This poem is in Spanish. I will post the english version at the bottom. The poem starts with the line: Artifex vitae artifex sui. This roughly means "The architect of life, the architect of destiny". This was written by Mexican poet Amado Nervo - March 20, 1915.
Spanish
Artifex vitae artifex sui
Muy cerca de mi ocaso, yo te bendigo, Vida,
porque nunca me diste ni esperanza fallida,
ni trabajos injustos, ni pena inmerecida;
Porque veo al final de mi rudo camino
que yo fui el arquitecto de mi propio destino;
que si extraje la mieles o la hiel de las cosas,
fue porque en ellas puse hiel o mieles sabrosas:
cuando planté rosales coseché siempre rosas.
...Cierto, a mis lozanías va a seguir el invierno:
¡mas tú no me dijiste que mayo fuese eterno!
Hallé sin duda largas las noches de mis penas;
mas no me prometiste tan sólo noches buenas;
y en cambio tuve algunas santamente serenas...
Amé, fui amado, el sol acarició mi faz.
¡Vida, nada me debes! ¡Vida, estamos en paz!
* * * * *
English
AT PEACE
Artifex vitae artifex sui
With my sunset now near, I bless you, O Life,
because you never gave me false hope,
or unjust tasks, nor unmerited grief;
because at the end of my rough road I see
that I was the architect of my own destiny;
that if I extracted honey or bile from things,
it was because I placed in them either bitterness or savory sweetness: when I planted rose bushes, I always gathered roses.
After my budding youth, winter would surely follow,
But you, O Life, never told me that May would be eternal.
I encountered, without a doubt, long nights of grief:
but you never promised me only good nights;
nonetheless, through dark hours I have slept peacefully and in God's grace.
I loved and was loved; the sun caressed my face.
O Life, you owe me nothing! O Life, debts settled, we are at peace!
