din cruda-i stransoare,

Dar poate veni-va o vreme in care
De-atata mancare
Cumva, va plezni
Si va izbucni
Furtuna in cosmos, explozie mareata,
Iar gaura cea neagra va elibera
In foc de artificii, tot ce stapanea:

Nori, stele, lumina, tot ce nazuia
Sa iasa la viata.


*

© 2009 SARM
(Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy)