con arcos y flechas se hace señor

English translation: with bow and arrow Love/Cupid conquers

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:con arcos y flechas se hace señor
English translation:with bow and arrow Love/Cupid conquers
Entered by: Lydia De Jorge

02:03 Jul 1, 2019
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / poesía barroca española - EL BAILE DE LA GASCONA
Spanish term or phrase: con arcos y flechas se hace señor
Dear colleagues,
I can't seem to be able to make heads or tails of the first stanza. It's quite possible that the meaning is staring right at me but I can't see it. Suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance.

¿Dónde va la niña bonita a buscar el amor?
Pues volando con alas combate,
**con arcos y flechas se hace señor.**

No te fíes de un niño ciego, que no es honor,
porque a un niño vendado y travieso
dejarle jugando será lo mejor.

Pues tu cara es lucida, trigueña, de buen color,
no la entregues por fácil empleo
a hombres risueños que muestran amor.
Lydia De Jorge
United States
Local time: 17:15
Love dominates/ masters/ takes control with bow and arrow
Explanation:
Hi Lydia,
As I said, I wouldn't dare to translate 17th-century poetry into English! I just gave a literal translation in order to explain the meaning of which I am certain (thus my maximum level of confidence).

The structure is very obvious in Spanish because amor refers both to the feeling of love and to el dios Amor (synonymous with Cupid), but you might need to change the English structure into something like:

Pretty girl, don't give your heart away
for love fights with flying wings
and dominates with bow and arrow

I'm sure that you will find the best way. Good luck!
Selected response from:

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Spain
Local time: 23:15
Grading comment
Thank you! You're right! It is referring to LOVE/CUPID and not the 'niña bonita'.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4Bows and arrows make a man
Carol Gullidge
5Love dominates/ masters/ takes control with bow and arrow
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
3 +1With arrows and bows one gains control
Lester Tattersall
3with bows and arrows, she dominates
Michael Cohn
3with bows and arrows, she becomes the master
Barbara Cochran, MFA
3with bows and arrows she becomes a "lord"
JohnMcDove


Discussion entries: 27





  

Answers


17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
with bows and arrows, she dominates


Explanation:
Where goes the pretty girl, looking for love?
Well, she flies, with valiant wings,
With bows and arrows, she dominates.

Don't trust a blind child; there's nothing honorable about that,
Because the best thing to do with a truly naughty boy, already bandaged,
Is to leave him playing by himself. That will be better.

Well, you have a pretty face, brown-hair. It's of good color.
Don't give it up for easy use,
To laughing men who (pretend to) show love.


Michael Cohn
United States
Local time: 17:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
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59 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
with bows and arrows, she becomes the master


Explanation:
Ends up controlling the feelings of men.

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 18:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 103
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
With arrows and bows one gains control


Explanation:
I don't think the girl can be the subject of "se hace señor".
And I'd prefer "arrows and bows" to "bows and arrows", which, to my ears at any rate, sounds trite and infantile.

Lester Tattersall
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:15
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Linda Grabner: I have to disagree with you on this one, Lester, at least in terms of syntax. "Bows and arrows" is such a strong collocation that reversing the order could sound jarring and "nonnative".
4 hrs
  -> Maybe not now - it's considered too dangerous perhaps - but when I was a boy, all of kids had bows and arrows, and we would often play "bows and arrows", so the collocation sounds childish to me.

agree  JohnMcDove: Actually, both love and the girl become "midons" i.e., "my lord" as in the tradition of Courtly love. See Wiki link in discussion. :-) // Agree with you that the interpretation of "bows and arrows make a man" is missing the mark.
7 hrs
  -> Thanks John. Agree with u that Beatriz has hit nail on head. Definitely. Have looked at link, interesting,but can't see link with this, 2 b honest. "hacerse señor de" is, to my mind, take control of, become the boss, etc, like "hacerse dueño y señor de"
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
Bows and arrows make a man


Explanation:
I read this slightly differently; the way I see it is that the girl is being advised on where to find a worthy suitor - the answer is on the battlefield, where men really are men.
She is being advised not to fall for anything less.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 hrs (2019-07-01 16:12:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

this is (vaguely!) my interpretation of the stanza, and please don't take it as a suggested translation! It is merely to show where I'm coming from...

Where does a pretty girl go looking for love?
Well, take to your wings, and fly off to battle,
For of fighting and strife are real men made.

-----
it then continues with warnings not to fall for (Cupid's) wayward arrows nor for the false smiles of anyone feigning love, etc.... But all this has already been admirably covered by Beatriz!





Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 315

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  neilmac: I'm keeping my opinion of the other suggestions under my hat…
27 mins
  -> Thanks Neil! Me too, as in “Manners maketh man”; but I’m not sure how this is being pitched linguistically.// probably wise :)

neutral  Lester Tattersall: Well, it was certainly a good shot! But it now appears you both missed the target:)
4 hrs
  -> erm, maybe, maybe not, I remain to be totally convinced... and I'm not sure how you can be so certain!

agree  Linda Grabner: I like this interpretation. That's the great (and often most frustrating) thing about poetry: it's so open to interpretation! (Reader response theory lives?)
4 hrs
  -> Thanks Linda! Indeed, it is!

agree  philgoddard
6 hrs
  -> thanks Phil!

neutral  JohnMcDove: From a Spaniard viewpoint, and while it could have this nuance, it seems a bit more off the mark. Beatriz explanation in the discussion is the most plausible one. On that, I am pretty certain. :-)/Also see the link on Courtly love./See additional sources.
7 hrs
  -> Hard to be sure, but agree wholeheartedly with a good deal of Beatriz's explanation - just not ALL of it! But I'm far from convinced by your Wiki article. This is Wiki, after all, and hence at times to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt!

agree  franglish
9 hrs
  -> thanks franglish!

neutral  Beatriz Ramírez de Haro: Hi Carol, bows and arrows were widely replaced by gunpowder during the 16th century in the battelfields of Europe; they would not be seen as particularly "manly" in 17th century Spain, not even metaphorically. // No space left, see "discuss".
13 hrs
  -> thx Beatriz! Have to admit the image did bring a titter! Having said that, Eleanor of Aquitaine lived in the 12th century, and she had a thing or two to say to the men of her day! Do we know the setting/dates of this poem?
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19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
with bows and arrows she becomes a "lord"


Explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid

It just seems a reference to love "becoming" Cupid.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2019-07-01 15:02:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

See discussion.

It seemed to me pretty obvious, by giving the reference to Cupid that this will answer the question.

But the point of the poem is that the "pretty girl" by finding "love" she becomes the "lord" (midons) (my lord) as this is in the tradition of Courtly love, where the man, the troubadour, is a vassal of his loved one...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtly_love
(quote from the link)
Poets adopted the terminology of feudalism, declaring themselves the vassal of the lady and addressing her as midons (my lord), which had dual benefits: allowing the poet to use a code name (so as to avoid having to reveal the lady's name) and at the same time flattering her by addressing her as his lord. The troubadour's model of the ideal lady was the wife of his employer or lord, a lady of higher status, usually the rich and powerful female head of the castle.
(end of quote)

Of course, Cupid helps the girl with "bows and arrows" but you (girl) should not trust a blindfolded winged kid...

¡Saludos cordiales!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs (2019-07-01 15:09:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Love" overpowers the "victim" of love, who is then the vassal of the "Lord" (midons, my lord).

Thus "Love" becomes the "Lord", and metonymically speaking "my lord is my love, my love is my lord" -- Simple.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2019-07-01 17:38:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Definiciones

«En el denominado "amor cortés" el amante se comporta con la amada en forma muy semejante a como debe hacerlo el vasallo con su señor».

http://jorgemanrique.alinome.net/amorcortes.php

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2019-07-01 17:41:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

She may be addressed with the masculine midons (my lord); and the relation, in many of its formal aspects, between lover and lady is a highly conventional sexual version of the feudal relation between lord and vassal.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-li...

The examples of this usage are many and well documented...

https://books.google.com/books?id=SNkTVLTvZmwC&pg=PA323&lpg=...


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2019-07-01 17:49:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Árabe: sayyidí mi señor o mawlanga mi dueño
De este modo, los emires se declararon servidores de sus amadas.
En Provenza esto se imitó porque, asimismo, se reprodujo la relación de vasallaje, propia del sistema feudal.
El amante era el vasallo de su amada por ello la llamaba:
Midons meus dominus

https://quizlet.com/23544908/amor-cortes-flash-cards/

con su señora/amada, similares a las relaciones feudales mantenidas por el vasallo respecto de su señor.

... Y tanto es así que con mucha frecuencia se dirige a la dama designándola con el término midons, o sea, meus dominus, "mi señor", en forma gramatical masculina, aunque rija adjetivaciones femeninas (midons es belha), aspecto que recogerán los poetas cultos ...

https://books.google.com/books?id=FmHTX6p1qo4C&pg=PA20&lpg=P...

At this point, the poem makes its point.

Nothing to add, Your Honor. ;-)

JohnMcDove
United States
Local time: 15:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: sorry, but I'm not at all convinced by the Wiki article and wonder who wrote it, especially as I found it contradicted elsewhere.
13 hrs
  -> Thank you, Carol. I gave you a couple of additional sources at the "discussion" and also now in the answer. To me, this is patently the clear meaning.
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5 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Love dominates/ masters/ takes control with bow and arrow


Explanation:
Hi Lydia,
As I said, I wouldn't dare to translate 17th-century poetry into English! I just gave a literal translation in order to explain the meaning of which I am certain (thus my maximum level of confidence).

The structure is very obvious in Spanish because amor refers both to the feeling of love and to el dios Amor (synonymous with Cupid), but you might need to change the English structure into something like:

Pretty girl, don't give your heart away
for love fights with flying wings
and dominates with bow and arrow

I'm sure that you will find the best way. Good luck!

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Spain
Local time: 23:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thank you! You're right! It is referring to LOVE/CUPID and not the 'niña bonita'.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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