The poem Otoño (Autumn) was written by Spanish poet Manuel Paso Cano. Below you can read the poem in Spanish, listen along to the recording, followed by an English translation.

MP3 Recording of  Otoño

Otoño

Tardes penosas, tristes, soñolientas;
noches de silencioso desconsuelo;
nubarrones que manchan en el cielo
la negra cerrazón de las tormentas.

Campos desiertos, pálidas llanuras
que presienten los vientos invernales,
y en las sierras las aguas torrenciales
que amenazan rugiendo en las alturas.

Ya apenas el ganado ramonea;
ya el campo fértil se tornó en ingrato;
ya ve el pastor, al regresar del hato,
la luna que en el cielo amarillea.

Sólo la vid derrocha su tesoro,
y a dichas y a esperanzas nos convida,
encerrando los gérmenes de vida
en sus racimos del color del oro.

Autumn

Sleepy, sorry, sad evenings;
Nights of silent grief;
Great clouds that are a stain in a sky
That’s black with the threat of storms.

Deserted fields, pallid plains
That sense winter winds,
And the downpour of rain
That threatens by rumbling from up above.

Now the cattle can only graze on the tips of branches,
Now the fertile land turned ingrate,
Now the shepherd sees, as he heads back from the camp*,
The moon turning yellow in the sky.

Only the vine squanders its treasure,
And to hope and happiness invites us,
Enclosing the seeds of life
In its grapes of gold hue.

*The place –usually a cabin in the mountains- where the shepherds spend the Summer. It’s "a camp" in the same way woodmen would spend some time in a camp in a forest while they were cutting timber.

Recording by Monique Palomares
Translation by Lisa Yannucci and Monique Palomares
Image: Van Gogh Pollard Willow 1882, letter sketch

Monique Palomares works with me on the French and Spanish versions of Mama Lisa’s World