splendid irony
In 1955 Borges was appointed Director of the National Library.
Borges, who had long suffered from eye problems, became totally blind in his last decades.
Poema de los dones
Nadie rebaje a lágrima o reproche
esta declaración de la maestría
de Dios, que con magnífica ironía
me dio a la vez los libros y la noche.
Poem of the Gifts
No one should read self-pity or reproach
into this statement of the majesty of God,
who with such splendid irony granted me
books and blindness at one touch.
Gedicht von den Gaben
Niemand schmähe durch Träne oder Hader
diese Offenbarung der Meisterschaft Gottes
der mit großartiger Ironie
mir gleichzeitig die Bücher und die Nacht gab.