CESAR VALLEJO

CESAR VALLEJO
The Complete Posthumous Poetry
X
X X

Translated by
Clayton Eshleman
&
Jose Rubia Barcia
X X
X

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley • Los Angeles • London
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
First Paperback Printing 1980
ISBN 0-520-04099-6
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 77-93472
Copyright© 1978 by The Regents of the University of California
Designed by Bob Cato
Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Dedicated to Maureen Ahern and Juan Larrea,
for their tremendous dedication to Vallejo .
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Some of these tra nsla tions, in semifinal drafts,

have appeared in: Text, Bou ndary 2, River Styx,
Im pact, Bezoa r, Ecua torial, and Pequod. Several of the poems
translated in the Notes section, plus the entire Append ix,
was published by The Black Sparrow Press as "Sparrow #65."
"Paris, October 1936" wa s published by The Bellevue
Press as a broadside. Eight of the translations appeared in
a special issue of Oasis (London), #19, on Clayton
Eshleman's poetry and translations. Several of the
final d ra fts first appeared in Eshleman's essay,
"Va llejo, 1978," published in Montemora #4.
 INDICE

N6MINA DE HUESOS (1923-1936)

Nomina de huesos I 2

La violencia de las horasI 4

El buen sentido I 6

El momento mas grave de Ia vida I 8

"Las ventanas se han estremecido ..."I 10

Voy a hablar de Ia esperanza I 16

"Tendriamos ya una edad misericordiosa . .."I 18

Hallazgo de Ia vida I 20

"Una mujer de senos apacibles . . " I 22

.

"Cesa el anhelo, rabo al aire.11 I 24

''-No vive ya nadie en Ia casa ...II I 26

"Existe un mutilado ...II I 28

Me estoy riendo I 30

"He aqui que hoy saludo ...II I 32

Lomo de las sagradas escrituras I 34

altura y pelos I 36

"iCuatro conciencias ...!II I 38

"Entre el dolor y el placer ...II I 40

"En el momento en que el tenista ...II I 42

sombrero, abrigo, guantes I 44

 CONTENTS

Introduction I xix

PAYROLL OF BONES (1923-1936)

Payroll of bones I 3

Violence of the hours I 5

Good sense I 7

The gravest moment in life I 9

"The windows shuddered . . . "I 11

I am going to speak of hope I 17
"We probably already were of a compassionate age ..." I 19

Discovery of life I 21

"A woman with peaceful breasts ..." I 23

"Longing ceases, ass in the air." I 25

"-No one lives in the house anymore . . " I 27 .

"There is a man mutilated ..."I 29

I am laughing I 31
"Behold that today I salute ..."I 33

Spine of the scriptures I 35

height and hair I 37

"Four consciousnesses .. " I 39

.

"Between pain and pleasure . .."I 41

"The moment the tennis player . . . " I 43
hat, overcoat, gloves I 45
x I INDICE

salu taci6n a ngelica I 46

epistola a los transeuntesI 48

"Y no me digan nada . . .
11 I 50

G LEBA I 52

PRIMA VERA TUBEROSA I 54

Pied ra negra sobre una piedra blanca I 56

--------------------------------------------

"jDulzura por dulzura corazona!ll I 58

"Hasta el dia en que vuelva . . . II I 60

"Fue domingo en las cla ras orejas . . . " I 62

"La vida , esta vida . . . " I 64
. . . II
"Hoy me gusta Ia vida mucho menos I 66
. . .
"Qu isiera hoy ser feliz " I 68
.
"De disturbio en disturbio .. II I 70
II
"Considerando en frio . . . I 72
"jY si despues de ta ntas palabras . .. !" I 74

"Por ultimo, sin ese buen aroma . . .II I 76

"Parado en una piedra . . .

11 I 78

"Los min eros salieron de Ia mina . . .II I 82

"Pero antes que se acabe . . .III 84

Telurica y magneticc. I 86

Piensan los viejos asnos I 90

SERMON DE LA BARBARIE (1936-1937)

Pa ris, Octubre 1936 I 94

La rueda del hambriento I 96

 CONTENTS I xi

angelic salutation I 47
epistle to the transients I 49

"And don't say another word to me ..." I 51

GLEBE I 53
TUBEROUS SPRING I 55

Black stone on a white stone I 57

----------------------------------

"Sweetness through heartsown sweetness!" I 59

"Until the day I will return .. " I 61 .

"It was Sunday in the clear ears .." I 63 .

"Li fe, this life . . . " I 65

"Today I like life much less .. " I 67 .

"Today I would like to be happy . . . " I 69

"From disturbance to ctisturbance . . ." I 71

"Considering coldly .. " I 73 .

"And if a fter so ma ny words . . . " I 75

"Finally, without tha t good continuous . . . " I 77

"Idle on a stone .." I 79 .

"The miners came out of the mine ..." I 83

"Bu t before all this . " I 85 . .

Telluric and magnetic I 87

Old asses thinking -I 91

SERMON ON BARBARISM (1936-1938)

Paris, October 1936 I 95

The hungry man's wheel I 97
xii I INDICE

"Calor, cansado voy ..."I 98

"Un pilar soportando consuelos ..." I 100

"AI cavilar en Ia vida ..." I 102

Poema para ser leido y cantado I 104

"El acento me pende ..." I 106

"La punta del hombre .." I 108

.

"jOh botella sin vino!" I 110

"Va corriendo, andando . ." I 112

.

"AI fin, un monte ..." I 114

"Quiere y no quiere su color ..." I 116

"Esto I sucedi6 entre dos . ." I 118

.

"Quedeme a calentar Ia tinta ..." I 120

"La paz, Ia abispa, el taco ..." I 122

"Transido, salom6nico, decente ..." I 124

"lY bien? lTe sana el metaloide palido?" I 126

"jOe puro calor, tengo frio ... !" I 128

"Confianza en el anteojo, n6 en el ojo .." I 130

.

''lHablando de Ia lena, callo el fuego?" I 132

"Escamecido, aclimatado al bien ..." I 134

"Alfonso: estas mirandome, lo veo ..." I 136

Traspie entre dos estrellas I 140

Despedida recordando un adios I 144

"A lo mejor, soy otro ..." I 146

El libro de Ia naturaleza I 148

"Tengo un miedo terrible de ser ..."I 150

Marcha Nupcial I 152

"La c6lera que quiebra al hombre .. " I 154

.
 CONTENTS I xiii

"Heat, tired I go ..." I 99

"One pillar holding up consolations ..." I 101

"Upon reflecting on life ..." I 103

Poem to be read and sung I 1 OS

"The accent dangles . . .II I 107

"The tip of man ..." I 109

"Oh bottle without wine!" I 111

"He is running, walking ..."I 113

"At last, a hill ..." I 115

"My chest wants and does not want ..."I 117

"This I happened between two ..." I 119

"I stayed on to warm up the ink ..." I 121

"The peace, the whasp, the shoe heel . "I 123 . .

"Overcome, solomonic, decent . ." I 125 .

"Well? Does the pallid metalloid heal you?" I 127

"It is so hot, I feel cold . . ." I 129

"Confidence in the eyeglass, not in the eye ..." I 131

"Speaking of kindling, do I silence fire?" I 133

"Mocked, acclimated to goodness ...II I 135

"Alfonso: you keep looking at me, I see ... I 137 ��

Stumble between two stars I 141

Farewell remembering a goodbye I 145

"Chances are, I'm another . . ." I 147

The book of nature I 149

"I have a terrible fear of being . . . " I 151

Wedding March I 153

"The anger that breaks the man .. II I 155 .

xiv I INDICE

Intensidad y altura I 156

Guitarra I 158

"Oye a tu masa , a tu com eta . . . II I 160

"
l Que me da, que me azoto . . . ?II I 162
Aniversario I 164

Pante6n I 166
"Un hombre esta mirando a una mujer . . .
11 I 168

Dos niilos anhela ntes I 170

Los nueve monstruosI 172

"Un hombre pasa con un pan . . .
11 I 176

"Me viene, hay dias, una gana . . . III 178

"Hoy le ha entrado una astilla . . . II I 182
Palmas y guitarra I 184

El a lma que su fri6 de ser su cuerpo I 186

Yuntas I 188

"Acaba de pasar el que vendra . . . II I 190

";Ande desnudo, en pelo . . . !II I 192
"Viniere el malo, con un trono . . . II I 196
"AI reves de las aves del monte . . . II I 198
"Ello es que el Iugar don de . . . II I 202
"AI go te identifica . . . II I 206
"En suma, no poseo para expresar . . . II I 208
"Otro poco de calma , camarada . . . II I 210
Los desgraciados I 214

Sermon sobre Ia muerte I 218

 CONTENTS I xv

Intensity and height I 157

Guitar I 159
"Hear your mass, your comet . . .
11 I 161

"What's got into me, that I am whipping mysel f . . . 11 I 163

Anniversary I 165
Pantheon I 1 67
"A man is looking at a woman . . . 11 I 1 69
Two yearning children I 171
The nine monsters I 173
"A man walks by with a stick of bread . . . II I 177
"For several days, I have felt an exuberant . . . II I 179
"Today a splinter has gotten into her . . . II I 183
Cla pping and guitar I 185
The soul that su ffered from being its body I 187
Cou plings I 189

"He has just pa ssed by, the one who will con1e . . . " I 191
''Let the millionaire go naked . . . " I 193
"That the evil man might come, with a throne . . . "I 197
"Contrary to the mountain birds . . . " I 1 99
"The fact is tha t the place where . . . " I 203
"Something identifies you . . . " I 207
"In short, I have nothing with which to express . . . "I 209
"A little more calm, comrade . . . "I 211
The miserable I 21 5
Sermon on death I 219
---------------------
xvi I INDICE

ESPANA, APARTA DE Mf ESTE CALIZ (1937-1938)

HIMNO A LOS VOLUNTARIOS DE LA REPUBLICA I 222

BATALLAS I II I 230

III I 238

IV I 242

v 1244
VI I Cortejo tras Ia toma de Bilbao I 248

VII I 250

VIII I 252

IX I Pequeno responso a un heroe de Ia Republica I 254

X I lnvierno en Ia batalla de Teruel I 256

XI I 258

XII I Masa I 260

XIII I Redoble runebre a los escombros de Durango I 262

XIV I 264

XV I Espana, aparta de mi este caliz I 266

 CONTENTS I xvii

SPAIN, TAKE THIS CUP FROM ME (1937-1938)

HYMN TO THE VOLUNTEERS FOR THE REPUBLIC I 223

----------------------------------------------------------------

BAITLES I II I 231
III I 239
IV I 243

v 1245
VI I Cortege a fter the capture of Bilbao I 249
VII I 251
VIII I 253
IX I Short prayer for a Loyalist hero I 255
X I Winter during the battle for Teruel I 257
XI I 259

XII I Mass I 261

XIII I Funereal drum rol l for the ruins of Durango I 263
XIV I 265
XV"/ Spain, take this cu p from me I 267

Facsimiles of Vallejo's Worksheets I 272

Appendix: BATILES IN SPAIN I 280

Notes I 288
 INTRODUCTION

Accord i n g to most recent scholarship, Cesar Val lejo appears to have wri t ten five books
o f poetry . The fi rst hvo, Los heraldos llcgros (1 918) and Trilcc ( 1922 ) , were published in
Peru du ring his l i feti m e . The l<�tter three fi rs t appeared in 1939, the year after the poet's
death, i n an ed ition of hvo hund red and fi fty copies ed ited by the poet's widow and her
fri end, the histo rian Raul Parra Barrenechea . Published i n Paris by Georgette Val lejo
hers e l f, the fi rst edition of the posthumous poe try bore t he title Poemas lwmanos, and
contai n ed 108 poems, approx i mately hill f of \vhich were dilted in the fall of 1937 and hal f
o f which were n ot dated . The collection seemed t o be wi t ho u t a n y consciou s order,
exce pt for the last fi fteen poem s u nder the t i t le Espmia, apar/a de mi eslc niliz. It i s now
known that Val lejo worked feverishly on his poetry du ri n g the last mon ths of his l i fe ,
b u t WiiS able o n l y t o complete a fi nill d raft of the complete text of Espmia, aparla de
mi cslc niliz. , a copy of which \\'as sen t to S pain fo r publica t ion . The ed i tion was to be
u nder the care of the Span ish poet E m i lio Prados and publ ished by a cul t u ral u n i t
attached to the Loyal i s t ilffilY ilt the Arago n fron t . The book was pri nted in September
1938, but cou l d not be bound and d i stributed, and not a si ngle copy survived the defeat
o f the Span ish Repub l ic a few months later. On February 9, 1940, Espmia, apar/a de
mi cstc caliz was published i n Mex ico, by Edito rial Seneca , u nder the care of the same
Emi li o Prados, with som e pre l i m inilry words by Juan Lilrrea en t i t led "Profecia de
America" and a port rilit in i n k of Val lejo by Picasso .
Between 1 942 and 1 96 1 a number of poorly produced ed i tions of the remai ning
Pocmas hummws appPared i n Argenti na ilnd Peru. Then in 1968, an expensive weighty
tome bi lled iiS the 0/Jra Poaica Complcta appeilred , published by Frilncisco Moncloil
Edi tores i n Lima , which offered not o n l y typeset pages for illl of Val lejo's poetry that
appeared in boo k form (al though it d id not i nclude a number of eilrly poems published
i n magazines and n ewspapers ), but filcsi m i le reproductions of the hand-corrected type­
scripts for al l but seveml of the posthumously publ ished poems . \Vhile typeset pages
u naccou ntably repeated errors from previous ed i tions ilnd appeilred in iln even more
arbitrary order, t he prese nce of t he filcsimiles enilbled Vallejo's old friend and his m ost
dedicated scholar, the poet Juan Larrea, to establish il rationill order for the undilted
poem s , and to con fi rm my hu nch that the dil ted poems made up a separate milnu-
scrip t ilnd that Val lejo i nt ended for them to be published i n thei r dated orde r . 1 Larrea
has also mad e a convincing case for Vallejo's havi ng a title for the undated poems and
has ano ther probable ti t l e fo r the dilted ones . S i nce 1 939, two poems hilve been ildded to
these books . Thu s , i t now appears that si nce there is no evidence whiltsoever that

•Juan Larrea, Los poemas postumos de Vallejo a Ia luz de su t•dici(m facsimil.u," Aula VafltJtlll-12-13
"

(Cordoba, Ar�entina, 1974), pp. 55-171.

xx I INTRODUCfiON

Vallejo h imself even con templa ted such a title a s Poemas humanos, h is posthumous poetry
can be m ore sensibly presen ted in three books:

Nomina de huesos, forty-one poems a nd prose poems (1923 - 1 936), the u nda ted
poems and prose poems i n the first ed itio n of Poemas humanos.

Senn6n de Ia barbarie, fifty-four poems (1 936-1 938), the da ted poems i n Poemas
lwmanos. 2

Espmia, aparta de mf este caliz, fi fteen poems (1937 - 1 938), originally included i n
Poemas lmmanos and since 1 940 published a s a sepa ra te book .

As m a n y of t h e readers of this book wil l know,. in 1 968 G rove Press published

my tra nslation of Vallejo's first two posthumous collections of poetry , under the title
Poernas Humanos!Human Poems, a nd i n 1 974, brought out Jose Rubia Barcia 's a nd my
version of Espmia, aparta de mf este caliz as Spain, Take This Cup From Me. A t a later poin t
i n this essay I w i l l explain w h y Barcia a nd I have thoroughly retra nslated a l l the work
I d id i n the sixties as well as revise a n d augmen t the work we did together in the early
seven t ies . Before doing so, I would like again, as I did for the 1 968 translation, to
provide the reader w i th some biogra phical informa tion on Vallejo, adding some ma terial
that h a s come to l ight since tha t time, and a lso to describe the sixteen yea r journey of
m y i nvolveme n t i n these transla tions . I think that others m igh t be cu rious to know what
effect a poet cen tral to another poet's l i fe has had on him a nd, i n the case of a
tra nsla ting rela tionshi p, to u nderstand its psychi c as well as i ts lingu istic ramifica tion s .
Vallejo got into every corner of my Being so thoroughly that I now understa nd this
period , 1 962 - 1 978, a s that of my apprenticeship to poetry, with the central task being to
do accura te and engaging tra nslations of Vallejo's posthumously published poetry.
S ince I am going to write in detail abou t the year to yea r tra nslating process, I will
acknowledge those who worked with me for longer periods of time when they a ppear in
the n arra tive. U n fortunately, I have forgotten the names of a few people w i th whom I
spent bri e f periods of checking version s . When I was in Kyoto, between 1 962 and 1 964,
doing my first dra fts, I was so despera te tha t I corra led a ny Spa nish speaker who pa ssed
through. Luis Vinholes, a Brazilia n poet, then serving with the Brazilian Embassy in
Tokyo, helped m e every time he visited Kyoto, a nd introduced me to Fernando Lemos, a
Portuguese scul ptor, who also for a short time tried to hel p . Then t here wa s Sidney
Wright, a Mexican -born American Buddhist who was in Kyoto briPfly-I once gave h i m
a version o f Va llejo's poem " Pa n te6n" t o go over and made a n a ppointment to meet h im
a t the American Cultural Cen ter a few days later. I got there a little before he did, a nd
w i l l never forget the expression on his face as he came through the door a n d , shaking,
told me: "This poem has been wri tten by a man who has been dead five days !" When I
was i n the Peruvian A ndes i n 1 966, I spent several evenings with a schoolteacher who
gave me i n terp reta tions for some of Va llejo's obscure lines in the poem, "Telu rica y
magnetica, " claiming that t hey were Andean slang. Since that time, I have d iscovered
tha t i n rega rd to that particu lar poem she is incorrect, but I s till wa rmly remember sitting
w i th her by a kerosene lamp, l a te at n igh t, on the roof of the world, discussing Vallejo. I
shou ld also like to acknowledge the two persons responsible for the only fina ncia l
a ssista nce I have received wh ile working on the tra nsla tions: in 1 966 Keith Botsford

2Larrea adds two u n dated poems to Sem1611 de Ia barbaric. He expla ins why on p. 103, ibid .
 INTRODUCTION I xxi

a rra nged for me to receive a $500 awa rd from the National Translation Center at Austin,
Texas, and in 1 969, Jose G uillermo Ca stillo arranged a $700 grant from the Center for
I n ter-America n Rela tions in New York City .

Cesar Abra ham Va llejo was born on Maroh 16, 1892, in Santiago de Chuco , an Andean
town of 14, 000 inhabi ta n ts, in north central I-'eru . The journey at that time to the provin­
cia l capita l, Tru j illo, took four days by h orseback to the nea rest ra ilhead at Menocucho
a n d then another day by train to the coast. Vallejo's grand mothers were Chimu Indians
and both of his grandfa thers, by a strange coincidence , were Catholic Spa nish p riests.
He was the youngest of eleven child ren, and grew up in a home sa turated in religious
devotion . His fa ther, a notary who served as a district official in the town , hoped that he
would become a priest . Although Vallejo's life took a much deeper tum, the weight and
rigid i ty o f "the family , " based on "The Holy Family" and daily rein forced by prayer, was
to ha u nt h im for the rest of his life . Juan Espejo Asturrizaga, who has written on
Vallejo's Peruvia n years,3 speaks of the profound anguish in Vallejo cau sed by the
conflict between the spiritual and the world ly-especially in regard to his erotic
experience-- w hich had i ts roots in the deep idealism, the sense of sin, good , and evil, of
such a Ca tholic u pbringing.
Vallejo com pleted his secondary schooling in 1908 in H uamachuco, a town even
more remote tha n Santiago de Chuco, and entered the School of Philosophy and Letters
a t Tru jillo Un iversity in 1910, but had to d rop out for lack of money . Between 1908 and
1 913, he started and stopped a college education several times, as his family was unable
to support him and he could not find a job to support himself while studying. In 1911 he
worked a s a tutor to the children of a m ine owner in the region of H uanuco in cen tral
Peru . In 1912 he worked in the accounts department on a large suga r esta te, the
hacienda Roma, in the Chicama valley. At Roma, Vallejo saw thousands of peons arrive
in the cou rtyard a t dawn, to go off into the fields to work, for a few cen ts a day, on a
fistful of rice, until nightfa l l . He saw how their lives were dominated by alcohol sold to
them on cred it, and how, hopelessly in debt, in a few weeks they would become
insolven t , their debt rapidly covering years beyond which they themselves wo u ld live.
Seeing this hideous process devastated him and lit a fu se that bu rned u n ti l 1928, the
year he su ffered the implosion that resulted in his inability to con form with social
conditions for the rest of his life .
One of Vallejo's hacienda Roma roommates, a Salomon Mendoza, relates that on
Sunday, their only day o ff, Va llejo would go for walks and read instead of getting d runk
with the other employees, and that occasionally he would show Mendoza his first
a ttempts at poetry. 4 It was n' o t, however, until a fter he en rolled again in the School of
Philosophy and Letters at Trujillo University in 1913, and began to study for a degree in
li tera tu re tha t he started to read seriously and was introd uced by Antenor Orrego, a
journalist and the local in tellectual guide, to others his own age, some of whom were to
become nationally famous in literatu re, journalism, and politics. Orrego, who was then
working for the newspaper, La Refonna, recalls: "Along about November or December of
1 914, Vallejo approached me with a notebook of poems. I ca n't remember how many,
certa inly no more than twenty - five or thirty poems. It was then that I became aware of

lJuan Espejo Asturrizaga, Cesar Vallejo: /ti,erario del hombre (Lima, 1965).
4Ibid., p. 30.
xxii I INTRODUCTION

a l l the reading he was doing on his own, of all Spanish literature from the Golden Age
o n , a n d that his poetic imita tions went back as fa r as Gonza lo de Berceo . There were
m a gn i ficent imita tions of Quevedo a s well as Lope, Tirso, and many others . "5 During
h is s tu dent yea rs, in which he alterna ted between litera ture and law, Val lejo supported
h im se l f teaching part-time in Trujillo . He first taught bota ny and economics at the
Centro Escolar de Va rones, and later he taught the first grade in the elementary school a t
t h e Colegio Nacional d e S a n Jua n . I t was also d u ring these yea rs t h a t Vallejo began to
p ublish h is first poems, gave public lectures and readings, and stu d ied ma terial on
determin ism, mythology, and evolution . He received the equivalent of a Master's Degree
i n Spa n is h litera ture in 1 91 5 with a thesis on Romanticism in Span ish Poetry. He continued
h is studies in law u p to 1917, the yea r he left Trujillo to move to Lima . His life in Tru jillo
had become compl icated by a series of tortured love a ffairs, one i n volving a young
w om a n (a ddressed as "Mirtho" in h is poetry) over whom he contempla ted suicide . A
photo ta ken i n 1 91 7 shows his h igh Indian cheekbones and heavy, long black hair-a
very ha ndsome face .
Once established in Lima, Vallejo found work as a regular teacher and beca me the
p rincipal of the prestigious Colegio Ba rros and la ter Assistant Professor at the Colegio
N aciona l de N uestra Senora de Guada lupe . At night he hung out in the Bohemian ca fes
a n d visited opium dens in Chinatown . He also began to meet the important literary
figures of the time, such as Abraham Valdeloma r, who died as a result of an acciden t
before h e com pl eted a n introduction to Los heraldos neg ros, and Manual Gonzalez Prada,
then director of the Nationa l Library a n d one of Peru's lead ing leftists. Prada praised
Vallejo's p oetry for its audaci ty and may have sta rted him thinking about social reform
a n d revolution.
When Los heraldos negros appeared in the summer of 1 91 9, it was received enthusi­
a stically. The impression is that at tha t time Vallejo had filled to brimming the a n tiqua ted
forms the l itera ry "establishment" fou n d acceptable-to con tinue to push h is talent in its
own directions would soon bring him a lmost complete silence. He soon lost his teachi ng
post a t Colegio Ba rros pa rtia lly because he refused to marry a young woman with whom
h e was h aving an a ffair, whose brother-in-law taught there too . His mother d ied , a n d
a fter losing a second teaching job ea rly in 1 920, he decided to visit home.
Tra veling w i th h is friend, Juan Espejo Astu rrizaga, he passed through Huaman­
chuco, where h e had been graduated from h igh school , and visi ted with one of his
brothers . While there, he and Espejo edited a law paper, and with their pay they wen t
o ff to a sa loon-a n d ca me back d ru n k . Val lejo had been invited that evening to a
theatrica l performance in h is old high school. The play was bad ly received by the
audience and Vallejo got u p on stage and said : "Trotting along, trotting along on my
sorrel colt, my ma ne disheveled, resembling a nomad's hut lost in the desert, I return to
this A thens of the A ndes . If Santiago de Chuco gave me the raw material, the
a m orphous block, Hua ma nchuco polished this block and made of it a work of a rt . " He
then recited three poems; the third wa s from T rilce and d id not receive a ny applause . He
then became a n gry and told the audience: "Since you don't applaud me, I don't give a
damn for your a pplause, for the intellectua ls in the country now are applaud ing me. One
day my poetry will make me grea ter tha n even Ruben Da rio, and I will have the
pleasu re o f seeing America prostra ted before my fee t. "6 Th is caused a scandal in tow n ,

50rrego's remarks occur during a symposium transcribed in Cesar Vallejo: Poeta Trascendmtal de Hispanoamerica/
Su Vida, S11 Obra, Su Significado, the title of Aula Vallejo 2-3-4 (Cordoba, 1962), p. 118.
6Espejo Asturrizaga, CV: ltinerario del hombre, p. 92.
 INTRODUCTION I xx1ii

du ri ng which Val lejo rod e off fo r Santiago de Chuco to attend the ann ual festival of the
patro n sain t, Sai n t James, or in Spanish, Santiago, also the patron saint of Sp<lin.
He rode into a town feud th<lt h<ld been smolderi ng since the last elections. On the
last S u n d<ly of the festival, violence broke ou t: one of the subprefect's aides W<ls shot
and the gener<ll store, owned by " f<lmily whose politic<ll ties were opposed to those of
the Vall ejo family, W<lS bu rned to the ground . Vallejo, who was act u <llly helping the
subprefect write u p the leg<ll in fom1 <ltion abou t the shooting, \vas bl<lmed <ls <ln
accompl ice in the store bur n i ng and later, i n court, a s the "intel l ectual i nstig<ltor." I n
s p i te o f p rote s t teleg rams from intellectu<lls and ne\vSp<lper ed itors, he W<lS held i n a
Trujillo jail fo r 1 05 d<lys, a fter which he W<ls freed on parole on February 26, 1 921. He
l e ft for Lima on M<lrch 30. The whole bu siness embittered him and was the C<ltalyst fo r
his l eaving Pertt two ye<lrs later.
Be fore being <lrrested, Vallejo h<ld hidden out for three months in a co u ntry house in
Man siche near Trujillo ovvned by Orrego. There he began the book that for most read ers
places Lati n American poetry in the center of \\"estern cu ltur<ll tradition . I n 1922 he
submit ted a man u scri pt-to be pri nted with his O\·Vn fu nds-cal l ed "Craneos de bronce,"
u nder the name of "Cesar Pen1 . " Chided by his frie nds who said he was affecting an
imitation of Anatole France, he decided to use his own n<lme. He was then told-so the
story goes-th<lt the first p<lges of t he book had been printed <lnd that a n<lme change
wou ld cost him "tres libr<ls" ext r<l. Perh<lps he d id n't even h<lve the equivalent of three
dol lars, for Espejo relates: "Vallejo felt mortified . Sever<ll times he repeated Ires, Ires, Ires,
with that insiste nce he had for repeati ng word s and defonning them, lresss, lrisss,
trieesss, lril, lrilssss. H e s tammered and i n the l i sp lrilsssce c<lme out . . . lrilce? lrilce? He
hesitated for a mome n t, then exclaimed: 'Ok, I 'll u se my own name, but the book w ill be
cal led Trilce.' "7 As " n eologism, an opinion sus t<lined by Larrea and prob<lbly closer to
the facts, "trike" could be thought of as b<lsed on "tres" (three), in which Val lejo alwdys
seemed to remember the Trinity, <lnd "d u l ce" (sweet), in which he <llso must have heard
"du o" (a pair as opposed to " three") . The neologism might be t r<lnslated in English as
" thleet" or "threet. "�
The book con tai n s seven ty-seven poems and to anyone who has read Latin
Ame rican poe t ry written be fore i t, not only does it seem to come out of nowhere but
a l so to inhaJ,il n owhere as well. A n d re Coyne, one of Vallejo's most astute commen­
tato rs, states: "In Trilce, the re is no un iverse, no objects, except those fu rt ively i n t ro­
duced across the u nadorned <lnd f<lmili<lr world of t he he<lrth and love; we are presented
solely with rapid sensations, glimpsed in a semi-conscious or semi-vigilant state, and
(now that the eye hardly has a role) received like shocks and indicated solely by a
pain fu l resona nce always without resol ution-a resonance th<lt is i nternal, visceral . . .
Poems t hat hardly are poems, t raced on the birthl i ke and insiste nt tal k of chi ldhood or
fever, each stanza organizing on the basis of a separate intuition, fo r the poet is always
at the mercy of the sudden <lttack o f this or that tenn or the pressing in of a nxiety."9
A fter the publication of Trilce, Val l ejo conti n ued to te<lch in Lima, b u t in the spring
of 1 923 he W<lS n otified that his position h<ld been elimin<lted. At the same time, he still
felt in danger o f bein g forced to go back to jail i n Trujillo and d ecid ed to <lccept the
i nvitation of h i s friend, Julio Galvez, a nephew of Ante nor Orrego, to go to Paris
toge the r, sharing the money that Galvez had received as an i nheritance. It seems that

'Ibid., p . 109.
11Juan Larrea, Cesar Vallejo: lleroe y mtfrflr mdol1is1'arw (Monlt.•vidl'O, Jq7J), p. HJ.
9Andrc Coyne, Cesar Valkjo .lf s11 ol1ra pod1ca (Lima, 195H), p. 125
xxiv I INTRODUCfiON

Ga lvez had a first-class ticket which he exchanged for two thirdclass tickets . Both
emba rked June 1 7 on the s teamship Oroya for France. Vallejo never returned to Peru.
Vallejo n ea rly s tarved in Paris . I n 1923 he and Galvez walked the streets looking for
bottles to cash in . The following year, on March 24, his fa ther died i n Santiago de
Chuco . The Costa Rica n sculptor, Max Jimenez, left them his studio. Vallejo was briefly
h ospitalized for a bleeding hemorrhoid . He tra nsla ted a book on Peru into Spanish for
1 000 francs and m e t the S pa nia rds, Juan Gris a nd Larrea, and the Chilean, Vicente
Huidobro . In 1 925 he found his first stable job in a newly opened press agency, "Les
G ra n d s Joumaux Ibero-Americains" and began to contribute art icles to two Lima
periodica ls, Mundial and Variedades. He also got a monthly gra n t of 330 pesetas from the
Spanish government to continue his interrupted law studies at the Universi ty of Madrid .
He made a first visit to Mad rid to enroll a t the university i n the fal l of 1 925, but since he
was not required to remain on campus, he retu rned immediately to Paris where he
con ti n u ed to receive the gra n t for two years . The grant, plus the income from articles,
seems to have enabled him to become involved in the Parisian artistic milieu .
I n 1 926 he m oved i n to the Hotel Richelieu , went to exhibitions, concerts, a nd ca fes .
He m e t Artaud, the composer Sa tie, Picasso, and Cocteau . He received news from home
tha t on June 7 the Trujillo Tribunal in charge of his old case had given orders to arrest
him, w h ich con fi rmed his intuition to leave Peru. He a lso made the acquaintance this
year of a young woman, Georgette Philipart, who he began to live with three years later
and married in 1 934. With La rrea he coedited two issues of a magazine called Favorables­
Pa ris-Poema, i n w h ich appeared the last poems he wou ld publish d u ri ng h is lifetime.
He beg a n to con tribute a weekly colu m n to Variedades, and at the Ca fe de Ia Regence met
Henriette Maisse, with whom he would live for two a nd a half yea rs . With the exception
o f two pieces da ted in the fall of 1937, Vallejo wrote the prose poems that open N6mi1ra
de huesos between 1 924 and 1 929. These extremely somber, straightfotward, a nd deeply
felt works form a bridge between T rilce a nd the poetry that Vallejo would wri te in the
thirties when, having commi tted himself to Marxist ideology, he forced the teeth of
revol u tion into the gums of his personal life and wrote the densely compassionate and
bitter work for w hich he is most fa mou s .
I n 1 927 he left his post a t the p ress agency a nd refused to contin ue receiving the
Spanish gra n t . His economic situation became very bad. That year he a lso published a n
essay i n Variedades ca lled "Contra e l secreto profesional," i n which h e discussed the
double failure of South American poets to use Eu ropea n i nfluences and to find a n
expressio n i ndigenous to thei r own people. He attacked the " pseudo-new" i n poetry and
d ecla red tha t poets became avant-ga rde out of cowardice or poverty.
By 1 928 he was reading Marxist li terature a nd a ttending lectures on dialectical
m a teria lism . I t was i n this year tha t he went through the crisis of conscience tha t led him
to believe tha t his lack of d irection u p to tha t time was due to his distance from the
social a n d economic p roblems of enslaved huma nity . I t is difficu lt to determ ine whether
he came to the conclusion that Marxism was a solution to these problems . Chances a re
he rem ained d ivided, for wh ile his political activities in the yea rs tha t followed would
lea d us to believe that at lea st u ntil 1 933 he was a n actively committed Commu nist, the
poetry he had been w riting since 1 923 a nd wou ld continue to wri te u n ti l his dea th in
1 938, identifies w i th and embraces su ffering humanity, bu t never a rgues a ny doc trine or
solution . Tha t September he made the first of three trips to Russia, retu rn i ng in
November to form, with other ex pa triots, the Peru vian Socialist pa rty . The s ta ted goals
were, through adoption of Marxism a nd Leninism, to train cad res a nd mainta i n con tact
w i t h com rades i n Pen1 .
 INTRODUCTION I XXV

I n January 1929, Vallejo a nd Georgette Ph ilipart started living together, after

Georgette's mother died and she became economically i ndependen t . His Marxist studies
continuing, Vallejo began to teach in worker cells and decided no longer to publish
poetry, believing tha t the a rtist's role was, for the time bei ng, to work for the revolution .
He made h is second trip to Russia, interviewed Mayakovsky i n MoscO\\', and on the way
back to Paris traveled through Berlin, Vienna , FJorence, Rome, a nd Nice . That November
fou n d h i m workin g on a book of Marxi st theory and its a pplication to the Soviet Union
w h ich eventually became Rusia en 1931.
I n 1 930 Va llejo wrote h is first drama, Mampar (later retitled Cancerbero a nd then
probably destroyed), and we are told that he continued to write dramas (including one
screenplay) for the rest of his life, leaving nearly 600 pages of such material unpublished
at his death. To date, only a couple of plays have been published i n magazines. The rest,
I p resu me, rem a i n in the hands of his w idow . 10 I n 1930 he aga i n traveled to Spain a nd
met the Spanish poets Sal inas and Alberti, as well as Unamuno a nd Gera rdo Diego. The
well-known Spanish wri ter a nd editor, Jose Bergamin, wrote an i ntroduction to the
second edition of Trilce and Pierre Lagarde, reviewing the book i n Paris, wrote: "Va llejo
has invented Surrealism before the Su rrea lists." I n June, Val lejo returned to Paris and
began his second play, Mosczl co1ztra Mosczl. I n the first days of December, he was
a rrested by the police in a Pa ris ra ilroad station while awaiti ng a Peruvia n communist
delega tion that was arrivi ng from Moscow . He was ordered to leave France in three days.
Again he returned to Madrid where, in 1 931 , he wrote h i s only novel, £/ tzmgsteno,
a nd translated two novels by Marcel A yme and one by Henri Ba rbusse. The Monarchy
had just fal len and the Republic had been proclaimed . It was now that Va llejo officially
joined the Spa nish Commu nist party and, once Rusia en 1931 wa s published a nd went
t h rou gh three edi tions rapid ly, was even temporarily fa mous. He made his third trip to
Ru ssia to attend the Interna tiona l Congress of Writers . He arrived back in Madrid a
couple of months later, pen niless, with a second book on Russia u nderway. He also
w rote another play, Lock-out, and some stories . In spite of his success with Rusia e11 1931,
he could not find a p_ u blisher for the other material .
When Georgette, who had been with Vallejo in Spain, retu rned to Pa ris i n Janua ry
1 932 to try to arran ge for his return , she found their apartment sacked by the police .
Meanwh ile, Vallejo was despera tely trying to establish publish i ng connections in Mad rid:
within the space of a couple of months he submitted his collection of essays, £/ arte y fa
revolucion, to a publisher and it was rejected; he submitted Mosczl cmztra Mosczl a nd
Lock-out which met the same fate; Lorca offered to read Mampar h imself at the Cerva ntes
Theatre bu t before the reading could ta ke place, the theater was closed down; Vallejo
o ffered "Ru sia a n te el segu ndo pla n quinquenal," sti l l bei ng written, to two publishers
and both rejected it; Lorca read Moscrl contra MosCII to the Argentine actress a nd director
Cam ila Qu iroga who claimed it cou ld not be staged; then Lorca proposed to present it
to other directors , but Vallejo, upon hearing that a resident permit had been obtai ned
i n Paris, took o ff, a rriving i n m id-February 1933 with nothing but the clothes he was
wearin g . The condition s of the permit forbade him to engage in any poli tical activity
whatsoever, and he seems to have accepted such condi tions, for from the time he
returned u ntil the Spanish civil wa r broke ou t i n 1936, he gave up all political activity .
The years 1933 to 1936 are the lea st documented in Va llejo's ad ult l i fe and may very well
have been h is darkest.

10ln July 1978 we were informed that Editorial Laia, in Barcelona, Spain, is publishing Vallejo's Obras
Complctas, and that so far nine volumes have appeared.
xxvi I INTRODUCfiON

I n 1 934 he wrote a play sa tirizing Peruvia n political life, Los hennmzos Colaclzo, a n d
since w e now know t h a t in 1 936 he m ade a n a ttempt t o publish Nomina de Jwesos, it i s
reasonable t o a ssume t h a t much o f the writing of the book was done d u ring this year.
Apparen tly, his precarious financial situ a tion became worse and worse . I was told that
the Vallejos l ived on rice a nd potatoes d u ring these years and tha t Vallejo h imsel f spent
most o f h is time i n a da rkened apartment . By 1 935 the couple could no longer afford the
Hotel G aribaldi a n d took a room on Boulevard Raspai l.
In early 1 936 he found some Spanish language teaching and published "El hombre y
d ios e n Ia escultura i ncaica" in Beaux-Arts magazine, one of a n umber of indica tions tha t
h is i nterest i n pre-Hispan ic Peruvian history increased towa rd the end o f his life. H e a nd
Georgette were s till moving from place to place and they finally settled in the Hotel du
Maine. The Fascist u p rising in Spai n tha t July seems to have been the exterior goad for
h is spectacular display of susta ined crea tivi ty for the next year and a half. He renewed
h i s politica l life, attended meetings a n d assemblies, canvassed the streets collecting
money, a nd at nigh t wai ted in Mon tpa rnasse S ta tion for telegrams from Madri d . In
December he was given permission to visit Ba rcelona and Madrid for two weeks; while
t here he had a cha nce to observe at first hand the people's reaction to the war. He
returned to Paris completely absorbed in the Loya list a n ti-Fa scist ca use, following the
battles from day to day. At this poin t it is possible to wa tch Vallejo build what migh t be
called a "popular poetry," incorpora ting war reportage, wh ile at the same time a nother
branch of his poetry was becoming more hermetic tha n ever before . He bega n, in Los
heraldos negros, struggl ing within the s trai tjacket of rhymed verse a nd exploded these
bindings in the short-circu ited associa tive webs of Trilce. I n Nomina de Jzuesos and
especia l ly Sennon de Ia barbarie, the backdrop ceases to be the ch ildhood hearth, as it s ti l l
is i n Trilce, a nd becomes tha t of the world of twentieth -cen tury m a n , at the cen ter of
w h ich Vallejo portrays himself conceiving his own death . By the time the Espmia manu­
script was completed, the elitist tradition of many of the Modernist and Postmodernist
poets h a d been turned inside out.
In 1 937 he fou nded, with others, the Comite Ibero-a mericano para Ia defensa de I a
Republica Espanola, a nd its publicity bulletin, "Nuestra Espana." To raise money he
w rote a film script, Charlot contra Clzaplill. In July he left again for Spain, wh ich was now
deep in civil war, a nd took part in the Segundo Congreso Intemacional de Escritores
para Ia Defensa de Ia Cul tu ra tha t met in Valencia on the fourth, then in Madrid on the
eighth, holding a nother session in Ba rcelona a n d closing in Paris on the sixteen th of the
month. A mong the 200 w ri ters a ttend ing from 28 cou n tries, Val lejo was elected the
Peru v ia n representative. On this last trip to Spa in, Vallejo visited the fro n t brietly a n d
saw w i t h h is own eyes some o f the horror. Back in Paris h e wrote a fifteen - scene
tragedy , La piedra cmzsada (set in I ncan Peru), a n d then in one sustained push , from
approximately early Septe mber to early December, fi fty - two of the fifty- four poems tha t
make up Sermo11 de Ia barbaric along with the fi fteen poems of Espmia, apa rta de mi este
caliz.
I t now a ppea rs that he had a final typescript for a l l the posthumously publ ished
poe try by the beginning of 1938, a nd tha t duri ng Ja nuary a nd Febru ary he made the
t housan d s of handwritten corrections tha t cover these typescripts . In ea rly March the
yea rs of s train a nd deprivation, com pounded by heartbrea k over Spain, as well as
exhaustion from the pace of the previous yenr, final ly took their tol l . X-rays and other
ana lysis s howed no cause for alarm, bu t a fever he had contracted lingered a nd by la te
March he cou ld not get ou t of bed . The Pentvia n Embassy had him moved to the Arag6
Cli n ic where, despite med ica l attention, his condition worsened . No one involved in his
 I NTRODUCflON I xxvii

case knew what was killing him or how to heal him. At one point, Mme Vallejo had him
p ropped up in bed so as to receive the ministrations of astrologers and wizards. On
A pril 14, he lost consciousness, with still no diagnosis as to th e cause of his il lness . His
p rose poem, "Voy a hablar de Ia espera nza , " wh ile written years before, is a searing
p rophecy of all of th is. There he writes :

I a che now \vithout a ny explanation . My pain is so deep, that it never had a

cause nor does it lack a cause now. What could have been its cause? Where is
tha t th ing so important, that i t might stop being its cause? Its cause is nothing;
noth ing could have stopped being i ts cause . . . . If life were, in short, di fferent,
?"Y p� in would be the same. Today I su ffer from fu rther above . Today I am simply
m pam.

O n the morn ing of A p ri l 15, having swept down the Ebro valley, the Fascists finally
reached the Med iterranean , cutting the Loyalist territory in two . At more or less the
same moment, Vallejo cried out in delirium, "I am going to Spain! I '"'a nt to go to
S pa i n !" and at 9:20 A.M. he died . It was Good Friday. The clinic record states that he
d ied of an "acute intesti nal i n fection . " His body was buried April 19 at Montrouge,
the "Communist" cemetery in south ern Pari s . In the sixties, Mme Vallejo, who has been
l iving in Lima on a government pension for ma ny yea rs, had his remains removed to
Mon tpa rnasse and a new headstone made . I visi ted the tomb in 1973, to find the
following words ch ipped in:

J' a i ta n t neige
pou r que tu dormes
Georgette

The sou rce of this "French haiku " is u nknown and will probably remain so . To anyone
who has read Val lejo'-s body of poetry, such an epitaph seems odd indeed . 11

While I was a s tudent at I ndiana University in 1957, a painter friend , Bill Paden, gave me
a copy of the New Directions Latin American Pol'lry anthology and I was particularly
i m p ressed with the poetry of Pablo Neruda and Cesa r Vallejo. At the same time, I read
A ngel Flo res's translation of Neruda's Rt•sidcncia en Ia tierra, and upon compa ri ng his
version with those of Hays a nd Fitts in the anthology, I was intrigued with the
d i fferences . Without know ing any Spanish, I began to tinker with the versions and that
sum mer, with a pocket Spa nish -English dictionary and two hundred dollars, I hitch ­
h iked to Mexico . The followi ng sum mer I again returned to Mexico, rented a room in the
back of a butcher's home in Ch apala, and spent the su mmer with Neruda 's poetry, as
well as w riting most of the poems that were to appear in my first book, Mexico & North.
The following school yea r, I ed ited the Engl ish Department sponsored literary tri­
qua rterly, Folio, where I printed three Neruda versions, collectively done by Walter

11Since Larrea has shown how Mml' Vallejo mixt.•d up the chronolo�y of V.1llcjo's posthumously published
poetry so as to presl'nt the sole two pOl'ms in which she figurl's, at thl' t.•nd-om· might conclude, looking at the
new headstone, that she felt the world should be led to bdil'Vl' all of V.1llt•jo's last thoughts revolved about her.
Larrea discusses this matter in Aula Vallejo 11-12-13, pp. 67-69.
xxviii I INTRODUCfiON

Compton , AI Perez, Cecilia Ugarte, a nd mysel f, and fou r Vallejo versions, translated by
Mau reen Lahey, a nd myself. Behind my inspiration to be i n volved i n foreign poetries
was " Babe l , " Jack and Ruth Hirschman's program of bilingual read i ngs of poetry a nd
prose. I h a d participated i n the series, reading Lou i se Varese's versions of S t . -Joh n
Perse's Eloges. Through the Hirschmans, I had become aware of poetry i n translatio n
a lm ost as soon as I became a ware i n 1 956 that poetry existed a t a l l .
I fin i shed a Master's Degree i n 1 961 , and took a job with the University of
M a ryland's Far Eas tern Division, teachi ng English to military person nel in Japan, Korea,
and Taiwan . Before leavi ng, a lmost a s an a fterthough t, I packed the copy of Poesia de
America, featuring Vallejo, 12 wh ich I had found in a Mexico City bookstore the first
summer I was there . The fol lowing year my first wife and I moved to Kyoto where for
the next two years I mainly studied and wrote. By this time I had around forty pages of
Neruda transla tions a nd h aving been encouraged by Paul Blackburn to publish them, I
a rranged with George Hitchcock for a small edition to be brought out by The Amber
House Press, a book series tha t never got beyond the Neruda title, sponsored by the
e d i tors of the old San Francisco Review. Before the book was prod uced, I showed my
m a n u script to Cid Corman who said the translations were too word y, and convinced me
that I s hould take out many of the articles and conj unctions-which I did, agai n mailing
the poems to Blackburn, who wrote me that I had ruined the tra nslation . I finally ended
up compromising , the book was published, and the translations have never i nterested
me again . I tell this a necdote to poin t out the way one can be buffeted by differing
opi nions (Corman did not care for Neruda's poetry and this i n fluenced the way he fel t
abo u t my English versions), u n ti l one develops not only a translation viewpoint b u t also
a feel for both languages a n d how they work in poetry .
I con tinued to translate Neruda i n 1962 a nd a t one poin t pla nned to do a selection of
h is Odas. But, h a v i ng left my comfortable "bohemian" s tudent life, I was feeling the
pressu re to make poetry into something that would sustain me, and I was going through
a period of finding tha t those poets who had first excited me were not weigh ty enough
for continued learning . By early 1 963 part of me was still cleverly trying to avoid what i t
k new i t had to do a n d part o f me wanted to be a translator so as not to have to face the
part of me tha t was frightened to come forth as a poet. There were many days tha t I
would get up early i n the morni ng to work on my poetry, type out one line a nd then
block-I d id not know how to push it on withou t sounding "un poetic. " I gradually
taug h t myself to sit before the problem for hours, but tra nslation was the big temptation,
the easiest escape to rationalize . But, was it a n escape? Wha t was I lea rning by staring
a t a line for hours?
The first poem of Vallejo's tha t I tried to read i n Kyoto was "Me viene, hay dfas,
u na gana uberrima, politica . . . " It was as if a h a nd of wet sand came out of the original
and "qu icked" me i n-1 was quicksanded , over my head, or was it a spa r Vallejo threw
me? Each move I made, or tried to make, drew me farther in or farther out . I could
not tell w here the focu s lay, between Vallejo's poetry a nd my desire to wri te poetry, or
in that part of me tha t wa n ted to evade the hard work of doing my own poetry . And
how m uch of this d i fficul ty had to do with my i nability to read l iterary Spa nish? I had
been able to read Neruda with the help of a d ictionary; with Vallejo I was lost . Yet to
turn away from h i m was to be more lost, found out by my i nabi l i ty to express anything
t h a t was "my own , " as well as to express mysel f i n the most simple ways with others . I
had no voice . I merely wa nted .

12Poesia de America, #5, "Homenaje a Cesar Vallejo" (Mexico OF, 1954).

 INTRODUCTION I xxix

For severa l days, I have felt a n exubera nt, poli tical need
to love, to kiss a ffection on its two cheeks,
a n d I have felt from a far a demonstrative
desire, another desire to love, willingly or by force,
whoever h ates me, whoever rips u p his paper, a little boy,
the woman who cries for the man who was crying,
the king o f wine, the slave of water,
whoever hid in h is wrath,
whoever sweats, whoever passes, whoever shakes his person in my soul .
A n d I want, therefore, to adjust
the braid of whoever talks to me; the hair of the soldier;
the light of the great one; the greatness of the little one .
I wa n t to iron directly
a h a ndkerchief for whoever is u nable to cry
a n d , when I a m sad or happiness hurts me,
to mend the ch ildren and the geniuses.

Vallejo was claiming that he desired to love-not tha t he did not love, but tha t he
desired to, and that his desire for desire led him to imagine, later in the same poem, all
sorts o f "interhuman" acts he would like to perform, like kissing a singer's m uffler, or
kissing a deaf man on his cranial murm ur. He wanted to help everyone achieve his goal ,
n o m atter what it was, even t o help the killer kill, and-he wan ted t o be kind to him­
self in everything . These were thoughts that, had I had them myself, I would have either
d ismissed or so immed iately repressed that they would have evaporated . But I now
rea l ized tha t there was a whole wailing ca thedral of desires, half-desires, mad -desires,
a n ti -desires, all of which, in the Val lejo poem, seemed ca ught on the edge of no-desire.
A n d if so, what made him reach desiring desire? The need to flee his body? A need to
enter h is body? To enter another body? I did not know what he meant, but trying to
rea d h i m made me fe�l that I was in the presence of a mile-thick spiri t . So I kept at it.
In the a fternoon I would ride my motorcycle downtown and work on translations in
the Yorunomado ("Night Window") cafe . I would a l ways sit by the carp pond on the
pa tio . There I discovered the following word s of Vallejo: "Then where is the other flank
of this cry of pain i f, to estimate it as a whole, it breaks now from the bed of a man?" I
saw Val lejo in a birth bed in that line, not knowing how to give birth, which i ndicated to
me a totally other realization , that artistic bearing and fruition were physical as wel l as
mental, a matter o f one's total energy. I knew that I had to learn to become a physical
traveler a s well as a mental one . For most of 1 963 a nd the first hal f of 1 964, everything I
saw a n d felt clustered about th is feeling; it seemed to be i n a phrase from the I Ching,
" the darkening of the light, " as wel l as in the Kyoto sky, which was gray and overcast
yet mysteriously luminou s .
As I s truggled t o get Vallejo's involuted Spanish into English, I increasingly h a d the
feeling that I was struggling with a m a n more than with a text, and that this struggle
was a m atter o f my becoming or failing to become a poet. The man I was struggling with
n o t only did not want his words changed from one language to a nother but it seemed as
if he did not want to be changed himsel f. I began to rea lize that i n working on Vallejo I
h a d ceased merely to be what I was before coming to Ja pan, tha t I had a glimpse now of
another l i fe, a l i fe I was to create rather than be given, and tha t this other man I was
struggling with was the old Clayton who was resisting change . The old Clayton wanted
to con tinue living in his white Presbyterian world of "light"-not really light, but the
XXX I lNTRODUCflON

"light" of m a n a ssocia ted with day/cla rity/good a nd woma n associated with nigh t/
opaqueness/bad . The darkness tha t was beginning to make itself fel t in m y sensibility
coul d be v iewed a s the brea king up of that "light . "
I n giving birth t o mysel f, William Blake's poetry also became very importan t . I
wante d to converse with Blake a nd knew I could not do this in the sense of Clayton
talking with William , but that I might be able to do it if I created a figure of my imagi­
n a tio n . It was rea lly not Blake him self I sought, but his imagination which he created
a n d named Los. In the last half of the only poem I completed to a ny satisfaction while
living in Japan , 13 I e nvisioned mysel f as a kind o f a ngelless Jacob wrestling with a figu re
from a n a lien alphabet, t rying to take its mea ning from h im; I lose the struggle and find
m ysef on a h a rakiri pla t form in medieva l Japan, being condemned by Vallejo ( now
playing the role of a karo, or overlord) to disembowel mysel f. I do so, cu tting my ties to
the "given life, " a nd releasing a Los-like figu re, named Yoru nomado (in honor of my
working place), who had been to that point cha i ned to an alta r i n my solar plexus. In
ea rly 1 964 the fruit o f my struggle with Vallejo was not a successful linguistic transla­
tion, b u t a n imaginative a d vance in which a third (or al lowing Bla ke's role i n the
p rocess) or fou rth figure emerged from my in tercourse with the tex t . Had I consumed
Vallejo in a final English version at that time, Yoru nomado would not have been
u nlocked. He became my guide in the ten-yea r process of developing a "created life , "
recorded in the book-length poem, Coils.
I was close to completi ng a first d ra ft of the tra nsl a tion arou nd Ma rch 1 963 when I
had a strange experience. After working all afternoon in Yoru nomado, I cycled over to a
pottery m anu facturer where I taught English a s a foreign la nguage once a week.
Whenever I had things to carry on the cycle, I would strap them with a s tretch -cord to
the platfo rm in back of the sea t . Tha t evening, as usual , I did so, a nd re-strapped the
p oe m- filled notebook, my dictionary , a nd a copy of Poernas lwmallos, when I left the
company. It was now dark and the alley was poorly lit . I had gone about 1 00 yards
w he n I h eard a voice, i n Japanese, cry "Hey, you dropped something!" I swerved
aroun d-the platform was empty--even the stretch-cord gone. I stopped a nd retraced
my d irection on foot . N othing . I looked for the person who had cal led . No one was
there . While I was walking around i n the dark, a large skinny dog began to follow me
very closely-I was rem i nded of the Mexican pa riah dogs a nd that gave a n eerie sort of
i de n tity w ith this dog . Was it Peru vian ? Was it-Vallejo? I went back the next morning
when it was lig h t a nd of cou rse there was not a trace of the things I had lost.
In the following twelve months, I completed three more dra fts of the book. Ra fael
Squ irru, a n Argen tine scholar who was then one of the editors of Americas magazine a t
t h e O A S i n Washington, D . C . , went over the first of these line by line a n d mailed me
his corrections, queries, and ba fflemen ts every week . Cid Connan went over a great deal
of the second a nd third d ra fts, and to Cid I owe a special debt, not only for the time he
p u t in o n the manuscript but for what I learned about the art of tra nslation from his
comments a n d his own tra nslations of Basho a nd Eugenio Montale on which he was
working at the time. Previous to working with Connan, I thought a litera l translation
was, i n effect, a first d ra ft, which followed the original almost word by word . I thoug h t
t h a t t h e goal of a tran sla ting project w a s to ta ke the literal draft and interp ret everything
that was not accep table English. By i nterpret, I mea n to monkey with words, phrases,
p un ctuation, line breaks, even s ta nza breaks, tu rning the literal i n to something tha t was
not a n original poem in E nglish bu t-a nd here is the rub-something tha t because of the

l l "Th e Book of Yorunomado," in Indiana (Los Angeles, 1969) . This poem was later reworked and appea red as
"Webs of Entry" in Coils (Los A ngeles, 1973) .
 I NTRODUCfiON I xxxi

liberties taken was also not accurate to the o rigi nal itself. Maci ntyre's Rilke, Bel itt's
Neru d a , or Lowell's Imitations come to mind as exa mples of in terpretive tra nslations .
Corma n taugh t me to respect the origi nal at every point, to check everythi ng (including
w ords that I thought I knew), and to work toward a goal in which the meaning of every
bit of the origi nal is p reserved as litera lly as possible a n d in such a way that an engaging
poem in English has been made. Such a tra nslation is not literal (in the way that word is
crudely used) nor is it in terpreta tive (meaning one in which liberties have been taken) .
Certai n ly it is both in the most ample sense. I have fou nd over the years tha t precise
l i teral tra nslations, done with grace, a re not only terribly di fficult to do bu t nearly
im possible. The re a re impulsive urges in every translator to fi ll i n , pad out, to make
something strong that more li terally would fa ll flat, to explain a word ra ther than to
trauslate it, to shade this or that to give a "heightened tone, " and so o n . I reca ll Ka fka's
story, "The Penal Colony, " where the condemned is strapped to a torture device tha t
m u rders h im by inscribing, with a steel need le, his sen tence in his back. As if trans­
la tors, the victim text in their heads, sentence it on the basis of what it has done, a nd
ca rry this sente nce out, in the name of "poetic j ustice, " by ki lling the original, pen in ha nd .
Often when poets transla te, they depend on a "pony" or someone else's literal
version to work off. This ma nner of working seems natu ral enough i f an interpreta ­
tional tra nslation is the goa l . I tried to avoid this trap by only checking my dra fts with
others a nd never asking anyone to do a draft that I would rework. I n the cou rse of
tra nslating Va llejo, I am aware of one exception to this ru le: in 1 965, Octavia Corvalan,
then a professor of Spanish at India na Universi ty, prepared a first d ra ft of Spain, Take
Tllis Cup From Me .
I had returned to Bloomington, India na, the fa ll of 1 964 and lived there u n til the
following summer, at which time I wen t to Peru . I su pported myself by translating an
a nthology of Lati n America n poetry (i n which neither Neruda or Vallejo were included),
commissioned by Squ i rru for the OAS, and completed a fou rth d raft of Human Poems
w h ich I checked , line for line, with Olga Villaga rcia, a Peruvian woman doi ng graduate
work a t the university, and a fifth d ra ft that I went over with Corvalan . On the basis of
his fi rs t dra ft of Spain, I prepa red two more, both of which Corvalan commen ted o n . I
then decided to do nothing more with Spain un til I fi nished Humm1 Poems .
At this point some textual deta ils should be mentioned . As I noted before, the
poems that made up the ma nuscri pt were left by Vallejo in a heavi ly corrected
typescri pt, from which Mme Vallejo made a clean copy for publication . There are many
errors in the first edition wh ich were repea ted in subsequent ed itions and new errors
made (principa lly, I have been told , because M me Vallejo refused most of these
publishers permission, and the pira ted editions were done off the first or some other
edition w i thout being checked against Vallejo's worksheets, wh ich were not ava ilable to
a n yone, to my knowledge, u n til a facsimile of them was published in 1 968) . I n the fi rs t
and subsequent editions, Va llejo's seemingly intentional misspellings were corrected ,
neologisms were eliminated , periods and commns left out (or put in where they did not
exist), sta nzas were inverted , a nd i n one case one poem made of two, and in another,
two poems made in to one .
By the spring of 1 965 I was worki ng from fou r fu ndamentally the snme but differi ng
edi tions of Pocmas lwmmws, 14 having seen neither a copy of the fi rs t ed i tion nor the

J 4These a re: a 1 959 and a 1 961 edition published by Peru NuL'\'O ( Lima), a 1959 ed i t i o n published N u evo
Mundo (Lima), and a 1 949 edition published by Losada ( B ue n os Aires ) . These books, a lon� w i t h o ther materials
relating to t he two G rove Press t ra n slations, a re part of the Esh lema n / V a i iL•jo A rchive a t t h t• U niversity of
California, San Die�o. libra ry .
xxxii I INTRODUCfiON

\-\'Orksheets. And, a s I mentioned before, the order in which the poems were printed
m a de no sense whatsoever. The only i n formation about this was several pages of n o tes
by Mme Vallejo w h ich appeared in the 1 959 Peru Nuevo edition . There she claimed that
the p rose poems actually belonged to a separate collection called "C6digo Civil" w hich
had been w ritten in the twen ties . Yet, withou t expla na tion, she had not only published
these poems in Poemas h umanos but had i ncluded them a t the end, a fter poems d a ted in
1 937. In the 1 959 Peru Nuevo edition s he also elimina ted the da tes on the previously
d a ted poems, claiming that the da tes were mea ningless because they i ndica ted when a
poem w a s fin ished, not when i t was written . But such a s ta tement made no sense either,
for she hersel f had published the da tes in the first edi tion . Furthermore, even if they did
represe n t completion poi n ts, why should they not be respected? Many writers only d a te
a work when i t is completed. Finally, the idea of a "fi n ished" as opposed to "written"
poem was suspect, since she had also sta ted tha t the text of the first edition had been
based on worksheets tha t Vallejo had left unfi n ished a t the time of his dea th . To even
further a d d to these complications, she d id not change the order of the poems in the
1 959 edi tion ! The book ended, as had all o ther editions, w i th the longest of the prose
poems, " La s ven ta nas se h a n estremecido . . . " a t the end of w hich, given its placement,
the a uthor pres umably dies .
I n s tead o f shap ing up a s I worked along, the whole project was becoming a
n ig h tm a re. I was having dreams i n w hich Vallejo's corpse, fully dressed, w i th muddy
shoes, was laid ou t in bed between Barbara a n d mysel f. By this time I had gotten in
touch with Mme Vallejo a nd explained that I did not see how I could complete the
tra nslation u nless I came to Peru a nd examined the worksheets. I h ired a lawyer to d ra w
u p a con tract, a n d mailed i t t o her a lo ng w i th samples from the fourth dra ft . I must have
wri tten h er a h a l f dozen letters to w hich I received one reply tha t did not respond to any
o f my reques ts. But I was determined to go, a nd w i th Barbara severa l months pregnant,
we left in Augus t. By this time, I had also completed one of the central pieces in Coils, a
long poem called "Niemonj ima , " in w hich I had tried to bring my psychic involvement
w i th Va llejo up to da te.
Before I went to Peru, I a lso foun d ou t that Mme Vallejo had refused New
D irections permission to publish a collection of Vallejo translations by H . R . Hays, the
first person, to my knowledge, to publish Va llejo translations in English . I was in a very
tricky position with the woma n, beca use I not only needed to see the first edi tion a nd
workshee ts, but a lso, on the basis of the dra fts I had sent, needed her permission to be
a ble to get a publisher's con tract and adva nce on the book-to-be . I had not been in her
apa r tm e nt fifteen minu tes w hen she told me tha t my tra n slations were full of "howlers, "
tha t Vallejo was u n tra nsla table i n the first place, a nd tha t neither the first edi tion nor the
worksheets were a va ilable to be seen .
G eorgette Vallejo was then a small wiry middle-class French woman in her la te
sixties. S h e lived ra ther spa rta nly, yet not uncom fortably, in a sma ll apartment,
appointed w i th pre-Incan pottery and weavings, in Mira flores, one of the wea l thiest
d is tricts in Lima . She possessed an awesome dedica tion to Vallejo and to his writing . A t
t h e same time, she woul d n o t en tertain a ny questions concerning the way she had
refused not only to re-edi t published work but to allow u npublished work to appea r.
When I a sked h er w hy she had not published Vallejo's drama s (she had, as a ma t ter of
fact, tra nslated a few scenes from La piedra cansada and published them in a French
magazine, w i thout a llowing the dra ma to be published in S panish), 15 she said tha t she

