El diez de agosto/August 10th

-
Photo from librosyletras.com. Click HERE.  
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Carlos Castro Saavedra! (1924-1989)

A Colombian poet from Medellín, and a friend of Chilean Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda, Castro Saavedra is known as the "poet of peace." He published his first book of poetry, Fúsiles y luceros, in 1946. Soon after, he published 33 Poemas, Mi llanto, and Manolete. In 1951 he won the Berlin International Festival of Peace Premio de Poesía. While there, he shared his poem Plegaria desde América, in which he expresses his hope for peace, saying that he wants all to have:

fuerza para creer en el futuro
y para perdonar, mucha más fuerza, 
paz hasta que se arruguen los cuchillos
y hasta que caiga el odio paz, y paz, 
paz en el alma, paz en la mirada, 
y paz mil veces, y mil veces paz.

 Threatened by the far right then ruling Colombia, Castro Saavedra went into exile in Chile in 1953 along with many other Colombian intellectuals. It was there that he worked alongside Pablo Neruda, who he had met during his tours of Europe, and who lauded him in the prologue to his 1953 book Despierta joven América. During his life, Castro Saavedra also wrote children's books, plays, stories, and a novel, Adán Ceniza, which won first prize at the Jorge Isaacs International Competition in Cali in 1982. He and wife Inés Agodelo Restrepo (his "muse") had six children together. Below is an excerpt from one of his most famous poems, Camino de la patria:

Cuando se pueda andar por las aldeas
y los pueblos sin ángel de la guarda.
Cuando sean más claros los caminos
y brillen más las vidas que las armas.
Cuando en el trigo nazcan amapolas
y nadie diga que la tierra sangra.
Cuando la espada que usa la justicia
aunque desnuda se conserve casta
Cuando reyes y siervos juntos al fuego, 
fuego sean de amor y de esperanza.
Cuando de noche grupos de fusiles
no despierten al hijo con su habla.
Cuando al mirar la madre no se sienta
dolor en la mirada y en el alma ...
Cuando la paz recobre su paloma
y acudan los vecinos a mirarla. 
Cuando el amor sacuda las cadenas
y le nazcan dos alas en la espalda.
Sólo en aquella hora
podrá el hombre decir que tiene patria. 

 See the Colombian literary journal Libros y letras for more. 

 For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

El veintidós de agosto/August 22nd

-
Image
Photo from wavenespapers.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Ricardo Hurtado! (1999-      ) An actor and musician who became famous playing Freddy on the Nickelodeon series School of Rock , Hurtado was born to Nicaraguan parents in Miami. He moved with his family to Atlanta, Georgia when he was one years old. Hurtado's father is a musician (a piano player with a degree in music from the University of Georgia). "Everyone on my dad's side of the family is a musician," he told an interviewer in 2016, adding that his uncle played the guitar. In the same interview , Hurtado talks about his faith and says, "My main goal in life if to be as close as I can be to God." He wrote his first song for this purpose -- his second song was about a breakup. Listen to Hurtado speak Spanish at this 2017 interview outside the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.
Read more

El siete de enero/January 7th

-
Image
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Juan Gabriel (Alberto Aguilera Valadez)! (1950-2016) "Music is mankind's way of thanking the universe for letting us be here." -Juan Gabriel       Photo from Billboard's write-up on Juan Gabriel's cover       of Creedence Clearwater's Have You Ever Seen    The Rain? (Gracias al sol) several months  before his death.  Click  HERE   to read and listen.  A Mexican singer, songwriter, and actor, and "the actual king of Latin pop" who was idolized by younger performers such as Marc Anthony, Juan Gabriel was adored by fans worldwide. He put out some 2,000 songs during his lifetime and sold out multiple concerts. He was not always as well-known by English-language speakers in the U.S., however, and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's wonderful 1999 profile of him in the  L.A. Times  (updated when he died in 2016 -- click  HERE  to read) includes a story about a West Hollywood a...
Read more

El diez de julio/July 10th

-
Image
Photo from El Porvenir. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Nicolás Guillén! (1902-1989) A Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer of African-European descent, Guillén was known during his life as the National Poet of Cuba. Born in Camagüey, he was the oldest of six children born to Nicolás Guillén y Urra, who had fought for Cuban independence from Spain, and Argelia Batista y Arrieta. Guillén's father belonged to the Partido Libertad and founded the daily newspaper La Libertad to express his views. Government forces assassinated Guillén's father for protesting electoral fraud and closed down his printing press. After that, Guillén's family struggled financially. Guillén was greatly influenced by meeting African-American poet Langston Hughes in 1930. Hughes' enthusiasm for Afro-Cuban music inspired Guillén, who was familiar with 'son' music from his father. Hughes immediately recognized the similarities between son music in Cuba and the b...
Read more