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es que esta firma compre todos los insumos y nosotros
Acta de Graduación Número xxx

Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

y que vuelve sin gestos al más allá tierno

English translation:

and, expressionless/{not moving a muscle}, he goes back to his long-lost youth

Added to glossary by Carol Gullidge
Dec 12, 2006 14:55
17 yrs ago
Spanish term

y que vuelve sin gestos al más allá tierno

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
This is a line from the last stanza of a poem entitled "Anciano". The poem describes what the man was like in his youth, then turns to what he is like now. The man is resentful, somewhat bitter about growing old. Here is the entire stanza:

Ahora es el hombre que cultiva la vida hasta torcer los huesos, /
que esparce los suenos en malezas que a veces florecen
*y que vuelve sin gestos al más allá tierno*
donde la muerte es una palabra que no existe
porque los brazos infinitos son de fuego
y las horas perdidas son de agua.

I'd like to get suggestions just for the one line I marked above.

Thanks!

Yvette
Proposed translations (English)
4 and, expressionless/{not moving a muscle}, he goes back to his long-lost youth
4 +1 and who worldlessly returns to the tender beyond
4 and returns without effort, to that place far away where death...
4 and who returns with not a wry face to the loving beyond
4 and who goes back straight faced, to the tender Beyond
4 and who humbly returns to that (tender) far away place
3 and return quietly a yonder to the blossoming times
3 and who returns, without expression, towards the tender afterlife

Discussion

Carol Gullidge Dec 12, 2006:
ok, I'll think of something (after supper!) without a rhyme should make it easier! Although, it's strange he's so vehemently anti-rhyme, as he has used assonance at the end of ll 1,3, and 5... That's about as much rhyme as Spanish poetry ever gets!
Lydia De Jorge Dec 12, 2006:
Yvette, this is how I understand "sin gestos"- sin gestion o esfuerzo- "without effort". He easily "falls" back into the past, his youth, where death does not exist.
Yvette Neisser Moreno (asker) Dec 12, 2006:
no rhyme necessary Actually, this poet is vehemently against intentionally rhyming or even internal rhyming. He chooses his words purely for the meaning/feeling.
Carol Gullidge Dec 12, 2006:
Does it need to rhyme with anything? (I see you have assonance/half rhymes for every other line in the ST)

Proposed translations

6 hrs
Selected

and, expressionless/{not moving a muscle}, he goes back to his long-lost youth

expressionless, he loses himself his long-lost youth

and, motionless/unmoving, he travels back to the earliest memories of his youth
.............................. to his long-lost youth



and various permutations... "Long-lost" captures his "resentment" or wistfulness

"Sin gestos" can be either "without expression", or "without moving", depending on how you interpret it in the context, but "motionless" contrasts (or sets up an opposing idea) with the motion implied in "travels back/goes back/returns",
eg,

Without moving a muscle, he travels far back to his distant youth

OK, none of these is literal, but one has to allow for poetic license...!


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2006-12-12 21:46:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

that should have been: ...he loses himself in his long-lost youth
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you for this very helpful explanation of the terms, and for the multiple suggestions. You've given me a good feel for how to interpret this line."
11 mins

and return quietly a yonder to the blossoming times

x
Something went wrong...
14 mins

and returns without effort, to that place far away where death...

.
Note from asker:
Why would you say "without effort" for "sin gestos"? Perhaps the Spanish has a nuance I'm not aware of?
Something went wrong...
+1
22 mins

and who worldlessly returns to the tender beyond

Another possibility.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 mins (2006-12-12 15:19:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Please excuse the typo. That should be "wordlessly".
Peer comment(s):
agree franglish : I like your typo, its imagery is appealing. Nevertheless, I suggest "who returns motionless" instead.
1 hr
Something went wrong...
30 mins

and who returns, without expression, towards the tender afterlife

Otra posibilidad
Something went wrong...
43 mins

and who returns with not a wry face to the loving beyond

mon grain de sel

'tender' does not seem strong enough in the context, the meaning seems closer to 'comforting'
Something went wrong...
1 hr

and who goes back straight faced, to the tender Beyond

Another option. Goos luck!
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

and who humbly returns to that (tender) far away place

a
Something went wrong...
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