D. M. Allen
59 West 9th Street
New York 11, N. Y.

HIRE THE
HANDICAPPEL
ITS GOOD NEWS

Mr. Langston Hughes
20 East 127th Street
New York 35, N. Y.

August 3, 1954

Dear Mr. Hughes,

I enclose a copy of your translation of
"Romance del Emplazado" in which I have taken the liberty
of incorporating a few minor suggested changes. Paco feels
that we must keep the translations quite close to the Spanish
texts which will be printed facing the translations. Please
let me know how you feel about the suggested revisions.

August 5, 1954

Mr. D. M. Allen,
59 West 9th Street,
New York 11, N. Y.

Dear Mr. Allen,

Thank you for letting me see the slightly changed translation of the Lora poem.
Exact line by line translation is O.K., if required, although my theory is that
sometimes a few liberties need to be taken to achieve the feeling and mood-meaning
of a poem--since usually its *exact* rendering can't be done in another language
anyhow.

As you will see, I've made some notes on the margin of your copy, which I'm herein
returning to you--suggestions which you may take or not, as you choose:

1. TITLE—As nearly as I could understand when I first worked these translations out in Madrid with Alberti, the meaning of "emplazado" in connection with this poem is "a man cursed by the spell of death"—in other words, "doomed to die". The word "cursed" alone in English does not seem to me to fully convey this meaning. If that word is used, then I think it should be extended to BALLED OF ONE CURSED UNTO DEATH. But my own preference is still the word DOOMED, or DOOMED TO DEATH, or DOOMED TO DIE—although the dying part is clear in the poem, so needn't be so explicit in the title.

2. alejs—> to move off into the distance, to withdraw and continue going off, is the meaning, not merely to disappear. I think this line is truer if the phrase "in the distance" is retained. It can be kept to one line: where into the distance quietly disappears

3. escudero—> is really a shield-bearer, No? So maybe that line should be: shield-bearers of wakefulness

4. 3rd line, top page 2, morderan, seems to me better rendered: bite at your shoes. Both cal molada and morderan having the feeling of biting into, or eating away the shoe leather.

5. Grave silencio, de espalda,
manaba el cielo combado.
Dead silence flows over the shoulder
of the curved sky.

6. If we have to use "cursed" here, maybe "acursed one" like Shakespeare would give the mood better.

7. Your copy omitted the last four lines of the poem. I've typed them in.

Best of luck with the book. Use these suggestions as you choose.

D. Allen
59 West 9th St.
New York 11, N. Y.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
200TH ANNIVERSARY
1754 - 1954
3 CENTS

59 West 9th Street
New York 11, N. Y.
August 15, 1954

Dear Mr. Hughes:

Thank you very much for your letter of August 5.

I am most embarrassed to find I omitted the last four lines of "Romance del emplazado" - my only excuse is that I've been working away at night on these letters after long afternoon sessions with Paco and I'm not always as wide-awake as I should be.

Paco and I've had several long discussions about
how to translate "emplazado" without really getting anywhere. He
seemed to feel that "cursed" in the old English sense better; but
we agreed there's not really quite the right equivalent. Perhaps we
can keep it "Ballad of One Doomed."

"Escudero" - yes, you're right. "Squares" was a typo
for "Squires" which we'd like to use.

"I've changed line 3, page 2 to read "will bite into
your shoes." And I've incorporated these two lines: "Dead silence
flows over the shoulder / of the curved sky."

In the next to the last line we'd like to substitute
"poise" for "balance" if you agree.

I'll send you a formal letter re payment and permissions
within a week or so.

ans. o.k. by
card 8/16/54