The Poems of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer: A Metrical Linear Translation

by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Henry W. Sullivan (Translator)

Excerpt from Poems of Gustavo Adolfo BécquerAbout the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books.This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. This text has been digitally restored from a historical edition. Some errors may persist, however we consider it worth publishing due to the work's historical value.The digital edition of all books may be viewed on our website before purchase.

Genres: Poetry, Spanish Literature

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Gustavo Adolfo Domínguez Bastida, better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, was a Spanish post-romanticist writer of poetry, short stories, and nonfiction now considered one of the most important figures in Spanish literature. He adopted the alias of Bécquer as his brother Valeriano Bécquer, a painter, had done earlier. He was associated with the post-romanticism movement and wrote while realism was enjoying success in Spain. He was moderately well known during his life, but it was after his death that most of his works were published.

He is best known for his intimate, lyrical poems and for his legends; more importantly, he is remembered for the verbal decor with which he impregnated everything he wrote. A Romantic poet above all else, Bécquer infused every single line he wrote with sensorial intensity, and his Legends still serve today as some of the most brilliant examples of prose poetry. Always including elements of the supernatural, Bécquer imbued his legends with a gothic sensibility, depicting gnomes, ghosts, enchanted fortresses and monasteries, and men and women who succumb to vanity or desire.

Other lesser-known, but none less valuable, works include his "Cartas Desde mi Celda" ("Letters from my Cell") and "Cartas Literarias a una Mujer" ("Literary Epistles to a Woman") which adopt an intimate, contemplative style similar to Thoreau in "Walden." Here we find him ruminating at length on the subjects that characterize his poetic works: love, the purpose of art, folklore, the seductive pull of ancient ruins--and, of course, women.


An essential figure in the canon of Hispanic letters, and an obligatory reading in any Spanish-language High School, he is today considered the founder of modern Spanish lyricism. Bécquer's influence on 20th century poets of the Spanish language is felt in the works of poets such as Octavio Paz, Giannina Braschi, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Pablo Neruda and many more.

Reviews

[Rosa Ramôa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sobre o Regaço

Sobre o regaço tinha
o livro bem aberto;
tocavam em meu rosto
seus caracóis negros.
Não víamos as letras
nem um nem outro, creio;
mas guardávamos ambos
fundo silêncio.
Por quanto tempo? Nem então
pude sabê-lo.
Sei só que não se ouvia mais que o alento,
que apressado escapava
dos lábios secos.
Só sei que nos voltámos
os dois ao mesmo tempo,
os olhos encontraram-se
e ressoou um beijo.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Fairly conventional nineteenth-century Romantic poetry. A great deal of azure eyes, rosy cheeks, and declarations that “YOU, my love, are the TRUE poetry!”, etc. The poems are connected in a cycle, loosely arranged around the celebration of poetry, falling in love, falling out of love, unrequited love, and death. The falling in love poems are strongly Byronic, despite the translator claiming in the introduction that nothing in English verse is similar to Bécquer. I can only conclude that poem XXXIV is either Bécquer purposely referencing Byron, or the translator purposely giving a nod-and-wink reference: “And heaven and earth, and all they comprise, Burn in her pupils with a new-found ray” (“And all that’s best of dark and bright / Meet in her aspect and her eyes”).

I soon grew weary of the Romantic rhapsodizing just at the point where Bécquer switches gears to falling out of love/unrequited love/death, which seemed to contain more honest poems, although still filled with poetic clichés: figurative daggers in chests, hearts held in hands, and eyes that are now cruel rather than azure. His dark, gothic death poems were my favorite, given a unique angle by his training as a student of Gothic architecture.

Worth a look for readers who enjoy Romanticism and, in his later poems, the gothic tradition.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

✔️ The Spirits’ Mountain, 06/04/2024