Vicente J. Bernal
Vicente J. Bernal was a promising poet and intellectual born on December 15, 1888, in Costilla, New Mexico. He emerged as part of the bilingual movement, and his writing showcased a blend of English and Spanish influences. Growing up on his grandfather's farm, he attended local schools before transferring to the Menaul Presbyterian School in Albuquerque. His academic prowess led him to the Dubuque German College and Academy in Iowa, where he studied English and Spanish literature, gaining recognition for his wit and character among peers. Tragically, Bernal's life was cut short by a brain hemorrhage in 1915, just a year before he was set to graduate.
His literary legacy includes a posthumous collection titled "Las primicias," published in 1916, which features poems and essays reflecting his deep engagement with nature, themes of religion, and his identity as a cultural outsider. The collection is notable as the first mixed-language volume by a Southwest writer of Hispanic descent, and it highlights Bernal's nostalgic ties to his New Mexico roots. His work, while rooted in personal experiences, also engages with broader literary traditions. Bernal's contributions were honored by his classmates and teachers in a memorial ceremony held at his gravesite during a reunion in 1936, underscoring the impact he had on those who knew him.
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Subject Terms
Vicente J. Bernal
Writer
- Born: December 15, 1888
- Birthplace: Costilla, New Mexico Territory (now New Mexico)
- Died: April 28, 1915
- Place of death: Dubuque, Iowa
Biography
Part of the vanguard of the bilingual movement, Vicente J. Bernal died before he could develop the talent evident in his youthful verse. Bernal was born on December 15, 1888, in the small mountain village of Costilla, New Mexico. He grew up on his grandfather’s farm and attended the local Presbyterian mission school. In 1907 he transferred to the Menaul Presbyterian School in Albuquerque. His intellectual abilities won him admission to the Dubuque German College and Academy in Iowa (now the University of Dubuque), where he studied English and Spanish literature and was a popular student prized for his wit and character. He anticipated attending Dubuque Seminary after graduation with the Dubuque College class of 1916 but died from a brain hemorrhage on April 28, 1915.
Bernal’s brother Luis and Robert N. McLean, a faculty member, collected the poems and ten short essays and speeches that Bernal had written during college and published them in Las primicias (1916), which contains poetry in both English and Spanish. The English poetry speaks of Bernal’s deep connection to nature as a source of reassurance and inspiration as he considers themes of religion, death, and life. The verse is workmanlike in the manner of Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Burns and includes three songs, one of which became the college’s alma mater. However, the poems seldom reflect on Bernal’s status as a Latino in the Anglo Midwest. Instead, they often allude to the English literary works that Bernal admired. The Spanish poetry, while stylistically less adept, more often depicts his New Mexico background and does so with nostalgia for a homeland left behind. The poems “TRADUCCION,” “The Barefoot Boy,” and “Dishwasher,” for instance, although written in a light spirit, reveal Bernal’s awareness of himself as a cultural outsider. Critics site Las primicias as the first mixed- language volume of poetry by a Southwest writer with Hispanic roots. In addition to the posthumous publication of his poetry, Bernal’s teachers and classmates honored him in 1936, during his class’s twentieth reunion, when they met at his grave to conduct a special memorial ceremony.