Alfonsina and the Sea

The famous Argentinian writer and poet Alfonsina Storni left her room on Tuesday, the 25th of October 1938, and went for a stroll on the beach at Mar de Plata, Argentina. Her body was discovered in the sea the next morning. A legend arose that Alfonsina, troubled by her terminal illness, slowly walked into the ocean. The song "Alfonsina y el Mar" ("Alfonsina and the Sea") was later composed by two fellow Argentinians, Ariel Ramirez and Félix Luna, inspired by the suicide of Alfonsina Storni. This song has been performed by many Latin American artists, but one of the most important ones was by Mercedes Sosa, a world-famous Argentinian folk-singer who recently passed away.

The song is extremely sad, but extremely beautiful at the same time and that's why I want to share it with you. It captures the melancholy of Alfonsina, who slowly makes her way into the water, leaving her life and works behind, ready to embrace her destiny...

The English translation:

Over the soft sand licking the sand
Her small footprint never comes again
And a single path of grief and silence
Reached the deep water
A single path of mute griefs
Reached the foam

God know what anguish filled you
What ancient sorrow deadened your voice
To lay you down lulled
By the singing of the sea shells
The song on the dark bottom of the sea
Sung by the shell

You are going away, Alfonsina,
Along with your solitude
What new poems did you go to search for?
An ancient voice of wind and salt
Breaks your soul and it's taking it away
And you go, over there, as in a dream
Asleep Alfonsina, clothed with the sea

Five little mermaids will take you
Through ways of seaweeds and corals
And phosphorescent sea horses
Will make a round at your side
And the inhabitants of the water
Are soon going to play at your side

Soften the lamp a bit more
Let me sleep in peace, nurse
And if he calls, don't tell him I'm here
Tell him Alfonsina is not coming back
And if he calls, you never tell him I'm here
Just say that I am gone

You are going away, Alfonsina,
Along with your solitude
What new poems did you go to search for?
An ancient voice of wind and salt
Breaks your soul and it's taking it away
And you go, over there, as in a dream
Asleep Alfonsina, clothed with the sea

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Por la blanca arena que lame el mar
Su pequeña huella no vuelve más
Y un sendero solo de pena y silencio
Llegó hasta el agua profunda
Un sendero solo de penas mudas
Llegó hasta la espuma

¡Sabe Dios que angustia te acompañó!
¡Que dolores viejos calló tu voz!
Para recostarte, arrullada en el canto
De las caracolas marinas
La canción que canta en el fondo oscuro del mar
La caracola

¡Te vas, Alfonsina, con tu soledad!
¿Qué poemas nuevos fuiste a buscar?
Una voz antigua de viento y de sal
Te requiebra el alma y la está llevando
Y te vas, hasta allá, como en sueños
Dormida, Alfonsina, vestida de mar...

Cinco sirenitas te llevarán
Por caminos de algas y de coral
Y fosforescentes caballos marinas harán
Una ronda a tu lado
Y los habitantes del agua van a jugar
Pronto a tu lado

¡Bájame la lámpara un poco más!
Déjame que duerma, nodriza, en paz
Y si llama él, no le digas que estoy
Dile que Alfonsina no vuelve
Y si llama él, no le digas nunca que estoy
Dile que me he ido

¡Te vas, Alfonsina, con tu soledad!
¿Qué poemas nuevos fuiste a buscar?
Una voz antigua de viento y de sal
Te requiebra el alma y la está llevando
Y te vas, hasta allá, como en sueños
Dormida, Alfonsina, vestida de mar...

You can hear this song here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN9z585ziww