Modernist Poetry

[ I ]
Modernist poetry
Cathy L . Jrade
Attempts to analyze Modernismo [Modernism] have n o w entered their

second century. Virtually from its inception, literary observers and critics
have struggled to pinpoint its distinctive nature and to detail its primary
characteristics. W h i l e innumerable studies have contributed to our
understanding of the movement, its image is increasingly refined by recent
examinations of the profoundly philosophic and political nature of
modernista [Modernist] texts, their relationship w i t h other literatures
and modes of discourse, and the w a y they reflect personal responses to the
general trends of modern life. T h o u g h R u b é n D a r í o ( 1 8 6 7 - 1 9 1 6 , born
Félix R u b é n G a r c í a Sarmiento) defined his - and, therefore, modernist -
aesthetics as " a c r á t i c a , " that is, opposed to all authority ("Palabras
liminares," Prosas profanas y otros poemas), and even though this feature
continues to appear on the lists of fundamental characteristics of modern
ist verse - (often labeled " v o l u n t a d de estilo" or "striving for an individual
style" [see D a v i s o n , The Concept of Modernism in Hispanic Criticism]),
M o d e r n i s m manifests an essential unity w h i c h stems from its origin in a
shared literary, philosophic, and social context. In the broadest of terms,
M o d e r n i s m is the linguistically rich and formally innovative literary
movement that began in Spanish A m e r i c a in the late 1870s and that lasted
into the second decade of the twentieth century. Its recourse to European
artistic visions and poetic models — primarily French Parnassian and
symbolist verse - reflected a dissatisfaction w i t h the restrictive Spanish
poetics of the day, a longing for cultural a u t o n o m y , and a desire to achieve
a sense of equality w i t h the great cultures of Western Europe. W i t h its
faith in the poet and poetry, it also proposed a profound response to the
crisis of beliefs that surfaced a m o n g the philosophers and artists of
Spanish A m e r i c a t o w a r d the end of the nineteenth century, a crisis similar
to the one that had dominated intellectual circles throughout the W e s t
since R o m a n t i c i s m .
It w a s the impact of literary sources, especially the strong influence of
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C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y OF L A T I N A M E R I C A N LITERATURE
French poetry, that first attracted attention. In his famous letter to R u b é n

D a r í o dated O c t o b e r 22, 1888, and written in response to receiving a
personally dedicated copy of Azul. . . the Spanish critic and novelist Juan
Valera (1824-1905) defined D a r i o ' s originality and technical perfection in
terms of his " g a l i c i s m o m e n t a l " ["mental G a l l i c i s m " ] . T h o u g h V a l e r a ' s
judgments are colored by nationalistic pride and ideological conserva-
tism, one can find in his letter to D a r i o those salient features of the
m o v e m e n t that have repeatedly received detailed critical attention during
the one hundred years since it w a s written. F r o m the outset, major studies
sought to pinpoint French models for modernist w o r k s , with the earliest
criticism focusing primarily on the formal aspects of this influence.
Scholars emphasized changes in meter and verse form, the introduction of
new rhythm and rhyme schemes, and symbolic and thematic similarities
with earlier French texts. Others chose to distinguish between the
perfection of form and devotion to beauty attributed to the influence of
Parnassian verse and the musical evocation and dream-like suggestion
encouraged by symbolist poetry.
T h i s line of inquiry found support in the positions taken by Pedro
Salinas ("El problema del modernismo en España, o un conflicto entre dos
espíritus") and G u i l l e r m o Díaz-Plaja (Modernismo frente a noventa y
ocho), both of w h o m continued to characterize M o d e r n i s m as limited in
scope, that is, primarily concerned w i t h aestheticism, the search for
beauty, and the renovation of poetic form. Even M a x Henríquez Ureña's
comprehensive, insightful, and influential Breve historia del modernismo
reflects this general orientation. In it he holds that the central concern of
modernist authors w a s to break w i t h "the excesses of R o m a n t i c i s m " and
"the n a r r o w criterion of pseudoclassical rhetoric." A c c o r d i n g l y , they
opted to transpose French innovations into a Spanish key. Repeated and
detailed references to Leconte de Lisle, José M a r í a de Heredia, Alfred de
Musset, Victor H u g o , Paul Verlaine, Catulle M e n d è s , Stéphane M a l -
larmé, M a u r i c e de Guérin, T h é o p h i l e Gautier, Pierre Loti, a m o n g many
others, reaffirm this focus.
T h e search for " s o u r c e s " and influences w a s not, h o w e v e r , limited to
France. A s Valera noted w i t h regard to Azul..., there is a strong and w i d e -
ranging cosmopolitan spirit that runs through modernist verse. A l l of
European and even Middle-Eastern and Oriental art and culture captured
the poetic imagination of modernist poets from time to time. O c c a s i o n a l l y
the influence w a s direct, more often it came by w a y of Paris, filtered
through Parisian imaginations and interpretations. Sensitive to this
cultural cross-pollination, D a r í o wrote:
A m o más que la Grecia de los griegos
la Grecia de la Francia
Modernist poetry
[I love more than the Greece of the Greeks

the Greece of France]
in " D i v a g a c i ó n " {Prosas profanas). T h i s cosmopolitanism w a s originally
identified with escapism, a rejection of the stifling restrictions of Spanish
poetics and culture, and flight from the immediate Spanish A m e r i c a n
reality. Later, it w a s seen as a declaration of cultural independence or as
an unbridled pursuit of beauty in any shape or form. It is actually a
manifestation of a c o m p l e x and profound search, a search that led
modernist writers to embrace diverse aspects of high culture from all
corners of the globe with a dizzying enthusiasm in the expectation of
achieving - in apparent contradiction - a sense of identity that is clearly
Spanish A m e r i c a n .
A w a r e of their extraordinary place in Spanish A m e r i c a n history,
modernist poets broke w i t h Spanish models w h i c h they understood to be
both grandiose and inflexible. T h e y turned their eyes instead t o w a r d
Europe to find the present and, through the present, the future. T h i s
attitude is evident in D a r i o ' s selection in 1888 of the term " M o d e r n i s m " to
designate the tendencies of Spanish A m e r i c a n poets (see Henriquez
Ureña's "Historia de un n o m b r e " in Breve historia del modernismo). This
choice underscores the M o d e r n i s t s ' will to be modern, that is, to become
contemporaneous with all of Europe but most especially with Paris. T h e
poets sought to leave behind — either through their travels or their
imagination - an anachronistic, local reality in order to establish for
themselves a modern mode of discourse in w h i c h they could speak for the
first time with their o w n voice and with a clear, critical vision of Spanish
America.
A s a result, "escapist literature" almost immediately became, as noted
by O c t a v i o Paz in "Literatura de f u n d a c i ó n " (Puertas al campo), a
literature of exploration and return. M o d e r n i s t writers turned their
attention from the most up-to-date European trends t o w a r d h o m e and
resurrected, through flights of fancy as much as through historical fact, a
Spanish A m e r i c a n past that included ancient civilizations, indigenous
peoples, and a Spanish A m e r i c a n consciousness. T h i s consciousness is
clear in the modernist attitude t o w a r d language and poetry. F r o m the
beginning, their concern for formal perfection reflected, along with
Parnassian influences, a desire to formalize and to found a modern
Spanish A m e r i c a n discourse. T h e i r pursuit of beauty throughout the
centuries and across all borders w a s a manifestation of their desire to
choose freely the elements of their ideal language. A t the same time,
modernist authors struggled with the dominant poetic and prosaic modes
of discourse in their attempt to find their o w n voice. T h i s founding effort
w a s simultaneously aesthetic and political, with the political becoming
CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF L A T I N A M E R I C A N LITERATURE
more pronounced w h e n the socio-economic pressures that gave rise to

