Plegaria a un labrador
Levántate y mira la montaña
De donde viene el viento, el sol y el agua
Tú que manejas el curso de los ríos
Tú que sembraste el vuelo de tu alma
Levántate y mírate las manos
Para crecer, estréchala a tu hermano
Juntos iremos unidos en la sangre
Hoy es el tiempo que puede ser mañana
Líbranos de aquel que nos domina en la miseria
Tráenos tu reino de justicia e igualdad
Sopla como el viento la flor de la quebrada
Limpia como el fuego el cañón de mi fusil
Hágase por fin la voluntad aquí en la tierra
Danos tu fuerza y tu valor al combatir
Sopla como el viento la flor de la quebrada
Limpia como el fuego el cañón de mi fusil
Levántate y mírate las manos
Para crecer, estréchala a tu hermano
Juntos iremos unidos en la sangre
Ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte, amén
Amén, Amén
Prayer to a Worker
Stand up and see the figure of the mountain,
Source of the wind, the sun and the water.
You who created the courses of the rivers,
Who with your seed sows the flight of your soul.
Stand up and see the figure of your hand.
Hold out your hand to your friend so you can grow.
We’ll grow together united in our blood.
Now is the day when we begin the future.
Liberate us from our domination and deprivation
Bring about your will on earth of justice, and equity.
Blow like the wind blows the flowers of the valley
Clean like the fire cleans the barrel of my gun.
Thy will be done, thy will be done at last upon the earth
Give to us the courage for the combat, and strength to struggle
Blow like the wind blows the flowers of the valley
Clean like the fire cleans the barrel of my gun.
Stand up and see the figure of your hand.
Hold out a hand to your friend so you can grow.
We’ll go together united in our blood.
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen, Amen
This song earned Victor Jara the first prize at the 1969 festival of the New Chilean Song movement. He performed it in the stadium where he would be tortured and killed fifty years ago this September. You can hear Victor Jara singing it on Youtube. This arrangement is the one used by the Communist Choir in Edinburgh The English text is adapted from the translation by Adrian Mitchell in His Hands Were Gentle: Selected Lyrics of Víctor Jara, edited by Martín Espada (Ripon, 2012).