AGNI
A literary magazine named after the Vedic god of fire
Subscribe Donate

Ernesto Cardenal: Five Poems and an Interview

Edited by AGNI

From the introduction to the interview:

Ernesto Cardenal is not only celebrated in Nicaragua but he is also well-known among Latin America’s intellectual elite and is one of the most widely read poets writing in Spanish today. He is an important spokesperson for the new ideology—a mix of which typifies the unique character of the Nicaraguan revolution—that synthesizes Christianity and Marxism.

Indeed Cardenal is as unique as the revolution he espouses. His greatest influences have been two North Americans—Ezra Pound for his poetics and Thomas Merton for his beliefs. Cardenal has always been deeply interested in North America, in how the American experience is exported abroad. His life, and his poetry, have been very much shaped by the United States involvement in Nicaragua, his country’s struggle for self-determination and the overthrow of Somoza. . . .

They’ve told me I talk only about politics now.
It’s not politics but about Revolution
Which for me is the same thing as the kingdom of God.

Poetry

AGNI 23Print Only

Vision from the Blue Plane-Window

Poetry by Ernesto Cardenal • Translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Cohen
AGNI 23Print Only

Founding of the Latin American Association for Human Rights

Poetry by Ernesto Cardenal • Translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Cohen
AGNI 23Print Only

The Parrots

Poetry by Ernesto Cardenal • Translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Cohen
AGNI 23Print Only

New Ecology

Poetry by Ernesto Cardenal • Translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Cohen
AGNI 23Print Only

At the Tomb of the Guerrilla

Poetry by Ernesto Cardenal • Translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Cohen

Conversations

AGNI 23

Interview with Ernesto Cardenal

Conversation by Mary Morris and Richard Falk • Translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Cohen
Back to top