Spanish contemporary poetry: An anthology 9781526111937

Table of contents :
Front matter
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Spanish contemporary poetry: a brief mention of its precedents
The novísimos and the cultural transition (mid-1960s–1980)
The power of poetry written by women (1980s–early 1990s)
Poetry of experience and poetry of difference (late 1980s–1990s)
The turn of a new millennium (late 1990s–2005)
Young voices and new expressions (2005–2013)
Bibliography
Text and commentaries
Text and commentaries Part I
The novísimos and the cultural transition
The power of poetry written by women
Poetry of experience and poetry of difference
Text and commentaries Part II
The turn of a new millennium
Young voices and new expressions
Temas de debate y discusión
List of rhetorical and metrical terms
Selected vocabulary

Citation preview

Spanish contemporary poetry is an invaluable tool for English-speaking students that will enable them to strengthen and deepen their knowledge of the Spanish language, society and culture, and will familiarise them with the context from which this poetry emerges.

HISPANIC TEXTS GENERAL EDITOR CATHERINE DAVIES

ISBN 978-0-7190-9095-0

9 780719 090950 www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

Cullell (ed.)

Diana Cullell is Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at the University of Liverpool

Hispanic Texts

The poems by twenty-two different authors are divided into two main sections. The first part deals with poetry written in the twenty or so years that followed the transition to democracy in Spain. It covers topics such as the emergence of women writers in the 1980s, and the Spanish poetic field of the 1990s. The second part considers the poetry written and published in Spain during the last two decades, with a particular focus on works produced around the turn of the millennium, and also includes some of the youngest voices in Spanish poetry which have only emerged in the last few years and are still evolving.

Spanish contemporary poetry

This anthology is a bold demonstration of the strength of contemporary Spanish culture. It presents a selection of Spanish peninsular poetry from the 1970s to the present day, and is the first work to make poetry of this period available to students of Hispanic literature in the Anglophone world. It includes an introductory study in English of the most relevant poetic trends and groups, and provides guided close readings of each poem, as well as lists of key rhetorical terms, a selected vocabulary and temas de debate y discusión.

An anthology

Spanish contemporary poetry

Edited by

Diana Cullell

HISPANIC TEXTS general editor Professor Catherine Davies Department of Hispanic and Latin American Studies Nottingham University series previously edited by Professor Peter Beardsell, University of Hull Emeritus Professor Herbert Ramsden series advisers Spanish literature: Professor Jeremy Lawrance Department of Hispanic and Latin American Studies, University of Nottingham US adviser: Professor Geoffrey Ribbans, Brown University, USA Hispanic Texts provide important and attractive material in editions with an introduction, notes and vocabulary, and are suitable both for advanced study in schools, colleges and higher education and for use by the general reader. Continuing the tradition established by the previous Spanish Texts, the series combines a high standard of scholarship with practical linguistic assistance for English speakers. It aims to respond to recent changes in the kind of text selected for study, or chosen as background reading to support the acquisition of foreign languages, and places an emphasis on modern texts which not only deserve attention in their own right but contribute to a fuller understanding of the societies in which they were written. While many of these works are regarded as modern classics, others are included for their suitability as useful and enjoyable reading material, and may contain colloquial and journalistic as well as literary Spanish. The series will also give fuller representation to the increasing literary, political and economic importance of Latin America.

Spanish contemporary poetry

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HISPANIC TEXTS available in the series Carmen Conde Mientras los hombres mueren ed. Jean Andrews Julio Cortázar Siete cuentos ed. Peter Beardsell Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda Sab ed. Catherine Davies Elena Poniatowska Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela ed. Nathanial Gardner La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes ed. R .O. Jones Lope de Vega Carpio El Caballero de Olmedo ed. Anthony John Lappin Ramón J. Sender Réquiem por un campesino español ed. Patricia McDermott Pablo Neruda Veinte poemas de amor y una cancíon desesperada ed. Dominic Moran Gabriel García Márquez El coronel no tiene quien le escriba ed. Giovanni Pontiero Federico García Lorca Bodas de sangre ed. H. Ramsden Federico García Lorca La casa de Bernarda Alba ed. H. Ramsden Federico García Lorca Romancero gitano ed. H. Ramsden Lorca’s Romancero gitano: eighteen commentaries ed. H. Ramsden Miguel Delibes El camino ed. Jeremy Squires Octavio Paz El laberinto de la soledad ed. Anthony Stanton Federico García Lorca Yerma ed. Robin Warner Alfredo Bryce Echenique Huerto Cerrado ed. David Wood

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Spanish contemporary poetry: An anthology edited with an introduction, critical analysis, notes and vocabulary by

Diana Cullell

Manchester University Press Manchester and New York distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave

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All editorial matter, in English and Spanish © Diana Cullell 2014 All other material © as acknowledged The right of Diana Cullell to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press, University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for isbn 978 0 7190 9094 3  hardback isbn 978 0 7190 9095 0  paperback First published 2014 The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro by by Koinonia, Manchester

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Contents

Preface Acknowledgements

page vii x

Introduction Spanish contemporary poetry: a brief mention of its precedents 1 The novísimos and the cultural transition (mid-1960s–1980) 3 The power of poetry written by women (1980s–early 1990s) 9 Poetry of experience and poetry of difference (late 1980s–1990s) 15 The turn of a new millennium (late 1990s–2005) 21 Young voices and new expressions (2005–2013) 26 Bibliography 34 Texts and commentaries Part I The novísimos and the cultural transition The power of poetry written by women Poetry of experience and poetry of difference

47 65 79

Part II The turn of a new millennium Young voices and new expressions

101 133

Temas de debate y discusión List of rhetorical and metrical terms Selected vocabulary

168 170 172

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Preface

Spanish contemporary poetry is currently enjoying exceptional dynamism and vitality. The large number of poetry books, periodicals, magazines, online sources and critical works on the genre, as well as the innovative reworkings of poetic traditions in practice, and an enthusiastic public that enjoys this widely available literature in all its forms, all signal a great moment in Spanish poetry. The study of this poetry, however, has proven somewhat difficult for the foreign reader, who faces poetry books, anthologies and critical works mainly written for native speakers who are very much aware of the social, historical and cultural context. Even though some critical studies on contemporary Spanish poetry have been published in English recently (Mayhew 2009; Mudrovic 2008), there is very little provision of primary sources for such an audience. For example, in spite of a proliferation of anthologies of contemporary Spanish poetry in Spain during the last two decades, mainly organised around trends or poetic groups (Cano Ballesta 2001; García Martín 1999; García-Posada 1996; Garrido Moraga 2000; Mainer 1999; Martínez 1997; Milán et al. 2002; Ortega 1994; Rodríguez Cañada 1999; Sanz Pastor 2007; Villena 1992a, 1997), around gender (Andrés and García Rayego 2005; Benegas and Munárriz 1998; Buenaventura 1986; Keefe Ugalde 1991; Reina 2002), or interested in portraying the effects of the turn of the new millennium on new poetic voices (Elguero 2004; García et al. 2006; Krawietz and León 2003; Moga 2004; Morales Barba 2006; Sánchez-Mesa Martínez 2007a; Villena 2003), none of them consider a non-native Spanish audience that might require more nuanced guidance, or one that might have to tackle linguistic and contextual challenges. The present volume intends to address this issue and become a vital tool for the study of Spanish literature for English-speaking undergraduate students as well as a point of entry for keen readers of Spanish poetry. The anthology presents a selection of Spanish peninsular poetry from the 1970s – taking the period of the transition to democracy, following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, as the starting point – to the present day, with an introductory study of the most relevant poetic trends and poetic groups of the period, followed by guided and close readings of each composition. The work, therefore, has a patent pedagogical and informative aim. The poetic selection is divided into two main sections and five subsections in order to aid its pedagogical intent, and it includes a total of 22 authors selected according to their literary rigour and with attention to the relevance and influence of their work.1 Of course   It is worth highlighting that the present volume includes authors who only write in

1

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there are many important poets missing from this selection, but the scope of the anthology inevitably imposed limits on how many authors could be included. Furthermore, the selection of compositions – which can be equally problematic – was guided by my knowledge and understanding of what students engage with the most and the potential of the poems to illustrate relevant trends in Spanish contemporary poetry. The first part deals with the poetry written in the twenty years or so that followed the transition to democracy in Spain, which although considered contemporary may be viewed by the young reader as firmly grounded in the past. In contrast, the second part considers the poetry that has been written and published in Spain during the new millennium. More emphasis has been placed on this section in order to clearly represent what Spanish contemporary poetry means at present and to demonstrate in detail its potential and the trends or aesthetics it may follow in the years to come. The subsections respond to aesthetic trends and poetic groups; they intend to orientate the reader and illustrate general tendencies rather than build rigid categories in Spanish poetry. In this sense, some of the poems included in the various sections may not strictly adhere in terms of exact dates, but they incontestably stem from them. The first section contains three subsections: the first deals with the poetry written during the transition to democracy, also a cultural transition in itself; the second presents the emergence of poetry written by women in the 1980s – once democracy was fully established – and the impact this production had on the poetic field of the time as well as on future generations; the final subsection in this part intends to portray the Spanish poetic field of the 1990s, a time of general economic stability with the socialist party at the helm (for most of it) that created one of the most important poetic trends and groups in Spanish contemporary literature and established a dominating – and therefore controversial – aesthetic whose influence would be felt for years to come. The second section contains two subsections: the first intends to illustrate the poetry written at the turn of the new millennium, what appeared to be a new era with the launch of the euro and the air of general change at the end of the twentieth century; the very final subsection presents some of the youngest voices in Spanish poetry, those that have emerged in the last few years and are still evolving, signalling new forms of expression and great potential for a fruitful poetic field. The guided and close readings that follow the poems are meant to steer the reader into possible interpretations of the composition. Nonetheless, the fact that poetry is a highly subjective art, and open to endless interpretations, needs to be acknowledged and stressed. The readings provided are just one of many possible variations. Readers should always be encouraged to put forward their own views and interpretations that, supported with plausible arguments, would be equally valid. Since most of the poetry selected for the anthology relies quite heavily on Spanish, and not in any of the other official languages of Spain. The other languages of the Iberian Peninsula are also very active and productive in the poetic field, but given their particular cultural, linguistic and social context they unquestionably require an anthology of their own.

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free verse and tends to disregard traditional poetic forms, the guided readings focus on the content rather than the form. I must emphasise that the current map of Spanish poetry is a very diverse one in which many aesthetics and authors converge. Older poets who started writing during the transition to democracy – all the authors included in the anthology are alive except for two, Aníbal Núñez and Leopoldo Alas – are still active, and their works regularly appear alongside that of new poets. Closely linked to this, it is important to acknowledge that authors continuously evolve and they can cross over different aesthetics and poetic groups throughout their careers, thus blurring arbitrarily set boundaries – including those of the groups in this anthology that obey a pedagogical and aesthetic aim. The poetic field, with all its trends and its poetics groups, is not so clearly divided as one would like to imagine. It also points at the difficulty and danger of pigeonholing authors and trends into rigid and static categories, and reminds the reader of the need to keep an open mind and view the divisions in the anthology as merely sketches or outlines that aim to guide the reader through a complex and constantly changing field. Spanish contemporary poetry is a bold demonstration of the strength of Spanish contemporary culture. It is also a very useful tool for students to strengthen and deepen their knowledge of Spanish language, society and culture, and familiarise themselves in the context from which it emerges. The pedagogical aim of the anthology is therefore twofold: to illustrate the main tendencies and trends of the genre in Spain at the present time – and hopefully nurture and foster a love of poetry in the reader – and also to strengthen the reader’s linguistic skills and understanding of Spanish studies. Significantly, the majority of the poetry studied here forms part of a chapter in Spanish literature that is still very much open to interpretation. This poetry has great potential and its future is still being forged: as such, its limits cannot really be predicted. Therefore, this anthology aims to be the first step for readers in a long-standing relationship with Spanish contemporary poetry. It is hoped that readers will continue following and studying the work of some of the authors presented here.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank, first and foremost, the Final Year students in Hispanic Studies at the University of Liverpool who have attended my poetry module in the last few years. We have navigated through Spanish contemporary poetry together and they have contributed enormously – albeit most probably involuntarily and without being aware of it – to this anthology. Their enthusiasm and interest for the poets and works we discussed in class have guided my selection of poems and commentaries. I am indebted to them. Thanks also go to my colleagues at the University of Liverpool, who have to contend with my love for poetry and poetry projects continuously. I am deeply grateful to Sizen Yiacoup for all her help with the manuscript; her unwavering support is much appreciated. I would like to express my gratitude to Elizabeth Burgess and Hannah Murray as well, for all their help with this project. I would like to thank the staff of Manchester University Press for their professionalism and their generous help. Finally, I would like to thank Jordi, an involuntary poetry reader.

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Introduction

Spanish contemporary poetry: a brief mention of its precedents Chris Perriam stated, at the end of the 1990s, that ‘[t]he twenty-odd years following the death of Franco … ha[d] been ones of extraordinary vitality for poetry’ (1999: 198). Indeed, those were decades of intense liveliness in the poetry of Spain but the years that followed, up until the present moment, have seen equally – if not more greatly – animated developments, dynamism and vitality. Numerous interesting and innovative reworkings of poetic traditions at the turn of the new millennium have transformed Spanish contemporary poetry into a successful art, thereby proving just how adaptable and malleable the genre is. There has been a proliferation of poetry publications, be that in the form of anthologies or in poetry books per se, and an increased accessibility to poetry thanks to new media and a public eager to consume such literature in its various forms. Spanish contemporary poetry, as any other genre of literature, does not emerge from a literary and socio-historical vacuum. Rather it stems from the poetry written in Spain in the twentieth century, its literary tradition, and the socio-historical background in which it is embedded. In this sense, the historical events during the transition to democracy in the 1970s – the starting point of the poetry studied in this volume – played a major role, since ‘[a]lmost overnight, Spain would change from a traditional society to a widely open one. Poetry would obviously reflect these changes’ (Debicki 1999: 196). Readers will also be able to trace subsequent historical and social developments through the verses, from women’s increased participation in cultural life to political developments, changes in technology, new media and novel forms of social poetry, demonstrating how closely poetry is linked to its socio-historical context. It will also prove how poetry sometimes works as a pendulum, ranging from one extreme to the other and subsequently favouring opposed aesthetics. The Spanish poetry of the early twentieth century combined tradition­ alist with progressive and elitist aesthetics (Cardwell 1999: 175). It is 1

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during this period that avant-garde writing, the search for ‘pure’ poetry and the Generation of ‘27, the so-called ‘Silver Age’ of Spanish verse, emerge and become a clear referent for the poetry that is to follow, forging a challenging but also fascinating corpus of work with names that have achieved eminent status in literary history: Juan Ramón Jiménez, Federico García Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre and Luis Cernuda, to name but a few. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) had a major impact on what was being written, and at this point in time ‘the bonds between literature and social issues grew tighter’ (Debicki 1999: 187). During the first years of Franco’s dictatorship, personal experience, ideological and collective concerns and everyday language dominated a poetry mainly concerned in making the genre accessible to the reader, examples of which can be found in the works of Blas de Otero, Gabriel Celaya and Ángela Figuera, amongst others. This poetry, which has sometimes been accused of being of poor literary quality, was also heavily restrained and controlled by censorship. The changes that took place in Spanish society in the 1950s were also reflected in poetry, with an increased originality and a desire to achieve greater poetic value. Poets such as Jaime Gil de Biedma, Ángel González and José Ángel Valente continued the social poetry initiated by the first poets of the post-war period, but they also aimed to imbue it with more literary quality, paying equal attention to form and content. In the 1960s and 1970s, a period of intense change during which Spain opened up to foreign influences and popular culture such as film and music from abroad, ‘the thirst for contemporaneity among Spain’s youth’, as Debicki called it (1999: 195), flourished around the aesthetics of the novísimos, the first group of poets studied in this volume. The novísimos ‘coincided in their search for a more contemporary, more artful, and more language-orientated poetry, which would bring Spanish letters into the mainstream of European culture’ (195),1 and marked a turning point in the history of Spanish poetry in the modern period. From the novísimos to the present day, Spanish contemporary poetry has undergone extraordinary developments, particularly in terms of topics approached and modes of expression. Notably, its trajectory and progression have not yet drawn to a close, and its current extraordinary vitality suggests a very exciting future with fascinating potential. 1 This study cannot, for obvious reasons, offer a detailed account of the Spanish literary tradition that precedes the poetry examined here. Readers eager to find out more about Spanish poetry of the early and mid-twentieth century should refer to the works by Boyd (1999) and Debicki (1994, 1999), which offer comprehensive and detailed overviews.

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The novísimos and the cultural transition (mid-1960s–1980) The poetry written in Spain in the 1970s, the starting point of this anthology, is a clear departure from the poetic tradition that immediately preceded it. Towards the final stages of Franco’s dictatorship, and as early as the end of the 1960s, a certain air of change was evident and manifested itself in the works of young Spanish poets. The changes that were slowly starting to take place, namely economic developments due to tourism and significant foreign investments, and the passing of vital Planes de Desarrollo designed to support and encourage Spanish economic resources,2 as well as the vast social effects that the events of May 1968 had across Europe,3 were reflected in an obvious renovation of and transformation in the literature of Spain. At the start of the transition to democracy, known as La Transición and generally understood as the period following the death of Franco in 1975 (or even earlier), to the victory of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) in the general elections of 1982, Spain underwent major development: In a very short space of time, and without having had the opportunity to benefit from the experiences of other nations on their transitions to democracy from authoritarian regimes, Spain very peacefully dismantled the institutions of the Franco dictatorship and put new democratic institutions in their place, with a democratic constitution. ( Juliá 1999: 104)

In a context of such profound change it was to be expected that cultural forms, amongst them poetry, would reflect such transformations, especially when the overthrow of censorship, a key tool of repression and control used by Francoism for almost four decades, guaranteed the recovery of artistic freedom. ‘In that new climate, almost everything seemed possible, from the making and exhibition of pornographic films to the birth of a newspaper of the quality of El País’, and in this regard ‘the Transition was experienced as an explosion of freedom after forty years during which any form of cultural expression had had to go before a board of censors’ ( Juliá 1999: 111). The young Spanish poets, who were extremely eager to leave Spain’s dark past behind, were also weary of the dominant social aesthetic that had been prevalent in Spain since the 1940s. Accordingly, they aimed to do something different: to carry out a radical renovation of the poetic field. In the 1960s and 1970s there was an increased exposure to European 2 Fusi Aizpurúa (1997), Vincent (2007: 199–238 in particular) and Juliá (1999) offer very useful accounts of historical, social, political and economic events of the period. 3 See Kurlansky (2004) and Touraine (1971) for more information on May 1968 and its impact across Europe.

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and North American cultural trends based around popular culture such as film, music, magazines and fashion, to which Spanish people and young poets were now exposed: The new popular culture, and the thirst for contemporaneity among Spain’s youth, evoked contradictory responses among poets. Popular culture, on the one hand, furnished materials for new forms of expression, and became linked with the search for a less conventional and authoritarian discourse. On the other hand, it represented a target against which some authors reacted as they strove for a higher art. (Debicki 1999: 195)

The publication of works such as La ciudad, by Diego Jesús Jiménez, in 1965, Arde el mar, by Pere Gimferrer, in 1966, Una educación sentimental, by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, in 1967, and Dibujo de la muerte, by Guillermo Carnero, in 1967, marked the beginning of such change. These publications all attempted a renovation and modernisation of poetry and their literary aesthetics were based on less traditional discourses and a much more refined art. These young poets wanted to escape the image of a backward, traditional and conservative country that Spain and the long dictatorship seemed to embody at the time. The publication of a highly controversial anthology edited by Josep Maria Castellet in 1970, Nueve novísimos poetas españoles, epitomised these young poets’ desires. The anthology sparked great controversy due to the names it both included and excluded, as well as the cultural and elitist aesthetic it stalwartly portrayed and defended. Nueve novísimos poetas españoles included only nine authors (Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Antonio Martínez Sarrión, José María Álvarez, Félix de Azúa, Pere Gimferrer, Vicente Molina Foix, Guillermo Carnero, Ana María Moix, and Leopoldo María Panero), and displayed a poetry that went against the poetic canon which had been established over the previous forty years. The title itself (‘Nine Innovative Spanish Poets’) was an unmistakable hint as to what the anthology wanted to achieve: profound innovation and a renewal of Spanish poetry.4 At the time, this new poetry was completely unexpected, and neither the Spanish critics nor the readers had anticipated anything like it (Carnero 1990: 11). Not only was the new aesthetic contrary to what was the standard back then – a confessional aesthetics, a poetry understood as a way of communicating with the reader, dealing with civic, ethical and ideological 4 For the title of this anthology Castellet took inspiration from Alfredo Giuliani’s anthology I novissimi (Poesie per gli anni 60) (1961), a work on Italian Neo-avant-garde poetry.

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concerns – but the poetry of the anthology refused to openly engage with social issues and politics. Such a refusal was considered anti-ethical, offensive and unacceptable by many (García Berrio 1989: 13) and was seen as a clear departure from the Neo-Romantic, existentialist and religious poetry of the 1940s and 1950s, and the socially committed poetry prevalent in the 1960s: El cambio estético se produce no como simple evolución, sino como ruptura con los presupuestos del ‘realismo’, como consecuencia de una serie de cambios radicales en la formación generacional: un cambio de lecturas, una serie de cambios sociopolíticos (el despegue económico, la aproximación a Europa, La Ley de Prensa, etc.) y fundamentalmente la influencia capital de los mass-media. (Lanz 2011: 125)

The novísimos, who owe their name to Castellet and include not only the poets anthologised in Nueve novísimos poetas españoles but also other authors who practised a similar aesthetics in the 1970s, differed quite significantly from each other. Although they formed no homogenous group, they did share some common ground. They all had a desire to renew poetic language and Spanish poetry and culture in general, with the hope that it ‘would bring Spanish letters into the mainstream of European culture and leave behind the limitations of social poetry’ (Debicki 1999: 195). Two other anthologies appeared soon after Nueve novísimos poetas españoles to complete Castellet’s work and offer a much more comprehensive view of Spanish poetry in the 1970s: Nueva poesía española (Martín Pardo, 1970) and Espejo del amor y de la muerte (Antonio Prieto, 1971). With these anthologies, many new poets gained recognition and joined the ranks of the novísimos: Antonio Carvajal, Antonio Colinas, Jenaro Talens, Jaime Siles, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, and Luis Antonio de Villena, amongst others. This was a new generation of poets who wanted to overcome the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, the sadness and gloominess of the post-war period, and Franco’s dictatorship: Los novísimos fueron obviamente hijos de sus circunstancias … A comienzos de la década de los setenta en España los poetas tenían la obligación de pensar en el futuro desentendiéndose del fantasma histórico de una dictadura ya claudicante. Su fórmula de rechazo la tradujo directamente la indiferencia hastiada de los símbolos culturales comprometidos en la lucha vieja; la medida de su buen gusto y de su independencia la simboliza ante todo la adhesión cultural a la generalidad cosmopolita, europea e internacional, de una cultura de mitos fascinantes, cuyo acceso y disfrute había estado lastimosamente vedado a los poetas del inmediato pasado español. (García Berrio 1989: 13)

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Not only had the novísimos not engaged in the Civil War – all of them were born after the conflict, mainly in the 1940s and 1950s, and therefore felt quite detached from it – but they had also received a completely different cultural education and formation to that of the social poets who had prevailed in the literary field. The novísimos were highly influenced by the mass media and new popular culture, and their literary influences stemmed mainly from outside Spain (Europe and America) or from Spanish authors forgotten and ignored by the canon of the time. They were interested in current and past European aesthetics as well as its most cultural and elitist trends, which generated ‘una suerte de desenfreno culturalista’ (Villena 2000: 19). This gave rise in their poetry to ‘aestheticism, decadentism, the use of formal strategies taken from surrealism and comics, pastiches of style from the academic to the journalistic, references to cinema, posters, and television’ (Perriam 1999: 201). This culturalism ‘se esgrimió … como arma de combate, como sello y timbre de la ruptura’ (Villena 2000: 19). The desire to renew poetry culturally and linguistically, essentially to modernise it, became quite extreme in some cases, isolating the novísimos from a mainstream audience, which was also a deliberate and calculated move. Unlike their immediate predecessors, the novísimos did not see poetry as a tool for communication or a way of conveying existentialist matters and engaging with society. Rather, they understood poetry ‘as a process rather than just a product, and meaning as unfolding and unstable, they undermined the notion of text as stable message’ (Debicki 1999: 196). The main aim of the novísimos was to dignify Spanish poetry. This search for dignification in order to renew and modernise it so that Spanish poetry could be read alongside other European traditions is the veritable staring point of the novísimos’ aesthetics and its traits. As mentioned before, their work was characterised by a clean break from the poetry of their predecessors (particularly that of the Generation of ’36) and a return to the Generation of ’27, paying special attention to language-orientated avant-garde trends such as Modernism, Symbolism and Surrealism, and critical strands from Russian formalism and French structuralism. The use of rich and exotic language, together with neologisms and synaesthesia, created a sumptuous poetry that constantly made use of cultural elements as objective correlatives and which very often was built upon literary or cultural references rather than just an anecdote. Their intention was not to create a communicative poetry but rather an object of beauty. The novísimos saw language as the element that could help them create 6

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an autonomous reality in the poem, and therefore they ideologised the form in poetry, which became equally important to the content. They were interested in the poetic process and in the ways in which verse could evoke new dimensions, often dealing with metapoetry in their work and with time and space references completely foreign to the reader. The use of mass culture, in particular, music such as jazz and rock, cinema and comics, as well as more highbrow culture such as museums and the literary or plastic arts, were key for the creation of a very particular, and easily identifiable cultural imagery, one that makes the poetry of the novísimos very recognisable. Many of the above traits can be seen in the poems by Luis Alberto de Cuenca and Luis Antonio de Villena selected for this anthology. In them, readers encounter compositions built upon artistic and literary references with a strong cultural elitism very much present in the verses. In addition, the poems strive to create an object of beauty, with abundant references to exotic elements and places as well as very rich and scholarly language which seem to build parallel realities. The random cohesion of the novísimos – as mentioned earlier, they never existed as a completely homogenous group – lasted until the late 1970s, during which time the innovative, radical and non-traditional aesthetic they practised was the element that most strongly united them (Lanz 2011: 50–51; Villena 2000: 22). During the transition to democracy there were other voices that, linked to the novísimos, were also key to the cultural transition of the time. The official discourse on the Transición portrays this period as one of optimism and mainly positive transformation in which dialogue, agreement, negotiations and a bright future feature prominently in Spanish society: the moment in which Spain was able to finally exorcise its demons (Labrador Méndez 2009: 65). However, another side to the Transición was equally visible: Tras la euforia primera después de la muerte del dictador sucede una segunda fase no por esperable menos intensa, un momento de melancolía posrevolucionaria, de depresión que sigue la explosión de energía y fiesta transicional. Éste se introduce lentamente como una especie de sopor, adoptando la forma retórica de un spleen, abulia transicional o particular mal du siècle. (Labrador Méndez 2009: 107)5 5 See Vilarós’ El mono del desencanto: una crítica cultural de la transición española (1973–1993) (1998) for a comprehensive account of the aforementioned disenchantment or desencanto during the democratic transition in Spain. See also Labrador Méndez (2006).

