The Nicolás Guillén’s “poemas cosmicos”: Moon, Space and Human Travelers

The Cuban Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989) wrote several poems related to the space project of the twentieth century. Among the so-called poemas cósmicos are “Sputnik 57” (1958), “El cosmonauta” (1972) and “Balada por la muerte de Gagarin” (1972). The “poemas cosmicos” were, moreover, published in a book entitled Sputnik 57 with the aim of being sent into space in the Soyus 38 spacecraft, with other symbolic objects of human history and culture. What is the role of the Moon in these poems? More than the Moon itself, we find space, the human odyssey outside Earth and its practical, symbolic and mythological meaning. Guillén therefore highlights the ambitious and ancient human enterprise, the technical, technological and scientific advances of humanity, the transposition of the “natural limits” of earthlings and its impact and meaning for the population. He emphasizes a sarcastic and humorous tone in relation to the “race for space” and the conquest of a territory supposedly inhabited by God.