1 5 A i though I have n o t seen i t , I have be e n told t h a t La piedra cansada a ppeared in Vision del Peru #4 (Lima,
1 969), the e n tire issue of which was devoted to Vallejo.
 INTRODUCTION I xxxiii

did not think they were of much interest and , even i f they were, she had not yet found
the rig h t publisher.
Near the end of 1965, I met Maureen Ahern, an American woman with a Ph . D from
San Marcos University, who was then married and living with her family on a chicken
farm in Cieneguilla, about twenty m iles outside Lima . During the last few months that I
was in Peru, I checked m y s ixth dra ft with Maureen, going out to the fann several
evenings each week. When we returned to the States in the spring of 1 966 a nd moved to
New York City, G rove Press expressed interest in the transla tion. I prepared a seventh
d ra ft and Grove had it checked by "readers . " I was offered a contract-contingent upon
Mme Vallejo's signature. I wrote Mau reen and asked her if there was anything she could
do . She o ffered to go and meet Georgette. For the next six months Maureen must have
seen Georgette a couple of times a week and she did this while taking care of her kids,
teaching fullti me, battling illness and trying to save a floundering marriage .
While Richa rd Seaver, then the senior editor at Grove, was sending letter after letter
to Georgette, trying to convince her that the translation Grove had accepted was not the
one I set her from Bloomington in 1 964, Mau reen and her husba nd Johnny were invi ti ng
her out to t he farm for holiday weekends. Since Seaver was getting nowhere, Maureen
eve ntually had to mention that she was a friend of mine a nd that she had worked on the
translation . Georgette protested that s he had been betrayed and once again it looked as
if everything was o ff. But Maureen kept a fter her and one day America Ferrari, a scholar
who had written on Vallejo, appeared at the Grove offices and told Seaver that Mme
Vallejo had asked him to check the translation . Apparently he wrote her that it was all
rig h t, for a week or so later, she wrote Seaver a nd said that she wou ld sign a contract if
G rove included the following clause: when and it she found a translation that she
considered to be better than mine, Grove must destroy mine and publish the other one .
Seaver told m e that h e had had i t with her. So I wrote Maureen that unless a signed
con t ract appeared within the next month, the whole project would be off. Maureen
con tinued to plead with her. Once again, she seemed to change her mind: she would
sign a G rove con t ract if they would ask for world English rights on all of Vallejo's poetry
(instead of American rights on Human Poems alone) . Her rationale was that she never
wan ted to be bothered with having to deal with other publishers on other Vallejo books .
B y this time, everyone involved a t Grove was so irritated and confused that no new
con tract was prepared . I saw mysel f w ithin an inch of getting a contract and at the same
time within half an inch of losing every thing . I cabled Mau reen to make one more
a ttempt to get Georgette to sign the last con tract that Grove had sent here . So Maureen
and John n y wen t over to reason with her. After several hours Georgette said that if
Johnn y would sit down and type up the contract that she wanted, she would sign it
then a n d there . He did, she signed it, and a week later Seaver called me and said that
w h ile i t was not their contract, Grove found it acceptable a nd their lawyer had
determined it was legal . He wrote Georgette, enclosing her part of the advance .
S ubsequently, Maureen wrote that Georgette had just called her on the phone,
extremely upset, saying that she thought the con tract Johnny had typed out was "only a
gestu re, " and that she had signed it so Maureen would not be disa ppointed, and that
s he had never intended, a t any poin t, to sign a legal contract! I should add that a t a n
earlier s tage i n the negotiations, Maureen had gone over my seventh dra ft with
Geo rgette, and that on the basis of a few corrections I had prepa red an eigh th and a
n in th version . G rove went ahead a nd the book was published in the spring of 1 968. I
ended m y Translator's Foreword wi th : "I will elaborate no further. My work is done . "
I n 1 970 m y present wife Caryl and I moved to California, a nd wh ile com pleting
Coils, I decided to finish other projects I had begun in the sixties . I made a fourth dra ft
xxxiv I INTRODUCTION

o f Spain, Take Th is Cup From Me, and once again found myself looking for someone to
check it with . I was introd uced to Jose Rubia Barcia, a Span ish poet and essa yist, i n exile
s i nce the Span ish civil war, who has been teach ing at UCLA for years . While going over
the d ra ft with Barcia, I was so impressed with his honesty, scrupu losity, a nd li terary
i n te lligence, tha t I s uggested we work together, as co- tra nsla tors . Th is is not to imply
tha t the people who had hel ped me before were not honest a nd scrupulous. A ll, without
exception , gave the work their best. The main reason a co- tra nslation did not occur
before is tha t i n the sixties none of us really u nderstood wha t Vallejo had written a nd
t h u s a l l translating and all checking took place in the da rk . I think of alchemy in this
con nection, as if in taking u p Vallejo's book I had begun a "Va llejo Working" a nd the
1 968 version represents a kind of pu trefaction, which I mistook at the time for
i ncom b ustible s u l phur. The persistent working in the dark had resu l ted in a tra nsl a tion
tha t was on the "right pa th , " so to speak, and no other person could really work on a
o ne-to-one basis with me u n ti l this right path had been ach ieved .
Wh ile Barcia a nd I were working on the S pa nish civil war poems, I showed him the
1 968 transla tion of Poernas lz umanos, w h ich he carefu l l y went over and penciled arou nd
2,000 queries and suggestions for cha nge in the margins. He felt tha t what I had
a ccomplished was mea n ingfu l , but tha t we could do it m uch better working together. In
the fal l of 1 972, using the 1 968 tra nslation as a base, we bega n to work towa rd the
prese n t translation . We did one draft which I took to Pa ris with me in the fall of 1 973
a n d then tried to work through the m a i l . I t was terribly time consuming, as we had so
man y q uestions to ask each other a nd a fter I completed wha t wou ld be the eleventh
d ra ft (taking the entire transla tion from the beginning i n to considera tion) a nd Barcia
compiled a one h un dred page commentary on ma terial that possibly should be anno­
tated, we decided to wait u n ti l m y retu rn to Cal i fornia to contin ue . At this time, I did
a n other piece of my own writing on Va llejo, a poem called "At the Tomb of Vallejo"
(which B arcia transla ted i n to Spanish), occasioned by some visits to the new resting
p lace m Mon tparnasse. Grove published Spam, Take This Cup From Me in the spring o f
1 974, a nd once I retu rned tha t fall w e went a head, a nd over the next three and a h a l f
years , d id seven more d ra fts . Relative to my experiences i n t h e s ix ties, these yea rs
were ra ther cal m a nd scholarly .
I n 1 977, w h i le working on the eigh teenth draft, one of Va llej o's crossed ou t lints,
literally, "I will cal l h im a t the margin of his name of encased (encajonado) river, "
leaped up a t me; I hea rd "enca n yoned " i n "encajonado" a nd came to "The N a me
E nca nyoned River, " a long poem tha t mea nders through the walls o f a p prentice­
s h ip a nd , other than t his I ntroductio n , cu lminates the rela tionship. I n several cases,
I h a ve cou nted the n u mber of cha nges made in a poem between 1968 a nd 1978:
there a re 1 39 in "Tellu ric and magnetic, " a nd 83 in "Good sense . " I wou ld guess that
there are around 8,000 in the entire book. We have also done more work on our 1 974
Spain tra nslation , though in tha t case, i t is more i n the na tu re of revision than
retranslation .
There are severa l good reasons for the retra n sla tion . First of a l l , Vallejo's posth u ­
m o u s poetry i s extraord inarily d ifficu l t, perhaps the most complex col lection of poems
ever to be written in the S pa nish language. Va llejo a ppea rs to be the first Spa nish
l a nguage poet to approach the language as if it were steel to be bent and reshaped i n to
a scu l p tu re tha t bea rs not only his i m p ri n t but also the record of the kinetic tension
i nvolved at a l l the stages of giving the sculptu re its final shape . When traditiona l syn tax
is su fficient to carry what he wan ts to say, he a l lows it a nd works within it. But when it
is inca pable of yielding a point or mea ning, he bends it to su i t needs of the poem in
 --------------��
INTRODUCfl00! I xx:w

p rogress, riskin g obsc u ri ty to say il t mome n t s w h il t feel s i neffa b l e . W h i l e t h e poet ry t h a t

resu l ts is not t ra d i ti o n a l , nei ther cou ld i t b e ca l led experi men ta l . Ra t h er, b o t h of th ese
forces a re p rese n t as agents in com position, il n d t h e tilsk for il Villlejo t ril n slil tor becomes
to d e a l w i t h bo th of these poles . It is il S i f A n to n i n A rt il u d ' s spider il l ph abet hild
d ropped o n to Wil l i a m Bu tler Yeil ts w h i le the lat ter was working on il q u a t ril i n . If one ciln
i mil g i n e t h e res u l t of t h e s t ruggle t h il t migh t ensue fro m such a co n j u nction, he w i l l hilve
a usefu l "glyph" of the n a tu re o f Vill lejo's ma tu re poe t ry .
I f m y descri p tion o f t h is poe t ry milkes i t sound opilq u e, I shou l d poin t o u t thilt
rel il ti ve t o Trila i t is accessi b l e . Com pil ri ng the pos t h u mo u sly publ i sh ed poe t ry w i th the
form e r book, A m e rica Ferril ri hils w ri t t e n : "The lil nguilge h il s become cleil ner, withou t
s m u d g e s . The b reil th more a mple il n d s u s til i ned , il t t il i n s , here il nd th ere, the solemn
tone of il h ym n . One no longe r fi nds certil i n tec h n icil l methods o f Trilcc, blil n k s pil ces ,
d el i be ra t e l y incorrec t spel l i n gs, o n o m il topoeic gril ti ngs, t h e cil p i t a l l e t ters t h a t u n derl i n e
t he weigh t of il w o rd . Th us, the poe t ' s though t becomes more t ra n sp a re n t , more
a ccessible; the emotion ru n s i n Wil ves fol lowing meilnders o f il free a nd s po n t a neous
l a n gu il ge , bu t the poet, more t h il n ever, co n t ro l s ilnd d i rects . Th i s lil ngu il ge, at one
m o me n t l i m p id , il t il noth er, desperil te l y obscu re , hils, l i ke a river, i t s swee p i n g ril p i d s , i t s
w h i rl po o l s , i ts fa l ls . " 1 6
A no t h e r reil s o n for re t ra n sllltion h a s to do w i t h sch o l a rs h i p . A long w i t h the fa csi m ile
m a te ri il l , we hilve been fo rtu n il t e to h a ve the fru i t s of La rreil 's yea rs with V a l lejo' s work,
m uc h of w h ich is p resen ted i n the " 1 1 - 1 2 -1 3 " issue o f A u la Vallejo. 1 7 Besi des establi s h i n g
a ra tio n a l o rd e ri ng o f t h e u n d il ted poems, b y coord i na t i n g t hem w i t h dil ted letters from
t h e six ty pewri te rs V a l lejo u sed w h i le in Eu rope, Lil rreil convinci ngly d emons t rates th a t
w h a t h a s h e retofo re been cal led Pocmas Jwma11 os i s hvo sepa ril te m a n u scri pt s . As early as
1 956, Mme V a l l e j o told A n d re Coyne that the t i t le Poemas lwmmzos had not been chosen
by the poe t h i m se l f, bu t " i n d ica ted , in the opi nion of the ed i tors, the u n i ve rsa l meil n i ng
o f h is poe t ry . " 18 Lil rrea su ggests t h a t such a ti t l e mily h a ve occu rred to M m e Vallejo a s a
sl igh t Vil ria tion o n t h e ti t l e of a G e m rdo Diego book, Versos lwm mws . Whether this is true
or n o t is i m possible to tell-th ere is no con nection be tween V il l lejo's poe t ry il nd Diego ' s .
Accord i n g t o La rrea , i n 1 936 Va l lejo pu t together a m a n u scri pt for publ icil tion of a l l the
poetry a nd prose poetry that h e hild wri t ten si nce com i n g to Eu rope, a nd cil l l ed it
Nom i n a de lwesos , based on t h e t i t le of the fi rst poem , i n t h e sa me way t h a t Los lzcraldos
neg ros was ba se d o n t h e o pe n i ng poe m ' s ti tle . Va l lejo s u bmi t ted t h i s mil n u scri pt to il
M a d ri d p u b l i s h e r w h o a p pa re n t l y ilccepted it b u t the word never reilched V il llejo. Before
h e cou ld d o a ny t h i ng else w i t h the m a n u scri pt, t h e Spilnish civil w a r broke o u t , a n d h is
a t ten ti o n Wil S t u rned n o t o n l y there b u t to wri t i n g new poems, the da ted versions of
w h ich were typed out i n the fal l o f 1 937. S i nce N6m i1ra de hucsos h a s m a ny hil ndwri t t e n
correct i o n s , \Ve a ss u me t h a t w h i l e work i ng on t h e da ted poems Va l lejo wen t back to t h i s
m a n u sc ri p t a n d d i d m o re w o r k on i t . H a ndwri t ten corrections were a d ded t o bo t h
ma n u scri p ts probil b l y i n Decembe r 1 937 il n d J a n u a ry/Febru a ry 1 938; fo r exa m ple, \ve
know h e w a s m il k i ng corrections i n 1 938 becil u se i n the typed l i nes "My fri e n d , you il re

1 " A m crico Ferra ri , ' 'Tra jl'CIOin' Du Pol.•tl> , " Ct•�a r Va/lqo!Poclc� d 'au,o u rd '/1111 # l hH ( Pa n s , 1 967) . p 29 . How­
eve r Ferrari is wro ng a bo u t the lack o f d l• libe rate m isspl'lli n�s .md ca pital ll'l ter-. i n the post h u mo u s l y publ i sh ed
,

poe try . There a re less of t h em t h a n in Trilct•, b u t t hey cer t a m l y exist Ferra ri'� error 1s pnlbably d ue to t h l' f.Kt
t h a t he had not Sl'en thl' workshl'l' l s when he wrote h i� l''isay .
1 7J n a d d i tion to t h i s ma ll'ria l , we should .1 d d that Larrea's la ll'SI book was recently publ ishl•d m A pri l 1 978:
Ct•sar Vallt•Jo/Poesia camp/eta ( Ba rcdo na ) . 932 pp A -.econd vol u me I S .m n o u ncl•d wh ic h w i l l l'Xa m i n e one by one a l l
ot V a l lejo's poems.
1 8LurPa reco rds a n d discu sses Coy nC:• 's com'l'rsa tio n w 1 t h M me Vallejo m A 11l11 \ 'lllleJo 1 1 - 12 - 13, p p . 3 1 9 - 32 1 .
XXXVI I INTRODUCTION

completely, I up to your ha ir, in the 37th year, " (from "The soul tha t suffered from
being i ts body"), he hand-corrected the "7" to a n "8;" surely "38th" refers to 1 938 a n d
not t o Vallejo's o w n age (46) at the time. Vallejo became sick in Ma rch a n d probably
s topped working on these ma nuscripts (but not Espmla) at that time. Thus there is no
" final versio n , " or if one wa n ts to call the corrected worksheets a final version, the
p hrase must be qualified : a l l we k now is tha t Vallejo stopped working on the poems
sometime in 1 938 before he died . We do not know if he considered the da ted poems i n
Semzon de Ia barbarie completed or not. Had he lived longer, h e m ight very well have
made a clean typescript, a t w h ich time he might have made more changes .
A s for the d a ted poems, no title can be found . Larrea makes a plausible, if not
convincing, case for Semzon de Ia barbarie, arguing that i t is the key phrase in the last
d ated poem, "Sermon sabre Ia muerte, " a nd suggests that "Ia barbarie" was a metap hor
for " Babel, " the Word (bab-ilu ), the "Gate of God" tha t Vallejo engaged i n the central
book o f h is career. Having spent twenty-one years with this poetry, I respect Larrea's
imaginati ve find ings based on his much longer acquaintanceship . I have a strong feel i ng
tha t Vallejo h imself did not title the da ted ma nuscript, and given the option to either go
a long with La rrea or to conclude that the lack of a title is in itself significa n t-to a ssume
tha t Vallejo consciously d id not title this manuscript-! prefer accepting Larrea's sense of
things. If a so-ca lled true title is found in the fu ture, let i t be added, in the same spiri t
tha t Poemas humanos i s now erased .
My final j ustification for a retra nsla tion has to do w i th my own relation to the text,
w h ich should be implicit by now . I began tra nslating Vallejo when I was a you ng man
who w a n ted to be a poet. I n ways that do not cease to amaze me, Cesar Vallejo became
my poetic u niversity a nd , on one level, our retra nsla tio n represents a resolution of k nots
a nd frustrations of my own wh ich can be felt a t times in the 1968 version . I have, as a
poet, come up through Val lejo, a n d a m now proud to offer a transla tion of his work that
has my own poetic growth not only buried but overcome i n it. I feel tha t the
retranslation presents a clearer a nd, at the same time, a more obscure Vallejo than
before . We h a ve tried very hard not to make him any more clear in English than he is i n
Spa nish . Whe n h is language i s obscure, i t always represents a n effort t o realize a real i ty
i n wh ich nothi ng is clear, a sensing tha t in the heart o f Being there is a wound, tha t in
the " lesion of the response, " is the "lesion mentally of the u nknow n ."
O u r method in this retra nslation has been to consta ntly work off the literal edge of
what Vallejo is saying and to be as uninterpretative as possible. We do not see ourselves
recrea ti ng a text in English; ra ther, we hope to be making one in Spanish visible to a n
E nglish reader. Our goal has been to achieve a translation that reads as great poetry i n
E ngl ish while a t the same moment i t is exactly wha t Vallejo i s saying in Spanish .
Obviously, this is not purely possible . Our desire to be responsible, first of all, to
Va llejo's exact word a n d mea n i ng will not allow us to distort the ha ndfu l of rhymed
poems so as to rhyme them in Engl ish . Also, there are h undreds of situations in w h ich a
choice m ust be made, such a s between "skull," "helmet, " a nd "hoof, " in the case of
"casco . " I n such a s i tu a tion, the con text helps, but we realize tha t i t is not a ma tter of
find ing the word tha t duplica tes Vallejo's mea n i ng in Spa nish, but of selecti ng o ne layer
of mea n i ng from a word tha t Vallejo probably chose to use because it mea n t ma ny
t h i ngs .
Beca use o f the n umber of d i fficult words, neologisms, a nd intentional misspellings,
a nd too, beca use of the thousands of handwri tten cha nges tha t Val lejo made on the
typescri pt, we decided tha t a section of Notes was ca lled for. We have not tried to
commen t on everything tha t is puzzling, for if we d id the Notes section wou ld be several
 I NTRODUCfiON I xxxvii

hundred pages long . Wha t we have d one is to translate material that Vallejo has crossed
out, to try to give the reader a sense o f the process he used in "completing" the
manuscript. We have not translated all the crossed out material; in some cases it is
illegible a n d in others it is w i th out in terest . Since we a re sure that earlier versions exist
for a t lea st some of the poems, 19 and also since several of the posthumously published
poems a re without facsimile in the Obra Poetica Complctn, we must point out that when
we n ote that Vallejo "originally" w rote such and such , we a re refe rring to the first typ;:d
version of a poem on a worksheet reproduced in the Moncloa edition . Most of Vallejo's
corrections defini tely improve poems, especially in the first two posth umously published
books-much less so in Espniin . The tendency of the corrections is to move a way from
p red ictable associa tions to more elliptic, imagina tive and, a t times, obscure ones.
In Espmia, there are hvo poems that seem significantly stronger before h andwri tten
corrections and ad d i tions/subtractions \vere made: we have presented these pieces in a
tra nsla tion based on the uncorrected typescript in our Notes . Also in regard to Espniin,
we h a ve created a n Appendix to make available one sequence of eight Roman numeraled
poems ( I - VIII) that were finally distributed throughout the manuscript in a d ifferent
order with some o f the best wri ting eliminated (section II was com pletely suppressed, as
were nearly half of III, and a hal f dozen lines of IV, V, and V I I ) . We feel that the essence
o f this book is in t hese eight sections.
In regard to neologisms and misspellings: we have consulted G iovanni Meo Zilio's
study20 a n d made use of some of his suggestions. His study is unfortunately not based
on the worksheets (it came out in 1 967), and contains some misreadings based on the
earl ier error rid d led and falsely standard ized edi tions. We have also corresponded with
La rrea concerning d i fficul t a nd/or made-up words, and have checked some problematic
Peru vian isms with Irene Vegas-Ga rcia , a young Peruvian scholar, specializing in Vallejo,
at UCLA . We h a ve gone so far as to restore Vallejo's worksheet indenta tions, titles (in
the Con tents as well as in the text), and title "signs, " to the extent that certain pages will
look more like a typescript than a typeset page . At all points our p resent Spanish text is
based on the facsimilies themselves and not on the typeset text in the Obrn Poetica
Complcta. In order to indicate to the reader some of the difficu l ties involved in
establishing a clean text, we have reproduced several pages of Vallejo's worksheets from
the 1 968 M oncloa edition .

Cla y ton Eshlema n I July 1 978, Los Angeles .

t9For exam p le, in the Poetes d 'aujourd 'lr w translation of Vallejo's poetry into French, facing p . 1 28, is a repro­
duction of a worksheet for the poem beginning "EIIo es que cl Iugar donde me pongo . . . " da ted the same day as
the one in the Obra Poetica Completa and most probably written earlier
20Ceova n n i Meo Zilio, " N eologismos en Vallejo," LaPori della Sc:io11e Fiore11 ti11a del G ruppo ls1'1l"istico ( Florence.
1 967).
N6MINA DE HUESOS

(1923 - 1936)

PAYROLL OF BONES
2 I NOMINA DE HUESOS

Nomina de huesos

Se pedia a grandes voces:

-Que muestre las dos manos a Ia vez.
Y esto no fue posible.
-Que, mientras llora, le tomen Ia medida de sus pasos.
Y esto no fue posible.
-Que piense un pensamiento identico, en el tiempo en
que un cero pennanece inutil.
Y esto no fue posible.
-Que haga una locura .
Y esto no fue posible.
-Que entre el y otro hombre semejante a el, se inter-
ponga una muchedumbre de hombres como el.
Y esto no fue posible.
-Que le comparen consigo mismo.
Y esto no fue posible.
-Que le llamen, en fin, por su nombre.
Y esto no fue posible.
 PAYROLL OF BONES I 3

Payroll of bones ..

They demanded shouting:

-Let him show both hands at the same time.
And this was not possible.
-While he cries, let them take the measure of his steps.
And this was not possible. 5
..
-Let him think an identical thought, in the time that a zero
remains useless.
And this was not possible.
-Let him do something crazy.
And this was not possible. 10
-Let a crowd of men like him, come between him and another
man just like him.
And this was not possible.
-Let them compare him with himself.
And this was not possible. 15
-Let them call him, finally, by his name.
And this was not possible.
4 I LA VIOLENCIA DE LAS HORAS

La violencia de las horas

Todos han muerto.

Muri6 dona Antonia, Ia ronca, que hacia pan barato en el burgo.
Muri6 el cura Santiago, a quien placia le saludasen los j6venes y
las mozas, respondiendoles a todos, indistintamente: j "Buenos dias, Jose!
j Buenos dias, Maria !"
Muri6 aquella joven rubia, Carlota, dejando un hijito de meses,
que luego tambien muri6, a los ocho dias de Ia madre.
Muri6 mi tia Albina, que solia cantar tiempos y modos de heredad,
en tanto cosia en los corredores, para Isidora, Ia criada de oficio, Ia
honrosisima mujer.
Muri6 un viejo tuerto, su nombre no recuerdo, pero dormia al
sol de Ia manana, sentado ante Ia puerta del hojalatero de Ia esquina .
Muri6 Rayo, el perro de mi altura, herido de un balazo de no se
sabe quien.
Muri6 Lucas, mi cunado en Ia paz de las cinturas, de quien me
acuerdo cuendo llueve y no hay nadie en mi experiencia .
Muri6 en mi revolver mi madre, en mi puno mi hermana y mi
hermano en mi viscera sangrienta, los tres ligados por un gennero triste
de tristeza, en el mes de agosto de anos sucesivos .
Muri6 el musico Mendez, alto y muy borracho, que solfeaba en su
clarinete tocatas melanc6licas, a cuyo articulado se dormian las gallinas de
m i barrio, mucho antes de que el sol se fuese .
Muri6 mi eternidad y estoy velandola .
 VIOLENCE OF THE HOURS I 5

..
Violence of the hours

All are dead.

Dona Antonia died, the hoarse one, who made cheap bread in the
..
village.
The priest Santiago died, who liked to be greeted by the young men
a nd the girls, acknowledging everyone indiscriminately: "Good morning, 5
Jose! Good morning, Maria !"
That young blonde, Carlota, died, leaving a very small child, who
then also died, eight days after his mother.
My Aunt Albina died, who used to sing inherited tenses and moods,
while she sewed in the interior corridors, for Isadora, the servant by 10"'
profession, that very honorable woman.
An old one-eyed man died, I don't remember his name, but he
slept in the morning sun, seated before the corner tinsmith's door.
Rayo died, the dog with my height, shot by lord-knows-who.
Lucas died, my brother-in-law in the peace of the waists, who I 15
..
remember when it rains and there is no one in my experience.
My mother died in my revolver, my sister in my fist and my brother
in my bloody viscera, the three bound by a sad kind of sadness, in the
month of August of successive years.
The musician Mendez died, tall and very drunk, who sol-faed 20
melancholy toccatas on his clarinet, at whose articulation the hens
in my neighborhood went to sleep, long before the sun went down .
My eternity has died and I am waking it.
6 I EL BUEN SENTIDO

E l buen sentido

-Hay, madre, u n sitio en el mu ndo, que se llama Paris .

U n s itio muy grande y lejano y otra vez grande.
Mi madre me ajusta el cuello del abrigo, no por que
. . .
e mpteza a nevar, smo para que emp•ece a nevar.
La m ujer de mi padre esta enamorada de mi, viniendo y
avanzando de espaldas a mi nacimiento y de pecho a m i muer­
te . Que soy dos veces suyo: por el a d ios y por el regreso. La
cierro, al retornar. Por eso me dieran tan to sus ojos, j us ta de
m i, i n fragan ti de mi, aconteciendose por obras terminadas, por
pactos consumados .
l M i madre esta con fesa de mi, nombrada de mi. l Como
no da o tro tan to a m is otros hermanos? A Victor, por ejemplo,
e l mayor, que es ta n viejo ya, que las gentes dicen : j Parece
henna no menor de su madre! j Fuera porque yo he viajado
m ucho ! j Fuera porque yo he vivido mas !
M i madre acuerda carta de principia colora n te a mis re­
latos de regreso . A n te mi vida de regreso, recorda ndo que
viaje d uran te dos corazones por s u vientre, su ruboriza y se
queda morta lmente lfv ida, cuando digo, en el tra tado del alma :
Aquella noche fui d ichoso . Pero mas se pone triste; mas se pusiera triste.
-Hijo, jcomo estas viejo!
Y des fi la por el color a marillo a llorar, porque me halla
e nvejecido, e n Ia hoja de espada, en Ia desembocadura de m i
rostro . Llora de m i, s e entristece de m i . lQue fal ta hara m i
m ocedad, si siempre sere su h ijo? j Porque las madres se
duelen de hal lar envejecidos a sus hijos , si jamas Ia edad de
e llos alca n zara a Ia de elias? l Y por que, si los hijos, cua n to
mas se acaban , mas se aproximan a los padres? Mi madre
llora porque estoy viejo de mi tiempo y porque nunca llegare
a e nvejecer del suyo!
Mi a dios partio de un punto de su ser, mas externo que
el p u n to de su ser a l que retorno . Soy, a causa del excesivo
p lazo de mi vuelta, mas el hombre a n te mi madre que el hijo
a nte mi madre . Alii reside el ca ndor que hoy nos a l umbra
con tres llamas. Le d igo entonces hasta que me callo:
Hay, madre, e n el m u ndo, u n sitio que se lla ma Paris .
U n sitio muy grande y muy Iej a no y otra vez grande.
La mujer de m i padre, a l oirme, almuerza y sus ojos mar­
ta les descienden suaveme n te por mis brazos.
 GOOD SENSE I 7

Good sense

-There is, mother, a place in the world ca lled Paris. A very

big place a nd fa r off a nd once again big.
My mother tu rns up the colla r of my overcoat, not because it is
beginn ing to snow, but so it can begin to snow .
My fa ther's wife is in love with me, coming and advancing back­ 5
wa rd towa rd my birth a nd chestward toward my death. For I am hers
twice: by the farewell and by the retu rn . I close her, on coming back.
Tha t is why her eyes had given so much to me, brimming with me,
caught red-ha nded with me, ma king herself ha ppen through finished
works, th rough consumma ted pacts.
Is my mother confessed by me, na med by me . Why doesn't she
give as much to my other brothers? To Victor, for example, the
eldest, w ho is so old now , that people sa y: He looks like his mother's
you nger brother! Perha ps beca use I have traveled so much ! Perha ps
because I have lived more! 15
My mother gra n ts a charter of colorful beginning to my stories of
return . Before my returning life, remembering that I traveled during
two hea rts th rough her womb, she blushes and remains mortally livid,
when I say, in the trea tise of the sou l: Tha t nigh t I was ha ppy . But
more often she becomes sad; more often she could become sad .
-My son, you look so old !
A nd fi les a long the yellow color to cry, for she finds me aged , in
the swordblade, in the rivermouth of my face . She cries from me, becomes
sad from me . Wha t need will there be for my you th, if I am always to
be her son? Why do mothers ache find ing their sons old , if the age of 25
the sons never reaches tha t of their mothers? And why, if the sons,
the more t hey a pproach dea th, the more they a pproach their parents?
My mother cries beca use I am old from my time and because never
will I grow old from hers !
My farewell set off from a point in her being, more external than 30
the poi n t in her being to wh ich I retu rn . I am, because of the excessive
time - limit of my retu rn, more the ma n before my mother than the son
..
before my mother. There resides the candor wh ich today ma kes us glow
w i th t hree fla mes . I say to her then until I hush :
-There is, mother, in the world, a place cal led Pa ris . A very big 35
place a nd very fa r o ff and once again big.
My fa ther's wife, on hea ring me, eats her lu nch a nd her morta l eyes
descend softly down my arms.
8 I EL MOMENTO MAS G RAVE DE LA VIDA

El momento mas grave de Ia vida

Un hombre dijo:
-El momento mas grave de mi vida estuvo en Ia batalla
del Marne, cuando fui herido en el pecho.
Otro hombre dijo:
-El momento mas grave de mi vida, ocurri6 en un mare­
moto de Yokohama, del cual salve milagrosamente, refugiado
bajo el alero de una tienda de lacas.
Y otro hombre dijo:
-El momento mas grave de mi vida acontece cuando
duermo de dia .
Y otro dijo:
-El momento mas grave de mi vida ha estado en mi
mayor soledad .
Y otro dijo:
-El momento mas grave de mi vida fue mi prisi6n en
una carcel del Peni.
Y otro dijo:
-El momento mas grave de mi vida es el haber sorprendido
de perfil a mi padre.
y el ultimo hombre dijo:
-El momento mas grave de mi vida no ha llegado todavia .
 THE GRAVEST MOMENT IN LIFE I 9

The gravest moment in life

A man said:
-The gravest moment in my life took place in the battle of
the Marne, when they wounded me in the chest.
Another man said:
-The gravest moment in my life, occurred during a Yokohama 5
seaquake, from which I was miraculously saved, sheltered under the
eaves of a lacquer shop.
And another man said :
-The gravest moment in my life happens when I sleep during
the day. 10
And another said:
-The gravest moment of my life has taken place in my greatest
loneliness.
And another said :
-The gravest moment in my life was my imprisonment in a 15
Peruvian jail .
And another said :
-The gravest moment in my life is having surprised my father
in profile.
And the last man said : 20
-The gravest moment in my life is yet to come.
10 I " LAS VENTAN A S SE H A N ESTREMECIDO . . . "

Las ven tanas se han estre mecido, elaborando una metafisica del
u nive rso. Vidrios han caido. Un e n fermo Ianza su queja: Ia mitad
por s u boca lenguada y sobran te, y toda entera, por el ano de su
espalda .
Es el h u raca n . U n castano del jardin de las Tullerias habrase
aba tido, al soplo del viento, que mide ochen ta metros por segundo.
Capiteles de los barrios a ntiguos, habran caido, hendiendo, matando.
l,De que punto i n terrogo, oyendo a ambas riberas de los oceanos,
de que punto viene este huracan, tan d igno de credito, tan honrado
de deuda, derecho a las ven tanas del hospital? jAy las direcciones
i n m u tables, que oscilan entre el huraca n y esta pena directa de
toser o defecar! j Ay las direcciones inmutables, que asi prenden
m uerte en las e n tra nas del hospital y despiertan celulas clandes­
tinas, a deshora, en los cadaveres !
(Que pensaria de si el e n fermo de enfren te, ese que esta durmien­
do, si h ubiera percibido el huraca n ? El pobre duerme, boca arriba,
a Ia cabeza de su morfina, a los pies de toda su cordura. Un adarme
mas o menos e n Ia dosis y le llevaran a enterrar, el vientre roto,
Ia boca arriba, sordo al huraca n, sordo a su vientre roto, ante el
cual suelen los medicos dialogar y cavilar largamen te, para, al fin ,
pro n unciar sus Ilanas palabras de hombres .

La fam il ia rodea al e n fermo agrupandose ante sus sienes regre-

sivas, indefe nsas, sudorosas . Ya no existe hogar sino en torno al
velador del pacie n te e n fermo, donde mon tan guardia impaciente, sus
zapatos vaca n tes, sus cruces de repuesto, sus pildoras de opio .
La fam i l ia rodea Ia mesi ta por espacio de un alto d ividendo . Una
m ujer acomoda en el borde de Ia mesa, Ia tasa, que casi se ha caido.
Ignoro lo que sera del e n fermo esta m ujer, que le besa y no puede
sanarle con el beso, le mira y no puede sanarle con los ojos, le ha-
bla y n o puede sanarle con el verbo. l,Es su madre? (Y como, pues,
no puede sanarle? (Es su amada? (Y como, pues, no puede sanarle?
(Es su herma na? (Y como, pues, no puede sanarle? (Es, simplemente ,
u na mujer? (Y como, pues, no puede sanarle? Por que esta mujer le
ha besado, le ha m i rado, le ha hablado y hasta le ha cubierto mejor
el cuello al enfermo y, jcosa verdaderamente asombrosa ! no le ha
sanado .

E l paciente con te m pla s u calzado vacante . Traen queso. Llevan

tierra . La muerte se acuesta al pie del lecho, a dormir en sus tran­
quilas aguas y se duerme. En tonces, los libres pies del hombre en­
ferrno, sin menudencias n i pormenores i nnecesa rios, se estiran en acen­
to circun flejo, y se alejan, en u na extension de dos cuerpos de no-
vios, del corazon .
 "THE WI NDOWS SHUDDERED . . ." I 1 1

The windows shuddered , elabora ting a metaphysic of the universe.

G lass fel l . A sick man utters his complaint: half of i t th rough h is tonguish
a n d excessive mou th, a n d the whole thing, through the anus in his back.
It is a hu rricane. A chestnut t ree in the Tuileries ga rden must have
been toppled, by the blowing of the wind, which a t ta ined 80 meters a second . 5
Capitals in the old quarters, must ha ve fa llen, splitting, ki lling.
From what poin t do I question, listening to both shores of the ocea ns,
from w h a t point does this hurricane come, so worthy of credi t, so honest
in debt, straigh t at the hospita l w indows? Ay the immutable directions,
tha t oscilla te between the hurrica ne and this direct embarrassment to 10
cough or to d e fecate ! Ay those immutable d i rections, that thus a t tach
death to the entrails of the hospita l a nd a waken clandestine cells, a t off
hours, in the cada ve rs !
Wha t would the sick man in front of me, the one sleeping, think of
himself if he had hea rd the hurrica ne? The poor guy sleeps, on his back, 15
a t the head of h is morphine, at the foot of a ll his sa nity . A ha lf of d rachm
m ore or less in the dose a nd they will carry him a way to be buried, belly
torn o pe n , face u pward , dea f to the hu rricane, dead to his torn belly,
over w h ich the doctors a re used to deba ting and pondering at great
lengths, to, finally, pronounce their pla in a nd huma n words . 20

The fam i ly surrou nds the sick man clustering before his regressive,
defenseless, swea ty temples . H ome no longer exists except around the
n ight table of the sick rela tive, where his vacant shoes, his spa re crosses,
his opium pills impa tien tly mou n t guard . The family surrounds the nigh t
table d u ri ng a high d ividen d . A woma n sets back a t the edge of the table, 25
the cup, w h ich had almost fa llen .
I d on't know who this woma n cou ld be to this sick ma n , who kisses
h i m a nd ca nnot hea l h im with her kiss, who looks a t him a nd ca nnot heal
h i m with her eyes, who talks to him and cannot heal him with her word .
Is she h is mother? And why, then, ca n ' t she hea l him? I s she his be­ 30
loved? A n d why, then, can ' t she heal h im ? Is she his sister? And why,
then, can't she heal h im ? Is she, simply, a woman? A nd why, then,
can ' t she h eal him? For this woma n has kissed him, has wa tched over
h i m , has talked to him a nd has even ca re fu l ly covered the sick ma n's
neck a nd , the tru ly astonishing thing is! she has not healed h i m . 35

The patien t con templates his vacan t shoes . They bri ng in cheese . They
carry out d irt. Death l ies down at the foot of the bed , to s leep in its
q u ie t wa ters a nd goes to sleep. Then, the freed feet of the sick man,
without tri fles or u nnecessa ry details, stre tch ou t, in a circumflex
accen t, a nd pull away, the d istance of two sweethearts' bodies, from -tO
h i s heart.
12 I "LAS V ENTA N A S SE H A N ESTREMECIDO . . . "

E l ciruja n o a u sculta a los e n fermos horas entera s . Hasta donde

sus m anos cesa n de trabaj a r, y empiezan a juga r, las lleva a tien tas,
rozan d o I a pie ) de los pacien tes, en tan to sus pa rpados cien tfficos
v ibra n , tocados por Ia i ndocta, por Ia huma na flaq ueza del a mor. Y
h e vista a esos e n fermos morir precisamente del a mor desdoblado del
ciru j a no, de los largos d iagnosticos, de las dosis exactas, del rigu ­
roso a mi lisis d e orinas y excremen tos. Se rodeaba de improviso u n
)echo con u n biombo . Medicos y e n fermeros cruzaban delante del a u ­
sen te, p izarra triste y proxima, q u e u n n ino llenara de numeros, e n
u n gra n monismo de pa lidos miles. Cruzaba n asi, mirando a los otros,
como si mas i rreparable fuese morir de a pend icitis o neumonia , y no
m orir a l sesgo del paso de los hombres .

S i rv ie n d o I a causa de Ia rel igion, vuela con exito esta mosca,

a lo largo d e Ia s a la . Ciertam en te, a Ia hora d e visita de los ci-
ru j an os, sus zumbidos nos perdona n pecho, pero desarrolh1 ndose lue­
go se a duenan del a ire, pa ra sa ludar con gen io de muda nza , a los que
van a mori r . Unos e n fermos oyen a esa mosca hasta d ura n te el dolor
y de ellos depende, por eso, el linaje del disparo en las naches
t remebu ndas.

l Cua n to tiem po ha durado Ia a nestesia, que Haman los hombres?

j Ciencia de Dios, Teod icea ! si se me echa a vivir en ta les cond iciones,
a nes tesiado tota lmente, volteada mi sensibilidad para adentro! j A h
doctores d e las sales, hombres de l a s esencias, projimos de l a s bases !
Pido se me deje con mi tumor de conciencia, con m i irritada l epra sen­
sitiva, ocurra lo que ocurra , au nque me muera . Dejad me dolerme, si
l o quereis, mas d ej ad me despierto d e sueno, con todo el universo me­
tido, a u nque fuese a las malas, en m i tempera tura polvorosa .

E n e l m u n d o de Ia salud perfecta, se reira por esta perspectiva

en que padezco, pero, en el m ismo plano y corta ndo Ia baraja del jue­
go, perc u te aqui otra risa de con trapunto .
E n I a casa d e l d olor, I a queja asalta sincopes d e gra n composi-
tor, goll e tes de caracter, que nos hacen cosquillas de verdad, a tro­
ces, a rduas, y, cumpliendo lo prometido, nos hicla n de espa n tosa in­
certidu m bre .
E n Ia casa d e l d olor, Ia queja a rra nca frontera excesiva . No se
recon oce e n esta queja de dolor, a Ia propia queja de I a d icha en ex­
tasis, cua ndo el a n1or y Ia carne se eximen de azor y cua ndo al regre­
sa r, hay d i scordia basta n te para el dia logo.
(06nde esta, pues, el otro fla nco d e esta queja de dolor, si, a
estima rla e n co n j u n to, pa rte a hara del lecho de u n hombre?
De Ia casa d e l dolor parten q uejas tan sordas e inefables y tan
colmadas de ta n ta ple nitud, que llorar por e lias seria poco, y se­
ria ya m ucho sonreir.
 "TH E WINDOWS SHUDDERED . " I 13

The surgeon a u scu ltates the pat ie n t s for hou rs o n en d . U p to the

poi nt whe n h is hands q u i t worki ng, and begi n to play, he u ses them
g ro p i ngly, graz i n g the pa tien ts' s k i n , whi le his scie n ti fic eyebrows
v ib rate, touched by the u n taught, by t h e hu man weakn ess of love . A n d 45
I have seen these pa t i e nts d ie preci sely from the u n folded love of the
s u rgeon , from the lengthy d iagn oses, from the exact doses, from the
r i gorous analysis of u ri n e and excre m e n t. A bed was s u d d e n l y encircled
w ith a fold i n g screen . Doctors and n u rses were crossing in front of the
abse n t one, sad and nearbv blackboard , that a child h ad fiHed w i th n u m ­ 50
bers, i n a g reat monism o ( pal l i d thousa n d s . They kept on crossing,
l oo k i n g at the others, as if it were more inevitable to d ie from appe n ­
diciti s or p n e u m on ia, than t o d ie obliqu ely to the passing of man .

S e rvi n g the cause o f rel igion, thi s fly zoo m s success fu l ly a l l

arou n d the hospital ward . Cert a i n l y , d u ring t h e su rgeo n ' s visiting 55
hou rs, her buzzi n gs forgive us chest, bu t growi n g t h e n t h ey take over
t h e a i r, to sa l u te i n t h e spiri t o f change, t h ose w h o a re abou t to die .
Some o f the sick hear this fl y even i n t h eir pain a n d o n t h em d epends,
for this reason , the l i n eage of the gu n shot in the d read fu l n ights .

How l o n g has anesthesia, a s m e n cal l it, lasted ? ScierKL' o f God , 60

Theod icy ! i f I am forced to live u n der such con d i t ions, totally anes­
thetized, my s e n s i t ivi ty tu rned outside i n ! 0 doctors of the sal ts,
me n o f the esse nces, fellowmen o f the bases! I beg to be left with m y
tu mor o f con sciousness, w i t h my irrit ated sensitive leprosy, no matter
wha t h a p pe n s , e ven though I may die! A l low me to feel pai n , i f you 65
w is h , but leave me arou sed from sleep , w ith all the u n i verse e mbed ded,
ever:. if by force, in my d u sty fever .

I n the worl d o f perfect health, the pe rspect ive on wh ich I su ffe r

w i l l be n1ocked , but, on the same level a nd c u t t i n g the deck for the game,
a n other l a u gh percu sses he re i n cou n terpoin t . 70
I n the hou se o f pai n , the m oans assau l t sy ncopes o f a great com poser .
g u llets o f character, which make u s feel rea l, ard u o u s, a trociou s
tickles, a n d , fu l fi l ling what they prom ised, freeze us i n terri fy i n g
u nce rtai n ty .
I n the house o f pai n , t h e m oa n s uproot excessive fron tier. I n t h is 75
moan of pai n , o n e can n ot recogn i ze one's own moan of happiness in ec­
stacy, whe n love a n d flesh are free from embarras s m e nt and when u pon
co m i n g back, t h e re is enough d iscord for d ialogue.
Where, the n , is the other flan k of this moan of p a i n , if, to con ­
side r it as a whole, i t now comes from t he bed o f a man? 80
From the hou se o f pa i n the re come moans so m u ffled and ineffable
a n d so ove rflowi n g w i th so m uch fu l l ness , that to weep for t h L'm w o u l d
be too l i t t le, and yet to s m i le w o u l d be too m uch .
14 I "LAS VENTANAS SE HAN ES"ffiEMECIDO . . . "

Se a tumulta Ia sangre en el term6metro.

j No es grato morir, senor, si en Ia vida nada se deja y si en
Ia muerte nada es posible, sino sobre lo que se deja en Ia vida !
j No es grato morir, senor, si en Ia vida nada se deja y si en Ia
muerte nada es posible, sino sobre lo que se deja en Ia vida!
j No es grato morir, senor, si en Ia vida nada se deja y si en Ia
muerte nada es posible, sino sobre lo que pudo dejarse en Ia vida !
 "THE WINDOWS SHUDDERED . . . " I 15

..
Blood runs wild in the thermometer.
It is not pleasant to die, lord, if one leaves nothing in life and if 85
nothing is possible in death, except on top of what is left in life!
It is not pleasant to die, lord, if one leaves nothing in life and if
nothing is possible in death, except on top of what is left in life!
It is not pleasant to die, lord, if one leaves nothing in life and if
nothing is possible in death, except on top of what could have been left 90
in life !
16 I VOY A H A BLAR DE LA ESPERANZA

Voy a hablar de Ia espera nza

Yo no sufro este dolor como Cesar Vallejo . Yo no me d uelo ahara

como a rt ista , como hombre ni como sim ple ser v ivo siqu iera . Yo no
s u fro este dolor como ca t6lico, como ma hometano ni como a teo . Hoy
s u fro sola mente . Si no me llamase Cesa r Va l lejo, ta mbien su friria
este m ismo dolor. Si no fuese artista , ta m bien lo su friria . S i no
fuese hombre n i ser vivo siqu iera, ta mbien lo su friria . Si no fue-
se ca t6 lico, a teo ni ma hometa no, ta mbien lo su friria . Hoy su fro des­
de mas abajo. Hoy su fro sola mente .
M e d uelo a hara sin explicaciones. M i dolor es ta n hondo, que no
tuvo ya ca usa ni ca rece de causa . (Que seria su ca usa ? z D6nde esta
a q uello ta n importa n te, que dejase de ser su ca usa? Nada es su cau-
sa; nada ha pod ido dej a r de ser su ca usa . L A que ha nacido este dolor,
por si m ismo? M i dolor es del viento del norte y del viento del su r,
como esos huevos neu tros que a lgu nas a ves ra ras ponen del viento. Si
hu biese muerto mi novia , mi dolor seria igual. S i me hu biera n corta ­
d o el cuello de ra iz, mi dolor seria igua l . Si Ia vida fuese, en
fi n , d e otro modo, mi dolor seria igua l . Hoy su fro desde mas a rriba .
H oy su fro solamente.
Miro el dolor del ha mbrien to y veo que su ha mbre anda ta n lejos
de mi su fri m iento, que de quedarme ayuno hasta mori r, sa ld ria siem­
pre de mi tu mba una brizna de yerba al me nos. Lo mismo el enamorado.
j Que sa ngre Ia suya mas enge ndrada, pa ra Ia mfa sin fue nte ni consu­
mo!
Yo creia ha sta a hara q u e todas las casas del u n i verso era n , ine­
v i tablemente, pad res e h ijos. Pero he aqu i que mi dolor de hoy no
es pad re ni es hijo. Le fa lta espalda para anochecer, ta nto como le
sobra pecho para a ma necer y si lo pusiesen en una estancia oscu ra ,
no da ria l u z y si lo pusiesen en una estancia Ium inosa , no echaria
sombra . Hoy sufro suceda lo que suceda . Hoy su fro solamente .

X
X X
 I AM GOING TO SPEAK OF HOPE I 17

I am g oin g to spea k o f hope

I do n o t su ffer t h i s pa i n as Cesa r Va l l ej o . I do not ache now a s

a n a rt is t , a s a m a n or even a s a s i mple l iv i ng bei n g . I do not s u ffer
t h is pa i n as a Ca t h ol ic, as a Mohammedan or as a n a t heist . Today
I am s i m pl y i n pa i n . I f my na me were not Cesa r V a l lejo, I would s t i l l
s u ffer t h is very sa m e pa i n . I f I were not a n a rt i s t , I wou ld st i l l su ffer 5
i t . I f I w e re n o t a ma n or even a l i v i ng be ing, I would s t i l l s u ffer i t .
I f I were n o t a Ca t h o l ic, a t heist o r Moh a m meda n , I would s t i l l su ffe r
i t . Tod a y I a m i n p a i n from fu r t her below . Today I am s i m pl y i n pa i n .
I ache now w i t hou t a n y explana tion . M y pa i n i s so d eep, t h a t i t
n ever h a d a ca u s e nor d oes i t lack a ca use n ow . \Vh a t cou ld have been 10
its ca u se? Where is t h a t t h i n g so i m po rt a n t , t h a t it m i g h t stop bei n g
i ts ca u se? I t s ca u se i s not h i ng; not h i ng cou ld h a v e stopped b e i n g i t s
ca u se . For w h a t h a s t h i s pa i n been born , for i tse l f? M y pa i n comes
from t h e north w i nd a n d from the sou t h w i nd , l i ke t hose neu ter eggs
certa i n ra re bird s l a y in t h e 'vi n d . I f my bride were de,1 d , my pa i n 15
w o u l d be t h e sam e . I f t hey h a d sla shed m y t h roa t a l l the way t h ro u g h ,
m y pa i n w o u ld be t h e s a m e . I f l i fe were, i n short, d i ffere n t , my pa i n
w o u l d be t h e same . Today I s u ffer from fu rther a bove . Toda y I a m
s i m pl y i n pa i n .
I look a t t h e h u ngry ma n 's pa i n a nd see t h a t h i s hu nge r i s s o fa r 20
from m y s u ffer i n g , t h a t i f I \vere to fa s t u n to d eat h , a t lea st a blade o f
gra ss w o u l d a l ways spro u t fro m my tomb . Th e same w i t h the lover!
H o w engen dered h i s blood is, in con t ra s t to m i n e wi thout sou rce or u s e !
I bel ieved u n t i l now t h a t a l l t h e t h i ngs of t h e u n i verse were, i n ­
ev i tably , pa re n t s or s o n s . B u t behold that my pa in today is neit her 25
pa re n t nor son . I t lacks a back to darken, as wel l as h a v i ng too m uch
chest to d a w n a nd i f t hey p u t it i n a d a rk room , it would not g i ve l ig h t
a n d i f t hey p u t i t i n a brigh tly l i t roo m , i t would ca st n o shadow . Toda y
I su ffe r no ma tter wha t h a p pe n s . Toda y I a m s i m p l y i n pa i n .

X
X X
18 I "TENDR (AMOS Y A UNA EDAD MISERICORDIOSA . . . "

Tend ria mos ya u na edad misericordiosa, cuando mi padre orden6

n u es tro ingreso a Ia escu ela . Cura d e amor, u na ta rde l luviosa de febrero,
mama serv ia e n Ia cocina el yan tar de oraci6n . En el el corredor de aba jo,
estaba n sen ta dos a Ia mesa mi pad re y m1s hermanos mayores . Y mi madre
iba sentada al pie del mismo fuego del hogar. Tocaron a Ia puerta .
-Toca n a Ia puerta !-mi madre .
Toca n a I a puerta-mi propia madre .
-Toca n a I a puerta-d ijo toda m i madre, toca ndose l a s entra nas
a trastos i n fi nitos, sobre toda Ia al tu ra de quien viene.
-Anda, Na tiva, Ia h ija, a ver quien viene .
Y, s i n esperar Ia venia ma ternal, fuera M iguel, el hi jo, quien
sali6 a ver quien venia asi, oponiendose a lo ancho de nosotros .
U n tiempo de rua con tuvo a mi fam ilia . Mama sa li6, ava nzando
i n versamente y como si hubiera dicho: las partes. Se h izo patio a fuera . Nativa
lloraba de una ta l visita, de un tal pa tio y de la mano de m i madre. Entonces
y cua ndo, dolor y palada r techaron n uestras fren tes.
Porq ue no le deje que saliese a Ia puerta,-Na tiva , Ia hija,-me
ha echado Miguel al pavo. A su paVO .
jQue d iestra de subprefecto, Ia diestra del pad rE, revelando, el
hombre, las falanjas fil iales del nino! Podia asi otorgarle Ia ven tu ra que el
h ombre deseara mas ta rde . Sin embargo :
-Y ma nana, a Ia escuela,-disert6 magistralmente el pad re, ante
el publico sema na l de sus h ijos .
-Y tal, Ia ley, Ia causa de Ia ley. Y tal ta mbien Ia vida .
Mama debi6 l lorar, gim iendo ape nas Ia madre. Ya nadie quiso
comer. En los labios del padre cupo, pa ra salir rom piendose, u na fina cuchara
que conozco. En las fronteras bocas, Ia absorta amargura del hijo, qued6
a travesada .
Mas, l uego, de improviso, sali6 de un a lba na l de aguas l lovedizas
y d e aquel mismo patio de Ia visita ma la, una ga llina, no ajena ni ponedora,
sino bruta l y negra . Cloqueaba en m i garga n ta . Fue una gallina vieja,
maternalmente viuda de u n os pollos que no llega ron a incubarse. Origen
olvidado de ese insta n te, Ia gal lina era viuda d e sus h ijos. Fueron hallados
vados todos los huevos. La clueca despues tuvo el verbo .
Nad ie Ia espa nt6. Y de espan ta rla, nadie dej6 a rru lla rse por su gran
ca lofrio materna l .
-( D6nde esta n los hijos d e Ia gallina vieja?
-( D6nde esta n los pollos de Ia ga llina vieja?
j Pobrecitos! j 06nde es taria n !
 "WE PROBABLY A LREADY WERE OF A COMPASSION ATE AGE . . ." I 19

We probably a l ready were of a compassionate age, when my father ...

comma nded us to e nter schoo l . A p riestess of love, one rai ny Februa ry a fter­ ...

noon, mama served in the kitchen the viands of prayer. I n the downstairs
i n te rior corridor, my fa ther a nd older brothers were seated a t the table . And my
mother w e n t sitting by the very fire of the hearth . Someone knocked at the
door.
-Someone's knocki ng a t the door!-my mother.
-Someone's knocking a t the door-my own mother.
-Someone's knocking at the door-said all of my mother, playi ng ...

h e r e n trails with i n finite frets, over a l l the heigh t of whoever was coming . 10
Go, Na tiva , the da ughter, see who's there .
A nd , without waiting for ma ternal permission, it was Miguel, the
son, who went out to see who had come like this, in opposition to the width of
all o f u s .
A street time held m y family. Mama went o u t , adva ncing inversely 15
a nd as i f she might have said : the parts. The outside became a pa tio. Nativa
was crying from such a visit, from such a pa tio and from her mother's hand .
The n a nd when, pa in a nd palate roofed our forehead s .
-Beca u se I didn't l e t h i m go t o the door,-Nativa, the da ughter,
-Miguel has made me blush . \Vith his bluS H .
...
Wha t a sub-pre fectural right hand, the righ t hand o f the fa theR,
reveal i ng, the man, the filial phala nges of the child ! He could thus gra nt him
the felicity tha t the man would desire later on. However:
-A nd tomorrow, to school,-fa ther magisterially lectured ,
before the weekly public of his child re n . 25
-A nd thus, the law, the ca use o f the la w . And thus also l ife .
Ma ma probabiy cried, mother hardly moa ning. Now no one wa nted
to ea t . A d elica te spoon , known to me, fit i n father's lips, to emerge breaking.
I n the b rotherly mouths, the entra nced bitterness of the son, got stuck .
B u t , a fterwards, unexpected ly, neither alien nor egg-layi ng, but brutal 30
a n d black, a hen came out of a rainwa ter sewer a nd from the very same patio
o f the bad visitor. She clucked in my throa t . She was an old hen, maternally
widowed from some chicks that did not get to be i ncuba ted . Forgotten origin
...
of tha t i nstant, the hen was the wido\·\'er of her childre n . All the eggs were
fou n d em pty . The brooder a fterward had the word . 35
No o ne frigh tened her. And i n case she was frightened, no one a llowed
h imse l f to be lu lled by her great ma ternal chill .
-Wh ere a re the old hen's child ren?
-Where a re the old hen's ch ickens?
Poor th i ngs! \\There could they be! 40
20 I HALLA ZGO DE LA V I D A

H a l l a zg o d e I a v i d a

j Senores ! Hoy es Ia p rimera vez que me doy cuenta de Ia presen ­

cia d e I a vid a . j Se nores! Ruego a ustedes deja rme libre u n momen-
ta, pa ra sabo rea r esta emoci6n forn1idable, espontanea y reciente de
Ia vida, que hoy, por Ia pri me ra vez, me extasia y me hace d ichoso
hasta las lagrim a s .
M i gozo viene d e l o inedito d e mi emoci6n . M i exultaci6n viene
de que a ntes no senti Ia presencia de Ia vida . No Ia he sentido
n u nca . M ie n te quien d iga que Ia he sentid o . Miente y su mentira
m e h iere a tal p u n ta que me ha ria desgraciado. Mi gozo viene d e
m i fe en este ha llazgo persona l de I a vida, y nad ie pued e ir contra
esa fe . A I que fuera , se le caeria Ia lengua, se le caerfa n los
h uesos y corre ria el peligro de recoger otros, ajenos, pa ra m a n te-
n erse de p ie a nte mis ojos .
N u nca , s ino a hora , ha habido vida . Nunca, sino a hara , han pasa ­
d o gentes . N u nca , s i no a hara, ha habido casas y a venidas, a i re y
horizo n tes . S i viniese a hara mi a n1igo Peyriet, le d iria que no le
conozco, y que debemos empeza r de n uevo . ( Cuando, en efecto, le he
conocido a mi a m igo Peyriet? Hoy serfa Ia p ri mera vez que nos co­
nocemos. Le d iria que se vaya y regrese y entre a verme, como si no
me conociera , es d ecir, por Ia primera vez.
Ahara yo no conozco a nadie n i nada . Me advierto en u n pais
extra no, e n el que todo cobra relieve d e nacimiento, luz d e epifa n ia
i n m a rcesible. N o, senor. No hable usted a ese caballero . Usted
no lo conoce y le sorprenderia ta n inopinada pa rla . No ponga us ted e l
pie sabre esa pied recilla: quien sabe no e s p ied ra y vaya usted a
d a r e n el vacfo . Sea u sted precavido, puesto que estamos en u n m u n ­
d o a bsolutamen te i nconocido .
j Cuan poco tiempo h e vivido! M i nacimiento e s tan
recien te, que n o hay unidad d e med ida pa ra con ta r mi edad . jSi acabo
d e nacer! j Se a u n no he vivido todavia ! Senores: soy ta n pequeni to, que
el d ia a penas cabe en mi.
N u nca , s i no ahara , of el estruendo de los carros, que
ca rga n piedras pa ra u na gra n construcci6n del bouleva rd Haussma n n .
N u nca, sino a hara , a va nce pa ra lelamente a I a primavera, d iciendola :
" S i Ia mue rte hubiera sido otra . . . " N u nca , sino a hara , vi Ia luz a urea
d e l sol sabre la s cu pulas del Sacre-Coeur. N u nca , sino a hara , se me
a cerc6 un nino y me mir6 honda mente con su boca . Nu nca, sino a hora ,
s u pe q u e existia u na puerta, otra puerta y el can to cord ial de las
d i s ta ncia s .
j Oejad n1e ! La vida m e h a dado ahor<1 en toda m i muerte .
 D I SCOVERY O F LI FE I 21

Discoverv o f l i fe

Gentlernen ! Today i s t h e fi rst t ime t ha t I rea l ize t h e presence o f

l i fe ! G en t le me n ! I beg y o u t o leave me a lone for a mome n t , s o I ca n
s a vor this formidable, s pon ta neous a n d recen t l i fe emotio n , wh ich tod a y ,
for the fi rs t time, e nra p t u res m e a n d makes me ha ppy to t h e poi n t o f
tea rs . 5
M y joy comes from wha t is u n ex perienced o f my emotio n . M y
exu lta tion comes from t h e fa ct t h a t before I d id not feel t h e presence o f
l i fe . I h a ve never fe lt i t . I f a ny o n e s a y s t h a t I h a ve fel t it he i s l y i n g . H e
i s l y i n g a n d h i s l ie h u rts me to s uch a degree t h a t it w o u l d make me m i s ­
e rable . M y j o y comes from m y fa ith i n t h is person a l d iscovery of l i fe , 10
a n d n o o n e ca n g o a ga i n s t t h i s fa i t h . I f a n yone wou ld t r y , h i s tongue
wou ld fa l l o u t , h i s bones wou l d fa l l out a n d he would risk picki n g u p
o t h ers, n o t h is o w n , t o k e e p h im sl'l f sta n d i n g be fore m y eyes .
N e ver, exce p t n ow , h a s l i fe ex isted . I\! ever, e\.cept now, h a v e
p e o p l e w a l ked b�' · I\!ever, except now, h a ve t h e re bee n houses a n d 15
a ve n ues, a i r a n d h orizo n s . I f m y friend Peyriet c,1 nw over righ t now,
I would te ll him t h c1 t I do not know h i m . ut d t h a t we m ust begi n a n e w .
When, i n fac t , h a ve I m e t my frie n d Pey riet? Tod a y would b e t h e first
time w e beca m e a cqua i n ted . I would tell h i m to go away a n d come back
a nd d ro p in o n me, a s if h e d id not know me, th.1 t is, ior the first t i m e . 20
N o w I d o not know a n yone or a ny t h in g . I n o t ice I a m i n a s t ra nge
cou n t ry w h e re every t h i n g a cqu i res a Na tivity rel ie f, a l igh t of u n fa d i n g
e p i p h a n y . N o , s i r . D o n o t spea k t o tha t ge n t lema n . )\) u do n o t know
h i m a nd such u n ex pected cha t te r wou ld s u rp risL� h im . Do not pu t yo u r
foot o n t h a t t i n y s to n e : w h o k n o w s i t is not a s t o n e a n d you w i l l plu nge 25
i n t o e m p ty space . Be ca u tious, for we a re i n a to t a l l y i n k n own world .
W h a t a s h ort t i m e I h a ve l i ved ! My birt h i s so rece n t ,
there i s n o u n i t o f measure t o cou n t my age . I h a v e j u s t been born ! I
have n o t even lived v e t ! G e n tlemen : I a m so t i n v , t h e d a v h a rd l v fi t s
., ,; ,; �

inside m e . 30
Never, except now, d id I hear t h e racke t of t h e ca rts,
t h a t ca rry s tone for a grea t con s t ruction on bou leva rd H a u ssma n n . Never,
excep t n o w , d id I a d va nce pa ra llel t o t h e spri ng, sa y i n g to i t : " I f d ea t h
ha d been something else . . . " N e ve r, except now, d i d I see t h e golden
l ig h t of t h e sun o n t h e cu polas o f Sacre-Coe u r . Never, exce p t now, did 35
a ch ild a p p roac h me a n d look at m e d eeply with h i s mou th . Never, e\.cept
now, d id I know a d oor e\. isted, a nd a no t h er door a n d t h e cord ial so n g
o f t h e d i s ta nces .
L e t m e a lo n e ! L i fe h a s now s t ru ck me i n a l l nw dea t h .
22 I "UNA MUJER DE SENOS APACIBLES . . . "

Una mujer de senos apacibles, ante los que Ia lengua de Ia

vaca resulta una glcindula violenta . Un hombre de templanza, mandibular
de genio, apto para marchar de a dos con los goznes de los cofres . Un
nino esta al lado del hombre, llevando por el reves, el derecho animal de
Ia pareja .
jOh Ia palabra del hombre, libre de adjetivos y de adverbios,
que Ia mujer declina en su unico caso de mujer, aun entre las mil voces de
Ia Capilla Sixtina ! jOh Ia falda de ella, en el punta maternal donde pone
el pequeno las manos y juega a los pliegues, hacienda a veces agrandar
las pupilas de Ia madre, como en las sanciones de los con fesonarios!
Yo tengo mucho gusto de ver asi al Padre, al Hijo y al
Espiritusanto, con todos los emblemas e insignias de sus cargos .
 "A WOMAN WITH PEACEFUL BREASTS . . . " I 23

A woman with peaceful breasts, before which a cow's tongue

becomes a violent gland . A temperate man, mandibular in character, able to
march side by side with the coffer's hinges. A child is next to the man, carrying
in reverse, the animal right of the couple.
Oh the word of man, free from adjectives and adverbs, which 5
woman declines in her singular case of woman, even among the thousand
voices of the Sistine Chapel ! Oh her skirt, at the maternal place where the
child puts his hands and plays with the pleats, sometimes making his mother's
pupils dilate, as in the sanctions of the confessionals!
I derive a great pleasure from seeing the Father, the Son and 10
the Holyghost like this, with all the emblems and insignia of their offices.
24 I "CESA EL ANHELO, RABO AL AIRE."

