Other № 105986
RosalÃa de Castro: When I was born
From the Galician "NasÃn cand' as prantas nasen"
I was born with plants and blossoms
In the month when gardens grew,
In a dawn so very gentle
In a dawn of April dew.
Thatâs the reason why Iâm Rosa
With a grin gone red with rue,
Bristling thorns for everybody
(Never, though, a thorn for you)
Since I fell in love (a thankless
Thing I did) lifeâs gone askew
And I let it go, believing
You my life and glory too.
Why then this complaining Mauro?
Why the rage? You know itâs true-
If my dying made you happy,
Happily Iâd die for you.
Still you stab me with a dagger
Spiked with curses. Not a clue
What it was you really wanted,
Crazy deeds you made me do!
All I had to give I gave you
In my hungering for you.
Now it is my heart I send you
With its one unlocking key.
Iâve got nothing left to give you,
Youâve no more to ask of me.
11 comments
I think "daggar" s/b "dagger" unless you a punning a character (it could happen!)
nice one.
Using spake for spoke would be completely inappropriate since this poem is somewhat more colloquial than that (at least it's meant to be.) RosalÃa de Castro was the first poet in centuries to write in her native Galician, (which is not unlike medieval portuguese) rather than Spanish. Thus her poetry, like Sappho's, is filled with colloquialisms mixed in with slight (and I do mean slight) archaisms. So spake for spoke would be completely out of place in a translation of DeCastro
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