The best of the good people
know that in this life
it’s all a question of proportion;
a little more, a little less . . .
Don’t be surprised, dear friends,
that my forehead is furrowed.
With men I live at peace, but with my insides
I am at war.
The cricket in his cage
by his tomato,
sings, sings, sings.
Pay attention:
a solitary heart
is no heart at all.
In my solitude
I have seen very clearly
things that are not true.
Antonio Machado
1875-1939
‘Moral Proverbs and Folksongs'
translated from the Spanish by Mary G. Berg and Dennis Maloney
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of ’98.
