"Mirror of patience" () is an epic poem written in 1608 by
Silvestre de Balboa
Silvestre de Balboa Troya Quesada (June 30, 1563 – c. 1644) was a Canary writer considered author of the first literary text in Cuba.
Very little information is known of him, among which is his baptism certificate dated in Las Palmas de Gran ...
.
It is considered the first literature piece written in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. It was occult until the year 1838 when was published in ''El Plantel'', a nineteenth-century magazine. Before, the writer José Antonio Echevarría found it between the shelves of the library of the "Society of Friends of the Country".
The poem is about a true story that occurred in the port of
Manzanillo in 1604, when the bishop of the
Island of Cuba
Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba's area is 110,860 km² (42,803 sq mi) including coastal and territorial waters with a land area of . This makes it the eighth-largest island country in the world. The main island (Cuba) has of ...
, Don Juan de las Cabezas Altamirano, in a travel to visit the farms in
Yara Yara may refer to:
People
* YARA (girl group), a Filipino girl group
* Yara (given name)
* Yara (surname), a Japanese surname
* Yara (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese pop singer
* Yara (footballer) (born 1964), Brazilian footballer
Locations
* Y ...
, was kidnapped by the
French corsair Gilberto Girón, with the intent to make the town pay a huge ransom. Then a group of neighbors from
Bayamo
Bayamo is the capital city of the Granma Province of Cuba and one of the largest cities in the Oriente region.
Overview
The community of Bayamo lies on a plain by the Bayamo River. It is affected by the violent Bayamo wind.
One of the most ...
prepare to fight against the corsairs. In combat, a black slave named Golomón defeats Gilberto Girón and cuts off his head. The bishop is rescued and the people celebrate.
References
Cuban literature
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