Lope de Vega

Soneto

Ardese Troya, y sube el humo escuro
al enemigo cielo, y entretanto,
alegre, Juno mira el fuego y llanto:
¡venganza de mujer, castigo duro!

El vulgo, aun en los templos mal seguro,
huye, cubierto de amarillo espanto;
corre cuajada sangre el turbio Janto,
y viene a tierra el levantado muro.

Crece el incendio propio el fuego extraño,
las empinadas máquinas cayendo,
de que se ven rüinas y pedazos.

Y la dura ocasión de tanto daño,
mientras vencido Paris muere ardiendo,
del griego vencedor duerme en los brazos.



Sonnet

Troy is burning, black smoke rises up
to the opposing sky, and all the while,
with joy, Juno observes the fire and tears:
a woman's vengeance, what harsh penalty!

The masses, even in their shrines exposed,
all flee, enveloped by a yellow fright;
congealed blood down the murky Xanthus runs,
and to earth fall high walls of masonry.

The fire from without fuels flames within,
lofty devices falling to the ground,
which now are seen in ruins, shattered, disarmed.

And the harsh cause of so much injury,
while conquered Paris dies engulfed in flames,
of the Greek victor sleeps within the arms. 

                     (©Alix Ingber, 1995)



 Translation notes: the strange inversion in the final line is present in in the original, so I have chosen to retain it here.



E-mail your comments and questions to:

Alix Ingber
Professor of Spanish
Sweet Briar College

ingber@sbc.edu



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