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In our myth, when people die they go to paradise, and on their way, there is this flower that stops feeling lonely when plucked and the one who plucked never miss worldly things any more. They completely forget everything and never turn back to have even a glimpse of the world they used to live. In our language we call this flower Hawilopar which literally means Hawi=Turn, lo=no and par=blooming flower. I want to use this flower in a sentence.

Had I plucked the flower of no turning back, I would still turn to you.

If I had had plucked the flower of no turning back, yet I would turn to you.

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    The flower of no turning back is quite appropriate and a nice turn of phrase. Quite poetic. You could also say "the flower of no return", as an allusion to the idiom "point of no return". Incidentally, in your myth, is it possible to walk the path of death to paradise, but not pick the flower? What happens then?
    – Dan Bron
    Oct 3, 2015 at 15:33
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    Interesting! The flower reminds me of the flower of eternal life Gilgamesh sought in his epic. And the waters remind me of the waters of the underworld river Lethe of Greek mythology, which also abolished all memory.
    – Dan Bron
    Oct 3, 2015 at 15:39
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    It's such a lovely question, and beautifully explained too I don't want to taint it by editing, but could you not create a more meaningful title? The title really doesn't do the question any justice. You could simply ask: "What is the English equivalent of hawilopar?"
    – Mari-Lou A
    Oct 3, 2015 at 16:06
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    @DanBron "Flower of no return" seems to be the best fit. Why don't you make it answer?
    – Elian
    Oct 3, 2015 at 16:08
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    @Elian I really like "the flower of no-turning-back"; such a great meter, and offers so many options for the second clause: "I will turn back for you".
    – Dan Bron
    Oct 3, 2015 at 16:19

2 Answers 2

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Dan Bron put this in a comment, but I think it deserves to be an answer: the river Lethe /ˈliːθi/ is a mythological reference familiar to most educated English speakers; its water was said to have equivalent effects on the souls of the dead (as Wikipedia puts it, "all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness").

So, if you want to use a less literal translation that preserves the sentiment:

Had I drunk from the waters of Lethe, I would still turn to you. Even if I drink from the waters of Lethe, yet I will turn to you.

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  • You should also mention (for the OP's benefit) that whoever drank from its waters, their memories were erased.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Oct 4, 2015 at 4:26
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Flower of oblivion seems to fit.

"Oblivion" definition (source Dictionary.com):

  • the state of being completely forgotten or unknown (a former movie star now in oblivion).
  • the state of forgetting or of being oblivious (the oblivion of sleep).
  • the act or process of dying out; complete annihilation or extinction (If we don't preserve their habitat, the entire species will pass into oblivion).
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  • Seems far better than mine.
    – user140086
    Oct 3, 2015 at 15:46
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    Yeah, can't argue it's a great word, but if OP uses it, then how would he sustain the meter while denying or undoing the oblivion? Though I pluck the flower of no-turning-back, I will return to you.
    – Dan Bron
    Oct 3, 2015 at 15:55
  • +1 for the word Oblivion, But it does not put more importance in the word 'turning'. In our language, we emphasize 'the turning back'. So if a dead person plucks the flower, he never turns back and never looks back.
    – Mawia HL
    Oct 3, 2015 at 15:57
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    @MawiaHL - It's quite difficult to mix both memory loss and no way back. I like "flower of no return", what makes me think to the Otto Preminger film "River of no return", with Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe.
    – Graffito
    Oct 3, 2015 at 16:13
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    @Graffito, I end up using I will come to you even after plucking the flower of no turning back and drinking the water of oblivion.
    – Mawia HL
    Oct 3, 2015 at 16:20

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