Rubén Darío's "El Cisne"

So, my initial intention was to read a bunch of Modernist literature in preparation for this week's poetry section. I went to the library and checked-out collected poems from T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway and a few others. I read for three hours trying to find something that I could write about in a post but, needless to say, I could not find anything especially appealing. I pretty much gave up on it until I read Clarrisa's post on Rubén Darío; it hit me in the face like a Tyson right hook.

I was a missionary in Nicaragua for two years and here was a post about "my" country's national hero (a poet nonetheless) staring me in the face. It was destiny and from it has sprung the idea for this last-minute post.

While I was in Nicaragua, I didn't give Rubén Darío much thought. I had never heard of him and I knew everything so how important could he really be. (Disclaimer: note the sarcastic tone of the last sentence.) I had read his poems written on walls in downtown Managua and even visited his birthplace which has been appropriate named Ciudad Darío (Darío City). However, it wasn't until I took a Spanish Literature class that I realized the importance of Darío. I mean, he was the FATHER of the Modernismo movement. I was somewhat embarrassed that I let the opportunity to bond with some of my favorite people (the Nicas, as we affectionately call them) over literature. So, I have repented and aim to make things right.

The Modernism movement, as Clarrisa beautifully mentioned in her post, is a bit different than the Modernism that we understand. The "Modernismo" Movement in Spanish is more like the aesthetic movement that we associate with Oscar Wilde and his ideas of "art for art's sake." The Spanish Modernism movement is a blend of earlier Romantic and Surrealist poetry that focuses on symbolism. One of Darío's best known works is his poem "El cisne."

Fué en una hora divina para el género humano.

El Cisne antes cantaba sólo para morir.

Cuando se oyó el acento del Cisne wagneriano

Fué en medio de una aurora, fué para revivir.

.

. . . .Sobre las tempestades del humano oceano

Se oye el canto del Cisne; no se cesa de oir,

Dominando el martillo del viejo Thor germano

Ó las trompas que cantan la espada de Argantir.

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. . . .¡Oh Cisne! ¡Oh sacro pájaro! Si antes la blanca Helena

Del huevo azul de Leda brotó de gracia llena,

Siendo de la Hermosura la princesa inmortal,

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. . . .Bajo tus blancas alas la nueva Poesía

Concibe en una gloria de luz y de harmonía

La Helena eterna y pura que encarna el ideal.

The word "cisne" is swan in spanish. Darío alludes to composer Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" in which appears the image of the swan. Often, we associate the swan with death. Darío has turned the tables on us and uses the image of the swan to represent rebirth and life. In Darío's mind, a new poetry was about to be born from the wings of the swan that would change and reshape the world. This simple poem is filled with metaphors and allusions that are both beautiful and thought provoking.

I love Darío's poetry and encourage everyone to branch out and study Spanish poetry. There is a distinct style and way that language is used and it is as meaningful as it is beautiful. Like the new poetry emerging from the wings of the "cisne," I hope a new appreciation for Spanish literature will be born from our study of poetry this week. 

A picture I took in Nicaragua near where Rubén Darío was born