SIREN
SONG
This
is the one song everyone
would
like to learn: the song
that
is irresistible:
the
song that forces men
to
leap overboard in squadrons
even
though they see the beached skulls
the
song nobody knows
because
anyone who has heard it
is
dead, and the others can't remember.
Shall
I tell you the secret
and
if I do, will you get me
out
of this bird suit?
I
don't enjoy it here
squatting
on this island
looking
picturesque and mythical
with
these two feathery maniacs,
I
don't enjoy singing
this
trio, fatal and valuable.
I
will tell the secret to you,
to
you, only to you.
Come
closer. This song
is
a cry for help: Help me!
Only
you, only you can,
you
are unique
at
last. Alas
it
is a boring song
but
it works every time.
From
Selected Poems 1965-1975. Copyright © 1974, 1976 by Margaret
Atwood. Reprinted with the permission of the author and Houghton
Mifflin Company.
EL CANTO DE LA SIRENA
Esta es la única canción que todos
querrían aprender: la canción
irresistible:
la canción que obliga a los hombres
a saltar por la borda en escuadrones
incluso viendo los cráneos en la arena
la canción que nadie conoce
porque cualquiera que la ha oído
está muerto, y los otros no pueden recordarla.
¿Debería contarte el secreto
y si lo hago, me ayudarás
a quitarme este disfraz de pájaro?
No disfruto nada aquí
acuclillada en esta isla
luciendo muy mítica y pintoresca
con estas dos locas emplumadas,
no disfruto cantando
este terceto, funesto y valiosísimo.
Voy a contarte el secreto a ti,
a ti, solamente a ti.
Acércate. Esta canción
es una llamada de auxilio: ¡Ayúdame!
Solo tú, solamente tú serás capaz,
eres único
por fin. Desgraciadamente
es una canción muy aburrida
pero siempre funciona.
Traducción
de Andrés Catalán y encontrado en su blog Le Monocle de mon oncle.
Margaret
Atwood, (Canada, 1939) is a poet, novelist, literary critic,
essayist, environmental activist and feminist. She is a winner of the Arthur
C. Clarke Award and Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, has been
shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, winning once, and has
been a finalist for the Governor General's Award several times,
winning twice. She is also a co-founder of the Writers' Trust of
Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage
Canada's writing community.
While
she is best known for her work as a novelist, she has also published
fifteen books of poetry. Many of her poems have been inspired by
myths and fairy tales, which have been interests of hers from an
early age. Atwood has published short stories in Tamarack Review,
Alphabet, Harper's, CBC Anthology, Ms., Saturday Night,
and many other magazines. She has also published four collections of
stories and three collections of unclassifiable short prose works.
From
here.