Spanish poet/playwright

Flamenco Cabaret by Federico Garcia Lorca

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Lamps of crystal
and green mirrors.

On the darkened stage,
Parrala maintains
a conversation
with Death.
She calls Death,
but Death never comes,
and she calls out again.
The people are
inhaling her sobs.
And in the green mirrors,
her long, silk train
sways back and forth.

translated by Carlos Bauer

Road by Federico Garcia Lorca

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A hundred riders in funeral dress,
where will they go
in that laid-to-rest sky
of the orange grove?
Neither Cordoba nor Sevilla
will they ever reach.
Nor that Granada which sighs
for the sea.
Those drowsy horses
will carry them:
to that labyrinth of crosses
where the song shudders so.
With seven ays piercing them,
where will they go
those hundred Andalusian riders
of the orange grove?

translated by Carlos Bauer

Night by Federico Garcia Lorca

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Candle, oil lamp,
lamppost and firefly.

The constellation
of the saeta.

Little golden windows
tremble,
and at dawn superimposed
crosses sway about.

Candle, oil lamp,
lamppost and firefly.

translated by Carlos Bauer

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The saeta is a musical prayer that is sung as an offering after the procession stops during Holy Week in Seville.

Dance by Federico Garcia Lorca

/ zdunno03 / 2 Comments

In The Garden Of The Petenera

In the garden’s night,
six Gypsy girls,
dressed in white,
are dancing.

In the garden’s night,
crowned
with paper roses
and bishop’s weed.

In the garden’s night,
their mother-of-pearl teeth
wore the charred
shadow.

In the garden’s night,
their shadows lengthen
and reach up to the sky
with a purplish color.

translated by Carlos Bauer