A series of daily posts with a Spanish poem in its original language and translated into English.
One Spanish poem a day - Un poema al día en Español
Amado Ruíz de Nervo
Si tú me dices ven
Si tú me dices ven, lo dejo todo…
No volveré siquiera la mirada
para mirar a la mujer amada…
Pero dímelo fuerte, de tal modo
que tu voz como toque de llamada,
vibre hasta el más íntimo recodo del ser,
levante el alma de su lodo
y hiera el corazón como una espada.
Si tú me dices ven, todo lo dejo…
Llegaré a tu santuario casi viejo,
y al fulgor de la luz crepuscular,
más he de compensarte mi retardo,
difundiéndome ¡Oh, Cristo! como un nardo
de perfume sutil, ante tu altar.
If you tell me to come
If you tell me to come, I'll leave everything...
And not even look back at my beloved.
But say it brusquely, so that like reveille,
Your voice will pierce my soul's most intimate redoubt,
Raise it from the mud, and wound it like a sword.
If you tell me to come, I'll leave everything...
Arriving at your sanctuary, an old man,
I will compensate you for my lateness
By spreading my essence, Oh Christ! before your altar,
Like the soft perfume of the tube rose.
Previous
13. Hora tras hora, día tras día - Hour after hour, day after day - Rosalía de Castro
12. Una mujer me ha envenenado el alma - A woman has poisoned my soul - Gustavo Adolfo Becquer
11. Como quien oye llover - As one listens to the rain - Octavio Paz
10. Nanas de la cebolla - Onion lullaby - Miguel Hernández
9. Historia de la noche - History of the night - Jorge Luis Borges
8. Romance de la luna, luna! - Federico García Lorca
7. Sinfonía en Gris Mayor - Rubén Darío
6. Si tú me olvidas - If your forget me - Pablo Neruda
5. Juegos de agua - Dulce María Loynaz
4. Al olmo viejo - Antonio Machado
Doesn't rhyme well but meaning is good @webosfritos
Poetry translation isn't about rhyme but about meaning, its truly impossible to convey the essence of poetry through a rhyme in a different language... but I appreciate your comment :)