El deseo y el cocuyo: sobre lo cubano en la poesía de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda

Abstract

This paper offers an approach to a unique representation of Cuba in the poetry of Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda. Specifically, it takes two poems as fundamental referents marking two essential moments in Avellaneda´s life. The first, ‘Al partir’, is a sonnet of 1836, when Avellaneda left Cuba for Spain. The second, ‘A un cocuyo’, is one of the poems that Avellaneda writes in Cuba upon her return to the island in 1859, after a twenty-three-year absence. This analysis explores the construction of Cuba in the poetry of Avellaneda, particularly the presence of Cuban ‘spirits’ in these two poems, and their relationship