[580] inmóvil, encantado en medio de la inmensidad. Cf. Ancient Mariner, Part II, 8:
“As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.”
[581] no sabe salirse de él, cannot leave it.
[582] tragaderos insaciables, i.e., las costas de una inmensa nación.
[583] Salomón, king of the Israelites, famous for his wealth as well as for his wisdom.
[584] la torre de Babel. According to biblical tradition Noah’s sons attempted to build a tower reaching unto heaven.
[585] Semíramis, legendary queen of Assyria, said to have founded Babylon and built its storied hanging gardens.
[586] ciudades-esperanza, cities of hope. A noun is seldom used in Spanish as an adjective to modify another noun, but when that occurs the modifying noun is placed after the noun modified, not before, as in English.
[587] que veían en ella un escenario sonoro de su actividad intelectual, who saw in her an attractive field for their intellectual activity.
[588] lo. Note the use of the neuter article to sum up a preceding idea. In this case the clauses beginning with lo que in lines 9 and 10 are recapitulated.