Translated from the Spanish by Mason Carnes
O waves gigantic that roaring break
And hurt yourselves on a desert strand,
Wrapt in a sheet of the foam you make
Drag me below with you, bear me on high.
O hurricane, driving with whips of wind
The faded leaves from the forest grand,
Dragged along by the whirlwind blind
Goad me to go with you, prone as I lie.
O clouds of the tempest, by light’ning kiss’d,
Your edges shot with the fire of its love,
Whirled long in the sombre mist
Bear me away with you, bear me above.
O bear me away with you, bear me away
Where frenzied with vertigo mad I may slay
My reason and memory, for I fear
To be left all alone with my sorrow here.
From Poems of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1891) by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Translated from the Spanish by Mason Carnes. This poem is in the public domain.