Frederico Garcia Lorca
FREDERICO GARCIA LORCA
POEMA DEL CANTE JONDO
POEM OF THE DEEP SONG
Introduction
Chronology
PARALLEL TEXT
Notes
Further Reading and Links
A photograph of Lorca, taken in 1916, when he was eighteen. [In the translation, the word NOTE indicates a particular crux of meaning that is explored in the Notes. Click on NOTE for an immediate transfer to the discussion, and then on RETURN to be taken back to the poem in question.]
translation © tclt.org.uk 2007
INTRODUCTION
Por el llano, por el viento, jaca negra, luna roja. La muerte me está mirando desde las torres de Córdoba. INTRODUCTION ¡Ay qué camino tan largo! ¡Ay mi jaca valerosa! ¡Ay que la muerte me espera, Although not actually published until 1931, Lorca’s Poema del Cante antes de llegar a Córdoba! Jondo was in fact written a decade earlier, most of it during the later months of 1921. Lorca originally intended the publication of this Córdoba. sequence of poems to coincide with Spain’s first amateur festival of cante Lejana y sola. jondo (a type of popular Andalusian music also known as flamenco), which he and the composer Manuel de Falla had organised in an attempt to celebrate its aesthetic value in the face of increasing commercial The four versions below try to convey the haunting, enigmatic simplicity adulteration. Lorca himself recognised the distinctiveness of this kind of of this poem in different ways, and with varying degrees of success. poetry. It was steeped in the cultural, emotional and physical atmosphere Some of the issues they raise are best illustrated by marginal notes against of Andalusia – in heat, blood, soil, love, longing, death. It valued each of the lines: compression and brevity – short, ballad-like verses that condensed momentous events of human experience into a few, resonant words. It was a poetry of suggestion rather than statement, implication rather than Rider’s Song literalness. It evoked a world of intensities, often expressed through image, metaphor and symbol. In short, in both its music and its words, Córdoba. cante jondo offered a powerful distillation of those elemental issues Far away and alone. GOOD SENSE BUT ? RHYTHM (birth, love, time, death) by which our experience is defined. Black pony, big moon, OVER-EMPHATIC MONOSYLLABIC STRESSES? There could be few better ways of crystallising the issues of translation and olives in my saddle-bag. A PERSUASIVE RHYTHM HERE cante jondo raised by than to scrutinise a single, celebrated poem and Although I know the roads O.K. BUT PERHAPS A LITTLE LAME? Canción de jinete some of the renderings it has generated. was written in I’ll never reach Córdoba. RHYTHMICALLY DEFICIENT 1924, little over two years after Poema del Cante Jondo. In it, Lorca evokes a physical and emotional landscape of distance and absence, of Through the plain, through the wind, THROUGH THE PLAIN? things unsaid and unexplained. An unknown rider contemplates his future black pony, red moon. AGAIN, STRESS SEEMS TOO EMPHATIC journey towards Córdoba, a journey he is certain he will never complete: Death is looking at me VERB COULD BE STONGER from the towers of Córdoba. A GOOD LINE
Canción de jinete Ay! How long the road! AY?? + MELODRAMATIC EFFECTS
Ay! My valiant pony! VALIANT? CONNOTATIONS OF WORD? Córdoba. Ay! That death should wait me ‘SHOULD WAIT ME’? WAIT FOR, AWAIT? Lejana y sola. Before I reach Córdoba. ADD UNSTRESSED SYLLABLE AFTER VERB?
Jaca negra, luna grande, Córdoba. y aceitunas en mi alforja. Far away and alone. GOOD SENSE BUT ? RHYTHM Aunque sepa los caminos yo nunca llegaré a Córdoba. (Stephen Spender and J.L. Gili, 1955)
ii iii INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
Rider’s Song Death is waiting for me A LITTLE FLAT? before I reach Córdoba. DEFICIENT RHYTHM Córdoba, distant and lonely. GOOD SENSE, BUT ? TROCHAIC ADJECTIVES Córdoba, Córdoba, AS ABOVE far away and solitary. AS ABOVE Black pony, large moon, OVER-EMPHATIC STRESS?; ‘LARGE’ IS O.K. in my saddlebag olives. WHY INVERT? RHYTHM IS DESTROYED (Merryn Williams, 1992) Well as I know the roads, GOOD SENSE AND PRETTY EFFECTIVE RHYTHM I shall never reach Córdoba. RHYTHMICALLY RATHER PROSAIC
Over the plain, through the wind DIFFERENT ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS ARE GOOD Rider’s Song black pony, red moon. AGAIN, STRESS SEEMS TOO EMPHATIC Death keeps a watch on me EFFECTIVE VERB, BUT OMIT ‘A’? Córdoba. from Córdoba’s towers. RHYTHM?? Far and lonely. OVER-COMPRESSED, RHYTHMICALLY?
Oh, such a long way to go! DECLAMATORY, BUT LIMP IN EFFECT Black my pony, full the moon, BALLAD-LIKE PHRASING. VERY GOOD And, oh, my spirited pony! LUDICROUS. WHY ‘OH’ IF PONY IS ‘SPIRITED’? olives in my saddle-bags. VERY EFFECTIVE, THOUGH WHY ‘BAGS’? Ah, but death awaits me SENSE IS GOOD. ? RHYTHM Well that I may know the way, ?? NOT A NATURAL IDIOM before I ever reach Córdoba. ?? RHYTHMIC STRESS I’ll never come to Córdoba. VERY EFFECTIVE
Córdoba. Through the plain and through the wind, GOOD RHYTHM; THROUGH THE PLAIN? Distant and lonely. GOOD SENSE, BUT ? TROCHAIC ADJECTIVES black my pony, red the moon. AS ABOVE, VERY GOOD Death is looking out at me LOOKING OUT AT ME? (Alan S. Trueblood) Penguin intro. from towers tall in Córdoba. WHY ADD ‘TALL’? UNNECESSARY
For the road is so long A GOOD RENDERING For my pony so brave ‘BRAVE’ IS GOOD. BUT SENSE OF ‘FOR’? Song of the Rider MORE SUGGESTIVE THAN ‘RIDER’S SONG’ For death awaits me IS THE RHYTHM EFFECTIVE ENOUGH? Before I arrive in Córdoba. ‘ARRIVE IN’ ?? AND RHYTHM ?? Córdoba, Córdoba , IS THE REPETITION JUSTIFIED? far away and solitary. IS ‘SOLITARY’ RIGHT? SENSE AND RHYTHM? Córdoba. Far and all alone. PHRASING CHANGED. ‘ALL ALONE’ IS GOOD Black pony, full moon OVER-EMPHATIC STRESS?; ‘FULL’ IS GOOD and olives in my saddle-bag. GOOD SENSE AND RHYTHM (Michael Frank, 2001) Although I know the roads ahead GOOD SENSE AND RHYTHM I’ll never reach Córdoba. RHYTHM IS DEFICIENT
Through the wind, through the plain, THROUGH THE PLAIN? NOUNS INVERTED? As the marginal comments above indicate, none of these four versions is black pony, red moon. STRESS SEEMS A LITTLE EMPHATIC without merit, and a number of lines capture successfully both the diction Death is watching me from O.K. BUT ? PREPOSITIONAL ENDING and the metrical accents of Lorca’s traditional ballad. Particularly the towers of Córdoba. GOOD SENSE AND RHYTHM evocative are the ballad-like phrasing of ‘black my pony, full the moon’, the iambic rhythm of ‘and olives in my saddle-bag’, the monosyllabic Ah, how long the road is! REASONABLY EFFECTIVE simplicity of ‘for the road is so long’. For all these and similar strengths, Ah, my valiant pony! CONNOTATIONS OF ‘VALIANT’? though, there are comparable weaknesses. A number of lines are
iv v INTRODUCTION rhythmically uncertain; in three versions, literal adherence to Lorca’s repeated preposition por el llano, por el viento leads to the unidiomatic ‘through the plain’; his verbs, too, (sepa, llegaré/llegar, está mirando, espera) seem to cause special problems of effective translation. Most of all, the third quatrain tests the skills of every translator: how can the exclamatory force of the original (¡Ay…¡Ay…¡Ay…) be sustained without descending into melodrama or limp utterance (Alas…alas…alas)?
The version below tries to capture the elemental, enigmatic force that runs throughout both Poema del Cante Jondo and this later ballad. For both, the language I have sought to deploy embodies a tension between restraint and resonance, simplicity and enigma. For Lorca, nothing is expressed that is not, at the same time, inexpressible. In so far as this translation conveys a small part of that tension in English, it will have more than fulfilled its purpose.
Rider’s Song
Córdoba. Far off…alone.
Black my pony, full the moon, olives in my saddle-bag. However well I know the way, I’ll never come to Córdoba.
Cross the plain and through the wind, black my pony, red the moon. Death is gazing out at me from the towers of Córdoba.
Oh how long a way to go, oh how brave my pony is, oh that death’s expecting me before I come to Córdoba.
Córdoba. Far off…alone.
