We're big fans of Brazilian popular music, and of American poet Elizabeth Bishop, who lived in Brazil for many years. She loved Latin American literature and was an accomplished translator. Here's her rendering of one of the hit sambas from Rio's 1965 Carnaval season:
Come, my mulata,
Take me back!
You're the joker
In my pack,
The prune in my pudding,
Pepper in my pie.
My package of peanuts,
The moon in the sky.
From Bishop's The Complete Poems: 1927-1979, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979).
We also recommend Bishop's translation of The Diary of "Helena Morley" - it's a great introduction to everyday life in 19th-century Brazil. The US edition (Noonday Press, 1995) is out of print, but there are lots of used copies for sale on the web. If you want a new edition, try Bloomsbury Magazine's bookshop.
Read more about Elizabeth Bishop here.
No comments:
Post a Comment