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The young generation of the transition to democracy was victim to a disenchantment brought about by a lack of faith in the future and what was seen as slow cultural progress. Those suffering from this disenchantment or melancholy quickly found an escape route in the world of drugs, which had started to gain prominence, and the liberal freedom of the Transición: En el centro del proceso transicional el número de usuarios de drogas había crecido considerablemente, al tiempo que la oferta de las mismas se diversificaba. Los derivados del cáñamo eran de fácil acceso y su uso ampliamente tolerado. A un aumento del consumo de anfetamínicos, y la popularización del speed, se sumaba la presencia de otro fármaco mayor, la cocaína, junto con los alucinógenos (mayormente LSD y ocasionales cápsulas de mescalina). A partir de 1974 se registra la introducción de la heroína, cuyo uso crecerá en los años siguientes disparándose a partir de 1978. (Labrador Méndez 2009: 96–97)

The relationship between drugs and literature is not a new one. However, in a moment of key cultural transition for Spain, poetry became a tool to register the dialogue between drugs and disenchantment, between history and society, and the reaction of people against change and socio-historical progress. Poets such as Blanca Andreu, Leopoldo María Panero, Aníbal Núñez or Eduardo Haro Ibars fully engaged with this relationship. As well as following some of the aesthetic traits of the novísimos, such as the abundance of cultural and artistic references in their verses, many of these poets were strongly linked to the trend Castellet’s anthology had given name to. This disenchanted poetry made use of cryptic vocabulary to refer to drugs, creating new linguistic codes based on the semantic fields of vegetables, poison, mythology, colours and chemistry, amongst others. These linguistic codes were employed in a syntax characterised by its anarchy and confusion, and often contained no punctuation. Onomatopoeia, synaesthesia and exclamation were frequently used to present sublimated images, hallucinations and the supernatural as well as to explore sensory and metaphysical limits, utopias, onyrical worlds, hedonism, desire, violence and death (Labrador Méndez 2009: 34). This aesthetic can clearly be seen in the poems by Aníbal Núñez and Leopoldo María Panero included in this anthology. In them, and alongside a celebration of drugs and the relief and comfort they can offer, the reader can find multiple references to other literary works, as well as extensive and powerful intertextuality. The compositions, lacking any kind of punctuation to aid the reading process, and making use of new linguistic 8

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patterns and vocabulary, present alternative and parallel universes that nonetheless bear strong cultural references. This becomes just another expression of hedonism and lifestyle, as well as a group of voices articulating socio-historical concerns, extraordinarily important for the period, and one that can successfully document some of its social and historical developments. The power of poetry written by women (1980s–early 1990s) Although Nueve novísimos poetas españoles included only one woman poet (Ana María Moix) amongst the authors anthologised, the trend the novísimos started and the renewal they instigated in Spanish contemporary literature were key for the poetry written by women that was about to flourish in the 1980s. The feeling of novelty, the experimental aesthetics and the openness and freedom of writing that the novísimos and the poets of the Transition favoured coincided with crucial developments in women’s rights in Spain. This had an obvious and glaring impact on the sort of poetry women were going to write, and the works that would later be seen to make an immense contribution to contemporary Spanish poetry. In fact, many critics stated at the end of the twentieth century that ‘el florecimiento de la poesía de mujer [fue] probablemente el aspecto más llamativo de la producción poética de los últimos 20 años en España’ (Ciplijauskaité 1995: 349). It brought about ‘a fundamental alteration in the literary landscape’ (Mayhew 1995: 335). The emergence of this poetry was also possible due to the historical changes that took place in Spain after the death of Franco, a time of radical transformation that would alter the lives of Spanish women ‘beyond recognition’ (Brooksbank Jones 1997: 1). Franco’s dictatorship had institutionalised a very strong patriarchal system in which the family was seen as both a source of social stability and a microcosm of society. This authoritarian model, commanded by a patriarch, ossified gender roles (such as those of la perfecta casada and el ángel del hogar; the perfect housewife who would take excellent care of her husband and children) and reduced women’s rights and freedom to a minimum, relegating them to the private sphere of the home whilst the public sphere was reserved for men. The Sección Femenina,6 founded in 1934 as part of the political 6 The Sección Femenina, founded in 1934, was the women’s branch of the Falange Española. It was led by Pilar Primo de Rivera, José Antonio Primo de Rivera’s sister, from its very beginnings until its disbandment in 1977. The Sección Femenina was in charge of

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party Falange Española,7 became a key instrument for the perpetuation of the regime’s gender ideals during Francoism, since it was in charge of women’s education and was particularly focused on embedding the role of wife, nationalist citizen and chaste Catholic Christian for women in society (Borreguero 1986). The effects of this role on women should not be underestimated, as ‘it legitimated their restricted access to public life, educational opportunities and key legal entitlements, and was in turn legitimated by their correspondingly lower expectations and possibilities’ (Brooksbank Jones 1997: 2). After the death of the dictator and the transition to democracy, however, there was a massive transformation in the women’s movement in Spain – the Partido Feminista de España (PFE) was founded in 1975 and officially registered in 1981 – and women were finally able to shed state control and domination and enjoy freedom once again. During the electoral campaigns before the general elections in 1977 were due to take place, socialists and communists backed most of women’s demands for equality in all spheres, including the socialisation of domestic work, equal opportunities for paid work, and an end to educational and legislative discrimination. Activists’ campaigns also incorporated certain radical feminist demands around sexuality, most notably the provision of contraceptives through social security, the legalisation of abortion, and an end to discriminations against lesbians and prostitutes. These campaigns helped to produce mobilisations around key issues and a general raising of political awareness among younger women. (Brooksbank Jones 1997: 9)

Despite the fact that there were still very few women in government and institutional roles, such promotion resulted in the achievement of essential milestones for women’s rights. The final corroboration of women’s legal parity came with the 1978 Constitution (Article 9.2), which declared all Spaniards equal before the law and prohibited discrimination on the basis of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other personal or social conditions. Other important landmarks in the development of women’s rights at the time include the legalisation of contraception in 1978, as the the Servicio Social de la Mujer (Social Service for Women), which became under Franco a compulsory service for women similar to the Francoist military service. The Social Service for Women, however, focused on housework and devoted itself to instructing the Sección Femenina’s members in Francoist patriotic, religious and social morals. 7 The Falange Española was a Spanish political party founded in 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Of fascist and nationalist ideology, the Falange provided a political party for Franco, who became its absolute chief in 1937. After the Nationalists’ victory in 1939, the Falange’s fascist ideas were subordinated to the values of the Francoist regime.

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Spanish Criminal Code had banned the supply and use of contraceptives, sterilisation and abortion since 1941; the Divorce Law passed in 1981 under the Unión de Centro Democrático8 government led by Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo; the foundation, in 1983, of the Instituto de la Mujer, a PSOE-led initiative that aimed to promote the conditions for genuine equality of the sexes in accordance with the Constitution; and in 1985, the legalisation of abortion in the case of rape, grave danger to the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman, or the presumption of the foetus being born with serious physical or mental defects.9 These historical changes were obviously reflected in the literature of the period, with the emergence of many new voices – women’s voices – that were claiming a space of their own in literature, in parallel with women demanding a place of their own in the new democratic Spain. In this atmosphere of freedom and liberty works by women poets of the Generation of ’27, such as Ernestina de Champourcin or Rosa Chacel, and women poets of the post-war period, who had been ostracised in literary circles, were published once again (Benegas 1998: 53). This paved the way for a profusion of new works by young emerging women poets, which ‘ofrec[ían] un atrevimiento, una diversidad, una fuerza expresiva y una vitalidad imaginativa anteriormente desconocidas’ (Keefe Ugalde 1991:  ix): La década de los ochenta es un período decisivo en la historia de la poesía femenina española. Durante esos años aumentó notablemente la publicación de libros de poesía escritos por mujeres, se fundaron casas editoriales y aparecieron revistas dedicadas a la literatura femenina. Las poetas […] recibieron importantes premios y con frecuencia eran invitadas por centros prestigiosos para lecturas de sus versos. En las páginas culturales de la prensa se encontraban reseñas y análisis de sus obras y la televisión con regularidad abría sus estudios a las poetas. La intensa actividad literaria era algo más que un boom promocionado por las casas editoriales o una moda pasajera. Fue el inicio de una transformación profunda de la poesía escrita por mujeres. (Keefe Ugalde 1991: vii)

An important event that helped to establish the relevance, but also the substance, of poetry written by women at that time was the publication 8 The Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD) started as a coalition of parties in 1977 during the transition to democracy, and then became a political party. Initially led by Adolfo Suárez, then Prime Minister, the UCD was in power from 1977 to 1982. 9 See Brooksbank Jones (1997) and Threlfall, Cousins and Valiente (2005) for a more detailed account of the transformation and evolution of women’s roles and rights in Spain throughout the twentieth century and the Transición.

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of the anthology edited by Ramón Buenaventura, Las Diosas blancas: antología de la joven poesía española escrita por mujeres, in 1985. Despite a well-intentioned but nonetheless inadequate introduction by the editor, the anthology presented the work of 22 very young women writers – the oldest poet included in the anthology was 35 years old, and the youngest just 19 – some of whom had never been published before. Many of these poets would go on to become some of the most important names in the history of Spanish poetry at the end of the twentieth century, and would prove to critics and readers alike that Las Diosas blancas was much more than just a publishing phenomenon designed to capitalise on the sudden success of poetry written by women. The anthology Ellas tienen la palabra: dos décadas de poesía española, edited by Jesús Munárriz and Noni Benegas in 1997, was published with a very apt title which could be loosely translated as ‘Their turn to speak’. The intention was to solidify this poetic trend and complete Buenaventura’s work. It included a total of 41 names, many of which had already appeared in the first anthology. It presented, with a well-argued and comprehensive introductory study, the poetry that had been written by women during the 1980s and even early 1990s in Spain.10 Some of the names that resonated more strongly in these anthologies, as well as in the critical works of the time and the literary establishment in general, were Amparo Amorós, Ana Rossetti, Concha García, Andrea Luca, Blanca Andreu, Olvido García Valdés, Juana Castro, Esther Zarraluki, Amalia Iglesias, Julia Otxoa, Clara Janés, Aurora Luque, Rosa Lentini, Almudena Guzmán, and Luisa Castro, amongst others. The works by these women authors signalled a completely novel way of writing poetry, and as Keefe Ugalde stated, ‘[l]a nueva poesía española que se va desarrollando con acelerado paso desde finales de los años setenta, tiene poco que ver con la otra “poesía femenina” que, desde el siglo XIX, la cultura dominante (masculina) ha definido y marginado’ (1991: ix). In fact, many of these poets strongly rejected the label of poesía femenina due to its negative connotations (Mayhew 1995: 337). In addition, many rejected the term poetisa, the Spanish feminine form for poet, which denoted derogative characteristics. Both tags were rebuked as they were seen as a cultural construction that implied a literary product of a much lower quality, in line with the idea of ‘escribir como mujer’ prevalent since the nineteenth century, in which literature by women was seen as 10 Other anthologies such as those edited by de Andrés and García Rayego (2005), Torras (2009) and Reina (2002) would further display the continuation and great success of poetry written by women in Spain.

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the evocation of spontaneous emotions, sentimental impulses and verses consecrated mainly to flowers and nature in general (Benegas 1998: 26–27). Linked to this, one of the main problems these poets encountered was the lack of a proper gynocentric poetic tradition in contemporary Spain (Keefe Ugalde 1990: 118). They had to wrestle their way into a poetic field dominated by poetry written by men: ‘Las poetas de los ochenta deberán conquistar para sus versos un espacio que nadie les tiene reservado’ (Benegas 1998: 56). In spite of this struggle, or maybe precisely because of it, women poets made full use of their freedom when it came to writing, a move that in turn produced original voices. Poetry by women in the 1980s was seen as a breath of fresh air, in the sense that it provided the reader with innovative experiences and different points of view. As Wilcox stated, ‘[o]ne of the most contentious issues in gynopoetics is whether or not one can describe a gynocentric style’ (1997: 12). Whilst there is clearly not a unique style in the poetry written by women in Spain in the 1980s, we can certainly talk about shared themes and concerns. The deconstruction or revision of female roles and ideals is the trait that unifies poetry written by women in the 1980s, according to Noni Benegas (García 1999: 10), as is the materialisation of the body and erotic and sexual desire in their verses. As Chris Perriam states: The exotic sources and language of the poetry associated with the name novísimos and its atmosphere of novelty, aesthetic, and experiential adventure encouraged a new openness in writing about sexual desire in poetry in Spanish […] . By the 1980s, however, alongside conventional heterosexual erotic writing by male poets, a counter-tradition had emerged of writing by women about their own bodies and about their desires for men’s bodies. (1999: 202)

Making use of an extremely rich and varied vocabulary, these poets’ work was highly charged with corporeal images and a broad exploration of female sexuality, described by John Wilcox as ‘a conscious attempt to “write with the body”’ (1997: 13). Reviewing a woman’s relationship with her body, and actively seeking to enjoy it just as French feminism had advocated, modesty had no room in their verses. These poets boasted openly and unashamedly about sexual desire and their attraction to the male anatomy, in some cases bordering on, or even becoming, erotic poetry. Just as the poetic tradition had objectified the female body, Spanish women poets in the 1980s would objectify their male counterparts, emphasising in their work the sensuality that such an experience awakened in them. In these verses women ceased to be the passive agent 13

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in a romantic relationship, the traditional ‘other’, and appropriated the role of the active individual, the traditional ‘I’, thus powerfully subverting prevailing gender roles and altering the dynamics of gender relationships. In other instances, however, ‘[e]l “yo”, sujeto masculino, y el “tú”, objeto femenino, en la tradición petrarquesca, renacen como un “nosotros” que se comparte con igualdad’ (Keefe Ugalde 1991: xiii), which gave rise to a relationship characterised by two equally active subjects. By writing from a woman’s point of view, they were also offering alternative notions and understandings of experience, embodiment and knowledge in general, revisiting traditional ideas and beliefs. In order to offer and express a re-reading of tradition, and the already mentioned deconstruction of female roles and ideals, these poets frequently employed Greek and Roman mythology, as well as Christian symbolism and iconography. The use of these references not only made up for the lack of a gynocentric canon, but it also helped to review, transgress and subvert patriarchal myths. The deconstruction of traditional ideas of ‘woman’ and ‘womanhood’ in these poets’ verses was key for the reassessment of hierarchies, and ultimately, the pursuit of self-determination. Ana Rossetti’s poem in this anthology clearly engages with the subversion of gender conventions and objectifies the male body, challenging traditional models and embracing sexual freedom. Almudena Guzmán’s poem also involves alterations to gender dynamics in a romantic relationship, in which the female character is as active as the male, and draws on unashamed sexual innuendo despite an apparent innocence. Whilst the poetry of women in the 1980s is a tribute to, and praise for, the new freedom women enjoyed, it can also be a critique of the past, the present and the future of women in society. Therefore, the reader can also find a strong gender-engaged poetry in this group, one that denounces and condemns injustices faced by women in the country or even across the Spanish borders. Julia Otxoa’s poem is an example of powerful gender-engaged poetry, and a composition that highlights the sexualisation and fragmentation of the female body and the consequences of this for women. Juana Castro’s poem is also a highly committed composition in terms of gender, as it deals with gender discrimination and inequality, drawing on the role of women in society in countries other than Spain. The emergence and boom of poetry written by women in the 1980s signalled a significant social and historical change, key for the poetry of the period and that of the next decades. 14

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Poetry of experience and poetry of difference (late 1980s–1990s) Following the idea that trends in literature can often swing like a pendu­­ lum, the dominant poetry from the end of the 1980s throughout the next decade can be characterised as a departure from that of the 1970s, offering a major shift in the register, traditions, language, style and topics employed by the poets of that period. The poetic ambience in Spain in the 1990s, however, is also renowned for the poetic conflicts, the so-called ‘batallas poéticas’, that were staged between the dominant trend, that of poesía de la experiencia, and its opposing faction, that of poesía de la diferencia, with a metaphysical trend intersecting between them. A review of critical works and poetic publications throughout the last twenty years demonstrates that poesía de la experiencia is the label, and the trend, that has created the greatest controversy in Spanish contemporary literature. It has also given rise to a high number of debates around poetry, the reader and the monopolisation of the poetic market in Spain that cannot be ignored. The term poetry of experience was first employed in relation to Spanish poetry in 1959 by Jaime Gil de Biedma, one of the most important Spanish poets of the 1950s and 1960s, in an article linking Robert Langbaum’s work The Poetry of Experience: The Dramatic Monologue in Modern Literary Tradition (1957) to the poetry being written at the time by the Generation of ’27 author Luis Cernuda. According to Gil de Biedma, Cernuda’s poetry was a perfect representation of what Langbaum had coined ‘poetry of experience’, that which was ‘constructed upon the deliberate disequilibrium between experience and idea, a poetry which makes its statement not as an idea but as an experience from which one or more ideas can be abstracted as problematical rationalization’ (Langbaum 1957: 35–36). During the following years Gil de Biedma theorised and practised what he had described as the Spanish experiential trend. The trend became focused, following Langbaum’s ideas, on the ways poetic material was used, rather than its topics: the verses aimed to offer the reader the necessary tools to be able to reconstruct in the reading process the experience that had inspired the poem in the first place. Nevertheless, Gil de Biedma’s understanding of poetry of experience became quite blurred with the passage of time, and the label of poesía de la experiencia slowly faded in the following decades. The term, however, was suddenly recovered and repossessed at the end of the 1980s by new young poets. In the late 1980s, the tag was used to wage war against the novísimos and their culturalism and to encourage 15

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‘a more commonsensical conception of poetry, which is to be “un arte sensato” capable of giving voice to experiences which are verisimilar to the common reader’ (Mayhew 1999: 347). The label would at this point be used to make reference to what would become in the 1990s the unquestionably dominant poetic trend of the time: an aesthetic focused on everyday life, lived experience, and the time in which the poet, a normal citizen, was living. Before poesía de la experiencia became the most established name to refer to the trend, terms such as ‘poesía sensata’, ‘poesía de sesgo clásico’, ‘poesía figurativa’, ‘poesía de línea clara’, ‘nueva poesía social’ or ‘poetas postnovísimos’ (d’Ors 1997: 124; Tortosa 2000: 65–66) were also employed. This new poesía de la experiencia, which proved to be incredibly popular amongst readers in Spain, had nonetheless little resemblance to the aesthetics theorised by Gil de Biedma in relation to Langbaum and Cernuda (Cullell 2010: 23–38, 135–161), having more to do with the ‘experience’ of men and women in the Spain of the time: Hoy en día todo el mundo habla de la poesía de la experiencia como quien habla de fútbol, de vinos o de sexo, y, de hecho, poca gente sabe a ciencia cierta a qué responde exactamente esta llamada ‘poesía de la experiencia’, término que ha agrupado tras de sí a la mayor parte de poetas actuales en castellano. (Martínez Inglés 1996: 30)

This interest in a commonsensical and verisimilar poetry, so widespread in the Spanish poetry of the 1990s, is to be found in the Andalusian group La otra sentimentalidad. The group emerged in Granada in 1983 when the poets Javier Egea, Luis García Montero and Álvaro Salvador published the anthology-manifesto La otra sentimentalidad. The ideology portrayed in the manifesto had a very clear Marxist background, and was aimed at promoting a poetry that would have a particular sensitivity in line with its socio-temporal context. The group sought a poetry that would boast common elements between the author and the reader, with the final objective of being useful to society, engaging with it and its needs. Consequently, they wanted an easily accessible poetry in terms of aesthetics, one that would attract and speak to readers. These poets wanted their audience to identify with their verses, and to that end they drew on aspects particular to their time and place. As a result, this poetry was presented from ‘la perspectiva del hombre común, del protagonista de una historia intelectual, poética, política, económica y amorosa que no tiene nombres propios pero que sirve para identificar a una generación entera en su sensibilidad (o sentimentalidad)’ (Puertas Moya 2000: 494). It is a ‘forma de 16

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escribir que atiende a los hábitos, a las costumbres e incluso a los horarios del lector moderno de poesía, a su vida normal y corriente’ (499). The influence of La otra sentimentalidad spread from Granada to the rest of Spain, and soon enough the Andalusian group changed into the broader poetic trend of poesía de la experiencia (Cullell 2010: 32–37).11 There are obvious parallels between the objectives that this poetry wanted to achieve and those of the Spanish government of the time. In fact, the trend boasted close links with the governing socialist political party from its very origins.12 At the end of the 1980s, ‘things could not have been better for the government. The worst of the economic crisis was over and a period of great activity and expansion, characterised by an annual rate of growth of 4 percent until 1991, was about to begin’ ( Juliá 1999: 115). This was accompanied by very important cultural manifestations in the early 1990s, such as the Olympic Games in Barcelona, the Universal Exposition in Seville, and Madrid as European Capital of Culture, which would demonstrate to the world that Spain was a modern European country with a fully consolidated democracy and finally free from the ghosts of its past (117). Spain, with the socialists at the helm, was a young democratic country in search of new and modern democratic citizens, something that the experiential trend perfectly mirrored. Virgilio Tortosa, in his article ‘De poe-lítica: el canon literario de los noventa’ (2000), maintained that most of the poets associated with the experiential trend were linked to the socialist political party, and part of their official cultural discourse was connected to the government through literary prizes, economic subventions and cultural institutions, amongst others (Tortosa 2000: 65, 70). This relationship obviously benefited the poets enormously and secured their control, as well as a certain homogenisation, of the literary field.13 García Martín described poesía de la experiencia as a trend whose authors 11 For a detailed account of La otra sentimentalidad, its origins and its aims see Díaz de Castro (2003) and Rodríguez (1999). 12 See Lanz (1996) and Juliá (1999) for a full account of the historical, political and social context of poesía de la experiencia and poesía de la diferencia. 13 Some critics and academics have emphasised the role and influence of certain political, economic and even cultural institutions in the Spanish poetic market of the 1980s and 1990s – some of these studies have paid particular attention to economic subventions, literary prizes, publishing houses, critical attention and the media surrounding the poetry of the period. See Cullell (2010: 65–75), Garrido Moraga (2000: 17), Medina (1998: 606–607), Nicolás (1996), Reig (1998), and Suñén (1994) for further details.

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gustan del coloquialismo, del intimismo, de la narratividad, de los poemas que se pueden, más que cantar, contar. […] Sus poemas no son nunca arcanas construcciones verbales, no pretenden derrumbar al lector con el brillo de una metáfora, sustituir el sentido por una vaga música, por una más o menos armónica sucesión de ruidos que cada cual interpreta a su manera. Sus poemas intentan ser, antes que nada, […] inteligibles: saben siempre lo que quieren decir y lo dicen de la manera más exacta y precisa posible. Se trata de poetas que tienen en cuenta a los lectores. (1992a: 213–214)

Poesía de la experiencia was understood as a rather narrative poetic text, one that privileged a conversational tone in its lines, and that revolved around a civic understanding of the poetic discourse. Regarding its themes, this trend predominantly emphasised those connected with the normal day-to-day life of ordinary individuals – work, routine, family and love, to name but a few – although some critics, such as Luis Antonio de Villena, have highlighted the somewhat excessive attention given to nightlife in bars, liquor and drunken exploits (Villena 1997: 22–25).14 It is important to note that the new poesía de la experiencia quickly developed a strong theoretical framework, mainly carried out by one of its most well-known poets, Luis García Montero. However, this new framework did not take into account Langbaum’s original ideas on poetry of experience, nor Jaime Gil de Biedma’s interpretations of it. Rather, the theoretical framework was devised around the new poesía de la experiencia’s aims and aesthetics, which ‘contradict[ed] some of the basic tenets of the “poetry of experience” with which his generation has been associated’ (Mayhew 1999: 357). Some of the characteristics traditionally associated with the trend were now broadened, altered or radicalised. As an example, the persistent use of an individual’s daily life and their most immediate experiences in the poems stood in stark contrast to the principles Gil de Biedma established around poesía de la experiencia in the late 1950s. According to Gil de Biedma’s understanding, a crucial aspect of this poetry was that the material used in the verses should not be the direct experiences of an individual, but the evocations of these experiences. The synthesis and magnification of postulates made poesía de la experiencia a catch-all term and trend, whose blurred and wide-ranging characteristics allowed many diverse poets to become associated with it. Some critics even went as far as defining the new poesía de la experiencia as ‘un cajón de sastre en el que se viene amontonando durante las dos últimas décadas 14 See Rodríguez Cañada (1999: 18–19) and Bagué Quílez (2006: 51–72) for further definitions of poesía de la experiencia.

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toda poesía que presente ecos biográficos, intimistas, cotidianos, etc.’ (Riechmann 1994: 31). Consequently, the names of the poets associated with this trend are far too many to list here,15 but some of the most recurrent names are Luis García Montero, Carlos Marzal, Felipe Benítez Reyes, Álvaro Salvador, Jon Juarist, and Andrés Trapiello. In any case, it can be stated without doubt that towards the mid-1990s poesía de la experiencia was the dominant trend in Spain, as seen in many critical works and anthologies of the time (Cano Ballesta 2001; García-Posada 1996; García Martín 1988, 1998, 1999; Martínez 1997; Villena 1986, 1992b). In the works of Luis García Montero, Felipe Benítez Reyes, and Carlos Marzal selected in this anthology, readers will find poems that present, in a narrative style, anecdotes or daily occurrences in the poetic voices’ lives. Such traits emphasise a sense of normality and ordinary experience – a journey to work, a Sunday morning in bed – and approach universal themes such as youth, love and friendship, which makes connecting with the reader a relatively unproblematic and comfortable achievement. The growing number of authors associated with poesía de la experiencia, the links between the trend and the political party in power at the time, as well as the monopolisation of the poetic market and the literary field in general, gave rise to significant conflicts with other minority, or less powerful, poetic groups of the period. One of the major confrontations that surfaced in the 1990s was that between the dominant trend and what became known as poesía de la diferencia. The so-called poesía de la diferencia was an assembly of poets that came together to claim their right to write poetry following a different aesthetic to the dominant one. These poets, however, never conformed to a particular aesthetics or manifesto, nor did they ever unite as a unanimous group. Rather, these authors organised various poetic events in Madrid, Córdoba, and Seville in 1993 and 1994 with the intention of promoting an alternative form of poetic expression, one that did not adhere to the principles of poesía de la experiencia (Bagué Quílez 2006: 87; Garrido Moraga 2000: 20–21) and did not create what they considered to be a clone-style poetry. Their most defining trait was that of continuously striving to be distinctive via a strong ‘voluntad de estilo’ (Ortega 1994: 9), unquestionably different from the dominant poetry of the time. Thus, this cluster of poets included heterogeneous writers, from those who privileged classicism to 15 For an illustration of the exorbitant number of authors associated with the trend see the list compiled by Cullell (2010: 60–62). Also, the 49 authors included in El sindicato del crimen: antología de la poesía dominante (Rabanera 1994) is a fine representation of it.

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those who favoured avant-garde, epic, mystic, culturalist, minimalist or Neo-baroque poetry, amongst others, and included names such as María Antonia Ortega, Antonio Rodríguez Jiménez, and Pedro Rodríguez Pacheco. As an example, the poem by María Antonia Ortega selected for this anthology is built around what appears to be unsystematic reflections and arbitrary thoughts that cross the poetic voice’s mind, offering an insight into their ideas on themes such as death and loneliness. Such mental processes emphasise a subjective and unique universe, and give a sort of intellectual experience to the reader, not focused on an anecdote of daily life, but rather the presence of a thought or an idea. A metaphysical trend, equally difficult to conceptualise due to the different variations it presented (Bagué Quílez 2006: 72–73), also gained strength during the 1990s. Under the all-encompassing label of poesía metafísica readers could find epic poetry, Neo-surrealism, hermetic trends or poesía del silencio, all of them greatly different in terms of aesthetics. Authors such as Jorge Riechmann, Álvaro Valverde, Andrés Sánchez Robayna, Juan Carlos Mestre or Juan Carlos Suñén have all been associated with it. This metaphysical poetry, even though it did not confront or antagonise poesía de la experiencia as much as poesía de la diferencia, aimed to question poetry of experience as a successful communicative literature whilst advocating language as the sole point of reality (Bagué Quílez 2006: 74; Cano Ballesta 2007: 156). The attempts by the poetas metafísicos and poetas de la diferencia to gain visibility, and dislodge the poets of experience from their seat of honour in the Spanish literary field and literary market, were not very well received by the dominant trend, and soon enough confrontations erupted in articles published in literary journals and magazines (Benítez Reyes 1995; Peña 1996; Rodríguez Jiménez 1996), even reaching national newspapers (Prada 1996). The main allegations and counter-accusations in such altercations revolved around the alleged siding by the dominant trend with political and economic powers that had allowed them to become even more successful, increasing their strength, influence and presence in the Spanish poetic field. This, the other trends argued, did not allow other aesthetics to flourish. The arguments even prompted the publication of an anthology, El sindicato del crimen: antología de la poesía dominante (Rabanera 1994), behind whose pseudonym was the experiential poet Felipe Benítez Reyes. The anthology, which brought together 49 poets pertaining to la experiencia, included an extremely ironic and self-deprecatory prologue, which made fun of all the accusations of dominance, abuse of power and ­compliance with ­political 20

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parties that had been thrown at poesía de la experiencia. These squabbles and exchanges between the poetic factions did nothing but increase the popularity of poesía de experiencia and encourage even more authors to join their ranks in order to achieve what was perceived as guaranteed success. In contrast, the poets who proclaimed themselves to be opposed to this were cast into oblivion. Such occurrences arguably made this period of Spanish contemporary poetic history one of the thorniest, but they also transformed the poetic field into an attention-grabbing stage that, to a certain extent, helped to boost the dissemination and reach of poetry in society. Also, the prevailing commonsensical poetry that aimed to illustrate the normality of modern and democratic life in the 1990s would create a canon that future generations, despite moving away from literary controversies, would still partly follow. The turn of a new millennium (late 1990s–2005) The turn of the new millennium was a key event for Spanish poetry, and Spanish society in general. The entry to a new century and a new millennium with all its social, historical and even moral implications had an obvious effect on the way in which poetry was written, how it was approached by poets and readers alike, and the themes it dealt with. On the social and historical front, the Partido Popular, which had been in power since 1996, enjoyed an absolute majority in the 2000 elections. During the final years of the twentieth century and the first years of the new millennium, Spain experienced an economic growth that, with the launch of the euro, seemed to signal a new era for Spain within Europe, much of it fuelled by the property boom, which would ironically be one of the greatest contributors to the financial crisis of Spain in the years to follow (Pacheco Pardo 2011: 173–180). Social reforms during those years, however, were much more sparse and modest, and towards the end of the Partido Popular’s legislation there was significant public dissatisfaction: the lack of a governmental response to the Prestige oil spill in Galicia in 2002 and the support offered to George W. Bush during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 created major discontent. The terrorist attacks of 2004 in Madrid, known in Spain as 11–M, were a decisive factor in the following elections, won with an absolute majority by the Partido Socialista Obrero Español. In the poetic field, the younger authors facing the new millennium seemed to completely abandon the old skirmishes and confrontations 21

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so prevalent in the 1990s, despite still following a mainly commonsensical poetic expression. The young poets of the twenty-first century were not interested in the earlier altercations between poetic factions and tendencies (Bagué Quílez 2008: 69; Cano Ballesta 2007: 7). Distancing themselves from such debates, they strived to achieve something new, without adhering to established precepts or previous groups: La joven poesía española no parte de la ruptura con ninguna generación anterior, ni mata al padre ni reivindica, generacionalmente, autores o tendencias pasadas. Nace desde la propia evolución, se reinventa desde su mismo núcleo para elaborarse desde la reivindicación, posiblemente inconsciente, de la independencia creativa. (Elguero 2004: 13)

The rejection and dismissal of factions and poetic groups that had polarised the poetry of the previous decade and a half allowed a much richer map of poetic aesthetics to emerge, together with very significant independent creativity. Also, the new millennium and advances in technology offered poets new, exciting avenues, something that would be developed in more depth by the new generations of writers in subsequent years. Therefore, in the poetry of the beginning of the second millennium the reader can observe noteworthy individual traits that do not snub a certain ‘mestizaje de poéticas’ (Sánchez-Mesa Martínez 2007b: 19) and a revision of what had been written in the past. All these traits made for a much more enjoyable plurality in Spanish poetry, to which older generations still contributed: most of the novísimos, for example, and most of the poets who wrote in the 1980s and 1990s, still enjoyed poetic careers and would publish their work alongside younger poets. At the turn of the century, and in relation to the quest for individuality, the poets seemed to be largely concerned about their poetic voice, making use of ‘un yo minorizado, aterido y reconcentrado en su juego poliédrico de espejos íntimos e interrogantes’ (Morales Barba 2009: 103–104), which can even appear as fragmented. It seemed as if the poets were also looking for an identity in their verses that could rationalise the new and fast-moving modern world in which they lived. In this sense, there was an implicit trust in poetry, in its potential to elucidate life and provide or reveal meaning. In spite of the aforementioned plurality of voices, a strong realism, a reminder of the dominant poesía de la experiencia, was still very much present. Nonetheless, the reader can also trace other common and more particular elements in the poetry of this period. One of them is the characteristic desolate pathos of this poetry, which started in the last years of the twentieth century and which some critics referred to as a nihilistic 22