Tim Chilcott January 2007
vi vii CHRONOLOGY
1927 a collection of poetry, Canciones (Songs), is published. His second play, Mariana Pineda, with stage settings by Dalí, opens to great acclaim in Barcelona. CHRONOLOGY 1928 Romancero gitano (The Gypsy Ballads) is published to great acclaim. But his growing celebrity only exacerbates the tension between his public persona 1898 Federico García Lorca is born on 5 June in Fuente and his private self as a gay man. Has a passionate but Vaqueros, an Andalusian village west of Granada, into abortive affair with Emilio Aladrén, a sculptor. an educated family of small landowners. 1929 leaves for New York with Fernando de los Ríos, an 1909 moves with his family to Granada, and begins to show old family friend, and remains there for nine months. considerable talent as a musician, particularly at the Witnesses the Wall Street crash. The volume of poems piano. based on his experience of the city is published posthumously in 1940 as Poeta en Nueva York (Poet 1914 begins his first year at the University of Granada, in New York). though his subsequent university career is far from distinguished. 1930 on his return to Spain, devotes himself increasingly to the theatre. The following year, begins to co-direct, 1918 his first book is published, a collection of prose pieces and to act in, La Barraca, a government-sponsored entitled Impresiones y Paisajes (Impressions and student theatrical company that tours the country. Landscapes), which meets with local acclaim but little commercial success. 1933 Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) has an outstanding success in Spain and later in Argentina, which he 1919 goes to the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, an visits. educational institution modelled on Oxford and Cambridge, where he meets many of the major 1934 Yerma is written and produced. Composes his great writers, critics and scholars of the day. Becomes close elegy Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (Lament for friends with the poet Rafael Alberti, the filmmaker Ignacio Sánchez Mejías), which is published the Luis Buñuel, the composer Manuel de Falla, and following year. especially the painter Salvador Dalí, with whom he later collaborates. 1935 composes the Sonetos del Amor Oscuro (Sonnets of Dark Love), which remain unpublished until 1984. 1920 his first play El maleficio de la Mariposa (The Butterfly’s Evil Spell) is a disaster, and lasts only four 1936 La casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda performances. Alba). outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. He is accused of 1921 Poema del Cante Jondo (Poem of the Deep Song) is being a Russian spy, and on the night of 18-19 begun in August, with over half of the poems drafted August, is executed by a firing squad of nationalist between 11 and 21 November. A complete text, partisans near the famous spring of Fuente Grande, however, is not published until 1931. not far from Granada. His body is buried in an unmarked grave.
viii ix CHRONOLOGY posthumous the Franco regime places a general ban on his work, which is not lifted until 1953, when a heavily censored Obras Completas (Complete Works) is published. Only after Franco’s death in 1975 do the details of Lorca’s life, death, and complete literary output become more widely known.
x xi
Noche / Night Sevilla / Seville Procesión / Procession Paso / Float CONTENTS Saeta / Saeta Balcón / Balcony Madrugada / Before Dawn
Click on any of the titles to be taken to the relevant poem, and then on GRÁFICO DE LA PETENERA / PICTURE OF THE PETENERA RETURN to be brought back to this index. Campana / Bell Camino / Road Las Seis Cuerdas / The Six Strings Baladilla de los Tres Ríos / Little Ballad of the Three Rivers Danza / Dance Muerte de la Petenera / Death of the Petenera POEMA DE LA SIGUIRIYA GITANA / POEM OF THE GYPSY Falseta / Guitar Flourish SIGUIRIYA De Profundis / De Profundis Clamor / Death Knell Paisaje / Landscape La Guitarra / The Guitar DOS MUCHACHAS / TWO YOUNG GIRLS El Grito / The Cry El Silencio / The Silence La Lola / Lola El Paso de la Siguiriya / The Siguiriya’s Stepping Out Amparo / Amparo Después de Pasar / After Passing By Y Después / And Afterwards VIÑETAS FLAMENCAS / FLAMENCO SKETCHES
POEMA DE LA SOLEÁ / POEM OF THE SOLEÁ Retrato de Silverio Franconetti / Portrait of Silverio Franconetti Juan Breva / Juan Breva Evocatión / Evocation Café Cantante / Flamenco Café Pueblo / Village Lamentación de la Muerte / Death’s Lamentation Puñal / Dagger Conjuro / Exorcism Encrucijada / Crossroads Memento / Memento ¡Ay! / Ay! Sorpresa / Surprise TRES CIUDADES / THREE CITIES La Soleá / The Soleá Cueva / Cave Malagueña / Malagueña Encuentro / Meeting Barrio de Córdoba / Córdoba Neighbourhood Alba / Dawn Baile / Dance
POEMA DE LA SAETA / POEM OF THE SAETA
Arqueros / Archers
2 3
SEIS CAPRICHOS / SIX LITTLE WHIMS
Adivinanza de la Guitarra / Riddle of the Guitar Candil / Oil Lamp Crótalo / Rattling Castanet Chumbera / Prickly Pear Pita / Agave Cruz / Cross
ESCENA DEL TENIENTE CORONEL DE LA GUARDIA CIVIL / SCENE OF THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL OF THE CIVIL GUARD
Cuarto de Banderas / Guardroom Canción del Gitano Apaleado / Song of the Beaten Gypsy
DIÁLOGO DEL AMARGO / AMARGO’S CONVERSATION
Campo / Countryside Canción de la Madre del Amargo / Song of Amargo’s Mother
4 5 BALADILLA DE LOS TRES RÍOS LITTLE BALLAD OF THE THREE RIVERS
A Salvador Quintero For Salvador Quintero
El río Guadalquivir The river Guadalquivir va entre naranjos y olivos. flows through orange and olive trees. Los dos ríos de Granada The two rivers of Granada bajan de la nieve al trigo. fall from snow to wheat.
¡Ay, amor Oh love que se fue y no vino! that left and did not return.
El río Guadalquivir The river Guadalquivir tiene las barbas granates. has a crimson-coloured beard. Los dos ríos de Granada, The two rivers of Granada: uno llanto y otro sangre. one weeping and the other blood.
¡Ay, amor Oh love que se fue por el aire! that left and did not return
Para los barcos de vela, Seville now has a road Sevilla tiene un camino; for sailing ships; por el agua de Granada on the waters of Granada sólo reman los suspiros. nothing rows but sighs.
¡Ay, amor Oh love que se fue y no vino! that left and did not return.
Guadalquivir, alta torre Guadalquivir, high tower y viento en los naranjales. and wind in the orange groves. Darro y Gentil, torrecillas Darro and Genil, little towers muertas sobre los estanques. dead above the pools.
¡Ay, amor Oh love que se fue por el aire! that left and did not return.
¡Quién dirá que el agua lleva Who would guess the water bears un fuego fatuo de gritos! A will-o’-the-wisp of cries!
¡Ay, amor Oh love que se fue y no vino! that left and did not return
6 7
Lleva azahar, lleva olivas, Take olives, Andalusia, Andalucía, a tus mares. Take orange blossom to your seas.
¡Ay, amor Oh love que se fue por el aire! that left and did not return. RETURN RETURN
8 9
POEMA DE LA SIGUIRIYA GITANA POEM OF THE GYPSY SIGUIRIYA
A Carlos Morla Vicuña For Carlos Morla Vicuña
PAISAJE LANDSCAPE
El campo The field de olivos of olive trees se abre y se cierra opens and closes como un abanico. like a fan. Sobre el olivar Above the olive grove, hay un cielo hundido a sunken sky y una lluvia oscura and a dark rain de luceros fríos. of cold stars. Tiembla junco y penumbra Bulrush and twilight tremble a la orilla del río. at the river’s edge. Se riza el aire gris. The grey air ripples. Los olivos The olive trees están cargados are weighed down de gritos. with cries. Una bandada A flock de pájaros cautivos, of captive birds que mueven sus larguísimas that move their long long colas en lo sombrío. tails amid the gloom. RETURN RETURN
10 11
LA GUITARRA THE GUITAR
Empieza el llanto The weeping de la guitarra. of the guitar begins. Se rompen las copas The glasses of the early dawn de la madrugada. are smashed. Empieza el llanto The weeping de la guitarra. of the guitar begins. Es inútil Useless callarla. to silence it. Es imposible Impossible callarla. to silence it. Llora monótona It weeps monotonous, como llora el agua, the way that water weeps, como llora el viento the way the wind weeps sobre la nevada. over snowdrift. Es imposible Impossible callarla. to silence it. Llora por cosas It weeps for things lejanas. far, far away. Arena del Sur caliente Hot southern sands que pide camelias blancas. that yearn for white camellias. Llora flecha sin blanco, Weeps – like an arrow without target, la tarde sin mañana, an evening without morning, y el primer pájaro muerto and the first dead bird sobre la rama. upon the branch. ¡O guitarra! Ah, guitar – Corazón malherido Heart deadly wounded por cinco espadas. by five swords. RETURN RETURN
12 13
EL GRITO THE CRY
La elipse de un grito The arc of a cry va de monte curves from hill a monte. to hill.
