by Pablo Neruda
y al hombre que para ti apartó
la sangre, el trigo, el agua
confundiste
con el pequeño insecto que te cayó en la falda
Ay gran amor, pequeña amada!
No esperes que te mire en la distancia
hacia atrás, permanece
con lo que te dejé, pasea
con mi fotografía traicionada,
yo seguiré marchando,
abriendo anchos caminos contra la sombra, haciendo
suave la tierra, repartiendo
la estrella para los que vienen.
Quédate en el camino.
Ha llegado la noche para ti.
Tal vez de madrugada
nos veremos de nuevo.
Ay gran amor, pequeña amada!
OBLIVION
All of love in a goblet
as wide as the earth, all
of love with stars and thorns
I gave you, but you walked
with little feet, with dirty heels
upon the fire, putting it out.
Ah great love, small beloved!
I did not stop in the struggle.
I did not stop marching toward life,
toward peace, toward bread for all,
but I lifted you in my arms
and I nailed you to my kisses
and I looked at you as never
again will human eyes look at you.
Ah great love, small beloved!
You did not then measure my stature,
and the man who for you put aside
blood, wheat, water,
you confused him
with the little insect that fell into your skirt.
Ah great love, small beloved!
Do not expect that I will look back at you
in the distance, stay
with what I left you, walk about
with my betrayed photograph,
I shall go on marching,
opening broad roads against the shadow, making
the earth smooth, spreading
the star for those who come.
Stay on the road.
Night has fallen for you.
Perhaps at dawn
we shall see each other again.
Ah great love, small beloved!
LAS MUCHACHAS
Muchachas que buscabais
el gran amor, el gran amor terrible,
qué ha pasado, muchachas?
Tal vez
el tiempo, el tiempo!
Porque ahora,
aquí está, ved cómo pasa
arrastrando las piedras celestes,
destrozando las flores y las hojas,
con un ruido de espumas azotadas
contra todas las piedras de tu mundo,
con un olor de esperma y de jazmines,
junto a la luna sangrienta!
Y ahora
tocas el agua con tus pies pequeños,
con tu pequeño corazón
y no sabes qué hacer!
Son mejores
ciertos viajes nocturnos,
ciertos departamentos,
ciertos divertidísimos paseos,
ciertos bailes sin mayor consecuencia
que continuar el viaje!
Muérete de miedo o de frío,
o de duda,
que y o con mis grandes pasos
la encontraré,
dentro de ti
o lejos de ti,
y ella me encontrará,
la que no temblará frente al amor,
la que estará fundida
conmigo
en la vida o la muerte!
GIRLS
You girls who were seeking
the great love, the great and terrible love,
what has happened, girls?
Perhaps
time, time!
Because now,
here it is, see how it passes
dragging the heavenly stones,
destroying flowers and leaves,
with a noise of foam lashed
against all the stones of your world,
with a smell of sperm and jasmine,
next to the bleeding moon!
And now
you touch the water with your little feet,
with your little heart
and you do not know what to do!
Better are
certain night journeys,
certain compartments,
certain most amusing walks,
certain dances with no greater consequence
than to continue the journey!
Die of fear or of cold,
or of doubt,
for I with my huge steps
will find her,
within you
or far from you,
and she will find me,
she who will not tremble in the face of love,
she who will be fused
with me
in life or death!
TÚ VENIAS
No me has hecho sufrir
sino esperar.
Aquellas horas
enmarañadas, llenas
de serpientes,
cuando
se me caía el alma y me ahogaba,
tú venías andando,
tú venías desnuda y arañada,
tú llegabas sangrienta hasta mi lecho,
novia mía,
y entonces
toda la noche caminamos
durmiendo
y cuando despertamos
eras intacta y nueva,
como si el grave viento de los sueños
de nuevo hubiera dado
fuego a tu cabellera
y en trigo y plata hubiera sumergido
tu cuerpo hasta dejarlo deslumbrante.
