Text & Translation
            Jardín antiguo
         
        
                Spanish source:
                Luis Cernuda Bidón
    
    
Que tras los arcos de la tapia,
Entre magnolios, limoneros
Guarda el encanto de las aguas.
Oír de nuevo en el silencio
Vivo de trinos y de hojas,
El susurro tibio del aire
Donde las almas viejas flotan.
Ver otra vez el cielo hondo
A lo lejos, la torre esbelta
Tal flor de luz sobre las palmas:
Las cosas todas siempre bellas.
Sentir otra vez, como entonces,
La espina aguda del deseo,
Mientras la juventud pasada
Vuelve. Sueño de un dios sin tiempo.
            Old Garden
         
        
                English translation ©
                Lorena Paz Nieto
    
    
That behind the arches of the wall,
Among the magnolias, the lemon trees,
Holds the enchantment of the waters.
To hear again in the silence
Alive with chirping and the leaves,
The warm whisper of the wind
On which old souls are floating.
To see again the deep sky,
Far away, the slender tower
Like a flower of light over the palm
trees:
Everything always beautiful.
To feel again, like then,
The sharp thorn of desire,
As past youthfulness
Returns. A dream of a god without
time.
            Jardín antiguo
            
        
        Spanish source:
        Luis Cernuda Bidón
    
    
    Old Garden     
        
        English source:
        Lorena Paz Nieto
    
    
                    Ir de nuevo al jardín cerrado, 
                        To go again to the closed garden
                                Que tras los arcos de la tapia, 
                        That behind the arches of the wall,
                                Entre magnolios, limoneros 
                        Among the magnolias, the lemon trees,
                                Guarda el encanto de las aguas. 
                        Holds the enchantment of the waters.
                            
            
                    Oír de nuevo en el silencio 
                        To hear again in the silence
                                Vivo de trinos y de hojas, 
                        Alive with chirping and the leaves,
                                El susurro tibio del aire 
                        The warm whisper of the wind
                                Donde las almas viejas flotan. 
                        On which old souls are floating.
                            
            
                    Ver otra vez el cielo hondo 
                        To see again the deep sky,
                                A lo lejos, la torre esbelta 
                        Far away, the slender tower
                                Tal flor de luz sobre las palmas: 
                        Like a flower of light over the palm
                                Las cosas todas siempre bellas. 
                        trees:
                            
            
                    Sentir otra vez, como entonces, 
                        To feel again, like then,
                                La espina aguda del deseo, 
                        The sharp thorn of desire,
                                Mientras la juventud pasada 
                        As past youthfulness
                                Vuelve. Sueño de un dios sin tiempo.
                        Returns. A dream of a god without
                            
    
Composer
Carlos Guastavino
Carlos Guastivino, one of the foremost Argentine composers of the 20th century, produced over 500 works in his lifetime, mostly for piano and voice. Read more here.
Poet
Luis Cernuda Bidón
Luis Cernuda Bidón was a Spanish poet and a member of the Generation of '27.
 
     
    