Orozco was a Mexican poet and diplomat. He is a cultural attaché at the Mexican Consulate General in San Diego and lives in his Roma Point. This essay was translated from Spanish by a member of the editorial board.
Traditionally, William Shakespeare's birthday is celebrated in April. April 23rd to be exact. Like any other day, it is a good day to remember and return to the present legacy of British poets who have never deserted us.
From his penetrating psychological observations of human passion, to his critique of power and oppression, to the paradise of his lyrics and the joy of humour, this British poet continues to resonate with us today. His iridescent poems sound as clear and vivid today as they did yesterday, whether they meditate on death, decry the corruption of those in power, or celebrate love. The vast world he created, a universe that seems to be constantly expanding, renews and renews us every time we read it.
And, like Miguel de Cervantes, as the German poet Bertolt Brecht says, in this day and age when we must protect the obvious, such as the right of people to exist and not be exterminated, Shakespeare It's essential for us. From maps and history. Shakespeare and Cervantes demonstrated in their works a clear approach to reality and the difficult process of transforming it into beauty, wisdom and human dignity.
So I would like to suggest that we use Shakespeare's birthday as an excuse to celebrate the spirit of translation. Especially in this multicultural border space, interactions between Spanish and English are so commonplace that they often go unnoticed. Translation therefore represents the first act of diplomacy and is understood as a form of humanistic practice.
Of the 154 sonnets published in 1609, we will discuss number 76 here. In this Shakespeare talks about his own poetry and about things as old and new as human love and the sun in nature. In the game of literary translation, I decided to use Hendeca syllabic poetry, which is the traditional poetry of the Spanish sonnet, for this version.
gaspar orozco
(Gaspard Orozco)
sonnet 76
Why is my poetry so barren of new pride?
Is it far from variation or quick change?
Why don't you look away as time passes?
About newly discovered methods and strange compounds?
Why do I write that I am still one and always the same?
And leaving an invention in the popular weed,
That every word pretty much speaks my name,
Does it show their origins and where they went?
Oh, my love, I am always writing about you,
And you and love are still my arguments,
Therefore, I will do my best to dress up old words in new ways.
Re-spend what you have already spent:
Just as the sun grows new and old every day,
So my love is still telling what was said.
soneto 76
¿ Por qué Carece mi verso de orgullo,
What are the cambios and variations in Alejado?
¿Let's live a vibrant life
Can you mess around or operate turbo mode?
¿Read Mismo Siempre
Cerrado creates images
believe the words
What is the most beautiful?
i love love
I love you, I know your theme.
Solo resta hasel mi palabra nueva,
Dispendio haciendo de lo ya gustado.
Como el sol que es viejo et nuevo cada ves,
I love history.
Poetry, the highest level of writing, can sharpen our perceptions in order to observe and evaluate the world more accurately, and to understand the world and ourselves a little more. Today, when technology seems to devour the last moments of our lives, poetry carves out an essential moment within time.
To return to Shakespeare is to rescue language from the abyss into which politics and commerce have plunged it, and restore it to its full and legitimate power. The power to reveal and enchant, to dazzle and inspire, to question and perplex us, to raise consciousness and to change reality.
Thanks to the often secret and unknown work of translators, we can begin the work of understanding each other, and from there, as on this border, we are on the same sea, the same sky, the same You can understand that we share the same land and language.
