A FASCINATING POEM

What follows is a fascinating poem from the Penguin Classic, 'Don Quixote', by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra:

A mariner of love am I

Who, far from any strand,

Sails on, although without a hope

Of ever reaching land.

My eyes are on a distance star

That serves me as a guide,

More beautiful and and bright than all

That Palinurus spied.

I don’t know where she’s leading me,

And so, bemused, I steer,

My heart intent on watching her,

Careless and full of care.

And her unkindly bashfulness

And undue modesty

And clouds that hide her from my eyes,

The girl I long to see.

O Clara, clear and shining star,

I fade beneath your light,

And if you hide your beams from me

I’ll die in the darkest night.