THE INEFFABLE
I die strangely... It is not life that kills me
It is not death that kills me, nor is it love;
I die of a thought, mute as a wound...
Have you never felt such a strange pain
Of an immense thought that is rooted in life,
Devouring flesh and soul, and without blooming?
Have you never carried inside a dormant star
That was burning you wholly without shining?
Height of martyrdom!... To eternally bear,
Rending and arid, the tragic seed
Pierced in one's entrails like a ferocious fang!...
But to uproot it one day in a flower that would bloom
Miraculous, inviolable!... Ah, it would not be greater
To hold in one's hands the head of God!
Delmira Agustini
Translation by Alejandro Cáceres
Selected Poetry of Delmira Agustini: Poetics of Eros. Contributors: Alejandro Cáceres - editor, Willis Barnstone - unknown. Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press. Place of Publication: Carbondale, IL. Publication Year: 2003