Combat-Clementina Suárez

Clementina Suárez (1902-1991) was a Honduran poet who wrote Combate, which translates to “combat” in English. The translated poem describes a poet who desires to create a poem that will subsequently cause a great deal of drastic change to occur. Certain lines in the poem indicate that this poet wants to “build and destroy”, “give hope a lift onto the scaffold”, “rouse the child”, and ultimately “to obliterate the rotted roots of my people” (Suárez). Based on this evidence, the poet is likely trying to start some form of revolution. There is no clear information on when this poem was published, but based on its tone that feels like a call to arms, it was most likely written between 1945 and  1960, when several other nations of Latin America were experiencing political revolutions.

Suárez was always characterized as a woman who did not follow societal norms and broke down barriers in Honduran literature. She published her first book of poetry in 1930 at age 28, becoming the first woman in Honduras to do so (Guaza). This clearly relates to the poem as those who start revolutions do not think or act like others. In addition to poetry, Suárez worked as one of Central America’s preeminent feminist thinkers. Honduras’ political climate was a conservative one that held women as subordinate to men, but Suárez showed that women did not have to conform to these gender roles while still being uniquely feminine (Guaza). Because of the legacy that she left behind, she is regarded as Honduras’ greatest female poet. 

Works Cited:

Guaza, Luisa Fuentes. “To Change Everything, All You Need Is a Body.” Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, February 15, 2019. https://www.coleccioncisneros.org/content/change-everything-all-you-need-body. 

Suárez, Clementina, “Combate,” Via Negativa, https://www.vianegativa.us/2009/06/mothers-and-heroes/.