A poem by Eugenio Garibay Baños, written on a wall along the Camino between Navarrete and Najera. Translation by Google & Camino de Santiago Forum member Vigdis. Click through for more info.
I
Polvo, barro sol y lluvia
es Camino de Santiago
Millares de peregrines
y mas de un millar de años
Peregrino, puien te llama?
Que fuerza oculta te atrae?
Ni el Campo de las Estrellas
ni las grandes catedrales
No es la bravura Navarra,
ni el vino de los riojanos
ni los mariscos gallegos
ni los campos castellanos
II
Peregrino, Quien te llama?
Que fuerza oculta te atrae?
Ni las gentes del Camino
Ni las costrumbes rurales
No es la historia y la cultura
ni el gallo de La Calzada
ni el palacio de Gaudi,
ni el Castillo Ponferrada
III
Codo lo veo al pasar,
y es un gozo verlo todo,
mas la voz que a mi me llama
la siento mucho mas hondo.
La fuerza que a mi me empuja
la fuerza que a mi me atrae,
no se explicarla ni yo
Solo el de Arriba lo sabe!
E.G.B.
And with Google translator (not correctly, but we all understand it):
I
Dust, mud, sun and rain
Camino de Santiago is
Thousands of pilgrims
and more than a thousand years
Pilgrim who is calling you?
What hidden force attracts you?
Neither the Field of Stars
or the great cathedrals
It is not the bravery of Navarre
or the wine of La Rioja,
neither Galician seafood nor
the Castillian countryside
II
Pilgrim, who calls you?
What hidden force attracts you?
Neither the people of the Way
Nor their rural customs.
Not the history and culture
or the Rooster’s Causeway
or the Palace of Gaudi
or Castillo Ponferrada
III
It is a joy to see everything in passing
but the voice that calls me
I feel much more deeply.
The force that pushes me
force that attracts me,
I cannot explain,
Only the One above knows!