20 de noviembre de 2005

Luis Cernuda - Si el hombre pudiera decir...

Luis Cernuda
Si el hombre pudiera decir lo que ama
    Luis Cernuda
If a man could say what he loves
 
     
Si el hombre pudiera decir lo que ama,   If a man could say how much he loves,
si el hombre pudiera levantar su amor por el cielo   if a man could raise his love in the sky
como una nube en la luz;   like a cloud in the light;
si como muros que se derrumban,   if like falling walls,
para saludar la verdad erguida en medio,   in order to salute the truth, straightened in the middle,
pudiera derrumbar su cuerpo,   he could plunge his body headlong,
dejando solo la verdad de su amor,   leaving just the truth about his love,
la verdad de sí mismo,   the truth about himself,
que no se llama gloria, fortuna o ambición,   which is not called glory, nor fortune, nor ambition,
sino amor o deseo,   but love or desire,
yo sería aquél que imaginaba;   I would be the one who imagined;
aquél que con su lengua, sus ojos y sus manos   the one who, with his tongue, his eyes and his hands,
proclama ante los hombres la verdad ignorada,   proclaims in front of the men the ignored truth,
la verdad de su amor verdadero.   the truth about his true love.
     
Libertad no conozco sino la libertad de estar preso en alguien   Freedom I do not know but the freedom of being imprisoned in somebody
cuyo nombre no puedo oír sin escalofrío;   whose name I cannot hear without chill;
alguien por quien me olvido de esta existencia mezquina,   someone for whom I forget this mean existence,
por quien el día y la noche son para mí lo que quiera,   for whom the day and the night are for me whatever he wants,
y mi cuerpo y espíritu flotan en su cuerpo y espíritu   and my body and spirit float in his body and spirit
como leños perdidos que el mar anega o levanta   like lost logs that the sea submerges or raises
libremente, con la libertad del amor,   freely, with the freedom of love,
la única libertad que me exalta,   the only freedom that exalts me,
la única libertad por que muero.   the only truth for which I die.
     
Tú justificas mi existencia:   You justify my existence:
si no te conozco, no he vivido;   if I do not meet you, I haven't lived;
si muero sin conocerte, no muero, porque no he vivido.   if I die without meeting you, I don't die, because I haven't lived.
     

5 comentarios:

Anónimo dijo...

Buen aporte
me encanta ese poema

Anónimo dijo...

Thank you for this translation, which I think captures the poem well. I would suggest "someone" instead of "anybody" for "alguien" however. "Anybody" is not used in this construction.

Sadi78 dijo...

Gracias, amigo anónimo.

Unknown dijo...

In the spanish, the subject of his love and desire is masked by the fact that when discussing the 3rd person, there is no need to specify a subject. Blatantly translating the object of his love to "he" undoes so much of the magic of the poem. He wants to be free enough to proclaim his love for "him" in this poem and in life, but he is not. Using him in the translation undoes this longing in some ways.

Alioko dijo...

Puta madre