Poem
Jorge de Sena
POSTSCRIPT
I’m not one of those whose bones are kept,nor am I even one the future will lament
not having saved in time to still be bones.
Moreover I’m not one who’ll be a standard
in contests of blood or even words,
by some hated as much as others may love me.
I’m not even one of those enchanting voices,
whispering to the lonely youth in shadows,
of some vague beauty that perchance is in his dreams.
Nor will I even be a consolation to the sad,
to the humiliated or those who boil with rage
at an entire life bit by bit betrayed.
No, I’ll not be anything of what remains or is useful,
and I’ll die, when I die, with me.
Only very timidly, in the empty hours, will he read me,
in disguise from everyone and from himse1f,
curious, that fellow who dares suspect
how truly poetry is still a disguise for life.
© Translation: 1980, Frederick G. Williams
From: The Poetry of Jorge de Sena
Publisher: Mudborn Press, Santa Barbara, 1980
From: The Poetry of Jorge de Sena
Publisher: Mudborn Press, Santa Barbara, 1980
POST-SCRIPTUM
POST-SCRIPTUM
Não sou daqueles cujos ossos se guardam,nem sequer sou dos que os vindouros lamentam
não hajam sido guardados a tempo de ser ossos.
Igualmente não sou dos que serão estandartes
em lutas de sangue ou de palavras,
por uns odiados quanto me amem outros.
Não sou sequer dos que são voz de encanto,
ciciando na penumbra ao jovem solitário,
a beleza vaga que em seus sonhos houver.
Nem serei ao menos consolação dos tristes,
dos humilhados, dos que fervem raivas
de uma vida inteira pouco a pouco traída.
Não, não serei nada do que fica ou serve,
e morrerei, quando morrer, comigo.
Só muito a medo, a horas mortas, me lerá,
de todos e de si se disfarçando,
curioso, aquel’ que aceita suspeitar
quanto mesmo a poesia ainda é disfarce da vida.
© 1961, Jorge de Sena
From: Poesia I
Publisher: Edições 70, Lisboa
From: Poesia I
Publisher: Edições 70, Lisboa
Poems
Poems of Jorge de Sena
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POSTSCRIPT
I’m not one of those whose bones are kept,nor am I even one the future will lament
not having saved in time to still be bones.
Moreover I’m not one who’ll be a standard
in contests of blood or even words,
by some hated as much as others may love me.
I’m not even one of those enchanting voices,
whispering to the lonely youth in shadows,
of some vague beauty that perchance is in his dreams.
Nor will I even be a consolation to the sad,
to the humiliated or those who boil with rage
at an entire life bit by bit betrayed.
No, I’ll not be anything of what remains or is useful,
and I’ll die, when I die, with me.
Only very timidly, in the empty hours, will he read me,
in disguise from everyone and from himse1f,
curious, that fellow who dares suspect
how truly poetry is still a disguise for life.
© 1980, Frederick G. Williams
From: The Poetry of Jorge de Sena
Publisher: 1980, Mudborn Press, Santa Barbara
From: The Poetry of Jorge de Sena
Publisher: 1980, Mudborn Press, Santa Barbara
POSTSCRIPT
I’m not one of those whose bones are kept,nor am I even one the future will lament
not having saved in time to still be bones.
Moreover I’m not one who’ll be a standard
in contests of blood or even words,
by some hated as much as others may love me.
I’m not even one of those enchanting voices,
whispering to the lonely youth in shadows,
of some vague beauty that perchance is in his dreams.
Nor will I even be a consolation to the sad,
to the humiliated or those who boil with rage
at an entire life bit by bit betrayed.
No, I’ll not be anything of what remains or is useful,
and I’ll die, when I die, with me.
Only very timidly, in the empty hours, will he read me,
in disguise from everyone and from himse1f,
curious, that fellow who dares suspect
how truly poetry is still a disguise for life.
© 1980, Frederick G. Williams
From: The Poetry of Jorge de Sena
Publisher: 1980, Mudborn Press, Santa Barbara
From: The Poetry of Jorge de Sena
Publisher: 1980, Mudborn Press, Santa Barbara
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