Era um sonho dantesco… o tombadilho
Que das luzernas avermelha o brilho.
Em sangue a se banhar.
Tinir de ferros… estalar de a?oite…
Legi?es de homens negros como a noite,
Horrendos a dan?ar…
Negras mulheres, suspendendo ?s tetas
Magras crian?as, cujas bocas pretas
Rega o sangue das maes:
Outras mo?as, mas nuas e espantadas,
No turbilhao de espectros arrastadas,
Em ?nsia e magoa vas!
E ri-se a orquestra ir?nica, estridente…
E da ronda fantastica a serpente
Faz doudas espirais…
Se o velho arqueja, se no chao resvala,
Ouvem-se gritos… o chicote estala.
E voam mais e mais…
Presa nos elos de uma s? cadeia,
A multidao faminta cambaleia,
E chora e dan?a ali!
Um de raiva delira, outro enlouquece,
Outro, que martirios embrutece,
Cantando, geme e ri!
No entanto o capitao manda a manobra,
E ap?s fitando o c?u que se desdobra,
T?o puro sobre o mar,
Diz do fumo entre os densos nevoeiros:
“Vibrai rijo o chicote, marinheiros!
Fazei-os mais dan?ar!…”
E ri-se a orquestra ir?nica, estridente. . .
E da ronda fantastica a serpente
Faz doudas espirais…
Qual um sonho dantesco as sombras voam!…
Gritos, ais, maldi??oes, preces ressoam!
E ri-se Satanas!…
English Translation
It was a Dantesque dream…the deck
With lanterns reddening the glow,
Washing with blood.
Clink of iron…snap of a whip…
Legions of men so black as the night
Hideous dancing…
Black women holding to their breasts
Tiny children, whose black mouths
Are watered by their mother’s blood;
Younger women, nude and frightened,
In the turmoil of spectres dragged
In vain anxiety and sorrow!
And the orchestra laughs, loudly
And from the fantastic round, a serpent
Makes crazy spiral…
If an old man arcs his back, if on the floor he falls,
Screams are heard…a whip snaps.
And flies more and more…
Tight on links of a single chain,
The famished crowd oscillate
And cry and dance, there!
One is delirious with anger, another gets insane
And another one, who is brutalized by tortures
Sings, moans and laughs!
The captain, commands the manoeuvre,
And after staring at the sky which unfolds
So pure above the sea,
He speaks from the soot between a dense fog
“Sway hard the whip, sailors!
Make them dance more!”
And the orchestra laughs, loudly
And from the fantastic round, a serpent
Makes crazy spirals.
Screams, moans, courses, prayers resound!
And Satan laughs!
(Antonio de Castro Alves)
More Poetry from Antonio de Castro Alves:
Antonio de Castro Alves Poems based on Topics: English, Man, Sadness, Dancing, Woman, Children, Anger, Prayers, Night- O Navio Negreiro Part 2 (With English Translation) (Antonio de Castro Alves Poems)
- O Navio Negreiro Part 6 (With English Translation) (Antonio de Castro Alves Poems)
- Goodbye (Antonio de Castro Alves Poems)
- O Navio Negreiro Part 3. (With English Translation) (Antonio de Castro Alves Poems)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, Night Poems, Sadness Poems, Woman Poems, Prayers Poems, Anger Poems, Children Poems, Dancing Poems, English PoemsBased on Keywords: entre, nos, ali, spirals, sangue, qual, sombras, cantando, puro, brutalized, manda