abstractWriting is a form of art in its own unique way. Words can be used to entertain, motivate, and even persuade readers. My paper will discuss and analyze the different writing styles and ways in which Central American poets Roque Dalton and Ruben Dario wrote in order to move their audiences. While they were both alive during different eras of their respective countries, they left a huge impact on the Central American population. Dario through fiction and luxury, and Dalton through truth and empathy. Although each man focused on different issues in their respective writings, they each serve as perfect examples of people who inspired their communities. I will compare and contrast their writing styles in order to show how regardless of how different they and their forms of literature were, they were both important and left a huge imprint on the souls of every Central American who read their work.
Writing is a form of art we have partaken in for centuries. Whether it’s to cope with difficult times, call for social and political change, or to share our imaginative thoughts, writing is something that we never stop doing. From this, we find inspiration from different kinds of writers and praise them for their work and the influence they have had on our generations.
Two examples of these influential writers include Roque Dalton and Ruben Dario, who were both very important Central American poets. Dalton’s “IX Love Poem” and Dario’s “Sonatina” poem, are pieces that reveal each of the poets’ unique writing styles, demonstrating the equally unique ways in which they have both influenced Central American literature and society. Roque Dalton was a Salvadoran Revolutionary poet, who wrote during the Salvadoran Civil War. In his poem, “IX Love Poem,” Dalton uses a lot of bittersweet undertones to express his love towards his people while also simultaneously emphasizing the issues the Salvadoran people and other Central Americans suffer from and the pain it causes him. In this poem, he says, “The ones who rotted in jail in Guatemala/Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua/for being thieves, smugglers, scammers, /for being hungry, /the ever-suspicious ones/ (‘I bring forth this individual/arrested for being a suspicious bystander/with the aggravation of being Salvadorian)” (Lines 5-12). Immediately, it is shown how Dalton does not shy away from talking about real-life social issues. In this case, specifically, he speaks of the stereotypes his people are given and discriminated against for, as well as the poverty they face, and being wrongfully convicted. These themes are prominent in his writing, as Dalton was notoriously known for using poetry to call for social and political change. This is something Associate Professor of Spanish at the College of the Holy Cross, Juan G. Ramos, states in the Journal Hispanófila, “Dalton makes no effort to hide his ideological inclinations. For Dalton, poetry is the perfect medium to engage with the urgency of undoing or challenging social inequities. In this sense, the poet-as-communicator is also a militant poet that must create art to denounce social injustice in the present but must also be actively engaged with everyday social struggles and social reality of the people” (Ramos). In a sense, Dalton’s poetry was his weapon and his unique form of political activism. Dalton’s writing was for the people of the working class, essentially giving them a voice when they were constantly ignored. He was truly a “for the people” man and inspired both the literature and political movement. Ruben Dario was a Nicaraguan poet; Dalton’s poetry was centered around politics and inequality, and Dario’s had more romantic, imaginative fantasy-like themes. This was because his poems were based on Modernismo, a literary movement founded by Dario. Modernismo included themes such as “traveling, luxury, and woes of the upper class” (Marcelo). His poetry specifically also included lots of “motifs and symbols of foreign lands and luxury,” and his main audience tended to be people of the middle class, while Dalton’s was the working class (Marcelo). What Dario wrote about was noticeably almost the complete opposite of what Dalton wrote about. For example, in his poem “Sonatina,” he speaks of a princess, who is sad because she is not free. “Alas! The Princess longs to be a swallow, /To be a butterfly, to soar, to follow/The ray of light that climbs into the sun;/To greet the lilies, lost in Springtime wonder, /To ride upon the wind, to hear the thunder/Of ocean waves where monstrous billows run” (Lines 19-24). While this poem specifically can be torn apart and analyzed in a way that makes it out to be an allegory, it still uses themes