Constant Love
………………..after Quevedo’s ‘Amor constante’
by Gabrielle Ponce
The final shadow that will carry me
away on that white day could strike me blind,
and time unbind this soul of mine
from its bittersweet affinity.
But to this other part, and on this shore,
I will not leave the memory in which I burned.
My flame knows how to swim cold waters, and more,
to lose respect for laws it finds too stern.
Soul, for whom a god has been a prison,
Veins, who to the humors so much fire have given,
Marrows, that have gloriously risen,
You will leave your body, not your care;
You will be ashes, but you will feel it there;
Dust will you be, but dust eternally enamored.
Amor constante más allá de la muerte
by Francisco Quevedo
Cerrar podrá mis ojos la postrera
Sombra que me llevare el blanco día,
Y podrá desatar esta alma mía,
Hora a su afán ansioso lisonjera;
Mas no de esotra parte en la ribera
Dejará la memoria, en donde ardía:
Nadar sabra mi llama el agua fría,
Y perder el respeto a ley severa.
Alma, a quien todo un dios prisión ha sido,
Venas, que humor a tanto fuego han dado,
Médulas, que han gloriosamente ardido,
Su cuerpo dejará, no su cuidado;
Serán ceniza, mas tendrá sentido;
Polvo serán, mas polvo enamorado.