"Poets! Towers of God!" by Rubén Darío

[View this email on a browser]( [Forward to a friend]( [facebook-icon]( [tumblr-icon]( [twitter-icon]( July 13, 2019 [Poets! Towers of God!]( [Rubén Darío]( Translation by Thomas Walsh and Salomón de la Selva. Poets! Towers of God Made to resist the fury of the storms Like cliffs beside the ocean Or clouded, savage peaks! Masters of lightning! Breakwaters of eternity! Hope, magic-voiced, foretells the day When on the rock of harmony The Siren traitorous shall die and pass away, And there shall only be The full, frank-billowed music of the sea. Be hopeful still, Though bestial elements yet turn From Song with rancorous ill-will And blinded races one another spurn! Perversity debased Among the high her rebel cry has raised. The cannibal still lusts after the raw, Knife-toothed and gory-faced. Towers, your laughing banners now unfold. Against all hatreds and all envious lies Upraise the protest of the breeze, half-told, And the proud quietness of sea and skies… ---- Torres de Dios! Poetas! Pararrayos celestes, que resistís las duras tempestades, como crestas escuetas, como picos agrestes, rompeolas de las eternidades! La mágica Esperanza anuncia el día en que sobre la roca de armonía expirará la pérfida sirena. Esperad, esperemos todavía! Esperad todavía. El bestial elemento se solaza en el odio a la sacra poesía, y se arroja baldón de raza a raza. La insurrección de abajo tiende a los Excelentes. En caníbal codicia su tasajo con roja encía y afilados dientes. Torres, poned al pabellón sonrisa. Poned ante ese mal y ese recelo, una soberbia insinuación de brisa y una tranquilidad de mar y cielo… [Like this on Facebook]( [Share via Twitter]( This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on July 13, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. ["Poets! Towers of God!" by Dario]( About This Poem “Poets! Towers of God!” was published in Eleven Poems of Rubén Darío (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1916), translations by Thomas Walsh and Salomón de la Selva. [Ruben Dario]( Rubén Darío was born on January 18, 1867, in Metapa, Nicaragua. Considered one of the great modernist poets, he is the author of several books, including Prosas profanas y otros poemas (Imprenta Pablo E. Coni, 1896) and Cantos de vida y esperanza (Tipografía de Revista de Archivos y Bibliotecas, 1905). He died in Nicaragua on February 6, 1916. [more-at-poets]( [Selected Writings]( Poetry by Darío [Selected Writings]( (Penguin Classics, 2005) "Love Opened a Mortal Wound" by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz [read-more]( "It Comes in Every Storm" by Olga Orozco [read-more]( "conflict with a god" by María Luisa Arroyo [read-more]( July Guest Editor: Paul Guest Thanks to [Paul Guest](, author of Because Everything Is Terrible (Diode Editions, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read a [Q&A with Guest]( about his curatorial approach this month and find out more about our [guest editors for the year.]( [make a one-time donation]( [illustration]( [Small-Blue-RGB-poets.org-Logo]( Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit [Poets.org](. You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click [here](. © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038