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Borges, Jorge Luis: Adam Cast Forth (Adam Cast Forth in English)

Portre of Borges, Jorge Luis

Adam Cast Forth (Spanish)

¿Hubo un Jardín o fue el Jardín un sueño?

Lento en la vaga luz, me he preguntado,

casi como un consuelo, si el pasado

de que este Adán, hoy mísero, era dueño,

 

no fue sino una mágica impostura

de aquel Dios que soñé. Ya es impreciso

en la memoria el claro Paraíso,

pero yo sé que existe y que perdura,

 

aunque no para mí. La terca tierra

es mi castigo y la incestuosa guerra

de Caínes y Abeles y su cría.

 

Y, sin embargo, es mucho haber amado,

haber sido feliz, haber tocado

el viviente Jardín, siquiera un día.



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationhttp://www.cuentosyfabulas.com.ar

Adam Cast Forth (English)

Was there a Garden or was the Garden a dream?

Amid the fleeting light, I have slowed myself and queried,

Almost for consolation, if the bygone period

Over which this Adam, wretched now, once reigned supreme,

 

Might not have been just a magical illusion

Of that God I dreamed. Already it's imprecise

In my memory, the clear Paradise,

But I know it exists, in flower and profusion,

 

Although not for me. My punishment for life

Is the stubborn earth with the incestuous strife

Of Cains and Abels and their brood; I await no pardon.

 

Yet, it's much to have loved, to have known true joy,

To have had – if only for just one day –

The experience of touching the living Garden.



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationhttp://allpoetry.com/poem

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