Wednesday, November 5, 2008

ABC Wednesday # 03

«P» is for «Pessoa», one of my favourite «Portuguese Poets», who wrote the following «Poem» (translation by Sailor Girl, with the help of MCH):
«Oh Salty Sea,
How much of thy salt are tears from Portugal!
For having crossed thee, how many mothers have cried,
How many children have prayed in vain!
How many fiancés remained unmarried,
So that you could be ours, Oh Sea!
Was it worth it?
Everything is worth it when the soul is not small.
Who dares to go beyond the Bojador
must go beyond the pain.
God to the sea danger and the abyss gave,
but in it He mirrored the sky.
* * * * *
Ó mar salgado,
Quanto do teu sal são lágrimas de Portugal!
Por te cruzarmos, quantas mães choraram,
quantos filhos em vão rezaram!
Quantas noivas ficaram por casar
Para que fosses nosso, ó mar!
Valeu a pena?
Tudo vale a pena se a alma não é pequena.
Quem quer passar além do Bojador,
tem que passar além da dor.
Deus ao mar o perigo e o abismo deu,
mas nele é que espelhou o céu. »
A contribution to Ms. Nesbitt's [ABC Wednesday]!!!...

19 comments:

Froilan said...

can we exchange links? i have already added you to mine.

Froilan said...

can we exchange links? i have already added you to mine.

Froilan said...

can we exchange links? i have already added you to mine.

Small City Scenes said...

Very interesting, Sailor Girl/ Great pic and poem. MB

Jilly said...

Oh what a sad and so beautiful poem. And a beautiful portrait of the poet too.

Webradio said...

Sailor Girl, j'ai traduit le poème... C'est très joli !

Belle image aussi !

DeeJay said...

what a wonderfully different post for ABC Wednesday - thank you

Unknown said...

Parabéns pela escolha do poema e tambem pela tradução! Lê-la ao som do 'Lascia la spina' até me conseguiu pôr momentâneamente com 'pele de galinha'! Muito bom!

dianasfaria.com said...

what a lovely poem & lovely music as well!

Dina said...

It is a wonderful and strong poem. Thank you for doing the hard work of translation in order to share it.
I'm anxious to hear what justice has been done.
Your blog and music are great.

AphotoAday said...

Fine poem... Great illustration...

Jane Hards Photography said...

Interesting and a lovely poem too, plus a beautiful painting. You ahve it all this week.

Reader Wil said...

This poem is very beautiful. I am the daughter of a sailor who had sailed during WW II, and I heard the horrible things that happened to our ships and their crews. Your poem is true.

Marie said...

What a wonderful post, Sailor Girl. Paintings, poetry and great music.

Pedro said...

Do Sto António espera-se tudo...

Suzanne said...

Beautiful poem and post.

Bear Naked said...

PERFECT POST of a PORTUGESE POEM for ABC Wednesday letter P.

Bear((( )))

Gordon said...

A beautiful poem. Thanks for the translation; my Portuguese is non existent!

Rambling Woods said...

That is a beautiful poem. Thank you for taking the time to translate it for us.