Galaxies: transcreation of Haroldo de Campos by SJLevine

In 1978 I recorded for Haroldo this excerpt from his Galaxias into English at Yale University. A leader at that time of Brazil's concrete poetry scene, Haroldo, who translated Finnegan's Wake into Portuguese, an impossible task of course, was producing a new poetic form with his book Galaxias, taking language to its limits. As a translator of avant-garde Latin American writers in Spanish, I was invited by Haroldo to collaborate on Galaxias.

and here I begin I spin here the beguine I respin and begin

to release and realize life begins not arrives at the end of a trip

which is why I begin to respin to write-in thousand pages write thousandone pages

to end write begin write beginend with writing and so I begin to respin

to retrace to rewrite write on writing the future of writings's the tracing

the slaving a thousandone nights in a thousandone pages

or a page in one night the same nights the same pages

same resemblance resemblance reassemblance where the end is begin

where to write about writing's not writing about not writing

and so I begin to unspin the unknown unbegun and trace me a book

where all's chance and perchance all a book maybe maybe not a travel

navelof-the-world book a travel navelof-the-book world where tripping's the book

and its being's the trip and so I begin since the trip is beguine and I turn

and return since the turning's respinning beginning realizing

a book is its sense every page is its sense every line of a page every word

of a line is the sense of the line of the page of the books which essays

any book an essay of essays of the book which is why the begin ends

begins and end spins and re-ends and refines and retunes the fine funnel of

the begunend spun into de runend in the end of the beginend refines

the refined of the final where it finishes beginnish reruns and returns

and the finger retraces a thousandone stories an incey wince-story and so count

of no account I don't recount the nonstory uncounts me discounts me the reverse

of the story is snot can be rot maybe story depends on the moment

the glory depends on the now and the never on although and no-go

and nowhere and noplace and nihil and nixit and zero and zilch-it

and never can nothing be all can be all can be total sum

total surprising summation of sumptuous assumption

and here I respin I begin to project my echo the wreck oh recurrent

echo of the echoing blow the hollows of moreaus the marrow that's beyonder

the over the thisaway thataway everywhere neverwhere overhere overthere

forward more backward less there in reverse vice verse prosa converse

I begin I respin verse begin vice respin so that summated story won't consume consummate

saltimbocca bestride me barebackboneberide me

begin the beguine of the trip where the travel's the marvel the scrabble's the

marble the vigil's the travel the trifle the sparkle the embers of fable discount

into nothing account for the story since spinning beginning i'm speaking

Translated by Suzanne Jill Levine (from a basic version by Jon Tolman)