1696 Frum hand ta hand (Er passa-mano)
Translated by Peter Nicholas Dale

The Pope, God’s locum, Our Lord, is sumwun I’d
Liken tw’an eternal Father like Our Eternal Father.
Thad is, he dudn’t die, or, sure he dies, but rather,
Ta be precise, he only really dies on the outside.

Cos when his body leaves off be’en a guvener,
His soul, still stuck in its ancient honour,
Dudn’t go da paradise or hell - it ain’ a goner -
But passes straid in’a the body uv his successor.

In this way he c’n undago slite changes in his brain,
His stummick, ears, nose, skin, mouth or eyes;
But the Pope, inasmuch as he’s a Pope, stays the same.

An that’s the reason why ev’ry body fated ta receive
That kinda dignudy, falls down frum the sky
Soulless, with nuthen else but the power da breathe.

9/5/2001
The sonnet is translated into "Strine", the dialect spoken in Australia down to the 1960s

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1696 From hand to hand (orthographically normalized version)
Translated by Peter Nicholas Dale

The Pope, God’s locum, Our Lord, is someone I’d
Liken to an eternal Father, like Our Eternal Father.
That is, he doesn’t die, or, sure he dies, but rather,
To be precise, he only really dies on the outside.

Because when his body leaves off being a governor,
His soul, still stuck in its ancient honour,
Doesn’t go to paradise or hell - it ain’t a goner -
But passes straight into the body of his successor.

In this way, he can undergo slight changes in his brain,
His stomach, ears, nose, skin, mouth or eyes;
But the Pope, inasmuch as he’s a Pope, stays the same.

An that’s the reason why every body fated to receive
That kind of dignity, falls down from the sky
Soulless, with nothing else but the power to breathe.
 

9/5/2001