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The lyrics of "La Boriqueña" by Lola Rodríguez de Tió grace an East Harlem Wall. |
¡Despierta, borinqueño
que han dado la señal!
¡Despierta de ese sueño
que es hora de luchar!
A ese llamar patriótico
¿no arde tu corazón?
¡Ven! Nos será simpático
el ruido del cañón.
Mira, ya el cubano
libre será;
le dará el machete
su libertad...
le dará el machete
su libertad.
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.
El Grito de Lares
se ha de repetir,
y entonces sabremos
vencer o morir.
Bellísima Borinquén,
a Cuba hay que seguir;
tú tienes bravos hijos
que quieren combatir.
ya por más tiempo impávido
no podemos estar,
ya no queremos, tímidos
dejarnos subyugar.
Nosotros queremos
ser libre ya,
y nuestro machete
afilado está.
y nuestro machete
afilado está.
¿Por qué, entonces, nosotros
hemos de estar,
tan dormidos y sordos
y sordos a esa señal?
a esa señal, a esa señal?
No hay que temer, riqueños
al ruido del cañón,
que salvar a la patria
es deber del corazón!
ya no queremos déspotas,
caiga el tirano ya,
las mujeres indómitas
también sabrán luchar.
Nosotros queremos
la libertad,
y nuestros machetes
nos la darán...
y nuestro machete
nos la dará...
Vámonos, borinqueños,
vámonos ya,
que nos espera ansiosa,
ansiosa la libertad.
¡La libertad, la libertad!
– Lola Rodríguez de Tió
La Borinqueña the popular anthem of Puerto Rico first began life as a dance tune in 1860. It became a revolutionary call to arms when lyrics were added in 1868 by the nationalist Puerto Rican poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió (1843–1924). Twice exiled from her native homeland she began to sympathize with Cuban patriots in New York City in 1889. It is in New York where she is alleged to have inspired the future flag of Puerto Rico by inverting the colors of the Cuban flag.
Whether the legend of the flag is true or not it does help to strengthen the ties that Rodríguez de Tió had for native Puerto Rico and the island that she would eventually call home for the remainder of her life – Cuba. In 1901, Rodríguez de Tió founded the Cuban Academy of Arts and Letters as she continued to write patriotic poetry about the hopes and aspirations of her two nations. One of her better known offerings from this time, Cuba y Puerto Rico son... espouse these beliefs.
As for La Borinqueña, her lyrics were deemed to subversive and were replaced in 1903 with lyrics written by Manuel Fernández Juncos. Nationalist forces in Puerto Rico today use Rodríguez de Tió's version of La Borinqueña for their cause. The English translation of her lyrics follow.
Arise, Puerto Rican!
The call to arms has sounded!
Awake from this dream,
for it is time to fight!
Doesn't this patriotic call
set your heart alight?
Come! We will be in tune
with the roar of the cannon.
Come, the Cubans
will soon be free;
the machete will give him his
liberty.
Now the war drum
says with its sound,
that the countryside is the place
of the meeting...
of the meeting.
The Cry of Lares
must be repeated,
and then we will know:
victory or death.
Beautiful Puerto Rico
must follow Cuba;
you have brave sons
who wish to fight.
Now, no longer
can we be unmoved;
now we do not want timidly
to let them subjugate us.
We want
to be free now,
and our machete
has been sharpened.
Why then have we
been so sleepy
and deaf
to the call?
There is no need to fear, Puerto Ricans,
the roar of the cannon;
saving the motherland
is the duty of the heart.
We no longer want despots,
may the tyrant fall now;
the unconquerable women
also will know how to fight.
We want liberty,
and our machetes
will give it to us...
and our machetes
will give it to us...
Come, Puerto Ricans,
come now,
for freedom awaits for us
anxiously,
freedom, freedom!
– Lola Rodríguez de Tió
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