.
The Harp
by Gustavo Bécquer | from Spanish by Cheryl Corey
Obscured by corner shadows, gathering dust, perhaps
forgotten over time—there stands the silent harp.
So many hidden notes entombed on muted strings,
which like a bird asleep upon a steadfast bough,
await the snow-white hand who makes their music sing.
Alas! So too, I’ve often thought, the spirit sleeps.
It waits, like Lazarus, deep within the soul, until
it hears a voice—the Lord’s command: “Arise and walk!”
.
.
The Swallows
by Gustavo Bécquer | from Spanish by Cheryl Corey
A flock of dark swallows shall return
to fill your balcony with hanging nests,
and playful wings will flap at window panes;
but those in migrant flight, that wind constrains,
who knew our names, who’ve seen your loveliness,
my happiness, shall never come again.
The honeysuckle vines will twine your garden
walls, and even prettier blooms will open
at later times; but blossoms full of dew—
the ones we see that shiver, break, and fall
like tear-filled days—will never bloom anew!
Your ears will someday hear new words of passion,
perhaps your deeply dreaming heart to waken;
but as I kneel in silent contemplation,
as one who worships God before his altar,
so I have worshipped you … don’t fool yourself:
A love like mine shall never come again!
.
.
Original Spanish
El arpa
Del salón en el ángulo oscuro,
de su dueña tal vez olvidada,
silenciosa y cubierta de polvo
veíase el arpa.
¡Cuánta nota dormía en sus cuerdas,
como el pájaro duerme en las ramas,
esperando la mano de nieve,
que sabe arrancarlas!
¡Ay!—pensé; cuántas veces el genio
así duerme en el fondo del alma!
y una voz, como Lázaro, espera
que le diga: “¡Levántate y anda!”
.
Las golandrinas
Volverán las oscura golondrinas
en tu balcón sus nidos a colgar,
y otra vez con el ala a sus cristales
jugando llamarán;
pero aquellos que el vuelo refrenaban
tu hermosura y mi dicha al contemplar,
aquellas que aprendieron nuestras nombres,
ésas …; ¡no volverán!
Volverán las tupidas madreselvas
de tu jardín las tapias a escalar,
y otra vez a la tarde, aún más hermosas,
sus flores se abrirán;
pero aquellas, cuajadas de rocio,
cuyas gotas mirábamos temblar
y caer, como lágrimas del día …
ésas … ¡no volverán!
Volverán del amor en tus oidos
las palabras ardientes a sonar;
tu corazón de su profundo sueño
tal vez despertará;
pero mudo y absorto y de rodillas,
como se adora a Dios ante su altar,
como yo te he querido … desengáñate,
¡así no te querrán!
.
.
Cheryl Corey’s recent credits include the current issue of Iconoclast and www.grand-little-things.com. Other publications include Iambs & Trochees, Deronda, The NeoVictorian/Cochlea, The Comstock Review, Mobius, and Time of Singing. In 2007 she received 1st Place for the Dylan Thomas Award and Honorable Mention for the June Kraeft Memorial Award in The World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets contest.
“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?”
― Emily Dickinson, Selected Letters
Thank you for translating these beautiful poems. Sgk
Two exceptionally beautiful renditions of two of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer´s well-known and most loved poems.
Cheryl has been able to touch the emotional quintessence of each poem and thus make each line become alive for the reader. So much so, that each translation has become a ´separate´ poem in its own right.
Cheryl, have you other translations of other poems (whether of Becquer or possibly of any of the later 1927 Generation of poets?
Mr. McCrory, thank you for your kind words. It means a lot to me, especially since these poems are my first attempts at translation! I’ve discovered just how difficult it is. It’s hard enough to translate into English meter, let alone incorporate rhyme. It seems to me that translation calls for striking a balance. I made every effort to remain faithful to the spirit and meaning of the original and not stray too far. Or is it a given that something will always be “lost in translation” as the saying goes?
I have a few other translations that I might call finished, and I’m tearing my hair out on many others, so perhaps in the future, you’ll be seeing more of them here.
Hola Cheryl!
Muchas gracias por tu respuesta tan rapida!
You certainly have a gift for translation (yes, in general, something is ´lost´ in translation), but very little in the best. I would like to read any others of your ´´¡finished´ works, if possible and bedore you lose all your hair!
My Ph.D thesis was on the works of Jorge GUILLEN
(CANTICO). Have you read his poetry?
I am currently living near Alicante in Spain and thus avoiding the worst outbreaks of Covid 19 in the UK!
Good Luck!
The first poem, especially, I found stunning. There is a haunting atmosphere to it that literally gave me goosebumps.
First attempt at translation? I can’t wait for the next.
Thanks for the reads, Cheryl.
These translations are good work that captures the feel of Becquer, who was a very intense Spanish Romantic poet. Check out his poem that begins “Yo soy ardiente, yo soy morena / Yo soy el simbolo de la pasion…”
In the first line of the original Spanish of “Las golandrinas,” the word /oscura/ should be /oscuras/, and /golondrinas/ should be made consistent with the title.
Thank you for pointing out the error.
Nice translations! It’s edifying to me to be able to read poetry from another time and language and to gain insight into the thoughts and ideas which would otherwise be closed off to me, thank you. I love getting a picture with each poem too, that’s like a cherry on the top.
Thank you for translating these poems so beautifully.
Qué sorpresa! Thank you for this!