Selected Prose and Prose Poems

by Mistral, Gabriela

• ISBN13: 9780292752603
• ISBN10: 0292752601
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

The first Latin American to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature, the Chilean writer Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) is often characterized as a healing, maternal voice who spoke on behalf of women, indigenous peoples, the disenfranchised, children, and the rural poor. She is that political poet and more: a poet of philosophical meditation, self-consciousness, and daring. This is a book full of surprises and paradoxes. The complexity and structural boldness of these prose-poems, especially the female-erotic prose pieces of her first book, make them an important moment in the history of literary modernism in a tradition that runs from Baudelaire, the North American moderns, and the South American postmodernistas. It' a book that will be eye-opening and informative to the general reader as well as to students of gender studies, cultural studies, literary history, and poetry. This Spanish-English bilingual volume gathers the most famous and representative prose writings of Gabriela Mistral, which have not been as readily available to English-only readers as her poetry. The pieces are grouped into four sections. "Fables, Elegies, and Things of the Earth" includes fifteen of Mistral' most accessible prose-poems. "Prose and Prose-Poems from Desolacioacute;n / Desolation [1922]" presents all the prose from Mistral' first important book. "Lyrical Biographies" are Mistral' poetic meditations on Saint Francis and Sor Juana de la Cruz. "Literary Essays, Journalism, 'Messages'" collects pieces that reveal Mistral' opinions on a wide range of subjects, including the practice of teaching; the writers Alfonso Reyes, Alfonsina Storni, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Pablo Neruda; Mistral' own writing practices; and her social beliefs. Editor/translator Stephen Tapscott rounds out the volume with a chronology of Mistral' life and a brief introduction to her career and prose.

Author Biography

Stephen Tapscott is Professor of Literature at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Table of Contents

Biographical Data	p. ix
Principal Publications	p. xi
Fables, Elegies, and Things of the Earth	p. 1
El mar	p. 3
The Sea	p. 4
La cebra	p. 5
The Zebra	p. 5
El faisan dorado	p. 7
The Golden Pheasant	p. 8
La harina	p. 10
Flour	p. 11
Elogio de la sal	p. 12
In Praise of Salt	p. 12
El higo	p. 13
The Fig	p. 13
La pina	p. 14
The Pineapple	p. 14
La tortuga	p. 15
The Tortoise	p. 15
Pan	p. 17
Bread	p. 17
La jirafa	p. 18
The Giraffe	p. 19
La alpaca	p. 20
The Alpaca	p. 21
El girasol	p. 22
The Sunflower	p. 22
Elogio del cristal	p. 23
In Praise of Glass	p. 24
Elogio de la arena	p. 26
In Praise of Sand	p. 27
Segundo elogio de la arena	p. 29
Second Praise-Song for the Sand	p. 29
Prose and Prose-Poems from Desolacion / Desolation (1922)	p. 31
La oracion de la maestra	p. 33
The Teacher's Prayer	p. 34
Los cabellos de los ninos	p. 36
Children's Hair	p. 36
Poemas de las madres	p. 37
Poems of the Mothers	p. 37
Poemas de las madres	p. 37
Poems of the Mothers	p. 37
Poemas de la madre mas triste	p. 49
Poems of the Saddest Mother	p. 49
Canciones de cuna	p. 53
Lullabies	p. 53
Motivos del barro	p. 56
Motifs of Clay	p. 56
La flor de cuatro petalos	p. 67
The Four-Petaled Flower	p. 67
Poemas del extasis	p. 69
Poems of Ecstasy	p. 69
El arte	p. 75
Art	p. 75
Decalogo del artista	p. 79
Decalogue of the Artist	p. 79
Comentarios a poemas de Rabindranath Tagore	p. 81
Commentary on Poems by Rabindranath Tagore	p. 81
Lecturas espirituales	p. 85
Spiritual Readings	p. 85
Motivos de la Pasion	p. 92
Motifs of the Passion	p. 93
Poemas del hogar	p. 96
Poems of the Home	p. 96
Prosa escolar/Cuentos escolares	p. 101
Por que las canas son huecas	p. 101
Scholarly Prose/Stories for Schools	p. 103
Why Bamboo Canes Are Hollow	p. 103
Por que las rosas tienen espinas	p. 105
Why Roses Have Thorns	p. 108
La raiz del rosal	p. 110
The Root of the Rosebush	p. 111
El cardo	p. 112
The Thistle	p. 113
La charca	p. 115
The Puddle	p. 116
Lyrical Biographies	p. 119
Canto a San Francisco	p. 121
Song to Saint Francis	p. 122
Silueta de Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz	p. 137
Profile of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz	p. 137
Literary Essays, Journalism, "Messages"	p. 145
Decir el sueno	p. 147
To Declare the Dream	p. 149
Pensamientos pedagogicos	p. 152
Thoughts on Teaching	p. 154
Silueta de la india mexicana	p. 157
Profile of the Mexican Indian Woman	p. 158
Chile	p. 161
Chile	p. 162
Un hombre de Mexico: Alfonso Reyes	p. 165
A Man of Mexico: Alfonso Reyes	p. 166
Alfonsina Storni	p. 169
Alfonsina Storni	p. 171
Invitacion a la lectura de Rainer Maria Rilke	p. 174
An Invitation to Read Rainer Maria Rilke	p. 177
Si Napoleon no hubiese existido	p. 182
If Napoleon Had Never Existed	p. 184
Jose Marti	p. 189
Jose Marti	p. 192
Recado sobre Pablo Neruda	p. 197
A Message about Pablo Neruda	p. 200
Como escribo	p. 205
How I Write	p. 206
Sobre cuatro sorbos de agua	p. 209
On Four Sips of Water	p. 215
La palabra maldita	p. 223
The Forbidden Word	p. 225
Mis ideas sociales	p. 228
My Social Beliefs	p. 230
Translator's Remarks	p. 235
Index of Titles	p. 247
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