Poetry
Lamentaciones
Not translated into English
Almafuerte · 1906
Opening lines
Aquel Moisés enorme que dijo un día,
“Para que Adan impere vibró lo Eterno”,
Hizo la más profunda filosofía...
¡Entre pecho y espalda nos puso un perno!
That enormous Moses who said one day,
“That Adam may rule, the Eternal quivered”,
Wrought the most profound philosophy...
Between breast and back he drove a bolt into us!
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from archive.org
Synopsis
The contents of this collection are not described. Todo Tango dates it to 1906 and counts it among the only two books the author published in his lifetime. Biografías y Vidas describes his poetry as prophetic and sermonising in tone, and notes that he was criticised for the excess of his rhetoric; the author, reports La Izquierda Diario, himself gave it in public readings and toured the provinces.
Context
The collection appeared in 1906, when the author, removed from teaching ten years earlier, was living in poverty, according to La Izquierda Diario and Biografías y Vidas. The same newspaper reports that in 1916 Congress voted him a lifetime pension of two hundred pesos which he was never able to collect. Biografías y Vidas adds that his work aroused passionate support and violent rejection.
Who it is for
Poems in Spanish, in an oratorical, sermonizing tone; no French translation known.
Prizes and reception
A poetry scorned by some of the literati and loved by workers and peasants, according to La Izquierda Diario.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.