Dez chamamentos ao amigo
by Hilda Hilst
Love, love, my season
Sylvia Plath
VII
Essa lua enlutada, esse desassossego
A convulsão de dentro, ilharga
Dentro da solidão, corpo morrendo
Tudo isso te devo. E eram tão vastas
As coisas planejadas, navios,
Muralhas de marfim, palavras largas
Consentimento sempre. E seria dezembro.
Um cavalo de jade sob as águas
Dupla transparência, fio suspenso
Todas essas coisas nas pontas dos teus dedos
E tudo se desfez no pórtico do tempo
Em lívido silêncio. Um sol que não vejo
Também isso te devo.
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.