of luxury, which we can see from the character being a princess. However, while this is less upfront and political than Dalton’s works, it still left a huge impact on the community. John Alba Cutler, associate professor of English and Latina/o studies at Northwestern University and author of “Ends of Assimilation: The Formation of Chicano Literature,” speaks on this fact, stating that “Darío’s poems rubbed shoulders with advertisements, labor solicitations, and other forms of discourse that hailed both working-class and middle-class readerships. They appeared in newspapers with explicitly conservative, middle-class politics, such as San Antonio’s La Prensa, but also in anarchist and socialist magazines like New York’s Pueblos Hispanos. Darío’s poems never meant just one thing for Latino/a readers” (Cutler). Again, while Dario’s poems had a different audience and different themes than Dalton’s, he still left an imprint on audiences that were targeted in his poems, as well as those who weren’t. The beauty of his poetry was that Latinos interpreted it in different ways, and were able to apply it to their own political and personal beliefs if they wanted to. His impact may have been different than Dalton’s, but it’s still just as important. The format in which these two men wrote their poems should not go unnoticed, as their way of writing also truly reflected their differing ideas and personalities. Dalton’s “IX Love Poem,” is what is referred to as a free-form poem, whilst Dario’s “Sonatina” poem was what’s known as “closed form” (Poetic Devices). Dalton’s poem consisted of 35 lines, all of which have a different number of words within them. Dalton’s lack of pattern, organization, and overall free-ball way of thinking that is prominent in his poems represents his same way of free thinking. He was a man who said it as it was, even if people didn’t like it and if it meant putting a target on his back, which it did, as Dalton was notoriously exiled from El Salvador for his revolutionary ideas (Marcelo). On the other hand, Dario’s form of writing is much more traditional, especially in comparison to Dalton’s. His “Sonatina” poem consists of 8 stanzas, with 6 lines in each one from start until finish. Dario follows a constant pattern and format that he refuses to break, which demonstrates his reserved and luxurious way of thinking. Closed and open forms of poetry are both equally essential in poetry, as they both allow room for every individual's creativity. In a sense, closed and open forms of poetry and how crucial they are to poets all around the world represent Dario and Dalton’s importance as well: While they mean different things to different people, they still can coexist alongside one another, and their importance is equal to each other. In conclusion, while Roque Dalton and Ruben Dario were contrastingly different, almost opposites, they both left a huge, unique impact on Central American Literature and poetry, as well as Central Americans as a whole. These two poems, “Sonatina” by Ruben Dario, and “IX Love Poem” by Roque Dalton respectively, are two clear examples of this. From contrasting themes such as luxury and princesses to themes of social injustices and the poverty the community is experiencing, to different writing styles and forms, these two men were able to have their names remembered by their communities forevermore. What they both meant to Central Americans varies amongst individuals, but the immense amount of impact that they left on their people, cannot be overlooked or denied. Works Cited Cutler, John Alba. “Rubén Darío, Latino Poet.” English Language Notes, vol. 56, no. 2, 2018, pp. 71–89, https://doi.org/10.1215/00138282-6960768. Dalton, Roque. “IX Love Poem.” Cordite Poetry Review, 2013, http://cordite.org.au/translations/serrano-dalton/5/. Accessed 12 October 2023. Dario, Ruben. "Sonatina." PoetryArchive, 1920, https://www.poetry-archive.com/d/sonatina.html. Accessed 12 October 2023. Marcelo, Susana. "Notes on Ruben Dario and Roque Dalton." Central American Studies 201, California State University of Northridge. 25 September 2023. https://canvas.csun.edu/courses/136382/pages/notes-on-ruben-dario-and-roque-dalton?m odule_item_id=6192407. "Poetic Devices." California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Chaparral Poets. https://www.chaparralpoets.org/devices.pdf. Accessed 18 October 2023. Ramos, Juan G. “UTOPIAN THINKING IN VERSE: TEMPORALITY AND POETIC IMAGINARY IN THE POETRY OF NICANOR PARRA, MARIO BENEDETTI, AND ROQUE DALTON.” Hispanófila, vol. 2016-, no. 178, 2016, pp. 185–203, https://muse-jhu-edu.libproxy.csun.edu/article/656803. Comments are closed.
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