Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Suite de Lorca

For Chamber Singers: a translation of the first piece. See here for side by side comparison.

Horseman's Song

Cordoba.
Distant and alone.
A black nag, the giant moon,
and olives in my saddlebag.
Even if I know the way,
I never will reach Cordoba.
Over the plain, through the wind,
A black nag, the bloody moon.
The Reaper is watching me
From the tall towers of Cordoba.
Oh, such a long road!
Oh, my valiant nag!
Oh, the Reaper awaits me
before I ever reach Cordoba!
Cordoba.
Distant and alone.
- Translation, Charles W. Johnson

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:22 AM

    Hey Dr. Copeland,

    Sorry this has nothing to do with Lorca, but I thought you might find this interesting:

    Shutdown Day.org

    I'm totally doing this, and encouraging everyone I know to as well. I know how tech savvy you are, so I thought I'd let you know about it.

    -Aaron

    ReplyDelete
  2. Crystal Whatley offers a translation:

    I was checking the blog tonight, and saw that you had found a translation of "Canción del jinete". The translation is good, but Charles W. Johnson did take some artistic license. I would have translated it this way:

    Rider's Song

    Cordoba.
    Distant and alone.
    Black mare, big moon,
    and olives in my saddlebag.
    Although I were to know the paths,
    I will never arrive at Cordoba.
    Through the plain, through the wind,
    black mare, red moon.
    Death is watching me
    from the towers of Cordoba.
    Oh, what a long path!
    Oh, my valient mare!
    Oh, how death waits for me,
    before arriving at Cordoba!
    Cordoba.
    Distant and alone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i do prefer calling it Death over The Reaper. The Reaper makes me laugh more than anything. It doesn't convey the same emotion.

    ReplyDelete

i've had to start moderating the comments, so this will have to be approved before it appears on the site.