Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Luís Quintais

THE DREAM OF LANGUAGE

You’ll write about the subjection of animals.
But not today. Remember how the panther
still moves in the literature-free cage

it inherited. You’ll remember. But not today.
Because today’s the day when metaphors
awaken, the chest opens up, and language

resembles an invention in progress.
A vigil of metaphors filling up the night,
as if it and its mantle and its symbols

were covered by an eternal Saint Elmo’s fire.
Today’s the day when night becomes day,
when language celebrates animals

after the animals have perished
but with no trace of them surviving
in memory or in longing. Just language,

just meaning and sound echoing inside
meaning, with no possibility of a beginning
asserting itself, no possibility of an end.

You too will have to wake up
to the vigil of metaphors,
to the dream of language.

O sonho da linguagem

O sonho da linguagem

Escreverás sobre a sujeição dos animais.
Mas não hoje. Lembra-te de como se move
a pantera, ainda, na jaula sem literatura

que lhe legaram. Lembrar-te-ás. Mas não hoje.
Porque hoje é o dia em que as metáforas
despertam, a arca se abre, e a linguagem

se assemelha a uma invenção em aberto.
Uma vigília de metáforas preenchendo a noite,
como um Fogo-de-Santelmo que, eternamente,

a cobrisse, a si e ao seu manto e aos seus símbolos.
Hoje é o dia em que a noite se faz dia,
em que a linguagem celebra os animais

depois dos animais terem perecido,
mas sem que haja memória disso,
sequer nostalgia disso. Apenas linguagem,

apenas sentido e som a ressoar dentro
do sentido, sem que a hipótese de um princípio
se imponha, sem que a hipótese de um fim se imponha.

Haverás de despertar, tu também,
para a vigília das metáforas,
para o sonho da linguagem.
Close

THE DREAM OF LANGUAGE

You’ll write about the subjection of animals.
But not today. Remember how the panther
still moves in the literature-free cage

it inherited. You’ll remember. But not today.
Because today’s the day when metaphors
awaken, the chest opens up, and language

resembles an invention in progress.
A vigil of metaphors filling up the night,
as if it and its mantle and its symbols

were covered by an eternal Saint Elmo’s fire.
Today’s the day when night becomes day,
when language celebrates animals

after the animals have perished
but with no trace of them surviving
in memory or in longing. Just language,

just meaning and sound echoing inside
meaning, with no possibility of a beginning
asserting itself, no possibility of an end.

You too will have to wake up
to the vigil of metaphors,
to the dream of language.

THE DREAM OF LANGUAGE

You’ll write about the subjection of animals.
But not today. Remember how the panther
still moves in the literature-free cage

it inherited. You’ll remember. But not today.
Because today’s the day when metaphors
awaken, the chest opens up, and language

resembles an invention in progress.
A vigil of metaphors filling up the night,
as if it and its mantle and its symbols

were covered by an eternal Saint Elmo’s fire.
Today’s the day when night becomes day,
when language celebrates animals

after the animals have perished
but with no trace of them surviving
in memory or in longing. Just language,

just meaning and sound echoing inside
meaning, with no possibility of a beginning
asserting itself, no possibility of an end.

You too will have to wake up
to the vigil of metaphors,
to the dream of language.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère