This article analyzes a Jorge Guillén’s poetic translation, La fuente, based on a brief prose of Romano Bilenchi, and its subsequent reprocessing and translation by Mario Luzi. Through this double exercise of assimilation and reworking, that part of an original Italian prose that produces a lyrical composition in Spanish language and which in turn inspired a new lyrical version in Italian, is intended to address the complex issue of the practice of translation of two great poets – Guillén and Luzi – who have translated and have written and thought about how to do it. Keywords: Bilenchi / Guillén / Luzi - translation - alterity - assimilation - semantic isotopy.