M o d e r n i s m exploded in crisis in 1898 with the Spanish A m e r i c a n W a r and
later in 1903 w i t h the creation of the state of Panama as a result of United
States intervention.
T h e change from apparently apolitical poetry, as in the case of M a n u e l
Gutiérrez Nájera (1859-1895) and D a r í o ' s early w o r k s , to a more
assertively Spanish A m e r i c a n perspective, as with key poems in R u b é n
D a r í o ' s Cantos de vida y esperanza and Alma América: poemas indo-
españoles by José Santos C h o c a n o (1875-1934), gave rise to the division of
M o d e r n i s m - by critics - into t w o stages. T h e " s e c o n d generation" of
Modernists w a s considered more concerned with achieving an artistic
expression that w o u l d be genuinely A m e r i c a n . In reality, both "gene-
rations" dealt with the issues of Spanish A m e r i c a ' s place in the modern
w o r l d and the creation of a language and vision appropriate to that place.
T h e recognition of the centrality of these issues to the entire movement
not only reaffirms M o d e r n i s m ' s essential unity but also clarifies the key
role played by the politically committed C u b a n patriot José M a r t í ( 1 8 5 3 -
1895) in the formation of M o d e r n i s m .
T h e socio-economic conditions that most directly affected the develop-
ment of M o d e r n i s m of course vary from country to country. T h e r e were,
h o w e v e r , certain key factors that consistently came into play. For the most
part, the last decades of the nineteenth century saw a consolidation of
p o w e r w h i c h brought about a new degree of political stability - despite
the periodic resurgence of " c a u d i l l i s m o " and anarchistic tendencies. A t
the same time, economic reorganization and g r o w t h brought prosperity
and affluence to the upper classes. In urban centers, wealth and inter-
national trade encouraged a perceptible Europeanization of life. A s
R o b e r t o G o n z á l e z Echevarría has expressed it (in " M o d e r n i d a d , moder-
nismo y nueva narrativa"), in exchange for its raw materials, Spanish
America received culture, primarily in the form of manufactured pro-
ducts. T h e turn-of-the-century flood of luxury items filled the homes of
the old landed aristocracy, the nouveaux riches, and the aspiring bour-
geoisie. It also created an image of life that left a lasting impression upon
the poetic imagination of the writers of the time, an image that e v o k e d the
sense of well-being, ease, and fashionable excess characteristic of the
Parisian Belle Epoque - that is, of the three decades beginning with the
1880s.
M e m b e r s of the ruling class allied themselves with foreign financiers
and investors, and their primary ambition became the accumulation of
capital at the expense of more traditional goals. T h e political philosophy
of the day w a s the Positivism of C o m t e and later that of Spencer, both of
w h i c h became linked w i t h a type of social D a r w i n i s m . A u g u s t e C o m t e
(1798-1857) had developed a philosophical system that rejected metaphy-
10
Modernist poetry
sics and relied exclusively on the positive sciences. His final aim w a s to
reform society so that all men could live in h a r m o n y and comfort. D u r i n g
the peace that followed the political consolidation of the 1860s, Positivism
became the philosophy of order, p r o m o t i n g progress, science, and the
miracles of free enterprise. Society in Spanish A m e r i c a w a s to be
organized upon a more rational basis than ever before, and humanity w a s
to find itself living in a w o r l d w i t h o u t problems. Scientists were believed
to be the bearers of a demonstrable truth and trustees of the future. T h e
evils of " m o d e r n life" and industrialization were accepted as necessary for
national development. In reality, h o w e v e r , Positivism provided the ruling
classes w i t h a n e w v o c a b u l a r y to legitimate injustice as liberal ideology
w a s replaced by the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest.
Inequalities were n o w explained, not by race or inheritance or religion,
but by science. T h e M e x i c a n Porfirio D i a z and his "científicos" ["scien
tific o n e s " ] , the oligarchy of the Argentinian landowners, and the Chilean
nitrate barons best represented the political scene during this era.
Positivism generated in most Modernists a strongly ambivalent atti
tude. T h e y maintained a respect for science, its breakthroughs, and its
contributions to progress; they rejected it, h o w e v e r , as the ultimate
measure of all things. Despite the promises made, it became clear that, far
from becoming more understandable, life appeared more enigmatic, and
the great inventions and discoveries had not provided answers to the
fundamental questions of existence. If anything, Spanish A m e r i c a ' s
g r o w i n g prosperity and its increasing involvement w i t h the industrial
capitals of the w o r l d brought about social dislocations that heightened the
sense of crisis a m o n g its writers. T w o essential elements in the social
context of modernist art were the disappearance of the old aristocracy
along with its patronage of poetic production and the transformation of
all products of human enterprise - including art - into merchandise (see
Pérus, Literatura y sociedad en América Latina). In this situation, poets
had to earn their living producing a marketable c o m m o d i t y . M a n y
supported themselves as journalists at the same time that they sought,
through their well-crafted poetry, to assert themselves in a w o r l d where
the items of highest esteem were luxurious, opulent, and usually imported
(see Jitrik, Las contradicciones del modernismo). Some like Julián del
Casal (1863-1893) became marginalized, creating a bohemian response to
the vulgarity and utilitarianism of bourgeois society. Others, like D a r í o in
his famous " E l rey b u r g u é s , " scorned the materialism, mediocre conform
ity, and aesthetic insensitivity of the g r o w i n g bourgeoisie. Still others, like
M a r t i , put their faith in the superior individual, " e l hombre m a g n o " ["the
great m a n " ] , w h o could see beyond the pressures of rapid urbanization
and commercialization.
W i t h these conditions, modernity, as it is understood in Western
11
culture, arrived in Spanish A m e r i c a - or, at the very least, to its great,

cosmopolitan urban centers. Recent studies have emphasized that
modernity, as a stage in the history of Western civilization, began as early
as the second half of the eighteenth century. Its essential characteristics
are linked to scientific and technological progress, the industrial revolu
tion, and the sweeping economic and social changes brought about by
Capitalism (see R o g g i a n o , " M o d e r n i s m o : origen de la palabra y evolu
ción de un c o n c e p t o " ) . T h e ideological adjustments necessitated by these
far-reaching alterations in the fabric of life have consistently generated a
literary response or, as O c t a v i o Paz notes in Los hijos del limo [Children
of the Mire], modern poetry has a l w a y s represented a reaction against the
modern era and its various manifestations, whether they be the Enlighten
ment, critical reason, Liberalism, Positivism, or M a r x i s m . M o d e r n i s m is
the literary response to Spanish A m e r i c a ' s entrance into modernity. It is a
response to the spiritual and aesthetic v a c u u m created by the positivist
critique of religion and metaphysics in favor of science as well as by the
positivist support of materialistic, bourgeois values.
A s the Modernists formulated their reaction to modernity and sought
to deal w i t h their feelings of alienation and anguish, they discovered
appealing paradigms in the European literature that they had rushed to
read in their attempt to create a modern poetic language consonant w i t h
the modern times. T h e y found appropriate models in English and G e r m a n
R o m a n t i c i s m , French Parnassianism and S y m b o l i s m , for these literary
movements t o o had been reactions to the spiritual upheavals generated by
modern life. A s a result, the Modernists found their concerns and their
poetry to fall within the mainstream of European literary currents.
Broadly stated, M o d e r n i s m is linked to European romantic and post-
romantic literary production in the w a y that they came to formulate the
general crisis of beliefs that has dominated Western culture since the
Enlightenment and, perhaps more importantly, in the poetic solutions
that they opted to follow. Like the English and G e r m a n R o m a n t i c s and
the French Symbolists, the Spanish A m e r i c a n Modernists perceived the
anxiety of their age as generated by fragmentation: individuals were out of
touch w i t h themselves, w i t h their c o m p a n i o n s , and w i t h N a t u r e . T h e y
longed for a sense of wholeness, for innocence, for the paradise from
w h i c h they had been exiled by the positivist and bourgeois emphasis on
utility, materialism, and progress (see A b r a m s , Natural Super naturalism).
Neither traditional religious beliefs, vitiated by liberal thought, nor the
dry intellectualization of Positivism provided satisfactory answers. T h e
hope for amelioration resided in integration and the reconciliation of
conflict. T h e design that the R o m a n t i c s elaborated for possible recovery
and that w a s later adapted by the Symbolists and the Modernists centers
12
Modernist poetry
on analogy, that vision of the universe as system of correspondences in

w h i c h language is the universe's double.
By m a k i n g analogy the basis of their poetics, these authors - from the
early R o m a n t i c s through the Modernists - made the poet a seer w h o is in
touch w i t h the essence of existence. T h e y also turned poetry into a means
of discovery, a w a y of seeing the supernatural. Poetry became a type of
modern religion, replacing traditional religious beliefs w h i c h were in
crisis. For the English R o m a n t i c s such as W i l l i a m W o r d s w o r t h ( 1 7 7 0 -
1850), Samuel T a y l o r Coleridge (1772-1834), and T h o m a s Carlyle ( 1 7 9 5 -
1881), poets were the individuals w h o s e vocation w a s to liberate the vision
of readers from the bondage of habitual categories and social customs -
generated in their materialistic environment - so that they could see the
n e w , harmonious w o r l d that the poets had c o m e to see. For Charles
Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Arthur R i m b a u d (1854-1891) and other
French Symbolists, poets were the ones w h o could perceive the h a r m o
nious order of the universe behind the chaotic appearance of everyday
reality (see R a y m o n d , From Baudelaire to Surrealism). In their poetry, as
in Baudelaire's influential sonnet " C o r r e s p o n d a n c e s , " the disordered
material of the mundane w o r l d is rearranged into an artistic creation that
reflects the " d a r k and profound unity," that is, the orderly soul of both the
visionary and the c o s m o s .
T h e special language through w h i c h the m a c r o c o s m and microcosm
reveal themselves to each other is the language of symbols, metaphors,
and analogies. T h e mission of poetry is to rediscover this means of
c o m m u n i c a t i o n and to achieve a renewed unity of spirit. T o this end,
Baudelaire encouraged the free use of w o r d s and images, w h i c h are to be
employed not according to their logical usage but rather in accord w i t h
universal analogy, that is, emphasizing the " c o r r e s p o n d e n c e s " between
the material w o r l d and spiritual realities as well as a m o n g the different
human senses. T h i s interrelationship a m o n g the senses, w h i c h occurs
because of affective resonances that cannot be accounted for by logic,
provides the conceptual f r a m e w o r k for synaesthesia, the term that is
applied in literature to the description of one kind of sensation in terms of
another. Synaesthesia, w h i c h is often identified as one of the most
distinctive characteristics of both symbolist and modernist verse, also
encourages interplay a m o n g the graphic, verbal, and auditory arts, and
the appearance of poetic structures based on music or painting. A l l these
features taken together w o r k e d to convert the poet's art into an evocative
magic.
Stéphane M a l l a r m é (1842-1898), in turn, sought to increase the magical
p o w e r s of poetry by separating the crude and immediate from the
"essential" condition of w o r d s . T h e "essential" w o r d does not function
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as an intermediary between t w o minds, but as an instrument of p o w e r

capable of a w a k e n i n g the soul to its original innocence. W h e n restored to
its full efficacy, language, like music, evokes a pure, untarnished view of
the universe. M u s i c , because it is indefinite and innocent of reference to
the external w o r l d , became the ideal of poetic creation. Paul Verlaine
(1844-1896) had written, in his widely influential " A r t p o é t i q u e , " " D e la
musique avant toute c h o s e " ["music before e v e r y t h i n g " ] , advocating a
poetry of subtlety and nuance that is as elusive and intangible as the scent
of mint and thyme on the morning w i n d . Similarly, D a r í o in " D i l u c i d a
c i o n e s , " his introduction to El canto errante, addressed the issue of poetry
and music and the need for a constantly revitalized and perfectly
adaptable poetic form. H e w r o t e : "I do not like either new or old molds...
M y poetry has a l w a y s been born w i t h its b o d y and its soul, and I have not
applied any type of orthopedics to it. I have indeed sung old airs; and I
have a l w a y s w a n t e d to g o t o w a r d the future under the divine c o m m a n d of
music - music of ideas, music of the w o r d . "
By viewing M o d e r n i s m as a movement that sought to confront and
respond to conditions and concerns similar to those that appeared in
Europe following the end of the Enlightenment, it becomes clear that
modernist cosmopolitanism and, more specifically, the stylistic changes
and experimentation associated w i t h the modernist adaptation of French
models are part of a profound philosophic search in w h i c h the sound and
substance of poetry are key elements. T h e purposeful use of the musical
resources of poetic language, the internal adjustment of ideas, w o r d s , and
sounds to the impressions that e v o k e them, and a return to the ancient
Hispanic tradition of rhythmic versification became a w a y of seeing
b e y o n d and even transcending the imperfect here and n o w . T h e fossilized
language of Spanish poetics w a s rejected as incapable of attaining the
vision that w o u l d respond to the collapse of the belief systems dominant at
the end of the nineteenth century. W h i l e Spanish A m e r i c a n poets had read
the Spanish R o m a n t i c s , they failed to find in them convincing models
because the spiritual and social dislocations that occurred in Spanish
A m e r i c a and that paralleled European experiences had not affected Spain,
w h i c h remained, for the most part, philosophically and economically
isolated. T h e major exception is G u s t a v o A d o l f o Bécquer (1836-1870),
w h o s e emphasis on the sincere expression of profoundly intimate e m o
tions and on the musicality of lyric verse had a strong impact on the
Modernists.
In short, the modernist recourse to analogy sheds light on its c o s m o p o
litanism, its obsession w i t h verbal elegance and musicality, and its
insistence on artistic freedom, formal experimentation, and heightened
individuality. M a n y of these features, as well as others, were further
fostered by the artist's rejection of the commodification, commercializa-
14
Modernist poetry
tion, and superficiality of " b o u r g e o i s modernity," that is, the tradition of

