Plaza / Cruz: La noche del llano abajo

The Night on the Plain Below

The fire was spreading its blanket,

Its red blanket o'er th' embankment,

Thinking it might become chilly

When night fell on the plain below.

The night encroached, running its course

Over the barbarous terrain.

Seeing itself quake with fever,

It threw itself down the ravine.

Along the treacherous passage

I ventured there to find my way,

And I encountered the lifeless night

Spreading over the plain below.

Juan Bautista Plaza : from Siete canciones venezolanas (1932)

Original Spanish poem by Venezuelan poet Luís Barrios Cruz (1898-1968)

--English version ©2012, by E. Lein