Versos Sencillos: Simple Verses (Recovering the Us Hispanic Literary Heritage)

Versos Sencillos: Simple Verses (Recovering the Us Hispanic Literary Heritage)
by Jose Marti, Manuel A. Tellechea

Versos Sencillos: Simple Verses (Recovering the Us Hispanic Literary Heritage)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Jose Marti, Manuel A. Tellechea
Edition: Paperback
Audio: Spanish (Unknown); Spanish (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-10
ISBN: 1558852042
Number of pages: 123
Publisher: Arte Publico Press

Book Reviews of Versos Sencillos: Simple Verses (Recovering the Us Hispanic Literary Heritage)

Book Review: An important achievement in Cuban literature
Summary: 4 Stars

"Simple Verses" is a collection of poems by Jose Marti (1853-1895), the 19th century Cuban poet and revolutionary who spent many years in exile in the United States. This is a bilingual edition, with the Spanish originals and English versions on facing pages. The translation into English is by Manuel A. Tellechea. Tellechea also contributes an excellent introduction which includes fascinating biographical information about Marti. The poems are untitled; each is assigned a Roman numeral.

Marti writes about romance, nature, family, and other subjects. Many of his poems are political and revolutionary in nature: he condemns Spanish colonial violence in Cuba, expresses his anti-slavery position, and identifies with the oppressed: "With the earth's poor everywhere, / I shall cast my lot" (poem III). In his marriage of poetry with politics and social justice, Marti foreshadows many of Latin America's 20th century poets: Gioconda Belli of Nicaragua, Roberto Sosa of Honduras, Juan Gelman of Argentina, and others, especially especially Pablo Neruda of Chile.

Many of Marti's poems appear to be autobiographical in nature. Some of his poems are dark and macabre in tone, others prophetic and even ecstatic. He sometimes reflects on his own poetic work: "My verse is like a dagger / At whose hilt a flower grows" (poem V). His best work, as interpreted by Tellechea, has a compelling freshness and beauty.

I only found one aspect of the book troublesome. Most of Marti's poems are written in four line stanzas, and in each poem he generally sticks to a constant rhyme scheme from stanza to stanza: ABBA or ABAB. But in his English versions, Tellechea sometimes mixes up the ABBA and ABAB schemes within poems, without any logical pattern and contradictory to Marti's originals; I found these switches very distracting.

Still, this is an excellent volume by a significant figure in Latin American literary history. And the rhyme scheme issue aside, I commend and thank Tellechea for making these "Simple Verses" available in English.

Summary of Versos Sencillos: Simple Verses (Recovering the Us Hispanic Literary Heritage)

bilingual, 1st full translation (Manuel Tellechea)

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