Iglesia Alvariño- Sol
Sun!
Sun on the peak!
Springtime sun.
River of sun!
Sea of sun!
-Look, look!
On the sea of sun the fields go floating
with the wind in the birch trees’ green sails.
The cottages of the moorlands
are seen all at once, at four thirty sharp,
through the three lit-up hollows beneath the granary.
When the people awoke
the mangers of the oxen were already swimming in sun.
Cómaros Verdes, 1947
I’m rather pleased with my new collection of poetry. I already knew Iglesia Alvariño because he wrote a biographical sketch of Noriega Varela who accompanied me for a long time in my pack on the Camino. As a poet I find Iglesia Alvariño sensitive and daring.
The simplicity of this poem reminds me of Novoneyra and pre-dates him by a couple of decades. Here it is in the original:
Sol!
Sol na cume!
Sol de primavera.
Río de Sol!
Mar de Sol!
-Mirái, Mirái!
No mar do sol van boiando as chousas
coas velas verdes das bidueiras ô vento.
As casiñas da chaira
foran a pique, ô fío das catro e media,
pol-as tres lumieiras do celeiro.
Cando despertóu a xente,
xa nadaban en sol as cambeleiras dos bois.