Desde los olivos, From the olive trees, será un arco iris negro a black rainbow sobre la noche azul. over the blue night.
¡Ay! Ay!
Como un arco de viola, Like a viola’s bow, el grito ha hecho vibrar the cry has made the long largas cuerdas del viento. strings of the wind vibrate.
¡Ay! Ay!
(Las gentes de las cuevas (The people of the caves asoman sus velones.) put their oil lamps out.)
¡Ay! Ay! RETURN RETURN
14 15
EL SILENCIO THE SILENCE
Oye, hijo mío, el silencio. Listen, my boy…the silence… Es un silencio ondulado, A rippling silence, un silencio, a silence donde resbalan valles y ecos where valleys, echoes, slip, y que inclina las frentes that bends foreheads hacia el suelo. down towards the ground. RETURN RETURN
16 17
EL PASO DE LA SIGUIRIYA THE SIGUIRIYA’S STEPPING OUT
Entre mariposas negras, Among black butterflies va una muchacha morena goes a dark-haired girl junto a una blanca serpiente beside a white snake de niebla. of mist.
Tierra de luz, Earth of light, cielo de tierra. sky of earth.
Va encadenada al temblor Goes chained to the throbbing de un ritmo que nunca llega; of a rhythm that never comes; tiene el corazón de plata she has a heart of silver, y un puñal en la diestra. and a dagger in her hand.
¿Adónde vas, siguiriya, Where are you going, siguiriya, NOTE con un ritmo sin cabeza? with such a mindless rhythm? ¿Qué luna recogerá What moon will gather up tu dolor de cal y adelfa? your pain of lime and oleander?
Tierra de luz, Earth of light, cielo de tierra. Sky of earth RETURN RETURN
18 19
DESPUÉS DE PASAR AFTER PASSING BY
Los niños miran The children gaze un punto lejano. upon a far-off point.
Los candiles se apagan. The oil lamps are put out. Unas muchachas ciegas Some blind girls preguntan a la luna, ask questions of the moon, y por el aire ascienden and spirals of weeping espirales de llanto. rise up through the air.
Las montañas miran The mountains gaze un punto lejano. upon a far-off point. RETURN RETURN
20 21
Y DESPUÉS AND AFTERWARDS
Los laberintos The labyrinths que crea el tiempo, that time creates se desvanecen. vanish.
(Sólo queda (Only the desert el desierto.) remains.)
El corazón, The heart, fuente del deseo, fountain of desire, se desvanece. vanishes.
(Sólo queda (Only the desert el desierto.) remains.)
La ilusión de la aurora The illusion of dawn y los besos, and kisses se desvanecen. vanish.
Sólo queda Only the desert el desierto. remains. Un ondulado Rippling desierto. desert. RETURN RETURN
22 23
POEMA DE LA SOLEÁ POEM OF THE SOLEÁ
A Jorge Zalamea For Jorge Zalamea
[EVOCACIÓN] EVOCATION
Tierra seca, Dry land, tierra quieta still land de noches of immense immensas. nights.
(Viento en el olivar, (Wind in the olive grove, viento en la sierra.) wind in the mountains.)
Tierra Age-old vieja land del candil of oil lamps y la pena. and sorrowing. Tierra Land de las hondas cisternas of deep cisterns. Tierra Land de la muerte sin ojos of death without eyes y las flechas. and of arrows.
(Viento por los caminos. (Wind along the roads. Brisa en las alamedas.) Breeze in the poplar groves.) RETURN RETURN
24 25
PUEBLO VILLAGE
Sobre el monte pelado, On the barren hill, un calvario. a calvary. Agua clara Clear water y olivos centenarios. and hundred-year-old olive trees. Por las callejas Through the narrow streets, hombres embozados, men muffled up; y en las torres and on the towers veletas girando. spinning weather vanes. Eternamente Eternally girando. spinning. ¡Oh pueblo perdido Oh lost village, en la Andalucía del llanto! in the Andalusia of tears. RETURN RETURN
26 27
PUÑAL DAGGER
El puñal The dagger entra en el corazón goes into the heart como la reja del arado like the ploughshare en el yermo. into barren land.
No. No. No me lo claves. Don’t plunge it in me. No. No.
El puñal, The dagger, como un rayo de sol, like a ray of sun, incendia las terribles sets fire hondonadas. to terrible ravines. No. No me lo claves. No. No. Don’t plunge it in me. RETURN No. RETURN
28 29
ENCRUCIJADA CROSSROADS
Viento del Este, East wind, un farol a street-lamp y el puñal and the dagger en el corazón. in the heart. La calle The street tiene un tremblor quivers de cuerda like a string en tensión, pulled tight, un tremblor the quiver de enorme moscardón. of an enormous horsefly. Por todas partes Everywhere yo I veo el puñal see the dagger en el corazón. in the heart. RETURN RETURN
30 31
¡AY! AY!
El grito deja en el viento The cry leaves a cypress una sombra de ciprés. shadow on the wind.
(Dejadme en este campo (Leave me weeping llorando.) in this field.)
Todo se ha roto en el mundo. Everything has broken in the world. No queda más que el silencio. Nothing remains but the silence.
(Dejadme en este campo (Leave me weeping llorando.) in this field.)
El horizonte sin luz The moonless horizon está mordido de hogueras. is bitten up by bonfires.
(Ya os he dicho que me dejéis (I’ve told you already to leave me en este campo here in this field, llorando.) weeping.) RETURN RETURN
32 33
SORPRESA SURPRISE
Muerto se quedó en la calle They left him dead in the street con un puñal en el pecho. with a dagger in his chest. No lo conocía nadie. Nobody knew who he was. ¡Cómo temblaba el farol! How the street-lamp was shaking! Madre. Mother. ¡Cómo temblaba el farolito How that little lamppost was shaking de la calle! in the street! Era madrugada. Nadie The crack of dawn. No-one pudo asomarse a sus ojos could look into his eyes abiertos al duro aire. open to the hard night air. Que muerto se quedó en la calle And they left him dead in the street que con un puñal en el pecho with a dagger in his chest y que no lo conocía nadie. and nobody knew who he was. RETURN RETURN
34 35
LA SOLEÅ THE SOLEÅ NOTE
Vestida con mantos negros Dressed in black cloaks piensa que el mundo es chiquito she thinks the world is tiny y el corazón es inmenso. and the heart immense.
Vestida con mantos negros. Dreseed in black cloaks.
Piensa que el suspiro tierno She thinks the loving sigh y el grito, desaparecen and the cry disappear en la corriente del viento. on the currents of the wind.
Vestida con mantos negros. Dreseed in black cloaks.
Se dejó el balcón abierto The balcony was left open y al alba por el balcón and at dawn the whole sky desembocó todo el cielo. flowed in through the balcony.
¡Ay yayayayay, Ay yayayayay, que vestida con mantos negros! Dressed in black cloaks. RETURN RETURN
36 37
CUEVA CAVE
De la cueva salen From the cave come largos sollozos. Long sobbings.
(Lo cárdeno (The purple sobre lo rojo.) over the red.)
El gitano evoca The gypsy conjures up países remotos. far-off lands.
(Torres altas y hombres (High towers and men misteriosos.) of mystery.)
En la voz entrecortada His eyes fix on van sus ojos. the faltering voice.
(Lo negro (The purple sobre lo rojo.) over the red.)
Y la cueva encalada And the whitewashed cave tiembla en el oro. trembles in the gold.
(Lo blanco (The white sobre lo rojo.) over the red.) RETURN RETURN
38 39
ENCUENTRO MEETING
Ni tú ni yo estamos Neither you nor I en disposición are ready de encontrarnos. to meet each other. Tú...por lo que ya sabes. You…you know why not. ¡Yo la he querido tanto! I loved her so much! Sigue esa veredita. Follow that narrow path. En las manos I’ve got holes tengo los agujeros. in my hands de los clavos. from the nails. ¿No ves cómo me estoy Can’t you see how desangrando? I’m bleeding to death? No mires nunca atrás, Don’t ever look back, vete despacio just go on slowly y reza como yo and pray like me a San Cayetano, to San Cayetano, que ni tú ni yo estamos for neither you nor I en disposición are ready de encontrarnos. to meet each other. RETURN RETURN
40 41
ALBA DAWN
Campanas de Córdoba Bells of Córdoba en la madrugada. at the break of day. Campanas de amanecer Bells of dawn en Granada. in Granada. Os sienten todas las muchachas They hear you – all the girls que lloran a la tierna who cry for the tender, soleá enlutada. grieving soleá. NOTE Las muchachas The girls de Andalucía la alta of Andalusia, y la baja. both high and low. Las niñas de España, The young girls of Spain, de pie menudo with tiny feet y temblorosas faldas, and trembling skirts, que han llenado de cruces who’ve filled the crossroads la encrucijadas. with lights. ¡Oh campanas de Córdoba Oh bells of Córdoba en la madrugada, at the break of day, y oh campanas de amanecer and, oh, bells of dawn en Granada! in Granada! RETURN RETURN
42 43
POEMA DE LA SAETA POEM OF THE SAETA NOTE
A Francisco Iglesias For Francisco Iglesias
ARQUEROS ARCHERS
Los arqueros oscuros Dark archers a Sevilla se acercan. approach Seville.
