El Apellido Nicolas Guillen: English Translation

¡Pero que me lo roben, que me lo quiten! Oiganme, muchachos, que me lo roben: en la calle, en la hamaca, en la siesta, en la noria, en la fonda, en el café con leche, en el trago de ron que me bebo en silencio.

While Guillén is famous for Motivos de son (1930) and Sóngoro cosongo (1931), which celebrate Afro-Cuban rhythm, marks a darker, more political turn. Here, the celebration is gone. In its place is grief.

Hey, you? Yes, me. What did you say? That they are robbing me of my last name! el apellido nicolas guillen english translation

It was a green ear of corn, the hard kernel had not yet burst. A sugarcane heart was bleeding. And my grandparents, with a branding iron in hand, with an iron on the nape of their necks, their chests bared, they no longer had a last name.

¿Usted? Sí, yo. ¿Cómo dice? ¡Que me roben el apellido! The Last Name ¡Pero que me lo roben, que me lo quiten

¿Eh, ¿usted? Sí, yo. ¿Cómo dice? ¡Que me roben el apellido!

Oiganme, muchachos; que me roben el apellido; que me lo quiten, carajo, como una prenda, como un pañuelo, como un anillo. Ay, mis abuelos se quedaron mudos, se les pudrió la lengua en la boca y no dijeron nada. Here, the celebration is gone

The poem ends as it begins: "¡Que me roben el apellido!" But in Guillén’s hands, the protest itself becomes a new kind of naming. By writing the poem, he reclaims agency. He may not know his grandfather’s African surname, but he knows his struggle. And that struggle, as Guillén shows, is a name in itself.