Best Carlos Poems

What shames death, more than a man who refuses to die once born?
So much so that when death claims, the aim is unknown, 
When the frame lies down and the words simmer, who, the winner?
With more life than Death can take; Never blink-
Into earth goes...

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In the eye of the hurricane, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : En el ojo del hurracan

(Ninth in the collection : Metafora del Desafuero, published – according to the editor, Alejandro 
Duque Amusco – not in 1988, but in 1989, was awarded the « Premio...

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Metaphor of outrage, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : Metafora del desafuero

			                    ( In celebration of a birthday)
        ...

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Carlos the chameleon likes to wave at passersby,
But none of them wave back at him which makes poor Carlos cry.
He stands there by his house and waves as loudly as he can,
They all ignore him, that’s not fair, he doesn’t understand.
It’s not that they don’t...

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Fear of God, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem, Miedo de Dios

(The second and fourth lines of these quatrains all end in the same rhyme, a feat it’ll be hard to maintain without appearing to be inflexible with the sound rather than the sense of the...

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Watch this Hispanic street punk
Furiously drive home his prayer
Frowning and sweating Latin funk
While the blond hippie shakes down her hair...

Santana at Woodstock, 1969 on U-Tube...

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Ode to Spain, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : Oda a Espana

					(before the Civil War)

(Alejandro Duque Amusco draws attention - in his selection of Carlos Bousono’s poems – to 
the fact that José Luis Cano considers Bousono to be the poet who re-introduced the theme...

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The Poet’s Task, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : La Labor del Poeta

				To Vicente Aleixandre

(It might be worth bearing in mind, while reading this poem, that Vicente Aleixandre was severely handicapped by illness from an early age. T. Wignesan) 

You, the poet of the solitary...

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When Death my Way Comes, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s sonnet : Cuando yo vaya a morir

( I prefer the reversal in my rendering of the title for it highlights the inevitability of the moment. I have also not vainly tried to stick to the end-rhyme...

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A Childhood Memory, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : Recuerdo de infancia

(Note : Poem inspired by the figure of Bousono’s grand-aunt with whom he had had to live since childhood, after the death of his mother. Cf. Carlos Bousono. Poesia Antologia : 1945-1993. Madrid :...

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Ascent into love, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : Subida al amor

(The first poem in Bousono’s first collection of the same name, written before he was 22,
sounds very much like being his declaration of « love » with life or rather his « testament »...

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Carlos Bousono’s poem : Recordando a pastora imperio

                         for Damaso Alonso

(Poem published in the collection : Metaphora del desafuero, 1988, and...

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The Error, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : El Error

				for Miguel Delibes

(There are just some words and phrases in this translation that I might yet want to modify or substitute with other alternative phrasing. T. Wignesan) 

There must be an error in the calculation,
a hole...

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Somber psalm, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : Salmo sombrio

(from Carlos Bousono’s first book of poems, written before he was 22 : Subida al amor (Ascent into love), 1945, and dedicated to the 1977 Nobel laureat, Vicente Aleixandre.) 


Do not pass by me , O...

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Truth, Falsehood, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : Verdad, Mentira

Note: I've tried in vain to upload, since November 2, 2013, the following poem: "Words uttered in a subdued voice in order to constitute a dedication, Translation of Carlos Bousono's poem: Palabras dichas en voz baja...

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