viernes, 6 de abril de 2012

Poema de Günter Grass

What Must Be Said by Günter Grass


But why have I kept silent till now?

Because I thought my own origins,

Tarnished by a stain that can never be removed,

meant I could not expect Israel, a land

to which I am, and always will be, attached,

to accept this open declaration of the truth.

Why only now, grown old,

and with what ink remains, do I say:

Israel's atomic power endangers

an already fragile world peace?

Because what must be said

may be too late tomorrow;

and because – burdened enough as Germans –

we may be providing material for a crime

that is foreseeable, so that our complicity

wil not be expunged by any

of the usual excuses.

And granted: I've broken my silence

because I'm sick of the West's hypocrisy;

and I hope too that many may be freed

from their silence, may demand

that those responsible for the open danger we face renounce the use of force,

may insist that the governments of

both Iran and Israel allow an international authority

free and open inspection of

the nuclear potential and capability of both.


2 comentarios:

  1. Gracias a Daniel Zappi por mandar las partes que faltaban:
    Versos iniciales:
    Why have I kept silent, held back so long,
    on something openly practiced in
    war games, at the end of which those of us
    who survive will at best be footnotes?
    It's the alleged right to a first strike
    that could destroy an Iranian people
    subjugated by a loudmouth
    and gathered in organized rallies,
    because an atom bomb may be being
    developed within his arc of power.
    Yet why do I hesitate to name
    that other land in which
    for years—although kept secret—
    a growing nuclear power has existed
    beyond supervision or verification,
    subject to no inspection of any kind?
    This general silence on the facts,
    before which my own silence has bowed,
    seems to me a troubling lie, and compels
    me toward a likely punishment
    the moment it's flouted:
    the verdict "Anti-semitism" falls easily.
    But now that my own country,
    brought in time after time
    for questioning about its own crimes,
    profound and beyond compare,
    is said to be the departure point,
    (on what is merely business,
    though easily declared an act of reparation)
    for yet another submarine equipped
    to transport nuclear warheads
    to Israel, where not a single atom bomb
    has yet been proved to exist, with fear alone
    the only evidence, I'll say what must be said.

    Versos finales:
    No other course offers help
    to Israelis and Palestinians alike,
    to all those living side by side in emnity
    in this region occupied by illusions,
    and ultimately, to all of us.

    Günter Grass
    Translated by Breon Mitchell
    Pegado de

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  2. Versión española en http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/04/03/actualidad/1333466515_731955.html

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