African and Amerindian descent. As Sibylle Fischer points out, the link between the Taino and
the Africans who came after them was one established through the struggle for liberty and
justice.”^113
Ardouin’s poem “Floranna la Fiancée” is a two-part poem about the wedding celebrationof a maiden in the court of Anacaona, the Taino princess and poetess who was one of the last
Taino rulers during the Spanish conquest of Hispaniola.^114 The first part begins by situating
Anacaona in somewhat mystical and nocturnal setting. There is relative calm as Anacaona looks
out to the night-time sky:
Anacaona, la Reine
Voyant que le ciel est pur,
Qu’un souffle berce la plaine,
Que la lune dans l’azur
Se perd, voyant sur la grève
La mer que nul vent soulève,
Mourir tranquille et sans voix ; (1-7)In addition to rhyme, multiple examples of assonance and consonance lend these verses ahigher level of musicality and fluidity than in other poems by Ardouin. This idealized scene
provides an opening into a type of mythical description of Taino culture in which nature is
paramount. Several entries in L’Union refer to the Taino as “les naturels d’Haïti” both because
they were the island’s original inhabitants and because they were believed to have been lovers of
nature. It is with the descriptions of nature in the poem, however, that an almost eerie stillness
creeps in. Many of the words subtly express a tranquility endued with sadness and a sense of
loss. The two verses beginning, “Se perd” and “Mourir” emphasize the fading of sight and
(^113) Fischer 242.
(^114) Other than the texts mentioned here, for information about Anacaona see a work by Kathleen Deagan and José
María Cruxent, Columbus's Outpost among the Taínos: Spain and America at La Isabela: 1493-1498 (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2002) 207.