Selected Poems

Federico Garcia Lorca, a famous poet and dramatist from Spain, was assassinated by Fascist partisans in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. His last poems, the Sonnets of Dark Love, were lost until they were discovered in Spain in the 1980s. This book includes English translations of those poems, as well as other Lorca works, such as his Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías and his famous lecture on the duende.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 21 October 2021
Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd

Federico García Lorca, the renowned Spanish poet and playwright, tragically met his end in 1936, just a few years after the commencement of the Spanish Civil War. At that time, he had already achieved immense popularity, revered across the Spanish-speaking world, and was at the peak of his artistic prowess. However, the suppression of his work following his death transformed him into a powerful symbol of the martyrdom of Spain. The manuscript of Lorca's final poems, his tormented Sonnets of Dark Love, vanished during the tumultuous Civil War. For half a century, these poems existed solely in the memories of those who had heard Lorca read them, including renowned poets such as Neruda and Aleixandre, who recalled them as a pure and ardent monument to love, where the poet's flesh, heart, and soul were laid bare, vulnerable to their own destruction.

The rediscovery of Lorca's lost sonnets in Spain during the 1980s marked a significant milestone. It was through this groundbreaking book that English translations of these profound poems were made available to a broader audience. Merryn Williams' edition encompasses the entirety of Lorca's poetic oeuvre, spanning from his early works and gypsy ballads to the agitated Poet in New York sequence and the Arab-influenced gacelas and casidas that followed his American exile. It includes the Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, Lorca's heartfelt elegy for his dear friend, the bullfighter, as well as the complete text of his renowned lecture on the duende, the enigmatic daemon of Spanish music, song, dance, poetry, and art.

In these remarkable translations, Lorca's elemental poems are reborn in English, capturing their stark imagery of blood and moon, water and earth; of bulls, horses, and fish; olives, sun, and oranges; knives, and snow; darkness, and death. Through these translations, Lorca's profound words resonate with readers worldwide, offering a glimpse into his profound understanding of the human condition and his unwavering commitment to artistic expression. His legacy continues to inspire and captivate audiences, reminding us of the power of poetry to transcend time and borders, and to shed light on the complexities of the human experience.

Weight: 430g
Dimension: 139 x 216 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781780376103
Edition number: Bilingual 'facing page' ed