Peter O'Toole: In memoriam (1932-2013)

In memoriam († 14/12/2013)    

Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
[Feeding] these rebel pow’rs that thee array,
Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servants’ loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shalt thou feed on death, that feeds on men,
And death once dead, there's no more dying then.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Sonnet CXLVI

Pobre alma, centro de culpable limo
a la que burla, indócil, quien la ciñe,
¿por qué adentro sufrir afán y hambre
si pintas lo exterior de alegre lujo?
Si el contrato es tan breve, ¿por qué gastas
ornando tu morada pasajera?
¿Tendrá por fin tu cuerpo sustentar
al gusano que herede tu derroche?
Vive, alma, a expensas de tu servidor;
que aumenten sus fatigas tu tesoro;
y cambia horas de espuma por divinas.
Sé rica adentro, en vez de serlo afuera.
Devora tú a la Muerte y no la nutras,
pues si ella muere, no podrás morir.

[Versión castellana de Manuel Mujica Láinez]

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• Peter O'Toole (1932-2013).
• Peter O'Toole como Enrique II, en Becket (Peter Glenville, 1964), basada en la obra de Jean Anouilh (1910-1987), Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu (1959).
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Sonnet CXLVI. Versión castellana de Manuel Mujica Láinez (1910-1984). "In an interview with National Public Radio in December 2006, O'Toole revealed that he knew all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets. A self-described romantic, O'Toole regarded the sonnets as among the finest collection of English poems, reading them daily" (Wikipedia).

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