Generación del 98·1912·fragmento
Antonio Machado
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.
Context
From 'Proverbios y cantares' in Campos de Castilla (1912). The full sequence is longer; this is the famous central fragment that lives independently on countless tote bags and bedroom walls.
In plain English prose
Walker, your footprints are the path, nothing more; there is no path — the path is made by walking; you only see it when you look back, and it can never be walked again. Wakes on the sea.
Read it out loud at least once.
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