I think we all need to know more about Jose Julian Marti Perez. He was born in Havana, Cuba, on January 28, 1853. He later became the national hero and cultural icon of the Cuban nation.
Anyone familiar with the song "Guantanamera?" That's Marti's lyrics. There's a whole story behind that. You can find all that yourselves, and it's a wonderful story. But what I want to do here is share some of his poetry.
"Versos sencillos/Simple Verses." By Jose Marti.
Translated, with an introduction, by Manuel A. Tellechea.
Arte Public Press, Houston, Texas, 1997
"Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage"
That's the title page.
The poetry of Marti is reprinted in this book with English translations. I have read through some of it and I'm not entirely happy with the translations. I respect the work of the translator, as a poet. But in my efforts to work with the original poetry of Marti, and the translations, I have found pretty much that the originals cannot really be translated well into English; that the translations are rough in comparison.
Here are some examples:
'Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma."
Just gorgeous.
Here's the English translation:
"A sincere man am I
From the land where palm trees grow,
And I want before I die
My soul's verses to bestow."
Now, that's really nice. I really respect the translator's efforts to make it a poem.
But I like the poem better in the original.
Without the rhymes, more or less:
"I am a sincere man,
From where grow the palms,
And before I die
I want to express these words of my soul."
Free verse, yeh. I likes me some free verse.
But I should not underrate the translator. This person did so much good work with Marti's poetry.
Here's some more:
Yo vengo de todas partes,
Y hacia todas partes voy:
Arte soy entre las artes,
En lost montes, monte soy.
I'm a traveler to all parts,
And a newcomer to none;
I am art among the arts,
With the mountains I am one.
Here's one that got to be part of "Guantanamera"
Mi verso es de un verde claro
Y de un carmin encendido:
Mi verso es un ciervo herido
Que busca en el monte amparao
Another translation, not from this book:
My verse is of a clear green
And of a burning red
My verse is a wounded stag
Who seeks refuge on the mountain.
It goes on and on. Wonderful stuff. Great way to learn Spanish, reading Marti in translation.