Juana Fernández Morales de Ibarbourou, also known as Juana de América, (March 8, 1892 – July 15, 1979) was a Uruguayan poet.
She was one of the most popular poets of Spanish America. Her poetry, the earliest of which is often highly erotic, is notable for her identification of her feelings with nature around her.
I GIVE YOU MY SOUL!
Juana de Ibarbourou
I give you my soul naked
like a statue – not even a scrap hides it.
Naked like the innocent flaunting
of a fruit, of a star or a flower;
of all those things that have the infinite
serenity of Eve before the fall.
All these things,
fruit, stars, and roses:
They don’t feel ashamed of their unveiled sex,
And no one dares to sew them clothes.
Without veils, like the body of a serene goddess,
intensely lily-white!
Naked, and all open, wide open
from the desire to love!
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THE HOUR
Juana de Ibarbourou
Take me now, while it is early
and I bear dahlia buds in my hand
Take me now while still
my hair is dark.
Now, while I have fragrant flesh
and limpid eyes and rosy skin.
Now, while my nimble foot
wears the living sandal of spring.
Now, while on my lip is laughter
like a quickly shaken bell.
Afterwards…Oh! I know
that I will have none of these later.
And your desire then will be useless
like an offering placed on a tomb.
Take me now while it’s still early
and my hands full of tuberoses
Today, no later. Before night falls
and the flower’s fresh center wilts.
Today, not tomorrow. Oh, beloved, can’t you see
that the vine will become a cypress tree?