Nada - a translation into Norwegian of a poem by Raquel Lanseros

This is another attempt at improving my Spanish by translating short, yet complex, poems into my mother tongue. As these are exercises in language proficiency rather than the result of a fluent speaker, they are of course rough and unfinished, yet they provide me with three things. First of all, the sense of accomplishment and progress. Secondly, the opportunity to share some of my favourite poetry with others, and perhaps alert some readers to a poet they might not have heard of. Thirdly, these translations provide me with an opportunity to give a public sign of gratitude and affection to the poet whose verses have come to mean very much to me, and which have served as a great relief throughout this strange millennium we call 2020. 

This time around, I present you with a translation of the poem Nada by Raquel Lanseros, printed in her latest collection, Matria, from 2018. A reading by the poet herself can be found here. A rendition into English of my Norwegian translation will follow at the end. 



Ingenting


Lat deg ikkje lure
av den påtekne audmjukskapen. 
Bak den harmlause framtoninga 
finn vi ein blodtyrstig dommar. 
Ein sofistikert liturgi av mangel. 
Ein bør akte seg for å misbruke namnet hans. 
Der finnast ikkje eit meir hemngjerrig uttrykk. 
Han tek til seg rommet. 
For han er det lettare å drepe enn å dele. 
Ved hans side er det ikkje plass til anna enn tomrommet. 

Det nyttar ikkje å appellere til hans miskunn. 
Hans einaste kjende lidenskapar 
er ordet "ingen" 
og ordet "aldri". 



Nothing

Do not be deceived 
my the feigned humility. 
Behind the harmless appearance
we find a bloodthirsty judge.
A sophisticated liturgy of lacking. 
One should be careful not to take his name in vain. 
There does not exist a more vindictive expression. 
He appropriates space. 
To him, it is more easy to kill than to share. 
By his side there is room for nothing more than emptiness. 

It is no use appealing to his clemency. 
His only known passions 
are the word "nobody" 
and the word "never".