Poems Found In Translation: “José Martí: Two Countries (From Spanish)” |
Posted: 30 Nov 2016 07:03 AM PST
Two Countries
By José Martà Translated by A.Z. Foreman Click to hear me recite the original Spanish I have two countries: Cuba and the night.  Or are they one? No sooner does the sun  withdraw its majesty than, dressed in long   veils with a carnation in her hand,  Cuba appears to me a silent widow.   I know what that bloodstained carnation is  atremble in her hand. My breast is empty.  Sundered it is, and empty where the heart  once was. The hour is already come  to begin dying. Night is a good time  to say goodbye. Light is impediment  as is the human word. The universe   speaks better than man.            Like a flag that calls to battle on the field, the candle's flame  flutters ablaze in red. I open windows  feeling such tightness. Crushing the carnation's  petals in silence, like a cloud befogging  the heavens, widow Cuba passes by.  Random notes on the Spanish: Un clavel en la mano — echoes the phrase un clavo en la mano "a nail in the hand" and has a slightly ghastly feel to it. The terms clavel and clavo are in fact related (see here.) La llama roja / de la vela flamea — a masterful bit of wordplay. vela means three things: "wakefulness," "candle" and "sail." Flamear means both "flare, blaze (of a candle)" and "flutter (of a sail)." Note also that vela is one gender and one vowel away from the velos (veils) in which Cuba is garbed. The words Cuba, muda, viuda, nube are sonically linked by having the deep /u/ vowel followed by a fricative. The Original: Dos Patrias Dos patrias tengo yo: Cuba y la noche.  ¿O son una las dos? No bien retira  su majestad el sol, con largos velos  y un clavel en la mano, silenciosa  Cuba cual viuda triste me aparece.  ¡Yo sé cuál es ese clavel sangriento  que en la mano le tiembla! Está vacÃo  mi pecho, destrozado está y vacÃo  en donde estaba el corazón. Ya es hora  de empezar a morir. La noche es buena  para decir adiós. La luz estorba  y la palabra humana. El universo  habla mejor que el hombre.               Cual bandera que invita a batallar, la llama roja  de la vela flamea. Las ventanas  abro, ya estrecho en mÃ. Muda, rompiendo  las hojas del clavel, como una nube  que enturbia el cielo, Cuba, viuda, pasa...  |
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