Cesa el anhelo, rabo al aire. De subito, Ia vida se amputa,

en seco. Mi propia sangre me salpica en lineas femeninas, y hasta Ia misma
urbe sale a ver esto que se para de improviso.
-Que ocurre aqui, en este hijo del hombre? -clama Ia urbe,
y en una sala del Louvre, un nino llora de terror a Ia vista del retrato de
otro nino.
-Que ocurre aqui, en este hijo de mujer? ---c lama Ia urbe,
y a una estatua del siglo de los Ludovico, le nace una brizna de yerba en
plena palma de Ia mano.
Cesa el anhelo, a Ia altura de Ia mano enarbolada . Y no
me escondo detras de mi mismo, a aguaitarme si paso por lo bajo o merodeo
en alto.
 "LONGING CEASES, ASS IN THE A I R . " I 25

..
Longing ceases, ass in the air. Suddenly, life amputates itself,
abruptly . My own blood splashes me in feminine lin�, and even the city
itself comes out to see what it is that stops unexpectedly.
-What's going on here, inside this son of man?-the city shouts,
a nd in a hall of the Louvre, a child cries in terror at the sight of another child's 5
portrait.
-What's going on here, inside this son of woman?-the city
shouts, and in a statue from the Ludwigian century, a blade of grass is born
right in the palm of its hand .
Longing ceases, at the height of the raised hand . And I hide 10
behind myself, to spy upon myself if I slip through below or if I maraud up
high .
26 I "-NO VIVE YA NADIE EN LA CASA . . . "

X
X X

-No vive ya nad ie e n Ia casa-me d ices-; todos se han ida. La

sala, e l dorm itorio, e l pa tio , yacen despoblados. Nadie ya queda,
pues que todos han partido.
Y yo te d igo: Cuando a lguien se va alguien queda . El punta par
donde paso un hombre, ya no esta solo . Unicamente esta solo, de so­
ledad humana, el I ugar par donde n ingun hombre ha pasado. Las ca ­
sas n uevas esta n mas m uertas que las viejas, par que sus muros son
de piedra o de acero, pero no de hombres . Una casa viene al mu ndo,
n o cuan d o Ia acaba n de edificar, sino cuando empiezan a habitarla .
U n a casa vive u n icamente de hombres, como u na tumba . De aqui esa
i rresis tible semejanza que hay entre u na casa y u na tumba . Solo que
Ia casa se n utre de Ia vida del hombre, mien tras que Ia tu mba se nu­
tre d e Ia m uerte del h ombre . Par eso Ia primera esta de pie, mien-
tras que Ia segunda esta tend ida .
Tod os han partido de Ia casa, en realidad, pero todos se han
q uedado en verdad . Y no es el recuerdo de elias lo que queda, sino
e llos m ismos . Y no es tampoco que e lias queden en Ia casa , sino
que continuan por Ia casa . Las funciones y los aetas, se va n de Ia
casa e n tren o e n avi6n o a caballo, a pie o arrastra ndose . Lo que
continua e n Ia casa es el 6rga n o, el agente en geru ndio y en circu ­
l o . Los pasos se han ida, los besos, los perdones, los crimenes .
Lo que con ti n u a e n Ia casa es e l pie, los labios, los ojos, e l co­
raz6 n . Las negaciones y las a fi rmaciones, e l bien y el mal, se han
dispersado . Lo que con tinua en Ia casa , es e l sujeto del acto.
 "-NO ONE LIVES IN THE HOUSE ANYMORE . . . " I 27

X
X X

-No one lives in the house anymore-you tell me-; all have gone.
The living room, the bedroom, the patio, are deserted . No one remains
any longer, since everyone has departed .
And I say to you: When someone leaves someone remains. The point
through which a man passed, is no longer empty. The only place that is 5
empty, with human solitude, is that through which no man has passed.
New houses are deader than old ones, for their walls are of stone or steel,
but not of men. A house comes into the world, not when people finish
building it, but when they begin to inhabit it. A house lives only off men,
like a tomb. That is why there is an irresistible resemblance between a 10
house and a tomb. Except that the house is nourished by the life of man,
while the tomb is nourished by the death of man. That is why the first is
standing, while the second is laid out.
All have departed from the house, in fact, but all have remained in
truth. And it is not their memory that remains, but they themselves. 15
Nor is it that they remain in the house, but that they continue about the
house . Functions and acts, leavf' the house by train or by plane or on
horseback, walking or crawling. What continues in the house is the organ,
the agent in gerund and in circle. The steps have left, the kisses, the
pardons, the crimes. What continues in the house are the foot, the lips, 20
the eyes, the heart. Negations and affirmations, good and evil, have
dispersed . What continues in the house, is the subject of the act.
28 I "EXISTE U N MUTILADO . . . "

X
X X

Existe u n mu tilado, no de u n comba te sino de u n abrazo, no de Ia

guerra sino de Ia paz . Perdi6 el rostra en el a mor y no en el odio.
Lo perdi6 e n el curso norma l de Ia vida y no e n u n accidente. Lo per­
d i6 en el a rden de Ia natura leza y no en el d esorden de los hombres.
El coronel Piccot, Presidente d e "Les G ueu les Cassees, " lleva Ia bo­
ca com ida por Ia p6lvora de 1914. Este mutilado que conozco, lleva
el rostra com ido, por el aire i nmortal e inmemoria l .
Rostra muerto sabre e l tronco vivo. Rostra yerto y pegado con
clavos a Ia cabeza viva . Este rostra resulta ser el dorsa del cra -
n eo, el cra neo d el cra neo . Vi una vez u n a rbol da rme Ia espalda y
vi o tra vez u n ca mino que me daba Ia espa lda . U n a rbol de espaldas
s6lo crece e n los l uga res donde n unca naci6 ni m u ri6 nadie. Un cami­
no d e espa ldas solo a va nza por los luga res donde ha habido todas las
m ue rtes y n ingu n nacimie n to . El mu tilado de Ia pa z y del a mor, del ­
a brazo y del arde n y que lleva el rostra muerto sabre el tronco vi -
vo, naci6 a Ia sombra de un a rbol de espa ldas y su existencia tras­
cu rre a lo la rgo de u n camino de espaldas.
Como el rostra esta yerto y d i fu n to, toda Ia vida psiqu ica , to­
d a Ia e xpresi6n a n imal de este hombre, se refugia, pa ra tra d ucirse
al exterior, e n el peludo cra neo, en el t6rax y en las extremida-
des. Los i m pu lsos de su ser pro fu nda, al salir, retroceden del
rostro y Ia respiraci6n, el olfa to, Ia vista , el oido, Ia pa labra ,
e l resplandor h u m a no de su ser, fu nciona n y s e expresa n por el pe­
cho, por los hombros, por el cabel lo, por las costillas, por los
brazos y las piern a s y los pies .
M u tilado d e l rostra, ta pado d el rostra, cerrado del ros tra, este
hombre, no obsta n te, esta en tero y nada le hace fa lta . No tiene
ojos y ve y llora . No tiene narices y huele y respira . No tie n e
oidos y escucha . No tiene boca y habla y son rie. No tiene fren te
y piensa y se sume e n si mismo. No tiene menton y quiere y subsis­
te. Jesus conocia al m u tilado de Ia fu nci6n, que tenia ojos y no
veia y tenia orejas y no oia . Yo conozco al mutilado del orga na,
que ve sin ojos y oye sin orejas.

X
X X
 "TH ERE I S A M A N M UTI LATED . . ." I 29

X
X X

T h e re is a m a n m u t i l,, ted not from comba t bu t from a n embrace,

not from w a r but from peace . He lost h is face t h rough love a nd not
t h ro u g h h a t e . H e lost it in the n o rm a l cou rse of l i fe a n d not in a n
a cc i d e n t . Lost i t i n the order o f n a t u re a nd not i n the d i sorder o f
m e n . Co l o n e l Picco t , Presid e n t o f " Les G u e u les Cassees , " l ives 5
w i t h h is m o u t h ea t e n a wa y by the g u n powder of 1 9 1 4 . T h i s m u t i -
la t ed m a n I k n o w , h a s h i s face eaten awav b v t h e i m morta l a n d i m -
"' ·

m e m or i a l a ir .
A d e a d fa ce a bove the l i v i n g torso . A s t i ff f,Ke f.1 s tened w i t h n a i l s
to t h e l i v i n g hea d . Th is face t u r n s o u t to b e the ba ckside o f the s k u l l , 10
t h e s k u l l o f t h e sku l l . I o nce s a w a t ree t u rn i t s back on me a nd an other
time I sa w a road t ha t tu rned i t s back on m e . A ba ck t u rned t ree o n l y
grows w h e re n o o n e ever d ied or w a s born . A b,Kk t u rned roa d only
a d va nces t h rough places w h e re t here h a ve been all d e,1 t h s < md no b i rt h s .
T h e m a n m u t i la ted b y peace c1 1Ki by lo,·e, b y a n e mbrace a n d by order 15
a n d who l i ves w i t h a dead fcl Ce a bove his l i v i ng torso, was born in t h e
s h a d o w o f a ba ck t u r ned tree a n d h i s e>.:istence ta kes pl,Ke a long a back
t u rn ed roa d .
A s h i s face i s sti ff a n d d ea d , a ll h i s psych ic l i fe , a l l t h e a n i m a l
e x p ression o f t h is ma n , ta kes refu ge , to t ra n sla te itself outward ly , 20
i n h is h a i ry sku l l , i n h is t h <.'rax a n d in h i s ex t remi ties. The i m p u l ses
of h i s profou n d bei n g, on goi n g ou t , back a way from h i s face a nd h is
b re a t h i n g , h is se n se of s m e l l , h is s ig h t , h is h ea ri n g, h i s s peec h , t h e
h u m a n ra d ia nce o f h i s bei n g , fu nction .1 nd a re expressed t h rough h i s
c h e s t , th ro u g h h i s s h o u l d e rs , t h rough h i s h,1 i r, t h rough his ribs, 25
t h ro u gh h is a rm s a n d h is l e g s and h i s fee t .
Face m u t i l a ted , fa ce cove red , face closed, t h i s ma n , never t h e less,
is w h o l e a nd lacks n ot h i n �"' 0
. He h a s no eves "'
a nd h e sees a nd cries . H e
h a s no n ose il n d h e smells a nd brea t hes . He h a s no ea rs a nd he l iste n s .
H e h a s n o mou t h a n d h e t a l k s a n d s m i les . N o fo rehead a nd he t h i n ks 30
a n d w i t h d ra w s i n t o h im self. No c h i n a n d he desires a n d subsists . jesus
knew t h e m a n w h ose m u t i la t ion left him fu nction less, who h,1d eyes a n d
cou ld n o t see a n d h a d ears a nd cou ld not hear. I know t h e man w hose
m u t i l a t i o n l e ft h i m o rga n less, who sees w i t hout eyes a n d h ea rs w i t ho u t
ears. 35

X
X X
30 I ME ESTOY RIENDO

Me estoy riendo

Un guijarro, uno solo, el mas bajo de todos,

controla
a todo el medano aciago y fara6nico.

El aire adquiere tension de recuerdo y de anhelo,

y bajo el sol se calla
hasta exigir el cuello a las piramides.

Sed . Hidra tada melancolia de Ia tribu errabunda

gota
a
gota
del siglo al minuto.

Son tres. Treses paralelos,

barbados de barba inmemorial,
en marcha 3 3 3

Es el tiempo este anuncio de gran zapateria,

es el tiempo, que marcha descalzo
de Ia muerte hacia Ia muerte.
 I AM LAUGHING I 31

I a m lau g h i ng

•
A pebble, only one, the lowest of all,
controls
the whole ill-fated Pharaonic sand bank.

The air acquires tension of memories and yearnings,

and under the sun it keeps quiet 5
until it demands the pyramids' necks.

Thirst. Hydrated melancholy of the tribe wandering

drop
by
drop, 10
from century to minute .

They are three. Parallel threes,

bearded with immemorial beards,
marching 3 3 3

I t is time this advertisement of a great shoestore, 15

it is time, that marches barefoot
from death toward death .
32 I "HE AQUf QUE HOY SALUDO . . . "

He aqui que hoy saludo, me pongo el cuello y vivo,

r
su erficial de pasos insondable de plantas.
Ta me recibo de hombre, tal mas bien me despido
y de cada hora mia retotia una distanciA.

lQuereis mas? encantado.

Politicamente, mi palabra
emite cargos contra mi labio inferior
y econ6micamente,
cuando doy Ia espalda a Oriente,
distingo en d ignidad de muerte a mis visitas.

Desde ttttales c6digos regulares saludo

al soldado desconocido
al verso perseguido por Ia tinta fatal
y al saurio que Equidista diariamente
de su vida y su muerte,
como quien no hace Ia cosa .

El tiempo tiene hun miedo ciempies a los relojes .

(Los lectores pueden ponder el titulo que quieran a este poema . )

 "BEHOLD THAT TODAy I SALUTE . . . I 33
II

Behold that today I salute, I fix on my collar and I live,

superficial in steps fathomless in soles .
So do I graduate as a man, or rather so do I take leave
..
and from each of my hours sprouts a distAnce .

You want more? with pleasure. 5

Politically, my word
spreads charges against my lower lip
a nd economically,
when I turn my back to the Orient,
I distinguish my visitors with mortal dignity. 10

From ssssuch regular codes I salute

the unknown soldier
the poetic line pursued by the fatal ink
and the saurian that Equidists daily
from its life and its death, 15
as one who doesn't give a damn .
..
Time has aa centipedal fear of clocks .

(The readers can give whatever title they like to this poem . )
34 I LOMO DE LAS SAGRADAS ESCKITURAS

Lomo d e las sa g rada s escritura s

Sin haberlo advertido jamas exceso por turismo

y sin agendas
de pecho en pecho hacia Ia madre unanime.

Hasta Paris ahora vengo a ser hijo. Escucha

Hombre, en verdad te digo que eres el HIJO ETERNO,
pues para ser hermano tus brazos son escasamente iguales
y tu malicia para ser padre, es mucha .

La talla de m i madre, moviendome por indole de movimiento

y poniendome serio, me llega exactamente al coraz6n:
pesando cuanto cayera de vuelo con mis tristes abuelos,
mi madre me oye en diametro, callandose en altura .

M i metro esta midiendo y a dos metros,

mis huesos concuerdan en genero y en numero
y el verbo encarnado habita entre nosotros
y el verbo encarnado habita, al hundinne en el bano,
u n alto grado de perfecci6n.
 SPINE OF Tii E SCRIPTIJRES I 35

Spine of the scriptures

•
Without ever having realized it excess through tourism
and without agencies
•
from chest on chest toward the unanimous mother.

As far as Paris now I come to be a son . Listen

Man, verily I say unto thee thou art the ETERNAL SON, 5
because to be a brother thy arms are hardly equal
a nd thy malice to be a father, is abundant.

My mother's size, moving me for the sake of movement

and making me serious, reaches me exactly at my heart:
weighing how low I have fallen from my sad grandparents, 10
my mother hears me in diameter, keeping quiet on high.

My meter is now measuring two meters,

my bones agree in gender and in number
a nd the word made flesh dwells among us
and the word made flesh dwells, as I sink into the bathtub, 15
on a high degree of perfection .
36 I ALTURA Y PELOS

altura y pel os

lQuien no tiene su vestido azul?

lQuien no almuerza y no toma el tranvia,
con su cigarrillo contratado y su dolor de bolsillo?
jYo que tan solo he nacido!
jYo que tan solo he nacido!

lQuien no escribe una carta?

lQuien no habla de un asunto muy importante,
muriendo de costumbre y llorando de oido?
jYo que solamente he nacido!
jYo que solamente he nacido!

l Quien no se llama Carlos o cualquier otra cosa?

lQuien al gato no dice gato gato?
jAy! yo que solo he nacido solamente!
jAy! yo que solo he nacido solamente!
 HEIGHT AND HAIR I 37

height and hair

Who doesn't own a blue suit?

Who doesn't eat lunch and board the streetcar,
with his bargained for cigarette and his pocket-sized pain?
I who was born so alone!
I who was born so alone! 5

Who doesn't write a letter?

Who doesn't talk about something very important,
dying from habit and crying by ear?
I who solely was born !
I who solely was born ! 10

Who isn't called Carlos or any other thing?

Who to the kitty doesn't say kitty kitty?
Aie! I who alone was solely born!
Aie! I who alone was solely born!
38 I "jCUATRO CONCIENCIAS . . . !"

X
X X

j Cuatro conciencias
simulhineas enredanse en Ia mia !
jSi vierais como ese movimiento
apenas cabe ahora en mi conciencia !
j Es aplastante ! Dentro de una b6veda
pueden muy bien
adosarse, ya internas o ya externas
segundas b6vedas, mas nunca cuartas;
mejor dicho, si,
mas siempre y, a lo sumo, cual segundas.
No puedo concebirlo; es aplastante.
Vosotros mismos a quienes inicio en Ia noci6n
d e estas cuatro conciencias simultaneas,
enredadas en una sola, apenas os teneis
de pie ante mi cuadrupedo intensivo.
jY yo, que le entrevisto (Estoy seguro) !
 "FOUR CONSCIOUSNESSES . . . " I 39

X
X X

Four consciousnesses are

simultaneously snarled in my own!
I f you could only see how that movement
hard ly fits now in my consciousness!
It's crushing! Inside a vault 5
they can easily
lean back to back, now internal now external
second vaults, but never fourths;
better said, yes,
but always and, at most, as seconds. 10
I cannot conceive it; it's crushing.
Those of you who I initiate into the notion
of these four simultaneous consciousnesses,
snarled in only one, barely remain
standing before my intense quadruped . 15
And I, who interview him (Am sure)!
40 I "ENTRE EL DOLOR Y EL PLACER . . . "

X
X X

Entre el dolor y el placer median tres criaturas,

de las cuales Ia u na mira a un muro,
Ia segunda usa de animo triste
y Ia tercera avanza de puntillas;
pero, entre tu y yo,
solo existen segundas criaturas.

Apoyandose en mi frente, el dia

conviene en que, de veras,
hay mucho de exacto en el espacio;
pero, si Ia d icha, que, al fin, tiene un tamano,
principia, jay! por mi boca,
lquien me preguntara por mi palabra?

AI sentido instantaneo de Ia eternidad

corresponde
este encuentro investido de hilo negro,
pero a tu despedida temporal,
tan solo corresponde lo inmutable,
tu criatura, el alma, mi palabra .
 "BETWEEN PAIN AND PLEASURE . . . " I 41

X
X X

Between pain and pleasure there are three

creatures . One looks at a wall,
the second puts on a sad disposition
and the third advances on tiptoes;
but, between you and me, 5
only second creatures exist .

Leaning on my forehead, the day

agrees that, in truth,
there is much accuracy in space;
but, if the happiness, that, after all, has size, 10
begins, alas! in my mouth,
who is going to ask me for my word?

To the instantaneous meaning of eternity ..

corresponds
this encounter vested with black thread, 15
but to your temporal farewell,
corresponds solely what is immutable,
your creature, the soul, my word .
42 I "EN EL MOMENTO EN QUE EL TENISTA . . . "

En el momento en que el tenista Ianza magistralmente

su bala, le posee una inocencia totalmente animal;
en el momento
en que el fil6sofo sorprende una nueva verdad,
es una bestia completa .
A natole France a firmaba
que el sentimiento religioso
es Ia funci6n de un 6rgano especial del cuerpo humano,
hasta ahora ignorado y se podria
decir tambien, entonces,
que, en el momento exacto en que un tal 6rgano
fu nciona plenamente
tan puro de malicia esta el creyente,
que se diria casi un vegetal .
j O h alma ! jOh pensamiento! jOh Marx! jOh Feiierbach !
 "THE MOMENT THE TENNIS PLAYER . . . " I 43

The moment the tennis player masterfully serves ..

his bullet, a totally animal innocence possesses him;

the moment
the philosopher surprises a new truth,
he is an absolute beast. 5
Anatole France affirmed
that religious feeling
is the function of a special organ in the human body,
until now unrecognized and one could
also say, then, 10
that, the exact moment when such an organ
fully functions
the believer is so clear of malice,
he could almost be considered a vegetable.
Oh soul! Oh thought! Oh Marx! Oh Feiierbach! 15
44 I SOMBRERO, ABRIGO, GUANTES

somb rero, a b rigo , g u antes

Enfrente a Ia Comedia Francesa, esta el Cafe

de Ia Regencia; en el hay una pieza
rec6ndita, con una butaca y una mesa .
Cuando entro, el polvo inm6vil se ha puesto ya de pie.

Entre mis labios hechos de jebe, Ia pavesa

de u n cigarrillo humea, y en el humo se ve
dos humos intensivos, el t6rax del Cafe,
y en el t6rax, un 6xido profundo de tristeza .

lmporta que el otono se injerte en los otonos,

importa que el otono se integre de retonos,
Ia nube, de semestres; de p6mulos, Ia arruga .

lmporta oler a loco postulando

j que calida es Ia nieve, que fugaz Ia tortuga,
el como que sencillo, que fulminante el cuando!
 HAT, OVERCOAT GLOVES I 45

hat, overcoat, gloves

In front of the French Comedy, is the Cafe

Regency; in it is a room
set a part, with an armchair and a table .
When I enter, the unmoving dust has already arisen .

Between my lips made of rubber, the ember s•

of a cigarette smokes, and in the smoke one sees
two intense smokes, the thorax of the Cafe,
a nd in the thorax, a profound oxide of sadness .

It is important that autumn graft itself to autumns,

important that autumn integrate itself with sprouts, 10
the cloud, with half-years; with cheekbones, the wrinkle .

It is important to smell like a madman postulating

how warm the snow is, how fleeting the turtle,
the how how simple, how fulmina nt the when !
46 I SALUTA CION ANGELICA

salutaci6n a ng elica

Eslavo con respecto a Ia palmera,

aleman de perfil al sol, ingles sin fin,
frances en cita con los caracoles,
ita liano ex profeso, escandinavo de aire,
espaftol de pura bestia, tal el cielo
ensartado en Ia tierra por los vientos,
tal el beso del limite en los hombros.

Mas solo tu demuestras, descendiendo

o subiendo del pecho, bolchevique,
tus trazos confundibles,
tu gesto marital,
tu cara de padre,
tus piernas de amado,
tu cutis por telefono,
tu alma perpendiCll l ar
a Ia mia, tus codos de justo
y u n pasaporte en blanco tu sonrisa .

Obrando por el hombre, en nuestras pausas,

matando, tu, a lo largo de tu muerte
y a lo ancho de un abrazo saluberrimo,
vi que cuando comias despues, tenias gusto,
vi que en tus sustantivos creci6 yerba .

Yo quisiera, por eso,

tu calor doctrinal, frio y en barras,
tu aftadida manera de mirarnos
y aquesos tuyos pasos metalurgicos,
aquesos tuyos pasos de otra vida .

Y digo, bolchevique, tomando esta flaqueza

en su feroz linaje de exhalaci6n terrestre:
hijo natural del bien y del mal
y viviendo talvez por vanidad, para que digan,
me dan tus simultaneas estaturas mucha pena,
puesto que tu no ignoras en quien se me hace tarde diariamente,
en quien estoy callado y medio tuerto.
 ANGELIC SALUTATION I 47

a n gelic saluta tion

Slav in regard to the palm tree,

German with profile to the sun, English with no limits,
French in a rendezvous with the snails,
Italian on purpose, Scandinavian made of air,
purely brutal Spaniard, thus the sky 5
strung to the earth by the winds,
thus the kiss limited to the shoulders.

But you alone, Bolshevik, demonstrate,

descending or rising from your chest,
your confusable characteristics, 10
your marital gesture,
your paternal face,
your l egs of the beloved,
your complexion by telephone,
your soul perpendicular 15
to mine, your elbows of a just man
and a blank passport in your smile .

Working for man, during our pauses,

killing, you, along your death
and abreast a most salubrious embrace, 20
I saw that when you ate a fterwards, you had taste,
I saw that in your substantives the grass grew.

Therefore, I would like

your doctrinal warmth, ·cold and in bars,
your added way of looking at us 25
and those your metallurgic steps,
those your steps of another life.

And I speak, Bolshevik, taking this weakness

in its ferocious lineage of earthly exhalation:
natural son of good and evil 30
and living perhaps by vanity, to have others speak,
your simultaneous statures make me very sad,
because you know in whom I am late daily,
in whom I am silent and almost one-eyed .
48 I EPfSTOLA A LOS TRANSEUNfES

epistola a los tran se un tes

Rea nudo mi dia de conejo,

mi noche de elefante en descanso.

Y, entre mi, digo:

esta es mi inmensidad en bruto, a cantaros,
este mi grato peso, que me buscara abajo para pajaro;
este es m i brazo
que por su cuenta rehus6 ser ala,
estas son mis sagradas escrituras,
estos mis alarmados compaiiones.

Lugubre isla me alumbrara continental,

mientras el capitolio se apoye en mi intimo derrumbe
y Ia asamblea en lanzas clausure mi desfile.

Pero cuando yo muera

de vida y no de tiempo,
cuando lleguen a dos mis dos maletas,
este ha de ser mi est6mago en que cupo mi lampara en pedazos,
esta aquella cabeza que expi6 los tormentos del circulo en mis pasos,
estos esos gusanos que el coraz6n cont6 por unidades,
este ha de ser mi cuerpo solidario
por el que vela el alma individual; este ha de ser
mi hombligo en que mate mis piojos natos,
esta mi cosa cosa, mi cosa tremebunda .

En tanto, convulsiva, asperamente

convalece mi freno,
sufriendo como sufro del lenguaje directo del leon:
y, puesto que he existido entre dos potestades de ladrillo,
convalezco yo mismo, sonriendo de mis labios .
 EPISTLE TO 11-fE TRANSIENTS I 49

epistle to the transients

...
I resume my day of a rabbit,
my night of an elephant in repose.

And, to myself, I say:

this is my immensity in the raw, in jugfuls,
this my graceful weight, that sought me below to become a bird; 5
this is my ann
that on its own refused to be a wing,
these are my scriptures,
...
these my alarmed cullions.

A lugubrious island will illuminate me continental, 10

while the capitol leans on my intimate collapse
and the lance-filled assembly adjourns my parade.

But when I die

from life and not from time,
when my two suitcases become two, 15
this will be my stomach in which my lamp fit in pieces,
this that head that atoned for the torments of the circle in my steps,
these those worms that my heart counted one by one,
this will be my solidary body
over which the individual soul is watching; this will be 20
...
my navell in which I killed my innate lice,
this my thing thing, my dreadful thing.
...
Meanwhile, convulsively, harshly,
my bit convalesces,
suffering like I su ffer the direct language of the lion : 25
and, because I have existed between two brick potentates,
I too convalesce, smiling at my lips.
50 I "Y NO ME DIGAN NADA . . . "

Y no me d igan nada,
que uno puede matar perfectamente,
ya que, sudando tinta,
u no hace cuanto puede, no me digan . . .

Volveremos, senores, a vernos con manzanas;

tarde Ia criatura pasara,
Ia expresi6n de Arist6teles armada
de grandes corazones de madera,
Ia de Heraclito injerta en Ia de Marx,
Ia del suave sonando rudamente . . .
Es lo que bien narraba mi garganta :
u no puede matar perfectamente.

Senores,
caballeros, volveremos a vernos sin paquetes;
hasta entonces exijo, exigire de mi flaqueza
el acento del dia, que,
segun veo, estuvo ya esperandome en mi lecho.
Y exijo del sombrero Ia infausta a nalogia del recuerdo,
ya que, a veces, asumo con exito mi inmensidad llorada,
ya que, a veces, me ahogo en Ia voz de mi vecino
y padezoo
contando en makes los anos,
cepillando m i ropa al son de un muerto
o sentado borracho en mi ataud . . .
 . . II
II
AND DON'T SAy ANOTHER WORD TO ME . I 51

..
And don't say another word to me,
since one can kill perfectly,
and because, sweating blood,
one does what one can, don't say another . . .

We will see each other again, gentlemen, with apples; 5

late the creature will pass,
the expression of Aristotle armed
with great wood hearts,
that of Heraclitus grafted on that of Marx,
that of the gentle sounding roughly . . . 10
This is what was well narrated by my throat:
one can kill perfectly.

Gentlemen,
sirs, we will see each other again without packages;
until then I demand, I shall demand of my frailty 15
the accent of the day, that,
as I see it, was already awaiting me in my bed.
And I demand of my hat the fatal analogy of remembrance,
since, a t times, I assume successfully my wept immensity,
since, at times, I drown in my neighbor's voice 20
a nd endure
counting on kernels the years,
brushing my clothes to the tune of a corpse
or sitting up drunk in my coffin . . .
52 I GLEBA

GLEBA

Con efecto mundial de vela que se enciende,

el prepucio directo, hombres a golpes,
funcionan los labriegos a tiro de neblina,
con a labadas barbas,
pie pnktico y reginas sinceras de los valles.

Hablan como les vienen las palabras,

cambian ideas bebiendo
orden sacerdotal de una botella;
cambian tambien ideas tras de un arbol, parlando
de escrituras privadas, de Ia luna menguante
y de los rios publicos. (jlnmenso! jlnmenso! jlnmenso!)

Funci6n de fuerza
sorda y de zarza ardiendo,
paso de palo,
gesto de palo,
acapites de palo,
Ia palabra colgando de otro palo.

De sus hombros arranca, carne a carne, Ia herramienta florecida,

de sus rodillas bajan ellos mismos por etapas hasta el cielo,
y, agitando
y
agitando sus faltas en forma de antiguas calaveras,
levantan sus defectos capitales con cintas,
su mansedumbre y sus
vasos sanguineos, tristes, de jueces colorados .

Tienen su cabeza, su tronco, sus extremidades,

tienen su pantal6n, sus dedos metacarpos y un palito;
para comer vistieronse de altura
y se Iavan Ia cara acariciandose con s6lidas palomas .

Por cierto, aquestos hombres

cum plen anos en los peligros,
echan toda Ia frente en sus salutaciones;
carecen de reloj, no se jactan jamas de respirar
y, en fin, suelen decirse: Alia, las putas, Luis Taboada, los ingleses;
jalla ellos, a lia ellos, alia ellos!
 GLEBE I 53

GLEBE

With the universal effect of a candle that lights up,

..
their prepuce direct, hacked out men,
..
the peasants function within fog range,
with extolled beards,
practical feet and sincere queens of the valley .

They speak as the words come,

they exchange ideas drinking
priestly order from a bottle;
they also exchange ideas behind a tree, chatting
about private legal papers, about the waning moon 10
a nd about the public rivers! (Immense! Immense! Immense!)

Function of silent
s trength and of burning bush,
stick step,
s tick gesture, 15
stick paragraph signs,
the word hanging from another stick.

From their shoulders the flowered tool, flesh to flesh, tears forth,
from their knees they descend themselves by stages unto heaven,
and, agitating 20
and
agitating their shortcomings in the shape of ancient skulls,
they raise their deadly flaws with ribbons,
their meekness and their
sad , blood vessels, of flushed judges. 25

They have their head, their trunk, their extremities,

they have their pants, their metacarpal fingers and a little stick;
to eat they dressed themselves in height
and they wash their faces caressing them with solid doves.

Certainly, these men 30

put on years in risks,
they fling out all their forehead in their salutations;
they know no clock, at no time do they brag about breathing
..
and, in short, they always say: To hell with the whores, Luis Taboada, the English;
t'hell with'm, t'hell with'm, t'hell with'm! 35
54 I PRIMAVERA TUBEROSA

PRIMAVERA TUBEROSA

Esta vez, arrastrando briosa sus pobrezas

al sesgo de mi pompa delantera,
coteja su coturno con mi traspie sin taco,
Ia prima vera exacta de picoton de buitre.

La perdi en cuanto tela de mis despilfarros,

j ug uela en cuanto porno de mi aplauso;
el tennometro puesto, puesto el fin, puesto el gusano,
con tusa mi doblez del otro dia,
aguardela al arrullo de un grillo fugitivo
y despedila u noso, somatico, sufrido.

Veces latentes de astro,

ocasiones de ser gallina negra,
entablo Ia bandida primavera
con m i chusma de aprietos,
con mis apocamientos en camisa,
mi derecho sovietico y mi gorra .

Veces las del bocado laurineo,

con simbolos, tabaco, mundo y carne,
deglusion translaticia bajo palio,
al son de los testiculos cantores;
talentoso torrente el de mi suave suavidad,
rebatible a pedradas, ganable con tan solo suspirar . . .
Flora de estilo, plena,
citada en fangos de honor por rosas auditivas . . .
Respingo, coz, patada sencilla,
triquinuela adorada . . . Cantan . . . Sudan . . .
 TUBEROUS SPRING I 55

TUBEROUS S P RING

This time, vigorously dragging its misery

oblique to my foremost pomp,
..
the exact spring with its vulture stab
compares its cothurnus to my heelless stumble.

I lost it as fabric of my squanderings, 5

I gambled it away as flask of my applause;
the thermometer placed, the end placed, the worm placed,
my duplicity of the other day bruised,
I awaited it to the lull of a fugitive cricket
and discharged it naily, somatic, long-suffering. 10

Latent times of a star,

occasions of being a black hen,
were joined by the bandit spring
with my mob of hassles,
with my bashfulness in shirtsleeves, 15
my soviet law and my cap.

Those were the times of the lauraceous bite,

with symbols, tobacco, world and flesh,
..
translatory degluti_sion under pallium
to the sound of singing testicles; 20
talented torrent that of my gentle gentleness,
refutable by stonings, gainable with just a sigh . . .
Flora of style, complete,
cited in swamps o f honor by auditory roses . . .
Buck, hoofblow, simple kick, 25
adored little trick . . . They sing . . . They sweat . . .
56 I PIEDRA NEGRA SOBRE UNA PIEDRA BLANCA

Pied ra negra sobre una pied ra blanca

Me morire en Paris con aguacero,

un dia del cual tengo ya el recuerdo .
Me morire en Paris-y no me corr�
talvez u n jueves, como es hoy, de otono.

J ueves sera, porque hoy, jueves, que proso

estos versos, los humeros me he puesto
a Ia mala y, jamas como hoy, me he vuelto,
con todo mi camino, a verme solo.

Cesar Vallejo ha muerto, le pegaban

todos sin que el les haga nada;
le daban duro con un palo y duro

tambien con u na soga; son testigos

los dias jueves y los huesos hu meros,
Ia soledad, Ia lluvia, los caminos . . .
 BLACK STONE ON A WHITE STONE I 57

Black stone on a white stone ..

I will die in Paris with a sudden shower,

a day I can already remember.
..
I will die in Paris-and I don't budge­
maybe a Thursday, like today is, in autumn .

Thursday it will be, because today, Thursday, when I prose 5

these poems, the humeri that I have put on
..
by force and, never like today, have I turned,
with all my road, to see myself alone .

Cesar Vallejo has died, they beat him,

everyone, without him doing anything to them; 10
they gave it to him hard with a stick and hard

also with a rope; witnesses are

the Thursday days and the humerus bones,
the loneliness, the rain, the roads . . .
58 I " j D ULZURA POR DU LZURA CORAZON A!"

j Oulzura por d u lzura corazona !

Du lzu ra a gajos, eras de vista,
esos abiertos d ia s , cua ndo monte por a rboles ca fdos !
A s i por tu pa loma pa lom i ta ,
por t u oracion pasiva,
a nd a n d o entre tu sombra y el gran tezon corporeo de tu sombra o

Debajo de ti y yo,
tu y yo, sinceramente ,
t u ca ndado ahogandose de Haves,
yo a sce ndiendo y sudando
y hacienda lo i n finito entre tu s muslos o
(EI hotelero es u n a bestia,
s u s d i e n tes, a d mirables; yo controlo
el ard e n pa lido de mi a l m a :
senor, a lia d ista n te
0 0 0paso paso
0 0adios, senor . . . )
•

Mucha pie n so en todo esto con movido, perduroso

y pongo tu pa loma a Ia altura de tu vuelo
y, cojea ndo de d icha , a veces,
reposome a Ia sombra de ese arbol a rrastrado.

Costilla de m i cosa,
d u lzura que tu tapa s son riendo con tu ma na;
tu traje negro que se habra acabado,
a ma d a , a mada en masa ,
jque u nido a tu rod ilia e n ferma !

S i mple a hara te veo, te comprendo a ve rgonzado

en Letonia, A lema nia, Rusia, Belgica , tu ausente,
tu portatil a u sente
hombre convulso de Ia mujer tembla ndo entre sus vfnculos o

j A ma da en Ia figura de tu co la irrepa rable,

a mada que yo a ma ra con fos foros floridos,
q u a nd on a Ia vie et Ia juenesse,
c' est deja tellement !

Cua ndo y a n o haya espacio en tre t u gra ndeza y m i postre r proyecto,

amada,
volvere a tu media, h a z de besa rme ,
baja n do por tu media repe tida,
tu porta til a u se n te , d ile a si . .
.
0
 "SWEETNESS THROUGH HEARTSOWN SWEETNESS!" I 59

..
Sweetness through heartsown sweetness!
..
Sweetness in sections, eras by sight,
those open days, when I mounted through fallen trees!
Thus through your dove little dove,
through your passive sentence, 5
..
walking between your shadow and the great corporeal tenazity of your shadow.

Under you and I,

you a nd I, in all sincerity,
your padlock choking with keys,
me ascending and sweating 10
and doing what is endless between your thighs.
(The hotel manager is a beast,
h is teeth, admirable; I control
the pallid order of my soul:
sir, you way over there . . . step step . . . goodbye, sir . . . ) 15
..
I think a lot about all of this disturbed, foreverish
and place your dove at the height of your flight
and, limping with happiness, at times,
I rest in the shadow of that dragged-on tree.

Rib of my thing, 20
sweetness that you cover smiling with your hand;
your black dress probably worn out,
beloved, beloved in mass,
how bound to your sick knee!

Simple I see you now, ashamed I understand you 25

in Lithuania , Germany, Russia, Belgium, your absent,
your portable absent,
man convulsed from the woman trembling between his ties.

Beloved in the figure of your irreparable tail,

beloved who I loved with flowering matches, 30
..
quand on a Ia vie et Ia jeunesse,
c'est deja tellement!

When there is no longer space

between your greatness and my last project,
beloved, 35
..
I will return to your stocking, you well kiss me,
going down your repeated stocking,
your portable absent, tell him this way . . .
60 I "HASTA EL DfA EN QUE VUELvA . . . II

Hasta el dia en que vuelva, de esta piedra

nacera mi talon definitivo,
con su juego de crimenes, su yedra,
su obstinaci6n dramatica, su olivo.

Hasta el dia en que vuelva, prosiguiendo,

con franca rectitud de cojo amargo.
de pozo en pozo, mi periplo, entiendo
que el hombre ha de ser bueno, sin embargo.

Hasta el dia en que vuelva y hasta que a nde

el a nimal que soy, entre sus jueces,
n uestro bravo menique sera grande,
digno, infinito dedo entre los dedos .
 " U NTIL rnE DAY I WILL RFfURN . . . " I 61

Until the day I will return, from this stone

my definitive heel will be born,
with its set of crimes, its ivy,
its dramatic stubbornness, its olive tree.

Until the day I will retu rn, continuing, 5

with the frank uprigh tness of a bitter cripple,
my periplus, from well to well, I understand
tha t man will have to be good , notwithstanding.

Until the day I will return and until

the animal I am walks, among his judges, 10
our brave little finger will be big,
dignified , an infinite finger among fingers.
62 I " FUE DOMINGO EN LAS CLARAS OREJAS . . . "

Fue domingo en las claras orejas de mi burro,

de mi burro peruano en el Peru (Perdonen Ia tristeza)
Mas hoy ya son las once en mi experiencia personal,
experiencia de un solo ojo, clavado en pleno pecho,
de una sola burrada, clavada en pleno pecho,
de una sola hecatombe, clavada en pleno pecho.

Tal de mi tierra veo los cerros retratados,

ricos en burros, hijos de burros, padres hoy de vista,
que tornan ya pintados de creencias,
cerros horizontales de mis penas.

E n su esta tua, de espada,

Voltaire cruza su capa y mira el z6calo,
pero el sol me penetra y espanta de mis dientes incisivos
u n numero crecido de cuerpos inorganicos .

Y entonces sueno en una piedra

verduzca, diecisiete,
penasco numeral que he olvidado,
sonido de anos en el rumor de aguja de mi brazo,
lluvia y sol en Europa, y jc6mo toso! jc6mo vivo!
j c6mo me duele el pelo al columbrar los siglos sernanales!
y como, por recodo, mi ciclo microbiano,
quiero decir mi tremulo, patri6tico peinado.
 "IT WAS SUNDAY IN THE CLEAR EARS . . . " I 63

It was Sunday in the clear ears of my jackass,

of my Peruvian jackass in Peru (Pardon my sadness)
But today is already eleven o'clock in my personal experience,
experience of a single eye, nailed right in the chest,
of a single asininity, nailed right in the chest, 5
of a single hecatomb, nailed right in the chest .

So do I see the portrayed hills of my country,

rich in jackasses, sons of jackasses, parents today by sight,
that now return painted with beliefs,
horizontal hills of my sorrows. 10

I n his statue, with a sword,

Voltaire crosses his cape and looks at the public square,
but the sun penetrates me and frightens from my incisors
a great number of inorganic bodies .

And then I dream on a verdant 15

stone, seventeen,
numeral boulder that I have forgotten,
sound of years in the needle rumor of my arm,
rain and sun in Europe, and, how I cough ! how I. live!
how my hair aches me upon descrying the weekly centuries! 20
and how, on rebound, my microbial cycle,
I mea n my tremulous, patriotically combed hair.
64 I "LA VIDA, ESTE VIDA . . .
"
------

La vida, esta vida

me placia , su instrumento, esas palomas . . .
Me placia escucharlas gobernarse en lon tananza,
a dvenir naturales, determinado el numero,
y ejecutar, segun sus a flicciones, sus dianas de animales .

Encogido,
oi desde mis hombros
su sosegada producci6n,
cave los albatiales sesgar sus trece huesos,
dentro viejo tornillo hincharse el plomo.
Sus paujiles picas,
pareadas palomitas,
las p6bridas, hojeandose los higados,
sobrinas de Ia nube . . . Vida ! Vida! Esta es Ia vida !

Zurear su tradici6n rojo les era,

rojo moral, palomas vigilantes,
talvez rojo de herrumbre,
si caia n entonces azulmente.

Su elemental cadena,
sus viajes de individuales pajaros viajeros,
echaron humo denso,
pena fisica, portico influyente .

Palomas salta ndo, indelebles

palomas olorosas,
man feridas venian, advenian
por azarosas vias digestivas,
a contarme sus casas fosforosas,
pajaros de contar,
pajaros transitivos y orejones . . .

No escucha re ya mas desde mis hombros

huesudo, enfermo, en ca ma ,
ejecu tar sus dia nas de nima les . . . Me day cuenta .
 "LIFE, THIS LIFE . . . " I 65

Life, this life

pleased me, its instrument, those doves . . .
It pleased me to hear them steer far away,
turn out natural, in fixed numbers,
a nd perform, according to their afflictions, their anima l reveilles . 5

Shrugged,
in my shoulders I heard
their quiet prod uction,
..
their thirteen bones slanting ner the sewers,
the lead swelling inside an old screw . 10
Their cashew bird beaks,
cou pled dovelings,
..
the poorotteds, exfoliating their livers,
nieces of the cloud . . . Life! Life! This is life!

To coo their trad ition to them was red, 15

mora l red, vigilant doves,
maybe rust red,
..
if they fell then bluely .

Their elementary chain,

their travels of individual travelling birds, 20
..
sent forth dense smoke,
physical pa in, influencial portico.

Doves jumping, indel ible

fragant doves,
forewa rned they ca me, turning out
along hazardous digestive tracks,
to tell me their phosphorescent things,
storytold birds,
transitive and lnca n noble birds . . .

No longer will I hear them from my shoulders 30

bony, sick, bedridden,
..
perform their nimal reveilles . . I realize that.
66 I "HOY ME G USTA LA VIDA MUCHO MEN OS . . . "

Hoy me gusta Ia vida mucho menos,

pero siempre me gusta vivir: ya lo decia .
Casi toque Ia parte de mi todo y me contuve
con un tiro en Ia lengua detnis de mi palabra .

Hoy me palpo el menton en retirada

y en estos momentaneos pantalones yo me digo:
jTa nta vida y jamas!
jTantos ailos y siempre mis semanas! . . .
Mis padres enterrados con su piedra
y su triste estir6n que no ha acabado;
de cuerp o entero hermanos, mis hermanos,
y, en fin , mi ser parado y en chaleco.

Me gusta Ia vida enormemente

pero, desde luego,
con mi muerte querida y mi cafe
y viendo los castailos frondosos de Paris
y diciendo:
Es un ojo este, aquel; una frente esta, aquella . . . Y repitiendo:
jTanta vida y jamas me falla Ia tonada !
jTantos ailos y siem pre, siem pre, siempre!

Dije chaleco, dije

todo, parte, a nsia, dije casi, por no llorar.
Que es verdad que sufri en aquel hospital que queda al lado
y esta bien y esta mal haber mirado
de abajo para arriba mi organismo.

Me gustara vivir siempre, asf fuese de barriga,

porque, como iba diciendo y lo repito,
j ta n ta vida y jamas! iY tantos ailos,
y siempre, mucho siem pre, siempre, siempre!
 "TODAY I LIKE LIFE MUCH LESS . . . " I 67

Today I like life much less,

but I like to live anyway: I have often said it.
I almost touched the part of my whole and restrained myself
with a shot in the tongue behind my word .

Today I touch my chin in retreat

a nd in these momentary trousers I tell myself: 5
So much life and never!
So many years and always my weeks! . . .
My parents buried with their stone
and their sad stiffening that has not ended; 10
full length brothers, my brothers,
a nd, finally, my Being standing and in a vest.

I like life enormously

..
but, of course,
with my beloved death and my cafe 15
and looking at the leafy chestnut trees in Paris
and saying:
This is an eye, that one too; this a forehead, that one too . . . And repeating:
So much life and the tune never fails me!
So many years and always, always, always! 20

I said vest, said

whole, part, yearning, said almost, to avoid crying.
For it is true that I su ffered in that hospital close by
and it is good and it is bad to have watched
from below up my organism. 25

I would like to live always, even flat on my belly,

because, as I was saying and I say it again,
so much life and never! And so many years,
•
and always, much always, always, always!
68 I "QUISIERA HOY SER FELIZ . . . "

Quisiera hoy ser feliz de buena gana,

ser feliz y portarme frondoso de preguntas,
abrir por temperamento de par en par mi cuarto, como loco,
y reclamar, en fin,
en mi confianza fisica acostado,
solo por ver si quieren,
solo por ver si quieren probar de mi espontanea posicion,
reclamar, voy diciendo,
por que me dan asi tanto en el alma .

Pues quisiera en sustancia ser dichoso,

obrar sin bast6n, laica humildad, ni burro negro.
Asi las sensaciones de este mundo,
los can tos subjuntivos,
el lapiz que perdi en mi cavidad
y mis amados 6rganos de llanto.

Hermano persuasible, camarada,

padre por Ia grandeza, hijo mortal,
a m igo y contendor, inmenso documento de Darwin :
la que hora , pues, vendran con mi retrato?
lA los goces? lAcaso sobre goce amortajado?
lMas temprano? lQuien sabe, a las porfias?

A las misericordias, camarada,

hombre mfo en rechazo y observaci6n, vecino
en cuyo cuello enorme sube y baja,
al natural, sin hilo, mi esperanza . . .
 "TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO BE HAPPY . . . " I 69

Today I would like to be happy willingly,

to be happy and behave leafy with questions,
to open by temperament w!de open my room, as if crazy,
a nd to protest, in short,
reclined on my physical trust, 5
only to see if they would like,
only to see if they would like to try my spontaneous position,
to protest, I keep saying,
..
why they hit me like this so much in my soul .

For I would like in essence to be happy, 10

to get about without cane, laic humility, or black jackass.
Thus the sensations of this world,
the subjunctive songs,
the pencil that I lost in my cavity
a nd my beloved organs for crying. 15

Persuadable brother, comrade,

fa ther in greatness, mortal son,
friend and opponent, immense document of Darwin:
•
at what hour, then, will they come with my portrait?
At the delights? Perhaps about delight shrouded? 20
Earlier? Who knows, at the disputations?
•
At the misericordias, comrade,
fellow man in rejection and observa tion, neighbor
in whose enormous neck rises and lowers,
unseasoned, without thread, my hope . . . 25
70 I "DE DISTIJRBIO EN DISTIJRBIO . . . "

De disturbio en d isturbio
s ubes a a co m pa narme a esta r solo;
y lo comprendo a ndando de puntillas,
con un pan en Ia ma no, u n cam i no en el pie
y hacienda, negro hasta saca r espuma,
m i perfi l su papel espeluzna n te .

Y a h abias dispa rad o pa ra a tras tu violencia

n e u ma tica, otra epoca, mas luego
me sostie nes a hora en brazo de honra fu nebre
y sostienes el rumbo de las cosas en brazo de honra funebre,
Ia m ue rte de la s cosas resumida en b ra zo de honra fu nebre .

Pero, rea lmente, y puesto

que tra ta mos de Ia vida,
cuando el hecho de entonces eche crin en tu ma no,
al segui r tu rumor como rega ndo,
cuando s u fras en suma de ka nguro,
olvfda me, soste nme todavia, compa nero de cantidad pequena,
a zotado de fecha s con espinas,
olvfdame y sostenme por el pecho,
j um e n to que te pa ra s en d os para abraza rme;
d uda de tu excremento u nos segundos,
observa como el a i re em pieza a ser el cielo leva n ta ndose,
h o mbrecil lo,
hombrezuelo,
h o mbre con taco, quiereme, acom pa na me .

Ten p rese n te que u n d ia

ha d e ca n ta r u n m i rlo de sota na
sobre mi tonelada ya desnuda .
(Ca n to u n m i rlo llevando las cintas de mi gramo entre su pico)
Ha de ca n ta r ca lza d o de este sollozo i n na to,
h ombre con taco,
y, sim u l tanea , dolorida mente,
ha de ca n ta r ca lza d o de mi paso,
y no ofrlo, h om brezuelo, sera malo,
sera den uesto y hoja,
pesa d u m bre, trenza, h u mo quieto.

Perro parado a l borde de u na pied ra

es el vuelo e n su cu rva;
ta mbie n tenlo prese n te, hombr6n hasta a rriba .
Te lo recorda ra n el peso baj o, de ribera adversa,
el peso tem pora l , de gra n sile ncio,
mas eso de los meses y aquello que regresa de los a rios .
 "FROM DISTURBANCE TO DISTURBANCE . . . " I 71

From disturbance to disturbance

you come up to accompany me to be alone;
and I realize it walking on tiptoes,
with a loaf in my hand, a road on my foot
and, black until it spills foam, my profile 5
playing its hair-raising role.

You have already fired your pneumatic violence

backwards, another epoch, but then
you now support me on an arm of memorial honor
and support the course of things on an arm of memorial honor, 10
the death of things summarized on an arm of memorial honor.

But, actually and since

we deal with life,
when the fact of that time grows mane in your hand,
upon following your rumor like watering, 15
•
when you suffer in short from kangaroo,
forget me, support me still, companion of a small amount,
whipped by dates with thorns,
forget me and support me by my chest,
donkey that stands up on two to embrace me; 20
doubt your excrement a few seconds,
observe how the air begins to be sky raising itself,
dear little man,
poor little man,
man with shoe heels, -love me, keep me compa ny . . .

Keep in mind that one day

a blackbird in cassock will sing
over my ton finally naked .
(A blackbird did sing carrying the ribbons of my gram in its beak)
It will sing shod with this innate sob, 30
man with shoe heels,
and, simultaneously, grievously,
will sing shod with my step,
and not to hear it, poor little man, will be bad,
will be insult and leaf, 35
sorrow, braid, quiet smoke.

A dog sta nding at the edge of a stone

is the flight in its curve;
also keep tha t in mind, man huge to the top .
You will be reminded of this by the low weigh t, of an adverse shore, 40
by the temporal weight, of a great silence,
plus this of the months and tha t which returns from the years.
n I "CONSIDERANDO EN FRfO . . . "

Considerando en frio, imparcialmente,

que el hombre es triste, tose y, sin embargo,
se complace en su pecho colorado;
que lo u nico que hace es componerse
de dias;
que es 16brego mamifero y se peina . . .

Considera ndo
que el hombre procede suavemente del trabajo
y repercute jefe, suena subordinado;
que el diagrama del tiempo
es consta nte diorama en sus medallas
y, a medio abrir, sus ojos estudiaron,
desde lejanos tiempos,
su formula famelica de masa . . .

Comprendiendo sin esfuerzo

que el hombre se queda, a veces pensando,
como queriendo llorar,
y, sujeto a tenderse como objeto,
se hace buen carpintero, suda, mata
y luego canta , almuerza, se abotona .

Considerando tambien
que el hombre es en verdad un animal
y, no obstante, al voltear, me da con su tristeza en Ia cabeza . .

Examinando, en fin,
sus encontradas piezas, su retrete,
su desesperaci6n, al terminar su dia atroz, borra ndolo . .

Com prendiendo
que el sabe que le quiero,
que le odio con afecto y me es, en suma, indiferente .

Considerando sus documentos generales

y mirando con lentes aquel certificado
que prueba que naci6 muy pequeriito .

�e hago una seria,

vtene,
y le doy un abrazo, emocionado.
jQue mas da ! Emocionado . . . Emocionado . .
 "CONSIDERING COLDLY . . . " I 73

Considering coldly, impartially,

that man is sad, coughs and, nevertheless,
takes pleasure in his reddened chest;
that the only thing he does is to compose himsel f
with days; 5
that he is a gloomy mammal and combs his hair . . .

Considering
that man proceeds softly from work
a nd reverberates boss, sounds employee;
that the diagram of time 10
is a constant diorama on his medals
a nd, half-open, his eyes have studied,
since dista nt times,
his famished mass formula . . .

Understa nding without effort 15

that man pauses, occasionally thinking,
as if he wanted to cry,
a nd, subject to lying down like an object,
becomes a good carpenter, sweats, kills
and then sings, eats lunch, bu ttons himself up . . . 20

Considering too
that ma n is tru ly an animal
and, nevertheless, upon turning, hits my head with his sadness . . .

Exa mining, finally,

his found parts, his toilet, 25
his despera tion, upon finishing his atrocious day, erasing it . . .

Understa nding
tha t he knows I love him,
..
that I hate him with affection and, in short, don't care about him . . .

Considering his general documents 30

and scru tinizing with pince-nez that certificate
tha t proves he was born very tiny . .

I signal him,
he comes,
and I embrace him, moved . 35
..
So wha t! Moved . . . Moved .
74 I "jY 51 DESPUES DE TANTAS PALABRAS . . . !"

jY si despues de tantas palabras,

no sobrevive Ia palabra !
jSi despues de las alas de los pajaros
no sobrevive el pajaro parado!
jMas valdria, en verdad,
que so lo coman todo y acabemos!

j Haber nacido para vivir de nuestra muerte!

j Levantarse del cielo hacia Ia tierra
por sus propios desastres
y espiar el momento de apagar con su sombra su tiniebla !
jMas valdria, francamente,
que se lo coman todo y que mas da ! . . .

j Y si despues de tanta historia, sucumbimos,

no ya de eternidad,
sino de esas cosas sencillas, como estar
en Ia casa o ponerse a cavilar!
jY si luego encontramos,
de buenas a primeras, que vivimos,
a j uzgar por Ia altura de los astros,
por el peine y las manchas del panuelo!
j Mas valdria, en verdad,
que se lo coman todo, desde luego!

Se dira que tenemos

en uno de los ojos mucha pena
y tambien en el otro, mucha pena
y en los dos, cuando miran, mucha pena . . .
jEntonces! . . . jClaro! . . . Entonces . . . jni palabra !
 "AND IF AFfER SO MANY WORDS . . ." I 75

And if a fter so many words,

the word itself does not survive!
I f a fter the wings of the birds,
the standing bird doesn't survive!
It would be much better, really, 5
..
for them to blow everything and that's it!

To have been born to live off our death !

To raise ourselves from the sky to the earth
through our own disasters, and to watch
for the moment to extinguish our darkness with our shadow! 10
It would be much better, frankly,
for them to blow everything, who cares! . . .

And if after so much history, we die,

no longer from eternity,
but from those simple things, like being 15
at home or starting to ponder!
And if then we discover,
all of a sudden, that we are living,
judging by the height of the stars,
off the comb and the stains of a handkerchief! 20
It would be much better, really,
for them to blow everything, obviously!

It will be said that we have

in one eye much sorrow
and also in the other, much sorrow 25
a nd in both, when they look, much sorrow . . .
Then ! . . . Of course! . . . Then . . . not a word !
76 I "POR ULTIMO, SIN ESE BUEN AROMA . . . "

Por ultimo, sin ese buen aroma sucesivo,

sin el,
sin su cuociente melancolico,
cierra su manto mi ventaja suave,
mis condiciones cierran sus cajitas.

j Ay, como Ia sensacion arruga tanto!

jay, como una idea fija me ha entrado en una una !

Albino, aspero, abierto, con temblorosa hectarea,

mi deleite cae viernes,
mas mi triste tristumbre se compone de colera y tristeza
y, a su borde arenoso e indoloro,
Ia sensacion me arruga, me arrincona .

Ladrones de oro, victimas de plata :

el oro que robara yo a mis victimas,
jrico de mi olvidandolo!
Ia plata que robara a mis ladrones,
j pobre de mi olvidandolo!

Execrable sistema, clima en nombre del cielo, del bronquio y Ia quebrada,

Ia can tidad enorme de dinero que cuesta el ser pobre . . .
 " FINALLY WITHOUT Tii AT GOOD CONTINUOUS
, . . . " I 77

Finally, without tha t good continuous aroma,

without it,
without its melancholy quotient,
my soft advantage closes its cloak,
my conditions close their little boxes. 5

Ay, how much the sensation wrinkles!

Aie! how a fixed idea has gotten under one of my nails!

Albino, acerb, open, with a trembling hectare,

my delight falls Friday,
but my sad sadoomedness mixes anger and sadness
and, at its painless and sandy edge,
the sensation wrinkles me, corners me.

Thieves of gold, victims of silver:

the gold I had stolen from my victims,
how rich I am forgetting it! 15
the silver I had stolen from my thieves,
how poor I am forgetting it!

Abominable system, climate in the name of heaven, of the bronchus and the gorge,
the incredible amount of money that it takes to be poor . . .
78 I " PA RA DO EN UNA PIEDRA . . . "

Parada en una p iedra,

d esocu pado,
a s t roso, espel uznante,
a Ia ori l l a del Sen a , va y viene.
Del rio brota entonces Ia conciencia ,
con peciolo y rasgu nos de a rbol avido;
del rio s ube y baja Ia ciudad, hecha de lobos abrazados .

E l parado I a v e yendo y vinie ndo,

mon u mental, lleva n d o sus ayu nos en Ia cabeza c6ncava,
en el pecho sus p iojos pu risimos
y a bajo
s u pequeno sonido, el de s u pelvis,
callado entre dos gra ndes decisiones,
y abajo,
mas abajo,
u n papel i to, un clavo, u na cerilla .

j Este es, trabajadores, aquel

que en Ia labor sudaba para a fuera,
que s u d a h oy para adentro su secrecion de sa ngre reh usa d a !
Fu n d idor d e l ca non, q u e sabe cua ntas za rpas son acero,
tejedor que conoce los h ilos positivos de sus venas,
alba ni l de pira m ides,
cons tructor de descensos por col umnas
serenas, por fracasos triu n fa les,
pa ra d o i n d i vi d u a l entre treinta millones de pa rados ,
a n d a n te e n m u l t i tu d ,
jque sa l to el retra tado en su talon
y que h u mo el de s u boca ayu na , y como
s u talle i ncide, ca n to a ca n to, e n su herra m ien ta a troz, pa rada,
y que idea de dolorosa va lvula en su pomulo!

Ta mbien pa ra d o el h ierro fren te a l horno,

paradas las semil las con sus sum isas sin tesis al a i re,
pa rados los petr6leos conexos,
p a ra d a en sus a u ten ticos a postrofes Ia l uz,
pa rados de crecer los la u relcs,
paradas en u n pie las aguas m6vi les
y hasta Ia tie rra m isma, pa rada de estu por a n te este pa ro,
jque sa lto el retra tado en sus tendones !
j q u e t ra nsmis i6n en tabla n sus cien pasos !
j c6mo c h i l la el motor en s u tobillo!
 "IDLE ON A STONE . . ." I 79

Idle on a stone,
unemployed,
scroungy, hair-raising,
at the bank of the Seine, he comes and goes .
Conscience then sprouts from the river, 5
with the petiole and scratches of an avid tree;
from the river the city rises and lowers, made of embraced wolves.

The idle one sees it coming and going,

monumental, carrying his fasts in his concave head,
on his chest his purest lice 10
and below
his little sound, that of his pelvis,
silent between two big decisions,
and below,
further down, 15
..
a paperscrap, a nail, a match . . .

