Luis Muñoz Marín, New York poet
ONE OF SEVERAL POSTS HONORING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, SEPTEMBER 15-OCTOBER 15, 2020, ADDRESSING LATINX CULTURE IN 1920 NY
One hundred years ago today … The newly-published Hispanic Anthology (see yesterday’s post) included “Symphony in White” by Luis Muñoz Marín, a 22-year-old Boricua writer who spent much of 1920 living in Staten Island, and who would, in 1948, become the first democratically-elected governor of Puerto Rico.
Walsh, Thomas, Ed. Hispanic Anthology. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1920, p. 769-770. Hathitrust.
1920 was a momentous year for Muñoz in a number of ways. As A.W. Maldonado recounts in Luis Muñoz Marin: Puerto Rico’s Democratic Revolution, Muñoz had adopted New York City as home several years prior, and in 1919 met there and got married to the poet and translator Muna Lee (50-53). Early in 1920, priced out of Manhattan, the couple moved to Staten Island, a location which would have a profound impact on Muñoz’s political development. For one thing, they were in close proximity to the local branch of the Mew York Public library, where Muñoz often read “whatever books on socialism he could find” (55).
Port Richmond Branch of the New York Public Library, 1927. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. "Richmond: Bennett Street - Heberton Avenue" The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Muñoz was also affected by the time he spent with his new neighbor, the socialist poet Edwin Markham. In Spring of 1920, under the influence of Markham, Muñoz wrote one of his best-known poems, “Panfleto,” in which he declares himself “el agitador de Dios” (God’s agitator). Muñoz also translated Markham’s 1899 poem celebrating workers, “The Man with the Hoe” into Spanish.
That Walsh translated Muñoz’s “Symphony in White” in English for the Hispanic Anthology is ironic, if not odd, if not downright insulting, because Muñoz was more than capable of interlingual verse. Indeed, earlier in 1920, Muñoz had published several English poems in the literary monthly The Smart Set edited by H.L. Mencken “Acknowledgment” and “Interpretation” (both February 1920) and “Leaves” (May 1920). Muñoz would maintain his professional association with Mencken throughout the 1920s.
Late in 1920, Muñoz and Lee would leave Staten Island, and New York City entirely, relocating to Puerto Rico for several years.
References/Further reading:
A.W. Maldonado. Luis Muñoz Marin: Puerto Rico’s Democratic Revolution. San Juan: U of Puerto Rico Press, 2006.
WRITTEN BY JONATHAN GOLDMAN, SEPTEMBER 27, 2020.
TAGS: Staten Island, poetry, socialists, Puerto Rico, Boricua, Latinx, Latino, magazine, publishing, literature, politics, translation