Hills, South Truro, 1930, Ernest Farrés -- Translation by Lawrence Venuti

Hills, South Truro, 1930

M'he enfilat dalt de tot de la muntanya
per parlar amb mi mateix. Ja saps,
del present, del futur.
Assolellant-me,
he tingut la prerrogativa
de veure a venir moltes coses.
Deu ser per les olors de terra
i mar distant que em conhortaven.
Deu ser pels cants d’ocell. Deu ser
pels trens. Deu ser per la grandesa
d’aquestes vistes?
Al batent
del sol he deixat córrer la mirada
i he comprès els meus límits i que un cúmul
d’assumptes em destorben. Que em distrec
amb punts de llum exigus. Que consagro
la no-immortalitat al no-fer-res.
Que sento un xiuxiueig a les entranyes.

No dic res i el món que m'envolta
d'improvís em fa seu i se m'enduu.
M’alleugereixo. Em torno foliífer,
i també puc fer flors. M'agrada,
del cim estant, la contemplació
sobrehumana dels dominis.

Però, més tard, em tocarà
baixar a la plana, de retorn
amb els meus, i llavors, com si tal cosa,
tornaré a fer com cada dia,
malbaratant temps i recursos.

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Translation by Lawrence Venuti

I climbed to the very top of the mountain
to speak to myself. You know,
about the present, the future.
Bared to the sun,
I held the prerogative
of seeing many things coming to pass.
It must be due to the scent of earth
and distant sea, which were consoling.
It must be due to birdsong. It must be
due to trains. Is it due to the grandeur
of this vista?
As the sun
beat down I allowed my gaze to range
and understood my limits and that a slew
of pot-boilers hinders me. That I am diverted
by punk points of light. That I dedicate
no immortality to doing nothing.
That I hear a whisper from inside.

I utter not a word and the surrounding world
suddenly possesses me and bears me away.
I grow lighter. Become leaf-bearing
and even burst into bloom. From the peak
I delight in the superhuman
contemplation of dominions.

But thereafter my lot will be
to descend to the plain, returning
to my kind, and thus, as if I were such,
I shall resume an everyday likeness
squandering time and resources.

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Hills, South Truro, 1930
Edward Hopper
The Cleveland Museum of Art