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attitude (Sánchez-Mesa Martínez 2007a: 46), whilst others went as far as to call it poéticas de la desolación (Morales Barba 2009: 50). In any case, the poets seemed to be lost in a world that they were unable to fully understand or make sense of (Bagué Quílez 2007: 185–192). Some drew on a ‘[s]oledad moderna, intelectual, sospechosa y desencantada’ (Morales Barba 2008: 308), so that extreme anxiety filled their verses. This postmodern bewilderment in the poetic works of this period was linked to a move towards a more defined symbolism (Bagué Quílez 2008: 60; Morales Barba 2009: 82–83), which in certain ways increased the difficulty of this poetry and required a more active effort from the reader. The increased symbolism and a certain predisposition to fragmentation and ellipsis in the verses might have responded to a desire to gain control over reality, grasp the meaning of the world and achieve ‘un equilibrio entre lo sensitivo y lo comunicativo’ (Bagué Quílez 2008: 61) that reflected this. The main merit of such traits, of course, was the balance between realism and symbolism that many of the poets at the turn of the century achieved, creating an attractive poetry that was readable but at the same time quite challenging, interesting material that readers could really enjoy and interpret at different levels. Some of these poets also favoured a purist poetry, purified of unnecessary elements and in this sense more essentialist (Morales Barba 2009: 284). This revealed a confluence of the various poetic factions that had opposed each other in previous years, coming together now in the work of younger voices. Another recurrent characteristic that emerged at the turn of the century was the social and civic engagement present in the verses, and the need to become critically involved with modern society and its problems. Some of the poets propusieron la creación de una conciencia crítica frente a la alienación y el sufrimiento en el capitalismo tardío, arrellanando en lo que, para algunos teóricos de la postmodernidad, constituía una suerte de finis historiae. (Prieto de Paula 2010: 45)

It is interesting to note that at this point it was not just the youngest generation of poets who were aligning themselves with this social engagement, but that older generations, who were still very active poetically, were also demonstrating a certain commitment. An example was Luis García Montero and his work La intimidad de la serpiente (2003). This commitment, linked with the nihilism and postmodern bewilderment present in the poetry of the period, pushed the boundaries between private and public spaces, and brought together collective and private histories. The 23

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socially engaged poetry of the new millennium ranged from harsh and radical critiques that could take clear political stands, bringing with them radicalised forms of poetry such as dirty realism, to more confessional tones, simple disclosures of beliefs or mere contemplations. In most cases, social injustice and the prevalent lack of reaction to them in the current capitalist society were what prompted this engagement. Even though at the time Spain was enjoying economic growth and development, the selfish nature of civilisation and the social inequality of the time were encapsulated in feeble, deteriorating ideologies and a lack of principles by society and governments alike. Immigration, poverty, child abuse, prostitution, homophobia, social indifference and even environmental activism were recurrent themes in this poetry. The visual arts and the prevalence of visual culture in the new millennium, in television, cinema or the plastic arts, also had a significant effect on the poetry being written. Visual poetry had been noteworthy in Spain as an aesthetics since the 1960s (for examples of visual poetry see VV.AA. 2007), but the visual element in the new millennium was not restricted to its form. Visual culture seemed to transpire into poetry, and readers can very easily observe its effects in poems and verses that exude an exceptional sensitivity to images and a tendency towards all things visual. References to cinema, the world of advertising, comics, the internet and new media, not just in the topics explored, but also in the formal structures of the poems and the ways in which they are presented, were abundant. The new avenues that visual culture opened up for poetry were certainly noteworthy, although this is something that would be fully explored later on by even younger poets and the most recent poetry written in Spain. Purism and metapoetry were also interesting aspects that the poets of the new millennium explored. The latter is particularly important in the metaphysical and desolate poetry of Lorenzo Oliván, where the desire to explore and understand this literary genre combines with the search for a true poetic voice that often appears fragmented. The same fragmented voice, and the need to fully come to terms with it, can also be seen in the poetry of Ángel Paniagua, which is characterised by significant intertextuality. A nihilistic attitude is most evident in the works of Leopoldo Alas and Ada Salas. Salas’ poetry, which perfectly combines complex and straightforward compositions with a certain propensity to rapture, also favours essential and brief expressions of the genre. Alas and Ana Merino both share a social commitment, and their poetry deals with various aspects of society with harsh but also naïve or childlike, in Merino’s case, 24

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critiques. Especially relevant in Merino’s work is the tendency to employ visual aspects in the compositions, most of them emerging from references to comics. All in all, the poetry of the new millennium was able to successfully combine past trends, especially the realist, with new forms of expression and the demands of a new era. The turn of the new millennium was a highly productive time for Spanish poetry, one in which ‘[d]evelopments [were] particularly swift and multi-directional’, and not only due to ‘poetry’s continuing ability to act as the prism for change through language and as the catalyst for intense new ways of participating in culture’ (Perriam 1999: 198). The development of new poetic languages, the reworking of poetic traditions in contexts of radical novelty and an audience that was eager for poetry in its written, visual or even aural forms, which would fully develop in the following years, are some of the processes mentioned by Perriam as key for the great dynamism and productivity of Spanish contemporary poetry at the end of the twentieth century (198). It is important to note, nonetheless, that many critics in Spain were, and still are, very much focused on the work of older poets who were still very active and producing interesting and very high-quality works at this point, and this allowed little space in critical and academic publications for younger authors.16 Even though this new age brought about numerous changes and challenges for poetry – the influence of new technologies, in particular the internet, cannot be ignored – the genre seemed to be able to confront them fully. The turn of the century brought about the publication of an unprecedentedly high volume of poetry books (Perriam 1999: 198), and of many anthologies that aimed to present the work of poets willing to meet a new era head-on and forge a strong poetic field for Spain (Aguilar 2005; Elguero 2004; García 2006; Moga 2004; Morales Barba 2006; Rico 2000; Rodríguez Cañada 1999; Sánchez-Mesa Martínez 2007a; Villena 2003). Most of the anthologies published at the end of the twentieth century were presented as collections of poems that wanted to bring about change, and the recurrent use of words alluding to change, new centuries and millennia, youth and originality in all of the titles of these anthologies alluded precisely to that. Many authors capitalised on the new millennium and what it could 16 José Luis García Martín and his Poetas del siglo XXI: Crítica de urgencia (2002), or Francisco Díaz de Castro and his Vidas pensadas (Poetas en el fin de siglo) (2002), are perfect examples of this. Most of the poets included in the aforementioned works are authors who started writing in the 1980s rather than new voices emerging in the new millennium.

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bring to poetry and society alike, be that positive or negative change. The anthologies and numerous poetry books offered a wide portfolio of authors but some of the most interesting names are Leopoldo Alas, Álvaro García, Antonio Méndez Rubio, Ana Merino, Luis Muñoz, Andrés Neuman, Lorenzo Oliván, Ángel Paniagua, Lorenzo Plana, and Ada Salas. Díez de Revenga stated that contemporary literature in Spain at the end of the twentieth century was being supported, promoted and marketed in inventive ways (1999: 455). In this sense, the surge of the internet and new media was a boost for the poetry of this period. The online world, which to begin with was seen as a menace for the physical book, started to be conquered by numerous blogs and websites dedicated to poetry. The effect of the internet on poetry was clearly visible even on the themes approached in the poems, as was the case of Vicente Luis Mora’s Mester de Cibervía (2000). Poetry e-books and digital poetry journals and magazines made an appearance,17 which opened up new, fascinating avenues for the genre. This meant that in a fast-changing era poetry became more easily available to readers, on the page and online, something that the following generation would make the most of and capitalise on. Young voices and new expressions (2005–2013) The poetry that is currently being written in Spain by young authors continues to be based upon the various aspects discussed in the previous section, particularly the realist and commonsensical aesthetic, social engagement and the use of new technologies. The difference, however, is that these young authors take any recently found directions even further. It is in the poetry of these very young voices that the reader of Spanish contemporary poetry can appreciate the new approaches that are currently in vogue. An essential characteristic of this poetry is its liveliness and the ways in which it reaches the reader. Díez de Revenga stated at the turn of the millennium: La difusión de la literatura en la España contemporánea ha contado con los más diversos espacios ‘públicos’ que, con la finalidad primera de difundir la creación literaria, han ido más allá de la revista, el periódico o, incluso, del 17 Electronic books have seen rapid development in the last few years, and major companies such as Amazon have recently reported higher sales of e-books compared to print books. However, digital books have been available for some time now. The same applies to online magazines dedicated to poetry, an example of which are El coloquio de los perros (http://www.elcoloquiodelosperros.net/) and Poesía Digital (http://www. poesiadigital.es), founded in 2000 and in 2005, respectively.

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medio de difusión primario de la literatura que es el libro. (Díez de Revenga 1999: 455)

Since then, the dissemination of poetry has spread even more significantly. Within this context, the youngest poets are very active, leading tertulias, poetic readings and poetry performances, with the result that the genre is now more open and available to the general public than ever before. It has a very strong presence in cafés, bars and even clubs, something uncommon in Spanish contemporary poetry, together with the ever-present backing of the internet. A plurality of voices and individual aesthetics that refuse to conform to specific groups are still one of the prevalent traits in the latest poetry, and so is a desolate pathos. Such despondency, however, is at the moment linked with strong social activism and a critique of the worst economic crisis experienced since the Great Depression. The most recent poetry also continues with the blending of symbolism and realism that prevailed at the start of the millennium to make sense of the world, although at the moment it leans more towards realism. The poets also tend to use, or almost overuse, free verse, which according to Morales Barba, ‘hace sospechar de carencias o desconocimientos’ (2009: 105). Visual arts and visual culture have an even more prominent role in this poetry, permeating it to the extent of pushing boundaries between genres. As in previous years, all things visual find their way into poetry, but it is the use of new technologies that has really maximised the potential of visual elements for poetry. Closely linked to new technologies, there is also a trend in the most recent contemporary poetry of Spain that some critics have called ‘culturalismo caliente’ (Sánchez-Mesa Martínez 2007a: 53), which refers to the tendency to draw from the cinema, the world of advertising, new technologies and especially science (maths, astronomy, physics or even nanotechnology) to construct the poems. The blend of poetry and science is not a new occurrence, but the newest technologies have offered young poets the opportunity to develop their work with regard to content and form, and they have done so in a rather intimate way, treating science as a natural and companionable presence.18 The social and civic commitment of the previous years continues here, although it is now predominantly linked to economic issues. The 18 García Posada has collected an anthology of poetry devoted to science from early times to the present day: Explorando el mundo. Poesía de la ciencia (2006). Also, Jesús Malia edited an interesting anthology of poetry dedicated to maths: Poetas. Primera antología de poesía con matemáticas (2012).

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economic crisis that gripped the world in 2007 and 2008 brought Spain to its knees with the bursting of the real-estate bubble and appalling unemployment figures of almost 25 per cent.19 The unbearable situation in Spain, which led to a European Union bailout for banks in 2012, brought about immense social distress. One of the most important manifestations of this social distress was the urban movement known in Spain as the 15–M or the Indignados movement, especially significant in the cities of Madrid and Barcelona. This mobilisation, beginning on 15 May 2011, was an act of protest regarding unemployment, insecurity and political corruption (Metropolitano 2011; VV.AA. 2011a). The protests demanded radical change and were mainly led by young people, the so-called Indignados, or ‘indignants’. New media was key for the spread of this urban movement, which soon reached all areas of culture and society. In poetry, there were voices of protest against the economic instability within the Indignados movement and anthologies such as Esto no rima (Antología de poesía indignada) (Aparicio 2012) or Poetas del 15M (VV.AA. 2011b) were published shortly after the movement began. This poetry, however, has remained somewhat on the margins, maybe due to its non-consistent quality. Outside the indignados movement even older poets became engaged with the economic crisis, as is the case of Almudena Guzmán’s work Zonas comunes (2011), a book that deals with ‘Expedientes de Regulación de Empleo’, or redundancies at work. One of the most noteworthy manifestations of poetry at present are live poetry recitals and performances. Poetry recitals have always enjoyed popularity in Spain,20 and Perriam already asserted at the end of the twentieth century that there seemed to be ‘an audience avid if not for poetry to read in print then certainly for poetry read out in performance and recital’ (1999: 198). Unfortunately, not much research has been carried out into the new recitals and poetic performances of the twenty-first century. This is a new area of investigation for future scholars. According to Perriam, ‘Spain is specially rich in the fleeting or uncaptured sociocultural moment’ (2010: 291), and the manifestation of poetry in recitals and performances is a perfect example. In spite of video and audio recordings, the non-permanent nature of these activities becomes its most challenging feature for critics, since 19 See Pacheco Pardo (2011) for a detailed account of the Spanish economic crisis of the late 2000s. 20 See Amorós and Díez Borque (1999: 405–483) for a detailed account of poetry recitals and performances in Spain from medieval times to the end of the twentieth century.

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es imposible, salvo por algunas descripciones, conservar el aire de una fiesta  […], la concurrencia y el boato, el estilo de un determinado conferenciante o la emotividad de un poeta recitando sus propios versos. Todo ello desaparece, como buen arte de la voz y de la palabra, en el mismo momento en que se produce y sólo queda memoria de él a través del recuerdo de los que asistieron o escucharon, y la crónica de aquellos que lo contaron. (Díez de Revenga 1999: 455)

Additionally, the cultural hybridity of this poetry constitutes a challenge for academic studies, since current poetry recitals and performances can include, amongst others, ‘stagecraft, film, visual arts, the audio recording, digital technology, print technology, monuments, built environments, and musical instruments’ (Casas and Gräbner 2011: 14), which merge art forms and push genre boundaries. Poetry readings and poetry performances have become extremely popular in recent years, both in traditional and non-traditional venues (Gräbner 2008: 3). Regarding the genealogy of poetry performance, no general consensus has been reached yet: whilst some scholars consider it ‘a continuation of oral traditions’, others see it as ‘a radical alternative to poetry as endorsed by academic theory’ (Casas and Gräbner 2011: 12), depending on the sort of performance analysed. New technologies allow poets to engage with this complex art in very innovative ways, making the most of what the latest advances in technology can offer. Thus, some current performances draw on so-called ‘multimedia’ art, where the poetic word, music and image come together in a seamless and powerful form of expression, each single element complementing the entire performance and engaging the audience’s sensitivity in full. One example of multimedia poetry would be Óscar Martín Centeno’s performances. Martín Centeno, from Madrid, is probably the best-known multimedia poet on the Spanish poetic circuit at the moment. His poetry performances, which include voice, music and video images designed by the poet himself, have taken place in such varied spaces as theatres, university halls and lecture rooms, cafés or even nightclubs. In Martín Centeno’s sophisticated recitals, widely available on the internet, each of the elements that make up the performance is necessary and tailor-made for the specific text, giving it a new overall meaning. Thus, the performances become complex art forms and explore the boundaries of art, genre and reception, as each member of the audience engages quite differently with them: Las vídeoproyecciones con música sincronizada han demostrado ser una magnífica forma de acercar a la gente a la literatura, permitiéndonos además

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presentar una obra unitaria donde lo visual y lo sonoro acompañan a los poemas, enriqueciéndolos con sugerencias artísticas para crear una obra que trata de impregnar todos los sentidos. [L]as diversas expresiones artísticas no son un adorno, sino una forma de aumentar los elementos significantes de los versos, para conseguir que de esa forma llegue mejor a los espectadores. La idea no es sólo presentar juntas diferentes expresiones artísticas, sino realizar una mezcla efectiva donde cada elemento refuerce y amplifique a los demás. (in www.grupoartistico8.com/Grupo_Art%C3%ADstico_8/%C3%93scar_Mart%C3%ADn_Centeno.html)

These performances draw heavily on visual aspects, but of course there are others in which the visual element is not the most relevant, such as poetry slams and poetry jam sessions – other very popular and acclaimed forms of oral and live poetry in Spain at the moment. Poetry slams emerged in the 1980s in the USA. They are poetic competitions in which poets read out their work and are judged by the audience (Somers-Willett 2009: 16–38). Poetry jam sessions are more informal unranked oral performances. Both have become very fashionable in Spain in the last few years, particularly in big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. The events attract large numbers of poets and audience members who actively engage and participate until the early hours of the morning. Venues such as the Club Bukowski, Libertad 8 and Los Diablos Azules in Madrid are particularly well known, and they hold regular weekly slams and jam sessions that are very well attended, some of the sessions even being broadcast live on the internet. Interestingly, poetry slams and jam poetry sessions can bring together highly established and completely unknown, unpublished poets. Whilst these events unfortunately do not guarantee high-quality poetry or literary prestige, it is their function as a cultural meeting-place that keeps poetry alive and encourages the exchange of ideas and approaches to the genre that makes them significant. Such poetry slams and poetry jam sessions signify important cultural activity, however random or outside ‘the traditional “circuit of culture”’ (Perriam 2010: 293) they might seem, and they need to be taken into account by critics of contemporary poetry. All poetry performances, be they multimedia or strictly oral, feature a wide range of voices and styles, making them very varied and almost unpredictable, although the latter is also one of their most appealing traits. The relationship that these performances encourage between the poet and the audience, which in some instances acts as a judge who can actively guide, influence and conduct the event, is also worthy of consideration, as are the power dynamics established between them 30

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(Gräbner 2008: 1). Additionally, performance poetry can sometimes be positioned ‘at the intersection of social, political and literary spheres’ (4) and the spaces in which the performances take place are also important, as they can have significant social and literary implications (3). Regarding spaces for Spanish contemporary poetry, it is worth noting that at present traditional venues are used as much as the non-traditional ones. Thus, in parallel to the locations already mentioned such as Libertad 8 or the Club Bukowski in the Spanish capital, the Ateneo de Madrid and the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid also offer interesting programmes which include poetry recitals, tertulias and poetic performances. Some publishing houses have realised the value and potential of poetry performances, and they have started to publish works associated with them. An example of this is Agua: Símbolo y memoria (Silva 2006), an anthology that emerged from various performances carried out in Libertad 8, and which brings together well-known poets and new authors. The publication also blends the written word with photographic art, drawings and a CD of recorded texts with music, a feature that perfectly exemplifies the most recent poetry written in Spain. Closely linked to some of the aspects mentioned above are the constant presence of the internet nowadays and the emergence of digital poetry. The recent and fast-paced development of this poetry does not allow a clear and comprehensive definition. This is mainly due to its many various forms – it might be supported by videos, images, sound, only text or animations, for example – and its short history (Regueiro Salgado 2011: 98, 111). However, such predicaments do not detract from its significance. At present, el contingente digital está viniendo a completar la magnífica labor desarro­ llada durante años desde no pocas revistas de poesía y literatura […], a las que ahora suceden estos nuevos espacios digitales de edición y crítica de poesía que son las revistas digitales o los blogs. (Sánchez-Mesa Martínez 2007a: 16–17)

Indeed, social media and the internet in general are proving vital for new poetry practices, and as some critics have stated: ‘aparecen numerosas propuestas que erigen internet en santuario de un mundo globalizado’ (Bagué Quílez 2008: 51). The number of blogs dedicated to poetry, for example, has swiftly grown in recent years (García Rodríguez 2008), and this is crucial for both the wide accessibility of the genre and its promotion and development. At present, most poets seem to have a website that they use to publicise and market their poetry, such as the vast majority 31

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of the poets included in this subsection of the anthology do, but also to keep in touch with their readers and to promote other poetic activities. The internet has become a space from which interesting dialogues and a traffic of ideas have emerged, bringing about some surprising innovations (Cano Ballesta 2007: 7).21 The reader, however, needs to be cautious about open and uncensored online spaces, as their quality is most unpredictable. These spaces, quite problematically, ‘expresan el deseo de abrir una caja de Pandora de cuyas celdillas pixeladas podría emerger un universo tan tentador como inabarcable’ (Bagué Quílez 2008: 51–52). Furthermore, the internet allows poets to stretch the boundaries of literature and the written word, fusing traditional forms of poetry, such as the book, with the digital world. Óscar Martín Centeno’s book Las cántigas & Je suis le Diable (2012) does precisely this: the reader who buys the book is given a username and a password that can be used online to access unpublished written, visual and audio material, as well as new poems and texts that complement the book and even provide it with a new entity. Many new poets have achieved popularity in recent times, but some of the most interesting are Óscar Aguado, Virginia Cantó, Fruela Fernández, Carmen Jodra, Óscar Martín Centeno, Elena Medel, Carlos Pardo, Vanesa Pérez-Sauquillo and Álvaro Tato. In the poetry of this period – which once again critics seem to bypass to some extent, preferring to focus on older and more established poets – the reader will find that the prevalent aesthetics is the realist. An intimate tone seems to be the general norm in the youngest poets’ works, and this is a tone that can some times lean towards a strong romantic eroticism (such as in Martín Centeno’s poetry). Attention to daily life and experience, a reminder of the influence of poesía de la experiencia in contemporary poetry, is also clearly visible, particularly in the poems by Virginia Cantó and to some extent in those by Vanesa Pérez-Sauquillo. Such characteristics imply realism and a verisimilar language, but the poetry of the period also demonstrates an interest in language experimentation and the amusement it can provide, as seen in the poems by Pérez-Sauquillo and Carlos Pardo. An interest in the authen21 See Armitage and Roberts (2003) for an account of how cyberspace and cybertechnology have impacted on Western culture, especially with regard to society, culture and politics. In recent years there have been some interesting publications on cyberliterature and cyberculture in Spain, both by Spanish academics and in translation. See Romero López and Sanz Cabrerizo (2008), Sánchez-Mesa Martínez (2004), and Tortosa (2008) for examples.

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tic identity of the poetic voice, an exploration of it, and the desire to push poetry’s symbolic and linguistic boundaries and potential continues, as the compositions by Pardo and Óscar Aguado illustrate. Metapoetry is a recurrent theme in this poetry, which also conveys a desire to create bonds and connections through the genre. What needs to be highlighted is the emphasis that the young poets today place on the role and the impact that poetry can have in the new era. Spanish contemporary poetry has become, against all odds, a successful art in the new millennium, one that has proved adaptable and malleable, and that is determined to be accessible to a vast readership. The future remains open for Spanish poetry, and it looks very promising.

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­­­—  (Ed.) 2003. La lógica de Orfeo (Antología): (un camino de renovación y encuentro en la última poesía española), Madrid: Visor. Vincent, M. 2007. Spain, 1833–2002: People and State, Oxford: Oxford University Press. VV.AA. (Ed.) 2007. Poesía visual española (Antología incompleta), Madrid: Calambur. ––. (Ed.) 2011a. Las voces del 15–M, Barcelona: Del Lince. ­­­—  (Ed.) 2011b. Poetas del 15M, Madrid: Editorial Séneca. Wilcox, J. 1990. ‘Visión y revisión en algunas poetas contemporáneas: Amparo Amorós, Blanca Andreu y Almudena Guzmán’ in Biruté Ciplijauskaité, Novísimos, postnovísimos, clásicos. La poesía de los 80 en España, Madrid: Orígenes, 95–115. ­­­—  1997. Women Poets of Spain, 1860–1990: Towards a Gynocentric Vision, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Yagüe López, P. 1997. La poesía en los setenta: los novísimos, referencia de una época, La Coruña: Universidad da Coruña. Yanke, G. (Ed.) 1996. Los poetas tranquilos: antología de la poesía realista del fin de siglo, Granada: Diputación Provincial de Granada.

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Text and commentaries

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Part I

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The novísimos and the cultural transition

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LUIS ANTONIO DE VILLENA El ciruelo blanco y el ciruelo rojo

Museo Atami Fue afortunado, en verdad, Ogata Korin. Gozó del esplendor de la juventud en los barrios de licencia, frecuentó el paladar sagrado del deseo. Ordenó sus kimonos en la seda más fina; pintó un fondo de oro para lirios azules. Refinado y altivo, no olvidó sin embargo (artista como era) la melancolía fugaz del tiempo que transcurre. En su madurez, con audaz virtuosismo, se dedicó sobre todo a la búsqueda estilística. Creó lacas y biombos. Le hizo célebre la perfección, el refinamiento de su arte -lirios, ciruelos, dioses- decorativo. Debió morir fascinado en la belleza, rodeado por una seda extraña, tranquilo. Fue afortunado, en verdad, Ogata Korin; su vida fue un culto a la efímera sensación de la belleza. Al placer y al arte. Y la vida le concedió sentir, ser traspasado por el dardo febril de la hiperestesia. Le llamaron excéntrico, dandy o esteta. Pero no pidió más. Sensación por sensación. Vivir, sentir, gozar. Sin más problemas. In Luis Antonio de Villena, Hymnica (Madrid: Hiperión, 1979)

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About the author Luis Antonio de Villena was born in Madrid in 1951. He is a prolific poet, novelist, translator and literary critic, and has been awarded numerous important literary prizes such as the ‘Premio Nacional de la Crítica’ (1981), the ‘Premio Internacional Ciudad de Melilla’ (1997) and the ‘Premio de Poesía Generación del 27’ (2004) for his poetry. He has also been awarded the ‘Premio Azorín’ (1995) for one of his novels. Some of his more notable poetry publications are: Sublime Solarium (1971); El viaje a Bizancio (1978); Hymnica (1979); Huir del invierno (1981); La muerte únicamente (1984); Como a lugar extraño (1990); Marginados (1993); Asuntos de delirio (1996); Celebración del libertino (1998); Las herejías privadas (2001); Desequilibrios (2004); Los gatos príncipes (2005); and Proyecto para excavar una villa romana en el páramo (2012). He has published numerous fictional and non-fictional works, as well as critical studies and several anthologies on Spanish contemporary poetry. Commentary ‘El ciruelo blanco y el ciruelo rojo’ perfectly embodies the aims of the novísimos: to modernise and renew poetry culturally and l­inguistically, and by employing a rich and exotic language to create extravagant com­­­ positions often built on literary or cultural references. Villena’s poem belongs to Hymnica, a collection that can be read as a hymn to beauty focused on various marginalised characters whose lives revolve around nocturnal escapades, passion and pleasure. In ‘El ciruelo blanco y el ciruelo rojo’ Villena introduces Ogata Korin, a renowned Japanese artist (1658– 1716) famous for his screen paintings, lacquerwork and textile designs. The epigraph (Museo Atami) leads the reader to the MOA Museum of Art in Atami, Japan, where one of the most important pieces by Korin, the pair of two-fold screens ‘Red and White Plum Blossoms’, is housed. The folding screen, used here as the title of the poem, is precisely what gives rise to the composition: focused on Ogata Korin’s life, it emphasises the hedonism and obsession for beauty that dominated it. Lines 1–8: The first line introduces the prominent Japanese painter and works as a highbrow cultural reference. The following three lines highlight the hedonism of his youth but also present pleasure and desire as something almost mythical and sacred (el paladar / sagrado del deseo). The references to foreign delicate objects and the refined adjectives in 50

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these lines (kimonos, la seda más fina or the fondo /de oro para lirios azules, and the epithets refinado and altivo) provide the poem with an exoticism, beauty and lavish feel that greatly contrast with the poetry that preceded the novísimos in Spanish literature. The poem traces Korin’s life, dealing at this point with his youth (line 2) and warning about its evanescence (line 8). The enjambments add a broken rhythm to the poem, encouraging a reading that highlights exotic objects and echoes the pleasure they proffer. Lines 9–13: These lines sketch Korin’s adulthood and emphasise the drive to create beauty (la búsqueda estilística) that always guided him. Again, numerous exotic and graceful objects infuse the lines (lacas, biombos, decorative art), and so do qualities such as perfection and refinement (line 12). Korin’s principles and values on art and beauty seem to equal those of the poetic voice, creating a parallel between the painter’s art and the poem. Thus, the magnificence created by Korin becomes part of the beauty of the poem, adding a strong visual component to the lines. Lines 14–18: Ogata Korin’s old age and death are still closely linked to the pursuit of beauty, something that the artist never abandoned. Line 16 is a repetition of the opening line of the poem, which not only creates a rhythm in the composition but also underlines the relevance of the following two lines, which are the key to Korin’s life and to the poem itself: the worship of, and devotion to, beauty, pleasure and art as the driving force for life. Lines 19–23: The final lines continue to develop the idea that beauty, pleasure and art are some of the most important elements of one’s existence, even if those worshipping them are to be misunderstood and marginalised by society. Korin, an artist extraordinarily gifted to ‘feel’ (la vida le concedió sentir), and suffering from hyperaesthesia (an unusual sensitivity to stimuli of the senses, which the poem itself hyperbolically intends to re-create in the reader), was considered an excéntrico, dandy o esteta. This can also be viewed as a stalwart defence of hedonism (Korin’s and the poetic voice’s), the philosophy of pleasure. The final hemistichs, with clearly marked caesuras, offer emphatic praise of Korin’s values and attitude to life. With this, the poem strives to present beauty for the sake of beauty, and uses the figure of Ogata Korin to offer a certain level of culturalism to the poem that might in fact exclude a significant proportion of readers due to its intellectual elitism. 51

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LUIS ALBERTO DE CUENCA Pasión, muerte y resurrección de Propercio de Asís

Lo que passò ya falta; lo futuro Aun no se vive; lo que està presente, No està, porque es su esencia el movimiento Gabriel Bocángel y Unzueta

