ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robin Morgan - Poet and activist
The former editor-in-chief of Ms., Robin Morgan published the classic "Sisterhood Is Powerful" anthologies.

Why you should listen

Poet, author, editor and activist Robin Morgan has published more than 20 books, including the Sisterhood Is Powerful anthologies, the best-selling The Demon Lover: The Roots of Terrorism, and six books of poetry. The recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Prize (Poetry) and other honors, and the former editor-in-chief of Ms., she cofounded (with Simone de Beauvoir) the Sisterhood Is Global Institute and cofounded (with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem) the Women's Media Center.

She hosts Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan, a nationally syndicated radio program with a global audience on iTunes and www.WMCLive.com. Her just-finished book, Dark Matter: New Poems, is due out in 2016.

More profile about the speaker
Robin Morgan | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2015

Robin Morgan: 4 powerful poems about Parkinson's and growing older

Robin Morgan: Catro poemas impactantes sobre a enfermidade de párkinson e ir vellos

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Cando a poeta Robin Morgan tivo que facerlle fronte á enfermidade de párkinson, destilou as súas experiencias en catro poemas serenos pero impactantes nos que reflexiona sobre a vellez, o pasamento e a simple capacidade de decatarse das cousas.
- Poet and activist
The former editor-in-chief of Ms., Robin Morgan published the classic "Sisterhood Is Powerful" anthologies. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
When I was only three or four,
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Cando tiña só tres ou catro anos
00:15
I fell in love with poetry,
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namoreime da poesía,
00:17
with the rhythms
and the music of language;
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dos ritmos e da música da lingua;
00:20
with the power of metaphor and of imagery,
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do poder das metáforas e das imaxes,
00:24
poetry being the essence
of communication --
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a poesía como esencia de comunicación,
00:27
the discipline, the distillation.
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a disciplina, a destilación.
00:30
And all these years later,
the poems I'll read today
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E despois de todos estes anos,
os poemas que vou ler hoxe
00:33
are from my just-finished
seventh book of poetry.
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son do meu sétimo libro de poesía,
que acabo de rematar.
00:38
Well, five years ago, I was diagnosed
with Parkinson's disease.
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Hai cinco anos, diagnosticáronme
a enfermidade de párkinson.
00:42
Though there's no cure yet,
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Malia que non ten cura aínda,
00:44
advances in treatment
are really impressive.
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os avances no seu tratamento
son realmente abraiantes.
00:47
But you can imagine
that I was appalled to learn
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Mais, podedes imaxinar
o arrepiada que quedei ao saber
00:50
that women are largely
left out of research trials,
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que, polo xeral, as mulleres quedan
excluídas dos ensaios clínicos,
00:55
despite gender-specific
medical findings having demonstrated
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aínda que a medicina diferenciada
segundo o sexo está a demostrar
00:59
that we are not actually just small men --
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que non somos só homes pequenos...
01:01
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
01:03
who happen to have
different reproductive systems.
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...que casualmente teñen
sistemas reprodutivos diferentes.
A medicina diferenciada
é boa tamén para os homes.
01:07
Gender-specific medicine
is good for men, too.
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01:10
But you bring to a crisis
the person you already are,
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Mais provócalle unha crise
á persoa que xa es,
01:15
including the, yes, momentum
that you've learned to invoke
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incluíndo, si, o ímpeto
que aprendiches a invocar
01:18
through passionate caring
and through action,
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a través de coidados apaixonados
e a través de accións,
01:22
both of which require
but also create energy.
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que consomen, pero tamén crean, enerxía.
01:27
So as an activist, I began working
with the Parkinson's Disease Foundation --
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Así, como activista, comecei a traballar
coa Fundación Parkinson
01:31
that's pdf.org --
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--pdf.org--
01:33
to create a major initiative to put women
on the Parkinson's disease map.
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para crear un movemento importante que
sitúe as mulleres no mapa do párkinson.
01:41
And as a poet, I began working
with this subject matter,
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E como poeta, comecei a traballar
con este tema,
01:45
finding it tragic, hilarious,
sometimes even joyful.
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que me parece tráxico, hilarante,
ás veces incluso divertido.
01:50
I do not feel diminished by Parkinson's;
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Eu non me sinto diminuída
polo párkinson;
01:52
I feel distilled by it,
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eu síntome destilada por el,
01:55
and I actually very much
like the woman I'm distilling into.
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e abofé que me encanta
a muller na que me estou a destilar.
