El sueño del caimán

por José Santos Chocano

Enorme tronco que arrastró la ola,

yace el caimán varado en la ribera;

espinazo de abrupta cordillera,

fauces de abismo y formidable cola.

El sol lo enveulve en fúlgida aureola;

y parece lucir cota y cimera,

cual monstruo de metal que reverbera

y que al reverberar se tornasola,

Inmóvil como un ídolo sagrado,

ceñido en mallas de compacto acero,

está ante el agua extático y sombrío,

a manera de un príncipe encantado

que vive eternamiente prisionero,

en el palacio de cristal de un río.

Dream of the Alligator

 translated from the Spanish of José Santos Chocano

His gigantic body dragged along by the waves,

a stranded alligator straddles the river bank.

His spine is as steep as a mountain range.

His jaws are a deadly abyss;

his tail, a servant of death.

As the sun wraps him in a resplendent halo,

his armor and crest appear to shine.

He is a giant’s toy, a metal monster that reverberates,

and on reverberating, changes color.

Immobile as a sacred idol

wrapped in a mesh of solid steel,

he faces the river, ecstatic and somber.

He is an enchanted prince,

condemned to an eternal prison

in the crystal palace of the river.