Los heraldos negros, by César Vallejo: analysis and interpretation of the poem
The poem "Los heraldos negros" is one of the great masterpieces of the Spanish-American language. It was written by César Vallejo at age 25 and published in his first book, also titled The black heralds, in 1919. It is, perhaps, the best known poem by Cesar Vallejo, and also the most beloved.
The poem deals with the human condition: the human being insofar as he accounts for his pain. Especially pain that is difficult to define, say, or understand.
The black heralds, the collection of poems was printed by the Lima Penitentiary. It was received with success by the critics and the public.
Poem "The black heralds"
There are blows in life, so strong… I don't know!
Blows like the hatred of God; as if before them,
the hangover of everything suffered
it will pool in the soul... I don't know!They are few; but they are... they open dark ditches
on the fiercest face and the strongest back.
Perhaps it will be the foals of barbarians Attila;
or the black heralds that Death sends us.They are the deep falls of the Christs of the soul
of some adorable faith that Fate blasphemes.
Those bloody hits are the crackles
of some bread that burns on the oven door.And the man… Poor… poor! He rolls his eyes, like
when a clap calls us over the shoulder;
turns crazy eyes, and everything lived
it pools, like a pool of guilt, in the gaze.There are blows in life, so strong… I don't know!
Analysis of the poem
"Los heraldos negros" is a lyric poem in which the classical forms of romanticism and modernism predominate, but which also introduces elements of the poetic avant-garde.
We find the Alexandrian verse (14 syllables) - a favorite among modernists - and the rhyme, but also irruptions in the rhythm that break the classical form, the introduction of words without poetic prestige ("puddles", "empozar"), or capital letters in the middle of the verses ("Death", "Destination").
There are also some elements of prose, such as the use of everyday language and images: "bread in the oven door"; "the clap that calls on the shoulder."
The expressive possibilities of spoken language are seen that is not limited to grammars or spelling. Thanks to this we have the "Christs", the "Atilas", and we come across the semantic force that it has "they are few, but they are", which leaves the feeling that, indeed, it speaks of a way of "being" more solid, that weighs more, and is, in some way, definitive.
The intrinsic music of language, which is the musical basis of prose and free verse, is present in the poem with the richness of sound that create fragments like "the hatred of God", "turns the eyes crazy, and everything lived", "Those bloody blows are the crackles. " And also in the accent stroke of certain words, such as "barbarians" that stands out in "Perhaps the barbarian foals Attila will be."
Poetic voice
Repetitions of "I don't know!" present the poetic voice in the first person. The interest of the poem is in the subjectivity of the individual, in his way of perceiving the world. It is a vulnerable, human "I" insofar as it is fragile and temporary.
The poetic voice of "Los heraldos negros" defines us as human beings who register, are aware, feel, even what it is much greater, that overwhelms us, for which we do not even have a language: destiny, the divine, suffering, death.
It speaks to us of our humanity insofar as we are limited: "I don't know!"
Language
This poetic voice that only knows its own uncertainty, requires a search language. What you want to name, you can hardly try to say: "Blows like (...) as from (...) will perhaps (...) or (...)".
The repetition of "I don't know!", And "Poor… poor!" it shows an exasperation, an anguish that makes the need for expression evident.
This insufficiency of language to designate, the great concern of the poetic avant-gardes, functions as the engine of the poem.
The pain
Once it comes to naming "those blows" we have the images of the "foals of barbarians Atilas", " black heralds "of" Death "and" the crackles of some bread that appears on the oven door. burning ".
They are images that focus on the announcement prior to the coup: the heralds. The images refer to an announcement that arrives in a race, massive, unstoppable, (the "colts of barbarians Atilas") and inexorable (of "Death"). It is also a loud and progressive ad: "crackling."
All these anticipatory images bring to life the torture to which the "heralds" submit by announcing a catastrophe about to arrive ("at the oven door"), before which one is completely powerless.
The other image that is used to speak of "those blows" is "the deep falls of the Christs of the soul / of some adorable faith that Destiny blasphemes." The "Christs of the soul" refer us, again, to the tortured human being and that at some point, in different ways, we all suffer and carry.
The image of "lovable faith" is concentrated in man as he builds his entire conception of the world, his engine of life, its very center around the ideas, principles, dreams in which it believes: everything that deep down we love.
Therefore, they are blows to the center of our identity, of all that we are.
The human being
While the poem focuses on pain, what it means to be human is defined around it.
At the center of the poem is man insofar as he "thinks and then exists." It is because of this ability to think, conceive, anticipate, feel that he seems condemned to be the witness of the tragedy.
To give an account of the impotence in the face of tragedies for which there are no reasons or words defines in the poem what it is to be human, as fragile, vulnerable, subjected to gigantic forces that surpass it.
Implicitly, the poem points to compassion, one of the great themes of César Vallejo's poetics that he develops especially in Human poems.
Structure of the poem
The poem is made up of a title and five stanzas. The first four stanzas are made up of four verses.
The last stanza consists of a single verse: "There are blows in life, so strong... I don't know! ", Which repeats the opening verse and closes the poem by creating a circular structure: it ends as it begins.
Most of the verses are Alexandrian (14 syllables).
Musicality
Here are some elements that together create the complex music of the poem.
Verse length and punctuation marks
Some of the music is directed by the length of the Alexandrian verse, usually with some caesuras (pauses) created by ellipsis, semicolons, commas, or exclamation marks between verses.
Rhyme
In the poem the consonant rhyme predominates. It is presented, in the order of each stanza:
- Rhymes between the first and fourth verses. Assonance rhyme between the second and third lines.
