Dos Himnos (Two Hymns) is a poem by Gabriela Mistral in praise of the original Indian inhabitants of Latin America. The first part, Sol del Trópico, is a hymn in praise of the sun of the tropics. In it, she invokes the sun, addressing it as various animals. Is there any reason she picked these particular animals?
Following are excerpts from this poem where she refers to the sun in terms of animals. The English is taken from Ursula Le Guin's translation, Two Hymns — I: Tropic Sun.
From the first stanza:
Faisán rojo cuando levantas
y cuando medios, faisán blanco,Red pheasant as you rise,
at noon, white pheasant,
——
Rafael de las marchas nuestras,
lebrel de oro de nuestros pasos,Archangel of our courses,
golden greyhound of our passes,
From the second stanza:
ciervo blanco o enrojecido,
siempre herido, nunca cazado...white stag, bloodstained stag,
forever wounded, never hunted down...
From the third stanza:
quetzal de fuego emblanquecido
que cría y nutre pueblos mágicos;
llama pasmado en rutas blancas
guiando llamas alucinados...Quetzal of bleached fire
that bears and feeds the magic peoples:
llama of ecstasy that leads your flock
in trance along white roads...
From the fourth stanza:
¡Pájaro Roc, plumón que empolla
dos orientes desenfrenados!Roc-bird, plumed breast hatching
two uncontrollable Orients!
From the fifth stanza:
tórtolas blancas en bandada,
maná que baja sin doblarnos.a whirl of white doves,
manna lightly descending.