02:01
"No Signs of Struggle"
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"Sen sinais de loita"
02:04
Growing small requires enormity of will:
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Empequenecer require
unha enormidade de vontade:
02:08
just sitting still
in the doctor's waiting room
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ficar sentada e queda
na sala de espera do médico,
02:11
watching the future shuffle in and out,
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mirar como o futuro
deambula sen rumbo,
02:14
watching it stoop; stare at you
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mirar como se anica;
fitándote
02:17
while you try not to look.
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mentres ti intentas non mirar.
02:20
Rare is an exchange:
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É raro que haxa un intercambio:
02:21
a smile of brief, wry recognition.
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un sorriso de recoñecemento
breve, burlón.
02:25
You are the new kid on the block.
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Ti es a última rapariga en chegar!
02:28
Everyone here was you once.
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Aquí todos foron ti antes.
02:30
You are still learning that growing small
requires a largeness of spirit
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Estás a aprender que empequenecer
require unha grandeza de espírito
02:35
you can't fit into yet:
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na que non podes encaixar aínda:
02:37
acceptance of irritating help
from those who love you;
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aceptar a axuda irritante
de quen che quere ben;
02:41
giving way and over, but not up.
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dar paso e entregarte,
pero non renderte.
02:45
You've swallowed hard the contents
of the "Drink Me" bottle,
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Enguliches dun grolo o contido
da botella "Bébeme"
02:48
and felt yourself shrink.
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e sentícheste encollida.
02:51
Now, familiar furniture looms,
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Agora, o mobiliario familiar ameaza,
02:54
floors tilt, and doorknobs yield only
when wrestled round with both hands.
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o chan encóstase e os pomos
só ceden se pelexas coas dúas mans.
02:59
It demands colossal patience,
all this growing small:
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Esixe unha paciencia colosal,
todo este empequenecemento:
03:04
your diminished sleep at night,
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o teu sono minguado pola noite,
03:06
your handwriting, your voice, your height.
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a túa letra, a túa voz,
a túa estatura.
03:10
You are more the incredible
shrinking woman
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Ti es máis a incrible muller minguante
03:13
than the Buddhist mystic,
serene, making do with less.
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que o budista místico e sereno
que fai máis con menos.
03:17
Less is not always more.
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Non sempre menos é máis.
03:21
Yet in this emptying space,
space glimmers,
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Aínda neste espazo que se baleira,
o espazo escintila,
03:26
becoming visible.
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vólvese visible.
03:28
Here is a place behind the eyes
of those accustomed
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Este é un lugar que está detrás dos ollos
dos acostumados
03:31
by what some would call diminishment.
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ao que algúns chamarían diminución.
03:35
It is a place of merciless poetry,
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É un lugar de poesía desapiadada,
03:39
a gift of presence previously ignored,
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un agasallo de presenza
previamente ignorada,
03:42
drowned in the daily clutter.
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afogada no envurullo cotián.
03:45
Here every gesture needs intention,
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Aquí cada xesto necesita intención,
03:48
is alive with consciousness.
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está vivo con consciencia.
03:50
Nothing is automatic.
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Nada é automático.
03:53
You can spot it
in the provocation of a button,
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Podes detectalo
na provocación dun botón,
03:56
an arm poking at a sleeve,
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dun brazo furando nunha manga,
03:58
a balancing act at a night-time curb
while negotiating the dark.
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nun acto de equilibrio na beirarrúa
nocturna ao negociar coa escuridade.
04:04
Feats of such modest valor,
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Proezas de tan modesto valor,
04:07
who would suspect them to be exercises
in an intimate, fierce discipline,
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quen sospeitaría que son exercicios
nunha disciplina íntima, férrea,
04:12
a metaphysics of being relentlessly aware?
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unha metafísica de estar
implacablemente consciente?
04:16
Such understated power here,
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Hai tanto poder atenuado aquí,
04:19
in these tottering dancers
who exert stupendous effort
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nestes bailaríns cambaleantes
que fan un esforzo marabilloso
04:23
on tasks most view as insignificant.
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nas tarefas más insignificantes!
04:27
Such quiet beauty here, in these,
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Hai tal beleza silenciosa aquí, nela,
04:30
my soft-voiced, stiff-limbed people;
