The Ballad of the White Horse — Page 4
In cloud of clay so cast to heaven
En nube de arcilla así lanzada al cielo
What shape shall man discern?
¿Qué forma podrá el hombre discernir?
These lords may light the mystery
Estos señores pueden iluminar el misterio
Of mastery or victory,
Del dominio o la victoria,
And these ride high in history,
Y estos cabalgan alto en la historia,
But these shall not return.
Pero estos no han de volver.
Gored on the Norman gonfalon
Corneado en el gonfalón normando
The Golden Dragon died:
El Dragón Dorado murió:
We shall not wake with ballad strings
No despertaremos con cuerdas de balada
The good time of the smaller things,
El buen tiempo de las cosas más pequeñas,
We shall not see the holy kings
No veremos a los santos reyes
Ride down by Severn side.
Cabalgar a orillas del Severn.
Stiff, strange, and quaintly coloured
Rígida, extraña y curiosamente coloreada
As the broidery of Bayeux
Como el bordado de Bayeux
The England of that dawn remains,
La Inglaterra de aquel amanecer permanece,
And this of Alfred and the Danes
Y esta de Alfredo y los daneses
Seems like the tales a whole tribe feigns
Parece los cuentos que una tribu entera finge
Too English to be true.
Demasiado inglesa para ser verdad.
Of a good king on an island
De un buen rey en una isla
That ruled once on a time;
Que gobernó en otro tiempo;
And as he walked by an apple tree
Y mientras caminaba junto a un manzano
There came green devils out of the sea
Salieron diablos verdes del mar
With sea-plants trailing heavily
Con plantas marinas arrastrándose pesadamente
And tracks of opal slime.
Y rastros de limo opalescente.
Yet Alfred is no fairy tale;
Sin embargo, Alfredo no es un cuento de hadas;
His days as our days ran,
Sus días transcurrieron como los nuestros,
He also looked forth for an hour
Él también miró hacia afuera por un momento
On peopled plains and skies that lower,
Sobre llanuras pobladas y cielos que se ciernen,
From those few windows in the tower
Desde aquellas pocas ventanas en la torre
That is the head of a man.
Que es la cabeza de un hombre.
But who shall look from Alfred's hood
Pero ¿quién mirará desde la capucha de Alfredo
Or breathe his breath alive?
O respirará su aliento vivo?
His century like a small dark cloud
Su siglo como una pequeña nube oscura
Drifts far; it is an eyeless crowd,
Se aleja a la deriva; es una multitud sin ojos,
Where the tortured trumpets scream aloud
Donde las trompetas atormentadas gritan con fuerza
And the dense arrows drive.
Y las densas flechas se clavan.
Vocabulary
- En
- In, on, at (preposition indicating location or time)
- nube
- Cloud; a visible mass of water vapor in sky
- de
- Of, from (preposition showing possession or origin)
- arcilla
- Clay; fine-grained soil used for pottery
- así
- Thus, so, in this way; therefore
- lanzada
- Thrown, cast; past participle of lanzar
- al
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'el'
- cielo
- Sky, heaven; the expanse above earth
- Qué
- What; interrogative pronoun
- forma
- Form, shape; the outline of something
- podrá
- Will be able to; future tense of poder
- el
- The; definite article masculine singular
- hombre
- Man, human male; person in general
- discernir
- To discern, distinguish; perceive differences
- Estos
- These; demonstrative pronoun masculine plural
- señores
- Gentlemen, lords; plural of señor
- pueden
- Can, are able to; third person plural of poder
- iluminar
- To illuminate, light up; make bright
- misterio
- Mystery; something not fully understood
- Del
- Of the; contraction of 'de' and 'el'
- dominio
- Domain, dominion; area of control or rule
- la
- The; definite article feminine singular
- victoria
- Victory, triumph; success in battle
- cabalgan
- They ride; third person plural of cabalgar
- alto
- High, tall; elevated in position or level
- historia
- History, story; record of past events
- Pero
- But, yet; conjunction showing contrast
- no
- Not, no; negation or refusal
- han
- Have; third person plural of haber
- volver
- To return, come back; go again
- normando
- Norman; relating to Normandy or Normans
- Dragón
- Dragon; legendary winged reptilian creature
- Dorado
- Golden, gilded; covered with gold color
- murió
- Died; past tense of morir
- despertaremos
- We will awaken; future tense of despertar
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment
- cuerdas
- Ropes, strings, cords; plural of cuerda
- balada
- Ballad; narrative poem or song
- buen
- Good; shortened form of bueno before masculine noun
- tiempo
- Time, weather; period or meteorological conditions
- las
- The; definite article feminine plural
- cosas
- Things, matters; plural of cosa
- más
- More, most; comparative or superlative adverb
- pequeñas
- Small, little; feminine plural of pequeño
- veremos
- We will see; future tense of ver
- los
- The; definite article masculine plural
- santos
- Saints, holy ones; plural of santo
- reyes
- Kings; plural of rey
- Cabalgar
- To ride, mount; travel on horseback
- orillas
- Banks, shores, edges; plural of orilla
- Rígida
- Rigid, stiff, inflexible; feminine form
- extraña
- Strange, odd; feminine form of extraño
- curiosamente
- Curiously, strangely; in curious manner
- coloreada
- Colored, tinted; past participle feminine
- Como
- Like, as; preposition indicating similarity
- bordado
- Embroidered, embroidery; needlework decoration
- Inglaterra
- England; country in United Kingdom
- aquel
- That; demonstrative adjective masculine singular
- amanecer
- Dawn, daybreak; beginning of day
- permanece
- Remains, stays; third person singular of permanecer
- esta
- This; demonstrative feminine or verb estar
- daneses
- Danish, Danes; relating to Denmark
- Parece
- Seems, appears; third person singular of parecer
- cuentos
- Stories, tales; plural of cuento
- que
- That, which; conjunction or relative pronoun
- una
- A, one; indefinite article feminine singular
- tribu
- Tribe; group of people united by kinship
- entera
- Entire, whole; feminine form of entero
- finge
- Pretends, feigns; third person singular of fingir
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →