Translation Review - The University of Texas at Dallas

transparency, stones and clouds. His is a paradoxicalview of life, and we come to understand the worldthrough the ever-present tension of opposites. He writes:“with the sun on our faces/ we also/ move toward transparency”(p87); “this black stone/is a piece of the night”(p.137); and “I a shadow on the hot stones,/I a breath ina never ending silence” (p.105).On the one hand, Aridjis searches the light on thisearth; on the other, he has a keen eye for the violenceand misery of this world. The poem “We Inherit Pain andPass it On,” translated by Eliot Weinberger, shows thatside of his poetry.We Inherit Pain and Pass it OnOur parents left usblood and wordswe leave our childrenblood and wordswe sing to our bonesbeside the firewe sharpen our fistsinto daggersalmost deadwe kill ourselvesalmost nothingwe rip out our eyesour parents left usblood and wordswe leave our childrenblood and words(p. 99)Heredemos el Dolor y lo TransmittimosSangre y palabrasnos dejaron los viejossangre y palabrasdejamos a nuestros hijosjunto al fuegocantamos a nuestros huesosafilamos nuestros puñoslos hacemos puñalesya casi muertosnos asesinamosya casi nadanos sacamos los ojossangre y palabrasnos dejaron los viejossangre y palabrasdejamos a nuestros hijosAlmost like a Bach fugue, the poet hammers his messagethrough the repetition of “blood and words.” Bach actuallyappears several times in various of his poems.Even though thirteen translators are listed, themajority of the poems were translated by EliotWeinberger and George McWhirter. Weinberger translatedall the poems included in Exaltation of Light. Withvery few exceptions, McWhirter translated all the poemsfrom The Building of Death, Images for the End of theMillennium, Second Expulsion from Paradise, The Poetin Danger of Extinction, Archbishop Building a Fire, ATime of Angels, and Eyes to See Otherwise. Weinbergerand McWhirter translated most of the poems that werepublished after 1971. The other translators were primarilyinvolved in transplanting the poems written between1960 and 1971. Unfortunately, the translators are listedin the table of contents only with their respective initialsbut not with the actual translations of each poem. Thus,the reader experiences some difficulties in figuring outwho translated what poem. In a future edition of Eyes toSee Otherwise, this editorial policy should be corrected.The variety of translation perspectives brought tothe interpretation of Aridjis’ poems through the eyes ofthe translators makes this collection a fascinating reading.His poetic universe covers the pianissimo sounds ofhis lyrical vision and his fortissimo explosions lamentingthe destruction that humanity has inflicted on the planetearth. Ultimately, it is the light, la luz, with all its resonancesthat opens doors of hope toward the future. Inparticular, Aridjis celebrates the power of light in thepoems in his volume Exaltation of Light, which are alltranslated by Eliot Weinberger. Weinberger understandsthat Aridjis’ poetry is driven by the word, the poet as an“hombre de palabras.” The translators bring a great varietyof interpretive perspectives to their translations; theyall immersed themselves into the internal movements ofAridjis’ words and images, yet, at the same time, theyalways kept their ears close to the melodious voice ofeach poem. In its final analysis, Aridjis sees in all thedestruction that human beings have caused on the planetearth a ray of hope that springs from the creative energyof the individual.70 Translation Review