Guadalquivir abierto. Guadalquivir open to the sea..
Anchos sombreros grises, Wide grey hats, largas capas lentas. long, slow-moving capes.
¡Ay, Guadalquivir! Oh, Guadalquivir!
Vienen de los remotos They come from far-off países de la pena. countries of sorrow.
Guadalquivir abierto. Guadalquivi open to the sear.
Y van a un laberinto. And they’re entering a labyrinth. Amor, cristal y piedra. Love, crystal and stone.
¡Ay, Guadalquivir! Oh, Guadalquivir! RETURN RETURN
44 45
NOCHE NIGHT
Cirio, candil, Candle, oil lamp, farol y luciérnaga. street-lamp and firefly.
La constelación The constellation de la saeta. of the saeta. NOTE
Ventanitas de oro Little golden windows tiemblan, tremble, y en la aurora se mecen and in the dawn, crosses cruces superpuestas. swaying, one upon the other.
Cirio, candil, Candle, oil lamp, farol y luciérnaga. street-lamp and firefly. RETURN RETURN
46 47
SEVILLA SEVILLE
Sevilla es una torre Seville is a tower llena de arqueros finos. full of fine archers.
Sevilla para herir. Seville to wound. Córdoba para morir. Córdoba to die.
Una cuidad que acecha A city that lies in wait largos ritmos, for long rhythms, y los enrosca and it coils them up como laberintos. like labyrinths. Como tallos de parra Like grapevine stems encendidos. Ablaze.
¡Sevilla para herir! Seville to wound!
Bajo el arco del cielo, Under the arc of sky, sobre su llano limpio, over its clear, clean plain, dispara la constante it shoots the constant saeta de su río. arrow of its river.
¡Córdoba para morir! Córdoba to die!
Y loca de horizonte, And crazed by the horizon, mezcla en su vino it mixes in its wine lo amargo de Don Juan Don Juan’s bitterness y lo perfecto de Dionisio. with Dionysius’ perfection.
Sevilla para herir. Seville to wound. ¡Siempre Sevilla para herir! Always Seville to wound! RETURN RETURN
48 49
PROCESIÓN PROCESSION
Por la calleja vienen Down the side street come extraños unicornios. strange unicorns. ¿De qué campo, From what field, de qué bosque mitológico? what mythic wood? Más cerca, Close up, ya parecen astónomos. they seem astronomers. Fantásticos Merlines Fantastic Merlins y el Ecce Homo, and the Ecce Homo. Durandarte encantado, Enchanted Durandarte, Orlando furioso. a furious Orlando. RETURN RETURN
50 51
PASO FLOAT
Virgen con miriñaque, Virgin in crinoline, virgen de la Soledad, Virgin of Solitude, abierta como un inmenso unfurl like an immense tulipán. tulip. En un barco de luces In a boat of light, vas you float por la alta marea on the high tide de la ciudad, of the city, entre saetas turbias among blurred saetas y estrellas de cristal. and crystal stars. Virgen con miriñaque, Virgin in crinoline, tú vas you float por el río de la calle, down that river of a street, ¡hasta el mar! out to the sea! RETURN RETURN
52 53
SAETA SAETA
Cristo moreno Dark-skinned Christ pasa changes de lirio de Judea from lily of Judea a clavel de España. to carnation of Spain.
¡Miradlo por dónde viene! Look where he comes from!
De España. From Spain. Cielo limpio y oscuro, Sky clear and dark, tierra tostada, scorched earth, y cauces donde corre and riverbeds where water muy lenta el agua. runs ever so slowly. Cristo morena, Dark-skinned Christ, con las guedejas quemadas, with long, burnt hair, los pómulos salientes high cheekbones, y la pupilas blancas. and his pupils, white.
¡Miradlo por dónde va! Look where he goes! RETURN RETURN
54 55
BALCÓN BALCONY
La Lola Lola canta saetas. is singing saetas. Los tereritos Would-be bullfighters la rodean, circle round her, y el barberillo, and the little barber, desde su puerta, in his doorway, sigue los ritmos follows the rhythm con la cabeza. with his head. Entre la albahaca Among the basil y la hierbabuena, and the mint, la Lola canta Lola is singing saetas. saetas. La Lola aquella, That Lola que se miraba who’d gaze upon herself tanto en la alberca. so often in the pool. RETURN RETURN
56 57
MADRUGADA BEFORE DAWN
Pero como el amor But like love los saeteros the archers están ciegos. are blind.
Sobre la noche verde, Upon the green night, las saetas arrows dejan rastros de lirio leave traces of burning caliente. lily.
La quilla de la luna The keel of the moon rompe nubes moradas rips through purple clouds y las aljabas and the quivers se llenan de roío. fill with dew.
¡Ay, pero como el amor Oh, but like love los saeteros the archers están ciegos! are blind! RETURN RETURN
58 59
GRÅFICO DE LA PETENERA PICTURE OF THE PETENERA NOTE
A Eugenio Montes For Eugenio Montes
CAMPANA BELL
(Bordón) (Bass Bell)
En la torre In the yellow amarilla, tower, dobla una campana. a bell tolls..
Sobre el viento Upon the yellow amarillo, wind, se abren las campanadas. the bell-notes peal.
En la torre In the yellow amarilla, tower, cesa la campana. the bell stops.
El viento con el polvo The wind and the dust hace proras de plata. shape silver prows. RETURN RETURN
60 61
CAMINO ROAD
Cien jinetes enlutados, A hundred riders in mourning, ¿dónde irán, where are they going por el cielo yacente under the low-lying sky del naranjal? of the orange grove? Ni a Córdoba ni a Sevilla Neither Córdoba nor Seville llegerán. will they ever reach. Ni a Granada la que suspira Nor that Granada which sighs por el mar. for the sea. Esos caballos soñolientos Those drowsy horses los llevarán, will carry them al laberinto de las cruces to the labyrinth of crosses donde tiembla el cantar. where the song shudders so. Con siete ayes clavados, Seven sorrows piercing them, NOTE ¿dónde irán where are they going, los cien jinetes andaluces the hundred Andalusian riders del naranjal? of the orange grove? RETURN RETURN
62 63
LAS SEIS CUERDAS THE SIX STRINGS
La guitarra The guitar hace llorar a los sueños. makes dreams weep. El sollozo de las almas The sobbing of lost perdidas souls se escapa por su boca breaks out through its round redonda. mouth. Y como la tarántula And like the tarantula, teje una gran estrella it weaves a great star para cazar suspiros, to trap the sighs que flotan en su negro that float inside its black aljibe de madera. cistern of wood. RETURN RETURN
64 65
DANZA DANCE
EN EL HUERTO DE LA PETENERA IN THE GARDEN OF THE PETENERA NOTE
En la noche del huerto, In the garden’s night, seis gitanas six gypsy girls, vestidas de blanco, dressed in white, bailan. are dancing.
En la noche del huerto, In the garden’s night, coronadas crowned con rosas de papel with paper roses y biznagas. and jasmine.
En la noche del huerto, In the garden’s night, sus dientes de nácar their teeth – mother-of-pearl – escriben la sombra score the burnt quemada. shadow.
Y en la noche del huerto, And in the garden’s night, sus sombras se alargan their shadows lengthen y llegan hasta el cielo and reach up to the sky, moradas. all purple. RETURN RETURN
66 67
MUERTE DE LA PETENERA DEATH OF THE PETENERA NOTE
En la casa blanca muere In the white house, la perdición de los hombres. mankind’s perdition dies.
Cien jacas caracolean. A hundred ponies prance around. Sus jinetes están muertos. Their riders are all dead.
Bajo las estremecidas Beneath the trembling estrellas de los velones, stars of the oil lamps, su falda de moaré tiembla her skirt of moiré shimmies entre sus muslos de cobre. between her copper thighs.
Cien jacas caracolean. A hundred ponies prance around. Sus jinetes están muertos. Their riders are all dead.
Largas sombras afiladas Long, sharpened shadows vienen del turbio horizonte, advance from the blurred horizon, y el bordón de una guitarra and the bass string of a guitar se rompe. breaks.
