[saintjames] Re: Najera Poem.

[Rosina Lila]

The Najera poem was written by Eugenio Garibay, and the Najera Society of
Friends of the Camino had it inscribed on the wall at the entrance to Najera. It
is written in Spanish with some Galician flavoring.
My keyboard does not have all the characters needed for writing in Spanish.
With this caveat, this is the poem:

"Polvo, barro, sol y lluvia
es Camino de Santiago.
Millares de peregrinos
y mas de un millar de anos.
Peregrino, quien te llama?
Ni el campo de las estrellas
ni las grandes catedrales;
no es la bravura navarra
ni el vino de los riojanos
ni los mariscos gallegos
ni los campos castellanos.
Peregrino, quien te llama?
Que fuerza oculta te atrae?
Ni las gentes del Camino
ni las costumbres rurales.
No es la historia y la cultura
ni el gallo de la Calzada
ni es el palacio de Gaudi
ni el castillo Ponferrada.
Todo lo veo al pasar
y es un gozo verlo todo;
mas la voz que a mi me llama
la siento mucho mas hondo;
la fuerza que a mi me empuja,
la fuerza que a mi me atrae
no se explicarla ni yo.
Solo el de arriba lo Sabe!"




                                                   Translation


Dust, mud, rain and sun......
....the Camino to Santiago.
Thousands and thousands of pilgrims
and a thousand and more years.
Pilgrim, who, what, does call you?
Not the field of all those stars,
nor the greatness of cathedrals,.
Not the valiancy of Navarra,
nor the far-famed  wines of Rioja;
nor the seafoods of Galicia
nor the plush Castilian fields.
Pilgrim, who does call you forth?
What unseen force does propel  you?
Not the folks of the Camino
nor the rural charms or ethos.
Neither history nor culture
nor that rooster in Calzada
nor the palace shaped by Gaudi
nor the fort in Ponferrada.
I see everything while passing
and it is a joy to see it;
but the voice that beckons me
I feel it inside way down deep.
The force that is thrusting  me,
the force that has summoned me
I myself cannot explain it.
Only the One from Above knows That that It is!
                            --------