Amaya (Year 11) translated “Desde mi pequeña vida” (“From my small life”) for the Stephen Spender competition

Commentary

“Desde mi pequeña vida” talks about the suffering of several people in Guatemala during the civil war, and reflects on the poet’s inability to help the situation (as she refers to her life as “small”), as well as those who died because of the war. This poem interested me, as the poet reflects on this through her brother, making it seem more personal to her, and emphasising the hardship individuals faced. When translating, the first problem I faced was translating line five (“por las calles derramada”). When I translated it literally, I found it meant “through the streets spilled”. However, I decided to change this to “spilt in the streets”, as the word “in” makes it seem as if this is happening inside, and as a part of Guatemala, rather than Guatemala just being the impersonal location, as the word “through” made me think of. Another challenge I faced was the uneven and short lines. I felt as if this was a vital part of the poem, as it shows the conflicted state of the voice, and felt as if it was necessary to maintain it. To do this, I translated each line within itself, and avoided capital letters at the start of every line, like the original poem, maintaining the similarities between my translation, and the original. Finally, when translating the phrase “tu grito”, I found that “grito” could be translated as “scream” or “shout”. However, I decided to change this to “cry” in English, as this can mean the same thing, and maintains the closeness between the voice and her brother, as the voice cries for him, similarly.