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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Robin Basselin.
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And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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For fifty years, the governments of Cuba and the United States of America have seen each other as an enemy. There has been little communication between the people of both countries. However, today’s Spotlight is on a man who is respected by both cultures. His example could provide a cultural bridge of new understanding between Cuba and the U.S. He is the famous Cuban poet Jose Marti.
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Jose Marti was born in Cuba in 1853. At that time, Cuba was ruled as a colony of Spain. During his life, many people struggled for self rule in Cuba. This struggle shaped Marti’s life and choices. As a boy, Marti studied to be an artist. He also learned to express his ideas in writing.
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As a young man, Marti studied law in Spain and received a law degree. But the Spanish government was afraid of his support for Cuban independence. So, the government would not let him work as a lawyer. Instead, he became a teacher in a private school in Cuba. Teaching let him express his ideas. It also provided him with time to write.
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Marti published important academic writing and news columns. He wrote to support the cause of Latin American freedom. During his early years, Cuba still had slaves. Slavery did not end in Cuba until 1886. Marti argued against many laws and social customs that treated non-Europeans unfairly.
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Marti was often criticized for his words. Some governments banned his words from being printed. Marti even had to leave both Spain and Cuba. He had to live and write in exile. His studies and his work as a writer led him to Mexico, Guatemala, and Venezuela. Marti finally found freedom to write in New York City.
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Marti is most famous for his poems. His most loved book of poems is Simple Verses, or Versos Sencillos. The poems express his belief in writers’ freedom and loving concern for all people.
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The following is a poem from Simple Verses. It is named “39”. It talks about growing beautiful white roses. These flowers are highly valued in Cuba and the Americas.
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I grow white roses
In January as in July
For the honest friend who freely
Offers me his hand.
And for he who tears from me
The heart with which I live,
Neither sharp thorns nor unwanted weeds do I grow
But grow white roses.
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”Poem 39” is “simple” for several reasons. It is briefly stated in two short verses. In both Spanish and English, the language and images are simple. Yet in being simple there is still complex beauty. Marti uses the simple image of a person who grows and cares for roses. The action of growing this flower expresses friendship, forgiveness, and peace.
Voice 1
”Poem 39” can also be found in the words of the Cuban popular song, “Guantanamera.” Joseito Fernandez wrote the music for Guantanamera in 1929. In the words of the song, he included several Marti poems. Many famous singers around the world have performed and recorded this song. Some of the singers perform the song as a social protest. Many sing the song for its simple beauty.
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”Poem 39” begins and ends with the same idea, “I grow white roses.” The symbol of the poem is that image - the image of a person who grows and cares for white flowers. And that person provides the voice of the poem.
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Yet other words and images suggest ideas of extreme difference. Marti’s roses are grown “in January as in July”---in winter months as well as in summer. The roses are grown also for the enemy as well as for “the honest friend.” The friend “freely offers a hand” of love, of help, and of welcome. But the enemy “tears the heart” with a vicious hand. A final difference is between the beautiful roses and the harmful weeds and painfully sharp thorns.
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In this poem Marti is expressing his desire for brotherly love – the loving concern for all people. He expresses his desire for peace. The rose is a beautiful gift of love. The rose’s white color is a symbol of good will and of peace. Marti expresses forgiveness and peace for his enemy - not blame and fighting back.
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Working for peace is difficult. It is human nature to return evil for evil. Human nature often gives “weeds and thorns” in return for violence and oppression. Many people think loving and forgiving an enemy cannot be done. Forgiving an enemy can be as difficult to do as growing roses in the winter month of January. Marti wrote this poem while in exile. He was in New York City in the United States. Winter is very cold there. While he was in exile, Marti must have struggled to think kind things about his enemies.
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A second look at the beginning and ending lines of “Poem 39” shows Marti’s special use of the word “grow.” Taking care of and growing roses is not easy work. Beautiful roses are the result of long and often difficult labor. Roses do not grow without care. Bad weather conditions, a lack of rain, harmful insects, poor soil quality, all can have a negative effect on a rose’s growth. The grower must work hard to defeat many problems which interfere with their success.
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Marti’s image, “I grow white roses,” is similar to his life’s work. He desired peace and loving kindness toward all people. He also worked for freedom and self rule for Cuba and Latin America. It was a hard and difficult job for Marti to do. He spent many years living and writing in exile. And in 1895, he died fighting in Cuba against Spanish forces.
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Memorial statues in Jose Marti's honor can be found both in the United States---in New York City’s famous Central Park---and also in Havana, Cuba. People from both nations respect Marti as a hero. Today the United States and Cuba are not at all friendly. But that does not mean there is no hope. Some day soon, it may be possible for the governments of both nations to “grow white roses” for each other.
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