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Pablo C. Avila
ENG270.5908
Instructor, Noelle Kocot-Tomblin
21 November 2008
The Ambiguity And Memories In Cesar Vallejo’s Poetry
Poets, throughout the years, have shown their lives through their work by
presenting sentiments and experiences that have been acquired during their lives. They
have used their gift to remember significant moments in life to transform each sentiment
and memory in metaphors and symbolic meanings that make the poem meaningful and
interesting, but more importantly, they make the poem new each time the reader goes
over it. One example is the Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo who has become in one of the
most important poets in the Latin American literature in the last twentieth century thanks
to his famous works and his relevance with many other contemporary authors. Vallejo’s
experiences throughout his life shaped his poetry turning it into a marvelous and
ambiguous detailed story recalling of his life.
Vallejo’s childhood shows the beginning and difficult path of a tremendous
writer. Cesar Abraham Vallejo was born on March 16, 1892 in Santiago de Chuco, La
libertad, Perú. He was the youngest of seven brothers and four girls. His father Francisco
de Paula, a Galician priest, and his mother Maria De Los Santos, a Chimu Indian 1,
represented a mixed environment in which Vallejo grew up and which he also learned
from. Vallejo spent his early childhood in his hometown. As a young guy, Vallejo was
the center of questions and expectations from his family, most of them thought he was
going to be a priest following his grandfather’s footsteps, however, at a very early age, he
showed a tremendous passion for books that later became determinant when learning
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about literature and start developing his knowledge on this field (Biography from Spanish
American Authors, 1).
The different schools Vallejo attended opened his mind to a broaden world within
literature. The many fields Vallejo studied, may represent his apparent indecision to make
his mind and choose a career. In 1910, he first enrolled in the School of Letters of the
University of La Libertad in Trujillo, however, his financial situation did not allow him to
keep up and had to drop it. After this, Vallejo returned home to assist his father doing
some law issues. Thus, Vallejo started to broaden his mind to different issues but more
importantly to different experiences. After that, he was involved in the work of the
miners in Quiruvilca2 which gave him the opportunity to know how rich kids, children of
wealthy miners, made their living in these locations. This experience would later be
written in his novel “Tungsten3.” By 1911, Vallejo was on his way to a new school, this
time, he chose the School of Medicine of the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos 4 in
Lima—the capital. This new opportunity in a school not only gave Vallejo the chance to
experience the field of medicine, but also to know the capital and a new world for Peru is
characterized to have everything centralized in the capital. As a common guy who is
willing to learn and experience new things, he saw himself in a different world, this
experience helped him open his mind to new things and experience the educational
system in the capital as well. By 1913, after attended only one year in the Universidad
Mayor de San Marcos and dropped, Vallejo was again matriculated in the School of
Philosophy and Letters of La Libertad University in Trujillo. These experiences
demonstrate the changing and fully experienced life he had. While at the university in
Trujillo, Vallejo got a job as a teacher of botany and anatomy in the “Centro Escolar de
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Varones N. 241” school. By that time, despite having experienced different fields as
majors and his back and forth traveling, Vallejo began to show his passion for poetry as a
teacher in this school by writing concepts and explanations in verse in order for his
students to be more interested in the subject. Thus, it is clear how the passion Vallejo had
for books as a child, developed as years went shaping his life and poetry.
Vallejo’s experiences at the university and later death of loved ones shaped his
view of literature by cultivating strong concepts and ideas that will be present in his
poetry. While at the university in Trujillo, Vallejo joined a group of philosophers called
“The Bohemians” that was headed by the Peruvian Philosopher Antenor Orrego. This
experience showed Vallejo the real literature world that, through this group of young
writers, penetrated his mind. This group also had other members such as the great poet of
Latin American modernism, Ruben Dario and Walt Whitman (Biography from Spanish
American Authors). Moreover, Victor Raul Haya De La Torre, founder of the Alianza
Popoular Revolucionaria Americana—APRA5, was part of this selected and intellectual
group. Haya De La Torre, in particular, was a significant influence in Vallejo’s life and
represented a vital part of his political idealism that, by the end of his life, would become
evident. This group gave Vallejo the possibility to explore more within literature and
therefore finish his career. By 1915, Vallejo was graduating writing a bachelor’s thesis
titled “El Romanticismo en la poesia Castellana” (Romanticism in Castilian Poetry).
