THE FOOTSTEPS OF LA SIGUIRIYA
Through black butterflies
goes a girl with dark hair
joined to a white serpent
of mistiness.
Earth of light,
Sky of Earth.
She goes tied to the trembling
of a rhythm that never arrives:
she has a heart of silver
and a dagger in her hand.
Where do you go, Siguiriya
with a mindless rhythm?
What moon will gather up your
grief of lime and oleander?
Earth of light,
Sky of Earth.
Federico García Lorca
Translation by A. S. Kline
Translator Note: La Siguiriya, is a gipsy song, a basic form of canto jondo, the ‘deep song’ of Andalusia. Its emotionally intense lyrics do not depend on rationality and are usually in four verse lines with assonant rhyme, and syllables 6-6-11-6.
Original version
