“Eternal Drunkeness” by Matthew Landrum

a translation from the Faroese of Agnar Artúvertin

The thunder blows east and west

and everything goes to pieces. Sometimes fate

squares its shoulders against us, arranging things

so that it goes on being night.

There’s no demarcation to the day –

weak suns duck for cloud cover; all is dark

and dead calm and there is frost on the road.

A little dwarf stands behind a big tree

chain smoking cigarillos with a gang of devils

and demons. Drag on drag, they smoke

while the thunder blows in the east. In the west,

the sun sets or – dammit! – is it rising again?

ÓENDALIGUR DRYKKJUSKAPUR

Toran blæsir í eyst og vest,

og alt fer í skeljar.

Stundum eru umstøðurnar lagaðar á slíkan hátt,

at tað blívur við at vera nátt.

Uttanfyri er myrkt, men sólin fer ei til viðar.

Endi fæst ei á degnum.

Alt er kvirt og trist,

og frost er á vegnum.

Har stendur ein lítil dvørgur

undir tí stóra trænum.

Hann roykir langar seruttir

saman við djevlum og fanum.

Eina fyri og aðra eftir,

meðan toran blæsir í eystri.

So setur sólin og – devulssettur!

rísir hon aftur í vestri!

Matthew Landrum’s translations have appeared in Asymptote Journal, RHINO, and Memoir Journal. He holds an MFA from Bennington College.