Attempted Canticle in the Temple
Salvador Espriu
How tired I am of this,
my craven, ancient, savage fatherland;
how it
would delight me to leave and go
beyond the farthest north,
where the
people, they say, are noble and clean,
cultured, rich, and free,
unsupervised and happy!
But then my disapproving brethren would tell the
congregation:
‘Leaving his native place a man becomes like a bird leaving
the nest,’
while I, in the distance, laughed
at the law, the antique
wisdom,
of this my arid people.
But the dream will never be followed,
I’ll stay here till my death.
For I too am full of cowardice and
savagery,
and also in despair and pain love this poor land,
my sad,
unclean, unlucky fatherland.
Espriu, Salvador. El caminant i el mur. Barcelona: Edicions 62,
1976
Translated by Pearse Hutchinson
Pearse Hutchinson
Fragments
A hora foscant - Josep Carner
Angoixa de l’alta nit - Josep Carner
Assaig de càntic en el temple - Salvador Espriu
Cor fidel - Josep Carner
Joc - Pere Quart
Mans - Àlex Susanna
Nadal - Joan Salvat-Papasseit
Oda a Barcelona - Jacint Verdaguer
Ostende, 31 desembre 1949 - Josep Carner
Per a tots nosaltres - Miquel Martí i Pol
Retorn a Catalunya - Josep Carner
Sol - Josep Palau i Fabre
Temps nou - Miquel Martí i Pol
Vacances pagades - Pere Quart
Vistes al mar - Joan Maragall
Bibliografia
Translators Site
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