By Ruben Dario  (Nicaragua)
Date: 13 August 1999

Autumnal

In the pale afternoons 
Where subdued clouds stray,
In blue,
Pensive heads rest
In burning hands.
Sighs and sweet dreams!
In melancholy intimacy,
Dust of gold floats in the air
In whose shimmering wake 
Tender, tearful eyes look at each other
Mouths flooded with smiles;
Curled hair,
Rosy fingers that caress
In the pale afternoon;
A lady-friend out of a fairytale 
Tells me secret stories
Full of poetry and verse 
Of what the birds sing
What the breezes carry
What wanders in the foggy mists
What girls dream of...

Once I felt the longing 
Of a boundless thirst
I said to the loving lady of the fairytale book
"I want to breathe deeply into my limitless soul
Light, warmth, scent, life."
She said to me: "Come"
With cadence and accent 
Like those with which a harp could have spoken, 
She breathed out an heavenly smell of hope
And a thirst of the noblest kind
Upon a mountaintop
At midnight...
She showed me burning stars:
A golden garden
With petals of flame which titillate
And I exclaimed, "More!"
The dawn came just then
The dawn  with her light 
Came right after that, 
Smiling on my face 
Like a shy young lady
Who peers from behind the window
Where certain magic eyes
Catch her unawares,
And I said "More!"  
Then, smiling, my celestial fairytale girl
Interrupted me
And said, "Very well, the flowers!"
And the flowers were cool and fresh
Pretty and  drenched in fragrance
The virgin Rose,
The white daisy,
The well mannered lilly
And the and the "volúbiles"
That hang from the trembling branch
And I said "More!"

The wind dragged, 
Like leaves whirling 
In circles,
Whispers, echoes, laughter
Mysterious murmurings,
Flutterings of wings,
Melodies never before heard...
My fair fairy beauty then took me to the veil
That covers our endless longings
With deep inspiration 
And the lyricist's heart,
And she tore that veil!
Everything was sunrise there:
In the background was to be seen
The beautiful face of womankind
"Oh, never" said I, "my lady you will ever
Be able to describe the sacred delights
Which my heart felt."
With her unfathomable smile
She said, "More?"
By then my pupils 
Were gazing, blue, 
And in my burning hands
Rested my pensive head.