Song

Song

by Rafael Alberti

translated by Charles Guenther and Hardie St Martin

I want to sing: to be a flower
in my village.

A cow of my village
to wear me in his ear.

The moon of my village
to wear me in his ear.

The rivers and seas
of my village to drench me.

A girl from my village
to pick me.

The earth of the heart
of my village to bury me.

For, you see, I'm alone
without my village.
(Though not without my people.)

(From the anthology 'Roots & Wings')

Born in 1902 , he belongs to the famous "Generation of '27” poets and is considered one of the greatest Spanish poets of the so-called "Silver Age." Recipient of many honours he went into exile after the Spanish Civil War because of his Marxist beliefs and didn't return to Spain until Franco's death. Alberti died in 1999.

I loved this poem (reminded me of the psyche of the displaced Palestinian and Syrian people ) and it captivates us from the beginning (I want to sing: to be a flower in my village) and slowly intensifies our nostalgia for the land of our beginnings by constant repetition of the word ‘village’ in each stanza.