Comparison of Two Poems Written by Federico Lorca

Comparison of two poems written by Federico Garcнa Lorca.

BIOGRAPHY

Federico Garcнa Lorca was born into an educated bourgeois family in Fuente Vaqueros, in Andalusia, Spain, in 1898. His mother was a teacher and his father a rich farm labourer. He read literature and music at Granada University and in 1919, at the age of 21, he published his first book, Impresiones y Paisaijes, that was inspired by a trip around Spain that he took as part of his degree. That year, Lorca went to Madrid to continue with his studies. He moved into the Residence of Scholars (residencia de estudiantes), a liberal institution that taught according to the social, political and religious philosophies of Krause. Their view of religion gave way to what is called pantheism, which is a perspective Lorca embraced in his work. The importance of the residencia in shaping a generation of writers and poets that became known as the Generation of '27 cannot be underestimated. All the latest innovations in the arts were discussed and debated within the walls of this institution and its students included names as

was a had a profound affect on Lorca's generation, where he would meet and make good friends with the famous Spanish poets, Juan Ramуn Jimйnez (born in Huelva in 1881-1958), Emilio Prados (born in Mбlaga in 1899-1962), Rafael Alberti (1902-present) and Jorge Guillйn (1893-1984), as well as the famous Surrealist artist, Salvador Dalн (born in 1904 in Figueras), to whom he would write an ode in 1926, and Luis Buсuel (born in 1900 in Teruel), among others. Through his friends at the Residencia he soon got to know a number of other poets with whom he also shared a bond in terms of friendship and ideological leanings and who have since been given many names including that of "La Generaciуn del Ò'27" (The Generation of Ò'27). This group, or generation includes his friends Prados, Alberti and Guillйn, as well as Pedro Salinas, Gerardo Diego, Dбmaso Alonso, Vicente Aleixandre, Luis Cernuda and Manuel Altolaguirre. Of these, Lorca's poetry has most often been compared with that of Rafael Alberti.

Lorca was a prodigious artist, poet and playwright; his first play, El Maleficio de la Mariposa (The Butterfly's Evil Spell), premiered in 1920 and his first book of poems, Libro de Poemas (Book of Poems), was published the following year, although neither of these initially received the acclaim that his later works would. In November 1921 he wrote Poema del Cante Jondo, which would not be published until a decade later, in 1931. Similarly, his book Canciones (Songs), written that same year, would not be published until 1927 nor would Primeras Canciones (First Songs), written in 1922, be published until 1935. In 1927, along with the publication of Canciones, his play, Mariana Pineda, successfully premiered and he also finished a collection of poems called the Romancero Gitano (The Gypsy Ballads), which earned him critical acclaim when it was published the following year, in 1928. These are generally considered to fall into the category of his early works, but are not considered to be any less valuable than pieces he wrote afterwards, indeed they showed great artistic ability. It is interesting that Lorca initially placed a greater emphasis on his poetry then on his dramaturgy, which would become his defining medium.

Between 1929 and 1930, Lorca lived in New York as a lecturer at Columbia University; the city inspired a new collection of poems called Poeta en Nueva York (Poet in New York), that is considered by some critics to be a transitional piece of work, and was published in Mexico posthumously. While in America, he also visited Cuba. When he returned to Spain in 1930 Lorca wrote the play La Zapatera Prodigiosa (The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife), as well scenes for two new plays, El Pъblico (The Public) and Asн Que Pasen Cinco Aсos (Once Five Years Pass), thereby initiating a new and more mature phase that, until his death in 1936, placed a greater emphasis on his skills as a playwright. In 1931 Spain was declared a republic for the second time, and as a result of his friendship with the then Ministro de Instrucciуn Pъblica, a man named Fernando de los Rнos, Lorca was asked to put a theatre group together for the university, which he called La Barraca. He travelled around Spain with this group, putting on plays by classic Spanish playwrights in towns and cities throughout the country. In 1932 he visited Galicia, a region in Spain that is similar to Ireland in terms of its Celtic tradition and folklore, which inspired Lorca to write his Seis Poemas Galegos (Six Galician Poems), although critics said of these that he had not been able to capture the essence of Galicia in the same way that he had been able to capture the essence of Andalusia in his Gypsy Ballads. Between 1933 and 1934 Lorca travelled to Argentina and Uruguay; in 1933 he won wide acclaim for the premiere of two plays, Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) and Amor de don Perlimplнn con Belisa en su Jardнn (The Love of Don Perlimplнn and Belisa in the Garden), the latter directed by himself. In 1934, he compounded his success with the tragedy Yerma, which starred Margarita Xirgъ, a famous Spanish actress of the time. That year he also wrote a poem called Llanto por Ignacio Sбnchez Mejнas (Lament for the death of a bullfighter), in homage to his friend, the great Spanish bullfighter, Sбnchez Mejнas, who died that year. In March 1935 he directed the unabridged version of his play La Zapatera Prodigiosa and in May he staged some scenes from a farce he entitled El Retablillo de don Cristobбl (In the Frame of Don Cristobбl). In December, he staged Doсa Rosita la Soltera o el Lenguaje de las Flores (Doсa Rosita, The Spinster or Language of Flowers) in Barcelona. In 1936 he finished his play La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba), which would complete his trilogy of Andalusian folk tragedies; the others being Yerma and Bodas de Sangre). La Casa de Bernada Alba was premiered posthumously in 1945 and starred Margarita Xirgъ.

On the 16th July Lorca went to Granada to spend some time in the country when the Spanish Civil War broke out and Granada was taken by Franco's troops. It was a time of much uncertainty and the nationals, convinced that a counterattack was being organised, began to round up possible left-wing sympathisers in their homes and execute them. Lorca was aware of the political situation and the danger he was in, particularly as many of the assassinations that were taking place were just an excuse to settle personal scores, in addition to which he was a popular poet and playwright

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