modern values w h i c h encouraged faith in progress, pragmatism, and the
beneficial effects of science and technology (see Calinescu, Five Faces of
Modernity: Modernism, Avant-Garde, Decadence, Kitsch, Postmodern
ism). M o r e o v e r , the marketplace affected all aspects of life including art
and time, and success w a s judged by the accumulation of wealth.
M o d e r n i s t authors responded to the resulting vacuity of everyday exis
tence w i t h w h a t had become another tradition, namely, the expression of
defiantly hostile antibourgeois attitudes. T h i s expression t o o k many
forms including "art for art's s a k e , " eccentricity, dandyism, and
Decadentism.
T h e idea of "l'art pour l'art" as conceived by the Parnassian T h é o p h i l e
Gautier ( 1 8 1 1 - 1 8 7 2 ) appealed to the poetic imaginations of the early
Modernists. W i t h this rallying call they summarized the artist's renunci
ation of vulgar utilitarianism. Utility w a s associated w i t h ugliness.
Similarly, for some, like the English Pre-Raphaelites, their disgust with
contemporary changes in the landscape w a s such that they came to believe
that beauty existed only in pre-industrial settings. T h e Pre-Raphaelite
recourse to allegory and medievalism w a s another rejection of middle-
class values that modernist poets considered and that coincided w i t h the
general goal of épater le bourgeois. A more radical variation w a s
developed by the Decadents as represented by Joris Karl H u y s m a n s
(1848—1907), w h o s e A rebours had a tremendous impact on a number of
Modernists, most notably José A s u n c i o n Silva (1865-1896), del C a s a l ,
w h o corresponded with H u y s m a n s in French, and D a r i o , w h o signed his
"Mensajes de la t a r d e " with the name of the novel's protagonist, Des
Esseintes.
Nevertheless, neither Gautier nor the Modernists were blind to the
benefits of modern inventions. T h e y quickly modified their stand w i t h
regard to elements of modern industrial life: they could be transformed
through art into a modern kind of beauty. T h o u g h , perhaps w i t h the
exception of Salvador D i a z M i r ó n (185 3-1928), seldom as adventuresome
as Baudelaire, w h o sought to extract gold from m u d or to find flowers in
the forbidden realm of evil, the Modernists did c o m e to incorporate
aspects of urban modernity in their poetry. T h i s n e w form of beauty w a s
obviously different from that of classical antiquity. T o comprehend the
differences as well as the similarities, the Modernists extended their
examination of beauty to include all the ages. T h e resulting syncretism,
the extension of cosmopolitanism back in time as well as across borders, is
another key feature of modernist verse.
In their unrelenting search for the ideal poetic language, one w i t h w h i c h
they could address their concerns regarding the life and future of their
countries, modernist poets embraced and reconciled varying styles,
15
images, religious beliefs, philosophic perspectives, and modes of dis

course. T h e i r ability and desire to incorporate a bewildering diversity of
images and ideas is linked, in part, to the economic imperialism of the end
of the nineteenth century. Surrounded by an o v e r w h e l m i n g proliferation
of imported manufactured items, the Modernists created a parallel poetic
environment in w h i c h things proliferate not in a referential but in an
artificial system (see G o n z á l e z Echevarría, " M o d e r n i d a d " ) . N a t u r e is
filtered through any number of aesthetic landscapes from any number of
cultures, periods, or artistic media. M o d e r n i s t art is filled w i t h Versailles-
que palaces, oriental gardens and interiors, gods and nymphs, gold and
pearls, folding screens (biombos), divans, lacquered pieces, urns, and
tapestries (see Pacheco, Antología del modernismo). T h e s e places and
things are described, especially in early modernist verse, with sophisti
cated v o c a b u l a r y and numerous adjectives that both reinforce a sense of
wealth and accumulation and, more importantly, reflect the relationship
that modernist poets had with the materialism of bourgeois society. T h i s
relationship w a s strongly ambivalent. O n the one hand, the values of the
dominant classes are exalted in M o d e r n i s m ' s rich language. O n the other,
h o w e v e r , the emphasis on wealth is criticized as superficial w h e n seen as
an end in itself and not recognized as subservient to the poets' profound
search for transcendental beauty and universal harmony.
T h i s faith in achieving a harmonious vision of the universe through
poetic language distinguishes M o d e r n i s m from later movements w h i c h
built upon modernist innovations but w h i c h lost its confidence in poetry
as a means of attaining a vision of universal accord. T h e insistent
optimism of M o d e r n i s m as well as its pronounced artificiality, ornamen
tation, and syncretism have tended to date the movement even though
these latter elements reappear - in altered forms, of course, - in the
linguistic excesses of the Vanguardia [Avant-Garde] and in the neo-
baroque stylings of writers like Carpentier and L e z a m a L i m a . T h e
movement's essential modernity is evident, nevertheless, in both its
rejection of an obsessive concern for referentiality and its creative reaction
to the acute sense of anxiety and alienation characteristic of modern
times.
In their syncretic adaptability the Modernists took artistic models that
were both traditional and untraditional. T h e y found inspiration in earlier
Spanish masters including Berceo, Cervantes, L o p e de V e g a , G a r c i l a s o ,
G r a c i á n , Santa Teresa, G ó n g o r a , and Q u e v e d o , and they resurrected the
irregular versification of old Spanish poetry. M o r e striking, h o w e v e r , is
their repeated recourse to Greek m y t h o l o g y and poetics, especially as
interpreted by A n d r e M a r i e de Chénier, M a u r i c e Guérin, Charles M a r i e
Rene Leconte de Lisle, or Louis M é n a r d . Similarly, the powerful presence
of the pre-revolutionary France of the eighteenth century came by w a y of
16
Modernist poetry
Verlaine's Fêtes galantes, the writings of the G o n c o u r t brothers (Edmond

de [1822-1896] and Jules de [1830-1870]) and the renewal of interest in
the paintings of A n t o i n e W a t t e a u ( 1 6 8 4 - 1 7 2 1 ) . T h e N o r d i c m y t h o l o g y
that appears in the poetry of R i c a r d o Jaimes Freyre (1863-1933), D a r i o ,
and others invokes the even more exotic and unconventional realities of
dark, cold, and distant lands as well as the aesthetic theories of Richard
W a g n e r (1813-1883), w h i c h complemented many aspects of the symbolist
poetics already discussed. T h e G e r m a n composer stressed the interplay of
text and music and sought, w i t h his reformulation of G e r m a n i c legend, to
revitalize N o r d i c culture w h i c h he, like the Modernists w i t h regard to the
situation in Spanish A m e r i c a , found to be undermined by crass commer-
cialization. For both W a g n e r and the Modernists, their artistic formula-
tions were intimately related to the issues of national identity and the
formation of national states (see Erika L o r e n z , Ruben Dario "Bajo el
33
divino imperio de la musica ).
For others like Julian del C a s a l , the Orient held the greatest fascination.
Interest in C h i n a and Japan can be traced all the w a y back to the
eighteenth century and the construction in the Palacio Real of M a d r i d of
the Salon Gasparini (1764) or in the Palacio de Aranjuez of the Sala C h i n a
(1784). M o r e immediate, h o w e v e r , w a s the impact upon turn-of-the-
3
century sensibilities of imported engravings and objets d art, in particular,
their transformation of N a t u r e into stylized lines and colors. T h e literary
equivalents, for Spanish A m e r i c a , of these items imported from the Orient
once again came by w a y of France in the poetry of Catulle M e n d è s , Pierre
Loti, and Stéphane M a l l a r m é , as well as in the French translations of
classic Chinese poets in Le livre de jade (1867) by Judith Gautier, daughter
of T h é o p h i l e Gautier. T h e aesthetic innovations introduced as a result of
the M o d e r n i s t s ' enthusiasm for Oriental art and culture were, as w a s the
case w i t h their other poetic innovations, intimately tied to their search for
a deeper comprehension of reality, one w h i c h eventually led several poets,
most notably A m a d o N e r v o (1870-1919), to explore Buddhism, T a o i s m ,
and Z e n .
T h e artistic explorations of syncretism and exoticism were, during the
second half of the nineteenth century, further encouraged by the increas-
ingly significant and pervasive scientific explorations of archaeology and
philology. T h e y all uncovered unconventional views of beauty and
morality, views that offered images of times or philosophies in w h i c h
spiritual peace, order, beauty, and pleasure appeared attainable. T h e s e
views increased in importance as the solace offered by o r t h o d o x religious
beliefs decreased, that is, as the "death of G o d " w a s experienced on a
personal level. " S c i e n c e " led the Modernists and their contemporaries
further and further a w a y from traditional beliefs (primarily through the
positivistic critique of religion) and t o w a r d heterodox beliefs (through the
17
archaeological and philological search for origins). T h e s e heterodox

beliefs generally entered literary circles mediated by a less rigid, more
aesthetically pleasing, humanistic - even religious - approach: that of the
occult sciences.
T h e occult sciences offered one great advantage. T h e y explored those
" o c c u l t " mysteries of life ignored by science w i t h the language of science,
giving a certain legitimacy to the spiritual quests of the non-scientist.
D a r i o understood the importance of this p h e n o m e n o n well. W h e n in 1895
he w r o t e for La Nation about the revival of occultist creeds in Europe at
the time, he described the overall g o a l in the f o l l o w i n g manner:
T h e science of the occult, which before belonged to the initiated, to the
experts, is being reborn today with new investigations by wise indivi
duals and by special societies. The official science of the Western World
has still not been able to accept certain extraordinary - but still within
the realm of the natural in its broadest sense - manifestations like those
demonstrated by Crookes and M a d a m e Blavatsky. But fervent fol
lowers hope that, as Humanity moves gradually closer to Perfection, a
time will come when the ancient Scientia occulta, Scientia occultati,
Scientia occultans, will no longer be arcane. T h e day will come when
Science and Religion, as one, will lead man to knowledge of the Science
of Life.
T h i s passage underscores certain key elements of turn-of-the-century

