Juan Ramón Jiménez -Te deshoje, como una rosa-

Te deshoje, como una rosa

Te dehojé, como una rosa,
para verte tu alma,
y no la vi.

Mas todo en torno
-horizontes de tierras y de mares-,
todo, hasta el infinito,
se colmó de una esencia
inmensa y viva.


I took off petal after petal

I took off petal after petal, as if you were a rose,
in order to see your soul,
and I didn't see it.

However, everything around
-horizons of fields and oceans-
everything, even what was infinite,
was filled with a perfume,
immense and living.

Translated by Robert Bly