(Ortega, 2). Nevertheless, other situations affected negatively Vallejo’s life. In the same
year he graduated, the death of his brother devastated Vallejo and put him in one of the
most difficult times in his life until then. The death of his brother made Vallejo write one
of the most moving poems called “A mi hermano Miguel” (To my brother Miguel) (Qtd.
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In Biography from Spanish American Authors, 2). This event marked his life
tremendously creating a shift in his poetry, a new direction that did not abandon his
innate idealism gained in the “Bohemians” group, but at the same time, it added a new
component in his verse, a sentiment of loss and ambiguity that would make his work
more intriguing but richer at the same time. In words of Ciro Alegria6, Vallejo’s student,
Vallejo seemed “profoundly heartbroken” (Qtd. in Biography from Spanish American
Authors, 2). Vallejo had suffered a tremendous loss and this caused pain lasted for a long
time because some years after that, in 1918, the death of his friend Gonzales Prada in July
and his mother in August made his life even harder (2). This painful experience is clearly
stated in a letter Vallejo sent to his brother Manuel on October 16, 1918.
“I live, dying, and I don’t know where this miserable and treacherous life will
take me. There is nothing left for me now in this world. Barely the blessing of our
dear father’s life. And the day that ends, I will have died to life and the future
also, and my road will be a downhill one. I am unsettled and do not know what to
do or what to live for. And so I spend my orphan days far from everything and
mad with suffering” (2).
This letter clearly shows the painful situation Vallejo was going through. Words such as
“dying” and “miserable” or “downhill” demonstrate the emptiness in his life, the lack of
optimism and willingness to overcome the situation. This series of losses affected
Vallejo’s life and created new concepts of viewing literature and poetry.
Vallejo’s “Los Heraldos Negros” (The Black Messengers)7 and “Trilce”
highlighted his poetry and life. By early 1918, Vallejo had applied to the School of
Letters of the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos in Lima. Back in the capital, he seemed
to have made his mind and his willingness to overcome his situation became evident.
However, the death of loved ones simply overwhelmed him. Yet, Vallejo’s life seemed to
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go through ups and downs because by the end of that same year, he had finished his first
set of poems “Los Heraldos Negros.” These poems reflected his experiences lived until
then. The first lines start as follows.
Hay golpes en la vida tan Fuertes . . . Yo no sé!
Golpes como del odio de Dios; como si ante ellos,
la resaca de todo lo sufrido
se empozara en el alma . . . Yo no sé!
In life there are blows so heavy. “I don’t know.”
Blows like God’s hatred; as if before them
The undertow of all that is suffered
Should be dammed up in the soul. “I don’t know.”
(Cesar Vallejo: Selected Poems, translated by H.R. Hays, p.11—Qtd. in Ortega, 2)
In these first lines, the sadness is constant and repetitive. This sentiment becomes in an
element that turns his poem in an obscure piece. The pain Vallejo feels in his soul is
compared to the power of God, a supreme being that attacks his soul and harms it.
Though, “Los Heraldos Negros” gave Vallejo the reputation he needed to start off, his
life continued to be really hard for he lost his job as a teacher and had to find another one.
This time, the Colegio Guadalupe, in Lima, would witness his wise teaching
methodology (Ortega, 2). Years went by and Vallejo continued his life normally trying to
overcome every obstacle. By 1922, Vallejo had his second book—Trilce, yet it did not
cause the reputation he had received with his first poems “Los Heraldos Negros,” for
many people criticized it, as Alberto sanchez, a critic in that time, opined “[it is]
incomprehensible and eccentric” (Qtd. in Biography from Spanish American Authors, 3).
Nevertheless, Antenor Orrego who wrote the prologue for this edition of “Trilce,”
supported Vallejo’s work by saying, “I am responsible for it. I assume all responsibility
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for its esthetics” (3). Vallejo’s “Trilce” would show the other face of his poetry. On the
one hand, “Los Heraldos Negros” showed the sadness possibly caused by the death of
loved ones and “Trilce,” on the other hand, showed the ambiguity in his poetry. As he
writes.
Quién hace tánta bulla, y ni deja
testar las islas que van quedando.
