Jose de Espronceda, Spanje (1808-1842)

Jose de Espronceda werd geboren op 25 maart 1808 te Almendralejo, in de provincie Badajoz. Hij verkreeg zijn onderwijs aan het Colegio San Mateo te Madrid, alwaar hij onder andere les kreeg van Alberto Lista. Op zijn vijftiende vormde hij samen met enkele vrienden zoals Ventura de la Vega en Patricio de la Escosura een geheim genootschap "Los Numantinos" ter samenzwering tegen Ferdinand VII en met het vooropgestelde doel om de dood van Rafael del Riego te wreken. Hiervoor werd hij gevangengezet in een klooster en vervolgens verbannen.

Hij trok naar Portugal, Belgie, Frankrijk, Nederland en Engeland. Volgens de overleveringen zette hij zich in 1828 te Nederland in voor de Liberale zaak en stond hij twee jaar later op de Parijse barricades.

In 1833 is hij terug in Spanje en wordt hij actief in het extreem linkse kamp van Spaanse politiek. Na het overlijden van zijn geliefde Teresa Mancha, verblijft hij nog enige tijd op de malakken, maar keert uiteindelijk weer terug naar Spanje alwaar hij op 23 mei 1842 komt te overlijden aan de gevolgen van difterie.

Geinspireerd door zijn leraar Alberto Lista, begint hij gedurende zijn gevangenschap aan het historische gedicht Pelayo dat hij overigens nooit af zou ronden. Zijn belangrijkste werken zijn onder andere El estudiante de Salamanca en El Diablo Mundo, lange lyrische gedichten, maar ook het kortere werk zoals A Jarifa en una orgía, El verdugo, El canto del cosaco, La canción del pirata en Himno al sol. Wordt in Spanje gezien als één van de belangrijkste dichters van de romantiek.

Bronnen : wikipedia & los poetas

THE BEGGAR

by: José de Espronceda (1808-1842)

HE world is mine; I am free as air;
Let others work that I may eat;
All shall melt at my piteous prayer:--
"An alms, for God's sake, I entreat."

The cabin, the palace,
Are my resort;
If the threat of the thunder
Shall break from the mountain,
Or the torrent's quick fountain
Shall drive me under,
Within their shelter
The shepherds make place,
Lovingly asking me
Food to grace;
Or by the rich hearthstone
I take my ease
Fanned by the odors
Of burning trees;
With the luscious banquet
And cushioned store,
Upon the couch
Of some proud señor.

And I say to myself:--
"Let the breezes blow
And the tempest rage
In the world without:
Let the branches crack
Where the high winds go,
As I slumber with nothing to trouble about.
The world is mine; I am free as air!"

All are my patrons,
And for all I ask
My God as I daily pray;
From peasant and noble
I get my pay,
And I take their favors
Both great and small.
I never ask them
Who they be,
Nor stop to task them
With thanks for fee.
If they desire
To give me alms,
'Tis but their duty
To tip my palms.
Their wealth is sinful
They must see;
And a holy state
Is my poverty,
And he is a miser
Who would deny
An alms, and a beggar
Blest am I.

For I am poor and they grieve to note
How I groan beneath my pain;
They never see that their wealth is a mine
Where I my treasures gain.
The world is mine; I am free as air!

A rebel and a discontent
Amid my rags am I;
To satirise their ease I'm sent
And with a sour-set eye
I boldly stare at the potentate
Who dares to pass me in his state.

The lovely maid
Of a thousand scents
In her joy arrayed
With her love-locks blent--
'Tis she I follow
Till she turns around,
And my evil smells
Her sense astound.
At the feasts and spreads
My voice is heard
And they bow their heads
At my merest word.
Their joy and revel
I come to stay,
At the sight of my rags
And my voice's brags
Their music dies away.
Showing how near
Dwell pain and joy;
No joy without tear
No pain sans glad alloy.
The world is mine; I am free as air!

For me no morrow
Nor yesterday;
I forget the sorrow
And the welladay.
There's nought to trouble
Or weary me here,--
It's a palace tomorrow
Or a hospital's cheer.
I live a stranger
To thoughts of care;
Let others seek glory
Or riches rare!
My one concern
Is to pass today;
Let the laws prevail
Where the monarchs sway!
For I am a beggar
And a poor man proud;
'Tis through fear of me
There are alms allowed.

A soft asylum
Where'er it be,
And a hospital bed
Will be ready for me;
And a cosy ditch
Where my bones shall lie
Will cover me over
When I die.

The world is mine; I am free as air;
Let others work that I may eat!
All hearts must melt at my piteous prayer:--
An alms, for God's sake, I entreat!"

vertaald door Thomas Walsh

CANCIÓN OF THE PIRATE

by: José de Espronceda (1808-1842)

HE breeze fair aft, all sails on high,
Ten guns on each side mounted seen,
She does not cut the sea, but fly,
A swiftly sailing brigantine;
A pirate bark, the "Dreaded" name,
For her surpassing boldness famed,
On every sea well-known and shore,
From side to side their boundaries o'er.
The moon in streaks the waves illumes
Hoarse groans the wind the rigging through;
In gentle motion raised assumes
The sea a silvery shade with blue;
Whilst singing gaily on the poop
The pirate Captain, in a group,
Sees Europe here, there Asia lies,
And Stamboul in the front arise.

"Sail on, my swift one! nothing fear;
Nor calm, nor storm, nor foeman's force,
Shall make thee yield in thy career
Or turn thee from thy course.
Despite the English cruisers fleet
We have full twenty prizes made;
And see their flags beneath my feet
A hundred nations laid.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

"There blindly kings fierce wars maintain,
For palms of land, when here I hold
As mine, whose power no laws restrain,
Whate'er the seas infold.
Nor is there shore around whate'er,
Or banner proud, but of my might
Is taught the valorous proofs to bear,
And made to feel my right.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

"Look when a ship our signals ring,
Full sail to fly how quick she's veered!
For of the sea I am the king,
My fury's to be feared;
But equally with all I share
Whate'er the wealth we take supplies;
I only seek the matchless fair,
My portion of the prize.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

"I am condemned to die! -- I laugh;
For, if my fates are kindly sped,
My doomer from his own ship's staff
Perhaps I'll hang instead.
And if I fall, why what is life?
For lost I gave it then as due,
When from slavery's yoke in strife
A rover! I withdrew.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

"My music is the Northwind's roar;
The noise when round the cable runs,
The bellowings of the Black Sea's shore,
And rolling of my guns.
And as the thunders loudly sound,
And furious the tempests rave,
I calmly rest in sleep profound,
So rocked upon the wave.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

vertaald door James Kennedy