Poetry
Poemas rústicos
Not translated into English
Manuel José Othón · 1902
Synopsis
The collection gathers the poems the author kept from his years 1890 to 1902 and is devoted to the nature of the plateau of northern Mexico. It includes the sonnets of the “Noche rústica de Walpurgis”, where the forest comes alive at night, the “Poema de vida”, the “Salmo del fuego” and “Pastoral”, a vast landscape in which only a shepherd lives. The countryside is seen up close, with no Arcadian backdrop, in regular metres and an exact language.
Context
The book appears in Mexico City in 1902, from Aguilar Vera, under the title Poemas rústicos, 1890-1902. The author sets aside in it everything he wrote before 1890 and dedicates it to Guadalajara, whose inhabitants had given him, he says, the only great satisfactions of his life. The preface lays down his rule: the artist must be sincere to the point of naivety. The “Himno de los bosques”, published as early as 1891, had opened the Academy to him; in 1910, Alfonso Reyes devoted a lecture of the Ateneo de la Juventud to the collection.
Who it is for
Regular forms, sonnets and hymns, in a precise language rich in plant names; no French or English translation.
Prizes and reception
The author's principal book, which gathers his best pieces and made him the poet of the Mexican landscape.
Sources for this page 11
The pages consulted to check this page.