Sombras, Propercio, sombras, gavilanes oscuros, imprecisos, niebla pura, cincha, brida y espuelas. No profanes el mástil del amor, la arboladura del deseo, la ofrenda de los manes, con la triste verdad de tu locura, cosmética, veneno, miel, divanes y el perfume letal de la lectura. Conocerás un puente de cuchillos, la brisa del instante, el terciopelo remoto como el torso de una diosa. Sudor frío de muerte, tenues brillos de Cynthia envuelta en luminoso velo, y, al fin, la presencia de la rosa. In Luis Alberto de Cuenca, Elsinore (Madrid: Azur, 1972) About the author Luis Alberto de Cuenca was born in Madrid in 1950. He is a prolific poet, researcher and translator; he was the director of the National Library of Spain from 1996 to 2000, and he was also the Spanish Secretary of State for Culture from 2000 to 2004. He has won numerous awards for his poetry, such as the ‘Premio Nacional de la Crítica’ (1986) and the ‘Premio Ciudad de Melilla’ (2005). Some of his more notable poetry publications 52

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are: Elsinore (1972); Scholia (1978); Necrofilia (1983); La caja de plata (1985); El otro sueño (1987); El héroe y sus máscaras (1991); El hacha y la rosa (1993); Por fuertes y fronteras (1996); Insomnios (2000); Sin miedo ni esperanza (2002); Ahora y siempre (2004); La vida en llamas (2006); and El reino blanco (2010). He has also translated several classical and European medieval texts. Commentary ‘Pasión, muerte y resurrección de Propercio de Asís’ by Luis Alberto de Cuenca can be read as a praise to poetry. As a perfect example of the refined and culturally elitist poetry with which the novísimos aimed to modernise Spanish literature, the author presents a sonnet – fourteen hendecasyllables divided into two quatrains and two tercets, considered in Spanish literary tradition the most cultural and distinguished poetic form– that draws on beauty and sensory experiences to embellish a composition on the poetic genre and built on a literary reference. The poem thus becomes an object of beauty and of culture, a sumptuous expression that employs cultural elements and references as objective correlatives, particularly those relating to the Latin poet Propertius and his works. Propercio de Asís (Propertius), some of whose poetry Luis Alberto de Cuenca has translated into Spanish, was a classical poet (c.50 bc–c.15 bc) acclaimed for his four books of Elegies, many of which focused on a female character called Cynthia. Intertextual references to Propertius are quite recurrent in contemporary poetry, and they have been employed by authors such as Ezra Pound, Luis Cernuda and Jaime Gil de Biedma. The title of the poem gives the reader an explanation of the dreamlike atmosphere in the composition, and offers a parallel with one of the elegies by Propertius in which Cynthia, restored to life, visits the poetic voice in a dream (Poem IV, Elegies Book IV). In Luis Alberto de Cuenca’s poem, Propertius seemingly is restored to life and finally encounters something that provides meaning to his existence: love and poetry. Additionally, the composition includes an epigraph: the first tercet of a sonnet by the Golden Age Spanish poet and dramatist Gabriel Bocángel y Unzueta about the passing of time. This exemplifies another cultural reference that might well exclude a mainstream audience, a novísimos trait. Lines 1–4: The first quatrain introduces Propertius, whom the poetic voice is addressing in a dreamlike atmosphere haunted by shadows. These 53

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shadows, seen as sparrowhawks (a bird linked to Osiris, Egyptian God of the afterlife and the dead), establish the theme of death in the poem and underline the driving and uncontrollable force of passion that is symbolised by the saddle strap, bridle and spurs. The poetic voice then asks Propertius not to sully love, a topic that crosses over to the second quatrain. Lines 5–8: Following the enjambment from the previous hendecasyllable, love (seen here as an offering from the Manes, the souls of the deceased loved ones) is considered to be at risk due to Propertius’ madness, and above all, the deadliness of literature. Such dangers are presented as exotic and mysterious (veneno, miel, divanes / y el perfume letal, lines 7 and 8), adding flair to the themes of passion and death mixed with the pleasures of literature that the two quatrains present and develop. Lines 9–11: The first tercet seems to concentrate on the idea and experience of death, something that can be violent (puente de cuchillos) but also ephemeral (la brisa del instante). These ideas are charged with unusual and captivating sensory feelings (terciopelo / remoto como el torso de una diosa), which add to the literary and aesthetic sumptuousness of the composition. Lines 12–14: The final tercet portrays the final resurrection and provides an emotional climax to the sonnet. The vivid sensory feelings continue in these lines with references to the senses of touch (sudor frío) and sight (tenues brillos) which precede the vision of Propertius’ Cynthia in the poem (line 13). This character appears as a supernatural vision (envuelta en un luminoso velo), but brings with it a crucial object: a rose (line 14). The rose, then, can be understood as a metaphor for poetry or love, supporting the idea that the theme of this composition is an encomium to literature itself.

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LEOPOLDO MARÍA PANERO Condesa Morfina

Y llegaron los húngaros bailando, y ya era tarde pero bajo la noche practicaron su arte y en la noche tú, hermana me diste la mano. (La gitana predijo y repredijo pero la noche seguía su curso y en la noche escuché tu abrazo correcto y silencioso, señora hermosísima dama que en la noche juegas un blanco juego. (Hermosísima dama serena y afligida violeta nocturna hermosísima dama que la noche protege, que en la noche vela noche cándida y helada (pura como el hielo pura como el hielo tú eres, hermosa dama, Madonna en el viento hermosa y dulce dama que me libras de pobreza     per amor soi gai alegría de la nada, hermosa dama hermosa y dulce dama en mi pensamiento Tell me 55

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I get the blue for you dime tus sombras lentamente despacio como si anduviéramos como si bajo la noche anduviéramos tú que andas sobre la nieve. Y aterido de frío, por el Puente de Londres -is going to fallpor el puente de Londres, manos en los bolsillos y el río debajo, triste y sordo no era un dulce río mis ojos apenas veían pero sabía que mi hermana me esperaba no era un dulce río sopesando el bien y el mal en una fulgurante balanza mi triste hermana me esperaba Monelle me cogió de la mano poderosa e impotente como un niño llamándose en la sombra, con voz escasa con voz escasa y tus harapos blancos, llamándome     en la sombra, hermosísima dama. Y con la mano frágil y descarnada tú apagabas, y con el roce, con el roce, en la sombra, de tus blancos harapos tú apagabas las lágrimas deshacías el dolor en pequeñas             láminas harapienta princesa, tú me diste la mano. (Y bajo la noche caminaba, buscándola a ella por suburbios de Londres, a la niña harapienta vista en todos los rostros de las prostitutas un frío invierno de 1850 harapienta princesa. De entre el sudor, la oscuridad, el miedo, el temblor sordo de la vida, 56

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su dura confusión, su almacenar sombrío surgió aquella niña, aquel rostro que busco aquel recuerdo triste y esta luz que rescata una tarde de 1850 aquella niña y en la habitación vacía (y ya era tarde) yo cojo el azul para ti aguja que excava la carne que ya no siente y ya era tarde pero bajo la noche practicaron su arte. In Leopoldo María Panero, Teoría (Barcelona: Lumen, 1973) About the author Leopoldo María Panero was born in Madrid in 1948. His family boasted strong links with literature – his father, uncle and two brothers were also acclaimed poets. He is a very prolific author, with an impressive list of poetry, fiction and translated works. His personal life has captured the attention of critics and public alike (in particular, the many poets in his family and his mental health), and has been immortalised in documentaries and films. Some of his most notable poetic publications are: Así se fundó Carnaby Street (1970); Teoría (1973); Narciso en el acorde último de las flautas (1979); Last River Together (1980); Dioscuros (1982); El último hombre (1984); Contra España y otros poemas de no amor (1990); Orfebre (1994); Teoría del miedo (2000); Buena nueva del desastre (2002); Esquizofrénicas o la balada de la lámpara azul (2004); Páginas de excremento o dolor sin dolor (2008); and Esphera (2009). Commentary ‘Condesa Morfina’ is a long poem with a complex and challenging structure, a very apt example of the poetry written during the cultural transition to democracy and the disenchantment that emerged during those years. The composition, combining a strong culturalism, mainly through intertextual references, with the world of drugs, re-creates a nocturnal atmosphere where cold and extreme misery prevail, with only the beauty 57

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of a woman (the dama) offering some respite to the poetic voice. This woman, a character which the reader can interpret as a metaphor for the morphine alluded to in the title, is presented in ambivalent terms and seems to be constructed using various literary references. The morphine injection that draws the poem to a close is dedicated to such a figure. The lack of punctuation marks and proper grammatical structures throughout the poem, paired with the many references to desolation, add a nightmarish atmosphere to a composition dominated by intertexual references to Thomas De Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821), Marcel Schwob’s Le Livre de Monelle (1894), T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922), and the troubadour Guiraut d’Espanha (thirteenth century). Lines 1–9: The poem begins in medias res, with the conjunction Y indicating this might well be part of a lengthier discourse. Line 1 refers to a group of Hungarians who arrive dancing in the night – although the reader does not know who they are, no details of these characters are supplied throughout the composition, even though the very last line of the poem seems to refer back to them. In this nocturnal atmosphere, the character whom the poetic voice is addressing – this hermana or hermosísima dama – appears and holds out its hand to the poetic voice (line 4). These lines are beset with obsessive repetitions – noche, for instance, is mentioned five times – that offer a certain cadence and rhythm to metrical lines constantly broken up by enjambments and erratic punctuation. For example, some of the parentheses are never closed and can be read as thoughts started by the poetic voice but never completely finished. The female character seems to offer some comfort through its embrace, which can be heard rather than felt, as expressed through the synaethesia in line 6, and is associated with the colour white (the colour of pure morphine), which will dominate the poem together with the blackness of the night. Lines 10–23: These lines focus exclusively on the female character, offering a lyrical and almost romantic description of it. These verses, whilst continuing with the erratic punctuation, are once again dominated by obsessive repetitions that transform the lines into a litany: night and nocturnal atmospheres are referred to five times; the beauty and pureness of the character is eulogised ten times. ‘[P]er amor soi gai’ is an intertextual reference to a pastorela (an Occitan lyric genre widely employed by troubadours) written by Guiraut d’Espanha in which the poetic voice falls in love with a shepherdess he sees picking violets, a flower linked to the female character in line 10 and to the colour blue in the lines that include English phrases. 58

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Lines 24–46: These lines contain copious intertextual references to T. S. Eliot and The Waste Land: from –is going to fall–, which refers to one of the final lines in Eliot’s poem and that is itself a fragment of a nursery rhyme, to lines 28 and 29 and the allusions to the Thames not being a sweet river. The time and spatial references in lines 43 to 45 also refer to Eliot and line 32 provides for the first time the name of the female character, Monelle. Monelle is a direct reference to Marcel Schwob’s Le Livre de Monelle, a work centred on the figure of a young prostitute who offers solace and childlike illusions whilst being surrounded by disillusion and bitterness. The comfort that the female character offers in Panero’s poem replicates many of the acts Schwob’s Monelle carries out, and they serve to highlight the kindness and compassion of the figure in spite of its poverty (vocabulary such as harapos and descaranda being allusions to it). The lines also refer to De Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, where the author (known for his opium addiction) refers to a young prostitute who looked after him for a period of time. The oxymorons in these lines (harapienta princesa or poderosa e impotente) also help to further develop the character and the powerful image of a poor girl holding out her hand, offering comfort. Lines 47–56: The final lines of the poem narrate the moment at which the poetic voice injects itself with a shot of morphine. These lines validate the poem as being in praise of the drug, which has been personified in a female character or prostitute who can offer comfort and soothe pain. The last two lines, despite the subject ellipsis, bring one’s attention back to the first line of the poem and add a sense of dislocation and confusion to the composition.

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ANÍBAL NUÑEZ (Sobre el placer recíproco)

He tirado en el cubo de la basura sangre de drago desecadas hojas de estramonio que en un sobre guardaba en espera de la ocasión propicia para probar sus mágicos poderes sus resultados alucinatorios: (el vegetal fluído que en gotas resinosas el árbol de los guanches llora dicen tenía sacros poderes terapéuticos mientras la solanácea según los diccionarios atropina contiene y escopolamina y se emplea contra el asma dado su poder antiespasmódico) Por otra parte la brigada de estupefacientes no creo que considerase delictivo mi alijo un tanto ingenuo… Así es que me preguntarías por qué no pruebo aunque no fuera más que para saciar la natural curiosidad qué efectos tendría mi mixtura ingerida o fumada… Pero he leído en Lucrecio pensando claro en ti que sólo sólo el placer recíproco es deleite Y me parece… –espera un poco…: Sí 60

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  como me temía: ya se han llevado la basura. In Aníbal Núñez, Obra poética II (Madrid: Hiperión, 1995) About the author Aníbal Nuñez was born in Salamanca in 1944, and died in 1987. Despite being a talented poet and painter, Núñez always found it difficult to publish and in spite of the obvious literary value of his work he never enjoyed wide critical recognition whilst he was alive. Some of his more notable poetic publications are: Fábulas domésticas (1972); Naturaleza no recuperable (1976); Taller del hechicero (1979); Cuarzo (1981); Trino en estanque (1982); Alzado de la ruina (1983); Estampas de ultramar (1986); Clave de los tres reinos (1986); Cristal de Lorena (1987); and posthumously, Cartapacios [1961–1973] (2007). Commentary The poem is one of the compositions included in Sintigo y con Lucrecio (1967–1971), an interesting collection presented as a classical rewriting project with numerous intertextual references to the Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus (99–55 bc) and his work De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things). The composition, as a perfect representation of the poetry of the period, blends the world of drugs and drug use with references to traditional and highbrow culture. The poem revolves around an anecdote: that of the poetic voice preparing a drug mixture but never consuming it. Thus, there is a prevalent semantic field revolving around drugs, both medicinal and recreational substances, stemming from the natural world. The composition displays an extensive and impressive knowledge of traditional drugs, and it intends to present them in a positive light, highlighting some of their beneficial medicinal uses. The poem seems to be directed to a second person, probably a friend with whom the poetic voice intended to share the drug mixture, and lacks a solid structure (there are no punctuation marks except for various suspension points). Such structure, together with the numerous hyperbatons in the poem, convey a tone and rhythm very much in line with the topic of the poem and the distorted reality one perceives whilst being under the influence of drugs. 61

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Lines 1–6: In these first six lines the poem introduces the anecdote that gives rise to the composition: the poetic voice has just thrown away a number of drugs it had stored in the past in the hope of enjoying them on a special occasion. The reader learns that the drugs the poetic voice has jettisoned are sangre de drago and hojas de estramonio. The first, a red resin from the Dracaena Draco tree – a tree native to the Canary Islands – has psychoactive effects, whilst the second is a hallucinogenic plant. Both substances were used in ancient time as medicinal drugs, but they were also employed in rituals and witchcraft. In fact, the mágicos poderes alluded to (line 5) is a reference precisely to such function. These lines do not have any punctuation marks and the hyperbatons convey a misshapen view of what the poetic voice is narrating. Lines 7–14: These lines appear between parentheses, as if they were an inner thought or even a mental note. In fact, they do not seem to be directed to anyone, as they are an explanation of the aforementioned drugs and provide details of their origins, effects and uses. Interestingly, the emphasis in this part of the composition lies on the therapeutic powers of the substances as medicinal drugs, rather than their effect as recreational substances; nonetheless such results are still described as sacros and almost magical. The poem displays here an outstanding wealth of knowledge with regard to drugs, a proficiency that draws both from traditional and ritualistic uses of the substances and from other sources such as dictionaries. Lines 15–23: Lines 15 to 18 minimise the importance of the poetic voice’s transgression, presenting its drug use and the mixture it has prepared as a minute misdemeanour (ingenuo). Lines 19 to 23 set out the rhetorical question of why the poetic voice is not using the mixture it prepared – either ingesting it or smoking it – even if it is only to satisfy the poetic voice’s curiosity. The lack of punctuation and numerous enjambments force the reader to read the lines without a break, adding a sense of haste and urgency to the poem. Lines 24–30: Line 24 introduces Lucretius, and line 26 is a direct translation of a line from book 4 of De rerum natura, which is echoed in the title of the poem itself. This line holds the key to why the poetic voice has not consumed the drug: unless those magic effects can be shared with someone they are not worth experimenting with. This can open up a philosophical debate on hedonism, pleasure and even friendship that 62

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is left for the reader to explore and consider further. The final lines are interrupted by a direct command (espera un poco) to this friend without whom the poetic voice will not take the drug, followed by the somewhat ironic and mocking statement that asserts that the rubbish has already been collected. It should be noted that the last few lines of the poem seem to be much more structured and follow a logical order and rhythm, opposed to what the reader encountered in the rest of the composition. When the drugs are taken away, the poetic voice shakes off the distorted view of reality, which allows the reader to make his or her own judgement on drugs and drug use.

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The power of poetry written by women

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ANA ROSSETTI Chico Wrangler

Dulce corazón mío de súbito asaltado. Todo por adorar más de lo permisible. Todo porque un cigarro se asienta en una boca y en sus jugosas sedas se humedece. Porque una camiseta incitante señala de su pecho, el escudo durísimo, y un vigoroso brazo de la mínima manga sobresale. Todo porque unas piernas, unas perfectas piernas, dentro del más ceñido pantalón, frente a mí se separan. Se separan. In Ana Rossetti, Indicios vehementes (Madrid: Hiperión, 1985) About the author Ana Rossetti was born in San Fernando, Cádiz, in 1950. She is a prolific writer who has been awarded poetry prizes such as the ‘Premio Gules’ (1980) and the ‘Premio Internacional de Poesía Rey Juan Carlos I’ (1985). Some of her more notable poetic works are: Los devaneos de Erato (1980); Devocionario (1985); Indicios vehementes (1985); Apuntes de ciudades (1990); Punto umbrío (1996); Llenar tu nombre (2008); and El mapa de la espera (2010). Although Rossetti is mainly known for her poetry, she has also written literature for children and several successful novels, such as Alevosías (1991) and El botón de oro (2003). Commentary ‘Chico Wrangler’ revolves around the expression of desire by the poetic voice towards a male figure whose only identity is that of modelling Wrangler jeans. The poem is very representative of the subversion of gender conventions, the questioning of sexual roles and the eroticism and 67

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the explorations of female identity and sexuality highly favoured by the boom of poetry written by women in the 1980s. Indeed, Ana Rossetti is probably one of the names more closely associated with such a trend, and in this composition she displays its main traits, openly embracing female sexuality and desire. In this poem, the male figure becomes completely objectified, bringing to the fore a significant role reversal: the traditionally observed and objectified body in poetry (that of a woman) is here replaced by a male figure. The poem is also representative of the visual culture that permeates Spanish contemporary poetry, as it can also be interpreted as the praise and visualisation of the world of advertising through the images of a poster of the American brand mentioned in the title. Lines 1–4: The title of the poem and its reference to the popular brand of jeans effectively builds an image in the reader’s mind. The first two lines of the poem, however, create something of a contrast to this initial image, as the reader goes from a vivid modern picture to what can be read as a chaste and almost outdated virtuous exclamation designed to highlight the poetic voice’s moral integrity. The reference to a bewildered heart in the first line seems to bring back the spontaneous emotions and sentimental impulses of what was considered traditional and second-rate poetry written by women in the nineteenth century. The second line maintains this idea but introduces a fixation that pushes the boundaries of what might be acceptable (Todo por adorar más de lo permisible). Lines 3 and 4, the first of which is linked to the previous metrical line through the use of an anaphora, start to fully develop the image that has caught the poetic voice’s attention. The jugosas sedas (jucy silk) is an obvious metaphor for the man’s lips, and is the first reference to the male body that the reader encounters. This does not only provide a visual element to the poem (the reader becomes aware of the fact that the poetic voice might be observing a jeans advertisement) but it also rouses the senses and amplifies sensual awareness in the reading process. Lines 5–10: The poetic voice’s perusal of the male body proceeds down­­ wards in the following lines. The camiseta incitante (a provocative T-shirt) continues calling to the senses and signals the reader’s attention to the escudo durísimo (hard shield) that is the male’s muscled torso and to his strong arms (lines 5 to 7). The subversion of gender roles in the poem can be seen not only through who the subject and the object of the composition are, but also in the way the object is presented and what is associated with it – female beauty has traditionally been praised throughout 68

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literary history, particularly in sonnets. Thus, the clothes the male figure is wearing are presented as provocative and minimal, which are traits usually associated with female attire. Lines 8 and 9 provide a description of the male’s legs encased in the tight jeans, bringing the description of the male body to a close. The openly sexual anadiplosis in lines 9 and 10 once again presents a subverted gender representation of the body, and the poem finishes in a sort of sigh. This sensually and sexually charged exclamation is also highly ironic: it echoes the apparently naïve expletive at the beginning of the composition and mocks the innocence of the poetic voice.

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JULIA OTXOA Cómo me dueles, mujer

Cómo me dueles, mujer de nylon y escaparate, de belleza en siete días, y norte deshabitado, mujer colonizada y rota, sin huella de alas sobre el tiempo, cómo maldigo esa tela de araña que decidió tus puntos cardinales. In Julia Otxoa, Antología poética (Casa Baroja: San Sebastián, 1988) About the author Julia Otxoa was born in San Sebastián in 1953. She has published poetry, fiction – particularly short stories – and critical studies on Basque literature. She has also worked on visual poetry and the visual arts, and has published poetry and fiction for children. Some of her more notable poetic works include: Composición entre la luz y la sombra (1978); Antología poética (1988); Centauro (1989); La nieve en los manzanos (2000); Gunten Café (2004); and La lentitud de la luz (2008). Her poems have been included in numerous anthologies of Spanish contemporary poetry. Commentary Even though the poem may not represent Julia Otxoa’s poetic aesthetic at the present moment, as the poet has evolved significantly since this composition was published, it certainly embodies some of the most salient traits of the poetry written by women in the 1980s. The poem can be viewed as a gender-engaged composition, one that serves as a severe criticism of the idealisation of female beauty, how some women might behave or how women may be forced to behave by society. Such a critique, focused 70

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on the expectations or desire to look perfect at all times, is carried out through a female figure that can be interpreted as that of a mannequin to whom the poetic voice directs its disapproval – the perennial beauty of the dummy might be seen as a demand for equally good looks in real women – or as that of a real woman excessively preoccupied by her appearance. This disapproval, however, reads not so much as a condemnation but rather as a despairing complaint in the face of something apparently unchanging. Lines 1–3: The poem starts with a recriminating apostrophe directed to the mujer dressed in synthetic clothes and occupying a literal or figurative shop window. The opening exclamation sets the tone for the composition and draws attention to the hurtful sentiments that the object addressed in the poem raises for the poetic voice. The Anglicism nylon used as an epithet (line 1) brings with it a certain sense of modern times: Spain in the 1980s. However, the reference to the synthetic fabric also highlights an artificial aspect of the figure. The enduring beauty of the mannequin or woman (siete días, line 2) is, however, combined with an empty head (a metaphorical norte deshabitado, line 3), which can be read as a metaphor referring to the inanimate dummy or to the customary idea that beauty might equal a substantial lack of intelligence. Lines 4–5: The description of the female character addressed in the poem continues in these lines. The mention of a colonised and broken female figure adds poignancy to the critique: the woman or mannequin has found herself dominated by beliefs and requirements that she now has to obey, and in turn these obligations fragment her identity and who she really is, just like the various detachable pieces that make up the body of a mannequin. Line 5 highlights the fact that the beauty of this figure is unmarred by time and that no imprints of it are left on her (sin huellas de alas), which is not seen as a positive aspect but rather a negative one that exerts unfair pressure on women to look perpetually young. Lines 6–7: The final lines of the poem do not focus so much on the appearance of the female figure as such, rather on the sexualised image of women that the obsession with beauty may have helped to boost. The fishnet tights (tela de araña) are seen as a sexually charged item that indicates the cardinal points of the female body and maps her sexuality. The exclamatory cómo maldigo uttered by the poetic voice once again conveys sadness and frustration towards the sexualisation of the female body and the treatment of beauty, but also draws attention to a powerful gender-committed criticism. 71

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ALMUDENA GUZMÁN Presos los dos

Presos los dos de aquel imposible decoro adolescente, ni yo me sonrojé ni usted tampoco hizo nada por llamarse al orden cuando después de las risas y las aceitunas rellenas, habiéndonos lubricado previamente el oído con una minuciosa lista de vicios sexuales, fuimos al amor como quien va al estanco de los primeros cigarrillos. In Almudena Guzmán, Usted (Madrid: Hiperión, 1986) About the author Almudena Guzmán was born in Navacerrada, Madrid, in 1964. She has a Ph.D. in Spanish literature and has worked as a journalist. She was a precocious poet who published her first book when she was only 17 years old. She has been awarded important literary prizes for her poetic work, including the ‘Premio Hiperión’ (1986), the ‘Premio Internacional de Poesía Claudio Rodríguez’ (2005) and the ‘Premio Tiflos de Poesía’ (2011). Some of her more notable poetic works are: Poemas de Lida Sal (1981); Usted (1986); El libro de Tamar (1989); Calendario (2001); El príncipe rojo (2005); and Zonas comunes (2011). She recently published El jazmín y la noche (1981–2011) (2012), which brings together all her poetry to date. Commentary Almudena Guzmán has been considered a largely monothematic author whose work revolves around love and the experiences attached to it. In Usted, the book in which ‘Presos los dos’ is found, the reader encounters a sort of diary that delineates from a clearly female point of view the romantic relationship between a pseudo-biographical character and its university lecturer, ironically referred to as usted. The book depicts the 72

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trajectory the characters follow and their experiences, from the very ­beginning of the affair to its bitter end. The poem fits very well with the subversion of traditional gender roles and the alteration of gender dynamics in romantic relationships that women authors brought into play during the boom of poetry written by women. In this poem the female character does not act as a passive agent but rather establishes an equal relationship between both genders. The composition depicts one of the high points of the romantic relationship, drawing on its blatant sexual innuendo. Lines 1–2: The opening line of the poem seems to exude decorum and an almost childish wariness towards love and the first stages of a romantic relationship, signalled with the somewhat hyperbolic and anachronistic expression of feeling overcome (Presos). The impression of demureness, provided by the references to blushes and restraint, however absent or ironic they might be, continues into the second line and contributes to the creation of a childlike and candid tone in the poem. It is interesting to note that the female character and the male character are seen here as equals: both seem initially timid and apprehensive, but quickly move forward towards a more daring attitude together. The equal role the characters play in the romantic relationship is something the totality of the poem will replicate, despite the use of the formal pronoun usted (line 2). Usted, usually employed in Spanish to respectfully address an older person, a new acquaintance or someone considered to be of higher rank, gives an ironic and sardonic tone to the poem when this usted is seen engaging in childlike behaviour with the poetic voice. Lines 3–6: Line 3, with the reference to aphrodisiac food, acts as a link between the childish behaviour and tone of the first two lines of the poem and the uninhibited attitude that both characters exhibit in the following lines. The lovers seem to quickly abandon their naïveté and begin to lose their sexual inhibitions, which is also reflected in a change of vocabulary and attitude: the suggestive nature of the aphrodisiac olives they eat and the references to lubrication give a very carnal and lascivious language and tone to the poem. In addition, the detailed list of sexual depravities they confess to each other (line 5) creates important contrasts: it collides with the characters’ initial decorum but also with the final lines of the poem and its reference to the newsagent or tobacconist who sells the first forbidden cigarettes to teenagers, breaking down stereotypes and established perceptions about gender roles and behaviours in general. Different tones 73

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and languages, ranging from childish to libidinous, are skilfully employed in a composition without full stops and built in only one stanza, adding to the rhythm and flow of the lines.

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JUANA CASTRO Penélope

       Kabul Pajarillo enjaulado, me han quitado los ojos y tengo una cuadrícula calcada sobre el mundo. Ni mi propio sudor me pertenece. Espera en la antesala, me dicen, y entrelazo mis manos mientras cubro de envidia las cabras que en el monte ramonean. Ciega de historia y lino me pierdo entre las sombras y a tientas voy contando la luz del mediodía. Noche mía del fardo que sin luces me arroja la esperanza del tiempo engastado en la letra. Noche mía, mi luz cuadriculada en negro, cómo pesa mi manto y su bordado, cuánto tarda la paz negra del cielo, cuánto tarda. In Juana Castro, El extranjero (Madrid: Rialp, 2000) About the author Juana Castro was born in Villanueva de Córdoba in 1945. She has been awarded several literary prizes for her poetry, including the ‘Premio Carmen Conde’ (1994), the ‘Premio San Juan de la Cruz’ (2000) and the ‘Premio Nacional de la Crítica’ (2010). Some of her more notable poetic works are: Cóncava mujer (1978); Paranoia en otoño (1985); Arte de cetrería (1989); No temerás (1994); El extranjero (2000); Los cuerpos oscuros (2005); and more recently the anthology Heredad seguido de Cartas de enero (2010). 75

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Commentary The poem features many of the characteristics that epitomised the boom of poetry written by women in Spain. The composition is a fierce critique of gender discrimination and inequality, drawing on the role of women in society (in this case in Afghanistan) whilst employing classical myths. The title of the poem, ‘Penélope’, refers to the female character in Homer’s Odyssey, who waited for twenty years for the return of her husband Odysseus. In fact, Odysseus’ journey plays a major role in Juana Castro’s El extranjero, as the book continually refers to characters, events and passages in Homer’s work to approach and critique current affairs. The one-word epigraph that precedes the poem, the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, provides the context from which the composition emerges and gives the reader a tool to decipher the poem. The character of Penelope in the Odyssey would relentlessly weave and then unravel a shroud for her father-in-law in order to evade suitors and remain faithful to her husband; for this reason, the literary figure has become closely associated with weaving, something that is exploited in the poem through the references to fabrics, veils and the indirect reference to the burka. The poem can be read, then, as a critique to the burka which women were forced to wear in public whilst the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan. Lines 1–4: The poem starts with the poetic voice identifying itself with a caged bird, the diminutive in the noun emphasising the powerless and confined situation in which the poetic persona lives. The poetic voice has been robbed of its sight due to the grid or net placed upon its eyes (lines 2 and 3) – which the reader can interpret as the burka, replicated not only in the pattern of the fabric but also in the bars of a cage. The enjambments of the first two lines create a rhythm that contrasts greatly with the end-stopped fourth line. The grave tone that this achieves echoes the lack of control faced by the poetic voice. Lines 5–11: Line 5 opens with an utterance from a disembodied voice commanding the character to wait in a room. The poetic voice then expresses its desire to roam freely – the reference to unrestrained animals draws attention to the complete lack of freedom women are suffering in that context – again employing enjambments and hyperbatons to emphasise the despairing tone. The multiple references to the semantic field of light and darkness in these lines (ciega, sombras, a tientas, luz) provide the poem with a strong visual effect for the the reader, alluding to their 76

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senses to allow them to re-create and experience the suffocating sensation the poetic voice is facing. The limitations imposed on the poetic voice are physical – the linen – but also of a social and historical nature, as women are denied their role in history and their voices are silenced (line 8). The reference to linen brings the reader back to Homer’s Penelope, and reinforces the idea of a long period of apathy and waiting. Lines 12–18: The final lines of the composition are crowded with rhetorical exclamations and an apostrophe directed to the full body cloak. The burka, as a personified element, imposes a perennial metaphorical night upon the poetic voice (line 12). Again, the combination of light and darkness provides a prevailing visual element in the poem, one that is emphasised by a moving synaesthesia with the metaphorical and literal weight of the burka (lines 15 to 17). The echo and influence of the Golden Age and mystic poet San Juan de la Cruz (1542–1591) and his poem ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ can also be traced in these lines through the references to the dark night and the painful experience it represents. The possessive pronouns and adjectives that litter the lines spell out and draw attention to the poetic voice’s suffering. The final epiphora that brings the composition to an end reverberates in a very powerful way, highlighting the powerlessness felt by the poetic voice and women in general in that context.