This is, workers, that man

who in his work used to sweat from inside out,
..
who today sweats his secretion of refused blood from outside in!
Cannon caster, who knows how many claws are steel, 20
weaver who knows the positive threads of his veins,
mason of pyramids,
builder of descents through serene
columns, through triumphant failures,
idle individual among - thirty million idle, 25
wandering in a multitude,
what a leap the one portrayed in his heel
and what a smoke the one from his fasting mouth, and how
his waist penetrates, edge to edge, his atrocious tool, idle,
and what an idea of a painful valve in his cheekbone! 30

Likewise idle the iron before the furnace,

idle the seeds with their submissive synthesis in the air,
idle the connected petroleums,
idle the light in its authentic apostrophes,
idle without growth the laurels, 35
idle on one foot the mobile waters
and even the earth itself, idle from stupor before this lock-out,
what a leap the one portrayed in his tendons!
what a transmission his hundred steps start up!
how the motor in his ankle screeches! 40
80 I "PARADO EN UNA PIEDRA . . . "

jc6mo grune el reloj, paseandose impaciente a sus espaldas!

jc6mo oye deglutir a los patrones
el trago que le falta , camaradas,
y el pan que se equivoca de saliva,
y, oyendolo, sintiendolo, en plural, humanamente,
jc6mo clava el relanpago
su fuerza sin cabeza en su cabeza !
y lo que hacen, abajo, entonces, jay!
j mas abajo, camaradas,
el papelucho, el clavo, Ia cerilla,
el pequeno sonido, el piojo padre!
 "IDLE ON A STONE . . . " I 81

how the clock grumbles, wandering impatiently in his back!

how he hears the owners gulp down
the shot that he lacks, comrades,
..
and the bread that gets into the wrong saliva,
and, hearing it, feeling it, in plural, humanly, 45
..
how the lightning nails
its headless force into his head !
..
a nd what they do, below, then, my god !
further down, comrades,
the d irtypaperscrap, the nail, the match, 50
..
the little sound, the stallion louse!
82 I ''LOS M I N EROS SALI ERO
�N� E�L�A�
D� IN
M��A�.�
·�· "���������������� �

Los m ineros sa lieron de Ia m i na

remonta ndo sus ru i nas venidera s,
faja ron su salud con estampidos
y, elaborando su fu ncion mental,
cerra ron con sus voces
el soca von, en forma de sfntoma profu ndo.

j Era de ver sus polvos corrosivos !

j Era d e oir sus oxidos d e a ltu ra !
Cu n a s d e boca, yu nques de boca, a pa ra tos de boca (Es formidable!)

EI orden de sus tumulos,

s u s inducciones plasticas, sus respuestas corales,
agolparonse a l pie de fgneos percances
y a i re n te a m a rillura conocieron los tristidos, tristes,
imbufdos
d e l metal que se acaba, del metaloide palido y pequeno.

Craneados d e labor,
y ca lza dos d e cuero d e vizcacha,
ca lza dos d e senderos i n fi n i tos,
y los ojos de fisico llorar,
creadores d e Ia profu ndidad,
sabe n , a cielo i n termitente de escalera ,
baja r m ira ndo para a rriba ,
s u bi r mira ndo para abajo

j Loor al a ntiguo j uego de su natu raleza,

a sus i n somnes 6rga nos, a su saliva rustica !
jTe m ple, filo y pu n ta , a sus pesta nas !
j Crezca n Ia yerba, e l lfquen y I a rana en sus adverbios!
j Fe lpa d e h ie rro a sus n u pcia les saba na s !
j Mujeres h a s t a a bajo, s u s m uj eres!
Mucha felicidad pa ra los suyos!
j So n a lgo porten toso, los mineros
remon ta nd o sus ru inas venideras,
elabora ndo su funci6n men ta l
y a briendo con sus voces
el socav6n, en forma de sfntoma profu nda!
j Loor a su na tu ra leza a ma rillenta,
a su l i n terna magica ,
a sus cubos y rombos, a sus perca nces plas ticos,
a sus ojazos de seis nervios 6pticos
y a sus h ijos que j u ega n en Ia iglesia
y a sus t<kitos pad res i n fa ntiles !
j S a l ud , o h creadores de Ia profu ndida d ! . . . (Es form idable)
 "TI-l E M I NERS CAME OUT OF TI-lE MINE . . . " I 83

The m i ners came ou t of the mine

climbing over their future ru ins,
they girdled their heal th with blasts
a nd , elabo ra ting their menta l fu nction,
closed w i th their voices 5
the sha ft, in the shape of a profound symptom .

What a sight their corrosive d usts!

To h a ve heard their high oxides !
Mou th wedges, mou th a nvils, mou th a ppara tus (Tremendous!)

The order of their tu m u l i , 10

t h e i r plastic inductions, their choral replies,
cro wded a t the base of fiery misfortu nes
a n d aere n t yellowing was known by the saddish, sad ones,
i m bu ed
with the metal tha t exhausts i tsel f, the pallid and small metaloid . 15

Cra niated from labor,

a nd shod with viscacha hide,
shod w i th i n fi n ite paths,
a nd the eyes of physical cry ing,
creators of the profu ndity,
they know, from the ladder's intermittent sky,
to clin1b down iooki ng u p,
they know to climb u p looking down .

Pra ise for the a ncie n t works o f their nature

for their sleepless orga ns, for their rustic saliva ! 25
Tem pe r, edge a n d point, for their eyelashes !
May the grass, the l ichen and the frog grow in their adverbs !
I ron plush for their nu ptial sheets !
Women to the depths, their wome n !
Lo ts o f happiness for their people! 30
They ' re someth i ng prod igious, those miners
climbing over their fu tu re ru ins,
elabora ti n g their mental fu nction
a nd o pe n i ng with their voices
the sha ft, in the shape o f a profo u nd symptom! 35
Pra ise for their yellowish nature,
fo r their magic la n tern,
for their cubes and rhombs, for their plastic misfortu nes ,
fo r their huge eyes with six optica l nerves
a nd for their children who play in the ch u rch 40
a nd for their silent in fa ntile fa thers!
Hail, oh crea tors of the profundity! . . . (Tremendous)
84 I "PERO ANTES QUE SE ACABE . . . "

Pero antes que se acabe

toda esta dicha, pierdela atajandola ,
tomale Ia medida, por si rebasa tu ademan; rebasala,
ve si cabe tendida en tu extension .

Bien Ia se por su Have,

a u nque no sepa, a veces, si esta dicha
anda sola, a poyada en tu infortunio
0 tailida, por solo darte gusto, en tus falanjas.
Bien Ia se unica, sola
de u na sabiduria solitaria .

En tu oreja el cartilago esta hermoso

y te escribo por eso, te medito:
no olvides en tu sueilo de pensar que eres feliz,
que Ia dicha es un hecho profunda, cuando acaba,
pero al llegar asume
un caotico aroma de asta muerta .

Silbando a tu muerte,
sombrero a Ia pedrada,
blanco, ladeas a ganar tu batalla de escaleras,
soldado del tallo, filosofo del grano, mecanico del sueno.
(lMe percibes, a nimal?
lme dejo comparar como tamano?
No respondes y callado me miras
a traves de Ia edad de tu palabra . )

Ladea ndo asf tu dicha, volvera

a clamarla tu lengua, a despedirla,
dicha tan desgraciada de durar.
Antes, se acabara violentamente,
dentada, pedernalina estampa,
y entonces oiras como medito
y entonces tocaras como tu sombra es esta mfa desvestida
y entonces oleras como he sufrido.
 "BUT BEFORE ALL THIS I 85
. . . II

But before all this

happiness ends, lose it heading it off,
take its measure, in case it exceeds your gesture; exceed it,
see if it fits stretched in your extension .

I know it well by its key, 5

even if I don't know, at times, if this happiness
walks alone, leaned on your misfortune
..
or drummed, just to please you, on your phalanhes.
I know well it is unique, alone
with a solitary wisdom . 10

In your ear the cartilage looks beautiful

and so I write you, I meditate you:
don't forget in your dream to think that you are happy,
that happiness is a profound fact, when it ends,
but upon a rriving it acquires 15
the chaotic odor of a dead horn .
..
Whistling at your death,
..
hat rakishly tilted,
..
white, you sway to win your battle of the stairs,
soldier of the stalk, philosopher of the grain, mechanic of the dream. 20
(Do you perceive me, animal?
do you find my size comparable to yours?
You do not answer and silent you look at me
across the age of your word . )

Swaying your happiness like this, your tongue 25

will again cry for it, will again dismiss it,
happiness too unfortunate to last .
I nstead, it will end violently,
perforated, a flintified print,
and a fterwards you will hear how I meditate 30
and afterwards you will touch how your shadow is my own undressed
a nd a fterwards you will smell how I have suffered .
86 I TELURICA Y MAGNETICA
�---------------------------------------------------

Tel u rica y ma g netica

j Mecanica sincera y peru a n isima

Ia del cerro colorado!
j Suelo teorico y p ractico!
j S urcos i n teligentes; ejemplo: el monolito y su cortejo!
j Pa pa les, cebadales, a l fa l fa res, cosa buena !
jCultivos que in tegra una asombrosa jera rquia de u tiles
y que integran con vie n to los mujidos,
las aguas con su sorda a n tigiiedad !

j Cu a ternarios m a kes, de opuestos na ta licios,

los oigo por los pies como se a lejan,
los h uelo re torna r cuando Ia tierra
tro pieza con Ia h�cnica del cielo !
j Molecula exabrup to! A tomo terso!

j Oh cam pos h umanos!

j Solar y n utricia a usencia de Ia mar,
y sen timiento oceanico de todo!
j Oh dimas encon trad os den tro del oro, listos!
jOh campo i n telectual de cordillera,
con religion , con cam po, con patitos !
j Paquidermos en prosa cuando pasan
y en verso cuando para nse!
j Roedores que miran con sen timiento j ud icial en torno!
jOh p atrioticos asnos de m i vid a !
j Vicu n a , descendie n te naciona l y graciosa d e mi mono!
j Oh l uz que dista a penas un esp�jo de Ia sombra,
que es vida con el pun to y, con Ia l inea , polvo
y que por eso a ca to, subiendo por Ia idea a mi osa men ta !

j Siega en e poca del d i la tado molle,

del farol que colga ron de Ia s ie n
y d e l que descolgaron de Ia barreta esplendida !
j Ange les d e corra l,
a ves por un descuido de Ia cresta !
Cuya o cuy para comerlos fri tos
con e l bravo rocoto d e los temples!
(( Condores? j Me friegan los condores!)
Lenos cris tianos e n gracia
a l tronco feliz y a l ta llo com pete nte !
j Fa m ilia d e los liquenes
especies en formacion basal tica que yo
respe to
 TELLURIC AND MAGNETIC I 87

Telluric a nd m a g netic

..
Sincere a nd utterly Peruvian mechanics
..
those of the reddish hill!
Theoretical and practical soil!
Intelligent furrows; example: the monolith and its retinue!
Potato fields, barely fields, lucerne fields, a wonderful thing! 5
Cultivations which integrate an astonishing hierarchy of tools
a nd which integrate with wind the lowings,
the waters with their muffled antiquity!

Quaternary maizes, with opposite birthdays,

I hear through my feet how they move aside, 10
I smell them return when the earth
clashes with the sky's technique!
Abruptly molecule! Terse atom !
..
Oh human fields!
Solar and nutritious absence of the sea, 15
and oceanic feeling for everything!
Oh climates found inside gold, ready!
Oh intellectual field of a cordillera,
with religion, with fields, with baby ducks!
Pachyderms in prose while passing 20
a nd in poetry while halting!
Rodents which look with judicial feeling all around!
Oh my life's patriotic asses!
Vicuna, national and graceful descendant of my ape!
Oh light which is hardly a tnirror away from the shadow, 25
which is life with a period and, with a line, dust
and that is why I revere it, climbing through the idea to my skeleton!
..
Harvest in the time of the spacious pepper tree,
of the lantern hung from a human temple
and of the one taken down from the magnificent little bar!
Poultry-yard angels,
birds by a slip up of the crest!
..
Cavess or cavy to be eaten fried
..
with the wild bird pepper of the temperings!
(Condors? Fuck the condors!)
Christian logs by the grace of
a happy trunk and a competent stalk!
Family of lichens,
species in basalt formation that I
respect 40
88 I TELURICA Y MAGNETICA

desde este modestisimo papel !

jCuatro operaciones, os sustraigo
para salvar al roble y hundirlo en buena ley!
jCuestas en infraganti !
jAuquenidos llorosos, a lmas mias!
jSierra de mi Peru, Peru del mundo,
y Peru al pie del orbe; yo me adhiero!
j Estrellas matutinas si os aromo
quemando hojas de coca en este craneo,
y cenitales, si destapo,
de un solo sombrerazo, mis diez templos!
j Brazo de siembra, bajate y a pie!
Lluvia a base del mediodia,
bajo el techo de tejas donde muerde
Ia infa tigable altura
y Ia t6rtola corta en tres su trino!
jRotaci6n de tardes modernas
y finas madrugadas arqueol6gicas!
j lndio despues del hombre y antes de el!
jLo entiendo todo en dos flautas
y me doy a entender en una quena !
jY los demas, me las pelan! . . .
 TELLURIC AND MAGNETIC I 89

from this extremely modest paper!

..
Four operations, I dismiss you
to save the oak and to destroy it properly!
..
Slopes caught in the act!
Tearful auchenia, my own souls! 45"'
Sierra of my Peru, Peru of the world,
a nd Peru at the base of the orb; I stick with you !
Morning stars if I aromatize you
burning coca leaves in this skull,
and zenithal ones, if I uncover, 50
in one hat doff, my ten temples!
Arm sowing, get down, and on foot!
Rain on the basis of noon,
under the tile roof where the indefatigable
altitude gnaws 55
a nd the turtle dove cuts her trill in three.
Rotation of modern afternoons
a nd delicate archaeological dawns .
Indian later than man and before him!
I understand all of it on two flutes 60
..
a nd I make myself understood on a quena !
..
As for the others, they can jerk me off! . . .
90 I PIENSAN LOS VIEJOS ASNOS

Piensan los viejos asnos

Ahora vestiriame
de musico por verle,
chocaria con su alma, sobandole el destino con mi mano,
le dejaria tranquilo, ya que es una alma a pausas,
en fin, le dejaria
posiblemente muerto sobre su cuerpo muerto.

Podria hoy dilatarse en este frio,

podria toser; le vi bostezar, duplicandose en mi ofdo
su aciago movimiento muscular.
Tal me refiero a un hombre, a su placa positiva
y, lpor que no? a su boldo ejecutante,
aquel horrible filamento lujoso;
a su bast6n con puno de plata con perrito,
y a los niflos
que el dijo eran sus funebres cunados.

Por eso vestirfame hoy de musico,

chocaria con su alma que qued6se mirando a mi materia . . .

j Mas ya nunca verele afeitandose al pie de su manana;

ya nunca, ya jamas, ya para que!
j Hay que ver! jQue cosa cosa !
jque jamas de jamases su jamas!
 OLD ASSES THINKING I 91

Old asses thinking

I would dress up now

like a musician to see him,
I would collide with his soul, feeling up his destiny with my hand,
I would leave him at peace, since he is a soul at leisure,
in short, I would leave him 5
possibly dead on his dead body.

He could expand today in this cold,

could cough; I saw him yawn, duplicating in my ear
his ominous muscular movement.
So do I talk about a man, about his positive plate 10
..
and, why not? about his executive boldo,
that horrible luxurious filament;
about his silver headed cane with a little dog
and about his children
he referred to as his funereal brother-in-laws . 15

That is why I would dress up today like a musician,

I would collide with his soul that kept looking at my matter . . .

But never again will I see him shaving at the foot of his morning;
..
never again, not ever again, now-nothing!
What a wonder! What a thing thing! 20
..
what a never of nevers his never!
SERMON DE LA BARBARIE

(1936 - 1938)

SERMON ON BARBARISM
94 I PARIS OCfUBRE 1936

Paris, Octubre 1936

De todo esto yo soy el unico que parte.

De este banco me voy, de mis calzones,
de mi gran situaci6n, de mis acciones,
de mi numero hendido parte a parte,
de todo esto yo soy el unico que parte.

De los Campos Elfseos o al dar vuelta

Ia extrafla callejuela de Ia Luna,
mi defunci6n se va, parte mi cuna,
y, rodeada de gente, sola, suelta,
mi semejanza huma na dase vuelta
y despacha sus sombras una a una .

Y me alejo de todo, porque todo

se queda para hacer Ia coartada :
mi zapato, su ojal, tambien su lodo
y hasta el doblez del codo
de mi pro pia camisa abotonada .
 PARIS, OCTOBER 1936 I 95

Paris, October 1936

From all of this I am the only one who leaves.

From this bench I go away, from my pants,
from my great situation, from my actions,
from my number split side to side,
from all of this I am the only one who leaves. 5

From the Champs Elysees or as the strange

alley of the Moon makes a turn,
my death goes away, my cradle leaves,
and, surrounded by people, alone, cut loose,
my human resemblance turns around 10
and dispatches its shadows one by one .

And I move away from everything, since everything

remains to create my alibi:
my shoe, its eyelet, as well as its mud
and even the bend in the elbow 15
of my own buttoned shirt.
96 I LA RU EDA DEL HAMBRI ENTO

La rueda del ha mbriento

Por en tre m is p ropios dientes sa lgo humeando,

d a ndo voces, pujando,
bajandome los panta lones . . .
Vaca 1 ni est6mago, vaca mi yeyuno,
Ia m iseria me saca por entre mis propios dientes,
cogido con un pal i to por el purio de Ia camisa .

U n a piedra en que sentarme

(no habra ahora para m i?
A u n a quella piedra en que t ropieza Ia mujer que ha dado a luz,
Ia mad re del cordero, Ia causa, Ia raiz,
(esa no habra ahora para mi?
j S iqu iera aquella otra,
que h a pasad o agachandose por mi a l m a !
Siqu iera
Ia ca lca rida o Ia m a la (humilde ocean o)
o I a que ya no s i rve n i para ser tirada con tra el hombre,
j es a dadmela a ho ra para mi!

Siqu iera I a que hallaren a t ravesada y sola en un insulto,

j esa d ad mela a hora para mf!
Siqu iera Ia torcida y coronada, en que resuena
solam e n te una vez e l andar de las rectas conciencias,
o, a l m enos, esa otra , que a rrojada en d igna curva,
va a caer por si misma,
e n p ro fesi6n de e n traria verdadera,
jesa dad mela a h o ra para mf!

Un pedazo de pa n, ( tam poco habra a hora para mf?

Ya no mas he de ser I o que siempre he de ser,
pero dadme
u n a pied ra e n que senta rme,
pero dad me,
por favor, un peda zo de pa n en que sentarme,
pe ro d a d me
en espanol
a lgo, e n fi n, de beber, de comer, de vivir, de reposa rse,
y d espues me i re . . .
H a l lo u na ext ra ria form a , esta muy rota
y s ucia mi ca misa
y ya no tengo nada, esto es horrend o .
 THE HUNGRY MAN'S WHEEL I 97

Th e h u ngry m a n 's w h eel

From between my own teeth I come out smoking,

shouting, pushing,
pulling down my pants . . .
My stomach empties, my jejunum empties,
misery pulls me out between my own teeth, 5
caught in my shirt cu ff by a little stick.

A stone to sit down on

will now be denied to me?
Not even that stone on which the woman trips who has given birth,
the mother of the lamb, the cause, the root, 10
that one will now be denied to me?
At least that other one,
that crouching has passed through my soul!
At least
the calcarid or the evil one (humble ocean)
or the one no longer even worth throwing at man,
that one give it to me now !

At least the one they could have found lying across and alone in an insult,
t ha t one give it to me now!
At least the twisted and crowned, on which echoes 20
only once the walk of moral rectitude,
or, a t least, that other one, that flung in dignified curve,
will drop by itself,
acting as a true core,
tha t one give it to me now! 25

A piece of bread, that too denied to me?

Now I am resigned to be what I always have to be,
but give me
a stone to sit down on,
but give me, 30
please, a piece of bread to sit down on,
but give me
in Spanish
something, in short, to drink, to eat, to live by, to rest on,
a nd then I will go away . . . 35
I find a strange form, my shirt very torn
a nd filthy
a nd now I have nothing, this is hideous.
98 I "CALOR, CANSADO VOY . . . "

X
X X

Calor, cansado voy con mi oro, a donde

acaba mi enemigo de quererme.
j C'est Septembre attiedi, por ti, Febrero!
Es como si me hubieran puesto aretes .

Paris, y 4, y 5, y Ia ansiedad
colgada, en el calor, de mi hecho muerto .
j C'est Paris, reine du monde!
Es como si se hubieran orinado.
Hojas amargas de mensual tama no
y hojas del Luxemburgo polvorosas .
j C'est l'ete, por ti, invierno d e alta pleura !
Es como si se hubieran dado vuelta .

Calor, Paris, otono, jcuanto estio

en medio del calor y de Ia urbe!
j C'est Ia vie, mort de Ia Mort!
Es como si contaran mis pisadas.

jEs como si me hubieran puesto aretes!

j Es como si se hubieran orinado!
jEs como si te hubieras dado vuelta !
j Es como si con taran mis pisadas!

4 Set. 1 937
 "HEAT TIRED I GO . . . " I 99

X
X X

Heat, tired I go with my gold, where

my enemy has just finished loving me .
f
C' est Se tember attiedi, for you, February! ..

It is as i they had put earrings on me .

Paris, and 4, and 5, and the anxiety

hanged, in the heat, from my dead fact.
..
C'est Paris, reine du monde!
It is as if they had urinated .
Bitter leaves of monthly size
a nd dusty leaves from the Luxembourg. 10
..
C'est l'ete, for you, winter of high pleura!
It is as if they had turned around .

Hea t, Paris, autumn, so much summer

in the midst of the heat and the city!
C'est Ia vie, mort de Ia Mort!
It is as if they had counted my steps.

It is as if they had put earrings on me!

It is as if they had urinated !
It is as if you yourself had turned around !
It is as if they had counted my steps! 20
100 I "UN PILAR SOPORTANDO CONSUELOS . . . "

X
X X

U n pilar soportando consuelos,

pilar otro,
pilar en duplicado, pilaroso
y como nieto de una puerta oscura .
Ruido perdido, el uno, oyendo, al borde del cansancio;
bebiendo, el otro, dos a dos, con asas.

llgnoro acaso el ano de este dia,

el odio de este amor, las tablas de esta frente?
llgnoro que esta tarde cuesta dias?
llgnoro que jamas se dice "nunca , " de rodillas?

Los pilares que vi me estan oyendo;

otros pilares son, doses y nietos tristes de mi pie rna .
j Lo digo e n cobre americano,
que le debe a Ia plata tanto fuego!

Consolado en terceras nupcias,

palido, nacido,
voy a cerrar mi pila bautismal, esta vidriera,
este susto con tetas,
este dedo en capilla,
corazonmente unido a mi esqueleto.

6 Set. 1937
 "ONE PILLAR HOLDING UP CONSOLATIONS . . . " I 101

X
X X

One pillar holding up consolations,

a nother pillar,
..
a duplicate pillar, pillarous
and l ike the grandchild of a dark door.
Lost noise, the one, listening, at the edge of fatigue; 5
drinking, the other, two by two, with handles.

Don't I perhaps know the year of this day,

the hatred of this love, the planks of this forehead?
Don't I know that this a fternoon costs days?
Don't I know that never does one say "never, " on one's knees? 10

The pillars that I saw are listening to me;

other pillars are, twos and sad grandchildren of my leg.
I say it in American copper
which owes to silver so much fire!

Consoled by third marriages, 15

pallid, born,
..
I am going to close my baptismal font, this showcase,
this fright with tits,
this finger in deathrow,
heartly tied to my skeleton . 20..
102 I II
AL CAVILAR EN LA VIDA .
. . II

X
X X

AI cavilar en Ia vida, al cavilar

despacio en el esfuerzo del torrente,
a livia, ofrece asiento el existir,
condena a m uerte;
envuelto en trapos blancos cae,
cae planetariamente,
el clavo hervido en pesadumbre; jcae!
(Acritud oficial, Ia de mi izquierda;
viejo bolsillo, en si considerada esta derecha . )

jTodo esta alegre, menos mi alegria

y todo, largo, menos mi candor,
mi incertidumbre!
A juzgar por Ia forma, no obstante, voy de frente,
cojeando antiguamente,
y olvido por mis lagrimas mis ojos (Muy interesa nte)
y subo hasta mis pies desde mi estrella .

Tejo; de haber hilado, heme tejiendo.

Busco lo que me sigue y se me esconde entre arzobispos,
por debajo de mi alma y tras del humo de mi aliento.
Tal era Ia sensual desolaci6n
de Ia cabra doncella que ascendia,
exhalando petr6leos fa tidicos,
ayer domingo en que perdi mi sabado.

Tal es Ia muerte, con su audaz marido.

7 Set. 1 937
 "UPON REFLECfiNG ON LIFE . . ." I 103

X
X X

..
Upon reflecting on life, upon reflecting
slowly on the effort of the torrent,
existence feels better, settles us,
condemns to death;
wrapped in white rags it falls, 5
falls planetarily,
the nail boiled in grief; falls!
(Official bitterness, that of my left;
old pocket, in itself considered this right.)

Everything is joyful, except my joy 10

and everything, long, except my candor,
my incertitude!
To judge by the form, nevertheless, I go forward,
a nciently limping,
and forget through my tears my eyes (Very interesting) 15
and climb to my feet from my star.

I weave; from having spun, I am weaving.

I search for what follows me and hides from me among archbishops,
u nder my soul and behind the smoke of my breathing.
Such was the sensual desolation 20
of the rna iden goat that ascended
exhaling lethal petroleums,
yesterday Sunday on which I lost my Saturday.

Such is death, with her daring husband .

104 I POEMA PARA SER LEIDO Y CANTADO

Poema pa ra ser leid o y can tado

Se que hay una persona

que me busca en su mano, dia y noche,
encontrandome, a cada minuto, en su calzado.
Llgnora que Ia noche esta enterrada
con espuelas detras de Ia cocina?

Se que hay una persona compuesta de mis partes,

a Ia que integro cuando va mi talle
cabalgando en su exacta piedrecilla .
Llgnora que a su cofre
no volvera moneda que sali6 con su retrato?

Se el dia ,
pero el sol s e me ha escapado;
se el acto universal que hizo en su cama
con ajeno valor y esa agua tibia, cuya
superficial frecuencia es una mina .
LTan pequena es, acaso, esa persona,
que hasta sus propios pies asi Ia pisan?

Un gato es el lindero entre ella y yo,

al lado m ismo de su tasa de agua .
La veo en las esquinas, se abre y cierra
su veste, antes palmera interrogante . . .
lQue podra hacer sino cambiar de llanto?

Pero me busca y busca . j Es una historia !

7 Set. 1937
 POEM TO BE READ AND SUNG I 105

Poem to be read a nd s u ng

•
I know there is a person
who looks for me in her hand, day and night,
finding me, every minute, in her shoes .
Doesn't she know that the night is buried
with spurs behind the kitchen? 5

I know there is a person made up of my parts,

who I make whole when my waist
goes galloping off on its exact little stone.
Doesn't she know that the coin
imprinted with her effigy will not return to her coffer? 10

I know the day,

but the sun has escaped me;
I know the universal act she performed on her bed
with alien courage and that tepid water, whose
superficial frequency is a gold mine. 15
Is that person, perhaps, so small
that even her own feet step on her?

A cat is the boundary between her and me,

•
right a t the edge of her measure of water.
I see her on the corners, her clothing 20
opens and closes, formerly an inquiring palm tree . . .
What can she do but change crying?

But she looks and looks for me. What a story!

1 06 I "EL ACENTO ME PENDE . . . "

El acento me pende del zapato;

le oigo perfectamente
sucu mbir, lucir, doblarse en forma de ambar
y colgar, colorante, mala sombra .
Me sobra asi el tamano,
me ven jueces desde un arbol,
me ven con sus espaldas ir de frente,
entrar a mi martillo,
pararme a ver a una nina
y , a l pie de u n urinario, alzar los hombros.

Segu ramente nadie esta a mi lado,

me importa poco, no lo necesito;
segura mente han d icho que me vaya :
lo siento claramente.

j Cruelisimo tamano el de rezar!

j Hu millaci6n, fulgor, profunda selvaj
Me sobra ya tamano, bruma elastica,
rapidez por encima y desde y junto.
jlmperturbable! jlmperturbable ! Suenan
luego, despues, fa tidicos telefonos .
Es el acento; es el.

1 2 Set. 1937
 ' 'TH E ACCENT DANGLES . . . " I 107

The accent dangles from my shoe;

I hear it succumb
perfectly, shine, fold in the shape of amber
and hang, coloring, an evil shade.
Thus my size exceeds me, 5
judges see me from a tree,
they see me with their backs walk forward,
enter my hammer,
stop to look at a girl
a nd , standing at a urinal, raise my shoulders. 10

Surely no one is with me,

I don't mind, I don't need anyone;
surely they have told me to go:
I feel it clearly.

Cruelest size that of prayer! 15

Humiliation, fulgor, profound forest!
My size already exceeds me, elastic mist,
rapidity superficially and since and close by.
Imperturbable! Imperturbable! Vatic
phones ring immediately, later. 20
I t's the accent; it's it.
108 I "LA PUNTA DEL HOMBRE . . . "

La punta del hombre,

el ludibrio pequeilo de encojerse
tras de fumar su universal cen iza;
punta al darse en secretos caracoles,
punta donde se agarra uno con guantes,
punta el lunes sujeto por seis frenos,
punta saliendo de escuchar a su alma .

De otra manera,
fueran lluvia menuda los soldados
y ni cuadrada p6lvora, al volver de los bravos desatinos,
y ni letales platanos; tan solo
un poco de patilla en Ia silueta .
De otra manera, caminantes suegros,
cuilados en misi6n sonora,
yernos por Ia via ingratisima del jebe,
toda Ia gracia caballar a ndando
puede fulgir esplendorosamente!

jOh pensar geometrico al trasluz!

j Oh no morir bajamente
de majestad tan rauda y tan fragante!
jOh no cantar; apenas
escribir y escribir con un palito
o con el filo de Ia oreja inquieta !

Acorde de Iapiz, timpano sordisimo,

dondoneo en mitades robustas
y comer de memoria buena carne,
jam6n, si falta carne,
y u n pedazo de queso con gusanos hembras,
gusa nos machos y gusanos muertos.

14 Set. 1937
 "THE TIP OF MAN . . . " I 1 09

The tip of man,

the petty mockery of shrinking
a fter smoking its universal ash;
tip on yielding in secret snails,
tip where one grabs with gloves on, 5
tip Monday restrained with six bridles,
tip emerging from listening to its soul.

On the other hand,

the soldiers could have been a fine rain
and neither square gunpowder, upon returning from their brave follies, 10
nor deadly bananas; only
a bit of sideburn on the silhouette.
On the other hand, walking fathers-in-law,
brothers-in-law on a sonorous mission,
sons-in-law by the most ungrateful path of rubber, 15
a ll the equine grace marching
can flash resplendently !

Oh to think geometrically against the light!

Oh not to die lowly
of such swift and such fragrant majesty! 20
Oh not to sing; to barely
wri te and to write with a little stick
or with the edge of a restless ear!

Pencil chord, deafest eardrum,

zazhay in robust halves
and to eat by heart choice meat,
ham, if there is no meat,
and a piece of cheese with female worms,
male worms and dead worms.
110 I "jOH BOTELLA SIN VINO!"

X
X X

jOh botella sin vino ! joh vino que enviud6 de esta botella !
Tarde cuando Ia aurora de Ia tarde
flame6 funestamente en cinco espiritus.
Viudez sin pan ni mugre, rematando en horrendos metaloides
y en celulas orales acabando .

jOh siempre, nunca dar con el jamas de tanto siempre!

joh mis buenos amigos, cruel falacia,
parcial, penetra tativa en nuestro trunco,
volatil, jugarino desconsuelo!

jSublime, baja perfecci6n del cerdo,

palpa mi general melancolia !
j Zuela sonante en suerios,
zuela
za fia, inferior, vendida, licita, ladrona,
baja y palpa lo que eran mis ideas !

Ttl. y el y ellos y todos,

sin embargo,
entraron a Ia vez en mi camisa,
en los hombros madera, entre los femures, palillos;
ttl particularmente,
habiendome influido;
el, futil, colorado, con dinero
y ellos, zanganos de ala de otro peso .

jOh botella sin vino! joh vino que enviud6 de esta botella !

16 Set . 1937
 "OH BOTILE WITHOUT WINE!" I 111

X
X X

Oh bottle without wine! oh wine the widower of this bottle!

Afternoon when the dawn of the afternoon
flamed ominously in five spirits.
Widowhood without bread or filth, finishing as hideous metalloids
a nd ending as oral cells. 5

Oh always, never to find the never of so much always!

oh my good friends, cruel deceit,
partial, cutting into our truncated,
..
volatile, frolicful grief!

Sublime, low perfection of the pig, 10

gropes my general melancholy!
An adze sounding in dreams,
an adze
crude, inferior, sold out, just, thief,
comes down and gropes what used to be my ideas! 15

You and he and they and everyone,

nevertheless,
inserted at the same time into my shirt,
into my shoulders wood, between my femurs, little sticks;
you particularly, 20
having influenced me;
he, futile, reddish, with money
..
and they, winged drones of another weight.

Oh bottle without wine! oh wine the widower of this bottle!

1 12 I "VA CORRIENDO ANDANDO . . . "

X
X X

Va corriendo, andando, huyendo

de sus pies . . .
Va con dos nubes en su nube,
sentado ap6crifo, en Ia mano insertos
sus tristes paras, sus entonces runebres.

Corre de todo, andando

entre protestas incoloras; huye
subiendo, huye
bajando, huye
a paso de sotana, huye
alzando al mal en brazos, huye
d irectamente a sollozar a solas.

Adonde vaya,
lejos de sus fragosos, causticos talones,
lejos del aire, lejos de su viaje,
a fin de huir, huir y huir y huir
de sus pies-hombre en dos pies, parado
de tanto huir-habra sed de correr.

iY ni el arbol, si endosa hierro de oro!

iY ni el h ierro, si cubre su hojarasca!
Nada, sino sus pies,
nada sino su breve calofrio,
sus paras vivos, sus entonces vivos . .

1 8 Set. 1 937
 " HE IS RUNNING, WALKING . . . " I 1 13

X
X X

He is running, walking, fleeing

from his feet . . .
He moves with two clouds on his cloud,
apocryphally seated, his sad fors,
his funereal thens, inserted in his hand . 5

He runs from everything, walking

between colorless protests; he flees
going up, flees
going down, flees
a t a cassock pace, flees 10
..
lifting evil up in his arms, flees
directly to sob alone.

Wherever he goes,
far from his brambly, caustic heels,
far from the air, far from his journey, 15
in order to flee, to flee and to flee and to flee
from his feet-man on both feet, standing
from so much flight-will have a thirst for running.

And neither the tree, if it endorses iron of gold !

Nor iron, if it covers its dead foliage!
Nothing, but his feet,
nothing but his brief chill,
his fors alive, his thens alive . . .
1 14 I "AL FIN UN MONTE . . . "

AI fin , u n monte
detras de Ia baj ura: al fin, humeante nimbo
a lrededor, durante un rostro fijo.

Monte en honor del pozo,

sobre filones de gratuita plata de oro.

Es Ia franja a que arrastranse,

seguras de sus tonos de verano,
las que eran largas valvulas difuntas;
el taciturno marco de este arranque
natural, de este augusto zapatazo,
de esta piel, de este intrinseco destello
digital, en que estoy entero, lubrico.

Quehaceres en un pie, mecha de azufre,

oro de plata y plata hecha de plata
y m i m uerte, mi hondura, mi colina .

j Pa sar
abrazado a mis brazos,
destaparme despues o antes del corcho!
Monte que tantas veces manara
oraci6n, prosa fluvial de llanas lagrimas;
monte bajo, compuesto de suplicantes gradas
y mas all a, de torrenciales torres;
1

n iebla entre el dia y el alcohol del dfa,

caro verdor de coles, tibios asnos
com plementarios, palos y maderas;
filones de gratuita plata de oro.

1 9 Set. 1937
 "AT LAST A HILL . . . " I 115

At last, a hill
behind the lowness: at last, a smoking halo
around, during a fixed face.

Hill in honor of the well,

over veins of gratuitous silver of gold. 5

I t is the fringe toward which drag,

sure of their summer tones,
those which were long defunct valves;
the taciturn frame of this natural
start, of this august shoesmack, 10
of this skin, of this intrinsic digital
gleam, in which I am whole, lubricious.

Chores on one foot, fuse of silver,

gold of silver and silver made of silver
a nd my death, my depth, my knoll. 15

To pass
embraced in my arms,
to open myself up after or before the cork!
Hill that so often flowed
prayer, fluvial prose of plain tears; 20
low hill, of supplicant steps formed
and, beyond , of torrential towers;
fog between the day and the alcohol of the day,
dear verdure of cabbages, tepid
complementary asses, sticks and timber; 25
veins of gratuitous silver of gold .
1 16 I "QUIERE Y NO QUIERE SU COLOR . . . "

Quiere y no quiere su color mi pecho,

por cuyas bruscas vias voy, lloro con palo,
trato de ser feliz, lloro en mi mano,
recuerdo, escribo
y remacho una lagrima en mi p6mulo.

Quiere su rojo el mal, el bien su rojo enrojecido

por el hacha suspensa,
por el trote del ala a pie volando,
y no quiere y sensiblemente
no quiere aquesto el hombre;
no quiere estar en su alma
acostado, en Ia sien latidos de asta,
el bimano, el muy bruto, el muy fil6sofo.

Asi, casi no soy, me vengo abajo

desde el arado en que socorro a mi alma
y casi, en proporci6n, casi enaltezcome.
Que saber por que tiene Ia vida este perrazo
por que lloro, por que,
cej6n, inhabil, veleidoso, hube nacido
gritando;
saberlo, comprenderlo
al son de un alfabeto competente,
seria padecer por un ingrato.

iY no! iNo! iNo! iQue ardid, ni paramento!

Congoja, si, con si firme y frenetico
coriaceo, rapaz, quiere y no quiere, cielo y pajaro;
congoja , si, con toda Ia bragueta .
Con tienda entre dos llantos, robo de una sola ventura,
via indolora en que padezco en chanclos
de Ia velocidad de andar a degas.

2 2 Set. 1937
 "MY CHEST WANTS AND DOES NOT WANT . . . " I 117

My chest wants and does not want its color,

through whose rough paths I am going, I cry with stick,
I try to be happy, I cry in my hand,
I remember, I write
and rivet a tear into my cheekbone. 5

Evil wants its red, good its redness reddened

by the suspended ax,
by the trot of the wing flying on foot,
and man does not want, sensitively
does not want this; 10
he does not want to be lying down
in h is soul, with hom throbs in his temples,
the bimanous one, the extreme brute, the extreme philosopher.

Thus, almost I am not, I fall down

from the plow on which I help my soul 15
and almost, in proportion, I almost exalt myself.
..
To know why life is such an utter bitch
why I cry, why,
..
browbig, unfit, fickle, I was born
shouting; 20
to know this, to comprehend it
to the sound of a competent alphabet
would be to suffer for an ingrate.

And no! No! No! Neither trick, nor ornament!

Anguish, yes, with a firm and frenetic yes, 25
coriaceous, rapacious, want and no want, sky and bird;
..
a nguish, yes, with all my pants' fly.
Struggle between two cries, theft of a single chance,
painless path on which I endure in clogs
the velocity of walking around blindly . 30
1 18 I "ESTO I SUCEDI6 ENTRE DOS . . . "

X
X X

Esto
sucedi6 entre dos parpados; temble
en mi vaina, colerico, alcalino,
parado junto al lubrico equinoccio,
a l pie del frio incendio en que me acabo.

Resbal6n alcalino, voy diciendo,

mas aca de los ajos, sobre el sentido almibar,
mas adentro, muy mas, de las herrumbres,
a l ir el agua y al volver Ia ola .
Resbal6n alcalino
tambien y grandemente, en el montaje colosal del cielo .

jQue venablos y arpones lanzare, si muero

en mi vayna; dare en hojas de platano sagrado
m is cinco huesecillos subalternos,
y en Ia mirada, Ia mirada misma !
(Dicen que en los suspiros se edi fican
entonces acordeones 6seos, tactiles;
dicen que ...:ua ndo mueren asi los que se acaban,
jay! m ueren fuera del reloj, Ia mano
a ga rrada a un zapato solitario. )

Comprendiendolo y todo, coronel

y todo, en el sentido llorante de esta voz,
me hago doler yo mismo, extraigo tristemente .
por Ia noche mis uilas;
luego no tengo nada y hablo solo,
reviso mis semestres
y para henchir mi vertebra, me toco.

23 Set. 1 937
 "THIS I HAPPENED BElWEEN TWO . . ." I 119

X
X X

..
This
happened between two eyelids; I shook
i n my scabbard, choleric, alkaline,
standing by the lubricious equinox,
a t the foot of the cold blaze in which I perish . 5

Alkaline slip, I keep saying,

this side of the garlic cloves, over the felt syrup,
deeper in, much deeper, than the rusts,
when the water goes and the wave comes.
Alkaline slip 10
..
too and greatly, in the colossal staging of the sky.

What darts and harpoons I will hurl, if I die

..
in my skabbard; in sacred banana leaves I will give away
my five subordinate little bones,
a nd in the look, the look itself! 15
..
(It is said that in sighs one builds
then bony tactile accordions;
it is said that when those who perish die this way,
aie! they die outside the clock, the hand
clutched to a solitary shoe. ) 20

In spite o f understanding i t and all, cyma

and all, in the crying meaning of this word,
I make myself suffer, I extract sadly,
a t night, my fingernails;
then I have nothing and talk to myself, 25
..
I revise my half-years
and in order to fill up my vertebra, touch myself.
1 20 I "QUEDEME A CALENTAR LA TINTA . . . "

X
X X

Quedeme a calentar Ia tinta en que me ahogo

y a escuchar me caverna alternativa,
noches de tacto, dias de abstracci6n.

Se estremeci6 Ia incognita en mi amigdala

y cruji de una anual melancolia,
noches de sol, dias de luna, ocasos de Paris .

Y todavia, hoy mismo, al atardecer,

digiero sacratisimas constancias,
noches de madre, dias de biznieta
bicolor, voluptuosa, urgente, linda .

Y aun
alcanzo, llego hasta mi en avi6n de dos asientos,
bajo Ia manana domestica y Ia bruma
que emergi6 eternamente de un instante.

Y todavia
aun a hora,
a l cabo del cometa en que he ganado
mi bacilo feliz y doctoral,
he aqui que caliente, oyente, tierro, sol y luno,
incognito a travieso el cementerio,
tomo a Ia izquierda, hiendo
Ia yerba con un par de endecasilabos,
a iios de tumba , litros de infinito,
tinta , pluma, ladrillos y perdones.

24 Set. 1937
 "I STAYEO ON TO WARM UP THE INK . . . " I 121

X
X X

I stayed on to wann up the ink in which I drown

..
and to listen to my alternative cavern,
tactile nights, abstracted days.

The unknowable shuddered in my tonsil

a nd I creaked from an annual melancholy, 5
sunlit nights, moonlit days, Parisian sunsets.
..
And yet, this very day, at nightfall,
I digest extremely sacred constancies,
maternal nights, great-granddaughter days,
bicolored, voluptuous, urgent, pretty. 10

And still
I reach, I arrive at myself in a two-seated plane
under the domestic morning and the mist
which emerged eternally from an instant.

And yet,
even now,
at the end of the comet in which I have earned
my happy and doctoral bacillus,
..
behold that wann, listener, he/earth, sun and he/moon,
incognito I cross the cemetery, 20
go off to the left, splitting
the grass with a pair of hendecasyllables,
years of tomb, liters of infinity,
..
i nk, pen, bricks and pardons.
122 I "LA PAZ, LA ABISPA, EL TACO . . . "

X
X X

La paz, Ia abispa, el taco, las vertientes,

el m uerto, los decilitros, el buho,
los lugares, Ia tina, los sarc6fagos, el vaso, las morenas,
el desconocimiento, Ia olla , el monaguillo,
las gotas, el olvido,
Ia potestad, los primos, los arcangeles, Ia aguja,
los parrocos, el ebano, el desaire,
Ia parte, el tipo, el estupor, el alma . .

Ductil, azafranado, extemo, nitido,

portatil, viejo, trece, ensangrentado,
fotografiadas, listas, tumefactas,
conexas, largas, encintadas, perfidas .

Ardiendo, comparando,
viviendo, enfureciendose,
golpeando, analizando, oyendo, estremeciendose,
m u riendo, sosteniendose, situandose, llorando . . .

Despues, estos, aqui,

despues, encima,
quiza, mientras, detras, tanto, tan nunca,
debajo, acaso, lejos,
siempre, aquello, manana, cuanto,
' to I. . . .
jCuan

Lo horrible, lo suntuario, lo lentisimo,

lo augusto, lo infructuoso,
lo aciago, lo crispante, lo mojado, lo fatal,
lo todo, lo purisimo, lo 16brego,
lo acerbo, lo satanico, lo tactil, lo profundo . . .

25 Set. 1 937
 ''THE PEACE, THE WHASP, THE SHOE HEEL 0 0 0, I 1 23

X
X X

..
The peace, the whasp, the shoe heel, the slopes,
the dead, the deciliters, the owl,
the places, the ringworm, the sarcophagi, the glass, the brunettes,
the ignorance, the kettle, the altarboy,
the drops, the oblivion, 5
the potentate, the cousins, the archangels, the needle,
the priests, the ebony, the rebuff,
the part, the type, the stu por, the soul 0 0 •

Flexible, saffroned , external, neat,

portable, old, thirteen, bloodsmeared, 10
those photographed, those ready, those tumescent,
those linked, those long, those beribboned, those perfidious . . .

Burning, comparing,
living, raging,
striking, analyzing, hearing, shuddering, 15
dying, sustaining, settling, crying . . .

Afterward, these, here,

a fterward, above,
..
perhaps, while, behind, so much, so never,
beneath, maybe, distant, 20
always, that, tomorrow, how much,
how m uch ! . . .

The horrible, the sumptuous, the slowest,

the august, the fruitless�
the ominous, the convulsing, the wet, the fatal, 25
the whole, the purest, the lugubrious,
the bitter, the satanic, the tactile, the profound . . .
1 24 I ''TRANSIDO, SALOMONICO, DECENTE . . . "

X
X X

Tra nsido, salom6nico, decente,

ululaba; compuesto, caviloso, cadaverico, perjuro,
iba, tomaba, respondfa; osaba,
fatidico, escarla ta , irresistible .

En sociedad, en vidrio, en polvo, en hulla,

march6se; vacil6, en hablando en oro; fulgur6,
volte6, en acatamiento;
en terciopelo, en llanto, repleg6se.

lRecordar? llnsistir? llr? lPerdonar?

Cenudo, acabarfa
recostado, aspero, at6nito, mural;
meditaba estamparse, con fu ndirse, fenecer.

Inatacablemente, impunemente,
negramente, husmeara, comprendera;
vestirase oralmente;
inciertamente ira, acobardarase, olvidara .

26 Set. 1 937
 "OVERCOME, SOLOMONIC, DECENT 0 0 ." I 1 25

X
X X

..
Overcome, solomonic, decent,
he was howling; composed, meditative, cadaverous, perjurer,
he was going, he was returning, he was answering; he was daring,
fa tid ic, scarlet, irresistible.

In company, in glass, in dust, in coal, 5

he took off; he wavered , while golden-tongued; he flashed,
he rolled over, in submission;
in velvet, in tears, he withdrew .

To remember? To insist? To go? To pardon?

Frowning, he will end up 10
reclined, coarse, aghast, mural;
he planned to smash himself, to confound himself, to perish .

Unattackably, impunibly,
blackly, he will sniff, he will understand;
he will dress up orally; 15
uncertainly he will go, he will panic, he will forget.
1 26 I "(.Y BIEN? (.TE SANA EL METALOIDE PALIDO?"

X
X X

lY bien? lTe sana el metaloide palido?

lLos metaloides incendiarios, civicos,
inclinados al rio atroz del polvo?

Esclavo, es ya Ia hora circular

en que las dos auriculas se forman
anillos gutu rales, corredizos, cuatemarios.

Senor esclavo, en Ia manana magica

se ve, por fin ,
el busto d e tu tn?mulo ronquido,
vense tus sufrimientos a caballo,
pasa el 6rgano bueno, el de tres asas,
hojeo, mes por mes, tu monocorde cabellera,
tu suegra llora
haciendo h uesecillos de sus dedos,
se inclina tu alma con pasi6n a verte
y tu sien, un momento, marca el paso.

Y Ia gallina pone su infinito, uno por uno;

sale Ia tierra hermosa de las humeantes silabas,
te retratas de pie junto a tu hermano,
truena el color oscuro bajo el lecho
y corren y entrech6canse los pulpos.

Senor esclavo lY bien?

lLos metaloides obran en tu angustia?

27 Set. 1 937
 "WELL? DOES THE PALLID METALLOID HEAL YOU?" I 127

X
X X

Well? Does the pallid metalloid heal you?

The civic, incendiary metalloids,
bent over the a trocious river of dust?

Slave, it is now the circular hour

in w hich your two auricles become 5
guttural, quaternary slip rings.

Mr. slave, on the magic morning

the bust of your tremulous snore
is seen, a t last,
your sufferings on horseback are seen, 10
the good organ goes by, with its three handles,
I leaf, month a fter month, through your monochord head of hair,
your mother-in-law cries
making little bones out of her fingers,
your soul bends passionately to see you
and your temple, momentarily, marks time.

And the hen lays her infinite, one by one;

the earth comes out beautiful from the smoking syllables,
your picture is taken standing next to your brother,
the dark color thunders under the bed 20
and the octopi run and collide.

And now, Mr. slave?

Do the metalloids work on your anguish?
128 I "DE PURO CALOR, TENGO FRfO . . . "

X
X X

j De puro calor ten go frio I

hennana Envidia !
Lamen mi sombra leones
y el rat6n me muerde el nombrel
j madre a lma mfa !

jAI borde del fondo voy I

cuilado Vicio!
La oruga taile su vozl
y Ia voz taile su orugal
j padre cuerpo mio!

j Esta de frente mi amorl

nie ta Paloma !
De rodillas1 mi terror
y de cabeza1 mi a ngustial
jmad re alma mfa !

Hasta que u n dfa sin dosl

esposa Tumbal
m i ultimo hierro de el son
de u na vibora que duermel
j pa d re cuerpo m10 I. . . .
,

29 Set. 1 937
 "IT IS SO HOT I FEEL COLD . . . " I 129

X
X X

..
It is so hot, I feel cold,
sister Envy!
Lions lick my shadow
and the mouse bites my name,
mother soul mine! 5

To the pit's edge I go,

brother-in-law Vice!
..
The caterpillar plays its voice,
and the voice plays its caterpillar,
father body mine! 10

My love is facing me,

granddaughter Dove!
On its knees, my terror
a nd on its head, my anguish,
mother soul mine! 15

Until a day without two,

wife Tomb,
my ultimate iron makes the sound
of a sleeping viper,
father body mine . . . ! 20
130 I "CONFIANZA EN EL ANTEOJO, NO EN EL OJO . . . "

X
X X

Con fianza en el anteojo, no en el ojo;

en Ia escalera, nunca en el peldailo;
en el ala, no en el ave
y en ti solo, en ti solo, en ti solo.

Con fianza en Ia maldad, no en el malvado;

en el vaso, mas nunca en el licor;
en el cadaver, no en el hombre
y en ti solo, en ti solo, en ti solo.

Con fianza en m uchos, pero ya no en uno;

en el cauce, jamas en Ia corriente;
en los calzones, no en las piemas
y en ti solo, en ti solo, en ti solo.

Con fianza en Ia ventana, no en Ia puerta;

en Ia madre, mas no en los nueve meses;
en el destino, no en el dado de oro,
y en ti solo, en ti solo, en ti solo.

5 Oct 1937
 "CONFIDENCE IN THE EYEGLASS, NOT IN THE EYE . . . " I 131

X
X X

•
Con fidence in the eyeglass, not in the eye;
in the staircase, never in the stairstep;
•
i n the wing, not in the bird
and in yourself alone, in yourself alone, in yourself alone.

Confidence in wickedness, not in the wicked;

in the glass, but never in the liquor;
•
in the corpse, not in the man
and in yourself alone, in yourself alone, in yourself alone.

Confidence in many, but no longer in one;

in the riverbed, never in the current; 10
in your pants, not in your legs
a nd in yourself alone, in yourself alone, in yourself alone.

Confidence in the window, not in the door;

in the mother, but not in the nine months;
in desti ny, not in the gold dice 15
and in yourself alone, in yourself alone, in yourself alone.
1 32 I II,HABLANDO DE LA LENA, CALO EL FUEGO?"

X
X X

lHablando de Ia lena, callo el fuego?

lBarriendo el suelo, olvido el f6sil?
Razonando,
lmi trenza, mi corona de carne?
(Contesta, amado Hermeregildo, el brusco;
pregunta, Luis, el Iento!)

j Encima, abajo, con tamana altura !

jMadera, tras el reino de las fibras!
jlsabel, con horizonte de entrada !
j Lejos, al lado, astutos Atanacios!

jTodo, Ia parte!
Unto a degas en luz mis calcetines,
en riesgo, Ia gran paz de este peligro,
y mis cometas, en Ia miel pensada,
el cuerpo, en miel llorada .

j Pregunta, Luis; responde, Hermeregildo!

jAbajo, a rriba, al lado, lejos!
j lsabel, fuego, diplomas de los muertos!
j Horizonte, Atanacio, parte, todo!
jMiel de miel, llanto de frente!
jReino de Ia madera,
corte oblicuo a Ia linea del camello,
fibra de mi corona de came!

Terremoto

6 Oct. 1 937
 "SPEAKING OF KINDLING, DO I SILENCE FIRE?" I 133

X
X X

..
Speaking of kindling, do I silence fire?
Sweeping the ground, do I overlook the fossil?
Reasoning,
my braid, my crown of flesh?
(Answer, beloved Herrneregildo, the brusque one; s•
ask, Luis, the slow one!)

Above, below, about this tall!

Wood, a fter the reign of the fibers!
Isabel, with horizon for an entrance!
Far away, nearby, astute Atanacios! 10"'

All, the part!

blindly I annoint my socks with light,
with risk, the great peace of this danger,
and my comets, with thought honey,
the body, with wept honey . 15

Ask, Luis; respond, Herrneregildo!

Below, up, nearby, far away!
Isabel, fire, diplomas of the dead!
Horizon, Atanacio, part, all!
Honey of honey, crying before you ! 20
Reign of the wood,
cut oblique to the camel line,
fiber of my crown of flesh !

Earthquake
134 I "ESCARNECIDO, ACLIMATADO AL BIEN . . . "

X
X X

Escarnecido, aclimatado al bien, m6rbido, hurente,

doblo el cabo carnal y juego a copas,
donde acaban en moscas los destinos,
don de comi y bebi de lo que me hunde.

Monumental adarme,
feretro numeral, los de mi deuda,
los de mi deuda, cuando caigo altamente,
ruidosamente, amoratadamente.

AI fondo, es hora,
entonces, de gemir con toda el hacha
y es entonces el ailo del sollozo,
el dia del tobillo,
Ia noche del costado, el siglo del resuello.
Cualidades esteriles, mon6tonos satanes,
del flanco brincan,
del ijar de mi yegua suplente;
j pero, donde comi, cuanto pense!
jpero cuanto bebi, donde llore!

Asi es Ia vida, tal

como es Ia vida, alia, detnis
del infinito; asi, espontaneamente,
delante de Ia sien legislativa .

Yace Ia cuerda asf al pie del violin,

cuando hablaron del aire, a voces, cuando
hablaron muy despacio del relampago .
Se dobla asi Ia mala causa, vamos
de tres en tres a Ia unidad, asf
se JUega a copas
y salen a mi encuentro los que alejanse,
acaban los destinos en bacterias
y se debe todo a todos.

7 Oct. 1 937
 "MOCKED, ACCLIMATED TO GOODNESS . . . " I 135

X
X X

..
Mocked, acclimated to goodness, morbid, hurent,
I round the carnal cape and bet on hearts,
where destinies end up in flies,
where I a te and drank what is dragging me under.

Monumental driblet, 5
n umeral casket, those of my debt,
those of my debt, when I fall highly,
noisily, lividly.

At bottom, it is time
then, to groan with the whole ax, 10"'
and it's then the year of the sob,
the day of the ankle,
the night of the side, the century of hard breathing.
Sterile qualities, monotonous satans,
leap from the flank, 1 5"'
from the loin of my substitute mare;
but, where I ate, how much I thought!
but how much I drank, where I cried !

That's life, as
life is, over there, behind 20
the infinite; thus, spontaneously,
before one's legislative temple.

Thus the string lies at the foot of the violin,

when they spoke about the air, shouting, when
they spoke very slowly about lightning. 25
Thus the wrong cause doubles, we go
three by three to unity, thus
one bets on hearts
and those moving away come to meet me,
destinies end up in bacteria 30
and everything is owed to everyone.
t 36 1 II ALFoNso: ESTA s MIRA NDOME, Lo vEo .
0 • II

X
X X

Alfonso: estas m i ra ndome, lo veo,

d esde e l p la no i m placable donde moran
l ineales los siem pres, lineales los jamases o
( Esa noche, dormiste, entre tu sueno
y mi sueno, en Ia rue de Ribouteo )
Pal pablemente,
tu i novidable cholo te oye a ndar
en Pa ris, te sien te e n el telefono callar
y toea en el alambre a tu u l timo acto
tomar peso, brindar
por Ia profundidad , por mi, por ti.

Yo todavia
com p ro "du vin , d u lait, comptan t les sous"
bajo mi abrigo, para que no me vea mi alma,
bajo mi abrigo aquel, querido Alfonso,
y bajo el rayo s i mple de Ia sien compuesta;
ya toda via su fro, y ru, yo no, jamas, hermano!
(Me han dicho que en tus siglos de dolor,
a mado ser,
a mado estar,
hacias ceros de madera . lEs cierto?)

En Ia "boite de nuit, " donde tocabas tangos,

toca ndo tu indignada criatura su coraz6n,
escol tado de ti mismo, llorando
por ti m i s mo y por tu enorm e parecido con tu sombra,
monsieur Fou rgat, el pa tron, ha envejecidoo
lDecirselo? LConta rselo? No mas,
A l fo nso; eso, ya n6!

El hotel des Ecoles funciona siempre

y todavia comp ran mandarinas;
pero yo s u fro, como te digo,
d u lcemente, recordando
lo que h ubimos su frido a mbos, a Ia muerte de ambos,
e n Ia a pe rtu ra de Ia doble tu mba,
d e esa otra tu mba con tu ser,
y de esta de caoba con tu esta r;
s u fro, bebiendo u n vaso d e ti , Silva,
un vasa para ponerse bien, como d eciamos,
y despues, ya veremos lo que pasa 0 0 0
 "ALFONSO: YOU KEEP LOOKING AT ME, I SEE . . . " I 137

X
X X

Alfonso: you keep looking at me, I see,

from the implacable zone where
the lineal always, the lineal nevers, dwell.
(That night, you slept, between your dream
a nd my dream, on rue de Riboute. ) 5
Palpably,
your unforgettable half-breed hears you walk
through Paris, he feels you silent on the phone
..
a nd it is your last act's tum on the wire
to test its weight, to drink 10
to the depths, to me, to you .

I still
..
buy "du vin, du lait, comptant les sous"
under mv overcoat, so my soul will not see me,
under my overcoat that one, dear Alfonso, 15
and under the simple ray of my compound temple;
I still suffer, but you, no more, never again, my brother!
(I have been told that in your centuries of pain,
..
beloved Being,
beloved to be, 20
you made zeros out of wood . Is that true?)

In the ''boite de nuit, " where you used to play tangos,

your angry child playing out his heart,
escorting yourself, crying
for yourself and for your excessive resemblance to your shadow, 25
Monsieur Fourgat, the· owner, has aged .
To let him know? To relate it to him? Never again,
Alfonso; that, not ever again!

The hotel des Ecoles is still functioning

and they still buy tangerines; 30
but I suffer, like I say,
sweetly, remembering
what we both suffered, in both our deaths,
..
in the opening of the double tomb,
of that other tomb with your Being, 35
and of this mahogany one with your to be,
I suffer, drinking a glass of you , Silva ,
a glass to feel good, as we used to say,
and afterward, we'll see what happens . . .
138 1 , ALFONSO: ESTAs MIRANDOME, LO vEo . . . ,

Es este el otro brindis, entre tres,

taciturno, diverso
en vino, en mundo, en vidrio, el que brindabamos
mas de u na vez al cuerpo
y, menos de una vez, al pensamiento.
Hoy es mas diferente todavia;
hoy sufro dulce, amargamente,
bebo tu sangre en cuanto a Cristo el duro,
como tu hueso en cuanto a Cristo el suave,
porque te quiero, dos a dos, Alfonso,
y casi lo podria decir, eternamente.

9 Oct. 1 937
 "ALFONSO: YOU KEEP LOOKING AT ME, I SEE . . . " I 139

This is the other toast, among three, 40

solemn, diverse
in wine, in world, in glass, the one we raised
more than once to the body
and, less than once, to the mind .
Today is even more different; 45
today I suffer sweetly, bitterly,
I drink your blood in regard to Christ the hard,
I eat your bone in regard to Christ the soft,
because I love you, two to two, Alfonso,
and I could almost say so, eternally. 50
1 40 I TRASPIE ENTRE DOS ESTRELLAS

Traspie entre dos estrellas

j Ha y gen tes tan desgraciadas, que n i siquiera

tienen cuerpo; cuan ti tativo el pelo,
baja, en p ulgada s, Ia genial pesadumbre;
el modo, arriba;
no me busques, Ia muela del olvido,
parecen salir del a i re, sumar suspiros mentalmen te, oir
claros azotes en su s paladares!

Va n se de su piel, ra sca ndose el sarc6fago en que nacen

y suben por su muerte de hora en hora
y caen, a lo la rgo de su a l fabeto gel ido, hasta el suelo.

j Ay de tanto ! jay de tan poco! jay de elias!

j Ay e n mi cua rto, oyendolas con lentes!
j Ay e n m i t6rax, cuando com pran trajes!
jAy d e mi mugre blanca , en su hez mancomunada !

j Amadas sean la s o rejas sanchez,

a madas la s personas que se sientan,
amado el d esconocido y su senora,
el pr6ji m o con mangas, cuello y ojos!

j A mado sea aquel que tiene chinches,

el q ue lleva zapato roto bajo Ia I lu via,
el que vela el cadaver d e un pan con dos cerillas,
el que se coge un dedo en una puerta,
el que no tiene cu m plea nos,
el que perdi6 su sombra en un incend io,
el a n imal, el que parece un loro,
el que pa rece un hombre, el pobre rico,
el puro m i serable, el pobre pobre!

j A mado sea
el que tiene h ambre o sed, pero no tiene
ha mbre con que saciar toda su sed,
n i sed con que sacia r todas sus ha mbres!

j A mado sea el que trabaja al dfa, al mes, a Ia hora,

el que suda de pena o de vergiienza ,
aquel que va , por o rden de sus manos, al cinema,
el que paga con lo que le fal ta,
e l que d uerme de espaldas,
e l que ya no recue rda su niilez; amado sea
e l calvo sin sombre ro,
el j usto sin espinas,
el l a d r6 n sin rosa s,
 STUMBLE BElWEEN lWO STARS I 141

Stumble between two stars

There are people so wretched, they don't even

have a body; their hair quantitative,
their wise grief, low, in inches;
their manner, high;
don't look for me, the oblivion molar, 5
they seem to come out of the air, to add up sighs mentally, to hear
bright smacks on their palates!

