10 Poems by Antonio Machado: the Poet of the People
Antonio Machado is one of the greatest Spanish poets of all time and, as such, an important figure to learn about when studying Spanish.
Learning a new language doesn’t only mean learning grammar rules, vocabulary, and spelling. The Spanish language (like all languages) is an expression of the culture that produced it. By studying these cultural expressions, you better understand the language you’re interested in learning.
In this blog post, I give you a quick overview on Spanish poetry and explore the creative impact of poet Antonio Machado. Then I share 10 of his most famous poems both in their original Spanish, and translated to English.
An Overview on Spanish Poetry
In this post, Spanish poetry not only includes that from Spain, but also from Latin American countries.
That said, Spanish poetry is a huge, rich, and diverse universe that covers extraordinary poets such as Nobel Prize Winners Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, or Octavio Paz—and legendary names such as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, or Federico García Lorca.
Among these great poets, you find some names that are closer to the people than others. Poets, for the type of themes and subjects of their poetry, were more closely associated with the “common people.”
One of these poets was Antonio Machado, the poet of the people.
Who’s Antonio Machado?
Antonio Machado was an important poet and playwright, member of the outstanding Spanish Generation of ‘98 (that’s 1898). This group expressed the need for revolution through their writings in a decadent Spain mired in political instability, war defeats, and a crumbling empire.
Although Machado seemed to reject the vision of modernism in his own poetry, he was heavily influenced by modernist authors such as the Nicaraguan Ruben Dario and the Irish Oscar Wilde. Machado preferred to call his work “eternal poetry,” which he created more by intuition than by pure intellectualism like his modernist contemporaries.
10 Poems by Antonio Machado
The following is a selection of 10 of the most famous poems by Antonio Machado. I’m writing first the original version in Spanish, and then the full translation in English right after it.
1. Proverbios y Cantares
The popular Spanish singer Joan Manuel Serrat included “Proverbios y Cantares” in one disc dedicated exclusively to Machado’s poems. The song was a great hit in the Spanish speaking world, making this poem one of the most famous poems in Spanish.
Todo pasa y todo queda,
pero lo nuestro es pasar,
pasar haciendo caminos,
caminos sobre el mar.
Nunca persequí la gloria,
ni dejar en la memoria
de los hombres mi canción;
yo 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…
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 …
2. La Saeta
Another famous poem by Antonio Machado that’s been musicalized and turned into a song by Joan Manuel Serrat first, but also by other Spanish artists such as the gypsy god of flamenco Camarón de la Isla.
Dijo una voz popular:
“¿Quién me presta una escalera,
para subir al madero
para quitarle los clavos
a Jesús el Nazareno?”
¡Oh la saeta, el cantar
al Cristo de los gitanos,
siempre con sangre en las manos
siempre por desenclavar!
¡Cantar del pueblo andaluz
que todas las primaveras
anda pidiendo escaleras
para subir a la cruz!
¡Cantar de la tierra mía,
que echa flores
al Jesús de la agonía,
y es la fe de mis mayores!
¡Oh, no eres tú mi cantar!
¡No puedo cantar, ni quiero,
a ese Jesús del madero,
sino al que anduvo en el mar!
The Arrow
Said a popular voice:
“Who can lend me a ladder,
to climb the tree
to remove the nails
to Jesus the Nazarene?”
Oh the arrow, the singing
to the Christ of the gypsies,
always with blood in the hands
always for taking nails off!
Song of the Andalusian people
that every spring
is asking for ladders
to climb up the cross!
Song of my land,
that throws flowers
to the Jesus of agony,
and it’s the faith of my elders!
Oh, you are not my song!
I can’t sing, nor do I want to,
to that Jesus on the wood,
but to the one who walked in the sea!
3. Deletreos de Armonía
Short and melancholic poem that shows the reflective spirit of a mature Machado.
Deletreos de armonía
que ensaya inexperta mano.
Hastío. Cacofonía
del sempiterno piano
que yo de niño escuchaba
soñando… no sé con qué,
con algo que no llegaba,
todo lo que ya se fue.
Harmony Spellings
Harmony spellings
rehearsed by an inexperienced hand.
