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POEMA DEL CANTE JONDO.
" Poema del cante jondo and Romancero Gitano, the books of poems that Lorca wrote first, out of his excited response to gypsy music, poetry, and dance all around him in Granada, contain some of his most powerful and trenchant lyrical work, original, inimitable, daring, and a clear expression of the duende, the Dionysian daemon in poetry, of which he wrote eloquently. A new, fresh, consistent translation-and Mr. Angel's is all of these-is a welcome return to that wild dance, in this bilingual edition."-W.S. MerwinCante jondo . Deep Song. A poem meant to be sung, not with a pretty voice but with a cry, to break the silence and stillness of the body. A rustic form of flamenco. A poem written to remind Spain of its deep musical soul, the primitive song of the Andalusian Gypsies. A poem by Federico Garcia Lorca written in 1921 when he was only twenty-three and had but fifteen years left to live before the Franco regime murdered him in the hills of Granada.Translator Ralph Angel returns to Lorca's strange, unique rhythms and to the irrational, intuitive duende . This incantatory translation, every bit as revolutionary as the original was almost a century before, reconfirms what Lorca said of this work, that it is "a slammer, a wavering emission of the voice . . . [that] makes the tightly closed flowers of the semitones blossom into a thousand petals."
Paperback
First published January 1, 1921
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About the author
Federico García Lorca
1,574 books3,072 followersBorn in Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, Spain, June 5 1898; died near Granada, August 19 1936, García Lorca is one of Spain's most deeply appreciated and highly revered poets and dramatists. His murder by the Nationalists at the start of the Spanish civil war brought sudden international fame, accompanied by an excess of political rhetoric which led a later generation to question his merits; after the inevitable slump, his reputation has recovered (largely with a shift in interest to the less obvious works). He must now be bracketed with Machado as one of the two greatest poets Spain has produced in the 20th century, and he is certainly Spain's greatest dramatist since the Golden Age.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
September 2, 2025
"Todo se ha roto en el mundo.
No queda más que el silencio."
C’è il battito profondo della terra andalusa, il lamento e l’incanto del cante jondo che attraversano ogni pagina. Lorca riesce a trasformare il canto popolare in pura poesia, con immagini potenti che arrivano dritte al cuore. È una lettura intensa, a tratti aspra e dolorosa, ma sempre viva e autentica. Alcune sezioni mi hanno emozionata più di altre, ma nel complesso è una raccolta che merita di essere riletta più volte per coglierne tutta la forza.
No queda más que el silencio."
C’è il battito profondo della terra andalusa, il lamento e l’incanto del cante jondo che attraversano ogni pagina. Lorca riesce a trasformare il canto popolare in pura poesia, con immagini potenti che arrivano dritte al cuore. È una lettura intensa, a tratti aspra e dolorosa, ma sempre viva e autentica. Alcune sezioni mi hanno emozionata più di altre, ma nel complesso è una raccolta che merita di essere riletta più volte per coglierne tutta la forza.
February 14, 2021
I am not a strong fan of poetry. It is not a genre that I turn to with preference. I have a few poets whom I have read off and on. I do not, as a rule, venture beyond a handful that I encountered among the well known and even then, they lie fallow for years, remembered only in brief reflection and not in a re-reading.
García Lorca is the exception.
And about Lorca’s works—his poetry and his theatre—I am enthusiastic.
This is not my first reading of “Poema del cante jondo”. My first exposure to it was in the late 1960’s in Madrid where I audited a course on García Lorca’s poetry and theatre taught by Damaso Alonso. Professor Alonso had known Lorca as a friend and colleague starting in their youth when both were students at the progressive Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid. Both, also, were part of the group known as the Generation of ’27—a number of poets linked by their explorations with the avant-garde. It was from Professor Alonso, himself a poet, that I gained a deeper understanding of Lorca and of Lorca’s works.
In its most fundamental perspective, Lorca’s poetry deals with the universal themes of love, death and alienation. Those themes are what call me back into Lorca’s poetry every so often. And beyond that, the poetry is rooted perfectly in the soul of Andalucía. Reading the “Poema del cante jondo” in Castilian is a remarkable journey through the unique colors, smells and senses of that soul.
DE PROFUNDIS
Los cien enamorados
duermen para siempre
bajo la tierra seca.
Andalucia tiene
largos caminos rojos.
Cordoba, olivos verdes
donde poner cien cruces,
que los recuredan.
Los cien enamorados
duermen para siempre.
García Lorca is the exception.
