tonight is the full moon of December 2018 A.D.
I reproduce the text of three songs in the record 'Mi jardín solitario; Madrigal y cinco canciones sefardíes; Concierto de cienfuegos'. The texts are by Celedonio Romero (1913 – 1996), as translated into English by Susannah Howe.
First, the song 'Soledad!'
Let the horse run free,
don't pull on his reins,
for the day may come
when you want him to run but can't
Don't let your heart
be tainted by evil,
and if love has gone...
let it go, Soledad!
In Spanish:
Deja correr el caballo
no le tires de la rienda,
que puede ser que algún día
quiera correrlo y no puedas.
No manches tu corazón
con tinta de la maldad,
y si el cariño se ha ido ...
¡déjalo, Soledad!
The next song is 'My heart is breaking' or 'El corazón se me parte'
My heart is breaking
with grief and misery
knowing you are in the world
yet dead to me
I told a stone in the street
of my misfortune:
see what effect my words had,
that stone broke in two!
In Spanish:
El corazón se me parte
de pena y de sentimiento
al ver que estás en el mundo
y para mí ya te has muerto
A una piedra de la calle
le conté yo mi dolor:
¡mira lo que le diría
que la piedra se partió!
Finally comes the (poignant) song 'The Evening' or 'La tarde':
The evening became sad,
breaking olive boughs
and watering fields and fields of wheat
with the tears that fell from its clouds
Centuries-old wheatfields,
centuries in oblivion,
the evening wanted to kill itself
and hanged itself from an olive tree
The Spanish words, which are what are sung, are:
La tarde se puso triste
quebrando ramas de olivos
y con llanto de sus nubes
regando trigos y trigos.
¡Trigales de siglos llenos!
de sigolos en el olvido,
la tarde quiso matarse
y se colgó de un olivo