Book description
Antonio Machado, a school teacher and philosopher and one of Spain's
foremost poets of the twentieth century, writes of the mountains, the
skies, the farms and the sentiments of his homeland clearly and without
narcissism: "Just as before, I'm interested/in water held in;/ but
now water in the living/rock of my chest." "Machado has vowed
not to soar too much; he wants to 'go down to the hells' or stick to the
ordinary," Robert Bly writes in his introduction. He brings to the
ordinary--to time, to landscape and stony earth, to bean fields and
cities, to events and dreams--magical sound that conveys order,
penetrating sight and attention. "The poems written while we are
awake...are more original and more beautiful, and sometimes more wild
than those made from dreams," Machado said.
In the newspapers before and during the Spanish Civil War, he wrote of
political and moral issues, and, in 1939, fled from Franco's army into
the Pyrenees, dying in exile a month later. When in 1966 a bronze bust
of Machado was to be unveiled in a town here he had taught school,
thousands of people came in pilgrimage only to find the Civil Guard with
clubs and submachine guns blocking their way.
This selection of Machado's poetry, beautifully translated by Bly,
begins with the Spanish master's first book, Times Alone, Passageways in
the House, and Other Poems (1903), and follows his work to the poems
published after his death: Poems from the Civil War (written during
1936-1939). "In Machado there are no gypsies, no bulls, no
castanets. His poetry has the still luminosity of a life lived in
provincial backwaters in solitude and silence"--New York Times Book
Review ANTONIO MACHADO (1875-1939), school teacher and philosopher,
and one of Spain's foremost poets, writes clearly and without narcissism
of the mountains, the skies, the farms and the sentiments of his
homeland. He brings to the ordinary -to time, to landscape and stony
earth, to beanfields ad cities, to events and dreams - magical sound
that conveys order, penetrating sight, and attention. Translated by
ROBERT BLY.
ROBERT BLY is the author of ten books of poetry. Antonio Machado was a
strong influence on his first book of poetry, Silence in the Snowy
Fields. Bly has edited and translated works of Swedish, German,
Norwegian, and Persian poetry, including that of Neruda and Rilke. He
received the National Book Award for poetry in 1968. His home is in
Moose Lake, Minnesota.
