The poem El día que me quieras by the Mexican Amado Nervo has enjoyed popularity among the public and notable declaimers in Spanish-speaking countries still include it in their recitals. It was also musicalized, which contributed to its greater popularity. The Argentine Carlos Gardel was one of those who added it to his repertoire.

El día que me quieras tendrá más luz que junio
la noche que me quieras será de plenilunio,
con notas de Beethoven vibrando en cada rayo
sus inefables cosas,
y habrá juntas más rosas
que en todo el mes de mayo.

Las fuentes cristalinas
irán por las laderas
saltando cristalinas
el día que me quieras.

El día que me quieras, los sotos escondidos
resonarán arpegios nunca jamás oídos.
Éxtasis de tus ojos, todas las primaveras
que hubo y habrá en el mundo serán cuando me quieras.

Cogidos de las manos, cual rubias hermanitas,
luciendo golas cándidas, van las margaritas
por montes y praderas,
delante de tus pasos, el día que me quieras…
Y si deshojas una, te dirá su inocente
postrer pétalo blanco: !Apasionadamente!
Al reventar el alba del día que me quieras,
tendrán todos los tréboles cuatro hojas agoreras,
y en el estanque, nido de gérmenes ignotos,
florecerán las míticas corolas de los lotos.

El día que me quieras será cada celaje
ala maravillosa; cada arrebol miraje
de “Las mil y una noche”, cada brisa un cantar,
cada árbol una lira, cada monte un altar.

El día que me quieras, para nosotros dos
cabrá en un solo beso la beatitud de Dios.

Amado Nervo, a notable representative of Latin American modernist literature, enjoyed the favor of critics and the public in his time. Born on August 27, 1870, in Jalisco, Mexico, Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo was a poet, journalist, and educator. In his early years, his religious vocation manifested itself in the vehement desire to embrace priesthood, and he even studied Theology for a year, although he later abandoned that interest.

His biography includes two family events that changed his course: the suicide of his beloved brother Luis and the death of his wife Ana Cecilia Luisa Daillez, with whom he had a happy marriage of 11 years.

Nervo worked as a lawyer and cultivated journalism. He published his articles in El correo de la tarde, El Universal, El Nacional, and El Mundo. As a correspondent for El Imparcial, he traveled to Paris on the occasion of the International Exposition. He would strengthen his popularity with the publication of the novel El Bachiller.

When he returned to Mexico, he worked as a teacher at the National Preparatory School. Later he went into diplomatic service and was named Second Secretary at the Legation of Mexico and Spain. He also held the position of Plenipotentiary Minister of Argentina and Uruguay.

He wrote stories, essays, and plays. Books: Poemas, El éxodo y las flores del camino, Lira heroica, Las voces and Jardines interiores. His intense life ended on May 24, 1919 in Montevideo, Uruguay. In 1945, the film La amada inmóvil, directed by Luis Bayón Herrera, was filmed about Nervo.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff