Ayer te besé en los labios. / Pedro Salinas

La voz a ti debida

[36] (Versos 1290 a 1316)

Ayer te besé en los labios.

Te besé en los labios. Densos,

rojos. Fue un beso tan corto

que duró más que un relámpago,

que un milagro, más.

El tiempo

después de dártelo

no lo quise para nada

ya, para nada

lo había querido antes.

Se empezó, se acabó en él.

Hoy estoy besando un beso;

estoy solo con mis labios.

Los pongo

no en tu boca, no, ya no

—¿adónde se me ha escapado?—.

Los pongo 

en el beso que te di

ayer, en las bocas juntas

del beso que se besaron.

Y dura este beso más

que el silencio, que la luz.

Porque ya no es una carne

ni una boca lo que beso,

que se escapa, que me huye.

No.

Te estoy besando más lejos.

Pedro Salinas - La voz a ti debida (1933)

[36]

Yesterday I kissed you on the lips.

I kissed you on the lips. Dense, 

red. It was such a quick kiss 

that it lasted longer than lightning, 

than a miracle, longer.

Time

after giving you this 

was nothing to me, 

I had wanted it for nothing earlier. 

It began and ended in the flash.

Today I am kissing a kiss; 

I am alone with my lips.

I put them 

not in your mouth, no not now—

where did it get away?—

I put them

in the kiss I gave you 

yesterday, in our joined mouths 

of the kiss they kissed.

And this kiss lasts longer 

than silence, than light. 

For it is no longer flesh

or a mouth I kiss 

that slips away, escapes from me.

No.

I am kissing you further away.

Pedro Salinas

Translated by Willis Barnstone

(Love Poems by Pedro Salinas: My Voice Because of You and Letter Poems to Katherine)

[36] "second translation"

Yesterday I kissed you on the lips. 

I kissed you on the lips. Dense 

and red. It was so short a kiss 

that it lasted longer than lightning, 

longer than a miracle, even. 

The minutes 

just after it 

I didn’t want at all, 

and I didn’t want 

the minutes before it, either. 

Time began, time ended with it. 

Today I am kissing a kiss; 

I’m alone with my lips. 

I place them 

not on your mouth, no, I can’t 

—where did it go? 

I place them 

on the kiss that I gave you 

yesterday, on the mouths that touched 

in the kiss which they kissed. 

And this kiss lasts longer 

than silence, than light. 

Because now it isn’t skin 

that I’m kissing, or a mouth, 

which could leave me, could elude me. 

No. 

I’m kissing you from further away.

Pedro Salinas

Translated by Ruth Katz Crispin

(Memory in My Hands: The Love Poetry of Pedro Salinas)

[36]

Ieri ti ho baciata sulle labbra.

Ti ho baciata sulle labbra. Intense, rosse.

Un bacio così corto

durato più di un lampo,

di un miracolo, più ancora.

Il tempo

dopo averti baciata

non valeva più a nulla

ormai, a nulla

era valso prima.

Nel bacio il suo inizio e la sua fine.

Oggi sto baciando un bacio;

non solo con le mie labbra.

Le poso

non sulla bocca, no, non più

– dov’è fuggita? –

Le poso

sul bacio che ieri ti ho dato

sulle bocche unite

dal bacio che hanno baciato.

E dura questo bacio

più del silenzio, della luce.

Perché io non bacio ora

né una carne né una bocca

che scappa, che mi sfugge.

No.

Ti sto baciando più lontano.

Pedro Salinas

Traduzione di Emma Scoles

(da “La voce a te dovuta”, Einaudi, Torino, 1979)

Alice