Luis Cernuda image

Sombra de Mi – Luís Cernuda

Bien sé yo que esta imagen
Fija siempre en la mente
No eres tú, sino sombra
Del amor que en mí existe
Antes que el tiempo acabe.

MI amor así visible me pareces,
Por mí dotado de esa gracia misma
Que me hace sufrir, llorar, desesperarme
De todo a veces, mientras otras
Me levanta hasta el cielo en nuestra vida,
Sintiendo las dulzuras que se guardan
Sólo a los elegidos tras el mundo.

Y aunque conozco eso, luego pienso
Que sin ti, sin el raro
Pretexto que me diste,
Mi amor, que afuera está con su ternura,
Allá dentro de mí hoy seguiría
Dormido todavía y a la espera
De alguien que, a su llamada,
Le hiciera al fin latir gozosamente.

Entonces te doy gracias te digo:
Para esto vine al mundo, y a esperarte;
Para vivir por ti, como tú vives
Por mí, aunque no lo sepas,
Por este amor tan hondo que te tengo.

Shadow of Myself – Luis Cernuda

I know well enough that this image
Fixed for ever in my mind
Is not you, but the shadow
Of love which exists in me
While my time is still not run out.

So you seem to me my love made visible,
Endowed by me with that very grace
Which makes me suffer, weep and despair
Of everything at times, but at others
LIfts me up to the zenith of our life,
Possessing the joys granted only
To the chosen few beyond the world.

And although I know this I then think
That without you, without the rare
Excuse which you gave me, my love,
Now a tenderness outside me,
Would today be there within
Sleeping still and lying in hope
Of someone who, at his call, at last
Would set it beating joyfully.

Then I thank you and say to you;
For this I came into the world, to await you;
To live because of you, as you live
Because of me, even though you do not know it,
Because of this deep love I have for you.

País

Tus ojos son de donde
La nieve no ha manchado
La luz y entre las palmas
El aire
Invisible es de claro.

Tu deseo es de donde
A los cuerpos se alía
Lo animal con la gracia
Secreta
De mirada y sonrisa.

Tu existir es de donde
Percibe el pensamiento,
Por la arena de mares
Amigos,
La eternidad en tiempo.

Country

Your eyes are from where
The snow has not stained
The light and among the palms
The air’s so bright
It is invisible.

Your desire is from where
The secret animal grace
Of glance and smile
Is allied
With bodies.

Your existence is from where
Thought perceives,
By the sand of friendly
Seas,
Eternity in time.