And about Lorca’s works—his poetry and his theatre—I am enthusiastic.
This is not my first reading of “Poema del cante jondo”. My first exposure to it was in the late 1960’s in Madrid where I audited a course on García Lorca’s poetry and theatre taught by Damaso Alonso. Professor Alonso had known Lorca as a friend and colleague starting in their youth when both were students at the progressive Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid. Both, also, were part of the group known as the Generation of ’27—a number of poets linked by their explorations with the avant-garde. It was from Professor Alonso, himself a poet, that I gained a deeper understanding of Lorca and of Lorca’s works.
In its most fundamental perspective, Lorca’s poetry deals with the universal themes of love, death and alienation. Those themes are what call me back into Lorca’s poetry every so often. And beyond that, the poetry is rooted perfectly in the soul of Andalucía. Reading the “Poema del cante jondo” in Castilian is a remarkable journey through the unique colors, smells and senses of that soul.
DE PROFUNDIS
Los cien enamorados
duermen para siempre
bajo la tierra seca.
Andalucia tiene
largos caminos rojos.
Cordoba, olivos verdes
donde poner cien cruces,
que los recuredan.
Los cien enamorados
duermen para siempre.
October 9, 2016
The field
of olive trees
opens and closes
like a fan.
Above the olive grove
there is a sunken sky
and a dark shower
of cold stars.
Bulrush and twilight tremble
at the edge of the river.
The grey air ripples.
The olive trees
are charged
with cries.
A flock
of captive birds,
shaking their very long
tail feathers in the gloom.
*
Everything in the world is broken
Nothing but silence remains.
*
A dark and clear sky,
a toasted earth,
and riverbeds where water
runs ever so slowly.
*
The guitar
makes dreams weep.
of olive trees
opens and closes
like a fan.
Above the olive grove
there is a sunken sky
and a dark shower
of cold stars.
Bulrush and twilight tremble
at the edge of the river.
The grey air ripples.
The olive trees
are charged
with cries.
A flock
of captive birds,
shaking their very long
tail feathers in the gloom.
*
Everything in the world is broken
Nothing but silence remains.
*
A dark and clear sky,
a toasted earth,
and riverbeds where water
runs ever so slowly.
*
The guitar
makes dreams weep.
December 3, 2024
Vuelvo a decir lo mismo, no tengo ni puta idea de poesía 👍 pero me ha gustado mucho. Me ha dado la sensación, al igual q con el romancero gitano, de que es una prosa cantada, lo q facilita mucho la lectura. Se siente hogar cómo pinta las escenas típicas andaluzas.. hoy estoy nostálgica.... Buenas noches
June 10, 2023
I read this in a big dual language edition of the Collected Poems. I'm trying to teach myself to read Spanish.
August 28, 2015
Sigo sin saber qué decir ante un libro de poesía, pero por intentarlo... Me ha cautivado la musicalidad y, aunque me esperaba más metáforas al respecto, he sentido una parte de esa Andalucía mitológica, la telúrica y pagana, la del viento, la sangre y el perfume.
December 17, 2024
Bellísimo. Como el Romancero gitano, parece una oda a la tierra andaluza y a todos sus aspectos, grandes o pequeños, y gentes. Muy fácil de leer♥️
Read
August 23, 2023"Ne sen, ne ben
hazır değiliz
karşılaşmaya.
Biliyorsun nedenini"
hazır değiliz
karşılaşmaya.
Biliyorsun nedenini"
March 25, 2018
Çok güzel...
Lorca'dan bir bilmece! Cevabı ve daha da fazlası kitapta...
Altı kız
dans ediyor
yuvarlak
yol kavşağında.
Üçü etten
üçü gümüş.
Dünkü düşler onları arıyor,
ama altın bir Polifemo (*),
kucağında tutuyor onları.
(*) Deniz Tanrısı Poseidon'un oğlu imiş.
____________
sayfa 91
(...)
YARBAY: Neredeydin?
ÇİNGENE: Irmakların köprüsünde.
YARBAY: Peki hangi ırmakların?
ÇİNGENE: Bütün ırmakların.
YARBAY: Ne yapıyordun orada?
ÇİNGENE: Tarçından bir kule.
YARBAY: Çavuş!
ÇAVUŞ: Emrinizdeyim Sivil Muhafaza Yarbayım!
ÇİNGENE: Uçmak için kanatlar icat ettim ve uçuyorum. Dudaklarımda kükürt ve gül.
YARBAY: Ya!
