El Apellido Nicolas Guillen English Translation Review

“El apellido” (The Surname) is one of the most powerful and introspective poems by Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989), a central figure in Afro-Cuban poetry and twentieth-century Latin American literature. Written in the context of Guillén’s ongoing exploration of race, identity, and colonial history, the poem meditates on the erasure of African ancestry through the legacy of the slave trade.

The poem begins with a question answered immediately. Guillén does not celebrate his surname; he unmasks it as a foreign imposition. The English translation preserves the blunt, almost accusatory tone. el apellido nicolas guillen english translation

The poem mourns the lack of a documented lineage for the enslaved, contrasting it with the neatly recorded family trees of European colonizers. Poetry Foundation English Translations to Explore “El apellido” (The Surname) is one of the

From my window I see the green path,the clear hill, the river,the sky of a morning that is not mine.I am Nicolás Guillén, I think,or perhaps I am not, or perhaps I am another.Let us see: look at my papers.Is this my name? Are you sure?Do these letters belong to me?Does this ink belong to me?Tell me, can you be certain? Guillén does not celebrate his surname; he unmasks

Ever since schoolthey have told me my name. A fixed signto identify me in lists...Is it my name, are you sure?Do you have all my particulars?Do you know my navigable heritage?