Farewell
translated by Jenny Minniti-Shippey
If I die,
Leave the balcony open.
The boy is eating oranges.
(From my balcony I hear him.)
The reaper scythes the wheat.
(From my balcony I feel it.)
If I die,
Leave the balcony open!
Despedida
Si muero,
dejad el balcón abierto.
El niño come naranjas.
(Desde mi balcón lo veo).
El segador siega el trigo.
(Desde mi balcón lo siento).
¡Si muero,
dejad el balcón abierto!
Copyright © 2021 by Federico García Lorca and Jenny Minniti-Shippey. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 31, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.
“One thing I loved about translating this poem was feeling the power of the speaker’s voice grow, from the meditative tone in the opening phrase, to the command of the final couplet. As I read, I feel the warmth of the sun of the late fall, and hear the sounds below the balcony. Each word of the poem asks for our attention, for our participation, for us to be harvested by the reaper along with the wheat.”
—Jenny Minniti-Shippey
Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca is one of the most important Spanish poets and dramatists of the twentieth century.