| Mid-term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bay Counting bells knelling classes to a close, At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home. In the porch I met my father crying-- He had always taken funerals in his stride-- And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow. The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram When I came in, and I was embarrassed By old men standing up to shake my hand And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble," Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest, Away at school, as my mother held my hand In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs. At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses. Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him For the first time in six weeks. Paler now, Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple, He lay in the four foot box as in a cot. No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. A four foot box, a foot for every year. |
Descanso a mitad de trimestre
Pasé toda la mañana en la enfermería Conté campanadas el fin de la clase presagiar_TN1, A las dos, vecinos me llevaron en coche a casa. En el porche encontré a mi padre que lloraba- él que siempre se tomaba los entierros con calma- Y al gran Jim Evans diciendo que era un duro golpe. El bebé balbucía, reía y se movía Cuando entré y me sentía avergonzado al ver Gente mayor levantarse a darme a mí la mano Y a decirme que en el dolor me acompañaban A los foráneos les susurraban que era yo el mayor Estudiando fuera, mi madre con mi mano En la suya, tosía furioso y seco llanto. A las diez llegó la ambulancia con el cuerpo, Restañado y vendado por las enfermeras. La mañana siguiente subí a la habitación. Flores_TN2 y velas templaban el entorno. Lo vi, primera vez en seis semanas. Marchito ahora, La herida, una amapola en la sien izquierda. Yacía entre cuatro codos_TN3 como en su cuna. Sin marcas llamativas, fue de un golpe limpio. Caja de cuatro codos, una por cada año. |
Mossbawn: Sunlight There was a sunlit absence. The helmeted pump in the yard Heated its iron, Water honeyed In the slung bucket_TN4 And the sun stood Like a griddle cooling Against the wall Of each long afternoon. So, her hands scuffled_TN5 Over the bakeboard, The reddening stove Sent its plaque of heat Against her where she stood In a floury apron By the window. Now she dusts the board With a goose´s wing, Now sits, broad-lapped, With whitened nails And measling_TN6 shins_TN7: Here is a space Again, the scone rising To the tick of two clocks. And here is love Like a tinsmith´s_TN8 scoopTN9 Sunk past its gleam In the meal-bin. |
Mossbawn: Luz de sol Había una ausencia soleada. En el jardín la bomba de mano_TN10 Calentaba su hierro, Caía agua en gotas de miel En el cubo colgado Y el sol se apoyaba Como una plancha enfriándose En la pared De cada larga tarde. Sus manos peleaban Sobre la tabla de amasar, La estufa roja Mandaba su ola de calor Allí donde ella estaba de pie Con su delantal lleno de harina En la ventana. Ahora quita la harina de la tabla Con un ala de pato, Ahora se sienta, con los pies separados Y uñas blancas Y piernas con manchas: Aquí un espacio Otra vez; el bollo creciendo Hasta que suenan dos horas. Y aquí está el amor Tal cucharón de hojalata Hundido hasta perder la plata En el perol_TN11. |
The Forge All I know is a door into the dark. Outside, old axles and iron hoops rusting; Inside, the hammered anvil´s short pitched ring, The unpredictable fantail_TN12 of sparks Or hiss when a new shoe toughens in water. The anvil must be somewhere in the center, Horned as a unicorn, at one end square, Set there immoveable: an altar Where he expends himself in shape and music. Sometimes, leather-aproned, hairs in his nose, He leans out on the jamb, recalls a clatter Of hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows; Then grunts and goes in, with a slam and flick To beat real iron out, to work the bellows. |
La Herrería Todo lo que conozco es una puerta hacia la oscuridad. Fuera, viejos ejes y aros de hierro herrumbrándose_TN13; Dentro, el ruido agudo del batido yunque, Impredecible cola de abanico de chispas O de siseo cuando una nueva herradura se endurece en agua. El yunque debe estar al medio Cornudo como el unicornio, cuadrado en un lado, Posado allí inamovible: un altar Donde él se consume en formas y sonidos. A veces, con delantal de cuero y pelos en la nariz, Se asoma a la puerta, recuerda el estrépito De herraduras donde el tránsito pasa volando en filas; Entonces gruñe y entra, con un portazo y un golpe A batir hierro de verdad, a manejar el fuelle. |
Translator´s Notes:
TN1. I chose “presagiar” instead of “anunciar” because it makes more
sense. He didn´t know what had happened but he could feel something was
wrong.
TN2. “Campanillas de invierno” is obviously way too long so I chose
the hyperonym “flores”.
TN3. This was by far the most difficult part to translate. After much
research for some old measuring unit that would sound good and be close
enough to a foot, I came across the unit of “codo corto” apparently used
in Ancient Egypt that measured a little over a foot.
TN4. I thought it would be a collocation but it turned out not to be.
TN5. WR: verb scuffle, tussle
fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters; "the drunken men
started to scuffle"
TN6. I discarded the possibility of measling suggesting measly (MW:
miserable, mezquino) for obvious reasons. I think it might come from
measles (sarampión) and it could mean some kind of rash on the lower
part of her legs, namely the shins or maybe just the kind of red spots
that appear with age.
TN7. MW: espinilla, canilla.
TN8. BabelPOINT - tinsmith: hojalatero, lampista, latero, perolero,
tachero.
TN9. MW: pala fem (para harina, etc.), cucharón masc (para helado, etc.)
TN10. I couldn´t find an image on the internet of a “helmeted pump”,
all I found was an image of an old water pump and they called it “bomba
de mano” and since that alludes to war/weapons aswell, I thought it
would do fine.
TN11. Meal-bin” seems like a large cooking recipient so I looked for
synonyms of “olla” in WR and found “perol” which is a recipient that
hangs over the fire. It reminded me of a gypsy camp (many mouths to
feed, etc.) and besides, it kind of rhymes with “amor”.
TN12. WIKI: cola de abanico, pájaros de la familia Rhipidurinae.
TN13. I liked the alliteration of “rr” in “hierro herrumbrándose” and
since I can´t preserve the alliteration in other verses I compensated in
this one.
Academic
year 2007/2008
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Gabriela Harsulescu
gahar@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València Press