Intimate Prayer

Blessed forever be
My hamlet in its simplicity

With its mornings calm and bright,
Lilac-covered, or blue or white.

Where evening as a perfume goes,
And twilight’s colored like a rose.

With nights whose beauty nothing mars,
Drunken with the moon and stars.

Where the ancient steeple airy
Watches like a visionary.

With tiny houses that beguile
One’s spirit with their humble smile.

Where ancient laurels touch the sky,
And from tall cotes the pigeons fly.

Where the rivulet and river
Bathe the feet of the village ever.

Where blossomy branches are the yield
Of the fertile fragrant field.

With hearts good and happy, making
Life’s old hurt leave off its aching—

Hearts that crave no other’s pleasure,
But the days by duties measure;

Child-like souls who seem to be
All courtesy and gravity.

For this, and for much more that I
From memory will not let die,

Blessed forever be
My hamlet in its simplicity!

Antonio Nicolás Blanco