#11 – Fortuna (The fortune)
Ida Vitale
Author
Ida Vitale, (1923, Uruguay), is a poet, translator, essayist, and literary critic. In 2018, she was just the fifth woman to receive the prestigious Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the highest recognition for literature in Spanish. In addition to the Cervantes Prize, she has also received the FIL Literature Prize (2018), Max Jacob Prize (2017), Federico García Lorca Poetry Prize (2016), Reina Sofía Poetry Prize (2015), Alfonse Reyes Prize (2014), and Octavio Paz Prize (2009), as well as many other honors, including being named by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential women of 2019. Vitale is the last surviving member of the Generation of 45.
Fortuna
Por años, disfrutar del error y de su enmienda, haber podido hablar, caminar libre, no existir mutilada, no entrar o sí en iglesias, leer, oír la música querida, ser en la noche un ser como en el día. No ser casada en un negocio, medida en cabras, sufrir gobierno de parientes o legal lapidación. No desfilar ya nunca y no admitir palabras que pongan en la sangre limaduras de hierro. Descubrir por ti misma otro ser no previsto en el puente de la mirada. Ser humano y mujer, ni más ni menos.
Today the author herself is reading a poem 🖤🖤🖤
Vocabulary
disfrutar – to enjoy
la enmienda – amendment, correction
caminar libre – to walk free
mutilada – mutilated, crippled
la iglesia – church
un ser como – a being like
casada – married, journey
el negocio – business, deal
la medida – measure, extent
la cabra – goat
el gobierno – rule, goverment
el pariente – relative
la lapidación – stoning
desfilar – to parade, march
la sangre – blood
la limadura – filing
el hierro – iron
descubrir – to discover, find out
previsto(a) – planned, expected
el puente – bridge
la mirada – look, gaze
Read more
A detailed biography of Ida Vitale: https://www.salientwomen.com/2020/10/03/biography-of-ida-vitale-uruguayan-poet/
Read other poems: https://www.culturagenial.com/es/ida-vitale-poemas/