A group of 20 children from America and Europe recited the poem “To Margarita Debayle“, by the Nicaraguan author Rubén Darius (1897-1916), in a video commemorating World Book Day, which was held yesterday in various countries.
The recital, which begins with the declamation of two children from Managua, makes a geographical and linguistic tour that jumps from America to Europe, from Nicaragua, to Bolivia, passing through Haiti, touching other countries of Ibero-America, and strolling through Spain.
“Margarita, the sea is beautiful, and the wind carries a subtle essence of orange blossom; I feel a lark singing in my soul; your accent: Margarita, I’m going to tell you a story,” declaimed the city, mestizo, and indigenous children in the Cachiquel, Spanish, Catalan, Basque, French, Galician, Garífuna, Mapudungun, Miskito and Portuguese languages.
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Each declamation shows, in addition to the sound of the languages, cultural aspects, such as traditional clothes or their homes, as well as a common characteristic: children’s joy.
The commemorative video aims to “build bridges from literature, thanks to this chained reading, readers will be able to appreciate and listen to different voices, accents and original languages, from the various cultures of Ibero-America,” said the Festival Centroamérica Cuenta, which organizes the Cervantes Prize 2017 Sergio Ramírez, Nicaraguan writer exiled in Spain.
In the video, which is 4.25 minutes long, including the credits, children from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Spain, the United States, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua appear.
“A Margarita Debayle”, inspired by a Nicaraguan girl of the same name, is one of the most famous of Rubén Darío, the greatest representative of literary modernism, and who is considered the “prince of Castilian letters”.
Said poem, written in 1908, was published in 1909 in the book “El viaje a Nicaragua e Intermezzo Tropical”. It also inspired the title “Margarita, the sea is beautiful”, with which Sergio Ramírez won the Alfaguara Prize in 1998.
The video can be seen on social networks with the hashtag #CACDiaDelLibro, or by searching for @cacuenta, on YouTube under the title “A Margarita Debayle”, and on the wall of Centroamérica Cuenta on Facebook.
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