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    Rubén Darío – Lo fatal

    English translation

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Original lyrics

Lo fatal

Dichoso el árbol que es apenas sensitivo,
y más la piedra dura, porque ésta ya no siente,
pues no hay dolor más grande que el dolor de ser vivo,
ni mayor pesadumbre que la vida consciente.
 
Ser, y no saber nada, y ser sin rumbo cierto,
y el temor de haber sido y un futuro terror...
Y el espanto seguro de estar mañana muerto,
y sufrir por la vida y por la sombra y por
 
lo que no conocemos y apenas sospechamos,
y la carne que tienta con sus frescos racimos
y la tumba que aguarda con sus fúnebres ramos,
¡y no saber adónde vamos,
ni de dónde venimos...!
 
English
Translation#1#2#3

Fatality

The tree is happy because it is scarcely sentient;
the hard rock is happier still, it feels nothing:
there is no pain as great as being alive,
no burden heavier than that of conscious life.
 
To be, and to know nothing, and to lack a way,
and the dread of having been, and future terrors…
And the sure terror of being dead tomorrow,
and to suffer all through life and through the darkness,
 
and through what we do not know and hardly suspect…
And the flesh that tempts us with bunches of cool grapes,
and the tomb that awaits us with its funeral sprays,
and not to know where we go,
nor whence we came!
 

Translations of "Lo fatal"

English #1, #2, #3
French #1, #2
German #1, #2
Greek
Hungarian
Italian
Romanian #1, #2
Russian
Comments
ScieraSciera    Thu, 09/07/2015 - 12:20

Looks like a good translation. I understood the lyrics in the same way.

But, wasn't there a note that the requester wants an adaptation instead of a literal translation?

roster 31roster 31
   Tue, 14/07/2015 - 16:11

I personally, don;t believe in translating famous poems. I think they loose in translation all the creativity and genius of the poet.
This particular translation, I don't think is that good (perhaps trying not to be literal); for on thing, the first stanza is not an statement, matter of fact, but an exclamation:
"Happy the tree...
and even more the hard rock...".
I can tell that the French and Italian versions convey better the original idea and style.

Moshe KayeMoshe Kaye
   Fri, 03/06/2022 - 15:10

A question por favor!

i know this is a copy translation but what does the translator mean by "funeral sprays" as this is nonsensical in English.

Is the meaning "the scents of a funeral" ?

Gracias,
~Moshe

David SilvermanDavid Silverman    Thu, 09/06/2022 - 20:58

Dear Moshe,

So much in language doesn't make sense literally, but figuratively. Words can have many associated meanings. I am always surprised at how so many English words and phrases have such a great variety of associated meanings, which I just take for granted because I have grown up with the language. I don't even think about it, until I put myself in the shoes of a non-native speaker. I am learning Spanish, so I am discovering new meanings of the same words and phrases every day!

A spray of flowers is a bunch of cut flowers, whose stems are placed in a narrow vase, which seem to spray out from a central point, and diverge in all directions, like the spokes from the hub of a wheel. It is as though the flowers are being sprayed out of a hose, like water whose stream diverges the further it gets from the nozzle.

David

Moshe KayeMoshe Kaye
   Thu, 09/06/2022 - 21:05

Thank you David. I learned something new! It's a good day!

Best,
~Moshe

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