also translated the poetry of Antero de Quental from Portuguese and the verse of Blas de Otero from Catalan. From other languages, Espaillat has translated into English the verse of Charles of Orleans from Middle French, Dafydd ap Gwilym from Middle Welsh, Croatian national poet Marko Marulić from Renaissance Latin, Luís Vaz de Camões from Portuguese, Bedřich Bridel from Czech, and Filipino poet Gaspar Aquino de Belén from Tagalog. During an interview with William Baer, Espaillat said, "I can't imagine a world without translation because we'd have no Bible, no Homer, and no Virgil. All of our libraries would shrink down to a single room. So we desperately need translation, but it's crucial for the translator to face the fact that he's not going to get it all. There are going to be losses, which he should try to keep to a minimum, but he can never flatter himself that he's really bringing the poem into another language because it simply can't be done. I think the translator needs to begin with humility. As far as the actual process goes, I think a translator first needs to understand the poem as much as he can, try to get under the author's skin, and see if he can reconstruct the thought process of the original author. The primary job of the translator is to carry the poem from one language to the other with as little damage as possible. Personally, I enjoy the challenge very much, even though I'm never fully satisfied." Latina writer Even though Espaillat grew up in a time when, "the expectation that one should overcome any non-British ancestral origins, still held sway as a prerequisite to entering the sphere of genuine Americanness", she opposes the idea of complete assimilation. In an interview with William Baer, she said, "Whenever I speak to Hispanic groups, I tell the young people to make sure they hold onto their Spanish, and keep it clean, and constantly increase their vocabulary, just as they're doing with English. Then I encourage them and say, 'Now, since you know two languages, for heaven's sake, translate! We need you! Both languages need you to bridge the gap.'" Espaillat has also cited the music of the Spanish classical guitar, which she first heard played by her grandmother as a child, as a major influence on her poetry. She has particularly cited the music of composer Joaquín Rodrigo