Cien jacas caracolean. A hundred ponies prance around. Sus jinetes están muertos. Their riders are all dead. RETURN RETURN
68 69
FALSETA GUITAR FLOURISH
¡Ay, petenera gitana! Oh gypsy petenera! ¡Yayay petenera! Oh petenera! NOTE Tu entierro no tuvo niñas There were no good little girls buenas. at your burial. Niñas que le dan a Cristo muerto Little girls who give locks of hair sus guedejas, to a dead Christ, y llevan blancas mantillas who wear white lace scarves en las ferias. on holidays. Tu entierro fue de gente Frightening people were siniestra. at your burial. Gente con el corazón People with their hearts en la cabeza, in their heads, que te siguió llorando who followed after you, weeping por las callejas. through the narrow streets ¡Ay, petenera gitana! Oh gypsy petenera! ¡Yayay petenera! Oh petenera! RETURN RETURN
70 71
DE PROFUNDIS DE PROFUNDIS
Los cien enamorados Those hundred lovers duermen para siempre sleep forever bajo la tierra seca. under the dry earth. Andalucía tiene Andalusia has largos caminos rojos. long, red roads. Córdoba, olivos verdes Córdoba, green olive trees donde poner cien cruces where a hundred crosses que los recuerden. will mark their memory. Los cien enamorados Those hundred lovers duermen para siempre. sleep forever. RETURN RETURN
72 73
CLAMOR DEATH KNELL
En las torres In the yellow amarillas, towers, doblan las campanas. the bells toll.
Sobre los vientos Upon the yellow amarillos, winds, se abren las campanadas. the bell-notes peal.
Por un camino va Along a road goes la Muerte, coronada Death, crowned with de azahares marchitos. withered orange blossoms. Canta y canta She sings and sings una canción a song en su vihuela blanca. on her age-old white guitar y canta y canta y canta. and sings and sings and sings.
En las torres amarillas, In the yellow towers, cesan las campanas. the bells stop.
El viento con el polvo The wind and the dust hacen proras de plata. shape silver prows. RETURN RETURN
74 75
DOS MUCHACHAS TWO YOUNG GIRLS
A Máximo Quijano For Máximo Quijano
LA LOLA LOLA
Bajo el naranjo lava Under the orange tree, she pañales de algodón. washes cotton nappies. Tiene verdes los ojos She has green eyes y violeta la voz. and a violet voice.
¡Ay, amor, Oh love, bajo el naranjo en flor! under the orange tree in flower!
El agua de la acequia The water in the stream iba llena de sol, flowed onward filled with sun; en el olivarito in the little olive grove, cantaba un gorrión. a sparrow sang.
¡Ay, amor, Oh love, bajo el naranjo en flor! under the orange tree in flower!
Luego, cuando la Lola Later, when Lola gaste todo el jabón, uses up all her soap, vendrán los torerillos. the would-be bullfighters will come.
¡Ay, amor, Oh love, bajo el naranjo en flor! under the orange tree in flower! RETURN RETURN
76 77
AMPARO AMPARO
Amparo, Amparo, ¡qué sola estás en tu casa how lonely you are in your house, vestida de blanco! dressed in white!
(Ecuador entre el jazmín (Half-way between jasmine y el nardo.) and spikenard.)
Oyes los maravillosos You hear the marvellous surtidores de tu patio, fountains in your courtyard, y el débil trino amarillo and the frail yellow trilling del canario. of the canary.
Por la tarde ves temblar In the evening you see los cipreses con los pájaros, the cypresses shake with birds, mientras bordas lentamente as you slowly embroider letras sobre el cañamazo. letters into the canvas.
Amparo, Amparo, ¡qué sola estás en tu casa how lonely you are in your house, vestida de blanco! dressed in white! Amparo, And Amparo, ¡y qué dificil decirte: how hard to say: yo te amo! I love you! RETURN RETURN
78 79
VIÑETAS FLAMENCAS FLAMENCO SKETCHES
A Manuel Torres, ‘Niño de Jerez’, For Manuel Torres, ‘Jerez boy’, que tiene tronco de Faraón who has the body of a Pharaoh..
RETRATO DE SILVERIO FRANCONETTI PORTRAIT OF SILVERIO FRANCONETTI
Entre italiano Between Italian y flamenco, and flamenco, ¿cómo cantaría how did he sing, aquel Silverio? that Silverio? La densa miel de Italia, The thick honey of Italy, con el limón nuestro, mixed with our lemon, iba en el hondo llanto sang out in the deep wail del siguiriyero. of that siguiriyero. NOTE Su grito fue terrible. His cry was terrible. Los viejos Old people say dicen que se erizaban it stood your hair los cabellos, on end, y se abría el azogue and made the mercury de los espejos. in mirrors split. Pasaba por los tonos He’d go up and down the scales sin romperlos. without a slip. Y fue un creador A creator y un jardinero. and a gardener. Un creador de glorietas A creator of pergolas para el silencio. for silence.
Ahora su melodia Now his melody duerme con los ecos. sleeps with the echoes. Definitiva y pura. Absolute and pure, ¡Con los últimos ecos! with the final echoes. RETURN RETURN
80 81
JUAN BREVA JUAN BREVA
Juan Breva tenía Juan Breva had cuerpo de gigante a giant’s body y voz de niña. and the voice of a girl. Nada como su trino. His trill – like nothing else. Era la misma Pain itself Pena cantando in song detrás de una sonrisa. behind a smile. Evoca los limonares It conjures up the lemon groves de Málaga la dromida, of sleepy Málaga, y hay en su llanto dejos and in his wail, some de sal marina. aftertaste of sea salt. Como Homero cantó Like Homer he sang ciergo. Su voz tenía blind. His voice had algo de mar sin luz a sense of sea without a light y naranja exprimida. and oranges squeezed dry. RETURN RETURN
82 83
CAFÉ CANTANTE FLAMENCO CAFÉ
Lámparas de crystal Crystal lamps y espejos verdes. and green mirrors.
Sobre el tablado oscuro, On the darkened stage, la Parrala sostiene Parrala holds una conversación a conversation con la Muerte. with Death. La llama, Calls her, no viene, but she doesn’t come. y la vuelve a llamar. Calls her again. Las gentes People aspiran los sollozos. swallow their sobs. Y en los espejos verdes, And in the green mirrors, largas colas de seda long trains of silk se mueven. begin to sway. RETURN RETURN
84 85
LAMENTACIÓN DE LA MUERTE DEATH’S LAMENTATION
A Miguel Benítez For Miguel Benítez
Sobre el cielo negro, Across the black sky, culebrinas amarillas. yellow forks of lightning.
Vine a este mundo con ojos I came into this world with eyes y me voy sin ellos. and I’ll leave without them. ¡Señor del mayor dolor! Oh Lord of greatest sorrow! Y luego, And in the end, un velón y una manta an oil lamp and a blanket en el suelo. on the ground.
Quise llegar adonde I tried to go where llegaron los buenos. good people go. ¡Y he llegado, Dios mío!... And I did, my God!… Pero luego, But in the end, un velón y una manta an oil lamp and a blanket en el suelo. on the ground.
Limoncito amarillo, Little yellow lemon, limonero. lemon tree. Echad los limoncitos Cast the little lemons al viento. to the wind. ¡Ya lo sabéis!...Porque luego, Now you know…! For in the end, luego, the end, un velón y una manta an oil lamp and a blanket en el suelo. on the ground.
Sobre el cielo negro, Across the black sky, culebrinas amarillas. yellow forks of lightning. RETURN RETURN
86 87
CONJURO EXORCISM
La mano crispida The twitching hand, como una Medusa like some Medusa, ciega el ojo doliente blinds the mournful eye del candil. of the oil lamp.
As de bastos. Ace of clubs. Tijeras en cruz. Scissors crossed.
Sobre el humo blanco Above the white smoke del incienso, tiene of the incense, it looks like algo de topo y something between a mole and mariposa indecisa. an undecided butterfly.
As de bastos. Ace of clubs. Tijeras en cruz. Crossed scissors.
Aprieta un corazón An unseen heart invisible, ¿la veis? is squeezed, see it? Un corazón A heart reflejado en el viento. reflected in the wind.
As de bastos. Ace of clubs. Tijeras en cruz. Scissors crossed. RETURN RETURN
88 89
MEMENTO MEMENTO
Cuando yo me muera, When I die, enterradme con mi guitarra bury me with my guitar bajo la arena. beneath the sand.
Cuando yo me muera, When I die, entre los naranjos among the orange trees y la hierbabuena. and the mint.
Cuando yo me muera, When I die, enterradme si queréis bury me if you so you wish en una veleta. inside a weathervane.
¡Cuando yo me muera! When I die! RETURN RETURN
90 91
TRES CIUDADES THREE CITIES
A Pilar Zubiaurre For Pilar Zubiaurre
MALAGUEÑA MALAGUEÑA
La muerte Death entra y sale goes in and out de la taberna. of the tavern.
Pasan caballos negros Black horses y gente siniestra and sinister people por los hondos caminos pass along the sunken roads de la guitarra. of the guitar.
Y hay un olor a sal And there’s a smell of salt y a sangre de hembra and female blood en los nardos febriles in the fevered spikenards de la marina. along the shore.
