Spinoza

by Jorge Luis Borges

The Jew's hands, translucent in the dusk,
polish the lenses time and again.
The dying afternoon is fear, is
cold, and all afternoons are the same.
The hands and the hyacinth-blue air
that whitens at the Ghetto edges
do not quite exist for this silent
man who conjures up a clear labyrinth—
undisturbed by fame, that reflection
of dreams in the dream of another
mirror, nor by maidens' timid love.
Free of metaphor and myth, he grinds
a stubborn crystal: the infinite
map of the One who is all His stars.

(translated by Richard Howard, César Rennert)



SOURCE: Borges, Jorge Luis. "Spinoza," in Borges, A Reader: A Selection from the Writings of Jorge Luis Borges, edited by Emir Rodriguez Monegal and Alastair Reid (New York: Dutton, 1981), p. 285.

See also translation by Willis Barnstone in Borges' Selected Poems, edited by Alexander Coleman. (New York: Viking, 1999), p. 229.

There is another poem on Spinoza by Borges in the Coleman anthology: "Baruch Spinoza" (translated by Willis Barnstone; from The Unending Rose), p. 383.


“Spinoza” by Jorge Luis Borges
translated by Richard Howard & César Rennert, with Esperanto translation by Julius Balbin,
recited by / deklamis / Ralph Dumain
(sound file / sonregistraĵo)

Spinoza” by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Yirmiyahu Yovel

"Baruch Spinoza" — poem by Jorge Luis Borges

Spinozo” de Jorge Luis Borges, tradukis Julius Balbin

"Descartes" by Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges: Selected Study Materials on the Web

Offsite:

Spinoza - Spinozo - Jorge Luis Borges - English and Esperanto
English translation by Richard Howard & César Rennert, Esperanto translation by Julius Balbin
Recited by / Deklamis R. Dumain, Music by Bosques de mi Mente
(YouTube)

Spinoza (Borges poem in Spanish)

Spinoza, Soneto de Jorge Luis Borges
Música y piano: Abcirlos

Borges: Spinoza's Sonnet
(Borges introduces himself in English, recites poem in Spanish):
No longer available

Spinoza in Borges' looking-glass by Marcelo Abadi

Jorge Luis Borges - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Borges Center


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