El Cuatro de Julio es un día cargado de historia y celebraciones vibrantes, marcando la adopción de la Declaración de Independencia y el nacimiento de Estados Unidos. Es un momento para fuegos artificiales, desfiles y reuniones, pero también un momento para reflexionar sobre el complejo viaje de la libertad y la nación. La poesía, con su poder para capturar emociones profundas, momentos históricos e identidades cambiantes, ofrece una lente única a través de la cual ver esta fecha significativa. Desde versos fundacionales que resuenan con el espíritu revolucionario hasta poemas posteriores que cuestionan, critican y celebran la multifacética experiencia estadounidense, explorar poemas del 4 de julio nos permite conectar con las diversas voces que han dado forma a la narrativa de la nación. Esta colección reúne una selección de tales poemas, proporcionando contexto para su creación e ideas sobre cómo los poetas han interpretado el significado de la libertad y Estados Unidos a lo largo de la historia.
Uno de los poemas más tempranos e icónicos asociados con la Revolución Americana, aunque escrito mucho después, es “Concord Hymn” de Ralph Waldo Emerson. Leído en la finalización del Monumento de la Batalla de Concord en 1837, conmemora la Batalla de Concord donde se disparó el “disparo que se oyó en todo el mundo”, señalando el comienzo de la Guerra Revolucionaria. El poema no solo inmortaliza a los soldados, sino que también habla del espíritu perdurable de libertad que encarnaban. baseball rhymes poems
Concord HymnBy Ralph Waldo Emerson
By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream, We set to-day a votive stone; That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee.
Otro texto fundamental, originalmente un poema que se convirtió en el himno nacional, es “The Star-Spangled Banner” de Francis Scott Key. Escrito en 1814 durante la Guerra de 1812, después de que Key presenciara el bombardeo del Fuerte McHenry, el poema captura la ansiedad y el eventual alivio al ver la bandera estadounidense todavía ondeando al amanecer. Encarna un patriotismo desafiante y la resiliencia de una joven nación.
The Star-Spangled BannerBy Francis Scott Key
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming; And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines on the stream; ‘Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave, From the terror of flight and the gloom of the grave; And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land, Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just. And this be our motto— “In God is our trust; ” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
El tema de Estados Unidos como refugio para inmigrantes está poderosamente capturado en el soneto de Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”, inscrito en una placa dentro del pedestal de la Estatua de la Libertad. Escrito en 1883 para una subasta para recaudar dinero para la construcción del pedestal, reimagina el clásico “Coloso de Rodas” como una figura acogedora que contrasta con el poderío militar del viejo mundo, simbolizando esperanza y refugio para quienes huyen de la opresión.
The New ColossusBy Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Collage con imágenes patrióticas y texto superpuesto celebrando el Día de la Independencia 4 de Julio.
Adentrándonos en el siglo XX, los poetas comenzaron a explorar las complejidades y contradicciones dentro de la identidad estadounidense, a menudo destacando la brecha entre los ideales de la nación y sus realidades. Claude McKay, figura clave del Renacimiento de Harlem, ofreció una perspectiva mordaz pero compleja en su soneto de 1921 “America”. El poema reconoce la amargura y los desafíos enfrentados en el país (“me alimenta pan de amargura”) pero también expresa una extraña admiración por su fuerza y energía, terminando con una conmovedora imagen de su poder transitorio.
AmericaBy Claude McKay
Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth. Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, Giving me strength erect against her hate, Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state, I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there, Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand, Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
Langston Hughes, otra voz fundamental del Renacimiento de Harlem, confrontó directamente el sueño americano aplazado en su poderoso poema “Let America Be America Again”, publicado por primera vez en 1936. A través de voces alternas, contrasta la visión aspiracional de Estados Unidos como tierra de libertad y oportunidad con las duras realidades enfrentadas por los grupos marginados: el blanco pobre, el negro, el hombre rojo, el inmigrante, el trabajador. Es una súplica para que Estados Unidos cumpla sus promesas fundacionales para toda su gente.
Let America Be America Again – an excerptBy Langston Hughes
Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed— Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek— And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean— Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That’s made America the land it has become. O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home— For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore, And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came To build a “homeland of the free.”
The free?
Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we’ve dreamed And all the songs we’ve sung And all the hopes we’ve held And all the flags we’ve hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay— Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
Los poetas también han capturado el diverso tapiz de la vida estadounidense, incluyendo las voces y experiencias de los inmigrantes. Shirley Geok-Lin Lim en “Learning to love America” explora el complejo proceso de pertenencia e identificación para una madre inmigrante y su hijo nacido en Estados Unidos. El poema enumera razones, tanto personales como sensoriales, para este amor aprendido, reconociendo la lucha del hijo con la identidad y la profunda conexión, casi genética, con un nuevo país.
Learning to love AmericaBy Shirley Geok-Lin Lim
because it has no pure products
because the Pacific Ocean sweeps along the coastline because the water of the ocean is cold and because land is better than ocean
because I say we rather than they
because I live in California I have eaten fresh artichokes and jacaranda bloom in April and May
because my senses have caught up with my body my breath with the air it swallows my hunger with my mouth
because I walk barefoot in my house
because I have nursed my son at my breast because he is a strong American boy because I have seen his eyes redden when he is asked who he is because he answers I don’t know
because to have a son is to have a country because my son will bury me here because countries are in our blood and we bleed them
because it is late and too late to change my mind because it is time.
Collage con rostros diversos y símbolos patrióticos, representando el espíritu de las celebraciones del Día de la Independencia.
“Liberty Bell” de J. P. Dunn hace referencia directa a otro poderoso símbolo de la independencia estadounidense. El poema conecta el sonido histórico de la Campana de la Libertad, que se dice que sonó al adoptarse la Declaración de Independencia, con un llamado continuo a la paz y la buena voluntad que resuena a lo largo de la historia estadounidense y en todo el mundo donde se valora la libertad. Vincula eventos históricos como Bunker Hill y Argonne con el mensaje perdurable de la libertad.
Liberty BellBy J. P. Dunn
Ring on, ring on sweet Liberty Bell For peace on earth, good will to men. A story true, ye kindly tell, From Bunker Hill down to Argonne.
Ring on, ring on sweet Liberty Bell In every clime where freedom dwells Your sweetest strains and imparting knells On New Year’s eve was heard again.
Ring on, ring on sweet Liberty Bell Peal after peal, your music swell Beneath the blue the white and red That waves so proudly today o’er the living And so sacredly o’er the dead. The Plains Poems in Kansas
El espectáculo visual de los fuegos artificiales es una parte indeleble de los poemas del 4 de julio y las celebraciones. “July 4th” de May Swenson captura la belleza fugaz y explosiva de los fuegos artificiales, utilizando imágenes vívidas y detalles sensoriales para describir su ascenso, estallido y descenso. El poema relaciona estas exhibiciones transitorias con procesos naturales e incluso eventos cósmicos, destacando la maravilla y la naturaleza efímera de la celebración.
July 4thBy May Swenson
Gradual bud and bloom and seedfall speeded up are these mute explosions in slow motion. From vertical shoots above the sea, the fire flowers open, shedding their petals. Black waves, turned more than moonwhite, pink ice, lightning blue, echo our gasps of admiration as they crash and hush. Another bush ablaze snicks straight up. A gap like heartstop between the last vanished particle and the thuggish boom. And the thuggish boom repeats in stutters from sandhill hollows in the shore. We want more. A twirling sun, or dismembered chrysanthemum bulleted up, leisurely bursts, in an instant timestreak is suckswooped back to its core. And we want more: red giant, white dwarf, black hole dense, invisible, all in one.
“Fourth of July” de John Brehm ofrece una perspectiva mucho más oscura y crítica sobre el simbolismo del día. El poema utiliza la imaginería de los fuegos artificiales y la celebración (“estallando orgásmicamente”) para explorar la violencia inherente en la narrativa estadounidense y su historia de conflicto. Establece una cruda conexión entre los cohetes celebratorios y el poder militar, identificando en última instancia a Estados Unidos con la cruda y dolorosa realidad de la guerra y su costo humano. Este poema desafía las nociones simplistas de patriotismo a menudo asociadas con la festividad.
