Two poems, one writer

There are many things in life which are difficult to understand.  Fortunately, there are poets who give us words linked together beautifully so that we can make sense of those complicated issues.

• Do you read poetry? Why?  Why not?
• Do you know any famous poets? Are they English or Spanish writers?

Look at the word cloud below.  It contains words from a poem by Eduardo Galeano.

• What do you think the poem is about?

Eduardo Galeano is a Uruguayan writer, who tries to make us see the hardest truths in life through the eyes of a poet.
In the video below you can hear the Spanish version of the poem.  Watch the video and see if you were right about your predictions related to the issues the poem addresses.

Video taken from YouTube - All rights remain with the makers of this video.

The word cloud above shows words taken from the English translation of this poem.  Read the English translation by  Cedric Belfrage, Galeano's translator and compare it with the Spanish version.

 The Nobodies
Fleas dream of buying themselves a dog, and nobodies dream of escaping poverty: that one magical day good luck will suddenly rain down on them–will rain down in buckets. But good luck doesn’t rain down yesterday, today, tomorrow, or ever. Good luck doesn’t even fall in a fine drizzle, no matter how hard the nobodies summon it, even if their left hand is tickling, or if they begin the new day with their right foot, or start the new year with a change of brooms.
The nobodies: nobody’s children, owners of nothing. The nobodies: the no ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits, dying through life, screwed every which way.
Who are not, but could be.
Who don’t speak languages, but dialects.
Who don’t have religions, but superstitions.
Who don’t create art, but handicrafts.
Who don’t have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources.
Who do not have faces, but arms.
Who do not have names, but numbers.
Who do not appear in the history of the world, but in the police blotter of the local paper.
The nobodies, who are not worth the bullet that kills them.

• Which version do you like more, the Spanish or the English one? Why?
• Does the translation keep the poetic property of the original?
• Are there idiomatic expressions in the original for which the translations are not quite accurate?
• Do you think that translations really copy the originals closely?

The links below provide information about Eduardo Galeano.  Visit them to find out about the following points and then leave your comments in the Voicethread below the links.:

• When was Eduardo Galeano born?  Where?
• What information did you find about his childhood?
• What about his education?
• When did he begin writing?
• What other professions does he have?
• What typical issues does he write about?
• Is he recognized worldwide?  What awards has he won?
• Is he a controversial writer?  Why? Why not?
• Is there anything else that caught your attention about him?

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