Antonio Machado’s Poetic Journey: Stages and Themes
Antonio Machado’s poetry, like that of many authors, was marked by significant life events. His work was deeply affected by the death of his young wife, Leonor Izquierdo, who passed away at around 19 years old. His poetry reflects his ideas about the nature of poetry and art itself, aiming for a twofold purpose: to capture the essence of things while also reflecting their temporal flow.
We can distinguish several distinct stages in his poetic evolution:
First Poetic Stage
In this initial cycle, Machado displays a Modernist tone, albeit an intimate one. This period includes the work Soledades. First published as Soledades (1903), he later edited and expanded it into Soledades, Galerías y otros poemas (1907). Key themes during this stage are universal feelings associated with time, death, and God, particularly:
- Loneliness
- Melancholy
- Distress
His poetry from this period is rich with symbolic motifs representing deeper realities, such as:
- The evening
- Water
- The waterwheel
- Galleries (corridors/paths)
The influence of Modernism is evident in his versification, employing dodecasyllables (12-syllable lines) and Alexandrines (14-syllable lines), with metrics based on accentual feet. However, there is also a trend towards simplicity, favoring a plainer vocabulary over more ornate Modernist imagery.
Campos de Castilla
Campos de Castilla was published in 1912, shortly before his wife’s death. Prominent themes include patriotic concern for Spain and a simple love of nature. Some poems reflect on the past, while the enigmas of humanity and the world continue to inspire poems with an intimate tone.
The landscape appears in some poems with stark objectivity, yet often carries a clear subjective component. Machado shows a preference for the tough and austere aspects of the Castilian landscape (the harsh and the poor), emphasizing elements (especially through adjectives) that suggest loneliness, transience, and death, creating a lyrical vision of Castile.
Patriotic Concern
These poems address Spain’s past, present, or future. They often present a critical vision, sometimes aligning with the ideas of the Regenerationist movement, as seen in poems like A orillas del Duero or Por tierras de España. In later poems added to this collection, Machado departs from different foundations: adopting a historical and progressive political vision animated by a renewed faith in “another Spain”.
In the long romance (ballad) La tierra de Alvargonzález, the poet revitalizes this traditional verse form. It is a thrilling narrative poem revolving around the historical shadow of greed, born from the harshness and misery of those lands.
Furthermore, Campos de Castilla initiated a series of very short poems comprising the Proverbios y cantares (Proverbs and Songs), which are sometimes lyrical flashes and other times philosophical reflections.
Among the poems added later to the initial core, we find echoes of his time in Soria and poems reflecting on his wife’s death. The book is supplemented by a series of eulogies dedicated to figures like Giner de los Ríos, Rubén Darío, Unamuno, and Juan Ramón Jiménez.
Nuevas Canciones
In Nuevas Canciones (New Songs, 1924), the creative impulse seems to have slowed, while his interest in philosophy increases. This book serves as a kind of sampler, containing:
- Some poems reminiscent of Campos de Castilla.
- Others evoking the Andalusian countryside.
- Short poems, often of a concise, almost dogmatic character.
This cycle includes around a hundred new Proverbios y cantares, where lyricism often gives way to conceptual thought. They consist of maxims or reflections—often paradoxical, sometimes obscure, occasionally seemingly trivial. Machado’s philosophical concerns become more prominent.
Last Poems
Machado’s final poems maintain a strong philosophical tone. Notable among these are the Canciones a Guiomar, testimony to his new and late love (Pilar de Valderrama). This period also includes his Poesías de la guerra (War Poetry), written during the Spanish Civil War.
Poetry of War
This includes poems dedicated to the defense of Madrid, along with other songs, ballads (romances), and songs hinting at the Valencian landscape. It also features significant sonnets such as La muerte del niño herido (The Death of the Wounded Child) and El crimen fue en Granada (The Crime Was in Granada), a poignant elegy for Federico García Lorca.