Spanish Poetry’s Silver Age: A Golden Era of Literature

Spanish Poetry’s Silver Age (1900-1939)

Spanish poetry flourished from the advent of Modernism until the Spanish Civil War. This era, known as the Silver Age, featured prominent figures like Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Federico García Lorca.

Historical Context of the Spanish Civil War

The 19th century concluded with the Disaster of ’98, marked by the loss of Cuba and the Philippines. The reign of Alfonso XIII began, during which Spain engaged in a war with Morocco. This, coupled with an economic crisis, led to the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. The subsequent Second Republic, supported by intellectuals, aimed to transform society. However, this period ended with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War on July 18, 1936, led by Francisco Franco.

Modernism

The late 19th century witnessed a significant spiritual and artistic crisis. In Spain, the poetry of this period was generally considered lackluster. The arrival of Modernism marked a radical shift.

Originating in Latin America and disseminated in Spain by Rubén Darío, Modernism, despite its brief peak, was crucial for its complete renovation of poetic expression.

Darío’s poetry, characterized by refined language, rhythm, and a pursuit of fantastical realms, drew inspiration from Romantic poetry and French innovations, notably Symbolism and Parnasianism. Key characteristics of Modernism include:

  • The poet as an aristocratic figure of the mind, devoted to art and beauty.
  • A bohemian lifestyle embraced by writers.
  • Escapism to past eras or exotic locales.
  • Exploration of the poet’s inner world and melancholy reflections on love and the world, influenced by Symbolism.

The main thematic strands of Modernism are:

  • Escapism: The most prominent theme, featuring exotic settings, historical periods, eroticism, and amorality.
  • Intimacy: Expressing the poet’s unease with their surroundings, marked by melancholy reflections on love and the world.

In terms of style and meter, Modernist poets explored language’s potential for beauty:

  • Musicality: Marked rhythms for significant themes and softer melodies for delicate emotions.
  • Meter: While traditional lines were used, Modernism favored Alexandrine, hendecasyllabic, and dodecasyllabic verse.
  • Rich vocabulary: Creating tone and emphasizing color.
  • Figurative language: Abundant use of alliteration, synesthesia, and striking imagery.

Spanish Modernist Poets

Rubén Darío: The founder and promoter of Modernism, his works Azul… and Prosas Profanas established the model for Modernist poetry, a style continued in Cantos de Vida y Esperanza.

Antonio Machado:

  • Themes: Intimacy, memories, Castilian landscapes, concern for Spain, death, and the passage of time.
  • Meter: Use of popular forms.
  • Style: Lack of rhetorical complexity.

Machado’s early work aligned with Modernism, emphasizing intimacy, melancholy, and Symbolism. However, he is best known for Campos de Castilla.

Juan Ramón Jiménez: Dedicated to poetry and the pursuit of beauty, Jiménez’s work evolved through three stages:

  • Sensitive Stage (until 1915): Modernist works like Platero y yo.
  • Intellectual Stage: Beginning with Diario de un poeta recién casado, paving the way for pure poetry.
  • Sufficient Stage (in exile): Abstract, complex poetry exemplified by Animal de fondo.

Avant-Garde Poetry

. Avant-garde artistic movements and isms are underway in Europe between the First and Second World War and propose a new modern vision of art and literature.

The major European avant-garde. Come and go quickly. CUBISM **: Provides calligrams where the distribution of the verses form images. ** FUTURE: It aims to remove the art of sentimentality and romanticism. ** Dada: Proposes a humorous literature, fantasy and freedom which do not involve the reason. ** Expression: Provides a tragic and pessimistic vision of man and of reality. ** SURREALISM: It aims to change human life and free from slavery. It uses techniques like automatic writing. Avant-garde in Spain in the journal Prometheus Serna Ramon Gomez are the first avant-garde manifestos. Although not cultivated poetry, metaphoric boldness of their greguerias and his conception of literature as autonomous art exerted a strong influence on the poetry of the “isms” Hispanics and the Generation of ’27. On the other hand, literary magazines give certificate of naturalization to the current of renewal. Ultraism and Creationism. Vicente Huidobro was the founder of Creationism, a movement which brought great news to the literature: ** The art should not imitate reality or Nature but not create. ** The poem speaks for itself, the poem is beautiful in itself, not by comparison with other realities. ** In the form, poetry ignores the signs of position and juxtaposes images at random. ** E l ultraísmo had the means of distributing magazines such as Ultra and among its poets include Rafael Cansinos-Assens and Guillermo de Torre. Its main features were:** The end of the story. Neither has passed subject or message. ** The instrument is fundamental poetic metaphor. ** The poems are composed in free verse and your choice is often a specific image. ** Appear technical advances of modern life as symbols of a new world. GENERATION 27. There were several binding sites for these components: ** The friendship between them and the publication of his first books was initiated in the early ’20s. ** His intellectual formation was solid. ** In its policy options reflects an open, liberal and progressive. Tradition and modernity. The Generation of ’27 sought to integrate their most valuable items with the requirements of modern poetry. Such integration takes the form: ** The admiration and knowledge of the Spanish classics. ** The interest of contemporary poetry. ** The use of traditional metrical forms and free verse. ** The combination of folk poetry and intellectual poetry . ** Literary Biography: Along the path there are three stages: ** PURE POETRY: The metaphor and image play an essential role in the construction of the poem. Shows the influence of Juan Ramón Jiménez and arouses admiration for Gongora. ** SURREALISM AND rehumanization: A late 20s, begin to assimilate the latest manifestations of Surrealism Spanish although the movement has differences. ** THE CIVIL WAR AND THE EXILE: With the Civil War, all the poets of 27 were affected. T he major poets of the Generation of 27. The major poets of the Generation of 27 are Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Vicente Aleixandre, Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti and Luis Cernuda and others. * Parnasianism: Current Poetic arose in France in 1860 . Defend poetry with formal insight, a careful selection of vocabulary and adjectives and all that purchasing with intent to escape from reality and escape vulgar creating exotic worlds. Defend the maximum of “art for art.” * Symbolism: Part of the idea that the full reality can not be captured by the senses but can be captured through poetic intuition and it can be realized only through the symbolic leguaje . The use of metaphor to evoke.