the one where a school assignment becomes my blog post

Part of what got me back into blogging is the Spanish class that I'm taking this semester--Spanish Literature. For the class, we have to do a blog post each week (it's in place of writing a one page paper each week . . . going green or something) using a quote from a poem we've read that week. 

Well. 
I just finished my Spanish blog for the week and I realized it's actually kind of perfect for my life/love blog! I usually write my Spanish blog in English first so that I can get all of my thoughts organized in my own language . . . soooo lucky for you, you get to read it! ;)

First.
The poem in Spanish.

Then. 
Don't worry, all you English-only speakers, I'll translate it. It's just beautiful in its original language. 

The bolded part (both in Spanish and English) is the main part that I based my blog post on.

And finally.
My analysis. Enjoy!


Tu risa

Quítame el pan, si quieres,
quítame el aire, pero
no me quites tu risa.

No me quites la rosa,
la lanza que desgranas,
el agua que de pronto
estalla en tu alegría,
la repentina ola
de plata que te nace.

Mi lucha es dura y vuelvo
con los ojos cansados 
a veces de haber visto
la tierra que no cambia,
pero al entrar tu risa
sube al cielo buscándome
y abre para mí todas
las puertas de la vida.

Amor mío, en la hora
más oscura desgrana
tu risa, y si de pronto
ves que mi sangre mancha
las piedras de la calle,
ríe, por que tu risa
será para mis manos
como una espada fresca.

Junto al mar en otoño,
tu risa debe alzar
su cascada de espuma,
y en primavera, amor,
quiero tu risa como
la flor que yo esperaba,
la flor azul, la rosa
de mi patria sonora.

Ríete de la noche,
del día, de la luna,
ríete de las calles
torcidas de la isla,
ríete de este torpe
muchacho que te quiere,
pero cuando yo abro
los ojos y los cierro,
cuando mis pasos van,
cuando vuelven mis pasos,
niégame el pan el aire,
la luz, la primavera,
pero tu risa nunca
por que me moriría.


Ok here's the translation . . . most likely not completely accurate. There are some weird phrases in it. :)

Your Laughter

Take away my bread, if you want,
Take away my air, but
Don’t take away your laughter.

Don’t take away the rose,
The spear that you shell,
The water that suddenly
Explodes in your joy,
The sudden wave
Of silver that births you.

My struggle is hard and I come back
With tired eyes
At times from having seen
The land that does not change,
But when you enter, your laughter
Rises to the sky looking for me
And opens for me all
The doors of life.

My love, in the hour
Darker shells
Your laughter, and if suddenly
You see that my blood stains
The stones of the street,
Laugh, because your laughter
Will be for my hands
Like a fresh sword.

By the sea in autumn,
Your laughter must raise
Its cascade of foam,
And in spring, Love,
I want your laughter like
The flower that I waited for,
The blue flower, the rose
Of my homeland sounds.

Laugh in the night,
In the day, in the moonlight,
Laugh in the twisted
Streets of the island,
Laugh in this clumsy
Boy who loves you,
But when I open
My eyes and close them,
When my steps leave,
When my steps return,
Deny me bread, air,
Light, spring,
But never your laughter
Or else I would die.

(Pablo Neruda, Los versos del Capitán)


This poem has been one of my very favorites to read because it is so romantic! Neruda uses a part of his woman—her laugh—to represent her, and then he beautifully shows how much he cares for her and what her presence means to him. 

This particular part of the poem (bolded above) made me think of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet fall in love despite the hatred between their families. They even choose to leave their families in order to be together. They love each other so much that they would both rather die than live without the other, so when they discover the other person dead (or seemingly dead), they each take their own life. 


[sorry it's this weird version. I couldn't find a better one on youtube.]


Neruda echoes this sentiment in his own poem with his words “but never [deny me] your laugh/ because I would die.”  He, too, would die without the presence of his lover. 

When we studied Romeo and Juliet in high school, I hated the ending. I love happy endings, and Romeo and Juliet definitely doesn’t have one. Back then, I didn’t understand very much at all about love. Now, with a few more years of life and a few months of marriage under my belt, I understand a little bit more about why Romeo and Juliet both chose death over life without their lovers, and why Neruda would also die without his lover. I wouldn’t go to such extremes, but I do know that without the presence of my husband and lover, my life would lose so much of its happiness, fullness, and meaning. Being in love (and especially being sealed in the temple) unites us in such a way that I am no longer complete without him. If I were to lose him, I might not die like Romeo, Juliet, and Neruda, but something inside me would die. So “Take away my bread, if you want/ take away my air but/ don’t take away” the laughter or presence of my love. 


**ashleynicole