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nesta miña xente de voz suave
e membros entumecidos!
04:35
such resolve masked by each placid face.
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Tal determinación enmascarada
por cada faciana plácida!
04:39
There is immensity required
in growing small,
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Requírese inmensidade
para empequenecer,
04:44
so bent on such unbending grace.
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para dobrarse tanto
cunha elegancia tan inflexible!
04:48
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
04:54
Thank you.
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Grazas.
04:55
This one is called
"On Donating My Brain to Science."
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Este titúlase "Ao doar
o meu cerebro á ciencia"
04:59
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
05:01
Not a problem.
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Non hai problema.
05:03
Skip over all the pages
reassuring religious people.
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Salten por riba todas as páxinas
que acougan a xente relixiosa.
05:07
Already a universal donor:
kidneys, corneas, liver, lungs,
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Xa son doadora universal:
riles, córneas, fígado, pulmóns,
05:11
tissue, heart, veins, whatever.
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tecidos, corazón, veas, o que sexa.
05:14
Odd that the modest brain never
imagined its unique value in research,
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É curioso, o modesto cerebro nunca pensou
no seu valor único nas pescudas,
05:19
maybe saving someone else from what it is
they're not quite sure I have.
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se cadra, poder curar outra persoa do que
non están moi certos se o teño eu.
05:23
Flattering, that.
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Que afagador, isto.
05:25
So fill in the forms,
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Así que a cubrir os impresos,
05:27
drill through the answers,
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barrenar as respostas,
05:29
trill out a blithe spirit.
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trilar un espírito alfúfaro.
05:32
And slice me, dice me,
spread me on your slides.
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E rebándenme, cuartéenme,
esténdanme nos seus portaobxectos.
05:36
Find what I'm trying to tell you.
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Atopen o que lles intento dicir.
05:38
Earn me, learn me, scan me,
squint through your lens.
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Merézanme, apréndanme, escanéenme,
escrútenme a través das súas lentes.
05:44
Uncover what I'd hint at if I could.
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Descubran o que insinuaría
se puidese.
05:46
Be my guest, do your best,
harvest me, track the clues.
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Acepten o meu convite! Esfórcense,
apáñenme, rastrexen as pistas.
05:51
This was a good brain while alive.
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Este foi un bo cerebro en vida.
05:53
This was a brain that paid its dues.
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Foi un cerebro
que cumpriu coas súas obrigas.
05:56
So slice me, dice me,
smear me on your slides,
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Así que rebándenme, cuartéenme,
úntenme nos seus portaobxectos,
06:00
stain me, explain me, drain me like a cup.
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escórranme, desenléenme,
apúrenme coma un cáliz.
06:04
Share me, hear me:
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Compártanme, escóitenme:
06:06
I want to be used
I want to be used
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Quero que me usen!
Quero que me usen!
06:09
I want to be used
up.
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Quero que me esgoten
ata o final!
06:12
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
06:19
(Applause ends)
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06:21
And this one's called "The Ghost Light."
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E este titúlase "A luz pantasma"
06:26
Lit from within is the sole secure way
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Acesa dende dentro
é a única maneira segura
06:29
to traverse dark matter.
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de atravesar a materia escura.
06:32
Some life forms -- certain mushrooms,
snails, jellyfish, worms --
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Algúns seres vivos - certos cogomelos,
caracois, medusas, vermes-
06:37
glow bioluminescent,
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brillan bioluminiscentes,
06:39
and people as well;
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e as persoas tamén;
06:41
we emit infra-red light
from our most lucent selves.
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nós emitimos luz infravermella
dende o noso ser máis lúcido.
06:46
Our tragedy is we can't see it.
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A nosa desgraza
é que non podemos vela.
06:50
We see by reflecting.
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Nós vemos o que se reflexa.
06:52
We need biofluorescence
to show our true colors.
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Precisamos biofluorescencia para
amosar as nosas cores reais.
06:57
External illumination can distort, though.
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A iluminación externa
pode desfigurar, así e todo.
07:00
When gravity bends light,
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Cando a gravidade desvía a luz,
07:02
huge galaxy clusters
can act as telescopes,
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os cúmulos enormes de galaxias
poden actuar coma telescopios,
07:06
elongating background images
of star systems to faint arcs --
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alongando as imaxes de fondo
dos sistemas estelares ata arcos febles
07:11
a lensing effect
