Arrancar

[Stu]

Me quedé sin aliento, no quedó ni un suspiro, solamente mis penas que arrancar no has podido, porque aun si me matas me las llevo conmigo.

I was out of breath, there was not a sigh, only my sorrows to start you could not, because even if you kill me I take them with me.

This is the Google Translate of the above poetry,

Start does not make much sense, does he mean they can not take his sorrows away from him?

[pjt33]

Arrancar means many things, but I think the primary meaning is to pull something out (e.g. to pull weeds out of the ground, to rip someone's beating heart from their ribcage, etc). I suspect that it means start by way of old engines which were started by pulling a cord, but that's only a guess and I have no evidence.

So in short, yes, your interpretation gets the sense correct.

PS there was not a sigh would be better rendered there was not a sigh left. Quedar here is remain.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Stu

Me quedé sin aliento, no quedó ni un suspiro, solamente mis penas que arrancar no has podido, porque aun si me matas me las llevo conmigo.

I was out of breath, there wasn't a sigh left but just those sorrows in me that you couldn't weed out, 'cause even if you kill me I'd take them with me.

[poli]

Perhaps this is a small detail, weed out is a fairly gentle term, and arrancar always seemed to me to pull out but not gently.

[aleCcowaN]

It's not easy to translate it because the original arrancar doesn't mean the lover was no gentle. Hay que arrancarlos (the sorrows) pero no se puede means they can't be "weeded out". How to convey the existential conundrum of the speaker, that's the question. I'm curious about the way this topic -a lover rendered emotionless and impaired for experience affection- is dealt in poetry and music using English.

Another example of the same problem of trying to cross the language fence (Buenos Aires won't pay for it either! ), the bridge and refrain of tango Uno (with all the problems of translating the undertones of subjunctive):

Si yo tuviera el corazón,
el corazón que di.
Si yo pudiera como ayer
vivir sin presentir,
es seguro que esos ojos
que me gritan su cariño
los cerrara con mis besos,
por no ver si eran como esos,
otros ojos, los perversos,
los que hundieron mi vivir.

Si yo tuviera el corazón,
el mismo que perdí.
Si olvidara a la que ayer
lo destrozó
y pudiera amarte,
me abrazaría a tu ilusión
para llorar tu amor.

My attempt:

If I had the heart,
The very same I gave.
If I could, as I did yesterday,
Live without expecting the worse all the time,
It would be a sure thing
That those eyes, those affection-screaming eyes,
I would close them with my kisses,
Just for not seeing if they might be like those ones,
Other eyes, the perverse ones,
Those which wretched my life.

If I had the heart,
The very same I lost.
If I forgot the one that yesterday
Ripped it off
And I were able to love you.
I would hug your hopeful anticipation
And break into tears because you do love me.

[The extra spice is the result of translating what a man singing tango is REALLY saying but can't. How to manage that using English?]

[poli]

If I had the heart --the heart I lost
If like yesterday I could live without emptiness.
It's certain that I would close your eyes with kisses so that those eyes that beckon me with tenderness would not see the jaded ones that sunk my world.
If I had the heart--the one I lost. If I could forget the one who broke it, I could love you. I would become your dream come true and cry with joy for you love of me.

Hot emotions are hard to translate it English, but it is possible. Lots of songs and poetry in English cover the subject of loss well.

[aleCcowaN]

I love "beckon with tenderness", but it's not what the song says. "Jaded eyes" doesn't describe the same thing, in this case, the untruth and malice of the woman who broke his heart, synthesized just by reducing her to her glance. And basically "emptiness" is not what the man feels but a tragic and constant feeling of impending doom when there's matters of love at play, the Spanish verb presentir (forefeel, as the word is self-explanatory) conveys that notion.

I never doubted English is equally capable of conveying existential strain both in an open or subtle manner, and all the shades in between. What I'm saying is that it's risky to direct translate a poem -and lyrics are basically that, with less obligations regarding literature but a lot more regarding the sounds- by its constituent parts.

The lines in the OP use the device of exaggerating, with that tango all is subdued, as it's mandatory within the genre when a man (and even a woman) opens his heart.

That's unfortunately widely unknown "overseas". When the following tango (link at the bottom) was danced, Nigel Lithgow made some unfortunate remarks asking why the "Argentine men" danced with an inexpressive face, like they were uncomfortable and would prefer to be watching a soccer game instead of there. What he didn't understand is that the legs of the dancer and his hands must say what his mouth and countenance must hide. That's the contract. And, in spite this being some kind of tango-show adapted to the expectations of the public, this rule must still be followed.

Linky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvpGH3ikJLU

[Stu]

Thank you all for the responses. Some a little beyond my level.
I like the imagery of the motor.

The writer is lamenting that his homeland has been lost to him and they have taken everything but cannot take his sadness.
Not sure why he would want to hold on to that, but perhaps if he lost that then he would loose his identity.