“MEDITATION OF THE DUKE OF GANDIA ON THE DEATH OF ISABEL OF PORTUGAL”
“Never again
Will your face be pure, clean, and alive
Nor will your gait, like a fleeting wave
Be woven into the steps of time.
And never again will I give my life to time.
Never again will I serve a lord who can die.
The afternoon light shows me the wreckage
Of your being. Soon decay
Will drink your eyes and your bones
Taking your hand in its hand.
Never again will I love one who cannot live
Forever,
Because I loved as if they were eternal
The glory, the light, and the brilliance of your being,
I loved you in truth and transparency
And not even your absence remains to me,
You are a face of disgust and denial
And I close my eyes so as not to see you.
I will never again serve a lord who can die.“
(SOPHIA DE MELLO BREYNER ANDRESEN, in ”Mar Novo,” 1958)
Translation by Diniz borges
Our PBBI-Fresno State Project
Roots and Wings: Portuguese Poetry in Translation is a series that gathers voices from Portugal and introduces English-speaking readers to a tradition at once intimate and expansive, where the rhythms of saudade echo across the Atlantic and the light of new lands refracts into verse.
Each poem is a journey: from the ancestral lands to homes throughout the English-speaking world, from classic poets who shaped a language to contemporary voices writing freedom, justice, and love into the present. Together, these poems are bridges between generations, geographies, and languages.
For Portuguese communities in North America, this series is a return to origins, a reclaiming of memory, and a celebration of belonging. For all readers, it is an invitation to discover a lyrical heritage that speaks to the universal human condition — the desire for home, the ache of distance, and the wonder of words that, like wings, transcend borders.
This project is sponsored by the Luso-American Education Foundation.
Filamentos (artes e letras) 