Christine A. Elmore
What better way is there to lead into the life of Gabriela Mistral than by looking at some of her poetry especially written for children. My selection of poems is by no means reflective of the numerous themes Mistral used in her writing. Rather, I have focused on poems that are lullabies for children, express some of her childhood memories, and that describe her religious fervor.
We will begin with a reading of the poem, The House, in which she recalls the childhood memory of her mother baking bread. We will then examine two poems in which she expresses her love and desire to nurture children, perhaps recalling the poor children in the rural villages she worked with in Mexico for two years, entitled, Mexican Child and Little Feet. Next we will look at a series of poems meant to be lullabies for children entitled, Close To Me, Rocking and Night. What child does not at some point ponder over the prospect of having a guardian angel to watch over him or her? In this last poem, The Guardian Angel, we will read about this divine protector of children.
Glossary
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poetry - a form of writing where words are arranged in a rhythmical or metrical way.
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theme - the idea behind a story.
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tragedy - a very sad or disastrous event.
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pen name - an invented name used by a writer in place of his/ her own name.
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Gabriel - the archangel who delivered the good news to Mary that she was to be the mother of God.
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mistral - strong, hot winds that blow over the south of France.
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reform - a movement to improve conditions.
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rural - having to do with life in the countryside.
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inspire - to influence or cause one to make some creative or effective effort.
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advocate - a person who defends and pleads another’s cause.
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permeates - to spread through.
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consul - a person appointed by the government to live in a foreign country and serve his/ her country’s citizens there.
Time-line
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1889 Born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga on April 7 in Vicu–a, Chile.
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1901 Started writing poetry. Her family moved to La Serena, Chile.
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1905 First became a teacher in La Compa–ía, Chile.
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1908 First used the pen name, Gabriela Mistral. Published her first poem under this pen name.
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1910 Began teaching in secondary schools.
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1914 Won a major poetry contest. Wrote “Sonnets of Death” dedicated to her first love, Romelio Ureta who died tragically.
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1918-1920 Served as a principal at a girls school.
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1922 Traveled to Mexico to assist in education reform. Her book, Desolación, was published.
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1924 Her book, Ternura, was published.
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1925 Became a diplomat and was named a delegate to the United Nations.
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1932 Became a consul in Chile.
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1933 Moved to Madrid, Spain.
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1938 Her book, Tala, was published.
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1943 Her beloved nephew, Juan Miguel Godoy (Yin Yin) tragically dies.
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1945 Received the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature.
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1954 Her book, Lagar, was published.
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1957 Died on January 10 on Long Island in the U. S.
Biography Text
Lucila Godoy Alcayaga was born on April 7, 1889 in the small town of Vincu–a located in the beautiful Elqui Valley of Chile. When she was only three, her father, Jeronimo Godoy Villanueva, a teacher but also a ‘pallador’ who wrote and sang songs at festivals, picked up his guitar and left, never to return. Her mother, Petronila, also a teacher, and her half-sister, Emelina Molina, raised her and saw to her schooling. Even though her father was gone, his influence on Lucila remained in the form of his writings. It happened like this. When Lucila was 12, she found some of her father’s verses and was inspired to try writing poetry herself. Her love of writing grew as strong as her love of teaching.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT POETRY?
At the age of 15 Lucila first became a teacher in an elementary school in a tiny village in Chile called La Compa–ía. She went on to teach in both elementary and secondary schools in Chile. All the while she continued to write poetry, frequently entering her writings in different contests. In 1908 she published her first poem using a pseudonym or pen name, Gabriela Mistral. She chose this pen name because of its meaning. Gabriela stood for the archangel, Gabriel, who was the divine messenger of good news in the Bible. Mistral was the name given to strong hot winds that blow over the south of France. As a matter of fact, she had used other pen names for a while but after winning a very important poetry contest in 1914 under the name Gabriela Mistral, she made the decision to use only this one for the rest of her life.
IF YOU WERE A WRITER, WHAT PEN NAME WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Whenever she traveled Gabriela wrote poetry and prose for literary magazines and newspapers at the same time that she took on a variety of jobs as school principal, consul and delegate to the United Nations. Where did her travels take her? In 1922 she traveled to Mexico because the president there asked her to help in the reform of the school system. During this time Gabriela worked with many Indian children from rural villages. They were always to hold special place in her heart and she wrote some of her poetry about them.
WHY WOULD GABRIELA WANT TO WRITE ABOUT THOSE VILLAGE CHILDREN?
Always an advocate for children, Gabriela helped found UNICEF, an organization to help the poor children of the world. After two years in Mexico, she traveled to Europe and the U.S. and later on to Central America and the Caribbean.
Wherever Gabriela went she gave lectures on her love of the American lands and her wish that the countries of North and South America could unite and live in harmony. Her poetry was filled not only with her love and praise of American lands but also of her memories of growing up in the Elqui Valley and of the beautiful nature found on tropical islands. She would never forget the fragrance of the almond trees.
HAVE YOU EVER WRITTEN ABOUT A PLACE YOU LOVED?
There was also a sadness in some of her poetry as she wrote about some of her own personal tragedies, like the loss of a man she had loved when she was young, and of the death of her nephew, Yin Yin, whom she had raised like a mother would. People who read her poetry felt she spoke to them and that her feelings of sadness or tenderness or of being alone were like theirs.
WHY DO YOU THINK SO MANY PEOPLE LIKE READING HER POETRY?
Always a devoted teacher, she specifically wrote poems for children in a book entitled, Ternura. To this day, children in Chilean schools read and recite these poems. To honor this patroness of children and education, many schools and libraries throughout Latin America today bear her name.
CAN YOU THINK OF A TEACHER WHO IS SPECIAL TO YOU?
A great honor was bestowed on Gabriela Mistral in 1945. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature. What made it an even greater honor was that she was the first Latin American writer to receive this special award.
They say that during her life Gabriela never tried to follow the fashions of the times and typically dressed in a loose black and gray dress. In the same way, she wrote in a style that was all her own that didn’t depend on what was popular at the time. In 1952, Gabriela Mistral died of cancer but her spirit truly lives on in her writings which continue to inspire people.
DOES GABRIELA REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE YOU KNOW?
