A Wolf

(Translated from the Spanish of Jorge Luis Borges)

Furtive and grey in the final gloaming
he treads, leaving his tracks along the bank

of this nameless river, which has sated

the thirst in his throat and whose waters

reflect no stars. Tonight,

the wolf is a solitary shadow,

seeking his mate and feeling the cold.

He is the last wolf in England.

Odin and Thor know him. From his towering

stone house, a king has decided

to be rid of all the wolves. The solid steel

of your death has already been forged.

Saxon wolf, you have bred in vain.

It is not enough to be cruel. You are the last.

A thousand years will pass and, in America,

an old man will dream about you. It is no

use to you, this distant dreaming.

Today those men, following the trail you left

as you crossed the forest, are closing in on you,

furtive and grey in the final gloaming.

Un lobo

Furtivo y gris en la penumbra última,
va dejando sus rastros en la margen
de este río sin nombre que ha saciado
la sed de su garganta y cuyas aguas
no repiten estrellas. Esta noche,
el lobo es una sombra que está sola
y que busca a la hembra y siente frío.
Es el último lobo de Inglaterra.
Odín y Thor lo saben. En su alta
casa de piedra un rey ha decidido
acabar con los lobos. Ya forjado
ha sido el fuerte hierro de tu muerte.
Lobo sajón, has engendrado en vano.
No basta ser cruel. Eres el último.
Mil años pasarán y un hombre viejo
te soñará en América. De nada
puede servirte ese futuro sueño.
Hoy te cercan los hombres que siguieron
por la selva los rastros que dejaste,
furtivo y gris en la penumbra última.

Poem by Jorge Luis Borges

Translation by Benjamin Palmer