Pastoral
(Translated by Gwyneth Box)

My flock sleeps out in the open…
Miguel Hernández

One lamb that is among my flock stands clear
as a fair youth stands out among the crowd;
I, for this lamb, a special love have vowed,
more fitting to a child than to my years.

At rough fountain pipes, blackened and crude,
he quenches his thirst. From my hand he eats;
bleating, he seems to smile, and as he bleats
the countryside is filled with quietude.

This morning I sit embroidering designs
on linen while the thrush sings in the tree
and my lamb bleats as if he speaks to me.

As I stitch, he bleats, and the sun shines,
I wonder how I’ll feel about my lamb
when, old and fat, he has become a ram.

Carmen Jodra Davó

The Spanish original (Pastoral) is taken from the book Las Moras Agraces published by Ediciones Hiperión.