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Poemas sociales, de guerra y de muerte
El sentido de la muerte y de la solidaridad humana son, junto con la pasión amorosa, los grandes temas de la poesía de MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ (1910-1942). Publicada ya en esta misma colección una selección de sus «Poemas de amor» (L 5030), la presente antología de sus POEMAS SOCIALES, DE GUERRA Y DE MUERTE -a cargo, asimismo, de Leopoldo de Luis- completa un panorama suficientemente abarcador de la totalidad de su obra. Las motivaciones sociales y la presencia de la muerte palpitan desde el comienzo en el universo poético de Miguel Hernández, atravesado por la solidaridad con el que trabaja, el sufrimiento y la esperanza. El estallido de la Guerra Civil en 1936 transforma su poesía en herramienta de combate y portavoz de un sentimiento colectivo, alcanzando a partir de este punto su fuerza expresiva y autenticidad máximas.
- GenresPoetry
200 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2005
4 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Miguel Hernández
260 books183 followersMiguel Hernández, born in Orihuela (Alicante Province), was a leading 20th century Spanish poet and playwright.
Hernández was born to a poor family and received little formal education; he published his first book of poetry at 23, and gained considerable fame before his death. He spent his childhood as a goatherd and farmhand, and was, for the most part, self-taught, although he did receive basic education from state schools and the Jesuits. He was introduced to literature by friend Ramon Sijé. As a youth, Hernández greatly admired the Spanish Baroque lyric poet Luis de Góngora, who was an influence in his early works. Like many Spanish poets of his era, he was deeply influenced by European vanguard movements, notably by Surrealism. Though Hernández employed novel images and concepts in his verses, he never abandoned classical, popular rhythms and rhymes. Two of his most famous poems were inspired by the death of his friends Ignacio Sánchez Mejías and Ramon Sijé.
Hernández campaigned for the Republic during the Spanish Civil War, writing poetry and addressing troops deployed to the front.
During the Civil War, on the ninth of March in 1937, he married Josefina Manresa Marhuenda, whom he had met in 1933 in Orihuela. His wife inspired him to write most of his romantic work. Their first son, Manuel Ramon, was born on 19 December 1937 but died in infancy on 19 October 1938. Months later came their second son, Manuel Miguel (b. 4 January 1939, d. 1984).
Unlike others, he could not escape Spain after the Republican surrender and was arrested multiple times after the war for his anti-fascist sympathies, and was eventually sentenced to death. His death sentence, however, was commuted to a prison term of 30 years, leading to incarceration in multiple jails under extraordinarily harsh conditions until he eventually succumbed to tuberculosis in 1942. Just before his death, Hernández scrawled his last verse on the wall of the hospital: Goodbye, brothers, comrades, friends: let me take my leave of the sun and the fields. Some of his verses were kept by his jailers.
While in prison, Hernández produced an extraordinary amount of poetry, much of it in the form of simple songs, which the poet collected in his papers and sent to his wife and others. These poems are now known as his Cancionero y romancero de ausencia (Songs and Ballads of Absence). In these works, the poet writes not only of the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War and his own incarceration, but also of the death of an infant son and the struggle of his wife and another son to survive in poverty. The intensity and simplicity of the poems, combined with the extraordinary situation of the poet, give them remarkable power.
Perhaps Hernández's best known poem is "Nanas de cebolla" ("Onion Lullaby"), a reply in verse to a letter from his wife in which she informed him that she was surviving on bread and onions. In the poem, the poet envisions his son breastfeeding on his mother's onion blood (sangre de cebolla), and uses the child's laughter as a counterpoint to the mother's desperation. In this as in other poems, the poet turns his wife's body into a mythic symbol of desperation and hope, of regenerative power desperately needed in a broken Spain.
Hernández was born to a poor family and received little formal education; he published his first book of poetry at 23, and gained considerable fame before his death. He spent his childhood as a goatherd and farmhand, and was, for the most part, self-taught, although he did receive basic education from state schools and the Jesuits. He was introduced to literature by friend Ramon Sijé. As a youth, Hernández greatly admired the Spanish Baroque lyric poet Luis de Góngora, who was an influence in his early works. Like many Spanish poets of his era, he was deeply influenced by European vanguard movements, notably by Surrealism. Though Hernández employed novel images and concepts in his verses, he never abandoned classical, popular rhythms and rhymes. Two of his most famous poems were inspired by the death of his friends Ignacio Sánchez Mejías and Ramon Sijé.
Hernández campaigned for the Republic during the Spanish Civil War, writing poetry and addressing troops deployed to the front.
During the Civil War, on the ninth of March in 1937, he married Josefina Manresa Marhuenda, whom he had met in 1933 in Orihuela. His wife inspired him to write most of his romantic work. Their first son, Manuel Ramon, was born on 19 December 1937 but died in infancy on 19 October 1938. Months later came their second son, Manuel Miguel (b. 4 January 1939, d. 1984).
Unlike others, he could not escape Spain after the Republican surrender and was arrested multiple times after the war for his anti-fascist sympathies, and was eventually sentenced to death. His death sentence, however, was commuted to a prison term of 30 years, leading to incarceration in multiple jails under extraordinarily harsh conditions until he eventually succumbed to tuberculosis in 1942. Just before his death, Hernández scrawled his last verse on the wall of the hospital: Goodbye, brothers, comrades, friends: let me take my leave of the sun and the fields. Some of his verses were kept by his jailers.
