MARCELLE

The original poem "Cheche" is dedicated by the Cuban poet, Dulce Maria Loynaz, (1902-1997) to anonymous heroine, Mercedes Sardinas, who makes artificial wreaths for young girls making their First Communion.

                              MARCELLE

Agile and slender Marcelle - her youth beginning to fade
Though kissless her mouth, her eyes gently regale
I have seen her emerge on a still afternoon
as the fairy - now withered - of my old fairy tale

Wonderful, welcoming, willing Marcelle!
Workshops and alleys she wingless flies through
In the deep winter's gloom
with some lengths of linen and traces of glue
she causes carnations and roses and lilies to bloom

For all schools and convents requiring her labors
she is the provider of love-fashioned favors
Spring makes her burst like the virgin earth preening
shaking her limbs and stripping her leaves
till all greening fields with her petals are brimming!

The white of Christ's lilies
her nimble hands possess
And for our pure daughters
of our Lord's Flesh and Blood
in reverence partaking
directly from heaven
their mystic wreaths descending
must through her fingers effloresce

Marcelle never weeps nor in praises basks
moving swiftly, silently, through her endless tasks
She is serious, not dour; though useful, no drudge
without blandishments, tender; without knowing it, good

No tree
than her soul is stronger
More delicate than violets, of her face the kindness
Her eyes pure as children's
To my ears more melodious her music of
silence

She is Spring's Child!
Of green fields unreal and gardens untilled
The harvester she!
In her, living roses!
As flowers their scent slowly lose for the day
I have found in her flowers the fragrance
of ancient closed orchards and yesterday's Mays
The smell of her guileless hand-conjured carnations
More real to me in their perfume drest
More real to me than all of the rest

For no richer earth have I known to sow hope
than the humble, the noble, unfallow
spare earth of her breast
                             
                          Freely translated from the Spanish of Dulce Maria Loynaz's CHECHE
                          by  Marta Esperanza Edgcombe
                          November 22, 2000

Gratefully dedicated to Connie Fields, Christopher Newport University former student and
employee who exemplifies Marcelle's work ethic and loving devotion


Author - Loynaz, Dulce Maria, 1902
Title - Poemas Escogidos / Dulce Maria Loynaz;
Seleccion, Pedro Simon
Published - Madrid: Ediciones de la Universidad:
Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1993