“If to regain what I regained,
I first had to lose what I lost;
If to achieve what I achieved,
I had to endure what I endured;

If to be in love now
First I had to be hurt,
I consider what I suffered well suffered,
I consider what I wept for as well wept for.

Because in the end I came to see
That we do not really enjoy what we enjoyed
Unless we have suffered for it.

For in the end I realized
That the blossoms on the tree
Draw life from what lies buried beneath” .

FRANCISCO LUIS BERNÁRDEZ, “Soneto”, in Cielo de tierra, Buenos Aires, 1937