ÇİNGENE: Aslında uçmak için kanada da ihtiyacım yok. Kanımda bulutlar ve yüzükler.
YARBAY: Ya!
ÇİNGENE: Ocak ayında portakal çiçeğim var.
YARBAY (Sinirle kasılır): Ya!
ÇİNGENE: Kar altında da portakallarım.
YARBAY: Ya! Pami bum, bom. (Düşüp ölür.)
(Guardia sivil yarbayının sütlü kahveden ve tütünden olma ruhu pencereden çıkıp gider.)
ÇAVUŞ: İmdat!
(Kışlanın avlusunda dört muhafız çingeneyi döver.)
Lorca'dan bir bilmece! Cevabı ve daha da fazlası kitapta...
Altı kız
dans ediyor
yuvarlak
yol kavşağında.
Üçü etten
üçü gümüş.
Dünkü düşler onları arıyor,
ama altın bir Polifemo (*),
kucağında tutuyor onları.
(*) Deniz Tanrısı Poseidon'un oğlu imiş.
____________
sayfa 91
(...)
YARBAY: Neredeydin?
ÇİNGENE: Irmakların köprüsünde.
YARBAY: Peki hangi ırmakların?
ÇİNGENE: Bütün ırmakların.
YARBAY: Ne yapıyordun orada?
ÇİNGENE: Tarçından bir kule.
YARBAY: Çavuş!
ÇAVUŞ: Emrinizdeyim Sivil Muhafaza Yarbayım!
ÇİNGENE: Uçmak için kanatlar icat ettim ve uçuyorum. Dudaklarımda kükürt ve gül.
YARBAY: Ya!
ÇİNGENE: Aslında uçmak için kanada da ihtiyacım yok. Kanımda bulutlar ve yüzükler.
YARBAY: Ya!
ÇİNGENE: Ocak ayında portakal çiçeğim var.
YARBAY (Sinirle kasılır): Ya!
ÇİNGENE: Kar altında da portakallarım.
YARBAY: Ya! Pami bum, bom. (Düşüp ölür.)
(Guardia sivil yarbayının sütlü kahveden ve tütünden olma ruhu pencereden çıkıp gider.)
ÇAVUŞ: İmdat!
(Kışlanın avlusunda dört muhafız çingeneyi döver.)
June 12, 2017
Lámparas de cristal
y espejos verdes.
Sobre el tablado oscuro,
la Parrala sostiene
una conversación
con la muerte.
La llama,
no viene,
y la vuelve a llamar.
Las gentes
aspiran los sollozos.
Y en los espejos verdes,
largas colas de seda
se mueven.
Y no digo mas <3
May 11, 2022
A masterpiece that everyone on earth should read. Note: the English version is very good, so even if you do not read Spanish, you can still enjoy the poems in this book. I also appreciated that the translation was done in facing pages, so that you could switch between language if you wish.
July 27, 2010
A certain day of the week bought this for me; a lovely gesture.
July 28, 2017
Powerful poems that you almost feel like you could sink your teeth into. Simple enough for a beginning Spanish Language learner to appreciate, with a whole lot of depth, nevertheless.
August 20, 2017
So deep. Andalusian essence of Lorca in all his nature. Easy to read.
February 8, 2021
My journey with Federico García Lorca has been a slow and laborious one, reading his collected poems chronologically, translating each one from Spanish to English and then comparing my translation with the text I have with side-by-side Spanish and English text. I'm assured that the reward with García Lorca really comes with Poet in New York.
The earlier works Poem of the Deep Song are filled with beautiful imagery and a great deal of repetition. Both Poem of the Deep Song and the earlier work,Book of Poems, are filled with olive groves, orange blossoms, weeping guitars, frogs and crickets whose cries pierce the silence of night, men on horseback, dry lands and windy nights. There is no doubt that much of the imagery is beautiful, but with poetry so much is about how the poems stir something within the reader. And I'm not sure at this point in my journey with García Lorca that I feel that much better for having read him (contrasting this with how I felt after reading certain Beat Poets, French symbolists, or the works of Walt Whitman). Part of this may be that his poems, while also sometimes universal, are deeply rooted in a specific place in time, the Spain of the 1920s and 30s, and I cannot relate to the specific.
