The Little Mute Boy

Federico García Lorca

Translated by W. S. Merwin
 
The little boy was looking for his voice.
(The king of the crickets had it.)
In a drop of water
the little boy was looking for his voice.
I do not want it for speaking with;
I will make a ring of it
so that he may wear my silence
on his little finger
In a drop of water
the little boy was looking for his voice.
(The captive voice, far away,
put on a cricket's clothes.)
 
From The Selected Poems of Federico García Lorca, by Federico García Lorca, translated by W.S. Merwin, published by New Directions. Copyright © 1955 by W.S. Merwin. Reprinted by permission of W.S. Merwin. All rights reserved.

Poems by This Author

Arbolé, Arbolé . . . by Federico García Lorca
Tree, tree
City That Does Not Sleep by Federico García Lorca
In the sky there is nobody asleep. Nobody, nobody.
Gacela of the Dark Death by Federico García Lorca
I want to sleep the sleep of the apples,
Romance Sonambulo by Federico García Lorca
Green, how I want you green.
The Guitar by Federico García Lorca
The weeping of the guitar
The Old Lizard by Federico García Lorca
In the parched path


Further Reading

Poems about Voice
Hearing your words and not a word among them (Sonnet XXXVI)
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
If My Voice Is Not Reaching You
by Afzal Ahmed Syed
Lift Every Voice and Sing
by James Weldon Johnson
Meeting at Night
by Robert Browning
On Silence
by R. Zamora Linmark
Silences
by John Montague
Speedway
by Cedar Sigo
The Keeper's Voice
by Mike Carson
The Man Whose Voice Has Been Taken From His Throat
by Naomi Shihab Nye
The Voice
by Thomas Hardy
Time
by Chris Martin
Voices
by Sharon Olds