Nicolas Guillen English Translation [new] — El Apellido

Surname? What is my surname? Ask the black slave who lived on the large plantation. Ask the iron collar, the branding iron, the whip, the ship’s hold. Ask the dog that doesn’t speak, but bites. And my surname? My surname?

, published as a bilingual edition. This translation is often included in anthologies of his work, such as Man-making Words: Selected Poems of Nicolás Guillén el apellido nicolas guillen english translation

This is the Spanish form of the French name Guillaume , which corresponds to the English name William . It comes from the Germanic elements wil (will/desire) and helm (helmet/protection). The Legacy of Nicolás Guillén Surname

While the poem treats the name as a symbol of colonial imposition, the surname itself has a deep European history: El apellido The Surname | Nicolás Guillén Ask the iron collar, the branding iron, the

“I carry it / like someone carries a scar.”