Nicanor Parra reciting his poem “The Man He Imagined” to an enthralled crowd. If only poets had this kind of reception in the U.S.! Nicanor has been nominated for the Nobel Prize several times, and hopefully one day he will win it. Maybe now that Llosa has won more attention will be paid to Spanish language writers? ND alone has published a multitude of Spanish language literature from writers such as: Nicanor Parra, Javier Marias, Cesar Aira, Horacio Castellanos Moya, Enrique Vila-Matas, and Roberto Bolaño just to name a few!

“The Man He Imagined” from Antipoems: New and Selected (1985)

Translated by Edith Grossman

The man he imagined
lives in a mansion he imagined
in the middle of trees he imagined
on the banks of a river he imagined

on the walls he imagined
hang old paintings he imagined
unmendable cracks he imagined
pictures of worlds he imagined
in times and places he imagined

every afternoon-afternoons he imagined
he climbs the stairs he imagined
and goes out to the balcony he imagined
to look at the landscape he imagined
the valley he imagined
surrounded by hills he imagined

ghosts he imagined
come down the road he imagined
singing songs he imagined
to the setting sun he imagined

and on the nights when there’s a moon he imagined
he dreams about the woman he imagined
who gave him the love he imagined
he feels the old pain
the same pleasure he imagined
and his heart begins beating again
the heart of the man he imagined

——

“El Hombre Imaginario”

El hombre imaginario
vive en una mansión imaginaria
rodeada de árboles imaginarios
a la orilla de un río imaginario

De los muros que son imaginarios
penden antiguos cuadros imaginarios
irreparables grietas imaginarias
que representan hechos imaginarios
ocurridos en mundos imaginarios
en lugares y tiempos imaginarios

Todas las tardes tardes imaginarias
sube las escaleras imaginarias
y se asoma al balcón imaginario
a mirar el paisaje imaginario
que consiste en un valle imaginario
circundado de cerros imaginarios

Sombras imaginarias
vienen por el camino imaginario
entonando canciones imaginarias
a la muerte del sol imaginario
Y en las noches de luna imaginaria
sueña con la mujer imaginaria
que le brindó su amor imaginario
vuelve a sentir ese mismo dolor
ese mismo placer imaginario
y vuelve a palpitar
el corazón del hombre imaginario

—posted by Sebastian Castillo