I have only two hands
And the sense of the world,
But I am full of slaves,
My memories flow
And the body concedes
In the confluence of love.
When I rise, the sky
Will be dead and plundered,
I'll be dead myself,
Dead will be my desire, dead
The swamp without chords.
The comrades didn't say
There was a war
And it was necessary
To bring fire and food.
I feel dispersed,
Before the border lines,
I ask you humbly
To forgive me.
When the bodies pass by,
I'll remain alone
Unraveling memories of
The herald, the widow and the nurse
Living in a tent
Who were not found
At the dawn of the day
More night than night itself.
Notes
To read the original version in Portuguese click here
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/show/118438-Carlos-Drummond-de-Andrade-Sentimento-do-mundo
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Correction
From guest Tânia Kido (contact)
I´m brazilian and read this poem in the original language; on the line "The comrades said", is actually "The comrades did not say". I believe it makes all the difference! -
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Yes, you are right. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. Translation has been edited now.
Mari
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"I have only two hands"
In the sense that he cannot do enough. Slaves, memories of the horrors, of the dead. I can't imagine seeing such things, having to come to terms with it and finding any humanity within mankind.
Powerful stuff. -
Quando os corpos passarem,
eu ficarei sozinho
such strong sentiment here, war and loss, war and words used to justify; war and the loss of people we know... war and loss. And in the end we lose ourselves in war and the world seems to be drawn into it, the sky seems to be a victim..even the sky is a place of war; very powerful sentiments all for the idea that people can be so much better than they are; we lose ourselves when we give up ...reason...PK
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