Tres cosas

Este poema fue escrito originalmente en español por Baltasar del Alcázar (1530-1606). Lo he traducido al inglés.

Tres cosas me tienen preso
de amores el corazón,
la bella Inés, el jamón,
y berengenas con queso.

I'm a prisoner to all these,
and I'm as happy as a clam:
the beautiful Agnes, smoked ham,
and of course, the eggplants with cheese.

Esta Inés, amantes, es
quien tuvo en mí tal poder,
que me hizo aborrecer
todo lo que no era Inés.

Agnes and I are such lovers,
that I must say that I adore
her, and I equally abhor
her pretty peers, and all others.

Trájome un año sin seso,
hasta que en una ocasión
me dio a merendar jamón
y berengenas con queso.

Agnes drove me mad with unease,
until, one day, she cooked for me
what I didn't ever foresee:
my smoked ham and eggplants with cheese.

Fue de Inés la primer palma;
pero ya júzgase mal
entre todos ellos cuál
tiene más parte en mi alma.

‘Twas Agnes who first made me whole,
but now I can't even decide,
for they have all equally vied,
and none has won over my soul.

En gusto, medida y peso
no le hallo distinción:
ya quiero Inés, ya jamón,
ya berengenas con queso.

In flavor, measure, and weight these
I cannot differentiate,
I love Agnes and ham—but wait—
I also love eggplants with cheese.

Alega Inés su beldad,
el jamón que es de Aracena,
el queso y la berenjena
la española antigüedad.

Agnes has quite a pretty face,
the ham has a flavor to please,
but both the eggplants and the cheese
come from a special Spanish place.

Y está tan en fiel el peso,
que, juzgado sin pasión,
todo es uno, Inés, jamón
y berengenas con queso.

And everyone who judges sees
that my passions are all the same,
as one in my heart they became:
Agnes, ham, and eggplants with cheese.

A lo menos este trato
destos mis nuevos amores
hará que Inés sus favores
me los venda más barato.

But at least in this, my concern,
my passion for lovely flavors,
Agnes will give me her favors
and will be less inclined to spurn.

Pues tendrá por contrapeso
si no hiciere la razón,
una lonja de jamón
y berengenas con queso.

For if she ever disagrees,
if reason doesn't change her mind,
in my house, at least I can find
some smoked ham and eggplants with cheese.

 

translating such things as poems, never will bring the rhythm or even the melody as you would
in a different language... You be better off trying to compose your own poems using simple metaphor
and your own eloquent and dreamlike vocabulary. peace

 

Thanks for offering your opinions, but I think I made an adequate translation. At this point, my original poems in Spanish are not very good.

 

Sorry, I thought English was your primarily languish...