Customer Reviews

Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos (Dual Language Edition:: Spanish, English) (Spanish and English Edition)

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Julia de Burgos is probably Latin America's greatest female poet. Although she never gained the mass media attention Gabriela Mistral gained after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, de Burgos' work is eternally mesmerizing. Here is a woman who led an unhappy life searching for love, only to find heartbreak most of the times. A protege of Neruda's, de Burgos' political activisim in supporting various causes (including criticism of the Franco regime in Spain and Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic, in addition to her passionate support for independence for Puerto Rico) is clearly shown in her work. Her romaticism and her cultural reconnection can also be read in some of her poems. The one that realy captivated me was Poem #37, "I Love You," which will cause the reader to grasp their chest with the emotion she has poured in letting the love of her life know how much he moved her world.

Ms. De Burgos died a tragic death in New York, however after it was discovered she had been buried on Hart Island (New York City's version of a potter's field) a movement to give her a proper and glorious funeral took place and although she left the island as an unknown schoolteacher, she returned a national hero. Her glorious return to Puerto Rico was well deserving. I can tell you that reading this book brought me to tears. The great thing is that the entire book is a bilingual edition, which will allow both English & Spanish-language readers to discover one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

A must have for readers of poerty, Latin American literature, and Spanish students. I also recommend it for those who love Neruda. Best book of poetry I ever read!

"...The translated poems stand tall as de Burgos herself." --Publishers Weekly

"Perhaps this is an omen, for as we stand on the eve of one hundred years of the United States' colonial relationship with the island of Puerto Rico, perhaps the publication of this book is a symbolic representation of Puerto Rican authenticity and a sign of how seriously it must be taken." --American Book Review

"Julia de Burgos (1914-1953) is considered Puerto Rico's greatest female poet... Seductive in their raw emotional honesty her poems define and make concrete the spongy category of love poetry...Here, poetry is the poet incarnate: defiant, proud, a 'nude of restlessness.'" --Harvard Review

"Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos" is a landmark volume for Puerto Rican studies. This book brings together all 203 known poems by de Burgos, who was born in Puerto Rico in 1914 and died in New York City in 1953. This is a bilingual edition, with the author's Spanish poems paired with the English translations by Jack Agueros. Agueros also compiled this volume, and wrote a fascinating introduction.

De Burgos writes about politics, nature, inner emotions, and the poet's vocation. She often advocates Puerto Rican independence, but her political ideas also encompass a vision that is pan-American, and even global. She pays tribute to a number of iconic figures from Latin American culture: Pedro Albizu Campos, Jose Marti, Simon Bolivar, and Jose de Diego.

Much of her work has a surreal, hypnotic quality. She often uses startling, Daliesque language that is rich in images from the natural world. Her love poetry ranges from the melancholy to the ecstatic. Her voice is often paradoxical, often mystical--at times she reminds me of Emily Dickinson. One of my favorite romantic lines comes from poem #63, "Inward Song": "Don't remember me! Feel me! / A nightingale has us in his throat."

In poem #71, "My Road Is Space," de Burgos writes, "I am the dancing imbalance of the stars." This is a good image to apply to her poetry: celestial, joyous, with its own inner logic. All who love Latin American literature or 20th century poetry should explore the bountiful "Song" of Julia de Burgos.

I bought this as a gift for a couple that loves poetry, but one is fluent in English and the other person in Spanish. Needleless to say, they loved it! It has a very complete collection of Julia de Burgos poetry and the translations are true to the meaning in Spanish.

A dazzling collection that seduces you with a raw emotional honesty that can wake up the dead. Her poems speak directly, refusing literary contortions that have succeeded to alienate so many students from poetry. This book elevates and redefines two categories: Confessionalism and Love Poetry, with such lines as: "Who am I?/ A scream of waves washing itself of dragged and useless paths." ... "My soul? A broken harmony/ that hops over its dementia/ on one cushion of time." ... "When you take me tremulous, / there will be lilies born in my soul,/ and some child asleep from a caress/ in each blue nest that detains you." ... "Let's sing now because life is leaving."

This is the best book of poetry I have read in years! If you have not discovered how wonderful Julia de Burgos is - I urge you to get this book!

The best thing about this book are the poems, of course. Second to that is the labor of love the editor undertook. Julia's work is powerful and relevant to this day. Most of the political poems have not stood the test of time, but they are a testament of the fire that burned in the poet's heart. Had she failed to see and denounce the reality of her country she would not have been, well ... a poet. It is to her most philosophical and romantic poems that her fame is justly attached. To this day it is hard to beat the likes of Río Grande de Loíza, Nada, or Yo Misma Fui mi Ruta. On their strength alone Julia will always remain in the pantheon of the great. The introduction by Jack Agüero, the editor, is very moving in that it shows an expatriate in the hunt for the elusive details of the poet's life, as well as a passion for her work. I would have liked, however, dates of the poems to better place them in the context in which they were written and inspired. Also, while I applaud the effort of Curbstone Press to bring together for the first time -and in bilingual edition at that!- the complete works of Julia, I would have liked to see more attention paid to typographical errors and other editing choices: too many missing or misplaced accent marks in the Spanish side; questionable translation choices -some downright incorrect- in the English side. Thus the definitive "Obras Completas" de Julia de Burgos is yet to appear, but for now this volume will have to do. One final note: I cannot help noticing that this labor of love was undertaken by a member of the ex-patriate Puerto Rican community and not by anyone on the Island. This last one remains an unpaid debt of honor.

It keeps dissapearing from my shelf, lent to friends never to return. A small price to pay to have her words reach a wider audience. I don't always agree with the translation, but that's the way of poetry and translation and this one is better than others I've seen (for other poets).

I first heard about Burgos in Spanish class in Puerto Rico. She is one of the best Latin American poets I have read. Her poems are beautiful and bring back thoughts of a rich island culture, heartache, and many more. Definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves good poetry.

This volume was ok. I did not like the fact that the editor/translator failed to include the original publication year of the poems and the name of the original book that the poems came from. Other than that, it is a very extensive collection of poems by Julia de Burgos.