¡Feliz cumpleaños, Rosario!

Today in Mexico City, in 1925, Rosario Castellanos was born. She was one of Mexico's great literary figures. Her novel Oficio de tinieblas (The Book of Lamentations) dealt with cultural oppession in the Chiapas region and is one the classic novels of Mexican, or perhaps world, literature. She was also, or primarily, a poet.





Nocturne

Para vivir es demasiado el tiempo;
Para saber no es nada.
A que vinimos, noche, corazon de la noche?
No es possible sino sonar, morir,
Sonar que no morimos
Y, a veces, un instante, despertar.


Nocturne

Time is too long for life;
For knowledge not enough.
What have we come for, night, heart of night?
Nothing is possible but dreaming and dying,
Dreaming that we do not die
And, at times, for a moment, wake.

This translation is by a coworker of mine.