Un poco más de consideración
en cuanto será tarde, temprano,
Who’s making that din, and won’t even
let the remaining islands be accounted.
A little more regard
as it will be late, early,
(Trilce, by Cesar Vallejo. Translated ad Edited by Michael Smith and Valentino
Gianuzzi—Qtd. in Vallejo, 20).
These lines represent the ambiguity that is born in Vallejo’s poetry. By 1922, Vallejo
seemed to have overcome the death of those loved ones some years before. These lines
from “Trilce” combine the sadness of these painful experiences but also the metaphorical
language Vallejo uses to describe different sentiments, as he says, “as it will be late,
early.” These two pieces, “Los Heraldos Negros” and “Trilce” marked the beginning of
Vallejo’s main perspectives in literature and poetry; his storytelling represented in
symbols and metaphors, and his ambiguity in meaning.
After the difficulties in jail and his initial settlement in Europe, Vallejo finally
reached a permanency and consistency as a poet. It was by 1919 when Vallejo started to
think about leaving to Europe but it wasn’t until 1923 when he, and his friend Julio
Galvez, finally did it (Biography from Spanish American Authors, 2). But before leaving
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to Europe, Vallejo needed to encounter his family roots and went back to Trujillo where
there was an uprising and Vallejo found himself unintentionally involved on it and was
later sent to jail. This experience in jail lasted 112 days and was later represented and
recalled in “Trilce.” (3). The death of loved ones and his experience in jail helped Vallejo
make his mind and leave left to Europe in 1923. Once in Europe, Vallejo encountered
many difficulties because he could not pay for his expenses and needed money to survive
so he fell in desperation. At nights, he used to stay at the subway train stations until it
closed at one o’clock, later, he had to go to the boulevards and sit on a bench that
gradually became in his everyday bedroom. With no too many ideas in mind, Vallejo was
forced to do something right away. He then wrote to his friend Pablo Abril.
“I must find a way to make a living. I really have no trade, profession, nothing.
However, I do have the desire to work and to live my life with dignity. I am not a
bohemian: poverty is very painful, and it’s not party for me, unlike for others.
You have seen my situation in Paris. Is it that I do not want to work? I have been
several times to the factory. Could it be that I was born unequipped to fight the
world? It could be. But this daily uncertainty directly affects my willpower,
diminishes it and seems to have taken it for its favorite prey” (3).
Vallejo, however, found a way to make his leaving by applying to a scholarship available
for Peruvian students in Spain. The difficult times were still present in Vallejo’s life.
Because of his numerous trips to the Soviet Union and his idealist closeness to
communism, he was later asked to leave France. By this point, Vallejo’s mind towards
the left political ideology became evident, as his description of Russia in one of his visits
demonstrates it in a post card he sent to his friends back in Peru, “This Russia is a
formidable country. Lenin, a genius. Great!” (Biography from Spanish American
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Authors, 4). It was this particular view of communism that had Vallejo be expelled from
France.
Finally, Cesar Vallejo died in France in April 15, 1938 (Ortega, 1). He has
become in a very important figure within the world of literature not only in Peru but in
most countries. As a kid, Vallejo viewed life in a special and different way thanks to the
passion for books he showed. As a young guy, at first, Vallejo seems to have struggled
when making his mind and decide for a career. However, his experience at different
universities and the knowledge he gained from the group “The Bohemians,” helped him
to discover new gifts in his personality that led him to be the great poet he is. Poetry in
Vallejo’s life was always present since he started to write in verse scientific explanations
and concepts for his students at the school where he worked as a teacher. But not only
these meaningful and fruitful experiences are present in Vallejo’s poetry but the sadness
of having lost his mother, his brother, and some of his closest friends and mentors is also
encoded between lines in his work. His life represents the life of a person who
compounds sentiments and experiences, sadness and hope, joy and resentment and put
them together in lines that are still new every time we read them. In 1992, the Peruvian
society celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Cesar Vallejo. Today, he is an
important figure whose work is part of the literary education at most universities.
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Notes
A Chimu Indian is the person who is descendant from an American and an Indian
background. They usually live in the south of Peru.
2
Quiruvilca is a city in the north of Peru near Trujillo.
