The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle Read Free Book Online

views with the goal of independence from colonial Spain. He was still a teenager when he became a founder of
Los caballeros racionales
(“The Rational Gentlemen”), a nonviolent branch of the secret society called
Los Soles y Rayos de Bolívar
(“The Suns and Rays of Bolívar”). Heredia was forced into exile after he was betrayed by a spy. He escaped from Cuba disguised as a sailor, lived in Boston, wrote poetry at Niagara Falls, taught Spanish in New York, and became a diplomat and judge in Mexico. Known as
El homero Cubano
(“The Cuban Homer”) or
El cantordel Niágara
(“The Singer of Niagara”), Heredia inspired later generations of Cuban abolitionists and independence advocates.
    The following excerpt from the poem
“A Emilia”
(“To Emilia”) is representative of Heredia’s work:
    Â 
. . . bajo el hermoso desnublado cielo

no pude resolverme a ser esclavo,

ni consentir que todo en la natura

fuese noble y feliz, menos el hombre.

. . . under the beautiful clear sky
I could not accept slavery,
nor regard all of nature
as noble and happy, except man.

The Writing of Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda
    P ROSE :
    Â 
    Excerpts from the abolitionist novel
Sab
:
    Â 
    Â¿Quién se acordará de tu color al verte amar tanto y sufrir tanto?
    Â 
    Who will remember your color when they see how greatly you love and suffer?
    Â 
    Los hombres dirán que yo he sido infeliz por mi culpa; porque he soñado los bienes que no estaban en mi esfera, porque he querido mirar al sol, como el águila . . . ¿Es culpa mía si Dios me ha dotado de un corazón y de un alma?
    Â 
    Men will say it is my own fault that I have been unhappy; because I have dreamed of things beyond my reach, because I have longed to gaze on the sun, like an eagle . . . Is it my fault if God has given me a heart and a soul?
    Â 
    Â¡Oh! ¡Las mujeres! ¡Pobres y ciegas víctimas! Como los esclavos, ellas arrastran pacientemente su cadena y bajan la cabeza bajo el yugo de las leyes humanas.
    Â 
    Oh! Women! Poor blind victims! Like slaves, they stoically drag their chains and lower their heads beneath the yoke of human laws.
    Â 
    P OETRY :
    Â 
    Excerpt from
“Las contradicciones”
(Contradictions):
    Â 
. . . Ni libre soy, ni la prisión me encierra;

Veo sin luz, sin voz hablar ansío . . .
    Â 
Busco el peligro cuando auxilio imploro;

Al sentirme morir me encuentro fuerte . . .
    Â 
. . . I am neither free, nor locked in prison;
I see without light, without a voice I long to speak . . .
    Â 
I seek danger while pleading for rescue;
Feeling doomed I discover my strength . . .
    Â 
    Excerpt from
“A mi jilguero”
(To My Goldfinch):
    Â 
Libertad y amor te falta;

¡libertad y amor te doy!

¡Salta, pajarillo, salta,

que no tu tirana soy!
    Â 
Salida franca,

ya tienes, mira,

goza, respire . . .

libre eres ya.
    Â 
You lack liberty and love;
I give you liberty and love!
Leap, little bird, leap,
I am not your tyrant!
    Â 
A clear exit
is yours, look,
enjoy, breathe . . .
you are already free.
    Â 
    Excerpt from
“La noche de insomnio y el alba”
(The Night of Insomnia and the Dawn):
    Â 
Noche

Triste

Viste

Ya,

Aire,

Cielo,

Suelo,

Mar.

Brindándole

Al mundo

Profundo

Solaz,

Derraman

Los sueños

Beleños

De paz.
    Â 
Sad
Night
Already
You’ve seen
Air,
Sky,
Soil,
Sea.
Offering
To the world
Profound
Solace,
Spilling
Dreams
The potion
Of peace.
    Â 
    Excerpt from
“Romance”
(Ballad).
    Â 
     
Canto porque hay en los seres

Sus condiciones precisas:

Corre el agua, vuela el ave,

Silba el viento, y el Sol brilla.

      Canto sin saber yo propia

Lo que el canto significa,

Y si al mundo, que lo escucha,

Asombro o lástima inspira.
    Â 
      I sing because each being
Has its purpose:
Water flows, birds fly,
Wind whistles, and Sun shines.
        I sing