Page 12 Flashcards
El problema immediate era justificar la monótona repetición de esa palabra por un ser racional; un ser irracional y capaz de habla podia resolverlo.
The immediate problem was to justify the monotonous repetition of that word by a rational being; a being that is irrational and capable of talking could resolve it [the problem].
Pensó en un loro, pero el cuervo se impuso por su mayor dignidad y melancholia.
He [Poe] thought of a parrot, but the raven impressed him by its greater dignity and melancholy.
Consideró después que nada es más melancólico que la muerte y que la muerte de una mujer hermosa es el tema poético por excelencia.
He [Poe] then considered that nothing is more melancholy than death and that the death of a beautiful woman is the poetic theme par excellence.
Se trataba ahora de combinar los dos conceptos: el de un enamorado que llora la muerte de la amada y el de un cuervo que al fin de cada estrofa repite Nevermore.
Now he [Poe] tried to combine both concepts: that of the lover that cries about the death of the beloved and that of the raven that at the end of each verse repeats “nevermore.”
La palabra, siempre la misma, tenía que cambiar de sentido cada vez que la repitieran.
The word, always the same, had to change in meaning each time that it was repeated.
El único medio era que el enamorado formulara preguntas.
The unique means would be that the lover would formulate questions.
Estas, triviales al principio, tenían que ser extraordinarias al fin.
These [questions], trivial at the start, would have to become extraordinary at the end.
El amante, sabedor de antemano de la contestación ominosa, se atormentaría provocándola.
The lover, prescient of the ominous answer, would torment himself by asking questions.
Le pregunta al fin si algún día volverá a encontrar a su amada.
He [the lover] asks himself at the end if someday he will live to find his beloved.
El cuervo le contesta Nevermore.
The raven answers him [the lover] “nevermore.”
La estrofa en que esto ocurre, una de las últimas del poema, fue la primera que el poeta escribió.
The verse in which this occurs, one of the last of the poem, was the first one that the poet [Poe] wrote.
En lo que a la versificación se refiere, buscó ante todo la originalidad.
Insofar as versification is concerned, he [Poe] looked before everything [else] for originality.
Combinó versos de medida distinta y usó la aliteración y la rima.
He [Poe] combined verses various meters and used alliteration and rhyme.
?Donde unir el enamorado y el cuervo?
Where to connect the lover and the raven?
Pensó en los campos o en un bosque, pero un ámbito cerrado le pareció más apto para concentrar la impression que buscaba.
He [Poe] thought about the country or the forest, but a closed field seemed to him more apt in order to concentrate the impression for which he was looking.
