The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-18
INCENSE To WASHINGTON.
Cuban Verses Showing Admiration
for Our First President.

Copyright, 1900 by Rene S. Parks.
Washington. Feb 16-The following
sonnets on George Washington, each the
production of a Cuban writer and now
for the first time published in English
translation. are especially timely on the
eve of the great Americans 16Sth birth
day. The first is by the Marquis de Mon
telo, who although bearing the title of a
4, Spanish grandee, was born in Havana,
June p, 1910. and always regarded that
city as his home. His sonnet on Wash
ington is not to be regarded as in any
sense the best, but most Of the poetical
productions of Montelo show how ne,
like nearly all Cuban writers of this CEN
fury, had felt the inspiration of Ameri-
can thought and achievement.
To Washington, 1929.
Near the fair shores so tenderly ca
ressed
By the Potomac, can a hill be seen,
Whose brow is crowned by pines of
sombre green.
The tutelary genius of the west
There. in his deathless glory, is at rest
I, wishing to salute the sacred scene,
Approached its solemn hight with rever-
And found it only in its verdure dress
a..
But where the inscriptions that his
country owes
On sculptured bronze?" I with amaze
ment cried;
THE monument enriched by plastic
From the dark pines a mighty voice
arose.
THE hero needs them not it grave
replied,
Freedom engraved them on the ma
tons hearth
De Montelo was among the fortuna te
few Cubans of his generation who did
not have to struggle for education. After
graduating from the University of San
Carlos he studied in Now York four years
and then made a three years tour of the
world with Don Jose de la Luz Cabal-
Zero, the distinguished student and teach
err They met men of distinction in all
walks of life, Humboldt, Cuvier, Sir Wal
ter Scott Visconti and many Others. Aft
er Don Jose returned to Havana, De Mon
telo remained in Paris several years and
then Went back to Havana where he mar
ried. He revisited Paris some years later
and also spent much time in the United
States, chiefly in Washington, where he
was an intimate friend of Sir Edward Lyt-
ton Bulwer, the English minister
Naturally in such circumstances. the
Marquis became keenly interested in pub
lie affairs and conceived a plan to save
Cuba from the evils which he foresaw even
then and that have since devastated the
fair island. He proposed that Spain should
grant Cuba home rule modelled upon the
Canadian system and should abolish slav-
cry, and that England. France and the
United States should guarantee quiet DOS
session of the island to Spain after these
reforms were made In pursuance of this
large and farsighted project, De Montelo
went to London to consult Palmerston.
who welcomed the suggestion with enthu-
slasm. France was too busy" as Napol-
con III was then preparing his coup d'etat.
The American government preferred to
attend to its own affairs" and refused
to consider the proposition.
De Montelo was remarkably versatile
and the writing of poetry was only a part
of his busy life. His Songs of a Wander
er, published in 1863, were we'll received
and he published several other successful
volumes.
A Womnn's Tribute.
The second poem, also a sonnet was
produced by Senorita Gertrude de Avel-