Weariness. Cacophony
of the everlasting piano
that I used to listen to as a child
dreaming … I don’t know with what,
with something that didn’t arrive,
everything that is already gone.
4. Anoche Cuando Dormía
In this poem, Machado expresses his spiritual hopes and transcendent thoughts.
Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que una fontana fluía
dentro de mi corazón.
Di: ¿por qué acequia escondida,
agua, vienes hasta mí,
manantial de nueva vida
en donde nunca bebí?
Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que una colmena tenía
dentro de mi corazón;
y las doradas abejas
iban fabricando en él,
con las amarguras viejas,
blanca cera y dulce miel.
Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que un sol ardiente lucía
dentro de mi corazón.
Era ardiente porque daba
calores de rojo hogar,
y era sol porque alumbraba
y porque hacía llorar.
Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que era Dios lo que tenía
dentro de mi corazón.
Last Night While I Was Sleeping
Last night while I was sleeping
I dreamed, blessed illusion!
that a fountain flowed
inside my heart.
Say: through which hidden ditch,
water, you come to me,
spring of new life
where I never drank?
Last night while I was sleeping
I dreamed, blessed illusion!
that I had a hive
inside my heart;
and the golden bees
were manufacturing in it,
with the old bitterness,
white wax and sweet honey.
Last night while I was sleeping
I dreamed, blessed illusion!
that a burning sun shone
inside my heart.
It was hot because it gave
heats of red home,
and it was sun because it lit up
and because it made them cry.
Last night when I was sleeping
I dreamed, blessed illusion!
that it was God who I had
inside my heart.
5. Yo Voy Soñando Caminos
Once again, Antonio Machado talks about the path, or paths in this case, a recurring theme in his poetry. What do you think “the path” means in Machado’s poems?
Yo voy soñando caminos
de la tarde. ¡Las colinas
doradas, los verdes pinos,
las polvorientas encinas!…
¿Adónde el camino irá?
Yo voy cantando, viajero
a lo largo del sendero…
-La tarde cayendo está-.
“En el corazón tenía
la espina de una pasión;
logré arrancármela un día;
ya no siento el corazón.”
Y todo el campo un momento
se queda, mudo y sombrío,
meditando. Suena el viento
en los álamos del río.
La tarde más se oscurece;
y el camino que serpea
y débilmente blanquea,
se enturbia y desaparece.
Mi cantar vuelve a plañir;
“Aguda espina dorada,
quién te pudiera sentir
en el corazón clavada.”
I’m Dreaming About Paths
I’m dreaming about afternoon
paths. The golden
hills, the green pines,
the dusty oaks!…
Where will the path go?
I’m singing,
traveler along the trail …
(The afternoon is falling)
“In my heart I had
the thorn of a passion;
I managed to rip it off one day;
I no longer feel my heart. “
And the whole field for a moment
remains, mute and gloomy,
meditating. The wind sounds
in the poplars of the river.
The afternoon grows darker;
and the path that zig-zags
and softly turns white,
becomes cloudy and disappears.
My song wails again;
“Sharp golden thorn,
who could feel you
nailed in the heart.”
6. Siempre Fugitiva y Siempre Cerca
Leonor Izquierdo, wife and muse of Antonio Machado, died tragically just three years after getting married. She was 18 years old at the time. Machado never really got over that tragedy and wrote frequently about her. This poem is a good example of that.
Siempre fugitiva y siempre
Cerca de mí, en negro manto
mal cubierto el desdeñoso
gesto de tu rostro pálido.
No sé adónde vas, ni dónde
tu virgen belleza tálamo
busca en la noche. No sé
qué sueños cierran tus párpados,
ni de quién haya entreabierto
tu lecho inhospitalario.
………………………….
Detén el paso belleza
esquiva, detén el paso.
Besar quisiera la amarga,
amarga flor de tus labios.
Always Fugitive, Always Near
Always fugitive and always
near me, in a black cloak
badly covered the disdainful
gesture of your pale face.
I don’t know where you are going, or where
your virgin beauty thalamus
search at night. I don’t know
what dreams close your eyelids,
nor who has ajar
your inhospitable bed.
………………………….
