la isla en el lago::the lake isle
LA ISLA EN EL LAGO
Oh Dios, oh Venus, oh Mercurio, patrón de los ladrones,
Dame a su tiempo, te suplico, una tiendita de tabaco,
Con las brillantes cajitas
primorosamente apiladas en los estantes
Y el fragante anduyo suelto
y la picadura,
Y el brillante Virginia
suelto en los vasos de vidrio,
y un par de balanzas no demasiado grasientas,
y las prostitutas entrando de pasada para una palabra
o dos,
para una broma, y arreglarse el pelo un poquito.
Oh Dios, oh Venus, oh Mercurio, patrón de los ladrones,
Préstame una tiendita de tabaco,
O instálame en alguna profesión
Que no sea esta maldita profesión de escribir,
Donde uno necesita su cerebro todo el
tiempo.
Hailey,USA 1885-Venezia, Italia 1972
The Lake Isle
O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves,
Give me in due time, I beseech you, a little tobacco-shop,
With the little bright boxes
piled up neatly upon the shelves
And the loose fragment cavendish
and the shag,
And the bright Virginia
loose under the bright glass cases,
And a pair of scales
not too greasy,
And the votailles dropping in for a word or two in passing,
For a flip word, and to tidy their hair a bit.
O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves,
Lend me a little tobacco-shop,
or install me in any profession
Save this damn'd profession of writing,
where one needs one's brains all the time.
Give me in due time, I beseech you, a little tobacco-shop,
With the little bright boxes
piled up neatly upon the shelves
And the loose fragment cavendish
and the shag,
And the bright Virginia
loose under the bright glass cases,
And a pair of scales
not too greasy,
And the votailles dropping in for a word or two in passing,
For a flip word, and to tidy their hair a bit.
O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves,
Lend me a little tobacco-shop,
or install me in any profession
Save this damn'd profession of writing,
where one needs one's brains all the time.
Hailey,USA 1885-Venice, Italy 1972
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