Translated to English by Richard Gabela on March 5, 2025, from the original work Una Dama Imaginaria by Juan Bautista de Aguirre (1725–1786) of Daule, Ecuador. This poem was published posthumously in Poesías y obras oratorias (1943), but it was written during Aguirre’s lifetime.
An Imaginary Lady
What a lovely face you bear,
God keep you, maiden,
for when I gaze upon you, you subdue me,
and when you gaze at me, you slay me.
Those radiant eyes of yours,
divine yet ungrateful one,
are harpoons when you cast them forth,
daggers when you drive them home.
That playful mouth of yours,
amid coral and pearl,
offers a poison that grants life
and a sweetness that brings death.
Within it, all graces reside—
a rare privilege indeed—
that beauty should dwell upon your lips
without misfortune lodging there.
Charm and delight abound
in your form and your face;
your entire being is breath,
and all your breath is soul.
Your unbound hair
proclaims with airy pride
that beauty lies in blackness,
and elegance in what seems disarray.
Your eyebrows are Love’s bow,
and from their tyrant arrows,
neither is he wise who shields himself,
nor happy he who flees.
How disdainfully you mock!
How treacherously you boast!
steadfast against so many sufferings,
faithless to so many devotions.
How poorly you imitate the heavens,
so lavish to you with their graces,
for you know not how to grant a single one,
though you know how to possess so many!
Translator’s Note: Juan Bautista de Aguirre was a Jesuit priest and poet from colonial Ecuador whose works reflect a refined literary style influenced by the Spanish Golden Age. His poetry ranges from religious and philosophical themes to love and beauty, often blending admiration with irony. Una Dama Imaginaria is a striking example of this, portraying an idealized woman whose charm is both enchanting and cruel. The poem’s rich metaphors and elegant phrasing capture the tension between desire and unattainability, a theme that remains timeless. In translating this piece, my aim was to preserve Aguirre’s musicality and vivid imagery while maintaining the clarity and meaning of the original Spanish.
Original Spanish
Una Dama Imaginaria
Qué linda cara que tienes,
válgate Dios por muchacha,
que si te miro, me rindes
y si me miras, me matas.
Esos tus hermosos ojos
son en ti, divina ingrata,
arpones cuando los flechas,
puñales cuando los clavas.
Esa tu boca traviesa
brinda, entre coral y nácar,
un veneno que da vida
y una dulzura que mata.
En ella las gracias viven:
novedad privilegiada,
que haya en tu boca hermosura
sin que haya en ella desgracia.
Primores y agrados hay
en tu talle y en tu cara;
todo tu cuerpo es aliento,
y todo tu aliento es alma.
El licencioso cabello
airosamente declara
que hay en lo negro hermosura,
y en lo desairado hay gala.
Arco de amor son tus cejas,
de cuyas flechas tiranas,
ni quien se defiende es cuerdo,
ni dichoso quien se escapa.
¡Qué desdeñosa te burlas!
y ¡qué traidora te ufanas,
a tantas fatigas firme
y a tantas finezas falsa!
¡Qué mal imitas al cielo
pródigo contigo en gracias,
pues no sabes hacer una
cuando sabes tener tantas!