Fourth of JulyBy John Brehm
Freedom is a rocket, isn’t it, bursting orgasmically over parkloads of hot dog devouring human beings or into the cities of our enemies without whom we would surely kill ourselves though they are ourselves and America I see now is the soldier who said I saw something burning on my chest and tried to brush it off with my right hand but my arm wasn’t there— America is no other than this moment, the burning ribcage, the hand gone that might have put it out, the skies afire with our history.
Collage que presenta a Abraham Lincoln junto a temas del 4 de Julio y del Día de la Independencia, simbolizando reflexiones históricas.
La experiencia de aquellos dentro del sistema carcelario de Estados Unidos es explorada en “Immigrants in Our Own Land” de Jimmy Santiago Baca. Aunque no es exclusivamente un poema del Cuatro de Julio, aborda el tema de la libertad y su ausencia para muchos. El título en sí mismo es una poderosa declaración, comparando a los reclusos con inmigrantes en su propio país, que llegan con sueños solo para enfrentar duras realidades y oportunidades perdidas. El poema detalla el proceso deshumanizador, las esperanzas de rehabilitación frustradas y la lucha perdurable por la dignidad y la libertad dentro de los muros de la prisión, ofreciendo un sombrío contrapunto a la narrativa más amplia de la libertad estadounidense.
Immigrants in Our Own LandBy Jimmy Santiago Baca
We are born with dreams in our hearts, looking for better days ahead. At the gates we are given new papers, our old clothes are taken and we are given overalls like mechanics wear. We are given shots and doctors ask questions. Then we gather in another room where counselors orient us to the new land we will now live in. We take tests. Some of us were craftsmen in the old world, good with our hands and proud of our work. Others were good with their heads. They used common sense like scholars use glasses and books to reach the world. But most of us didn’t finish high school.
The old men who have lived here stare at us, from deep disturbed eyes, sulking, retreated. We pass them as they stand around idle, leaning on shovels and rakes or against walls. Our expectations are high: in the old world, they talked about rehabilitation, about being able to finish school, and learning an extra good trade. But right away we are sent to work as dishwashers, to work in fields for three cents an hour. The administration says this is temporary So we go about our business, blacks with blacks, poor whites with poor whites, chicanos and indians by themselves. The administration says this is right, no mixing of cultures, let them stay apart, like in the old neighborhoods we came from.
We came here to get away from false promises, from dictators in our neighborhoods, who wore blue suits and broke our doors down when they wanted, arrested us when they felt like, swinging clubs and shooting guns as they pleased. But it’s no different here. It’s all concentrated. The doctors don’t care, our bodies decay, our minds deteriorate, we learn nothing of value. Our lives don’t get better, we go down quick.
My cell is crisscrossed with laundry lines, my T-shirts, boxer shorts, socks and pants are drying. Just like it used to be in my neighborhood: from all the tenements laundry hung window to window. Across the way Joey is sticking his hands through the bars to hand Felipé a cigarette, men are hollering back and forth cell to cell, saying their sinks don’t work, or somebody downstairs hollers angrily about a toilet overflowing, or that the heaters don’t work.
I ask Coyote next door to shoot me over a little more soap to finish my laundry. I look down and see new immigrants coming in, mattresses rolled up and on their shoulders, new haircuts and brogan boots, looking around, each with a dream in their heart, thinking they’ll get a chance to change their lives.
But in the end, some will just sit around talking about how good the old world was. Some of the younger ones will become gangsters. Some will die and others will go on living without a soul, a future, or a reason to live. Some will make it out of here with hate in their eyes, but so very few make it out of here as human as they came in, they leave wondering what good they are now as they look at their hands so long away from their tools, as they look at themselves, so long gone from their families, so long gone from life itself, so many things have changed.
“I Hear America Singing” de Walt Whitman presenta una visión más optimista y expansiva de la identidad estadounidense, centrándose en el espíritu colectivo encontrado en el trabajo y las canciones de la gente común. Escrito en verso libre, característico del estilo de Whitman, el poema enumera a varios trabajadores –mecánicos, carpinteros, albañiles, barqueros, zapateros, madres, muchachas– cada uno contribuyendo con su canción única al gran coro de Estados Unidos. Es una celebración del individualismo democrático y la dignidad del trabajo, una imagen vibrante de la enérgica población de la nación.