- Rhymes between the first and third lines, and the second and fourth lines.
- Rhymes between the first, second and fourth lines.
- Assonance rhyme between the first and third lines. Rhymes between the second and fourth lines.
Figures of speech that affect the rhythm
Anaphora
Anaphora is the rhetorical figure in which words or phrases are repeated.
- "There are hits in life, so strong ... I do not know! / HitsWhat of the hatred of God; What if in front of them, (...) / it became impoverished in the soul... I do not know!"
- "They are few; but They are… They open dark ditches / in the face more fierce and on the back more strong. (...) // They are the deep falls of the Christs of the soul (...) ./ Those bloody blows They are the crackles "
- "And the man… Poor… ¡poor! Turn your eyes, What// (...); turn your eyes crazy, and everything lived / is stagnant, What puddle of guilt, in the look. "
The anaphora formed by the initial and final verse of the poem stands out:
- "There are blows in life, so strong... I don't know!"
Alliterations
Alliteration is one of the rhetorical figures in which a sound is repeated within the verses. Here are the most significant ones.
There golpit is andn lto life, tan strongit is… Me nor he!
Hitit is as of orit gave from It gaves; as if before them,
the hangover of everything suffered
I know andmpozara in the alma... I don't he!SWn pocyou; but SWn... Open ditchaceyoucurace
in the ryounot mace Fiero and in the lomor mace Fuerte.
Sthey were maybez lyou potryou barbarianyou Attilas;
or lyou heraldyounegryou what usmtongive the Muerte.Son the falls hondays of the Christs of the soul
from tolguna faith adorabyou whate el Dit istino blasfema
ANDsors blowH.HtongreentorH.Horn I crepitacionands
of somen pan what en the door of the hornor i know nit burns you.And the manbre… Pobre... pobre! Come back lyou ojyou, What
whatndo for swork the hombro nors llA.Mto ato palmada;
vEUlvand the ojyouitcyou, and todo whatvivido
I knowmpool, comor charco from corlpa, in lto mirada.There golpit is andn lto life, tan strongit is… Me nor he!
Literary figures of the poem
Simile
It is a comparison between two images and is easily identified because it often makes use of the conjunction "as".
- Blows like the hatred of God; as if before them, / the hangover (...)
- (...) stagnant, like a pool of guilt
Exclamation
It is identified by exclamation marks and implies amazement and emotion. For example: "I don't know!"
Epithets
Adjectives that qualify the name. For example: "Dark ditches", "black heralds", "Attila barbarians", "deep falls", "lovable faith", "bloody blows", "crazy eyes".
Parallelism
It consists of distributing words, phrases or sentences in parallel to achieve a rhythmic effect.
"They are the deep falls of the Christs of the soul
of some lovable faith what Fate blasphemes.
Those bloody blows They are the crackles
of some bread what in the oven door we are burned. "
Metonymy
It consists of taking the part for the whole or the whole for the part. For example, "barbarians Attila" refers to Attila the Hun, the last warrior leader and the most powerful of the Huns. Used in the plural "Atila" implies the most cruel and bloodthirsty warriors, kings and dictators who have passed through the history: Genghis Khan, Caligula, Nero, Ivan the Terrible, and later dictators such as Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, etc.
Language licenses
They are exceptions to the grammatical or orthographic rules of the language with the purpose of creating new ways of expressing and innovating. An example of a language license is the exotic capitalization.
The poem introduces the use of the capital letter in the middle of the verses, breaking with the traditional scheme of Spanish spelling. In this case, it has more expressive effects, and it is a resource that lends itself to different interpretations by the reader. Examples of them are: "Death", "Fate".
Declamation of "Los heraldos negros" (audios)
Many have had the honor of reciting this poem. We recommend the declamations of Manuelcha Prado and Ernesto Che Guevara.
Manuelcha Prado placeholder image
I recommend reading “Los heraldos negros” by Manuelcha Prado, one of the most recognized Andean troubadours. He is also one of the best Peruvian guitarists and has recorded 13 albums of indigenous music.
His interpretation preserves the intensity and rhythm of the original phrasing that, when accompanied by his guitar, intensifies and stands out.
Ernesto Che Guevara
Che Guevara left his wife a recording of the poems they read together at night. The recording was a parting gift before his departure for the Congo to support the left in this country, and was made two years before his death.
"Los heraldos negros" is one of the poems in the recording. As a dedication, Che says to his wife:
This is the only thing
intimately mine
and intimately known to both
that I can leave you now. (Che Guevara)
The original audio was unveiled for the first time in the documentary Che, a new man (2010) directed by Tristán Bauer.
If you like the poem or want to know more about this author, you may also be interested in the article 8 great poems by César Vallejo.
About César Vallejo
He was born in Peru, in Santiago de Chuco, on March 16, 1892, and died in Paris, on April 15, 1938. He served as a journalist, teacher, translator, and wrote essays, plays, narrative, and poetry.
He is one of the greatest exponents of the Latin American poetic avant-gardes of the first half of the 20th century, whose motivation was the innovation of poetic language. Among the avant-garde poets, César Vallejo is considered one of the most daring, audacious and irreverent for his book Trilce (1922).
The originality of his poetry innovated and broke the rules not only in Spanish. His work has had repercussions all over the world. For this, he has been immortalized as one of the great masters of poetry.
His most popular poem is "The Black Heralds", and his great masterpiece is Human poems (1939), published a year after his death and written in Paris in the years before World War II.
It may interest you: 15 avant-garde poems