society. T h e general malaise of the period - both in Europe and in Spanish
A m e r i c a - w a s identified w i t h a loss, most often that of a paradise from
w h i c h modern man has been exiled. T h e ancient w a y of k n o w i n g w a s
considered superior to the modern w a y , w h i c h had opted to consider only
physical realities and w h i c h tended to disregard the ultimate questions of
existence. Despite their limitations, science and technology remained
central to the dominant value system, one in w h i c h poets had to function.
T h i s awareness, as well as the ambivalence that it bred, infiltrates
modernist writings. M o s t Modernists recognized the value and p o w e r of
science but also felt that they offered in their poetry an alternative vision
that w a s genuinely superior even if it w a s ignored or misunderstood by the
vast majority. T h e resulting dual perspective becomes evident w h e n one
compares modernist prose and poetry. A t first the differences appear
related to the question of audience and the authors' concessions, in the
more widely read prose, to prevalent attitudes. W h i l e the public addressed
no doubt played a part, a more significant factor is that of modes of
discourse. A s A n i b a l G o n z a l e z has s h o w n , (in La cronica modernista
bispanoamericana) w h e n the Modernists set out to write prose their
model w a s primarily the scientific discourse of philology w i t h second
place given to the more commercial m o d e of journalism. T h e primary
18
Modernist poetry
discursive model for modernist poetry w a s religion w i t h a progressively

greater incorporation of the analogical vision proposed by occultism (see
Jrade, Ruben Dario and the Romantic Search for Unity).
T h e origin of the distinctive modes of discourse linked to prose and
poetry is a romantic tradition that began w i t h W o r d s w o r t h . W o r d s w o r t h
held that the most characteristic subject matter of poetry consists of things
modified by passions and the imagination of the perceiver. W o r d s w o r t h
therefore replaced the contradistinction of poetry and prose w i t h the more
philosophical one of poetry and science. Similarly, Coleridge insisted that
the essence of poetry, that is, the union of passion, thought, and pleasure,
existed in opposition to science and civil and natural history. By the early
Victorian period all discourse w a s explicitly or tacitly t h r o w n into the t w o
exhaustive modes. Religion fell together w i t h poetry in opposition to
science and, as a consequence, religion w a s converted into poetry and
poetry into a kind of religion.
W h e n poetry stepped in to fill the void left by the collapse of o r t h o d o x
belief systems, it found its models in the ancient esoteric tradition that had
survived throughout the centuries in hermetic and occultist sects. T h i s
tradition is based on analogy and the belief that the universe is alive,
harmonious, and responsive. Equally important for the Spanish A m e r i c a n
poets at the time w a s the esoteric premise that the ancient w i s d o m of the
sages did not disappear w h e n Christianity became the w o r l d ' s most
powerful religion but rather simply assumed the symbolism of the n e w
faith, perpetuating through its emblems and allegories the same truths
that have been the property of the wise since the beginning of time. T h i s
faith in the fundamental unity of all religions provided those poets w h o
hesitated to abandon their childhood beliefs w i t h a framework in w h i c h
they w o u l d reconcile C a t h o l i c d o g m a w i t h the appealing alternative belief
systems. A l s o , as noted by D a r i o in the article for La Nation, cited a b o v e ,
the syncretic perspective of the occult sciences w e n t so far as to include
science and scientific research as well as a wide-reaching eclecticism.
T h e occultist sects that enjoyed an active revival in Europe during the
second half of the nineteenth century were numerous. T h e y included the
T h e o s o p h i c a l Society founded by M a d a m e Blavatsky and C o l o n e l O l c o t t ,
the Rosicrucians headed by Sar Peladan, and the Independent G r o u p of
Esoteric Studies directed by G e r a r d Encausse, " P a p u s . " T h e y embraced a
w i d e range of systems not a l w a y s in perfect ideological harmony. T h e r e
were references to C a b a l i s m , astrology, magnetism, hypnotism, Gnosti
cism, freemasonry, alchemy, and several oriental religions. T h e literary
circles of Europe were saturated w i t h believers and proselytizers. Recent
studies have demonstrated the degree to w h i c h romantic and symbolist
writings were permeated with cabalistic, hermetic, theosophical, and
19
Eastern thought. A s a result, w h e n tracing occultist influences on moder

nist verse in most cases it is impossible to determine those that were direct
and those that came through contemporary European poetry.
Aspects of these influences have routinely been identified as Pythagor
ean. It is best, h o w e v e r , to remember that the Pythagoreanism that had an
impact upon M o d e r n i s m w a s generally reinterpreted through esoteric
doctrine and freely combined elements not only from historical Pythagor
eanism but also from N e o - P y t h a g o r e a n i s m , Platonism, and N e o p l a t o -
nism. Perhaps it w a s the emphasis of esoteric Pythagoreanism on order,
h a r m o n y , and music that most immediately captured the poetic imagina
tion of this generation of writers and led to the incorporation of a number
of u n o r t h o d o x tenets into w h a t can be called the modernist w o r l d view.
A s w a s the case w i t h the R o m a n t i c s and the Symbolists, h a r m o n y as a
philosophical ideal associated w i t h divine perfection forms the basis of
the modernist c o s m o l o g y . T h e entire universe is one harmonious and
orderly extension of G o d , w h o s e soul permeates all and is identical with
the great soul of the w o r l d . Universal h a r m o n y is demonstrated both in
the beauty of music and the regularity of the heavenly bodies. T h e image
of celestial music results from the fusion of these t w o points and distills
the modernist v i e w that the universe is a living, rhythmically pulsating
extension of G o d in w h i c h all elements are signs that indicate its essential
unity.
Since both the individual and the universe are made in the image of
G o d , each being is a microcosm that should strive to implant in his or her
soul the h a r m o n y seen in the m a c r o c o s m . It is recognized, h o w e v e r , that
there are certain superior individuals w h o are more conscious than others
of the divine element within them and, consequently, more able to
recognize the transcendent order of the w o r l d around them. R o m a n t i c
and symbolist literary theory encouraged the identification of these
special individuals w i t h poets. Esoteric beliefs linked this superior status
to a highly evolved soul, one that had become perfected through
numerous incarnations. W h i l e not every M o d e r n i s t held fast to the idea of
transmigration of souls, it is a concept that appears throughout modernist
verse either playfully as a dimension of modernist syncretism or seriously
as an alternative to Christian salvation.
A n o t h e r alternative to the strongly restrictive views of Christianity that
w a s supplied by occultism deals w i t h an aspect of modernist art that
highlighted its departure from earlier movements. T h i s feature is the
modernist elevation of sexuality. Whether sexuality became important as
a personal and immediate response to the emptiness of life or as a defiant
challenge to the conservatism of middle-class morality (a defiance similar
to dandyism in other aspects of life), esoteric tradition supplied a w a y of
l o o k i n g at sexuality that made it possible for erotic longings to be
20
Modernist poetry
incorporated in, and to become an essential element of, the modernist

c o s m o l o g y , an element that reinforced and reaffirmed many others
already discussed in detail.
A s Paz recognized w i t h regard to the R o m a n t i c s , the exaltation of the
natural order of things, especially sexuality, is simultaneously a moral and
political critique of civilization and an affirmation of a time before history
(Los hijos del limo). Erotic passion is a part of nature that has been
inhibited and/or destroyed by the social order. Reclaiming its importance
becomes linked w i t h intuiting a primordial, more perfect w o r l d . For
European poets of the second half of the nineteenth century and for the
Modernists, the occult sciences provided the f r a m e w o r k for this stance.
By affirming the sexual nature of the godhead and by appropriating the
esoteric myth of primordial man as a cosmic androgyne, sexual love
became a means of a p p r o x i m a t i n g the androgynous state of the primal
man, and, since his fall into evil is identified w i t h his entrance into the
w o r l d of materiality and t w o sexes, a return to the union of male and
female became a means of perceiving the prelapsarian bliss of unity as well
as of intuiting the divine state. T h e ideal female w i t h w h o m the poet must
join to attain the much pursued perfect vision is often linked w i t h poetic
language and the product of their union described in sensuous and
seductive terms. C r e a t i o n , whether poetic, personal, or cosmic, is con
ceived as sexual. A s a result, eroticism and religion are brought together in
w h a t is a radically n e w w a y for Hispanic poetry.
T h e experimentation w i t h rhythm and rhyme schemes, verse forms,
styles, images, myths, religions, and philosophies that underpins the
richness of modernist art began as a search that inevitably turns back
upon itself, that is, it is linked to the question of Spanish A m e r i c a n
modernity and, in broader terms, Spanish A m e r i c a n identity. A s the
modernist poets reflected upon the formation of nation states and the
integration of Spanish A m e r i c a into the w o r l d e c o n o m y , they confronted
the issue of Spanish A m e r i c a n literature. M a r t i ' s case is perhaps the most
extreme; he aspired to create a n e w nation as well as a n e w literature.
F r o m this perspective, the political impetus of modernist literature
becomes evident - even in the early modernist verse that had been defined
by M o d e r n i s m ' s first commentators as escapist and superficial. T h r o u g h
out the development of M o d e r n i s m , European literature offered models
and guidance. T h e answers that the Modernists formulated were not
blind imitations but creative adaptations to their o w n circumstances and
original responses to their unique set of aspirations, tensions, and
linguistic possibilities. T h e s e answers eventually opened the w a y for the
Avant-Garde.
T h e modernist movement began in several parts of the continent during
the last quarter of the nineteenth century as a development of R o m a n t i -
21
cism, w h i c h had already started to create an original literature for the

