LAS CLAVELLINAS DE INDIASINDIAN PINKS
Salvador Jacinto Polo de Medinatrans. Timothy Adès
Breve tesoro, rica flor indiana,
y sol rizado en hojas,
oro florido que tu patria niegas,
que a tu oriente despojas
y en extranjeros valles te avecinas,
y a ser desvelo llegas
de laureles y rústicas encinas.
Por ti en alado pino,
por selvas de coral, pasó animoso
el avariento, el vano codicioso,
sin que el fatal destino
que le asalta, presuma
en valles de cristal, montes de espuma.
 Brief treasure, Indian rich flower,
And sun curled into petals:
This flowered gold its land betrays,
Despoils its eastern bower,
In foreign valleys settles,
Arriving in the vigils
Of rustic oaks and laurels.
For this in his winged vessel
One, vaunting, avaricious,
Comes covetously, travels
Through reefs and groves of corals,
Ambitious;
Nor does the deadly power
Of fate take cudgels,
Presume
In crystal vales to raise
Mountains of spume.
Trans. copyright © Timothy Adès 2001 







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