Venice masks

Thursday, 17 April 2025

Aurora - Caetano da Costa Alegre

You're horrified by me, I know. Aurora,
You are the day, I am the thick night,
Where I end, your being does alight.
You don't love!... this soul of mine worships you, flora.
 
You're the light, I'm the dreadful shadow.
I am your sparkling antithesis,
But don't be surprised if I try to be aglow,
From charcoal comes the diamond's magnificence.

Look that this cruel, passion so ardent,
In resistance it grows in a torrent;
It is the fatal passion that comes from wealth,

It is the savage passion of beast,
It's the passion of the panther's chest.
That forces me to say "love or death".

Caetano da Costa Alegre (1864 – 1890) São Tomé and Príncipe
Translated by Google translate / Bruce Levitan (to preserve the orginal's rhyme)
Source: Antonio Miranda

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