Poetry Analysis Essay

Lorna Dee Cervantes verse form, Poema para los Californios Muertos (Poem for the Dead Californios), is a scuttlebutt on what happened to the original inhabitants of calcium when calcium was still Mexico, and an address to the vocalisers exanimate ancestors. Utilizing a unique dynamic, consistently alternating in the midst of Spanish and English, Cervantes accurately represents the fear, hatred, and humility experienced by the Californios through rhythm, arrangement, tone, and to the highest degree importantly, through affair of language. umteen times readers do not labor a strong sense of the meaning or provocation of a poesy simply through its title.However, the title Poema para los Californios Muertos, translated to Poem from the dead Californios, enables readers to immediately understand that this poesy addresses the injustice experienced by Californias original inhabitants at the hands of the Americans who invaded it and claimed it as their own. This particular poem co nsists of four parts and two main areas of focus. One is the speaker systems interpretation of present-day California, which she expounds upon in the first and forth parts, and her present perspective process occurring in the second and third parts, in which she addresses her ancestors and her own pain.though each part holds its own significance and brings its own unique particle to the poem, they are correlated heavily by the tone of aggression and temper portrayed by the reader. In the first part of the poem, in which the speaker is addressing the state of this modern California and the hatred she feels for the people who have created it, Cervantes uses several(prenominal) words such as cuts, cesarean, fertile, bastard, and pillaged to portray a feeling of a corrupted innocence. California represents this peasant that has been stolen from los madres (the mothers) and the husbands de la tierra, tierra la madre (husbands of mother earth).It is not the lands crack that it has been lost, but it is nevertheless darkened by its new inhabitants and the memory of abasement and pain of her ancestors. The forth part brings forth a new typewrite of diction with words such as bitter antiques and remnants to represent that this is exclusively that remains of Californias original people, and in the final lines, acidulated odor of crushed eucalyptus and the pure scent of rage paint for us an entirely different image than any of the other parts. face is an extremely powerful sense, and by using these phrases with ghastly connotations, Cervantes increases the level of evil and sympathy felt by the reader. A strong irony in the forth part consists of coupling beautiful things such as a blue jay and crushed eucalyptus, which should connote for us happiness, with pungent odors and shrieking, which steal that anomalous sense of happiness. Furthermore, this irony creates for readers their own personal sense of loss by imagining something so happy as a blue jay maki ng a horrific shriek or of something so sweet as eucalyptus smelling rotten.Through this, Cervantes has distributed to her readers some of the pain felt by the Mexican people. The middle of the poem, consisting of parts two and terce, make up the second central point of the poem, in which the speaker addresses her ancestors, her own anguish concerning the loss of California as it once was, and reaches the climax of the poem in which she reveals herself as the hija pobrecita (Poor daughter) vow the ghosts of the white people who stole California. The only hint of vulnerability we apprehend from the speaker is found within the second and third parts.She is desperate for mollification and longing to make known her ancestors memories. The most important aspect that differentiates this poem from many others is the dramatic use of dual language. Because many readers must use the translated notes to understand the Spanish portions of the poem, it requires them to deeply consider the s peakers connotations. Many readers will not realize Cervantes intentional placement of the Spanish portions. Stanzas one, two, and three begin in English and end in Spanish.However, stanza four begins in English and ends in English with only one line in the middle consisting of Spanish. Though it is overlooked, this tactic offers a path upon which the subconscious whitethorn embark. To the speaker, California has been overrun and forever changed by the white people, represented by English. The single Spanish line is a representation of the speaker herself and exemplifies how really lost she feels in this place. Poema para los Californios Muertos is a prime example of the brilliance of a dynamic use of language and the strength it brings to a poem when utilized to its full potential.