EthicalDative

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt Whitman
English text at http://www.poetryfoundation.org
Spanish Interpretation by JMN

[Translator’s note: I’m uncomfortably aware that I border on paraphrase and not translation in the last line particularly. The line casts flicker down into the clefts of streets, which sounds glorious to me in English — street clefts! — but I could not pull out anything down into “las hendiduras de calles” or alternatives that didn’t grind the gears in Spanish.]

End of part 3. Be mindful there are 9 parts.

(…3)
The sailors at work in the rigging or out astride the spars,
Los marineros al trabajo en la jarcia o bien a horcajadas sobre los palos,
The round masts, the swinging motion of the hulls, the slender serpentine pennants,
Los mástiles redondos, el balanceo de los cascos, los delgados banderines serpentinos,
The large and small steamers in motion, the pilots in their pilot-houses,
Los buques de vapor grandes y pequeños en marcha, los timoneles en sus cámaras,
The white wake left by the passage, the quick tremulous whirl of the wheels,
La estela blanca que deja el pasaje, el remolino rápido y trémolo de las ruedas,
The flags of all nations, the falling of them at sunset,
Las banderas de todas las naciones, su caída al ponerse el sol,
The scallop-edged waves in the twilight, the ladled cups, the frolicsome crests and glistening,
Las olas de borde festoneado en el crepúsculo, las copas servidas de cucharón, las crestas juguetonas y relucientes,
The stretch afar growing dimmer and dimmer, the gray walls of the granite storehouses by the docks,
El tramo lejano volviéndose cada vez más tenue, las muros grises de los almacenes graníticos lindando los muelles,
On the river the shadowy group, the big steam-tug closely flank’d on each side by the barges, the hay-boat, the belated lighter,
En el río el grupo sombrío, el gran remolcador de vapor flanqueado de las barcazas, el barco de heno, la gabarra tardía,
On the neighboring shore the fires from the foundry chimneys burning high and glaringly into the night,
En la orilla colindante los fuegos de las chimeneas fundidoras ardiendo altos y deslumbrantes hasta entrada la noche,
Casting their flicker of black contrasted with wild red and yellow light over the tops of houses, and down into the clefts of streets.
Destellando su contraste de negro con el delirio de luz roja y amarilla arrojada sobre los techos, y penetrando los recovecos callejeros.

(c) 2021 JMN. All rights reserved

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt Whitman
English text at http://www.poetryfoundation.org
Spanish Interpretation by JMN

[Translator’s note: Though officially Spanish has imported the word “ferry,” I haven’t been happy with using it in the title of my rendering of Whitman’s poem. Conjoined with “Brooklyn” it just jangles with too much English. So I’ve shortened my title to “Travesía.” It’s pure, and I like the fluid semantic range of a “crossing” or “crossing over,” with its latency of skepticism for narrowly prescriptive boundaries.]

A middle third, give or take, of part 3, follows. Don’t forget, there are 9 parts.

(…3…)
I too many and many a time cross’d the river of old,
Yo también tantísimas veces atravesé el río antaño,
Watched the Twelfth-month sea-gulls, saw them high in the air floating with motionless wings, oscillating their bodies,
Observé las gaviotas del duodécimo mes, las vi flotar en el aire a gran altura con alas inmóviles, oscilando sus cuerpos,
Saw how the glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies and left the rest in strong shadow,
Vi cómo el amarillo reluciente iluminaba porciones de sus cuerpos, dejando lo demás en sombra fuerte,
Saw the slow-wheeling circles and the gradual edging toward the south,
Vi los círculos que giraban lentamente y el avance poco a poco hacia el sur,
Saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water,
Vi el reflejo del cielo estival en el agua,
Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams,
Quedé con ojos deslumbrados por el sendero encendido de rayos,
Look’d at the fine centrifugal spokes of light round the shape of my head in the sunlit water,
Observé los finos radios centrífugos de luz que rodeaban la imagen de mi cabeza en el agua soleada,
Look’d on the haze on the hills southward and south-westward,
Observé la neblina sobre las colinas hacia el sur y el suroeste,
Look’d on the vapor as it flew in fleeces tinged with violet,
Observé el vapor mientras volaba en hilos lanudos teñidos de violeta,
Look’d toward the lower bay to notice the vessels arriving,
Miré hacia la bahía inferior para fijarme en las embarcaciones que llegaban,
Saw their approach, saw aboard those that were near me,
Las vi acercarse, vi abordo a aquéllos que estaban cerca de mí,
Saw the white sails of schooners and sloops, saw the ships at anchor,
Vi las velas blancas de goletas y balandras, vi los barcos anclados,…

[… a continuarse]

(c) 2021 JMN. All rights reserved