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--un efecto lupa--
07:12
like viewing distant street lamps
through a glass of wine.
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similar ao de ver os farois da rúa
afastados a través dun vaso de viño.
07:17
A glass of wine or two now makes me weave
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Un vaso de viño ou dous agora
fanme facer eses
07:20
as if acting the drunkard's part;
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coma se actuase a parte bébeda;
07:23
as if, besotted with unrequited love
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coma se, perdidamente namorada
dun amor non correspondido
07:26
for the dynamic Turner canvasses
spied out by the Hubble,
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polos lenzos dinámicos de Turner
espiados polo Hubble,
07:30
I could lurch down a city street set
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puidese cambalear na escena
dunha rúa da cidade,
07:32
without provoking
every pedestrian walk-on stare.
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sen provocar a mirada
dos viandantes figurantes.
07:37
Stare as long as you need to.
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Fiten todo o tempo que queiran.
07:40
If you think about it, walking,
even standing, is illogical --
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Se o pensan ben, camiñar,
incluso estar de pé, é ilóxico
07:45
such tiny things, feet! --
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--que cousas tan minúsculas, os pés!--
07:47
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
07:49
especially when one's body
is not al dente anymore.
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especialmente cando o propio corpo
xa non está “al dente” nunca máis.
07:53
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
07:57
Besides, creature of extremes and excess,
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Ademais, criatura de extremos e excesos,
08:00
I've always thought Apollo
beautiful but boring,
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eu sempre tiven a Apolo
por fermoso, aínda que aburrido
08:03
and a bit of a dumb blonde.
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e un pouco louro parvo.
08:06
Dionysians don't do balance.
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Os dionisíacos non fan equilibrio.
08:10
Balance, in other words,
has never been my strong point.
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O equilibrio, noutras palabras,
nunca foi o meu punto forte.
08:15
But I digress.
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Pero estou a divagar.
08:16
More and more these days,
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Máis e máis nesta época,
08:17
digression seems
the most direct route through
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a divagación semella a ruta máis directa
08:20
from where I've lost or found myself
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para ir por onde me perdín
ou me atopei
08:22
out of place, mind, turn, time.
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fóra de lugar, de min,
de quenda, de tempo.
08:27
Place your foot just so,
mind how you turn:
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Coloquen o pé así,
coidado como se viran!
08:31
too swift a swivel can bring you down.
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Un xiro demasiado rápido
pode botalos ao chan.
08:35
Take your time ushering the audience out,
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Dedíquenlle o seu tempo
a acompañar ao público á saída,
08:38
saying goodbye to the actors.
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a despedirse dos actores.
08:41
The ghost light
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A luz pantasma
08:42
is what they call the single bulb
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é o nome que lle dan á única lámpada
08:44
hanging above the bare stage
in an empty theater.
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pendurada sobre a escena espida
dun teatro baleiro.
08:48
In the empty theater of such a night,
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No teatro baleiro
dunha noite coma esta
espertar para non atopar
ningunha radiación externa,
08:50
waking to meet no external radiance,
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esta é a derradeira loita
que queda por gañar,
08:54
this is the final struggle left to win,
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08:58
this the sole beacon
to beckon the darkness in
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este é o único faro
que chama pola escuridade
09:01
and let the rest begin,
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e permite que comece o resto,
09:03
this the lens through which at last
to see both Self and Other
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esta é a lente a través da que,
por fin, se ven o Eu e o Outro
09:08
arrayed with the bright stain
of original sin:
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ataviados coa marca brillante
do pecado orixinal:
09:13
lit from within.
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aceso dende dentro.
09:16
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
09:24
And this is the last one.
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E este é o ultimo.
09:26
"This Dark Hour"
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"Esta hora escura"
09:29
Late summer, 4 A.M.
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Fin do verán, catro da mañá.
09:32
The rain slows to a stop,
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A choiva acalma ata escampar,
09:35
dripping still from the broad leaves
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pingando aínda desde as follas amplas
09:37
of blue hostas unseen
in the garden's dark.
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de hostas azuis
invisibles no xardín escuro.
09:41
Barefoot, careful
on the slick slate slabs,
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Descalza, con coidado nas lousas lisas,
09:44
I need no light, I know the way,
