Poetry
El nido de cóndores
Not translated into English
Olegario Andrade · 1877
Opening lines
En la negra tiniebla se destaca,
como un brazo extendido hacia el vacío
para imponer silencio a sus rumores,
un peñasco sombrío.
In the black darkness there stands out,
like an arm stretched towards the void
to impose silence on its murmurs,
a gloomy crag.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from es.wikisource.org
Synopsis
On a black peak of the Andes, lashed by wind and snow, an old condor keeps watch in his nest, according to the edition of the National University of Cuyo. He dreams neither of the valley nor of the torrents, but of a memory: the army crossing the cordillera. He then follows the flag through the victories of Chacabuco, Maipú and Junín and the setback of Cancha Rayada, and hails the general, crying out that he is the great one. The website of the Recoleta cemetery sees in it an imaginary dialogue with the condors, in praise of San Martín's crossing of the Andes.
Context
The poem, dated May 1877, was read at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires during the May festivities, then published in a supplement of La Tribuna, according to the Mendoza editors; Autores de Concordia and recoletacemetery.com confirm the 1877 reading; the poem is also dated to 1881. It has six parts and salutes the Army of the Andes, driven by love of the homeland, ready to die or to free a world.
Who it is for
A poem in Spanish, in six parts, read in public at its first performance; no known French translation.
Prizes and reception
The poem which, according to Autores de Concordia, brought its author to the top and earned him national renown.
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