n e w , independent countries of Spanish A m e r i c a . It w a s sustained by the
urban affluence and cosmopolitanism of such centers as M e x i c o City,
H a v a n a , and B o g o t á in the north and Santiago de C h i l e , Buenos Aires,
and M o n t e v i d e o in the south. T h e s e cities supported the most important
literary magazines of the Spanish-speaking w o r l d , magazines that were
crucial in the diffusion of concepts, trends, and translations and in the
formation of a continent-wide movement. T h e y included Revista Azul,
Revista Moderna, El Cojo Ilustrado, El Mercurio de América, and Vida
Moderna.
By the i88os the first Modernists had produced a notable transforma
tion in Spanish literature. T h e major writers at the time were M a n u e l
G o n z á l e z Prada (Peru, 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 1 8 ) , Salvador D í a z M i r ó n ( M e x i c o , 1 8 5 3 -
1928), José M a r t í ( C u b a , 1 8 5 3 - 1 8 9 5 ) , José A s u n c i ó n Silva ( C o l o m b i a ,
1865-1896), M a n u e l Gutiérrez Nájera ( M e x i c o , 1 8 5 9 - 1 8 9 5 ) , Julián del
C a s a l ( C u b a , 1863-1893), Justo Sierra ( M e x i c o , 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 1 2 ) , and Fran
cisco G a v i d i a (El Salvador, 1 8 6 3 - 1 9 5 5 ) . It w a s D a r í o , h o w e v e r , w h o
became the intellectual center of gravity of the movement, gave it its
name, and propelled it forward with driving energy and genius. By the end
of the year in w h i c h he published the first edition of Prosas profanas
(1896), a w o r k of revolutionary vision and artistry, he w a s the undisputed
head of and spokesman for M o d e r n i s m . By the end of 1896 C a s a l , M a r t í ,
Gutiérrez Nájera, and A s u n c i ó n Silva were dead and the other early
Modernists had all written their best poetry. D a r í o led the younger
Modernists in a continued reassessment of poetic language and its
relationship to the changing Spanish A m e r i c a n scene. T h e f o l l o w i n g poets
are those w h o are generally considered the most important younger
Modernists (arranged by birthdate): M a n u e l José O t h ó n ( M e x i c o , 1 8 5 8 -
1906), Francisco A . de Icaza ( M e x i c o , 1 8 6 3 - 1 9 2 5 ) , Luis G . Urbina
( M e x i c o , 1868-1934), R i c a r d o Jaimes Freyre (Bolivia, 1868—1933),
A m a d o N e r v o ( M e x i c o , 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 1 9 ) , G u i l l e r m o Valencia ( C o l o m b i a ,
1 8 7 3 - 1 9 4 3 ) , José M a r í a Eguren (Peru, 1 8 7 4 - 1 9 4 2 ) , L e o p o l d o L u g o n e s
(Argentina, 1 8 7 4 - 1 9 3 8 ) , Julio Herrera y Reissig (Uruguay, 1 8 7 5 - 1 9 1 0 ) ,
José Santos C h o c a n o (Peru, 1 8 7 5 - 1 9 3 4 ) , Juan R a m ó n M o l i n a (Honduras,
1875-1908), Franz T a m a y o (Bolivia, 1 8 7 9 - 1 9 5 9 ) , G r e g o r i o R e y n o l d s
(Bolivia, 1882-1948), R i c a r d o M i r ó (Panama, 1883-1940), and Delmira
Agustini (Uruguay, 1 8 8 6 - 1 9 1 4 ) .
The early Modernists

W h i l e , more than w i t h any other modernist poet, D a r i o ' s life and w o r k s
reflect the major trends and tendencies of the entire modernist movement,
the characteristics of his early art had already begun to appear in various
22
Modernist poetry
places in Spanish A m e r i c a by the time he published his first major v o l u m e

of w o r k . T h e features that characterize w h a t w o u l d c o m e to be k n o w n as
modernist poetry included dissatisfaction and disillusionment w i t h the
values of the ruling class, anxiety and a sense of crisis w i t h regard to
traditional religious beliefs, and an eagerness to establish a n e w , uniquely
Spanish A m e r i c a n perspective. T h e first Modernists aspired to produce a
poetry that rivaled the esteemed art and imported items that were entering
the great cosmopolitan centers of Spanish A m e r i c a from all corners of the
w o r l d but most especially from Europe and Europe's cultural capital,
Paris. T h i s poetry sought to liberate verse form from the inflexibility of
classical norms and to achieve a powerful vision based on an innovative
conception of language, one in w h i c h musicality w a s thought capable of
evoking profound realities. T h e s e founding trends underpin the w o r k s of
the most accomplished poets of the period. M a n u e l Gutiérrez Nájera,
Julián del C a s a l , José M a r t í , and José A s u n c i ó n Silva are generally
considered, along w i t h D a r í o , the best early Modernists. Even before
them, h o w e v e r , others had contributed to the early development of the
movement.
T h o u g h M a n u e l G o n z á l e z Prada is generally k n o w n more for his prose
than for his poetry, he published nine important volumes that set Spanish
A m e r i c a n verse on the road t o w a r d M o d e r n i s m . Part of his poetry w a s
intellectual and didactic, part amorous and sentimental, but a b o v e all else
it w a s innovative. After reading Parnassians and Symbolists, he w r o t e
imitations, adaptations, and translation; he experimented w i t h their
views of language and their formal changes; he adapted, to Spanish, verse
forms from French, English, and Italian; and he incorporated synaesthesia
into his w o r k . Justo Sierra also is k n o w n less for his poetry than for his
w o r k as a historian, educator, orator, and politician, yet in his verse there
are clear pre-modernist or early modernist elements. His poetry is
graceful, fresh, elegant, and responsive to the n e w tendencies that came
from abroad, from the Parnassians, Bécquer, D ' A n n u n z i o , and Nietzsche,
to name just a few.
Salvador D í a z M i r ó n , on the other hand, stands out for his poetic
production. Since 1886 w h e n he published his early verse, his presence w a s
felt a m o n g modernist writers such as D a r í o , w h o praised his dynamic,
freedom-loving poetry in one of the " M e d a l l o n e s " of the 1890 edition of
Azul... W h i l e D í a z M i r ó n ' s tone w a s revolutionary and his focus w a s on
the human struggle within the urban, industrialized centers of Spanish
A m e r i c a , he w r o t e w i t h a grace, learning, and attention to style that
appealed even to those concerned primarily w i t h the aesthetics of
modernist innovations. D u r i n g his second period, w h i c h begins w i t h
Lascas, his revolutionary concerns were directed t o w a r d the formal
aspects of his poetry. H e experimented w i t h musical effects, w i t h
¿3
accentual and rhythmic changes, and sought, at the expense of the energy
singled out by D a r í o , a delicate, formal perfection. A n o t h e r reformer w a s
Francisco G a v i d i a , w h o is perhaps best remembered today as one of
D a r i o ' s teachers. H e introduced into M o d e r n i s m the new rhythms of the
French A l e x a n d r i n e and the G r e e k hexameter.
M a n u e l Gutiérrez Nájera
Gutiérrez Nájera w a s one of the first Modernists to recognize that the

stultification of Spanish verse stemmed not from inherent linguistic
limitations but rather from a resistance to change fostered by Spain's
cultural isolationism. H e advocated greater artistic freedom parallel to
the cultural openness evident in his beloved M e x i c o City and in his
famous p o e m " L a D u q u e s a J o b . " A s in this revealing piece, the imported
models of elegance and grace by w h i c h M e x i c a n society w a s beginning to
judge itself were never proposed as substitutes for uniquely Spanish
A m e r i c a n attributes. His enthusiasm for European literature, for beauty,
musicality, and art for art's sake - w i t h o u t specific pragmatic goals -
reflected his faith that art could reveal profound realities, realities he
hoped w o u l d fill the spiritual void left by traditional religion and by the
ideology of the " m o d e r n " businessman and scientist. A s he repeatedly
made clear in his extensive critical writings, he believed that the intuited
and evocative w i s d o m of art w o u l d serve the public g o o d as well as
national and nationalistic ends. Like the D a r í o of " E r a un aire s u a v e , " the
Gutiérrez Nájera that has been identified as "Frenchified" cannot be
judged superficially. His playful cosmopolitan spirit, his poetic experi
mentation, as in the Parnassian " D e b i a n c o , " and his search for the perfect
adaptation of image and language, of color and tone are all products of
serious reflection upon both the promises and failings of the expanding
cultural and commercial environment of the time.
Gutiérrez Nájera k n e w the changing M e x i c a n scene well. A s a pro
fessional journalist he kept his readers, many of them w o m e n , informed of
the events, trends, and fashions of the day. Under various pseudonyms -
including his most famous, " E l D u q u e J o b " - he w r o t e reviews, c o m m e n
tary, chronicles, as well as short stories. H e actually produced much more
prose than poetry, w h i c h w a s collected only posthumously by Justo Sierra
in 1896 in a v o l u m e entitled Poesías. Nevertheless, his poetry w a s well
k n o w n and quite influential during his lifetime. It w a s admired for the
vitality and elegance it brought to Spanish verse, even though his
innovations were limited to the introduction of n e w accentual patterns
within traditional metrical forms, especially the octosyllable and the
hendecasyllable. W h i l e Gutiérrez Nájera's confrontation w i t h the spiri
tual abyss left by the materialistic and positivistic perspectives dominant
2-4
Modernist poetry
at the time lends a melancholy and tortured air to much of his poetry, it is
its lilting musicality and delicate imagery that leave the greatest impact.
His confrontations with the destructive passage of time, the o v e r w h e l m
ing presence of death, and the confining limits of h u m a n experience are
converted into masterpieces that underscore not only the redemptive
p o w e r of art, as in " N o n omnis m o r i a r , " but also his unending search for
beauty, beauty that could permeate human actions and influence moral
behavior. T h i s desire - rooted in Hegelian philosophy and G e r m a n
romantic idealism — to influence, through his art, the course of his nation's
history highlights once again the breadth and seriousness of the modernist
quest. It also emphasizes the spiritual unity of the movement, for it is
perhaps the key element in the w o r k s of José M a r t i , often considered the
most imposing figure of the period.
José M a r t i
It has been virtually impossible to speak of José M a r t i w i t h o u t alluding to

