Translation:The Black Heralds (1918)/The Miserable Dinner

by César Vallejo

 
For how long will we wait for that
which isn’t owed us... And in what bend will we extend
our poor knee forever! For how long
will the supportive cross hold back its arms.

For how long will Doubt dedicate heraldry to us
for having endured!...
We’ve now sat
often at the table, with the bitterness of a child who
at midnight, cries with hunger, wide awake...

And when we’ll find ourselves with the others, at the edge
of an eternal morning, breaking our fast together!
For how long this valley of tears, where
I never asked to be brought.
On my elbows
completely bathed in cries, I repeat with my head bowed
and vanquished: for how long will this dinner last.

There’s someone who has drunk much and is cracking jokes,
and comes and goes from us, like a blue spoonful
of bitter human essence, the grave...
And this dark one
knows even less how long this dinner will last!