La guitarra
Language: Spanish (Español)
Available translation(s): ENG FRE
Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Se rompen las copas
de la madrugada.
Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Es inútil callarla.
Es imposible
callarla.
Llora monótona
como llora el agua,
como llora el viento
sobre la nevada.
Es imposible
callarla.
Llora por cosas
lejanas.
Arena del Sur caliente
que pide camelias blancas.
Llora flecha sin blanco,
la tarde sin mañana,
y el primer pájaro muerto
sobre la rama.
¡Oh, guitarra!
Corazón malherido
por cinco espadas.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "La guitarra", from Romancero Gitano, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ramiro Cortés (1933 - 1984), "La guitarra", from Three Spanish Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "La guitarra", 1986 [ voice and guitar ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "La guitarra", 1986 [ voice and 2 guitars ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941) , "Гитара" ; composed by Aleksandr Borisovich Matyukhin.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Richard Gard) , "The guitar", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La guitare", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ivo Zandhuis
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-11
Line count: 26
Word count: 76
The guitar
Language: English  after the Spanish (Español)
The weeping
of the guitar begins.
The cups of dawn
are broken.
The weeping
of the guitar begins.
It is useless to silence it.
It is impossible
to silence it.
It cries, monotonously,
as the waters cry,
as the wind cries
over the snowfall.
It is impossible
to silence it.
It weeps for things
far away.
It asks the Sands of the South
for white camellias.
It cries for the arrow without a target,
for the afternoon without a morning,
and for the first bird who dies
on the branch.
Oh, guitar!
Heart wounded
by five swords.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 26
Word count: 97