I absolutely adored this week’s readings, as I love reading poetry above anything else. I have already read some of Pablo Neruda’s poems so I decided to go for Gabriela Mistral and I think it has been / will be the best choice I will make this term. There is something about poetry written by woman that perfectly portrays very specific aspects of femininity in a depth like no man will ever be able to write or understand. I can best describe it as an unspoken language that people that identify as women will collectively understand with just a few sentences. I have read and analyzed stuff written by women in the past, and the way something so small rings so many bells to me and my women peers that men do not perceive the same way we do is astounding and beautiful to me. This was a common occurrence when reading Gabriela Mistral’s poems in this week’s reading. An example can be found in the poem “A woman” where we read: “She speaks only her soul’s words, and to those who pass, none.” (p.83). I specially liked this line as it perfectly portrays my attempt at what I previously tried explaining.
I loved everything about her writing, her metaphors and analogies were written so beautifully and the way she portrayed emotions was amazing. One of my favourite poems was “The Abandoned Woman”, and although I loved every line, one of my favourite lines has to be the closing one: “My night, hurried on by fire, let my poor night not last till day!” (p.37). I read the poems in Spanish and this line specifically in Spanish seems to have a deeper meaning than in English. To me, when I first read this line was so beautiful, as the poem is like a “goodbye” to a lover she is giving up on, the entire poem hurts and shows how bad she is trying to let go of something so dear to her. But this last line shows a side of her we didn’t get to see in the rest of the poem, where she hopes that night will not end, because when the morning comes it means she must let go entirely of her lover, something she does not want to do yet entirely.
I could go on listing my favourite lines and aspects about this week’s reading but my question for this week will be: if you are a guy, what aspects (if any) did you found hard analyzing in her poems and if you are a woman, what aspects did you found yourself identified with that most surprised you?
Your question is the same one that I have been asking myself for a long time. With a poet like Mistral (of whom I had only read a few poems, I admit it) the body from which she enunciates marks her being a woman, and it is decisive. What I find most interesting is that many of us are just beginning to understand this. Or maybe we’re not getting it, yet. Again, her quality as a Mistral poet is undeniable, but there is something else that many readers like me can overwhelm us every time we read her.
Hello! I didn’t read Mistral’s writing, but rather Neruda’s female-fascinated work, but this post has fully convinced me to seek out Mistral’s poetry ASAP. I love the way you describe how female authors are able to perfectly capture femininity in a way no man can, as this is something I find in many books I read. I found with Neruda that some of his poems were very powerful with their approach to love, but sometimes Neruda described women in a very objectified, misogynistic way. I think exploring Mistral in the same week as Neruda is super interesting, because it shows two very different sides of a similar coin.
Hi Rebeca, I’m glad you enjoyed reading this poetry collection too! I thought Mistral’s writing really embodied the concept of “by a woman, about women, for women” without a noticeable thread of male gaze. I think a line that resonated with me strongly was “And like a drunk I declared: my country, Fatherland, la Patria!”” (from The Woman Unburdened). This line isn’t necessarily to do with femininity, but as someone who grew up in one country, has heritage in another, and lives in yet another country, I have complicated feelings when it comes to the meaning of “homeland” for me, and this line especially spoke to that.