Puerto Rican Poetry
Early Life
Julia De Burgos
- Born to Francisco Burgos Hans (a farmer) and Paula García de Burgos
- She graduated from Muñoz Rivera Primary School in 1928.
- Moved to Rio Piedras where she was awarded a scholarship to attend University High School. In 1931, she enrolled in University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus to become a teacher.
."My childhood was all a poem in the river, and a river in the poem of my first dreams."
Pedro Pietri
Famous Works by Julia de Burgos
- El Rio Grande de Loiza
- Poema para Mi Muerte (My Death Poem)
- Yo Misma Fui Mi Ruta (I Was My Own Path)
- Alba de Mi Silencio (Dawn of My Silence)
- Alta Mar y Gaviota
- Considered the greatest poet born in Puerto Rico
- One of the greatest female poets of Latin America
- Advocate of Puerto Rican independence
- Civil rights activist for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers
- Born on March 21, 1944 in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
- Moved to New York when he was young in 1947
- Raised in Spanish Harlem.
- Drafted into the Vietnam War.
- Spark to his poetry due to the hatred and discrimination he faced growing up in New York as well as in the Military
- Discharged from the Military
- Joined the Young Lords in 1969
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Puerto Rican Obituary
Nothing at the End
“Three decades ago, a poem ignited a movement.” New York Times.
- The struggle of 5 Puerto Ricans
- Speaks about the things the Latinos will never receive, but will work to death to earn it.
- Themes:
- Underprivileged yet hard working
- Desires of a better life
- Hatred against one another
- Puerto Rican Identity
- Acceptance is not needed to be beautiful
Here lies Juan
Here lies Miguel
Here lies Milagros
Here lies Olga
Final Moments of Her Work
"Farewell in Welfare Island"
- "Farewell in Welfare Island"
- Written during her last hospitalization
- Believed to be the only poem written in English by her
- She foreshadows her death and reveals an ever darker concept of life
Elements of Poetry
It has to be from here,
right this instance,
my cry into the world.
My cry that is no more mine,
but hers and his forever,
the comrades of my silence,
the phantoms of my grave.
What is Poetry?
- Greek word: "I create"
- Definition: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm
- Often uses literary devices
What is the Purpose of Poetry?
- Assonance
- Image
- Irony
- Metaphor & Simile
- Meter
- Rhyme
- Tone
- Word Order
What is Poetry's Purpose?
- ...To convery emotions or ideas
- ...Express feelings in a condensed manner
- ...Escape logic
- ...To display a message
- ... To convey emotions or ideas
- ... Express feelings in a condensed manner
- ... To display a message
Types of Poetry
Puerto Rico (Pre-Columbus)
- Dates back to the era of conquest and colonization
- Early settlers, friars and governors explain the new lands they discovered and the Taino inhabitatnts
- Pre-columbian life was recoreded in many forms such as letters back home, memories, verses, and diaries
Allegory Imagery
Ballad Limerick
Blank verse Lyric
Burlesque Name
Cacophony Narrative
Canzone Ode
Conceit Pastoral
Dactyl Petrarchan sonnet
Elegy Quatrain
Epic Refrain
Epitaph Senryu
Free verse Shakesperean sonnet
Haiku Sonnet
Tanka
Terza rima
Late 19th Century
- Due to the increase in exploration and new settlers an abundance of prose and poetry was produced
- These works were created to capture rhythms, landscape, and life in Puerto Rico
- Ex: Poet Luis Palés Matos wrote about how Puerto Rico began to lose its identity when the Americans came over
Lola Rodríguez de Tío
Spanish-American War 1898
Sandra Maria Esteves
- This era changed the focus of Puerto Rican literature
- Know as the generation of '98
- Focus of poetry began to concentrate on the Americanization of Puerto Rico and the traditonal latino culture.
- Many writers became leaders in the political world
- Dolores Rodríguez y Ponce de León
- Born on September 14, 1843 in San Germán, Puerto Rico
- Father: Sebastian Rodríguez
- Mother: Carmen Ponce de León
- Education: Private tutors at home
- Married Bonocio Tió Segarra
- Died November 10, 1924 in Cuba
Questions?
- She is Puerto-Rican, Dominican,Boriqueña, Queyana, Taino, African-American born in the Bronx
- Founders of Nuyorican poetry movement
- Her 6 collections of poetry include:
- Finding Your Way (2001
- Contrapunto In The Open Field (1998)
- Undelivered Love Poems (1997)
- Bluestown Mockingbird Mambo (1990)
- Tropical Rain: A Bilingual Downpour (1984)
- Yerba Bueña (1981)
- She was selected as Best Small Press in 1981 by the Library Journal
Lola Rodríguez de Tío
Poems by Lola Rodríguez de Tío
- Lola and her husband shared a desire for independence for Puerto Rico
- 1876 First book of poems published was Mis Cantares.
- 1877 Exiled to Venezuela by Spanish colonial authorities for their political activities
- 1880 Lola and her family returned to Puerto Rico
- 1889 Exiled by Governor Segundo de la Portilla to leave Puerto Rico and the family relocated to Cuba
- 1892 Forced by Spanish officials to leave Havana for New York City due to political activities supporting independence for Cuba
- 1898 Lola and her family move back to Cuba after the Cuban Spanish American war
The Influence of Women on Civilization
Mi Libro de Cuba (My Book about Cuba)
“I live far away from the land that rocked my white cradle where my
memories are kept alive and where lie the graves of those I cannot forget
and that I may never see again.”
La Borinqueña
“Awake, Borinqueños, for the signal has been given! Awake, from your sleep
for its time to fight!
***
We don’t want any more despots! Let the tyrant fall! Supportive women also
will know how to fight!”
“The woman is ready, she does not appear to be opposed to progress; why is
it then that some want to condemn her to stay permanently engulfed in the
eternal shadows of ignorance? Why not break the obstacles against the
development of her intelligence and the elevation of her spirit? Why use
frivolous language against her that humiliates and relegates her to
ineptitude? It is necessary for a woman to receive solid liberal
instruction that develops her intelligence so that on the day she can join
her intellectual efforts to those of men, the result would be the complete
wholeness that many great thinkers are fruitlessly searching for.”
Sandra Maria Esteves (cont)
Sandra Maria Esteves
- Conducted literary programs at organizations including:
- Carribean Cultural Center
- El Museo del Barrio
- Awarded as an Art Review 2001 honoree from Bronx Council on the Arts
- 1985 - Received NYFA Fellowship in Poetry
- Currently lives in New York City