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Rating: 
Summary: An important achievement in Cuban literature
Review: "Simple Verses" is a collection of poems by Jose Marti (1853-1895), the 19th century Cuban poet and revolutionary who spent many years in exile in the United States. This is a bilingual edition, with the Spanish originals and English versions on facing pages. The translation into English is by Manuel A. Tellechea. Tellechea also contributes an excellent introduction which includes fascinating biographical information about Marti. The poems are untitled; each is assigned a Roman numeral.Marti writes about romance, nature, family, and other subjects. Many of his poems are political and revolutionary in nature: he condemns Spanish colonial violence in Cuba, expresses his anti-slavery position, and identifies with the oppressed: "With the earth's poor everywhere, / I shall cast my lot" (poem III). In his marriage of poetry with politics and social justice, Marti foreshadows many of Latin America's 20th century poets: Gioconda Belli of Nicaragua, Roberto Sosa of Honduras, Juan Gelman of Argentina, and others, especially especially Pablo Neruda of Chile. Many of Marti's poems appear to be autobiographical in nature. Some of his poems are dark and macabre in tone, others prophetic and even ecstatic. He sometimes reflects on his own poetic work: "My verse is like a dagger / At whose hilt a flower grows" (poem V). His best work, as interpreted by Tellechea, has a compelling freshness and beauty. I only found one aspect of the book troublesome. Most of Marti's poems are written in four line stanzas, and in each poem he generally sticks to a constant rhyme scheme from stanza to stanza: ABBA or ABAB. But in his English versions, Tellechea sometimes mixes up the ABBA and ABAB schemes within poems, without any logical pattern and contradictory to Marti's originals; I found these switches very distracting. Still, this is an excellent volume by a significant figure in Latin American literary history. And the rhyme scheme issue aside, I commend and thank Tellechea for making these "Simple Verses" available in English.
Rating:
Summary: An important achievement in Cuban literature
Review: "Simple Verses" is a collection of poems by Jose Marti (1853-1895), the 19th century Cuban poet and revolutionary who spent many years in exile in the United States. This is a bilingual edition, with the Spanish originals and English versions on facing pages. The translation into English is by Manuel A. Tellechea. Tellechea also contributes an excellent introduction which includes fascinating biographical information about Marti. The poems are untitled; each is assigned a Roman numeral. Marti writes about romance, nature, family, and other subjects. Many of his poems are political and revolutionary in nature: he condemns Spanish colonial violence in Cuba, expresses his anti-slavery position, and identifies with the oppressed: "With the earth's poor everywhere, / I shall cast my lot" (poem III). In his marriage of poetry with politics and social justice, Marti foreshadows many of Latin America's 20th century poets: Gioconda Belli of Nicaragua, Roberto Sosa of Honduras, Juan Gelman of Argentina, and others, especially especially Pablo Neruda of Chile. Many of Marti's poems appear to be autobiographical in nature. Some of his poems are dark and macabre in tone, others prophetic and even ecstatic. He sometimes reflects on his own poetic work: "My verse is like a dagger / At whose hilt a flower grows" (poem V). His best work, as interpreted by Tellechea, has a compelling freshness and beauty. I only found one aspect of the book troublesome. Most of Marti's poems are written in four line stanzas, and in each poem he generally sticks to a constant rhyme scheme from stanza to stanza: ABBA or ABAB. But in his English versions, Tellechea sometimes mixes up the ABBA and ABAB schemes within poems, without any logical pattern and contradictory to Marti's originals; I found these switches very distracting. Still, this is an excellent volume by a significant figure in Latin American literary history. And the rhyme scheme issue aside, I commend and thank Tellechea for making these "Simple Verses" available in English.
Rating: 
Summary: A founder of Modernism
Review: Although Marti is known as the apostle of the Cuban revolution against Spain, what is not usually known was that he was a man of great heart and fully committed to what is best in the human spirit. It is not usually known that some Cubans criticized him because while those in the field were spilling their blood on the ground the others, including Marti, were only raising funds and politicking in the safety of the tobacco factories in the US. Marti galloped in his white horse toward the Spanish formations during his first encounter after the landing. He was shot in the heart and died in an act of self inmolation. Jose Marti was always concerned with the poor, the downtrodden and all cases of inhumanity. He has been accused of communist leanings which is probably correct and was used effectively by Fidel Castro. Many of us who have known him long rather think of him as a Christian Socialist. Marti left a large body of literature behind him. While in the US he met many of our literary figures and was very active in Journalism. Along with Ruben Dario and a few others he was a precursor of Modernism which discarded previous affected and unnatural poetic forms in favor of simpler direct and concised expressions of something deeply felt. When Marti wrote Versos Sencillos he meant exactly that. Some of his verses found their way into the lyrics of Guantanamera. They have a simple and direct beauty.
Rating:
Summary: A New Side of Jose Marti
Review: The thing that struck me about this book is that i always thought of Jose Marti as a sort of revolutionary firebrand. Reading this book, however, I realized what a strong spiritual connection he had with the universe. The poetry is what you would expect from a spiritual teacher like the Dalai Lama. This poetry demonstrates an aspect of Jose Marti's character I never before appreciated.
Rating:
Summary: A New Side of Jose Marti
Review: The thing that struck me about this book is that i always thought of Jose Marti as a sort of revolutionary firebrand. Reading this book, however, I realized what a strong spiritual connection he had with the universe. The poetry is what you would expect from a spiritual teacher like the Dalai Lama. This poetry demonstrates an aspect of Jose Marti's character I never before appreciated.
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