Rima XLIII

by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
translated by H. Landman


I pushed the lamp to one side, and sat
on the edge of the disheveled bed,
Mute, somber, my unmoving eye
     nailed to the wall.

How long was I thus? I don't know: before
the horrible rapture of sorrow departed me,
the lamp expired and on my balcony
     the sun was smiling.

Neither do I know in those terrible hours
what I thought or what happened to me;
I only remember that I cried and cursed,
and that in that night I grew old.

Dejé la luz a un lado, y en el borde
de la revuelta cama me senté,
Mudo, sombrío, la pupila inmóvil
     clavada en la pared.

¿Qué tiempo estuve así? No sé: al dejarme
la embriaguez horrible de dolor,
expiraba la luz y en mis balcones
     reía el sol.

Ni sé tampoco en tan terribles horas
en qué pensaba o que pasó por mí;
solo recuerdo que lloré y maldije,
y que en aquella noche envejecí.


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Copyright ©2001,2003 Howard A. Landman / howard@polyamory.org
Created 2001 November 26
Last updated 2003 August 14