Myth of Arrival

Pizarnik’s Árbol de Diana (cont.)

The Mexican poet, essayist and translator Octavio Paz wrote in Alejandra Pizarnik's introduction to Árbol de Diana, "[the book] does not conatin a single false detail."¹ These were, Paz demanded, Pizarnik's finest poems. That might be true.

What I find interesting about Árbol de Diana is that even though the sections are nebulous, fragmentary and perplex they flow in a direction the poet wished to take us. So much of modern flow of consciousness poetics seems to lack that; or to be kinder, many poets seem to forget they have an audience to attend to. Bassnett writes:

Octavio Paz has commented that the role of the writer and that of the translator are fundamentally different: the writer, he claims, fixes the signs of language into a form that is perfect and unchangeable. The task of the translator is then to free those fixed and frozen signs, to liberate them and allow them to reshape themselves in another language" (page 9-10)

I am laboring to follow Pizarnik's original path, her train of original thought, you might say.² I believe it is that originality that must make or break a poem. I do not agree that every combination of words creates meaning in the same way I do not agree that narration in poetry is a sign of the Bourgeoisie (but there has been much arguing that it has). To that I say: hahaho, little thinkers! Here is a poem that combines both, I believe. Perhaps. We shall see when we are done.

This is sections #19 through # 27. There are 38 sections all told in the poem. Translating is a slow art, even if I do not understand everything I am bringing into English. Still, the ride is interesting.

Árbol de Diana Alejandra Pizarnik	The Tree of Diana translated by ZJC
19. cuando vea los ojos que tengo en los míos tatuados 20. dice que no sabe del miedo de la muerte del amor dice que tiene miedo de la muerte del amor dice que el amor es muerte es miedo dice que la muerte es miedo es amor dice que no sabe 21. he nacido tanto y doblemente sufrido en la memoria de aquí y allá 22. en la noche un espejo para la pequeña muerta un espejo de cenizas 23. una mirada desde la alcantarilla puede ser la visión del mundo la rebelión consiste en mirar una rosa hasta pulverizarse los ojos 24. estos hilos aprisionan a las sombras y las obligan a rendir cuentas del silencio estos hilos unen la mirada al sollozo 25. un agujero en la noche súbitamente invadido por un ángel 26 cuando el palacio de la noche encienda su hermosura pulsaremos los espejos hasta que nuestros rostros canten como ídolos 27 un golpe del alba en las flores me abandona ebria de nada y de luz lila ebria de inmovilidad y de certeza	19. yet I see the eyes I know are in my inked eyeballs 20. she says she does not understand about the panic of death of love she says she is afraid of the death of love she says love is death is the panic she says death is the panic is love she says she doesn't understand 21. I have been conceived so many times, I have suffered doubly in the memory of the here and there 22. in the nighttime a looking glass foe the little, dead girl a looking glass of ash 23. a glance into the sewers can be a conjuring of the world the defiance requires looking at a rose until your eyes are rubble 24. these threads entomb shade requiring them to give reason to their silence these threads unify this gaze with wailing 25. a hole in the nighttime hurriedly invaded by the angel 26. when the fortress of nighttime lights up its beauty we will play the looking glasses until our countenances croon like idols 27. a flicker of dawn on the flowers abandoning me, intoxicated on nothingness and lilac colored sunlight intoxicated with torpor and predestination

Árbol de Diana
Alejandra Pizarnik

The Tree of Diana
translated by ZJC

19.
cuando vea los ojos
que tengo en los míos tatuados

20.
dice que no sabe del miedo de la muerte del amor
dice que tiene miedo de la muerte del amor
dice que el amor es muerte es miedo
dice que la muerte es miedo es amor
dice que no sabe

21.
he nacido tanto
y doblemente sufrido
en la memoria de aquí y allá

22.
en la noche
un espejo para la pequeña muerta
un espejo de cenizas

23.
una mirada desde la alcantarilla
puede ser la visión del mundo
la rebelión consiste en mirar una rosa
hasta pulverizarse los ojos

24.
estos hilos aprisionan a las sombras
y las obligan a rendir cuentas del silencio
estos hilos unen la mirada al sollozo

25.
un agujero en la noche
súbitamente invadido por un ángel

26
cuando el palacio de la noche
encienda su hermosura
pulsaremos los espejos
hasta que nuestros rostros canten como ídolos

27
un golpe del alba en las flores
me abandona ebria de nada y de luz lila
ebria de inmovilidad y de certeza

19.
yet I see the eyes
I know are in my inked eyeballs

20.
she says she does not understand about the panic of death of love
she says she is afraid of the death of love
she says love is death is the panic
she says death is the panic is love
she says she doesn't understand

21.
I have been conceived so many
times, I have suffered doubly
in the memory of the here and there

22.
in the nighttime
a looking glass foe the little, dead girl
a looking glass of ash

23.
a glance into the sewers
can be a conjuring of the world
the defiance requires looking at a rose
until your eyes are rubble

24.
these threads entomb shade
requiring them to give reason to their silence
these threads unify this gaze with wailing

25.
a hole in the nighttime
hurriedly invaded by the angel

26.
when the fortress of nighttime
lights up its beauty
we will play the looking glasses
until our countenances croon like idols

27.
a flicker of dawn on the flowers
abandoning me, intoxicated on nothingness and lilac
colored sunlight
intoxicated with torpor and predestination

From the 2002 Introduction of: Exchanging lives: poems and translations. Susan Bassnett & Alejandra Pizarnik. Leeds: Peepal Tree, page 6. [back]
I do not believe every poem, especially work I have seen in the last ten years or so, started out with path, purpose or an original center (or perhaps I am too poor a reader to follow it). If working on Pizarnik's poetry has taught me anything it is that it is impossible to sabotage today's so-called "Plebeian Thinker" by today's so-called "Radical;" since yesterday's Rebel has now become today's Dominant Voice; since the title "Formalist," once an honor, is now used as a curse, as if to say, "You Vulgarian," (almost like L-word, "You Liberal," was a curse in the 1990s) — all of this — simply shows how fast styles and fads climax and then fade away [back]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 30th, 2005 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Scantily Clad Info Dump, Translations, Spanish Translations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Pizarnik’s Árbol de Diana (cont.)

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