Analysis of Elegy by Miguel Hernandez
Elegy Analysis
Introduction
This analysis explores Miguel Hernandez’s elegy dedicated to his friend Ramon Sijé. The poem is a profound expression of grief, guilt, and the enduring bond between the two friends.
About the Poet
Miguel Hernández Gilabert (October 30, 1910 – January 28, 1942) was a prominent Spanish poet and playwright. Associated with the Generation of ’36, his work often reflected rural life and social injustice.
Background
Written in the shadow of Sijé’s death, the poem captures Hernandez’s raw emotions. The sense of loss is palpable, amplified by the poet’s inability to say goodbye to his friend.
Themes and Structure
The elegy grapples with themes of:
- Pain and Sadness: Hernandez’s grief is visceral, expressed through powerful imagery and exclamations.
- Friendship and Loss: The poem is a testament to the deep connection between the two men.
- Acceptance and Rebellion: While acknowledging the finality of death, Hernandez also rails against its cruelty.
Structurally, the poem consists of chained hendecasyllabic triplets (ABA BCB CDC…) with the exception of the final stanza, which has four verses. It can be divided into three parts:
- Meditation: Hernandez reflects on his past with Sijé, highlighting their shared connection to the countryside.
- Lament: The poet gives voice to his personal grief, using the first person to emphasize his pain.
- Praise: While not explicitly stated, the poem’s closing lines suggest a celebration of Sijé’s life and their enduring bond.
Analysis of Key Passages
- Metaphor of Fertilization: Hernandez compares Sijé’s burial to the act of fertilizing the land. This seemingly paradoxical image conveys the depth of his pain while finding a glimmer of positivity in the cycle of life and death.
- Expressions of Intense Pain: Phrases like “No extension is bigger than my hurt” and “Ando on stubble of the dead” vividly portray the overwhelming nature of Hernandez’s grief.
- Anaphora and Simile: The use of anaphora in the fourth triplet emphasizes the suddenness and brutality of Sijé’s death. The similes comparing death to “a hard slap,” “an invisible ax,” and “a brutal shove” further underscore its violence.
Conclusion
Hernandez’s elegy is a powerful and moving tribute to a lost friend. Through vivid imagery, raw emotion, and skillful use of poetic devices, he creates a lasting memorial to their bond and a poignant reflection on the universality of grief.
Analysis of Campos de Soria by Antonio Machado
Introduction
This analysis delves into Antonio Machado’s poem “Campos de Soria,” focusing on its depiction of the landscape and the poet’s emotional connection to it.
About the Poet
Antonio Machado Ruiz (July 26, 1875 – February 22, 1939) was a renowned Spanish poet and a key figure of the Generation of ’98. His work often explored themes of time, loss, and the Spanish landscape.
Setting and Theme
The poem is set in the Castilian landscape of Soria, a place of personal significance for Machado. It was here that he lived and loved, and the landscape is imbued with memories of his deceased wife.
The central theme is the interplay between the external landscape and the poet’s internal emotional landscape. Machado’s grief and longing are projected onto the scenery, creating a poignant and evocative atmosphere.
Structure and Style
The poem is written in silva asonantada, a Spanish verse form characterized by seven-syllable lines with assonance in the even-numbered lines and no rhyme in the odd-numbered lines. This structure allows for a flowing, conversational tone.
Analysis of Key Elements
- Descriptive Imagery: Machado employs vivid imagery to paint a picture of Soria’s stark beauty. Adjectives like “silvery gray,” “dark red,” and “metallic sheen” evoke the colors and textures of the landscape.
- Subjective Description: The poem is deeply personal, with Machado’s emotions filtering his perception of the landscape. The use of the first-person pronoun “I” and exclamations like “Oh” reveal his subjective experience.
- Personification and Symbolism: Machado personifies the landscape, attributing human qualities to the hills and rivers. The land becomes a reflection of his own emotional state, symbolizing both his joy and his sorrow.
- Historical References: Allusions to Soria’s history as a battleground during the Reconquista add another layer of meaning to the poem. The land is imbued with a sense of the past, echoing the poet’s own sense of loss and the passage of time.
