s. leonardo da galafura

ana — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:42:18 +0000

À proa dum navio de penedos,
A navegar num doce mar de mosto,
Capitão no seu posto
De comando,
S. Leonardo vai sulcando
As ondas
Da eternidade,
Sem pressa de chegar ao seu destino.
Ancorado e feliz no cais humano,
É num antecipado desengano
Que ruma em direcção ao cais divino.

Lá não terá socalcos
Nem vinhedos
Na menina dos olhos deslumbrados;
Doiros desaguados
Serão charcos de luz
Envelhecida;
Rasos, todos os montes
Deixarão prolongar os horizontes
Até onde se extinga a cor da vida.

Por isso, é devagar que se aproxima
Da bem-aventurança.
É lentamente que o rabelo avança
Debaixo dos seus pés de marinheiro.
E cada hora a mais que gasta no caminho
É um sorvo a mais de cheiro
A terra e a rosmaninho!

Miguel Torga

At the bow of a ship of cliffs,
Sailing in a sea of sweet wort,
Captain in his place
Of command,
S. Leonardo plows
The waves
Of eternity,
No hurry to get to his destination.
Anchored and happy at the human port,
It is in an early disillusion
That he sails towards the divine port.

There will not be terraces
Nor vineyards
In the girls’ dazzled eyes;
Rivers flowing
Will be ponds of light
Aged;
Shallow, all the mountains
Will let the horizons extend
Until where the color of life is extinguished.

Therefore, it slowly approaches
Bliss.
It is slowly that the boat moves
Under his sailor feet.
And every extra hour it spends on the way
It’s an extra sip of scent
Of earth and rosemary!

Miguel Torga

hard task for me, almost impossible to translate this poem of Torga, without using all the twists the portuguese language offers. it’s about a specific peek on a hill in the margins of the douro river, called s. leonardo, or, the ‘terrace of the douro’.

compulsory high school portuguese literature, the meaning of the poem is much better captured when you’re up there, surrounded with vineyards on hills that resemble waves. this is the landscape of the “alto douro vinhateiro”, the region where porto wine is produced.

a truly magic (non-planned) roadtrip stop :)

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s. leonardo da galafura