Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
Casida del Llanto
Federico García Lorca
He cerrado mi balcón
por que no quiero oír el llanto
pero por detrás de los grises muros
no se oye otra cosa que el llanto.
Hay muy pocos ángeles que canten,
hay muy pocos perros que ladren,
mil violines caben en la palma de mi mano.
Pero el llanto es un perro inmenso,
el llanto es un ángel inmenso,
el llanto es un violín inmenso,
las lágrimas amordazan al viento,
no se oye otra cosa que el llanto.
I have closed up my balcony
because I do not want to hear the weeping
but through the grey walls
nothing can be heard but weeping.
There are very few angels who might sing
there are very few dogs who might bark;
a thousand violins sit in the palm of my hand.
But the weeping is an immense dog,
the weeping is an immense angel,
the weeping is an immense violin;
whose tears have muzzled the wind
and nothing can be heard but weeping.
Federico García Lorca, considered the most important Spanish poet and playwright, was famous for his technique of representing the tragedy and nobility of human being. Himself and his work have become an indispensable part in literature study today. Lorca was born in a village called Viznar near Granada, Spain in 1898, the year that Spain lost its last colonies. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, Lorca had already gained much reputation for his poetry and statements against the social injustice of that time, which infuriated the right-wing. However, he resisted the pressure from his fellows to join the Communist. While the rest of the world was amazed by Lorca’s works, national medias started to spread the rumour of him being homosexual. In times that loving the same sex was brutally persecuted, those rumours did not benefit him in terms of public image. In 1936, he was arrested and shot death 2 days after. Even though the Franco regime never admitted its participation in the crime, the rumours of having relationships with other man was probably a sufficient motivation to end his life.
References
Submitted by Carla Alcalà
Edited by Paula Chang