El Amor que Calla

By Gabriela Mistral

Si yo te odiara, mi odio te daria
en las palabras, rotundo y seguro;
pero te amo y mi amor no se confia
a este hablar de los hombres, tan oscuro!

Tu lo quisieras vuelto un alarido,
y viene de tan hondo que ha deshecho
su quemante raudal, desfallecido,
antes de la garganta, antes del pecho.

Estoy lo mismo que estanque colmado
y te parezco un surtidor inerte.
Todo por mi callar atribulado
que es mas atroz que el entrar en la muerte!

Translation:

Quiet Love

If I hate you, I would give you my hate
In words, full and sure;
But I love you, and my love does not put faith
In mere words of men, so obscure.

You would like it changed to an outcry,
Yet its burning torrent of flame comes from such depth
That it has fallen apart, died,
Before reaching to my throat, before my breast.

I feel just like a brimming pool,
And to you I seem a lifeless fount.
All because of my painful silence
More atrocious than facing death itself.

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