Proverbs and Songs - Antonio Machado

[Larry Robinson]

Proverbs and Songs
Everything passes and everything stays,
but our thing is to pass,
pass by making paths,
paths over the sea.

I never chased after the glory
nor leave in memory
of men my song;
I love the subtle worlds
weightless and gentle,
like soap bubbles.

I like to see them paint themselves
of sun and scarlet, 
Fly under the blue sky, 
Shake suddenly and break …

I never chased after the glory.
Walker, your footprints
are the road and nothing else;
walker, there is no path,
the path is made by walking.

When you walk, you make a path
And when you look back
you see the path that will never 
be stepped on again.

Walker there is no path
but wakes in the sea…

Some time ago in that place
where today the forests are dressed in thorns
a poet’s voice was heard shouting
“Walker there is no path,
the path is made by walking … “
Blow by blow, verse by verse …


	- Antonio Machado

	(Translation by Juan Manuel Serrat)


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

Nunca perseguí la gloria,
ni dejar en la memoria
de los hombres mi canción;
Amo los mundos sutiles,
ingrávidos y gentiles,
como pompas de jabón.

Me gusta verlos pintarse
de sol y grana, volar
bajo el cielo azul, temblar
súbitamente y quebrarse…

Nunca perseguí la gloria.
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.

Caminante no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar…


Hace algún tiempo en ese lugar
donde hoy los bosques se visten de espinos
se oyó la voz de un poeta gritar
“Caminante no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar…”
Golpe a golpe, verso a verso…


	- Antonio Machado

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