They leave their skin, scratching the sarcophagus in which they are born
a nd climb through their death hour after hour
and fall, the length of their frozen alphabet, to the ground. 10
..
Pity for so much ! pity for so little! pity for them!
Pity in my room, hearing them with glasses on!
Pity in my thorax, when they are buying suits!
Pity for my white filth, in their combined scum!

Beloved be the sanchez ears, 15"'

beloved the people who sit down,
beloved the unknown man and his wife,
my fellow man with sleeves, neck and eyes!

Beloved be the one with bedbugs,

the one who wears a tom shoe in the rain, 20
the one who wakes the corpse of a bread with two tapers,
the one who catches a finger in a door,
the one who has no birthdays,
the one who lost his shadow in a fire,
the animal, the one w ho looks like a parrot, 25
the one who looks like a man, the rich poor man,
the extremely miserable man, the poorest poor man !

Beloved be
the one who is hungry or thirsty, but has no
hunger with which to satiate all his thirst, 30
nor thirst with which to satiate all his hungers!

Beloved be the one who works by the day, by the month, by the hour,
the one who sweats out of pain or out of shame,
the person who goes, at the order of his hands, to the movies,
the one who pays with what he does not have, 35
the one who sleeps on his back,
the one who no longer remembers his childhood; beloved be
the bald man without hat,
the just man without thorns,
the thief withou t roses, 40
142 I TRANSPIE ENTRE DOS ESTRELLAS

el que lleva reloj y ha visto a Dios,

el que tiene un honor y no fallece!

jAmado sea el nino, que cae y aun llora

y el hombre que ha cafdo y ya no llora !

jAy de tanto! jAy de tan poco! jAy de ellos!

11 Oct. 1937
 STUMBLE BElWEEN lWO STARS I 143

the one who wears a watch and has seen God,

the one who has one honor and does not die!

Beloved be the child, who falls and still cries

and the man who has fallen and no longer cries!

Pity for so much ! Pity for so little! Pity for them! 45

144 I DESPEDIDA RECORDANDO UN ADIOS

Despedida record ando un adios

AI cabo, al fin, por ultimo,

tomo, volvi y acabome y os gimo, dandoos
Ia Have, mi sombrero, esta cartita para todos.
AI cabo de Ia Have esta el metal en que aprendieramos
a desdorar el oro, y esta, al fin
de mi sombrero, este pobre cerebro mal peinado,
y, ultimo vaso de humo, en su papel dramatico,
yace este sueno practico del alma .

jAdios, hennanos san pedros,

heraclitos, erasmos, espinozas!
jAdios, tristes obispos bolcheviques!
jAdios, gobemadores en desorden!
jAdios, vino que esta en el agua como vino!
jAdios, alcohol que esta en Ia lluvia!

jAdios, tambien, me digo a mi mismo,

a dios, vuelo formal de los miligramos!
jTambien adios, de modo identico,
frio del frio y frio del calor!
AI cabo, al fin, por ultimo, Ia logica,
los linderos del fuego,
Ia despedida recordando aquel adios.

12 Oct. 1937
 FAREWELL REMEMBERING A GOODBYE I 145

Farewell remembering a goodbye

At the end, in the end, at last,

I tum , I've returned and I'm finished and I moan for you, giving you
the key, my hat, this little note for everyone.
At the end of the key is the metal where we had learned
to ungild the gold, and there is, in the end 5
of my hat, this poor brain badly combed,
•
and, as a last glass of smoke, on its dramatic role,
this practical dream of the soul rests .

Goodbye, brother saint peters,

heraclituses, erasmuses, spinozas! 10
Goodbye, dismal bolshevik bishops!
Goodbye, govemers in turmoil!
Goodbye, wine that is in the water like wine!
Goodbye, alcohol that is in the rain!

Goodbye, also, I say to myself, 15

goodbye, formal flight of milligrams!
Also goodbye, in an identical way,
cold of the cold and cold of the warmth !
At the end, in the end, at last, logic,
the boundaries of fire, 20
the farewell remembering that goodbye.
1 46 I "A LO MEJOR, SOY OTRO . . . "

X
X X

A lo mejor, soy otro; andando, al alba, otro que marcha

en torno a un disco largo, a un disco ehistico:
mortal, figurativo, audaz diafragma.
A lo mejor, recuerdo al esperar, anoto marmoles
donde indice escarlata, y donde catre de bronce,
un zorro ausente, espureo, enojadfsimo.
A lo mejor, hombre al fin,
las espaldas ungidas de anil misericordia,
a lo mejor, me digo, mas alia no hay nada .

Me da Ia mar el disco, refiriendolo,

con cierto margen seco, a mi garganta;
j nada, en verdad, mas acido, mas dulce, mas kanteano!
Pero sudor ajeno, pero suero
o tempestad de mansedumbre,
decayendo o subiendo, jeso, jamas!

Echado, fino, exhumome,

tumefacta Ia mezcla en que entro a golpes,
sin piernas, sin adulto barro, ni annas,
una aguja prendida en el gran atomo . . .
jNo! j Nunca ! jNunca ayer! jNunca despues!

Y de ahf este tubercula satanico,

esta m uela moral de plesiosaurio
y estas sospechas p6stumas,
este fndice, esta cama, estos boletos.

21 Oct. 1937
 "CHANCES ARE I'M ANOTHER . . . " I 147

X
X X

Chances are, I am another; walking, at dawn, another who moves

around a long disc, an elastic disc:
a mortal, figurative, audacious diaphragm .
Chances are, I remember while waiting, I annotate marble
where scarlet index, and where bronze cot,
an absent, spurious, enraged fox.
Chances are, a man after all,
my back a nnointed with indigo misericordia,
chances are, I say to myself, beyond there is nothing.

The sea hands me the disc, referring it, 10

with a certain d ry margin, to my throat;
nothing, truly, more acidic, more sweet, more kantian!
..
But another's sweat, but a serum
or tempest of meekness,
decaying or rising, that, never! 15

Reclined , slender, I exhume myself,

smashing my way into the tumified mixture,
without legs, without adult clay, nor weapons,
a needle stuck in the great atom . . .
No! Never! Never yesterday! Never after! 20

Thus this satanic tuber,

this moral plesiosaurian molar
and these posthumous suspicions,
this index, this bed, these tickets.
148 I EL LIBRO DE LA NATU RALEZA

El libro de Ia naturaleza

Profesor de sollozo-he dicho a un arbol­

palo de azogue, tilo
rumoreante, a Ia orilla del Marne, un buen alumno
leyendo va en tu naipe, en tu hojarasca,
entre el agua evidente y el sol falso,
su tres de copas, su caballo de oros.

Rector de los ca pitulos del cielo,

de Ia mosca ardiente, de Ia calma manual que hay en los asnos;
rector de honda ignorancia, un mal alumno,
leyendo va en tu naipe, en tu hojarasca
el hambre de raz6n que le enloquece
y Ia sed de demencia que le aloca .

Tecnico en gritos, arbol consciente, fuerte,

fl uvial, doble, solar, doble, fanatico,
conocedor de rosas cardinales, totalmen te
metido, hasta hacer sangre, en aguijones, un alumno
leyendo va en tu naipe, en tu hojarasca,
su rey precoz, telurico, volcanico, de espadas.

jOh profesor, de haber tanto ignorado!

jOh rector, de temblar tan to en el aire!
j Oh tecnico, de tanto que te inclinas!
jOh tilo! jOh palo rumoroso junto al Marne!

21 Oct. 1 937
 THE BOOK OF NATuRE I 1 49

The book of nature

Professor of sobbing-1 said to a tree­

stick of quicksilver, murmurous
linden, at the bank of the Marne, a good student
is reading in your deck of cards, in your dead foliage,
between the obvious water and the false sun, 5
..
his three of hearts, his queen of diamonds.

Rector of the chapters of heaven,

of the ardent fly, of the manual calm there is in asses;
rector of deep ignorance, a bad student,
is reading in your deck of cards, in you r dead foliage 10
the hunger for reason that maddens him
and the thirst for demen tia that drives him wild .

Expert in shouts, conscious tree, strong,

fluvial, double, solar, double, fanatic,
knowledgable in the cardinal roses, totally 15
embedded , until blood spurts, in stingers, a student
is reading in your deck of ca rds, in your dead foliage,
his precocious, telluric, volcanic king of spades .

Oh professor, from having been so ignorant!

Oh rector, from trembling so much in the air! 20
Oh expert, from so much bending over!
Oh linden ! Oh stick murmuring by the Marne!
1 50 I "TEN GO UN MIEDO TERRIBLE DE SER . . . "

X
X X

Tengo un miedo terrible de ser un animal

de blanca nievc, que sostuvo padre
y madre, con su sola circulaci6n venosa,
y que, este dfa esplendido, solar y arzobispal,
dfa que representa asf a Ia noche,
linealmente
elude este animal estar contento, respirar
y transformarse y tener plata .

Seria pena grande

que fuera yo tan hombre hasta ese punta .
Un disparate, una premisa uberrima
a cuyo yugo ocasional sucumbe
el gonce espiritual de mi cintura .
Un disparate . . . En tanto,
es asi, mas aca de Ia cabeza de Dios,
en Ia tabla de Locke, de Bacon, en el lfvido pescuezo
de Ia bestia, en el hocico del alma .

Y, en 16gica aromatica,
tengo ese miedo practice, este dfa
esplendido, lunar, de ser aquel, este talvez,
a cuyo olfa to huele a muerto el suelo,
el disparate vivo y el disparate muerto.

jOh revolcarse, estar, toser, fajarse,

fajarse Ia doctrina, Ia sien, de un hombro al otro,
a lejarse, llorar, darlo por ocho
o por siete o por seis, por cinco o darlo
por Ia vida que tiene tres potencias .

22 Oct. 1 937
 "I HAVE A TERRIBLE FEAR OF BEING . . . " I 151

X
X X

I have a terrible fear of being an animal

of white snow, that supported father
and mother, with only its veiny circulation,
and that, this splendid day, solar and archepiscopal,
a day that thus represents the night, 5
this animal
lineally avoids being happy, breathing,
and transforming itself and having money.

It would be a great pity

if I were a real man to that degree. 10
A folly, a most fruitful premise
to whose occasional yoke succumbs
the spiritual hinge of my waist.
A folly . . . Meanwhile,
it is like this, this side of God's head, 15
in the tablet of Locke, of Bacon, in the livid neck
of the beast, in the snout of the soul .

And, i n aromatic logic,

I have this practical fear, this splendid
lunar day, of being that one, this one perhaps, 20
to whose nose the ground, the living folly
a nd the dead folly smell of death .

Oh to roll about, to exist, to cough, to belt,

to belt the doctrine, one's temple, from shoulder to shoulder,
to move away, to cry, to give it for eigh t 25
or for seven or for six, for five or to give it
for life with its three powers .
1 52 I MARCHA NUPCIAL

Marcha Nupcia l

A Ia cabeza de mis propios aetas,

corona en mano, batall6n de dioses,
el signa negativo al cuelo, atroces
el f6sforo y Ia prisa, estupefactos
el alma y el valor, con dos impactos

al pie de Ia mirada; dando voces,

los limites, dinamicos, feroces;
tragandome los lloros inexactos,

me encendere, se encendera mi hormiga,

se encenderan mi Have, Ia querella
en que perdf Ia causa de mi huella .

Luego, hacienda del atomo una espiga,

encendere mis hoces al pie de ella
y Ia espiga sera par fin espiga .

22 Oct. 1 937
 WEDDING MARCH I 1 53

Wedding M arch ..

At the head of my own acts,

crown in hand, battalion of gods,
the negative sign hanging from my neck,
a trocious the match and the speed, stupified
the soul and the courage, with two impacts 5

at the foot of the gaze; shouting,

the limits, dynamic, ferocious;
swallowing my inexact c ry ings,
..
I will ignite, my ant will ignite,
my key will ignite, the quarrel 10
in which I lost the cause of my track.

Then , making a wheat spike of the atom,

I will ignite my sickles at its foot
and the spike will finally be a spike.
1 54 I "LA COL ERA QUE QU I E B RA AL HOMBRE .
II

.
.

X
X X

La c6lera que quiebra al hombre en niiios,

que quiebra al nino en pajaros iguales,
y al pajaro, despues, en huevecillos;
Ia c6lera del pobre
tiene un aceite contra dos vinagres.

La c6lera que al arbol quiebra en hojas,

a Ia hoja en botones desiguales
y al bot6n, en ranuras telesc6picas;
Ia c6lera del pobre
tiene dos rios contra muchos mares .

La c6lera que quiebra al bien en dudas,

a Ia duda, en tres arcos semeja ntes
y al arco, luego, en tumbas im previstas;
Ia c6lera del pobre
tiene un acero contra dos pu iiales.

La c6lera que quiebra al alma en cuerpos;

al cuerpo en 6rganos desemejantes
y al 6rgano, en octavos pensamientos;
Ia c6lera del pobre
tiene un fuego central con tra dos cra teres.

26 Oct . 1 937
 "THE ANGER THAT BREAKS THE M A N . . . " I 155

X
X X

The anger that breaks the man into children,

that breaks the child into equal birds,
and the bird, afterward, into little eggs;
the anger of the poor
has one oil against two vinegars. 5

The anger that breaks the tree into leaves,

the leaf into unequal buds
and the bud, into telescopic grooves;
the anger of the poor
has two rivers against many seas. 10

The anger that breaks the good into doubts,

the doubt, into three similar arcs
a nd the arc, later on, into unforeseeable tombs;
the anger of the poor
has one steel against two daggers. 15

The anger that breaks the soul into bodies;

the body into dissimilar organs
and the organ, into octave thoughts;
the anger of the poor
has one central fire against two craters . 20
156 I INTENSIDAD Y ALTURA

Intensidad y a ltura

Quiero escribir, pero me sale espuma,

q uiero decir m uchisimo y me atollo;
no hay cifra hablada que no sea suma,
no hay pinimide escrita, sin cogollo.

Qu iero escribir, pero me sien to puma;

q u iero laureanne, pero me encebollo .
No hay toz hablada, que no l legue a bruma,
no hay d ios n i hijo de dios, sin desarrollo

Vamonos, pues, por eso, a comer yerba ,

carne d e lla n to, fru ta de gem ido,
nuestra alma melanc6lica en conserva .

jVa monos! jVamonos! Estoy herido;

vamonos a heber lo ya bebido,
vamonos, cuervo, a fecundar tu cuerva .

27 Oct. 1937
 INTENSill' AND H EIGHT I 157

Intensity and height

I wan t to write, but ou t comes foam,

..
I want to say so much and I freeze;
there is no spoken cipher which is not a sum ,
there is no written pyramid, withou t a core .

I want to write, bu t I feel like a puma; 5

I want to laurel mysel f, but I stew in onions.
..
There is no spoken coughv, which doesn't end in mist,
there is no god nor son of god , withou t unfolding.

Let's go, then, through this, and eat grass,

the flesh of sobbing, the frui t of groaning, 10
our mela ncholy sou l preserved in jam.

Let's go! Let's go! I'm wou nded;

let's go d ri n k that already d runk,
let's go, raven, and fecundate you r rook.
1 58 I GUITARRA

Guitarra

El placer de su frir, de odiar, me tine

Ia garganta con plasticos venenos,
mas Ia cerda que implanta su orden magico,
su grandeza tau rina, entre Ia prima
y Ia sexta
y Ia octava mendaz, las su fre todas .

El placer de sufrir . . . lQuien? la quien?

lquien, las muelas? la quien Ia sociedad,
los carburos de rabia de Ia encia?
lC6mo ser
y estar, sin darle c6lera al vecino?

Vales mas que mi numero, hombre solo,

y valen mas que todo el diccionario,
con su prosa en verso,
con su verso en prosa,
tu funci6n aguila,
tu mecanismo tigre, blando pr6jimo .

El placer de sufrir,
de esperar esperanzas en Ia mesa,
el domingo con todos los idiomas,
el sabado con horas chinas, belgas,
Ia semana, con dos escupitajos.

El placer de esperar en zapa tillas,

de esperar encogido tras un verso,
de espera r con pujanza y mala poila;
el placer de sufrir: zurdazo de hembra
m uerta con una piedra en Ia cintura
y muerta en tre Ia cuerda y Ia guitarra ,
Jlora ndo dias y ca ntando meses .

28 Oct. 1937
 GUITAR I 159

Guitar

The pleasure of suffering, of hating, dyes my

throat with plastic venoms,
but the bristle that implants its magic order,
its tau rine greatness, between the first string
and the sixth 5
..
and the mendacious eighth, suffers them all .

The pleasure of suffering . . . Who? Whom?

who, the molars? whom society,
the carbides of rage in the gums?
How to be 10
..
a nd to be here, without making one's neighbor angry?

You are worthier than my number, man alone,

and your eagle function,
your tiger mechanism, bland fellow man,
a re worthier than all the dictionary, 15
with its prose in poetry,
with its poetry in prose.

The pleasure of su ffering,

of waiting for hopes at the table,
on Sunday with all the languages, 20
on Saturday with Chinese, Belgian hours,
during the week, with two hackers .

The pleasure of waiting in slippers,

of waiting cowering be�ind a stanza ,
of wai ting empowered with a sick boner,
the pleasu re of su ffering: hard left by a female
dead with a stone on her waist
and dead between the string and the guitar,
..
crying for days and singing for months.
160 I "OYE AT TU MASA A TU COMETA . . . "

X
X X

Oye a tu masa, a tu cometa, escuchalos; no gimas

de memoria, gravisimo cetckeo;
oye a Ia tunica en que estas dormido,
oye a tu desnudez, duena del sueno.

Relatate agarrandote
de Ia cola del fuego y a los cuemos
en que acaba Ia crin su atroz carrera;
r6mpete, pero en circulos;
formate, pero en columnas combas;
descnbete atmosferico, ser de humo,
a paso redoblado de esqueleto.

lLa muerte? j0p6nle todo tu vestido!

lLa vida? j0p6nle parte de tu muerte!
Bestia dichosa, piensa;
dios desgraciado, quitate Ia frente.
Luego, hablaremos.

29 Oct. 1 937
 "HEAR YOUR MASS YOUR COMET . . . " I 161

X
X X

..
Hear your mass, your comet, listen to them; don't moan
by heart, most ponderous cetacean;
hear the tunic in which you are asleep,
hear your nakedness, the owner of your dreams.

Relate to yourself grasping 5

the tail of the fire and the horns
where the mane ends its fierce race;
break apa rt, but in circles;
take form, but in curved columns;
describe yourself atmospheric, Being of smoke, 10
..
in the double time step of a skeleton .

Death? Oppose it with all you're wearing!

Life? Oppose it with part of your death !
Happy beast, think;
u nhappy god, take off your forehead . 15
Then, we will talk.
1 62 I "LQUE ME DA, QUE ME AZOTO . . . ?"

X
X X

lQue me da, que me azoto con Ia linea

y creo que me sigue, al trote, el punto?

lQue me da, que me he puesto

en los hombros un huevo en vez de un manto?

lQue me ha dado, que vivo?

lQue me ha dado, que muero?

lQue me da, que tengo ojos?

lQue me da, que tengo alma?

lQue me da, que se acaba en mi mi pr6jimo

y empieza en m i carrillo el rol del vien to?

lQue me ha dado, que cuento mis dos lagrimas,

sollozo tierra y cuelgo el horizonte?

lQue me ha dado, que lloro de no poder llora r

y rio de lo poco que he reido?

lQue me da, que ni vivo ni muero?

30 Oct. 1937
 "WHAT'S GOT INTO ME, THAT I AM WHIPPING MYSELF . . . " I 163

X
X X

What's got into me, tha t I am whipping myself with the line
and think that I am being followed , at a trot, by the period?

What's got into me, tha t I have placed

on my shoulders an egg instead of a mantle?

What's gotten into me, that I'm alive? 5

What's gotten into me, that I'm dying?

What's got into me, that I have eyes?

What's got into me, that I have a soul?

Wha t's got into me, tha t my fellow man is ending in me

and the role of the wind is beginning in my cheek? 10

Wha t's gotten into me, that I'm counting my two tears,
..
sobbing earth and hanging the horizon?

What's gotten into me, tha t I'm crying from not being able to cry
and laughing at the little I've laughed?

What's got into me, that I'm neither living nor dying? 15
1 64 I ANIVERSARIO

Ani versa rio

j Cuanto catorce ha habido en Ia existencia !

jQue creditos con bruma en una esquina !
jQue dia mante sintetico, el del casco!
j Cuanta mas dulcedumbre
a lo largo, mas honda superficie:
jCuanto catorce ha habido en tan poco uno!

jQue deber,
que cortar y que tajo,
de memoria a memoria, en Ia pestaria!
j Cuanto mas amarillo, mas granate!
j Cuanto catorce en un solo catorce!

Acorde6n de Ia tarde, en esa esquina,

piano de Ia mariana, aquella tarde;
clarin de came,
tambor de un solo palo,
guitarra sin cuarta jCuanta quinta,
y cuanta reunion de amigos tontos
y que nido de tigres el tabaco!
j Cuanto catorce ha habido en Ia existencia !

l Que
te dire ahara,
quince feliz, ajeno, quince de otros?
j Nada mas que no crece ya el cabello,
que han venido por las cartas,
que me brillan los seres que he parido,
y que no hay nadie en mi tumba
y que me han con fundido con mi llanto!

j Cuanto catorce ha habido en Ia existencia!

31 Oct. 1 937
 ANN IVERSARY I 1 65

Anniversa ry

How much 1 4 there has been in existence!

Wha t credits with mist on a corner!
Wha t a svnthetic diamond the skull is!
The leng t hier
the sweetness, the deeper the surface: 5
how much 1 4 there has been in such a small 1 !

What a debt,
what a cut and what a slash ,
from memorv to memorv, in an eyelash!
The more yel low, the mo re garne t ! 10
How much 14 in a single 14!

Accordian of the afternoon, on this comer,

piano of the morning, that afternoon;
clarion of flesh ,
drum with a single stick, 15
guitar without a fourth string, lots of fifth ,
..
and how many ga therings of dumb friends!
and what a nest of tigers in tobacco!
How much 14 there has been in existence!

Wha t will I say to you now, 20

1 5 happy, alien, i s o ( others?
Just that my hair no longer grows,
tha t they- have come for the letters,
that the beings I have given birth to are shining at me,
that there is no one in mv tomb 25
and tha t they have taken me for my crying!

How much 14 there has been in existence!

166 I PANTEON

Pante6n

He visto ayer sonidos generales,

mortuoriamente,
puntualmente alejarse,
cuando oi desprenderse del ocaso
tristemente
exactamente un arco, un arcoiris

Vi el tiempo generoso del minuto,

infinitamente
a tado locamente al tiempo grande
pues que estaba Ia hora
suavemente
premiosamente henchida de dos horas.

Dejose comprender, Hamar, Ia tierra

terrenalmen te;
negose brutalmente asi a mi historia,
y si vi, que me escuchen, pues, en bloque,
si toque esta mecanica, que vean
lentamente,
despacio, vorazmente, mis tinieblas .

Y si vi en Ia lesion de Ia respuesta,
daramente,
Ia lesion mentalmente de Ia incognita,
si escuche, si pense en mis ventanillas
nasales, funerales, temporales,
fratemalmente,
piadosamente echadme a los filosofos .

Mas no mas inflexion precipitada

en canto llano, y no mas
el hueso colorado, el son del alma
tristemente
erguida ecuestramente en mi espinazo,
Yd que, en suma, Ia vida es
implacablemente,
imparcialmente horrible, estoy seguro.

31 Oct. 1937
 PANTI-lEON I 167

Pantheon

Yesterday I saw general sounds,

mortuarily,
punctually recede,
when I heard rip loose from the sunset
sadly, 5
•
exactly a bow, a rainbow.

I saw the generous time of the minute,.

infinitely
tied insanely to large time
for the hour was 10
softly
urgently swollen with two hours.

The earth earthlyly let itself be understood,

and be called;
brutally it thus refused my history, 15
and i f I saw, let them hear me, then, in bloc,
i f I touched this mechanics, let them see
slowly,
at leisure, voraciously, my Tenebrae.

And i f I saw in the lesion of the response, 20

clearly,
the lesion mentally of the unknown,
if I heard, if I thought about my funereal,
temporal nostrils,
fraternally, 25
piously throw me to the philosophers.

But no more rash inflection

in Gregorian chant, and no more
the reddish bone, the sound of the soul
sadly 30
straightened equestrianly in my spine,
since, in short, life is
implacably,
impartially horrible, I am sure.
168 I "UN HOMBRE ESTA MIRANDO A UNA MUJER . . . "

X
X X

Un hombre eshi mirando a una mujer,

esta m irandola inmediatamente,
con su mal de tierra suntuosa
y Ia mira a dos manos
y Ia tumba a dos pechos
y Ia mueve a dos hombros.

Preguntome entonces, oprimiendome

Ia enonne, blanca, acerrima costilla:
Y este hombre
lno tuvo a un nino por creciente padre?
lY esta mujer, a un nino
por constructor de su evidente sexo?

Puesto que un nino veo ahora,

nino ciempies, apasionado, energico:
veo que no le ven
sonarse entre los dos, colear, vestirse;
puesto que los acepto,
a ella en condici6n aumentativa,
a el en Ia flexion del heno rubio .

Y exclamo entonces, sin cesar ni uno

de vi vir, sin volver ni uno
a temblar en Ia justa que venero:
j Felicidad seguida
tardfamente del Padre,
del Hijo y de Ia Madre!
jlnstan te redondo,
familiar, que ya nadie siente ni ama !
j Oe que deslumbramiento cHono, tinto,
se ejecuta el cantar de los ca ntares!
j Oe que tronco, el florido carpintero!
j De que perfecta axila, el fragil remo!
j Oe que casco, a mbos cascos delanteros!

2 Nov. 1937
 "A MAN IS LOOKING AT A WOMAN . . . " I 169

X
X X

A man is looking at a woman,

is looking at her immediately,
with her earth sumptuous sickness
and he watches her two-handedly
a nd he fells her two-chec;tedly 5
and he moves her two-shoulderly .

I ask myself then, pressing down

my enormous, wh ite, most pungent rib:
And this man
hasn't he had a child as a growing fa ther? 10
And this woman, a child
as a builder of her evident sex?

Because I see a child now,

an energetic, impassioned, centipede child :
I see that they do not see him 15
blowing his nose between them, wagging his tail, getting dressed;
because I accept them,
her in augmentative condition,
him in the flexion of the gold hay .

And I cry out then, without ceasing even one 20

to live, without turning even one
to tremble in the joust I worship:
Happiness followed
belatedly by the Father,
by the Son and by the Mother! 25
Perfect, familiar
instant, that no one any longer feels or loves!
From what an aphonic, deep red dazzle
the Song of Songs is execu ted !
From what a tru nk, the florid carpenter! 30
From what a perfect axilla , the fragile oa r!
From what a hoof, both forehoofs!
1 70 I DOS NINOS ANHELANTES

Dos ni flos an helan tes

No . No tienen tamario sus tobillos; no es su espuela

suavisima , que da en las dos mejillas.
Es Ia vida no mas, de bata y yugo.

No. No tiene plural su carcajada ,

no por haber salido de un molusco perpetuo, aglutinante,
ni por haber entrado al mar descalza ,
es Ia que piensa y marcha, es Ia finita .
Es Ia vida no mas; solo Ia vida .

Lo se, lo intuyo cartesia no, automa ta,

moribundo, cordial, en fi n, esplendido.
Nada hay
sobre Ia ceja cruel de su esqueleto;
nada, entre lo que dio y tomo con guante
Ia paloma , y con guante,
Ia eminente lombriz aristotel ica;
nada delante ni detras del yugo;
nada de mar en el ocea no
y nada
en el orgullo grave de Ia celula .
Solo Ia vida; asi: co sa bravisima .

Plenitud inextensa,
a lcance abstracto, venturoso, de hecho,
glacial y arrebatado, de Ia llama;
freno del fondo, rabo de Ia forma .
Pero aquello
pa ra lo cual naci ven tilandome
y creci con a fecto y drama propios,
mi trabajo rehusalo,
mi sensacion y mi arma lo involucran.
Es Ia vida y no mas, fundada, escenica .

Y por este rumbo,

su serie de organos extingue mi alma
y por este indecible, endemoniado cielo,
mi maquinaria da silbidos tecnicos,
paso Ia ta rde en Ia mariana triste
y me esfuerzo, palpito, tengo frio.

2 Nov. 1 937
 lWO YEARNING CHILDREN I 171

Two yearning children

..
No. Their ankles have no size; it is not their softest
spur, that touches their two cheeks .
It is just life, with robe and yoke .
..
No. Their guffaw has no plural,
not even for having come out of a perpetual, agglutinating mollusk, 5
not even for having entered the sea barefoot,
it is what thinks and walks, it is finite.
It is just life; only life.
..
I know it, I intuit it Ca rtesian, robot-like,
moribu nd, cordial, in short, magnificent. 10
Nothing is
over the cruel brow of its skeleton;
nothing, between what the dove with kid gloves gave
a nd took back, and with kid gloves,
the eminent Aristotelian earthworm; 15
noth ing before or behind the yoke;
nothing of sea in the ocean
and nothing
in the grave pride of the cell.
Only life; that is: a hell of a tough thing . 2Q-

Unextended plenitude,
..
abstract reach, fortunate, in fact,
glacial and impetuous, of the flame;
restrainer of depth, tail of form .
But that 25
for which I was born ventila ting myself
and grew up with my own tenderness and drama,
is rejected by my work,
is jumbled by my feelings and my weapon .
It is life and tha t's all, grou nded , scenic. 30

And in this way,

my soul extinguishes its series of orga ns
and in this inexpressible, demonized sky,
my machinery emits technical whistles,
I spend my afternoon in the sad morning 35
and I struggle, I th rob, I am cold .
1 72 I LOS NUEVE MONSTRUOUS

Los nueve menstruous

I, desgraciadamente,
el dolor crece en el mundo a cada rato,
crece a treinta minutos por segundo, paso a paso,
y Ia naturaleza del dolor, es el dolor dos veces
y Ia condici6n del martirio, carnivoro, voraz,
es el dolor, dos veces
y Ia funci6n de Ia yerba purisima, el dolor
dos veces
y el bien de ser, dolernos doblemente.

j}amas, hombres humanos,

h ubo tanto dolor en el pecho, en Ia solapa, en Ia cartera,
en el vaso, en Ia carniceria, en Ia aritmetica!
j}amas tanto cariilo doloroso,
jamas tan cerca arremeti6 lo lejos,
jamas el fuego nunca
jug6 mejor su rol de frio muerto!
j}amas, senor ministro de salud, fue Ia salud
mas mortal
y Ia m igrana extrajo tanta frente de Ia frente!
y el m ueble tuvo en su cajon, dolor,
el coraz6n, en su cajon, dolor,
Ia lagartija, en su cajon, dolor.

j Crece Ia desdicha, hennanos hombres,

mas pronto que Ia maquina, a diez maquinas, y crece
con Ia res de Russeau, con nuestras barbas;
crece el mal por razones que ignoramos
y es una inundaci6n con propios liquidos,
con propio barrio y propia nube s6lida !
lnvierte el sufrimiento posiciones, da funci6n
en que el humor acuoso es vertical
al pavimento,
el ojo es visto y esta oreja oida,
y esta oreja da nueve campanadas a Ia hora
del rayo, y nueve carcajadas
a Ia hora del trigo, y nueve sones hembras
a Ia hora del llanto, y nueve canticos
a Ia hora del hambre, y nueve truenos
y nueve latigos, menos un grito.
 THE NINE MONSTERS I 1 73

The nine monsters

AND, u n fortuna tely,

pain grows in the world every moment ,
grows thirty minu tes a second , step by step,
a nd the na ture of the pain, is the pain twice
a nd the condition of the ma rtyrdom, carnivorous, voracious, 5
is the pain, twice
and the fu nction of the purest grass, the pain
twice
a nd the good of Being, to h u rt us doubly.

Never, human men, 10

was there so muclz pain in the chest, in the lapel, in the wallet,
in the glass, in the butcher-shop, in a ri thmetic!
Never so much painful a ffection ,
never did far away charge so close,
n ever did the fire ever 15
play better its role of dead cold !
Never, mister secretary of health , was hea l th
more mortal,
and did the migraine extract so much forehead from the forehead !
And the cabinet have i n i ts d rawer, pa in, 20
the heart, in its d rawer, pa i n ,
t h e wall liza rd, in its d ra wer, pain.

Misfortune grows, brother men,

faster than the machine, at ten mach ines, and grows
with each head of Russeau ca ttle, with our bea rds; 2 5*
evil grows for rea sons we know not
a n d is a flood with its own liquids,
i ts own mud and its own solid cloud!
Su ffe ring inverts positions, i t acts making
the watery humour appea r vertical 30
to the pavemen t,
the eye seen and this ea r hea rd,
a n d this ear sou nds nine strokes a t the hour
of lightning, and nine gu ffaws
at the hour of whea t , and nine female sounds 35
a t the hour of cryi ng, a nd nine ca nticles
at the hour of hunger, and nine thu nderciaps
and nine lashes, minus a screa m .
1 74 I LOS NUEVE MONSTRUOUS

El dolor nos aga rra , herm a nos hombres,

por detras, de perfil,
y nos a loca en los cinemas
nos clava en los gram6fonos,
nos desclava en los lechos, cae perpendicularmente
a nuestros boletos, a nuestras cartas;

y es m u y grave sufrir, puede uno ora r . . .

Pues d e resu l ta s
del dolor, hay algu nos
q u e nacen, o tros crecen, otros mueren,
y otros que nacen y no mueren, otros
q u e sin haber nacido, mueren, y o tros
q u e no nacen ni mueren (Son los mas).
Y tambien de resul tas
del s u frimie n to , estoy triste
hasta Ia cabeza , y mas triste hasta el tobillo,
de ver al pan , crucificado, al nabo,
e n sa ngrentado,
llora ndo, a Ia cebolla,
a l cerea l , en genera l , harina ,
a Ia sa l , hecha polvo, al agu a , huyendo,
a l vino, un ecce-homo,
tan palida a Ia nieve, al sol tan a rdio!
j C6mo, h e rm a nos huma nos,
no deciros que ya no puedo y
ya n o puedo con tan to ca jon,
tan to m i n u to , ta n ta
lagartija y tan ta
i n version, tan to lejos y ta n ta sed de sed !
Senor Min ist ro de Sa lud: ( que hacer?
j A h ! desgraciadamente, hombres humanos,
hay, herma nos, m uchfsimo que hacer.

3 Nov . 1 937
 THE NINE MONSTERS I 175

The pain grabs us, brother men,

from behind, in profile, 40
and d rives us wild in the movies,
nails us i n to the gramophones,
denails us in bed , falls perpendicularly
to our tickets, to our letters;
a nd it is very serious to su ffer, one might pray . . . 45
For as a result
of the pain, there are some
who a re born, others grow, others die,
a nd others who are born and do not die, others
who w i thou t having been born , die, and others so
who neither are born nor die (The most) .
And also as a resul t
of suffering, I am sad
u p to my head , and sadder down to my ankle,
from seeing bread , cruci fied , the tu rn ip, 55
bloodied ,
t h e onion, crying,
cereal , in general, flour,
salt, ground to dust, water, fleeing,
wine, an ecce-homo, 60
such pallid snow , such an arduent su n !
How, human brothers,
not to tell you that I can no longer stand and
can no longer stand so much drawer,
so much minute, so much 65
wall lizard and so much
inversion, so much far away and so much thirst for thirst !
Mr. Secretary of Health: what to do?
Ah, u n fortunately, human men,
there is, brothers, much too much to do. 70
1 76 I "UN HOMBRE PASA CON UN PAN . . . II

Un hombre pasa con un pan al hombro.

,voy a escribir, despues, sobre mi doble?

Otro se sienta, rascase, extrae un piojo de su axila, matalo .

l Con que valor hablar del psicoanalisis?

Otro ha entrada a mi pecho con un palo en Ia mano.

lHablar luego de Socrates al medico?

Un cojo pasa dando el brazo a un nino.

,voy, despues, a leer a Andre Breton?

Otro tiembla de frio, tose, escupe sangre.

,cabra aludir jamas al Yo profunda?

Otro busca en el fango huesos, cascaras.

l Como escribir, despues, del infinito?

Un albaflil cae de un techo, muere y ya no almuerza .

llnnovar, luego, el tropo, Ia metafora?

Un comerciante roba un gramo en el peso a un cliente.

lHablar, despues, de cuarta dimension?

Un banquero falsea su balance.

,con que cara llorar en el teatro?

U n paria duerme con el pie a Ia espalda .

lHablar, despues, a nadie de Picasso?

Alguien va en un entierro sollozando.

,como l uego ingresar a Ia Academia?

Alguien limpia un fusil en su cocina.

l Con que valor hablar del mas alia?

Alguien pasa contando con sus dedos .

l Como hablar del no-yo sin dar un grito?

5 Nov. 1 937
 "A MAN WALKS BY WITH A STICK OF BREAD . . . " I 1 77

A man walks by with a stick o f bread on his shoulder.

..
Am I going to wri te, after that, about my double?

Another sits, scratches, extracts a louse from his armpit, kills it.
How dare one speak about psychoanalysis?

Another has entered my chest with a stick in hand . 5

To talk then about Socrates with the doctor?

A lame man passes by holding a child's hand .

A fter that am I going to read Andre Breton?

Another trembles from cold, coughs, spits blood .

Will it ever be possible to allude to the profound I? 1 0*

Another searches in the mud for bones, rinds.

How write, after that, about the infinite?

A bricklayer falls from a roof, dies and no longer ea ts lunch .

To innovate, then, the trope, the metaphor?

A merchant cheats a customer out of a gram. 15

To speak, after that, about the fou rth dimension?

A banker falsifies his balance sheet.

With what face to cry in the theater?

An outcast sleeps with his foot on his back.

To speak, after that, to anyone about Picasso? 20

Someone goes to a bu rial sobbing .

How then become a member of the Academy?

Someone clea ns a rifle in his kitchen .

How dare one speak about the beyond?

Someone passes by cou nting with his fingers . 25

..
How speak of the not-i without screaming?
1 78 I "ME VIENE HAY DfAS, UNA GANA . . . "

X
X X

M e viene, hay d ias, una gana uberrima, politica,

d e q uerer, de besar al cariilo en sus dos rostros,
y me viene de lejos un querer
d emostra tivo, otro querer amar, de grado o fuerza,
al que me odia, al que rasga su papel, al muchachito,
a Ia que llora por el que lloraba ,
a l rey del vino, al esclavo del agua,
al que ocult6se en su ira,
al que suda, al que pasa, al que sacude su persona en mi alma .
Y q uiero, por l o ta n to, acomodarle
a] que me habla, su trenza; sus cabellos, al soldado;
su l uz, al gra nde; su grandeza , al chico .
Q uiero pla nchar d i rectamente
u n pailuelo a l que n o puede l lorar
y , cua ndo estoy triste o me duele Ia dicha,
remend a r a los n iilos y a los genios.

Quiero ayudar al bueno a ser su poquillo de malo

y me u rge estar sentado
a Ia d iestra del zurdo, y responder al mudo,
tra ta n d o de serle u ti] en
lo que puedo, y tambien quiero muchisimo
lavarle al cojo el pie,
y ayudarle a dormir al tuerto p roximo.

j Ah querer, este, el m io, este, el mundial,

i n te rh u mano y parroquial, p rovecto!
M e viene a pelo ,
d esde el cimiento, desde Ia ingle publica,
y, viniendo de lejos, da ga nas de besa rle
Ia bufa nda al can to r,
y a l que sufre, besarle en su sarten,
al sordo, en su rumor craneano, impavido;
al que me da lo que olvide en mi seno,
en su Dan te, en su Chaplin, en sus hombros.
 "FOR SEVERAL DAYS, I HAVE FELT AN EXUBERANT . . . " I 179

X
X X

For several days, I have felt an exuberant, political need

to love, to kiss affection on its two cheeks,
and I have felt from afar a demonstrative
desire, another desire to love, willingly or by force,
whoever hates me, whoever rips up his paper, a little boy, 5
the woman who cries for the man who was crying,
the king of wine, the slave of water,
whoever hid in his wrath ,
whoever sweats, whoever passes, whoever shakes his person in my soul.
And I want, therefore, to adjust 10
the braid of whoever talks to me; the hair of the soldier;
the light of the great one; the greatness of the little one.
I want to iron directly
a handkerchief for whoever is unable to cry
and, when I am sad or happiness hurts me, 15
to mend the children and the geniuses.

I want to help the good one become a little bit bad

and I badly need to be seated
on the right-hand of the left-handed , and to respond to the mute,
trying to be useful to him as 20
I can , and also I want very much
•
to wash the lame man's foot,
and to help the nearby one-eyed man sleep .

Ah love, this one, my own, this one, the world's,

interhuman and parochial, matu rely aged ! 25
It comes, perfectly timed·,
from the foundation, from the public groin,
and, coming from afar, makes me want to kiss
the singer's muffler,
and whoever suffers, to kiss him on his frying pan, 30
the deaf man, on his cranial murmur, undaunted;
whoever gives me what I forgot in my breast,
on his Dante, on his Chaplin, on his shoulders .
180 I "ME VIENE, HAY DfAS, UNA G ANA . . . "

Quiero, para terminar,

cuando estoy al borde celebre de Ia violencia
o lleno de pecho el coraz6n, querria
ayudar a reir al que sonrie,
ponerle un pajarillo al malvado en plena nuca ,
cuidar a los enfermos enfadandolos,
comprarle al vendedor,
ayudarle a matar al matador�osa terrible-­
y quisiera yo ser bueno conmigo
en todo.

6 Nov. 1 937
 "FOR SEVERA L DAYS, I H AVE FELT AN EXUBERA NT . . . " I 181

I wan t, fi nally,
when I am at the celebra ted edge of violence 35
or my heart ful l of chest, I would like
to help whoever smiles laugh ,
to put a little bird right on the evil ma n's nape,
to take care of the sick annoying them,
to buy from the vendor, 40
to help the killer kill-a terrible thing­
and I wou ld like to be kind to myself
in everything.
1 82 I "HOY LE HA ENTRADO UNA ASTILLA . . . "

X
X X

Hoy le ha en trado una astilla .

Hoy le ha entrado una astilla cerca , dandole
cerca, fuerte, en su modo
de ser y en su centavo ya famoso.
Le ha dolido Ia suerte mucho,
todo;
le ha dolido Ia puerta,
le ha dolido Ia faja, dandole
sed, a fl ixi6n
y sed del vaso pero no del vino.
Hoy le sali6 a Ia pobre vecina del aire,
a escond idas, humareda de su dogma;
hoy le ha entrado una astilla .

La i nmensidad persiguela
a d istancia superficial, a un vasto eslabonazo.
h oy le sali6 a Ia pobre vecina del viento,
en Ia mejilla, norte, y en Ia mejilla, oriente;
hoy le ha entrado una as till a .

l Quien comprara, e n los dias perecederos, asperos,

u n pedacito de ca fe con leche,
y q uien, sin ella, bajara a su rastro hasta dar a luz?
lQuien sera , luego, sabado, a las siete?
jTristes son las astillas que le entran
a u no,
exactamente ahi precisamente!
Hoy le entr6 a Ia pobre vecina de viaje,
u na llama a pagada en el oraculo;
hoy le ha entrado una astilla .

Le ha dolido el dolor, el dolor joven

el dolor n ino, el dolorazo, dandole
en las manos
y dandole sed, a fl ixi6n
y sed del vaso, pero no del vino.
j La pobre pobreci ta !

6 Nov . 1 937
 "TODAY A SPLINTER HAS GOTTEN INTO HER . . . " I 183

X
X X

Today a splinter has gotten into her.

Today a splinter has gotten into her close, striking her
dose, hard, in her disposition
and in her now famous centavo.
Luck has hurt her a lot, 5
all over;
the door has hurt her,
her girdle has hurt her, giving her
..
thirst, a flixion
and thirst for the glass but not for the wine. 10
Today, on the sly, the smoke of her dogma
..
poured out of the poor air neighbor;
today a splinter has gotten into her.
..
Immensity pursues her
at a superficial distance, at a vast flint spark. 15
Today, on the cheek of the poor wind neighbor,
north came out, and on the cheek, orient;
today a splinter has gotten into her.

Who will buy, in these harsh, perishable day�,

a little piece of coffee with cream, . 20
and who, withou t her, will descend to her trail until casting light?
Who will it be, then, a Sa turday, at seven?
Sad are the splinters that get into
one,
exactly there precisely! 25
Today, a quenched flame· has gotten into the oracle
of the poor traveling companion;
today a splinter has gotten into her.

Hurt has hurt her, you ng hurt,

child hurt, tremendous hurt, striking her 30
in her hands
and giving her thirst, aflixion
and thirst for the glass, bu t not for the wine .
The poor, poor little thing!
1 84 I PALMAS Y G U ITARRA

Pa lmas y g u i t a r ra

A h ora , e n tre nosotros, aqui,

ven conm igo, trae por Ia m a no a tu cuerpo
y cenemos j u n tos y pasemos un insta n te Ia vida
a dos vidas y d a ndo una parte a nuestra muerte .
A ho ra , ven con tigo, hazme el favor
de queja rte en m i nombre y a Ia luz de Ia noche teneblosa
en que t raes a tu a lma de Ia mano
y h u imos en pu n ti l las de nosotros.

Ven a m f, si, y a ti, sf,

con pa so par, a vernos a los dos con paso impa r,
m a rcar el paso de Ia despedida .
j Hasta cu ando volvamos! j Hasta Ia vuel ta !
j Hasta cu ando leamos, ignoran tes!
j Hasta cuando volvamos, despidamonos!

(Que me im porta n los fu siles,

escuchame;
escucha me, (que imp6rtanme,
si Ia ba la circula ya en el rango de mi fi rma?
(Que te i m porta n a ti las balas,
si el fusil esta humea ndo ya en tu olor?
Hoy m ismo pesaremos
e n los brazos d e un ciego nuestra estrella
y, una vez que me ca ntes, lloraremos .
Hoy mismo, h ennosa , con tu paso par
y tu con fianza a que lleg6 mi alanna,
sald re m os de n osotros, dos a dos.
j Hasta cuando seam os ciegos !
j Ha s ta
que llore mos de tan to volver!

A h ora,
e n t re noso tros, trae
por Ia m a no a tu du lce personaje
y cenemos j u n tos y pasemos un insta nte Ia vida
a dos vidas y dando una pa rte a nuestra muerte .
A ho ra , ven con tigo, hazme el favor
de can ta r a lgo
y de tocar en tu alma, haciendo palmas.
j Ha s ta cua ndo vol vamos! j Hasta en tonces!
j Ha s ta cua ndo pa rtamos, despida monos!

8 Nov. 1 937
 CLAPPING AND GUITAR I 185

Cla pping and guitar

Now, between ourselves, right here,

come with me, bring your body by the hand
a nd let's dine together and spend our life for a moment
in two lives, giving a part to our death .
Now, come with yourself, do me the favor 5
..
of complaining in my name and by the light of the teneblous night
in which you bring your soul by the hand
and we flee on tiptoes from ourselves .

Come to me, yes, and to you, yes,

i n even step, to see the two of us out of step, 10
stepping in place to farewell .
Until w e return ! I'll see you then!
Until we read, ignoramuses!
Until we return, let's say goodbye!

What are the rifles to me, 15

listen to me;
listen to me, what's it to me
if the bullet is already circulating in my signature's rank?
What a re the bullets to you ,
i f the rifle is already smoking in your odor? 20
This very day we will weigh
in the arms of a blindman our star
and, once you sing to me, we will cry .
This very day, beautiful woman, with your even step
and your trust reached by my alarm, 25
we will come out of ourselves, two by two.
Until we both become blind!
Until
we cry from so much returning!

Now, 30
between ourselves, bring
your sweet person by the hand
and let's dine together and spend our life for a moment
in two lives, giving a part to our death .
Now, come with yourself, do me the favor 35
of singing something
and playing on your soul, cla pping hands.
Until we return! Until then!
Until we part, let's say goodbye!
1 86 I EL ALMA QUE SUFRJ6 DE SER SU CUERPO

E l a hna que su frio d e ser su cuerpo

Tu su fres de u na glan d u la endocri'n ica, se ve,

o, quiza ,
su fres d e mi, de m i sagacidad escuet<� , taci t<� .
Tu padeces del d ia fa no a n t ropoide, alia, cerca,
donde esta Ia tin iebl<1 tenebrosa .
Tu das Ia vuelta <1 l sol, aga rra ndote el <� l ma ,
extend iendo tus j u a nes corpo r<1les
y a j u s ta nd o te el cuel lo; eso se ve .
Tu sabes lo que te d u ele,
lo que te sa l ta al anca ,
lo que baja por ti con sog<� a l suelo .
Tu , pobre hombre, vives; no lo niegues,
si m u e res; no lo niegues,
si m ue res de tu ed<� d ! j a y ! y de tu epoc<1 .
Y, a u nque l lores, bebes,
y, aunque sa ngres, a l imen tas a tu h ibrido col m i llo,
a tu vela t ristan<� y a tus pa rtes .
Tu su fres, ru padeces y tu vuelves a su frir ho rriblemente,
desgra ciado mono,
jovencito de Da rwin,
a lgu acil que me a tisbas, a t rocisimo m icrobia.
Y tu lo sabes a tal pu n to ,
q u e lo ignoras, sol ta ndote a llorar.
Tu , fuego, has nacido; eso
tambien se ve de lejos, i n feliz y Gllla te,
y soportas Ia cal le que te di6 Ia sue rte
a tu ombl igo i n terrogas: (d6nde? (C6mo?

A m igo m io, estas completame n te,

hasta el pelo, en el a no t rei n ta y och o,
n icolas o san ti<�go , tal o cua l ,
estes con tigo o con t u aborto o con ­
m igo
y ca u tivo en tu enorm e l iberta d ,
a rra s t rado por tu hercules a u t6nomo .
Pero si tu ca lcu las en tus d edos hasta dos,
es peor; no lo niegues, herma n i to .

(Que n6? (Que s f, pero q u e no?

j Pobre mono! . . . j Oame Ia pa ta ! . . . No. La mano, he dicho.
j Sa lu d ! j Y sufre !

8 N ov . 1 937
 THE SOUL THAT SUFFERED FROM BEING ITS BODY I 187

The soul that suffered from being its body

You su ffer from an endocrine gla nd, it's obvious,

or, perhaps,
you su ffer from me, from my tacit, stark sagacity .
•
You endure the diaphanous anthropoid, over there, nearby,
where the tenebrous darkness is. 5
You revolve around the sun, grabbing on to your soul,
•
extending your corporal juans
a nd adjusting your collar; that's obvious .
You know wha t aches you ,
what leaps on your rump, 10
what descends through you by rope to the ground .
You , poor man, you live; don't deny it,
if you die; don't deny it,
if you die from your age! ah! and from your epoch .
And, even if you cry, you drink, 15
and, even if you bleed , you nourish your hybrid eyetooth ,
your wistful candle and your private parts.
You su ffer, you endure and again you suffer horribly,
•
miserable ape,
Darwin's little man, 20
bailiff prying on me, most atrocious microbe.
And you know this so well,
that you ignore it, bursting into tears .
You , then, were born; tha t
too is obvious at a distance, poor devil and shut up, 25
a nd you put up with the street that luck gave you
•
you question you r navel: where? how?

My friend, you are completely,

up to your hair, in the 38th year,
nicolas or santiago, this one or tha t one, 30
either with yourself or with your abortion or with
me
and captive in your enormous liberty,
dragged on by your autonomous hercules . . .
But if you calculate on your fingers up to two, 35
it's worse; don't deny it, pal .

Why no? Why yes, but why no?

Poor a pe ! . . . G imme your paw ! . . . No. The hand, I meant.
To you r health ! Keep su ffering!
188 I YUNTAS

Yuntas

Completamente . Ademas, jvida !

Com pletamente . Ademas, jmuerte!

Completamente . Ademas, j todo!

Completamente. Ademas, jnada !

Completamente. Ademas, jmundo!

Completamente . Ademas, j polvo!

Completamente. Ademas, jOios!

Completamente . Ademas, jnadie!

Completamente . Ademas, jnunca !

Com pletamente . Ademas, j siempre!

Completamente . Ademas, joro!

Completamente . Ademas, jhumo!

Completamente . Ademas, j lagrimas!

Completamente . Ademas, j risas! . . .

Completamente!

9 Nov. 1 937
 COUPLINGS I 189

Couplin g s

Completely . Furthermore, life!

Completely. Furthermore, death !

Completely. Furthermore, everything!

Completely . Furthermore, nothing!

Completely. Furthermore, world! 5

Completely. Furthermore, dust!

Completely. Furthermore, God!

Completely. Furthermore, no one!

Completely. Furthermore, never!

Completely. Furthermore, always! 10

Completely. Furthermore, gold!

Completely. Furthermore, smoke!

Completely. Furthermore, tears!

Completely . Furthermore, laughs! . . .

Completely! 15
190 I "ACABA DE PASAR EL QUE VENDRA . . . "

X
X X

Acaba de pasar el que vendra

proscrito, a sentarse en mi triple desarrollo;
acaba de pasar criminalmente .

Acaba de sentarse mas aca,

a un cuerpo de distancia de mi alma,
el que vino en un asno a enflaquecerme;
acaba de sentarse de pie, livido.

Acaba de darme lo que esta acabado,

el calor del fuego y el pronombre inmenso
que el animal cri6 bajo su cola .

Acaba
de expresarme su duda sobre hip6tesis lejanas
que el aleja, aun mas, con Ia mirada .

Acaba de hacer al bien los honores que le tocan

e n virtud del i n fame paquidermo,
por lo sonado en mi y en el matado.

Acaba de ponerme (no hay primera)

su segunda a flixi6n en plenos lomos
y su tercer sudor en plena lagrima .

Acaba de pasar sin haber venido.

1 2 Nov . 1 937
 "HE HAS JUST PASSED BY, THE ONE WHO WILL COME . . . " I 191

X
X X

He has just passed by, the one who will come

banished, to sit down on my triple unfolding;
he has just passed by criminally.

He has just sat down nearer,

a body away from my soul, 5
the one who came on an ass to make me gaunt;
he has just sat down standing up, livid .

He has just given me what is finished ,

the heat of fire and the immense pronoun
that the animal reared under its tail. 10

He has just
expressed his doubts about remote hypotheses
which he distances, even further, with his gaze .

He has just bestowed on the good its rightful honors

by virtue of the infamous pachyderm , 15
through what is dreamed in me and in him killed .

He has just fixed (there is no first)

..
his second aflixion right in my shoulders
and his third sweat right in my tear.

He has just passed by without having come . 20""

1 92 I "jANDE DESN UDO, EN PELO . . . !"

X
X X

j A n d e desnudo, en pelo, el m illonario!

j Oesgracia al que edifica con tesoros su Iecho de muerte !
j U n mundo a l que sa luda;
u n sill6n a l q ue siembra en el cielo;
l l a n to al que da h�rm ino a lo que h ace, guardando los comienzos;
a nd e e l d e las espuelas;
poco d ure m u ralla en que no crezca otra m ura lla;
dese a l misero toda su miseria,
pa n , al que rie;
hayan perder los tri u n fos y morir los medicos;
h a ya leche en Ia sa ngre;
a ri adase una vela al sol ,
ochocientos a l vei n te;
pa se Ia e temidad bajo los puentes!
j Oesden al que viste,
cor6nense los pies d e manos, quepan en su tamaflo;
sientese mi persona junto a mi!
j llora r al haber cabido en aquel vientre,
bend ici6n al que m ira a i re en el a i re,
m uchos a flos d e cla vo a l martillazo;
desnudese el d esnudo,
vistase d e pantal6n I a capa,
fulja el cobre a expensa s d e sus laminas,
mages tad a l que cae de Ia a rcilla al uni verso,
Hore n las bocas, giman las miradas,
i mpid a se al acero perdu rar,
h ilo a los horizon tes porta ti les,
d oce ci udades a l sendero de pied ra ,
u n a esfera a l que j uega con su sombra;
u n d ia h echo de una hora , a los esposos;
u n a m a d re al a rado en loor al suelo,
sellense con dos sellos a los Iiquidos,
pase lis ta el bocado,
sea n los descen dientes,
sea Ia codorniz,
sea Ia ca rrera del alamo y del arbol;
venza n, al contra rio del circulo, el mar a su hijo
y a Ia ca na el lloro;
dejad los aspides, senores hombres,
su rcad Ia llama con los siete Ienos,
vivid,
elevese I a a l tu ra ,
baje el hondor mas hondo,
conduzca Ia onda su impulsion and a n d o,
tenga exito Ia t regua de Ia b6veda !
 "LET THE MILLIONAIRE GO NAKED . . . " I 193

X
X X

•
Let the millionaire go naked, stark naked !
Disgrace for whoever builds his death bed with treasures!
A world for whoever greets;
a n armchair for whoever sows in the sky;
tears for whoever finishes what he does, keeping the beginnings; 5
let the spur-wearer walk;
let the wall crumble on which another wall is not growing;
let the miserable man have all his misery,
bread, for whoever laughs;
let the triumphs lose and the doctors die; 10
let milk be in our blood;
let a candle be added to the sun,
eight hundred to twenty;
let eternity pass under the bridges!
Scorn for whoever puts on clothes, 15
let our feet be crowned with hands, be fit in their size;
let my person sit next to me!
To cry having fit in that womb,
grace for whoever sees air in the air,
many years of nail for the hammer stroke; 20
let the naked man be stripped naked,
let the cape put on pants,
let the copper gleam at the expense of its plates,
•
magesty for whoever falls from the clay to the universe,
let the mouths weep, let the glances groan, 25
let us stop the steel from enduring,
thread for the portable horizons,
twelve cities for the stone path,
a sphere for whoever plays with his shadow;
a day made of an hour, for married people; 30
a mother at the plow in praise of the soil,
let the liquids be sealed with two seals,
let the mou th ful call the roll,
let the descendants be,
let the quail be, 35
let the poplar and the tree have their race;
let the sea, contrary to the circle, defeat his son
and the crying, grey hair;
leave the asps alone, gentle sirs,
furrow your flame with the seven logs, 40
live,
let the height be raised,
•
let the deepness descend deeper,
let the wave drive its impulse walking,
let the vault's truce be a success! 45
1 94 I "jANDE DESNUDO, EN PELO . . . !"

jMuramos;
lavad vuestro esqueleto cada dia;
no me hagais caso,
una ave coja al despota y a su alma;
una mancha espantosa, al que va solo;
gorriones al astr6nomo, al gorri6n, al aviador!
i Lloved, solead,
vigilad a Jupiter, al ladr6n de idolos de oro,
copiad vuestra letra en tres cuadernos,
aprended de los c6nyuges cuando hablan, y
de los solitarios, cuando callan;
dad de comer a los novios,
dad de heber al diablo en vuestras manos,
l uchad por Ia justicia con Ia nuca,
igualaos,
cum plase el roble,
cumplase el leopardo entre dos robles,
seamos,
estemos,
sentid como navega el agua en los oceanos,
alimentaos,
concibase el error, puesto que lloro,
aceptese, en tanto suban por el risco, las cabras y sus crias;
desacostumbrad a Dios a ser un hombre,
creced . ! . .

Me Haman . Vuelvo .

19 Nov. 1937
 "LET THE MILLIONAIRE GO NAKED . . . " I 195

Let us die;
wash your skeleton every day;
pay no attention to me,
let a bird grasp the despot and his soul;
an awful stain, for whoever walks around alone; 50
sparrows for the astronomer, for the spa rrow, an aviator!
G ive off rain, give off sun,
keep a n eye on Jupiter, on the thief of your gold idols,
copy your hand-writing in three notebooks,
learn from the couples when they speak, and 55
from the lonely, when they are silent;
give food to the sweethearts,
give drink to the devil from your hands,
fight for justice with your nape,
make yourselves equal, 60
let the oak be fulfilled ,
let the leopard be fulfilled between two oaks,
let us be,
let us be here,
let us feel how the water sails in the oceans, 65
take nourishment,
let the error be conceived, since I am crying,
accept it, while goats and their young climb along the cliff;
make God break the habit of being a man,
grow up . . . ! 70
I am called . I am going back.
196 I "VINIERE EL MALO, CON UN TRONO . . . "

X
X X

Viniere el malo, con un trono al hombro,

y el bueno, a acompanar al malo a andar;
dijeren "si" el senn6n, "no" Ia plegaria
y cortare el camino en dos Ia roca . .

Comenzare por monte Ia montana,

por remo el tallo, por tim6n el cedro
y esperaren doscientos a sesenta
y volviere Ia carne a sus tres titulos . .

Sobrase n ieve en Ia noci6n del fuego,

se acostare el cadaver a mirarnos,
Ia centella a ser trueno corpulento
y se arquearen los saurios a ser aves .

Fal tare excavaci6n junto al estiercol,

naufragio al rio para resbalar,
carcel al hombre libre, para serlo
y u na a tm6sfera al cielo, y hierro al oro . . .

Mostraren disci plina, olor, las fieras,

se pintare el enojo de soldado,
me dolieren el j unco que aprendi,
Ia mentira que infectame y soc6rreme . . .

Sucediere ello asi y asi poniendolo,

lcon que mano despertar?
l con que pie morir?
leon que ser pobre?
lcon que voz callar?
lCOn cuanto comprender, y luego, a quien?

No olvidar ni recordar
que por mucho cerrarla, robaronse Ia puerta,
y de sufrir tan poco estoy muy resentido,
y de tanto pensar, no tengo boca .

19 Nov. 1937
 "THAT THE EVIL MAN MIGHT COME, WITH A THRONE . . . " I 197

X
X X

..
Tha t the evil man might come, with a throne on his shoulder,
a nd the good man, to walk with the evil man for company;
that the sermon might say "yes, " the prayer "no"
and that the path might cut the rock in two . . .

That the mountain might begin as a hill, 5

the stalk as an oar, the cedar as a tiller
a nd that two hundred might wait for sixty
and that the flesh might return to its three titles . . .
..
Tha t there might be too much snow in the notion of fire,
that the corpse might lay down to watch us, 10
the flash might be corpulent thunder
and that the saurians might arch to become birds . . .
..
Tha t the dung might lack an excavation nearby,
the river a shipwreck so to slide,
the free man a jail, so to be free 15
..
a nd the sky an a tmosphere, and gold iron . . .

Tha t wild beasts might show discipline, odor,

that anger might disguise itself as a soldier,
that the reed I learned might ache me,
the lie that infects and helps me . . . 20

Tha t it m ight happen this way and thus stating it,

with what hand to awake?
with what foot to die?
..
with what to be poor?
with what voice to keep quiet? 25
with how much to understand, and then, whom?

Not to forget nor to remember

that from dosing it too often, they stole the door,
a nd from suffering so little I am very resentful,
..
and from so much thinking, I have no mouth . 30
198 I II
AL REvES DE LAS AVES DEL MONTE . . . II

X
X X

AI reves de las aves del monte,

que viven del valle,
aqui, una tarde,
aqui, presa, metaloso, terminante,
vino el Sincero con sus nietos perfidos,
y nosotros quedamonos, que no hay
mas madera en Ia cruz de Ia derecha,
n i mas hierro en el clava de Ia izquierda,
que un apret6n de manos entre zurdos .

Vino el Sincero, ciego, con sus lamparas.

Se vi6 al Palido, aqui, bastar
al Encarnado;
naci6 de puro humilde el Grande;
Ia guerra,
esta t6rtola mia, nunca nuestra,
disen6se, borr6se, ov6, ma taronla .

