The Sorrow Gondola

Jesus höll upp ett mynt
med Tiberius i profil
en profil utan kärlek
makten i omlopp.

¿3.5?

"La fúnebre góndola" es como una probadita minúscula del celebrado poeta sueco Tomas Tranströmer. Versos trabajados, imágenes complejas, en fin, se ve que el hombre sabe escribir y muy bien. Tal vez mucho se pierda en la traducción, pero sólo unos cuantos versos lograron moverme el piso.

I have never had an easy time of it with poetry, even in my native language, English, but I really enjoyed this volume of Swedish poetry by Nobel prize winner Tomas Tranströmer.

This is the first collection of poems by Tranströmer that has been published since the devastating stroke he suffered in 1990. The poems are published side by side in Swedish and English, and consist of 18 mostly light pieces, such as "Two Cities":

Two Cities

One each side of the strait, two cities
one blacked out, occupied by the enemy.
In the other the lamps are burning.
The bright shore hypnotizes the dark one.

I swim out in a trance
on the glittering dark waters.
A low tuba-blast pushes into me.
It's a friend's voice, Take your grave and go.

These poems were beautifully written, but were too light to leave a significant impression on me.

Tranströmer's poetry feels personal on a level I can't appreciate. I like some of his turns of phrase ("a tremendous insult is slipped over your head like a sack"), but the poems are short to the point of feeling incomplete.

Tomas Gösta Tranströmer, född 15 april 1931 i Stockholm, är en svensk poet, översättare och psykolog. Tranströmer är en av Sveriges mest berömda och översatta poeter.

Länk till wikipediaartikel: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomas_Transtr%C3%B6mer