The Labyrinth
by Jorge Luis Borges
Translated by Stephen Kessler
Zeus himself could not undo the web
of stone closing around me. I have forgotten
the men I was before; I follow the hated
path of monotonous walls
that is my destiny. Severe galleries
which curve in secret circles
to the end of the years. Parapets
cracked by the days' usury.
In the pale dust I have discerned
signs that frighten me. In the concave
evenings the air has carried a roar
toward me, or the echo of a desolate howl.
I know there is an Other in the shadows,
whose fate it is to wear out the long solitudes
which weave and unweave this Hades
and to long for my blood and devour my death.
Each of us seeks the other. If only this
were the final day of waiting.
Borges, for all of you who don't know, was an Argentinian writer/poet/essayist who worked a lot with the fantastic literature genre. He is known for his use of labyrinths in many of his works, each time meaning a different thing. Here, you can maybe say that the labyrinth is a symbol for life. Something that is so difficult even a god can not undo seems to be either life or death, but death seems to be personified as this Other, wanting to find and take the narrator as his own. This fear of death is in all of us and I like how this poem plays with it, making one notice that they are stuck in this life trying to get away from a monster that wants them dead. The poem reminds me a little bit of the last words of Simon Bolivar in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The General in His Labyrinth, "Damn it, how will I ever get out of this labyrinth?" It's interesting to think of life as this puzzle, a puzzle that the only way out really is through death. Well, at least it's a very interesting puzzle.
If you have any views on this poem that you wish to share please write a comment.
1 comments:
thank
Post a Comment