Si, poeta es asomarse
a las puertas
del misterio
y volver de el
con una
vislumbre de
lo desconocido
en los ojos
Rubén Darío
(Semblanzas)
Yes, to be poet
is to lean out
through
the doors
of mystery
and turn back
with the light
of the unknown
in your eyes
Rubén Darío
(Biographical Sketches)
3 comments:
Yes, "poet" is to show up
at the doors
of the mystery
and return to it
with a glimmer
of the unknown
in the eyes
Hi Brian, sorry, I couldn't help but come out of the woodwork. Sorry to see you take a hiatus just when I'm hoping to come out of mine soon. Between my father's sudden illness & passing and my 2-month passed deadline ("lifeline!" "lifeline!") for my new book/s, too much time has passed in response to your email. I would love to look at your book of translations. Send it to me c/o my business manager's address and I'll look at it soon. You can also send me your own work, I'd like to look at it.
Hope you don't mind my tinkering with this. I love Dario. Good way to shut-up (with a stammer) certain pomo promos. There's more to the American diet than burgers & franks—que no?
Thanks for this & your work.
Good work,
Lorna Dee
P.S. I'd also tinker with last line; in my version adding "one": "...of the unknown/ one in the eyes"
just to underscore all the rich layers of unknown/stranger & the ambiguity of in whose eyes, re-cognition/de-conocido, to be stripped of one's personal identity at the moment of presenting one's self to The Mystery that is poetry. Hope to blog soon on translation, especially translating from a language that is not native to you (in my case), and hope to open up a dialogue (polylogue) with you & other poet-translators. And hope it doesn't grow up to be an unkissed frog. Peace to you. And to our planet.
Thank you so much for this email. (The Planet thanks you too, from the bottom of its earthy heart.) I am truly glad to hear from you. My book is going to press soon, but when I get home one weekend I'll see about sending you some material... As for your proposed polylogue... well, may it not grow up into an unkissed humongous fungus either!
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