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Poetry of experience and poetry of difference

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LUIS GARCÍA MONTERO Merece la pena (Un jueves telefónico)

Trist el qui mai ha perdut per amor una casa. Joan Margarit

Sobre las diez te llamo para decir que tengo diez llamadas, otra reunión, seis cartas, una mañana espesa, varias citas y nostalgia de ti. El teléfono tiene rumor de barco hundido, burbujas y silencios. Sobre las doce y media llamas para contarme tus llamadas, cómo va tu trabajo, me explicas por encima los negocios que llevas en común con tu ex marido, debes sin más remedio hacer la compra y me echas de menos. El teléfono quiere espuma de cerveza, aunque no, la mañana no es hermosa ni rubia. Sobre las cuatro y media comunica tu siesta. Me llamas a las seis para decirme que sales disparada, que se queda tu hijo en casa de un amigo, que te aburre esta vida, pero a las siete debes estar en no sé dónde, y a las ocho te esperan en la presentación de no sé quién y luego sufres restaurante y copas 81

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con algunos amigos. Si no se te hace tarde me llamarás a casa cuando llegues. Y no se te hace tarde. Sobre las dos y media te aseguro que no me has despertado. El teléfono busca ventanas encendidas en las calles desiertas y me alegra escuchar noticias de la noche, cotilleos del mundo literario, que se te nota lo feliz que eres, que no haces otra cosa que hablar mucho de mí con todos los que hablas. Nada sabe de amor quien no ha perdido por amor una casa, una hija tal vez y más de medio sueldo, empeñado en el arte de ser feliz y justo, al otro lado de tu voz, al sur de las fronteras telefónicas. In Luis García Montero, Completamente viernes (Barcelona: Tusquets, 1998)1 About the author Luis García Montero was born in Granada in 1958. He is arguably one of the most well-known and acclaimed contemporary Spanish poets, and he is also a professor of Spanish literature. He has received some of the major poetry awards in the Spanish language, including the ‘Premio Federico García Lorca’ (1980), the ‘Premio Adonáis’ (1982), the ‘Premio Loewe’ (1993), the ‘Premio Nacional de Poesía’ (1994), the ‘Premio Nacional de la Crítica’ (2003), the ‘Premio de la Crítica de Andalucía’ (2008) and the ‘Premio Poetas del Mundo Latino’ (2010). Some of his more notable poetry publications are: Y ahora ya eres dueño del Puente de Brooklyn (1980); El jardín extranjero (1983); Diario cómplice (1987); 1 © Luis García Montero, 1998. First published in the Spanish language by Tusquets Editores, Barcelona, Spain, 2006. In the volume Completamente viernes (1998) and in the volume Poesía completa [1980–2006] (2006).

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Las flores del frío (1991); Habitaciones separadas (1994); Completamente viernes (1998); La intimidad de la serpiente (2003); Vista cansada (2008) and Un invierno propio (2011). He has also published fiction, non-fiction and academic studies, such as Luna del sur (1992); No me cuentes tu vida (2012); El teatro medieval. Polémica de una inexistencia (1984); Poesía, cuartel de invierno (1987); Confesiones poéticas (1993); La puerta de la calle (1997); El sexto día. Historia íntima de la poesía española (2000); Gigante y extraño. Las Rimas de Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (2001); and critical editions of the poetry of Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, and Carlos Barral, amongst others. Commentary ‘Merece la pena (Un jueves telefónico)’ traces the daily routine of the poetic voice. This is done through telephone calls to his beloved, with whom the poetic voice maintains a long-distance relationship (this bears a strong resemblance to the poet’s real life, since at the time he wrote the poem he was in Granada whilst his wife, the novelist Almudena Grandes, was living in Madrid). The informal and colloquial language of the composition, its themes – love, work and modern life, amongst others – and its tone are perfect examples of poesía de la experiencia. The poem effortlessly represents the commonsensical and verisimilar trend in which the poet, as an ordinary person, aims to relate to the ordinary and non-elitist reader, sharing with them normal everyday experiences. The composition, divided into five stanzas and constructed of metrical lines of mainly seven and eleven syllables, is directed to the poetic voice’s beloved, in a sort of conversation or narrative account that the reader overhears. The first four stanzas outline a day (the Thursday mentioned in the title of the composition) in the life of the poetic voice and his partner, capturing their routines and emotional experiences, whilst the last stanza brings the theme of the poem to a close and provides a moral reflection on love, the compromises it requires and its consequences. The epigraph that precedes the poem, by the Catalan poet Joan Margarit, provides a clue to one of the main themes of the poem: that of love and the difficulties and sacrifices one may have to overcome to enjoy it. Lines 1–7: The poem opens with a telephone call from the poetic voice to his loved one and a time reference (Sobre las diez). Such indication places the reader at the beginning of a working day for the poetic voice, who is surrounded by multiple and run-of-the-mill tasks at work. The 83

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various calls, meetings and correspondence the poetic voice is dealing with (lines 2 to 5) are highlighted by an asyndeton and they are mixed with a longing for the beloved. The language employed in the poem is quite informal (una mañana espesa, a dull morning), and perfectly conveys a spoken conversation, adding to the commonsensical nature of the poem. The last two lines focus on the telephonic device that connects the two lovers and its drone, which suggests distance, solitude and sadness, particularly through the overcast image of a sunken ship (line 6). This highlights the progressive personification and the major role the telephone will play in the poem. Lines 8–16: This stanza replicates the structure of the previous one in an incremental repetition, echoing the same yearning for the loved one. It is now afternoon (Sobre las doce y media), and it is the beloved who calls the poetic voice to describe how the day is going. The reader is once again confronted with daily and menial tasks with which they might be very familiar: from work and ex-partners – which also add a touch of presentday reality – to something as mundane as the need to do the shopping (lines 9 to 13). Once again these activities go hand in hand with missing the partner, and the telephone is the element that communicates the desire to be close to the other person. The language, as in the first stanza, is that of a spoken conversation and an informal register (me explicas por encima and sin más remedio, for example). In the incremental repetition in line 15 the telephone is personified, presented almost as another character in the composition that wants to go out for a beer. The comparison established between the bleak morning and the colour of the lager (rubia) that the characters would like to enjoy transmits the nostalgic and sad sentiment felt by the lovers (lines 15 and 16). Lines 17–28: The third stanza continues with the incremental repetition and an unanswered call in mid-afternoon (due to the beloved’s siesta), followed by a brief call early in the evening before she goes out to a social and literary event (lines 17 to 19). Again, the conversational and informal tone of their exchange (salir disparada or te aburre esta vida), as well as the long enumeration of duties the beloved must fulfil, reinforce the experience of ordinary daily life portrayed in the poem. The polysyndeton present in lines 22 to 26, relating to the literary world, an element that emphasises the biographical aspect of the poem, adds a feeling of tedium to the experience and highlights the nature of the characters as ordinary people subjected to very ordinary routines. The stanza ends with 84

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the promise of a telephone call if it is not too late when the lover returns home. Lines 29–38: The slight change in the incremental repetition that runs throughout the poem (the time reference here appears in the second line of the stanza) marks a change in the time frame of the poem and helps to place the action quite late at night. The telephone is personified once again in this stanza (line 32), portrayed as a figure with the ability to connect people who are still awake (as presented in the ventanas encendidas, line 32). There are further references to the literary world (line 35), and the stanza finishes with what can be defined as a melancholic attempt to validate their long-distance relationship, with the claims people make regarding the couple’s happiness and how much they talk about each other. Lines 39–44: The sorrowful statement which ends the last stanza can be fully appreciated in the resigned tone of the closing lines. The first two lines of the final stanza are the direct translation into Spanish of the Catalan verse cited in the epigraph. The translation functions as a summary of one of the main ideas in the poem: one has to overcome many struggles, such as divorces, separations and long-distance relationships, in order to achieve happiness and enjoy love. The concluding line, with the imagined border that the telephone creates between the lovers, becomes the embodiment of these difficulties, and draws attention back to the title of the composition and the significance of the telephone in the poem as an element that paradoxically implies simultaneous distance and connection.

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FELIPE BENÍTEZ REYES El final de la fiesta

Copas sobre el césped, mojadas de rocío, con manchas de carmines estridentes... En el jardín nocturno brillaban las guirnaldas y llegaba la música en aladas bandejas invisibles del aire. Los abrazos furtivos, el juego de señales, los disfraces barrocos y las niñas de nieve posando de fatales con rosas en los labios. Copas abandonadas sobre el césped, confeti flotando en la piscina y un jirón de vestido prendido en el columpio.          Toda la irrealidad de esa escenografía de los bailes de máscaras tuvo para nosotros un sentido simbólico: era la juventud, vestida de sí misma, estrafalaria y loca, quemando alegremente sus bengalas, porque el amanecer traería un viento frío, una mala resaca como precio.            Las copas quedaron sobre el césped. Flores pisoteadas, antifaces deshechos, sombreros, serpentinas vagando en el estanque como estelas de un barco diminuto y fantasma que naufragó en el sueño de aquella noche de verano.           En las hogueras de nuestro corazón, los restos de una fiesta, 86

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los restos de una vida. Recogeré las copas, guardaré mi disfraz en un cajón secreto. Duró poco la fiesta. De nuevo cae la noche y la luna se estampa sobre un cielo desnudo. In Felipe Benítez Reyes, Los vanos mundos (Granada: Maillot Amarillo, 1985)2 About the author Felipe Benítez Reyes was born in Rota, Cádiz, in 1960. He is an acclaimed poet who has also published numerous novels, short stories, poetry translations and edited anthologies (including the notorious El sindicato del crimen: antología de la poética dominante, under a pseudonym). He has received important poetry awards in Spain, including the ‘Premio Loewe’ (1992), the ‘Premio Internacional de Poesía Ciudad de Melilla’ (1994), the ‘Premio de la Crítica’ (1995) and the ‘Premio Nacional de Poesía’ (1996). Some of his more notable poetry publications are: Los vanos mundos (1985); La mala compañía (1989); Sombras particulares (1992); Vidas improbables (1995); Escaparate de venenos (2000); the collection Trama de niebla (2003); La misma luna (2007); and Las identidades (2012). His novel Mercado de espejismos (2007) was awarded the ‘Premio Nadal’. Commentary ‘El final de la fiesta’ can be read as a panegyric or an eulogy to youth and what it represents. The composition, narrated by a poetic voice that has already left youth behind, praises its wonders but also proclaims its brevity. Thus, the classical Horatian phrase carpe diem (seize the day) is echoed throughout the poem in which other themes such as friendship, love, happiness and enjoyment also emerge. The composition, which is divided into six stanzas and makes use of verisimilar language to refer to a very traditional literary theme, succeeds in creating a powerful idea in the reader’s mind of what awaits at the end of the party mentioned in the title, that is, when youth ends. The poem moves between different time frames presented through the image of a masquerade ball or party and the empty glasses scattered over the lawn. Such references act in the 2 © Felipe Benítez Reyes, 2003. First published in Spanish by Tusquets Editores, Barcelona, Spain, 2003. In the volume Trama de niebla.

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composition as metaphors for youth (the party itself ), its memories (the glasses) and the imaginary terrain they inhabit (the lawn). Drawing on the precepts of poesía de la experiencia, ‘El final de la fiesta’ addresses an ordinary reader who will certainly identify with such universal topic and will be able to enjoy and interpret a composition with a commonsensical language and structure. Lines 1–8: The poem opens with the first reference to a party and the glasses strewn over the lawn. The dewdrops and the lipstick marks on the glasses encourage an interpretation of the party as a successful event that went on until the late hours of the night or even early morning. The second stanza, with the verbs in the imperfect tense (brillaban, llegaba), announces that the reminisced event took place in the past. A lively atmosphere in which music and sound travel as if waiters were serving them (llegaba la música / en aladas bandejas invisibles del aire) is re-created. Further references to forbidden love, coded messages (line 6) that only friends can interpret and the general sexual innuendo of the party or masquerade ball add to the aforementioned ambience. Lines 9–19: Lines 9 to 11 once again re-enact the party, most likely its end, through the recurrent image of the glasses on the lawn. As before, it is presented as a triumphant event, judging by the confetti floating in the pool and the torn strip of clothing in the swing, an element that also adds a childish flamboyance. The following lines decode the poem and its symbolism: the masquerade ball is a metaphor for youth (masquerade balls are recurrent key events in literature, for instance in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet), and youth is portrayed as a costume that one can wear (line 16). This reinforces the idea of youth as transitory and ephemeral, but also fun and eccentric. The metaphorical image serves to personify early life and presents it as someone who seizes the day (quemando alegremente sus bengalas, line 17) because he or she is all too aware of what its end will bring (un viento frío). Lines 20–25: The perfect tense employed in line 21 introduces another timeline, remembering the party as an experience that happened well in the past. This is reinforced by the negative descriptions of trampled flowers, destroyed masks and other items left over from the party that are abandoned in the pond (lines 21 to 23). It is interesting to note that the poem refers now to a pond rather than the more appealing pool of the third stanza. In addition, the memories all these objects represent are 88

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portrayed almost as victims that are sinking into the night (line 24). Lines 26–31: The last stanza, making use of a contemplative and introspective tone, brings the poetic voice’s recollections to the present and addresses the future. A first-person plural is introduced in these lines, and the poetic voice declares that they – which might refer to the poetic voice and the group of friends with whom it shared its youth, or to a more comprehensive ‘you’ that would also include the reader – will always keep the vestiges of that party and that life in their hearts (En las hogueras / de nuestro corazón). To that end, the poetic persona decides to symbolically pick up the glasses and costumes, the memories and its youth, to keep them safe (lines 28 and 29). The fleetingness of youth is strongly asserted in line 31 (Duró poco la fiesta) and the impossibility of re-creating it adds poignancy to the forlorn tone of the poem. The last two lines of the composition stress the ephemerality of youth and render the phrase carpe diem an imperative for everyone that reads it.

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CARLOS MARZAL Domingos bajo las sábanas

Vuelve a la cama y tápame de nuevo, que aquí bajo las sábanas no hay nada que pueda hacernos daño. En esta almohada se encuentra la frontera de los sueños. Anoche –aunque era sábado– juraste que en la ciudad, sin mí, no hay aliciente. No te lo tomo en cuenta, soy consciente de que hablaban en ti los dioses bares. Pero si algo de aquello aún está vivo, por pequeño que sea ya es bastante, para perder, de ahora en adelante, esta triste mañana de domingo. Perderemos el tiempo y perderemos el uno por el otro la cabeza, pues la más cierta de cualquier certeza es que es buena ocasión para perdernos. Vuelve a la cama ya, tras la ventana no ocurre nada digno de memoria: la calle, la ciudad, la misma historia que ocurre cuando nunca ocurre nada. La vida, en este hotel, no ha de encontrarnos mientras tú y yo queramos que así sea. Esa vida que aturde y nos marea ha de dejar de ser si nos tapamos. Las aguas del domingo arrastran lejos a la ciudad deshecha que nos cerca 90

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y que aún amamos de forma terca con el afecto idiota de los perros. ¿Quién dijo que cualquier cuerpo fatiga y aburre, al despertar, por conocido? Si yo lo dije estaba confundido, tu cuerpo es la excepción a ese sofisma. Si no es perfecto, está pensado al menos para que crezca firme en su interior esa maldita e inmarcesible flor del benigno demonio del deseo. La he llamado maldita porque así me enseñaron los Padres Dominicos. Y tenían razón, pues ha hecho añicos más de un buen nombre y más de un porvenir. Pero teniendo en cuenta que el buen nombre ya lo he echado a perder, y que el futuro pertenece al azar y es inseguro, quiero que tu demonio me conforte. Vuelve y no hagamos caso de la luz. La noche de ayer noche aún nos dura. Nos reiremos de la literatura, que es un arte menor cuando estás tú. Ya ves que desvarío, ven aquí o seguiré diciendo tonterías, y aunque te gusten mis filosofías vuelve a la cama et qu’on n’en parle plus. In Carlos Marzal, La vida de frontera (Seville: Renacimiento, 1991)3

3 © Carlos Marzal, 2005. First published in Spanish by Tusquets Editores, Barcelona, Spain, 2005. In the volume El corazón perplejo.

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About the author Carlos Marzal was born in Valencia in 1961. An acclaimed and esteemed author strongly linked to poesía de la experiencia, Marzal has published non-fiction, novels, translations and highly applauded books of poetry. He has been granted several poetry accolades in Spain, including the ‘Premio de la Crítica’ (2001), the ‘Premio Nacional de Poesía’ (2002) and the ‘Premio Loewe’ (2003). Some of his more notable poetry publications are: El último de la fiesta (1987); La vida de frontera (1991); Los países nocturnos (1996); Metales pesados (2001); Fuera de mí (2004); the collection El corazón perplejo (2005); and Ánima mía (2009). His novels, particularly Los reinos de la casualidad (2005) and Los pobres desgraciados hijos de perra (2011), have received great critical acclaim. Commentary The poem ‘Domingos bajo las sábanas’ narrates, in a very intimate tone, a private moment between two lovers on a Sunday morning. The poetic voice addresses its lover in this poem, which is divided into twelve quatrains of mainly hendecasyllabic lines with rhyme in the first and the last, and the second and the third, lines (cuartetos). The stanzas build a universe occupied only by the poetic voice and its lover, symbolically placed in the bed they share that morning. This universe is constantly compared and contrasted with references to the outside world, that of the city and the other inhabitants, which are seen as a threat. The themes of love, maybe even illicit love, intimacy and desire universalise the composition, whilst the informal language and intimate tone of the poem make it very attractive to the reader. Drawing on many of the precepts of poesía de la experiencia with regard to style and content, the poem also makes an appeal to the senses, focusing particularly on the warmth re-created in the poem (bajo las sábanas). Lines 1–16: The poem starts with Vuelve a la cama, a request from the poetic voice to the lover that works as an incremental repetition throughout the poem. The first quatrain establishes the limits of the lovers’ universe, focusing on their intimate surroundings – a bed – and traces its symbolic borders in the linens and pillows that enclose them. The overall feeling emerging from these lines is that the lovers can take refuge in such a secluded world (lines 3 and 4). The second quatrain offers a flashback to the night before, when the lover, somewhat drunk (hablaban en ti los 92

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dioses bares, line 8), expressed its feelings towards the poetic voice. The conversational language of the composition (en la ciudad, sin mí, no hay aliciente) re-creates a dialogue between the lovers, be that the one they had the night before or the conversation that is apparently taking place during that Sunday morning with the poetic voice addressing the lover. The commonsensical language continues in the next two quatrains (perderemos / el uno por el otro la cabeza, line 13) and highlights the ordinary life of the characters (esta triste mañana de domingo). Lines 15 and 16 add a philosophical tone to the poem through an aphorism (la más cierta de cualquier certeza / es que es buena ocasión para perdernos). Lines 17–28: The incremental repetition creates a melodic rhythm and tone in the poem, and encourages the lover to ignore the outside world (tras la ventana / no ocurre nada digno de memoria), which is depicted as an endless and repetitive circle (la misma historia / que ocurre cuando no ocurre nada). Lines 21 to 28 emphasise the two parallel universes, that of the poetic voice and its lover and that of the outside world or the city, again presenting the bed and its linen as borders that clearly demarcate them. The reference to the hotel room (line 21) might very well allude to the encounter between the lovers as something illicit, but happiness is presented as something that they can grasp if they decide to remain in their sheltered and isolated universe (lines 21 to 24). Lines 29–44: The rhetorical question in lines 29 and 30 introduces sexual desire into the composition, a topic that is also fully explored in the following three quatrains. The lover’s body is capable of inciting endless desire in the poetic voice – note the oxymoron in line 36, and the reference to the teachings by the Dominicans on sexual desire (lines 37 and 38). The memory of such principles and beliefs raises philosophical observations about the consequences of desire, all of them voiced through a conversational and verisimilar language, which make these stanzas act as a sort of internal monologue rather than a dialogue between the poetic voice and its lover. In addition, the references to the negative effects of desire might reinforce the feeling of an illicit relationship between the characters. Lines 45–52: In the last two quatrains the poetic voice abandons the internal monologue and once again encourages the lover to ignore the outside world and focus on their universe. What remains outside their bed and their room will vanish and diminish in importance, as only their intimate universe holds significance for the two of them. In the final 93

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quatrain the poetic voice once again pleads insistently with the lover and asks it to put an end to its philosophical ramblings (lines 49 and 50). The emphatic ending in French seems to bring the dialogue to a close and affectively encase the lovers in their intimate surroundings.

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MARÍA ANTONIA ORTEGA Herida de muerte

Herida de muerte, agonía más lenta que la vida. Solamente hay una ventaja contra la muerte: adelantarse a ella corriendo como un atleta sonámbulo frente a las gradas vacías de los largos pasillos solitarios en la casa del padre, pues morir es salirse, como los barcos, del horizonte. Con paciencia espero que salte un pez dorado en mi memoria, destello de mi conciencia, remontando el curso de la corriente. Mi corazón es un lugar, y no hay lugar más alejado, ni las selvas vírgenes, ni los mares más lejanos, sin excepción de la muerte, cuyo sonido, cuando se acerca, también es el del oleaje. No hay lugar tan apartado como mi corazón, oficio de farero. ¿Cuál es la soledad más grande, la soledad de Dios o la del hombre? El ángel es la única criatura que no está sola, pues ha nacido para amar sin necesidad de ser amada. In María Antonia Ortega, La pobreza dorada (Madrid: Devenir, 2003) About the author María Antonia Ortega was born in Madrid in 1954. A very active poet in the literary circles of the Spanish capital, a lawyer, and one of the driving forces behind poesía de la diferencia, Ortega has published numerous books of poetry. Some of her more notable publications are: Épica de la soledad (1988); La viña de oro (1989); Descenso al cielo (1991); El espía de Dios (1994); La existencia larvada (1998); the dramatic poem Junio López (1999); La pobreza dorada (2003); Digresiones y rarezas: postales, recuerdos y souvenirs (2007); and El pincel fino: A dreaming woman (2010). Commentary ‘Herida de muerte’ perfectly portrays the spirit of poesía de la diferencia, a trend that strived for and claimed the right to write something different. 95

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The composition, written in poetic prose rather than verse (as most of La pobreza dorada), does not narrate an anecdote or occurrence in the poetic voice’s daily life, rather it simply offers reflections and thoughts that traverse the poetic voice’s mind at that very moment. The poem thus acts as a window to the poetic voice’s ideas and thoughts on themes such as death, solitude or loneliness, a fleeting insight into its mental processes that highlights a very subjective and unique universe: rather than a soliloquy it is an intellectual experience. The poem, as well as the book in which it is included, boasts a strong Christian component, seen in this particular composition through the references to the casa del padre (the father’s house). Lines 1–5: The first lines of the poem introduce death as one of the major themes in the composition. Death, which is seen almost as a character rather than an abstract entity, needs to be overcome. The only possible way of doing that, according to the poetic voice, is to race against it (line 2). The following lines introduce a religious aspect into the discussion. Interestingly, life is given a physical representation in the poem, in the shape of a house (la casa del padre) and its hallways (line 4). This can obviously be understood as a religious metaphor – the padre is the religious figure whose house is in fact life and creation, not just the Church – but it is in these lines where the reader also finds the first allusions to solitude and loneliness. Not only are the hallways solitary, they can also accommodate empty grandstands in front of which the poetic voice races against death. The poetic voice ends these lines with an explanation of what it understands to be the process of dying, equalling it to fading away into the horizon. Lines 6–10: These lines introduce a static moment in the poetic voice’s mental processes, the instant in which a thought is about to interrupt the quiet. Intriguingly, thoughts and feelings do not have blurred abstract traits in the poem; rather, they enjoy clearly delineated corporeal forms, like objects. Hence, thoughts are presented as fish that swim up the stream that is the mind (line 6); and the heart is also described as a tangible place, an exotic location (even further away than selvas vírgenes and mares salvajes, hinting at solitude again), or almost a container (lines 7 and 8). In the same lines, death is also a physical entity associated with a sound, which anchors an abstract discussion in a physical world. Death, solitude and thoughts seem to be linked to luminous and ethereal essences, highlighted by the language used to refer to them in the poem. 96

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Lines 11–14: Line 11 once again refers to the heart as a distant location, but it also attributes to it a role: that of a lighthouse-keeper, charged with constantly looking out to help others. The rhetorical question that follows in line 10 brings back to the forefront the theme of solitude and the figure of the lighthouse-keeper, another religious reference. At this point, the poem also brings to mind ‘Soliloquio del farero’ by Luis Cernuda (1902– 1963), a poet who wrote about solitude and loneliness using the same idea. The final two lines of the composition introduce the mythical and religious figure of an angel, and this is used to explain loneliness: loneliness is nothing but a consequence of the need to be loved. The poetic voice might very well be identifying itself with it, which would highlight its non-ordinary traits, very distanced from the normal poetic voices of poesía de la experiencia. Regarding the form, the breaks and sounds that the poem re-creates become silent echoes that build images throughout the composition, aiding its language and its non-verbal elements in the forging of an intellectual and very intense experience based on thoughts and ideas for the reader.

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Part II

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The turn of a new millennium

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LORENZO OLIVÁN Corriente abajo

Siéntele el pulso oscuro a lo que escribes. Son puentes las palabras. Por debajo pasa, secreto, un clamoroso río. Asómate. ¿Te ves en la corriente? ¿Cuándo ha sido más vivo tu reflejo, si no es en esa eterna sucesión de impetuosas aguas que te llevan? ¿Acaso en el papel de alguna foto en la que amarilleas siempre inmóvil? ¿Sobre la plana, y casi metafísica, superficie de algún espejo helado? ¿En los ojos de quien, al contemplarte, deja ver tras tu ser a un ser que mira? Sigue, si puedes, el profundo rastro del verso que te sume allá en su ritmo. La escritura es un cauce que no ves, que, al discurrir, te piensa cómo eres por detrás de tu propio pensamiento. In Lorenzo Oliván, Libro de los elementos (Madrid: Visor, 2004) About the author Lorenzo Oliván was born in Castro Urdiales, Cantabria, in 1968. He is a poet and literary critic and a regular contributor to literary magazines and newspapers. He has also translated authors such as John Keats and Emily Dickinson from English into Spanish. His poetic work has been awarded prizes such as the ‘Premio Cernuda’ (1995), the ‘Premio Loewe’ (2000) and the ‘Premio de Poesía Generación del 27’ (2003). Some of his more notable poetry publications are: Único norte (1995); Visiones y revisiones 103

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(1995); Puntos de fuga (2000), Libro de los elementos (2004); La noche a tientas (2007); and Hilo de nadie (2008). Commentary Oliván’s poem ‘Corriente abajo’ perfectly exemplifies the poetry written by young authors in Spain at the end of the millennium, particularly their desire to convey fragmented voices and view poetry as a theme in itself, but also the combination of realism and symbolism in an approachable yet challenging text. Metapoetry is one of the unifying and distinct ideas in the composition: it portrays poetry as a defining aspect of the poetic voice’s identity, but also as one of the reasons for its fragmentation. The poem, through commands and encouragement, emphasises the plurality of voices and identities that can be trapped within oneself and the power of literature to act as the determining force. In addition, poetry is presented in this composition as an almost physical space that both readers and writers can enter, and where they will also be swept away. Lines 1–3: In these first three lines the composition introduces literature as a dark force with latent power (pulso oscuro) and encourages the addressee of the poem to explore the written word. The adjectives used in the initial stanza set out literature (or poetry, as the reader is encouraged to assume) as something secretive, obscure, but also thriving. As such, literature is portrayed in the form of a forceful river or current, and words take the shape of a bridge: this very aptly establishes the theme of metapoetry in the composition. The person the poetic voice is addressing here, a tú who is encouraged to embark on a literary journey, remains unidentified: it could be the reader, the poetic voice, the poet itself, or even other writers. The reference to the text that is being written in line 1 (lo que escribes), however, suggests that the poet or fellow poets are most likely the ones being addressed here. The alliteration of the letter ‘s’ provides the stanza with a rhythmic sibilance that further supports the idea of literature as a current. Lines 4–13: The second stanza is a series of rhetorical questions addressed to the aforementioned second-person singular. The text continues to be presented here as a current but also as a mirror for the addressee, who is urged to look into it (Asómate). The metaphor that portrays the written poetic word as tempestuous waters in lines 4 to 7 once again underlines that poetry is an intense force that can offer a vivid image of one’s identity. 104

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This is contrasted to other objects such as photographs and mirrors, whose reflections are either yellowing or cold, adding negative connotations to them. The various reflective surfaces referred to in the poem allude yet again to the fragmentation of the character’s identity, and this idea is reinforced in line 13 with the mention of multiple beings in one’s image. Lines 14–18: The last stanza of ‘Corriente abajo’ personifies lines of poetry and presents them as a sweeping power. The final lines ultimately reveal who or what holds the key to identity and has the capacity to bestow distinctiveness to the self: poetry. Thus, the act of writing is seen here as what defines the second-person singular. It becomes obvious at this point that the addressee of the composition is definitely the poetic voice, in an attempt to approach or overcome the feeling of fragmentation and identity alienation. The alliteration noted in the first stanza continues here: the sibilance echoes the flow and rhythmic advance the poem represents, neatly linking it to the title of the composition and the metapoetic theme.

