Caminante, no hay camino

[sabrinamari]

"It really does feel like Imbolc - a big, pregnant pause."
showingup

It feels like this on the inside. But on the outside,
ten thousand things are circling, and they are loud.

******

Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.

Al andar se hace camino
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.


Your footsteps are the path, and nothing else;
there is no path---paths are made by walking.

Walking creates the path, and on looking back
We see a trail that never can be walked again.
Traveler, there is no path, only a wake in the sea.

Cantares, Antonio Machado

There is another crucial verse, but I can't translate it.
Some things resonate strongly only in one language
and not in another.

The translations I've seen reach for it but miss its heart.

Comments

[showingup.livejournal.com]

:D

[jasminewind.livejournal.com]

So put it up in Spanish! I enjoyed reading the original more than the translation anyway! :) I think I've seen this poem before, Machado is a favorite for college Spanish poetry classes.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Todo pasa y todo queda,
pero lo nuestro es pasar,
pasar haciendo caminos,
caminos sobre el mar.


Listen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RljGqkeOrjo

[divalion.livejournal.com]

This is so beautiful...your posts today are making me want to refresh my Spanish skills and resume learning it!

[jasminewind.livejournal.com]

bellisima. gracias.

Tienes razon, la poesia de esta versa no se puede traducir.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

That looks like the Spanish for the second verse in English above. Is it the "Al andar se hace camino" verse that doesn't translate well?

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

Never mind, I'm confused...

It's lovely, though...