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Ditty of First Desire,

In the green morning
I wanted to be a heart.
a heart.

And in the ripe evening
I wanted to be a nightingale.
A nightingale.

(Soul,
turn oranged colored.
Soul, turn the color of love.)

In the vivid morning
I wanted to be myself.
A heart.

And at the evenings end
I wanted to be my voice
A nightingale.

Soul,
turn orange colored.
Soul,
turn the color of love.

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Comments

  • ea
    January 9, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    yes, it is credited to being translated by Alan S. Trueblood over at Plagiarist.com and seems to be the most popular translation on the internet. It's also the one that Christopher Maurer includes in his revised bilingual edition of Lorca's Collected Poems; other translations in that book, I don't like as well as those I have seen on the internet -- sometimes the meaning is completely reversed -- translation is a very subjective art, but since I don't speak Spanish, it's hard to judge.
    Edited on Jan 09, 7:31 because ''.

  • Cvillelisa
    January 9, 2006
    Edit | Reply

    Great choice .. is this a translation? I don't know much about him but now he is admired by many.

    Green is such a vivid color and descrition here.

  • ea
    January 9, 2006
    Edit | Reply
    I'm really happy to see that this was first; don't forget to change the name of the poet of the week! ;-)