Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98. His work, initially modernist, evolved towards an intimate form of symbolism with romantic traits. He gradually developed a style characterized by both a commitment with humanity on one side and an almost Taoist contemplation of existence on the other, a synthesis that, according to Machado, echoed the most ancient popular wisdom.
I know Machado mainly through his poem, "Caminante," which might be translated as "Traveler." "Caminante" is a rather short poem:
Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el 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.
I would translate Machado's poem this way:
Traveler, your footsteps are the path, and nothing more.
Traveler, there isn't any path; we make our path by walking.
By walking, we make our path, and when we look back,
We see a path that we will never be able to return to and walk again.
Traveler, there isn't any path, just the traces of our footsteps on the sea.
While I have just said that I know Machado mainly through this poem, "Caminante," I actually know the poem through a song. To read the lyrics to the song, the only song on my "Memorial Playlist" that was not written by Bob Dylan, just click this link, and scroll down to that last song. That will get you to the lyrics, in Spanish, with my imperfect translation.
I hope you will. I think it is rather beautiful.
In the longer, "song" version of Machado's poem, here is the beginning verse:
Pero lo nuestro es pasar, But our fate is to pass on.
Pasar haciendo caminos, We pass on as we make pathways,
Caminos sobre la mar. Pathways over the sea.
Truly an inspired poem, and song! Come fellow traveler, and sing it with me. And with Machado!
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