Miguel Hernández: A Poet’s Journey Through Image, Politics, and War
Image and Symbol in the Poetry of Miguel Hernández
Early Influences and Themes
Between 1924 and 1931, Miguel Hernández (MH) underwent a formative period. The garden of Orihuela, a sensual and colorful landscape, profoundly impacted the young poet’s sensitivity. This fertile nature inspired his early, vibrant verses and lyrical material, shaping the themes of his early work. While he claimed, “The lemon from my garden has had more influence on me than all the poets together,” this was only partially true, and only at the beginning of his career.
The image of the wound, embodied in the threatening fatal knife, became a favorite symbol, reflecting his tragic worldview. Blood marked the themes of love and life, as seen in lines like: “A carnivore wing, fresh knife, and holding a murderer and a flight of my life brilloalrededor.” The anguish and anxiety in these lines reflect the ideological and aesthetic crisis of the time.
During this period, MH engaged with poets like Neruda and Aleixandre, distancing himself from Ramón Sijé and his Catholicism, traditional readings, and political conservatism. MH’s social conscience grew, and he sided with farmers and workers.
Human love became a tormented passion, an unsatisfied longing, a yearning for possession. This is expressed sincerely and irrepressibly: the symbolic lemon represents the beloved; the wound in his chest, and a dazzling beaked penalty (repressed eroticism); the beam, fire that causes damage; and blood, sexual desire. The lemon also symbolizes the female breast. The image of punishment reflects the beloved’s elusiveness. In short, love is pain.
Social and Political Commitment of Miguel Hernández
General Aspects
MH’s peasant roots, humble origins, volcanic temperament, and upbringing led him to take sides during a crucial historical moment in Spain. Rafael Alberti and his wife, María Teresa León, were key figures in his political awakening, followed by Pablo Neruda, a Chilean communist poet. Some scholars compare his political conversion to St. Paul’s on the road to Damascus—a transformative discovery of principles.
According to Vicente Aleixandre and Agustín Sánchez Vidal, MH’s humble origins and the revolutionary fervor of the historical context were crucial to his transformation. His religious crisis profoundly changed his social conscience. Madrid, a hotbed of political ideas, influenced his temperament. There, he encountered new poetic structures and tastes.
In Orihuela, he connected with farmers but also received a Catholic education. Before moving to Madrid, he published poems in El Gallo Crisis, a Catholic publication. After the Civil War, he refused offers to return to the Church’s orthodoxy in exchange for freedom from imprisonment by Falangist bishops (Bishop Almarcha).
His life was marked by intense events: the fall of the monarchy, the Second Republic, and the outbreak of the Civil War. Between November 1931 and May 1936, he made his first trip to Madrid seeking recognition, returning to Orihuela disappointed. In March 1934, he returned to Madrid, working in the Pedagogical Missions.
His ideological evolution spanned from his Jesuit education and friendship with Ramón Sijé, to contact with the avant-garde and Generation of ’27, his love for the painter Maruja Mallo, his religious crisis and rejection of the Church, his membership in the Communist Party, and his trip to Moscow.
Outstanding Works
Wind of the People and The Man Stalking are exalted, enthusiastic, almost mystical works. Their suitability for radio broadcasts highlights their propagandistic nature. His poem, Mother’s Poem, was set to music by the International Brigades. Sonreídme rejects his previous beliefs and Catholic convictions, showcasing his anticlerical stance (not anti-Catholic). It uses imagery linked to the church and the upper middle class, contrasting them with workers. In Alba, axes symbolize the social revolution.
Spanish Poetry: Early 20th Century to Postwar
Understanding early 20th-century Spanish poetry requires considering the late 19th century. Critic Clarín lamented the lack of young poets, finding late Romanticism obsolete. Only Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer offered innovation.
Clarín, desiring new poetry, noted France’s development of Symbolism (Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé). This formed the first nucleus of early 20th-century Spanish poetry: Modernism. Rubén Darío (Azul, Prosas profanas, Cantos de vida y esperanza) influenced Juan Ramón Jiménez, Manuel Machado, and Antonio Machado, though their individual styles soon surpassed Modernist influence.
The second core was the avant-garde. Salons like the Café Pombo in Madrid fostered this movement. Ramón Gómez de la Serna translated Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto. Miguel Hernández learned to use metaphors and symbols, developing a concise and original poetic language. His work, Expert in Moons, showcased pure poetry, Federico García Lorca, and Góngora.
His Madrid travels (1934-1935) brought him into contact with Pablo Neruda and Vicente Aleixandre, who introduced him to new poets and a world of irrationality. MH dedicated poems to them during his transformation (1933-1935), following the death of Ramón Sijé. He joined Generation of ’27. In 1936, he went to the front, becoming a poet of war (Wind of the People, The Man Stalking).
Miguel Hernández’s most original work is his Songbook and Ballads of Absence, written in prison. This powerful poetry synthesizes symbolism, Parnassianism, and Bécquer’s style, showcasing a poet who, even in jail, found new wings, ultimately dying in the embrace of his wife and child.