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En el centro de este ámbito

No sabes bien, lector, el intricado laberinto de signos ordenados casi casi al azar en que ahora entras. Mejor hubiese sido que no hubieses traspasado jamás el blanco margen que circunda esta página y la aparta del mundo en que hasta hoy feliz vivías. Mas no fue así. Las ansias de saberlo todo, el hastío, la curiosidad te trajeron aquí y ya estás justo en el centro de este ámbito infernal. Desde este mismo instante una vez y otra vez volverás al mismo sitio en que hace apenas un minuto ya has estado, y volverás a irte y volverás. Casa paso que des te irá alejando poco a poco de un punto y poco a poco, irremisiblemente, sin saberlo, te acercarás a él a cada paso. Nunca podrás salir de este poema, pues aún no sabes bien el intrincado laberinto de signos ordenados casi casi al azar en que ahora entras. In Lorenzo Oliván, Único norte (Valencia: Pre-Textos, 1995) Commentary Just as in the previous poem by Oliván, metapoetry is one of the main themes in this composition: the text is once more presented as a physical space that readers and authors can enter. Literature is portrayed in this 106

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poem as a Pandora’s box or an overwhelming attraction that the reader, who is the addressee in the composition, cannot resist. The written word, depicted as a hellish dimension, holds the key to new realities and truths, and once the reader becomes immersed in it there is no possible way out; they become enslaved to its forces. The metapoetic theme of the poem can also be interpreted as escapism or a search for new realities at the turn of the millennium. Lines 1–7: The poetic voice initiates the composition addressing the reader, apostrophised in line 1. It also presents the poem, which the reader is precisely reading at that moment, as a labyrinthine creation with an element of chance. With a tone that could almost be classed as patronising, the poetic voice chastises the reader for approaching the text, explaining that it would have been better to have kept one’s distance from the written word (lines 4 to 7). In these lines the white margins of the page are seen as the frontiers that divide the world of literature from the reader’s reality, acting as a defensive wall for them. Now that the reader has trespassed such frontiers and entered the spatial world of the poem – note the verb entrar in line 3 – literature will overtake everything else. Lines 8–15: The enjambments in lines 8, 9 and 10 highlight the condemning tone of the poetic voice’s reprimand regarding the reasons the reader had for approaching the poem. The poetic voice names thirst for knowledge, romantic ennui or pure curiosity as possible causes to account for where the reader is at the moment: exactly at the centre of a diabolic place, which is none other than the poem itself. This central point coincides in terms of form with the middle of the poem, highlighting its metapoetic element, whilst the following lines (lines 12 to 15) mark the point of no return. The vicious circle that una vez y otra / vez evokes, as well as the repetition of volverás in lines 13 and 15, strongly emphasise the never-ending, overwhelming attraction that literature has for the reader. The inescapability of the written word can also be seen here as a sort of refuge or escape for the reader, not only as something negative. Lines 16–23: The final lines of the poem draw attention to the pull that literature exerts on the reader and the unintentional gravitation of the latter towards it (irremisiblemente, sin saberlo). The epanalepsis formed by the poco a poco (line 17), also express the perplexity of what poetry really is and its paradoxical nature, something that not even the poetic voice seems capable of elucidating, despite this very nature being the theme of the composition. 107

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LEOPOLDO ALAS El extraño que vino de lejos

No sé cómo aprendimos a querernos, qué hubo en vosotros de mí, qué nos dimos. Corre la vida y estáis al pie de otros edificios, zarandeados, llevados, retenidos en la trama. Pero decidme si habéis elegido, si queríais estar donde estáis y en qué modo se ovilla y desovilla el hilo que nos guía y que nos ata. No sé por qué no compartimos las mismas habitaciones ni comemos en los mismos restaurantes. Por qué os reproducís. De qué sirven los destellos que se apagan, las lunas negras, los días sin huella. Padres que fueron hijos, hijos que se hacen padres y niñas que se quedan de pronto embarazadas. Entenderlo, verlo todo de fuera. Pero también entrar, acercarse a las chimeneas de vuestros salones como el extraño que vino de lejos y os cuenta cuentos, os gasta bromas, os dice versos, baila con vosotros, enseña a jugar a vuestros hijos. De este modo fuisteis construyendo la historia que jamás fue nuestra historia. Y la misma cadena que une vuestros destinos, a nosotros nos libera: para contaros cómo fue vuestro tiempo, qué costumbres teníais, cómo intentabais amaros, 108

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qué aficiones os ocuparon, qué dudas os asaltaban, qué palabras os confortaron, qué silencios os preocupaban. La historia de vuestra historia para alumbrar vuestras sombras y arrancar vuestras mentiras. Cómo fue vuestro tiempo de soledad en compañía pues de vivirlo tanto, jamás lo comprendisteis. In Leopoldo Alas, La posesión del miedo (Valencia: Pre-Textos, 1996) About the author Leopoldo Alas was born in Arnedo, in the Rioja, in 1962; he died in Madrid in 2008. A descendant of Leopoldo Alas ‘Clarín’, author of the classic novel La Regenta, Alas published poetry, short stories, novels, plays and essays. He was a regular contributor to literary magazines and newspapers, paying special attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups and campaigning for their rights in contemporary Spain. Alas also led a weekly programme on Radio 5 (Spanish National Radio) and founded the poetry collection Ocnos Alas (Editorial Dilema). Some of his most notable poetry works are: Los palcos (1988); La condición y el tiempo (1992); La posesión del miedo (1996); El triunfo del vacío (2004); Concierto del desorden (2007); and posthumously, the collection Nostalgia de siglos. Con estas mismas distancias (2011). His short stories include África entera tocando el tam tam (1981) and Descuentos (1986). Some of his most highly acclaimed novels are: El extraño caso de Gaspar Ganijosa (2001) and A través de un espejo oscuro (2005). De la acera de enfrente (1994); Hablar desde el trapecio (1995); and Los amores periféricos (1997) are some of his more notable essays. Commentary During his life, Leopoldo Alas relentlessly campaigned for LGBT rights, and his poetry was well known amongst homosexual Spanish readers. ‘El extraño que vino de lejos’ is a perfect example of Alas’ work, which solidly engaged with LGBT groups and the social problems they faced. It is also an illustration of the abundant civically engaged poetry at the turn of the millennium in Spain. In this composition, Alas questions how 109

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homosexual and heterosexual groups relate to each other, underlining an overwhelming lack of understanding within the two groups towards each other. The extraño alluded to in the poem is the homosexual poetic voice, and it can be interpreted as the stranger or the strange one who came from afar. However the reader chooses to understand this character, it is obvious that its sexuality sets it apart, which is emphasised by the distant place from where it comes. The poem combines past and present tenses, which linked to history as a theme might be seen as suggesting the end of a particular account and the beginning of a new one. The composition makes use of a verisimilar language and tone, which aid its committed purpose. Lines 1–8: The first stanza presents a nosotros and a vosotros whose histories, lives and even attitudes will be discussed throughout the poem. These two groups seem to occupy completely different spheres (lines 3 and 4), but their paths remain tied to each other (en qué modo se ovilla y desovilla / el hilo que nos guía y que nos ata). There is an obvious affection between the nosotros and the vosotros, clearly stated from line 1 (aprendimos a querernos). In addition, the use of past and present tenses in the stanza underlines the timeline the two groups share as well as their long-standing interaction. As the reader will gather later on, the ‘we’ (from which the poetic voice is speaking) and the ‘you’ correspond to homosexual and heterosexual groups, respectively. Lines 9–22: The following two stanzas, both in the present tense, broaden the idea of the two groups inhabiting different spheres, be those social or spatial. Lines 9 and 10 draw attention to separate physical spaces in particular, effectively building borders between them. The incremental repetitions in lines 1 and 10 emphasise the lack of understanding the poem strives to solve (No sé cómo or No sé por qué), as does the ellipsis in line 11, increasing the pace and rhythm of the questions. The third stanza traces how the vosotros’ history was built and why the nosotros do not relate to it, despite it being presented as the universal one. Furthermore, the vosotros are portrayed here as subject to a particular trajectory, unable or unwilling to stand up on their own. Lines 14 and 15 focus on the heterosexuals’ reproductive system and its thoughtless repetitions and cycles, its criticism obvious in the reference to mothers as very young girls (niñas). Once again the different spaces inhabited are manifested through the references to the extraño looking in from the outside (line 16) and then entering the other space and interacting with the vosotros (lines 17 to 22). The reader 110

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seems to be trapped in the middle, observing from a distance that may allow them to form opinions on the matter and engage with the issue. Lines 23–36: The final stanza makes use of the past tense seen in the first few lines to refer back to history, a history that does not represent both groups and is disregarded by the nosotros. The links that trace the vosotros’ history are depicted here as heavy chains or shackles (line 25), whose weight is presented as a burden rather than a positive bond. Such restraints are in fact employed by homosexuals to analyse heterosexuals’ history and trace their mistakes, shedding light on what they covered up in the past (lines 27 to 34). The last two lines of the composition imbue such history with a sudden sad tone emphasised by the soledad en compañía the vosotros experienced. This reveals a lack of understanding as well as ignorance towards the other group, but remarkably also towards their own history. The civic engagement of the composition is obvious in the awareness it strives to raise with regard to homophobia and social unawareness in general. History is presented as something subjective and not universally valid, with the different verb tenses giving hope to a potential new history, or a rewriting of it.

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Espectros de una vida que se agota

¿A qué viene esconderse los espectros? Entonces no era así. Íbamos juntas las almas en busca de cuerpos porque en uno solo no cabía la conciencia. Qué arteras artimañas usamos por no vernos, qué orgullo solitario en nuestras cuevas adornadas con estampas del deseo. Hablaron de un camino que lleva a la derrota. También de una cascada que da la bienvenida y de una comunión de sombras exaltadas. Sabemos ya que el tacto nos daba la medida de nuestra pretensión, pero el recuerdo borra la intensidad vital, el sol, la llamarada. Espectros de una vida que se agota, hemos llegado hasta aquí. Vamos juntas las almas al olor de los cuerpos, que en esa confusión estaba la respuesta. Por absurdo que parezca el desafío, habrá felicidad en el rencuentro. Cuando hagan la señal, salgamos de las cuevas. In Leopoldo Alas, El triunfo del vacío (Madrid: Dilema, 2004) Commentary ‘Espectros de una vida que se agota’ is another socially engaged poem, this time about the need to remain true to oneself and who or what one is. The composition, drawing quite heavily on semantic fields relating to darkness (such as espectros, cuevas or sombras) and elements that are fading away (such as el recuerdo borra or una vida que se agota), emphasises the 112

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desolate aspect of a half-lived existence due to the character hiding away. Nevertheless, it also portrays the determination of this character to reveal itself and provide light and hope. The poem can be understood as an intimate and frank confession, the revelation of one’s true identity and an optimistic pronouncement: something beautiful can finally emerge from the darkness. The poem can also be interpreted as being in praise of homosexuality and as an encouragement to come out, an apt example of the socially committed poetry at the end of the twentieth century. Lines 1–7: The rhetorical question that opens the composition is directed to the poetic voice itself, as indicated by the reflexive verb esconderse, and queries an identity from the very beginning. Line 2 takes the reader to the past, to a time when the poetic voice, speaking from the first-person plural point of view, did not have to hide its identity or form (its wraiths) and was just seen as a soul in search of bodies. In these lines, the choice of alma and conciencia accentuates the apparent existence of opposition between these pure entities and the negative connotations of espectros, the search for bodies and the use of cunning tricks, which work almost as antithesis. Lines 5 and 6 further emphasise the denial of an identity (no vernos) and the isolation such refutation implied. Lines 8–13: The middle stanza portrays existential doubts depicted through metaphors and the use of an impersonal third person to refer to possible reactions against one’s identity. In this stanza, and through beautiful and dramatic images, la derrota acts as a metaphor for rejection or repudiation; the cascada que da la bienvenida as a metaphor for acceptance; and the comunión de sombras exaltadas as a metaphor for a society that embraces all its members. Lines 11 to 13 present a blurry and somewhat untrustworthy memory of pleasant experiences whilst in search of a true identity, giving an unreal impression of the past. Lines 14–20: The final stanza intends to draw a line underneath all this and finally stand up for one’s identity. Line 16 echoes line 3 in an incremental repetition that once again presents souls, wraiths and bodies as part of the distinct entity that is explained in the following line. This line, significantly, seems to provide an actual answer to the rhetorical question that initiated the composition: the fear of showing one’s true nature forced the poetic voice to hide a part of itself from the world. The poem ends on a high note, determined to reconcile one’s just found, or finally acknowledged, identity with the rest of the world and demonstrate that 113

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there is beauty to be found in the unexpected. There is nothing to hide now, and the only thing left to do is to wait for the right time to fully reveal oneself. The whole poem, and in particular the final line – encouraging a first-person plural to come out of their caves – can obviously be read as a composition with strong civic commitment, urging homosexuals to come out and highlighting the need for acceptance in society.

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ADA SALAS No limpian las palabras

No limpian las palabras. Alumbran una isla en el lugar del miedo y extienden una rama al paso de los pájaros. Acogen cuanto nace del hambre de las cosas y mueren en silencio. Pero su amor no limpia. Como no limpia el llanto el rastro de estar vivos. In Ada Salas, La sed (Madrid: Hiperión, 1997) About the author Ada Salas was born in Cáceres in 1965. Her poetry has enjoyed excellent critical acclaim and has been awarded prizes such as the ‘Premio Juan Manuel Rozas’ (1988), the ‘Premio Hiperión’ (1997) and the ‘Premio Ciudad de Córdoba “Ricardo Molina”’ (2007). Some of her most notable poetry publications are: Arte y memoria del inocente (1988); Variaciones en blanco (1994); La sed (1997); Lugar de la derrota (2003); and Esto no es el silencio (2008). She has also published a collection of poems, No duerme el animal. Poesía 1987–2003 (2009) and essays on poetry such as Alguien aquí. Notas acerca de la escritura poética (2007) and El margen, el error, la tachadura (De la metáfora y otros asuntos más o menos poéticos) (2011). Her poetry has also been included in numerous anthologies. Commentary ‘No limpian las palabras’ is a short composition that perfectly exemplifies Salas’ poetic style. Despite its brevity, the nine-line poem conveys relevant 115

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reflections on existential matters and the capability or incapability of poetry to express what seems in fact to be inexpressible: the unknown. The composition relies on the overall effect of the poem – with its desolate tone, silences and lines broken up by enjambments – to achieve such a goal. ‘No limpian las palabras’ reads as an enigmatic monologue that portrays key existential doubts and ends on a despondent and forlorn note, a very prevalent trait in Spanish poetry at the end of the twentieth century. Lines 1–6: The poem starts with a forceful line regarding the inability of words to cleanse. This line, however, does not specify what it is that words cannot clean, which captures the reader’s attention and interest for what will follow. The following five lines present words as elements that can illuminate darkness and that make an effort to offer reason. The isla en el lugar del miedo, which is a metaphor for the unknown that effectively conveys existential doubts, coupled with the references to branches for the pájaros, a metaphor for thoughts, seem to offer some hope for words and literature. Literature is seen at this point as a guiding light and a protected resting place. Nevertheless, the negative elements that appear in lines 5 and 6 linked to words (hambre or mueren) strongly erase any optimism with regard to their powers. Lines 7–9: The strong statement in line 7 puts an end to all confidence in the potential of words, regardless of their good will and the poetic voice’s desire to employ them. The last two lines of the poem underline the despair felt by the poetic voice and merge the anxiety about words with more obvious existential matters and doubts, drawing on a nihilistic attitude very much prevalent in Spanish contemporary poetry. The only hope that remains is that of the reader: the reader will understand the poetic voice’s anxiety through his or her reading and the inexpressible will in fact become expressible; the unknown possibly known. The interpretation of the poem is thus the only remedy.

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Tiendo mi cuerpo aquí

Tiendo mi cuerpo aquí. Hay algo dulce en él para el hambriento. Hundidle vuestras manos. Comedlo como carne o como agua. Comed hasta que yo desaparezca. In Ada Salas, Lugar de la derrota (Madrid: Hiperión, 2003) Commentary Another very concise and succinct poem by Salas, ‘Tiendo mi cuerpo aquí’ combines the metapoetic theme with an exploration of the physicality of the written text. The composition, consisting of eight lines divided into three stanzas, addresses the reader and encourages them to consume poetry, which is portrayed as an entity able to provide a respite both for the reader and the poetic voice at the turn of the new millennium. The various full stops in the poem interrupt the reading process and give strength to the statements uttered by the poetic voice, whilst the enjambments prolong the expectation of what will follow. The composition achieves an excellent balance between the written word and the silent and rhythmic spaces in the lines. Lines 1–3: The physicality of the written text is set out from the very beginning of the composition, when the poetic voice offers up its body to the reader and to the space on the page (the aquí, line 1). Thus, the poem seems to mark the transformation of the poetic voice’s body into the textual body the reader is approaching. Words become here the 117

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poetic voice’s body, and such physicality is seen as a tempting sustenance, exemplified in the enjambment in lines 2 and 3. Lines 4–8: The poetic voice encourages the reader to approach the text in a very tangible and concrete way, laying a hand on it (line 4). This equates reading or seeing with touching, and presents the actions in a striking synaesthesia. In the following lines the reader is encouraged to consume the textual body, to finish it as if it were water or food, highlighting it once again as a source of nourishment. The reader is urged to consume the text so that the poetic voice and the meaning of the textual body disappear, finally assimilated by the reader. This will provide respite and sustenance not just for the reader but also for the poetic voice itself. The poem explores here the physical, intellectual and beneficial limits of the poem, giving literature a tangible textual body.

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ANA MERINO Las cosas verdaderas

En cada tarde de dibujos animados preparan sus hechizos las cosas verdaderas y nos secuestran los ojos anunciando sus juguetes. A mí me gustaba el invierno porque se llenaban de luces los escaparates y creía en los reyes fabricando regalos en la parte de atrás del universo. Pero las cosas verdaderas no siempre se imaginan con esa claridad de la niñez. Cuando crecemos descubrimos los secretos en líneas de los televisores que emiten un sombrío dolor en las imágenes de un mundo abandonado de cosas verdaderas. In Ana Merino, Los días gemelos (Madrid: Visor, 1997) About the author Ana Merino was born in Madrid in 1971. She works as a lecturer in Hispanic Studies at the University of Iowa, in the USA. She has published poetry, narrative and critical studies on comics. Her poetry has received awards such as the ‘Premio Adonáis’ (1995) and the ‘Premio Fray Luis de León’ (2003). Some of her more notable poetry publications are: Preparativos para un viaje (1995); Los días gemelos (1997); La voz de los relojes (2000); Juegos de niños (2003); Compañera de celda (2006); Curación (2010); and the poetry book for children Hagamos caso al tigre (2010). Her poetry has been included in numerous anthologies. 119

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Commentary ‘Las cosas verdaderas’ is a deceptively simple poem about growing up and becoming aware of different or previously unknown realities. In the poem, the poetic voice presents a child’s perspective on life (portrayed through naïve cartoons, toys and the Three Wise Men) before adulthood intercepts its existence and provides a new, and bleak, standpoint from which to observe reality. The passage from childhood to adulthood marks the entrance into the composition of a social and civic engagement, key to Merino’s poetry. The contrast between the naïve elements mentioned in the poem and the forlorn tone and aspects of the last stanza highlights the social aspect of it, something prevalent in the poetry of the new millennium. Visual culture is particularly important in this composition and in the way reality is conveyed to the reader, as seen through the references to cartoons, commercials and television images. The title of the poem, ‘Las cosas verdaderas’, allows the reader to reflect on reality and question what such cosas verdaderas really are. Lines 1–8: The composition starts with references to childhood (dibujos animados, juguetes) and a direct questioning of the cosas verdaderas (line 2), which have the power to cast a spell on us. The cosas verdaderas, which the reader can interpret as the world of cartoons and toy advertisements through which children make sense of the world, draw attention to the prevalent visual element of this stanza (nos secuestran los ojos). The naïve tone of the composition is supported by the understanding that images equate to reality in these lines. The second stanza, now in the past tense since it is re-creating the poetic voice’s own childhood, continues with the innocent staging of a child’s point of view on life. The childish joy at Christmas, with the thrill that the Christmas lights and the Wise Men convey, reinforce the idea of an innocent perception and discernment of reality – a very positive one – as does the mention of alternative spaces in one’s universe (line 8). Lines 9–16: The third and the final stanza, with the leap to maturity in line 12, mark the passage of time and the irruption of adulthood. It is at this point when new realities are discovered (descubrimos / los secretos), and once again they correspond to images. This time, however, the images that convey reality and truth are not cartoons or advertisements but what the reader can interpret as televised news reports. These depict a desolate and miserable reality filled with un sombrío dolor, pain that emanates 120

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from the television as almost a deaf sound. The sombrío dolor also seems to refer to something distant and foreign that might inhabit another parallel reality (un mundo abandonado). The vocabulary employed in this final stanza, particularly the negative adjectives, highly contrasts with the innocent positivism of the first two stanzas. Line 16 echoes the title of the poem and questions the true nature of the cosas verdaderas once more. Thus, the poem becomes not a praising of childhood and what it means, but the enquiry of one’s understanding of the truth: the poetic voice urges the reader to observe what is happening around them and take action to prevent suffering. What people observe on their television screens is not a fiction but a reality, las cosas verdaderas, that demands our attention.

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Piedra, papel, tijera

Piedra fría, rincón silencioso junto al regazo de los muertos. Papel para escribir unas breves líneas, la despedida apresurada del viajero. Tijera para cortarle la lengua al mar cuando suspira. Tijera para cortar los sueños de los ahogados. Papel para escribir sus nombres. Estrecho de piedra, barquito de papel arrecifes de tijera. Un poema triste para los que se quedaron sin aire en las orillas. Lágrimas de piedra pateras de papel y la boca del mar con dientes de tijera. In Ana Merino, Compañera de celda (Madrid: Visor, 2006) 122

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Commentary ‘Piedra, papel, tijera’ is an apparently playful and carefree poem that nonetheless demonstrates a solid social commitment. The composition is a harsh social critique centred on a recurrent tragedy in contemporary Spain: that of immigrants losing their lives attempting to cross from the African coast to Spain on dinghies. The representation of such calamity – in 2012 more that 30 immigrants died during the 14–kilometre crossing, and more than 3,000 were detained upon their arrival in Spain – is depicted in the poem through the ‘Rock-paper-scissors’ hand game, each short stanza replicating the gestures of the game. What starts as a lighthearted and almost childish composition quickly vanishes, leaving in its stead a distressing depiction of death, suffering, solitude, defeat and desperation. This turns the game into a fatal depiction of fate and chance against human lives. ‘Piedra, papel, tijera’, divided into eight brief stanzas, is an excellent example of the strong commitment to social aspects prevalent in the Spanish poetry of the period. Lines 1–17: The first five stanzas of the poem represent the outstretching of the hand in various gestures during the ‘Rock-paper-scissors’ game, each of them linked to the social issue the poem is criticising. The first stanza portrays ‘Rock’ in negative terms, highlighting its coldness and silence, and introduces the dead for the first time, although the reader does not know who these dead are (line 4). The four following stanzas introduce the figure of the traveller (whom the reader will later on interpret as the immigrants), the sea and the anonymous drowned people. Again, the negative connotations of the various elements mentioned, such as a hurried message (lines 7 and 8), the personification of the sea as a figure that breathes (line 11) or the objectification of dreams as objects that can be cut or sliced (line 14), lend a macabre tone to the carefree game. The parallel structures in these stanzas offer a lilting tone to the poem that emphasises the ghoulish quality of the hand game and its element of chance, effectively transferring it to the issue being discussed in the composition. Lines 18–27: Lines 18 to 20 mark a break in the rhythmic structure of the poem and the game and indicate some of the keys for the interpretation of the poem, its symbols and the social issue at its core: the strait (rock) refers to the Straits of Gibraltar that many of the immigrants attempt to cross; the tiny boats (paper) are the pitiful dinghies used for the crossing; 123

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and the reefs (scissors) are what put an end to the journey and the lives of the people trying to reach Spain. These lines also provide a picture of real life entering a seemingly good-humoured game. The following stanza reveals to whom the poem is dedicated and employs a euphemism to refer to the drowned immigrants (los que se quedaron sin aire). The final lines, reproducing the symbols of the antepenultimate stanza, bring the poem to a distressing close, finally giving the dinghies their most common and well-known name, pateras. The representation of this recurring tragedy, and the lack of a powerful public response against it, is presented in these verses as a critique, and example, of the feeble and deteriorating ideologies or principles of twenty-first-century society.

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ÁNGEL PANIAGUA Palinodia del miedo y sus figuras

La frustración y el miedo nos impulsan. Entendemos la vida o, cuando menos, creemos entenderla y, sin embargo, la frustración y el miedo siempre acaban guiando nuestros pasos, imponiendo enseñanzas que nutren de afectos traicionados y de trampas del destino, que empañan cuanto amamos. A mi lado una anciana se santigua al pasar junto a una imagen de la Virgen, pensando que ese gesto la librará mañana o esta tarde de alguna de esas trampas –algún coche sin líquido de frenos, una cáscara caída en el asfalto– y no sabe que la imagen no habrá de intervenir. Yo mismo, que podría aún correr si un semáforo cambia de color mientras cruzo la calle, siento algo al mirarla, como un escalofrío, como un temor antiguo, y me entristece, pero siempre es así: a cada paso la nostalgia de un dios en que apoyarnos de pronto nos invade. Es terrible pensar que somos dueños de todos nuestros actos, y una simple maceta desprendida de un balcón al azar de nuestro paso sería suficiente para agotar de pronto el plazo absurdo. 125

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In Ángel Paniagua, El legado de Hamlet (Seville: Renacimiento, 2003) About the author Ángel Paniagua was born in Plasencia in 1965. His poetry has enjoyed critical acclaim and has received awards such as the ‘Premio Murcia Joven de Poesía’ (1989), the ‘Premio Antonio Oliver Belmás’ (2004) and the ‘Premio Villa de Cox’ (2005). He is a regular contributor to poetry magazines and journals, and he also writes reviews on cinema and art. He has translated Catalan poetry into Spanish. Some of his more notable poetry publications are: En las nubes del Alba (1990); Treinta poemas (1997); Bienvenida la noche (2003); El legado de Hamlet (2003); Una canción extranjera (2004); and Gaviotas desde el ‘Ariel’ (2005). Commentary Paniagua’s composition is a palinode (a poem in which the poet retracts a previous statement or view) about human fear of death. The poem shares its title with the second and central part of the book, which highlights the importance of fear, but also of doubts and of insecurities, in El legado de Hamlet as a whole. Following the aesthetics of poesía de la experiencia – the dominant aesthetic in Spain during the 1990s – but certainly breaking away from its literary controversies, the poem combines the use of intelligible and plain language with a conversational tone to refer to an ordinary event and the transcendental topic that arises from it: the poetic voice observes how an old woman crosses herself in front of a religious image. Such an act then sets in motion a reflection on the consequences of fear and how human beings respond to it. The poem, divided into four stanzas consisting of eleven- and seven-syllable lines, presents a modern yet emotional description of fear in the face of death, and how humans turn to religion for support and consolation even at the turn of the new millennium. Lines 1–8: Frustrations and fear are personified in the first line of the poem and portrayed as having the ability to drive people’s lives. Despite how much the poetic voice tries to reason and argue against them, such forces always prevail and direct people’s existence (lines 4 and 5), enslaving human beings to them. The poetic voice speaks in this first stanza from a first-person plural’s point of view, which ensures that the reader 126

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can easily empathise with it and identify with the existential issue being discussed. This poetic voice perfectly embodies the prototypical Shakespearean character mentioned in the title of Paniagua’s book – Hamlet, who felt relentlessly overwhelmed by existential questions – and effectively underlines the theme of fear and doubt. The first stanza also serves to set the tone for the poem as a whole, and the negative connotations attached to terms such as frustración, miedo, afectos traicionados or trampas assist in the creation of a tarnished atmosphere or existence, just as the verb empañar indicates. Lines 9–16: The second stanza introduces the event that gave rise to the poem and that acts as a narrative thread in the poem: the poetic voice, now speaking in the first-person singular, witnesses an old lady crossing herself in front of a figure of the Virgin (lines 9 to 11). This act leads the poetic voice to reflect on why the elderly woman makes such a gesture and the futility of it against saving her from death, listing some of the traps destiny might have in store for her – such as a car with malfunctioning brakes that can run her over, or a nutshell on the road that can make her fall. Although death is not clearly mentioned in these lines, the reference to the different misfortunes successfully presents them as an end to a life. Interestingly, the character the poetic voice is referring to and the image of the Virgin seem to trade places in this stanza, something that will prevail in the poem: the image of the Virgin, which should offer comfort, slowly fades into the background and makes way for a new figure that will represent death and the inevitable end, that of the elderly woman. This figure, the reader will realise now, is the one alluded to in the title of the composition, and can also be interpreted as the personification or materialisation of fear, one whose presence will preoccupy the poetic voice until the end of the composition. Lines 17–30: The old age of the female figure is opposed to the youth of the poetic voice in the third stanza, revealed in the fact that the latter is still able to run if traffic lights change (lines 17–19). Such a contrast, though, does not offer reassurance or erase the unnerving feeling provoked by the sign of the cross, and the poetic voice is assailed by shivers and fears (lines 20 and 21). The fear of death, personified in the form of the old lady, is seen as almost haunting the poetic voice. For the first part of this stanza, the poetic voice relies on the first-person singular and reverts back to the first person plural from line 23 onwards, when such fears are identified as the reasons why human beings seek comfort in religion. The nosotros, 127

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from which the poetic voice speaks, raises the issue to a universal concern. The final stanza in the composition summarises the tragedy of human existence: regardless of what human beings believe, a simple incident such as that of a plant pot falling from a balcony might end a person’s existence (lines 25 to 26). Significantly, existence is portrayed here as an absurd window of time (plazo absurdo), underlining its limited duration, its meaningless nature and the element of chance that it involves. The forlorn and nihilistic tone with which the poetic voice draws the composition to a close accentuates the despondency felt by the poetic voice against death, or the fear of it.

