THE BEGGAR
by: José de Espronceda
(1808-1842)
- HE world
is mine; I am free as air;
- Let others work that I may eat;
- All shall melt at my piteous prayer:--
- "An alms, for God's sake, I entreat."
-
- The cabin, the palace,
- Are my resort;
- If the threat of the thunder
- Shall break from the mountain,
- Or the torrent's quick fountain
- Shall drive me under,
- Within their shelter
- The shepherds make place,
- Lovingly asking me
- Food to grace;
- Or by the rich hearthstone
- I take my ease
- Fanned by the odors
- Of burning trees;
- With the luscious banquet
- And cushioned store,
- Upon the couch
- Of some proud señor.
-
- And I say to myself:--
- "Let the breezes blow
- And the tempest rage
- In the world without:
- Let the branches crack
- Where the high winds go,
- As I slumber with nothing to trouble about.
- The world is mine; I am free as air!"
-
- All are my patrons,
- And for all I ask
- My God as I daily pray;
- From peasant and noble
- I get my pay,
- And I take their favors
- Both great and small.
- I never ask them
- Who they be,
- Nor stop to task them
- With thanks for fee.
- If they desire
- To give me alms,
- 'Tis but their duty
- To tip my palms.
- Their wealth is sinful
- They must see;
- And a holy state
- Is my poverty,
- And he is a miser
- Who would deny
- An alms, and a beggar
- Blest am I.
-
- For I am poor and they grieve to note
- How I groan beneath my pain;
- They never see that their wealth is a mine
- Where I my treasures gain.
- The world is mine; I am free as air!
-
- A rebel and a discontent
- Amid my rags am I;
- To satirise their ease I'm sent
- And with a sour-set eye
- I boldly stare at the potentate
- Who dares to pass me in his state.
-
- The lovely maid
- Of a thousand scents
- In her joy arrayed
- With her love-locks blent--
- 'Tis she I follow
- Till she turns around,
- And my evil smells
- Her sense astound.
- At the feasts and spreads
- My voice is heard
- And they bow their heads
- At my merest word.
- Their joy and revel
- I come to stay,
- At the sight of my rags
- And my voice's brags
- Their music dies away.
- Showing how near
- Dwell pain and joy;
- No joy without tear
- No pain sans glad alloy.
- The world is mine; I am free as air!
-
- For me no morrow
- Nor yesterday;
- I forget the sorrow
- And the welladay.
- There's nought to trouble
- Or weary me here,--
- It's a palace tomorrow
- Or a hospital's cheer.
- I live a stranger
- To thoughts of care;
- Let others seek glory
- Or riches rare!
- My one concern
- Is to pass today;
- Let the laws prevail
- Where the monarchs sway!
- For I am a beggar
- And a poor man proud;
- 'Tis through fear of me
- There are alms allowed.
-
- A soft asylum
- Where'er it be,
- And a hospital bed
- Will be ready for me;
- And a cosy ditch
- Where my bones shall lie
- Will cover me over
- When I die.
-
- The world is mine; I am free as air;
- Let others work that I may eat!
- All hearts must melt at my piteous prayer:--
- An alms, for God's sake, I entreat!"
--Translated by Thomas Walsh
"The Beggar" is reprinted
from Hispanic Anthology: Poems Translated from the Spanish
by English and North American Poets. Ed. Thomas Walsh. New
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1920. |
MORE POEMS BY JOSÉ DE ESPRONCEDA |
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