Link to audio for how I made this poem into a song.
#11
by Silvina Ocampo
I learned a lot translating this poem. Some words I thought I knew, I learned new definitions of. I re-learned some future tense that I had learned in school but forgotten. Memorizing a poem is a great way to memorize specific verb conjugations. Ire, iremos, dejare, llorar, etc.
I picked it because I wanted to memorize another Silvina Ocampo poem (female poet), because the end words rhymed which makes it easier to memorize, and because it started off nos iremos, me ire. I also liked the sound of I will leave - I am outta here!
Nos iremos, me ire con los que aman,
dejare mis jardines y mi perro
aunque parezcas dura como el hierro
cuando los vientos vagabundos braman.
Nos iremos, tu voz, tu amor me llaman:
dejare el son plateado del cencerro
aunque llegue a las luces del desierto
por ti, porque tus frases me reclaman.
Buscare el mar por ti, por tus hechizos,
me echare bajo el ala de la vela,
despues que el barro zarpe cuando vuela
la sombra del adios. Como en los frios
llorare la cabeza entre tu mano
lo que me diste y me negaste en vano.
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We will go, I will leave with those that they love
I will leave my gardens and my dog
even though you seem as hard as iron
when the wandering winds howl.
We will go, your voice, your love call me:
I will leave the silvery sound of the cowbell
even if / though I reach / arrive at the lights of the desert
for you, because your phrases call to me.
I will search the sea for you, for your spells,
I will throw myself under the wing of the sail,
after the mud boat sets sail when
the shadow of goodbyes flies. As in a fever,
I will cry / mourn - head in your hand -
that which you gave me and denied me in vain.
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Translation Notes
- Aunque parezcas - I believe when aunque parecer is together, it is an idiom that means something like odd though it seems. I did not translate it that way because it just didn't fit the flow of the poem, but I'd like to know how I should have translated it. Also, the "c" in parezcas is a hard C. I had to search for this and found the answer on a website where you can hear any word pronounced. Check it out: http://forvo.com/word/parezca/
- Vagabundos - cool word! I translated it as wandering, but really wanted to translate it as vagabond because vagabond winds is just a cool image.
- Braman - I chose howl because it sounded like the most normal of the possible words to use, but actually wanted to use bellow, which was the first suggested translation. What is better, vagabond winds bellow? Or wandering winds howl? The first one is obviously more unique imagery, which is almost always a good thing in poetry.
- Tu voz, tu amor me llaman - in my head this goes your voice, your love, they call me. That just has a nice rhythm.
- El son plateado del cencerro - these were all new words for me. Plateado can mean silver plated but I imagine she meant silvery sound of the cowbell because that just makes sense and it's beautiful.
- Aunque llegue - Llegue is subjunctive for reach or arrive, but I just wasn't sure how to translate that. Though I arrive or even if I reach...for you?
- Hechizos - spells. Good word.
- Echarse - to throw oneself. Really cool word. Look it up. I like all the detail at this dictionary. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english/echarse#echarse_1
- Despues que el barro zarpe -Pretty sure I need some help here. Barro = mud, Zarper = to weigh anchor, to set sail. Zarpe is subjunctive. But after the mud sets sail? I think I must be missing something.
- Cuando vuela la sombra del adios - when the shadow of goodbyes fly. Again, think I must be missing something here. Or I could just keep thinking about it...
- Los frios - I finally found (all the way at the bottom) that as a masculine plural noun, this means intermittent fever or malaria in Central America. That made so much more sense than what I first thought, as in the colds!
- Llorare - Does this mean I will cry or I will mourn? I will cry with my head in your hand? Or I will mourn (head in your hand) that which you gave me and denied me in vain? And do I mourn in vain? Or did you deny me in vain, and I got it anyway?
