‘Stamos em pleno mar… Doudo no espaço
Brinca o luar — dourada borboleta;
E as vagas após ele correm… cansam
Como turba de infantes inquieta.
'Stamos em pleno mar… Do firmamento
Os astros saltam como espumas de ouro…
O mar em troca acende as ardentias,
— Constelações do liquido tesouro…
'Stamos em pleno mar… Dois infinitos
Ali se estreitam num abraço insano,
Azuis, dourados, placidos, sublimes…
Qual dos dous é o céu? qual o oceano?…
‘Stamos em pleno mar. . . Abrindo as velas
Ao quente arfar das virações marinhas,
Veleiro brigue corre à flor dos mares,
Como roçam na vaga as andorinhas…
Donde vem? onde vai? Das naus errantes
Quem sabe o rumo se é tao grande o espaço?
Neste saara os corcéis o pó levantam,
Galopam, voam, mas nao deixam traço.
Bem feliz quem ali pode nest'hora
Sentir deste painel a majestade!
Embaixo — o mar em cima — o firmamento…
E no mar e no céu — a imensidade!
Oh! que doce harmonia traz-me a brisa!
Que música suave ao longe soa!
Meu Deus! como é sublime um canto ardente
Pelas vagas sem fim boiando à toa!
Homens do mar! ó rudes marinheiros,
Tostados pelo sol dos quatro mundos!
Crianças que a procela acalentara
No berço destes pélagos profundos!
Esperai! esperai! deixai que eu beba
Esta selvagem, livre poesia,
Orquestra — é o mar, que ruge pela proa,
E o vento, que nas cordas assobia…
Por que foges assim, barco ligeiro?
Por que foges do pavido poeta?
Oh! quem me dera acompanhar-te a esteira
Que semelha no mar — doudo cometa!
Albatroz! Albatroz! aguia do oceano,
Tu que dormes das nuvens entre as gazas,
Sacode as penas, Leviathan do espaço,
Albatroz! Albatroz! da-me estas asas.
English Translation
We are on the high sea… Mad in space
The moonlight plays — golden butterfly;
And the waves run after it. . . tiring
As a band of frenzied infants.
We are on the high sea… From the firmament
The stars jump like foam of gold. . .
The sea in exchange lights phosphorescence,
— Constellations of liquid treasure…
We are on the high sea… Two infinites
There narrowed in an insane embrace,
Blue, golden, placid, sublime..
Which of the two is ocean? Which sky?…
We are on the high sea.. . Opening the sails,
To the warm breath of the maritime winds,
Sail-boat brig runs to the flower of the seas
Like the swallows brush in the wave…
From where do you come? Where do you go? Of the wandering ships
Who knows the course if the space is so immense?
On this Sahara wild horses the dust raise,
Gallop, soar, but leave no trace.
Happy the one who can there, at that hour,
Feel from this panel the majesty!
Below — the sea, above — the firmament!…
And in the sea and in the sky — the immensity!
Oh! what sweet harmony the breeze brings to me!
What soft music from distance sounds!
My God! how sublime an ardent song is
Through the endless waves drifting without destiny !
Men of the sea! Oh rude sailors,
Toasted by the sun of the four worlds!
Children who the storms lull to sleep
In the cradle of these deep abysses!
Wait! wait! let me drink
This wild, free poetry,
Orchestra — is the sea, that roars by the prow
And the wind, that whistles in the ropes.
Why do you retreat so, sprightly boat?
Why do you evade the diffident poet?
Oh! if I only could follow your course
That reflects on the sea— mad comet!
Albatross! Albatross! Eagle of the ocean,
You who sleep in the mist of the clouds,
Shake your feathers, leviathan of space
Albatross! Albatross! give me those wings.
Notes
Translated for Old Poetry by Mariza G. Góes
The Translation is NOT public Domain
All Rights Reserved Allpoetry member Mariza GG
From O Navio Negreiro: Tragedia no Mar (Tragedy at Sea: The Slave Ship, 1880)
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Comments
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From guest PK (contact)
Wonderful contribution here to honor the poet and the people caught up in slavery before abolition. The poetry seems well captured by the translator the rise and fall of the sea and th sights and sensations of light upon water and the passage from freedom into slavery in the new world...so well done in mood and language. Speaking as one ho oftgetn struggles in one language, i can only state my admiration for this remaerkable ability to capture art and translate so beautifully...PK -
Poet of the Slaves
This comment deals with all six sections, I read them in their entirety.
