“On the Burial of a Friend”
By Antonio Machado. Translated by Kelly Franklin. Originally published in Nimrod Magazine.
They gave him to the ground one wretched day,
July, an afternoon of blazing sun.
A step away, next to the open grave
stood roses with their petals rotted through
and bitter-scented red geraniums.
A pure blue sky. The wind was dry and strong.
The two gravediggers, paying out thick ropes,
let down the coffin heavily, until
it reached the very bottom of the tomb…
And when it struck, it made a grating sound
that filled the silence with solemnity.
The sound a coffin makes upon the earth
is something absolutely serious.
Upon the blackness of the coffin-top
there broke the heavy clods of dusty soil…
Out of the yawning burial pit arose
a breath of palest air, drawn by the wind.
—And you, without a shadow now, sleep on,
repose; long peace be with you in your bones…
At last, sleep in a true and tranquil dream.
Original Spanish:
Tierra le dieron una tarde horrible
del mes de julio, bajo el sol de fuego.
A un paso de la abierta sepultura
había rosas de podridos pétalos,
entre geranios de áspera fragancia
y roja flor. El cielo
puro y azul. Corría
un aire fuerte y seco.
De los gruesos cordeles suspendido,
pesadamente, descender hicieron
el ataúd al fondo de la fosa
los dos sepultureros…
Y al reposar sonó con recio golpe,
solemne, en el silencio.
Un golpe de ataúd en tierra es algo
perfectamente serio.
Sobre la negra caja se rompían
los pesados terrones polvorientos…
El aire se llevaba de la honda fosa el blanquecino aliento.
—Y tú, sin sombra ya, duerme y reposa,
larga paz a tus huesos…
Definitivamente,
duerme un sueño tranquilo y verdadero.
