Galicia is a country in north west Spain. It is a land of mountains and sacred rivers, fjords and the wild sea, smugglers and saints and even the occasional werewolf.
The greatest poet of the Galician language is Rosalia de Castro.
This poem was written soon after the deaths of two of her children. Literally, the title means ‘Black Shadow’ but I have taken the liberty of calling it ‘Dark Shadow’.
Negra Sombra
Cando penso que te fuches
Negra sombre que m’asombras
O pe do’s meus cabezales
Tornas facendome mofa
Cando maxino qu’es ida
No mesmo sol te m’amostras
Y eres a estrela que brila
Y eres o vento que zoa
Si cantan, es ti que cantas
Si choran es ti que choras,
Y es o murmurio do rio
Y es a noite y a aurora
En todo estas e ti es todo
Pra min y en min mesmo moras,
Nin m’abandonaras nunca,
Sombra que sempre m’asombras
Dark Shadow
When I think that you have left me
Dark shadow that hangs over me
Standing guard by my pillow
You scoff at me again
When I think that you have gone
I see your shadow on the sun
You are there in the star that shines
You are there in the wind that groans
When I hear a song it is you who sings
When I see tears it is you who cries,
You are there in the murmur of the river
You are there in the night, and at the dawn
You are everywhere and in everything
You are always there, with me and within me
Never do you ever leave me
Dark shadow who darkens my days
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