Gacela de la muerte oscura
(Frederico Garcia Lorca)

Quiero dormir el sueño de las manzanas,
alejarme del tumulto de los cementerios.
Quiero dormir el sueño de aquel niño
que quería cortarse el corazón en alta mar.

No quiero que me repitan que los muertos no pierden la sangre:
que la boca podrida sigue pidiendo agua.
No quiero enterarme de los martirios que da la hierba,
ni de la luna con boca de serpiente
que trabaja antes del amanecer.

Quiero dormir un rato,
un rato, un minuto, un siglo;
pero que todos sepan que no he muerto;
que haya un establo de oro en mis labios;
que soy un pequeño amigo del viento Oeste;
que soy la sombra inmensa de mis lágrimas.

Cúbreme por la aurora con un velo,
porque me arrojará puñados de hormigas,
y moja con agua dura mis zapatos
para que resbale la pinza de su alacrán.
Porque quiero dormir el sueño de las manzanas
para aprender un llanto que me limpie de tierra;
porque quiero vivir con aquel niño oscuro
que quería cortarse el corazón en alta mar.






Gacela of the Dark Death















I want to sleep the sleep of apples,
to escape the anxiety of the grave.
I want to sleep the sleep of that boy
who desired nothing
but to thrust his bleeding heart
into the open sea.

Don’t tell me that the dead lose no blood
or that their thirst seeks no respite;
don’t tell me of the torments of the grass
or the doings of the serpentine moon
in the hours before dawn.

I sleep for a while,
a while, a minute, a century;
but you must know
that I am not dead;
that my lips are a stable of gold;
that I am a friend of the west wind
and have been more than the shadow of my tears.

Cover my face at dawn with a veil,
for Dawn will throw handfuls of ants.
Pour living water over my feet
that the scorpion sting of death will pass.
Because I want to sleep the sleep of apples,
to learn the sad song that will free me from this earth.
I want to live like that dark child who desired nothing
but to cut out his heart
and thrust it into the sea.


Some difficulties posed in the translation of this work:
Lines 1-4: "the sleep of apples. Relates to both life and death. Mirrored later in the poem images of the serpent (line 8) and of the nativity (line 13).
"the tumult of cemetaries"....usually perceived as places of calm and quiet.
"the dark boy who wants to cut his heart on the sea"...image of death in the death of the boy balanced by the sea as symbolic of the womb and life.

Line 14: picture of the west wind as a regenerator of life; vernal.

Lines 16-19: How might a veil protect from the ravages of ants? What is the meaning of pouring hard water over shoes?