While in prison, Hernández produced an extraordinary amount of poetry, much of it in the form of simple songs, which the poet collected in his papers and sent to his wife and others. These poems are now known as his Cancionero y romancero de ausencia (Songs and Ballads of Absence). In these works, the poet writes not only of the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War and his own incarceration, but also of the death of an infant son and the struggle of his wife and another son to survive in poverty. The intensity and simplicity of the poems, combined with the extraordinary situation of the poet, give them remarkable power.
Perhaps Hernández's best known poem is "Nanas de cebolla" ("Onion Lullaby"), a reply in verse to a letter from his wife in which she informed him that she was surviving on bread and onions. In the poem, the poet envisions his son breastfeeding on his mother's onion blood (sangre de cebolla), and uses the child's laughter as a counterpoint to the mother's desperation. In this as in other poems, the poet turns his wife's body into a mythic symbol of desperation and hope, of regenerative power desperately needed in a broken Spain.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 23, 2022
Todo un acierto haber escogido específicamente los poemas que aparecen en este librito para formar la antología social, de guerra y de muerte de Miguel Hernández. No me puedo quedar con uno solo, pero sí con unos cuantos: el hambre, las desiertas abarcas, a mi hijo, elegía, aceituneros y las cárceles.
Encogen el corazón, sobre todo, los que escribe desde prisión y tras la muerte de su hijo. También en los que aparece, de aquellas, un poco de esperanza al hablar de la guerra.
Encogen el corazón, sobre todo, los que escribe desde prisión y tras la muerte de su hijo. También en los que aparece, de aquellas, un poco de esperanza al hablar de la guerra.
September 18, 2019
Poemas sociales, de guerra y de muerte (Miguel Hernández).
Poeta del pueblo de mirada de tierra y valentía de trinchera, vivió por lo que creía y murió por la cobardía de quienes tenían miedo de la clase obrera. Su poesía es lo que nos queda, sus pasos y su ejemplo como fusil del verso que nos alimenta.
Poeta del pueblo de mirada de tierra y valentía de trinchera, vivió por lo que creía y murió por la cobardía de quienes tenían miedo de la clase obrera. Su poesía es lo que nos queda, sus pasos y su ejemplo como fusil del verso que nos alimenta.
October 30, 2023
Miguel Hernández me parece, ante todo, un poeta solidario con el pueblo. Es cierto que muchas veces, cuando leo su poesía, veo reflejos de Góngora, Garcilaso, Quevedo incluso Calderón, pero hacia el final de su vida -qué pena que lo mataran tan joven- diría que había encontrado su propia voz.
Su poesía de guerra me parece, simplemente, maravillosa. Creo que es único en expresar de una forma sencilla todo el dolor, la rabia y el odio que provoca un conflicto así. Sin hablar, por supuesto, de los poemas que escribió en la cárcel: esos son sin duda los que tocan más el corazón del lector y más si habla de sus hijos.
Su poesía de guerra me parece, simplemente, maravillosa. Creo que es único en expresar de una forma sencilla todo el dolor, la rabia y el odio que provoca un conflicto así. Sin hablar, por supuesto, de los poemas que escribió en la cárcel: esos son sin duda los que tocan más el corazón del lector y más si habla de sus hijos.
December 21, 2022
Los poemas sociales muy bueno, de guerra no tanto y de muerte más o menos.
Read
July 18, 2023💔❤️🩹
«Retoñarán aladas de savia sin otoño
reliquias de mi cuerpo que pierdo a cada herida.
Porque soy como el árbol talado, que retoño:
porque aún tengo la vida.»
«Retoñarán aladas de savia sin otoño
reliquias de mi cuerpo que pierdo a cada herida.
Porque soy como el árbol talado, que retoño:
porque aún tengo la vida.»
November 28, 2023
"Y es que el polvo no es tierra./La tierra es un amor dispuesto a ser un hoyo,/dispuesto a ser un árbol, un volcán y una fuente"
<3
<3
December 8, 2023
He entrado en el tigre
November 14, 2024
Las desiertas abarcas 💔
December 17, 2024
Le veo arar los rastrojos,
y devorar un mendrugo,
y declarar con los ojos
que por qué es carne de yugo.
y devorar un mendrugo,
y declarar con los ojos
que por qué es carne de yugo.
Read
August 26, 2025+1 // rusowsky
July 8, 2024
la tierra es un amor dispuesto a ser un hoyo, dispuesto a ser un árbol, un volcán y una fuente
June 2, 2025
La mejor pluma del siglo XX a nivel nacional en lo que a poesía se refiere. Simplemente espectacular
January 18, 2020
"Vientos del pueblo me llevan,/ vientos del pueblo me arrastran,/ me esparcen el corazón/ y me aventan la garganta."
No puedo decir nada nuevo de Miguel Hernández y creo que una crítica de su poesía a estas alturas es como mínimo redundante. Sólo diré que me gusta como su voz me retumba en el alma, especialmente en los poemas de guerra.
No puedo decir nada nuevo de Miguel Hernández y creo que una crítica de su poesía a estas alturas es como mínimo redundante. Sólo diré que me gusta como su voz me retumba en el alma, especialmente en los poemas de guerra.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews