Spain to recognise poet civil war Miguel Hernandez

[demoleft]

Source: bbc

The Spanish government says it will formally recognise one of the country's best-known poets as a victim of the dictatorship of Gen Francisco Franco.

It will present the family of the poet, Miguel Hernandez, with an official letter rehabilitating his memory.
...
Ranked alongside Federico Garcia Lorca and others as one of Spain's finest poets, Miguel Hernandez was from a poor, peasant family.
...
He was arrested and imprisoned in 1940, when his family say he refused on principle to sign a confession and apology in return for permission to go into exile.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8524992.stm

---

good.



a website in spanish:
http://www.miguelhernandezvirtual.com/xml/

[Xipe Totec]

1. The Last Song - Miguel Hernandez

(Cancion ultima)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pm-cQ9xQnE


Painted, not empty:
my house is painted
in the colors
of great passions and tragedies.


The empty dinner table,
and noisy bed will return
from the tears to which
they were taken.


Kisses will blossom on the pillows,
And sheets will rise over bodies
entangled like vines
nocturnal and perfumed.


Hatred will vanish
behind the windows.
Claws will be softened.
Leave me hope, at least.




(Written in prison, from which he never returned)

[Ken Burch]

2. Thank you for posting this.

It is only fitting to honor this news with this song from the great Northern Irish singer, Tommy Sands. Miguel Hernandez, dead at 32, is one of those(many whose names we will never know)who have earned the right to have this sung in their memory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9pIqlM2Ldw&feature=related

They wouldn't hear your music
And they pulled your paintings down
They wouldn't read your writing
And they banned you from the town
But they couldn't stop you dreaming
And the victory you have won
For you sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

Well your weary smile it proudly hides
The chain marks on your hands
As you bravely strive to realise
The rights of every man
And though your body's bent and low
A victory you have won
For you sowed the seeds of justice
In your daughters and your sons

Well, I don't know your religion
But one day I heard you pray
For a world where everyone can work
And children can play
And though you never got your share
Of the fruits that you have won
You sowed the seeds of equality
In your daughters and your sons

Well, they taunted you in Belfast
And they tortured you in Spain
And in that Warsaw ghetto
Where they tied you up in chains
In Vietnam and in Chili
Where they came with tanks and guns
It's there you sowed the seeds of peace
In your daughters and your sons

And now your music's playing
And the writings on the wall
And all the dreams you painted
Can be seen by one and all
And now you've got them thinking
And the future's just begun
For you sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

[Xipe Totec]

4. Thank you for a beautiful and appropriate riposte nt

[Ken Burch]

3. Here is one of Miguel Hernandez' poems "Vientos Del Pueblo"

As set to music and sung by Victor Jara (another victim of fascism)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FId65IgLQDs&feature=related

De nuevo quieren manchar
mi tierra con sangre obrera
los que hablan de libertad
y tienen las manos negras
los que quieren dividir
a la madre du sus hijos
y quieren reconstruir
la cruz que arrastrara Cristo

Quieren ocultar la infamia
que legaron desde siglos
pero el color de asesinos
no borraran de su cara
ya fueron miles y miles
los que entregaron su sangre
y en caudales generosos
multiplicaron los panes

Ahora quiero vivir
junto a mi hijo y mi hermano
la primavera que todos
vamos construyendo a diario
no me asusta la amenaza
patrones de la miseria

La estrella de la esperanza
continuar siendo nuestra

Vientos del pueblo me llaman
vientos del pueblo me llevan
me esparcen el corazon
y me avientan la garganta
asi cantar el poeta
mientras el alma me suene
por los caminos del pueblo
desde ahora y para siempre

(En Ingles)

Now I want to live
together with my son and brother
in the new world that all of us
are building day by day
your threats do not intimidate me
patrons of poverty
the star of hope
will continue to be ours

Winds of the people are calling me
winds of the people are carrying me
they scatter my heart
and blow through my throat
so will a poet sing
as long as my spirit lives
through the roads of the people
now and forever

[Zomby Woof]

5. This is great news

Even more than a generation since Franco's death in 1975, the wounds are still healing.

May the cycle of reconciliation and healing in my beloved Spain continue...