Tuesday, December 25, 2018

"Crepuscular" de Camilo Pessanha

Feliz Natal, dudes. Here's a translation of Camilo Pessanha's "Crepuscular," which has nothing to do with Christmas but at least has some imagery vaguely applicable to the season. I'd write a bit more about it, but Mithras' birthday demands my attention.

As always, it's a work in progress, but I hope you dig it anyway.

Até já!


Crepuscular

Há no ambiente um murmúrio de queixume,
De desejos de amor, d’ais comprimidos...
Uma ternura esparsa de balidos,
Sente-se esmorecer como um perfume.

As madressilvas murcham nos silvados
E o aroma que exalam pelo espaço,
Tem delíquios de gozo e de cansaço,
Nervosos, femininos, delicados,

Sentem-se espasmos, agonias d’ave,
Inapreensíveis, mínimas, serenas...
— Tenho entre as mãos as tuas mãos pequenas,
O meu olhar no teu olhar suave.

As tuas mãos tão brancas d’anemia...
Os teus olhos tão meigos de tristeza...
— É este enlanguescer da natureza,
Este vago sofrer do fim do dia.


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Crepuscular

There's a murmur of sighs in the air,
Of love's desires, of stifled cries...
A sparse tenderness, bleating,
Fading away like perfume.

The honeysuckle withers among the brambles
And the scent it gives off
Is dizzy with joy and fatigue,
Nervous, feminine, delicate,

Spasms, a bird's agonies,
Elusive, tiny, serene...
— I have your small hands between my hands,
My eyes on your soft eyes.

Your hands so white with anemia...
Your eyes so meek with sadness...
— This is nature growing languid,
The vague suffering of the waning day.

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