Neruda's "Oda al Amor"聶魯達之『愛之頌』

Just got a reminder from the HKU library to return a number of books on Spanish poetry which I had borrowed for quite some time and for which I could no longer renew because they had been renewed too many times. Before returning them, I took a last look at one of them and found a poem which I like. It's a poem by one of my favourite Spanish poet, a poet of the people who wrote about everyday objects, everyday life and everyday phenomena in everyday language. But  through the use of his imagination, he is somehow able to confer a shimmer of gold upon such mundane things which they would never otherwise have. The poem is the second in a collection of the odes of Pablo Neruda. Here it is with my translations

Oda al Amor                      Ode to Love                          愛之頌

Amor, hagamos cuentas.    Love, let's do the accounts.愛情，讓我們算算賬。

A mi edad                            At my age                             到我這年紀

no es posible                     it's not possible                  不再可以

engañar o engañarnos.   to deceive or deceive each other.哄騙或互騙。

Fuí ladrón de caminos,    I was a highwayman,     我曾是路賊，

tal vez,                             sometimes,                                有時，

no me arrepiento.             I regret not.                         我不懊悔。

Un minuto profundo         One profound minute        在某深深的一分鐘

una magnolia rota             a magnolia broken          我牙齒

por mis dientes                 by my teeth                           折斷的一枝木蘭花

y la luz de la luna           and the celestial                 和如天國的

celestina.                          moonlight  .                         月光。

Muy bien, pero, el balance? Very well, but, the balance? 很好，但，剩下多少？

La soledad mantuvo          Solitude kept                   寂莫保全了

su red entretejida               its enmeshed net              滿盈茉莉花糾纏的寒冷

de fríos jazmineros             of jasmined colds             網絡

y etonces                           and then                               還有

la que llegó a mis brazos    she who reached my arms  那在我臂中

fue reina rosada                 was the the queen of roses    成為群島的

de las islas.                        of the islands.                           玫瑰花之后。

Amor,                                Love,                                             愛情，

con una gota,                     with a drop,                              以一滴 ，

aunque caiga                     though it's falling                    雖墮下了仍在一切當中  

durante toda y toda           throughout and all                 而整個

la nocturna                        the spring                                   春  

primavera                          night                                             夜

no se forma el océano       transforms not into ocean  沒有化作海洋

y me quedé desnudo,         and left me naked                  使我仍一無所有 ，

solitario, esperando.        lonley,, waiting.                     孤獨，等待。

 

Pero, he aquí que aquella--But, I've here not there--   但在這裏不在那裏我是有的---

que pasó por mis brazos    she passed through my arms   她經過我臂

como una ola,                    like a wave,                              如一浪濤，

aquella                               there                                           在那裏

que sólo fue un sabor         how unique was a taste       她曙光中的果子味道多

de fruta vespertina,            of twilight fruit,                      獨特，

de pronto                           suddenly                                     突然

parpadeó como estrella,     she twinkled like a star,      她像星星般閃爍 

ardió como paloma             burned like a dove                像鴿子般燃燒

y la encontré en mi piel        and I discovered her on my skin我發現她在我皮膚上

desenlazándose                    unravelling herself                放鬆自已

como la cabellera de una hoguera. like the hair of a bonfire.如野火之髮。

Amor, desde aquel día         Love, from that day              愛情，從那天起

todo fue más secillo.             everything became simpler. 一切都變得更簡單

Obedecí las órdenes             I obeyed the orders                我遵守

que mi olvidado corazón me daba that my forgotten heart gave me我那被遺忘的心所給的命令

y apreté su cintura                and I caressed her waist        我憮摸她的腰

y reclamé su boca                and claimed her mouth            吞佔她的嘴

con todo el poderío             with all the power,                    以我最强力的

de mis besos,                       of my kisses                                    親吻

como un rey que arrebata     like a king who snatched     有如皇帝以亡命演習

con un ejército desesperado  with a desperate exercise    般搶走    

una pequeña torre donde crece a small tower where         一兒時野

la azucena salvaje de su infancia. a wild lily of his childhood grows.百合在生長的小塔

 

Por eso, Amor, yo creo          Thus, Love, I believe                  故此，愛情，我相信

que enmarañado y duro           that your road may be          你的路途可

puede ser tu camino,                 brambly and hard                 糾纏不清和艱苦

pero que vuelves                     but you return                           但你仍從狩獵

de tu cacería                            from your hunt                         歸來

y cuando enciendes                  and when the fire                   而當愛火

otra vez el fuego,                      relights                                     重燃  ，

como el pan en la mesa,           like bread on the table        猶桌上的麫包，

así, con sencillez,                      thus, with simplicity,             這樣，輕易地

debe estar lo que amamos.       that which we love has to remain so.我們所愛定成事實。

Amor, eso me diste.                 Love, this you gave me            愛情，你曾賜這些給我。.

Cuando por vez primera           When for the first time          當她首次

ella llegó a mis brazos                she reached my arms            入我臂彎內

pasó como las aguas                  she passed like waters          猶披頭散髮的春水般

en una despeñada primavera.     into a disheveled spring    溜過。

Hoy                                          Today                                             今天

la recojo.                                   I gather it.                                 我收割她了。

Son angostas mis manos y pequeñas My hands narrow and small我的手窄而

las cuencas de mis ojos               the sockets of my eyes         我的眼框小

para que ellas reciban                 which receive                      憑他們迎接

su tesoro,                                   her treasure,                             她的瑰寶

la cascada                                  the cascade                         如瀑布瀉下無盡的光芒 ，

de interminable luz, el hilo de oro, of endless light, the thread of gold 金線

el pan de su fragancia                  the bread of her fragrance   她猶如麪包的香氣

que son sencillamente, Amor, mi vida. are simply, Love, my life.愛情，這些簡直便是我的生命。

The poem seems to be written late in his life because he says that he is trying to settle the accounts at a time when he no longer wishes to deceive himself and others and do a sort of stock staking of his past amorous adventures. He had a number of lovers: a magnolia, a rose, a number of jasmine, a rose, a lily He remembers the impressions the of the images of the hairs of the girls in his arms. Some girls are warm, other cold.   He compares love to food which may sometimes exudes the fragance of love, just like the aroma of freshly baked bread on the table. By comparing love to bread, he implies that we need love as we need bread. He compares the lady who first fell within his arm as the water of his springtime and her uses the literary device of "transferred epithet" by transposing the confusion of the lady's hair to spring itself using the similarity of their youthfulness and life as the basis of the analogy. I really like the various ways he descirbes the delights he finds upon the female form: the subject of what he kissed. In the end, to the poet, love is as simple as food, as simple as Life and as essential and indispensable and pleasurable.