Sol 6

  1. Peace be upon you, Mariana, and mercy,

    Through which pardon pours down and kindnesses rain.

  2. And may the earth that held your brother before you be watered,

    And may his name be honored whenever it is mentioned.

  3. Now that Mariana has departed, there has fallen

    A palace of forbearance that flourished with knowledge.

  4. Beloved of her people, she had, in public

    And in private, only qualities worthy of praise.

  5. She took on what even the most accomplished could scarcely face,

    Though many a task defeats those who put themselves forward.

  6. She supported her own sex in the awakening of the age,

    To raise it up, while time harbors its decline.

  7. So the one who wrongs every reformer punished her,

    Bringing forward what should have waited for its appointed time.

  8. He disavowed her acknowledged worth and, as is his habit,

    Turns against every diligent soul in time.

  9. She was the woman of letters of her generation,

    And hers was original, unconfined verse.

  10. The new turns of the nights called to her, and she began

    To speak anew, beyond what people merely pass down.

  11. Her departures accorded with the beloved music of the ear

    And rose above the measured forms that custom favors.

  12. Defying all the kinds upon which

    Convention has settled, she is loftier and more poetic.

  13. No wonder if her symbols elude us,

    And what she means exceeds what we can imagine.

  14. She may hear the faint sound that we do not sense,

    And may discern in the unseen what we cannot see.

  15. Indeed, an inspiration from on high came to her,

    Bringing glad tidings to wakeful souls and warning them.

  16. What can minds grasp of the solution to a riddle

    When destinies contend over what they decree?

  17. Has the lighthouse's glitter startled you in the dark,

    As the ship leaps upward and plunges down?

  18. Its beacon comes into view and then disappears;

    At one moment it shines proudly, at another it folds

  19. Its rays, spreading and drawing them in, as though they were

    Anchors of rescue cast out and dragged along.

  20. Its colors follow one another; without their variation,

    The seeker of guidance, however discerning, would lose the way.

  21. Its lamp is sound, its light is clear;

    Only the glass undergoes change.

  22. So Mariana completed her life,

    And in her example is guidance for whoever looks closely.

  23. When she died, darkness prevailed over the radiance;

    Yes, it prevailed for a time, but light takes its revenge.

  24. While that lighthouse went dark beneath the earth,

    It became a star shining in the heavens.

Sol 6