Me estoy labrando tu sombra. / Pedro Salinas

La voz a ti debida

[56] (Versos 1946 a 1981)

Me estoy labrando tu sombra.

La tengo ya sin los labios,

rojos y duros: ardían.

Te los habría besado

aún mucho más.

Luego te paro los brazos,

rápidos, largos, nerviosos.

Me ofrecían el camino

para que yo te estrechara.

Te arranco el color, el bulto.

Te mato el paso. Venías

derecha a mí. Lo que más

pena me ha dado, al callártela,

es tu voz. Densa, tan cálida,

más palpable que tu cuerpo.

Pero ya iba a traicionarnos.

Así

mi amor está libre, suelto,

con tu sombra descarnada.

Y puedo vivir en ti

sin temor

a lo que yo más deseo,

a tu beso, a tus abrazos.

Estar ya siempre pensando

en los labios, en la voz,

en el cuerpo,

que yo mismo te arranqué

para poder, ya sin ellos,

quererte.

¡Yo que los quería tanto!

Y estrechar sin fin, sin pena

—mientras se va inasidera,

con mi gran amor detrás,

la carne por su camino—

tu solo cuerpo posible:

tu dulce cuerpo pensado.

Pedro Salinas - La voz a ti debida (1933)

[56]

I am forming your shadow.

Now I have it without those 

red and hard lips: they were burning. 

I would have kissed them 

even more.

Then I parry your quick, 

long nervous arms. 

They offered me the road 

so I could grab hold.

I pull out color, mass.

I kill off your step. 

You were coming 

right to me. 

What hurt me most 

when I silenced it 

is your voice. 

Rich, so warm, more palpable than your body. 

But it was set to betray us.

So 

my love is free, loose, 

with your bodiless shadow.

And I can live in you 

with no fear 

of what I most desire, 

of your kiss, your arms. 

To be always brooding 

on your lips, your voice, 

body 

that I stripped from you 

so now without them 

I can love you.

And how I wanted them!

And to hold, not stopping, painlessly 

(while your flesh goes 

on its own road, detached, 

my great love behind) 

your only possible body: 

your sweet imagined body.

Pedro Salinas

Translated by Willis Barnstone

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

[56] "second translation"

I am carving your shadow. 

I’ve got it now without your lips, 

red and hard: they were burning. 

I would have kissed them 

much more even so. 

Now I stop your arms, 

fast, long, nervous. 

They were offering me the path 

to take so I could hold you. 

I tear out your color, your substance. 

I kill your step. You were coming 

straight at me. What most 

hurt me, when I silenced it, 

is your voice. So dense, so warm, 

more tangible than your body. 

But it was going to betray us. 

This way 

my love is free, liberated, 

with your flayed shadow. 

And I can live in you 

without fear 

of what I want most, 

your kiss, your embraces. 

I can always be thinking 

of your lips, of your voice, 

of your body, 

which I myself ripped out of you 

to be able to love you 

without them. 

I, who loved them so much! 

And to hold to me endlessly, painlessly 

—while your flesh walks 

unseizably on the road, 

with my great love behind it— 

your only possible body: 

your sweet remembered body.

Pedro Salinas

Translated by Ruth Katz Crispin

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

[56]

Sto modellando la tua ombra.

Le ho già tolto le labbra,

rosse e dure: bruciavano.

Te le avrei baciate

ancora molte volte.

Ti fermo poi le braccia,

lunghe nervose, rapide.

Mi offrivano la via

perché io ti stringessi.

Ti strappo il colore, la forma.

Ti uccido il passo. Venivi

dritta verso di me. Ciò che

piú mi ha fatto soffrire,

quando l’ho messa a tacere,

è la tua voce. Densa, calda,

piú palpabile del tuo corpo.

Ma stava ormai per tradirci.

Cosí

il mio amore è libero, affrancato,

con la tua ombra spoglia di carne.

E posso vivere in te,

senza temere

ciò che desidero di piú,

il tuo bacio, i tuoi abbracci.

Non pensare ormai ad altro

che alle labbra, alla voce,

al corpo,

che io stesso ti ho sottratto

per potere, senza di loro infine,

amarti.

Io, che li amavo tanto!

E stringere all’infinito, senza pena

– mentre se ne va inafferrabile,

e dietro a lei il mio grande amore,

la carne per il suo cammino –

il tuo solo corpo possibile:

il tuo dolce corpo pensato.

Pedro Salinas

Traduzione di Emma Scoles

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

Selfie by Astrid Veronika Allan