The 20 Best Poems By Antonio Machado (and Their Meaning)
Antonio Machado He was a Sevillian poet born in 1875 who left a great legacy within Spanish Modernism. He was part of the so-called Generation of ’98, and was chosen as a member of the Royal Spanish Academy.
Among his published books, some stand out such as “Soledades” (1907), “Campos de Castilla” (1912) and “La Guerra” (1937). In this article we propose the 20 best poems by Antonio Machado (and their meaning).
—whoever speaks only hopes to speak to God one day—;
my soliloquy is a conversation with this good friend
who taught me the secret of philanthropy.
And in the end, I owe you nothing; You owe me everything I have written.
I go to work, I pay with my money
the suit that covers me and the mansion that I inhabit,
the bread that feeds me and the bed where I lie.
And when the day of the last trip arrives
and the ship that will never return is leaving,
You will find me on board light of luggage,
almost naked, like the children of the sea.
4. Prelude
While the shadow passes of a holy love, today I want
put a sweet psalm on my old lectern.
I will remember the notes of the severe organ
sighing fragrantly from the fife of April.
The autumn grapes will ripen their aroma;
myrrh and frankincense will praise its smell;
The rose bushes will exhale their fresh perfume,
under the shady peace of the warm flowering orchard.
To the low slow chord of music and aroma,
the only old and noble reason for my prayer
will lift its soft dove flight,
and the white word will rise to the altar.
5. The arrow
A popular voice said:
«Who lends me a ladder
to climb the tree
to remove the nails
to Jesus the Nazarene?
Oh, the arrow, the singing
to the Christ of the gypsies
always with blood on their hands
always to be unlocked.
Song of the Andalusian people
that every spring
is asking for stairs
to climb the cross.
Sing of my land
that blooms flowers
to the Jesus of agony
and it is the faith of my elders
Oh, aren’t you my song
I can’t sing, nor do I want to
to this Jesus of the tree
but to him who walked in the sea!
This is a poem of a religious nature, more specifically, a criticism of the Andalusian religion The poet does not identify with Jesus Christ, representative of God, as an immobile and static symbol, but rather with a Jesus Christ who works and develops actions.
6. I dreamed that you were taking me
I dreamed that you took me
on a white path,
in the middle of the green field,
towards the blue of the mountains,
towards the blue mountains,
a serene morning.
I felt your hand in mine,
your hand as a companion,
your girlish voice in my ear
like a new bell,
like a virgin bell
of a spring dawn.
They were your voice and your hand,
in dreams, so true!…
Live, hope, who knows
what the earth swallows!
A clearly romantic poem, in which Machado addresses a love The high use of adjectives is appreciated, with emphasis on colors (blue mountains, green field), to give more nuances to the description.
7. Winter sun
It’s noon. A park.
Winter. White paths;
symmetrical mounds
and skeletal branches.
Under the greenhouse,
potted orange trees,
and in its barrel, painted
in green, the palm tree.
A little old man says,
for your old layer:
«The sun, this beauty
of sun!…” The children play.
The water from the fountain
slip, run and dream
licking, almost mute,
the verdant stone.
Very descriptive poem, in which a park is staged with all its elements ; trees, tones of the landscape, water from the fountain, etc.
8. When is my life…
When is my life,
all clear and light
like a good river
that runs happily
to the sea,
to the sea ignore
that waits
full of sun and song.
And when it springs into me
heart spring
It will be you, my life,
The inspiration
of my new poem.
A song of peace and love
to the rhythm of blood
that runs through the veins.
A song of love and peace.
Just sweet things and words.
While,
meanwhile, keep the golden key
of my verses
among your jewels.
Save it and wait.
Romantic poem in which poetry itself is enhanced ; Machado talks about keeping the key to his verses among the jewels, giving them an undeniably high value.
Poem that talks about a love relationship that seems to be about to pass and the desire to immortalize it later She has feelings of frustration and a bit of grief.
10. Spring was passing…
The spring kissing
softly the grove,
and the new green sprang
like a green smoke.
The clouds were passing
about the youth field…
I saw in the leaves trembling
the cool rains of April.
Under that flowering almond tree,
all loaded with flower
-I remembered-, I have cursed
my youth without love.
Today in the middle of life,
I have stopped to meditate…
Youth never lived,
who would dream you again!
Another poem with a high descriptive content, somewhat following the line of the previous ones We talk about elements of nature; clouds, fresh leaves, flowers, trees, etc.
11. Field
The afternoon is dying
like a humble home that goes out.
There, on the mountains,
some embers remain.
And that broken tree on the white road
makes you cry with pity.
Two branches on the wounded trunk, and one
Withered and black leaf on each branch!
Do you cry?…Among the golden poplars,
Far away, the shadow of love awaits you.
Poem that reveals love as salvation from states of sadness (“Are you crying?…Among the golden poplars, far away, the shadow of love awaits you”).
12. The clock struck twelve… and it was twelve
The clock struck twelve… and it was twelve
hoe blows on the ground…
– My time! …—I shouted. The silence
He answered me: —Do not be afraid;
you will not see the last drop fall
that trembles in the hourglass.
