yesterday i promised you a translation of victor jara’s canto libre. here it is (and here is the MP3 version).
my verse is a dove
looking for a place to nest.
and with a roar it opens its wings
to fly, to fly.
my song is free
and wants to give itself
to whoever opens his hand
yearning to set the world free.
my song is a chain
without beginning, without an end,
and every link contains
the song of everyone else.
let’s never stop singing together
to all humanity.
a song is a dove
who flies so that it may discover.
with a thunder it opens its wings
to fly, to fly.
my song is a free song.
(image by mafleen)
3 responses so far ↓
1 Vernon Lun // Dec 9, 2007 at 7:00 am
That’s amazing, thanks for the translation
Vernon Lun’s last blog post..The difference of being IN versus ON
2 Ivor Griffiths // Feb 22, 2008 at 9:44 am
I agree with the previous poster, it’s an amazing transaltion. The dove as metaphor for a verse is bordering on cheesy but kjust about avoids it I think.
Ivor Griffiths’s last blog post..How to Write a Novel & Short Story – Suspense
3 isabella mori // Feb 22, 2008 at 2:56 pm
thanks ivor!
you’re right about the dove as a metaphor. it’s interesting to observe that “cheexy” in one culture may be bang on in another. i have translated quite a few poems that were written by latin american writers or poets and thought, oh no, this sounds so kitschy in english!
i’m glad you feel that it just avoids the cheeziness.
leave a comment