Despierta, tiemblo al mirarte:
dormida, me atrevo a verte;
por eso, alma de mi alma,
yo velo cuando tú duermes.
Despierta, ríes y al reír tus labios
inquietos me parecen
relámpagos de grana que serpean
sobre un cielo de nieve.
Dormida, los extremos de tu boca
pliega sonrisa leve,
suave como el rastro luminoso
que deja en sol que muere.
“Duerme!”
Despierta miras y al mirar tus ojos
húmedos resplandecen,
como la onda azul en cuya cresta
chispeando el sol hiere.
Al través de tus párpados, dormida;
tranquilo fulgor vierten
cual derrama de luz templado rayo
lámpara transparente.
“Duerme!”
Despierta hablas, y al hablar vibrantes
tus palabras parecen
lluvia de perlas que en dorada copa
se derrama a torrentes.
Dormida, en el murmullo de tu aliento
acompasado y tenue,
escucho yo un poema que mi alma
enamorada entiende.
“Duerme!”
Sobre el corazón la mano
me he puesto porque no suene
su latido y en la noche
turbe la calma solemne:
De tu balcón las persianas
cerré ya porque no entre
el resplandor enojoso
de la aurora y te despierte.
“Duerme!”
|
|
|
When you're awake, I shudder to glance:
when you're asleep, I dare to look;
and so, soul of my soul,
I keep watch over your sleep.
Awake, you laugh and when you laugh your restless
lips seem to me
scarlet lightning that wriggles
in a snowy sky.
Asleep, the ends of your mouth
fold in a slight smile,
smooth like the luminous trail
left behind a sun that dies.
"Sleep!"
Awake you watch and when you watch your eyes
gleam moistly,
like a blue wave in whose crest
the sun sparkles painfully.
When your eyelids shut, asleep;
peaceful brilliance trickles
like moderate rays of light spill
from a transparent lamp.
"Sleep!"
Awake you speak, and when you speak your vibrant
words seem to me
a shower of gems that spills in torrents
in a gilded goblet.
Asleep, in the murmur of your breath
rhythmic and tenuous,
I listen to a poem that my enamored
soul understands.
"Sleep!"
I have placed my hand over
my heart so its beating
won't sound and disturb
the solemn calm of night.
I have closed the blinds
of your balcony so the annoying
brightness of dawn
cannot enter and wake you.
"Sleep!"
|
I tremble to look at thee, while awake;
But when asleep, a glance I dare to take;
Therefore I watch, while in enthrallment deep
O soul of my soul, thou art held by sleep.
Awakened, thou dost laugh, and thus, thy lips
Appear like restless, scarlet lightning tips
Dazzling and fitful in their zig-zag glow,
Coiled like a serpent on a sky of snow.
Asleep, the angle of thy mouth beguiles
With tender folds of reminiscent smiles,
Mild as the radiance, which the dying sun
Leaves in its wake, whene'er his course is run ...
Sleep thou!
Awakened, thou dost gaze and then thy eyes
With humid fire are glistening, such as lies
Upon the blue waves' crest, in mobile mounds
And which the sparkling sun by contact wounds.
Asleep, across thy eye-lids thou dost shed
A tranquil brightness, constant, limited,
Just as a lamp's transparencies invite
Transmission of a tempered ray of light ...
Sleep thou!
Awakened, thou dost speak and speaking seem
Thy words vibrating a torrential stream
Or rain of pearls precipitately rolled
With clank and clatter in a cup of gold.
Asleep, I listen to the measured flow
Of respiration, regular and low;
And hear a poem in its murmurs bland,
Which my enamored soul can understand ...
Sleep thou!
I place my hand above my heart, to still
Its restless beating, so that nothing will
Thy welcome and pacific slumbers blight,
And mar the solemn stillness of the night.
And now the shutters of thy balcony
I'll gently close, so that no curious ray
Of morning's dawning may seek entrance here
And with annoying brightness interfere ...
Sleep thou!
Translated by Jules Renard
Copyright ©1908 by Richard G. Badger
|
|
|
Awake, I tremble to behold thee,
But I am bold to gaze on thee, asleep;
So, spirit of my spirit, whilst thou slumbrest
My watch over thee I keep.
Awake, thou laughest, and thy restless lips,
Laughing, seem even
Flashes of curved lightning wandering, crimson,
Over a snowy heaven.
Asleep, the corners of thy mouth
In a light smile upcreep,
Soft as the luminous aftertrail
Left by a dying sun ...
- Sleep!
Awake, thou gazest, and thy humid eyes
Resemble, gazing,
The blue sea-wave, upon whose crest
The sun strikes, blazing.
Asleep, a tranquil radiance doth
From out thine eyelids sweep,
As rays of mellow light pour forth
From a crystal lantern ...
- Sleep!
Awake, thou speakest, and thy spoken words,
Vibrating, seem
Showers of pearls that in a golden basin
Torrential stream.
Asleep, in the murmur of thy breathing,
Measured and deep,
I hear a poem which my enamored soul
Understands fully ...
- Sleep!
Over my heart I have placed my hand,
That may not sound
Its beating in the night, disturbing
The calm profound.
Already at thy balcony have I drawn
The curtains, to keep
Without the dawning's wearying splendor,
Lest it awake thee ...
- Sleep!
Translated by Young Allison
Copyright ©1924 by Young Allison
|