Post by louisa on Nov 24, 2008 0:07:54 GMT 2
An Argument for the Inconsequential Quality of Men
by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
the initial fragment
Below the fragment in Spanish is Lisha Adela Garcia's note about it. You may also read the poem in English, found in Poem-a-day under the above title.
Hombres necios que acusáis
a la mujer sin razón,
sin ver que sois la ocasión
de lo mismo que culpáis:
si con ansia sin igual
solicitáis su desdén,
¿por qué queréis que obren bien
si la incitáis al mal?
Cambatís su resistencia
y luego, con gravedad,
decís que fue liviandad
lo que hizo la diligencia.
Parecer quiere el denuedo
de vuestro parecer loco
el niño que pone el coco
y luego le tiene miedo.
Queréis, con presunción necia,
hallar a la que buscáis,
para pretendida, Thais,
y en la posesión, Lucrecia.
¿Qué humor puede ser más raro
que el que, falto de consejo,
él mismo empaña el espejo,
.........
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.
by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
the initial fragment
Below the fragment in Spanish is Lisha Adela Garcia's note about it. You may also read the poem in English, found in Poem-a-day under the above title.
Hombres necios que acusáis
a la mujer sin razón,
sin ver que sois la ocasión
de lo mismo que culpáis:
si con ansia sin igual
solicitáis su desdén,
¿por qué queréis que obren bien
si la incitáis al mal?
Cambatís su resistencia
y luego, con gravedad,
decís que fue liviandad
lo que hizo la diligencia.
Parecer quiere el denuedo
de vuestro parecer loco
el niño que pone el coco
y luego le tiene miedo.
Queréis, con presunción necia,
hallar a la que buscáis,
para pretendida, Thais,
y en la posesión, Lucrecia.
¿Qué humor puede ser más raro
que el que, falto de consejo,
él mismo empaña el espejo,
.........
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.