It is my poetry that you see:
My poetry is a mountain
And is also a feather fan.
My poems are like a dagger
Sprouting flowers from the hilt:
My poetry is like a fountain
Sprinkling streams of coral water.
My poems are light green
And flaming red;
My poetry is a wounded deer
Looking for the forest’s sanctuary.
My poems please the brave:
My poems, short and sincere,
Have the force of steel
Which forges swords.
Jose Marti
January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895
The Sun (New York)
Wednesday, May 22, 1895, page 1
Jose Marti Killed
The Insurgent Leader Falls in Battle-A Rumor that Gomez was Killed
HAVANA, May 21.-Gen. Salcedo telegraphs from Santiago de Cuba that a fight occurred yesterday with a party of 700 insurgents between Dijas and Dos Rios, on the right bank of the River Contramaestre.
The insurgents were under command of Marti, Gomez, Masso, and Berrero, and the Spanish troops were led by Col. Sandoval. The fighting was severe, and lasted an hour and a half. The enemy was put to flight, and José Marti, who styles himself President of the republic, was killed. His body was captured and identified.
The loss on the insurgent side was fourteen known as killed and many wounded. All the correspondence of Marti was captured. Eleven horses with equipment were also captured.
On the Spanish side five were killed and seven wounded. Prisoners say that Gomez was killed or wounded, but that has not been corroborated. Gen. Campos left yesterday for the east.
José Marti and Gen. Maximilian Gomez, the insurgent leaders, were last reported to be proceeding westward toward Rompe. They had an encounter with Government troops several days ago at Camazan, near Holguin. After a fight which lasted several hours the insurgent forces withdrew. During the battle Col. Arizon of the Spanish forces was wounded.
Captain-General Campos visited Matanzas and Cienfuegos on his way to the eastern district.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, May 9, via, Key West, May 21.-Gen. Campos has removed Graino, the head Custom house officer here. It is alleged that he has committed grave frauds.
The insurrection is making rapid progress. The Government has sent 10,000 troops in an endeavor to stop its extension westward. Spain is asked to send additional troops. Many prominent whites are joining Maceo from here, Manzanillo, and other cities.
WASHINGTON, May 21-The State Department has been informed that the Spanish Government has acceded to the request of the United States that “General” Sanguilly, an American citizen, arrested in Cuba for alleged complicity in the insurrection, receive a civil trial.
The United States presented a strong case to Spain, maintaining that no citizen of this country might be tried by a military tribunal unless captured with arms in his hands. The request for a transfer from military jurisdiction really amounted to a demand. The matter has some bearing on the case of ex-Consul Waller, who was tried and sentenced by a French military court in Madagascar, as it indicated that the State Department will insist that Waller shall be tried by a civil court.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/marti.htm
LEVATEN EL ANIMO LOS QUE LO TENGAN COBARDE.
“Sin ostentacion y sin temor, vamos en lo callado de nuestra faena, alentado al respeto a los que ya lo han perdido por si propios; tendiendo la mano, sin que se nos canse de estar tendida, a los mismos que nos niegan la suya; alistando ,camino de la patria, nuestras legiones invisibes. LA RAZON ES NUESTRO ESCUDO. La lanza , la que recogimos de la mano de nuestros muertos… Si el clarin suena de alla, con todo lo que tengamos hecho, iremos a donde nos llama el clarin… Si por habilidad de nuestro opresor, o culpa nuestra, se fueran dividiendo alli los que debieran unir, y cayendose a tierra, por no juntarse con otros, los brazos se debieran levantar aqui, de pueblo en pueblo, sin que el corazon se nos faTigue ni nos espanten los años, paseamos el fuego insepulto, como enseña que ha de juntar,con ayuda de todos los amigos de la LIBERTAD, a los Cubanos fieles esparcidos al viento del mundo: y levantaremos , en brazos de la America Libre.nuestra patria buena y grande!”
JOSE MARTI.
Maestro, hermano y heroe nuestro.
Tu dignidad y tu sacrificio……. Tu EJEMPLO vive en nuestros corazones.
Que Dios te tenga eternamente en la gloria.
VIVA JOSE MARTI!
A cold front is coming in from the arctic. A blizzard is expected. It will be below zero by tomorrow night. Surely this is the season of death.
I see a white rose in the snow.
Pat!!!! Coño, long time no see, my brother!
the reason we are so messed up is because of frigging marti. The US has a slew of founding fathers…none greater, arguably, than George Washington, a realistic visionary. Washington always cast one eye in the present and another on how his actions would be percieved by future generations. After all why do you think he had his slaves freed upon his wife’s passing?
Anyway Marti was all visionary without a dollop of realism. We can have a commie on one side and us on the other picking out Marti quotes to prove whose side he would be on…and neither side would win. His idea for Cuba spoke to qualities inside people that were desirable but unattainable. The US idea took human nature into account, which is why the Declaration of Indpendence is such a masterpiece of propoganda but the actual law of the land, the Constitution, is a dry simple, cynical text that guards against the abuse of power.
Anyway what kind of moron mounts a white horse, dressed in a black jacket and leads a two man charge into battle? All he established was the culture of death that marked our history since independence. The man was a wonderful poet, a gifted orator and brilliant thinker (in his own way)…but his example should not be followed.
I should note that while they left very little of a political legacy that Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez are two heroes that I would put a notch above Marti. Gomez for his selfless devotion to a country that was not even his and his refusal to accept the presidency. Maceo is more troublesome in a way but his sense of honor and love of Cuba was equally undeniable. These men contributed just as much if not more to the cause of independence than Marti. While they have their place it should be at least equal to his.