Mass
Mass
(translation of a poem by César Vallejo)
When the battle had finally ended,
A man approached one of the dead soldiers
And said: “Please don’t die. I love you so much!”
But, alas, the corpse carried on with its dying.
Two more men came along
And added their voices to the first man's, saying:
“Please don’t leave us! Be brave!
Come back to the realm of the living!”
But, alas, the corpse carried on with its dying.
Twenty, a hundred, a thousand, five hundred thousand
People appeared, crying out: “So much
Love cannot be powerless against death!”
But, alas, the corpse carried on with its dying.
Millions of people surrounded the man now,
Chanting, “Don’t leave us, brother!”
But, alas, the corpse carried on with its dying.
Finally, everyone on earth stood around him.
The corpse looked at them sadly, deeply moved,
then got up slowly, embraced the first man,
began to walk...