Lingua Franca

Spanish Poetry by SSU Students

By students in Fátima Serra’s SPN 402 Introduction to Spanish Literature II

The Spanish Generation of ’27 is the last generation of authors before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, which would wipe out almost totally the cultural and literary life of Spain for its duration and most of the following dictatorship. This generation is also considered the best poetry generation of Spanish literature, with incredible figures like Federico García Lorca and Rafael Alberti. Some, like García Lorca, were killed; others like Miguel Hernández were put in jail; and most of them left to exile.

They cultivated different styles of poetry but they all liked to work as a group and were friends. They balanced tradition and renovation, they felt close to the vanguards and to the previous generations, they didn’t reject the previous movements and styles. Instead, they respected and admired them as well as the authors that developed them. The great poet of the 19th century, Bécquer; and the classics: Manrique, Garcilaso, San Juan, Fray Luis, Quevedo, Lope de Vega and, above all, Góngora.

Thanks to their synthesizing intention, the Generation of ’27 is considered the richest and most admirable moment of all the Spanish poetry.

http://www.classicspanishbooks.com/20th-cent-generation-of-27.html

In SPN 402 Introduction to Spanish Literature II, we read, discussed and enjoyed some of the different styles that the Generation of ’27 cultivated:

• Poesía vanguardista (Avant-Garde Poetry)
• Poesía pura (Pure Poetry)
• Poesía popular (Popular Poetry)
• Poesía neorromántica (Neo-Romantic Poetry)
• Poesía social (Social Poetry)

Students felt inspired and they wrote their own ’27 creations:

Naomi Deckert

Type of Poetry: Dadaísta (part of the Avant-Garde Poetry)

This poem was originally written by cutting up two quotes and rearranging them (a classic Dadaist method of writing poetry). Once the poem was formed I put my own spin on it. It is about the struggle of the developing world.

El tercer mundo

Adiós a desarrollar
Crecer las necesidades de los países
En un clima no legítimo.
Abordar cambio
La mente puede rechazar.
El mundo hoy
Sabe tus deseos.

Angelina Benítez

Type of Poetry: Social Poetry.

The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US and Canadian prairies during the 1930s;severe drought caused the phenomenon. The Dust Bowl forced tens of thousands of families to abandon their farms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl

Polvo

Polvo.
Un tiempo sin agua, sin dinero, sin amigos,
Un tiempo donde hay solo enemigos.

Polvo.
Falleció la cosecha. . .
Pienso con la sospecha:
¿Dónde está mi comida?

Polvo.
Cerraron casi todos los bancos,
Pensábamos que fueran estancos.
¿Dónde está mi dinero?

Polvo.
Despedimos, finalmente, a nuestra casa,
Los niños sin  idea de qué pasa.
¿Dónde está la felicidad?

La ruta 66 nos prometió esperanza,
Pero solo encontramos la desesperanza.

Día a día buscamos trabajo,
Pero nunca nos escogieron,
Tal vez tendremos cuando en el sur estemos.
¿Cuándo vendrá la justicia?

En un tiempo cambiante,
¿Qué será constante?
El Polvo.

Kenneth Hyland

Type of poetry: Social Poetry

Kenny tells us: “It’s about my mother and I, and our constant struggle between my sexuality and her ignorance.  I relate my lifestyle (being gay) with that of my sister (being vegan).  By this I mean that becoming a vegan is a major lifestyle change, a change that my mother can easily accept, whereas my mother has a harder time understanding my lifestyle.”

Yo  soy Estey

Te dije cuando me gradué,
que yo, tu hijo, soy gay.
Pensaba que me ibas a aceptar,
como una madre debería actuar.
Tres años más tarde,
me acusas de confrontarte.
¿Cómo debo yo reaccionar?
Yo he sido así,
es la vida para mí.
Yo no me puedo cambiar.
Es similar a mi hermana,
en que ella es vegana.

Esa vida ella elige.
Él es Adán, y yo Estey.

Gabriela Martins

Type of Poetry: Pure Poetry.

This type of poetry tries to capture the pure essence of objects and beings, what is not subject to time and space, but remains eternal and immutable.  Writers often try to capture the essence of poetry, their inspiration, their love or their muse. Gabriela’s poem tells as of the essence of ‘inner light’of the poet. Which of the above is her inner light?

Su Luz

Sin dirección marcha por el camino
El camino conduce a ninguna parte
¡Marchando en el oscuro!
Busca dirección, ojos cerrados,
¡Camino sombrío!
Quebrantado corazón, alma abierta,
Ojos abiertos, luz encuentra.
¡Marchando en la luz!
Hay dirección, hay propósito
Su luz conduce por el camino
¡Camino iluminado!

Neily Rodriguea

Type of Poetry: Neo-Romantic.

Neo-Romantic poetry’s theme is love.  The poet expresses his/her experiences and ideas of love. This is Neily’s versión of love:

Amor

Amor, es aquello que nos mantiene juntos,
Capaz de desafiar a todo el mundo,
Capaz de sacar lo mejor de mi.

Amor, es aquello que nos mantiene fuertes,
Capaz de tumbar cualquier frontera,
Cada vez que te miro a ti.

Amor, es aquello que es sincero,
Amor, es aquello que te respeta
Amor, es aquello que te hace feliz.