themes discussed in the chapter, historical representation of past events and leaders was perhaps
the most indispensable element in constructing and legitimizing national identity.
Poets throughout the nineteenth century will continue to recast the on-going meaning ofthe Haitian Revolution at different phases in Haitian history. These last three poems especially
demonstrate the beginning of national consciousness less marked in other Haitian poems prior to
and during this same period. Turning to Romantic expression, Ardouin and Nau are among the
first in Haiti to shift the role of the poet from that of social entertainer to national spokesperson.
Moving to the next few decades, and beyond the demise of poetry in the 1840s and 1850s, many
issues relating to personal lyricism, landscape, slavery and revolution, will be picked up again
and again, while others, like Taino history will bear few traces. Undeniably certain, however,
from this point on, is the fact that poetic practice in Haiti will be increasingly dedicated to
national causes.