La muerte Death entra y sale, goes in and out; y sale y entra out and into la muerte the tavern goes de la taberna. death. RETURN RETURN
92 93
BARRIO DE CÓRDOBA CÓRDOBA NEIGHBOURHOOD
TÕPICO NOCTURNO NOCTURNAL THEME
En la casa se defienden Inside the house, they shelter De las estrellas. from the stars. La noche se derrumba. Night tumbles down. Dentro, hay una niña muerta Inside, a dead young girl, Con una rosa encarnada a crimson rose oculta en la cabellera. hidden in her hair. Seis ruiseñores la lloran Six nightingales mourn for her en la reja. behind the bars.
Las gentes van suspirando People sigh and sigh con las guitarras abiertas. with open-mouthed guitars. RETURN RETURN
94 95
BAILE DANCE
La Carmen está bailando Carmen is dancing por las calles de Sevilla. through the streets of Seville. Tiene blancos los cabellos White is her hair y brillantes las pupilas. and her eyes shining.
¡Niñas, Girls, corred las cortinas! close the curtains!
En su cabeza se enrosca Round her head, a yellow una serpiente amarilla, snake is coiling up, y va soñando en el baile and she dreams of dancing con galanes de otros días. with admirers from the days gone by.
¡Niñas, Girls, corred las cortinas! close the curtains!
Las calles están desiertas The streets are empty. y en los fondos se adivinan But in the depths, a glimpse corazones andaluces of Andalusian hearts buscando viejas espinas. in search of ancient thorns.
¡Niñas, Girls, corred las cortinas! close the curtains! RETURN RETURN
96 97
SEIS CAPRICHOS SIX LITTLE WHIMS
A Regino Sainz de la Maza For Regino Sainz de la Maza
ADIVINANZA DE LA GUITARRA RIDDLE OF THE GUITAR
En la redonda At the round encrucijada, crossroads, seis doncellas six young girls bailan. are dancing. Tres de carne Three of flesh y tres de plata. and three of silver. Los sueños de ayer las buscan, The dreams of yesterday search for them, pero las tiene abrazadas but a golden Polyphemus un Polifemo de oro. holds them in his arms. ¡La guitarra! Guitar! RETURN RETURN
98 99
CANDIL OIL LAMP
¡Oh, qué grave medita Oh, how gravely the flame la llama del candil! of the oil lamp ponders things.
Como un faquir indio Like an Indian fakir mira su entraña de oro it stares down at its golden bowels y se eclipsa soñando and is eclipsed, dreaming of atmósferas sin viento. windless atmospheres.
Cigüeña incandescente An white hot stork pica desde su nido pecks at massive shadows a las sombras macizas, from inside its nest, y se asoma temblando and, trembling, goes up a los ojos redondos to the round eyes del gitanillo muerto. of the dead gypsy boy. RETURN RETURN
100 101
CRÓTALO NOTE RATTLING CASTANET
Crótalo. Castanet. Crótalo. Castanet. Crótalo. Castanet. Escarabajo sonoro. Rattling beetle.
En la araña In the spider de la mano Of the hand, rizas al aire You ripple the warm cálido, Air, y te ahogas en tu trino And drown in your trill de palo. Of wood.
Crótalo. Castanet. Crótalo. Castanet. Crótalo. Castanet. Escarabajo sonoro. Rattling beetle. RETURN RETURN
102 103
CHUMBERA PRICKLY PEAR
Laoconte salvaje. Wild Laocoön.
¡Qué bien estás How good you look bajo la media luna! beneath the half-moon!
Múltiple pelotari. Multi-player of pelota.
¡Qué bien estás How good you look, amenazando al viento! threatening the wind!
Dafne y Atis, Daphne and Attis saben de tu dolor. know of your pain. Inexplicable. Inexplicable. RETURN RETURN
104 105
PITA AGAVE
Pulpo petrificado. Petrified octopus.
Pones cinchas cenicientas You put ashen-coloured saddle straps al vientre de los montes, round the bellies of mountains, y muelas formidables and tremendous molars a los desfiladeros. in the gorges.
Pulpo petrificado. Petrified octopus. RETURN RETURN
106 107
CRUZ CROSS
La cruz. The cross. (Punto final (Full stop del camino.) of the road.)
Se mira en la acequia Reflected in the irrigation ditch. (Puntos suspensivos.) (Dot, dot, dot.) RETURN RETURN
108 109
ESCENA DEL TENIENTE CORONEL DE LA GUARDIA CIVIL SCENE OF THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL OF THE CIVIL GUARD
CUARTO DE BANDERAS GUARD ROOM
TENIENTE CORONEL: Yo soy el teniente coronel de la Guardia Civil. LT. COLONEL: I’m the Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard.
SARGENTO: Sí. SERGEANT: Yes, sir.
TENIENTE CORONEL: Y no hay quien me desmienta. LT. COLONEL: And nobody contradicts me.
SARGENTO: No. SERGEANT: No, sir.
TENIENTE CORONEL: Tengo tres estrellas y veinte cruces. LT. COLONEL: I’ve got three stars and twenty crosses.
SARGENTO: Sí. SERGEANT: Yes, sir.
TENIENTE CORONEL: Me ha saludado el cardenal arzobispo de Toledo con LT. COLONEL: The Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo greeted me with his sus veinticuatro borlas moradas. twenty-four purple tassels.
SARGENTO: Si. SERGEANT: Yes, sir.
TENIENTE CORONEL: Yo soy el teniente. Yo soy el teniente. Yo soy el LT. COLONEL: I’m the Lieutenant. I’m the Lieutenant. I’m the Lieutenant teniente coronel de la Guardia Civil. General of the Civil Guard.
(Romeo y Julieta, celeste, blanco y oro, se abrazan (Romeo and Juliet, under a blue, white and gold sky, embrace sobre el jardín de tabaco de la caja de puros. in the tobacco garden of the cigar box. El militar acaricia el cañón de un fusil lleno de The soldier strokes the barrel of a gun, full of sombra submarina.) underwater darkness.)
UNA VOZ (Fuera): Luna, luna, luna, luna, A VOICE (off stage) Moon, moon, moon, moon, del tiempo de la aceituna. at olive-picking time. Cazorla enseña su torre Cazorla shows its tower y Benamenjí la oculta. and Benamejí hides it own.
Luna, luna, luna, luna, Moon, moon, moon, moon. Un gallo canta en la luna. A cockerel sings up on the moon. Señor alcalde, sus niñas Mr. Mayor, your little girls están mirando a la luna. Are looking at the moon.
110 111 TENIENTE CORONEL: ¿Qué pasa? LT. COLONEL: What’s going on?
SARGENTO: ¡Un gitano! SERGEANT: A gypsy!
(La mirada de mulo joven del gitanillo ensombrece (The mulish gaze of the young little gypsy makes the beady little y agiganta los ojirris del Tenient Coronel de la eyes of the Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard widen Guardia Civil.) and darken.)
TENIENTE CORONEL: Yo soy el teniente coronel de la Guardía Civil. LT. COLONEL: I’m the Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard.
GITANO: Sí. GYPSY: Yes, sir.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¿Tú quién eres? LT. COLONEL: And who are you?
GITANO: Un gitano. GYPSY: A gypsy.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¿Y qué es un gitano? LT. COLONEL: And what’s a gypsy?
GITANO: Cualquier cosa. GYPSY: Anything you like.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¿Cómo te llamas? LT. COLONEL: What’s your name?
GITANO: Eso. GYPSY: Just that.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¿Qué dices? LT. COLONEL: What did you say?
GITANO: Gitano. GYPSY: Gypsy.
SARGENTO: Me lo encontré y lo he traído. SERGEANT: I found him and brought him here.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¿Dondé estabas? LT. COLONEL: Where were you?
GITANO: En el puente de los ríos. GITANO: On the bridge over the rivers.
TENIENTE CORONEL: Pero ¿de qué rios? LT. COLONEL: But over what rivers?
GITANO: De todos los ríos. GITANO: Over all of them.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¿Y qué hacías alli? LT. COLONEL: And what were you doing there?
GITANO: Una torre de canela. GYPSY: Building a tower of cinnamon.
112 113 TENIENTE CORONEL: ¡Sargento! LT. COLONEL: Sergeant!
SARGENTO: A la orden, mi teniente coronel de la Guardia Civil. SERGEANT: At your command, Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard, sir.
GITANO: He inventado unas alas para volar, y vuelo. Azufre y rosa GYPSY: I’ve invented some wings for flying, and I fly all over. Sulphur and en mis labios. rose on my lips.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¡Ay! LT. COLONEL: What?
GITANO: Aunque no necesito alas, porque vuelo sin ellas. Nubes y GYPSY: Though I don’t need wings, because I can fly without them. Clouds anillos en mi sangre. and rings are in my blood.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¡Ayy! LT. COLONEL: Whaaat?
GITANO: En enero tengo azahar. GYPSY: In January, I’ve got orange blossoms.
TENIENTE CORONEL (Retorciéndose): ¡Ayyyyy! LT. COLONEL (wringing his hands): Whaaaaat?
GITANO: Y naranjas en la nieve. GYPSY: And oranges in the snow.
TENIENTE CORONEL: ¡Ayyyyy! Pun, pin, pam. (Cae muerto). LT. COLONEL: Whaaaaat? Bim, bang, boom. (Falls over dead.)