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Brideshead Revisited

He llegado a los treinta, ya no caben excusas. La magia de esta edad ha rescatado las diversas razones de mi vida: las que ahora son mías, las que aún no han llegado a mí, incluso sombras del último sentido, el que habrá de guiarme hasta la paz del instante terrible y esperado. Ahora tengo la exacta obligación de buscar las respuestas, que ya no son iguales; y me dicen que un día fui encontrado sin billete en el tren de la existencia y expulsado de él a la altura de un paraje extraño, entre el pasado y el futuro, que ahora ya es presente. Es ese sitio hacia el que he caminado desde entonces, y que nada me ofrece o significa, que no guarda ninguna relación con recuerdos pasados o emociones o imágenes de sueños. Ahora quiero volver hasta aquel punto en el que me arrojaron, desandar el camino de estos años, e iniciarlo con otra dirección que no sea ésta que me trajo hasta aquí, la que marcaban los raíles del tren. No tenía sentido andar siguiendo aquel convoy, ahora me doy cuenta. Volver atrás de nuevo, reiniciar el camino, eso quiero. 129

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In Ángel Paniagua, Bienvenida la noche (Murcia: Editorial Regional, 2003) Commentary ‘Brideshead Revisited’, a composition of mainly heptasyllabic and hendecasyllabic lines divided into four stanzas, deals with existential dilemmas such as choosing one’s own destiny, a recurrent theme in Spanish poetry at the turn of the millennium. Again reminiscent of poesía de la experiencia but adding a metaphysical edge to it, the poetic voice communicates its desires to change its existential path, the one it has been dictated to follow up until now, and choose its own destiny. As in the previous poem, this is done through the use of intelligible and verisimilar language that certainly makes it accessible to a wide readership, despite its metaphysical theme. The title of the poem is an intertextual reference to the English novel Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder (1945) by Evelyn Waugh. The novel focuses on an aristocratic Roman Catholic family, considered from the point of view of the narrator (a student who has befriended a member of the aforementioned family), and pays special attention to theological issues such as reconciliation. In Paniagua’s poem, a soliloquy, the poetic voice focuses on itself and provides a revision of the path it has abided by until now, which will finally be replaced by a new determination that will afford reconciliation to its existence. Lines 1–8: The poetic voice announces its age at the beginning of the composition (He llegado a los treinta) and the need to finally face reality (ya no caben excusas). Such age is invested and personified in the poem with the ability to elucidate and clarify its existence and what is important in it, be that in the past, in the present or even in the future (lines 3 to 8). The final two lines of the first stanza introduce the theme of death and seem to refer to it as an almost transcendent religious moment, as alluded to in the peace that the afterlife will offer. Lines 9–20: The second stanza refers back to the thirty years through the temporal adverb ahora. Such a stage in life is forcing the poetic voice (tengo la exacta obligación) to look for new answers, as the ones it has received until now are no longer valid. One’s existence is then depicted in the poem in a brilliant metaphorical image: the character found itself on a train (representing life) without a ticket and was thrown off into 130

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the present (lines 11 to 15). The involuntary nature of this existence is highlighted by the impersonal third person of those who tell the story and eject the character from the metaphorical train, but also by the reference to the lack of a ticket which implies the latter did not make any decision. The paraje extraño, a metaphor for the present and the age of 30, forces the poetic voice to question the trajectory it has followed (lines 16 to 20). Furthermore, this pushes it to rethink the parameters of existence, since what lies behind and in the future does not hold any interest for the character. It is worthy of note that this crucial spot that marks a new beginning in its existence (ese sitio, line 15), and represents the present moment, falls approximately at the centre of the poetic structure, just as the present sits between the past and the future. Lines 21–29: The repetition of the temporal adverb ahora also at the beginning of line 21 creates a cadence in the composition and confers a solid determination upon the poetic voice’s resolution. The character is determined to go back to the beginning and start a new course, changing course to avoid adhering to expectations and stipulated directions (lines 23 to 25). The references to the railway tracks can be interpreted as a metaphor for what society expects, something that does not bend or allow diversions and free will. The last stanza continues with a reference to a train or convoy the character was just trailing, and once again turns to ahora to highlight the crucial moment the character is facing: it is time to start from scratch and forge one’s own destiny.

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Young voices and new expressions

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ÓSCAR MARTÍN CENTENO Somos

      (Prestissimo) Somos un grito que se escapa del mundo, una palabra que ha olvidado el lenguaje, una pasión que abrió la puerta a todos los psiquiátricos. Somos los ansiolíticos que alimentan tu sopa, los antidepresivos que remontan tus venas cosiéndote a mordiscos todas las cicatrices. Somos el vuelco que te gira en el pecho, la caricia que te araña la espalda, el rojo escalofrío que recorre tu piel tatuándola de frases surrealistas. Somos la cafeína de los lunes y la primera copa de los viernes. Somos esa canción que te quema los ojos cuando pones la radio. Somos la rabia       que te come la sangre, y la furia infinita con que aprietas los dientes, y el dolor que te acaba curando las heridas. Y las noches de insomnio en que te azota el alma haber nacido, y el sudor congelado que te clava la angustia, y la pasión que desviste tu cuerpo, y el orgasmo voraz 135

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que te sabe mejor que conquistar el mundo. Y el golpe que te abre con su luna los ojos y el viejo abracadabra de la conciencia y el desnudo de toda realidad, y el primer sorbo de cerveza de tus trece años, que te sabía amargo y mareaba y te entregaba un sueño cosido con burbujas y canciones. Y somos el azote del mar sobre tu piel, y la sal en la herida, y el murmullo escondido que recita sus sílabas eternas en cada caracola. Y la llave de yudo que le rompe la espalda a la gramática, y la pintura que colgó sus pinceles para hacerse invisible, incomprensible, mágica y colocó retretes en salas de museo e instalaciones flotando en el Pacífico. Y también somos el trueno ardiente que rompe la sequía, y el rayo que te cae a medio metro y te hace gritar de puro pánico, mientras gimes y piensas que o no te quiere el diablo o es que falta algo por hacer antes de convertirte en otro filamento que estalla en las bombillas infinitas del mundo. Somos la anomalía que revienta el sistema, la ecuación que desgarra la lógica, el anarquista insomne que ha cruzado los cables de la central eléctrica, porque una noche quiso que callaran los focos, los ruidos, 136

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las lámparas, las luces y toda la ciudad –desnuda entre las sombras– mirara las estrellas. In Óscar Martín Centeno, Las cántigas del diablo (Piedrabuena: Piedra­­ buena, 2007) About the author Óscar Martín Centeno was born in Madrid in 1977. He is one of the most well-known multimedia poets in Spain at present, and he has written manuals and delivered papers at many universities in Spain and overseas on the topic of poetry within multimedia and new technologies. He has worked as a cultural promoter and has produced various cultural documentaries. His poetry has received multiple awards such as the ‘Premio Internacional Florentino Pérez-Embid’ (2006), the ‘Premio Nacional Nicolás del Hierro’ (2007), the ‘Premio Internacional Paul Beckett’ (2007) and the ‘Premio Internacional Antonio Gala’ (2010). His published collections of poetry include: Espejos enfrentados (2006); Las cántigas del Diablo (2007); Sucio tango del alma (2008); Circe (2011); and Las cántigas & Je suis le Diable (2012). This last work is a hybrid publication that combines a paper-format book with online content, since the reader who buys it is given a username and password that can be used online to access unpublished written, visual and audio material. Commentary ‘Somos’ can be read as a passionate poem about the search for an identity. Such a search becomes a common goal in the composition, one that includes the reader in the first-person plural mentioned in the title. With this, the reader becomes not only part of the quest but also part of the poem and its very conception. The first-person plural in its many forms becomes all that can be trapped within oneself, all that assaults the individual – fears, desires, experiences – and all that defines them. The accelerated rhythm of the composition, highlighted by the use of brief lines and numerous enjambments, but above all by the Prestissimo tempo-marking at the beginning of the poem – used in music to direct a piece to be played as fast as possible – increases the speed and sense 137

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of progression in the lines. The poem thus reads as a powerful hymn to identity and experience, highlighting its links to the fast-paced world the reader and the poetic voice inhabit. The structure of the poem, three stanzas with copious repetitions, is very successful in providing the text with the force and passion it is describing. The composition becomes even more commanding when performed live (there are plenty of recorded examples of these performances online), and it is not surprising that it has become one of the most acclaimed and requested poems in Martín Centeno’s live performances. Lines 1–21: The composition opens with an echo of the poem’s title and the reference to a shout, which instantly gives the first line and those that follow a passionate and almost violent character. The structural repetitions in lines 2 and 3, and then in line 4, produce a cyclic rhythm and emphasise the prevalent semantic field of the first seven lines of the poem: that of psychological health and reasoning. Passion, anxiolytics and antidepressants are all personified in the composition and presented as ruling forces, the strength and energy of which are replicated in the fast-paced rhythm of the lines and amplified by the asyndeton present. Lines 8 to 21 are dominated by sensual and passionate references – note the paradoxes in caricias and arañan la espalda, and in dolor and te acaba curando las heridas – that transform emotions into prevailing images for the reader. Again, passions and feelings such as rabia and dolor are personified, intensifying their effect on the identity being discussed. Lines 22–36: The second stanza starts with an ellipsis and the use of abundant polysyndeton, creating a significant contrast to the previous lines of the poem. The suppression of the verb somos, however, gives speed to the reading and accentuates the painful and pleasurable experiences rendered in the verses. Once again, the lines are packed with personifications that aid the construction of persuasive images such as the orgasm depicted in the lines and the re-creation of its pleasure (lines 26 to 28). The semantic field that takes over this stanza is that of anguished pleasure, pain and strong passions (for example te quema, rabia, te come la sangre, dolor, te azota, angustia, pasión or orgasmo). Lines 37–66: The final stanza regains the somos and also continues using polysyndeton. Lines 37 to 40 transform feelings into the image of a sea, with much vocabulary referring to it – sal, murmullo, caracola. Lines 41 to 47 employ art, mainly literature and painting, to refer to extreme emotion, 138

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whilst lines 48 to 56 use meteorological phenomena – trueno, sequía, rayo – to the same end. The adjectives employed in these lines give an anguished and almost desperate edge to the emotions portrayed, bringing the poem to what can be seen as an emotional climax. The reader is assaulted by a sensual and passionate succession of images. In this sequence, one image quickly follows another, allowing no time to fully process them, and thus highlights the overwhelming effect they have on one’s existence and sense of identity. The last ten lines of the poem shed the polysyndeton as well as the urge to build passionate images, concentrating instead on drawing attention to the unexpected, the uncommon and the exceptional. The poetic voice alludes to an insomniac anarchist who wants to bring a city to a standstill, shutting down the street lights and all sound to simply focus on the stars: this might very well be the poetic voice wanting the reader, and itself, to disregard the whirlwind of fervent emotions described and search for a true identity away from the maelstrom. The silence that these last lines reveal echoes strongly for the reader, even after the fast-paced poem has come to an end, and urges them to reflect on their identity and existence.

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Partida de billar

Brillan igual que espejos las bolas sobre el llanto de la tela, y se esconden y gimen dentro de los oscuros agujeros, como si fueran voces de una vida que estrella sus latidos contra el verde incendiado del tapete. Quiero que esto se acabe, y sin embargo mataría por ver cómo empieza de nuevo; por eso dejo que me abrase el humo, mientras el ruido asciende hasta la espina helada que clavaste en mis ojos, y en esta mesa triste rueda otra vez el rito de la historia. Bajo el llanto dolido de Discépolo tartamudean luces fluorescentes, y yo tiro al billar en el tango invisible de tú y yo mordiéndonos el alma. Qué música podría condensar la tristeza a la vez que el deseo, qué canciones llevarían al pecho este dolor que pasa de puntillas sobre el calor helado de tantas noches juntos. Los labios son racimos de una rueda salada. Y estos dedos intentan desnudarte en la memoria, y esta sangre se mezcla en el calor de medianoche con la cerveza amarga de la desolación. 140

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Porque fuiste el principio y el final, la alegría y el llanto, la caricia que tiembla y el arañazo eterno que maldita la suerte si algún día llega a cicatrizar. Todo lo que intentamos mientras éramos ángeles: la vida sobre el funambulismo de querernos en un hilo de llanto, las mañanas que cosían pedazos de mi cuerpo a la luz de resacas incontables, las pastillas tatuadas al insomnio, y el aire vuelto azufre en la maraña azul de los pulmones. Amarte fue difícil como hacer un milagro, y sin embargo creo que a pesar del dolor de cada golpe jamás dejamos de intentar el baile. Con palabras, con gestos, en la lluvia de la lujuria ardiente, en el cariño salpicado de lágrimas. Te quise y nadie va a quitarme el amor que te di. Las quemaduras dentro del corazón, la alegría, la rabia y el saber que imposible es sólo aquello que una noche te cansas de intentar. El resto ya no importa porque puede explicarse con palabras. In Óscar Martín Centeno, Sucio tango del alma (Almería: Fundación Valparaíso, 2008)

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Commentary ‘Partida de billar’ is an intimate and desolate love poem that strives to accept the overwhelming sadness of a relationship that is over. The poem successfully re-creates the scene in which the poetic voice tries to come to terms with a romantic break-up: before the love story and its end is presented, the reader is introduced to the poetic voice’s current surroundings, that of a bar and people around it, liquor, smoke and the sound of tango music in the background. The memories of the love story then slowly unfold, just as the musical notes do, and convey the pain the poetic voice feels. The poetic voice seems to act as a character in the poem, who expresses its feelings and memories in a sort of soliloquy on which the reader is eavesdropping. The forlorn and intimate tone of the poem is mirrored in the tango the poetic voice is listening to, an aspect that is very successfully represented in Martín Centeno’s live performances. The echoes of this tango reverberate throughout the composition, also offering a link to the book as a whole, Sucio tango del alma. The intimate tone of the composition is a perfect example of some of the most recent poetry being written in Spain and what constitutes one of its main traits. Lines 1–18: The first stanza introduces the scene and the atmosphere in which the poetic voice will remember the failed love story. The game of pool in which the poetic voice is currently engaged replicates the feelings the character is experiencing: the balls recurrently clash, cry and hide away in dark corners. Words and verbs such as llanto, oscuro or gimen emphasise the poetic voice’s sadness and sorrow, effectively conveying an appropriate atmosphere for the feelings the poem will re-create. The second stanza eases the way into the love story, acting as a bridge between the atmospheric scene and the memories of the relationship. In this stanza the motions of the balls rolling on the pool table and the sound of the tango (the llanto dolido de Discépolo is a reference to Enrique Santos Discépolo, a well-known and highly acclaimed Argentinian musician of the first half of the twentieth century) give way to the memories. The overwhelming and painful recollections are evident in the use of terminology such as abrase, espina or clavaste, and they are also fully emphasised in lines 17 and 18 through the image of the lovers hurting each other in a dance, another reference to the tango. In fact, the game of pool, the tango and the memories blend and metamorphose until they become only one emotion and action. 142

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Lines 19–34: The third stanza intends to describe sadness and pain through music and songs, continuing the metamorphosis of the previous lines. Devices such as the oxymoron in line 23 (calor helado), the antithesis in line 31 (alegría y llanto) or personifications such as that of the caress (line 31) help to present the memories as raw and ever-present emotions, almost as embodied beings (line 26). Lines 35–57: The following three stanzas comprise a soliloquy within the composition. In these lines the poetic voice reminisces the extreme emotions and passions, as well as the difficulties, that the romantic relationship entailed. Throughout these stanzas the poetic voice does not really address any listener, other than the absent person it so desperately loves, and seems to focus on its pain and grief: note the mentions of llanto, dolor, golpe, lágrimas and quemaduras. The intricacies of love and the intense emotions it arouses (in lines 44 and 45 the act of loving is equated to performing miracles) become the central idea in these verses, still presenting love as a dance (line 48). Lines 58–59: The final two lines of the composition seem to suddenly end the soliloquy, stirring the poetic voice from its reverie and bringing it back to the scene of the first stanzas. The abrupt change of tone infuses the poetic voice and the feelings illustrated in the poem with an even stronger and more fervent desperation.

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CARLOS PARDO Un dos piezas

Al final del poema estaré yo. Me reconoceré por la misma tos seca que da ritmo a los cambios y por una sonrisa diluida en pudor criminal. Autorretrato: la excusa por la voz venida a menos, moral de desayuno y hermetismo sin centro. La sorpresa no la provoca el interior partido, sino lazos de humo como arterias del ánimo, líneas voluntariosas como olas en racha: ponen a régimen la historia del carácter, tensan las decisiones, dan al azar grisura de amigos con pareja. Una mañana me dejó a orillas del hogar —no en uno de esos despertares que abren un día falso, paralelo y desmenuzan la memoria, sino en la merecida realidad de tres años después, con gente más estúpida, vapor, muebles sin gusto, laxitud, tacto dominical algo forzado— y yo pasé de incógnito ante lo repentino de las huellas y di a la confianza camuflaje de asombro. ¡Arrópame, dolor, carne despierta, 144

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no me abandones en la sequedad ni en una tristeza de patio interior! El ombligo no nutre, más bien da separación: abajo bien dotado para la elegía; arriba, las pestañas, escobas desdentadas, barren casquillos. Biografía: pretexto para los funerales del destino. Una suma de fugas. Esperar que alguien vuelva. Y al esperar no sabes quién se aleja. In Carlos Pardo, Desvelo sin paisaje (Valencia: Pre-Textos, 2002) About the author Carlos Pardo was born in Madrid in 1975. He is a poet, literary critic and cultural promoter. He is also the director of the poetry magazine Anónima. His poetry, which has been included in many anthologies, has been awarded prizes such as the ‘Premio Emilio Prados’ (2001) and the ‘Premio de Poesía Generación del 27’ (2006). He has published three books of poetry: El invernadero (1995); Desvelo sin paisaje (2002); and Echado a perder (2007). He has also published a novel, Vida de Pablo (2011), and various essays and short stories. Commentary Carlos Pardo’s ‘Un dos piezas’ explores the theme of identity – highly popular amongst the most recent poets in Spain – through a graphic and metapoetic quest in the composition. The fragmented identity that the poem exhibits from the very title reappears throughout the stanzas (without any particular order), creating a desolate and grim tone in the composition. This is highlighted by the use of vocabulary referring to blurriness, darkness or the unfamiliar (diluida, humo, grisura, incógnito, camuflaje). Such fragmentation is also depicted in the structure of the 145

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poem, six stanzas of very different lengths, successfully linking form with content and adding to the metapoetic element of the composition. Lines 1–15: The opening line is a direct reference to the poetic voice’s identity and presence, which the reader is warned will make an appearance at the end of the composition. The complete alienation the poetic voice is feeling towards its identity and the need to find a way to distinguish itself become obvious in the second line. A dry cough will provide the distinctive trait (as will a diluted or fading smile), highlighting identity’s non-lasting and irregular nature. The reference to a cough also provides an audible rhythm to the composition (underlined in line 3), where enjambments or the cough break the pace and exemplify the links between content and form mentioned above. The allusion to a self-portrait in line 5 draws attention to the poetic person’s identity but also its voice (line 6), revealing this as a crucial feature for the continuation of the poem. Lines 10 and 11, describing smoke as arteries that build up entities, provide an arresting image that can be applied to the poetic voice’s search, or be read as a metapoetic device for the lines that are starting to build up the poem itself. The second stanza arises as an explanation of such smoke and arteries, personifying and granting them the power to bestow identity (carácter) upon the poetic voice or the composition – again, line 14 can be read as referring to how the character behaves or how the lines in a poem can be stretched in terms of sound and structure. Lines 16–38: The following two stanzas focus on the desolation the poetic voice is experiencing due to desertion or abandonment. The reader, however, cannot be sure of who or what has abandoned the poetic voice near its home (note the connotations of hogar as a warm and welcoming place), as the third-person singular mentioned in line 17 remains anonymous. Is this third-person singular a beloved whose abandonment after a failed relationship (the amigos con pareja in line 15 or the tres años in line 22 would support this) spreads the poetic voice’s fragmented identity even further? Or is this third person the character itself ? Regardless of the interpretation, such absence has had significant consequences on the poetic voice, as the references to incógnito and camuflaje, with allusions to disguised features, attest. The rhetorical exclamation in the fourth stanza gives way to a desolate pain, with the reference to a patio interior drawing attention to its hidden and inner quality. Lines 33 to 38 seem to describe the spatial features of the poetic voice and the poem, with the 146

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navel indicating the centre from which fragmentation develops, be that in the character’s body or the body of the text. Lines 39–43: The fifth stanza seems to further the theme of the composition, drawing on biographies to explain identity. Again, there is a reference to an unknown individual (alguien) whose presence will shed light on one’s existence. The final line of the composition, however, rejects such a possibility, giving a sense of despair to the poem: whilst waiting for this alguien someone else can get away. The one who is moving away in the last line might very well be the poetic voice itself, as line 1 ventured at the beginning of the poem, or just a transient identity. Nevertheless, all these possibilities highlight a decidedly fragmented sense of self and reveal the poem as a layered construction that defies expectations and becomes almost abstract. The composition itself might be seen as moving away (and ending the poem), highlighting also its metapoetic aspect. The poem then becomes a split composition in itself, which is obvious in its structure but also in its content.

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Un oasis: El-Habla

Quien regresa no del desierto sino del autobús que viaja de un oasis a otro, no ha aprendido a callar. Equidistante de Marruecos y Libia, los idiomas lo hallan clavado junto al cauce de una conversación prehistórica. Da fe de las estrías del aliento, del deterioro artesanal. En la necrópolis un perro escarba la escombrera del cielo. El cinturón de aljibes adorna el vientre estéril. De espaldas a la foto de grupo, la duna espera la llamada al orden. In Carlos Pardo, Echado a perder (Madrid: Visor, 2007) Commentary ‘Un oasis: El-Habla’ is a humorous poem that imitates Arabic in its title. The composition becomes an exploration of language, particularly spoken language, and reveals this to be its main theme. Spoken language is not strictly discussed here in terms of the correspondence between language and truth, and to what extent one can represent the other, rather the poem aims to present spoken language as a bond that ties people together and 148

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can provide solace, warmth and satisfaction. There are brief references to lived experience and events that provide a frame and narrative thread for the poem without overriding its true theme, that of spoken language or speech as a possible haven. The desire to establish ties can be viewed as the need to find bonds in current times, but also as a renewed yearning to amuse oneself with language. Lines 1–11: Following the reference in the title to spoken language as an oasis imitating Arabic in a paronomasia, the first stanza presents a character that uses speech relentlessly (no ha aprendido a callar). The way in which the character engages with language – it cannot help but resort to it once again – brings attention to the role of this type of communication as an unbreakable link between people. The references to travelling can be interpreted here as a real trip that delineates the character’s experience, but also as the linguistic exchanges between people with the mentioned oasis, acting as metaphors for conversations. The second stanza provides references to two Arabic countries (line 7), reinforcing the idea of an oasis, common havens in such territories, in the reader’s mind and endorsing the humorous paronomasia in the title. Lines 8 and 9 introduce different languages and their prehistoric role as communicators. Lines 10 and 11 make reference to how the systems change and evolve, and how its users craft them, employing the beautiful image of marks on breath to refer to the adjustments that languages and speech undergo throughout time. Lines 12–18: The first three lines of the third stanza provide a contrasting atmosphere through the presence of litter, an animal roaming through it and a cemetery. In lines 15 and 16 the striking depiction of water tanks as opposed to real oases in a dry land (vientre estéril) can be interpreted as a reference to something false or artificial, not the haven the first two stanzas of the poem seemed to illustrate. And this obviously extends to spoken language. The final two-line stanza personifies speech and depicts it as an element at the hands of its users: the arid land where the tourists roam (tracing the character’s experience in the poem) is patiently awaiting a call to order, that is, a verbal instruction. The composition thus defends languages as possible havens and creators of important ties, but also questions their ability to portray reality and act as true communicators, something underlined by the phonetic wordplay in the title and the references to very distinct linguistic systems in the stanzas.

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ÓSCAR AGUADO Hemos vuelto a recorrer

Hemos vuelto a recorrer un mundo quieto en su borde comiendo las limosnas que los cuervos dejaron en nuestras alas cayendo al vacío como dos bolsas que se entrelazan un mundo en un río de perfumes una tierra de electricidad que sucumbe al primer abrazo del aire nunca se alejan las batallas perdidas siempre se ahoga la primera flor la que dio nombre a este infinito la mujer de mis sueños aún duerme a mi lado en mis sueños arrodillados ante la noche y su mirada paciente con su frío de langosta no sabemos si desear el último latido que nos lance a la carrera o dirigirnos al mar por nuestro propio pie y enterrar las estrellas en el surco de la vergüenza y el silencio. In Óscar Aguado, Canción de cuna para un héroe (Madrid: Ya lo dijo Casimiro Parker, 2008) About the author Óscar Aguado was born in Madrid in 1977. He was the winner of the ‘Premio Nacional de Poesía Joven UP José Hierro’ in 2005. In just a few years he has published a substantial number of books of poetry, and his compositions have also been included in many anthologies of contemporary Spanish verse. Some of his more notable poetic publications are: Yo fui el negro que escribió la Biblia (2005); El arco iris de un anticuario (2006); Canción de cuna para un héroe (2008); La habitación del extranjero (2009); and Las últimas palabras de Harpo (2010).

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Commentary This poem by Aguado is a composition on uncertainty, indecision, doubts and fear, all of them recurrent themes in the latest poetry being written in Spain. The poetic voice speaks in the first-person plural, although the reader does not know who this ‘we’ is and to whom the poem is directed. The composition might very well be addressing the reader, trying to explain and, at the same time, dispel the aforementioned emotional states. Structured in only one stanza of 15 lines with no punctuation marks and very few conjunctions, the poem reads as a tortured and sorrowful account that ends on a helpless note, emphasising the themes of the composition. Lines 1–15: The first three lines of the poem introduce the unknown ‘we’ and present the universe they inhabit. The unstable nature of this space is perfectly conveyed in line 1 with the reference to the world as quieto en su borde, as if it is just about to fall over. The alms the ravens (a bird of bad omen in many Western traditions and a key figure in myths and legends) feed them add poignancy and desperation to a plea the reader cannot yet interpret. The despondent feeling is further underlined by the image depicted in line 3, that of the poetic voices being blown away, completely powerless and at the hands of unknown and nameless forces. Lines 4 to 7 present a world worn out by battles, one that has surrendered to lost fights. The batallas perdidas can be read here as a metaphor for failures experienced by the poetic voice, speaking from the point of view of a first-person plural, and disappointments that still taunt them. Due to the lack of punctuation to guide the reading process, the reader is never completely sure that he or she is properly following the text and its development. This adds uncertainty to the act of reading and underlines through its form one of the themes of the composition. In line 9 the first-person plural gives way to a first-person singular, creating a conceptual break in the progression of the poem. The woman the poetic voice has always dreamt about quickly becomes, in an interesting wordplay, a figment of its imagination negatively characterised. Line 13 regains once more the first-person plural, possibly reclaiming the reader as a part of it. The last four lines of the poem, expressing uncertainty and fear – the poetic voice is unsure as to whether it should take a leap of faith and act (line 13), or surrender to its sources of dread (lines 13–15) – quickly gain pace to conclude on a forlorn note, with shame and silence echoing in the reader’s mind. The lack of punctuation and the way in which this may exhaust the reader also add to the dejected tone achieved in, and by, the composition. 151

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El extranjero deja la ceniza en un poema

El extranjero deja la ceniza en un poema y observa como el balcón de enfrente un perro está dormido la página en blanco está sucia siempre está sucia incluso cuando no hay ceniza que derramar las palabras intentan borrar grumos de nada y el final de la hoja es un nuevo salto al vacío. In Óscar Aguado, La habitación del extranjero (Madrid: Amargord, 2009) Commentary This short poem divided into two stanzas of very different lengths revolves around a metapoetic theme. Words, their power and the fear of the blank page invade the lines in direct form or as metaphors, and present the written word as something elusive, at points even negative. Once again, Aguado offers a composition without any punctuation marks, increasing the difficulty of its reading and creating a somewhat frantic and disorientated rhythm in the poem. The composition describes the actions of a character, the extranjero, that the reader can interpret as a poet. In fact, this character is present throughout the book to which the poem belongs, La habitación del extranjero, and is even alluded to in the titles of other poems in the collection. Lines 1–6: The composition starts with a reference to the aforementioned character. The fact that this character is defined as a foreigner with no other identity other than its unfamiliarity draws attention to its actions: in the poem the character is tapping ash from a cigarette. The ash can be interpreted here as a metaphor for words that are being inscribed in the poem, although the fact that they are described as ash gives them 152

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a rather blurred and temporary quality. The following lines show the character looking for inspiration and present the blank page as dirty. Fear of the blank page has been a recurrent theme in literary tradition, particularly significant in metapoetic compositions. The reference to the blank page, however, has a twist in this poem since it is not just presented as blank and therefore empty, but also as dirty. The reader can interpret this as the inability of words to really articulate what one strives to express, only managing to brush the surface of the real meaning. Line 6 seems to support this idea and deem literature, or poetry, as a futile attempt to communicate what is inexpressible. However, the attitude referred to in this line when dealing with words (derramar) seems to imply sloppiness and neglect, maybe simply a sign of desperation. Lines 7–8: The last two lines of the composition depict words as having an inverse effect: they endeavour to erase what is not really there (grumos de nada), thus defying their very nature. The end of the page is illustrated as a leap into a void or the unknown, as the need for expression starts again when the writer turns to a new sheet. Such an idea is reinforced by the form of the poem and the last two lines standing on their own, as if waiting to fall off a metaphorical cliff.

