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Proverbs and Songs (an excerpt)

Antonio Machado
A horizontal poster with a colorful mosaic at the top features an excerpt from the poem, Proverbs and Songs, by Antonio Machado. The poem has been translated into English from Spanish on the left.

Proverbs and Songs (an excerpt)

A man has four things
that don't work on the sea:
anchor, rudder and oars
and fear of drowning.

Cuatro cosas tiene el hombre
que no sirven en la mar:
ancla, gobernalle y remos,
y miedo de naufragar.



"Proverbs and Songs (#47)" by Antonio Machado from Border of a Dream: Selected Poems. Translated by Willis Barnstone. Poem copyright © 2004 by heirs of Antonio Machado. Translations copyright © 2004 Willis Barnstone. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press.

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