Selected Poems

Federico García Lorca, Spain's greatest modern poet and dramatist, was murdered by Fascist partisans in 1936, shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. He was by then and immensely popular figure, celebrated throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and at the height of his creative powers. After his death, with his work suppressed, he became a potent symbol of the martyrdom of Spain.The manuscript of Lorca's last poems, his tormented Sonnets of Dark Love, disappeared during the Civil War. For fifty years the poems lived only in the words of the poets who had heard Lorca read them, like Neruda and Aleixandre, who remembered them as 'a pure and ardent monument to love in which the prime material is now the poet's flesh, his heart, his soul wide open to his own destruction'. Lorca's lost sonnets were re-discovered in Spain during the 1980s, and the Bloodaxe edition of his Selected Poems (1992/2021), translated by Merryn Williams, was the first to include English translations of these brooding poems.

• Introduction 9EARLY POEMS (1919-1925)Sueño 24 DreamBaladilla de los tres ríos 26 Little Ballad of the Three RiversPaisaje 28 LandscapeLa guitarra 30 The GuitarPueblo 32 VillageSaeta 32 SaetaCamino 34 JourneyMalagueña 34 MalagueñaNocturnos de la ventana (4) 36 Nocturnes of the Window (4)Arco de lunas 36 Arc of MoonsCanción de jinete (1860) 38 Song of the Rider (1860)Canción de jinete 40 Song of the RiderLa luna asoma 42 The Moon Comes OutMurió al amanecer 42 He Died at DawnLa soltera en misa 44 The Spinster at MassDespedida 44 FarewellSuicidio 46 SuicideGranada y 1850 48 Granada and 1850Dos marinos en la orilla 48 Two Sailors on the BeachCanción del naranjo seco 50 Song of the Barren Orange TreeOda a Salvador Dalí 52 Ode to Salvador DalíROMANCERO GITANO / GYPSY BALLADS (1924-1927)Romance de la luna, luna 66 Ballad of the Moon, MoonPreciosa y el aire 68 Preciosa and the WindReyerta 70 The FightRomance sonámbulo 74 Somnambular BalladLa monja gitana 78 The Gypsy NunLa casada infiel 80 The Faithless WifeRomance de la pena negra 84 Ballad of the Black SorrowSan Miguel (Granada) 86 St Michael (Granada)San Rafael (Córdoba) 90 St Raphael (Córdoba)San Gabriel (Sevilla) 92 St Gabriel (Sevilla)Prendimiento de Antoñito el Camborio en el camino de Sevilla 96 The Arrest of Tony Camborio on the Road to SevillaMuerte de Antoñito el Camborio 100 The Death of Tony CamborioRomance del emplazado 102 Ballad of the Doomed ManRomance de la Guardia Civil española 106 Ballad of the Spanish Civil GuardThamar y Amnón 114 Thamar and AmnónPOETA EN NUERVO YORK / POET IN NEW YORK (1929-30)Vuelta de paseo 126 Back from a Walk1910 126 1910El rey de Harlem 128 The King of HarlemIglesia abandonada 136 Abandoned ChurchDanza de la muerte 138 Dance of DeathAsesinato 142 MurderLa aurora, New York 144 Daybreak, New York(oficina y denuncia) 146 (office and denunciation)Grito hacia Roma 150 Cry to RomeOda a Walt Whitman 154 Ode to Walt WhitmanAdán 162 AdamSon de negros en Cuba 164 Song of the Negroes in CubaDIVÁN DEL TAMARIT (1936)Gacela del amor imprevisto 170 Gacela of Unforeseen LoveGacela de la terrible presencia 170 Gacela of the Terrible PresenceGacela del amor desesperado 172 Gacela of Desperate LoveGacela del niño muerto 174 Gacela of the Dead ChildGacela de la muerte oscura 174 Gacela of the Dark DeathGacela de la huída 176 Gacela of the FlightCasida del herido por el agua 178 Casida of One Wounded by the WaterCasida del llanto 178 Casida of the WeepingCasida de la mujer tendida 180 Casida of the Reclining WomanCasida de la rosa 180 Casida of the RoseCasida de las palomas oscuras 182 Casida of the Dark DovesLLANTO POR IGNACIO SÁNCHEZ MEJÍAS / LAMENT FOR IGNACIO SÁNCHEZ MEJÍAS (1935)1. La cogida y la muerte 188 The Tossing and the Death2. La sangre derramada 190 The Spilled Blood3. Cuerpo presente 196 The Body Laid Out4. Alma ausente 198 Absent SoulSONETAS DEL AMOR OSCURO / SONNETS OF DARK LOVE (1935-1936)Soneto de la guirnalda de rosas 206 Sonnet of the Garland of RosesSoneto de la dulce queja 206 Sonnet of the Sweet ComplaintLlagas de amor 208 The Wounds of LoveSoneto de la carta 208 Sonnet of the LetterEl poeta dice la verdad 210 The Poet Tells the TruthEl poeta habla por teléfono con el amor 210 The Poet speaks to the loved one by telephoneEl poeta pregunta a su amor por la «Ciudad Encantada» de Cuenca 212 The Poet questions his lover on the ‘enchanted city’ of CuencaSoneto gongorino en que el poeta manda a su amor una paloma 212 Gongorine sonnet in which the poet sends his loved one a pigeon¡Ay voz secreta del amor oscuro! 214 ‘Ah, secret voice of dark love’El amor duerme en el pecho del poeta 214 The loved one sleeps on the poet’s breastNoche del amor insomne 216 Night of Sleepless LoveJuega y teoría del duende 221 Theory and Function of the Duende (1933)232 Index of English titles and first lines236 Index of Spanish titles and first lines