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Poster has original signature by printmaker Juan R. Fuentes.
The Spanish original of Ernesto Cardenal's poem and the English translation read as follows:
A ERNESTO CASTILLO MI SOBRINO
Recuerdo Ernesto cuando volviste de tu entrenamiento
y hablabas de armas "lindísimas" que habias aprendido a manejar
"es linda, mamá," le decías a tu mamá,
como quien habla de la belleza de una muchacha.
Después una bala de francotirador te dió en la cara
cuando saltabas a la calle en León
gritando, para animar a los de tu escuadra que te seguían.
¡PATRIA LIBRE O MORIR!
Poeta caído a los 20 años.
Estoy pensando en este Ernesto
ahora que los niños son besados por los soldados
y hay un taller de poesía en la Policía
y el ejército de Alfabetización con su uniforme azul y gris
está regado por todo el país, y hay Reforma Agraria
y los niños vendeperiódicos y limpiabotas son llevados a jugar
y . . . bueno, de verdad que fueron lindísimas esas armas
(y recuerdo el brillo de tus ojos cuando lo decías.)
FOR ERNESTO CASTILLO, MY NEPHEW
I remember Ernesto when you came back from drill
and were talking of the "prettiest" weapons you'd learned to handle
"so pretty, mama," you told your mother,
like someone talking about a girl.
Later a direct hit caught you in the face
when you took a street in Leon
shouting to inspire the squad following you.
A FREE COUNTRY OR DEATH!
A poet fallen, 20 years old.
I'm thinking of that Ernesto
Now that kids are kissed by soldiers
and there's a poetry workshop for the Police
and the Literacy Army with its grey and blue uniforms
is scattered throughout the land, and there's Agrarian Reform
and the newsboys and bootblacks can have some fun
and . . . well, really those weapons were the prettiest
(and I remember the sparkle in your eyes when you said it.)
Collection
Part of
Latin American Ephemera
The Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean Ephemera is a steadily growing repository containing a previously unavailable subset of Princeton’s Latin American Ephemera Collection as well as newly acquired materials being digitized and added on an ongoing basis.
Metadata
- Creator of work
- Ernesto Cardenal and Juan R. Fuentes
- Geographic Origin
- Nicaragua
- Geographic Subject
- Nicaragua
- Subject
-
- Politics and government
- Revolutionaries
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