Miguel Ángel Asturias

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Miguel Ángel Asturias The Fortune To give is to love, To give prodigiously: For every drop of water To return a torrent. We were made that way, Made to scatter Seeds in the furrow And stars in the ocean. Woe to him, Lord, who doesn't exhaust his supply, And, on returning, tells you: "Like an empty satchel Is my heart." THE DANCE OF THE CHIMERAS (the beginning of the poem..) “This our word, our voice, our challenge, our manifesto!” “The stars would not rise into the heavens without being sculpted... And who sculpts them? I, the sculptor of the stars in my House of the West...” “Music is born heard, like the springs, the waterfalls... There’s no need of other ears... the god-ears and my ears suffice.. It’s born with little ears of crystal and foam and is recreated by itself... Why bring it to ears that wouldn’t court it, as I do, in my House of the South?" “What ship is launched in the sea of subterranean darkness without being painted, and who paints it, who decorates the grottoes and caverns that row in the depths beneath the earth, but I... and the Nights would they rise into the sky without being tattooed with gold? And who dresses them in gourd-cup tattoos but I... painter, engraver and gourdcutter in my House of the East...” “And the gods, despite their stony contexture, their eyes that emit fire of volcanic phosphorus, their lizards' teeth, their jaguars' claws, [...]

The Fortune

To give is to love,
To give prodigiously:
For every drop of water
To return a torrent.

We were made that way,
Made to scatter
Seeds in the furrow
And stars in the ocean.

Woe to him, Lord,
who doesn't exhaust his supply,
And, on returning, tells you:
"Like an empty satchel
Is my heart."

THE DANCE OF THE CHIMERAS

(the beginning of the poem..)

“This our word, our voice,
our challenge, our manifesto!”
“The stars would not rise into the heavens
without being sculpted...
And who sculpts them?
I, the sculptor of the stars
in my House of the West...”
“Music is born heard, like the springs,
the waterfalls...
There’s no need of other ears...
the god-ears and my ears suffice..
It’s born with little ears of crystal and foam
and is recreated by itself...
Why bring it
to ears that wouldn’t court it, as
I do, in my House of the South?"
“What ship is launched
in the sea of subterranean
darkness without being painted,
and who paints it,
who decorates the grottoes
and caverns that row
in the depths beneath the earth,
but I...
and the Nights
would they rise
into the sky without being tattooed with gold?
And who dresses them in gourd-cup tattoos
but I...
painter, engraver and gourdcutter
in my House of the East...”
“And the gods,
despite their stony contexture,
their eyes that emit fire
of volcanic phosphorus,
their lizards' teeth,
their jaguars' claws,
[...]