An episode of Radiolab titled “100 Flowers” introduced me to the challenges of translating poetry. A strict word-by-word translation will likely leave poetic devices behind. At the same time, emphasizing the preservation of poetic devices over strict translation can result in losing the intended meaning of the poet. So, literary translators must perform a balancing act, trying to preserve the best of both. That’s not what I’m claiming to do here. I just had fun translating this poem, while trying to keep my perceived meaning in mind.
Here’s a link to the poem in Spanish, my interpretation below:
Ode to a happy day
Let me be happy,
this time
nothing has happened to no one,
I am no where,
the only thing that has happened,
is that I am happy
through the 4 chambers of the heart,
walking, sleeping or writing.
What else am I to do? I am
happy.
I’m more innumerable
than the meadow grass,
I feel my skin,
like the rough bark of a tree
and the water below,
the birds above,
the sea like a ring
around my waist,
the earth, made of bread and stone
the air sings like a guitar.
You, by side in the sand
you are the sand,
you sing and you are the song,
today the world is my soul,
song and sand,
today the world is your mouth,
in your mouth and in the sand,
let me be happy,
to be happy just because, because I breathe
and because you breathe,
to be happy because I touch
your knee
and it is as if I touch
the blue skin of the sky,
and feel its freshness.
Today, leave me, alone,
to be happy
with or without everyone else,
to be happy with the grass
and the sand,
to be happy
with the air and the land,
to be happy,
with you, with your mouth,
to be happy.