his dedication to the cause of C u b a n independence w h i c h formed the
intellectual b a c k d r o p to his political, moral, and philosophic writings and
w h i c h ultimately led to his death on the battlefield of D o s R í o s . His prose
pieces (particularly his speeches), their powerful and innovative use of the
Spanish language, and their insightful reflections upon the developments
at the turn of the century have tended to receive more attention than his
three volumes of verse. His poetry, as he himself confesses, served as a
break from his primary tasks of journalism and politics. Nevertheless,
those features that have been singled out for praise in his prose are also
essential to his poetry and m a k e it fundamental to the formation of the
modernist movement. M o s t important are his sense of moral imperatives
and his insistence that language conform to the lyrical impulses that drive
it - even at the risk of being shocking or brutally sincere. A s Cintio Vitier
has pointed out in his " E n la mina m a r t i a n a , " M a r t i not only sought to
make a revolution through his w o r d s but he also hoped to revolutionize
language itself, m a k i n g it more A m e r i c a n and receptive to modern times
and, perhaps more importantly, to the future. His famous phrase " L a
expresión es hembra del a c t o " underscores the bond between w o r d and
deed, suggesting, like the female metaphors that run throughout D a r i o ' s
w o r k , that language, upon being fertilized, should give birth to verbal
children, w h o , in M a r t i ' s case, are the moral equivalent to the acts of just
men.
It w a s possibly this ethical orientation combined w i t h M a r t i ' s lasting
respect for traditional Spanish verse forms - despite his enthusiasm for the
French and N o r t h A m e r i c a n literature of the day, most notably the
visionary figure of H u g o , the sonorous cadences of W h i t m a n , and the
2-5
oneiric fantasies of Poe - that made early critics slight his contributions to
modernist verse. T h i s c h r o n o l o g y has n o w been rectified, thanks in great
part to M a n u e l Pedro G o n z a l e z and Ivan A . Schulman, w h o led efforts to
have M a r t i credited with initiating many of the key characteristics of the
movement. A s a result, the beginning of the m o v e m e n t is n o w often dated
by the publication of Ismaelillo, M a r t i ' s first collection, in 1882.
In reality, M a r t i ' s innovations g o to the essence of modern Spanish
A m e r i c a , thereby anticipating not only modernist struggles w i t h language
but also those of the A v a n t - G a r d e . A s M a r t i ' s o w n analysis of his poetry
in the prose introduction to his Versos litres (completed in 1882 and
published posthumously in 1913) w o u l d indicate, his refusal to temper his
structures or images at the expense of his visions, his metaphoric
brilliance and novelty, and his acceptance of the difficulty of his verse
along w i t h its pure, often brutal, sincerity are characteristics that point to
hidden links between M o d e r n i s m and the A v a n t - G a r d e . W h i l e a number
of studies have examined similarities in the w o r k s of Vallejo and M a r t i ,
until recently this aspect of modernist poetry has received relatively little
attention. Y e t it is this willingness - perhaps eagerness - to tap the p o w e r
of dreamed, unfettered, even illogical visions and verbal structures that is
picked up later by Julio Herrera y Reissig and L e o p o l d o L u g o n e s and that
underpins w h a t Y u r k i e v i c h has called the " c a u s a l connection between
M o d e r n i s m and the first Vanguardia."
W h i l e Versos libres w a s completed during the same year as Ismaelillo
and contains poems from as early as 1878, Ismaelillo is M a r t i ' s first p u b
lished b o o k of verse. It consists of fifteen p o e m s dedicated to his absent
son, José Francisco (Pepito), w h o had been born in 1878. T h e personal
events surrounding their separation and the creation of these poems are of
interest in that they emphasize h o w thoroughly M a r t i ' s commitment to
the cause of C u b a n independence permeated his life and w o r k . W h i l e he
w a s living in N e w Y o r k with his wife, C a r m e n Z a y a s B a z à n , she often
accused him of caring more for C u b a than for his family. O n e day, w i t h
out notice, she left for C u b a w i t h their son, w h o m M a r t i w o u l d never see
again. O u t of the pain of this loss g r e w Ismaelillo, w h i c h , in contrast with
the texts of the short-lived journal La Edad de Oro (1889), is a b o o k not
for children but rather about one child. It captures the pure, spontaneous
joys of parenthood as well as M a r t i ' s hopes for his son and for the future,
w h i c h c o m e together in the sense of mission and purpose that he aspires to
pass on. It is this tension between the lyrical innocence of the child and the
moral w o r l d of the father that structures the w o r k and also makes it
appear so fresh, dynamic, and modern. T h e son becomes a knight, a
shield, a refuge for the father. T h e w o r k fuses in this w a y imaginary
elements with moral and spiritual comfort and purposeful action. In this
regard, Santi ("Ismaelillo, M a r t i y el modernismo") suggests that the title
z6
Modernist poetry
of the collection alludes to the e t y m o l o g y that M a r t i attributed to Ishmael

namely, "Ser fuerte contra el destino" [" to be strong against the
challenges of fate"], for the child is heroic despite his not having had to
suffer the trials of exile like his true father or his fictional namesake w h o ,
along w i t h his mother, w a s cast out by Sarah, A b r a h a m ' s legitimate wife.
Despite the fact that Ismaelillo w a s t o o little read during its time to have
been influential, its style represents the best of early M o d e r n i s m . It makes
m a x i m u m use of the traditional seguidilla, giving it a light and energetic
air. V e r b s are chosen for their sense of movement, nouns for their
metaphoric p o w e r , and adjectives for their pictorial qualities. T h e overall
impression is one of activity that borders on chaos, a chaos that reinforces
the urgency of the emotions that well up uncontrollably within the loving
father.
T h i s sense of urgency also dominates the contemporaneous Versos
libres and the poems of M a r t i ' s next collection, Flores del destierro
(written between 1882 and 1891 but published posthumously in 1933).
T h e r e is a verbal abundance, a volcanic flow of emotions and images that
suggest the directness and spontaneity of drafts rather than the studied
revisions of polished pieces. T h e adjectives are strong and often surprising
and the verbs usually appear in the present, the infinitive, or the
imperative, communicating action and activity. T h o u g h these w o r k s
address the same anguish and struggles as Ismaelillo, their focus is more
universal and the perspective more existential, once again projecting a
kinship w i t h poetry of the twentieth century and asserting an unexpected
modernity.
A l l the tensions and pressures that he felt as a committed, conscientious
individual are verbalized in w h a t he called the " r o u g h , hairy hendecasyll-
a b l e s " of these p o e m s . W i t h a clearly stated faith in the harmonious order
of nature, they explore exile, love, loss, justice, responsibility, and poetry.
Anticipating images similar to those of D a r i o ' s " E r a un aire s u a v e " and
" Y o soy aquel que ayer no más d e c í a , " M a r t í in " P o é t i c a " describes his
verse as capable of g o i n g to the salons of the rich and royal, capable of
courting ladies and princesses. Y e t it prefers the silence of true love and the
dense g r o w t h of the jungle. T h e r e , and not in the urban centers of
imported and superficial values, the poet can read the secrets of the
universe that he must convey to his readers. His rejection of the city is
complete. It represents hypocrisy, fakery, and the masses of p o o r and
suffering. In contrast, the countryside represents purity, sincerity, and
contact w i t h the universal forces that give meaning to all the mysteries of
life - including love and death. Y e t M a r t i k n o w s , as he makes clear in
" A m o r de ciudad g r a n d e , " that the present and future belong to the city,
to the w o r l d contaminated by time and sin. His poetic response under
scores the dilemma of the modern poet - one that haunted N e r u d a and
27
Vallejo as well - as he sees himself torn between social action and artistic
involvement. M a r t i finds a compromise that recalls his roots in R o m a n t i
cism, namely, faith in a sincerity and a purity of purpose that reflects the
orderly perfection of nature. A l l these elements c o m e together later in
Poem 17 of Versos sencillos, as he envisions his poetry as the musical
expression of the loving, k n o w i n g rhythm of the c o s m o s that passes
through his soul.
It is in this last collection - w i t h his recourse to the most c o m m o n of
verse forms in the Hispanic tradition, octosyllables, redondillas, and
quatrains - that his aspiration t o w a r d clarity, simplicity, and h a r m o n y is
most evident. T h e w o r k ' s popular tone and its Pythagorean vision of
harmony offer a pristine image of Spanish A m e r i c a and of a direct,
natural, intuitive w i s d o m that is easily contrasted w i t h the artifice of
Europe and N o r t h A m e r i c a . T h e fusion of art and politics, biography,
philosophy, and passion give these simple lyrics a profound and universal
transcendence.
Julian del C a s a l
It is revealing - about the modernist movement and the men in question -

that Julian del C a s a l should in many w a y s appear to be, as noted by Cintio
Vitier (Lo cubano en la poesia), the antithesis of his compatriot and
contemporary José M a r t i . T h e s e differences stem from different w o r l d
views, life expectations, and temperaments. M a r t i ' s faith in man to act
morally and to recreate in his life and art the harmonious order of the
universe permeated all that he did and w r o t e . For C a s a l life w a s a constant
disappointment, flawed by personal indignities, human failings, and
cosmic injustices. H e resented having to w o r k as a journalist and lost his
job repeatedly, but he had few options and w a s forced to return to writing
for newspapers about the social, literary, and theatrical scene in order to
earn a living. T h r o u g h o u t his career, he offended many as he struggled
against w h a t he considered crass materialism, ignorance, and bad taste.
For the greater part of his life he suffered physical pain and, t o w a r d the
end, he k n e w that he w o u l d die y o u n g .
A s a result of all these as well as other philosophic and artistic factors,
C a s a l saw art not as the product of natural forces, as it w a s for M a r t i , but
rather as something different from and superior to nature. A r t w a s the
result of human endeavors; its g o a l w a s the creation of an artificial beauty
that more often than not elaborated upon other esteemed h u m a n
creations. A s w a s the case with his best Parnassian sonnets, those of " M i
museo i d e a l " of Nieve, w h i c h were based on the paintings of G u s t a v e
M o r e a u , his p o e m s d r a w upon painting, poetry, and crafted materials of
all sorts; they e v o k e exotic and imaginary settings and affirm the man-
28
Modernist poetry
made environment of the city and its luxurious urban interiors. C a s a l

makes little effort to hide the influence of his predecessors. T h e anguished
sentimentality of the R o m a n t i c s (Zorrilla, Bécquer, Heine, Leopardi), the
acute and demanding aestheticism of the Parnassians (Gautier, Heredia,
C o p p é e ) , the subdued attraction to occult realities of the Symbolists
(Baudelaire, Verlaine), and the naughty self-indulgence of the Decadents
(Baudelaire, Huysmans) are openly present throughout his w o r k , in his
first t w o b o o k s of verse, Hojas al viento, Nieve, and in his third, Bustos y
rimas, w h i c h w a s prepared during his life but published shortly after his
death and w h i c h contains both prose and poetry.
T h i s exaltation of artificiality is not the only feature that distinguishes
C a s a l ' s poetry from M a r t i ' s . C a s a l ' s dissatisfaction w i t h the status quo
does not generate, as in M a r t i , an optimistic, energetic, o u t w a r d thrust, a
push t o w a r d change. Q u i t e the contrary, his poetry is marked by an
i n w a r d turn, the exploration of subtle psychic states, and the presence of
suffering, death, b o r e d o m , bitterness, inadaptability, impotence, and an
inexhaustible longing for escape. A s the titles of his first t w o collections
highlight, C a s a l sought deliverance from the indifferent w o r l d that
surrounded him in the strange, the foreign (European and Oriental), the
sick, the dying, and even the unpleasant.
A s different as M a r t i ' s and C a s a l ' s responses are, it is this rejection of
their immediate circumstances that ties them together and makes them
both Modernists. Each in his o w n w a y struggles to c o m e to terms with the
changing Spanish A m e r i c a n scene and each finds in poetry - creative, free,
responsive poetry - a consolation of sorts. M a r t i ' s poetry is more
spontaneous, C a s a l ' s more studied and refined with a strong emphasis
upon pictorial splendor, verbal elegance, and formal innovation - greater
accentual flexibility in hendecasyllables, imaginative recourse to nine-
and ten-syllable lines, mastery of the m o n o r h y m e tercet. Nevertheless the
efforts of both poets reflect conscientious attempts to find a language with
w h i c h to reply to the Spanish A m e r i c a that w a s taking shape at the time.
José A s u n c i ó n Silva
Like C a s a l ' s , José A s u n c i ó n Suva's life w a s colored by an attraction to

