Tránsito Passage

Tránsito

Pero una triste oscuridad llegó tras ellos
– Friedrich Hölderlin
 
Yo era un niño y mi reino era el día.
 
El mundo me llegaba en relámpagos:
mi madre
susurrando y los pasos militares
de mi padre subiendo la escalera.
 
En mi cuarto cuidaba a un lobo y a un cordero
y un olor a alcanfor
subía hasta las tardes cuando se hacían humo.
 
Fueron hermosos días.
 
Riñas también, a veces, y puertas y ladridos.
 
Así y todo era un niño y en la mesa
alumbraba mi vaso de leche como un cirio.
 
De repente la noche cayó sobre mi frente
y fui un hombre descalzo en medio del camino.
 

Passage

[Those days were beautiful.] But how sad the dusk that followed. – Friedrich Hölderlin
 
I used to be a boy and my kingdom was day.
The world arrived to me in lighting bolts:
mi madre
murmuring and the military footsteps
of my father going up the stairs.
 
In my room, I cared for a wolf and a lamb
and an odour of camphor
arose until the evenings became smoke.
 
Those were lovely days.
 
Rows as well, and doors, and barks.
 
Even so I was a boy and on the table
my glass of milk glowed like a candle.
 
Suddenly night fell across my brow
and there I was, a man, barefoot, mid-path.
 

passage (traffic, movement, transit, death)

I used to be a boy and my kingdom was day.
 
The world would come to me in lightning bolts: my mother
whispering and the steps military
of my father climbing the staircase.
 
In my room, looked after a wolf and a lamb
and a smell of camphor
went up even on afternoons turning to smoke.
 
They were lovely days.
 
Fights also, sometimes, and doors and barks.
 
Like this and all, I was a boy and on the table
lit my glass of milk like a candle.
 
Suddenly the night fell on my forehead
and I was a man barefoot in middle of path.
 

Piedad Bonnett, a prolific poet, novelist and playwright born in Amalfi, Colombia, is best known as a writer of lucid language instilled by a sense of irony, beauty and deep feeling. In her short poem Passage, Bonnett explores the themes of childhood, the passage of time and the realities of family life in Colombia. In translating the poem into English, we asked ourselves about the meaning of the original title ‘Tránsito’ and its various iterations: traffic, movement, passage, transit, and death. We settled for ‘Passage’ as it was evident that there was a vital element of time passing and childhood memories in the poem. We also discussed using the Spanish verb ‘susurrando’ in the context of family recollections and a mother perhaps hiding secrets. There was the option of using the English verb ‘whispering’ as a straightforward solution. However, we finally opted for ‘murmuring’ for its heart connotations and as an expression of discontent or dissatisfaction in relation to the mother. This was decided as a way of keeping with the poem’s vocabulary and its precise language. There was also an interesting debate about specific images that conveyed a sense of religion/spirituality, including ‘I cared for a wolf and a lamb’ and ‘my glass of milk glowed like a candle’. We were fascinated by Friedrich Hölderlin’s epigraph in the poem, translated by Yvette Siegert as ‘[Those days were beautiful.] But how sad the dusk that followed.’ and how it connected to the line in the poem ‘those were lovely days’. The last line, ‘y fui un hombre descalzo en medio del camino’ was also discussed for its apparent connection to Dante’s ‘In the middle of the journey of our life’ famous line in The Divine Comedy, and it’s meaningful implications on time passing. We decided for ‘and there I was, a man, barefoot, mid-path’ adding three commas, and bringing a sense of directness and simplicity that was palpable in the original poem.

Leo Boix, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Piedad Bonnett

Translated by

Yvette Siegert and The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Spanish

Country