¡Ay voz secreta del amor oscuro!, and: Oh Secret Voice of the Dark Love!
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¡Ay voz secreta del amor oscuro!
¡Ay voz secreta del amor oscuro!¡ay balido sin lanas! ¡ay herida!¡ay aguja de hiel, camelia hundida!¡ay corriente sin mar, ciudad sin muro!¡Ay noche inmensa de perfil seguro,montana celestial de angustia erguida!¡Ay perro en corazon, voz perseguida,silencio sin confin, lirio maduro!Huye de mi, caliente voz de hielo,no me quieras perder en la malezadonde sin fruto gimen carne y cielo.¡Deja el duro marfil de mi cabeza,apiâdate de mi, rompe mi duelo!¡que soy amor, que soy naturaleza!
Oh Secret Voice of the Dark Love!
Oh secret voice of the dark love!Oh lamb-bleat without wool! Oh wound!Oh bitter-poisoned needle, sunken camellia!Oh current without a sea, city without walls!Oh immense night of safe contours,heavenly peak erected by angst!Oh dog in the heart, hounded voice!Limitless silence, iris in bloom!Run away from me, hot-frozen voice,Don't mislead me into the thicketswhere fruitlessly groan heaven and flesh.Forsake my head's hard ivory!Have pity on me; break through my pain!For I am love, for I am nature!Translated by Daniel MunozFrom Federico Garcia Lorca, Sonetos del Amor Oscuro (1935) [End Page 263]
Federico García Lorca (1898–1936) is Spain's most universal poet and play-wright. He is, with Cervantes, among the most widely read and translated Spanish writers. A member of the literary group The 1927 Generation, prominent for its advocacy of avant-garde trends on the European literary scene, and early in the Second Spanish Republic he was appointed director of a student theater company. An outspoken socialist, he was executed by nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish civil war. Lorca was influenced by many Spanish Golden Age poets, including John of the Cross. His plays, poems and essays display a strong social conscience and a sensitivity to the most vulnerable members of society.
