Rhina Polonia Espaillat (born January 20, 1932, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a bilingual Dominican-American poet and translator who is affiliated with the literary movement known as New Formalism in American poetry. She has published eleven collections of poetry. Her work has been included in many popular anthologies, including The Heath Introduction to Poetry (Heath 2000); The Muse Strikes Back (Story Line Press 1997); and In Other Words: Literature by Latinas of the U.S. (Arte Publico Press 1994).
Born in Santo Domingo into an upper class family of mixed Afro-Dominican, Spanish, French, and Arawak descent, Espaillat grew up during World War II in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City after her family became refugees from the Dominican Government of caudillo Rafael Trujillo. She had her first poetry published by the Ladies' Home Journal in November 1947. At the age of 16, she became the youngest ever member of the Poetry Society of America, which altered its rules to admit her. Following her 1952 interracial marriage to sculptor and labor union organizer Alfred Moskowitz, however, Espaillat drifted away from contributing to American poetry until their children had grown up and left home.
Her original poetry contains many sonnets describing her family in domestic settings, which she calls "snapshots". She is also well-known for writing poetry that captures the beauty of daily routine, as well as poems which ironically and humorously retell stories from both the Christian Bible and Classical mythology.Nancy Kang and Silvio Torres-Saillant (2018), The Once and Future Muse: The Poetry and Poetics of Rhina P. Espaillat, University of Pittsburgh Press. Pages 78–82.
Furthermore, even though Espaillat grew up in a time when, "the expectation that one should overcome any non-British ancestral origins, still held sway as a prerequisite to entering the sphere of genuine Americanness",Nancy Kang and Silvio Torres-Saillant (2018), The Once and Future Muse: The Poetry and Poetics of Rhina P. Espaillat University of Pittsburgh Press. Page 56. Espaillat's poetry also expresses pride in being a Latina,Nancy Kang and Silvio Torres-Saillant (2018), The Once and Future Muse: The Poetry and Poetics of Rhina P. Espaillat, University of Pittsburgh Press. Pages 82–90. in her identity as a feminist who is also a loving and happy wife and mother, and in American patriotism rooted in gratitude for her status as a political refugee who has built a family and a successful and rewarding life for herself in the United States.
Espaillat is especially well-known for her literary translations of the Christian poetry of St. John of the Cross (1542–1591) from Castilian Spanish into American English and which appeared in the literary journal First Things, and for similarly translating the greatest works from the literary canon of both Spanish and Latin American poetry. Espaillat has also published acclaimed translations from American English into Spanish of the poems of both Robert Frost and Richard Wilbur. Espaillat's renderings of the poetry of Robert Frost have particularly been praised for her ability to find completely accurate Spanish equivalents for the Yankee poet's many uses of rural New England slang terms.
In 2023, Espaillat's translations of the Christian poetry by the Archpriest of Hita, Dafydd ap Gwilym, Marko Marulić, Edited by Burl Horniachek (2023), To Heaven's Rim: The Kingdom Poets Book of World Christian Poetry, Cascade Books. Pages 125-127. Bedřich Bridel, Edited by Burl Horniachek (2023), To Heaven's Rim: The Kingdom Poets Book of World Christian Poetry, Cascade Books. Pages 226-228. and Gaspar Aquino de Belén were edited and published for the first time by Burl Horniachek in the poetry anthology To Heaven's Rim: The Kingdom Poets Book of World Christian Poetry. Espaillat's translation of a Middle Welsh poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym for the book was made in collaboration with former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Edited by Burl Horniachek (2023), To Heaven's Rim: The Kingdom Poets Book of World Christian Poetry, Cascade Books. Page xxii.
Following the 2020 Presidential Election, President-elect of the United States Joe Biden received a joint open letter and petition signed by more than 70 eminent American poets, who urged him to select Espaillat to read her poetry at Biden's Presidential Inauguration. Inaugural Poet? An Open Letter to President-elect Joe Biden, 4 December 2020. Groundswell Of Support For Naming Dominican-American Poet, Rhina Espaillat, As Biden’s Inaugural Poet, by Mathew Carey Salyer, Forbes, Jan 13, 2021. Opinion/First Person: An appeal for Rhina P. Espaillat to be Biden's inaugural poet by Belen Atienza, Worcester Magazine, 6 January 2021. Biden ultimately chose Amanda Gorman instead.
Life Family background Espaillat is of mixed Afro-Dominican, Spanish, French, and Arawak descent. She is the daughter of Carlos Manuel Homero Espaillat Brache, a Dominican diplomatic attaché, and Dulce María Batista. Her aunt Rhina Espaillat Brache founded the first ballet institute of La Vega. Espaillat is also the grandniece and god-daughter of Dominican diplomat Rafael Brache. Through her great-uncle, Espaillat is second-cousin of Democratic Party chairman Tom Perez. Espaillat is fourth-cousin once-removed of Adriano Espaillat and great-great-great-grand-niece of Dominican President Ulises Espaillat, and is descended from the French immigrant François Espeillac.
