Vicente Acosta (24 July 1867 – 24 July 1908) was a

Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvad ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

. Born in

Apopa Apopa is a municipality in the San Salvador department of El Salvador. Probably the seventh biggest city in El Salvador with a little more than 150,000 people, the city has now collided with Soyapango and San Salvador, making it part of the Grea ...

, Acosta published various diaries and papers, notably ''Diario del Salvador'', ''La juventud salvadoreña'', ''La república de Centro América'', and ''El Fígaro''. He was active in the newspaper ''La Unión'', in which he signed under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

''Flirt''. At the time of the coup d'état of the Antonio brothers and Carlos Ezeta in 1890, Acosta was forced to flee from the country and did not return until it ended in 1894. In 1904, he was founding director of ''La Quincena'', an important cultural and scientific journal of the time. He participated with such people as Francisco Gavidia, Santiago I. Barberena and cousin of the writer, Arthur Ambrogi. According to David Escobar Galindo, Acosta was "one with romantic impulse, but soon found it better to write in

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

. He was modernist in two slopes: cosmic-metaphysics and vernacular".David Escobar Galindo, ''Indice Antológico de la Poesía Salvadoreña'', San Salvador: UCA Editores, 1982 Francisco Gavidia mentioned Acosta describing him as "a sweet poet, of great descriptive dowries". He died in 1908 in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

and collections of his poems were published after his death. An anthology was released in 1924.

Poetry

A poetry extract from ''El Platanar'' (1924): ''EL PLATANAR''

''Impasible y compacto regimiento,''
''tendido en las cañadas laderas,''
''luce el bosque triunfal de sus banderas,''
''que en sus manos alegre agita el viento.''

''Convidando al amable esparcimiento''
''están las verdes matas altaneras,''
''que se cargan de frutas tempraneras,''
''del encendido trópico al aliento.''

''Un sol canicular deja teñido''
''el verde platanar con tintas rojas''
''en el lienzo del aire estremecido.''

''Mientras, buscando alivio a sus congojas,''
''el rudo caporal duerme rendido''
''al plácido susurro de las hojas.''

''De “Poesías Selectas", San Salvador, 1924.''

Selected works

*''La Lira Joven'', poetry, San Salvador, 1890. *''Poesías'' (publication), San Salvador, 1899. *''Poesías Selectas'' (poetry anthology), San Salvador, 1924.

References

*Cañas Dinarte, Carlos, (2000), ''Diccionario escolar de autores salvadoreños'', San Salvador: Dirección de publicaciones e impresos] Male poets 1867 births 1908 deaths People from San Salvador Department Salvadoran male writers 19th-century Salvadoran writers Salvadoran poets 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers {{ElSalvador-poet-stub