Caprice

^{translated by Peter H. Goldsmith}

Who thankless flees me, I with love pursue,
Who loving follows me, I thankless flee;
To him who spurns my love I bend the knee,
His love who seeks me, cold I bid him rue;
I find as diamond him I yearning woo,
Myself a diamond when he yearns for me;
Who slays my love I would victorious see,
While slaying him who wills me blisses true.
To favor this one is to lose desire,
To crave that one, my virgin pride to tame;
On either hand I face a prospect dire,
Whatever path I tread, the goal the same:
To be adored by him of whom I tire,
Or else by him who scorns me brought to shame.

Soneto

^{Prosigue el mismo assumpto, y determina que prevalezca la razon contra el gusto}

Al que ingrato me dexa, busco amante;
    al que amante me sigue, dexo ingrata;
    constante adoro, á quien mi amor maltrata;
    maltrato, á quien mi amor busca constante.
Al que trato de amor, hallo diamante,
    y soy diamante, al que de amor me trata;
    triunfante quiero vèr al que me matá,
    y mato á quien me quiere vèr triunfante.
Si á éste pago, padece mi deseo;
    si ruego a aquel, mi pundonor enojo:
    de entrambos modos infeliz me veo.
Pero yo, por mejor partido escojo
    de quien no quiero, ser violento empleo,
    que, de quien no me quiere, vil despojo.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on October 10, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“Caprice” appeared in Hispanic Anthology (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1920).