Poem
Fernando Charry Lara
SECRET LIFE
Oh, tell me, tell me, when the nightMakes your quiet smile paler,
The tremulousness of the hour,
The solitary thought,
The vague noises like rain,
Do you, then, rest your head
In silence, for my forgotten name?
Do you look for something as unnecessary
Remembrance, do vague dates,
Countenances,
Sweet months andreveries, arise?
In the night that stays silent
The languid flight of hours,
A noise, a noise until it is just
As the breeze on a flower,
Fugitive, loving pace,
Weak sound, sob,
Thus is concealed in my breast
Your white name, your beloved name.
I ask you now if in the silence
Of the nights, oh, tell me, tell me,
I arrive like you among seas, come from time,
Crossing streets, parlors lost in music
After a tempest of ancient tears.
Oh, svelte form of the crepuscular
Smoke, of the blue sky and the approaching night.
Oh, sudden presence of oblivion,
Oh, vanishing
Image of dream and of life.
© Translation: 2006, Nicolás Suescún
Secreta vida
Secreta vida
Oh, dime, dime, cuando la nocheHace más pálida tu callada sonrisa,
Lo trémulo de la hora,
El pensamiento solitario,
Los vagos ruidos como lluvia
¿Reclinan tu cabeza en el silencio
Por mi olvidado nombre, entonces?
¿Buscas algo como innecesario
Recuerdo, surgen las fechas vagas,
Los semblantes,
Los dulces meses, los ensueños?
Entre la noche que calla
La fuga lánguida de las horas,
Un ruido, un ruido hasta apenas ser
Brisa sobre flor,
Fugitivo amante paso,
Débil sonido, sollozo,
Así calla en mi pecho
Tu blanco nombre, tu nombre amado.
Te pregunto ahora si en el silencio
De las noches, oh, dime, dime,
Llego como tú entre mares vienes del tiempo,
Atravesando calles, salas perdidas en la música
Tras una tempestad de lágrimas antiguas.
Oh forma esbelta del humo
Crepuscular, del cielo azul y la noche cercana.
Oh súbita presencia del olvido,
Oh desvanecida
Imagen del sueño y de la vida.
© 1949, Fernando Charry Lara
From: Nocturno y otros sueños
Publisher: Ediciones ABC, Bogotá
From: Nocturno y otros sueños
Publisher: Ediciones ABC, Bogotá
Poems
Poems of Fernando Charry Lara
Close
SECRET LIFE
Oh, tell me, tell me, when the nightMakes your quiet smile paler,
The tremulousness of the hour,
The solitary thought,
The vague noises like rain,
Do you, then, rest your head
In silence, for my forgotten name?
Do you look for something as unnecessary
Remembrance, do vague dates,
Countenances,
Sweet months andreveries, arise?
In the night that stays silent
The languid flight of hours,
A noise, a noise until it is just
As the breeze on a flower,
Fugitive, loving pace,
Weak sound, sob,
Thus is concealed in my breast
Your white name, your beloved name.
I ask you now if in the silence
Of the nights, oh, tell me, tell me,
I arrive like you among seas, come from time,
Crossing streets, parlors lost in music
After a tempest of ancient tears.
Oh, svelte form of the crepuscular
Smoke, of the blue sky and the approaching night.
Oh, sudden presence of oblivion,
Oh, vanishing
Image of dream and of life.
© 2006, Nicolás Suescún
From: Nocturno y otros sueños
From: Nocturno y otros sueños
SECRET LIFE
Oh, tell me, tell me, when the nightMakes your quiet smile paler,
The tremulousness of the hour,
The solitary thought,
The vague noises like rain,
Do you, then, rest your head
In silence, for my forgotten name?
Do you look for something as unnecessary
Remembrance, do vague dates,
Countenances,
Sweet months andreveries, arise?
In the night that stays silent
The languid flight of hours,
A noise, a noise until it is just
As the breeze on a flower,
Fugitive, loving pace,
Weak sound, sob,
Thus is concealed in my breast
Your white name, your beloved name.
I ask you now if in the silence
Of the nights, oh, tell me, tell me,
I arrive like you among seas, come from time,
Crossing streets, parlors lost in music
After a tempest of ancient tears.
Oh, svelte form of the crepuscular
Smoke, of the blue sky and the approaching night.
Oh, sudden presence of oblivion,
Oh, vanishing
Image of dream and of life.
© 2006, Nicolás Suescún
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