In The Poem of Niagara, Martí begins by discussing poetry in its relationship to the historical and political environment, and then to the poetry of the past and the future.

Martí juxtaposes the stable, fixed court environment of the past poets who created what are considered works of genius against the setting of poets in his day.  “Genius is becoming less individual and more collective.  Man is losing for the benefit of man.” (p. 315).  I started wondering if there was something lost in this?  Do we spend less time in developing a single idea?  Was there a time when ideas were richer because there was consistency, in opposition to today when ideas are collective and appear and disappear quicker?  I do not think so.  Today few ideas are belong to one person.  Instead there seems to be an evolution so that our understanding of them involves development by several people.   Martí calls it a decentralization of intelligence.  There is an expanding, widening, and opening of the idea that is unique to our rich culture and advanced communications.  The world of ideas and literature is present and alive in ways not possible in the past, operating and changing at the same time.  It is more a part of everyday life and interaction among average people, instead of being exclusive to certain situations and people.  Martí claims these circumstances are necessary for one to understand himself and to decode “what is intrinsic in man from what was added to him by his predecessors with their lessons, legacies, and law.” (p. 317)

I enjoyed reading Martí.  He created very interesting and imaginative images.  I also appreciated the perspective on how ideas are worked and used in society.  It gave me a greater appreciation of the variety and richness of our culture.