Entradas
Ayer estuvo Carl Sandburg de cumpleaños. Hoy dejamos algunos documentos con su voz. No me placen mucho las traducciones que he conseguido de su poema Chicago. Voy a buscar el tiempo para intentar una versión lo más ajustada a fidelidad que me sea posible.
CHICAGO
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse,
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.
CHICAGO
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse,
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.
CHICAGO
Carnicero del Mundo
Fabricante de Herramientas, Estibador de Trigo,
Jugador de Ferrocarriles y Faquín de la
Nación…
¡Tempestuosa, robusta, vocinglera
Ciudad de Anchos Hombros!
Me dicen que eres perversa y lo creo, porque he
Visto, bajo los faroles de gas, a tus mujeres
Pintadas al acecho de jóvenes granjeros.
Me dicen que eres falsa, y yo contesto:
Sí, es verdad, porque he visto a los pistoleros
Matar y luego ser puestos en libertad
Para que sigan matando.
Me dicen que eres brutal, y yo contesto:
He visto el estigma del hambre
En rostros de mujeres y niños.
Y una vez contestado esto, me vuelvo
Hacia aquellos que se mofan de mi ciudad y,
Después de devolverles la mofa, les digo:
Acercaos y mostradme alguna otra ciudad que
Cante, con la cabeza tan erguida, su orgullo de
Vivir, y que sea tan soez, fuerte y graciosa.
Lanzando magnéticas blasfemias mientras se
Entrega a sus faenas, he aquí un alto y audaz
Muchacho asentado vívidamente
Contra las blandas y pequeñas ciudades;
Fiero y sacando la lengua como un perro
Acometedor, astuto como un salvaje en lucha
Contra el desierto,
Destocado,
Paleando,
Demoliendo,
Planeando,
Construyendo, hundiendo, reconstruyendo.
Bajo el humo, con polvo en la boca, riendo
Con sus blancos dientes,
Bajo el terrible fardo del destino, riendo
Como ríe un muchacho,
Riendo como ríe un ignorante luchador
Que no ha perdido nunca un combate,
Fanfarroneando y riendo porque en su muñeca
Late el pulso y bajo sus costillas se mueve
El corazón del pueblo
¡Riendo!
Riendo con la tempestuosa, ruda y fuerte risa de la Juventud,
medio desnudo y sudando, orgulloso de ser el Carnicero del Mundo,
el Fabricante de Herramientas, el Estibador de Trigo, el Jugador
de Ferrocarriles y el Faquín de la Nación.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNqx0MXq4V0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEyvURC_AVc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdFt7WogBcU