Yo no sufrí, amor mío,
yo sólo te esperaba.
Tenías que cambiar de corazón
y de mirada
después de haber tocado la profunda
zona de mar que te entregó mi pecho.
Tenías que salir del agua
pura como una gota levantada
por una ola nocturna.
Novia mía, tuviste
que morir y nacer, yo te esperaba.
Yo no sufrí buscándote,
sabía que vendrías,
una nueva mujer con lo que adoro
de la que no adoraba,
con tus ojos, tus manos y tu boca
pero con otro corazón
que amaneció a mi lado
como si siempre hubiera estado allí
para seguir conmigo para siempre.
YOU WOULD COME
You have not made me suffer,
merely wait.
Those tangled
hours, filled
with serpents,
when
my heart stopped and I stifled,
you would come along,
you would come naked and scratched,
bleeding you would reach my bed,
my bride,
and then
all night we walked
sleeping
and when we woke up
you were intact and new,
as if the dark wind of dreams
had newly given
fire to your tresses
and in wheat and silver had submerged
your body and left it dazzling.
I did not suffer, my love,
I was only waiting for you.
You had to change heart
and vision
after having touched the deep
sea zone that my breast gave to you.
You had to leave the water
pure as a drop raised
by a night wave.
My bride, you had
to die and be born, I was waiting for you.
I did not suffer looking for you,
I knew that you would come,
a new woman with what I adore
out of the one that I did not ador
e,
with your eyes, your hands, and your mouth
but with another heart,
who was beside me at dawn
as if she had always been there
to go on with me forever.
LAS VIDAS
EL MONTE Y EL RIO
En mi patria hay un monte
En mi patria hay un río.
Ven conmigo.
La noche al monte sube.
El hambre baja al río.
Ven conmigo.
Quiénes son los que sufren?
No sé, pero son míos.
Ven conmigo.
No sé, pero me llaman
y me dicen: “Sufrimos.”
Ven conmigo.
Y me dicen: “Tu pueblo,
tu pueblo desdichado,
entre el monte y el río,
con hambre y con dolores,
no quiere luchar solo,
te está esperando, amigo.”
Oh tú, la que yo amo,
pequeña, grano rojo
de trigo,
será dura la lucha,
la vida será dura,
pero vendrás conmigo.
LIVES
THE MOUNTAIN AND THE RIVER
In my country there is a mountain.
In my country there is a river.
Come with me.
Night climbs up to the mountain.
Hunger goes down to the river.
Come with me.
Who are those who suffer?
I do not know, but they are my people.
Come with me.
I do not know, but they call to me
and they say to me: “We suffer.”
Come with me.
And they say to me: “Your people,
your luckless people,
between the mountain and the river,
with hunger and grief,
they do not want to struggle alone,
they are waiting for you, friend.”
Oh you, the one I love,
little one, red grain
of wheat,
the struggle will be hard,
life will be hard,
but you will come with me.
LA POBREZA
Ay no quieres,
te asusta
la pobreza,
no quieres
ir con zapatos rotos al mercado
y volver con el viejo vestido.
Amor, no amamos,
como quieren los ricos,
la miseria. Nosotros
la extirparemos como diente maligno
que hasta ahora ha mordido el corazón del hombre.
Pero no quiero
que la temas.
Si llega por mi culpa a tu morada,
si la pobreza expulsa
tus zapatos dorados,
que no expulse tu risa que es el pan de mi vida.
Si no puedes pagar el alquiler
sal al trabajo con paso orgulloso,
y piensa, amor, que yo te estoy mirando
y somos juntos la mayor riqueza
que jamás se reunió sobre la tierra.
POVERTY
Ah you don’t want to,
you’re scared
of poverty,
you don’t want
to go to the market with worn-out shoes
and come back with the same old dress.
My love, we are not fond,
as the rich would like us to be,
of misery. We
shall extract it like an evil tooth
that up to now has bitten the heart of man.
But I don’t want
you to fear it.
