"Menos tu vientre" by Miguel Hernandez

Question

What does "menos" mean in the poem below (this is part of a Miguel Hernandez poem). Is menos meaning "Except for" ?

Menos tu vientre todo es oscuro, menos tu vientre claro y profundo.

Answer 1

Menos in Spanish means (in this context) "Except for"

The poem goes like: "except for your womb, all is confused; except for your womb all is future, fast, past, infertile, muddy; all is dark; insecure, dust without world, except for your womb (which is) clear and deep".

I do not know the history of this poem, but the womb in this case can also be understood as a symbol of the love the man feels for his woman, the womb is the motherly feeling the loving man longs or gets from his lover woman. The concept is very romantic. It can be compared to the sentiment of love that is symbolosed by a woman's bossom within a clean, romantic concept of love (not related to sex or erotism, but true, deep love between a man and a woman).

Welcome to the forum, JL, very nice contribution. - Gekkosan, Dec 29, 2011

That's beautiful. It's loving a woman for the very essence of womanness she possesses. - tuffcookie21, Dec 29, 2011

I agree! Very nice explanation. "Vientre" is commonly used in songs of deep love - 005faa61, Dec 29, 2011

Answer 2

Menos tu vientre-YouTube

Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa

• Menos tu vientre

• todo es confuso.

• Menos tu vientre

• todo es futuro
• fugaz, pasado,

• baldío y turbio.

• Menos tu vientre

• todo es oculto,

• menos tu vientre

• todo inseguro,
• todo postrero,

• polvo sin mundo.

• Menos tu vientre

• todo es oscuro,
• menos tu vientre
• claro y profundo.

GFreed- do you think "menos" means "except for" here? - thaibean06, Apr 19, 2010

Yes, it means exactly that. - Gekkosan, Dec 29, 2011

Personally, I find that 'without' makes for a better translation to the English. - Jeremias, Dec 29, 2011

No, Jeremías: it does not mean "without your womb". It means everything except your womb. - Gekkosan, Dec 29, 2011

Answer 3

I'm confused!! Vientre seems to mean belly or womb, so is it referring to the relationship of mother and child or does the word stem from venir?

I had the same reaction! Pretty song but I can't make sense of the lyric. - LaBurra, Apr 19, 2010

Answer 4

Since Joan Manuel Serrat is a very deep, complex poet, several interpretations are possible. I think JL has given a very good interpretation about the deeper possible meaning.

I'll go for something a little bit lighter, just to give a linguistically possible alternative, although in this case I believe this does not apply.

While it is true that "vientre" means "womb", it is also used to mean "belly"; "stomach". Particularly the lower belly.

The poem could thus simply refer to this woman's light-skinned belly:

Menos tu vientre

todo es oscuro,

menos tu vientre

claro y profundo.

Excepting your belly

Everything is dark

Excepting your belly

light and deep.

I rather like JL's interpretation, though.

---

Edit:

According to some of the comments posted with the video, the song refers to a pregnant woman. Makes sense to me, and should clear up the doubts about interpretation.

Answer 5

Yes, that is what it means...

It is a wonderful poem; have you heard it put to music by Joan Manuel Serrat? Brings a lump to the throat...

Interesting name. I wasn't expecting a male songwriter. - 0074b507, Apr 19, 2010

Joan Manuel Serrat is one of the greatest Spanish poets and composers of the 20th century. He's somewhat of a Spanish equivalent to a mixture between Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, perhaps. Enormously important. - Gekkosan, Dec 29, 2011

Answer 6

I don't know the answer, but I thought I'd add another suggestion. It might be "except for" as you say, but it could also mean, "without." As I said, I haven't read the whole poem, so I don't know if that would make sense, but it's another possible meaning for menos.