Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Nov 26, 2013 10:26
10 yrs ago
English term
Russian Federation
Always welcome! :)
Native in: Russian 
Works in: German to Russian, English to Russian, Spanish to Russian, and 7 more.
but one
Non-PRO
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Francis William Bourdillon
What is meant here by the author under that expression? I presume, he meant "but one thing", and neither "but one eye" nor "but an eye". References to translations of the rhyme into German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian are welcomed, as well as ones to critics, theorists of literature, literary historians in English, German, Spanish and French, if any. This text was translated for the first time into Russian in 1974 (I'm the 2nd translator of it AFAIK :), and the translator which probably didn't know English, judging by the data available, used a lineal translation of the other unknown translator. So he meant in both cases "but one eye" i. e. "but an eye" which doen]t sound correct enough to me/
I can imagine a one-eyed day (when it is sunny), but "Love is blind", so one-eyed love is not the most attractive view IMHO.
MTIA
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
The night has a thousand eyes,
:::And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
:::With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
:::And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
:::When love is done.
Francis William Bourdillon
(22 March 1852 – 13 January 1921)
I can imagine a one-eyed day (when it is sunny), but "Love is blind", so one-eyed love is not the most attractive view IMHO.
MTIA
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
The night has a thousand eyes,
:::And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
:::With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
:::And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
:::When love is done.
Francis William Bourdillon
(22 March 1852 – 13 January 1921)
Responses
| 4 +11 | only one |
John Holland
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| 3 +7 | just one |
cynthiatesser
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| 5 | here it means "single." |
acetran
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References
| Versions |
Charles Davis
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Change log
Nov 27, 2013 05:33: Jim Tucker (X) changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Dec 11, 2013 03:26: John Holland Created KOG entry
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:
Non-PRO (3): Cilian O'Tuama, danya, Jim Tucker (X)
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Responses
+11
5 mins
Selected
only one
"But one" is a formal way of saying "only one."
I believe the poet is referring to the stars of the night sky and the sun which shines during the day, with the metaphor that they are eyes. The night sky has a thousand eyes/stars and the day only one eye/the sun.
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Note added at 23 mins (2013-11-26 10:49:28 GMT)
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Tony M makes a very good comment about "eye" already being a kind of metaphor for a point of view or perspective.
So, for the second stanza, it would mean that, where love and the loss of love are concerned, we can have many different ideas and entertain (or even talk ourselves into) many different points of view, but our heart alone knows the real, singular truth of what we feel.
I believe the poet is referring to the stars of the night sky and the sun which shines during the day, with the metaphor that they are eyes. The night sky has a thousand eyes/stars and the day only one eye/the sun.
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Note added at 23 mins (2013-11-26 10:49:28 GMT)
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Tony M makes a very good comment about "eye" already being a kind of metaphor for a point of view or perspective.
So, for the second stanza, it would mean that, where love and the loss of love are concerned, we can have many different ideas and entertain (or even talk ourselves into) many different points of view, but our heart alone knows the real, singular truth of what we feel.
Note from asker:
| So, heart has one eye (for this particulare rhyme) in your opinion, hasn't it? Sometimes about the dawn the day has also two eyes when the Moon seen. It's a not so wide-spread natural phenomenon, but I've watched it personally. |
| Special thanx for rendering of the second stanza, John! :) |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
3 mins
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Thanks, Tony
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| agree |
Lucy Phillips
: yes, only one eye = the sun in the first instance. Love perhaps in the second, but it's still 'only one eye' in terms of the way he expresses that idea in the poem. What exactly the 'eye' is in the second instance is left for the reader to infer.
9 mins
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Thanks, Lucy
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| agree |
Alexandra Schneeuhr
11 mins
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Thanks, Alexandra
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| agree |
Carol Gullidge
21 mins
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Thanks, Carol
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| agree |
Victoria Britten
44 mins
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Thanks, Victoria
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| agree |
Andrea Burde (X)
1 hr
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Thanks, auburde
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| agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
5 hrs
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Thanks, 1045
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| agree |
Phoenix III
8 hrs
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Thanks, Phoenix
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| agree |
Jim Tucker (X)
19 hrs
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Thanks, Jim
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| agree |
Phong Le
1 day 19 hrs
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Thanks, Phong
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| agree |
Daniel Weston
1 day 20 hrs
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Thanks, Daniel
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+7
3 mins
cynthiatesser
Italy
Italy
Specializes in field
Italy
Knowledge makes the difference
Native in: Italian (Variant: Standard-Italy)
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian, Italian
just one
This is how I see it
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Note added at 6 mins (2013-11-26 10:32:58 GMT)
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The heart has just one eye, one only love.
Or
The mind can be satisfied with many different feelings (pride, success, amusement, etc.) but the heart is only satisfied with love, so when love dies the heart dies with it
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Note added at 7 mins (2013-11-26 10:33:36 GMT)
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No, just one eye
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Note added at 39 mins (2013-11-26 11:06:02 GMT)
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the light = the love
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Note added at 6 mins (2013-11-26 10:32:58 GMT)
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The heart has just one eye, one only love.
Or
The mind can be satisfied with many different feelings (pride, success, amusement, etc.) but the heart is only satisfied with love, so when love dies the heart dies with it
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2013-11-26 10:33:36 GMT)
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No, just one eye
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Note added at 39 mins (2013-11-26 11:06:02 GMT)
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the light = the love
Note from asker:
| Just one thing, you mean, don you? |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
5 mins
|
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Thank you!
|
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| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: "just one" works fine
24 mins
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Thank you!
