Conflicting Issues of Identity & Culture in Gabriela Mistral's Work After studying Module 5: Lecture Materials & Resources, discuss the conflicting issues of identity and culture in Gabriela M

translated by Ursula K. Le Guin

Let’s dance on the land of Chile,
lovely as Rachel, as Leah,
the land that breeds a people
sweet of heart and speech.
The greenest land with gardens,
the fairest land with wheat,
the reddest land with vineyards,
the gentlest to our feet!
Our laughter’s made of its rivers,
our cheeks of its dusty earth.
Kissing the feet of the dancers
it groans like a mother in birth.
It’s beautiful, and for its beauty
we’ll dance its fields along,
it’s free, and for its freedom
we’ll drench its face in song.
Tomorrow we’ll hew and quarry,
tend to the trees and plants,
tomorrow we’ll build the cities,
today just let us dance!

Tierra Chilena

Danzamos en tierra chilena,
más bella que Lía y Raquel;
la tierra que amasa a los hombres
de labios y pecho sin hiel...

La tierra más verde de huertos,
la tierra más rubia de mies,
la tierra más roja de viñas,
¡qué dulce que roza los pies!

Su polvo hizo nuestras mejillas,
su río hizo nuestro reír,
y besa los pies de la ronda
que la hace cual madre gemir.

Es bella, y por bella queremos
sus pastos de rondas albear;
es libre y por libre deseamos
su rostro de cantos bañar...

Mañana abriremos sus rocas,
la haremos viñedo y pomar;
mañana alzaremos sus pueblos;
¡hoy sólo queremos danzar!

Credit

From Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral: Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin. Copyright © 2003 Ursula K. Le Guin. Courtesy of University of New Mexico Press.

Author

Gabriela Mistral, also known as Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga, was the first Latin-American writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Date Published

02/01/2003

Source URL: https://poets.org/poem/c