(El alma de tabco y café con leche del Teniente Coronel de la (The tabacco and white coffee soul of the Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guardia Civil sale por la ventana.) Guard flies out of the window.)
SARGENTO: ¡Socorro! SERGEANT: Help!
(En el patio del cuartel, cuarto guardais civiles apalean al gitanillo.) (In the barracks yard, four Civil Guards beat up the little gypsy.) RETURN RETURN
114 115
CANCIÓN DEL GITANO APALEADO SONG OF THE BEATEN GYPSY
Veinticuatro bofetadas. Twenty-four times they punched me. Veinticinco bofetadas; Twenty-five times in all; después, mi madre, a la noche, later, when it’s dark, my mother me pondrá en papel de plata. will wrap me up in silver foil.
Guardia civil caminera, Civil Guard of the highways, dadme unos sorbitos de agua. give me a sip of water. Agua con peces y barcos. Water with fish and boats. Agua, agua, agua, agua. Water, water, water, water.
¡Ay, mandor de los civiles Civil Guard commander, que estás arriba en tu sala! you up there in your room! ¡No habrá pañuelos de seda There’ll never be silk handkerchiefs para limpiarme la cara! to tidy up my face!
5 de julio, 1925 5 July, 1925 RETURN RETURN
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DIÁLOGO DEL AMARGO DIALOGUE OF AMARGO
CAMPO COUNTRYSIDE
UNA VOZ: Amargo. A VOICE: Amargo. NOTE Las adelfas de mi patio. The oleanders in my courtyard. Corazón de almendra amarga. Heart bitter as almonds. Amargo. Amargo.
(Llegan tres jóvenes con anchos sombreros.) (Three young men in wide-brimmed hats arrive.)
JOVEN 1.°: Vamos a llegar tarde. 1st YOUTH: We’re going to get there late.
JOVEN 2.°: La noche se nos echa encima. 2nd YOUTH: It’s almost night.
JOVEN 1.°: ¿Y ése? 1st YOUTH: What about him?
JOVEN 2.°: Viene detrás. 2nd YOUTH: He’s coming.
JOVEN 1.° (En alta voz): ¡Amargo! 1st YOUTH (loudl): Amargo!
AMARGO (Lejos): Ya voy. AMARGO (far off): I’m coming.
JOVEN 2.° (A voces): ¡Amargo! 2nd YOUTH (shouting): Amargo!
AMARGO (Con calma) ¡Ya voy! AMARGO (calmly): I’m coming.
(Pausa.) (Pause)
JOVEN 1.°: ¡Qué hermosos olivares! 1st YOUTH: What lovely olive groves.
JOVEN 2.°: Sí. 2nd YOUTH: Yes.
(Largo silencio) (A long silence)
JOVEN 1.°: No me gusta andar de noche. 1st YOUTH: I don’t like travelling at night.
JOVEN 2.°: Ni a mí tampoco. 2nd YOUTH: Neither do I.
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JOVEN 1.°: La noche se hizo para dormir. 1st YOUTH: The night was made for sleeping.
JOVEN 2.°: Es verdad. 2nd YOUTH: That’s true.
(Ranas y grillos hacen la glorieta del estío andaluz. (Frogs and crickets make up this bower of Andalusian summertime. El Amargo camina con las manos en la cintura.) Amargo walks by, his hands on his hips.)
AMARGO: Ay yayayay. AMARGO: Ay yayayay. Yo le pregunté a la Muerte. I asked Death a question. Ay yayayay. Ay yayayay.
(El grito de su canto pone un acento circunflejo (The cry in his song puts a circumflex accent on the hearts sombre el corazón de los que le han oído.) of his listeners.)
JOVEN 1° (desde muy lejos): ¡Amargo! 1st YOUTH (from far away): Amargo!
JOVEN 2° (casi perdido): ¡Amargooo! 2nd YOUTH (nearly lost): Amargooo!
(Silencio.) (Silence.)
(El Amargo está solo en medio de la carretera. Entorna sus (Amargo is alone in the middle of the road. Narrowing his grandes ojos verdes y se ciñe la chaqueta de pana alrededor big green eyes, he fastens his corduroy jacket round del talle. Altas montañas le rodean. Su gran reloj de plata le suena his waist. High mountains surround him. His large silver watch oscuramente en el bolsillo a cada paso.) ticks darkly in his pocket at every step.)
(Un jinete viene galopando por la carretera.) (A rider comes galloping down the road.)
JINETE (parando el caballo): ¡Buenas noches! RIDER (pulling up his horse): Good evening!
AMARGO: A la paz de Dios. AMARGO: Peace be to God.
JINETE: ¿Va usted a Granada? RIDER: You going to Granada?
AMARGO: A Granada voy. AMARGO: Yes, Granada.
JINETE: Pues vamos juntos. RIDER: We can go together.
AMARGO: Eso parece. AMARGO: Looks like that.
JINETE: ¿Por qué no monta en la grupa? RIDER: Why don’t you climb up behind?
120 121 AMARGO: Porque no me duelen los pies. AMARGO: Because my feet don’t hurt.
JINETE: Yo vengo de Málaga. RIDER: I’ve come from Málaga.
AMARGO: Bueno. AMARGO: Good.
JINETE: Allí están mis hermanos. RIDER: My brothers are there.
AMARGO (displicente): ¿Cuántos? AMARGO (indifferent): How many?
JINETE: Son tres. Venden cuchillos. Ese es el negocio. RIDER: There’re three of them. They sell knives. That’s their business.
AMARGO: De salud les sirva. AMARGO: May it bring them good health.
JINETE: De plata y de oro. RIDER: Gold and silver ones.
AMARGO: Un cuchillo no tiene que ser más que cuchillo. AMARGO: A knife is a knife, nothing more.
JINETE: Se equivoca. RIDER: You’re wrong.
AMARGO: Gracias. AMARGO: Thank you.
JINETE: Los cuchillos de oro se van solos al corazón. Los de plata RIDER: Gold knives go straight to the heart by themselves. Silver ones cortan el cuello como una brizna de hierba. cut the throat as if it were a blade of grass.
AMARGO: ¿No sirven para partir el pan? AMARGO: Aren’t they good for cutting bread?
JINETE: Los hombres parten el pan con las monos. RIDER: Men break bread with their hands.
AMARGO: ¡Es verdad! AMARGO: That’s true.
(El caballo se inquieta.) (The horse grows restless.)
JINETE: ¡Caballo! RIDER: Whoa!
AMARGO: Es la noche. AMARGO: Must be the night.
(El camino ondulante salomoniza la sombra del animal.) (The animal’s shadow winds over the rolling road.
JINETE: ¿Quieres un cuchillo? RIDER: You want a knife?
122 123 AMARGO: No. AMARGO: No.
JINETE: Mira que te lo regalo. RIDER: Look, I’ll give it to you.
AMARGO: Pero yo no lo acepto. AMARGO: I won’t accept it.
JINETE: No tendrás otra ocasión. RIDER: You won’t have another chance.
AMARGO: ¿Quién sabe? AMARGO: Who knows?
JINETE: Los otros cuchillos no sirven. Los otros cuchillos son blandos RIDER: Other knives aren’t any good. Other knives are soft, and scared y se asustan de la sangre. Los que nosotros vendemos son fríos. of blood. The ones we sell are cold. You understand? They go in ¿Entiendes? Entran buscando el sitio de más calor y allí se paran. looking for the hottest spot , and there they stop.
(El Amargo se calla. Su mano derecha se le enfría como si agarrase (Amargo falls silent. His right hand grows cold, as if he were clutching un pedazo de oro.) a piece of gold.)
JINETE: ¡Qué hermoso cuchillo! RIDER: What a beautiful knife!
AMARGO: ¿Vale mucho? AMARGO: Is it worth a lot?
JINETE: Pero ¿no quieres éste? RIDER: But wouldn’t you like this one?
(Saca un cuchillo de oro. La punta brilla como una llama de candil.) (He pulls out a gold knife. Its point burns like the flame of an oil lamp.)
AMARGO: He dicho que no. AMARGO: I told you, no.
JINETE: ¡Muchacho, súbete conmigo! RIDER: Climb up here with me, boy!
AMARGO: Todavía no estoy cansado. AMARGO: I’m still not tired.
(El caballo se suelve a espantar.) (The horse starts to fright again.)
JINETE (tirando de la bridas): Pero ¡que caballo este! RIDER (pulling on the reins): What a horse!
AMARGO: Es lo oscuro. AMARGO: It’s the dark.
(Pausa.) (Pause.)
JINETE: Como te iba diciendo, en Málaga están mis tres hermanos.¡Qué RIDER: As I was telling you, my three brothers are in Málaga. What a way manera de vender cuchillos! En la catedral compraron dos mil para they have of selling knives! At the cathedral they bought two thousand adornar todos los altares y poner una corona a la torre. Muchos barcos to decorate all the altars and put a crown on the tower. Many a ship
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escribieron en ellos sus nombres; los pescadores más humildes wrote its name on them; the humblest fishermen along the de la orilla del mar se alumbran de noche con el brillo que seashore light up the night with the sparkle that their sharp despiden sus hojas afiladas. blades give off.
