Growing up in Romania literature was a big part of our lives, and in school we studied our great writers.
One of these writers is Ion Luca Caragiale, and one of these days I was chatting with my wonderful, better half about how would we translate into English one of Caragiale’s much loved lines/quotes.
A bit of background.
Ion Luca Caragiale lived between 1852–1912. He is one of Romania’s most well-known and loved playwrights and satirists. He is known for his sharp wit and keen eye for the absurdities of society.
His work captures the spirit of late 19th-century Romania, especially its political hypocrisy, social climbing, and moral posturing themes that remain strikingly relevant today.
A little known fact about Caragiale is that he briefly ran a beer hall in Bucharest, where he would eavesdrop on patrons for inspiration.
Some of his most memorable characters were inspired by the people he overheard while pouring drinks proving that in Caragiale’s world, everyday nonsense was high art in disguise.
Now about that quote. It is very difficult to accurately translate it into English and I am sure that Romanians try to do that in all the languages they learn.
The quote is a line from his play O scrisoare pierdută (A Lost Letter), first performed in 1884. It’s spoken by the character Cetățeanul turmentat (The Inebriated Citizen), who ironically represents both confusion and a distorted sense of civic duty, making the exaggerated declaration both hilarious and biting.
The quote is: “Simt enorm și văd monstruos” and it is famously ambiguous and ironic, so the English translation should ideally capture both the intensity and the ridiculous overstatement.
-Literal Translation:
”I feel enormously and see monstrously.”
This is word-for-word and accurate, but slightly odd in English.
-Idiomatic Translation (preserving tone): 2 options/versions
”My feelings are immense, and what I see is monstrous.”
”I’m overwhelmed with emotion and witness horrors beyond belief.”
-Satirical/Exaggerated Tone (matching Caragiale’s irony): 2 options/versions
”I’m consumed by grand emotion and see nothing but monstrosities!”
”I feel everything deeply — and everything I see is hideous!”
Romanians use this line/quote all the time adapting it to the moment they live through.
For me, throughout my life, through my inner struggles as a writer and as a developing human, I always thought at this line and adapted it to my own way of feeling and seeing the world.
Because I do feel a lot, overwhelmingly so, and I do see a lot, sometimes monsters, sometimes fairies.
This line crystalized in my mind even more, with the meaning I had attached to it, not the satirical one from Caragiale, when I learnt about Baudelaire’s Synaesthetic Correspondences.
When I read/learnt about Baudelaire’s Synesthesia I almost yelled: Yes, that is me, that is my view of the world!
Baudelaire introduced and popularized the idea of ‘correspondences’ as hidden links between the senses, emotions, and the natural or symbolic world.
This concept is especially evident in his 1857 poem:
‘Correspondances’ from Les Fleurs du mal
“Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se répondent...”
“Perfumes, colors, and sounds correspond to one another…”
In other words, sounds can be felt, colors can be heard, scents can evoke visions. It’s a mystical perception of the world (Ahhhh!) where everything is interconnected and symbolic.
I love, love both Caragiale and Baudelaire and I love how their works melted into feeling in my being.
The mark of the masters!