Versión: Isaías Garde
Mis padres creían que yo iba a ser
Tan grande como Edison o más grande:
Es que cuando era chico hacía globos,
Barriletes admirables, juguetes con relojes,
Pequeñas locomotoras que corrían sobre rieles
Y teléfonos con hilos y latas.
Tocaba la corneta y pintaba cuadros,
Modelaba en arcilla e interpreté
Al villano en Octoroon.
Hasta que, a los veintiuno, me casé
Y tenía que vivir, y así, para vivir
Aprendí el oficio de relojero
Y puse mi tienda en la plaza,
Pensaba, pensaba, pensaba, pensaba,-
No en los negocios, sino en la máquina
Para cuya fabricación había estudiado cálculo.
Todo Spoon River me observaba y esperaba
Verla funcionar, pero nunca funcionó.
Unas pocas almas amables consideraban que mi genio
Estaba de algún modo bloqueado por la tienda.
No era verdad.
La verdad era esta:
No me daba la cabeza.
Walter Simmons
MY parents thought that I would be
As great as Edison or greater:
For as a boy I made balloons
And wondrous kites and toys with clocks
And little engines with tracks to run on
And telephones of cans and thread.
I played the cornet and painted pictures,
Modeled in clay and took the part
Of the villain in the "Octoroon."
But then at twenty--one I married
And had to live, and so, to live
I learned the trade of making watches
And kept the jewelry store on the square,
Thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking,--
Not of business, but of the engine
I studied the calculus to build.
And all Spoon River watched and waited
To see it work, but it never worked.
And a few kind souls believed my genius
Was somehow hampered by the store.
It wasn't true.
The truth was this:
I did not have the brains.
Tan grande como Edison o más grande:
Es que cuando era chico hacía globos,
Barriletes admirables, juguetes con relojes,
Pequeñas locomotoras que corrían sobre rieles
Y teléfonos con hilos y latas.
Tocaba la corneta y pintaba cuadros,
Modelaba en arcilla e interpreté
Al villano en Octoroon.
Hasta que, a los veintiuno, me casé
Y tenía que vivir, y así, para vivir
Aprendí el oficio de relojero
Y puse mi tienda en la plaza,
Pensaba, pensaba, pensaba, pensaba,-
No en los negocios, sino en la máquina
Para cuya fabricación había estudiado cálculo.
Todo Spoon River me observaba y esperaba
Verla funcionar, pero nunca funcionó.
Unas pocas almas amables consideraban que mi genio
Estaba de algún modo bloqueado por la tienda.
No era verdad.
La verdad era esta:
No me daba la cabeza.
Walter Simmons
MY parents thought that I would be
As great as Edison or greater:
For as a boy I made balloons
And wondrous kites and toys with clocks
And little engines with tracks to run on
And telephones of cans and thread.
I played the cornet and painted pictures,
Modeled in clay and took the part
Of the villain in the "Octoroon."
But then at twenty--one I married
And had to live, and so, to live
I learned the trade of making watches
And kept the jewelry store on the square,
Thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking,--
Not of business, but of the engine
I studied the calculus to build.
And all Spoon River watched and waited
To see it work, but it never worked.
And a few kind souls believed my genius
Was somehow hampered by the store.
It wasn't true.
The truth was this:
I did not have the brains.
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