from Ten songs to a friend
by Hilda Hilst
VII
This mournful moon, this unquietness
This convulsion inside, island
in solitude, dying body
all this I owe you. And they were vast
the things planned, ships,
ivory walls, large words
Concede, always. And it would be December
A jade horse over the waters
Double transparence, suspended line
All these things at the tip of your fingers
And all was undone in the portal of time
In livid silence. Some glass mornings
Wind, the hallowed soul, a sun I don't see
This too I owe you.
The literal translation of this poem was made by Beatriz Bastos
The final translated version of the poem is by The Poetry Translation Workshop
© Poetry Translation Centre 2004-2012
Ana Britto says:
Hi, this a lovely poem.
Where can I find the whole poem by Hilda Hilst? I've "googled" it and got more than one version.
I really enjoy this website. It would be great to find more Brazilian poems here:)
Thanks a lot
xx
Ana Britto
thomas says:
nice job
julie harpum says:
these poems are seriousy beautiful why are they not better known in europe?
Vanusa Pedrozo says:
I speak Portuguese and English and I saw some problems in the final translation for this poem.
In the first line, "Essa lua enlutada, esse desassossego," there is the alliteration of lua (moon) and enlutada (adjective for the one who is mourning). I know it is impossible to keep the alliteration, but I believe the image of the moon is important in the poem, since the idea is that even the moon is sad, and reflects the speaker's feeling.
Also in the 11th and 12th lines, the images "some glass mornings/wind, the hollowed soul" do not exist in the original poem. In the original poem, the literal translation is "In livid silence. A sun I can't see/ this to I owe you." You could check because the confusion might be result of a typing mistake in the original poem, since in the literal translation by Beatriz Passos those two lines are there too.