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= Agustin Acosta = Agustin Acosta Bello was born in Matanzas, Cuba on November 12, 1886 and died in Miami, Florida on March 12, 1979. Acosta was a poet, politician, and journalist. He was named the national poet of Cuba in 1955 and served as the President’s secretary and senator. He is referred to as a modernist and post-modernist poet as his style evolved throughout his life.

Work
He published his first book of poems, Poemas de Ala, in 1915. Poemas de Ala reflect his modernist roots influenced by Ruben Dario. His later works, Hermanita (1923) and La Zafra (1926), are the beginning of his post-modernist style. Many of his poems reflect a theme of Cuban nationalism and nostalgia for the past before American influence through his use of romantic tones and themes.

Writing Styles and Influences
Acosta was heavily influenced by the Nicaraguan modernist poet Ruben Darío marking Acosta as a modernist poet for at least the beginning of his career. Acosta recognized the importance of Darío’s work when he began, so he worked to stay in the mold while adding his own themes and information about his world like the current revolution in Cuba. Although Acosta’s earlier poems are clearly modernist, he began following the vanguardia movement, which also started in Nicaragua, where he found his true voice almost a decade later when he published his second book of poems. This movement caused Acosta to focus on the rhyme scheme and meter, the rhythm of a poem, in his work after his first book. Elements of rhyme and meter were not focused on by early modernist poets like Darío. Acosta, along with other poets Regino E. Boti and Jose Manuel Poveda, are all regarded as modernist poets even though they transcend the movement incorporating various literary movements and adding their own idiosyncrasies into their poetry. They are occasionally referred to as post-modernist poets because of this, as well. These three poets contributed to the modernist movement with new ideologies and themes not previously seen. Ala in 1915 is said to be part of the beginning of the postmodernist movement along with other works by Boti and Poveda in Cuba while some would argue that Acosta’s contributions started with later works like Hermanita (1923) or La Zafra (1926).

The Cuban war for independence disrupted the modernist movement in Cuba, occurring from 1895-1898, thus changing it forever. It came out with influence from various modernist poets who survived the war creating new themes and tones for modernist poets causing a literary revolution. Jose Marti was one of these poets who changed the course of modernism and literature in Cuba and greatly influenced Acosta. Cuba had only recently received independence at the time of Acosta’s career causing the country to be struggling to find their place and identity while the world was on the brink of the First World War. This struggle resulted in chaos for the people as they were experiencing political upheaval which was reflected in Acosta’s poetry. At the time Cuba was experiencing an economic boom from sugar cane, but it would not last long due to the war. However, this crisis benefitted the American businesses in Cuba while the Cuban estates suffered. Acosta focused on exposing these issues of American capitalism in his poetry in La Zafra because not everyone realized this American advantage at the time. Acosta’s themes were not new to the literary atmosphere of Cuba due to their past, but the American influence on Cuba was harder on the people, especially the poor people, than the Spanish rule was. Acosta was not preaching to the people but writing about the current state of the people as no one knew where the country was headed. He was not writing for himself but for his homeland. However, in 1929 the secret police of the Cuban government accused Bello of being a part of a conspiracy to lose the help from the United States in the internal affairs of Cuba, but Bello defended himself saying if one looks at his poetry they will see that he could never be a traitor and wants justice for Cuba.

Acosta’s poems, although clearly modernist, show hints of romanticism in them as well. This is part of what makes Acosta, Boti, and Poveda so unique as they all share this subtle background of romanticism in their poems. Acosta is described as a pre-Raphaelite as he mixes romanticism, idealism, and mysticism into his modernist work all at once. Acosta evokes romanticism more than anything through many of his poems as he creates a nostalgic tone for the past. Although Acosta uses modernist elements like focusing on color, the overall tone or theme of his works tend to be romantic in nature, not modernist.

Political Career
Acosta was heavily involved with the politics in Cuba later in his life. He was imprisoned during the presidency of Gerardo Machado, but was named governor of his province once Machado’s regime fell to Carlos Mendieta in a coup backed by Fulgencio Batista. Under Mendieta, Acosta would go on to serve as the President’s secretary and senator from 1936 to 1944.