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Auden, W. H.: Leap Before You Look

Portre of Auden, W. H.

Leap Before You Look (English)

The sense of danger must not disappear:

The way is certainly both short and steep,

However gradual it looks from here;

Look if you like, but you will have to leap.

 

Tough-minded men get mushy in their sleep

And break the by-laws any fool can keep;

It is not the convention but the fear

That has a tendency to disappear.

 

The worried efforts of the busy heap,

The dirt, the imprecision, and the beer

Produce a few smart wisecracks every year;

Laugh if you can, but you will have to leap.

 

The clothes that are considered right to wear

Will not be either sensible or cheap,

So long as we consent to live like sheep

And never mention those who disappear.

 

Much can be said for social savoir-faire,

But to rejoice when no one else is there

Is even harder than it is to weep;

No one is watching, but you have to leap.

 

A solitude ten thousand fathoms deep

Sustains the bed on which we lie, my dear:

Although I love you, you will have to leap;

Our dream of safety has to disappear.



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationhttp://aimlesswithpurpose.wordpress.com

Salta antes de mirar (Spanish)

La sensación de peligro no debe desaparecer:

el camino es sin duda tan breve como escarpado,

por muy paulatino que parezca desde aquí;

mira si quieres, pero tendrás que saltar.

 

Los hombres duros se ponen sensibleros en sueños

y quebrantan las ordenanzas que cualquier necio puede respetar;

no es la convención sino el miedo

lo que tiene tendencia a desaparecer.

 

Los esfuerzos cavilosos de la masa atareada,

la suciedad, la imprecisión y la cerveza

rinden unas cuantas agudezas todos los años;

ríete si puedes, pero tendrás que saltar.

 

Las prendas que se considera adecuado vestir

no serán baratas ni prácticas,

mientras consintamos en vivir cual ovejas

y nunca mencionar a quienes desaparecen.

 

Mucho cabe decir a favor del desparpajo social,

pero alegrarse cuando no hay nadie

es más difícil incluso que el llanto;

nadie mira, pero tienes que saltar.

 

Una soledad de diez mil brazas de hondura

sustenta el lecho en el que yacemos, cariño:

aunque te quiero, tendrás que saltar;

nuestro ensueño de seguridad debe desaparecer.



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationhttp://amediavoz.com

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