This poem is written on a wall outside of Najera on the Camino Frances.
I have spent quite a lot of time at the end of my walks trying to
translate it as gracefully as I can.
I thank Roberto, Manuel, and Irene for their input
over the course of a late afternoon in front of a hostel
as they pored over this poem with me.
Dust, mud, sun and rain
are the Camino de Santiago.
Thousands of pilgrims
and more than a thousand years.
Pilgrim, Who calls you?
What mysterious force draws you here?
Not the Field of Stars
nor the great cathedrals.
Not the bravado of Navarra,
nor the wine of Rioja
nor the Castilian plateau.
Pilgrim, Who calls you?
What mysterioius force draws you here?
Not the folk of the Way
nor the ways of the country folk.
It is not the history and the culture,
nor the cocky Calzada rooster
not the palace of Gaudi,
nor the Castle of Ponferrada.
All these things I see in passing,
and they are all a great joy,
but the voice that calls me
fills me with an even greater feeling.
The force that compels me,
the force that draws me here
I cannot explain:
Only the Most High knows!
4 thoughts on “Pilgrim, Who Calls You?”
I was moved by this poem when I passed it on October 4, 2015, the tenth day of my Camino, walking alone from Navarette to Azofra. Thank you for the translation – my Spanish is limited.
Thank you Carol!
I too was very moved by this poem,
and I have very limited Spanish, but with the help
of fellow pilgrims, we came up with a fair translation…
I say fair because whoever wrote this poem was, I think, quite a poet.
It is a really beautiful piece of writing and elegant calligraphy.
Such treasures as this are to be found on the Camino everywhere!
Buen Camino!
To me, this poem is a nod to the Universal nature of the Christian Church, as well as the eternal nature of it. Regardless of our individual backgrounds and therefore regardless of time, the Church calls to Her patrons and invites them to Pilgrimage.
I would like to add that the call from the Church could be your first Pilgramage or one in a series of many which could lead to many different destinations. That is also irregardless to the fact of the matter. Each one attains the same goal: enlightenment.