Judith Teixeira: "Adeus"

I'm up to my eyeballs in an editing gig, details of which I'll share at a later date, but I'm still reading Judith Teixeira. The more I read, the more I like her work. 

Here's a first-draft translation of her poem "Adeus." Her tone is deeply satisfying in its scornfulness, which in turn is undermined by her weakness for goodbyes. I think the poem could've been simply a brilliant dismissal, but by adding that extra dimension, Teixeira makes it all the more human. I love it.

If I don't write again before Yuletide or the New Year, happy holidays, folks. Enjoy the Winter Solstice.

DAS

 

"Adeus"
Judith Teixeira

Sim, vou partir.
E não levo saudade
de ninguém...
Nem em ti penso agora!...
Julgavas que a tristeza desta hora
fosse maior que a firme vontade
que eu pus em destruir
o luminoso fio de ternura
que me prendia ao teu olhar?...
Julgaste mal:
Eu sei amar,
mas meu amor,
o que eu não sei
é ser banal!

Mas porque vim eu escrever-te ainda?
nem eu sei!
Talvez somente
o hábito cortês da despedida
— e o habito faz lei!

Choro?!... Oh! sim, perdidamente!
Mas sabes tu, porque este pranto
assim amargo, e soluçado, vem?
É que na hora da partida
eu nunca pude sem chorar,
dizer adeus a ninguém!


Janeiro
1926

-----

"Goodbye"
Judith Teixeira

Yes, I'm leaving.
And I won't miss
anyone...
I'm not even thinking of you now!
Did you think that the sadness of this moment
would be greater than my firm intention
to destroy
the luminous thread of tenderness
that bound me to your gaze?...
You thought wrong:
I know how to love,
but darling,
what I don't know
is how to be ordinary!

But why am I still writing to you?
I don't even know!
Maybe it's only
the polite habit of saying farewell
— and habits make laws!

Do I cry?... Oh, yes, uncontrollably!
But do you know why these tears,
bitter as they are, and punctuated by sobs, well up?
It's because when it's time to leave
I could never say goodbye
to anyone without crying!

 
January
1926