Cesar Vallejo

Cesar Vallejo was a Peruvian poet, a man who was to be a catholic priest and struggled with with decision not to. Visit this page for his biography.

I began to read Vallejo's Los Heraldos Negros and I read the lines I posted below. I just felt the need to interpret these lines. Again, I will interpret them and not translate them. I hope that in time my interpretation will become more elaborate.

Dios mío, si tu hubieras sido hombre.
Hoy supieras ser Dios;
Pero tú, que estuviste siempre bien,
No sientes nada de tu creación.
Y el hombre si te sufre: el Dios es él!

October 11, 2009

Vallejo is clearly speaking to God directly and not to Jesus Christ as most Catholics would. I particularly love Vallejo's attempt to tell God that if He knew the struggles mankind has to endure, God would be less judgmental. I think it is obvious that Vallejo is trying to rationalize his perhaps sinful nature and emphasizing God’s lack of understanding since He does not know what is like to be human. Lastly, Vallejo wrote “el Dios es el!” implying that since men was created in Gods likeness then men know how to be god and human which God does not.

Lord, if only you would have been human.
Today you would know how to be God;
but you were always well
and you do not feel as your creation does.
Humans suffer for you; humans are god!

Blasphemous at least, Vallejo puts in words what I have sometimes felt yet were unable to put into words. It is never the less classic human nature to rationalize our wrongs so that we may find a reason as to why they should not be wrong but misguided instead or not wrong at all.