I Hear America SingingBy Walt Whitman
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
“America The Beautiful” de Katharine Lee Bates, originalmente un poema escrito en 1895, se ha convertido en un himno patriótico muy apreciado. Inspirados en sus viajes a través del diverso paisaje estadounidense, los versos de Bates celebran la belleza natural de la nación, desde “cielos espaciosos” hasta “olas ámbar de grano” y “majestades de montañas púrpuras”. El poema también reflexiona sobre la historia del país, sus héroes y los ideales de libertad y hermandad, ofreciendo una visión de Estados Unidos bendecido por la gracia divina y esforzándose por la bondad moral.
America The Beautiful – A Poem for July 4.By Katharine Lee Bates
O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!
A veces, los poemas del 4 de julio capturan la experiencia más simple e inmediata de la propia festividad. “The Fourth of July Parade” de Fran Haraway hace precisamente eso, utilizando una estructura concisa, casi como una lista, para evocar las vistas, los sonidos y las sensaciones de un típico desfile del pueblo. Es un poema de detalles sensoriales, capturando los elementos familiares, desde bandas de música y carrozas hasta el calor y la “¡Celebración!” colectiva.
The Fourth of July ParadeBy Fran Haraway
Stripes and stars, Antique cars, Pretty girls, Baton twirls, Spangled gowns, Friendly clowns, Smiling folks, Papered spokes, Marching feet, Endless heat, Clapping hands, High school bands, Town traditions, Politicians, Perspiration, Celebration!
Collage con citas relacionadas con el Día de la Independencia y los sueños, junto a imágenes patrióticas.
Swami Vivekananda, el renombrado filósofo y líder espiritual indio, escribió un poema único titulado “To The Fourth of July”. Escrito en 1898, reflexiona sobre el significado de la libertad y el camino hacia ella, utilizando el Día de la Independencia estadounidense como símbolo de liberación. Personifica el día como un “Señor de la Luz”, celebrando la lucha y el sacrificio que llevaron al derramamiento de “Libertad” sobre la humanidad, y vislumbra esta luz extendiéndose globalmente, rompiendo cadenas en todas partes. Este poema ofrece una perspectiva externa que celebra las aspiraciones universales encarnadas en la fecha.
To The Fourth of JulyBy Swami Vivekananda
Behold, the dark clouds melt away, That gathered thick at night, and hung So like a gloomy pall above the earth! Before thy magic touch, the world Awakes. The birds in chorus sing.
The flowers raise their star-like crowns— Dew-set, and wave thee welcome fair. The lakes are opening wide in love Their hundred thousand lotus-eyes To welcome thee, with all their depth.
All hail to thee, thou Lord of Light! A welcome new to thee, today, O Sun! Today thou sheddest Liberty! Bethink thee how the world did wait, And search for thee, through time and clime.
Some gave up home and love of friends, And went in quest of thee, self-banished, Through dreary oceans, through primeval forests, Each step a struggle for their life or death; Then came the day when work bore fruit, And worship, love, and sacrifice, Fulfilled, accepted, and complete.
Then thou, propitious, rose to shed The light of Freedom on mankind. Move on, O Lord, in thy resistless path! Till thy high noon o’erspreads the world. Till every land reflects thy light, Till men and women, with uplifted head, Behold their shackles broken, and Know, in springing joy, their life renewed!
“America” de Allen Ginsberg, publicado por primera vez en su colección seminal Howl and Other Poems (1956), es una corriente de conciencia extensa y libremente asociativa que se dirige directamente a la nación misma. Es un poema de protesta, lleno de cuestionamientos, frustración y crítica contracultural, a menudo utilizando un tono conversacional y confesional. Aunque aborda cuestiones políticas y sociales, también contiene momentos de reflexión personal y absurdo, incluyendo la famosa línea “Se me ocurre que soy Estados Unidos. Me estoy hablando a mí mismo de nuevo”. Este extracto captura el espíritu cuestionador y rebelde dirigido a la identidad nacional.
