Coplas On Wine By Nicanor Parra, Translated By T Wignesan
Coplas on Wine
( here, the famous AntiPoetic Chilean Poet Nicanor Parra, b. 1914, uses the more popular form of the « copla » genre that he contains in quatrains of 8 to 10 syllables with two lines of each quatrain rhyming at random, though not in perfect rhymes, in order to approximate the lilting « song » forms. He does not adhere to the syllabic and rhyme schemes of other more fixed forms, such as, the « Copla de arte mayor » or the « Coplas a pie quebrado », rather he favours the form known as « Malas coplas », songs composed and sung by the blind in the streets. Parra also uses words which are particular to Chilean expressiveness.)
Feeling nervous, but not without defiance
towards all that constitutes competition
in the face of those who deprecate, I beg
pardon and consdescension.
With my face deadpan in coffin
and my butterflies of old
I also wish to affirm my présence
in this solemn celebration.
Is there (anything), I (dare) ask
more noble than a bottle
of wine well interposed
between two twin souls ?
Wine possesses power
to command respect and to destabilize
transmuting snow into fire
and make fire turn into stone.
Wine is all things : it’s the sea
boots for twenty immeasurable distances
the magical interior insulation, the sun
the parrot of seven tongues.
Some drink to slake thirst
others to forget obligations
and to espy tiny lizards
and cracks and fissures in stars.
The man who’s not drawn to drink
his cup filled with liquid like blood
cannot be, so I dare think
a Christian of staunch descent.
Wine can be sipped
from vessels of silver, crystal or clay
but it’s best when in copihue*
in fuchsia or in white lily.
The poor allot themselves their portion
in order to placate their duties
which they are unable to fulfill
neither with tears nor with strikes.
If I was asked to choose
between diamonds and pearls
I would choose a portion
of grapes white and black.
The blind man with a cup
sees sparks and lightning streaks
and the lame of birth
who break out dancing the cueca.*
Wine when one drinks it
with sincerity inspired
only then can it be compared
to the kiss of a Virgin damsel.
In the name of all this I raise
my cup to the sun of the night
and drink this sacred juice
which makes brothers of us all in heart.
• copihue : flowering plant cultivated as adornment.
* cueca : popular Chilean dance.
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2016
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