martes, 27 de abril de 2010

Parque del amor


En las ciudades no hacen momumentos a los amantes.


Cities don't make monuments for lovers. Except that in Lima, they did- the Parque del amor, a park for lovers on the Malecón in Miraflores. Here you'll read some of the poems, the flowers of the park- with my generous translations.





Te puedo dar todos los nombres: cielo, vida, alfabeto, aire que respiro
- Cesar Mora
I can give you all the names: heaven, life, alphabet, air that I breath.


Mi recuerdo es más fuerte que tu olvido
- Carlos A Salaverry
My memory is stronger than your olvido. Olvido doesn't translate- it's my favorite word in Spanish, the opposite of memory. Learn:


Aun si te olvidara estarás presente en el olvido
- Enrique Peña
Even if I forget you you'll be present in my olvido.


Es dificil hacer el amor pero se aprende- Antonio Cisneros
It's hard to make love but you learn.

Pero lega la hora de venganza y te amo
- Pablo Neruda
But the hour of revenge arrives and I love you.

He de volver a ti como lugar del crimen- Cesar Calvo
I come back to you like the scene of a crime.

Beso lo que nombro y lo que olvido
- Anon
I kiss what I name and what I forget.

Viene el amor del mundo como yegua delirante- Rosina Valcarcel
Love comes into the world like a delirious pony.


Tal vez en tres años te vuelva a amar- Mario Montabelti
Maybe in three years I will love you again.

3 comentarios:

  1. I think olvido is like forgetfullness and I totally call Vicky my Alphabet all the time, she thinks it's hot.

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  2. Never really thought about "olvido" as a concept in English before - it makes sense and is so natural in Spanish but we don't even have a way to articulate the feeling in English. It's more than forgetfulness, because it can often be deliberate, and it's not a loss like "forgetfulness" implies, but maybe just a change in state.

    If human experience is the water, then maybe memory is the ice, and olvido is steam... it can still scald even if you can't hold onto it...

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