Llev6se el Ebrio al labia un roble, porque

a maba, y una astilla
de roble, porque odiaba;
trenzaronse las trenzas de los potros
y Ia crin de las potencias;
cantaron los obreros; fui dichoso .

El Palido abraz6se al Encarnado

y el Ebrio, salud6nos, escondiendose .
Como era aqui y al terminar el dfa,
jque mas tiempo que aquella plazoleta !
jque ano mejor que esa gente!
jque m omenta mas fuerte que ese siglo!

Pues de lo que hablo no es

sino de lo que pasa en esta epoca , y
de lo que ocurre en China y en Espana, y en el mundo.
(Walt Whitman tenfa un pecho suavfsimo y res-
piraba y nadie sabe lo que el hada cuando lloraba en su comedor. )
 "CONTRARY TO THE MOUNTAIN BIRDS . . . " I 199

X
X X

Contra ry to the mountain birds,

that live off the valley,
..
here, one a fternoon,
here, imprisoned, the Sincere,
metalous, decisive, came with his perfidious grandchildren,
a nd we remained, because there is no
more wood in the cross to the right,
nor more iron in the nail to the left,
than a handshake between the lefthanded .

The Sincere came, blind, with his lamps. 10

The Pale was seen, here, to be enough
for the Flesh-colored;
..
by sheer humbleness the Great was born;
the war,
this turtledove of mine, never ours, 15
sketched itself, erased itsel f, laid eggs, it was killed .

The Inebriated raised an oak to his lip, because

he loved , and a splinter
of oak, because he ha ted ;
the col ts' braids and the mane of the powers 20
braided themselves;
the workers sang; I was happy.

The Pale embraced the Flesh -colored

a nd the Inebria ted , greeted us, hiding.
Since it was here and when the day ended, 25
how much more time than that small plaza !
what year better than those people !
what moment stronger than that century!

For what I am ta lking about is

nothing other than what is taking place in our time, and 30..
what is taking place in China and in Spain, and in the world .
(Walt Whitman had a very soft chest and breathed and nobody knows
what he was doing when he was crying in his dining room . )
200 I "AL REvES DE LAS AVES DEL MONTE . . . "

Pero, volviendo, a lo nuestro,

y al verso que decia, fuera entonces
que vi que el hombre es malnacido,
mal vivo, mal muerto, mal moribundo,
y, natu ralmente,
el tartufo sincero desesperase,
el palido (es el palido de siempre)
sera palido por algo,
y el ebrio, entre Ia sangre humana y Ia leche animal,
abatese, da, y opta por marcharse .

Todo esto
agitase, ahora mismo,
en mi vientre de macho entraftamente .

20 Nov. 1937
 "CONTRARY TO THE MOUNTAIN BIRDS . . . " I 201

But, getting back to our subject,

and to the line that I wrote, it was then 35
I saw that man is evilborn,
evil alive, evil dead, evil dying,
a nd, naturally,
the sincere tartuffe despairs,
the pale (the one who is always pale) 40
will be for some reason pale,
and the inebriated, between human blood and animal milk,
slumps, gives up, and decides to take off.

All this
stirs, right now, 45
..
i n my male belly surprisingly.
202 I " ELLO ES QUE EL LUGAR DONDE . . . "

X
X X

E l l o es q u e e l I u ga r d o n de me pongo
e l pa n ta l6 n , es u n a ca sa d o n d e
n1e q u i to Ia ca m i sa e n a l ta voz
y d o n de tengo un s u e l o, u n a l ma , u n m a pa de mi Espa na
A hora m i s mo h a b l a ba
d e m i c o n m igo, y po n ia
sobre u n peq u eri o l i bro u n pa n t rem e n d o
y h e , l u ego, h ech o e l t ra slado, h e trasladado,
q u e r i e n d o ca n tu rrea r un poco, el l a d o
d e rech o d e Ia vida a l lado izquierdo;
m a s t a rde, m e he l a va d o todo, e l vien t re,
briosa , d ig n a m e n te;
h e d a d o v u e l ta a ver lo q u e se e n sucia,
h e ra s pa d o l o que me l le va ta n cerca
y he ord e n a d o bien el m a pa q u e
ca becea ba 0 l lora ba , n o lo se .

M i ca s a , por d esgraci a , es u n a casa ,

u n s u e l o por ve n tu ra , d o n d e v i ve
co n s u i nscri pci6n m i cucha ri ta a mada ,
m i q u erido esq u e l e t o ya s i n l etras,
I a n a va j a , u n ciga rro perma n e n te .
De vera s , cua n d o p i e n so
e n l o q u e es Ia vida ,
n o p u e d o e v i t a r d e d ecfrselo a Georget te,
a fi n de com e r a lgo agra d J ble y sa l i r,
por I a tJ rde, com pra r u n buen period ico,
g u a rda r u n d iJ pa ra nw n d o no h J yJ ,
u na n oche t J m b i c n , pJ rJ cua ndo ha ya
(a s f se d ice en e l Peru-me exc u so);
d e l m i s m o modo, s u fro con gra n cu i d a d o ,
a fin d e n o gri ta r o d e l l ora r, Y" q u e l o s ojos

posee n , i n depe n d i e n te m e n te de u no, s u s pobreza s,

q u iero d ec i r, su ofi c i o, J l go
q u e resbJ I J d e l J l ma y CJ e ,1 1 ,1 l m a .

H J b i e n d o a tr,l vesJ d o
q u i n ce J r1os; d e s p u es , q u i nce, y , ,1 n tes, q u i n ce,
u n o se s ie n te, e n reJ i i d J d , to n ti l lo,
es nJ t u ra l , por lo demas, j q u e hacer!
( Y que d e jar d e h a cer, q u e es lo peor?
S i no v i v i r , s i n o l legJ r
a Ser io q u e es u no e n t re m i l l o l1 l'S
d e pJ nes, e n tre m i les d e vi nos, e n t re cien tos d e boca s,
e n t re el sol y su rJ yo que cs d e l u na
y e n t re Ia m i sJ , e l pJ n , el v i n o y m i ,1 l m ,1 .
 "11-I E FACT IS 11-IAT THE PLACE WHERE . . . " I 203

X
X X

The fact is that the place where I put on

my pants, is a house where
I take off my shirt ou t loud
a nd where I have a ground, a soul, a map of my Spain .
Just now I was speaking 5
about me with myself and placing
on top of a little book a tremendous loa f of bread
a nd I have, then, made the move, I have moved ,
trying to hum a little, the right
side of life to the left side; 10
later, I have washed all of me, my belly,
vigorously, with dignity;
I have turned around to see wha t gets dirty,
I have scraped what takes me so nea r
and I have properly ordered the map tha t 15
was nodding off or crying, I don't know .

My house, unfortunately, is a house,

a ground fortunately, where with its
inscription my beloved little spoon lives,
my dear skeleton now unlettered , 20
the pocket knife, a perma nent cigar.
Truth fully, when I think
what life is,
..
I can not help saying it to Georgette,
to be able to eat something nice and go out, 25
in the a fternoon , to buy a good newspaper,
to save a day for when there isn't one,
a night too, for when there is
(that is a Peruvia n saying-my apologies);
in the same way, I su ffer with great care, 30
in order not to shout or cry, since our eyes
have, independent of oneself, their poverties,
I mean, their trade, something
that slips from the sou l and fa lls to the soul.

Having gone through 35

..
fi fteen years; fifteen years, after, and, fifteen years, before,
one feels, rea lly, a little dumb,
it's natural, on the other hand, wha t ca n one do!
And what can one stop doing, tha t's even worse!
But to live, but to become 40
what one is among millions
of loaves, among thousands of wines, among hundreds of mouths,
between the sun and its beam, a moonbeam
and among the Mass, the bread, the wine and my soul .
204 I "ELLO ES QUE EL LUGAR DONDE . . . "

Hoy es domingo y, por eso,

me viene a Ia cabeza Ia idea, al pecho el llanto
y a Ia garganta , asi como un gran bulto.
Hoy es domingo, y esto
tiene m uchos siglos; de otra manera,
seria, quiza, Junes, y vendriame al corazon Ia idea,
al seso, el llanto
y a Ia garganta, una gana espantosa de ahogar
lo que ahora siento,
como un hombre que soy y que he sufrido.

21 Nov . 1937
 "THE FACT IS THAT THE PLACE WHERE . . . " I 205

Today is Sunday and, for this reason, 45

the idea comes to my mind, the crying to my chest
and to my throat, something like a big lump.
Today is Sunday, and this fact
is many centuries old; otherwise,
it would be, perhaps, Monday, and the idea would have come to my heart, 50
the crying to my brain
a nd to my throat, an awful desire to drown
what I now feel,
like a man that I am and who has suffered .
206 I "ALGO TE IDENTIFICA . . . "

X
X X

Algo te identifica con el que se aleja de ti, y es Ia facultad

comun de volver: de ahi tu mas grande pesadumbre.
Algo te separa del que se queda contigo, y es Ia esclavitud
comu n de partir: de a hi tus mas nimios regocijos .
Me d irijo, en esta forma, a las individualidades colectivas,
tanto como a las colectividades individuates y a los que, entre
unas y otras, yacen marchando al son de las fronteras o, simplemente,
marcan el paso inm6vil en el borde del mundo.
Algo tipicamente neutro, de inexorablemente neutro, interp6nese
entre el ladr6n y su victima . Esto, asimismo, puede discernirse
tratandose del cirujano y del paciente. Horrible medialuna, convexa
y solar, cobija a unos y otros . Porque el objeto hurtado tiene tam­
bien su peso indiferente, y el 6rgano intervenido, tambien su grasa
triste.
lQue hay de mas desespera nte en Ia tierra, que Ia imposibilidad
en que se halla el hombre feliz de ser infortunado y el hombre hue­
no, de ser malvado?
jAlejarse! jQuedarse! jVolver! jPartir! Toda Ia mecanica social cabe
en estas palabras.
 "SOMETHING IDENTIFIES YOU 0 0 0 " I 207

X
X X

Something identifies you with the one who leaves you, and it is
your common power to return: thus your grea test sorrow .
Something separates you from the one who remains with you,
a nd it is your common slavery to depart: thus your meagerest
reJOicmg. 5
I address myself, in this way, to collective individualities,
as well as to individual collectivities and to those who, between them
both, lie marching to the sound of the frontiers or, simply, mark
time without moving at the edge of the world .
Something typically neuter, inexorably neuter, stands between 10
the thief a nd his victim . This, likewise, can be noticed in the relation
between a surgeon and his patient. A horrible halfmoon, convex and
solar, covers all of them . For the stolen object has also its indifferent
weight, and the operated on organ, also its sad fat.
What on earth is more exasperating, than the impossibility for 15
the happy man to become unhappy, and the good man to become wicked ?
To leave! To remain! To return ! To depart! The whole socia l
mechanism fits in these words.
208 I "EN S UMA, NO POSEO PARA EXPR ESAR . . . "

X
X X

En suma, no poseo para expresa r mi vida sino mi muerte .

Y, despues de todo, a l cabo de Ia escalonada na tura leza y del gorrion en
bloque, me d uermo, ma na a mana con mi sombra .
Y, a l descender del acto venerable y del otro gem ido, me repo­
so pe nsa ndo en Ia marcha imperterrita del tiempo .
(Po r que Ia cuerda, entonces, si el a ire es tan sencillo? (Pa ­
ra q u e Ia cadena, si existe e l h ierro por s i solo?
Cesar Va l lejo, el ace n to con que a ma s, el verba con que escri­
bes, e l vien tecillo con que ayes, solo saben de ti por tu gargan ta .
Cesar Vallejo, p6stra te, por eso, con indistinto orgu llo, con
talamo de ornamenta les aspides y exagonales ecos .
Res titu yete al corporeo panal, a Ia beldad; aroma los floreci­
dos corchos, cierra a m bas gru tas al san u do antropoide; repara, en
fin, tu a n tipa tico venado; tente pena .
jQue no hay cosa mas densa que el odio en voz pasiva , ni mas
m isera ubre que el amor!
jQue ya no puedo a ndar sino en dos harpa s !
jQue y a no me conoces, sino porque te sigo instrumental, pro-
lija mente !
jQue ya n o doy gusa nos, sino breves!
jQue ya te i m plico ta n to, que media que te a fila s !
j Qu e y a l levo u nas timidas legumbres y o tras brava s !
Pues e l a fecto que quiebrase de noche en mis bronquios, l o traje­
ron d e d ia ocul tos deanes y, si amanezco pa lido, es por mi obra;
y si a nochezco rojo, por mi obrero . Ella explica, igua lmente, es-
tos cansa ncios mios y estos despojos, mis famosos tios. Ella explica ,
e n fin , esta lagrima q u e brindo por Ia d icha d e los hombres .
jCesa r Va l lejo, pa rece
m e n t i ra que a si tarden tus parien tes,
sabie nd o que a ndo cau tivo,
sabiendo que yaces l ibre!
j Vistosa y perra suerte!
jCesa r Vallejo, te odio con ternu ra !

25 Nov . 1 937
 " I N SHORT, I H A V E 1\:0TH I NG W ITH WH I CI I TO EXPRESS " I 209

X
X X

I n short, I have nothing w i t h wh ich t o express my l i fe excep t m y

death .
A n d , a fter a l l , a t the end of gra ded n <lt u re a n d t h e spa rrow i n
bloc, I sleep, hand in hand w i th m y s h a d ow .
And, upon descend ing from t h e venerable a c t a nd from t h e o t h e r 5
groa n , I res t thinking abou t t h e inexorable ma rch o f t i me .
Why the rope, then, i f a i r i s so s i m ple? Wha t i s t h e cha i n for,
if iron exists on its o w n?
Cesar Val lejo, the a ccen t w i t h w h ich y o u love, the la nguage w i t h
w h ich you wri te, the soft wind w i t h \·Vh ich y o u hea r, on ly know o f you 10
t h rough you r throa t .
Cesar Vallejo, fa ll o n you r knees, t h erefore, w i t h i nd is ti n c t pride,
with a bridal bed o f ornamen tal a s ps a nd hexagona l echoes .
Return to the corporeal h o ne y comb, to Bea u ty; a roma t i ze t h e
blossomed corks, close both caves to t he enraged a n t h ropoid; m e n d , 15
fi na lly, your unpleasant s tag; feel sorry for you rsel f .
For there is noth i ng denser t h a n h a t e i n t h e passi \'t:> voice, n o
sti ngier udder tha n l o ve!
For I a m no longer able to walk, exce p t on t wo h a rp s !
For you no longer know me, unless ins t r u m e n t a ll y , fa s t i d iou sl y 20
I follow you !
For I no longer i s s u e worm s , b u t breve s !
For I now i mpli ca t e y o u s o m u ch , y o u a l most become sh a rp !
For I now carry some timid vegetables and o t h e rs t h a t a re fi e rce !
Because the a ffection tha t ru ptures a t night in m y bronch i a , wa s brough t 25
d u r i n g the day by hidden deacons a nd , i f when m y mo rn i n g begi n s I a m pale,
it is because of my work; a n d if when m y n i g h t b egi ns I am red , beca u se o f
my worker . Th is eq ua ll y explains t h is wea ri ness of m i n e and these spoi ls, m y
famous u ncles . This expla i ns , fi n a l l y , t h i s tear t h a t I offe r a s a toa s t t o th e
ha ppiness o f men . 30
Cesar Va llejo, i t is hard
to believe t h a t you r rel a t i ves a re so la te,
knowing t h a t I w a l k i m p ri so n ed ,
knowing t h at you l ie free!
What dazzling and sh i t t y luck! 35
Cesa r V a llej o , I h a t e you with t e n d e rness!
210 I "OTRO POCO DE CALMA, CAMARADA . . . "

X
X X

Otro poco de calma, camarada;

un m ucho inmenso, septentrional, completo,
feroz, de calma chica,
a l servicio menor de cada triunfo
y en Ia audaz servidumbre del fracaso.

E mbriaguez te sobra, y no hay

tan ta locura en Ia raz6n, como este
tu raciocinio muscular, y no hay
m a s racional error que tu experiencia .

Pero, hablando mas claro

y pensandolo en oro, eres de acero.
a condici6n que no seas
ton to y rehuses
entusiasmarte por Ia muerte tanto
y por Ia vida, con tu sola tumba .

Necesario es que sepas

contener tu volumen sin correr, sin a fligirte,
tu realidad molecular entera
y mas alia, Ia marcha de tus vivas
y mas aca, tus mueras legendarios .

Eres de acero, como dicen ,

con tal que no tiembles y n o vayas
a reventar, com padre
de m i ca lculo, enfatico ahijado
de mis sales luminosas!

Anda, no mas; resuelve,

considera tu crisis, suma, sigue,
tajala , bajala, ajala;
el destino, las energias intimas, los catorce
versiculos del pa n; jcuantos diplomas
y poderes, al borde fehaciente de tu arra nque!
j Cua nto detalle en sintesis, contigo!
j Cuanta presion iden tica, a tus pies !
j Cua nto rigor y cua nto pa trocinio!
 "A LmLE MORE CALM, COMRADE . . . " I 211

X
X X

A little more calm, comrade;

a n i mmense much, northern, complete,
ferocious, of small calm,
at the m inor service of each triumph
and in the audacious servitude of defeat . 5

You have intoxication to spare, and there is not

so m uch craziness in reason, as in this
your muscu lar reasoning, and there is no
more rational error than your experience.

But, saying it more clearly 10

and thinking it in gold, you are made of steel,
on condition that you are not
dumb and refuse
to become so enthusiastic about death
a nd about life, with your sole tomb. 15

It is necessary for you to learn

how to contain your volume without running, without grieving,
your entire molecular reality
and beyond, the march of your long live
a nd closer, your legendary death to. 20

You are made of steel, as it is said ,

providing you do not tremble and do not start
exploding, god father -
of my ca lcu lation , emphatic godson
of my luminous sa lts ! 25

Go righ t ahead; decide,

think abou t your crisis, add, carry,
cut it up, humble it, crumble it;
destiny, the intimate energies, the fourteen
verses of bread; how many diplomas 30
and powers, at the trustful edge of you r start!
How much synthesized deta il, in you !
How much identical pressure, at you r feet!
How much rigor and how much patronage!
212 I "OTRO POCO DE CALMA, CAMARADA . . . "

Es idiota
ese metodo de padecimiento,
esa luz modulada y virulenta,
si con solo Ia calma haces senales
serias, caracteristicas, fatales.

Vamos a ver, hombre;

cuentame lo que me pasa,
que yo, aunque grite, estoy siempre a tus 6rdenes.

28 Nov. 1937
 "A UTILE MORE CALM, COMRADE . . . " I 213

It is idiotic 35
that method of suffering,
that modulated and virulent light,
if with only calm you flash serious,
characteristic, fatal, signals.

Come on, man; 40

tell me what is happening to me,
for I , even when shouting, am al wa ys at your comma nd .
214 I LOS DESGRACIADOS

Los desg raciados

Ya va a venir el dia; da
cuerda a tu brazo, buscate debajo
del colch6n, vuelve a pararte
en tu cabeza, para andar derecho.
Ya va a venir el dia, ponte el saco.

Ya va a venir el dia; ten

fuerte en Ia mano a tu intestino grande, reflexiona,
antes de meditar, pues es horrible
cuando le cae a uno Ia desgracia
y se le cae a uno a fondo el diente .

Necesitas comer, pero, me digo,

no tengas pena, que no es de pobres
Ia pena, el sollozar junto a su tumba;
remiendate, recuerda,
confia en tu h ilo blanco, fuma, pasa lista
a tu cadena y guardala detras de tu retrato.
Ya va a venir el dia, ponte el alma .

Ya va a venir el dia; pasan,

han abierto en el hotel un ojo,
azotandolo, dandole con un espejo tuyo . . .
l tiemblas? Es el estado remoto de Ia frente
y Ia nacion reciente del est6mago.
Roncan aun . . . jQue universo se Ileva este ronquido!
j C6mo quedan tus poros, enjuiciandolo!
jCon cuantos doses, jay! estas tan solo!
Ya va a venir el dia, ponte el sueno.

Ya va a venir el dia, repito

por el 6rgano oral de tu silencio
y urge tomar Ia izquierda con el hambre
y tomar Ia derecha con Ia sed; de todos modos,
abstente de ser pobre con los ricos,
atiza
tu frio, porque en el se integra mi calor, amada victima .
Ya va a venir el dia, ponte el cuerpo.
 THE MISERABLE I 21 5

The misera ble

The day is about to come; wind

up your a rm, look for yourself under
the mattress, stand again
on your head, to walk straight.
The day is about to come, put on your coat. 5

The day is about to come; grip

your large intestine tight in your hand, reflect,
before you meditate, for it is horrible
when misfortune falls on one
and one's tooth falls thoroughly. 10

You have to eat, but, I tell myself,

do not grieve, for grief and graveside
sobbing do not belong to the poor;
mend yourself, remember,
trust your white thread, smoke, call roll 15
on your chain and keep it behind your portrait.
The day is abou t to come, put on your soul.

The day is about to come; they go by,

they have opened an eye in the hotel,
lashing it, beating it with one of your mirrors . . . 20
are you trembling? It is the remote sta te of your forehead
a nd the recent na tion of your stomach .
They're still snoring . . . Wha t a universe is carried away by this snore!
And in what state your pores are left, on judging it!
With so many twos, my god ! how alone you are! 25
The day is about to come, put on your dream .

The day is abou t to come, I repea t

through the oral orga n of your silence
a nd it is urgent to take the left with your hu nger
a nd to take the right with your thirst; in any case, 30
abstain from being poor with the rich,
stir
your cold , for my wa rmth becomes pa rt of it, beloved victim .
The day is abou t to come, put on your body.
216 I LOS D ESG RACIADOS

Ya va a venir el dia;
Ia mariana, Ia mar, el meteoro, van
en pos de tu ca nsa ncio, con ba nderas,
y, por tu orgullo clasico, las hienas
cuenta n sus pasos al compas del asno,
Ia panadera piensa en ti,
el ca rnicero piensa en ti, palpa ndo
el hacha en que estan presos
el acero y el hierro y el meta l; jamas olvides
que dura n te Ia misa no hay amigos .
Ya va a venir el dia , ponte el sol .

Ya viene el dia; dobla

el aliento, triplica
tu bondad rencorosa
y da codos al miedo, nexo y enfasis,
pues tu, como se observa en tu entrepierna y siendo
el malo, jay! in morta l,
has soriado esta noche que vivias
de nada y morias de todo . . .
 TH E MISERABLE I 217

The day is about to come; 35

the morning, the sea, the meteor, go
a fter your weariness, with banners,
a nd, because of your classic pride, the hyenas
count their steps to the beat of the jackass,
the baker's wife thinks about you, 40
the butcher thinks about you, groping
the ax in which the steel
and the iron and the metal are imprisoned; never forget
that during Mass there are no friends.
The day is about to come, put on your sun . 45

The day i s now coming; double

your brea th, triple
your ra ncorous good ness
a nd scorn fea r, nexus and em phat;is,
for you, as one can observe in your crotch, the evil man 50
being, god ! immorta l,
have dreamed tonigh t tha t you were living
on nothing and dying from everything . . .
218 I SE RM6N SO BRE LA MUERTE

Sern16 n sobre I a n1 u e rte

Y, en fi n , pasando luego al dominio de Ia muerte,

que actua en escua dron, previo corchete,
pa rra fo y llave, mano gra nde y d ieresis,
�a que el pu pi tre asirio? l_a que el cristia no pu l pito,
el i n tenso jalon del mueble va ndalo
o, todavia me nos, este esd ru j ulo retiro?

l ES para term inar,

ma riana, en prototipo del alarde fa lico,
e n d ia betes y en bla nca vaci nica,
e n ros tro geom etrico, e n d i fu n to,
que se hacen menes ter sermon y almendras,
que sobra n litera lmente patatas
y este espectro fluvial en que a rde el oro
y en que se quema el precio de Ia n ieve?
l ES para eso, que morimos ta n to?
l Pa ra solo morir
te nemos que mori r a cada i nsta n te?
(Y el pa rra fo q u e escribo?
( Y el corchete deista que ena rbolo?
l Y el escuad ron en que fa l l o mi casco?
(Y Ia llave q ue va a todas las puertas?
l Y Ia forense d ieresis, Ia mano,
mi pa tata y mi ca rne y mi con trad iccion bajo Ia saba na ?

j Loco de m i, lovo de mi, cordero

d e m i, sensa to, caba llisimo de mf!
j Pu pitre, sf, toda Ia vida; pulpito,
ta mbie n , tod a Ia m uerte!
Sermon d e Ia ba rbarie : estos pa peles;
esd ru j u lo re tiro: este pellejo.

De esta s uerte, cogitabu ndo, a u rifero, brazudo,

d e fendere mi presa en dos momen tos,
con Ia voz y tambien con Ia la ri nge,
y del o l fa to ffsico con que oro
y del insti n to de inmovilidad con que a ndo,
me honra re m ie n tras viva-hay que decirlo;
se enorgul lecera n mis mosca rdones,
porque, a 1 centro, es toy yo, y a Ia derecha,
tambien, y , a Ia izqu ierda, de igua l modo.

H D i e . 1 937
 SERMON ON DEATH I 219

Sermon on death

And, finally, going now into the domain of death,

which works in squadron, former bracket,
..
paragraph a nd brace, piece brace and dieresis,
for what the Assyrian writing desk? for what the Christian pulpit?
the violent jerk of Vandal furniture 5
or, even less, this proparoxytonic retreat?

Is it in order to end,
tomorrow, as a prototype of phallic boasting,
as diabetes and a white bedpan,
as a geometric face, as a deadman, 10
that sermon and almonds become necessary,
that there are literally too many potatoes ..

a nd this watery spectre in which gold burns

a nd in which the price of snow is set on fire?
Is it for this, that we die so much? 15
Only to die,
must we die every second?
And the paragraph that I write?
A nd the deistic bracket that I raise on high?
And the squad ron in which my skull failed? 20
And the brace that fits all doors?
And the forensic dieresis, the hand,
..
my pota to and my flesh and my contradiction under the bedsheet?
..
Out of my mind, ou t of my wolve, out of
my lamb, sensible, out of my absolu te equinity! 25
Writing desk, yes, my �hole life; pulpit,
li kewise, my whole death!
Sermon on barbarism : these papers;
propa roxytonic retreat: this skin .

In this way, cognitive, auriferous, thick armed ,

I will defend my ca tch in a couple of moments,
with voice and also with larynx,
and of the physical smell with which I pray
and o f the instinct for immobility with which I walk,
I will be proud while I live-it must be said; 35
my horseflies will engorge on their own pride,
beca use, in the middle, I am, and to the right,
also, a nd, to the left, likewise.
ESPANA, APARTA DE Mf ESTE CALIZ

(1937- 1938)

SPAIN, TAKE THIS CUP FROM ME

222 I H I MNO A LOS VOLUNTA RIOS DE LA REPUBLICA

H I MN O A LOS VO LUNT ARIOS DE LA REPUBLICA

Volu n ta rio d e Espa n a , milicia no

de h uesos fided ignos, cuando ma rcha a mori r tu coraz6n ,
c u a ndo ma rcha a matar con su agonia
m u ndial, no se verdadera mente
q u e hacer, d6nde ponerme; corro, escribo, a pla udo,
llo ro, a tisbo, destrozo, a pa ga n , digo
a m i pecho que aca be, a l bien, que venga ,
y q uiero desg racia rme;
descubrome Ia fren te impersona l hasta tocar
el vaso de Ia sa ngre, me detengo,
detienen mi tama no esas famosas caidas de a rqu itecto
con las que se honra el a n imal que me honra ;
refl uyen mis instintos a s u s sogas,
h u m ea a n te m i tumba Ia a legria
y , otra vez, sin saber que hacer, s i n nada, deja me,
desde mi pied ra en bla nco, dejame,
solo,
cuad ru ma no , mas aca, m ucho mas lejos,
a l no caber e n tre mis ma nos tu largo rato extcl tico,
q u iebro contra tu rapidez de doble filo
mi peq uenez en traje de gra ndeza !

U n dia , d i urno, cla ro, a tento, ferti l

j O h bien io, e l de los lobregos semestres suplica n tes,
por el que iba Ia p6lvora mordiendose los codos !
j Oh d ura pena y mas d u ros pederna lesj
j O h frenos los ta scados por el pueblo !
U n d ia p rend i6 e l pueblo su f6sforo ca u tivo, or6 d e calera
y sobera namen te pleno, circu lar,
cerro su nata l icio con rna nos e lectivas;
a rrastra ba n ca ndado ya los des potas
y en el ca ndado, sus bacterias muertas .

( Ba ta l las? j No ! Pasiones Y pi! s iones precedidas

de dolores co n rejas de espera nzas,
d e dolores de pueblos con espera nzas d e h o mb res !
j M uerte y pasi6n de paz, las popu lares!
j M ue rte y pa s ion guerreras en tre olivos, e n tl• n d ,i mo n o s !
Ta l en tu a l iento ca mbiz m de agu jas ,1 tmosferic.1s los \'iL•ntos
y de llave l,1 s tu mba s en tu pecho,
tu fron t,1 1 elevil ndose a pri m e ra pot l• n c i a d e ma r ti r i o
.

El m u ndo excl,1 m a : " j Cos,1s d e es p a tio les ! " Y es v e rd.1d . Con s id e remos,
d u ra n te u n a bJ la nza , J q u e m a ro po ,
a Ca lde r on, d o rm i d o sob re Ia col,1 d e u n .1 n fi b i o m u e rt o ,
o ,1 Cerva n tes, d iciendo: "Mi re i n o l'S de c s t e m u n d o , p e ro
t.1 mbien d e l otro " : j pu n ta y fi lo e n dos pa pel e s !
 H YM N TO TH E VOLUNTEERS FO R TH E REPUBLIC I 223

HYMN TO TH E VOLUNTEERS FOR THE REPUBLIC

S pa n ish volun teer, civilia n - figh ter

with veritable bones, when you r heart marches to die,
when it marches to kill with its world -wide
agony, I don't know tru ly
what to do, where to place mysel f: I run, write, a pplaud, 5
cry, glimpse, tea r a pa rt, they extinguish , I tell
my chest to end, good , to come,
a nd I wa n t to ruin myself;
I ba re my impersonal forehead u ntil I touch
the vessel of blood , I stop, 10
my s ize is checked by those fa mous fa lls of the architect
with which the a n imal that h onors me honors itsel f;
m y instincts flow back to their ropes,
j oy smokes be fore my tomb
a n d , without knowing what to do, without anything, leave me, 15
from my blank stone, leave me,
a l o ne ,
quadruma ne, close r, much more d ista nt,
since your long ecsta tic insta n t \von't fit between my hands,
I s wirl my tininess costumed i n grea tness 20
against you r double-edged speed !

One fertile, a t tentive, clea r, diurnal dav

"
oh bie n n ial, th ose lugubrious hal f-yea rs of begging,
through w h ich the gu npowder went biting its elbows!
oh hard sorrow a nd harder flints! 25
oh those bits cham ped by the people!
One day the people struck their ca ptive ma tch , prayed with anger
a nd supre mely fu ll, circular,
closed their birthday with elective hands;
the d espots were a lready d ragging padlock 30
a n d in the pad lock, their dead bacteria . . .

Ba ttles? No! Passions And passions preceded

by aches with ba rs of hopes,
by aches of na tions with hopes of men !
Dea th a nd passion for peace, of common people! 35
Dea th a nd passion for war among olive trees, let's get it straigh t !
T h u s i n your brea th the winds cha nge atmosph eric neL•dles
a n d the tombs cha nge key in you r chest,
your frontal rising to the fi rst power of ma rtyrdom.

The world exclaims: "A Span ish matter!" A nd i t's true. Consider, 40
in a ba la nce, poin t-blan k,
Ca lderon, asleep on the ta il of a dead amphibia n,
o r Cerva n tes, saying: "My kingdom is of this world , but
a lso of the next one": poi nt and edge in two roles!
224 I H I M NO A LOS VOLUNTA RIOS DE LA REPUBL ICA

Con te1n ple mos ,, G oya, d e h i nojos y reza n d o J n te u n espejo,

,, Co l i , el pa l a d in en c u yo asa l to ca rtesia no
t u vo u n s u d o r d e n u be el paso l la no,
o il Q u e vedo, esc J b uelo i n� ta n til neo d e l os d i n a m i teros,
o a Ca j a l , devora d o por s u peq u e iio i n fi n i to, o tod J v f,1
a Te resil , m u jer, q u e m uere porq u e n o m ue re,
o ,1 L i n J Od e n J , en pu gnu e n mas d e u n pun ta con TL• resJ

(Todo <� c to o voz ge n i J I viene d e l pueblo

Y Vil h a c i ,1 c), d e fre n te 0 t ra ns m i t idos
por i n cesJ n tes b r i z n J s , por c l h u m o rosudo
de il m a rga s c o n t ra se n a s sin fortu na . )
A s f t u criu t u rJ , m i l icia no, a s f t u exa ngi.ie cria t u ra ,
a g i t a d a por u na pied ra i n m o vi l ,
se Si1 cri fica , J pa rtusc,
decile pa ril a rriba y par s u l l u ma i n combu s t i b le s u be,
s u be hu sta los debi les,
d is t r i b u y e n d o es pa na s ,1 los ta ros
t a ros a l a s pa l o m u s . . .

Pro l e t a rio q u e m u e res de u n i vc rso, j e n q u e fre n e t ica ,1 nno n fa

,1 cu ba ra t u gra ndeza, tu m iseri a , t u vora g i ne i m pelen te,
tu v i o le n ci a m e t6d ica , t u ca os te6ri co y pract i co, tu g,1 n t1
d u n tesca , espa n o l is i m a , d e a ma r, a u nq u e sea ,1 t r,1 i ci o n , ,1 t u e n e m igo !
Libera d or ce n i d o d e gri l le tes,
s i n c u yo e s fu e rzo h a s ta hoy con t i n u u rfa s i n a sJ s ! ,1 L'x tl•nci(m ,
vaga ria n acefa los l os cla vos,
a n t i g u o , I e n to, colora d o, el d fa ,
j n u e s t ros a mi1 d os cascos, i nsepu l tos !
Ca m pe s i n o c,1 id o co n t u verde fol la j e por e l hombrL',
c o n li1 i n flexion socia l d e t u m e n iq u e ,
co n t u b u ey q u e se q u ed a , c o n tu ffs ica ,
ta m b ie n c o n t u p,1 ! ,1 bra a t,1 d a ,1 u n pa lo
y tu c i e l o a rre n d J d o
y c o n Ia ,uci l l,1 i n SL'rt,, e n tu c,1 n s,1 n cio
y Ia q u e e s ta ba en tu u ii a , c,1 m i n ,1 n d o !
j Co n s t ru c tores
a grfco!,1 s , c i v i les y guerre ros,
de Ia ,K t i v a , h o r m i g u ca n te etl'r n idad : cst,1 b,1 esc r i t o
q u e voso t ros h a rfa i s !,1 l u z , c n to rn ,1 ndo
con li1 m u e rte v u e s t ros ojos;
q u e , a Ia ca id ,1 c ru L• I elL· v u c s t ra s boca s ,
v c n d r,i e n s iL• te b,1 nckj,l S ! ,1 ,1 bu n d ,1 n c i a , todo
en L'l m u n d o s c r.-1 d L' o ro s t'1 b i t o
v e l oro,
fa b u l osos m c n d i gos de V U L' s t r,1 p r o p i .1 Sl'C fL'Cil) n de ..,,, ng re ,
y L'l oro m i s m o S L' ri1 e n t o n ces d L' oro �

j SL' ,l m,u,i n tod os l o s h o m b res

y c o m e r,i n t o m ,1 d os d e l ,1 s p u n t ,1 s d L· \ ' l i L' s t ros p.Hi u L• I u .... t r i s k �
 H YM N TO TH E VO LUNTEERS FOR THE R E P U B L I C I 225

Co nte mpla te Goya, on his knees a nd praying before a mirror, 45

Coli, the pa la tine in whose ca rtesian assault
a slow walk had the S\vea t of a cloud ,
...
or Quevedo, that i nsta n ta neous gra ndfather of the dynami ters,
,.
or Ca j a l , devoured by his li ttle infinite, or even
Teresa, a woma n, dying becau se she was not dying, so·
...
or Lina Odena , in co n flict v.•ith Teresa on more tha n one point .
(Every act or bri llian t voice comes from common people
a nd goes toward them, directly or conveyed
by i ncessa nt fila men ts, by the rosy smoke
o f bi tter wa tchword s which fa iled . ) 55
Th u s you r crea tion, civilia n - figh ter, thus your anaemic child,
stirred by a motion less stone,
sacrifices itsel f, stands apart,
decays u pwa rd a nd through i ts incombustible flame rises,
rises to the weak, 60
d istrib u ti n g spa i ns to the bulls,
bulls to the doves . . .

Prole ta ria n who dies of u niverse, i n what frantic harmony

you r gra ndeu r w i l l end, your extreme poverty, your impelling whirlpool,
your method ica l violence, your theore tica l and practica l chaos, your Dan tesque 65
wish, so very Spanish, to love, even treacherously, your enemy!
Libera tor wra pped i n shackles,
withou t whose labor extension wou ld conti nue up to this day without handles,
the nails wou ld wa nder head less ,
the d a v , a ncient, slow, redd ish, 70
our bel oved sku lls, u nburied !
Peasa n t fa llen with your green foliage for ma n,
w i th the social i n flection of your l i ttle fi nger,
with your ox that does not move, with your physics,
a l so with your word tied to a stick 75
a nd your rented sky
a nd w i th the clay inserted in you r fa tigue
a n d with tha t under you r fi ngerna il, walki ng!
Agricu ltu ra l
b u ilders, civilia n a nd military, 80
of the active, swarmi ng eternity: it was wri tten
tha t you will crea te the ligh t, ha l f-closing
you r eyes in dea th;
that, a t the cruel fa l l of you r mouths,
a bu nda nce will come on seve n trays, every thing 85
in the \Vorld wi l l be of sudden gold
a n d the gold ,
fabulous beggars for you r own secretion o f blood ,
a nd the gold itse l f w i l l then be made of gold !

A l l men w i l l love each other 90

and they will ea t holding the corners of your sad handkerchiefs
226 I H IMNO A LOS VOLUNTARIOS DE LA REPUBLICA

y beberan en nombre
d e vuestras garga n ta s i n fa ustas !
Desca nsa ran a nd a n do a l pie de esta ca rrera ,
sol loza ra n pensando en vuestras 6rbita s, ventu rosos
sera n y a l son
de v u estro a t roz retorno, florecido, i n na to,
a j u sta ran manana sus quehaceres, sus figuras sonadas y ca n tadas!

j U nos m is mos zapa tos ira n bien al que asciende

sm VIa s a su cuerpo
y al que baja hasta Ia forma de su a lma !
j En trelazandose hablaran los m udos, los tul lidos a nd a r,i n !
jVera n , ya de regreso, los ciegos
y palpita ndo escuchara n los sordos!
j Sabran los ignoran tes, ignoraran los sabios!
j Se ra n dados los besos que no pudisteis dar!
j S6lo Ia muerte morira ! j La horm iga
tra e ra pedaci tos de pa n a l elefa n te encadenado
a su brutal delicadeza; j volvera n
los n inos abortados a nacer perfectos, espacia les
y trabajaran todos los hombres,
e ngend raran todos los hombres
com pren d eran todos los hombres !

Obrero, sa lvador, redento r nuestro,

j perd6nanos, hermano, nuestras deudas!
Como d ice un ta mbor a l redobla r, en sus adagios:
q u e jamas tan efimero, tu espalda !
q u e siempre tan cambia n te, tu perfi l !

j Volu nta rio italiano, en tre cuyos a nimates d e ba ta l la

u n leon abisinio va cojea ndo!
j Vol u n ta rio sovietico, ma rchando a Ia cabeza de tu pecho un iversa l !
j Volu n ta rios d e l s u r, del norte, del oriente
y t u , el occidenta l , cerra ndo el ca n to fu nebre del alba !
j Soldado co nocido, cuyo nombre
d es fi la en el sonido de u n abra zo!
j Combatien te que Ia tierra criara, armandote
de polvo,
ca l za ndote de imd nes posi tivos,
v igen tes tus creencias personates,
d is ti n to de ca racter, in ti ma tu feru la,
el cu tis i n media to,
a n da n dote tu id ioma por los hombros
y el a l ma co ronada de guija rros!
j Vo l u n tario fajado d e tu zona fria ,
tem pladn o t6rridn,
h e roes a Ia redonda,
victima en col u m na de vencedores:
 HYMN TO TI-lE VOLUNTEERS FOR TI-lE REPUBLIC I 227

a n d they will drink i n the name

of you r ill-fated t h roats!
They will rest walking a t the edge of this cou rse,
they will sob th i nking abou t you r orbits, fortu nate 95
they will be a nd to the sou nd
o f your a trocious, burgeoned, inborn return,
tomorrow they will adjust their chores, the figures they've d rea mt and sung!

The same shoes will fit \vhoever climbs

without trails to his body 1 00
a n d w hoever descends to the form of his sou l !
E n twining one a nother t h e m u tes w i l l spea k, t h e pa ra lyzed will wa lk!
The blind, upon coming back , w i l l see
a nd t h robbing the dea f will hear!
The ignora nt will be wise, the wise ignorant! 1 05
Kisses will be given that you cou ld not give!
O n ly dea th will d ie ! The ant
w ill b ring breadcru mbs to the elephant chained
to h is b ru ta l gentle ness; the a borted ch ildren
will be born aga i n perfect, spacial 11 0
a nd all men \·\'ill work,
all men will beget,
all n1en will u nd e rsta nd !

Worker, o u r savior and redeemer,

forgive us, brother, our trespasses! 115
A s a dru m says on rolling, i n its proverbs :
w h a t a n ephemera l never, you r back !
what a cha nging alwa ys, your profile !

Ita l ia n volu n teer, a mong whose a nima ls of ba ttle

an Abyssinia n lion is limping! 1 201t
Soviet volunteer, marchi ng at the head of you r universJ I chest!
Vol u n teers from the Sou t h , from the North , from the Orient
a nd you, the Westerner, closing the fu nereal song of the dawn !
Known sold ier, whose name
files by in the sou nd of an embrace ! 1 25
Fighter that the land had raised, a rm i ng you
w i t h d ust,
shoeing you with positive magnets,
your persona l beliefs in force,
your cha racter d istinct , you r feru le intimate, 1 301t
your complexion immed ia te,
you r la nguage moving about you r shou lders
a n d your sou I crowned \vith cobblestones!
Volu nteer bru ised by you r cold zone,
tem pera te or torrid , 135
rou ndabou t h e roes ,
victims in a col u m n of conquerors :
228 I H I MNO A LOS VOLUNTA RIOS DE LA REPUBLICA

en Espa f1 a , en Mad rid , esta n llama ndo

a m a ta r, vol u n ta rios de Ia vid a !

j Porq u e en Espmia ma ta n, otros mata n

a l n i iio, a s u juguete q u e s e pa ra,
a Ia mad re Rosenda esplendorosa ,
a l viejo Adan q u e hablaba en a l ta voz con su caba llo
y al pe rro que dormia en Ia esca lera .
M a ta n a l l ibro, ti ra n a sus verbos a uxiliares,
a su inde fensa pagi na primera !
M a ta n el caso exacto de Ia esta tu a ,
a l sa bio, a s u bast6n , a s u colega ,
a l ba rbe ro de il l !ado-me cort6 posiblemente ,
pero b u e n hombre y, luego, i n fortu nado;
a l m end igo que ayer ca n taba e n fren te,
a Ia en fermera que hoy pJs6 llorJ ndo,
a l sJcerdote " cuestas con Ia altura tenaz de sus rod illas .

j Vol u n ta rios,
por Ia vida , por los buenos, mJ tild
a Ia m uerte, matad a los malos!
j Hacedlo por Ia libertad de todos,
d el explotado y del explotador,
por Ia paz indolora-la sospecho
c u a n d o d uermo al pie de mi frente
y mas cuando circulo dando voces­
y h a cedlo, voy d iciendo,
por el a na l fa beto " qu ien escribo,
por el ge nio d escil lzo y su cordero,
por los ca milra dils caidos,
s u s cen iza s ilbrazildas Jl cadaver de un cJ mino !

PJ ra que vosotros,
vol u n ta rios de EspJ ii J y del m u ndo, vinierais,
sone que e ra yo bueno, y era pJ ra ver
v uestra sa ngre, vo luntil rios . . .
De esto hace m ucho pecho, muchas a nsiJs,
m uchos camellos e n edad de ora r.
MJ rchil h oy d e vuestr,1 pa rte el bien a rd iendo,
os sigu en con ca rino los reptiles de pesta ria inm.1 1lL' n tt.'
y, a dos pilsos, a u no,
IJ d i recci6n del agua que corn� a ver s u limite a n te s que .uda .
 HYMN TO THE VOLUNTEERS FOR TI-lE REPUBLIC I 229

in Spain, in Madrid, the command

is to kill, volunteers who fight for life!

Because they kill in Spain, others kill 140

the child, his toy that stops,
rad iant mother Rosenda,
old Adam who talked ou t loud with his horse
a nd the dog that slept on the stairs .
They kill the book, they fire at its auxiliary verbs, 145
at its defenseless first page!
They kill the exact case of the statue,
the sage, his ca ne, his colleague,
the barber next door-maybe he cut me,
but a good man and, besides, unlucky; 150
the beggar who yesterday was singing before us,
the nurse who passed by crying,
the priest burdened with the stubborn highness of his knees . . .

Volunteers,
for life, for the good people, kill 155
death, kill the bad people!
Do it for the freedom of everyone,
of the exploited and the exploiter,
for painless peace-I glimpse it
when I sleep at the base of my forehead 160
and even more when I circulate shouting­
a nd do it, I keep saying,
for the illiterate to whom I write,
for the barefoot genius and his lamb,
for the fallen comrade�, 165
their ashes clasped to the corpse of a road!

So that you,
volunteers for Spain and for the world, would come,
I dreamt that I was good , and it was to see
your blood , volunteers . . . 170
Since then there has been much chest, much anxiety,
many ca mels at the age of prayer.
Today good on your behalf ma rches in flames,
reptiles with immanent eyelashes follow you affectionately
and, at two steps, at one, 175
the direction of the wa ter that ru ns to see its limit before it burns.
230 I BATALLAS I I I

BATA LLAS

II

Hombre de Estremil d u ril ,

oigo bil jo tu p i e el h u mo d e l l obo,
el h u m o de Ia espeCie,
el h u mo del n ino,
el h u m o solitario de d os trigos,
el h u mo de G inebra , el h u mo de Romil , el humo de Berlin
y el de Paris y el h u mo de tu a pend ice penoso
y el h u mo que, al fin , sale del fu turo .
j O h vid a ! j oh tierra ! j oh Espa n a !
j Onzas de sangre,
metros de sangre , l iquidos de sangre,
sa ngre a caba l lo, a pie, m u ra l , sin dia metro,
sa n gre de cuatro en cuatro, sa ngre de agua
y sa n g re m uerta de Ia sa ngre viva !

Estremeno, j oh no ser a t'm ese hombre

por el que te ma t6 Ia vida y te pari6 lct m uerte
y quedarse ta n solo ct verte ctsi, desde este lobo,
como sigu es a ra nd o en nuestros pechos !
j Es tremeno, conoces
el secreta en d os voces, popular y tckt i l ,
del cerea l : jque n ct d a vctle ta nto
como u nct g ra n ra fz en trct nce de otra !
j Es tremeno ctcod ado, represe nta ndo a l a lma en s u re t i ro,
acodado a m irct r
el caber de u na vida en u n,1 muerte!

j Estremeno, y no haber tierr,1 que hubiere

el peso de tu a ra do, n i mas m u ndo
q u e el col o r de tu y u go en tre dos epoca s; no h,l ber
el orden de tus postu mos ga nados!
i Estremeno, deja steme
verte desde este lobo, pctdecer,
pelear por tod os y pelea r
pa ra que el i nd ividuo sea u n homb rL>,
p.ua que los sei1ores se.1 n h ombres ,

pa ra que todo el m u nd o sea u n hombre, y p.u.1

que hasta los z m ima les se,l n h o m b res,
e l caba l lo, un hombre,
el fll")til, u n hombre,
el b u i tre, u n hombre h 0 1wsto,
Ia mosc,1, un h o mb re, v el olivo, un h o mbre
v h il s til el ribazo, u n h �Hnbre
)· e l mismo c ielo, todo u n horn brecito!
 BATILES I II I 231

BATILES

II

Man from Estremadura,

I hear under your foot the smoke of the wolf,
the smoke of the species,
the smoke of the child,
the solitary smoke of two wheats, 5
the smoke of Geneva, the smoke of Rome, the smoke of Berlin
a nd that of Paris and the smoke of your painful appendix
and the smoke that, finally, comes out of the future.
Oh life! oh earth! oh Spain!
Ounces of blood, 10
meters of blood, liquids of blood,
blood on horseback, on foot, mural, without diameter,
blood four by four, blood of water
a nd dead blood from the living blood !

Estremanian, oh not yet to be that man 15

for whom life killed you and death gave birth to you
a nd to stay on only to see you like this, from this wolf,
how you go on plowing in our chests!
Estremanian, you know
the secret in both voices, the popular and the tactile, 20
of the cereal ! That nothing is worth as much
as a big root at the point of another!
Estremanian bent on an elbow, picturing the soul in its retreat,
on an elbow to look at
the fitting of a life in � death ! 25

Estremanian, and not to have land that would have

the weight of your plow, nor other world
than the color of your yoke between two epochs; not to have
the order of your posthumous herds!
Estremanian, you allowed me 30
to see you from this wolf, to endure,
to fight for everyone and to fight
so that the individual ca n become a man,
so that masters ca n become men,
so that everyone can become a man, and so 35
tha t even animals can become men,
the horse, a ma n,
the reptile, a man,
the vulture, an honest man,
the fly, a ma n, and the olive tree, a man 40
and even the riverbank, a man
a nd the very sky, a whole little man !
232 I BATALLAS / II

Luego, retrocediendo desde Talavera,

en grupos de a uno, armados de hambre, en masas de a uno,
armados de pecho hasta Ia frente,
sin aviones, sin guerra, sin rencor,
el perder a Ia espalda
y el ganar
mas abajo del plomo, heridos mortalmente de honor,
locos de polvo, el brazo a pie,
amando por las malas,
ganando en espanol toda Ia tierra,
retroceder aun, y no saber
d6nde poner su Espana,
d6nde ocultar su beso de orbe,
d6nde plantar su olivo de bolsillo!

Mas desde aquf, mas tarde,

desde el punto de vista de esta tierra,
desde el duelo al que fluye el bien satanico,
se ve Ia gran batalla de Guernica .
j lid a priori, fuera de Ia cuenta,
lid en paz, lid de las almas debiles
contra los cuerpos debiles, lid en que el nino pega,
sin que le diga nadie que pegara,
bajo su atroz diptongo
y bajo su habilfsimo pa iial,
y en que Ia madre pega con su grito, con el dorso de una lagrima
y en que el enfermo pega con su mal, con su pastilla y su hijo
y en que el ancia no pega
con sus ca nas, sus siglos y su pa lo
y en que pega el presbftero con d ios!
jTacitos defensores de Guernica !
joh debiles!
joh suaves ofendidos,
que os elevais, creceis y llena is de poderosos debiles el mundo!
 BATILES I II I 233

•
Then, retreating from Talavera,
in groups of one, armed with hunger, in masses of one,
armed with chest up to the forehead, 45
without planes, without war, without rancor,
•
their loss over their backs
and their gain
lower than the lead, mortally wounded by honor,
crazed by dust, their arms on foot, 50
•
loving unwillingly,
•
conquering the whole earth in a Spanish way,
to still retreat, and not to know
where to put their Spain,
where to h ide their orbital kiss, 55
..
where to plant their pocket-size olive tree!

..
But from here, later,
from the viewpoint of this land,
from the sorrow to which the satanic good flows,
the great battle of Guernica can be seen.
An a priori combat, unheard of,
combat in peace, combat of weak souls
against weak bodies, combat in which the child strikes,
without anyone telling him to strike,
beneath his atrocious dipthong 65
and beneath his very �lever diaper,
and in which a mother strikes with her scream, with the backside of a tear
and in which the sick man strikes with his disease, with his pill and his son
and in which the old man strikes
with his white hair, his centuries and his stick 70
a nd in which the priest strikes with God !
•
Tacit defenders of Guemica,
oh weak ones!
oh offended gentle ones,
who rise up, grow up and fill up the world with powerful weak ones! 75
234 I BAT ALLAS I II

En Madrid, en Bilbao, en Sa ntander,

los cem e nterios fueron bombardeados,
y los m uertos inmortales,
d e vigila ntes h uesos y hombro eterno, de las tumbas,
los m u ertos i nmortales, de sentir, de ver, de oir
ta n bajo el m a l, tan muertos a los viles agresores,
rea nudaron e ntonces sus penas i nconclusas,
acabaron de llorar, acabaron
de esperar, acabaron
d e sufrir, acabaron de vi vir,
acabaron, e n fin, de ser mortales!

jY Ia p6lvora fue, de pronto, nada,

cruzandose los signos y los sellos,
y a Ia explosion sali61e al paso un paso,
y al v u elo a cua tro pa tas, otro paso
y al cielo apocalfp tico, otro paso
y a los siete m etales, Ia u nidad,
sencilla, j usta, colectiva, etern a .

j Malaga sin padre n i madre,

ni piedrecilla, n i horno, ni perro blanco!
j Ma laga sin defe nsa, donde naci6 mi muerte dando pasos
y m uri6 de pasi6n m i naci m iento�
j Ma laga cam i na ndo tras de tus pies, en exodo,
bajo el mal, bajo Ia cobardia, bajo Ia historia c6ncava, indecible,
con Ia yema en tu m a no: tierra organica !
y Ia clara en Ia pun ta del cabello: j todo el caos!
j Malaga h uyendo
d e pad re a padre, fa miliar, de tu h ijo a tu hijo,
a lo largo del mar que h uye del mar,
a traves del metal que huye del plomo,
a l ras del suelo que huye de Ia tierra
y a las 6rdenes jay!
d e Ia profu ndidad que te queria !
j Malaga a gol pes, a fatidico coagulo, a bandidos, a infiernazos,
a cielazos,
a nda ndo sobre d uro vino, en mul titud,
sobre Ia espuma li la, de uno en u no,
sobre h u raca n estatico y mas lila,
y a l com pas de las cuatro 6rbitas que aman
y d e las dos costillas que se ma ta n !
j Ma laga d e mi sa ngre dim i n u ta
 BATn...ES I II I 235

I n Madrid, in Bilbao, in Santander,

..
the cemeteries were bombed,
and the immortal dead,
with vigilant bones and eternal shoulder, from their tombs,
the immortal dead, upon feeling, upon seeing, upon hearing 80
how low the evil, how dead the miserable aggressors,
then resu med their unconcluded sentences,
they finished crying, finished
hoping, finished
aching, finished living, 85
finished, finally, being mortal!

And the gunpowder was, suddenly, nothing,

signs a nd seals crossing each other,
a nd before the explosion a step appeared,
and before the flight on all fours, another step 90
and before the apocalyptic sky, another step
a nd before the seven metals, the unity,
..
simple, just, collective, eternal .

..
Malaga without father nor mother,
nor pebble, nor oven, nor white dog! 95
Malaga defenseless, where my death was born taking steps
and my birth died of passion!
Malaga walking after your feet, in exodus,
under evil, under cowardice, under the concave inexpressible history,
with the yolk in your hand: organic earth ! 100
and the white in your hair tips: the whole chaos!
Malaga fleeing
from father to father, familiar, from your son to your son,
along the sea which flees from the sea,
through the metal which flees from the lead, 105
level with the ground which flees from the dirt
and to the orders, my god !
of the profundity that loved you !
Malaga beaten up, fatidically clotted, bandit infested, hellstruck,
heavenslashed, 1 10
walking over hard wine, crowded,
over the lilac scum, one by one,
over a more lilac and static hurricane,
and to the rhythm of the four orbits that love
and of the two ribs that kill each other! 1 15
Malaga of my minute blood
236 I BATALLAS I II

y mi coloracion a gra n distancia,

Ia vida sigue con ta mbor a tus honores alazanes,
con cohetes, a tus nirios eternos
y con silencio a tu ultimo tambor,
con nada, a tu alma ,
y con mas nada, a tu estern6n genial !
j Malaga, n o te vayas con t u nombre!
jQue si te vas,
te vas
toda, hacia ti, infinitamente toda en son total,
concorde con tu tama rio fijo en que me aloco,
con tu suela feraz y su agujero
y tu navaja antigua atada a tu hoz enferma
y tu madero atado a un martillo!
j Malaga literal y malagiieria,
huyendo a Egipto, puesto que estas clavada,
alargando en su frimiento identico tu danza,
resolviendo en ti el volumen de Ia esfera,
perdiendo tu botijo, tus canticos, huyendo
con tu Espana exterior y tu orbe innato!
j Malaga por derecho propio
y en el jardin biol6gico, mas Malaga !
j Malaga en virtud
del camino, en atenci6n al lobo que te sigue
y en raz6n del lobezno que te espera !
j Malaga que estoy llorando!
j Malaga, que lloro y lloro!
 BATILES I II I 237

a nd my coloration at a great distance,

life follows with a drum your sorrel-draped honors,
with rockets, your eternal children,
and with silence, your last drum, 120
with nothing, your soul,
and with more nothing, your brilliant breastbone!
Malaga, don't go away with your name!
For i f you go,
you go 125
wholly, toward yourself, infinitely whole in its whole,
equal to your fixed size in which I go mad,
with your fertile sole and its hole
and your pocket-knife tied to your sick sickle
and your beam tied to a hammer! 130
•
Literal and Malagiienan Malaga,
fleeing to Egypt, since vou are nailed
prolonging in identical suffering your dance,
reducing to yourself the volume of the sphere,
losing your water-jug, your canticles, fleeing 135
with your exterior Spain and your inborn world !
Malaga by its own right
and in the biological garden, more Malaga !
Malaga by virtue .
of the road, in view of the wolf that follows you 140
and because of the wolf-cub that awaits you !
Malaga how I am crying!
Malaga, how I cry and cry!
238 I Ill

III

Solia escribir con su dedo grande en el a ire :

" j Viba n los compa neros ! Ped ro Rojas",
de M i randa de Ebro, pad re y hombre,
m a rido y hombre, ferrovia rio y hombre,
pad re y mas hombre, Pedro y sus dos m uertes.

Pa pel de viento, lo ha n ma tado: j pasa !

P l u ma d e ca rne, lo ha n matado: j pasa !
"j Abisa a todos com paneros pronto!"

Pa lo e n el que h a n colgado su madera,

lo h a n ma tado:
j lo ha n mata d o al pie de su dedo grande!
j Ha n ma tado, a Ia vez, a Ped ro, a Rojas !

j Viban los com paneros

a Ia cabecera de su aire escrito!
j Viba n con esta b del b u itre en las entra nas
de Ped ro
y d e Rojas, del heroe y del martir!

Registra ndole, muerto, sorprendieronle

en s u cu erpo un gra n cuerpo, para
el a l ma d e l m un d o,
y e n Ia chaque ta u na cuch a ra muerta .

Ped ro ta mbien solia comer

e n tre las cria t u ras de s u carne, asear, pintar
Ia m esa y vivir d ulcemente
e n rep rese n taci6n de todo el mundo
y esta cuchara a nd uvo en su chaqueta,
desp ierto o bien cuando d ormia, siempre,
cuchara m uerta viva, ella y sus simbolos .
j Abisa a todos compa neros pronto!
j Vi ba n los com paneros al pie de esta cuchara para s iempre!

Lo han ma tado, obliga ndole a morir

a Pedro, a Rojas, al obrero, al hombre, a aquel
que na ci6 muy n inin, m ira ndo al cielo,
y que l uego creci6, se puso rojo
y luch6 con sus celulas, sus nos, sus todavias, sus hambres, sus pedazos .
Lo ha n matado suavemente
e n tre e l cabello d e s u m ujer, Ia J ua na V,isquez,
a Ia hora del fuego, al ano del ba lazo
y cua ndo andaba cerca ya de todo.
 III I 239

..
III

He used to write with his big finger in the air:

"Long live all combanions! Pedro Rojas, "
from Miranda de Ebro, father and man,
h usband and man, railroad-worker and man,
father a nd more man, Pedro and his two deaths. 5

Wind paper, he was killed: pass on!

Flesh pen, he was killed : pass on!
"Advise all combanions quick!"

Stick on which they've hanged his beam,

he was killed; 10"'
he was killed at the base of his big finger!
They've killed, in one blow, Pedro and Rojas!

Long live all combanions

w ritten at the head of his air!
Let them live with this buzzard b in Pedro's 15
and in Rojas'
a nd in the hero's and in the martyr's guts!

Searching him, dead, they surprised

in his body a greater body, for
the soul of the world, 20
and in his jacket a dead spoon .

Pedro too used to eat

a mong the creatures of his flesh, to clean up, to paint
the table and to live sweetly
as a representative of everyone, 25
and this spoon was in his jacket,
awake or else when he slept, always,
dead alive spoon, this one and its symbols.
Advise all combanions quick!
Long live all combanions at the foot of this spoon forever! 30

He was killed, they forced him to die,

Pedro, Rojas, the worker, the man, the one
who was born a wee baby, looking at the sky,
and who afterwards grew up, blushed
and fought against his cells, his nos, his yets, his hungers, his pieces.
He was killed softly
in his wife's hair, Juana Vasquez by name,
at the hour of fire, in the year of the gunshot
..
a nd when he was already close to everything.
240 I III

Pedro Rojas, asi, despues de muerto,

se leva nt6, bes6 su catafalco ensangrentado,
llor6 por Espana
y volvi6 a escribir con el declo en el aire:
"jViban los companeros! Pedro Rojas. "
Su cadaver estaba lleno de mundo.
 Ill I 241

Pedro Rojas, thus, after being dead, 40

got up, kissed his bloodsmeared casket,
cried for Spain
and again wrote with his finger in the air:
"Long live all combanions! Pedro Rojas. "
His corpse was full o f world . 45
242 I IV

IV

Los mendigos pelean por Espana,

mendigando en Paris, en Roma, en Praga
y refrendando asi, con mano g6tica, rogante,
l os pies de los A p6stoles, en Londres, en New York, en Mexico.
Los pordioseros luchan suplicando infernalmente
a Dios por Santa nder,
Ia lid en que ya nadie es derrotado.
AI sufrimiento antiguo
danse, encarnizanse en llorar plomo social
al pie del individuo,
y a tacan a gemidos, los mendigos,
mata ndo con tan solo ser mendigos.

Ruegos de infa nteria,

en que el arma ruega del metal para arriba,
y ruega Ia ira, mas aca de Ia p6lvora iracunda,
Tacitos escuadrones que disparan
con cadencia mortal, su mansedumbre,
desde un umbral, desde si mismos, jay!, desde si mismos.
Potenciales guerreros
sin calcetines al calzar el trueno,
sata nicos, numericos,
a rrastrando sus titulos de fuerza,
migaja al cinto,
fusil doble calibre: sangre y sangre.
!El poeta saluda al sufrimiento armado!
 IV I 243

IV ..

The beggars fight for Spain,

begging in Paris, in Rome, in Prague
a nd thus authentica ting, with an imploring Gothic hand,
the Apostles' feet, in London, in New York, in Mexico.
The begga rs fight begging God
sata nically for Santander,
that combat in which no longer is anyone defea ted .
They deliver themselves to
the old su ffering, they mercilessly cry social lead
a t the foot of the individual,
and with moa ns those beggars attack, ..

killing by merely being beggars.

