"maya," a 3rd person singular verb.
 

César Vallejo's poem "Rosa Blanca" concludes with these two lines:


Y maya in mi Pacifico
un náufrago ataúd.


In the translations into English or Anglo-American that I have seen, "maya" is translated as if it means "meows" or "mews," yet I have not found this equivalence in a dictionary.


I don't want to quote too much of the poem, being uncertain of its copyright status, but the lines make sense if you know that a few lines earlier the speaker of the poem claims to have within "el gato tremulo/del Miedo." Can anyone shed a little light on this word, including its infinitive? I'll be very grateful.


Thanks--
Henry

Mayar is the infinitive, and it means 'meow'. The conjugation in the poem means 'meows' or 'meowing'.

The modern infinitive, with the same meaning, is maullar.

Many thanks. Is "mayar," then, archaic?

No, it just isn't used as much. Instead of 'modern', I should have written 'more-used'.

Look here to see what it says about mayar.