elegance and indulgence and by a series of tragic events w h i c h ultimately
culminated w i t h his suicide in 1896. Silva g r e w up in a B o g o t á dominated
by a conservative and provincial o u t l o o k . His family, in contrast, w a s
k n o w n for its interest in and support of the arts as well as its enthusiasm
for imported styles, luxury items, and cosmopolitan trends. Suva's father
w r o t e artículos de costumbres and the family store w a s recognized as a
center of literary activity. T h e same store, w h i c h carried the latest
European fashions that tended to be of little demand in B o g o t á , w a s the
29
source of tremendous financial turmoil and eventually led the family to

bankruptcy. Suva's despondency over these economic w o e s , w h i c h forced
him out of school and into the w o r k p l a c e , w a s c o m p o u n d e d by personal
losses. His grandfather w a s killed in a violent attack on the family ranch
the year before he w a s born. His great uncle, w h o had m o v e d to Paris after
the attack, died shortly before Silva arrived in Europe. Even greater strains
were produced by the death of his father in 1887 and, in 1891, the death of
his beloved sister Elvira, to w h o m his famous " N o c t u r n o " is dedicated.
After resolving the bankruptcy of the family business, Silva sought a
diplomatic post as Secretary of the C o l o m b i a Legation in C a r a c a s .
T h o u g h his literary efforts there were received w i t h acclaim, he met
political difficulties and returned h o m e a few months later. T h e ship on
w h i c h he sailed w a s d a m a g e d on reaching the shores of C o l o m b i a and
began to sink. T h o u g h he survived, he lost the bulk of his unpublished
manuscripts from earlier in his life and those that he had written during
his stay in Venezuela. T h i s misfortune provided one more devastating
b l o w to the poet, w h o already felt that life w a s filled with disappointments
and defeats.
Silva had occasionally recited his p o e m s in public and had published a
few, but on the w h o l e his w o r k w a s not well k n o w n in C o l o m b i a during
his lifetime. T w e l v e years after his death, a few of his published pieces and
some fifty other poems were gathered together in a v o l u m e entitled
Poesías, to w h i c h M i g u e l de U n a m u n o w r o t e an enthusiastic p r o l o g u e .
Since then at least fifty-three additional p o e m s have been found to belong
to the Silva opus, w h i c h has been divided into three groupings: El libro de
versos, containing p o e m s from 1891 to 1896 and organized by Silva
himself, Gotas amargas, and Versos varios.
In addition to his poetry, Silva w r o t e "artistic transpositions," in w h i c h
he aspired to capture the subtleties of color and shading, and his famous
novel De sobremesa, w h i c h w a s written in the form of a diary and w h i c h
evokes the longings, tensions, ambiguities, and anguish of a sensitive and
involved intellectual responding to the developing crises in Spanish
A m e r i c a at the turn of the century. Like the Silva of " A l pie de la estatua"
(written during his last year of life about the disillusionments of the great
Bolívar), José Fernández, the novel's protagonist, reflects not only upon
artistic, moral, and religious concerns but also upon the changing political
situation. Y e t it is the obsessive, morose, unstable Fernández and his
statements about poetry that reveal the most about Suva's poetic
production.
W h e n Silva has Fernández declare that he did not w a n t his poetry to
state but rather to suggest, he w a s speaking for himself. M o r e than any
other poet of his generation, Silva w r o t e under the influence of symbolist
30
Modernist poetry
poetics with its g o a l of transforming the music of nature in an evocative

language that captures the eternal and profound realities that lie hidden
behind the surface of existence. In " A l pie de la estatua" Silva expresses
the concepts that D a r i o , in the same year, placed at the center of his
" C o l o q u i o de los c e n t a u r o s " and that Baudelaire had outlined in his
famous " C o r r e s p o n d a n c e s " :
Fija
En ella sus miradas el poeta,
C o n quien conversa el alma de las cosas,
En son que lo fascina,
Para quien tienen una voz secreta
Las leves lamas grises y verdosas
Que al brotar en la estatua alabastrina
Del beso de los siglos son senales
Y a quien narran leyendas misteriosas
Las sombras de las viejas catedrales.
[It [the statue] is the focus of the poet, with w h o m the soul of all things
converses, in a way that fascinates him, for w h o m the light greenish and
gray patina has a secret voice and, upon issuing from the alabaster
statue, is a sign of the kiss of centuries, and for w h o m the shadows of the
old cathedrals narrate mysterious legends.]
For Silva nature is eternal, divine, and harmonious; it speaks to the poet
w h o s e task is to translate into poetry its cosmic signs and symbols and its
hidden and vital forces. Silva's great talent, w h i c h is epitomized in his
most acclaimed p o e m , " N o c t u r n o , " w a s the creative use of the rhythmic
resonances of the Spanish language - enhanced by a free use of repetition -
together w i t h the symbolic evocation of subtle psychological and spiritual
states that respect the limits of cognitive comprehension and the imper
meability of certain mysteries. In " N o c t u r n o " the interplay of light and
s h a d o w , intertwined in the central and structuring metaphor of " l a
sombra n u p c i a l , " suggests a reality that evades precise definition.
In poems such as " V e j e c e s " or " L a v o z de las c o s a s " the longevity of the
spirit is contrasted w i t h the fugacity of individual existence. Despite the
solace thus e v o k e d there remains in many p o e m s a sense of suffering and
loss reflective of Silva's tendency to indulge in a mournful and morose
investigation of unhappiness. In some p o e m s from Gotas amargas, a
collection that Silva seems to have planned to leave unpublished, suffering
results from the incomprehension of the scientific c o m m u n i t y , w h i c h is
m o c k e d in acerbic and sarcastic tones. T h e resulting satire highlights the
pain, anguish, and anger of the modernist struggle w i t h " b o u r g e o i s
m o d e r n i t y " and w i t h the dominant positivistic values of the day. W i t h his
sights set on the exploration of the mysteries that elude modern science,
3i
Silva had patience neither for Parnassian aesthetic play nor for popular
but superficial imitations of D a r i o ' s w o r k , a point well made in his satiric
"Sinfonia color de fresa con leche."
Ruben Dario
O n January 1 8 , 1 8 6 7 , Felix R u b e n G a r c i a Sarmiento w a s born in a small

t o w n k n o w n today as C i u d a d D a r i o . T h e D a r i o by w h i c h he w a s k n o w n
all his life w a s not so much a p s e u d o n y m as a patronymic, the last name
used by his father as well as his grandfather. Shortly after his birth his
parents separated and he w a s taken to live w i t h his great aunt and her
husband in L e o n . T h u s began his peripatetic life w h i c h t o o k him to all
corners of the Hispanic w o r l d driven, for the most part, by economic
necessity.
By the age of twelve he had already published his first p o e m s . D u r i n g
these early years there were frequent trips between the cities of M a n a g u a ,
G r a n a d a , and L e o n with, in 1882, a year's stay in El Salvador. T h e r e the
poet Francisco G a v i d i a introduced D a r i o to French literature - to the
formal beauty of Parnassian verse, to the gnostic and pantheistic writings
of V i c t o r H u g o , and to the Alexandrine and hexameter. By 1886 w h e n he
left Central A m e r i c a for Chile, D a r i o had read widely a m o n g the Spanish
classics as well as selected Greek poetry in translation and contemporary
French verse published in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
His three years in Chile, from 1886 to 1889, offered the y o u n g D a r i o an
opportunity to e x p a n d the arena of his cultural explorations. T h e y
provided a cosmopolitan setting, friendship with many writers and
intellectuals, and contact with a society that, because of its g r o w i n g
prosperity, enjoyed sophisticated manners of behavior, dress, and patron
age. D u r i n g this time, D a r i o w r o t e for important newspapers like
Santiago's La Epoca, developed an elegant and effective prose style, and
published his first b o o k s of poetry Abrojos and Rimas. H e also w r o t e the
novel Emelina (with Eduardo Poirier) and the a w a r d - w i n n i n g Canto
epico a las glorias de Chile. Even in his earliest poetry there are hints of the
metrical experimentation, the emotional depth, and the metaphorical
brilliance that w o u l d characterize his mature production; still stronger at
this point w a s the influence of his immediate predecessors, most notably
Becquer and C a m p o a m o r .
Azul. . . w a s the w o r k that made D a r i o famous and by w h i c h critics
used to date the beginning of M o d e r n i s m . T h e already-cited letter by Juan
Valera turned D a r i o into the focus of attention for those interested in the
revolutionary but still unnamed literary movement that w a s taking shape
in Spanish A m e r i c a . It is n o w widely agreed that the greatest innovation
appears in the collection's short stories and vignettes, written under the
32-
Modernist poetry
influence of M e n d e s , Flaubert, H u g o , and Z o l a . T h e y s h o w D a r i o ' s

