Garcia Lorca’s Preciosa y el aire
Like the poem Ballad of the moon, moon the motif of kidnapping of a child by supernatural forces continues; however Garcia Lorca has introduced a now explicit erotic subversion. The poem takes place in another nocturnal setting, down by an un anfibio sendero, an "amphibious tidewater," the seashore, where Preciosa is playing with her "parchment moon," her tambourine.
There are three characters here, the wind as personified as an ancient hobgoblin bend on raping a gypsy girl and the English Consul the girl runs to. However, like the wind, the Consul's motivations are suspect as well, since he tries to ply Preciosa with alcohol. Where others have translated the term into the clunky "English," and "Englishman," I chose to keep the original Spanish; Ingleses and Inglés, which have a more contemptuous sound to my ear. Loughran (1994) notes:
1. Preciosa. The name of the virginal young heroine of Cervantes' exemplary novel La gitanilla (The Gypsy Maiden). It is significant that in Cervantes story the young heroine is not a gypsy by birth and is a model of moral restraint. As a paya (non-gypsy) abducted and brought up by the gypsies to adolescence, she is at once virtuous and measured in her awakening sexuality even as she captures her audience in the flamenco shows in which she dances and sings from village to village. The dichotomy of the gypsy — payo (spontaneity — control) is essential to the psyche of Lorca's Preciosa, as well, and to the ballad as a whole. 23. Saint Christopher. The patron saint and protector of travelers. Somewhat ironically, he was decanonized in 1975 for his unsaintly exploits and fame as a womanizer in his youth. Whether Lorca was aware of these traits in an otherwise paternal in an otherwise paternally benevolent Samaritan is a matter of conjecture. The traditional portrayal of him is that of a very large man well past his youth, with flowing beard and staff. 28 Blue The color blue in Lorca is often associated with innocence, immaturity and the possibility of becoming … 37. Green wind The Spanish is viento verde. In the context within which it is spoken, this reference to both the breeze through the leaves and to the lecherous St. Christopher is so close in rhyme and meaning to the Spanish figure of speech viejo verde (dirty old man) that the latter comes immediately to mind … (pages 7-9)
The only other cryptic note that needs explanation comes from the commentary of Havard (1990) who says of line: "36. The smooth gong of snow is probably the moon, but it also suggests the snow capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada visible from the … seashore" (page 128).
I recall first coming across this poem and the very blatant gynecological reference the wind makes to the girl and being amazed Garcia Lorca was being as lurid as he was. For his abre en mi dedos antiguos/ la rosa azul de tu vientre, I translated as "Let me open in my old fingers/ the blue rose below your belly." Others have translated it as: "Open your belly's blue rose/ where my old fingers sleep" (Havard); "Open in my old fingers/ the blue rose of your womb" (Maurer); and other anatomical combinations of the "blue rose" and Preciosa's "belly."1 However, this seems irritatingly cloy and dated on all the translators' part, not the poet's. In this day and age why is it alright to translate images of violence, but typically of our culture, any references to the female anatomy must be cloaked and hidden? Again, while la rosa azul de tu vientre literally translates as: "the blue rose of your belly," I do not think Garcia Lorca is talking about vivisection or some sort of lunar cesarean section.
| Preciosa y el aire Federico Garcia Lorca |
Preciosa and the Wind translated by ZJC |
|---|---|
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Su luna de pergamino * Su luna de pergamino – Niña, deja que levante Preciosa tira el pandero Frunce su rumor el mar. ¡Preciosa, corre, Preciosa, * Preciosa, llena de miedo, Asustados por los gritos El inglés da a la gitana Y mientras cuenta, llorando |
Dallying with her parchment moon Preciosa meanders along an amphibious tidewater of laurel and glass. Silence without stars flees from her trembling noise, falling to where it is the Night of the Fish, to where the Ocean is singing. The Civil Guards drowse on mountain tops, watching the white towers where the Ingleses live. And the river-gypsies raise nurseries of water plants and branches of green pine trying to pass the time. * Dallying with her parchment moon "Let me see you, girl-child: Preciosa flees, flinging away The Ocean strangles its sound. Hurry, Preciosa, hurry! * Distressed Preciosa Frightened by her cries, The Inglés gives the gypsy girl And while she tells her story |
- I could go into another paragraph as to why "where my old fingers sleep," on Havard's part implies the wind is already inside the girl and confuses the poem even more, but I won't. Not today, not now. [back]