Alfonsina Storni

Alfonsina Storni (29 May 1892 – 25 October 1938) was an Argentine poet, essayist, and playwright. She is known for her contributions to Latin American literature and her early feminism. She killed herself by walking into the sea. Storni's works often explored themes of feminism, femininity, eroticism, and love. Quotes I am that woman who lives with eyes open Yo soy esa mujer que vive alerta From Tú, que nunca serás Tiemblo, como las lucesTiemblo sobre las aguas.Tiemblo como en los ojosSuelen temblar las lágrimas.Tiemblo como en las carnesSabe temblar el alma. I tremble as lighttrembles on water.I tremble as in eyestears tremble.I tremble as in fleshthe soul knows to tremble. fragment from the poem “Viaje,” El Dulce Daño (1918), translated from the Spanish by Malia Márquez la luna me ha dichoLas tres viejas palabras:“Muerte, amor y misterio ...” The moon has told methe three ancient words:“Death, love, and mystery ...” fragment from the poem “Viaje,” Sí, yo me muevo, vivo, me equivoco;Agua que corre y se entremezcla, sientoEl vértigo feroz del movimiento:Huelo las selvas, tierra nueva toco.Sí, yo me muevo, voy buscando acasoSoles, auroras, tempestad y olvido.¿Qué haces allí misérrimo y pulido?Eres la piedra a cuyo lado paso. Yes, I move, I live, I wander astray—Water running, intermingling, over the sands.I know the passionate pleasure of motion;I taste the forests; I touch strange lands.Yes, I move—perhaps I am seekingStorms, suns, dawns, a place to hide.What are you doing here, pale and polished—You, the stone in the path of the tide? "¿Y Tu?" translated from the Spanish by Muna Lee (writer) Unas veces mis versos han nacidoDel ideal.Otras del corazón y de la angustiaEn tempestad.Otras de algunas sed como divinaQue pide hablar.Pero otras muchas, hombres, los ha escritoMi vanidad.Soy, como todos, una pobre mezclaDe lo divino al fin y lo bestial. Occasionally my poetry is bornof the ideal.Other times of the heart, and in a tempestof distress.Still others of a godlike thirst that begsto speak.But often, gentlemen, it’s authored bymy shallowness.I am, like everything, a lowly mixof the divine, the bestial. "Así es" translated from the Spanish by Nicholas Friedman Quotes about Alfonsina Storni, considered to be a subversive, a radical for Argentina's bourgeois...we see that Storni's poems both in image and meaning are more traditional than Gabriela Mistral's Marjorie Agosín Introduction to These Are Not Sweet Girls: Poetry by Latin American Women (2000), translated from Spanish by Monica Bruno Just a few years ago, one could easily identify the women in all of Latin America who stood out in literature. Names like Gabriela Mistral, Alfonsina Storni, Juana de Ibarború, Delmira Agustini, Claudia Lars, not to mention the greatest of them all, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz... Claribel Alegría speech (2006) Translation from the Spanish by David Draper Clark Alfonsina Storni of Argentina...wrote scathing feminist poems. Angel Flores and Kate Flores, Introduction to The Defiant Muse: Hispanic Feminist Poems (1986) At the turn of the century, a legendary group of women poets emerged, including Delmira Agustini, Alfonsina Storni, and Gabriela Mistral. Their work caused scandal and outrage but ultimately opened the way for other women to explore their experience in a woman's voice. Cecilia Vicuña The Oxford Book of Latin American Poetry (2009) Other poets wrote of the special connective qualities of sound...Alfonsina Storni finds in her own body "wells of sounds/... where the spoken word/and unspoken word/echo"... Cecilia Vicuña The Oxford Book of Latin American Poetry (2009) External links Poetry Foundation Argentina 9 essential poems Category:Poets from Argentina Category:Playwrights from Argentina Category:Women authors from Argentina Category:1892 births Category:1938 deaths Category:Suicides