America – an ExcerptBy Allen Ginsberg
America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing. America two dollars and twentyseven cents January 17, 1956. I can’t stand my own mind. America when will we end the human war? Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb. I don’t feel good don’t bother me. I won’t write my poem till I’m in my right mind. America when will you be angelic? When will you take off your clothes? When will you look at yourself through the grave? When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites? America why are your libraries full of tears? America when will you send your eggs to India? I’m sick of your insane demands. When can I go into the supermarket and buy what I need with my good looks? America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world. Your machinery is too much for me. You made me want to be a saint. There must be some other way to settle this argument. Burroughs is in Tangiers I don’t think he’ll come back it’s sinister. Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke? I’m trying to come to the point. I refuse to give up my obsession. America stop pushing I know what I’m doing. America the plum blossoms are falling. I haven’t read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for murder. America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies. America I used to be a communist when I was a kid I’m not sorry. I smoke marijuana every chance I get. I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet. When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid. My mind is made up there’s going to be trouble. You should have seen me reading Marx. My psychoanalyst thinks I’m perfectly right. I won’t say the Lord’s Prayer. I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations. America I still haven’t told you what you did to Uncle Max after he came over from Russia. I’m addressing you. Are you going to let your emotional life be run by Time Magazine? I’m obsessed by Time Magazine. I read it every week. Its cover stares at me every time I slink past the corner candystore. I read it in the basement of the Berkeley Public Library. It’s always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. Movie producers are serious. Everybody’s serious but me. It occurs to me that I am America. I am talking to myself again.
El poema narrativo de Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Paul Revere’s Ride”, relata la famosa cabalgata de medianoche del 18 de abril de 1775, que precedió a las Batallas de Lexington y Concord. Aunque no trata estrictamente del 4 de Julio, es una historia fundamental de resistencia y patriotismo estadounidense, que describe las acciones que alertaron a las milicias coloniales de las fuerzas británicas que se acercaban, un paso crucial hacia la independencia. El poema de Longfellow, publicado en 1861 al comienzo de la Guerra Civil, sirvió como recordatorio del espíritu revolucionario y la necesidad de unidad.
Paul Revere’s Ride – an excerptBy Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,— One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”
Then he said “Good night!” and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war: A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon, like a prison-bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide.
Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street Wanders and watches with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers Marching down to their boats on the shore.
Then he climbed to the tower of the church, Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry-chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade,— By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town, And the moonlight flowing overall.
Collage que muestra un grupo diverso de personas y banderas estadounidenses, reflejando los ideales inclusivos del Día de la Independencia.
Poetas como Carl Sandburg han tejido elementos del Cuatro de Julio en reflexiones más amplias sobre la vida estadounidense y sus experiencias sensoriales. En su “Good Night Poem”, Sandburg utiliza varias imágenes para expresar el simple acto de decir buenas noches, incluyendo los “Fuegos artificiales en un muelle el Cuatro de Julio”. Esta imagen proporciona una instantánea breve y vívida de la festividad, arraigando el concepto abstracto de decir buenas noches en una escena estadounidense específica y memorable.
Good Night PoemBy Carl Sandburg
Many ways to say good night.
Fireworks at a pier on the Fourth of July spell it with red wheels and yellow spokes. They fizz in the air, touch the water, and quit. Rockets make a trajectory of gold-and-blue and then go out.
Railroad trains at night spell with a smokestack mushrooming a white pillar.
Steamboats turn a curve in the Mississippi crying a baritone that crosses lowland cottonfields to razorback hill.
It is easy to spell good night. Many ways to spell good night.
La lista de poemas del 4 de julio podría continuar, explorando diversas voces y perspectivas sobre la libertad, la nación y la identidad. Desde relatos históricos e himnos patrióticos hasta reflexiones críticas y experiencias personales, estos poemas nos recuerdan que el significado del Cuatro de Julio no es estático. Es un concepto que ha sido continuamente debatido, desafiado y redefinido a través del lente del arte.
Explorar estos versos ofrece más que un simple ejercicio histórico o literario; es una invitación a conectar emocionalmente con el espíritu del día y a considerar el trabajo continuo de construir una unión más perfecta. Mientras celebramos el Día de la Independencia, tomarnos un tiempo para leer y reflexionar sobre estas voces poéticas puede profundizar nuestra comprensión de las libertades que apreciamos y las responsabilidades que conllevan.