The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-09-22
A GIFTED POETESS.
PORTO RIco's "NleHTINGALE OF
: THE HILLS"

Lola Rodriguez de Tic, Whose Songs
Have Added Fuel to the Freedom Forg-
ing Flames.
Lola Rodriguez de Tio is a woman
with three regulations. each of them
excellent and extraordinary. She
ranks hith among the worlds conch-
ologists. as a poetess she is read with
keen emotion and delight wherever the
Spanish language is understood. and
as a public speaker she is one of the
leaders of Porto R.can thought. An
exile from her native island Of Porto
Rico, and refugee from Cuba. whence
she fled from the wrath of Weyier
with her husband. also an exile, some
time before the butcher was recalled.
she is living now in New York city,
with Signor Tio and their daughter.
a graduate in philosophy of the Uni
yersity of Havana. The Tio home is
charming center of the intellectual life
of the Porto Rican colony and affords
an admirable Illustration Of the hos
pitality for which Porto Rico is so ia
nous. There the poetess holds court.
and with her husband, formerly the
editor of those outspoken papers, La
RaZon and La Patria, debates before
her friends upon the future Of the is
land they love so fondly.
Signora Tio. ''the nightingale OF the
hills" as the Porto Ricans call her,
was born in the Villa de las Lomas.
San Yerman, In September, 1851. Her
grandmother had been a writer of dis
tinction and an admirable linguist. Her
father was doctor of laws, a scholar
and an eloquent advocate with prac-
tice extending over the whole island.
His example was her Inheritance. She
learned unconsciously from him to
speak directly and agreeably and to
write gracefully. He was an autono-
mist though at that time the govern
ment of Porto Rico forbade the use
of that word by any political party on
the island, saying 1t was only n syn.
onym for Separatist. The daughter
took kindly to her fathers Ideas. and
when hardly in her teens was an out
and out Separatist. She wrote many
popular songs and ballads full of the
spirit of freedom. These had wide
anu NStS tuC luiiupyS VI
many a Porto Rican household:
DR.. Nalverde, n political exile from
San Domingo. and q friend OF Signor
Rodriguez, Interested himself in the
girls education, being attracted by her
gift of poesy, and instructed her in the
Spanish classical style. She was an
apt scholar and soon composed verse
that attracted attention throughout the
Spanish West Indies and even In
Spain. In 1873. the year that saw the
end of slavery in Porto Rico. Lola Rod
address at the graduation exercises of
the college in Mayaguez. She was the
first woman In the island to speak sub
iiciy before an audience. 1t was a time
of much political excitement. Porto
Ricans were eager for reform. They
wished Spain to separate the military
and civil departments of the govern
ment They were willing. they said.
to have n captain general. but let him
conflne himself to military affairs ex-
clusively and let another man hold the
chief civil office. They wished also to
elect their own provincial governors,
instead Of having them sent over by
Spain. who appointed them not be-
cause of their fitness, but because she
wished them out of the way. These
worthy Spanish appointees shed tears
on leaving their beloved Spain. but
swore upon their honor to return again
as soon as they had stolen enough to
pay their debts. Another thing the ma
ffvn Porto Rinanc rptchaI fraaInr1,
of the press. The captain generals
regulations demanded that at least
four hours before any paper was is
sued the proof sheets should be sent 10
the censor for approval. His blue pen
Gil was n judgment against which
there was no appeal.
The signorita spoke eloquently.
though guardedly of all these things.
She besought Spain to give n mothers
love to her child, far from her. almost
hidden in the bosom of the sea, and
she prayed that the child should show
herself worthy of such love and de-
serving of perfect trust. The grace of
the speakers manner, the beauty of
her language. won all hearts. and the
brave words she spoke wrought her
audience to the highest pitch of enthu-
siasm. In day she had added to her
fame throughout the island. She was
poetess and prophecies in one. Her
college address was the beginning OF
an ac tive propaganda in Porto Rico
that ended only when she and her hus-
band were offered their choice be-
tween jail and the wide. wide world.
La Razon and La Patrla were sup
pressed, but the words of the patriot
editor remained in the minds of the
people. Even a captain general cannot
imprison an idea. Nor could the bal
lads and poems Of the sweet singer of
the hills be exiled. The first volume,
"Mes Cantares." appeared in 1876. and
SOON was in every book stall in Mexico.
! Central America. South America, the
| West Indies and even In Spain. A
second volume appeared in Caracas.
Venezuela, in 1878, followed by "Mis
Poesias" in 1850. and mi Libro de