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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

NO LEGISLÓ

English translation:

he did not legislate

Added to glossary by liz askew
Oct 8, 2010 15:26
13 yrs ago
Spanish term

NO LEGISLÓ

Spanish to English Art/Literary History
From the tombstone of JOAQUIN COSTA written by Bescón. The last part just sticks out like a sore thumb and makes little sense. Is there an alternate meaning/translation?


NVEVO MOISÉS
DE VNA ESPAÑA EN ÉXODO
CON LA VARA DE SV VERBO INFLAMADO
ALVMBRÓ LA FVENTE DE LAS AGVAS VIVAS
EN EL DESIERTO ESTERIL
CONCIBIÓ LEYES PARA CONDUCIR SV PUEBLO
A LA TIERRA PROMETIDA
MDCCCXLVI NO LEGISLÓ MCMXI"


"A NEW MOSES
OF A SPAIN IN EXODUS
WITH THE STAFF OF HIS WORD INFLAMED
HE ILLUMINATED THE FOUNT OF LIVING WATERS
IN THE INFERTILE DESERT
HE CREATED THE LAWS TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE
TO THE PROMISED LAND
MDCCCXLVI HE DID NOT LEGISLATE MCMXI"
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 he did not legislate
3 He did not rule
3 see ref
References
see here http://webcache.googleuserco...
Change log

Oct 13, 2010 07:54: liz askew Created KOG entry

Discussion

Taña Dalglish Oct 8, 2010:
@ Asker I think you are on the right track - dead on, in fact!. Here are a few other links which refer to "he did not betray his vocation as a novelist, and never became a professional politician.17" and "he was elected a government minister, although he never actually occupied a seat ".

Formato de archivo: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Vista rápida
analphabetism was still the rule, the bourgeoisie and the middle classes were ..... Joaquín Costa (1846-1911) was the son of a poor Aragonese farmer, and thanks only .... he did not betray his vocation as a novelist, and never became a ...
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/15838/2/The ...

http://www.pyreneesguide.com/2452/pyrenees-guide-place-joaqu...

HTH!
lorenab23 Oct 8, 2010:
O.K. I think I have figured it out after some research.
The last sentence of the "poem" is no legislo... the dates on the tumbstone (birth to death) are to one side. See picture.
What the poem is saying (forget about the dates, they are not part of the poem) is that he isn't really a legislator but rather a creator of laws that led his people to the promised land. Hope this helps!
http://cpcalzar.educa.aragon.es/esculturaurbana/mausoleocost...
S Ben Price (asker) Oct 8, 2010:
Could it mean something along the lines of he was not a member of court / a ruler? I don't know this guy's history from a donut.
franglish Oct 8, 2010:
@asker alternatively, to decree.
lorenab23 Oct 8, 2010:
Dates We do know that the dates 1846 (MDCCCXLVI) and 1911 (MCMXI) are the dates of his birth and death
S Ben Price (asker) Oct 8, 2010:
Taña I imagine these are placed on the tombstone/engraving in a non-linear order, so the person who jots it down may have changed the order a bit. I don't think it really changes the meaning at all. I also noticed that someone mistook "fuente" for "frente" so the carvings are probably not in perfect shape.
Taña Dalglish Oct 8, 2010:
@ Asker I am not trying to muddy the water, but are you sure of the "word" order. There are few hits, but here are two:

http://www.fotolog.com/aragonesaerrante/39855108
"Aragón a Joaquín Costa nuevo Moisés de una España en éxodo con la vara de su verbo inflamado alumbró la frente de las aguas vivas en el desierto estéril. Concibió leyes para conducir su pueblo a la tierra prometida. *** No legisló. MDCCCXLVI- MCMXI" ***
mausoleocosta
**** No legisló. MDCCCXLVI- MCMXI"****. Sobre la lápida se añadió después una palma forjada a la que se anuda una cinta dedicada por la Federación Gremial en 1914. ...
www.cpcalzar.educa.aragon.es/.../mausoleocosta.htm - En caché - Similares

Proposed translations

+1
1 hr
Selected

he did not legislate

You are spot on.

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-10-08 16:33:38 GMT)
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or

without resorting to legislation/without legislation

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-10-08 17:19:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

the tombstone is paying homage to a man who was not and did not need to legislate to lead the Spanish people to the promised land.

Probably because Joaquin Costa, from what I have read about him, is that he was disillusioned with the political syste (caciquismo) and felt a more inspired way of leading people would produce results, i.e. not through the political or legal system.
Peer comment(s):
agree Toni Castano : Exactly: For the common people in Costa´s time, "lawmakers" personified all the evils of the nation: http://www.10lineas.com/labordeta/ppaseos.htm.
1 day 1 hr
Exactly, this is what I had gathered from my own research too!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks!"
1 hr

He did not rule

From the context on the tombstone, comparing Joaquín Costa to Moses, I would say "He did not rule." Moses led his people to the promised land, but could not enter and continue his leadership there. Costa hoped the country would be reformed through the ideas of Regenerationism. He won congressional elections but his health kept him from participating in congress.

From http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/c/Costa_y_martinez...

"Aquel grupo de presión regeneracionista resultó poco eficaz, por lo que Costa decidió abandonarlo en 1903, presentándose a las elecciones en las listas de la Unión Republicana. Su delicado estado de salud no le permitió ocupar el escaño, retirándose en aquel mismo año a Graus."
Something went wrong...
1 hr

see ref

Poems are always difficult no doubt about that, I understand this as being tied to the previous stanza "concibio leyes para conducir a su pueblo a la tierra prometida"

I would The word play here is between concibio and legislo in the sense that his laws were not just laws and the purpose was not legislar but rather concebir

I must admit I never accept poems because they take so much work, but you have to find some way to tie them, I would suggest writing out options and seeing what clicks, here are some possibilities

HE MADE/CONCEIVED/CREATED/ESTABLISHED/DELIVERED/DREAMT UP/THOUGHT OF LAWS TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE TO THE PROMISED LAND

HE WASN'T A LEGISLATOR
HE DIDN'T LEGISLATE
HE WAS A LAWMAKER NOT A LEGISLATOR
HE CREATED LAWS NOT LEGISLATION

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-10-08 17:00:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry "I would The word play..." should really be "I would say the word play..."
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

see here

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:iF9y1MQ...


Por supuesto en el Cementerio zaragozano de Torrero, donde se le levantaría un monumento en honor de Costa “Nuevo Moisés, de una España en éxodo” que, sin legislar, “concibió leyes para conducir su pueblo a la tierra prometida”.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-10-08 16:30:44 GMT)
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http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:N_888Kfy7OgJ:ag.ar...






see page 9

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:N_888Kfy7OgJ:ag.ar...

he used biblical rhetoric to inspire the Spaniards, rather than legislated...
















--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-10-08 16:32:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The Spaniards: An Introduction to Their History - Google Books Result
Américo Castro, Willard F. King, Selma Margaretten - 1985 - History - 628 pages
49 See Joaquin Costa, Historia politica, social, patria, pp. ... but, as Costa says, "the purely intellectual guidance of the legislator was not sufficient" ...
books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=0520054695...
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