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Volver a los diecisiete

Violeta Parra
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English translation 3 / Traduzione inglese 3 / Traduction anglaise...
To be seventeen again

To be seventeen again
After living for a hundred years,
It's like uncovering truths
Without having to be wise.
To return all of a sudden
To being as fragile as a moment,
To once again feel things deeply
Like a child before God,
That is what I feel
In this fertile moment.

It coils round and round
Like the ivy up the wall,
And it grows and grows
Like the moss on a stone,
Like the moss on a stone, oh yes, yes, yes.

My steps take me back
While yours advance,
The Ark of the Covenant
Has flooded my nest.
With all of its coloring
It has strolled through my veins,
And even the heavy chains
That destiny binds us with.
It's like a fine diamond
Illuminating my serene soul.

It coils round and round
Like the ivy up the wall,
And it grows and grows
Like the moss on a stone,
Like the moss on a stone, oh yes, yes, yes.

What feeling can do
Knowledge hasn't know how,
Nor the clearest procedure
Nor the deepest thoughts.
Everything is changed by a moment,
That acquiescent magician,
Softly distances us
From resentment and violence.
Only love and its science
Can make us so innocent.

It coils round and round
Like the ivy up the wall,
And it grows and grows
Like the moss on a stone,
Like the moss on a stone, oh yes, yes, yes.

Love is a whirlwind
Made of original pureness,
Even the fierce animal
Will whisper it sweet song.
It can halt the pilgrims,
It frees prisoners,
Love and its care
Will turn the old man into a boy.
And for the sinner only affection
Can make him pure and sincere.

It coils round and round
Like the ivy up the wall,
And it grows and grows
Like the moss on a stone,
Like the moss on a stone, oh yes, yes, yes.

The window is wide open,
It opened as if by magic,
Love entered with his blanket
Like a warm morning,
With the sound of its beautiful reveille
It made the jasmine bloom,
That seraphim angel flew
And placed rings in the sky.
And I turned seventeen
Converted by the cherubim.

It coils round and round
Like the ivy up the wall,
And it grows and grows
Like the moss on a stone,
Like the moss on a stone, oh yes, yes, yes.

To be seventeen again

To be seventeen again
after a century of living
Is like deciphering signs
without wisdom or competence
to be all of a sudden
as fragile as a second
to once again feel so deeply
like a child facing God
that is what I feel
in this fecund instant.

There it goes tangling
tangling like the ivy on the wall
and so it sprouts up, sprouts up
like tiny moss on the stone
like tiny moss on the stone
oh yes, yes, yes.

My steps going backwards
while yours go forward
the arch of alliances
has got inside my nest
with all of its wide palette
it has ambled through my veins
and even the hard chains
with which destiny binds us
are like a blessed day
that brightens my calmed soul.

There it goes tangling
tangling like the ivy on the wall
and so it sprouts up, sprouts up
like tiny moss on the stone
like tiny moss on the stone
oh yes, yes, yes.

What feelings can grasp
knowledge cannot understand
not even the clearest behaviour
not even the broadest thought
the brimming, condescending moment
changes everything
sweetly removes us
away from rancour and from violence
only love with its science
makes us so innocent.

There it goes tangling
tangling like the ivy on the wall
and so it sprouts up, sprouts up
like tiny moss on the stone
like tiny moss on the stone
oh yes, yes, yes.

Love is a whirlwind
of primeval purity
even the fierce animal
whispers its sweet trill
it stops pilgrims
it liberates prisoners
love with its solicitude
turns the elderly into a child
as to the bad person
only affection makes him
pure and sincere.

There it goes tangling
tangling like the ivy on the wall
and so it sprouts up, sprouts up
like tiny moss on the stone
like tiny moss on the stone
oh yes, yes, yes.

The window opened wide
as if under a spell
love entered with its blanket
like a warm morning
and to the sound of its beautiful reveille
prompted the jasmine to flower
flying like a seraph
put earrings on the sky
and the cherub turned
my years into seventeen.

There it goes tangling
tangling like the ivy on the wall
and so it sprouts up, sprouts up
like tiny moss on the stone
like tiny moss on the stone
oh yes, yes, yes.


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