At first it was the translation that I was primarily interested in. No, I can't read Portuguese but I know how much work there is to translating a work, not only into English, but holding to the tone of an era over 130 years ago. And so I tip my hat to the translator Mariza G. Góes. I'll add that she seems to have captured the spirit of the poem, for it's emotion seemed vibrant, alarming and real. Such shocking passages, I mean in style and spirit, it was quite thrilling to read. And I shouldn't forget to mention that at over 1400 words, her time and effort on this translation deserve special merit.
Though I came to read the translation, the poem also won me over. I liked the extended narrative and admit I prefer prose to poetry and thus prefer this poem to another type. I was of course reminded of Coleridge, but also to Joseph Conrad the novelist...but it had more social impact than Conrad, who of course was more concerned with the hidden motives of man. Though I probably shouldn't compare prose and poetry, I'd actually liken it, in its drama, to Melville's more dramatic, physical scenes in Moby Dick...both captured the infernal depths of man and sea, and both could be hyperbolic and antithetical.
The author seems to have a definite English influence. Maybe like early American literature, Brazilian writers possibly mimicked the English. This poem certainly seems it from the tone, subject and style...certainly he's read Coleridge's "Rime." Or so I think.
The subject of course speaks of a shameful time that both Brazil and America have in common. We share that iniquity of trading human souls, and as we were finally cleansing our sin, and concentrating on Reconstruction, the author was addressing the issue with indignant shame and with disbelief for his mother country's involvement in the barbaric trade. Slavery in Brazil was abolished in 1888, 24 years after America, and the poem, an indictment on that stain, could have just as easily been an American abolitionist polemic.
It's unfortunate that Castro Alves contracted tuberculosis and died at such a young age (24,) Brazil lost a powerful, impassioned, romantic poet, the last of his generation.
Once again, thank you Mariza G. Góes for making it possible for me to read a poem that had not only such vitality, but so much relevance on history and on mankind. -
Buen canto!
A mi me gusta este poema.
Aprecio much el Portugues aunque no es mi lengua! El mar es fuente de miles de poemas y hiciste bien con este narrativo.
Pa' adelante!
John-Las Vegas, Nevada -
ahhh ok, I liked this I read part 4....10 mins ago, and i read this one just now, i liked this, it is good im going to read the other 2 in a moment
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pretty intense.
i like how the poet, despite being captive in the slave hold (from what I've been lead to believe about this piece), dedicates the first part of the poem to describing the environment and his (her?) sense-impressions of that environment. the plea to the albatross is especially apt. i felt that. -
Wow, this poem was beautiful, I really like that it is translated into english, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to understand much.
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The original version of this poem isn't in Spanish. It was written by a Brazilian poet. Language: Portuguese
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It's really... spanishy... if you know what I mean. If you do that's amazing. Because I sure don't.
But i like the imagery and the adventurous spirit of the sea embedded in this poem. -
This is indeed musical - (quoting Nobody126) It some kind of reminded me of the opera O Fortuna.. I don't know why..
Great write, thanks for sharing :]
Nour- -
This poem is so musical. so exciting. so beautiful that I feeling lost in it.
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well more is to come thanks to Mariza who is working hard on it
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Oh this was beautiful...I read the translated version...fantastic poem...
-morgana
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Rarely does a poem translate beautifully from it's native writing, but that's the case here with this Castro Alves piece. You did him justice.
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I enjoyed reading this... it's beautifully written. It paints a picture in your mind.
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Incredible.............fabulous writing but left with a hunger for more
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I enjoyed reading this. I especially appreciate that we are given Castro Alves' original version in Spanish, the way he wrote it, followed by a translation into English.
"Wait! wait! let me drink
This wild, free poetry,
Orchestra — is the sea, that roars by the prow..."
I love how he compares the sounds at sea to poetry, to orchestra music. very vivid imagery.
thanks for posting this one.
~travis
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Castro Alves is one of my favorite authors from the old Brazilian poetry. Navios Negreiros is a classic, he wrote it 19 years before the abolishment of slavery in Brazil.
Edited on Aug 24, 6:24 p.m. because ''. -
Wow, this poem is like a Painting, it pefectly puts everything
into a frame of mind, that leaves you wanting to read it again
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