¡Como no he de quererte, ciudad mía!

Question

This is part of a poem.

"Haber de" is used to express obligation. So this says?

How could I not love you my city.

Still just a part of the poem. Here is the paragraph that is printed on a wall here in La Paz.

¡Como no he de quererte, ciudad mía! si mi primer amor fue serenata que recorrió tu malecón un día teñido de crepúsculo escarlata.

Thank you Moe for the reference to this work by Armando Trasviña.

interesting - ian-hill, Apr 23, 2014

Hmmm, coould "shall" be used instead of "could"? - chileno, Apr 23, 2014

Answer 1

Exactly! But since "ciudad" is femenine, it should say "Cómo no he de quererte, ciudad míA"

Excellent catch. My bad. - gringojrf, Apr 23, 2014

Answer 2

¡Hola!, gringojrf:

In his book,....., the line is printed this way:

¡ Como no he de quererte, ciudad mía !

The line opens and closes with exclamation marks, there is no tilde over the first "o" in "como" and there is a comma between "quererte and "ciudad."

I think these items give the line a slightly different meaning than the one you have asked about. If the first word of the line were "Cómo", with a tilde, then the line and sentence should open and close with question ( ¿ ? ) marks. The word as written in the line in the book is more likely to be, in English, "as" but not "how". You pointed out that "haber de" expresses obligation. Does "como no" (no tilde) also have an idomatic meaning.

I wonder if the line says:

"As (or, since) I have to love you, my city"!

Not much different from what you wrote. And I sure didn't understand the next three lines of the poem. What do you think??

Saludos/Best regards,

Moe

Thank you. I was doing it from memory so I am sure I messed up the quote. Thank you. - gringojrf, Apr 23, 2014

I am going to take another look to see how it is written. It is printed on a wall in La Paz. There are several more lines as well. I need to take a better look. - gringojrf, Apr 23, 2014

Can you post the name of the author? - gringojrf, Apr 23, 2014

I think the poet author is Peláez Trasvina. I think the poem is titled "Canto a mi Ciudad". - Moe, Apr 24, 2014

Go to this URL ----> http://issuu.com/dddggo/docs/literatura_en_bcs/71. On page 101, 102, and 103 you should find a printed copy of the poem. - Moe, Apr 24, 2014

It seems to be one of the literary pieces printed in a book titled "La Literatura en Baja California Sur". - Moe, Apr 24, 2014

Yes it is written about La Paz, Baja California Sur. - gringojrf, Apr 24, 2014

Answer 3

Like:

How shall I not love you.

Can that be used? Maybe Ian that is/was an English teacher can help with this.

I see. Yes we need a grammarian to answer your question. - gringojrf, Apr 24, 2014

Answer 4

Hmmm, could "shall" be used instead of "could"? - chileno 4 hrs ago

Come on people!!!!!!!!!!! :-D

Could you give us your interpretation using shall. I am having trouble seeing it. - gringojrf, Apr 24, 2014