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“Writing in the 1930s through the ’50s, de Burgos was ahead of her time in grasping connections between history, the body, politics, love, self-negation, and feminism that would later prove to be the foundations for writers like Rich and Plath... The translated poems stand tall as de Burgos herself.” -- Publishers Weekly
“De Burgos wrote with a bold, impressionistic, and passionate style. Much of her poetry is allegorical, using imagery from nature to convey her amorous passions, her political or social concerns, or even just the passages of life she experienced. One can't use the word ‘typical’ when describing de Burgos’s work...” -- Jim Tragser, American Reporter Book Review
“One of the most complete collections of poems by Julia de Burgos, this bilingual anthology is highly recommended as representative of feminist poetry by a modernist Puerto Rican woman poet. Highly recommended...” -- Choice
“Because of this volume, Julia de Burgos, Puerto Rican icon, will begin to take her rightful place within the literature of the Americas, Women’s Studies, and the Modern literary scene.” -- American Book Review
“Julia de Burgos (1914-1953) is considered Puerto Rico’s greatest female poet... Seductive in their raw emotional honesty, her poems define and make concrete the spongy category of love poetry...Here, poetry is the poet incarnate: defiant, proud, a ‘nude of restlessness.’” -- Harvard Review
“Agüeros’ compilation...is an indispensable contribution to Puerto Rican and Latin American letters...a wonderful introduction to Julia de Burgos for those unfamiliar with her work.” -- Gus Puleo, Latin American Literature and Arts
“By sharing the work of Julia de Burgos, Puerto Ricans living in the United States are asserting their presence and cultural heritage in an increasingly multicultural United States.” -- Carlos Suarez-Boulangger, The Mauricio Gastón Institute Report
“Jack Agüeros’ Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos is absolutely, positively fabulous. It is a great and important book.” -- Roberto Santiago
“In the modernist period, is there a Latino Vallejo, a local Neruda, a lost Guillen (Nicolas or Jorje), a Lorca? The Closest I have found is the remarkable Julia de Burgos…Burgos’s sensual verse and early death, destitute and alone, have made her an iconic figure, the Dylan Thomas, or Forugh Farrokhzad of Latina poetry.” –-Parnassus: Poetry in Review
Introduction by Jack Agüeros
This bilingual edition of Julia de Burgos’ complete poems, more than 200 of them, is a literary landmark--the first time her poems have appeared in a complete edition in either English or Spanish. In fact, some of these poems had been essentially “lost” -- tucked away in archives and never before printed in book form. She broke new ground in her poetry, fusing a romantic temperament with keen political insights.
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