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non preciso luz, coñezo o camiño,
09:48
stoop by the mint bed,
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inclínome a través da mata de menta,
09:50
scoop a fistful of moist earth,
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2805
apaño unha presa de terra húmida,
09:53
then grope for a chair,
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1708
e busco ás apalpadas unha cadeira,
09:54
spread a shawl, and sit,
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2654
estendo un chal e sento,
09:57
breathing in the wet green August air.
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3758
respirando o aire húmido
e verde de agosto.
10:02
This is the small, still hour
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2990
É a madrugada, queda,
10:05
before the newspaper
lands in the vestibule like a grenade,
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3814
antes de que o xornal aterre
no vestíbulo coma unha granada,
10:09
the phone shrills, the computer screen
blinks and glares awake.
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4571
o teléfono aturre, o ordenador
esperto capelexe e cegue.
10:14
There is this hour:
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2180
Esta é a hora!
10:16
poem in my head, soil in my hand:
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3976
Poema na cabeza, terra na man:
10:20
unnamable fullness.
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608847
1946
plenitude inefable!
10:23
This hour, when blood of my blood
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2583
Esta hora, na que
o sangue do meu sangue,
10:26
bone of bone, child grown
to manhood now --
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4032
o óso do meu óso,
fillo xa criado
10:30
stranger, intimate,
not distant but apart --
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5464
--estraño, íntimo,
non afastado pero á parte--
10:35
lies safe, off dreaming melodies
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3734
déitase seguro,
alleo no soño de melodías,
10:39
while love sleeps, safe, in his arms.
183
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3529
mentres o amor durme,
seguro, no seu colo.
10:43
To have come to this place,
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2605
Vir ata este lugar,
10:46
lived to this moment:
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2091
vivir ata este momento:
10:48
immeasurable lightness.
186
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2115
levidade inefable!
10:51
The density of black starts to blur umber.
187
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2921
A densidade da negrura
comeza virarse ocre.
10:54
Tentative, a cardinal's coloratura,
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2978
Indeciso, o trilo do paxaro vermello,
10:57
then the mourning dove's elegy.
189
645791
2011
despois a elexía enloitada da pomba.
11:00
Sable glimmers toward grey;
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2390
A negrura brilla trémula en gris;
11:02
objects emerge, trailing shadows;
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3168
os obxectos emerxen,
arrastrando as sombras;
11:05
night ages toward day.
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1975
a noite envellece cara ao día.
11:08
The city stirs.
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1466
A cidade esperta.
11:10
There will be other dawns,
nights, gaudy noons.
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3900
Haberá outros amenceres,
noites, mediodías rechamantes.
11:15
Likely, I'll lose my way.
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1957
Probablemente eu perda o rumbo,
11:17
There will be stumbling, falling,
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2412
haxa tropezos, caídas,
11:20
cursing the dark.
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1241
maldicións á escuridade.
11:22
Whatever comes,
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1620
Veña o que veña,
11:24
there was this hour when nothing mattered,
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3947
sempre estará aí esta hora
na que nada é importante,
11:28
all was unbearably dear.
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2681
na que todo é insoportablemente amado.
11:31
And when I'm done with daylights,
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2226
E cando se acaben os meus días,
11:34
should those who loved me
grieve too long a while,
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4961
se os que me quixeron
andan aflixidos tempo de máis,
11:39
let them remember that I had this hour --
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3229
lembren que eu tiven esta hora
11:42
this dark, perfect hour --
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3608
--esta hora escura e perfecta--
11:46
and smile.
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1402
e sorrían.
11:48
Thank you.
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1154
Grazas.
11:49
(Applause)
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6352
(Aplausos)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robin Morgan - Poet and activist
The former editor-in-chief of Ms., Robin Morgan published the classic "Sisterhood Is Powerful" anthologies.

Why you should listen

Poet, author, editor and activist Robin Morgan has published more than 20 books, including the Sisterhood Is Powerful anthologies, the best-selling The Demon Lover: The Roots of Terrorism, and six books of poetry. The recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Prize (Poetry) and other honors, and the former editor-in-chief of Ms., she cofounded (with Simone de Beauvoir) the Sisterhood Is Global Institute and cofounded (with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem) the Women's Media Center.

She hosts Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan, a nationally syndicated radio program with a global audience on iTunes and www.WMCLive.com. Her just-finished book, Dark Matter: New Poems, is due out in 2016.

More profile about the speaker
Robin Morgan | Speaker | TED.com