After the fireworks of July 4th comes ... the fireworks of July 5th!
For those who may not know, July 5th is the independence day of Venezuela, the first South American country to declare its independence. Simón Bolívar and co. established the First Republic of Venezuela on July 5th, 1811, but the big turning point for the revolutionaries was the Battle of Carabobo in 1821 against the Spanish, in which the Venezuelans emerged victorious. I learned a lot of Bolívar from the book “Bolívar: American Liberator” by Marie Arana, which I highly recommend, despite its hefty size (624 pages!)
Alright, history lesson over. To commemorate July 5th and Venezuela, here is a poem I found on allpoetry.com by Venezuelan poet Rufino Blanco Fombona, translated from the original Spanish by Alice Blackwell Stone.
The Inevitable, Rufino Blanco Fombona
“Will you be brave?” The old man asks the young man.
“In exile, bread is bitter, first and last; All roads are rough, each hour is full of sorrow.”
“Erect, I like a tree shall face the blast!” “Will you be brave, boy? To a man in exile Each neighbor’s hand becomes a claw, to smite; Slander and hate will set their dogs upon you.”
“The hired lash only barks, it does not bite!”
“When, with grey mists around you and within you, You think of your blue mountains fair and free, Your mother, brothers, and your dearest comrades—” “Closing mine eyes, my country I shall see!”
“But when you meet by moonlight loving couples And hear upon the wind their laughter gay, Your lover’s heart, will it remain indifferent?
Will it not sigh, or have a word to say?
“Will it not then recall some eyes celestial, L ong chestnut locks, beloved in other years?”
The youth makes no reply. His eyes grow misty.
“Go, lad!” The old man says. “You now know tears!”
Andrea Gutierrez is the managing editor of the Bryan County News.