‘For Then’ by Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, Translated by Cheryl Corey

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For Then

by Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (Mexico, 1859-1895)
translated by Cheryl Corey

O, to die upon the open sea
At sunset, facing heaven, where agony
Is but a dream; and soul, the essence of me,
Is like a bird in flight that’s soaring free.

To be already one with sea and sky,
And never hear the mourner’s plaintive cry
Or prayerful sob; and if they question—why?
Majestic waves will offer no reply.

To die when the sad, fading light-display
Of haloed nets withdraws from emerald spray;
To be as the sun, which slowly slips away,
Once golden-bright, but lost at end of day;

To die while I’m still young and in my prime,
When all of life’s a festive pantomime,
Before destroyed by cold, capricious Time;
Though life betrays, let parting be sublime!

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Original Spanish

Para entonces

Quiero morir cuando decline el día
en alta mar y con la cara al cielo;
donde parezca un sueño la agonia,
y el alma, un ave que remonta el vuelo.

No escuchar en los últimos instantes,
ya con el cielo y con la mar a solas,
más voces ni plegarias sollozantes
que la majestuoso tumbo de las olas.

Morir cuando la luz triste retira
sus áureas redes de la onda verde,
y ser como ese sol que lento expira;
algo muy luminoso que se pierde.

Morir, y joven: antes que destruya
el tiempo aleve la gentil corona;
cuando la vida dice aún: “soy tuya”,
aunque sepamos bien que nos traiciona.

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Cheryl Corey is a Connecticut poet. She is also an author of short stories, a novella, and recently completed a novel.