It is too bad there is no good translation of Darío! Could square-toed Saxon reproduce such a poem as his Aire Suave with its fluted, fairy-like fine-stepping?
Era un aire suave, de pausados giros;
El hada Harmonia ritmaba sus vuelos;
E iban frases vagas y tenues suspiros
Entre los sollozes de los violoncelos.
It was a quarter of a century ago, I believe, that the part-negro poet of Venezuela, Mata, put out Pentelicas. Since, his output has been considerable, Grito Bohemio, Idilio Tragico. The last is called Arias Sentimentales. From this volume I quote a verse of the Nocturn:
Al tragico reproche
de la sombra a la luz, la flor secreta
de la esperanza recogio su broche,