Un poema ha de ser palpable
y mudo como fruta redonda.
Mudo
como un viejo medallón entre los dedos.
Silente como piedra suave,
como piedra visible tras el musgo y la ventana.
Un poema entonces, ha de ser
como el vuelo de los pájaros.
*
Un poema ha de ser inmóvil en el tiempo
como la luna cuando asciende,
atravesando junto a ella
y rama tras rama, la noche con sus árboles.
Y como la luna tras las hojas del invierno,
va olvidando nuestra mente las palabras.
Un poema ha de ser inmóvil en el tiempo,
como lo es la luna cuando asciende.
*
Un poema ha de ser igual
a una mentira.
Para toda la historia que nos duele,
un camino vacío y una hoja cayendo.
Para el amor
golpeadas hierbas y dos luces sobre el mar.
Un poema no ha de significar nunca,
sino que ha de ser por un momento.
[Collected Poems 1917-1952, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1952]
Archibald MacLeish (Glencoe, Estados Unidos, 1892-Boston, Estados Unidos, 1982), Periódico de Poesía, N° 100, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), junio de 2017
Traducción de Daniel Medina
Ref. Poetry Foundation
Foto: City Journal
Ars poetica
A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,
Dumb As
old medallions to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
*
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind—
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.
*
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—
A poem should not mean
But be.
Copyright © 1985 by The Estate of Archibald MacLeish.
Ars poetica
A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,
Dumb As
old medallions to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
*
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind—
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.
*
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—
A poem should not mean
But be.
Copyright © 1985 by The Estate of Archibald MacLeish.
Un poema entonces siempre será
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