Conclusion
, this poem is a clear example of elegy and the way it shows the feelings after the death of a loved one and how to praise the deceased. CAMPOS DE SORIA Antonio Machado Ruiz ( Seville , July 26 of 1875 – Collioure , France , February 22 of 1939 ) was a poet Spanish , late member of the Generation of 98 and one of its most representative. His early work tends to join the literary movement called Modernism . After the war, was exiled to France where he died a few weeks later. 2. The text is a subjective description of the landscape of Soria, the author observes in one of his many visits. Describe the landscape according to their feelings, joy and sadness. Especially sad because it is the place I used to walk with his wife fallecida.3 line stanzas rhyming heroic verse heptasílabos and assonance in the pairs being the odd loose. It is a verse often used by Machado called ‘silva asonantada’4. At first the poem seems a mere presentation of landscape features. In the verse that appears the “I” of the author, is the burden of emotions. However, we see that the first verses are also free of dyes subjetivos.El exclamatory tone that dominates the text, and is an indication of the intense emotion with which the poet looks at the landscape, we see that there are only two main verbs in the passage (am and going). It is vital to the verb ‘feel’ for him it is clear that the poet does not ‘see’ the landscape but the ‘feel’. Therefore will need to find the subjective elements that the poet moved to poema.Los first lines are a long list of aspects of the landscape: “Hills silvery gray heights, dark red rocks ….”. This is vocative (which seek to draw the attention of the reader.) The adjectives that accompany each name added color, “the metallic sheen is paid is becoming even gray or sunset.” Also, the sound increases in the first 2 verses vv. “Where the Duero “refers to the resonances warriors’ spring curve.” Reference following a little later when he speaks of land “mystical warrior.” Remember that land historically are religious and righteous Christian kingdoms before the Reconquista, adjectives epithets serve to reinforce the value of nouns (are adjectives that come with the names and highlight some of its features). Give the adjective Hills ‘silver’ is synonymous with old sabias.En Part VIII of the poem the poet returns to her hometown, and looks to recognize places I already knew. The most striking image is that of land worked, humble, on which people must bow to work. A land that suffers under a blazing sun (cloud of crimson, gold fluid). Again, it is vital to use adjectives and feelings reflected in the final paisaje.En is a good example of Machado’s poetry and some features of the symbolist movement of the era, including the use of color or the internalization of the landscape .
ELEGY 1.Miguel Hernández Gilabert born in Orihuela (Alicante) on October 30, 1910 was a poet and playwright of great relevance in the twentieth century Spanish literature belonging to the famous 1939 generation 27.En Hernandez tries to flee to Portugal. Returned to the Civil Guard, starts his ordeal of prisons to which the same Miguel called “tourism” for prisons españolas.Puesto released back to Orihuela, where only twelve days later was arrested again and he was transferred to Madrid prison Conde de Toreno. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. There sick in jail and is consumed slowly. Finally died on January 28, 1942, at age 31 due to tuberculosis in the prison infirmary Alicante.2. This poem is dedicated to the memory of his friend Ramon Sijé. So we put this poem in a time of grief, guilt for being unable to say goodbye to the friend. It’s a hot poem in which the feelings are raw skin. A poem written to make clear the weight carried by Miguel within him, a poem for anyone forget the love that united the two friends, although the acaballo Ramón’s life give the sense that the relationship between the two had cooled. So the issue would be pain, sadness and rebellion felt by the author. This elegy is formed from chained hendecasyllables triplets (ABA BCB CDC …) except the last stanza consisting of 4 vv. terms the internal structure, the poem can be divided into three parts: the meditation, the lament of those who survived and alabanza.La stage of “meditation” is the part where Hernandez reflects and recalls the past with great friend. It occupies the first four triplets. Highlight the field and much rural as agriculture and the people have been very present in the lives of both. The words used as examples to support this theory are a gardener, poppy, fertilize … In the first seven stanzas, in which Miguel Hernandez accepts the death of Ramon and is aware of the seriousness of this fact as well as inevitable. It’s where Michael is more concerned. Do not judge anyone or anything, just expressed their emociones.Utiliza intensity a metaphor to say that your friend is buried presenting it as something good for the land, which is paid, that “manured” that is, it hurts so much its death and tries to see the positive side of their offense. Also returning to the subject of field. verses eight and nine, the author expresses his pain by harshly by hyperbole”I hurt it hurts to breath,” arguing the inability or hablar.En the fourth trio is an anaphor but can also be seen as parallels: “A hard slap, a punch ice cream / invisible ax murderer, / a brutal shove has cut you down. “In this trio, Hernandez shows how you felt death: sudden, relentless,” invisible “, like lightning,” a brutal shove. “The second part is the” lament of survivors “and may range from the fifth to the eleventh stanza. Is the stage where Miguel Hernández is expressed more emotional because we talk about his own feelings at the loss of a loved one that speaks in first person: “No extension is bigger than my hurt … Ando on stubble of the dead …” . In verse fifteen the author shows his sympathy, “and I feel your death more than my life.” In verse twenty-one refers to the premature death of Sijé: “… early’re rolling on the floor.”