Artifex Vite, Artifex Sui
These word are in Latin language and is my motto, everything what I’m doing now is everything what I’m building for my future and my destiny.
“Artifex Vitae, Artifex sui” means “architect of the life, architect of the destiny” and is one poem from Amado Nervo’s introspective poetry, characterized by deep religious feeling and simple forms, reflects his struggle for self-understanding and inner peace in an uncertain world.
Most of his verses deal with his inward world, where he sought peace from external torments. His major collections include Serenidad (1914), Elevación (1916), and Plenitud (1918). Nervo was a diplomat for several years and died during his service as Mexican minister to Uruguay.
Amado Nervo
At peace (En Paz) is one of my favorites and I know this poem since elementary school. Here are the words of Amado Nervo in English and Spanish.
At Peace
Artifex vitae, artifex sui
Close to my sundown, I bless you, life,
Because you gave me no false hope
I never suffered impossibly
Or worked without hope of reward.
And now that I have beaten my path to its end I see,
That, truly, I was the architect of my destiny
And I know that, if indeed, I was able to extract taste, the honey and the bitterness of things,
Then it was only because I put the honey and bitterness into them in the first place.
Whenever I planted rose bushes, I always harvested roses.
And yes, after my flourishing, winter will follow,
But you didn’t promise me an eternal spring.
And, yes, it’s true, our troubled nights were long,
But you never promised us only the good nights
And some nights were so serene and blessed.
I loved, I was loved, the sun caressed my face.
Life, what do you owe me? Nothing! Life you and I are at peace.
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En paz
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 miel 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 noches de mis penas;
mas no me prometiste tú 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!
Also, surfing on line I found a pdf document with a lot of Quotations, one of them says:
“The true love makes miracles, because itself already is the largest miracle..”
“El amor verdadero hace milagros, porque el mismo es ya el mayor milagro..”
So, if you have time read the poetry of this author from Mexico.
