Rosario Castellanos (1893-1948) was a writer, journalist and diplomat. She is considered one of the most important figures in Mexican literature in the 20th century.
We wanted to learn the farewell
and we broke the alliance
that joined the male friend with the female friend.
And we lifted the distance
between divided friendships.
To learn to leave, we walked.
We left behind us the hills, the valleys,
the green meadows.
We looked at their beauty
but we didn't stay.
Header Image:
Portrait of Rosario Castellanos. Source: zendalibros.com
7
Welcome back! I don't know why they wanted to learn breaking up, but the poem sounds sad. Thank you for sharing.
The 1st line "learn the farewell" doesn't make sense. Perhaps "offer a farewell" is smoother.
In the 2nd line, the phase "broke an alliance" sounds political. Another possible "broke an covenant."
Thank you @yumiyumayume and @T-Newfields
@T-Newfields *broke a covenant
Druida, was this a translation from Spanish to English?
Hi @Simone- . Yes, that's right. The process is quite basic. First, I decide on the poet or poetess I want to publish and look for a poem or a fragment of a poem that isn't too long. Second, I locate an image and a brief description of the poet. Third, I make my own translation from Spanish to English, which I then correct using online dictionaries. Finally, with the corrections made by my virtual colleagues, I review the translation once more. That's all. I don't need English for professional purposes, but I do use it when I travel around Europe. Thanks for your time.
Thanks for the reply 👍.
Although I'm not a native speaker, I think your translation is correct as it is. As this is a poem about national identity, there are a lot of implicit references. So, in my humble opinion, the use of the definite article is correct.
I have to agree with Simo. All the nouns in that poem have referents because they pertain to the relationship shared by the people in it, so the definite articles are all good. I'd only use no article in "that joined male friend with female friend" -or- "that joined the friends: male and female".
I appreciate your analysis 🙏.
Thank you so much @CocoPop and @Simone- for your analysis and time.