Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836 - 1870)
Rimas in Translation
VII IX XIV XV XXI
XXIII XXIV XXX LIII LVI LXIII
Esta sección no quiere ni va a incluir todas las Rimas de Bécquer. Como poeta y traductor bien sé que toda traducción es cuestión
de opinión y siempre se puede mejorar: si alguien quiere contribuir
con sus proprias traducciones,será muy agradecido.
No se pretende que sea ni literal, ni en verso, lo importante es que el que lea el texto
inglés logre entender lo que dice el poeta en el texto original. A todas las
traducciones se les añadirá el email de contacto del traductor.
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This section will not nor does not want to include translations of all of
Bécquer's poems. As published poet and translator, I well
know that translating is a matter of opinion as much as of skill: translations can always
be improved. If anybody feels likes contributing,
their efforts will be more than welcome. It isn't necessary for the translation to be
literal or in verse, the only important thing is that the reader of the English text
should be able to understand what the poet is saying in the original. All translations
will be acknowleged and your email will be posted with the text.
Note: This is my personal homepage. I am actually very busy as a webmaster and I do
not have any time for translating. I hope these pages might help you.
Rima VII
In the dark corner of the hall,
perhaps forgotten by her mistress,
silent and dusty,
laid the harp.
So many notes slept in her strings,
as the songbird sleeps in the branches,
waiting for the snowy hand
that knows how to awake them!
Alas! - I thought - how often does genius
likewise sleep in the deepest of the heart,
and a voice, like Lazarus, awaits
to be told "Rise and walk!
Top / Arriba
Rima IX
The whining air kisses
and playfully curls the nimble waves;
The sun kisses the western cloud,
lending it purple and golden hues,
The flame, around the burning trunk
to kiss another flame it slips,
And even the willow tree, bowing under his own weight,
to the river that kisses him returns the kiss.
Top / Arriba
Rima XIV
I saw you for a brief instant, floating before my eyes
the sight of her eyes took hold in me
like the dark stain rimmed with fire
that floats and blind when looking at the sun.
Wherever I look
I behold again her flaming pupils,
but I don't find you, you are
your eyes, nothing more.
From the corner of my bedroom I see them
shining fantastically wild;
when I sleep I feel them raise,
wide open, staring at me.
I know that by night the will-of-the-wisp
leads the wayfarer to his death;
I am drawn by your eyes,
drawn, yet I do not know whereto.
Top / Arriba
Rima XV
Hovering misty gauze,
curling belt of white surf,
reverberating sound
of a golden harp,
breeze' light kiss, wave of light:
that' s you.
You, impalpable shadow,
everytime I try to touch you, you vanish -
just like the flame, the sound,
the mist, and the whining of the blue lake!
A resounding wave in a sea that knows no beaches,
a wandering comet in the empty space,
the protracted lament of the voiceless wind,
eternal longing for something better:
that' s me.
In my agony, day and night, I gaze
searchingly into your eyes;
crazed, I run tirelessly
after a shadow, following the ardent daughter of an apparition!
Top / Arriba
Rima XXI
What is poetry ?, you ask, while nailing
your blue gaze into mine.
What is poetry ? You ask it ?
Poetry... that's you.
Top / Arriba
Rima XXIII
(To her. I don't know...)
For a glance, the Earth,
for a smile, the Heavens,
for a kiss... I don't know
what I would give you for a kiss !
Top / Arriba
Rima XXIV
Two red tongues of fire
entwined to the same trunk
they draw near and, when they kiss,
they are one flame;
two notes that the hand
plays on the lute at the same time,
they meet in the air
and harmoniously embrace;
two waves that together
come to die on a beach
and when they break are crowned
by a plume of silver;
two banks of mist
rising from the lake
when they meet up there in the sky
they become one white cloud;
two ideas that are shaped together;
two kisses that mingle together;
two echoes that resound as one:
these are our two souls.
Top / Arriba
Rima XXX
Tears were welling into her eyes,
Words of forgiveness were coming to my lips;
Pride spoke and she dried her tears
And those words went unspoken.
I go one way, she goes another;
but, when I think of our mutual love,
I still say : - Why didn't I speak that day ?
And she: - Why didn't I cry ?
Top / Arriba
Rima LIII
The black swallows will return
to nest on your balcony,
and with their wings they will knock
playfully at its windows.
But those who slowed down in their flight
to contemplate your beauty and my happiness,
those who learnt our names...
those....will not return!
The luscious honeysuckle will again
climb the walls of your garden,
and, even more beautiful in the afternoon,
its flowers will bloom again.
But those flowers adorned by dew -
drops we watched to tremble
and fall, as if they were the day's tears...
those... will not return!
Ardent words of love will echo again
in your ears,
your heart from its deep slumber
will perhaps awaken.
Mute, lost in thought and kneeling in worship
as if by the altar of a God,
that is how I loved you...; don't deceive yourself,
nobody will love you so!
Top / Arriba
Rima LVI
Today like yesterday, tomorrow just like today,
always the same !
A grey sky, an eternal horizon
and to walk....., to walk.
The heart moves ryhthmically, like a stupid
machine.
The brain's listless intelligence
dozes in a corner.
The soul, longs for paradise,
a quest without faith,
tiredness with no aim, wave that moves,
knowing not why.
A monotone voice sings incessantly
the same song,
a monotone drop constantly falls
and keeps falling, endlessly.
Thus the days go by
one running after the other;
today just like yesterday...., and all
with no joy nor pain.
Ah, sometimes I longingly recall
past woes !
Suffering is bitter, but at least
to suffer is to live !
Top/Arriba
Rima LXIII
Memories of past days
like a swarm of irate bees
come out of a dark corner
to haunt me.
I want to drive them away. Vain effort !
They surround me, they harrass me,
and, one by one, they thrust in me
the sharp sting that inflames the soul.
Top/Arriba
Todas las Rimas
Rimas I - XI
XII
- XXIX
XXX - XL
XLI - LI
LII - LXV
LXVI - LXXV
LXXVI - LXXXVII
Resources Recursos: All things Bécquer - Todo sobre Bécquer