Early life Rhina Espaillat was born in the Dominican Republic's capital of Santo Domingo, which Caudillo Rafael Trujillo had recently renamed Cuidad Trujillo, on January 20, 1932. Shortly after her birth, Espaillat's parents returned with their infant daughter to their hometown of La Vega, which had been founded by Christopher Columbus in 1494.Leslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Page 23-24.
While growing up in La Vega, the Espaillat family lived near an historic fort on Independence Avenue, surrounded by a large community of extended family and friends who shared their dedication to art, music, and poetry.Leslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Page 24.
Espaillat was often taken to visit relatives in her mother's hometown of Jarabacoa, which is now a popular resort.Leslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Page 67.
Espaillat began composing poetry in Spanish when she was only 4-years of age.Biden Urged to Name Espaillat as Inaugural Poet by Jim Sullivan, "The Eagle Tribune", December 22, 2020. Her first poems were written down by her grandmother, who told Espaillat that her poems were all wonderful and that she was a poet. None of those first poems, however, still survive.William Baer (2016), pages 279.
In 1937, a five-year old Espaillat accompanied her parent on a diplomatic mission to Washington, D.C.. At the time, Espaillat's great-uncle and god-father, Rafael Brache, headed the Dominican delegation and Espaillat's father was the legation's secretary.Leslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Page 26.
Rafael Brache had supported the 1930 coup d'état that had brought Rafael Trujillo to power.James V. Grimaldi and Peter Nicholas (July 19, 2016), "Labor Secretary Tom Perez’s Grandfather Served Dominican Dictator", The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 26, 2017. Furthermore, Brache's duties ever since becoming Ambassador to the United States in 1934 had mainly involved defending Trujillo's public reputation, which was suffering due to reports of political assassinations, human rights abuses, and the censorship of the press.
In 1937, however, Trujillo issued orders to the Dominican Army that resulted in the genocidal Parsley massacre of an estimated 20,000pg 78 – On October 2, 1937, Trujillo had ordered 10,000 Haitian cane workers executed because they could not roll the "R" in perejil the Spanish word for parsley.anyone of African descent found incapable of pronouncing correctly, that is, to the complete satisfaction of the sadistic examiners, became a condemned individual. This holocaust is recorded as having a death toll reaching thirty thousand innocent souls, Haitians as well as Dominicans. Haitians in the Dominican Republic. In response, a horrified Rafael Brache wrote a letter to Trujillo which denounced the massacre and said, "he could no longer be associated with a government that had committed such a terrible criminal act."William Baer (2016), pages 277–278.
According to Espaillat, "we did learn that the dictator was absolutely furious when he received it."William Baer (2016), page 278. At that time, however, there was little or no organized opposition to Trujillo in the Dominican RepublicLeslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Page 26-27. and, in November 1937, a majority vote by the National Congress declared Rafael Brache and three other critics of the massacre to be, "unworthy Dominicans", and, "enemies of the fatherland".Naya Despradel (August 13, 2016), "De Fello Brache a Tom Pérez" , El Caribe. Retrieved March 4, 2017. According to Espaillat's biographer Leslie Monsour, Brache and his nephew, Espaillat's father, knew that they, "would face a dire punishment – at best imprisonment – and the lives of other members of the family would be endangered if the two men returned to their country." By that time, however, "reports of Trujillo's oppression and brutality had reached international notoriety", and the United States Federal Government willingly granted political asylum to Rafael Brache, his nephew, and their dependents. Both men and their families resettled in New York City.Leslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Page 27.
During these events, Espaillat's mother suffered a miscarriage while pregnant with a son. After recovering, Dulce Maria, knowing that life in New York City would be difficult, decided that her daughter would be better looked after by relatives in their homeland. In response, Dulce Maria made the high risk decision to secretly return to the Dominican Republic. During the visit, Dulce Maria left Rhina to be cared for by her paternal grandmother in La Vega. Dulce Maria then visited her own mother and siblings in Jarabacoa, said her last goodbyes, collected her sewing machine, and returned to the United States without attracting the attention of Trujillo's police.Leslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Pages 27–28.
For the next two years, Espaillat was raised by her paternal grandmother and aunts in La Vega, where Spanish language poetry was always being recited out loud. Espaillat's grandmother also played Spanish classical guitar. Espaillat has since stated that, "those experiences made me much more of an ear poet than an eye poet".William Baer (2016), pages 289.
In 1939, however, Espaillat's parents felt more settled in the United States and Rhina joined them in a New York City apartment on West Forty-Ninth Street in Hell's Kitchen.Leslie Monsour (2021), The Colosseum Critical Introduction to Rhina P. Espaillat, Franciscan University of Steubenville Press. Page 68.
Refugee As a young child, Espaillat quickly learned American English and adapted to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of wartime Manhattan, but she missed her extended family in the Dominican Republic.Nancy Kang and Silvio Torres-Saillant (2018), The Once and Future Muse: The Poetry and Poetics of Rhina P. Espaillat University of Pittsburgh Press. Pages 46–49.