O God, drink deep! The savage mountain boars went running
through the thickets of the wood;
midflight, the gleaming lightning from my quiver ended
the fear they had so rarely felt.
O God, drink deep! The Palace, white and gold, sends honey
from its beehives for your cup;
you’ve turned your terrible gaze away from Wolf and Serpent
and ancient ritual chants flood forth.
When your breath hangs over the battlefield, the warrior
laughs in the face of waiting Death;
when your voice rolls with the thunder through the expanse,
spears pierce throats, arrows hearts!
| Brittany Hause‘s sci-fi and fantasy poetry has appeared in Dreams & Nightmares, Asimov’s, and many other journals. You can read their translations to English of Spanish-language poems by South American authors in Samovar, Star*Line, Eye to the Telescope, and elsewhere. Brittany is currently pitching in as co-host on Jasmine Arch’s speculative poetry podcast Into the Looking Glass, so you can tune into recent episodes to hear them discussing the craft of SFF with writers and editors from around the globe.
Ricardo Jaimes Freyre (1868-1933) was a Bolivian diplomat, teacher, editor, and poet. Born in Peru, he divided his time as an adult between Bolivia and Argentina, where he co-ran an influential literary magazine and published collections of poetry considered classics of South American modernism, including the Norse-mythology inspired Castalia bárbara, source of “El himno.” |
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