We Have Time

Well, dear readers...


This is where the idea (and need) for this blog, originally sprung.

Ever since I first read this poem, I was absolutely mesmerized by it.

I've read miles of poetry during my lifetime, both for my personal pleasure as well as for my school studies and I must admit, there were a lot of poems that I didn't like.

I have particular expectations when it comes to poetry. The first ones that I don't like, are poems that are bursting with metaphors, hyperbola, anastrophe (you name it...), just for the sake of being "poetic". The first to spawn must be the ideas, then the poem, which must lead back to the author's ideas. Not just a bunch of fancy words. Of course, the author must have the sublimity that most novices lack. I like poems with a hint of mystery to them, but not to that point where you need to read 4 or 5 reviews just to make something out of the poem.

Back to my poem... The poem is called "Avem Timp"/"We Have Time", written by the Romanian poet Octavian Paler (1926-2007). In my opinion, the beautiful simplicity and stunning idealism of this poem is what captured my heart. But I won't comment on it further, I will let you make your own impression about it. That was my original goal. I wanted to show this poem to a lot of my friends who don't speak or understand Romanian, but I couldn't because there was no translation available (or so I thought...). So I took some time free...and translated it myself.

Translating poetry is, in fact, translating an emotion. The emotion captured in the poem. To take the emotion out of the words is not that easy. Therefore, in translating poetry, there are no “accurate versions", neither does the accurate reproduction of the form or rhyme count; it’s all about the emotions captured and rendered in such way that the reader of the translation feels the same emotion as the one who reads the original poem...

I enjoyed translating this poem very much… and I hope you will do the same reading it. The ironic thing... after I translated it I browsed the web...and found that others had already translated it. Well destiny has it that, I may be not the first who translated this poem, but now I can proudly say, when asked: “Have you got the English version? Yes! I have MY version!“...


We have time

By Octavian Paler


Translation by Alexandru Frateanu


We have time for everything,
To sleep, to run back and forth,
To regret what we've done wrong and to blunder again,
To judge others and to absolve ourselves.
We have time to read and write,
To correct what we have written, to regret what we have written,
We have time to do projects and not meet the deadlines,
We have time to create illusions and stir trough their ashes later,
We have time for ambitions and diseases,
To blame our destiny or the small details of our life,
We have time to watch the clouds, commercials or a random accident.
We have time to chase away our questions,
To avoid the answers.
We have time to shatter a dream and reinvent it,
We have time to make friends, to lose them.
We have time to receive lessons and forget them afterwards.
We have time to receive gifts and not understand them.
We have time for everything.


There’s only time for just a little bit of tenderness
After we manage to do that, we die.


I've learned some things in life that I want to share with you.
I learned that you cannot make someone love you
All you can do is be a beloved person,
The rest … depends on others.
I learned that no matter how much I care,
Others may not.
I learned that it takes years to earn trust,
But it takes only seconds to lose it.
I learned that it doesn’t matter WHAT you’ve got in life, but WHOM you’ve got.
I learned that you can manage in life, and your charm is useful about 15 minutes,
After that, you’d better know something.
I learned that you mustn’t compare to what others do best,
But with what you can do best.
I learned that it doesn’t matter what happens to people,
But what can I do about it.
I learned that anyway you split it,
Everything has two sides.
I learned that you have to depart from your beloved ones with kind words,
It could be the last time you’ll ever see them.
I learned that you can go on for a long time,
After you said you couldn’t go on anymore.
I learned that heroes are the one that do the right thing at the right moment,
No matter the consequences.
I learned that there are people, who love you,
But who don’t know how to show it to you.
I learned that when I’m upset I have the RIGHT to be upset,
But I don’t have the right to be mean.
I learned that true friendship continues to exist even at a great distance,
And that also goes for true love.
I learned that, if someone doesn’t love you the way you want it,
It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you from all his heart.
I learned that no matter how good a friend someone is,
He will sometimes hurt you
And you must forgive him for that.
I learned that sometimes it’s not enough to be forgiven by others,
Sometimes you must learn to forgive yourself.
I learned that no matter how much you suffer,
The world will not come to a stop because of your pain.
I learned that the past and circumstances may influence your personality,
But in the end YOU are responsible for what you become.
I learned that if two people fight, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other,
And if they don’t fight doesn’t mean that they do.
I learned that sometimes you must put forward the person,
And not his actions.
I learned that two people can look at the same thing,
And see something completely different.
I learned that no matter the consequences,
Those who stay true to their selves will succeed in life.
I learned that your entire life can be changed in just hours
By people who don’t even know you.
I learned that even if you think you have nothing left to give,
When a friend cries out for help, you will find the strength to help him.
I learned that writing, like taking,
Can ease the pain in your soul.
I learned that people who you cherish the most,
Are taken away too soon.
I learned that it’s hard to tell,
Where to draw the line between being kind and not hurting others,
And sustaining your beliefs.


I learned to love,
So I can be loved

I learned…



I'm sorry if some lines did't fit in the column properly, but even blogs have their limits. I hope you enjoyed reading this poem...