THOSE SUMMERS

 

THOSE SUMMERS

 

By Jorge Guillen

 

Translated by Cola Franzen

 

Slow summers of childhood

of hill and sea, with luminous hours,

hours stretched out on beaches

between games in the sand,

when the most peaceful, carefree air

never involves anything that dies,

and the festive days sink deeper

in light of vacation without respite,

the future has no limit,

life is a luxury and passes very slowly.

 

A member of the influential Generation of 1927, Jorge Guillen was one of the greatest Spanish poets of the 20th century.

 

Guillen was an advocate of “pure Poetry”. Many of his poems are characterized by serene contemplation, languorous tone and restraint fervor; an effort of achieving vital interaction with the world, sometimes hard-won meshing of the observer and the observed. How beautifully Guillen infuses nostalgia into this poem about childhood when we were carefree spirits. Nothing died in those summers and time and joy were abundant in everything we indulged in.