Julia de Burgos’s poem “A Julia de Burgos” is stunning. She compares and contrasts her inner poet self to her outer social self. “You are the cold doll of social lies, and me, the virile starburst of the human truth.” Her outer self is “flower of aristocracy; and me, flower of the people.” Here she reveals her identity as a political activist (de Burgos advocated for Puerto Rican independence). De Burgos rejects the world she was raised to inherit, and describes its opposite, “You are only the ponderous lady, very lady; not me; I am life, strength, woman.”* The final stanza offers a powerful image of de Burgos’s commitment.
When the multitudes run rioting
leaving behind ashes of burned injustices,
and with the torch of the seven virtues,
the multitudes run after the seven sins,
against you and against everything unjust and inhuman,
I will be in their midst with the torch in my hand.
“A Julia de Burgos” is an unflinching look at the personal cost of continued compromise with the Puerto Rican social elite. It’s also a beautiful statement on the spiritual demands of poetry: “I undress my heart.”
* I might translate “very lady” to “full of ladyness,” or “tremendously ladylike,” but that may interfere with the line’s intended length too much.