Poem
Porfirio Barba Jacob
Portrait of a Young Man
Paint a young man, with loyal and purewords, with words of reveries and emotion;
and give to the strophe the rhythm of a cordial tone,
to the rhyme, the variable charm of illusion.
Outline his figure out against the blue
of the sky, in the flowery, smiling prime:
let the sun bathe it leaving it burnished
and his eyes sparkling with a burning flame.
Let a restrained yearning make his flesh tremble,
and the torso, the brow, the sinewy arms,
and the candid look and the blind hope,
compound the splendorous mystery of life!
© Translation: 2006, Nicolás Suescún
Retrato de un jovencito
Retrato de un jovencito
Pintad un hombre joven, con palabras lealesy puras, con palabras de ensueño y emoción;
que haya en la estrofa el ritmo de los golpes cordiales
y en la rima el encanto móvil de la ilusión.
Destacad su figura, neta, contra el azul
del cielo, en la mañana florida, sonreída:
que el sol la bañe al sesgo y la deje bruñida;
que destelle en sus ojos una luz encendida;
que haga temblar las carnes un ansia contenida;
y que el torso, y la frente, y los brazos nervudos,
y el cándido mirar, y la ciega esperanza,
¡compendien el radiante misterio de la vida!
© 2006, Porfirio Barba Jacob
Poems
Poems of Porfirio Barba Jacob
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Portrait of a Young Man
Paint a young man, with loyal and purewords, with words of reveries and emotion;
and give to the strophe the rhythm of a cordial tone,
to the rhyme, the variable charm of illusion.
Outline his figure out against the blue
of the sky, in the flowery, smiling prime:
let the sun bathe it leaving it burnished
and his eyes sparkling with a burning flame.
Let a restrained yearning make his flesh tremble,
and the torso, the brow, the sinewy arms,
and the candid look and the blind hope,
compound the splendorous mystery of life!
© 2006, Nicolás Suescún
Portrait of a Young Man
Paint a young man, with loyal and purewords, with words of reveries and emotion;
and give to the strophe the rhythm of a cordial tone,
to the rhyme, the variable charm of illusion.
Outline his figure out against the blue
of the sky, in the flowery, smiling prime:
let the sun bathe it leaving it burnished
and his eyes sparkling with a burning flame.
Let a restrained yearning make his flesh tremble,
and the torso, the brow, the sinewy arms,
and the candid look and the blind hope,
compound the splendorous mystery of life!
© 2006, Nicolás Suescún
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