Dolores Rodríguez de Astudillo y Ponce de León, more commonly known as Lola Rodríguez de Tió (September 14, 1848-November 10, 1924), born in San Germán, Puerto Rico was the first Puerto Rican born poetess to establish herself a reputation as a great poet throughout all of Latin-America.[1] A believer in Women's Rights, she was also committed to the abolition of slavery and in the independence of Puerto Rico.
Early years
Lola's father, Sebastián Rodriguez de Astudillo, was the founder of the Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico (the local bar association). Her mother, Carmen Ponce de Leon, was a descendant of Juan Ponce de Leon. Lola received her education at home where she was home-tutored. This education helped her develop a life-long love for literature, especially for the works of Fray Luis de Leon which were to serve as her source of inspiration. She was very assertive since an early age; at the age of fourteen, due to a misunderstanding at home, she demanded to be allowed to wear her hair short against the conventional norm, a personal trademark that she kept through her life.
Political activist
Lola moved to Mayagüez, with her family, where she met Bonocio Tió Segarra, whom she married in 1863. Tió was a writer and book importer who often wrote articles in the local press and was as much of an activist against the Spanish regime as was allowed by the government. After marrying Tió, she published her first book of poetry,"Mis Cantos" which sold the then amazing amount of 2,500 copies.
In 1867 and then again in 1889, Lola and Bonocio were banished from Puerto Rico by the Spanish appointed Governor Palacios. On their first exile they went to Venezuela. On the second banishment they first moved to New York and later to Cuba, where the couple would reside until their respective deaths. In 1868, inspired by Ramon Emeterio Betances's quest for Puerto Rico's independence and by the attempted revolution called the Grito de Lares, she wrote the patriotic lyrics to the existing tune of La Borinqueña. In Cuba, Lola was elected a member to the Cuban Academy of Arts and Letters, and was an inspector of the local school system. She was well known in Cuba for her patriotic poetry about Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Bust of Lola Rodriguez de Tió
Some of Lola's best known works are "Cuba y Puerto Rico son..." (Cuba and Puerto Rico are..) and "Mi Libro de Cuba" (My Book about Cuba).
In 1919, Lola Rodriguez de Tió returned to Puerto Rico where she was honored with a great banquet at the Ateneo Puertoriqueño and where she recited her "Cantos a Puerto Rico".
Lola Rodríquez de Tió died in November 10, 1924 and is buried in Havana, Cuba.
The design and colors of the Puerto Rican Flag, which was adopted in 1954, came from Lolas idea of having the same flag as Cuba with the colors reversed. Puerto Rico has honored Lola's memory by naming schools and avenues after her.
Lyrics to the revolutionary version of "La Boriqueña"
The following are the lyrics to Lola Rodríguez de Tió's 1868 revolutionary version of "La Boriqueña":
Revolutionary version of "La Boriqueña"
by Lola Rodríguez de Tio
Spanish
(original version) |
English
translation
|
¡Despierta, borinqueño
que han dado la señal!
¡Despierta de ese sueño
que es hora de luchar!
|
Arise, Puerto Rican!
The call to arms has sounded!
Awake from this dream,
it is time to fight!
|
A ese llamar patriótico
¿no arde tu corazón?
¡Ven! Nos será simpático
el ruido del cañón.
|
Doesn't this patriotic call
set your heart alight?
Come! We are in tune with
the roar of the cannon.
|
Mira, ya el cubano
libre será;
le dará el machete
su libertad...
le dará el machete
su libertad.
|
Come, the Cubans
will soon be free;
the machete will give him his
liberty.
|
Ya el tambor guerrero
dice en su son,
que es la manigua el sitio,
el sitio de la reunión,
de la reunión...
de la reunión.
|
Now the war drum
says with its sound,
that the countryside is the place
of the meeting...
of the meeting.
|
El Grito de Lares
se ha de repetir,
y entonces sabremos
vencer o morir.
|
The Cry of Lares
must be repeated,
and then we will know:
victory or death.
|
Bellísima Borinquén,
a Cuba hay que seguir;
tú tienes bravos hijos
que quieren combatir.
|
Beautiful Puerto Rico
must follow Cuba;
you have brave sons
who wish to fight.
|
ya por más tiempo impávido
no podemos estar,
ya no queremos, tímidos
dejarnos subyugar.
|
Now, no longer
can we be unmoved;
now we do not want timidly
to let them subjugate us.
|
Nosotros queremos
ser libre ya,
y nuestro machete
afilado está.
y nuestro machete
afilado está.
|
We want
to be free now,
and our machete
has been sharpened.
|
¿Por qué, entonces, nosotros
hemos de estar,
tan dormidos y sordos
y sordos a esa señal?
a esa señal, a esa señal?
|
Why then have we
been so sleepy
and deaf
to the call?
|
No hay que temer, riqueños
al ruido del cañón,
que salvar a la patria
es deber del corazón!
|
There is no need to fear, Puerto Ricans,
the roar of the cannon;
saving the nation
is the duty of the heart.
|
ya no queremos déspotas,
caiga el tirano ya,
las mujeres indómitas
también sabrán luchar.
|
We no longer want despots,
tyranny shall fall now;
the unconquerable women
also will know how to fight.
|
Nosotros queremos
la libertad,
y nuestros machetes
nos la darán...
y nuestro machete
nos la dará...
|
We want liberty,
and our machetes
will give it to us...
and our machetes
will give it to us...
|
Vámonos, borinqueños,
vámonos ya,
que nos espera ansiosa,
ansiosa la libertad.
¡La libertad, la libertad!
|
Come, Puerto Ricans,
come now,
we hope and wait for freedom,
wait for freedom,
freedom, freedom!
|
See also
References
- ^ Toledo, Josefina, Lola Rodríguez de Tió - Contribución para un estudio integral, Librería Editorial Ateneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2002
External links
- You may listen to "La Borinqeña" Here
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