Cantos de Vida y Esperanza, Los Cisnes y otros poemas

Reading the Penguin anthology left me scratching my head, but this book puts things in a better perspective. The poems I thought were good, like To Roosevelt and Very Far Away, now put in the context of how Ruben Dario presented them to the world have become great poems. I'm not qualified to say if the English-speaking world needs a better introduction to Dario, but this is the best one that I have seen.

First of all, Rubén Darío's poetry is so immensely important and contemporary in its relevancy that I cannot believe this is the first quality translation of it! Originally published in Spain in 1905, "Cantos de vida y esperanza" is one of the most important collections of Darío's poetry. He is widely considered the father of the modernistic movement. For me to review his poetry would be folly- I believe everyone takes what they bring to the poem with them. I can tell you that his poetry has such an honesty in it that I cannot but help be moved by his plight... his plight as a human being :) something we all share, which is why his poems are great and immortal. One of his most famous poems is "Canción de otoño en primavera"/Song of autumn in springtime. While I do not feel at liberty to reproduce the translation included in the book, I will give you a small sample of the poetry itself in case you are new to his writings or curious. Juventud, divino tesoro ya te vas para no volver Cuando quiero llorar, no lloro... y a veces lloro sin querer... Youth, divine treasure you have gone, never to return When I want to cry, I cannot... and sometimes I cry without wanting to... Much of his poetry is very personal and moving. I love the pictures he can create with words, like in his poem "Canto de esperanza" Song of hope: "Un gran vuelo de cuervos mancha el azul celeste." A great flight of ravens stains the blue celestial sky. "Verdugos de ideales afligieron la tierra,/en un pozo de sombra la humanidad se encierra" Executioners of ideals afflict the earth/in a well of shadow humanity is encircled. That is a very small sample of the wonderful poetry in this book. (reminder, these are my lame translations-- not the ones from the book- the ones in the book are much better.) This brings me to the book itself. This is *such* a quality edition. Not only does it have the poems in English and Spanish, their original language, but the editors have taken care to make sure they are the correct versions as well. The translators thankfully went for meaning, not rhyming. I detest translations where they try to keep the rhyming scheme. This RARELY works, and usually destroys not only the original author's meaning, but also makes the poem laughable in the target language. The preface in this edition is wonderful as well- it includes many facts about Darío & his work, life and writings. Included also is a kind of glossary for the reader. Darío often uses references to classical literature and mythology that can leave the average reader scratching their head. Luckily this glossary answers all questions along those lines. I was introduced to this book by my Spanish Literature professor, Dr. Alberto Acereda who translated this collection of poetry along with Will Derusha. That said, mine is not a biased review- if I don't like something, I will not take the time to write a review on it. (Unless it's so bad it actually makes

in a carefully wrought and politically situated language of poesis that will not go away any day soon. This is a beautiful book carefully edited and annotated, well designed by Duke UP in English/Spanish interface-- a book that shows "nuestra America" is not in the hands of the rough riders and empire makers then or now, must reading for a poetics of poscoloniality situated in Nicaragua, Paris, Rome, and NYC...meaning the worlding world of poesis and vision coming out of the future in the 'afterlife' of real poetry. Abrazos and thanks...