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CESAR VALLEJO (Peru: 1892- Paris- 1938)
Translations by Michael Smith and Valentino Gianuzzi
THE SPIDER
It's a huge spider that walks no more;
a colourless spider, whose body
- a head and an abdomen - bleeds.
Today I have seen it close-up. And with what effort
toward all its flanks,
its countless feet extended.
And I have thought about its invisible eyes,
the spider's fatal guides.
It is a spider that trembled fixed
in a blade of stone;
its abdomen on one side,
its head on the other.
With so many feet the poor thing, and it cannot
even sort itself. And, seeing it
astounded in a such a moment,
today that traveller has given me such sorrow.
It is a huge spider, whose abdomen
prevents its head from following.
And I have thought about its eyes
and its countless feet . . .
And what sorrow that traveller has given me!