Post by louisa on Nov 21, 2008 4:10:54 GMT 2
An Argument for the Inconsequential Quality of Men
by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
submitted by Lisha Adela García
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
1648-1695
She was born in New Spain, now present day México, at the base of the Popocatéptel volcano on a modest hacienda known as San Miguel Nepantla. One of six children, she was an illegitimate daughter of a Basque, Pedro de
Asbaje y Vargas and an illiterate mother, Beatriz Ramirez. In today's terms she would be considered a child prodigy. She began attending school at age three, and by 16 she was reading in Portuguese and Latin in addition to
Spanish. In order to protect her gift and prevent an unwanted marriage, she joined a convent to close herself off from the world and continue her studies. She wrote poetry, allegories, religious plays and comedies. By 38 her work was waited anxiously by the publishing houses of both Spain and Spanish America. She also became known as a theologian and was popular for
her mixture of religious and worldly themes. Most of her letters were lost in a fire that consumed her convent in 1695. The body of her work has withstood the test of time and is more widely studied today than during her lifetime. There are many who say she was the greatest intellect of the Americas in the 17th Century.
Below is the initial fragment of one of her most famous Poems entitled:
An Argument for the Inconsequential Quality of Men
Translated by Lisha Adela Garcîa
Stubborn men that accuse
women without reason,
by not seeing that they
are the very occasion
for what they are blaming women:
yes, anxiety without equal
you solicit scorn.
Why do you want women to act well
when you incite them to act badly?
You combat their resistance
and then, with gravity,
declare it was really only a small thing
that caused you to react with appropriate measures.
It appears that you want the bravery
of your crazy actions,
a child that misbehaves
and then becomes afraid.
You want with stubborn presumption
to find that you can court, Thais
in possession of Lucrecia.
What humor can be rarer
than that which lacks for advice,
and is responsible for fogging the mirror
and then claims things aren't clear?
by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
submitted by Lisha Adela García
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
1648-1695
She was born in New Spain, now present day México, at the base of the Popocatéptel volcano on a modest hacienda known as San Miguel Nepantla. One of six children, she was an illegitimate daughter of a Basque, Pedro de
Asbaje y Vargas and an illiterate mother, Beatriz Ramirez. In today's terms she would be considered a child prodigy. She began attending school at age three, and by 16 she was reading in Portuguese and Latin in addition to
Spanish. In order to protect her gift and prevent an unwanted marriage, she joined a convent to close herself off from the world and continue her studies. She wrote poetry, allegories, religious plays and comedies. By 38 her work was waited anxiously by the publishing houses of both Spain and Spanish America. She also became known as a theologian and was popular for
her mixture of religious and worldly themes. Most of her letters were lost in a fire that consumed her convent in 1695. The body of her work has withstood the test of time and is more widely studied today than during her lifetime. There are many who say she was the greatest intellect of the Americas in the 17th Century.
Below is the initial fragment of one of her most famous Poems entitled:
An Argument for the Inconsequential Quality of Men
Translated by Lisha Adela Garcîa
Stubborn men that accuse
women without reason,
by not seeing that they
are the very occasion
for what they are blaming women:
yes, anxiety without equal
you solicit scorn.
Why do you want women to act well
when you incite them to act badly?
You combat their resistance
and then, with gravity,
declare it was really only a small thing
that caused you to react with appropriate measures.
It appears that you want the bravery
of your crazy actions,
a child that misbehaves
and then becomes afraid.
You want with stubborn presumption
to find that you can court, Thais
in possession of Lucrecia.
What humor can be rarer
than that which lacks for advice,
and is responsible for fogging the mirror
and then claims things aren't clear?