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
30 mins
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Thank you!
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| agree |
Victoria Britten
46 mins
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Thank you!
|
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| agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
5 hrs
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Thank you!
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| agree |
Phoenix III
8 hrs
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Thank you!
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| agree |
Daniel Weston
1 day 20 hrs
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Thank you!
|
8 mins
here it means "single."
The poet answers it in the 4th line of both verses.
The first verse it is the 'sun,'and in the second verse it is 'love.'
Sun is the eye of the day, and love is the eye of the heart.
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Note added at 6 hrs (2013-11-26 17:22:24 GMT)
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As the Bible says, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Matthew 6:22
The first verse it is the 'sun,'and in the second verse it is 'love.'
Sun is the eye of the day, and love is the eye of the heart.
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Note added at 6 hrs (2013-11-26 17:22:24 GMT)
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As the Bible says, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Matthew 6:22
Note from asker:
| Thank you for you opinion! :) |
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
B D Finch
: Misses the point! The biblical reference you quote is absolutely irrelevant. The point of "but one" is that it is an emphatic contrast with the previous statement.
1 day 7 hrs
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| agree |
sujoyal (X)
2 days 5 hrs
|
Reference comments
1 hr
Charles Davis
Spain
Spain
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Spain
Related KudoZ points
:
236
Reference:
Versions
Russian
This must be the one you've referred to. It is by Yakov Polonsky (Яков Петрович Полонский) (1819-1898) and dates from 1874. It was set to music by Cesar Cui (Цезарь Антонович Кюи), in Six Poems by Polonsky (Шесть стихотворении Я. П. Полонского), Op. 76, no. 2 (1908):
Ночь смотрит тысячами глаз,
А день глядит одним;
Но солнца нет - и по земле
Тьма стелется, как дым.
Ум смотрит тысячами глаз,
Любовь глядит одним;
Но нет любви - и гаснет жизнь,
И дни плывут, как дым.
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=12908&Tr...
______________________________
German
There's also a version in German by Walter A. Aue © 2010, beginning "Viel tausend Augen hat die Nacht". It can be seen here:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=59842
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Note added at 9 hrs (2013-11-26 20:09:56 GMT)
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I didn't see that one. It contains a very bad error: it translates "but one" as "pero uno". As has been said here, "but" means "only" in this case, not "however". I can't find an accurate version of the complete poem in Spanish.
Here it is in Italian:
http://www.efpfanfic.net/viewstory.php?sid=461365
http://www.psicosomaticapnei.com/pdf/ossitocina.pdf (p. 2)
http://dp1237.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/la-notte-a-mille-occh...
This must be the one you've referred to. It is by Yakov Polonsky (Яков Петрович Полонский) (1819-1898) and dates from 1874. It was set to music by Cesar Cui (Цезарь Антонович Кюи), in Six Poems by Polonsky (Шесть стихотворении Я. П. Полонского), Op. 76, no. 2 (1908):
Ночь смотрит тысячами глаз,
А день глядит одним;
Но солнца нет - и по земле
Тьма стелется, как дым.
Ум смотрит тысячами глаз,
Любовь глядит одним;
Но нет любви - и гаснет жизнь,
И дни плывут, как дым.
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=12908&Tr...
______________________________
German
There's also a version in German by Walter A. Aue © 2010, beginning "Viel tausend Augen hat die Nacht". It can be seen here:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=59842
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Note added at 9 hrs (2013-11-26 20:09:56 GMT)
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I didn't see that one. It contains a very bad error: it translates "but one" as "pero uno". As has been said here, "but" means "only" in this case, not "however". I can't find an accurate version of the complete poem in Spanish.
Here it is in Italian:
http://www.efpfanfic.net/viewstory.php?sid=461365
http://www.psicosomaticapnei.com/pdf/ossitocina.pdf (p. 2)
http://dp1237.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/la-notte-a-mille-occh...
Note from asker:
| Thank you for the refence material, Charles! Of course, I've read Russian version after the translation (never do it before). It was interesting to read it in German, though a couple of apostrophes miss there - probably disadvantages of copypasting. Mit dem Licht der einen Sonn'. Läuft ihm die Lieb' davon. |
| You wrote "I've found unpublished translations of this in Spanish and Italian on the Internet". Is it this one? http://www.experienceproject.com/l/es/s/historias/La-Noche-Tiene-Mil-Ojos/272051 I'm afraid, it's not rhymed, signed with some nick though "Esta historia escrita por Orangetas" |
Discussion
I've found unpublished translations of this in Spanish and Italian on the Internet (none in French, but there must be one somewhere). Everybody does what I've indicated: use some form of words that means "the night has many eyes; the day has one eye // the mind has many eyes; the heart has one eye". As far as I can see, the terms night, day, eye, mind and heart are universal and work the same in just about any language. The extremely rich and ancient associations of the sun as an eye, seeing with the heart, and all the other things that are implicit here are found in an very wide range of cultural traditions.
Special thanks @Lucy Phillips for her comment, I just have no other place to express gratitude. The key terms stay here for me 'figurative' and 'to leave for the reader to infer'. I leave the choice of the best answer to peer grading.
It can also suggest 'that which is seen', which certainly fits to some extent with the second stanza.