BEOWULF: A NEW TRANSLATION SENTENCE STARTERS
taken from maria dahvana headly’s translation of beowulf. feel free to change pronouns, etc.
‘ tell me we still know how to speak of kings. ’ ‘ everyone knows what men are: brave, bold, glory-bound. ’ ‘ i spent my youth fists up. ’ ‘ a boy can’t daddy until his daddy’s dead. ’ ‘ privilege is the way men prime power, the world over. ’ ‘ even ghosts must be fitted to fight. ’ ‘ we’ll mourn the way men do. ’ ‘ it was asking for burning, but that hadn’t happened yet. ’ ‘ every castle wants invading, and every family has enemies born within it. ’ ‘ there are prayers to call out, and pains to bear. ’ ‘ a hellion’s home is anywhere good men fear to tread. ’ ‘ is it true that something savage walks at night? ’ ‘ i know the difference between words and deeds, as anyone with half a brain does. ’ ‘ horrors happen. i’m grown, i know it. fate can fuck you up. ’ ‘ i heard no one could convince you of clarity. ’ ‘ well, actually, buddy, sit down, you’re drunk. ’ ‘ i knew my duty. ’ ‘ you know how it goes: god’s the final decider, and men only the question-askers, students seeking solace. ’ ‘ only yesterday, i thought my heart would never be mended. ’ ‘ anyone who lives long will endure both ecstasy and ugliness. ’ ‘ fire comes from the same family as famine. it can feast, unfulfilled, forever. ’ ‘ any season is a season for blood, if you look at it in the right light. ’ ‘ if you want to win, you have to forget you’re afraid to die. ’ ‘ no one knows the name of the lost soul who’d interred those spoils long ago, burying the grave goods of a wealthy race. death had snatched them all into a sack and lifted them out of existence, leaving only one. ’ ‘ we existed; now we’re extinct. ’ ‘ we all know stories like this one: a man unmarked by fate may sometimes cloak himself in god’s grace, passing close to monsters, unbeheld. ’ ‘ that trust will turn to dust, like everything. ’ ‘ stricken, suddenly unsteady, i foresaw my fate in the fog, shrouded but certain. ’ ‘ i lived whole lives in my youth. i remember every moment, even now. ’ ‘ there was no way to mourn him, no vengeance to be had, for what could mitigate the blame? who was left to shame for this heart-thieving? nobody. ’ ‘ no settlement in silver can buy a child back from the gods of air. ’ ‘ i’m not dead yet. i’ll lead while taking my last breath. ’ ‘ you won’t be bested while your heart beats. ’ ‘ your fame won’t diminish. your history’s here. ’ ‘ i want to know it was worth it. my dying will be easier if i see what i died to do. ’ ‘ living has killed us all. we’re dustbinned by destiny. ’ ‘ at least i, alone among these ranks, tried. ’ ‘ now is a time for mourning, for walking, downcast, the exile’s road, gray-garbed and grim. ’ ‘ maybe a man’s mighty, maybe he’s known to all as a warrior, but death has his number. no one knows when it’ll be called. ’ ‘ no man knows, not me, not you, how to get to goodbye. ’
