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#Post#: 3641--------------------------------------------------
Antonio Machado
By: Gregory Date: April 11, 2023, 3:18 pm
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He was one of the finest Spanish poets of the twentieth century
and I've just been reading about him again. He died in exile in
February 1939 after fleeing from the Civil War in the coastal
town of Colliure, some miles up from the Spanish frontier. When
my wife and I visited the town some years ago (it's very
attractive), we went to see his tomb in the local cemetery:
HTML https://cdn.zendalibros.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tumba_machado.jpg
(The flag is the republican version of the Spanish flag.)
Colliure:
HTML https://estaticos-cdn.prensaiberica.es/clip/c92b2757-e9de-4d46-8ea7-cf7e09583f9c_source-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg
His most famous poem is 'Caminante' ('Wayfarer'):
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.
Translation:
Wayfarer, only your footprints
are the path, and nothing more;
wayfarer, there is no path,
you make the path as you walk.
As you walk you make the path,
and as you turn to glance behind
you see the trail that you never
shall return to tread again.
Wayfarer, there is no path,
only trails on the sea.
HTML https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/VNmurPNRIeErDOBZyl6halTpleY=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/67RVJR27EQEKBH3DFLCFH3MQ6Q.jpg
#Post#: 3682--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Lyn Date: April 12, 2023, 9:18 am
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Thanks for that, Greg.
#Post#: 3684--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Gregory Date: April 12, 2023, 9:34 am
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And thanks for your comment, Lyn; glad you appreciated it.
#Post#: 3688--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Lyn Date: April 12, 2023, 10:11 am
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I did, just re-read the poem and the meaning hit me more than
first time around.
#Post#: 3761--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Beverly Date: April 13, 2023, 11:32 am
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Agree with Lyn. The poem is very moving. I looked him up in Wiki
and it says this poem was written after the death of his young
wife Leonor.
In the article, the translation of the last sentence is:
"Wayfarer, there is no path, only wake trails on the sea."
It's a haunting and painful reality that life is fleeting and
ones footprint (or existence) fades away as wake trails on the
sea. He clearly felt this so keenly, so painfully after his
loss--as have I after mine.
#Post#: 3767--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Gregory Date: April 13, 2023, 12:26 pm
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Yes, I'd inadvertently omitted 'wake' from the translated
version. 'Wake trails', those transitory movements on the
surface of the sea after some disturbance (eg. a ship), from the
single Spanish word 'estelas'. I would have just opted for 'only
a wake on the sea' which conveys the idea less clumsily.
My wife and I visited the grave of Machado's wife Leonor when we
went to Soria some years ago, so we have visited both graves,
separated by many miles. It has the simple, touching
inscription: 'A LEONOR. ANTONIO.' (TO LEONOR. ANTONIO)
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Soria_Capital_-_191_%2833728194621%29.jpg/220px-Soria_Capital_-_191_%2833728194621%29.jpg
Here she is in life:
HTML https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQjTKt3NOjTm0v3awwftNEZZ0q_i17Jmc17g&usqp=CAU
#Post#: 3787--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Beverly Date: April 13, 2023, 1:10 pm
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[quote author=Gregory link=topic=69.msg3767#msg3767
date=1681406810]
'Wake trails', those transitory movements on the surface of the
sea after some disturbance (eg. a ship), from the single Spanish
word 'estelas'. I would have just opted for 'only a wake on the
sea' which conveys the idea less clumsily.[/quote]
Yes, just wake best conveys the idea.
Never having heard of him or his story before, the pain he
suffered by losing her is so keenly felt. Heartbreaking
#Post#: 3788--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Lyn Date: April 13, 2023, 1:13 pm
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I agree, it is so moving.
#Post#: 3792--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Lyn Date: April 14, 2023, 1:14 am
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Having read up on Antonio Machado I was quite stunned to read
that his wife, who died very young, was only 15 when he married
her, aged 34. He never married again.
#Post#: 3794--------------------------------------------------
Re: Antonio Machado
By: Gregory Date: April 14, 2023, 2:59 am
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Yes, it seems remarkable that she married so young, but Spanish
society was different from ours then and women probably matured
earlier (and she was already a teacher at the age of 13.) She
was very attractive (see the photo in the link in my previous
post and the one below) and you can see why he fell for her. She
died of tuberculosis, rife in those times.
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonor_Izquierdo
Here's a photo of the couple, probably on their wedding day.
(She's holding the typical Spanish fan.)
HTML https://i.promecal.es/IMG/2014/BA702986-9219-E023-4BAA8D90E703F21A.JPG
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