..
Pleas of the infantry,
in which the wea pon pleads from the meta l up,
a nd the wra th pleads, this side of the raging gunpo\vder. 15
Tacit squadrons which fire,
with mortal cadence, their gentleness,
from a doorway, from themselves, alas! from themselves .
Potentia I warriors
without socks to cannon thunder,
sa tanic, numerical,
dragging their titles of strength ,
..
crumb under belt,
double caliber ri fle: blood and blood .
The poet hails armed suffering! 25
244 I V

X
X X V

j Ah f pasaj j Llamadla ! j Es su costado!

A h i pasa Ia muerte par Iru n :
s u s pasos de acordeon , s u palabrota,
s u metro del tejido que te d ije,
su gramo de aquel peso que he callado . . . jsi son elias !

j Ll a ma d l a ! j Oaos prisa ! Va buscandome en los ri fles,

como que sabe bien d6nde Ia venzo,
cua l es mi m a na gra nde, mis leyes especiosas, mis c6digos terribles .
j Lla madla!, ella camina exactamente como u n hombre, entre las fieras,
se a poya de aquel brazo que se enlaza a nuestros pies
cua ndo dormimos en los para petos
y se pa ra a las puertas elasticas del sueno.

j G rito ! j G ri t6 ! j G ri t6 su gri to nato, sensorial !

Grita ra de vergi.ienza, d e ver como h a cafdo entre las plantas,
de ver como se a leja de las bestias,
e o ir como decimos : jES Ia muerte!
j Oe h erir n uestros mas grandes i ntereses !

(Porq u e elabora su hfgado Ia gota que te di je, ca marad a;

porqu e se come el alma del vecino . )

j Llama d l a ! Hay q u e segu irla

hasta el pie de los ta nques enemigos,
que Ia muerte es u n ser sido a Ia fuerza,
cuyo principia y fi n llevo grabados
a Ia cabeza de mis ilusiones,
por m ucho que ella corra el peligro corriente
q u e tu sabes
y que h a ga como q ue hace que me ignora .

j Llamadla ! No es u n ser, muerte viole n ta,

sino, a pe na s , lacon ico suceso;
ma s bien su modo tira , cuando a taca,
tira a t u m u l to sim pie, sin orbi tas ni ca nticos de dicha;
mas bien tira su tiempo a u daz, a centimo impreciso
y sus sordos qu ilates, a despotas a plausos.
j Llamadla !, que e n llama ndola con sa na, con figuras,
se Ia ayuda a arrastrar sus tres rodillas,
como, a veces,
a veces d uele n , punza n fracciones enigmat icas, globa les,
como, a veces, me pa lpo y no me siento.
 V I 245

X
X X V ..

There she goes! Call her! It's her side!

There goes Death through Irun:
her accordion steps, her curse,
her meter of cloth that I've mentioned,
her gram of that weight that I've not mentioned . . . they're the ones! 5

Cal l her! Hurry ! She is searching for me among the rifles,

since she well knows where I defeat her,
what my great trick is, my deceptive laws, my terrible codes.
Cal l her! she walks exactly like a ma n, among wild beasts,
she leans on that arm which entwines our feet 10
when we sleep on the parapets
and she stops at the elastic gates of dream.

She shouted ! She shouted ! She shouted her born sensorial shout!
She shouted from shame, from seeing how she's fallen among the pla nts,
from seeing how she withdraws from the beasts, 15
from hearing how we say: It's Dea th !
From wounding our greatest interests !

(Because her liver manufactures the drop that I've mentioned, comrade;
because she eats the soul of our neighbor. )

Cal l her! We must follow her 20

to the foot of the enemy tanks,
for Death is a Being been by force,
whose beginning a nd end I carry engraved
at the head of my illusions,
even though she would run the normal risk 25
that you know
a nd though she would pretend to pretend to ignore me.

Call her! Violent Dea th is not a Being,

but, hardly, a laconic even t;
ra ther her way aims, when she attacks, 30
aims at simple tumult, without orbits or joyous ca nticles;
rather her audacious time aims, at an imprecise penny
and her deaf ca rats, at despotic applause .
Call her! for by ca lling her with fury, with figures,
you help her drag her three knees, 35
as, a t times,
at times, global enigma tic fractions hurt, pierce,
as, at times, I touch myself and don't feel myself.
246 I V

i Llamadla ! i Daos prisa ! Va buscandome,

con su conac, su p6mulo moral,
sus pasos de acorde6n, su palabrota .
i Llamadla! No hay que perderle el hilo en que Ia lloro.
De su olor para arriba, iay de mi polvo, camarada !
De su pus para arriba, iay de mi ferula, teniente !
De su iman para abajo, iay de mi tumba !

Imagen espanola de Ia muerte

 V I 247

Call her! Hurry! She is searching for me,

with her cognac, her moral cheekbone, 40
her accordion steps, her curse.
Call her! The thread of my tears for her must not be lost.
From her smell up, oh god my dust, comrade!
From her pus up, oh god my ferule, lieutenant!
From her magnet down, oh god my tomb! 45

Spanish image of death

248 I VI I CORTEJO TRAS LA TOMA DE BILBAO

VI

Cortejo tras Ia toma de Bilbao

Herido y muerto, hermano,

criatura veraz, republicana, estan andando en tu trono,
desde que tu espinazo cay6 famosamente;
estan a ndando, palido, en tu edad flaca y anual,
laboriosamente absorta ante los vientos .

G uerrero en ambos dolores,

sientate a oir, acuestate al pie del palo subito,
inmedia to de tu trono;
voltea;
esta n las nuevas sabanas, extra nas;
estan andando, hermano, estan andando.

Han dicho: "Como! D6nde! . . . ", expresandose

en trozos de paloma,
y los ninos suben sin llorar a tu polvo .
Ernesto Zuniga, duerme con Ia mano puesta,
con el concepto puesto,
en descanso tu paz, en paz tu guerra .

Herido mortalmente de vida, camarada,

camarada jinete,
ca marada caballo entre hombre y fiera,
tus h uesecillos de alto y melanc61ico dibujo
forma n pompa espanola, pompa
la ureada de finisimos andrajos!

Sienta te, pues, Ernesto,

oye que estan anda ndo, aqui, en tu trono,
desde que tu tobillo tiene canas .
(Que trono?
jTu zapato derecho! jTu zapa to!

13 Set. 1937
 VI I CORTEG E AFTER THE CAJ7TURE OF BILBAO I 249

VI

Cortege a fter the ca pture o f Bilbao ..

Wounded and dead, brother,

..
truthful creature, Loyalist, they are walking over your throne,
ever since your backbone fell famously;
they are walking, pale, over your lean and yearly age,
laboriously entranced before the winds. 5

Warrior in both sorrows,

sit down a nd listen, lie down at the foot of the sudden stick,
next to your throne;
turn arou nd ;
the new bedsheets there, extraneous; 10
they are walking, brother, they are walking.

They've said : "How ! Where! . . . " stating it

in hunks of dove,
a nd the children go up to your dust without crying.
Ernesto Zuniga, sleep with your hand on, 15
with your concept on,
your peace at rest, your war at peace .

Mortally wounded by life, comrade,

comrade rider,
comrade horse between man and wild beast, 20
your delicate bones of high and melancholy design
form Spanish pomp, pomp
laureled with the finest rags!

Sit down, then, Ernesto,

listen how they are walking, here, over your throne, 25
ever since your ankle got grey hair.
What throne?
Your right shoe! Your shoe!
250 I VII

X
X X V II

Varios dias el aire, companeros,

m uchos dias el viento cambia de aire,
el terreno, de filo,
de n ivel el fusil republicano.
Varios dias Espana esta espanola .

Varios dias el mal

mobiliza sus 6rbitas, se abstiene,
paraliza sus ojos escuchandolos.
Varios dias orando con sudor desnudo,
los milicianos cuelganse del hombre.
Varios dias, el mundo, camaradas,
el m undo esta espanol hasta Ia muerte.

Varios dias ha muerto aqui el disparo

y ha muerto el cuerpo en su papel de espiritu
y el alma es ya nuestra alma, companeros.
Varios dias el cielo,
este, el del dia, el de Ia pata enorme.

Varios dias, G ij6n;

m uchos dias, G ij6n;
m ucho tiempo, G ij6n;
m ucha tierra, G ij6n;
m ucho hombre, Gij6n;
y m ucho dios, G ij6n,
muchisimas Espanas jay!, Gij6n .

Camaradas,
varios dias el viento cambia de aire.

5 Nov. 1937
 VII I 251

X
X X VII

For several days the air, companions,

for many days the wind changes air,
the ground, its edge,
its level, the Loyalist rifle.
For several days Spain looks Spanish . 5

For several days evil

..
movilizes i ts orbits, abstains,
paralyzes its eyes listening to them .
For several days praying with naked sweat,
the civilian-fighters hang from man . 10
For several days, the world, comrades,
the world looks Spanish unto death.

For several days the shooting here has died

and the body has died in its spiritual role
and the soul, companions, has become our soul . 15
For several days the sky,
this one, the one with a day, the one with an enormous paw .
..
For several days, Gij6n;
for many days, Gij6n;
for much time, G ij6n; 20
for much la nd, Gij6n;
for much ma n , Gij6n;
a nd for much God, Gij6n,
..
for very many Spains, �y! Gij6n .

Comrades, 25
for several days the wind changes air.
252 I VIII

X
x X VIII

Aquf,
Ramon Collar,
prosigue tu familia soga a soga,
se sucede,
en tanto que visitas, tu, alia, a las siete espada, en Madrid,
en el frente de Madrid .

j Ramon Collar, yuntero

y soldado hasta yerno de su suegro,
marido, hijo limftrofe del viejo Hijo del Hombre!
Ramon de pena, tu, Collar valiente,
paladin de Madrid y por cojones; Ramonete,
aquf,
los tuyos piensan mucho en tu peinado!

j Ansiosos, agiles de llorar, cuando Ia lagrima !

jY cuando los tambores, andan; hablan
delante de tu buey, cuando Ia tierra !

j Ramon! jCollar! jA ti! Si eres herido,

no seas malo en sucumbir; jrefn?nate!
Aquf,
tu cruel capacidad esta en cajitas;
aquf,
tu panta l6n oscuro, a ndando el tiempo,
sabe ya a ndar solfsimo, acabarse;
aquf, Ramon, tu suegro, el viejo,
te pierde a cada encuentro con su hija !

Te d ire que han comido aquf

tu carne, sin saberlo,
tu pecho, sin saberlo,
tu pie;
pero cavilan todos en tus pasos coronados de polvo!

jHan rezado a Dios,

aquf;
se han sentado en tu cama, hablando a voces
entre tu soledad y tus cositas;
no se quien ha tornado tu arado, no se quien
fue a ti, ni quien volvi6 de tu caballo!

Aqui, Ramon Collar, en fin, tu amigo.

j Sa lud, hombre de Dios, ma ta y escribe!

10 Set. 1937
 VIII I 253

X
X X VIII

•
Back here,
•
Ramon Collar,
your family goes forward from rope to rope,
i t continues,
while you visit, you, out there, the seven swords, in Madrid, 5
a t the Madrid front .

Ramon Collar, ox-driver

a nd soldier up to being son-in-law of his father-in-law,
husband, bordering son of the old Son of Man!
Ramon of sorrow, you, brave Collar,
palatine of Madrid a nd by sheer balls. Ramonete,
back here,
your people give much thought to the way your hair is combed !

Anxious, quick to cry, at the time of the tear!

And at the time of the drums, they walk; they speak 15
before your ox, at the time of the soil!

Ramon ! Collar! To you ! If you are wounded,

don't act up when you succumb; refrain yourself!
Back here,
your cruel capacity is in little boxes; 20
back here,
your dark trousers, a fter a while,
finally know how to walk in utter solitude, how to wea r out;
back here, Ramon, your fa ther-in-law, the old man,
loses you at each encounter with his daughter! 25

I tell you that they've eaten

your flesh, without realizing it,
your chest, without realizing it,
your foot;
but they all brood over your steps crowned with dust ! 30

They've prayed to God,

back here;
they've sa t on your bed, ta lking loud ly
between your solitude a nd your little things;
I don't know who has taken hold of your plow, I don't know who 35
went a fter you, nor who returned from your horse!

Back here, Ra mon Collar, at last, your friend .

Greeti ngs, my good man , kill and write!
254 I IX I PEQUENO RESPONSO A UN HEROE DE LA REPUBLICA

IX

P equeno res po n se a u n h eroe d e I a Republica

Un libro qued6 al borde de su cintura muerta,

un libro retonaba de su cadaver muerto.
Se llevaron al heroe,
y corp6rea y aciaga entr6 su boca en nuestro aliento;
sudamos todos, el hombligo a cuestas;
cam inantes las lunas nos seguian;
tambien sudaba de tristeza el muerto.

Y un libro, en Ia batalla de Toledo,

u n libro, atras u n libro, arriba un libro, retonaba del cadaver.

Poesia del p6mulo morado, entre el decirlo

y el callarlo,
poesia en Ia carta moral que acompanara
a su coraz6n .
Qued6se el libro y nada mas, que no hay
insectos en Ia tumba,
y qued6 al borde de su manga el aire remojandose
y haciendose gaseoso, infinito.

Todos sudamos, el hombligo a cuestas,

tambien sudaba de tristeza el muerto
y u n libro, yo lo vi sentidamente,
un libro, atras un libro, arriba un libro
reton6 del cadaver ex abrupto.

1 0 Set. 1937
 IX I SHORT PRAYER FOR A LOYA LIST HERO I 255

IX

Short pra y e r for a Loy a list hero

A book remained at the edge of his dead waist,

•
a book was sprouting from his dead corpse.
•
The hero was carried off,
and corporeal and ominous his mouth entered our breath;
we all sweated, under the load of our navells; 5
the moons were following us on foot;
the dead man was also sweating from sadness.

And a book, during the battle for Toledo,

a book, a book behind, a book above, was sprouting from the corpse.

Poetry of the purple cheekbone, between saying it

a nd not saying it,
poetry in the moral map that had accompanied
his heart.
The book remained and nothing else, for there are no
insects in his tomb, 15
and at the edge of his sleeve the air remained soaking
and becoming gaseous, infinite.

We all sweated, under the load of our navells,

the dead man was also swea ting from sadness
and a book, I saw it feelingly, 20
a book, a book behind, a book above
abruptly sprouted from the corpse .
256 I X I INVIERNO EN LA BATALLA DE TERUEL

lnvierno en Ia b a talla d e Teruel

j Cae agua de rev6lveres lavados!

Precisamente,
es Ia gracia metalica del agua,
e n Ia tarde nocturna, en Aragon,
no obsta nte las construidas yerbas,
las legumbres ardientes, las plantas industriales .

Precisamente,
es Ia rama serena de Ia quimica,
Ia rama de explosivos en un pelo,
Ia rama de autom6viles en frecuencias y ad ioses .

Asi responde el hombre, asi, a Ia muerte,

asi m ira de frente y escucha de costado,
a si el agua, al contrario de Ia sangre, es de agua,
asi el fuego, al reves de Ia ceniza, alisa sus rumian tes ateridos .

lQu ien va, bajo Ia nieve? LEstan matando? No.

Precisamente,
va Ia vida coleando, con su segunda soga .

j Y horrisima es Ia guerra , solivianta,

lo pone a uno largo, ojoso;
da tumba Ia guerra, da caer,
da dar un salto extrano de antropoide!
Tu lo hueles, companero, perfectamen te,
al pisar
por distracci6n tu brazo entre cadaveres;
tu lo ves; pues tocaste tus testiculos, poniendote rojisimo;
tu lo oyes en tu boca de soldado natural.

Vamos, pues, compariero;

nos espera tu sombra apercibida,
nos espera tu sombra acuartelada,
mediodia ca pitan, noche soldado raso .
Por eso, al referirme a esta agonia,
alejome de mi gritando fuerte:
jAbajo mi cadaver! . . Y sollozo .
.
 X I WINTER DURING THE BAITLE FOR TERUEL I 257

Winter d u ri ng t h e b attle for Teruel

Water falls from washed revolvers!

It is precisely
the metalic grace of the water,
in the nocturnal a fternoon, of Aragon,
in spite of the constructed grasses, 5
the burning vegetables, the industrial plants.

It is precisely
..
the serene branch of Chemistry,
the branch of explosives in one hair,
the bra nch of automobiles in frequencies and goodbyes. 10

This is how man responds, like this, to death,

this is how he looks forward and listens sideways,
this is how water, contrary to blood, is made of water,
this is how fire, opposite of ash, smooths its frozen ruminants.

Who goes there, under the snow? Are they killing? No. 15
It is precisely
life going on wagging, with its second rope.

And war is utter horror, it incites,

it makes one long, eyey;
war gives tomb, gives falling, 20
gives giving an anthropoid leap!
You smell it, compa nion, perfectly,
on stepping
distractedly on your arm among the corpses;
you see it, for you touched your testicles, blushing intensely; 25
..
you hear it in your natural soldier's mouth .

Let's go, then, companion;

your alerted shadow awaits us,
your quartered shadow awaits us,
captain noon, common soldier night . . . 30
That is why, on referring to this agony,
I withdraw from myself shouting wildly:
Down with my corpse! . . . And I sob.
258 I XI

X
X X XI

Mire el cadaver, su raudo orden visible

y el desorden lentfsimo de su alma;
le vi sobrevivir; hubo en su boca
Ia edad entrecortada de dos bocas.
Le gritaron su numero: pedazos .
Le gritaron su amor: j mas le valiera !
Le gritaron su bala: jtambien muerta !

Y su orden digestivo sosteniase

y el desorden de su alma, atras, en balde.
Le dejaron y oyeron, y es entonces
que el cadaver
casi vivi6 en secreto, en un instante;
mas le auscultaron mentalmente, iY fechas!
lloraronle al oido i Y tambien fechas!

3 Set. 1937
 XI I 259

X
X X XI

I looked at the corpse, at his visible swift order

a nd at the very slow disorder of his soul;
I saw him survive; there was in his mouth
the intermittent age of two mouths .
They shou ted his number at him: pieces . 5
They shouted his love at him: it would be better for him!
They shou ted his bullet at him: likewise dead !

And his digestive order stood still

a nd the disorder of his soul, behind, in vain .
They left him and listened, and it is then 10
that the corpse
almost lived secretly, for an instant;
but they auscultated him mentally-only da tes !
they cried to his ear, and more dates!
260 I XII I MASA

XII

Masa

AI fin de Ia batalla,
y m uerto el combatiente, vino hacia el un hombre
y le dijo: "jNo mueras; te amo tanto!"
Pero el cadaver jay! sigui6 muriendo.

Se le acercaron dos y repitieronle:

" jNo nos dejes! jValor! jVuelve a Ia vida !"
Pero el cadaver jay! sigui6 muriendo.

Acudieron a el veinte, cien, mil, quinientos mil,

clamando: "Tanto amor, y no poder nada contra Ia muerte!"
Pero el cadaver jay! sigui6 muriendo.

Le rodearon millones de individuos,

con un ruego comun : "jQuedate, hermano!"
Pero el cadaver jay! sigui6 muriendo.

Entonces, todos los hombres de Ia tierra

le rodearon; les vi6 el cadaver triste, emocionado;
incorpor6se lentamente,
abraz6 al primer hombre; ech6se a andar . . .

10 Nov. 1937
 XII I MASS I 261

XII

Mass

At the end of the battle,

and the combatant dead, a man came toward him
and said : "Don't die; I love you so much !"
But the corpse, alas ! kept on dying.

Two approached him and repeated : 5

"Don't leave us! Be brave! Return to life!"
..
But the corpse, alas ! kept on dying.

Twen ty, a hundred, a thousand, five hundred thousand, came up to him,

crying out: "So much love and no power against death!"
But the corpse, alas! kept on dying. 10

Millions of persons surrounded him,

with a common plea : "Do not leave us, brother!"
But the corpse, alas! kept on dying.

Then, all the inhabitants of the earth

surrounded him; the corpse looked at them sadly, moved; 15
he sat up slowly,
embraced the first man; started to walk . . .
262 I XIII I REDOBLE FUNEBRE A LOS ESCOMBROS DE DURANGO

XIII

Redoble funebre a los escombros de Durango

Padre polvo que subes de Espana,

Dios te salve, libere y corone,
padre polvo que asciendes del alma .

Padre polvo que subes del fuego,

Dios te salve, te cake y de un trono,
padre polvo que estas en los cielos .

Padre polvo, biznieto del humo,

Dios te salve y ascienda a infinito,
padre polvo, biznieto del humo.

Padre polvo en que acaban los justos,

Dios te salve y devuelva a Ia tierra,
padre polvo en que acaban los justos.

Padre polvo que creces en palmas,

Dios te salve y revista de pecho,
padre polvo, terror de Ia nada .

Padre polvo, compuesto de hierro,

Dios te salve y te de forma de hombre,
padre polvo que marchas ardiendo.

Padre polvo, sandalia del paria,

Dios te salve y jamas te desate,
padre polvo, sandalia del paria .

Padre polvo que avientan los barbaros,

Dios te salve y te cifia de dioses,
padre polvo que escoltan los atomos.

Padre polvo, sudario del pueblo,

Dios te salve del mal para siempre,
padre polvo espanol, j padre nuestro!

Padre polvo que vas al futuro,

Dios te salve, te gufe y te de alas,
padre polvo que vas al futuro.
 XIII I FUNEREAL DRUMROLL FOR TI-fE RUINS OF DURANGO I 263

XIII
..
Funereal drumroll for the ruins of Durango

Father dust who rises from Spain,

God save you, liberate you and crown you,
father dust who ascends from the soul.

Fa ther dust who rises from the fire,

G od save you, shoe you and offer you a throne, 5
father dust who art in heaven .

Father dust, great grandson of the smoke,

G od save you and raise you to infinity,
fa ther dust, great grandson of the smoke .

Father dust in whom the just end, 10

G od save you and return you to earth ,
father dust in whom the just end .

Father dust who grows into palms,

G od save you and invest you with chest,
fa ther dust, terror of the void . 15

Fa ther dust, made up of iron,

G od save you and give you human form,
father dust, who marches burning.

Fa ther dust, sa ndal of the pariah,

God save you and nev_er unbind you, 20
father dust, sandal of the pariah .

Fa ther dust who the ba rbarians winnow,

God save you and encircle you with gods,
fa ther dust who the atoms escort.

Fa ther dust, shroud of the people, 25

G od save you from evil forever,
Spanish fa ther dust, our fa ther!

Fa ther dust who goes into the fu ture,

G od save you, guide you and give you wings,
fa ther dust who goes into the fu ture. 30
264 I XIV

XIV

jCuida te, Espana, de tu propia Espana !

j Cuidate d e I a hoz sin el ma rtillo,
cuidate del martillo sin Ia hoz!
j Cuidate de Ia victima apesar suyo,
del verdugo a pesa r suyo
y del indiferente a pesar suyo!
j Cuidate del que, antes de que cante el gallo,
negarate tres veces,
y del que te neg6, despues, tres veces !
j Cuidate de las calaveras sin las tibias,
y de las tibias sin las calaveras!
j Cuidate de los nuevos poderosos!
j Cuidate del que come tus cadaveres,
del que devora m uertos a tus vivos !
j Cuidate del leal cien to por ciento!
j Cuidate del cielo mas aca del aire
y cuidate del aire mas alia del cielo!
j Cuidate de los que te ama n !
j Cuida te d e t u s heroes!
j Cuidate de tus m uertos !
jCu idate de Ia Republica !
jCuidate del futuro! . . .
 XIV I 265

XIV ..

Bewa re, Spain, of your own Spain!

Beware of the sickle without the hammer,
beware of the ha mmer without the sickle !
Beware of the victim in spite of himself,
of the hangman in spite of himself 5
a nd of the uncommitted in spite of himself!
Bewa re of the one who, before the cock crows,
will have denied you three times,
and of the one who denied you , afterwa rds, three times !
Beware of the skulls without tibias 10
and of the tibias without skulls!
Beware of the new potentates!
Beware of the one who eats your corpses,
of the one who devou rs dead your living!
Bewa re of the one hundred percent loyal! 15
Beware of the sky this side of the air
and bewa re of the air beyond the sky!
Beware of those who love you !
Beware o f your heros !
Beware of your dead ! 20
Beware of the Republic!
Bewa re of the fu ture! . .
266 I XV I ESPANA, APARTA DE Mf ESTE CALIZ

XV

Espa na, aparta d e m i este ca l i z

N in os d e l mundo,
si cae Espana-d igo, es u n decir­
Sl cae
d e l cielo abajo su a ntebrazo que asen,
e n cabestro, d os lam i nas terrest res;
n in os, jque edad Ia de las sienes c6ncavas !
j q u e temp rano en el sol l o que o s decia !
jque pronto e n vuestro pecho el ruido anciano!
j qu e viejo vuestro 2 en el cuaderno!

j Ninos del m un do, esta

Ia madre Espana con su vien tre a cuestas;
esta n uestra maest ra con sus ferulas,
esta madre y maestra,
cruz y madera, porque os di6 Ia a l tu ra,
vertigo y d ivision y suma, ninos;
esta con ella, padres p rocesales !

S i cae-d igo, es u n decir-si cae

Espana, de Ia tierra para abajo,
n i n os, j c6mo vais a cesar de crecer!
j c6mo va a castiga r el ano al mes !
j c6mo va n a queda rse en diez los dientes,
en palote el diptongo, Ia medalla en lla nto!
j C6mo va el corderillo a continuar
a tado por Ia pata al gra n tintero!
j C6mo va is a bajar las gradas del alfabeto
hasta Ia letra en que naci6 Ia pena !

N inos,
h ijos de los guerreros, entre ta nto,
bajad Ia voz, que Espana esta ahora mismo repartiendo
Ia energia entre el reino animal,
las florecillas, los cometas y los hombres.
j Bajad Ia voz, que esta
con su rigor, que es grande, sin saber
que hacer, y esta en su mano
Ia ca la vera hablando y habla y habla ,
Ia ca la vera, aquella de Ia trenza ,
Ia ca la vera , aquella de Ia vida !
 XV I SPAIN, TA KE THIS CUP FROM ME I 2h7

XV

S pa i n, t a ke t h is c u p fron1 m e

Children o f the world,

if S pa in fa lls-1 mea n , it's just a thought­
i f she fa lls
from the sky downward let her forea rm be seized ,
i n a h a l ter, by two terrestrial pla tes; 5
..
child re n , wha t age in those concave temples!
how ea rly in the sun what I was telling you !
how soon in you r chest the ancient noise !
how old you r 2 in your notebook !

Children of the world,

mother Spain is with her bel ly on her shou lders;
o u r teacher is with her feru les,
she a ppea rs as mother and teacher,
cross a nd wood , beca use she gave you the height,
vertigo a nd d ivision a nd add ition , children; 15
she is w i th herself, procedu ra l fa thers !

I f she fa lls-1 mea n, it's just a though t-i f Spain

fa lls, from the ea rth downward ,
children, how you a re goi ng to stop growing!
how the yea r is going to punish the month ! 20
how you ' re never goi ng to have more than ten teeth,
how the d i pthong will remain in downstroke, the medal in tea rs !
How the l i ttll' lamb is goi ng to con tinue
bou nd by its leg to the greJ t in kwel l !
How you're going to descend the steps o f the J l phabl't 25
to the letter in wh ich pa in was born !

Ch i l d ren,
sons of wa rriors, mea nwhile,
lower you r voice, for Spain is righ t this moment d istributing
energy a mong the a n imal kingdom, 30
li ttle flowers , comets and men .
Lower vour voice, for she is
w i th h e r rigor, wh ich is grea t, not knowing
what to do, a nd she has in her hand
the t,1 l king skull a nd it ta lks a nd ta lks, 35
the s k u l l , the one with the braid,
the skull, the one with life !
268 I ESPANA, APARTA DE Mf ESTE CALIZ

jBajad Ia voz, os digo;

bajad Ia voz, el ca nto de las silabas, el llanto
de Ia ma teria y el rumor menor de las piramides, y aun
el de las sienes que andan con dos piedras!
j 8ajad el aliento, y si
el antebrazo baja,
si las ferulas suena n, si es Ia noche,
si el cielo cabe en dos limbos terrestres,
si hay ruido en el sonido de las puertas,
si tardo,
si no veis a nadie, si os asustan
los lapices sin punta, si Ia madre
Espana cae--digo, es un decir-
salid, nirios del mundo; id a buscarla ! .
 XV I SPAIN TAKE 11-US CUP FROM ME I 269

Lower your voice, I tell you;

lower your voice, the song of syllables, the crying
of matter a nd the minor rumor of the pyramids, and even 40
tha t of your temples which walk with two stones!
Lower your breathing, and if
the forearm comes down,
if the feru les sound, if it is night,
if the sky fits into two terrestrial limbos,
if there is noise in the sound of the doors,
if I a m late,
if you don't see anyone, if the blunt pencils
frigh ten you, if mother
Spain fa lls-I mea n, it's just a thought- 50
go out, children of the world, go and look for her! . . .
FACSIMILES OF VALLEJO'S
WORKSHEETS
272 I FACSIMILES OF VALLEJO'S WORKSHEETS

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 FACSIMILES OF VALLEJO'S WORKSHEETS I 273

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274 I FACSIMILES OF VALLEJO'S WORKSHEETS

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2 8 Oct 1937
276 I FACSIMILES OF VALLEJO'S WORKSHEETS

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APPENDIX
280 I BATILES IN SPAIN

BATTLES IN S PA I N

U n d c r y o u r foo t I hear t h e s moke o f t h e h u m a n wolf,

t h e s moke of t h e evol u t ion o f t h e species,
t h e s m o ke of the c h i l d ,
t h e so l i t a ry smoke o f two w h ea t s,
t h e s m o ke o f G e n eva , t he smoke of Rome, the smoke o f Berlin
a nd t h a t o f Pa ris a nd t h e smoke t h a t comes o u t , fi n a l l y , from the sou l .
O h l i fe ! o h ea r t h ! oh S pa i n !
O u n ces o f blood ,
me t e rs o f blood , l i q u id s o f blood ,
blood o n horseback, o n foot , m u ra l , w i t h o u t d i a meter,
b l ood fou r by fo u r, b lood o f wa ter
a n d l i v i n g b lood fro m the dead blood .
T h e blood has l e ft m e : t h e s moke
h a s l e ft me l is t e n i ng to my j a w s .

Estre m a n ia n , o h t o s t i l l b e tha t m a n
fo r w h o m dea t h k il le d you a nd l i fe ga ve birth to you
a n d to s ta y o n only to see you l i ke this, from t h is wol f,
h ow you go o n plow i ng w i t h you r cross i n o u r chests!
Es t re m a n ia n , you k n ow
t h e secret i n bo t h voices, t h e po p u la r ,1 n d t h e t.K t i le ,
o f t he ce rea l : t h a t n o t h i n g is w o r t h a s m uch ,1 s two w lw.1 t s to ge t h e r !
Es t re ma n i a n ben t o n ,1 n e lbow , p i c t u r i n g t h e sou l i n i ts ret rea t ,
to l is t e n to t h e d y i ng o f t h e d y i n gs
,1 n d ben t on a n e lbow to look a t
t h e fi t ti n g o f a l i fe i n ,, d e,1 t h !

Es t re m a n i a n , a n d n o t t o have l a n d tha t w o u ld h,l \'e

t h e w e igh t of y o u r plow, nor o t h e r world
t h ,1 n t h e color of y o u r yoke between two epoc h s; not tu h a ve
t h e o rd e r of yo u r pos t h u m o u s herd s !
Es t re m a n ia n , vou ,1 1 lo wed me
to see yo u fro i11 m y wol f, t o end u re ,
to fig h t fo r e ve ryone a n d t o fig h t
s o t ha t t h e m a n ca n beco me a m a n ,
s o t h a t mas ters t h e mselv es ca n beco me m e n ,
s o t ha t e veryone c,1 11 beco me .1 ma n , .1 n d so
t h ,1 t e v e n a n i m a l s ca n beco me m e n ,
t h e h o rse, a m,1 n ,
t h e re p t i le , a m,1 n ,
t h e v u l t u re, a n h o ne s t m a n ,
t he fl v , a ma n , ,1 n d t h e o ) i , · e t ree, ,, m.1 n
a n d e', · e n t h e r i v e rb ,1 n k , .1 m.1 n
a n d t he ve ry s k y , a w hole l i t t le ma n !
 BATTLES I N SPAIN I 281

That is why, Estremanian man, you have fallen,

you ha ve cleaned you rsel f up
a nd you have ended up dying from hope!

II

The bony da rkness presses on, sketches moral cheekbones,

the gas of the armored train, the gas of the last a n kle
the curve of evil, the narrow excavation of the sou l .
A yellow tinkling, a blow o f a usua l finger in fu ll tiger,
those of Irun, when two steps from death
the testicle dies, behind , on its pale grou nd !
A yellow tinkling, under the smell of the human
tooth , when meta l ends up being metal!

Wave of the Bidasoa,

river to river with the sky, at the heigh t of the dust,
and river to river with the ea rth, at the height of the i n ferno!
A toil tha t they had tackled on cru tches,
fa lling down, falling;
na rrow lrun behind an emaciated immensity,
when the imagined bone is made of bon e !

A battle in which all had died

a nd all had fought
and in which all the sorrows leave wedges,
all the sorrows, hand les,
all the sorrows, a lways "\v edge and handle!
A ba ttle in which all had triumphed
and all had fought
and in wh ich all t h e trees left one lea f,
not a single flower and one root, man!

Cheekbones! And thev are mora l cheekbones,

those of Irun, where t he forehead went to s l ee p
and drea mt tha t they were a forehead in both fa c ult i t' s .
And a b l o w of a us t.i al fin gt•r in fu ll t i ger,
the one at lrun, w here the smell drew a noise o f t'YL'S
and where the tooth had slept
its tranquil geologica l dream . . .

Terre s t ria l a nd ocea n ic, i n fi n i te l ru n !

282 I BAITLES IN SPAIN

III

Loss of Toledo
d u e to rifles loaded with a ffectionate bullets !
Loss o f the cause of death !
Loss in the Castilian langu age: or bu llfigh ting!
A nd a triumphal loss, drum and a half, delirious!
Loss of the S pa nish loss!

Retrea ting from Talavera,

in grou ps of one, armed w i th hunger, in masses of one,
a rm ed with chest u p to the forehead,
without planes, without war, without rancor,
dyi ng, their rotu las over their shoulders and their loss over their backs
a nd their gain
lower than l ead, morta lly wounded by honor,
crazed by d ust, their arms on foot,
loving u nwillingly, they forced Toledo to commit su icide,
co nquering the whole earth in a Spanish way !

And on t h e succeeding day, t h e third day,

as the A frican hooves resounded in the sad narrow al leys,
to still retreat, a nd not to know
w here to put their Spain,
w here to h ide their orbita l kiss,
w here to plant their pocket-sized olive tree !

What noon that noon between two afternoons! Something to be seen ! .

Say it, A lca n tara bridge,
you say it better,
better than the water
w h ich flows sobbing on its way back!
It h urts, truly, that noon,
the exact size of a suicide; and remembering it,
no one any longer,
no one lies down outside his body . . .

IV

From here, from this poi n t,

from the poi n t o f this rectilinear line,
from the good to w hich the sata nic good flows,
the grea t battle of G uern ica ca n be seen .
A n a priori comba t, u n het�rd of,
combil t in reace, comba t of Weil k SOU lS
aga inst weak bodies, comba t in w hich the child s trikes,
w i thout ;. nyone telling him to, benea th his a trocious dipthong
 BATILES IN SPAIN I 283

and beneath his very clever diaper,

and in which a mother strikes with her scream, with the backside of a tear
and in which the sick man strikes with his disease, with his pill and his son
and i n which the old man strikes hard
with his white hair, his centuries and his stick
and in which the priest strikes with God !
Combat at Guernica in honor
of the bull and h is pale animal: man !

From here, as I repeat,

from this viewpoint,
the defenders of Guernica can be perfectly seen !
weak ones, offended ones,
rising up, growing up, filling up the world with powerful weak ones!

The cemeteries were bombed, and another combat

took place with cadavers against cadavers:
combat of the dead dead who attacked
the immortal dead
with vigilant bones and eternal shoulder, with their tombs.
The immortal dead, upon feeling, upon seeing
how low the evil, then, aie!
completed their unfinished sentences,
they fin ished crying, finished
hoping, finished
aching, finished living,
fin ished, finally, being mortal!

And the gunpowder was, suddenly, gunpowder,

signs and seals crossing each other,
a nd before the explosion a step appeared,
a nd before the flight on all fours, another step
and before the apocalyptic sky, another step
and before the seven metals, the unity,
simple and one, collective and one!

Composition and strength of the fistful of nothingness, as they say,

the w hole living death defended life,
fighting for the whole, which is dialectical
and for the butterfly, that seeks us,
for the free sky and the free chain! . . .
284 I BA TILES I N SPAIN

VI

He u sed to write with h is b ig finger in the a ir:

" Lo n g live a l l comba nions! Ped ro Rojas, "
from Miranda d e Ebro, father and man,
h u sband and ma n, ra ilroad -worker and ma n,
father a nd more man, Pedro a nd his two death s .

W i n d paper, he was kil led : pass on !

Flesh pen, he was killed : pass on!
" A d vise a l l com ban ions quick!"

S tick on w hich they've hanged h is beam,

he was killed;
he was killed at the base of h is big finger!
They've killed, in one blow, Pedro and Rojas !

Long l ive a l l comban ions

w ri tten at the head of his air!
Let them live with this buzza rd b i n Pedro's
a nd i n Rojas'
and i n the hero's and i n the martyr's guts !

Sea rching h i m , dead, they surprised

i n h is bod y a grea ter body, for
the sou l of the world,
and in h is jacket a dead spoo n .

Pedro too used to e a t

a mong t h e creatures of h is flesh, a nd used to clean off
t h e table and u sed to live, a t times,
as a representative of everyone together,
a n d t h is spoon was in his jacket, all h is life,
awake or else w h e n he slept, a lways,
dead a live s poon, this one a nd i ts symbols.
A dvise all combanions quick !
Long l ive a l l comba nions a t the foot of this s poon forever!

He wa s killed, they forced h i m to die,

Pedro, Rojas, the worker, the man, the one
w ho was born so very tiny, looking at the sky
a n d who afterwards grew up, blushed
a n d fough t aga inst so many sad people as they were
h is cells, his nos, h is yets, h is hungers, h is pieces.
He was killed softly
in h is wife's ha ir, J u a na Vasquez by name,
 BATILES IN SPAIN I 285

a t the hour of fire, in the year of gunshot

a n d when the poor man was after himself.

Pedro a lso used

to d ie a t the foot of time and without lying down, a slave;
h i s corpse was ful l of world .
Ped ro Roja s, thus, a fter being dead,
got u p, kissed his casket,
cried for S pain
a nd again w rote with his finger in the air:
" Long live all combanions ! Ped ro Rojas. "

VII

T h e begga rs fight for Spain o h Marx ! o h Hegel !

begging i n Paris, in Rome, in Prague
and thus au then tica ting, with an aspiring, Goth ic hand,
the A postles' feet, in London , in New York, in Mexico .
The begga rs fight Sa ta nica l ly begging
G od , so that the poor win the ba ttle
of Sa n ta nder, tha t comba t in which no longer is anyorw defea ted ,
the cam pa ign of the whea t, a nd its symbols.
They del i ver themselves to
the o ld su fferi ng, they mercilessly cry social lead
a t the foot of the individual, on the mou ntain at the peak of the heart
a nd they a ttack with moa ns, because the begga rs
kill a t a distance merely from existing.
The begga rs fight for the poor!

Troops o f pleas on foot,

in wh ich the wea pon pleads from the meta l up,
a nd the wrath pleads, this side of the raging gu npo\\'dL•r.
Tacit squadrons which fi re,
with morta l cadence, their gentleness,
from a d oorway, from themselves, a las! from themsl'lves.
Pote n tial warriors
w ithout socks to ca nnon thu nder,
sa ta nic, n u merica l,
or on horseback on their titles of strength ,
crumb u nder belt,
fu nctional a ttack a fter their chests,
double ca liber ri fle: blood a nd blood .
The poet hails armed su fferi ng!
286 I BAITLES IN SPAIN

VIII

Beware, Spain, of your own Spain!

Beware of the sickle without the hammer,
beware of the hammer withou t the sickle!
Beware of the victim in spite of himself,
of the hangma n in spite of himself
a nd of the uncommitted in spite of himself!
Beware of the one who, before the cock crows,
will have denied you three times,
a nd of the one who denied you, afterwa rds, th ree times !
Bewa re of the skulls withou t tibias
and of the tibias without skulls!
Beware of the new potentates!
Beware of the one who ea ts your corpses,
of the one who devours dead your living!
Beware of the one hundred percent loyal!
Beware of the sky this side of the air
and beware of the air beyond the sky!
Bewa re of those who love you !
Bewa re of your heros!
Beware of your dead !
Beware of the Republic!
Beware of the future! . . .
NOTES
 NOTES I 289

The following poem, bearing the same title as Vallejo's second book, was originally
published in the Spanish magazine, A/far, #33, October 1923. The poem was last
reprinted by Juan Larrea in his book, Cesar Vallejo, lreroe y mdrtir indo -lrispano
(Biblioteca Nacional, Montevideo, 1973), p. 84. This poem is not included in the
Moncloa Obra Poetica Completa . However, since Vallejo himself did not make a
final copy of either Nomina de huesos or Senn6rt de Ia barbarie, we do not know
whether he would have included it or not. We feel that it is appropriate to make
it available in these Notes as an interesting link between Trilce and the present
manuscripts.

Trike

There is a spot that I am sure of,

incredibly, in this world,
where we will never arrive.

Where, even if our foot

stepped on it for an instant
it will be, truly, as if we were not there.

It is that place that one sees

at every moment in this life,
while walking, walking in single file.

This side of myself and of

my pair of yolks, I have glimpsed it
always distant from our destinations .

It does not ma tter if you went on foot

or out of sheer sentiment on horseback,
since not even the stamps could reach it.

The tea color horizon

is dying to colonize it
for its great Any part.

But the spot that I am sure of,

incredibly, in this world,
strives to equal its opposites .

"Close that door which

is ajar in the entrails
of tha t mirror. " "This one?" "No; its sister. "
290 I NOTES

It ca n not be closed . One ca n

never a rrive a t that place
w here the door-la tches act u nbound .

Such is the s pot tha t I a m s u re of.

Payroll of bones, p . 3

Title: in the facsimile, "Lista de h uesos" (List of bones) is crossed out i n favor
of the fin a l title. Accord i ng to Larrea , this poem a n d the seven following it, were
typed o u t between May 1925 a nd December 1926 (Aula Vallejo, # 1 1 - 12 - 13, p . 91).

L i n e 6: the comm a in Valleio's poetry sometimes expresses a guidel i ne for read ­

i ng a line, e . g . , emphaSIS or pause. We have kept the poet's origina l p u nctua tion
intact throughout the tra nslation .

Violence of the hours, p . 5

Accord ing to La rrea , this poem was w ritten before Val lejo's fa ther's death on
24 Ma rch 1924 (the assumption is, that he would have been mentioned in the
poem had it been w ritten a fter h is d ea t h ) . See Aula Vallejo, pp 90 -91; Poesia
completa, p . 1 75 .

L i n e 3: "burgo" i s a n a rcha ic word in S pa nish that meant "town" o r "village . "

L i ne 1 0 : in response to o u r query, La rrea wrote tha t Va llejo's home in San tiago

de C huco had two floors, w i th interior corridors enci rcli ng a small i n ner pa tio .
We have thus tra nsla ted "corredores" i n this poem, as wel l as i n "We probably
a lrea d y were of a com passiona te age, " as "interior corridors" or "in terior corridor. "

L i ne 16: a fter this l ine, there is a five l i ne paragraph which has been crossed out:

M y horse Macach6n d ied , no longer with us but with

others . M y fa ther was i n formed of his death, one night, a long time
ago, by the a l fa l fa fa rmer M a n uel Benites, the peasa nt who shook the
hair from h is s hou lders with the bris tles of his clima tes .
 NOTES I 291

..

Good sense, p . 7

Line 10: at the beginning of the paragraph following this line, Vallejo had origi­
nally written:

My mother is successive of beings and alternative of hours.

Line 20: following this line, there is a paragraph crossed out:

What is there, then, about me, that my father lacks and

since my returning home, leaves my mother so pensive? My father is
now losing his authority and home oscillates around me, with sleeves,
fillet, galloon and lapels.

Line 33: there are a number of corrections from this point on, so we have trans­
lated Vallejo's original version:

There resides her woman's illusion and the most sacred candor that
becomes a brilliant melancholy in the depth of her face. In order to help
her illusion and her candor, I say to her filially:
-There is, mother, in the world a place called Paris . A
very big place and very far off, where there are more men than women,
more grown-ups than children . Corpulent beam! Cilicious stone!
My mother, on hearing me, eats her lunch and shows in
her mortal eyes the command of my personal life .

..

The gravest moment in life, p. 9

Title: "Acerca de Ia correcci6n de los actos" (Concerning the correctness of

actions) is crossed out in favor of the final title .

..

"The windows shuddered, " pp. 11 - 1 5

Title: the following one is crossed out: "Complemento de tiempo del hospital de
Boyer" (Complement of time in the Boyer hospital). According to Larrea, the
292 I NOTES

piece w a s written while Va l lejo was i n the Charite hospital for a hemorrhoid
ope ra tion in Octobe r 1924, or shortly a fter (See Aula Vallejo, pp. 91 a nd 252, Poesia
complcta, p . 1 75) .

A fter this crossed o u t ti tle, the following e igh t lines are a lso crossed out:

The bed sheets still stink of exped ience beca use of the death of a ma n .
The mattress h a s been tu rned , accord i ng to regulations. Th us the stench
of the last agony will not h i t you in the face . As for the one now arrivi ng,
it wou l d be bette r if they looked at h im , if they put him to bed , if they
a sked h i m lots of questions, for i f they lea ve h i m alert, he will h a nd le
the pe rilous density of h is importance by h i msel f. But he understa nd s
very \Veil tha t there d re other men crying here and tha t no one will know
h ow to a nswer them, if his mouth looked at the mou th of the others, o f
us, t h e sick ones .

Line 9: the word "ay" o ften a ppea rs i n Vallejo's poetry a nd we h a ve resisted

a l ways tra nsla ting it l i tera lly as "ay" or " a las . " We have tried to pick up the
e m otiona l edge of the word in each Vallejo context in w h ich we encou n ter it; thus
it is t ra nslated i n a nu mber o f ways i n these poems .

Line 56: La rrea s u ggests tha t "nos perdonan pecho" might mean "they forgive
u s the si n of h a vi n g chests" (and a l low us, as a consequence, to brea the) . "Pecha, "
depe n d i n g on the context, ca n mea n "chest, " "breast, " "heart, " or even "cou rage . "
La rrea's i n terpreta tion i s strengthened by the probabi lity that the "mosca" (fly)
in line 55 seems to be a religious person, e . g . , a nu n . Since Vallejo uses "pecho"
o fte n (especia l l y in Spai11, take this cup from me) , a nd gives it a fee ling of his own,
we h a ve decided to stick with i ts l itera l mea n ing i n English.

Line 77: "azor" is a Peruvi a n expression for "azoro" a nd "azoramiento" a nd ca n

mea n "shyness" o r "emba rrassmen t " ra ther tha n i ts regu lar mea ni ng, "goshawk . "

Line 84 : this l i ne was origin a l l y the fol lowing three l ine pa ragra ph:

Blood ru ns wild i n the thermometers . The order of the n umbers

rea red on 22 a nd the fol lowing nu mbers excla im centra l ! centra l !
ce n t ra l !

I a m goi n g to s pea k o f hope, p . 1 7

A fter the second pa ragra ph, the follow i ng pa ragra ph has been crossed out:

It is necessa ry to d i fferentia te my present pa in, from tha t

pll i n w h ich deri\'es from not ha\'ing a ca use to feel pa i n . Today I su ffer
a pa i n that did not h a ve a ca u se nor did it lack one. There a re pa ins
 ·-� -----· -----
:-..: OTES I
_:_:_::::.=-=...
...:.. 293
__:_--=�

l i ke t h i s i n t h e bot t o m l ess k i n gd om , i n t he con t i n e n t , w i t h o u t h i s tory

o r fu t u re , o f t h e hea rt of m a n . I su ffer, t h e n , w i t hou t con d i t i on s or
co n seq u e n ces . S u s pe n d ed in t h t• a i r , I d o not k n ow if fra g i l e or res i �t a n t ,
m y pa i n h a s n o w s u c h su ffi c i e n cy a n d a cou ra ge s o m u c h i t s own , t h a t
before i t m e n wou l d feel rel i giou s a nd a l most joyo u s re spec t . Beca u se o h
m i ra cl e of t h e m a x i m u m c i rc l es ! t h is pa i n i s n ot con d i t i oned to come or
to l ea ve .

A ft e r t h e l a s t pa ra gra ph , t h e fol l o w i ng pa ra gra p h was cro�sed ou t :

A nd i n t h i s hea rt , t h a t h a .., n e i t h e r h a d a ca u se n o r t h e l a c k
of o n e ; i n t h i � hea r t , w i t h o u t back o r c h e � t , w i t hou t �ta te o r n a m e , w i t h ­
o u t c,ou rn· o r u se , t h e re i s n o room for h ope o r memory a nd w h a t i c; even
sa d d e r, ah t re m e n d o u s fa l l u p wa rd ' how I now m a ke m y pa i n fee l p<� i n .

" \\'e p ro ba bl y a l n·<� d : w e re o f J co m pJ '><., J o n a t e a ge , " p . 1 9

Th is poe m w a <., n o t i n c l u d ed i n Pocma5 lwmanoc. ed i t i o n !-> p r i o r to t h e Obra pod ica

C0111J1lc t a , a n d a p pea r� to o r i g i n<� l l y h a ve bee n pa rt of Con t ra cl 5ccrcto pro(e55 umal
( w ri t t e n i n the 20� . a n d fi r-.t p u b l i � h ed by :-.. 1 osca A z u l , L i ma , 1 9 73 ) . I n the fa c ­
s i m i l e , t he fo l l o w m g t i t le i s c ro'-.<.,ed ou t . " Li ngu i d a m e n h.: a su l icor " ( La n g u i d l y to
t h e i r/ h i s / h e r/ i t .., l iq u o r ) .

L i n e 2: " C u ra d e a m or" cou l d b e t ra n <., l a ted " a s a cu re of love" mod i fy i ng " e l

va n ta r d e o ra c i o n " i n c, tea d o f " ma m a . "
,

L i n e 5 : " m i ma d re 1ba <.,e n ta d a " ( m y m o t h t•r we n t s i t t i n g ) • � a t y p i ca l co n s t r u c t i o n

i n t h i s p i ece, coh e re n t a nd a t t h e �a rne t i me i rra t i o n a l l y d e nse . \\'e t ra n �l a te l i t ­
e ra l l y w h e n a ph ra <.,e i " n o t i d ioma t i c nor a p pea rs t o h a ve bee n m ve n ted , a s a
n eo l og i s m , by V a l l e j o .

L i n es 9 :'1 0 : " t oca r " m ea n .., " t o k n ock , " "to touc h , " a n d " to p l a y " a nd w h e n co n ­
n l' C t e d to " t ra <., tos" ( o r i g i n a l l y w r i t t e n a .., " t ra <., t e .., " ) , � u gge st..., t h e p l a y i n g o f il
s t r i n ge d m u s ica l i n s t r u me n t , w i t h " e n t ra i l s " ta k i n g t h e p l a ce of " heil r t " or " fee l ­
i n g� . " B y a l teri n g o n e l e t t e r , V a l l e j o c h a n ged " t ra s tes" ( s top�. frl' t � ) t o " t ra stos"
( j u n k , i m pl e m e n t s ) a n d we h a ve had to t ra n sla te the word a.., if i t were " t ril '- l e " "
s i n n· to r e n d e r t h e l a t te r word wou l d e l i m i na te t h e m u <, i c a l i mage .

L i n e 20: " m l' h a ec h a d o �1 i g u e l a l pa v o . A !-> U pi! \'0 . " A Pt•ru v i <t n i d i o m a t i L

e x p n.•.., .., i o n \,· hose mea n i n g t o u <., i !-, n o t clea r, a l t h o u g h w e feel i t i s proba b l y con ­
n e c t l· d w i t h " <., u b i rsek· a u n o e l pa vo" ( t o b l u <.,h ) . A l i t e ra l t ra n .., l a t i o n wou l d b�..· :
" \1 i g ue l h a s t h ro w n m e t o t h e t u rkey . To h i s t u r K E Y . " The \1 o nc l oa O PC t reil t '.
t h e t y po g ra p h i ca l od d i t y , " pa \'0 , " a s a n e rro r, b u t w e feel t ha t i t i!-. i n te n t i o na l ,
t h u .., \\"t' r e p rod uce i t i n E n g l i '- h .

L J n L' 2 1 : " pa d r E " i .., h a n d led il � " p<� V O " a bo v e .

294 I NOTES

Line 35: from t h is l i ne on, the origi na l version varies considerably with the fin a l
one:

. . . t h e hen w a s widower of h e r ch ildren, t h e h e n i s t h e eterna l bride

of the ma mma l i a . All the eggs were fou nd empty. The brooder a fter­
w a rd h ad the verb and, in an elegan t construction, past, present and
chirp i n g .
O n e s tory, t w o stories, th ree stories.
No one frigh tened her. A nd in case she was
frig h tened, no one al lowed h imsel f to be lu lled by her cl ucking nor by
her vivipa rous ch i l l .
-Where a re t h e old hen's children?
-Where a re the old hen's ch ickens?
A fterwards bota nica l works were scarce in the
ha mlet .
One small eye, two sma l l eyes, th ree sma l l eyes .

Discovery o f l i fe, p . 2 1

Before t h e first pa ragraph, the following pa ragra ph has been crossed out:

When was it tha t I savored for the fi rst time the taste of
l i fe? When was it tha t I tested this im pression of na ture, tha t ma kes
me ecs ta tic a t this momen t? Have I savored on a nother occasion the
taste of l i fe? Have I a l ready tested a t a nother time my im pression of
natu re? I am com p le tely convi nced of not having tested it, of never
having savored i t, except now . This is extraord ina ry ! Today is the firs t
time t h a t I have savored the tas te of l i fe; today is the fi rst time that the
impression o f na ture has made me ecsta t ic. Th is is extraordinary! Th is
astonishes me a nd ma kes me brim wi th tea rs a nd ha ppiness .

Line 9: " me ha ria desgraciado" (wou ld make me miserable) . This personal use of
the con d i tional fo rm places the previous thought in a mixed temporal zone, sharing
rea lity a nd possibility .

Line 26: "i nconocido" appea rs to be Va llejo's play on "d esconocido" ( u n known)
and we have tra nsla ted it accord ingl y .

A fte r the fou rth pa ragraph, t h e fol lowing pa ragra ph h a s been crossed o u t :

I am possessed by t h e emotion o f this

discovery . A d iscovery of the u nex pected a nd a d iscovery o f good ness .
How much has this ha ppiness cost me? How long have I a wa i ted it?
 NOTES I 295

Neither expectation nor price. Do you know the unexpected happiness?

Do you know the unpaid happiness? This is my happiness today. That
which makes me ecstatic and clothes me with an air so unused, that
people will take me for a foreigner on earth . Yes. Neither do I know any­
one nor does anyone know me.

After the last line, the following two sentences have been crossed out:

And I am now at the point of dying, before I am at the point of getting

old . I will die of life and not of time .

"Longing ceases, " p. 25

Line 1 : "rabo al aire" (tail to the air) has a colloquial meaning in Peru and we have
rendered it accordingly .

I a m laughing, p. 31

For reasons unexplained, this poem and the two following it are without fac­
sim iles in the OPC. I am laughing and "Behold tha t today I salute" both appeared
in Favorables-Paris- Poem, _ a magazine published by Vallejo and Larrea in Paris, in
1926 .

"Behold that today I salute," p. 33

Line 4: it appears as if the ca pital A in the word "distanciA" has been put there by
Va llejo to make fu n of the rhyme and musica lity of all of the quatrain up to that
point. By capitalizing the "a" in "distance" we intend to throw the accent onto
tha t syllable, creating a similar effect . From this point on, the poem is written
freely, as if tha t "A" released Vallejo from the regular/traditional shape.

Line 17: "hun" meaning "un" (a) is misspelled on purpose: the reason for doing
so is not clear. We have tried to create a similar effect in English with "aa" (hun)
and "ssssuch" for "ttttales" in line 1 1 .
296 I NOTES

Spine of the scriptures, p. 35

This poem first appeared in Mundia/, a Lima magazine, in 1927.

Line 1 : Vallejo's first line is awkwardly written and we have not eliminated this
a wkwardness in the translation .

Line 3: llpecho, " as noted before, can mean several things. We want to point out
again that we feel it should be rendered literally when it appears in these poems.
Feminine llbreast, " without such ambiguity, is "seno. "

..

height and hair, p. 37

An earlier version of this poem, entitled "Actitud de excelencia" (Lofty attitude),

was published in the Lima magazine, Mundial, on the 18th of November, 1927:

Who doesn't own a blue suit

and eat lunch and board the streetcar
w ith his smoked cigarette and his pocket-sized pain?

Who doesn't write a letter

and talk about something very important?
Ah, I was born so alone.

Who isn't called Carlos

a nd doesn't at least say kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty?
Ah, I was born so alone.

Ah, how I was born so alone .

Ah, how I was born so alone .

..

"Between pain and pleasure there are three, " p. 41

In the facsimile, the third stanza of this poem originally read :

 NOTES I 297

To the instantaneous meaning of eternity

corresponds
this absurdity that identifies us today,
but to you r volume of goodbye,
corresponds solely wha t is inexorably harmful,
between your crea tu re, and my word .

..

"The moment the tennis player masterfu lly serves, " p. 43

Another version of this poem, written out as prose, has been published in the
Mosca Azul ed ition of Contra el secreta professional, p. 1 3 .

..

hat, overcoa t, gloves, p . 45

Line 5: "jebe" (caoutchouc) is used to mea n "goma " (rubber) in Peru . I t also means
"condom" in Peru .

..

epistle to those passing through, p. 49

Line 2: after this line, Vallejo had originally written the following three lines:

just in case my bru te ca lls out in grea t fables

and the sky becomes human ea rt h,
a sky at fu ll speed , mounted slowly on a sword .

Line 9: "compariones" is an archa ic Spanish word for "testicles . " We a ttempt to

match it with a similarly archa ic word for testicles in English .

Line 21 : Vallejo misspells "ombligo" (na vel) as "hombligo" (perhaps as a pla y on

"hombre"-ma n). We render the word as "navell" as the sound is not cha nged
by the added letter.
298 I NOTES

The last s ta nza originally read :

Meanwhile, convulsive, con ti nued,

my soft quality convalesces,
s u ffering l ike I su ffer the direct la nguage of the lion;
and i n that I have existed between two potentates with ca ndles,
I convalesce, I feel better, smiling at my lips,
when my sex is sad
and my destruction is good enough .

II
And don't say a nother word , " p . 51

I n the facsimile, the following title has been crossed out: llgrandeza de los trabajos
vu lgares" (the grea tness of common works) .

..

G LEBE, p . 53

The title: originally the Spa nish word "gleba" mea n t "clod" (in modern Spa nish ,
llterr6n "), or "soil" (in modern Spa n ish, "suelo" or "tierra "), but today the word
llgleba" persists only in the old expression "siervos de Ia gleba " (serfs of the soil,
or slaves of the soil) a nd is always associa ted with the idea of the worst kind of
serfdom or human slavery .

Line 2: "hombres a golpes" (men a t blows) im plies "hombres hechos a gol pes
d e hacha" (men hacked out by ax blows ) .

Line 3: " a tiro de neblina " (within fog ra nge) i s a lso u n u s u a l , a nd appea rs to
derive from such common expressions as "a tiro de escopeta" (within shotgun
ra nge), or "a tiro de ca ri6n" (within ca nnon ra nge).

Line 5: "reginas d e los valles" sou nds like the name of a common flower, "l irio
d e los va lles" ( lily of the va lley). If "regi nas" (q ueens) is a Peruvia n varia tion on
"l irio, we have not been able to trace it, so we have translated the phrase li tera l l y .
II

L i n e 34 : Luis Taboada i s the name o f J fJ mous Span ish humorist ( 1848 - 1906),
but it is not e n tirely certa in that Va llejo hJd him in mind when he used the name .
 NOTES I 299

TUBEROUS SPRING, p. 55

Line 3: "picot6n" appears to be an unusual augmentative of "pico" (beak, pick)

a nd may in Vallejo's mind be connected with "azad6n" (mattock) . However, it is
actually a Peruvian expression that means to strike hard, and in this context sug­
gests the vulture using its beak as a mattock while ea ting .

Line 1 9 : "deglucion" is misspelled as "deglu�ion, " with the "s" underlined and a
question mark penciled in the left margin of the facsimile .

..

Black stone on a white stone, p. 57

Accord ing to Ca rlos del Rio Leon (in Caretas, Lima, April 19, 1966, pp. 24 - 25),
the title of this poem is based on the fact that one day, in Paris, Vallejo was very
depressed and , while wea ring a black overcoat, sat down on a white stone . The
stone evoked a white sepulcher and his own appearance a black stone . This poem,
like several others in Payroll of bones and Sermon on barbarism, is structurally a
traditional sonnet .

Line 3: "correr" (to run) acquires a di fferent meaning when used reflexively,
mainly "to move" (forvyard to the right or left) . The impl ication here appears to be
tha t he will remain in Paris, in spite of his intuition tha t death awaits him there .

Line 7: "a Ia mala" could also be translated here as "unwillingly" (the phrase
occurs in line 51 of "Battles" in Spain, take tltis cup from me, and there we have
translated it as "u nwillingly") . In this sonnet, Va llejo uses the phrase id ioma tically
and idiosyncratica lly, and its speci fic mea ning rema ins mysterious .

..

"Sweetness through hea rtsown sweetness!" p. 59

Line 1 : "corazona" is an arbitrary femi nine, probably of the masculine noun "cora­
zan" (heart), although it cou ld also be the third person singular of a made-up
verb ba sed on "coraz6n, " such as "corazona r. " On the basis of the second
possibi lity, the line cou ld be rendered : "Sweetness through sweetness heartens!"
300 I NOTES

However, si nce we h a ve "hearten" as an accepted English word , such a re ndering

d oes not tra nsla te the u n iqueness of "corazona . " So we have tra nsla ted it as a
nou n , hoping to expose "hea rt's ow n , " " hea rt sown," and "heart zone, " i n our
renderi n g .

Line 2 : t h e word "eras" could also mea n "thresh i ng floors" o r "garden-plots" here .

Line 6: " tez6n" a p pears to be a neologism, based on "tes6n" ( tenaci ty), and \Ve
have rendered it accord ingly . However, it could also be a neologism based on
" tez" (complexion) .

Line 1 6: " perdu roso" appea rs to be a neologism, based on "perdu ra r" (to last
long), with a su ffix such as one finds in " presu roso" (hasty) for which the verb
wou ld be "a presu rar" (to hasten ) .

Lines 3 1 /32: t h e tvvo lines o f French rea d : "When one h a s life and you th I that's
a l rea d y so much !"

