A Corner and a Tale — I
Ebb Tide
Tired, the sea remakes itself.
Rest from its fury of the day
Of vain, noisy, high tide
That’s gone.
It whispers now.
I hear,
In listening to what the poet says
He demands me to hear stars
Understand?
I think I hear: Love to understand them.
I let my thought wander
On the memories of the past.
What to do?
There are no memories of the future…
I still wait, expectantly,
The meaning of the message.
I had so many high tides,
Many low too
I stand up
I walk to help the thinking,
Understand or forget
The encrypted message,
That annoys me.
Walk along the shore.
Pass under a post-light
And my shadow, alive,
Appears in front of me;
I walk; my shadow goes
Faster ahead!
Fly into the future.
And the giant shadow fades,
Almost a ghost.
It disappears as I approach the next.
Terrified, I look for it around me;
The Giant, then, it follows me! dwarf.
It’s now flying to reach me
Chases me faster
With every step!
It disappears
In the present?
Just to appear ahead and suggesting nothing .
Back I go to sit by the sea,
I sharpen my ears.
What message did I miss?
What am I?
Me, in the present that vanishes,
In the gone past
that chases me,
In the future that escapes me
That maybe will yet be?
Yes, I hear your whisper
Tired sea at ebb tide
Tired I am too
And the shadows that I am.
Floods, high tides gone,
Joyful, alacrity, or silently,
Conspicuously assimilated.
Love,
Yes, I understand now.
But,
I loved a love that didn’t understand me.
What to expect from stars,
Murmurs of waves could
Listen, understand?
Ebb Ebb tide
I walk; my shadow goes
Faster ahead!
Faster ahead!
Fly into the future.
I walk; my shadow goes
Faster ahead!
Terrified, I look for it around me
The Giant, then, it follows me!
And dwarfs.
It’s now flying to reach me
Chases me faster
At every step!
Walk along the shore.
And the giant shadow fades,
Almost a ghost.
It disappears as I approach the next.
Terrified, I look for it around me;
Terrified, I look for it around me;
The Giant, then, it follows me! dwarf.
It’s now flying to reach me
Chases me faster
With every step!
It disappears
In the present?
Just to appear ahead and suggesting nothing.
Back I go to sit by the sea,
I sharpen my ears.
What message did I miss?
What am I?
Me, in the present that vanishes,
In the gone past
that chases me,
In the future that escapes me
That maybe will yet be?
Yes, I hear your whisper
Tired sea at ebb tide
Tired I am too
And the shadows that I am.
Floods, high tides gone,
Joyful, alacrity, or silently,
Conspicuously assimilated.
Love,
Yes, I understand now.
But,
I loved a love that didn’t understand me.
What to expect from stars,
Murmurs of waves could
Listen, understand?
Ebb Ebb tide
Back I go to sit by the sea,
I sharpen my ears.
What message did I miss?
What am I?
Me, in the present that vanishes,
In the gone past
And chases me,
In the future that escapes me
That maybe will yet be?
Yes, I hear your whisper
Tired sea at ebb tide
Tired I am too
And the shadows that I am.
Floods, high tides gone,
Joyful, alacrity, or silently,
Conspicuously assimilated.
Love,
Yes, I understand now.
But,
I loved a love that didn’t understand me.
What to expect that stars,
Murmurs of waves could
Listen, understand?
Ebb Ebb tide
[1]http://www.antoniomiranda.com.br/poesia_ingles/olavo_bilac.html
[2] (See the poem on the annexe).
[2]
Sonnet XIII
(From the Milky Way series)
“Oh come now (you will say) hear stars! It’s clear
You’ve lost your mind!” I´ll tell you anyway,
I often wake to hear what they will say,
I push my windows open, pale with tears…
And we converse throughout the night, while high
The Milky Way, like outspread robes, appears
To shine. At dawn, with longing and in tears,
I seek them still throughout the empty sky.
And next, you’ll say: “My poor, demented friend
What do you say to them? And tell me, pray,
What do they say when they your ears do bend?
I´m tell you: “You must love to comprehend!
For only lie who loves has ears which may
Perceive and grasp the messages stars send.”