AMARGO: ¡Es una hermosura! AMARGO: What a beautiful thing!
JINETE: ¿Quién lo puede negar? RIDER: Who could deny that?
(La noche se espesa como un vino de cien años. La serpiente gorda (The night grows as thick as a hundred-year-old wine. The fat serpent del Sur abre sus ojos en la madrugada, y hay en los durmientes un of the South opens its eyes in the hour before dawn, and sleepers feel deseo infinito de arrojarse por el balcón a la magia perversa del an infinite desire to throw themselves off the balcony into the perverse perfume y la lejanía.) magic of perfume and distance.)
AMARGO: Me parece que hemos perdido el camino. AMARGO: I think we’ve lost the way.
JINETE (parando el caballo): ¿Sí? RIDER (stopping the horse): Have we?
AMARGO: Con la conversación. AMARGO: While we were talking.
JINETE: ¿No son aquéllas las luces de Granada? RIDER: Aren’t those the lights of Granada?
AMARGO: No sé. El mundo es muy grande. AMARGO: I don’t know. The world’s so big.
JINETE: Y muy solo. RIDER: And so lonely.
AMARGO: Como que está deshabitado. AMARGO: As if no-one lived there.
JINETE: Tú lo estás diciendo. RIDER: You’ve said it.
AMARGO: ¡Me da una desesperanza! ¡Ay yayayay! AMARGO: It makes me despair. Ay yayayay!
JINETE: Porque si llegas allí, ¿qué haces? RIDER: So if you get there, what’ll you do?
AMARGO: ¿Qué hago? AMARGO: What’ll I do?
JINETE: Y si te estás en tu sitio, ¿para qué quieres estar? RIDER: And if you are where you belong, why do you want to be there?
AMARGO: ¿Para qué? AMARGO: Why?
JINETE: Yo monto este caballo y vendo cuchillos, pero si no lo RIDER: I ride this horse all round and sell knives, but if I didn’t, hiciera, ¿qué paaría? what would happen?
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AMARGO: ¿Qué pasaría? AMARGO: What would happen?
(Pausa.) (Pause.)
JINETE: Estamos llegando a Granada. RIDER: We’re almost in Granada.
AMARGO: ¿Es posible? AMARGO: Is that possible?
JINETE: Mira cómo relumbran los miradores. RIDER: Look how dazzling the balcony windows are.
AMARGO: La encuentro un poco cambiada. AMARGO: I find it a little changed.
JINETE: Es que estás cansado. RIDER: It’s just that you’re tired.
AMARGO: Sí, ciertamente. AMARGO: Yes, of course.
JINETE: Ahora no te negarás a montar conmigo. RIDER: You won’t refuse to ride with me now.
AMARGO: Espera un poco. AMARGO: Wait a bit.
JINETE: ¡Vamos, sube! Sube de prisa. Es necesario llegar antes de que RIDER: Come on, jump up! Jump up fast! We’ve got to get there before amanezca ... Y toma este cuchillo. ¡Te lo regalo! day breaks … And take this knife. I’m giving it to you!
AMARGO: ¡Ay yayayay! AMARGO: Ay yayayay!
(El Jinete ayuda al Amargo. Los dos emprenden al camino de Granada. (The rider helps Amargo up. The two of them set off towards Granada. La sierra del fondo se cubre de cicutas y de ortigas.) In the background, the mountains are covered with hemlock and nettles.) RETURN RETURN
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CANCIÓN DE LA MADRE DEL AMARGO SONG OF AMARGO’S MOTHER
Lo llevan puesto en mi sábana They carry him upon my sheet, mis adelfas y mi palma. my oleanders and my palm.
Día veintisiete de agosto The twenty-seventh of August con un cuchillito de oro. with a tiny knife of gold.
La cruz. ¡Y vamos andando! The cross. So much for that! Era moreno y amargo. He was dark-haired and bitter.
Vecinas, dadme una jarra Neighbour ladies, bring me a brass de azófar con limonada. pitcher filled with lemonade.
La cruz. No llorad ninguna. The cross. Don’t anybody weep. El Amargo está en la luna. Amargo now is in the moon.
9 de julio, 1925 9 July 1925 RETURN RETURN
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NOTES
The notes below offer glosses on particular ‘knots’ of translation in Poema del Cante Jondo. Click on RETURN to be taken back to the text.
siguiriya the word is derived from seguidilla, a dance and piece of music in a fast triple rhythm, and also a poem of generally four lines used in popular songs. The gypsy siguiriya is one of the basic forms (if not the genuine, perfect prototype) of cante jondo, and is notable for its lyrical compression and emotional intensity. RETURN soleá the word is a contraction of soledad (‘solitude’, ‘loneliness’), and denotes a song of three or four lines, usually sung in 3/4 or 3/8 time. RETURN saeta a saeta is literally a ‘dart’ or an ‘arrow’, but more metaphorically refers to a spontaneous cry or song of devotion to Christ or the Virgin Mary. A musical prayer, it is always sung without guitar accompaniment. RETURN petenera a melancholy, sentimental song, always accompanied by the guitar, and intended to be danced. RETURN siguiriyero the singer of siguiriya (see above). RETURN crótalo a play upon words. Crótalo is an old name for the castanet, but also means rattlesnake. There is an obvious similarity of sound between the two. RETURN
Amargo literally ‘the Bitter One’. Lorca elsewhere characterised this figure as a ‘centaur of death and hatred’, ‘an angel of death and despair’, that he saw as infecting himself and the whole of Andalusia. RETURN
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Bi-lingual texts
Bauer, Carlos (trans.) Poem of the Deep Song. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1987. FURTHER READING AND LINKS Maurer, Christopher (ed.) Collected Poems. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, rev. ed. 2002 [contains complete parallel text version of the poem]. The literature on Lorca is vast, and every year sees ever more material Selected Poems appearing. Clicking simply on his name in Google, for instance, currently Maurer, Christopher (ed.) . London: Penguin Books, 1997 Poema del Cante Jondo (2007) yields nearly a million and three quarter references. The following [a selection from , trans. list is therefore restricted to material focussing upon Poem of the Deep Cola Franzen]. Song and/or upon translations of his work. Selected Poems Merwin, W.S. . New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2005 [a re-issue, with a new introduction by W.S. Merwin, of the Complete editions in Spanish original 1955 edition, ed. Francisco García García-Posada Obras Completas, 4 vols. Barcelona: Lorca and Donald M. Allen]. Miguel (ed.) Galaxia Gutenberg/Circulo de Lectores, 1996-7. Selected Poems Williams, Merryn (trans.) . Newcastle upon Tyne: Hernández, Mario (ed.) Obras. Madrid: Alianza, 1981 – present. Bloodaxe Books, 1992.
Hoyo, Arturo del (ed.) Obras Completas, 3 vols. Madrid: Aguilar, 1986. Lorca’s lecture of 1922 on the significance of ‘deep song’ is presented in Deep Song and Other Prose Christopher Maurer (ed.), . London: Marion Boyars, 1980. Editions of Poema del Cante Jondo in Spanish
Biographies in English De Paepe, Christian (ed.) Poema del Cante Jondo. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1986. Federico García Lorca: A Life Gibson, Ian . London: Faber Hernández, Mario (ed.) Poema del Cante Jondo (1921) seguido de tres and Faber, 1989. textos teóricos de Federico García Lorca y Lorca: A Dream of Life. Manuel de Falla, rev. ed. Madrid: Alianza Stainton, Leslie London: Farrar Straus Editorial, 1998. & Giroux, 1996.
Josephs, Allen, and Juan Poema del Cante Jondo. Romancero Gitano. Critical texts Caballero (eds.) 7th ed. Madrid: Cátedra, 1984.
Fire, Blood, and the Alphabet: One Hundred Doggart, Sebastian, & Michael Thompson Years of Lorca. Durham: University of Durham,
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1999 [contains an invaluable section on translating Lorca, as well as sixteen different versions of a single poem].
Eisenberg, Daniel ‘Lorca and Censorship: The Gay Artist Made Heterosexual’, Angélica [Lucena, Spain], 2, 1991, 121-45 [an extensive and valuable discussion of the various kinds of censorship that Lorca’s life and work have faced].
Internet links http://www.garcia-lorca.org is the official website of the Lorca foundation, though it is currently available in Spanish only. http://granadainfo.com/lorca/index presents a detailed chronology of Lorca’s life, as well as much interesting material about Granada. http://redhibiscus05.blogspot,com/2006/09/lorca-trans-passing.html discusses a translation of Después de pasar, from Poema del Cante Jondo; and Ralph Angel discusses the entire sequence of poems in ‘Attempting to Live Inside Federico García Lorca’s Poema del Cante Jondo for a While’ (http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article.php?lab=DeepSong.
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