Comparison between To Cole, The Painter Departing for Europe: A Sonnet (1829)
written by William Cullen Bryant and Kindred Spirits(1849) painted by Asher Brown
Durand.
Thine eyes shall see the light of distant skies:
Tus ojos verán la luz de cielos lejanos:
Yet, COLE! thy heart shall bear to Europe’s strand
Sin embargo, COLE, tu corazón llevará a las costas de Europa...
A living image of thy native land,
Una imagen viva de tu tierra natal,
Such as on thine own glorious canvas lies;
Como en tu glorioso lienzo;
Lone lakes—savannas where the bison roves—
Lagos solitarios, sabanas donde deambula el bisonte.
Rocks rich with summer garlands—solemn streams—
Rocas ricas en guirnaldas de verano, arroyos solitarios.
Skies, where the desert eagle wheels and screams—
Cielos, donde el águila del desierto da vueltas y grita/ canta/
Spring bloom and autumn blaze of boundless groves.
Florecimiento primaveral y resplandor otoñal de arboledas
ilimitadas.
Fair scenes shall greet thee where thou goest—fair,
But different—everywhere the trace of men,
Paths, homes, graves, ruins, from the lowest glen
To where life shrinks from the fierce Alpine air,
Gaze on them, till the tears shall dim thy sight,
But keep that earlier, wilder image bright.
Escenas hermosas te recibirán donde vayas... hermosas,
pero diferentes, en todas partes el rastro de los hombres,
Caminos, hogares, tumbas, ruinas, desde la cañada más baja...
Hasta donde la vida se encoge del feroz aire alpino,
Míralos, hasta que las lágrimas oscurezcan tu vista,
Pero mantén brillante esa imagen primigenia y salvaje.
Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor
www.DeepL.com/Translator
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Wildeness and Americaness
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Cole stands with his friend, the poet William Cullen Bryant as “kindred spirits,” representative of the
harmonious interplay of their respective artistic mediums of poetry and the visual arts. Sturges gave the
painting to Bryant in honor of the eulogy the poet delivered at the memorial service for Cole, who died
in February 1848. Invoking a phrase from John Keats's seventh sonnet, "O Solitude," Sturges asked
Durand to portray Cole and Bryant together as "kindred spirits" in the landscape. Accordingly, Durand
adjusted his fastidious approach to natural forms, such as the rocky ledge and overhanging tree limbs, to
suggest Keats's poetic references to "nature's observatory" and "boughs pavillion'd." Aside from its
historical significance, the painting embodies the marriage of naturalism and idealization central to
Hudson River School aesthetics.
Bryant and Cole standing on a ledge overlooking the Catskills. It is a painting that considers not only
nature but death itself as Bryant, hat in hand, listens respectfully to Cole, who takes his leave by
gesturing with his paintbrush to the misty mountain clefts that recede to eternity.
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