26 May 2016

Entwining.

Sargent, Dans Les Oliviers, 1878


The girl with the beautiful face
is gathering olives.
The wind, lover of towers,
takes her by the waist.

Four riders passed,
on Andalusian ponies,
with suits of blue and green,
with long dark cloaks.
‘Come to Cordoba, maid.’
The girl pays no heed.

Three young bullfighters passed,
slender of waist,
with orange-coloured suits
and swords of antique silver.
‘Come to Seville, maid.’
The girl pays no heed.

When the evening became
purple, with diffused light,
a youth passed bringing
roses and myrtle of the moon.
‘Come to Granada, maid.’
And the girl pays no heed.

The girl with the beautiful face
goes on gathering olives,
with the grey arm of the wind
entwining her waist.

Federico Garcia Lorca

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