Blog 3 by Ruthie Heavrin

Blog 3

Each one of these poems read with a unique voice and concluded with an unexpected message. The selections provided a broad range of poetry which was a treat to read. There are aspects of each poem that I love, but my favorite of the five pieces was “Black Stone Lying on A White Stone” by César Vallejo.

I found a Spanish reading of the poem on youtube so I followed along as I listened. By the end of the poem, I was almost in tears. I'm not sure if it's an original recording of Vallejo himself, but the reader spoke with such passion that the poem became refreshed in it's own meaning. One interesting translation would be on line 3, stanza 1 of the classes' copy. It reads, “I will die in Paris—and I don't step aside--.” In Spanish, the second part of that line literally translates into “and I don't run, myself” or “I, myself, don't run.” Which, to me, has a different kind of connotation than what the translator, Robert Bly, wrote. Vallejo saying that he does not run away and Bly writing that he does not step aside could show different types of fear and/or courage in the speaker of the poem. Not running is showing more of an acceptance of fate while not stepping aside is showing more courage.

Here is the link in Spanish. Begin around 40 seconds: http://youtu.be/loJCOCyQ7zE?t=40s

This connotation has an effect later in the poem to make César Vallejo, the dead man, to appear to be more of a martyr – as if he were sticking up for something more than his deep depression or to be just a man accepting his demise, but still awaiting it with fear and curiosity. Either way, the poem still reeks of truth – humans suffer.

My favorite line is the sentence that composes the second stanza. In Spanish, the sentence reads,

Juevés será porque hoy, jueves, que proso

estos versos, los húmeros me he puesto

a la mala y, jamás como hoy, me he vuelto,

con todo mi camino, a verme solo.

In Spanish, the rhyme and rhythm is evident with all the “o” endings and vowel sounds within the verses. The content is also beautiful because it truly puts the reader in the deep sorrow and hopelessness the speaker feels. The day he will die is a Thursday because that just happens to be the day he is writing and feels so close to death at that moment, he knows his death in imminent.

As for the title, I'm lost. Since a black stone upon a white stone is a contrasting and jarring image, my best guess is the title was meant to act as a parallel with the poem in the sense of how contrasting and jarring the voice is. Stanzas one and two are written in first person as if it were a suicide letter then stanza three shifts into third person like a newsfeed about his own death then jumps, once again, into first person and the end of stanza four. The speaker is so hopeless and tired of the world beating down upon him, he imagines and daydreams his own death.