Sonetos Tres- Pablo Neruda
Amor, cuántos caminos hasta llegar a un beso,
qué soledad errante hasta tu compañía!
Siguen los trenes solos rodando con la lluvia.
En Taltal no amanece aún la primavera.
Pensar que costó tantas piedras que lleva el río,
la desembocadura del agua de Boroa,
pensar que separados por trenes y naciones
tú y yo teníamos que simplemente amarnos,
con todos confundidos, con hombres y mujeres,
con la tierra que implanta y educa los claveles.
Translation 1:
Love, how many steps to arrive at a kiss,
what solitude therewas before your company!
The trains continue rolling in the rain.
In Taltal the spring has yet to awake
to think that cost so many stones that bears the river,
the mouth of water Boroa,
think separated by trains and nations
you and I had to just love us
all confused, with men and women,
with the earth that educates and carnations.
This poem is part of a compilation of 100 which I grew up with while learning to read in Spanish. This translation is as literal as possible. I was not able to translate the rhythm, Spanish has strict rules about accentuation and inflection.
Translation 2:
Beloved, what a journey it was to arrive at your lips,
such solitude before your company.
Regardless of us,
the trains push through the rain.
In Taltal, the Spring delays.
To think, with the weight of the stones the river bears,
the water at the mouth of the Boroa,
think of separation by trains and nations
because all we could do was think of it.
You and I had only to love each other
others confused, both men and women,
even the earth that teaches carnations to bloom.
Our only responsibility was us.
This translation is more of an attempt to relay the essence behind the poem, and make it “better”. I tried to make it easier to understand. Neruda paints a new world in the entirety of this poem (this is an excerpt) where these lovers reside among others, but do not necessarily exist in that plane because their only concerns are their own. All of that is not directly stated, rather implied. Not because of selfishness, but because it simply is not their purpose. As such, you’ll notice that I added a few lines.
Hi,
As someone who also speaks Spanish, I had a lot of fun reading your post since it proves that translation is very different for everyone. It was interesting to see how you relayed the voice of the poem into your own translation and even more fun to see how different it would have been had I also translated it. Additionally, as someone who read the poem for the first time, it was also fascinating to see how you, someone who’s read this poem growing up, differed in what you got from the poem and how you would translate it to make non-Spanish speakers understand it and the message behind it.
Hi,
I really liked the poem you picked because of its beautiful meaning. Even though I don’t read Spanish, I felt that from your second translation, I was really able to get the meaning of the poem. What was interesting was that even from your literal translation, I was able to get the gist of the poem, but the second translation really clarified the meaning. In order to get the true meaning of the love story in the poem, I think adding a few lines to the second translation was a good idea! Great work!