El Viejo Vals

The Old Waltz

To the languid beat
Of a Chopin waltz,
I confessed my love to you
Without realizing
That waltz was calling your interest.
That's why today my song
To the same beat,
Cries for you
As a good
That will never again
Bring its sway to my heart.

It was like a crazy flight of a moth
With spins and turns around the lantern
That dazzles us and fills us
With a sweet subtle and fatal dizziness...
Together my chest and your bosom...
The two hearts, beating in unison,
Fixed, impassive, and serene
Your cold gaze!...
Who would have told me that all
The glory of that gentle possession
Was the ephemeral coda
That my crazy illusion put to the waltz!...
Your hand obedient in mine...
My arm embracing your light waist
And meanwhile my voice
Dying in the slow
Turn of the waltz!...

Salon moth.
My heart also
Burned its wings of illusion
Turning in that Chopin waltz...
Drunk with passion
And blind with desire,
It rushes to your attraction
Without seeing more
Than a soul in you, woman, there is a waltz.