Line 36: " haz" here is a n intentional misspell ing of "has" (second person singu lar,
presen t tense, of "haber"-to ha ve-used as a n a uxilia ry verb) . I f Va llejo had
w ri t te n : " has de besa nne" \Ve wou ld h a ve transla ted it as: "you will kiss
me . " " Haz" by itself cou ld a l so mea n "bund le" or "face . "

" Life, this life, " p . 65

Lines 9/1 0: these l i nes, before corrections, read :

their sacred bones sla nting ner the sewers,

over an old screw, procl ivitous, misfortunate .

"cabe" (nea r) i s misspel led "ca ve" and we attempt to match the sl igh t sou nd
cha nge with "ner" in English .

Line 1 3 : " p6bridas" is a neologism derived from "pobres" (poor ones) and perhaps
" po d rid a " (rotte n) .

Line 1 8 : o riginally rea d :

if their loadstones then fell

Line 2 1 : th is line a nd the th ree following it origi nally rea d :

sen t forth dense smoke o f though tfu l ma dmen, a ttacked

by physics, a nd from pa i n ha l f d ea f .
 NOTES I 301

Doves jumping from the depths,

doves fragrant to the affront of that day,

Line 25: the word "manferidas" is archaic, and once meant "forewarned" or
"ready, " and as a derivative, "cautioned ."

Line 32: the word "nimal" could just be a misspelling of "animal" or a neologism
(perhaps punning on "ni"-not-and "mal"-bad-) .

..

"Today I like life much less, " p. 67

Line 14: before being partially crossed out, this line was corrected by hand to read:

but entering five abreast, of course,

Line 29: originally read:

and always, much always, always in line under caneblows.

and then was changed to:

and always, much always, always lying down outside my body.

before it was corrected to the final version .

..

"Today I would like to be happy willingly, " p. 69

Line 9: this line was originally different, and was followed by two lines which were
crossed out after some rewriting. The original typewritten version read:

the wait for that which will never arrive

and the forgetting of the refused waiting.

I see everything this way, without adherence or bond .

The discarded corrections in pencil, limited to the first two lines, read:

the wait for the nevers they did not find

and the forgettings of the refused waiting.
302 I NOTES

Line 19: originally read:

at what hour, then, would I desire that they love me?

Line 22: the last stanza originally read:

Now I notice that I cross through my temples as a traveler:

a t the misericordias, comrade,
my fellowman in rejection and observation, more mine,
father through the friend,
brother through the son, in whose neck rises and lowers,
inactive, unseasoned, without thread, my hope . . .

"From disturbance to disturbance," p. 71

Line 16: because of the absence of commas before and after "en suma" (in short),
the line is odd in Spanish . We have translated it literally, leaving out the commas
in English too.

Line 25: "taco" here is a South American word for "tac6n" (heel). From this line
on the facsimile copy continues in handwriting .

..

"Considering coldly, impartially," p. 73

Line 29: originally read:

and he knows how to mend himself with tears and songs . . .

Line 36: the last line of the poem was added by hand to the typewritten original .

..

'And if a fter so many words, " p. 75

Line 6: "que se lo coman todo" literally means "for them to eat all of it, " but we
feel that the phrase was used by Vallejo in its common idiomatic meaning of "to
blow something" e . g . , to blow a fortune.
 NOTES I 303

"Finally, withou t tha t good continuous aroma , " p. 77

Line 1 0: "tristu mbre" appears to contain "triste" (sad) and the kind of su ffix one
associates with pesa/pesadu mbre, or manse/mansedumbre . However, the su ffix
"umbre" is never used with "triste" and the common way to express "sad ness"
in Spanish is "tristeza . " Therefore, we have had to invent our own word .

..

"Idle on a stone, " pp. 79 - 81

Line 16: origina lly read:

his betrayed dice . . .

Line 19: a fter this line, the two following were crossed out:

This is the one who bled through his side,

who today drowns in his refused blood !

(when he wrote the abo.ve two lines, Vallejo had ended the line right before them
with "u ndesired blood . " After crossing out the two lines above, he changed "un­
desired "-no querida-to "refused . ")

Line 44 : originally read :

and the nourishing bread that they don't need

Line 46: this and the following line originally read:

how the ligh tning nails its head less nail into its clavicles

Line 48: this line and the three last lines were added by hand to the typewritten
original .

Line 51 : a s a n adjective, "padre" (father) is a common augmentative for almost

everything, e . g . , "una vida pad re" (a grea t life), "un autom6vil padre" (a great car) .
Here we have tried to translate the act of the lowest parasite being ironically
elevated to a role of seminal importance .
304 I NOTES

"The mi ners ca me o u t o f the mine, " p. 83

The fi rs t three s ta nzas o f the poem origi nally rea d :

The miners ca me o u t
climbing over their fu tu re forms,
they greeted their hea lth with pavilions
a nd , elabora ting their men ta l fu nction,
they closed with their voice
the sha ft, in the sha pe of a pro found symptom .

A h , what dust their reclined dusts !

A h , w h a t oxide their high oxides !
Mou th wedges, mou th a nvils, mouth a ppa ra tus (Tremendous!)
Great joy following, head to head, their feelings .

They imagi ne, wri tings on a femur,

their plastic ind uctions, their choral replies,
cro wded at the base of fiery misfortu nes
a n d aere n t yellowing was knovvn by the saddened,
the tris tes, imbued
with the metal tha t exhausts itself, the pa llid a nd sma ll metaloid .

(In the l i nes quoted above, in the lOth line, "head to head" was crossed out a nd
" from sa liva to saliva " penciled in, wh ich was then rej ected too . )

Line 1 3 : "airen te" a p pears to be a neologism, based on "aire" (air) to wh ich has
been a ttached the su ffix "ente , " wh ich is a common su ffix but wh ich is normal l v
/
never a ttached t o " a ire . " In the same line, "amaril lura " d erives from "amarillo'
(yellow) bu t is not of normal or frequent usage . Near the end of this same l ine,
"tristidos, " w hile based on "triste" (sad), appears to be a neologism, as "idos" is
normally never a ttached to tha t word . Lastly, "tris tes" could either be a plural of
the adjective " triste" or possibly the word for a song tha t is a lover's la ment ( which
would have no tra n s la tion ) . We interpret it as the former.

Line 20: a fter this line, the following one was crossed out:

the mi ners of the ti mbre of the voice of man;

Line 23: a fter this line, the res t of the poem is handwritte n .

" B u t be fore a l l this , " p. 85

 NOTES I 305

Line 8 : " fa la njas" a ppears to be a neologism based on "falanges" (phalanges) .

Line 1 7: the first fo u r lines of the fou rth stanza were originally five and read :

Torso over the hill that I encircled,

w h istling at you r death,
hat rakishly tilted ,
feet over t he shoulders,
w h i te, h i l lman swaying to win your battle among the fishes,

Line 1 8 : " ped rada" is a blow or stone throw, bu t in this case, "sombrero a Ia
ped ra d a " is a Peruvia n idiom, and refers to a hat either adorned with a ribbon, or
t i l ted a t a ra kish sla n t . I n his book, Vallejo y su t ierra , Fril ncisco I zqu ierdo Rfos wrote
about the poet's home town , Santiago de Chuco: "The horse-breakers with fine
ponchos a nd 'sombreros a Ia ped rada' made the horses caracole. "

L i ne 1 9 : "bla nco " cil n mean "white, " " target," a nd "blank, " and Va llejo may very
well have had a l l three meanings in mind when he used the word in this line. I n
the 1 967 Seghers ed ition of Va llejo's poetry tril nsla ted b y h i s widow, the French
w ord c h osen here is "cible" ( target) .

Tellu ric a nd magnetic, pp. 87- 89

Title: the follow i ng ti tle is crossed out: "Med itilcion agricola " (Agricu ltural Medita­
tion). The poem w a s originally m uch more modest in scope than it finally came to
be, end ing w ith line 27 and omitting some of the milteriil l in the final fi rst 27 lines .

Line 1 : t he first fou r lines were origina lly three and reild :

Ascen ded and si ncere mechanics !

Theoretica l and pract ica l soi l !
I n telligen t fu rrows, and with pyramid examples!

L i ne 2 : in the same book by Izquierdo Rfos, one reads: " I n Sa ntiago de Ch uco there
exists a Redd ish H i l l . "

Line 1 4 : the poem originally ended with this stil nza and read :

O h h u m a n field s !
O h cl imates found inside iron, ready!
Oh i ntel lectual field,
w ith rel igion, and with pea sa nt fields!
Pachyderms in prose while passing!
Rodents \Vhich look with jud icial feeling all arou nd !
306 I NOTES

Oh my l i fe's patriotic asses !

Oh ligh t which is hard ly a mirror a way from the shadow,
which is l i fe with a period a n d , with a l i ne, dust
a n d that is why I revere it, climbing through the idea to my skeleton !

( from this poi n t on, the poem i s ha ndwritten . )

Line 28: "molle" is Schinus molle, a genus of tropical America n trees of the sumac
fam ily, popularly known as the pepper tree. I t was the sacred tree of the Inca ns,
a nd the fruit is used to make an a lcoholic beverage similar to chicha .

Line 30: "ba rreta " (small bar) is probably a miner's tool, a small straigh t bar with
one sha rpened end, used l ike a crowbar. Larrea wrote us tha t he is u nder the
i mpression tha t the word is a l so Santiago de Ch uco slang for "penis . "

Line 33: "cuy " (ca vy) is a short-tailed rough-haired Sou th America n rodent
(guinea - pigs are from the same species). A "cuya" would be a fema le "cuy . " We
add a fem i nine ending to ca vy-cavess-to imita te the common place Spa nish
ending.

L i n e 34: "rocoto" is a pepper, Capsicum baccatwn, popularly known as the bird

pepper. The red frui t a re small, oblong and very pu ngent. The Spa nish word
p robably derives from the Quechuan "rucuta . "

Line 35: " M e friega n los c6n dores !" cou ld also be rendered as "Those condors
m a ke me sick ! " a nd it is true that the verb is softer in Peru tha n it is in Mexico
where i t is a strong vulgar word . We feel that the fact that V a llejo used the word in
the m i d - thirties, when i t was much more objectionable tha n today, j ustifies our
p resent tra nsla tion . Also: see the note on line 62-the same Mexica n friend who
a p pa rently s ti mu la ted Va llejo to u se "me las pela n, " may also have stimu lated his
use of " friega n . "

Line 42: these " four opera tions" probably allude to the four basic arithmetic
opera tions . A nother possibi lity, ra ther remote yet possible given the associa tive
d e pth of Vallejo's mind, is an all usion to the abortions Georgette Va llejo is said to
h a ve h a d in the ea rly 30s-such cou ld be also thought of as opera tions . The verb
''sustra e r" (to remove, deduct, subtract) ca n be seen to rei n force the arithmetic
i n terpre ta tion , yet we feel that here it has a more a mple mea ning than the one
pointing to a rith me tic alone.

Line 44 : "en i n fraga n ti" appears rela ted to the commonly used ad verbia l expression
" i n fraganti" or "en flagra n te, " bo th mea ning "in the very act . " Vallejo's a l tera tion
seems simply odd . The idea seems to be tha t the "cues tas" (slopes) are being
"ca ught in the act" of becoming slopes . And such a parthenogenesis is coherent in
t he con text o f the · poem itse l f, which envisions Peru as a process of u nceasing
crea tio n . The poem has the feel o f a long string of couplets, or pieces of cou plets,
w h ich ignite each other Chinese firecracker style .
 NOTES I 307

Li ne 45: "auquenidos" is d erived from "auquenia" which is the generic La tin form
for certa in Sou th American animals of the camel family, such as llamas, vicunas,
a l pacas a n d guanacos-all of which have big sad eyes .

Line 61 : "quena" is a one-hole I ndian flu te tha t accompa nies the ya ravi songs in
some parts of Sou t h America . Legend has i t that it is ca rved out of the shinbone of
a dead beloved .

Line 62: in answer to ou r query abou t "me las pela n ! , " Larrea w rote: " I n our
H i spanoa merica n group in Mon tpa rnasse in 1926, we often sang ,1 kind of ba l lad,
thanks to a good Mexica n friend, which had a refra in w hich went: 'Pelame Ia
pinga' (peel my foreskin down) and a lso repea ted a nother expression : 'me Ia pelan'
(they peel mine down). I wou ld say that this is the origin of that line of Va llejo's.
Tha t he puts it in the plural surprises me-perha ps he does that ou t of modesty . I t
wou l d tra n sla te something like 'me Ia menea n' (they jack me off) . "

Old asses thi nking, p . 9 1

Th is poem was inspired b y the dea th o f Vallejo's close friend from his first days in
Paris, A l fo nso Silva , a Peru via n composer a nd wri ter who went back to Peru and
d ied in Lima on May 7, 1937. Vallejo also wrote another poem in response to
S ilva 's d ea t h , which begi ns: "Alfonso: you keep looking at me, I see . "

Line 1 1 : "bold o , " a genus of Ch ilea n evergreen shrubs, having a s the only known
s pecies B. boldus, the boldo . I t has sweet, edible fru it, a nd the d ried leaves a re
h y pnotic a nd d i u retic.

Line 1 9: a fter this line the one fol lowing is crossed out:

I will call him a t the margin of his encased river's name!

( A l fonso's name, w h ich Va llejo might have hea rd as " a fondo," suggesting both
t horough ness a nd depth , might have evoked the image of an "e ncased river. ")

Line 21 : in s�·Mnish the word "jama ses" (the pl u ra l of an adverb mea ning "never")
is gramma tically im possible-bu t it does exist in pop u l a r speech .

The h u ngry ma n's wheel, p . 97

Line 1 5 : "ca lc.i rida " a ppea rs to be a neologism based on "ca k.1 rl'O" (ca lcareous)
a nd ",i ri d a " (arid) .
308 I NOTES

" Hea t, tired I go with my gold, " p. 99

Line 3: the French reads:

It's cooled off September,

Lines 5/6: these two lines originally read :

Paris, and 4, and 5, of dried anxiety,

hanged, in the heat, from cloud and owl .

Line 7: the French reads:

It's Paris, queen of the world !

Line 1 1 : the French reads:

It's spring,

Line 1 5: the French reads:

It's life, death of the Death !

"One pillar holding up consolations, " p. 101

Line 3: " pilaroso" appears to be a neologism, based on "pilar" (pillar), to which the
common suffix "oso" has been added . To do this is like adding "oso" to "temer, "
turning "to fear" into timorous. " Since "pilar" is not a verb, the "oso" acts as an
intensifier, leading us to our "pillarous . "

Line 1 7: this line and the three following originally read:

I am going to close my baptismal font, this edge,

this fright with a band in the form of wrath,
this finger withou t a hand,
directly tied to my skeleton .

Line 20: "corazonmente" is a neologism, based on "corazon" (heart) to which has

been added the su ffix "mente, " usually translated as "ly" in English .
 NOTES I 309

11Upon reflecting on life, " p. 163

The first version of this poem, significantly different than the final version, read:

Upon reflecting,
existence feels better, settles us,
condemns to death;
and, wrapped in white rags, it falls,
falls with a planet step,
the nail boiled in grief.
Official bitterness, that of my left,
old pocket, in itself considered, in itself pocket,
without situation, without number, this sword .

Everything is joyful, except my joy

a nd everything, long, except my furor,
my incertitude!
Through form, nevertheless, I go forward,
limping,
up to my encounter,
and forget through my tears my eyes
a nd climb to my feet from my star.

I weave. From having spun, I am weaving . . .

I search for what follows me and hides from me among archbishops,
u nder my soul and behind the smoke that I've smoked .
Such is death,
that grew up by crushings, by gunshots,
exhaling lethal petroleums,
only yesterday, a Sunday of faces . . .

Such is death, with ram and everything .

..

Poem to be read a nd sung, p. 105

Line 1 : ��persona" is a word that refers to both men and women, and in this poem
a case can be made for it being translated as masculine (as an inner person of the
poet) as well as feminine (a woman, perhaps the poet's wife, Georgette, according
to Larrea, pp. 389 - 392) .
310 I NOTES

Line 1 9: "ta sa " ( measu re, a ppraisal) has been misread i n all previous editions of
these poems as "taza" (cu p , bowl), for the latter word seems to make m ore
o rd i n a ry sense in con text . We stick with the way Vallejo typed it out. "Tasa"
a ppea rs to be an u n intentional misspelling when i t appears on p . 10 in line 25.

"The tip of man, " p . 109

Lin e 25: "dondoneo" a ppears to be a neologism, based on "contoneo" (stru t ) . To

ma tch Vallejo's sound d istortion, we take the word "sashay" and replace the two
s/s w ith two z/s .

"Oh bottle without wine! " p . 1 1 1

Lin e 8 : "pe ne tra ta tiva" seems to be a n unintentional misspe lling for " penetrativa. "

Line 9 : the adjective "j ugarino" a ppears to be a neologism based on the verb
" j u ga r" (to play) a n d the su ffix "ino . " The normal Spanish adjective wou l d have
been "juguet6n . " The "ino" gives the word a n I ta lian fla vor a n d a lso a lighter
play fu lness.

Line 23: ou r rendering of "zanga nos de ala" (winged d rones) is litera l here, and we
s u s pect tha t it might have mean t something more to Val lejo . I t cou l d be a San tiago
de Ch uco Peruvia n ism which we have not been able to track down . On the other
h a n d , the fact that he o rigin a l ly wrote "zanganos con a la, " then crossed out "con"
a nd put i n "de, " suggests tha t he migh t have been making u p his own expressio n .

" H e i s ru n n ing, wa lking, fleeing, " p . 1 1 3

Line 1 1 : originally read :

a t a n in kwe l l pace, flees

 NOTES I 31 ·

..

"My chest wants and does not want its color, " pp. 1 17

Line 1 7: "perrazo" is an augmentative of "perro" (dog), and the thought here

seems to derive from the expression "tener vida de perro" (to live a dog's life) .

Line 19: "cej6n" appears to be a neologism, based on "ceja" (eyebrow) . Vallejo

u ses "ceja" in somewhat the same way that "cabez6n" (headstrong) augments
"cabeza" (head).

Line 27: originally read:

anguish, yes, with all the nipple,

(nipple being here "tetilla, " a male nipple) .

..

"This, " p . 1 19

Line 1 : the poem originally began without this one word line, and its first two
lines read :

It happened between two flowers and two eyelids; I trembled

in my scabbard,_ with alkali, with anger,

Line 1 1 : originally "of the sky" which ends this line and stanza, began a new line
w hich, along with another one, completed the stanza:

of the sky . ( I would have dealt with other themes, but

I write them unsu ng, without my mouth)

Line 13: instead of "in my scabbard," this line originally began with "from fear of
death . " "Vaina" (scabbard) appears to be intentionally misspelled as "vayna . "

Line 1 6 : this line and the one following it originally read :

(They say that sighs have

then regresses that do not want to go away;

Line 26: originally read:

the half-years revise me in their album

312 I NOTES

"I stayed on to warm up the ink in which I drown, " p. 121

Line 2: originally read:

I stayed on to listen also to my elbow,

Lines 7/8: these two lines originally read:

And yet, this very day,

I digest extremely sacred tenths,

Line 1 5: the last stanza was originally four typed lines to which Vallejo added four
handwritten lines ("pens, " in both cases, refers to writing pens):

And yet,
even now,
warm, listener, he/earth, sun and he/moon,
u nknown I cross the cemetery,
go off to the left, splitting
the grass with a pair of hendecasyllables,
years of port, liters of infinity,
ink, pen, and adobe pens.

Line 19: Vallejo changes the normal endings of the words "tierra" (earth) and
"luna" (moon) to make them unusual masculine nouns, possibly to be able to
identify himself with them in fact as in appearance, or perhaps to stress the
pa triarchal saturation of nature . The word "sol" (sun) is already a masculine noun
in Spanish .

Line 24: this line went through several changes before a final version was arrived
at. Vallejo changed the line as translated above to:
·

ink, pen, bricks, and spectacles .

At this point, "spectacles" was crossed out, and "pardons" put in its place .

..

"The peace, the whasp, the heel, the slopes, " pp. 1 23

Line 1 : "avispa" (wasp) appears to be intentionally misspelled as "abispa . " The

reader may have noticed tha t most of Vallejo's "misspellings" have to do with
 NOTES I 313

either adding a silent letter ("hun" for "un") or changing a "b" into a "v" or vice
versa, as in the present case. That is, there is a pattern, and while we can indicate
it by slightly warping the word in question, we cannot find a parallel predictable
construction to match the Spanish . The point of this may be, in Vallejo's mind, to
point u p the arbitrariness of spelling in sounding the written word-and too,
perhaps, to reinforce a feeling that language itself is highly unstable, especially
in charged meditation, and may, as Dali's melting watches, give way at any
moment.

Line 1 9: in Spanish, " tan" (so) is never used, in normal speech, followed by
"nunca" ( never) .

..

"Overcome, solomonic, decent, " p. 1 25

Line 1 : instead of "decent, " Vallejo had originally written "impelling. "

"Well? Does the pallid metaloid heal you?" p . 127

Lines 1 5/16: these lines originally read:

your soul bends- passionately to the iron

bone on which your temple marks time .

..

"It is so hot I feel cold," p. 129

Line 1 : originally read:

I am cold from heat,

Lines 8/9: these lines originally read:

The caterpillar plays its inexistent

voice, with its soul,
314 I NOTES

"Confidence i n the eyeglass, " p. 131

In lines 1 , 3, 5 and 7, Vallejo puts an accent mark over the "o" in "no . " Since this
is u nusual, we have italicized these words in English .

..

"Speaking of kindling, " p. 133

I n all typeset editions of Vallejo's poetry (including the typeset part of the Moncloa
OPC), this poem is entitled "Terremoto" (Earthquake). On the facsimile page,
however, the poem has no title. "Terremoto" is handwritten a couple of lines
below the poem and underlined.

The proper names Atanacio (which is normally spelled Atanasio), Hermeregildo

(normally spelled Hermenegildo), Isabel and Luis, have no particular meaning for a
Spanish reader.

"Mocked, acclimatized to goodness," pp. 135

Line 1 : "urent" appears to be intentionally misspelled as "hurent. " He used

''hurente" in Trilce XVII, line 3 .

Line 10: ''with the whole ax" in this line was originally ''or to delouse oneself;"

Lines 1 5/16: originally read:

leap from the margin,

from the daily margin of my mule that walks;

..

''Alfonso: you keep looking at me, " pp. 137 - 139

Line 9: originally read:

and on the wire your last act to dawn,

 NOTES I 315

Line 13: the French reads:

wine, milk, cou n ti n g the pennies

Lines 1 9/20: "a mado ser" (beloved Being) and "amado esta r" (beloved to be)
cannot be fu lly tra nsla ted (without in terpretation, which wou ld d istort the actua l
mea ning of the original), as "ser" (to be, as a verb) is not the sa me thing as "esta r"
(to be, as a verb). I f the two verbs a re matched, the mean ing-distinction in English
is more or less "to be" versus "to exist, " as "ser" is less ti me-bound and tem pora ry
tha n "esta r . " However, Vallejo has turned "se r" i n to a noun by placi ng an accent
over the "e, " a nd in doing so seems to be stressing tha t which is or is ideal ized to
a l ways be versus tha t which has potential to be . To transla te "esta r" here as
"exis tence" wou ld be to lose the noun/verb rela tionsh ip clearly established in the
S pa n ish . Notice tha t the "double tomb" referred to in line 34 is merely a " tomb"
with Si lva's "Being, " but a "ma hoga ny one" with his "to be, " which emphasizes
the abstractness associated with "ser" and the ma teria lity associa ted with " esta r. "

Line 34 : origi n a lly rea d :

in t h e opening of tha t horrible tomb without a corpse,

..

Stu mble between two sta rs, pp. 1 4 1 - 1 43

Line 1 1 : here the word "ay" seems to stress " p i ty for . . . " so we ha ve sl ightly
d e pa rted from an abstract excla mation to give that stress . The last word in line 11,
"elias" ( them, fem i n ine), is re pea ted, i n the mascu line form, "ellos, " in the last line
of the poe m . There is no way to transla te this d i fference in English .

Line 1 5: Meo Zilio ma kes a n i n teresting observa tion abou t "las orejas sanchez" ( the
sa nchez ears): if one says the phrase qu ickly pronounced with the common
S pa nish A me rica n "seseo, " one ca n hear " las orejas a nchas" ( the wide ears) in
place of a person's name.

Fa rewell remembe ring a goodbye, p. 145

Lines 7/8: origina lly read :

a nd, a s a las t glass of blood , o n i ts d ramatic role,

there is, a nd u n til the end, the practical d ream of the sou l .
316 I NOTES

..

"Cha nces are, I a m another;" p. 147

Line 5: in Spanish, a "there is" is sensed before both "scarlet index" and "bronze
cot" in a way that is less elliptic than in English, and less awkward too. But since it
is not actually there, we have left it out.

Line 13: originally rea d :

But another's swea t, but m y metaphysical serum

..

The book o f nature, p . 1 49

Line 6: the literal mea ning of this line is: "his three of cups, his horse of golds . '� In
America n playing cards, these figures correspond to "hearts" and "diamonds, "
a n d the "horse" to the "queen . " The cups are not really cups, but chalices and the
"golds" figures of the su n .

Wedding March, p . 1 53

Title: this poem was originally called : "Batall6n de dioses" (Ba ttalion of gods). A
second title, handwritten, was also rejected : "Sequito y Epitalamio" (Retinue and
E pithala mion).

Line 3: "cuello" (neck) seems to be u nintentionally misspelled as "cuelo" here.

Line 9 : the last two tercets originally read:

I will ignite, my ant will ignite,

my key will ignite, my qua rrel
in which I lost the cause of my track .

Then, making a wheat spike of the atom,

I will ignite my sickles at its foot
and the ba ttalion will say: "Go on! Let him go on !"

At a la tter stage of composition (perhaps after the first title had been eliminated},
Va llejo rewrote the tercets as follows :
 NOTES I 317

I will extinguish, my ant will extinguish,

my key will extinguish, the quarrel
in which the undersigned won his cause.

Then, making a wheat spike of the atom,

I will extinguish my sickles at its foot
and the spike will finally be a spike.

He then changed all the "extinguishes" back to "ignites," and the "won" to "lost"
in making his final revisions . There is also a crossed out third version of the final
line which reads: "And for the rest, I don't give . . . " (with the last two words
entirely unintelligible) .

..

Intensity and height, p . 1 57

Line 2: "me atollo" is a seldom used equivalent for "me atasco" (I get stuck, I
freeze) .

Line 7: "toz" appears to be a neologism, combining "tos" (cough) with "voz"

(voice).

Line 14: since "cuerva" is not merely the female "cuervo" (raven, crow), we have
made use of this possibility to avoid translating it into an anthropomorphical word .

..

Guitar, p. 159

Line 6: this line, and the one following it (crossed out and not reworked) originally
read:

and the mendacious eighth, suffers from an algebra

more mendacious, more base, more metal.

Added by hand to this crossed out seventh line (and then also crossed out) was:

gown, copper and boa .

Line 1 1 : originally read:

and to be here, between two treacherous days?

318 I NOTES

Line 25: the facsimile ed ition clea rly says "poria " i n a handwri tten addition by
Va l l ejo h imself, instead of "sa na, " which has been pri n ted instead of " pona " in a l l
previous editions o f these poems . The original typewritten l i ne rea d : " d e espera r
pronu nciando m a l su n ombre" (of wa i ti ng pronouncing h is name bad ly); then the
last fou r words were crossed ou t a nd to "de espera r" was probably added by ha n d :
"con p uja nza y paga y pona" (with might a nd salary a nd " pona " ) . We say
"probably" beca use " paga " is crossed out in such a way that it could be "paja"
(stra w ) . When Va llejo la ter crossed ou t ei ther " paga" or "paja" h e i nserted "mala"
over it, to lea ve as the final version of the en tire l i ne: "de espera r con puja nza y
m a la poria . " Our e ffort to establish a n acceptable and clear mea ning i n S pa n is h for
t h e express ion "y m a la pona" has been u nsuccessfu l, a lthough we have a sense, i n
the context of t h e sta nza , of h o w t h e expression i s functioning. After the
publica tion of the hard back edition, Irene Vegas-Garcia called our a ttention to the
possible connection between the word "poria" and the San tiago de Ch uco popular
expression "no te apones" (don't be embarrassed), also mentioned by Izquierdo
(op. cit . , p . 1 88) . The word "poria" nevertheless exists in the Spa n ish G alicia n
language a n d perhaps was used as a euphemism by the two natura l grandfa t h ers
of Vallejo a n d la ter on might have been spoken by members of his fam i ly a t h ome
w hile he wa s growing u p . I f t h is is true, he might have remembered the word for
its stra ngeness, s ince h e probably d id not hear it elsewhere . I ts equ ivalence i n
S pa n is h is "porra , " which l i terally means a "strong s tick, " b u t figura tively, a nd
when spoken as a n exclama tion, is a polite euphemism for "polla" (cock, i . e . , slang
for penis ) . "Mala poria" a lso suggests a paral lelism with common Spanish expres­
s ions like "mala rona" (aw fu l mange) and "mala sana" (terrible ha tred) . S ince the
spea ker in the poem, a t least in this sta nza, seems to be a nticipa ting a sexua l
encou nter with considerable ambivalence, we have transla ted the line accordingly.
W e hope that the play on "hard left" (zurdazo)-to be left with an erection as well
to be hit with a left-handed b low-in the following line will help reinforce Vallejo's
m ea n ing in Englis h .

Line 2 9 : after t h is l ine, t h e l a s t o n e in t h e poem, Va llejo origi nally wrote:

a n d a d d ed to the fema les of t he dead .

" Hea r your mdss, your comet, listen to them;" p . 1 6 1

Li nes 1 /2 : orig i na lly rea d :

Hea r you r fi nger, listen t o i t : don't moa n

through your hand;

Line 1 1 : ori g i n al l y rea d :

t o be ca rm i ne, to b e in the dou ble time step o f a skeleton.

 NOTES I 319

"What's got into me," p. 163

Line 12: this line, and the rest of the poem, originally read:

crying earth and standing out in physics?

What's gotten into me, that I cry and do not cry,

that I laugh and do not laugh?

Pity for me! pity for you ! pity for him!

Anniversary, pp. 1 65

Line 1 : we have used numerical numbers in this translation, rather than written
ones, so that it is clear to the English reader that Vallejo means "1" at the end of
the sixth line, not "one" (i . e . , a person).

Lines 1 7/18: originally read:

and how many Great Charmers

and wha t a nest of tigers in the lamp,

Pantheon, p. 167

Line 6: an "arco" is more accurately an "arc" or "arch" instead of a "bow . " How­
ever, since Vallejo's line runs "un arco, un arcoiris" we have used "bow" to imitate
the way he moves into "rainbow. "

Two yearning children, p. 171

Line 1 : Vallejo's original first stanza read:

No. The cock's aggresive jaw

has no size
320 I NOTES

nor is i t sha rpened on i ts a nkle; it is not its teethed

spu r, tha t touches both cheeks .
I t is just l i fe, with robe and yoke.

Line 4: originally read :

No. Th eir erectile exodu s has no plura l ,

L i n e 9: t h i s l i n e a nd t h e two following it origi nally read:

I know it, I i n tu it it Cartesian,

morib u n d , a live, dead, in sh ort, magni ficent.
Nothing is over the capote of the inkwell,

Line 20: "cosa bravisfma" (literally, a very wild thing) is a Peru via nism mea n ing
"a hell of a tough thing . "

Line 22: this line a nd the two followi ng i t origina lly rea d :

abstract reach , fortu nate a n d anatomica l, neverth eless,

glacia l a nd i m petuous, of the flame;
m otor of the depth , res trainer of form .

The nine monsters, pp. 1 73 - 1 75

L i ne 1 : " I " a ppea rs to be a n i n ten tiona l misspe lling of "Y" (And ) . The two letters
a re pronou nced the same way in S panish. After this line, Va llejo origi nally wrote
the fol lowing line, then crossed it out:

I have a lready said this to Dona Genoveva ,

L i ne 25: "Ru ssea u " a p pears to be a n unintentional misspelling of " Rousseau . "

Line 28: the typewri tten version ended here and was da ted "5 Nov 1 937. " The res t
o f the poe m is handwritten a nd was ad ded a fter that d a te (which was then crossed
out).

L i n e 3 3 : beginning with t h i s line, t h e nu mber "nine" i s repea ted s i x times in the

nex t s ix l i nes. Origi nally, Vallejo used "seven" each place that has " nine" now.

Line 61 : "ardio" a p pea rs to be a meta plasm d erived from "a rdiente" (a rdent) a nd
"a rduo" (a rd uous) . I t is possible tha t the word "ard ido" (intrepid , a ngry) also
figu red in to the constructio n .
 NOTES I 321

...

"A man walks by with a stick of bread on his shoulder." p. 177

Line 2: originally read:

Am I going to write, after that, of the profound I?

Line 1 0: originally read:

Will it ever be possible to allude to the durable I?

Line 26: here we use a lower-case italicized "i" to parallel Vallejo's lowercase "y6, "
in contrast to the "Yo" (I) in line 10. It would be possible to translate the IIi as
Ego/ego too. Since Vallejo criticizes psychoanalysis in line 4 we have not chosen to
use Ego/ego .

...

" For several days, " pp. 1 79 - 181

Line 22: a fter this line, the following one has been crossed out:

the foot that he lacks,

Line 37: a fter this line, the following one has been crossed out:

to help the elderly ones chew,

...

"Today a splinter has gotten into her. " p. 183

Line 9: "a flixion" (a flixion) appears to be an intentional misspelling for "afliccion"

(a ffliction) . Perhaps the "x" suggested a tilted cross? The same situation is repeated
in line 32 .

Line 12: instead of "humareda" (a great deal of smoke), Vallejo wrote "humillo" (a
thin smoke or vapor) in his original version . To avoid having to write "a great deal
of smoke" in English, we have transla ted "humareda" as "smoke" and "sali6"
(ca me out) as "poured ou t . "
322 I NOTES

Line 14: originally read:

Immensity pillages her

..

Clappin g and guitar, p. 185

Line 6: "teneblosa" appears to be a combination of "tiniebla" (darkness, obscurity)

a nd "tenebrosa" (tenebrous, gloomy) .

The sou l that suffered from being its body, p. 187

Line 4: where the word "diaphanous" now occurs in this line, the word "carbon"
originally occurred .

Line 7: "juanes" is the plural of the name Juan Oohn). Vallejo's use of it also
evokes "juanetes" (bunions, high cheekbones) .

Line 19: a fter this line, the following two originally read:

barefoot, ashen cock; Darwin's little man,

bailiff who urinates on me, most atrocious microbe.

Line 27: this line was originally a little different than the final version and was
followed by two lines later crossed out:

and you question your navel valiantly:

where? how?
and your sex with impetuosity: for how long?

..

"He has just passed by, " p. 191

Line 18: ''aflixion"-same situation as in "Today a splinter has gotten into her. "

Line 20: a fter this line, the last one in the final version, Vallejo had originally
written two more lines which were crossed out:
 NOTES I 323

he will not forget me, in past time, when he returns,

to remember me, in future time, when he parts .

..

" Let the millionaire go naked, " pp. 193 - 195

Line 1 : "en pelo" (bareback) is normally used for riding a horse bareback. In Peru,
w hen used in reference to a person, it suggests stark nakedness .

Line 24: "magestad " appears to be an unintentional misspelling of "majestad"

( majesty).

Line 43: "hondor" is a neologism, based on "hondo" (deep) to which a su ffix "r"
has been added, as in "negro" (black) and "negror" (blackness) .

..

"That the evil man might come, " p. 197

Line 1 : "viniere" (might come) is a future subjunctive, a tense seldom used in

modern Spanish, especially as an independent tense, and there is no exact equiva­
lent in English . The tense expresses uncertainty about future contingencies,
although it is never based on causa tion or emotion .

Line 9: originally read:

That the notion of fire might lack snow,

Line 13: originally read:

That two would lack eleven for thirteen,

Line 16: originally read:

and the difficult an easy, and iron gold . . .

Line 24: this line was corrected, and the one following it crossed out:

with what to be poor, if I have nothing?

and, fu rthermore, with whom?
324 I NOTES

Line 31 : a fter this line, the last one in the final version, the poem originally ended
with :

I'm not exaggerating .

..

"Contrary to those mountain birds, " pp. 199 - 201

Lines 3/5: "una ta rde" (one afternoon), is a feminine noun in Spanish and in the
line following it carries "presa," (imprisoned ) . At tha t point, the gender of the
adjectives changes, and "metaloso" (metalous) and "terminante" (decisive) belong to
the masculine "Sincero. "

Line 5 : " meta loso" appears to be a neologism, constructed in the same way tha t
"pilar" I "pilaroso" is .

Line 1 3 : originally read :

by half hu mbleness all of the Great was born;

Line 30: a fter this line to the end of the stanza, the original typewritten version
read :

i n the world; Walt Whitman was almost completely right.

Wa lt Whitman had a very soft chest and used
to brea the and no one knows what he did do when he was crying in his
dining room;
in my opinion, he could not count beyond one hundred and thirty,
when trying to reach five hundred; it is probable.

Line 46: a fter this line, the following one was crossed out:

Sad is the ca use; the end, even happier.

"The fact is tha t the place where I put on," pp. 203 - 205

Line 24: "Georgette" is the na me of Vallejo's surviving widow .

Line 36: Vallejo was forty-five years old when he da ted this poem .
 NOTES I 325

..

"Something identifies you with the one who leaves you," p. 207

Line 18: after this sentence, the following one was crossed out:

That is why I lock myself, at times, in my hotel, to kill

my corpse and hold a wake over it.

..

''In short, I have nothing with which to express, " p. 209

Line 1 : a fter this line, an original second line was crossed out:

In short, I cure with death the sores of life .

..

"A little more calm, " pp. 21 1 - 213

Line 17: originally rea � :

how to con tain your mental volume without grieving,

..

Sermon on death, p. 219

Line 3: "Have" is most commonly "key" bu t because of the context we have trans­
la ted it as "brace, " i . e . , a musical indicator for two or more staves . For it is fol­
lowed by "mano grande, " which is definitely a "piece brace, " an expanded kind of
regular brace, or any of several type characters used with dashes inserted to form
braces of any required depth or length . Until now, Vallejo is perhaps suggesting,
death has acted, within life's sentence (or chorus), as a parenthetic force seemingly
capable of infinite extension . When "llave" appears again in line 21, we translate it
as "brace" for consistency, although at this point in the poem its "key" meaning­
possibility is stronger than above .
326 I NOTES

Li ne 1 2 : Vallejo origi nally wrote " pa pas" instead of the revised " pa ta ta s , " and he
d i d this i n l i ne 23 as well . " Pa pa " cou ld mean "pota toes" too, but a lso, as a
Peru via nism, cou l d refe r to a lump of na ti ve s ilver (which wou ld have connected
this poem to the ea rlier piece beginning "At last, a hill , " ) .

Line 23: origi nally rea d :

A nd my l u m p of silver (or pota to) and m y flesh a nd my contrad iction

worthy of opprobri u m ?

Li ne 24: "lovo" a p pears t o b e a n in ten tiona l misspelling for "lobo" (wolf) .

Line 30: i n place o f "a u ri ferous, " Val lejo had originally wri tten "elli ptica l . " [ n the
same l i ne , "brazudo" a ppears to be a neologism, deriving from "brazo" (arm), with
the su ffix "udo" a d ded to suggest "with big or strong arms . " A pa ra l lel accepted
word would be " forzudo" from " fuerza" (strength) .

HYMN TO THE VOLUNTEERS FOR THE REPUBLIC, p p . 223 - 229

Line 1 : " m ilicia no" is litera lly "militiama n . " Becau se of curren t A merica n connota ­
tions o f this word we have decided tha t "civilia n - fighter" conveys more accura tely
the meaning tha t " miliciano" acquired d u ring the Spa nish Ci vil War.

Li nes 1 9/2 1 : here Vallejo fu lly opens h i mself to the con flict, and thus to death,
e nvisio n i ng this act as a torero working agai nst a bull's "double-edged speed . " H is
"costumed i n grea tness" e vokes the bul l fighter's ga rb, his "traje de luces. " Line 2 1
origin a l l y read :

my tin iness i n the form of s moke from a fi re .

L i ne 23: the bie n nial re ferred to here is the period 1 934 - 36 ca lled "el bienio negro"
( the black bienn ial) which preceded the war.

Line 42: Ped ro Ca ldero n de Ia Ba rca ( 1 600 - 8 1 ), fa mous Spa n ish playw right, a u thor
of Life is a dream . Li nes -!2 th rough 52 a re an ex traordinary weave of grea t Spa nish
fig u res of the past a n d conte m pora ry wa r heroes a n d heroines.

L i ne 46: A ntonio Coli, popula r hero d u ring the war. He ,1 ppears to have bee n the
fi rst to, on foot, knock out Ita lian ta nks with homemade hand grenades .

Line 48: Fra ncisco d e Quevedo ( 1 580 - 1 6-!5), f,1 mous satiri s i, perhaps the S pa n ish
poe t most a d mi red by Va llejo .

L i ne 49: Sa ntiago Ramon y Cajal ( 1 852 - 1 934), fa mous histologist who sha red the
 1\!0TES I 327

Nobel P rize fo r m e d i c i n e i n 1 906 . He spec i ,1 li zed i n the m i c ro s co pic s t u d y of ce l l s in

the ne rvo u s svstem
.,
.

L i n e 50: Teresa d e j e s t'r s ( 1 5 1 5 - 82), fa mous w r i t e r a n d m .,vs t ic, to w h om is

a t t ribu ted t h e so n n e t w h i ch begi n s : " I d ie beca use I a m n o t d yi n g . "

Li n e 5 1 : Li n a O d e n a , popul,u heroi ne who d i ed figh t i n g Fascism on t h e sou t he rn

fro n t .

L i n e 1 20: ,, n a l l u s ion to t h e A b y ssini,, n " negu s " or " Lion o f J u dea" ex i led by t h e
i n va d i n g M u ssol i n i forces . Th e I ta l ians fough t on bo t h s ides d u ri ng t lw S pan is h
C i v i l Wa r .

L i n e 1 30 : " fe r u l ,1 " ( feru le), l ike " pech o , " is a word t h a t s e e m s to h a v e h ,1 d a s peci a l
s ig n i fica nce fo r Va l lejo. I t is n o t , l i ke " rod , " com m o n l y u sed , s o w e h a ve once
aga i n n o t i n terpreted i t . The word comes from t h e gi.1 n t fe n nel s t a l ks t rad ition a l l y
u sed i n p u n ish i n g sc h ool boy s . Va l lejo u ses t he word several ti mes i n Spain, take
tlz is cup from me.

BA TI LES I I I , pp . 23 1 - 237

Ti t l e : the o r i g i n ,, I t i tle was " B A T A L L A S DE ESP A N A " ( B A TILES IN S PA I N ) ,

fo l l o wed b y t h e RomJ n n u mera l I . L1 ter SL'C t i o n s o f t h i s poem h a ve a d d i t i o n a l
c rossed ou t Roma n n u mera ls, J nd severa l l a t e r poems i n the fi nal Spain , take this
cup from me seq u e nce a lso h a ve c rossed out Rom a n nu mera l s , w h ich h a \·e bee n
c h a n ge d by h a n d . I t � ppe.u s t h a t Vallejo orig i na l ly in te nded a n eig h t section poem
ca l ied BA TI L E S I N S PA I N , some of w h ich was c rossed o u t , a n d a l l of w h ich w.1 s
reorga n ized i n t he con s t ru c t i o n of t h e fin.1 l versio n . Th e original B A TILES I N
S PA I N ca n b e reco ns tructed fro m the f.Ks i m ile , a nd s i nce i t is a n exce l l e n t poem
in i t s e l f, a n d co n ta i ns con siderable fi rs t - ra te crossed ou t materia l , we h ,l \'e done
so a nd prese n t a tra n s la t ion of i t ,, s a n A p pe n d ix to these N otes .

L i n e 1 : The na m es " E x t re m a d u ra " .1 nd " E x t re m e ri o" ,l rt' m i s s pe l led i n S p.1 n ish

t h ro u g h o u t the poem , w ri t te n .1 s " Es t rem.1d u ra " .1 nd " E s t rL' m e ri o . " E\.t r.1 m.1 d u r,1 ,
t he w e s t e rn reg i o n of S p.1 i n , i s k nown fo r i t s poverty .1 nd .1 bse n tee l,1 ndowners .
The fi r s t i m po rta n t b.1 t t l e o f t h e \v,u took pl.Ke t h L' re . The region was fi n.1 l l y o\'er­
ru n by col o n ia l Moorish t roops brou g h t t o S p a i n to fig h t fo r the Fa sci s t re bels .

L i n e 2 : origin.1 l ly re.1 d :

I he ,u u n d e r .,vo u r foo t the s m o kL' of t h e h u m.1 11 w o l f,

L i n e 3 : o rigi n a l l y rea d :

t h e s moke o f t h L' e \'o l u t i o n o f t h e s pe c i e s ,

328 I NOTES

Line 1 4 : originally rea d :

a n d living blood from t h e dead blood !

a nd was followed by two later omitted lines which read :

The blood has left me; the smoke

has left me listening to my jaws.

Line 16: originally read:

for whom death killed you and life gave birth to you

Line 18: originally read:

how you go on plowing with your cross in our chests!

Line 23: a fter this line, the following one was crossed ou t:

to listen to the dying o f the dyings

( " rencores"-rancors-was substitu ted for "dyings" at one point)

Line 42 : a fter this line the following forty-one lines were crossed out:

Tha t is why, Estrema nian man, you have fa llen,

you have cleaned yourself up
and you have ended u p dying from hope !

The pa rt o f the poem origi nally under Roma n nu meral I ended here . The fol lowing
thirty- two lines made u p what was originally section I I of BATTLES IN SPA I N :

The bony da rkness presses o n , sketchl'S mora l cheekbones,

the gas of the armored train, the gas of the last a n kle
the cure of evil, the na rrow excavation of the soul .
A yellow tinkling, a blow o f a usual fi ngL'r in fu ll tiger,
those o f l ru n , when two steps from dea th
the testicle dies, behind, on its pa le grou nd !
A yel low tinkling, under the smell o f the huma n
tooth, when meta l ends up being meta l !

Wave o f the Bidasoa ,

river to river with the sky, at the heigh t of the dust,
and river to river with the earth, at the height of the inferno!
A toil tha t they had tackled on cru tches,
fa lling down, fa lling;
na rrow l ru n behind an emacia tl•d imme nsity,
when the imagi ned bonl' is madl' of bone !
 NOTES I 329

A ba ttle i n which all had d ied

a nd all had fough t
and in which all the sorrows leave wedges,
all the sorrows, handles,
all the sorrows, always wedge and handle!
A ba ttle i n which all had triumphed
and all had fough t
and i n which all the trees left one lea f,
not a single flower and one root, ma n !

Cheekbones ! And they are moral cheekbones,

those of lrun, where the forehead went to sleep
and d rea mt that they were a forehead in both faculties .
And a blow of a usua l finger in full tiger,
the one at I ru n , where the smell drew a noise of eyes
and where the tooth had slept
i ts tra nquil geological dream . . .

Terrestrial and ocea nic, infinite l ni n !

The part of the poem originally under Roma n nu meral I I ended here . l ru n , a
Basq ue town very close to the French -Spanish border, was occu pied by Fascist
troops on September 5, 1 936, after being ferociously a ttacked by la nd , sea and air.
The Bida soa is a river in Ba sque country, a pa rt of the French -Spanish border. The
followi ng six li nes made up wha t was origina lly the begi nning of Section I l l of
BATTLES I N S PA I N :

Loss o f Toledo
d ut• to ri fles loaded with affectionate bu llets !
Loss of the ca use of death !
Loss in the Castilian la nguage: or bul l fighting!
And a triumphal loss, drum and a ha lf, delirious!
Loss of the Span ish loss !

Retrea ting from Ta la vt•ra,

Th is last line, with the add i tion of an in itial "Then , " beca nw tht• first line of wh.1 t
is now t h e u n nu mbered second section o f BATTLES I I I i . e . , line 43.

Line 43: Ta la vt•ra d e Ia Reina, a tow n in the provi nn' of Toledo, taken by Fa scist
troops on September 5, 1 936, on their way towa rd Madrid .

Line 47: origi nally read :

dying, their rotulas over thei r shoulders and their loss over their backs

Line 51 : origi nally read :

loving unwill ingly, they forced Toledo to com mit su icide,

330 I NOTES

Line 52 : origi na lly t h is line ended with a period a nd these two l i nes, later crossed
o u t , followe d :

A n d on the succeed ing day, the third day,

a s the A frica n hooves resou nd ed i n the sad na rrow alleys,

Line 56: a fter this l i ne, the following ten l ines were crossed out:

Wha t noon tha t noon between two a fternoons! Somethi ng to be see n ! .

Say i t, Alca n ta ra bri dge,
you say it better,
better tha n the wa ter
which flows sobbing on i ts way back!
S u n a nd shadow o f Spa i n over the world !
I t h u rts, truly, tha t noon,
the exact size of a s u icide; and rememberi ng i t,
no one a ny longer,
no one l ies down o u tside his body . . .

( i n the sixth line o f this dele ted ma teri a l, "Toledo" was substitu ted for "Spa i n " at
one poi n t)

Line 57: this l ine a nd the two following i t origi nally rea d :

From here, from t h is poi n t ,

from t h e poi n t of t h is rectilinea r line,
from the good to wh ich the sata nic good flows,

Line 60: G uern ica , immortal ized by the fa mou s pa i n t i ng of Picasso, was the sacred
town o f the Basque people . Germa n bombe rs, authorized by Fra nco, destroyed i t
com pletely o n A p ril 2 6, 1 937, even though i t ha d no m i l i tary value.

Line 72 : i nstead of this line a nd the three following it, the end of this section
originally rea d :

Co mbat a t G uernica i n honor

of the b u l l .1 n d his pa le a nima l : ma n !

From here, a s I repea t,

from this viewpo i n t,
the d e fe nders of G u ernica ca n be perfectly see n !
wea k ones, o ffended ones,
rising u p, growing u p, fi lling u p the world w i t h powe rfu l wea k o ne s!

Line 77: t h i s l i ne a nd the six fo llow i ng i t originally were eight ,1 nd read :

T h e ce m e teries WL're b o m bed , ,1 n d ,1 11o t h L' r co m ba t

took pi,Ke with c.1 d a vcrs aga i n s t ca d ,1 vers:
com b,1 t o f the de,1 d dead who ,1 tt,1eked
 NOTES I 331

the immortal dead

with vigila nt bones and eternal shoulder, with their tombs.
The immortal dead, upon feeling, upon seeing
how low the evil, then, aie!
completed their unfinished sentences,

Line 93: this line was originally different and was followed by five lines later
crossed out:

simple and one, collective and one!

Composition and strength of the fistful of nothingness, as they say,

the whole living death defended life,
fighting for the whole, which is dialectical
and for the butterfly, that seeks us,
for the free sky and the free chain ! . . .

Line 94: this section was originally not part of BA TILES IN SPAIN; it appears to
have been added later when Vallejo was organizing Spain, take this cup from me.
Malaga was taken by the Italian General Roatta 's troops on February 8, 1937.
Thousa nds of the city's inhabitants fled along the coast toward Almeria and were
slaughtered in great numbers by Germa n naval fire and German and Italian
bombers .

Line 131 : originally read :

Literal Malaga, separation of posthumous grains of sand,

..

III "He used to write with his big finger in the air:" pp . 239 - 241

This poem was originally VI in BATILES IN SPAIN . It was later taken out of that
sequence, and turned into III in Spain, take this cup from me.

Line 2: Pedro Rojas appears to be a fictitious character, a symbol of the most

humble and oppressed human beings. He has just learned to write a little, and
hearing "avisa" as "abisa , " misspells the word . We pick up the misspelling in
"combanions" for "companions . "

Line 1 0: this line originally was two lines:

he was killed; grow hearing his look; pass on!

stop, looking at his ears; pass on!

Lines 35/36: originally these two lines read:

and fought against so many sad people as they were

his cells, his nos, his yets, his hungers, his pieces.
332 I NOTES

Line 39: a fter this line, the three following it were crossed out:

Pedro also used

to die at the foot of time and without lying down, a slave;
his corpse was full of world .

(this third line was later added at the end of the final version)

..

IV "The beggers fight for Spain," p. 243

This poem was originally section VII of BATILES IN SPAIN.

Line 5: this line and the two following it were originally four lines:

The beggars fight satanically begging

God , so that the poor win the battle
of Santander, that combat in which no longer is anyone defeated,
the campaign of the wheat and its symbols.

Line 1 0: originally read:

at the foot of the individual, on the mountain at the peak of the heart

Line 12: this line was originally followed by a crossed out line that read:

The beggars fight for the poor!

Line 1 3: originally read:

Troops of pleas on foot,

Line 20: "sin calcetines al calzar el trueno" does not have an equivalent in English .
"Calzar un ca non" mea ns "to load a ca nnon . " The word "calcetines" means
"socks, " having lost its meaning as a diminutive of "calzas, " (tigh ts or long, loose
trousers) or "calza " (wedge, or support) . "Sin calcetines" (without socks) could
also be tra nsla ted as "barefoot . "

Line 23: this line was originally followed by a crossed out line tha t read:

fu nctional attack after their chests,

 NOTES 333

V "Th e re s h e goes ! " p p . 24 5 - 247

T h i s poe m , o r i g i n a l ly u n t i tl e d a n d u n n u m be red , is m<1 rked w i t h t h e t h ree sm<1 l l -xs

t h a t Va l l ejo o ften u sed to i n d ica te t h e beg in n i n g o f an u n t i t led poe m i n Pay roll of
bones a n d Scrm611 011 l'arbarism . A t t h e e n d of th e poem . a few sp<1c�s below i t ,
" I magen espa i1ola d e la m uerte" i s w r i t t e n in by h a n d . Beca u se o t sp e c i fic re v i s i o n s
a n d a d d itions t o t h i s poe m , we su spect t h il t i t w a s wri t te n e<1 rlie r t h a n most o f t h e
S pa n i s h Civi l Wa r poe m s a n d /or a t o n e poi n t i n t e n d ed for incl u s i o n i n o n e o f the
two earlier m a n u s c r i p t s - fo r , i n i t s o r i g i n a l type d version , t h e poe m i s n o t co n n ec ted
to the w a r i tsel f a n d , in o u r opin ion , i s ., s t ron ger p ien' t h a n i t f i n a l l y beca me as
V a l lejo worked i t i n to the fa bric o f t h e prese n t boo k . I n s tead of i n d i ca ti n g ch a n g L' S
1 i n e by l i ne, in t h is c<1se we wou ld l ike to pres e n t a t ra n s l a t i on o f t h e poem ba sed on
t h e orig i na I versio n :

There s h e goe s ! Ca ll h e r ! I t ' � her s i d e !

There goes De<1 th w i t h h e r ca rb o n i c a c i d d ec l i v i t y ,
h e r a ccord ion s t e ps, h e r cu rse ,
h e r m e t e r o f clo t h t h a t I ' ve men tioned ,
h e r g ra m o f t h a t \'\'eigh t t h ,1 t l ' \'e not m e n t i oned . the\' ' re the onL'S !

Ca l l h e r ! H u rry ! S h e is se a rch i ng fo r m e ,
s i nce s h e w e l l k n o w s wh ere I d e fe a t her,
w h a t m y g rea t t rick is, m y d e ce p t i v e l a ws, m y terrible cod e s .
Ca l l h e r ! Fo r Dea t h w <1 l k s exac t l y l i ke a m a n ,
s h e lea n s o n t h a t a rm wh ich e n tw i nes o u r feet
w h en we s l eep
a n d s h e s t o p s at t h e e l a s t ic g<1 tes o f d rea m .

S h e s h o u ted ! S h e s h o u ted ! She shou ted h e r bor n , sensori,1 l shou t !

S h e s h o u t ed from s h a me, from see i n g h ow s h e ' s fa l l e n a m on g t h e p l a n t s ,
from see i n g how s h e w i t h d ra w s from t h e b e .1 s t s ,
fro m h ea ri n g h o \"' we s a y : I t ' s Dea t h !
From wou n d i ng o u r grea test i n terests !

( Beca use h e r l i v e r ma n u fa c t u res t h e d ro p t h a t I ' ve m e n t i0 1wd ,

beca u se s h e ea ts t h e sou l o f o u r n ei g h b o r . )

Ca I I h e r ! We m u s t fol low h e r
t o h e r m a t r i a rchy a n d t o her w i n d o w s ,
fo r Dea t h is a B e i n g been b y force ,
w h o se b e g i n n in g a n d e n d I ca rry fe verish l y e n g ra \' e d i n my mea t u s , the
gla n s pen is ,
334 I NOTES

even though she would ru n the normal risk

tha t you know
a nd though she wou ld pretend to pretend to ignore me.

Ca ll her! She is not a Being,

but, ha rd ly, a lacon ic event;
ra ther her way a ims,
aims at simple t u m u lt, withou t orbits or joyous ca n ticles;
ra ther her a udacious time aims, at an i mprecise pen ny
a nd her dea f ca ra ts, a t despotic a ppla use.
Ca l l her, for by ca lling her with fu ry, with figu res,
you help her drag her ra pid sketch,
a s, a t times,
at times, global , enigma tic fractions hurt,
as, at times, I touch myself and don ' t feel myself.

Ca ll her! H u rry ! She is sea rching for me,

with her side of road acid,
her accordion steps, her curse.
Ca l l her! The thread and the fin in which I cry for her must not be los t .
From her smell up, oh god my dust!
From her p u s u p , oh god my feru le!
From her magnet down, oh god my chemistry !

In the above version, there a re a few textual varia tions:

Line 2: " w ith her ca rbonic acid declivity" was crossed out in favor of "with her ink
a nd i n kwell , " w h ich was crossed out in favor of "through Teruel" which led to the
fin a l "through I ru n . "

L i n e 23: " the gla ns penis" i s added by hand to the line i n such a way tha t it
a p pears as if i t were origina l ly not a correction for "my mea tus, " but ra ther a n
extension of i t .

VI I Cortege a fter the ca ptu re of Bilbao, p p . 249

Title: Bilbao, the grea test industria l city in northern Basque Spain, fell into Fascist
ha nds on Ju ne 1 8, 1 937.

Line 2: to tra nslate " republica na" here as "Republican" would be misleading.
" Loya l ist" conveys the idea of one loya l to the existing govern ment, the Spanish
Re public.
 NOTES I 335

..

VII ''For several days the air, companions, " p. 251

Line 7: "mobiliza" appears to be an intentional misspelling of "moviliza"

(mobilizes) .

Line 18: Gijon, industrial town in the nothern province of Asturias, which
withstood Fascist attack for a long time before being evacuated on October 21 ,
1937.

Line 24: this line was originally followed by two lines later crossed out:

For several days Spain

ay! Spain looks Spain forever .

..

VIII "Back here, " p. 253

Line 1 : the first stanza originally read:

Back here,
Ramon Collar,
your capacity. tinged with foolishness
continues, from rope to rope,
while you visit, out there, your seven swords,
standing, on the funereal crystal of January.

Line 2: Ramon Collar (pronounced Co-yar), probably a fictitious name, symbolizing

a peasa nt-soldier in the defense of Madrid .

Line 10: originally read:

Ramon of sorrow and with a Collar of abuses,

Line 37: originally this line and the last one were three and read :

Back here, Ramon Collar,

your work has only produced shadow!

Greetings, Ramon Collar, and write to us!

336 I NOTES

..

IX Short prayer for a Loyalist hero, p. 255

Line 2: this line was originally followed by a line later crossed out:

a book with the quality of deep fiber or filament .

Line 3: originally read:

The hero was carried off, knees extended over his name,

Line 5: as before, "hombligo" appears to be an intentional misspelling of

"ombligo" (navel) .

Line 10: the third stanza originally read:

Poetry of the purple cheekbone, between saying it

and not saying it, poetry in the moral map that had accompanied
his heart; light membranes of the human stone:
the Christianity, the works, the great theme .
The book remained and that is all;
there are no insects in his tomb
a nd at the edge of his sleeve the air remained soaking
a nd becoming gaseous, infinite.

X Winter during the battle for Teruel, pp. 257

The title was originally typed "After the battle" and corrected in hand to its final
state, with the exception that previous to the addition of "Teruel," another place
name, too smudged to decipher, was considered . The battle for Teruel took place
in terrible wea ther (the temperature got as low as 20 degrees below zero) from
December 15, 1937, to February 22, 1938. It was perhaps the most ferocious battle
of the war.

Line 8: following this line, there appears, crossed out:

with the swi ft precision of a verdict

Line 26: originally this line ended with a comma and was followed by:

while ea ting a moa ning oyster.

 NOTES I 337

..

XII Mass, p. 261

Line 7: a fter this line, a third stanza of three lines was crossed out:

Four moved near the dead one:

"To no longer be at your side, so you won't leave!"
But the corpse, alas! kept on dying .

..

XIII Funereal drumroll for the ruins of Durango, p. 263

Dura ngo, a town in the Basque province of Viscaya, was destroyed by repeated
Germa n a ir raids, at almost the same time Guernica was, on April 26, 1937. In the
title, the word "drumroll" was originally "hymn . " Since the original version of this
poem is quite different than the final one (and in our opinion a stronger poem), we
have decided once again to print the original in its entirety:

Father dust who rises from Spain,

God save you, liberate you and crown you,
father dust who rises from the serf.

Father dust who art in heaven,

God save you , shoe you and offer you a throne,
fa ther dust who art in the soul.

Father dust who lives off the furrow,

God save you, clothe you and undress you,
fa ther dust who lives off men .

Fa ther dust who dresses the pariah,

God save you, escort you and shelter you,
fa ther dust who art in jail .

Fa ther dust in whom the hungry man ends,

God save you and return you to earth,
father dust who haloes the poor.

Father dust who flies on la nces,

God save you, hurt you and bury you,
fa ther dust who descends from the soul.
338 I NOTES

Fa ther dust who has so much gold,

God save you, sca tter you and give you form,
father dust who has so much soul.

Father dust who art in human temples,

God save you a nd decorate your atoms,
father dust who art in our steps.

Fa ther dust who marches in smoke,

God save you and encircle you with gods,
father dust who marches burning.

Father dust who goes into the future,

God save you, guide you and give you wings,
father dust that blood has made you .

Fa ther dust who art on ea rth,

God save you and nourish you with heaven,
fa ther dust who art in the wheat spike.

Father dust who suffers from dust,

God save you, nail you and unnail you,
father dust who was a hammer.

(In revising this poem, Vallejo crossed out stanzas three and eight, and completely
altered the lines a nd order of the others . )

X I V "Beware, Spain, of your own Spain!" p . 265

I n the facsimile, this poem appears to have originally been section VIII, the final
section of BA TILES IN SPAIN . VIII was then crossed out, and XIV written in
by h a nd .

XV Spain, take this cup from me, pp. 267- 269

Title: Jesus at Gethsemane: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away
from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. " Matthew 26: 39. We have
not felt bound to copy the Biblical version of the phrase, but have rendered it more
 NOTES I 339

actively . In the facsimile, there is a ha ndwritten XIII which is crossed out in favor
of a handwritten XV .

Line 6: as in line 41 , "sienes" (temples) refers only to the human head . After this
line, the following one was crossed out:

what a wheat spike on the agricu ltural thumb!

Line 45: originally read:

i f heaven fits in terrestrial plates,