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Monday, May 18, 2009

Tribute to Mario Benedetti....


Yesterday, the 17th of May, one of the greatest poets of Latin America passed away. Mario Benedetti (September 14 1920 – May 17 2009) was an Uruguayan poet, journalist and novelist. He lived in exile during the military dictatorship in Uruguay from 1973 to 1985. He wrote for his country, for love and for revolution. He was a proclaimed leftist who actively struggled against the military dictatorship and firmly defended and supported the Cuban Revolution. Mario Benedetto, indeed a great loss for Latin America, and for all those who aspire and fight for freedom and justice everywhere. Mario Benedetti joined his comarade Pablo Neruda, and the ranks of all the great poets who recently left us such as the great Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwich.

Like all who spoke, wrote and worked for freedom, and social justice, the words of Benedetti will not be forgot and will be constantly repeated by all who still believe in equality, revolution in the brotherhood of Man.

I post here one of his most famous poems, Te quiero (I love you) and i have also translated in english...


Te Quiero

sus manos son mi caricia 
mis acordes cotidianos 
te quiero porque tus manos 
trabajan por la justicia 

si te quiero es porque sos 
mi amor mi cómplice y todo 
y en la calle codo a codo 
somos mucho más que dos 

tus ojos son mi conjuro 
contra la mala jornada 
te quiero por tu mirada 
que mira y siembra futuro 

tu boca que es tuya y mía 
tu boca no se equivoca 
te quiero porque tu boca 
sabe gritar rebeldía 

si te quiero es porque sos 
mi amor mi cómplice y todo 
y en la calle codo a codo 
somos mucho más que dos 

y por tu rostro sincero 
y tu paso vagabundo 
y tu llanto por el mundo 
porque sos pueblo te quiero 

y porque amor no es aureola 
ni cándida moraleja 
y porque somos pareja 
que sabe que no está sola 

te quiero en mi paraíso 
es decir que en mi país 
la gente viva feliz 
aunque no tenga permiso 

si te quiero es porque sos 
mi amor mi cómplice y todo 
y en la calle codo a codo 
somos mucho más que dos.


I Love You

Your hands are my caress 
My everyday chords 
I love you because your hands 
Work for justice

If I love you it is because you are
My love, my accomplice and everything
And on the street, side by side 
We are much more than two

Your eyes are my spell 
Against bad days 
I love you for your eyes 
Which look at and sow the future

Your mouth is yours and mine 
Your mouth is never wrong 
I love you because your mouth 
Knows how to shout rebellion

If I love you it is because you are
My love, my accomplice and everything
And on the street side by side
We are much more than two

And for your sincere face
And your wandering gait
And your tears for the world
Because you are the people I love you

And because love is not a halo 
And neither a candid moral 
And because we are a pair 
Who knows it is not alone

I want you in my paradise 
That is in my country 
Where the people live happily 
Even if it is not allowed

If I love you it is because you are
My love, my accomplice and everything
And on the street side by side
We are much more than two

4 comments:

  1. that's a beautiful poem ya nabil I wish I could read it in the spanish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. yes it is...
    unfortunatly he wasn't very known in the english speaking world..
    It is brilliant how he mixes his thirst for freedom and struggle with his loved one..i could see mahmoud darwich writng something like it and marcel khalife singing the poem :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thak you for the english translation, and let me just add that Benedetti was deeply engaged in creating a language for free love between man and woman, a little bit like Nizar Qabbani.

    Slam, ia comrade.

    ReplyDelete
  4. De nada companero!
    espero que la traducion estaba bien..
    you are right i read "la olvida esta lleno de memoria" i loved it it goes for the lebanese and arab societies where many have disappeared and imprisionned by warlords and dictators..
    Hasta Pronto

    ReplyDelete

 
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