You will still sleep many hours
on the old shore,
and you will find a pure morning
your boat moored to another bank.
Poem that talks about the future of the hopeful future.
13. To the deserted square
To the deserted square
leads a maze of alleys.
On one side, the old gloomy wall
of a ruined church;
on the other side, the whitish wall
of an orchard of cypresses and palm trees,
and, in front of me, the house,
and in the house the fence
before the glass that slightly fogs
his placid and smiling figure.
I will move away. I don’t want to
knock on your window… Spring
comes –his white dress
floats in the air of the dead square–;
comes to light the roses
red from your rose bushes… I want to see it…
Poem in which Machado describes a square that probably belongs to his hometown He describes the square to us as deserted, a little dry. Finally the description takes us to the house where his lover supposedly lives.
14. Love and the saw
I was riding through the bitter mountains,
one afternoon, among ashen rock.
The leaden ball of the storm
bouncing from mountain to mountain could be heard.
Suddenly, in the vivid glare of lightning,
he reared up, under a tall pine tree,
at the edge of the rock, his horse.
With hard rein he returned to the road.
And he had seen the cloud torn apart,
and, inside, the sharp crest
of another more tenuous and raised mountain range
-stone lightning seemed-.
And did you see the face of God? He saw that of his beloved.
He shouted: Die in this cold mountain range!
romantic poem in which a man (gentleman, on his horse) goes looking for his beloved in the mountains.
15. Walker there is no path
Walker, they are your footprints
the road and nothing more;
Walker, there is no path,
the path is made by walking.
By walking the path is made,
and when I look back
you see the path that never
it has to be stepped on again.
Walker there is no path
but wakes in the sea.
Well-known poem by Machado; talks about the path one carves out in life Life is considered as a blank canvas, and one that one has to weave as one lives, leaving the past behind. It was set to music by Joan Manuel Serrat.
In this poem there is a contrast between nature and man (hunter) that appears in it.
17. Garden
Far from your garden the afternoon burns
golden incense in glitter flames,
behind the forest of copper and ash.
There are dahlias in your garden.
Damn your garden!… Today it seems to me
the work of a hairdresser,
with that poor dwarf palm tree,
and that picture of cut myrtles…
and the little orange in its barrel… The water
from the stone fountain
He doesn’t stop laughing on the white shell.
This is another poem by Machado in which colors abound as descriptive elements (copper, ash, orange…) while describing the nature of a garden.
18. The ephemeral tomorrow
The Spain of charanga and tambourine,
closed and sacristy,
devoted to Frascuelo and María,
with a mocking spirit and restless soul,
must have its marble and its day,
his infallible morning and his poet.
In vain yesterday will beget tomorrow
empty and perhaps temporary.
It will be a young owl and tarambana,
a sayón with bolero shapes,
realistic France fashion
a bit like pagan Paris
and in the style of Spain specialist
in the vice at hand.
That inferior Spain that prays and yawns,
old and gambler, straggler and sad;
that inferior Spain that prays and attacks,
when he deigns to use his head,
she will still give birth to boys later
lovers of sacred traditions
and in sacred forms and manners;
apostolic beards will flourish,
and other bald spots on other skulls
They will shine, venerable and catholic.
The vain yesterday will beget a tomorrow
empty and by chance! passenger,
the shadow of a tarambana owl,
of a sayón with bolero shapes;
The empty yesterday will give an empty tomorrow.
Like the nausea of an overstuffed drunk
of bad wine, a red sun crown
the granite peaks of turbid feces;
there is a stomach-churning tomorrow written
in the pragmatic and sweet afternoon.
But another Spain is born,
the Spain of the chisel and the mace,
with that eternal youth that becomes
of the breed’s solid past.
A relentless and redeeming Spain,
Spain at dawn
with an ax in his avenging hand,
Spain of rage and idea.
Poem that talks about the future of Spain from Machado’s point of view A rather pessimistic future, with a society with little hard work, with few ambitions.
19. Horizon
On a clear and wide afternoon like boredom,
when his spear brandishes the torrid summer,
They copied the ghost of a serious dream of mine
a thousand shadows in theory, standing tall on the plain.
The glory of the sunset was a purple mirror,
It was a crystal of flames, which to the infinite old
I was throwing the grave dream into the plain…
And I felt the sound spur of my step
echo far away in the bloody twilight,
and beyond, the joyful song of a pure dawn.
The theme of the poem the inevitable passage of time There are moments when pause comes, calm. But in the end everything continues, the course of things does not stop.
20. Bad dreams
There is the shadowy square;
dies the day
The bells ring far away.
Of balconies and windows
the stained glass windows light up,
with dim reflections,
like whitish bones
and blurry skulls.
Shines throughout the afternoon
a nightmare light.
There is the sun in the setting.
The echo of my step sounds.
It’s you? I was waiting for you…
Weren’t you the one I was looking for?
Very visual poem that talks about a setting and specific moments, placing emphasis on the different tones of light (square, shadowy, stained glass windows illuminated…) It is more of a romantic poem, since at the end it addresses someone in particular and tells them that he was waiting for them, with rhetorical questions.