Stop dodgy beauty
stop.
I would like to kiss the bitter,
bitter flower of your lips.
7. ¿Y ha de Morir Contigo…?
From his book Soledades or “Solitudes,” this poem explores the philosophical and existential angst that always inhabited Machado’s mind.
¿Y ha de morir contigo el mundo mago
donde guarda el recuerdo
los hálitos más puros de la vida,
la blanca sombra del amor primero,
la voz que fue a tu corazón, la mano
que tú querías retener en sueños,
y todos los amores
que llegaron al alma, al hondo cielo?
¿Y ha de morir contigo el mundo tuyo,
la vieja vida en orden tuyo y nuevo?
¿Los yunques y crisoles de tu alma
trabajan para el polvo y para el viento?
And Must It Die With You…?
And must the magical world die with you,
where the memory keeps
the purest breaths of life,
the white shadow of love first,
the voice that went to your heart,
the hand that you wanted to hold in dreams,
and all the loves
that reached the soul, to the deep sky?
And must your world die with you,
the old life in order yours and new?
Do the anvils and crucibles of your soul
work for the dust and for the wind?
8. Para tu Ventana
Another poem where Antonio Machado seems to be talking directly to his late wife, looking for her, remembering her.
Para tu ventana
un ramo de rosas me dio la mañana.
Por un laberinto, de calle en calleja,
buscando, he corrido, tu casa y tu reja.
Y en un laberinto me encuentro perdido
en esta mañana de mayo florido.
¡Dime dónde estás!
Vueltas y revueltas,
ya no puedo más.
For Your Window
For your window
a bouquet of roses gave me the morning.
Through a labyrinth, from street to alley,
searching, I have run, your house and your fence.
And in a maze I find myself lost
on this flowery May morning.
Tell me where you are!
Round and round
I can’t anymore.
9. Dice la Razón
Included in his famous book of poems Campos de Castilla or “Fields of Castile,” this poem explores the delicate balance and eternal battle between reason and emotion.
Dice la razón: busquemos la verdad.
Y el corazón: vanidad,
la verdad ya la tenemos.
La razón: ¡ay, quién alcanza la verdad!
El corazón: vanidad;
la verdad es la esperanza.
Dice la razón: tú mientes.
Y contesta el corazón: quien miente
eres tú, razón, que dices
lo que no sientes.
La razón: jamás podremos entendernos,
corazón. El corazón: lo veremos.
Says The Reason
Says the reason: let’s look for the truth.
And the heart: vanity,
we already have the truth.
The reason: oh, who can reach the truth!
The heart: vanity;
the truth is hope.
The reason says: you lie.
And the heart answers: who lies
it’s you, reason, ‘cause you say
what you don’t feel.
The reason: we will never understand each other,
heart. The heart: we will see.
10. Si Yo Fuera un Poeta
To close this selection of poems from the poet of the people, I’m including this poem that plays with the idea that Machado is no poet. Beautiful game of irony and creativity.
Si yo fuera un poeta
galante, cantaría
a vuestros ojos un cantar tan puro
como en el mármol blanco el agua limpia.
Y en una estrofa de agua
todo el cantar sería:
“Ya sé que no responden a mis ojos,
que ven y no preguntan cuando miran,
los vuestros claros, vuestros ojos tienen
la buena luz tranquila,
la buena luz del mundo en flor, que he visto
desde los brazos de mi madre un día”.
If I Was a Poet
If I was a poet
gallant, would sing
in your eyes a song so pure
as clean water in white marble.
And in a stanza of water
all the singing would be:
“I know that they don’t answer to my eyes,
who see and don’t ask when they look,
your clear ones, your eyes have
the good quiet light,
the good light of the world in bloom, that I have seen
from my mother’s arms one day.”
Caminante, No Hay Camino
…se hace camino al andar. “Walker, there’s no path, the path is made by walking.” With that most famous of Antonio Machado’s quotes, I close this poetic post reminding you that you make your own path to Spanish fluency. Only when you put into practice all the grammar and cultural knowledge you learn, is when you’ll achieve your language learning goals.
Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala, and start speaking about Antonio Machado’s poetry in Spanish today!
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