Dreamwalking Ballad
Translated By Sarah Arvio
for Gloria Giner and Fernando de los Ríos
Green I want you green
green wind green branches
Boat on the sea and
horse on the mountain
Shadow on her waist
she dreams at her railing
green flesh green hair
eyes of cold silver
Green I want you green
Under the gypsy moon
things are seeing her
but she can’t see them
*
Green I want you green
The great stars of frost
come with fish of shadow
paving the path to dawn
The fig tree rasps the wind
with its rough branches
and the wildcat mountain
bares its sour agaves
Who will come—from where—?
At her railing she gazes
green flesh green hair
dream of the bitter sea
*
Compadre can I swap
my horse for your house
saddle for your mirror
knife for your blanket
compadre I come bleeding
from the Cabra passes
If I could young friend
the deal would be done
But I'm no longer me
my house isn’t mine
Compadre let me die
decent in my bed
A steel bed if you please
laid with dutch linen
Don’t you see the slash
from my breast to my throat
Three hundred dark roses
on your white shirtfront
Blood oozes and stinks
in the sash at your waist
But I’m no longer me
my house isn't mine
Let me climb way up
to the high terrace
Let me climb let me
to the green terrace
Railing of moonlight
and the rushing water
*
Two compadres climb
to the high terrace
leaving a trail of blood
and a trail of tears
Tin lanterns trembled
on the tops of roofs
A thousand glass tambourines
tore up the dawn
*
Green I want you green
green wind green branches
The two compadres climbed
The slow wind in their mouths
left a strange flavor
of bile basil and mint
Compadre where is she
Where’s your bitter girl
How often has she waited
How often will she wait
fresh face and black hair
on the green terrace
*
Over the face of the cistern
the gypsy girl swayed
Green flesh green hair
eyes of cold silver
A moon icicle holds her
high over the water
The night was as cozy
as a small plaza
Drunken civil guards
pounded on the door
Green I want you green
Green wind green branches
Boat on the sea and
horse on the mountain
Translated from Spanish
Copyright Credit: "Dreamwalking Ballad" from POET IN SPAIN by Federico García Lorca - New Translations by Sarah Arvio, translation copyright © 2017 by Sarah Arvio (translation, selection, introduction and notes). Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.