Peso ancestral
Tú me dijiste: no lloró mi padre,;
tu me dijiste: no lloró me abuelo,;
no han llorado los hombres de mi raza,
eran de acero.
As’ diciendo te brotó una lágrima
ye me cayó en la boca . . . ; más veneno
yo no he bebido nunca en otro vaso asi
pequeño.
Débil mujer, pobre mujer que entiende,
dolor de siglos conoc’ al beberlo.
Oh, el alma mia soportar no puede
todo su peso.
Inheritance
You said to me: “My father did not weep,
Nor my grandfather weep.” I heard you say:
“No man of all my race has ever wept,;
of steel were they.”
And thus upon my trembling mouth I felt
The poison of your bitter teardrop fall,
Worse potion than my lips have ever quaffed
From a cup so small.
Weak woman, born all grief to comprehend,
I drank the pain of ages infinite;
But oh, my wretched soul cannot support
The weight of it!
Translated by Jessie Read Wendell
ANCESTRAL BURDEN
ResponderEliminarYou said to me: “My father did not weep,
Nor my grandfather weep.” I heard you say:
“No man of all my race has ever wept,
of steel were they.”
And thus upon my trembling mouth I felt
The poison of your bitter teardrop fall,
Worse potion than my lips have ever quaffed
From a cup so small.
Weak woman, born all grief to comprehend,
I drank the pain of ages infinite;
But oh, my wretched soul cannot support
The weight of it!