For me, the highlights were the longer pieces at the end, written as dialogues, "Escena del teniente coronel de la Guardia Civil" and "Diálogo del Amargo". Perhaps is what is most striking about them is the universality, works undoubtedly about Spain, but also about violence, death, free-thinking. In the first work we are positioned, like the poet, to align with the free-spirited gypsy boy over the rigid and calculated Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard. In the second, we are less well-positioned to identify with any one over the other, but we know that in this story of Amargo, death is lurking in every line. The latter in some ways reminded me of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. It's a short work bursting with musings about life, death and the meaning of the two, but there are, as is the case in life itself, no real answers.
While I plan to continue my journey with García Lorca, going next to his much longer work Suites, which I'm assured marks a change in his style from the early works, I'm hoping that something sparks, that I find not just some pretty passages, but magic in the words and imagery.
The earlier works Poem of the Deep Song are filled with beautiful imagery and a great deal of repetition. Both Poem of the Deep Song and the earlier work,Book of Poems, are filled with olive groves, orange blossoms, weeping guitars, frogs and crickets whose cries pierce the silence of night, men on horseback, dry lands and windy nights. There is no doubt that much of the imagery is beautiful, but with poetry so much is about how the poems stir something within the reader. And I'm not sure at this point in my journey with García Lorca that I feel that much better for having read him (contrasting this with how I felt after reading certain Beat Poets, French symbolists, or the works of Walt Whitman). Part of this may be that his poems, while also sometimes universal, are deeply rooted in a specific place in time, the Spain of the 1920s and 30s, and I cannot relate to the specific.
For me, the highlights were the longer pieces at the end, written as dialogues, "Escena del teniente coronel de la Guardia Civil" and "Diálogo del Amargo". Perhaps is what is most striking about them is the universality, works undoubtedly about Spain, but also about violence, death, free-thinking. In the first work we are positioned, like the poet, to align with the free-spirited gypsy boy over the rigid and calculated Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard. In the second, we are less well-positioned to identify with any one over the other, but we know that in this story of Amargo, death is lurking in every line. The latter in some ways reminded me of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. It's a short work bursting with musings about life, death and the meaning of the two, but there are, as is the case in life itself, no real answers.
While I plan to continue my journey with García Lorca, going next to his much longer work Suites, which I'm assured marks a change in his style from the early works, I'm hoping that something sparks, that I find not just some pretty passages, but magic in the words and imagery.
August 2, 2024
Ay mi querido Lorca, ¡¡eras de veras uno de los mejores!!
"La siguiriya gitana comienza por un grito terrible, un grito que divide el paisaje en dos hemisferos ideales. Es el grito de las generaciones muertas, la aguda elegía de los siglos desaparecidos, es la patética evocación del amor bajo otras lunas y otros vientos."
"[el cante jondo] Viene de razas lejanas, atravesando el cementerio de los años y las fondas de los vientos marchitos. Viene del primer llanto y el primer beso."
"Es un canto sin paisaje y, por lo tanto, concentrado en sí mismo, y terrible en medio de la sombra, lanza sus flechas de oro que se clavan en nuestro corazón."
"Jeanroy, en su libro Orígenes de la lírica popular en Francia escribe: el arte popular no sólo es la creación impersonal, vage e inconsciente, sino la creación "personal" que el oueblo recoge por adaptarse a su sensiblidad."
"Los verdaderos poemas del canto jondo no son de nadie, están flotando en el viento comi vilanos de oro y cada generación los viste de un color distinto, para abandonarlos a las futuras. "
"YO ME ENAMORÉ DEL AIRE,
DEL AIRE DE UNA MUJER,
COMO LA MUJER ES AIRE,
EN EL AIRE ME QUEDÉ."
"Yo no le temo a remar,
que yo remar remaría,
yo sólo temo al viento
que sale de tu bahía."
"EL VISITAR LA TUMBA DE MI AMADA
ME DABAN MIS AMIGOS POR CONSUELO,
MÁS YO LES REPLIQUÉ:¿TIENE ELLA,
AMIGOS, OTRO SEPULCRO QUE MI PECHO?"
"Cuando me veas llorar
no me quites el pañuelo,
que mis penitas son grandes
y llorando me consuelo."
"Enredado en tu negra cabellera
está mi corazón desde
la infancia, hasta la
muerte. Unión tan
agradableno será
ni deshecha
ni borrada."
"Si acasito muero mira que
te encargo que con las trenzas
de tu pelo negro me ates las manos"
"Cada vez que miro el sitio
donde te he solido hablar,
comienzan mis probres ojos
gotas de sangre a llorar"
"La siguiriya gitana comienza por un grito terrible, un grito que divide el paisaje en dos hemisferos ideales. Es el grito de las generaciones muertas, la aguda elegía de los siglos desaparecidos, es la patética evocación del amor bajo otras lunas y otros vientos."
