SOR JUANA: TO HER PORTRAIT

Sor Juana Inés De la Cruz was born on 12th November, 1648. She is, perhaps, best known these days for her satirical poem Hombres Necios. ‘Necio’ can be translated as stubborn, or headstrong, stupid, pig-headed….etc. so the poem can be rendered as ‘Stubborn Men’ or, alternatively, you can choose your own preferred adjective. David Frye translated it as ‘Mulish Men’ and this is how his version begins:

You mulish men, accusing

woman without reason,

not seeing you occasion

the very wrong you blame:

Of course, it sounds much better in Spanish:

Hombres necios que acusáis

a la mujer sin razón,

sin ver que sois la ocasión

de lo mismo que culpáis:

There’s a lot to say about Sor Juana but why not just read her work instead? Here is my translation of her sonnet ‘A su retrato’ / ‘To Her Portrait’ which appears to mock the Shakespearean certainty that art will render physical beauty eternal. In this sonnet she refuses to marvel at her own likeness captured in oils:

This gaudy fake you look at now
flaunting its delights of art
with untrue colour syllogisms
is but a cunning swindle of sense:

This thing in which flattery seeks
to negate the horrors of years
and defeat the rigours of time
triumph over old age, oblivion

is a vain artifice of concern
is a fragile flower in wind
is a pointless shelter from fate:

is a wrongheaded wasted effort
is a decrepit desire when well seen
is corpse is dust is shadow is nothing

That’s all for now. Happy birthday Juana.