Romaticismo: Libertad

While discussing romanticism the other day in class, I thought of another poem by Jose Esperonceda that I studied in another class taught by professor Haidt. That poem was Cancion del pirata. I thought this poem is a great example of the romantic themes of freedom, revolution, passion and the individual. The poem is considered either an epic (opopeya) or a lyric poem (not sure which, but Prof Haidt I'm sure could speak on this) in which the narrator is a pirate describing his exploits and life as a pirate. A recurring stanza (estrofa) important to the themes of romanticism in the poem:

Que el mi barco mi tesoro,
que es mi dios la libertad;
mi ley, la fuerza y el viento,
mi unica patria, la mar.

In this stanza repeated throughout the poem we have the romantic elements of the emotional connection with nature (el viento, el mar) and freedom. This pirate feels he is not fettered by any other man or country, only the sea; we see this theme again in the following stanza:

Alla muevan feroz guerra
ciegos reyes
por un palmo mas de tierra;
que yo aqui tengo por mio
cuanto abarca el mar barvio,
aquien nadie impuso leyes.

If I'm reading this correctly, he is explaining his freedom from the rules and perhaps ignorance of governments. Here he expresses a separation and escape from the laws of man and government.

The poems language is simple and plain, but at the same time exciting and passionate. Here is an example of this language in of a few of my favorite lines:

La luna en el mar riela,
en la lona gime el viento,
y alza en blando movimiento
olas de plata y azul;
y va el capitan pirata,
cantando alegre en la popa...


It is great example of romantic poetry that sings the praises of freedom, the individual, and a life passion. The use of the pirate as a vehicle is a fantastic means to express the ideals of romanticism because the image of a pirate is dangerous, an outlaw, and his domain is the sea (nature). And the sea itself is also a powerful romantic symbol expressing strength, passion, mystery, depth and fluidity. I think its a really fun poem and I think Espronceda is effective in evoking emotions of rebellion and excitement, as corny as that may sound. I'm not sure how it compares to our assigned reading because I have not yet started, but it sounds like a more difficult reading than Cancion. It will be interesting to see.

If you are interested in reading the poem, here is a link to Cancion del pirata. If you don't have the time I found a guy on youtube you put the poem to song...pretty cool.