THE BULL AND THE PICADOR
by: José Zorilla
 AWING the earth, and snorting
in his rage
- The Bull is tossing up the torrid sand;
- The while the horseman's eye serene and bland
- Seeks out a point for his red lance to gauge.
- Steadied to take the charge, the fight to wage,
- The picador holds his impatient stand;
- His face, for all its blackness, whiter fanned
- To anger as the bull obstructs the stage.
- He hesitates; the Spaniard jeers at him;
- He shakes his hornéd front; he tears the earth,
- Heaving great breaths and straining every limb;
- The taunter urges him to prove his worth;
- Sudden he charges, fails, and bellows grim,
- His shoulder bleeding, the great crowd in mirth!
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This English translation by Thomas
Walsh of 'The Bull and the Picador' 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 ZORILLA |
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