#198 Magnificat (María, Madre de Dios)

First Things acaba de publicar un ensayo magistral de Dana Gioia, "Christianity and Poetry". Es todo un curso que bien podría extenderse todo un año condensado en un artículo. Para leer, releer, meditar. 

Desde hace tiempo he querido plantar el Magnificat en el jardín, pero quería encontrar algo así como una versión definitiva en español. Como no tengo una a la que tenga particular afecto, con la venia de Gioia lo traigo en inglés, en la versión de la King James Bible. Gioia dice que el Renacimiento inglés no era una época prosaica, y por tanto los traductores pusieron particular esmero en transmitir la fuerza poética de los pasajes en verso, que no se limitan en absoluto a los libros sapienciales. En este blog hablan un poco del ritmo y aliteraciones de esta versión.

Del Magnificat, el poema más bello de la historia, Gioia dice:

This passage needs to be considered, and not only for its stately beauty. In the Gospel of Luke, when Mary announces the news of Christ to humanity, she speaks in poetry, not prose. Why do the Virgin—and Luke—do something so preposterous when they could just speak plainly? Because they both know that ordinary language will not suffice. Prose cannot express the extent of Mary’s wonder, joy, and gratitude. Plain statement will not evoke the unique miracle of God’s becoming man. The Incarnation requires an ode, not an email.

Al hilo de esta idea, más adelante añade algunas consideraciones sobre la poesía en general:

Poetry is the most concise, expressive, and memorable way of using words... A poem is speech raised to the level of song; it casts a momentary spell over the listener. People hear it differently from ordinary talk. They become more alert to every level of meaning. Poetry is, to borrow a phrase from Ezra Pound, “language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.”

(Raphael, c. 1517)

MAGNIFICAT

My soul doth magnify the Lord.  

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.  

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden:  

For behold, from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed.  

For he that is mighty hath magnified me:  And holy is his Name.  

And his mercy is on them that fear him: throughout all generations.  

He hath shewed strength with his arm:  

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.  

He hath put down the mighty from their seat:  

And hath exalted the humble and meek.  

He hath filled the hungry with good things:  

And the rich he hath sent empty away.