Te vi un punto, y, flotando ante mis ojos,
La imagen de tus ojos se quedó,
Como la mancha oscura, orlada en fuego,
Que flota y ciega, si se mira al sol.

  [A donde quiera]1 que la vista fijo,
Torno a ver sus pupilas llamear;
Mas no te encuentro a ti; que es tu mirada:
Unos ojos, los tuyos, nada más.

  De mi alcoba en al ángulo los miro
Desasidos fantásticos lucir:
Cuando duermo, los siento que se ciernen
De par en par abiertos sobre mí.

  [Yo]2 sé que hay fuegos fatuos que en la noche
Llevan al caminante a perecer:
Yo me siento arrastrado por tus ojos,
Pero [a dónde]3 me arrastran, no lo sé.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Obras de Gustavo A. Bécquer, tomo segundo, Rimas, Madrid: Imprenta de T. Fortanet, 1871, page 265. Note: Indent formatting follows the 1885 edition. Also confirmed with Obras de Gustavo A. Bécquer, cuarta edición aumentada con varias poesías y leyendas, tomo tercero, Rimas, Madrid: Librería de Fernando Fé, 1885, page 154.

¹ 1885 edition: "Adonde quiera"; some editions: "Adondequiera"
² 1885 edition: "Y"
³ 1885 edition: "adonde"
The word "ví" (spelling variant) in line 1 has been changed to "vi".
The word "imágen" (spelling variant) in line 2 has been changed to "imagen".
The word "tí" (spelling variant) in line 8 has been changed to "ti".
The word "fátuos" (spelling variant) in line 16 has been changed to "fatuos".
The word "noc" (typographical error in the 1885 edition) has been changed to "noche".
All instances of the word "á" (spelling variant) have been changed to "a".

Text Authorship:

• by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836 - 1870), no title, appears in Rimas, no. 14, Madrid, Imprenta de T. Fortanet, first published 1871 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Joaquín Turina (1882 - 1949), "Rima", op. 26 no. 3 (1923), published 1923 [ soprano and piano ], from Tres arias, no. 3, Madrid : UME [sung text checked 2 times]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "Poem", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Rime", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Barbara Miller , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-18
Line count: 16
Word count: 120

I saw you, a spot, and floating before my eyes
the image of your eyes remained,
like the dark stain trimmed [with] fire
which floats and blinds [you] if [you look] at the sun.

Wherever [my] sight focuses,
I turn to see your pupils blazing;
but I do not find you, it is your gaze,
[a pair of] eyes, your eyes, [and] nothing more.

From my bedroom in the corner I watch them
shine, freely, fantastically:
when I sleep I feel them loom, 
wide-open, over me.

I know that there are fatuous flames which in the night
take the walker to perish:
I feel myself pulled by your eyes,
but I know not where they are pulling me.