OSCAR CASTRO, A POET AND A POEM FROM CHILE

WELCOME TO THIS POST!

A LOVELY WHITE ROSE, A SYMBOLOF PURITY!

 

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Source: Michael Gwyther-Jones, CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons 

He was a Chilean writer and poet born in 1910 in Rancagua, a city that’s a short distance south of Santiago, the capital. He came from a numerous family of six children.

His health was poor right from a very young age, and added to the fact that his father abandoned the family while Oscar was still in school, had the result of making him a self-educated person who never finished his formal schooling.

In 1926 some of his poems were published in a magazine under another name, and by 1929 he was publishing under his real name.

In 1935 he took on a job as a writer for one of the Santiago newspapers and he also married another writer, the poetess known as Isolda Pradel (her real name was Ernestina Zúñiga).

His health continued to weaken, so he returned to his home town, Rancagua, and found a position as librarian of the Boys’ Secondary School in that town. He also gave the students Spanish classes.

His health finally gave out in September of 1947, so he was taken to the Salvador Hospital in Santiago where he died on the 1^st of November of that year.

In 1971 the school in Rancagua where he worked was renamed “Liceo Oscar Castro Zúñiga” (his full name), as a result of various petitions made by the students and his fellow writers.

A selection of his poems now graces the entry to the school.

A PHOTO OF THE POET 

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Source: Archivo de Oscar Castro, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

HIS WRITINGS.

In his published work, Oscar Castro shows two distinct styles.

His poetry is rather melancholy, very transparent and lyrical in its use of metaphors. The themes are mostly romantic.

His prose is very different, and some of his work is extremely realistic, often raw and even visceral.

His poetry does not follow the traditional style of other Chilean poets, his writers’ voice is very much his own.

HIS POEMS AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE SCHOOL WHERE HE WORKED 

 

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 Source: Warko2006, CC BY 3.0. Wikimedia Commons

THE MUSICAL VERSIONS OF HIS POEMS.

A few of his poems have been set to music and interpreted by a group called “Los Cuatro de Chile”. These are the four members of the Duvauchelle family, three brothers and a sister. They were famous in the Chilean theater, and the sister, Maria Elena, appears to be still active on the stage.

I have included a video with the music for a specific poem, which I will be presenting on this post: “Oración para que no me olvides”

MY FREE TRANSLATION OF THE LYRICS.

A PRAYER THAT YOU WILL NEVER FORGET ME

I.

I will start to live in each rose

And in each lily that your eyes will see

And in every bird trill I’ll sing your name

So that you‘ll never forget me.

II.

If you cry as you contemplate the stars

And your soul fills with impossibilities,

It’s because my loneliness has come to kiss you

So that you’ll never forget me.

III.

I will paint a rose colored horizon

And I will paint blue wallflowers

And I will guild the moon on your hair

So that you’ll never forget me.

IV.

If asleep you sweetly walk

Through a world of diaphanous gardens,

Think of my heart that dreams of you,

So that you’ll never forget me.

V.

And if some evening, at a far away altar,

You hold another’s hand, and you are blessed,

When the golden ring is placed on your finger,

My soul will be an invisible tear

In the eyes of the moribund Christ

¡So that you’ll never forget me!

THE SPANISH VERSION

(This Blog is Bilingual).

ORACIÓN PARA QUE NO ME OLVIDES.

I.

Yo me pondrá a vivir en cada rosa

Y en cada lirio que tus ojos miren

Y en todo trino cantaré tu nombre

Para que no me olvides.

II.

Si contemplas llorando las estrellas

Y se te llena el alma de imposibles,

Es que mi soledad viene a besarte

Para que no me olvides.

III.

Yo pintaré de rosa el horizonte

Y pintaré de azul los alelíes

Y doraré de luna tus cabellos

Para que no me olvides.

IV.

Si dormida caminas dulcemente

Por un mundo de diáfanos jardines,

Piensa en mi corazón que por ti sueña,

Para que no me olvides.

V.

Y si una tarde, en un altar lejano,

De otra mano cogida, te bendicen,

Cuando te pongan el anillo de oro,

 Mi alma será una lágrima invisible

En los ojos de Cristo moribundo

¡Para que no me olvides!

THE VIDEO BY THE CUARTET “LOS CUATRO DE CHILE”

Isn’t that beautiful!

All in all, a lovely poem and a lovely interpretation done by professional actors!

I hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I have!

I hope to see you on the next one!

A PARTING GIFT, ANOTHER LOVELY ROSE!

 

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Source: Pixabay, Public Domain

© 2013  jveronr  (Joan Robertson)

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