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VIRGINIA CANTÓ Vi(d)as cruzadas

Crecí cerca de las vías del tren quizás por eso aprendí temprano que el cuerpo y la prisa viajan en el mismo vagón de cercanías ticando el mismo ticket de raíl apresurado, oxidando las muñecas de los hombres las tibias atropelladas de un siempre llegar tarde en los relojes. Los trenes, como los hombres, tienen las venas de acero y palpitan carbones en las noches como el rumor compás del pecho de mi madre acunando mi cuerpo ferroso; siderúrgico; destetado amamantando el gozo inoxidable de estar siempre yéndose, estático y marchado en vagones que poco dicen de uno mismo siempre recién llegados para rompernos las nucas de viajeros urgentes. Crecí y jugué muy cerca del rumor de los andenes. Pintando en tizas rayuelas en el suelo nos llegaban los dogmas pausados de la espera, el olor del perseguido con el equipaje abierto de un poema, la extraña conmoción de las próximas paradas en estaciones ajenas. 154

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Me enamoré escuchando la canción de maletas vacías; los horarios recitados en los versos por megafonía. Así aprendí a escribir palabras limpias, con un cierto olor a petróleo manchando las manos y los labios con que absorbía el primer amor que desarmaba el cuerpo metálico y adiposo de mis quince años. Luego fui mayor de edad y ya no escuchaba los trenes por las noches ni el rumor de níquel del pecho de mi madre siempre cerca de mi oído, todo era un billete de ida y vuelta a los años prohibidos, a las palabras vengadas que andaba reinventando. Con el tiempo, la contundencia geográfica del destino se acomodó en mi historia cotidiana cargando en mi maleta una colección de fugas por el mundo huidas a la luz deshilachada de nuevos atardeceres ligeros de equipaje con la luz mate y disfónica de mis primeras tardes en andenes. Aprendiendo a vivir en voz alta, al dejar de crecer por ser crecido comprendí que hay otras formas de escribir la historia que las maletas y las llaves nunca terminan de cerrarnos las heridas, nos cuestionan como un viejo acomodador que custodia unos asientos reservados. Crecí cerca de las vías del tren y siempre supe que es la espera de la prisa la que vive fracturándonos la espalda 155

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la que expía nuestras culpas y olisquea el rumor de billetes lejanos… Hay otros cuerpos viejos que hoy están más jóvenes que el mío. Pero sé que un raíl me seguirá amaneciendo en el aullido celoso del pecho de mi madre. Como entonces. Como ahora en la estación de tránsito de mi propio destino. In Virginia Cantó, Fe de erratas (Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 2010) About the author Virginia Cantó was born in Murcia in 1985. She was awarded the ‘Programa Generacción’ creative grant by the Instituto de la Juventud de la Región de Murcia, designed to promote new talent and develop the artistic career of promising new authors or artists. She has published two books of poetry: Fe de Erratas (2010) and Poesía para zurdos (2010), and also short stories. Commentary ‘Vi(d)as cruzadas’ is, at a basic level, a poem inspired by the reality surrounding the poetic voice and how it has influenced its life up until now. Thus, the nine stanzas depict the poetic voice’s memories from infancy to the present day with a common theme employed as a link to tie them together: the subject of railways. In fact, the connection between the railway theme and life is already foretold in the wordplay present in the title of the composition, the first word of which can be interpreted as railway tracks, or as life, if one decides to ignore the brackets. In any case, the adjective cruzadas highlights a meeting point between the two possibilities, bringing them inexorably together. A semantic field relating to railways runs throughout the poem, in which themes such as the passing of time, life lessons, absences and chance encounters quickly gain significance. At the end of the composition, which can be read as a soliloquy, life is presented as on a par with a railway station, powerfully characterising the moment – and the poem itself – as just a link in a chain, a transient moment or a sort of work in progress (an idea underlined also in the title of the book, an errata sheet) and under constant revision. The poem 156

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perfectly exemplifies the realism and intimate tone favoured by part of the most recent poetry of Spain. Lines 1–20: The first stanza explains the relation between the poetic voice’s life and the railways: it grew up near the tracks. This provokes a reflection on haste and hurried lives, highlighted by the battered bodies (cuerpos, muñecas, tibias) that rush around the railway stations. Vocabulary relating to the railway, such as tracks, suburban trains and tickets, contributes to a colloquial but vivid language that creates fresh images in the reader’s mind and provides surprising turns, such as the beautiful image, someone arriving late at a clock, in line 9. The second stanza presents the parallels and similarities between trains and human beings, deepening the connection presented in the title of the poem and personifying the trains: the tracks are seen as the veins that run throughout the railway (line 11), the coal as the blood that pumps in its heart (line 12) and the coaches as memories or even parts of its life (line 18). This second stanza also introduces another character in the composition that will reappear in further stanzas; that of the mother. The mother, who is portrayed almost as a locomotive (the rhythm or beat mentioned in line 13 is both the sound of the mother’s heart and the train engine), has also given birth to a metallic body, almost an engine in itself, furthering the parallelism between the poetic voice’s life and railways. The stanza persists in the depiction of worn-out travelling bodies (rompernos las nucas de viajeros urgentes), whose perseverance draws the reader’s attention to the emergence of one of the main themes in the composition: the exhausted traveller who is in a hurry to take the train is none other than an ordinary person navigating daily life and experience, maybe even the reader. The train and the traveller are just a metaphor that emphasises the ruthlessness of the event. Lines 21–44: The next three stanzas in the composition trace the life of the poetic voice from childhood (alluded in the game of hopscotch, line 23) to adolescence (falling in love, line 29) and adulthood (to be of age, line 38). Again, the different stages of life are traced through references to the railway theme (la espera, el equipaje abierto, los horarios, petróleo, los trenes, billete de ida y vuelta), as if all experiences in life revert back to it. Once again the figure of the mother is depicted as a beat associating it with a sound rather than an image, just as a train engine that might be heard in the distance but not seen. 157

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Lines 45–60: These lines provide a summary of or reflection on life and lived experience by the poetic voice until that point (the colección de fugas por el mundo). The vivid images presented in lines 45 to 53, peppered with travelling references and vocabulary, give a sense of real travelling in the poem: the reader can almost feel they are looking out of a train window, a succession of fleeting landscapes passing in front of their eyes. Lines 54 to 60 give the composition a more solemn tone, based on the poetic voice’s vital learning. Lines 61–72: The penultimate stanza seems to break the reflection carried out in the previous lines, focusing once again on the parallels between railways and human life. Urgency or haste continue to batter the traveller’s body (line 64), but the traveller also longs for faraway destinations (billetes lejanos). Such distant destinations can be interpreted as a metaphor of what one wants to be or the goals one wants to achieve, an open-ended list emphasised by the ellipsis points that end the stanza. The final lines of the composition centre on the figure of the mother and the poetic voice’s particular stance in life (or its estación de tránisto), underlined by the use of possessive pronouns and adjectives. The railway theme is depicted here in a most sentimental manner, as the reader becomes aware that trains are personified and invested with feelings, not just engines that transport people. However, all these trains, tracks and journeys can be traced back to the same place: a particular stop, which is the beginning and the end: death.

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Día del espectador

Para ir al infierno no hace falta cambiar de sitio ni postura. Rafael Alberti

Impares. Fila siete. Las butacas del fondo que tú elijas para esperarme, como siempre, en un cine del centro viejo y sin el frío de los cines en mar de los veranos, de la noche en relente cayendo en nuestro pecho con rumor de mosquito en reloj veraneante sin prisa y medias noches en la cena. Me esperas. Como siempre las tardes azules en mitad de la semana, un tumulto difícil donde hallarnos, una sábana rota en la pantalla y mirada atónita en ojo de refresco para juntos renombrar estreno de semanas, palabras con resaca en el mundo de los vivos neón y maíz por la tarde acechante. Para ir al infierno no hace falta cambiar de sitio ni postura. Impares fila siete puede ser un buen nicho de amores furtivos espectador en responso y agua siempregrís para los labios. Me esperas    y llego 159

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deshojándome la piel en los abrigos de invierno, con la boca seca y sed en el pecho de burbuja en gaseosa y dos de hielo para humedecer el labio traicionero que nos guarde al calor de amor en las butacas centradas del séptimo arte. Siempre tarde, las cosas comienzan cuando yo acabo y un niño lava sus manos de merienda. Se baja el telón de los guiones y siempre hay un silencio para un título de crédito, personajes anónimos, taxidermistas, luces de neón en Golden Mayer sin las fauces del león donde encontrarte, impares, fila siete, asientos diez y once y tu boca de estrenos y paréntesis esperando en versión original            subtitulada, y quizás después las camas de Madrid nos abracen vacías, tus verbos de amor en cartelera para mi cuerpo inerte. Hablaremos. Y no quedarán palabras que contarnos sin aceras en catarsis y sinopsis dos cuerpos desnudos desmembrando la piel en los fonemas que tú encuentres para mi, como la tarde, halle en tu cine su mejor coartada. Día del espectador.    Regresaré temprano, en siete días a tu fila siete en el séptimo arte de tu boca de miércoles. In Virginia Cantó, Poesía para zurdos (Seville: Renacimiento, 2010) 160

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Commentary The reality surrounding the poetic voice in ‘Día del espectador’ becomes the element that gives rise to the composition. A piece of the poetic voice’s ordinary lived experience, going to the cinema on a weekday, is used to address themes such as love, mutual understanding, lived experience, points of view, existence and fiction. The poetic voice seems at all times to be very respectful towards its reality, and the experience of a weekly trip to the cinema (during the day in which tickets are offered at a reduced price, as mentioned in the title of the composition) is portrayed with vivid and fresh language, beautiful images and references to cinema throughout the poem. The long composition is introduced by an epigraph, two lines by the poet Rafael Alberti from his book Sobre los ángeles (1929), which introduces the theme of different realities and points of view that the poem will explore and develop. Lines 1–9: The first stanza presents the reader with the exact situation from which the poem will arise: the theatre seats (in row seven) in an old cinema where the poetic voice is meeting its partner, who is already there waiting. The atmosphere in the aforementioned cinema is contrasted to recollections of other nights at the cinema over the summer holidays (mar de los veranos, reloj veraneante), giving the present setting an ordinary and familiar feeling. Lines 10–55: The following stanzas depict the afternoons at the cinema, the various structural repetitions echoing the also repetitive experience of going to the cinema every Wednesday (the día del espectador falls mainly on Wednesday in Madrid, and such a weekday is alluded to in line 11 – en mitad de la semana – and clearly referred to in the last line of the poem). References to cinema such as sábana rota en la pantalla, which brings to mind old projections and old theatre spaces, refresco, estreno, neón and maíz pepper the text and build the illusion of attending the show. The show, of course, can be the film the characters are watching or the poem itself, which is unfolding in front of the reader’s eyes. Lines 18 and 19 are borrowed from Rafael Alberti and duplicate the epigraph. Within this context the reader can understand it as referring to the realities in the films – a horror film, judging from the references to infierno, nicho and responso – which the characters can witness from their seats. The quotation from Alberti also introduces perspective and different realities as a theme, which will be present throughout the rest of the composition. The 161

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constant references to cinema and how the semantic field related to it mix with their experience (séptimo arte, guiones, telón, versión original, subtitulada, cartelera, sinopsis or even an allusion to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion in lines 39 and 40) gives unity and cadence to the composition. Also, the fresh vocabulary creates striking images such as the one in which the poetic voice is seen peeling off the various layers she is wearing when she comes into the cinema from the cold outside (lines 26 and 27), or the depiction of one of the cinema tickets with their seat reservations (line 42). The two characters who seem to be in love (as alluded to in lines 32, 48 and 52), but mainly share a mutual understanding and passion for the seventh art, are cocooned in this environment, with Madrid as a distant city in the background into which they emerge after their experience. It should be noted, however, that they never completely abandon the first space, and their lived experience is still linked to filmology. The different atmospheres underline the themes of reality and fiction (already mentioned in lines 18 and 19), as well as one’s point of view in it, allowing the reader to reflect on these issues and offer their own considerations. Lines 56–59: The last stanza provides an abrupt end to the composition and the poetic voice’s recollection, in line with the end of a film. This reinforces the idea of the poem acting as a film in itself, and the last verse inexorably lowers the curtain for the reader. This is the moment in which the two characters say goodbye to each other, with number seven (seven days until the next día del espectador, row seven and the seventh art) qualifying and quantifying the long wait they will have to endure until they meet again.

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VANESA PÉREZ-SAUQUILLO Esta mañana supe

Esta mañana supe mi extraña rendición a tus palabras, mi irrevocable voluntad de náufrago de sílabas, de filóloga ahorcada en complementos directos o indirectos pero tuyos. Esta mañana supe que me visto en tus verbos, desayuno tu nombre y me quedo perdida, como tonta, si me encuentro algún “no” camino de la tarde, camino de la noche. Esta mañana supe que muy frecuentemente me vuelvo monosílabo de sombra agarrado al tobillo de tus frases, que muy frecuentemente quisiera ser prendida en tu nevera como “nota importante”. Esta mañana comprendí, aturdida. Esta mañana supe, por fin vi que me confundo en viento cuando gritas mi nombre y que basta un susurro, un susurro de nada, para dormirme en ti. 163

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In Vanesa Pérez-Sauquillo, Estrellas por la alfombra (Madrid: Hiperión, 2001) About the author Vanesa Pérez-Sauquillo was born in Madrid in 1978. She has worked as an editor and translator, and has published poetry and literature for children. Her poetry has received awards such as the ‘Premio de Poesía Antonio Carvajal’ (2001), the ‘Premio de Arte Joven de la Comunidad de Madrid’ (2005), the ‘Premio de Poesía Serie B’ (2010) and the ‘Premio Ojo Crítico de Radio Nacional’ (2012). Some of her more notable poetry publications are: Estrellas por la alfombra (2001); Vocación de rabia (2002); Invención de gato (2006); Bajo la lluvia equivocada (2006); and Climax Road (2012). Her poetic work has been included in numerous recent anthologies. Commentary ‘Esta mañana supe’, divided into four stanzas of mainly heptasyllablic and hendecasyllabic lines, is a love poem in which the poetic voice expresses its love in an intimate, romantic and at points informal tone, very much in line with the most recent poetry being written in Spain. The semantic field in the composition is dominated by references to philology (particularly to linguistic aspects), which then become entwined with the romantic relationship depicted in the verses: the poem almost becomes a linguistic game and love is thus expressed, and analysed, as a text would be. There is also a somewhat dramatic vocabulary in the poem (with words such as rendición, náufrago or ahorcada) that greatly contrasts with the playful mood of the poem in general and bestows love with a much more solemn note. The abundant repetitions in the composition, particularly in terms of gradual repetition and parallel structures, provide rhythm and reading patterns that could replicate the linguistic analysis of a text and its multiple approaches. Lines 1–7: The poem starts with a time reference (Esta mañana), which will reappear throughout the poem in an incremental repetition and generate a cyclic rhythm, just as other repetitions in the stanza do in the form of parallel constructions (such as lines 2 and 3). The first mention of linguistic elements in the poem (palabras) can be interpreted at the outset as a general allusion to what the beloved is saying. However, the ­subsequent mentions of syllables, the poetic voice as a philologist, and 164

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direct and indirect objects make it clear that the composition and its meaning are riddled with linguistic terms and interpretations. The grave vocabulary that appears besides a rather frolicsome tone (lines 2, 3 and 5) offers another side to love and characterises it as something more than simply a lively amusement. Lines 8–14: The incremental repetition opens up the second stanza, which also contains structural parallelisms (lines 13 and 14) that lend an almost lilting quality to the lines. The daily life of the poetic voice depicted through routine actions such as getting dressed or having breakfast (or even colloquial expressions such as me quedo perdida or como tonta) is interspersed with mentions of verbs, nouns and negative adverbs. Lines 15–22: The third stanza replicates the previous two with regard to the incremental repetition, the structural replications (lines 16 and 20) and also the linguistic elements: the reader can easily locate references to monosyllables and sentences that even achieve personification in the poem and become the centre of the poetic voice’s attention. In fact, the personification of the beloved’s sentences brings about a very visual image for the reader, with the poetic voice holding on to the sentences’ ankle so that they cannot get away. The transformation of the poetic voice into a Post-it note that can be hung on the fridge door (lines 21 to 22) equally creates a striking image that combines the informal tone of the composition with a fixation with linguistic aspects. Lines 23–29: The final stanza, with its broken and uncompleted sentences (lines 23, 24 and 27), certainly gives the composition the sense of bewilderment or surprise that the poetic voice is trying to convey. The composition thus becomes not just a love poem presented as a linguistic amusement but an affectionate composition towards philology in general, towards the way language allows us to express love and generate different points of view.

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Epílogo

desde entonces, el día en que descubrí el secreto de los vasos canopes y fui vaso canope para ti, y carne de gata disparada contra mujeres con las que tú duermes y yo sueño (amor, me confieso una rabia de XIX dinastía. He masticado pelos yo que fui flor de loto), dirás, mucho ha llovido desde entonces, pájaro de tormenta. Y sin embargo no hay cobijo interior, estoy mojada todavía de aquel tiempo de furia extraordinaria, de amor imperdonable, bajo la lluvia equivocada. In Vanesa Pérez-Sauquillo, Bajo la lluvia equivocada (Madrid: Hiperión, 2006) Commentary The composition ‘Epílogo’, which effectively ends Bajo la lluvia equivocada, is also a love poem, although its tone is much less playful than the previous composition by Pérez-Sauquillo. The piercing effect of love can be seen in the poem through the use of dramatic elements relating to ancient Egyptian culture (vaso canope, decimonovena dinastía, gata or flor de loto) and the abundant semantic field relating to rain (lluvia, tormenta or cobijo, for example). The closing line is a direct translation of a line from the poem ‘On a Wedding Anniversary’ by the Welsh author Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), and this links the composition and the quotation to the title of Pérez-Sauquillo’s book. The poem, directed to a second-person singular, successfully presents love as something raw, aggressive and 166

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even distressing. This composition is also dominated by two distinct elements: the Egyptian references and their high-cultured attitude, and a more informal and colloquial tone. Lines 1–10: The lack of a capital letter at the beginning of the first line of the poem (recurrent in La lluvia equivocada) lends a sense of in medias res to the composition and its first long section. Line 2 introduces the first Egyptian element, the canopic jars, and the secrets they hold. Canopic jars were used in Ancient Egypt to preserve the viscera of the dead during the mummification process, different jars being used for different organs. In linking these objects to the tú the poem is addressing, the allusion to the secrets they hide, and the role of the poetic voice as a canopic jar, the poem succeeds in presenting love as a raw and brutal emotion. The reference to a cat in line 4 provides a link to Egyptian culture once again, since in Egypt cats were highly venerated, mummified after death and offered to Bast, the cat goddess of protection, fertility and motherhood. The mention of carne (flesh), however, highlights once again the vicious feeling rendered in the poem and the jealousy it can arouse, directed here towards women with whom the tú is involved. Line 6 opens a long parenthesis that acts as a confession: that of the poetic voice declaring itself part of the nineteenth dynasty, an Egyptian dynasty renowned for its warfare. The poetic voice eating fur, which can be seen as a sign of aggression towards its enemies and its depiction as a cat, highly contrasts with the character’s portrayal as a lotus flower in the past, a symbolic representation of the sun associated with creation and rebirth in Egyptian mythology. The passing of time (ha llovido mucho desde entonces) marks a symbolic timeline in the composition between the past and the current moment, but also introduces the semantic field of rain that will prevail in the last lines of the poem. The mention of a bird in line 10 also brings the reader back to Egyptian culture, since many Egyptian gods were personified as birds. Lines 11–15: The last six lines completely abandon the aggression and the Egyptian references that dominated the first part of the poem. In these lines, the poetic voice makes use of a dejected tone to discuss love and its experience, emphasised by the dimness and murkiness of the rain. The lack of shelter from the rain, the wet state in which the poetic voice finds itself, and particularly the intertextual reference to Dylan Thomas and a ‘wrong’ rain in the last line, add desolation to the fierceness of love. Such intertextual references are employed to end the composition, and the book as a whole, on a decidedly harrowing note. 167

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Temas de debate y discusión

The novísimos and the cultural transition 1 ¿Cuáles son los aspectos estéticos y temáticos más importantes que pusieron en práctica los novísimos para la renovación de la poesía española? 2 Analiza la importancia del contenido, la forma y el estilo en dos autores novísimos. 3 ¿Podemos considerar que la poesía de autores como Leopoldo María Panero o Aníbal Núñez esconde un fuerte mensaje o crítica social? The power of poetry written by women 1 ¿Es posible ofrecer una descripción precisa de lo que es la poesía escrita por mujeres? Analiza esta cuestión a partir de la obra de dos poetas mujeres de la antología. 2 Analiza la importancia del florecimiento de la poesía escrita por mujeres en la España de los años 80. 3 Analiza y compara el papel del cuerpo en la poesía escrita por mujeres en España a partir de dos o tres poemas de la antología. Poetry of experience and poetry of difference 1 ¿Cuál es la importancia de la experiencia diaria y la vida personal del individuo en la poesía de la experiencia? 2 ¿Cuáles fueron las razones que permitieron a la poesía de la experiencia dominar el campo literario español de su momento? 3 ¿Cuál es la estética poética que defiende la poesía de la diferencia? Contesta la pregunta utilizando un poema de la antología como base y ejemplo. 168

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The turn of a new millennium 1 ¿Se puede apreciar una reacción estética, temática o incluso moral ante el nuevo milenio por parte de los poetas? 2 ¿Qué significado tiene la fragmentación del yo poético en la poesía de numerosos autores del nuevo milenio? 3 Analiza la importancia de los elementos visuales en la poesía del cambio de milenio. Young voices and new expressions 1 ¿Cuáles son los aspectos más innovadores de la última poesía escrita en España? 2 ¿Qué tipo de temática y estética son las dominantes en la última poesía española? 3 Analiza la importancia de los varios campos semánticos predominantes en la poesía de Virginia Cantó y Vanesa Pérez-Sauquillo. Establece comparaciones entre las dos autoras y sus obras si es necesario.

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List of rhetorical and metrical terms

alliteration: the repetition of the same sound in two or more words in close succession. allusion: a brief reference to a person, event, object or play for symbolic meaning. anadiplosis: the repetition of the last word of a clause or phrase at the beginning of the next clause or phrase. anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a sequence of clauses or lines. antithesis: the opposition or contrast of ideas in a parallel construction or clause. aphorism: a concise statement embodying a general truth or principle. apostrophe: a turn from the general audience to address a person, thing or abstract idea that might be absent or present. asyndeton: the omission of conjunctions or connecting particles in a line to make it more dynamic. caesura: a break in a line of poetry. ellipsis: the suppression of words in a line (without altering the meaning) to make it more lively, energetic or forceful. encomium: an expression of eulogy and praise. enjambment: the continuation of a sentence or clause beyond the end of a line without a punctuated pause. epanalepsis: the repetition of a word at the beginning and at the end of a line. epigraph: a quotation at the beginning of a composition that sets the tone or suggests a theme. epiphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a sequence of lines. epithet: a term expressing a quality or attribute used to characterise or describe a person or a thing. euphemism: the substitution of an offensive word for an innocuous one or a circumlocutory phrase. 170

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hemistich: half a line of poetry, which is divided at the caesura. hyberbaton: the inversion or disruption of normal word order for emphasis or effect. hyperbole: exaggeration or overstatement in order to achieve emphasis. incremental repetition: the repetition of lines or phrases, with possible variations and additions, throughout the poem. irony: a humorous or sarcastic expression which is contrary to the intended meaning of the words. metaphor: a word or expression applied to an object or person in a figurative or analogous way. metapoetry: poetry focused on the subject of poetry itself. objective correlative: an object, situation or event that symbolises a particular emotion and is used to evoke an emotional response in the reader. onomatopoeia: the use of words whose pronunciation imitates the sound that the word refers to. oxymoron: the juxtaposition of contradictory words or terms. palinode: a poem in which the poet retracts a previous statement proclaimed in an earlier poetic composition. paradox: a statement that seems contradictory and opposed to common sense, but that, upon closer inspection, may prove true or well-founded. paronomasia: the association of, and play on, similar-sounding names. personification: the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects. polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctions or connecting particles in a line, even if they are not needed. purism: the strict insistence on purity in language and style. rhetorical question: a question asked to produce an effect or to make a statement, not requiring an answer. soliloquy: a form of discourse during which a character talks to himself or herself –disclosing private thoughts and feelings – without addressing an audience or a listener. synaesthesia: the description of one kind of sensory experience in terms of another. verse: a stanza or grouping of words in a poetic composition (unlike the Spanish verso, which refers to a metrical line).

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Selected vocabulary

acariciar, to stroke/caress acechante, looming aceitunas rellenas, stuffed olives adiposo, fat afligido, sorrowful agotarse, to run out aguja, needle ahogar, to drown/suffocate ahorcado, hanged alas, wings alejarse, to move away from aliciente, incentive/charm alijo, contraband almacenar, to accumulate almohada, pillow alucinatorio, hallucinatory alumbrar, to illuminate of clarify amamantar, to nurse/breastfeed amargo, bitter andén, platform ansia, longing ansiolítico, tranquiliser apresurado, hurried arboladura, rigging arrancar, to uproot arrastrar, to drag along arrecife, reef

arrodillarse, to kneel arrojarse, to throw oneself artero, cunning artimaña, trick atónito, astonished atropina, atropine, a plant extract used in certain drugs aturdir, to disturb aullido, howl azar, chance azotar, to whip/flog balanza, scales (weighing) bengalas, sparklers bordado, embroidery brida, bridle burbujas, bubbles caber, to be room for cándido, innocent/naïve caracola, seashell carmín, lipstick cauce, channel, course/direction ceñido, tight ceniza, ash césped, lawn cicatriz, scar cincha, saddle strap circundar, to surround

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ciruelo, plum tree contundencia, conviction cotilleo, gossip cuadrícula, grid cuadriculado, squared, grid cubo (de la basura), rubbish bin cuervo, raven culto, homage decoro, decency deleite, delight derrota, defeat descarnado, bare/gaunt desecado, dried deshacer, to dissolve/melt deshilachar, to fray deshojar, to pluck desmenuzar, to shred despedida, farewell desvarío, delirium dolido, hurt eljibe, tank/cistern empañar, to fog/tarnish empeñado, determined enjaulado, caged entrelazar, to intertwine envidia, envy escalofrío, shiver escaparate, window display escarbar, to scratch up/scrabble escaso, scarce escenografía, staging escopolamina, scopolamine, a plant extract used in certain drugs escudo, shield espuelas, spurs espuma de cerveza, beer froth/ head estamparse, to print

estrafalaria, eccentric/extravagant estramonio, datura, jimson weed (plant) estría, groove/mark fardo, bundle flor de loto, lotus (flower) fugaz, fleeting fulgurante, bright funambulismo, tightrope walking gavilán, sparrowhawk gemir, to moan gotas, droplets gozar, to enjoy grumo, lump/scrap guanche, original inhabitant of the Canary Islands guirnalda, garland harapos, rags hechizo, spell hilo, thread hoguera, bonfire huellas, traces/tracks humedecerse, to become damp hundir, to sink impar, odd impotente, helpless incitante, provocative ingerir, to ingest inmarcesible, everlasting jirón, a strip of clothing jugoso, succulent lágrima, tear láminas, layers latido, beating limosnas, alms lirio, iris (flower) llanto, sobbing locura, madness 173

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lujuria, lust maceta, plant pot maldecir, to curse manes, classic deities representing the souls of deceased loved ones manga, sleeve maraña, tangle marear, to make dizzy mástil, mast/flagpole merienda, snack minucioso, meticulous mordisco, bite muñeca, wrist naufragar, to shipwreck necrópolis, cemetery nicho, niche (in cemetery) nuca, nape (of neck) ombligo, navel ovillar, to wind paladar, taste paraje, place/spot patera, dinghy pestañas, eyelashes pez dorado, goldfish pisotear, to trample puntilla, lace rama, branch rayuela, hopscotch responso, prayer for the dead rincón, corner roce, touch rocío, dew rostro, face

sábanas, sheets saciar, to satisfy salpicado, splattered santiguarse, to cross oneself secuestrar, to kidnap seda, silk serpentina, streamer siderúgico, iron and steel sobresalir, to stand out solanácea, solanaceae, plant of the nightshade family sonámbulo, sleepwalker sopesar, to weigh up/consider sorbo, sip sordo, deaf/muffled súbito, sudden susurro, whisper tacto, touch tartamudear, to stutter tela de araña, spider’s web temblor, trembling tenue, faint terciopelo, velvet traicionero, treacherous trama, plot trueno, thunder vaso canopo, canopic jar (used in Ancient Egypt to preserve the viscera of the dead during the mummification process) vicio, vice/bad habit vuelco, overturning/capsizing zarandear, to shake

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