If through my fault it comes to your dwelling,
if poverty drives away
your golden shoes,
let it not drive away your laughter which is my life’s bread.
If you can’t pay the rent
go off to work with a proud step,
and remember, my love, that I am watching you
and together we are the greatest wealth
that was ever gathered upon the earth.
LAS VIDAS
Ay qué incómoda a veces
te siento
conmigo, vencedor entre los hombres!
Porque no sabes
que conmigo vencieron
miles de rostros que no puedes ver,
miles de pies y pechos que marcharon conmigo,
que no soy,
que no existo,
que sólo soy la frente de los que van conmigo,
que soy más fuerte
porque llevo en mí
no mi pequeña vida
sino todas las vidas,
y ando seguro hacia adelante
porque tengo mil ojos,
golpeo con peso de piedra
porque tengo mil manos
y mi voz se oye en las orillas
de todas las tierras
porque es la voz de todos
los que no hablaron,
de los que no cantaron
y cantan hoy con esta boca
que a ti te besa.
LIVES
Ah how ill at ease sometimes
I feel you are
with me, victor among men!
Because you do not know
that with me were victorious
thousands of faces that you can not see,
thousands of feet and hearts that marched with me,
that I am not,
that I do not exist,
that I am only the front of those who go with me,
that I am stronger
because I bear in me
not my little life
but all the lives,
and I walk steadily forward
because I have a thousand eyes,
I strike with the weight of a rock
because I have a thousand hands
and my voice is heard on the shores
of all the lands
because it is the voice of all
those who did not speak,
of those who did not sing
and who sing today with this mouth
that kisses you.
LA BANDERA
Levántate conmigo.
Nadie quisiera
como yo quedarse
sobre la almohada en que tus párpados
quieren cerrar el mundo para mí.
Allí también quisiera
dejar dormir mi sangre
rodeando tu dulzura.
Pero levántate,
tú, levántate,
pero conmigo levántate
y salgamos reunidos
a luchar cuerpo a cuerpo
contra las telarañas del malvado,
contra el sistema que reparte el hambre,
contra la organización de la miseria.
Vamos,
y tú, mi estrella, junto a mí,
recién nacida de mi propia arcilla,
ya habrás hallado el manantial que ocultas
y en medio del fuego estarás
junto a mí,
con tus ojos bravíos,
alzando mi bandera.
THE FLAG
Stand up with me.
No one would like
more than I to stay
on the pillow where your eyelids
try to shut out the world for me.
There too I would like
to let my blood sleep
surrounding your sweetness.
But stand up,
you, stand up,
but stand up with me
and let us go off together
to fight face to face
against the devil’s webs,
against the system that distributes hunger,
against organized misery.
Let’s go,
and you, my star, next to me,
newborn from my own clay,
you will have found the hidden spring
and in the midst of the
fire you will be
next to me,
with your wild eyes,
raising my flag.
EL AMOR DEL SOLDADO
En plena guerra te llevó la vida
a ser el amor del soldado.
Con tu pobre vestido de seda,
tus uñas de piedra falsa,
te tocó caminar por el fuego.
Ven acá, vagabunda,
ven a beber sobre mi pecho
rojo rocío.
No querías saber dónde andabas,
eras la compañera de baile,
no tenías partido ni patria.
Y ahora a mi lado caminando
ves que conmigo va la vida
y que detrás está la muerte.
Ya no puedes volver a bailar
con tu traje de seda en la sala.
Te vas a romper los zapatos,
pero vas a crecer en la marcha.
Tienes que andar sobre las espinas
dejando gotitas de sangre.
Bésame de nuevo, querida.
Limpia ese fusil, camarada.
THE SOLDIER’S LOVE
In the midst of war life led you
to be the soldier’s love.
With your poor silk dress,
your costume jewelry nails,
you were chosen to walk through the fire.
Come here, vagabond,
come and drink on my breast
red dew.
You didn’t want to know where you were going,
you were the dancing partner,