4º Poema: A criança, de Os Escravos, de Castro Alves 4th Poem: The Child, from Os Escravos, by Castro Alves

A cruz da estrada the cross of the road

Invideo quia quiescunt. I envy|"because"|are at peace Invideo quia quiescunt.

LUTHERO (Worms) Luther (Worms)|Diet of Worms LUTHERO (Worms)

Tu que passas, descobre-te! ||pass by|discover yourself| You who pass, discover yourself! Ali dorme |Ali sleeps. There sleeps

O forte que morreu. |||died The strong that died.

A. HERCULANO (Trad.) |A. Herculano (Trans.)|(Trans.) A. HERCULANO (Trans.)

Caminheiro que passas pela estrada, Wayfarer||passes|| Walker passing along the road,

Seguindo pelo rumo do sertão, ||||hinterland Following the direction of the hinterland,

Quando vires a cruz abandonada, |see|||abandoned When you see the abandoned cross,

Deixa-a em paz dormir na solidão. Leave her alone to sleep in solitude.

Que vale o ramo do alecrim cheiroso |||||rosemary branch|fragrant What is the fragrant rosemary branch worth?

Que lhe atiras nos braços ao passar? ||throw|||| What do you throw in your arms as you pass?

Vais espantar o bando buliçoso |scare away||noisy group|boisterous You will scare away the boisterous bunch

Das borboletas, que lá vão pousar. Of the butterflies, which will land there.

É de um escravo humilde sepultura, ||||humble|humble slave's grave It's from a humble grave slave,

Foi-lhe a vida o velar de insônia atroz. |||||keeping vigil over||sleeplessness|cruel It was his life to wake up to atrocious insomnia.

Deixa-o dormir no leito de verdura, ||||||greenery Let him sleep on the bed of greenery,

Que o Senhor dentre as selvas lhe compôs. |||"from among"||forests||composed for him Which the Lord from among the jungles composed for you.

Não precisa de ti. It doesn't need you. O gaturamo |The gaturamo the gaturamo

Geme, por ele, à tarde, no sertão. Moan||||afternoon|| He groans for him in the afternoon in the backlands.

E a juriti, do taquaral no ramo, ||turtledove||bamboo grove|| And the juriti, from the bamboo grove in the branch,

Povoa, soluçando, a solidão. Populate|sobbing|| Sobbing, solitude populates.

Dentre os braços da cruz, a parasita, ||||||parasite Among the arms of the cross, the parasite,

Num abraço de flores, se prendeu. |embrace||||got caught In an embrace of flowers, she held herself.

Chora orvalhos a grama, que palpita; Sheds|dewdrops||grass||throbs The grass that throbs weeps dews;

Lhe acende o vaga-lume o facho seu. |lights up|||firefly||beam| His firefly lights his torch.

Quando, à noite, o silêncio habita as matas, |||||inhabits||forests When, at night, silence inhabits the woods,

A sepultura fala a sós com Deus. |grave|||alone|| The grave speaks alone with God.

Prende-se a voz na boca das cascatas, Gets caught|||||mouth|| The voice is trapped in the mouth of the waterfalls,

E as asas de ouro aos astros lá nos céus. |||||||||heavens And golden wings to the stars in the heavens.

Caminheiro! Trucker! do escravo desgraçado of the wretched slave

O sono agora mesmo começou! Sleep has just begun!

Não lhe toques no leito de noivado, ||touch||||engagement bed Don't touch her on her engagement bed,

Há pouco a liberdade o desposou. |||||married Freedom has just married him.