Although this part of the poem, as well as the next part, centers much more ondescription than action, the text serves as a reminder of the fleeting presence of Anacaona and
her people. As Herder had also argued, the Taino, like every Volk, possessed its own
distinctiveness, its own cultural markers in the way of folk poetry, religion, traditions, etc.
Part II begins by summarizing the chief traits of these women in their innocence andbeauty. The youth and femininity of Anacaona’s entourage metonymically expresses the virtue
and simplicity of the Taino as it is desired to be conveyed by the poet. The following section
heightens the tragedy that is known to have befallen Anacaona and the Taino culture; the reality
of the future as opposed to the dream is crueler given the vulnerability and innocence of this
portrayal. Now in alexandrine verse, the focus shifts to Floranna, the youngest of Anacaona’s
maidens.
Innocence et beauté! ---Toutes à la peau brune,
Luisante comme l’or à l’éclat de la lune!
Moins fraîche est la rosée et moins pur et le miel
Moins chaste, la clarté des étoiles du ciel!
Floranna, la plus jeune et la plus ingénue,
Laisse voir sur ses traits son âme toute nue. (21-26)Floranna is not, to my knowledge, mentioned in any of the historical accounts of theTaino people. In the text, she is not only the youngest present, but the most ingenuous. The
poem continues with the physical descriptions of Floranna in anticipation of her wedding day:
Car la vierge rougit d’ivresse et de pudeur,
Car les pulsations de son candide cœur,
Disent que Floranna, d’une douce pensée,
Comme l’onde des mers, cette nuit est bercée [....]
De là, ces battements précipites du sein,
Et ce regard voilé qui se lève et qui tombe
Et cette rêverie où son âme succombe! (27-30, 40-42)Generally, the purported virtue of women and their importance in national culture canalso be found in Herder, who argued that the “delicate civility, and love of ornament and