Miguel Hernández is, along with Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and
Federico García Lorca, one of the greatest Spanish poets of the
twentieth century. This volume spans the whole of Hernández's brief
writing life, and includes his most celebrated poems, from the early
lyrics written in traditional forms, such as the moving elegy Hernández
wrote to his friend and mentor Ramon Sijé (one of the most famous
elegies ever written in the Spanish language), to the spiritual
eroticism of his love poems, and the heart-wrenching, luminous lines
written in the trenches of war. Also included in this edition are
tributes to Hernández by Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda
(interviewed by Robert Bly), Rafael Alberti, and Vicente Aleixandre.
Pastoral nature, love, and war are recurring themes in Hernández's
poetry, his words a dazzling reminder that force can never defeat
spirit, that courage is its own reward.