Dust, Sweat and Iron / Polvo, Sudor y Hierro

This is a personal weblog exploring Spanish and American life, the differences between the cultures, and the ways in which those differences are reflected in the languages of both countries. We are an American (Sarah) and a Spaniard (Luisma); we both live in the US.

When the above-mentioned Spaniard encounters difficulties–death of a loved one, a broken axle or ankle, an empty Hershey bar wrapper–he faces them with a single stoic proclamation : “I am a Man of Iron and Dust”.

The original quote is actually “Dust, Sweat, and Iron” (”Polvo, Sudor, y Hierro”) and comes from a poem my Manuel Machado called “Castilla”. Therein, the Hero El Cid rides on horseback across the scorched plains of Castille:

…El ciego sol, la sed y la fatiga
Por la terrible estepa castellana,
al destierro, con doce de los suyos
-polvo, sudor y hierro- el Cid cabalga…

And thus our title.