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Julia de Burgos

Julia de Burgos, née Julia Constanze Burgos García, was born on February 17, 1914, in Carolina, Puerto Rico and was one of 13 children. Her father was a farmer and National Guardsman. Her family struggled financially, and

Poem of the Intimate Agony

by Julia de Burgos (1914–53)

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16

This my heart, so flowing and so simple,

is by now almost a fountain underneath my tears.

It is a sorrow sitting somewhere beyond death

A sorrow that is waiting … waiting … waiting …

Every hour passes with death on its shoulders,

I alone remain still with my shadow in my arms.

The dusk doesn't cease its blows against my eyes,

nor does life bring me down like a tired tree.

This my heart that cannot even hear itself,

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Poetry Trivia

Question:

What famous sonnet was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley as part of a competition with his friend Horace Smith over who could write a better poem in reaction to a news story about archeological discoveries in Egypt?

Answer

"Ozymandias"

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