Poesias

by Miguel de Unamuno

Con Poesias Unamuno se vincula al panorama de la lirica espanola con voz propia, diferente, con unos poemas que son fruto de experiencias personales, religiosas y familiares que el poeta ha vivido. Su crisis religiosa, su conducta politica, como expresion de la tragica dicotomia del pueblo espanol, su veta de ternura y emocion humana que va surgiendo silenciosa y continuamente del alma del poeta se expresan en la palabra "dolor," tan llena de connotaciones a lo largo de su obra.

Genres: Poetry

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was born in the medieval centre of Bilbao, Basque Country, the son of Félix de Unamuno and Salomé Jugo. As a young man, he was interested in the Basque language, and competed for a teaching position in the Instituto de Bilbao, against Sabino Arana. The contest was finally won by the Basque scholar Resurrección María de Azcue.

Unamuno worked in all major genres: the essay, the novel, poetry and theatre, and, as a modernist, contributed greatly to dissolving the boundaries between genres. There is some debate as to whether Unamuno was in fact a member of the Generation of '98 (an ex post facto literary group of Spanish intellectuals and philosophers that was the creation of José Martínez Ruiz — a group that includes Antonio Machado, Azorín, Pío Baroja, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Ramiro de Maeztu and Ángel Ganivet, among others).

In addition to his writing, Unamuno played an important role in the intellectual life of Spain. He served as rector of the University of Salamanca for two periods: from 1900 to 1924 and 1930 to 1936, during a time of great social and political upheaval. Unamuno was removed from his post by the government in 1924, to the protest of other Spanish intellectuals. He lived in exile until 1930, first banned to Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), from where he escaped to France. Unamuno returned after the fall of General Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and took up his rectorship again. It is said in Salamanca that the day he returned to the University, Unamuno began his lecture by saying "As we were saying yesterday, ...", as Fray Luis de León had done in the same place four centuries before, as though he had not been absent at all. After the fall of Rivera's dictatorship, Spain embarked on its second Republic, a short-lived attempt by the people of Spain to take democratic control of their own country. He was a candidate for the small intellectual party Al Servicio de la República.

The burgeoning Republic was eventually squashed when a military coup headed by General Francisco Franco caused the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Having begun his literary career as an internationalist, Unamuno gradually became a convinced Spanish nationalist, feeling that Spain's essential qualities would be destroyed if influenced too much by outside forces. Thus for a brief period he actually welcomed Franco's revolt as necessary to rescue Spain from radical influence. However, the harsh tactics employed by the Francoists in the struggle against their republican opponents caused him to oppose both the Republic and Franco.

As a result of his opposition to Franco, Unamuno was effectively removed for a second time from his University post. Also, in 1936 Unamuno had a brief public quarrel with the Nationalist general Millán Astray at the University in which he denounced both Astray and elements of the Francoist movement. He called the battle cry of the rightist Falange movement—"Long live death!"—repellent and suggested Astray wanted to see Spain crippled. One historian notes that his address was a "remarkable act of moral courage" and that he risked being lynched on the spot. Shortly afterwards, he was placed under house arrest, where he remained, broken-hearted, until his death ten weeks later.[1]

Reviews

[J. S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandísima poesía. Poesía honda y cultivada en la tragedia de un hombre que, vívido y rabioso frente a la existencia, supo dilucidar su tristeza y su heroica rebelión contra el sinsentido de nuestra razón.

Unamuno es un maestro del verso de pie quebrado. Aquí lo demuestra con sus endecasílabos veloces, recargados, repletos de epítetos que, en ocasiones, maltrechan el verso, provocando que se arrastre ornamentado en una lectura difícil.

Merece muchísima atención sus versos blancos y libres y también donde pasa al octosílabo y heptasílabos general: el mejor Unamuno es ese, innovador, cercano, y, como el diría, «brezando» el espíritu. Una verdadera poesía de la experiencia que queda eclipsada por la miseria de la magullada poesía actual, que vitorea su fracaso entre premios sin sentido. En definitiva: un verdadero acercamiento a la intimidad mediante pulcra y cuidada poesía.

Para mí, lo mejor es su poesía existencial: sobriedad, sentimentalismo y grito astral.

[Batilo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es, hasta ahora, la antología de Unamuno más completa que he leído. En ella podemos ver toda la dimensión de su vida: desde sus resabidos exabruptos filosóficos hasta nanas que le escribía a sus hijos, más algunas traducciones de sus escritores favoritos. El cuidado y el respeto con que, además, se trata a los poemas, teniendo en cuenta sus distintas versiones, tiene pocos precedentes.

Más allá de la edición, que considero estupenda, la poesía de Unamuno es impecable, por supuesto.

Os propongo un juego: a cada poema que acabe hablando, de sopetón, machaconamente de la muerte, un chupito. No os arrepentiréis.