"[el cante jondo] Viene de razas lejanas, atravesando el cementerio de los años y las fondas de los vientos marchitos. Viene del primer llanto y el primer beso."
"Es un canto sin paisaje y, por lo tanto, concentrado en sí mismo, y terrible en medio de la sombra, lanza sus flechas de oro que se clavan en nuestro corazón."
"Jeanroy, en su libro Orígenes de la lírica popular en Francia escribe: el arte popular no sólo es la creación impersonal, vage e inconsciente, sino la creación "personal" que el oueblo recoge por adaptarse a su sensiblidad."
"Los verdaderos poemas del canto jondo no son de nadie, están flotando en el viento comi vilanos de oro y cada generación los viste de un color distinto, para abandonarlos a las futuras. "
"YO ME ENAMORÉ DEL AIRE,
DEL AIRE DE UNA MUJER,
COMO LA MUJER ES AIRE,
EN EL AIRE ME QUEDÉ."
"Yo no le temo a remar,
que yo remar remaría,
yo sólo temo al viento
que sale de tu bahía."
"EL VISITAR LA TUMBA DE MI AMADA
ME DABAN MIS AMIGOS POR CONSUELO,
MÁS YO LES REPLIQUÉ:¿TIENE ELLA,
AMIGOS, OTRO SEPULCRO QUE MI PECHO?"
"Cuando me veas llorar
no me quites el pañuelo,
que mis penitas son grandes
y llorando me consuelo."
"Enredado en tu negra cabellera
está mi corazón desde
la infancia, hasta la
muerte. Unión tan
agradableno será
ni deshecha
ni borrada."
"Si acasito muero mira que
te encargo que con las trenzas
de tu pelo negro me ates las manos"
"Cada vez que miro el sitio
donde te he solido hablar,
comienzan mis probres ojos
gotas de sangre a llorar"
April 6, 2025
Me ha parecido tremendamente interesante como evoca a través del texto la tradición del cante jondo y de los palos flamencos, como transmite sus emociones y los temas de la música popular fusionados entre los sentimientos y el paisaje con un lazo de unión a través de la simbología del cante jondo. Para mí, se me hace imprescindible conocer la cultura del cante jondo y escucharla e identificarla para poder lograr comprender siquiera parte de la simbología, aunque los poemas se me hacen bellos por sí mismos.
"El puñal,
como un rayo de sol,
incendia las terribles
hondonadas."
"El puñal,
como un rayo de sol,
incendia las terribles
hondonadas."
May 3, 2021
Den andalusiska sången på svenska. Cante jondon på spanska. En "Cante jondon" ska sjungas fram, inte med vacker röst utan brusten, för att påminna andaluserna om hur både smärtan och musiken är del av deras själar. Min sambo tyckte inte det var vackert när jag sjöng, hon menar också att jag varken har smärta eller musik i min själ och att jag därför sysslar med kulturell appropriering när jag försöker.
June 14, 2019
very high 3...
a lot of these felt sort of unresolved, or more like sketches. which i still love, but just bit thin on the meat.
a lot of these felt sort of unresolved, or more like sketches. which i still love, but just bit thin on the meat.
January 3, 2023
Éxtasis. ✨
October 22, 2023
4,5/5⭐️
Read
June 23, 2025Federico…….. inigualable siempre
October 4, 2021
He loves oil lamps, that’s for sure
March 1, 2025
Som oftest, et slikt vakkert omslag som fanger hjertets oppmerksomhet, fanger også sjelen i sitt språk.
Å ja, en smule pretensiøs dikter blir man, etter en slik diktsamling. Om ikke det sier alt, så kan man lese med lukkede øyne og gjemme seg fra diktingens magi.
Å ja, en smule pretensiøs dikter blir man, etter en slik diktsamling. Om ikke det sier alt, så kan man lese med lukkede øyne og gjemme seg fra diktingens magi.
April 6, 2019
[English]
[En español al final]
Lorca’s poetry has some of the most moving verses I’ve ever read. The way he plays with language, how every line is arranged into an almost song-like stanza form and the multiple references to elements of Andalusian culture make this anthology a highly enjoyable read. I especially encourage reading Lorca and Manuel de Falla’s speeches on the origins and influence of the cante jondo genre. Both essays are quite insightful —de Falla’s might be a bit too technical at times, perhaps, but it’s still an interesting one.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………
Pocos me tocan el alma como Lorca, y a pocos, también, los siento de una forma tan personal y directa. Indispensable para toda persona con raíces andaluzas, pasión por la poesía y gusto por la música.
No sé si es cosa de mi edición o si aparecerá en todas, pero mi Poema del cante jondo incluía un discurso del propio Lorca y otro de Manuel de Falla a modo de epílogo. Recomiendo muchísimo leer ambos textos para alcanzar un mayor entendimiento de las raíces orientales de la poesía popular andaluza y para ver su influencia en la música y la lírica de otras culturas. Interesantísima la sección sobre música rusa en el discurso de Manuel de Falla, que es bastante más detallado que el de Lorca y profundiza más en los aspectos musicales del cante jondo (a veces, con demasiados tecnicismos para mi gusto, pero no resulta difícil de entender a gran escala incluso si se carece de formación musical).
[En español al final]
Lorca’s poetry has some of the most moving verses I’ve ever read. The way he plays with language, how every line is arranged into an almost song-like stanza form and the multiple references to elements of Andalusian culture make this anthology a highly enjoyable read. I especially encourage reading Lorca and Manuel de Falla’s speeches on the origins and influence of the cante jondo genre. Both essays are quite insightful —de Falla’s might be a bit too technical at times, perhaps, but it’s still an interesting one.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………
Pocos me tocan el alma como Lorca, y a pocos, también, los siento de una forma tan personal y directa. Indispensable para toda persona con raíces andaluzas, pasión por la poesía y gusto por la música.
No sé si es cosa de mi edición o si aparecerá en todas, pero mi Poema del cante jondo incluía un discurso del propio Lorca y otro de Manuel de Falla a modo de epílogo. Recomiendo muchísimo leer ambos textos para alcanzar un mayor entendimiento de las raíces orientales de la poesía popular andaluza y para ver su influencia en la música y la lírica de otras culturas. Interesantísima la sección sobre música rusa en el discurso de Manuel de Falla, que es bastante más detallado que el de Lorca y profundiza más en los aspectos musicales del cante jondo (a veces, con demasiados tecnicismos para mi gusto, pero no resulta difícil de entender a gran escala incluso si se carece de formación musical).
April 23, 2012
elegiac and mysterious, this is apparently the first published book of lorca's verse. it is centered around paying active homage to the gypsy peoples of andulusia. but lorca takes this premise and uses it for his own ends. i've read almost all of lorca's writing at some point, but very little of the folks he references which makes me wonder, am i a lazy reader? am i relying too much on lorca's perspective? nonetheless, what a perspective it is! filled with olive trees and daggers, these terse and compact poems distill a lot into a (usually) pointed half-page or less. they definitely have the air of intrigue, but also an airy gorgeous element which is both natural and creepy. i especially liked the play excerpt tidbits and adjoining poems at the end of the book and it makes me eager to re-read his other plays which i don't remember much of anymore.
August 25, 2012
This version has the original Spanish pooems alongside their English translations. I had difficulties understanding some of the poems, maybe it would have helped to have lived in Spain in the 1920s. Many of the poems seemed to deal with death, loneliness and the sublime. Some of the poems were very sad, others were somewhat diquieting. Although the poems were written in a brief and simple style, It took me a while to get through them. This was a very moving collection of poems and I suspect I'll have to read it again to get it's full impact.
June 12, 2012
This collection of poems dealt with traditional lyric forms with twists added by Lorca. The reader is treated to beautiful images and descriptions of the life and scenery of Andalusia. I highly recommend this book and in particular this edition as it has the poems in Spanish and English side by side. I found myself reading the Spanish aloud to get a sense of the rhythms and tones that Lorca intended, though the English translation tried to retain that as closely as possible.
September 11, 2016
Otro cancionero hondo brillante del maestro García Lorca. En virtud de dicha melodía, magnificar: Seis caprichos - Adivinanza de la guitarra (capricho número uno): 'En la redonda / encrucijada / seis doncellas / bailan. / Tres de carne / y tres de plata. / Los sueños de ayer las buscan / pero las tiene abrazadas, / un Polifemo de oro. / ¡La guitarra!'
November 26, 2013
Lyrical, passionate, dark, beautiful, lush. Garcia Lorca weaves some incredible poetry here (and he was only 23 when he completed Poema del Cante Jondo!). It's dreary and half-hidden, sometimes deeply melancholy. Not a light read by any means. But the language is gorgeous and I found it fascinating.
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