Julia de Burgos strikes me as a very tormented soul. She seems to be writing about in most of the poems about a lack of control. In the first one, titled "To Julia de Burgos", she writes a letter to herself resenting herself in the future if she were to become a victim of social confinements. At the time that she wrote the poem she views herself as "I am life, strength, woman." She does not want to become the type of woman who "curls [her] hair and paints [herself]. She hopes to not become submissive as women often become after marriage. She worries she will become like that but she knows that the fire or passion inside her will always contradict that way of living. In Rio Grande de Loiza, she writes about water and the effect it has and has had on her. She uses water also as a metaphor for the continuation of offspring. She she even uses "wellspring" which reminds the reader of the word "offspring." She states she doesn't know whether or not she will continue on with children and she states that if it does happen she doesn't know when either. She seems to have a great contempt for men and she states that because the only man that has kissed her soul and her body is the river. And for that reason she may not be "spilling to open new furrows," but rather "be freezing in icicles" or become barren.

After doing some studying this weekend for the test, I feel I understand even more than before, how difficult life has been for Latin Americans. One of the patterns I feel emerged is almost tragic in nature. It seems every time Latin America has a chance of rising and becoming powerful with a good balance of logic and emotion, something comes along to corrupt it. Whether it be corrupt rulers, like Facundo, or even people with good intentions. While Bolivar was/is in fact considered an inspiring man, he did have large hand in splitting the Latin America up. That's not to say it wasn't a necessary action, however, it did have in addition to having a positive effect also a negative one. Latin America is still going through hard times. For most of my life, granted not too long, but for at least the past 2 decades , Sao Paolo, Chile, and other places in Latin America are not even considered safe to visit. Again the tragic quality in this is that Latin America is geographically so far from a wasteland or a place not worth visiting. It's considered one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world and not so long ago a place to be with many intellectual and poetic people. It's interesting and sad to try and trace back the troubles of Latin America and I wonder how long it will continue to be in trouble.