Translation:The Black Heralds (1918)/The Spider

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The Black Heralds (1918)
by César Vallejo, translated from Spanish by Wikisource
The Spider
César Vallejo1829659The Black Heralds — The Spider1918Wikisource

It is an enormous spider that does not move anymore;
a colorless spider, whose body,
a head and an abdomen, bleeds.

Today I saw it up close. And with such an effort
its innumerable feet extended
towards all sides.
And I have thought of its invisible eyes,
the fatal pilots of the spider.

It is a spider that trembles fixed
on the edge of a stone;
the abdomen on one side,
and on the other the head.

With so many feet the poor thing, and it cannot even then
make up its mind. And, seeing it today
stunned in such a difficulty,
it grieved me so to see this traveler.

It is an enormous spider, impeded by
its abdomen from following its head.
And I have thought of its eyes
and of its numerous feet...
And it grieved me so, this traveler!