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Poetry

Love of Chile

By Raúl Zurita
Translated from Spanish by Cristina de la Torre & Diana Glad

For love of Chile, for love of all things
from north to south, east and west
all that opens, all that speaks
White-water rivers and glaciered peaks touch
and speak words of love because in this world
all things speak of love;
stone with stone, grasses
with grasses
That’s how all things make love, beaches,
deserts, mountains,
southernmost forests, glaciers, and
all the waters that open and touch
So that you may behold them open
Only so that you may hear, Chile rises
Only so that you and I may look at each other
Over the entire horizon, if one but looks

 

they rise

 

Translation of “El amor de Chile.” First published in El amor de Chile (1987). Copyright Raúl Zurita. By arrangement with the author. Translation copyright 2009 by Cristina de la Torre and Diana Glad. All rights reserved.

English

For love of Chile, for love of all things
from north to south, east and west
all that opens, all that speaks
White-water rivers and glaciered peaks touch
and speak words of love because in this world
all things speak of love;
stone with stone, grasses
with grasses
That’s how all things make love, beaches,
deserts, mountains,
southernmost forests, glaciers, and
all the waters that open and touch
So that you may behold them open
Only so that you may hear, Chile rises
Only so that you and I may look at each other
Over the entire horizon, if one but looks

 

they rise

 

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