3
“Tungsten” is a metal that is extracted from the mines in the south of Peru.
4
The Universidad Mayor de San Marcos is located the capital of Peru, Lima. It is also
considered to be the first University founded in America, 1551. It has an approximate of
40.000 students in this current year. For more, see http://www.unmsm.edu.pe.
5
The Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana—APRA is the political party that
currently rules the country. The actual president of Peru Alan Garcia was a close disciple
of Haya De La Torre. Therefore, the influential role Haya De La Torre played over
Vallejo is meaningful and vital to better understand the political ideology Vallejo would
later develop.
6
Ciro Alegria (1909 - 1967) is one of the most important writers Peru has ever had. As a
disciple of Cesar Vallejo, Alegria learned from a generation of wisely men who left a
legacy that still persists in today’s literature in Peru.
7
This and other translations in this paper were made by Julio Ortega.
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Works Cited
“Biography from Spanish American Authors.” The H. W. Wilson Company, 1992.
Retrieved on October 17th 2008.
Ortega, Julio. “Latin American Writers.” Scribner Writers Series, 1989. Retrieved on
October 6th 2008.
Vallejo, Cesar. Trilce. Eds., Michael Smith and Valentine Gianuzzi. Shearsman Books
Ltd. 2005. Retrieved in October 28th 2008.
<http://www.shenarsma.com/archive/samples/2005/vallejoTspl.pdf>
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Appendix B
This list contains some of the work by Cesar Vallejo. It is not complete.
o Los Heraldos Negros (title means "The Black Messengers"), includes "Canciones
de hogar," [Lima], 1918, Peru Nuevo, 1959, published as Los heraldos negros,
1918, Losada (Buenos Aires), 1961, translation by Kathleen Ross and Richard
Schaaf published as The Black Heralds, edited by Yvette E. Miller, introduction
by Jean Franco, Latin American Literary Review Press, 1990.
o Trilce, Talleres Tipografia de la Penitenciaria (Lima), 1922, second edition with
introduction by Jose Bergamin, Cia Iberoamericana de Publicaciones (Madrid),
1931, published with essays by Antenor Orrego and Bergamin, Fondo de Cultura
Popular, 1962, translation by David Smith, Grossman (New York, NY), 1973,
translated by Rebecca Seiferle, edited by Stanley Moss, Sheep Meadow Press
(Riverdale-on-Hudson, NY), 1992.
o Poemas humanos, Presses Modernes (Paris), 1939, Peru Nuevo, 1959, translation
by Clayton Eshleman published as Poemas Humanos: Human Poems, Grove
Press, 1969.
o Espana, aparta de mi este caliz, with introductory essay "Profecia de America"
(title means "Prophecy of America"), Seneca (Mexico), 1940, translation by
Alvaro Cardona-Hine published as Spain, Let This Cup Pass from Me, Red Hill,
1972, translation by Eshleman and Jose Rubia Barcia published as Spain, Take
This Cup from Me, Grove Press, 1974.
o Antologia de Cesar Vallejo, compiled by Xavier Abril, Claridad, 1942.
o Antologia, compiled by Edmundo Cornejo U., Hora del Hombre, 1948.
o Poesias completas (1918-1938), compiled by Cesar Miro, Losada, 1949.
o Los mejores versos de Cesar Vallejo, [Buenos Aires], c. 1956.
o El tungsteno: La novela proletaria, Editorial Cenit (Madrid), 1931, first Peruvian
edition published as Tungsteno, Ediciones de Cuadernos Trimestrales de Poesia,
1958,
o translation by Robert Mezey with preface by Kevin O'Connor published as
Tungsten: A Novel, Syracuse University Press, 1988.
o Novelas: Tungsteno, Fabla salvaje, Escalas melografiadas, Hora del Hombre,
1948.
o Tungsteno y Paco Yunque, J. Mejia Baca & P. L. Villanueva, 1957.
