Rhymes and Legends (Selection): A Dual-Language Book by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Rhymes and Legends (Selection) / Rimas y Leyendas (selección): A Dual-Language Book by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Spain's great 19th-century poet is best known for these 2 works. Bécquer's celebrated Rhymes consists of a suite of 66 melancholy poems. The 6 tales from his Legends depict supernatural phenomena and portray everyday events from a romantic point of view. This accurate new translation features an informative introduction.

Edited and translated by Stanley Appelbaum.

Table of Contents for Rhymes and Legends (Selection) / Rimas y Leyendas (selección): A Dual-Language Book

• Introduction
• Rimas / Rhymes
• I. "Yo sé un himno gigante y extraño" / "I know a strange, gigantic hymn"
• II. "Saeta que voladora" / "A flying arrow"
• III. "Sacudimiento extraño" / "An odd jolt"
• IV. "No digáis que agotado su tesoro" / "Don't say that, its treasure exhausted"
• V. "Espíritu sin nombre" / "A nameless spirit"
• VI. "Como la brisa que la sangre orea" / "Like the breeze that airs and cools the blood"
• VII. "Del salón en el ángulo oscuro" / "In the dark corner of the parlor"
• VIII. "¡Cuando miro el azul horizonte" / "When I view the blue horizon"
• IX. "Besa el aura que gime blandamente" / "The softly moaning breeze kisses"
• X. "Los invisibles átomos del aire" / "The invisible atoms of the air"
• XI. "--Yo soy ardiente, yo soy morena" / "'I am an ardent woman, I am a brunette'"
• XII. "Porque son, niña, tus ojos" / "Girl, because your eyes are"
• XIII. "Tu pupila es azul y cuando ríes" / "Your eyes are blue, and when you laugh"
• XIV. "Te vi un punto, y flotando ante mis ojos" / "I glimpsed you only a moment, but the image of your eyes"
• XV. "Cendal flotante de leve bruma" / "A floating veil of light haze"
• XVI. "Si al mecer las azules campanillas" / "If, when the blue bellflowers"
• XVIII. "Fatigada del baile" / "Wearied by the dance"
• XIX. "Cuando sobre el pecho inclinas" / "When you let your melancholy head"
• XXI. "¿Qué es poesía?, dices mientras clavas" / "'What is poetry?' you ask, while you fix"
• XXIII. "Por una mirada, un mundo" / "In exchange for a glance: a world"
• XXIV. "Dos rojas lenguas de fuego" / "Two red tongues of fire"
• XXV. "Cuando en la noche te envuelven" / "When, at night, the gauzy wings"
• XXVI. "Voy contra mi interés al confesarlo" / "It's against my own interest to admit it"
• XXVII. "Despierta, tiemblo al mirarte" / "When you're awake, I tremble to behold you"
• XXVIII. "Cuando entre la sombra oscura" / "When a voice, lost"
• XXX. "Asomaba a sus ojos una lágrima" / "A tear appeared in her eyes"
• XXXI. "Nuestra pasión fue un trágico sainete" / "Our passion was a tragic short farce"
• XXXII. "Pasaba arrolladora en su hermosura" / "She passed by, devastating in her beauty"
• XXXIII. "Es cuestión de palabras, y no obstante" / "It's a matter of words, and yet"
• XXXIV. "Cruza callada, y son sus movimientos" / "She passes by in silence, and her movements are" XXXVI. "Si de nuestros agravios en un libro" / "If the history of our mutual offenses"
• XXXVII. "Antes que tú me moriré: escondido" / "I shall die before you do: buried"
• XXXVIII. "¡Los suspiros son aire y van al aire!" / "Sighs are air and return to the air!"
• XXXIX. "¿A qué me lo decís? Lo sé; es mudable" / "Why do you all tell me this? I know: she's fickle"
• XLI. "Tú eras el huracán y yo la alta" / "You were the hurricane and I the lofty"
• XLII. "Cuando me lo contaron sentí el frío" / "When I was told about it, I felt the coldness"
• XLIII. "Dejé la luz a un lado, y en el borde" / "I turned away from the daylight, and sat
• XLIV. "Como en un libro abierto" / "As in an open book"
• XLVI. "Me ha herido recatándose en las sombras" / "She wounded me as she hid in the shadows"
• XLVII. "Yo me he asomado a las profundas simas" / "I have peered into the deep chasms"
• XLIX. "Alguna vez la encuentro por el mundo" / "Sometimes I meet her in society"
• L. "Lo que el salvaje que con torpe mano" / "Just as a savage with awkward hands"
• LI. "De lo poco de vida que me resta" / "Of the little life remaining to me"
• LII. "Olas gigantes que os rompéis bramando" / "You gigantic waves that break with a roar"
• LIII. "Volverán las oscuras golondrinas" / "The dark swallows will return"
• LIV. "Cuando volvemos las fugaces horas" / "When we resume the evocation"
• LV. "Entre el discorde estruendo de la orgía" / "Amid the discordant uproar of the wild party"
• LVI. "Hoy como ayer, mañana como hoy" / "Today as yesterday, tomorrow as today"
• LVII. "Este armazón de huesos y pellejo" / "This framework of bones and skin"
• LVIII. "¿Quieres que de ese néctar delicioso" / "Do you want to enjoy this delicious nectar"
• LX. "Mi vida es un erial" / "My life is an untilled field"
• LXI. "Al ver mis horas de fiebre" / "Who, seeing my hours of fever"
• LXII. "Primero es un albor trémulo y vago" / "At first, it's a tremulous, vague glimmering"
• LXIII. "Como enjambre de abejas irritadas" / "Like a swarm of angry bees"
• LXV. "Llegó la noche y no encontré un asilo" / "Night fell, and I couldn't find shelter"
• LXVI. "¿De dónde vengo? El más horrible y áspero" / "Where have I come from? Seek out the most fearful"
• LXVII. "¿Qué hermoso es ver el día" / "How lovely it is to see day"
• LXVIII. "No sé lo que he soñado" / "I don't know what I dreamt"
• LXIX. "Al brillar un relámpago nacemos" / "When a lightning bolt flashes we are born"
• LXX. "¿Cuántas veces al pie de las musgosas" / "How often at the foot of the moss-covered"
• LXXI. "No dormía; vagaba en ese limbo" / "I wasn't sleeping; I was drifting in that limbo"
• LXXII. "Las ondas tienen vaga armonía" / "The waters have their vague harmony"
• LXXIII. "Cerraron sus ojos" / "They closed her eyes"
• LXXIV. "Las ropas desceñidas" / "Their garments unfastened"
• LXXV. "¿Será verdad que cuando toca el sueño" / "Can it be true that when slumber touches"
• LXXVI. "En la imponente nave" / "In the imposing nave"
• Leyendas / Legends
• La cruz del diablo / The Devil's Cross
• La ajorca de oro / The Golden Bracelet
• El monte de las ánimas / The Forest of the Souls in Purgatory
• El rayo de luna / The Moonbeam
• El Miserere / The Miserere
• La corza blanca / The White Doe
• Alphabetical List of Spanish Verse First Lines