Gothic Arches Towards the Soul Of Brooklyn By Diana Vargas Trent

Pase el puente de Brooklyn grandioso
entre la ciudad:
fui a parar donde reina el reposo
la ruin realidad!
Mire tumbas fastuosas. altivas:
riqueza, esplendor.
el tributo de las gentes vivas
al ultimo amor.

a fragment of a poem by enrique hernandez-miyares describing his visit to the greenwood cemetery in brooklyn in 1891. in the first line of the poem he says: “i crossed the great brooklyn bridge and entered the city.” when he wrote the poem brooklyn was a city.
[tags]Diana Vargas Trent,Javier Hernandez-Miyares,Brooklyn Bridge,Enrique Hernandez-Miyares[/tags]

En 1903, inspirado por un discurso pronunciado en el Senado de la nueva República de Cuba por su gran amigo don Manuel Sanguily, con el que éste cerraba un largo debate sostenido con don Antonio Sánchez de Bustamante sobre la conveniencia o no para Cuba de la aprobación del Tratado de Reciprocidad con los Estados Unidos, Enrique Hernández Miyares escribió un bello soneto titulado “La más fermosa”, basado en un episodio de El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, mencionado por Sanguily en su discurso. El poema apareció publicado en el periódico El Mundo bajo el seudónimo de Crisóstomo. Y dio lugar a una de las más sonadas polémicas literarias en los anales de las letras hispanoamericanas, pues el Diario de la Marina, sorpresivamente, dio cabida en sus páginas a la acusación de plagio hecha por un supuesto escritor andaluz que afirmaba que el poema se debía a la pluma del ilustre poeta sevillano Francisco Rodríguez Marín. La calumnia creció y la polémica tomó proporciones extraordinarias. Las acusaciones llegaron a tal gravedad, que una parte de la opinión pública se inclinó de antemano a condenar al poeta cubano, hasta que se recibió el cable de España en el que Rodríguez Marín declaraba que el soneto no era suyo y así se conoció la verdad y se disolvió la conjura contra Hernández Miyares. El poeta pudo gozar de su triunfo sobre la calumnia y sus amigos lo agasajaron en uno de los grandes teatros de la capital con un banquete de reconocimiento y admiración que tuvo carácter de apoteosis

Julio E. Hernandez-Miyares

Brief History of A Sonnet
Translation by Javier Hernandez-Miyares

In 1903, inspired by a speech given in the Senate of the newly established Republic of Cuba, by his great friend Manuel Sanguily; a speech which closed a long debate that Sanguily had with Antonio Sanchez de Bustamante, concerning whether the law of reciprocity with the United States should be adopted, Enrique Hernandez-Miyares wrote a gorgeous sonnet titled “The Most Beautiful”, based on an episode from the novel Don Quijote, which Sanquily alluded to in his speech. The poem appeared in the newspaper “El Mundo” under the pen name Crisostomo. It’s publication provoked one of the most famous scandals in the history of spanish-american literature, and was ignited by an article published in the newspaper “El Diario de la Marina”, which was written by an Andulsian scribe of dubious character, who claimed that the sonnet was plagiarized and the true author was the illustrious Spanish poet Francisco Rodriguez Marin. This calumnious accusation set in motion a frenzy of speculation, which due to it’s promotion in the press, created a consensus of public opinion against Hernandez-Miyares. Finally, a cable arrived from Spain in which Rodriguez Marin declared that he was not the author of the sonnet. This ended the polemic and Hernandez-Miyares was able to celebrate his victory with his friends and supporters at a banquet in his honor.

In 1917 a book titled La Mas Fermosa (Historia de un Soneto) was published by the National Academy of Cuban Arts and Letters. This book tells the story of the sonnet and preserves the news articles and letters that were generated during the battle for the paternity of La Mas Fermosa. The Book is available at The New York Public Library.

[tags]Enrique Hernandez-Miyares,Julio Hernandez-Miyares,Javier Hernandez-Miyares,La Mas Fermosa,Cuban Sonnets[/tags]

In 1992 while Cuban poet Dulce Maria Loynaz was accepting the most prestigious honor for spanish language literature: the Cervantes prize, she ended her speech with the recitation of the sonnet “La Mas Fermosa” by Enrique Hernandez-Miyares (1859-1914). She introduced the poem with these words: “I want to finish with the most beautiful verses that in my opinion have been dedicated to the immortal knight (Don Quijote) who still advances. These verses were written at the beginning of this century by a modest poet whom i knew, and whose name was Enrique Hernandez-Miyares.”

Drawing of Enrique Hernandez-Miyares by Rafael Blanco (El Figaro) 1912

[tags]Enrique Hernandez-Miyares,La Mas Fermosa,Dulce Maria Loynaz,Javier Hernandez-Miyares,Sonetos Cubanos,Don Quijote[/tags]