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o La vida, y quince poemas: antologia poetica, compiled by Jose Escobar and
Eugenio Martinez Pastor, Baladre, 1958.
o Poemas, compiled with notes by Ramiro de Casabellas, Perrot (Buenos Aires),
1958.
o Poemas escogidos, compiled
Latinoamericana, 1958.
with
prologue
by
Gustavo
Valcarcel,
o Poemas humanos (1923-1938) [and] Espana, aparta de mi este caliz (1937-1938),
Losada, 1961.
o Poesias completas, Volume 1: Los heraldos negros, Volume 2: Trilce, Volume 3:
Espana, aparta de mi este caliz, Volume 4: Poemas humanos, Peru Nuevo, 1961.
o Cesar Vallejo: Sus mejores obras, (includes Los heraldos negros, Trilce, and
Rusia en 1931: Reflexiones al pie del Kremlin), Ediciones Peru, 1962.
o Twenty Poems (bilingual edition), selection and translations by Robert Bly, James
Wright, and John Knoepfle, with essay by Wright, Sixties Press, 1962.
o Antologia poetica, with introduction by Valcarcel, Impresiones Nacional de Cuba,
1962.
o Los heraldos negros y Trilce, Ediciones Peru, 1962.
o Poesias completas, with prologue by Roberto Fernandez Retaman, Casa de las
Americas (Havana), 1965.
o Antologia, edited with notes by Julio Ortega, Universitaria, 1966.
o Cesar Vallejo, edited by wife, Georgette de Vallejo, P. Seghers (Paris), 1967.
o Seven Poems, translation by Eshleman, R. Morris, 1967.
o Obra poetica completa, with manuscript facsimiles, edited by G. de Vallejo,
(includes Los heraldos negros and Poemas humanos), F. Moncloa, 1968.
o Obras completas (three volumes), Mosca Azul (Lima), Volume 1: Contra el
secreto profesional: A proposito de Pablo Abril de Vivero, 1968, Volume 2: El
arte y la revolucion, 1968, Volume 3: Obra poetica completa, with revised
biographical essay by G. de Vallejo, 1974.
o Cesar Vallejo: An Anthology of His Poetry, edited with an introduction and notes
by James Higgins, Pergamon Press, 1970.
o Un hombre pasa, translation by Michael Smith, New Writers' Press, 1970.
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o Ten Versions from Trilce, translations by Charles Tomlinson and Henry Gifford,
San Marcos Press, 1970.
o Neruda and Vallejo: Selected Poems, translation by Bly, Wright, and Knoepfle,
edited by Bly, Beacon Press, 1971, edited and a new preface by Robert Bly,
Beacon Press (Boston), 1993.
o Poesias completas de Cesar Vallejo, J. Pablos (Mexico), 1971.
o Selected Poems, edited by Gordon Brotherston and Ed Dorn, Penguin, 1976.
o Cesar Vallejo: The Complete Posthumous Poetry, translation by Eshleman and
Barcia, University of California Press, 1978.
o Perfil de Cesar Vallejo: Vida y obra antologia poetica, edited by Juan Larrea and
others, Grafica San Andres, 1978.
o Poesia completa, Premia (Mexico), 1981.
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Appendix C
Photographs of Cesar Vallejo.
Peruvian Bill with the face of Cesar Vallejo. Date of Issue: July 28th 1988.
Cesar Vallejo in Paris, France.
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DO NOT PRINT THIS OUT
Vallejo’s bill link: http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/bcr/dmdocuments/Tesoreria/LibroBilletes/Billetes-BCRP-6.pdf
1
A Chimu Indian is the person who is descendant from an American and an Indian background. They
usually live in the south of Peru.
2
Quiruvilca is a city in the north of Peru near Trujillo.
3
“Tungsten” is a metal that is extracted from the mines in the south of Peru.
4
The Universidad Mayor de San Marcos is located the capital of Peru, Lima. It is also considered to be the
first University founded in America, 1551. It has an approximate of 40.000 students in this current year.
For more, see http://www.unmsm.edu.pe.
5
The Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana—APRA is the political party that currently rules the
country. The actual president of Peru Alan Garcia was a close disciple of Haya De La Torre. Therefore, the
influential role Haya De La Torre played over Vallejo is meaningful and vital to better understand the
political ideology Vallejo would later develop.
6
Ciro Alegria (1909 - 1967) is one of the most important writers Peru has ever had. As a disciple of Cesar
Vallejo, Alegria learned from a generation of wisely men who left a legacy that still persists in today’s
literature in Peru.
7
This and other translations in this paper were made by Julio Ortega.