RELEASED: Feb. 24, 2005

DANVILLE, KY—Love was in the air at Centre College last week as student contestants in the campus-wide love-poetry contest recited their compositions of romance.

The contest, sponsored by the German and French programs, encouraged students to submit their love poems in English, German or French. The winning poems were announced and read aloud during an awards ceremony in Old Carnegie on Valentine’s Day. Third-place winners in each language won a heart-shaped box of chocolates; second-place winners won books of poetry in their language; first-place winners won DVDs in their language; and the grand-prize winner won dinner for two at Two Roads Café in Danville.

Senior Patrick Malarkey from Piqua, Ohio, walked away with the grand prize for his poem, “L’Oeil” (The Eye).

“L’œil”
By Patrick Malarky
Avec un de mes yeux, l’un au-dessus de l’oreiller,
Je suis le temps comme le passage de la lumière du soleil
Qui commence à percer les interstices des rideaux.
A l’extérieur, par la vitre, je regarde l’arbre
Qui – il me semble – grandit de votre hanche.
Et vous, vous prenez forme dans la lumière;
Comme cet arbre vous vous enracinez dans le noir.

Et moi, qui suis-je? Moins l’herbe, moins le terroir,
Moins les vers humides (les voyageurs de votre sol riche)
Je ne suis que l’œil qui vous donne l’existence et la beauté,

Et je m’efface dans le noir de notre chambre.


English translation:
“The Eye”
With one eye, the one above the pillow,
I follow time in the passage of the sunlight
That begins to filter through the cracks in the curtains.
Outside, through the window, I see a tree
Which–it seems to me–grows from your thigh.
And you, you take shape in the light;
Like this tree you put down roots in the darkness.

And who am I? Less than grass, less than earth,
Less even than the sliding worms (travellers of your rich soil)
I am only the eye that gives you existence and beauty,

And I’m fading into the darkness of our room.

Complete results of the love-poetry contest:
First place:
English—Mary Jo Tewes, “Two or three weeks”
French—Molly Reynolds, “Silence”
German—Annie Maggard, “Bis dahin”

Second place:
English—Annie Maggard, “Maths”
French—Laura Whitaker, “Mon Amour, ma vie, toujours”
German—Katie Pfohl, “Liebesgedicht”

Third place:
English—Carrie Robison, “I Could Fall in Love”
French—Christanna Schumann, “Les Fusées”
German—Elisha Sircy, “Nein? Warum nicht?”

“I was really impressed by the quality of entries,” says Ian Wilson, visiting instructor of German and humanities. “We have some terrific poets on campus, many more than the list of winners indicates. I think this contest shows the kind of place Centre is. Students aren’t afraid to put themselves and their emotions out there in a public forum, and they write great poetry not only in English, but in French and German, too. I only hope we can expand the contest in the future to take advantage of students’ poetic talents in other languages.”

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

Back to News and Events Home Page