eagerness to experiment with many styles and modes of discourse, his
enthusiasm for the various arts, and his desire to break, as the R o m a n t i c s
had done, the restrictive confines of established genres. M o s t important,
h o w e v e r , w a s the underlying disillusionment — w h i c h he shared w i t h
many other Spanish Americans writing at the time - w i t h the mundane
and pedestrian, especially w h e n they imply a withering of aesthetic and
spiritual p o w e r s . " E l r u b i , " " E l satiro s o r d o , " " E l palacio del s o l , " " E l rey
b u r g u e s , " and, perhaps most directly, the introductory section of " E n
C h i l e " all criticize the limited and limiting vision of bourgeois material
ism, science, and technology. " E n C h i l e " begins w i t h a paragraph-long
sentence that suggests the fundamental focus of D a r i o ' s writings at this
point.
Without brushes, without palette, without paper, without pencil,
fleeing the excitement and confusion, the machines and bundles, the
monotonous noise of the trolleys and the jostling of horses with their
ringing of hooves on the stones, the throng of merchants, the shouts of
vendors, the incessant bustle and unending fervor of this port in search
of impressions and scenes, Ricardo, an incorrigible lyric poet, climbed
up to Happy Hill, which, elegant like a great flowering rock, displays its
green sides, its mound crowned by smiling houses terraced at the
summit, homes surrounded by gardens, with waving curtains of vines,
cages of birds, vases of flowers, attractive railings, and blond children
with angelic faces.
T h e w o r l d of the modern, industrial city w i t h its traffic, noise, and
newspapers (the commercial side of writing) is left behind in search of
"impressions and scenes," that is, in search of a nature filtered through,
captured in (like the caged birds and cut flowers), and idealized by art
(blond children w i t h angelic faces). H e leaves the V a l p a r a i s o " t h a t
performs transactions and that w a l k s like a gust, that peoples the stores
and invades the b a n k s " in hopes of finding " e l inmenso espacio a z u l "
["the immense blue space"] - not only the free, clear sky of beauty and
tranquility but also the source of artistic vision, w h i c h converts the author
into a seer capable of recording the profound realities of existence, an
existence that is in essence beauty and h a r m o n y and not the crass
commercialization of the urban setting. T h i s is the point D a r i o alluded to
in his title. Azul. . . recalls H u g o ' s Uart, cest Vazur and therefore evokes
the ideal, the infinite, and the eternal - all perceived through and recreated
in art.
T h e poems of the first edition of Azul. . . reflect the same tensions and
longings mixed w i t h the added element of erotic passion. " E l ano l i r i c o , "
w h i c h begins the poetic selection, is an escape from the prosaic similar to
that found in " E n C h i l e " except the exotic, fanciful, and exquisite settings
33
underscore a fundamental aspiration t o w a r d a harmony that is intimately

linked to the fulfillment of sexual desire. W o m a n , more than the poet's
M u s e , is the other w h o complements and completes and w i t h w h o m the
poet attains a vision of beauty, harmony, and artistic perfection that is
simultaneously in tune w i t h and supported by nature. T h e distance
between this dreamed perfection and contemporary, " c i v i l i z e d " existence
is presented in " E s t i v a l , " where the flow of sexual energy, w h i c h is
portrayed as the animating force in nature and the inexorable bond
between male and female, is disrupted by a cruel and senseless act on the
part of the Prince of W a l e s . P o w e r and modern technology burst upon a
scene of lush sensuality and animalistic eroticism interrupting the natural
order of things. " E s t i v a l " thus emphasizes h o w uninformed human
intervention destabilizes the balance of creation unlocking violence, pain,
and discord.
For the 1890 edition of Azul. . . D a r i o added a number of poems that
highlight his rapid maturation as a poet. " V e n u s " continues the themes of
the earlier edition while it reasserts - w i t h its unusual seventeen-syllable
lines - efforts to expand the poetic potential of Spanish. T h e idealization
of love seen before is m a x i m i z e d as the unnamed object of desire fuses
with the star/goddess V e n u s . Here, h o w e v e r , the unreflective hope for
ecstasy of the earlier poems is placed in doubt. T h e expectation of a
perfect union in w h i c h personal and artistic goals are achieved is dashed as
the heaven from w h i c h V e n u s l o o k s d o w n upon the poet is turned into an
abyss of unfulfilled and possibly unfulflllable longings.
T h e other additional sonnets included in the 1890 edition deal w i t h
C a u p o l i c a n , Leconte de Lisle, Catulle M e n d e s , W a l t W h i t m a n , J. J.
Palma, Salvador D i a z M i r o n , and Alessandro Parodi and point to D a r i o ' s
preoccupation with poetic discourse. Here D a r i o praises those features
consonant with his goals for modernist verse: a soul that is in touch with
the w o r l d and capable of prophetic p o w e r s ( " W a l t W h i t m a n " ) , a song
that echoes the rhythmic pulsation of the ocean and that contains the
mysteries of the Orient ("Leconte de Lisle"), classic grace and intimate
k n o w l e d g e ("Catulle M e n d e s " ) , and powerful poetry that proclaims the
freedom of the new nations of the N e w W o r l d ("Salvador D i a z M i r o n " ) .
Between the first and second editions of Azul. . . D a r i o w a s confronted
by serious financial difficulties that forced his return to N i c a r a g u a in
February of 1889. After a few months in N i c a r a g u a he left for El Salvador
to manage La Union. T h e r e he fell in love w i t h Rafaela Contreras and
married her on June 26, 1890. Just then a military c o u p overthrew his
protector, President Francisco M e n e n d e z , and D a r i o w a s compelled to
leave for G u a t e m a l a . In G u a t e m a l a he became friends w i t h Jorge C a s t r o ,
w h o introduced him to theosophy and other occult beliefs that rounded
out the readings that he had begun earlier w i t h G a v i d i a . W h i l e in
34
Modernist poetry
G u a t e m a l a he also published the augmented version of Azul. . . Y e t ,

because of the demise of the newspaper that he w a s directing, Rafaela and
he were once again obliged to m o v e on, this time to C o s t a R i c a , where his
son R u b e n D a r i o Contreras w a s born on N o v e m b e r 1 2 , 1 8 9 1 . By M a y of
1892 further financial problems caused D a r i o to leave his wife and son as
he returned to G u a t e m a l a alone. T h e r e he w a s named Secretary to the
N i c a r a g u a n delegation to the Fourth Centenary of the Discovery of
A m e r i c a to be celebrated in M a d r i d on O c t o b e r 1 2 , 1892.
In M a d r i d he met the old guard of Spanish letters including Z o r r i l l a ,
Valera, Castelar, N u n e z de A r c e , Pardo B a z a n , and C a m p o a m o r as well as
the Spanish Modernists headed by Salvador R u e d a , for w h o s e En tropel
he w r o t e a verse prologue. W h i l e in Spain D a r i o extended his fame and
consolidated his stature as leader of the modernist movement. After a few
months he returned to N i c a r a g u a w i t h a stopover first in H a v a n a so that
he could meet Julian del C a s a l w h o s e Hojas al viento and Nieve had
explored issues similar to those that D a r i o w a s confronting in his o w n
w o r k . U p o n his return to his homeland he learned of his wife's death in El
Salvador. T h o u g h he a l w a y s remembered Rafaela as the ideal bride, he
w a s quickly remarried - perhaps w i t h no choice in the matter - to R o s a r i o
Emelina M u r i l l o . In A p r i l of 1893 he w a s named Consul-general of
C o l o m b i a in Buenos Aires. D a r i o left R o s a r i o in Panama and headed for
Buenos Aires by w a y of N e w Y o r k and Paris. In N e w Y o r k he met M a r t i ,
w h o s e w o r k - especially the prose - D a r i o had long admired. In Paris,
D a r i o witnessed the heyday of Symbolism and met with Enrique G o m e z
Carrillo, Alejandro S a w a , Paul Verlaine, and Jean M o r e a s .
D a r i o arrived in Buenos Aires in A u g u s t of 1893. T h o u g h the position
as Consul-general did not last long, he w a s not totally w i t h o u t support; he
had already been invited to w o r k for the best newspapers in Argentina.
t o
D u r i n g his five years in Buenos Aires, from 1893 1898, D a r i o continued
to write both prose and poetry. H e founded the Revista de America with
Jaimes Freyre and published, in 1896, an important and revealing series of
articles on modern European and A m e r i c a n authors entitled Los raros.
A b o u t the same time he began a novel called El hombre de oro.
It w a s , nevertheless, the publication of Prosas prof anas in 1896 that
marked a watershed in the modernist movement. D a r i o saw himself at the
head of the dominant Hispanic literary movement of the day, in full
control of his talents, and in a position to challenge - w i t h his inventive
title, his poetic innovations, and the overt sexuality of most of the p o e m s -
conservative critics, unsympathetic members of society, and less creative
rivals. H e w a s able to assume the responsibilities left to him by the death
of so many of the other early Modernists because of his encyclopedic
grasp of culture, his syncretic imagination, and his keen sense of direction
and purpose. His views stated in the non-manifesto manifesto at the
35
beginning of Prosas profanas, "Palabras liminares," and in its three

masterly introductory p o e m s constitute a careful, comprehensive, and
insightful commentary on M o d e r n i s m , one reflective of the essential
elements that shaped the m o v e m e n t since its inception, one that demands
detailed attention.
Prosas prof anas is often described as a youthful, exuberant w o r k full of
exotic frivolity, playful imagination, and pleasure. W h e n D a r i o himself
refers to the content of the collection and its title he directs attention
t o w a r d sexual passion - a sexual passion that is inextricably linked to art,
poetic creation, music, and religion. H e w r o t e : "I have said, in the pink
M a s s of my youth, my antiphons, my sequences, and my profane proses
. . . R i n g , bells of gold, bells of silver; ring every day, calling me to the party
where eyes of fire shine, and the roses of mouths bleed unique delights."
T h e proses, like the antiphons and sequences, are verses or hymns said or
sung during the M a s s . D a r i o plays w i t h these medieval allusions, breaks
expectations regarding the genre in question, and equates divine love and
religious devotion w i t h sexual exploits.
W h i l e pleasure is certainly at issue, so is "proper b e h a v i o r " and
decorum. H o w e v e r much the y o u n g D a r i o w a s preoccupied with sexua
lity, he w a s also fascinated - not unlike the R o m a n t i c s and Symbolists
before him - by the limits, restrictions, and constraints imposed on
behavior, language, and vision by society, perhaps the same limits that
tortured C a s a l and haunted Silva. A s a result, the sociocultural context of
M o d e r n i s m is never far from his mind. H e begins "Palabras liminares"
with regret over the lack of understanding c o m m o n to the general public
and to professionals. It is art that sets him - and the others that he w o u l d
rally to his cause - apart. Y e t art is not imitation; it is the transgressing of
limits, it is the reinterpretation and revitalization of habit and custom by
each artist.
T h e interplay between poetry and society reappears as the aristocratic
and exotic elements of art are offered in response to and escape from the
materialism that flourished at the expense of aesthetic and spiritual
concerns. It is this conflict of values that forms the b a c k g r o u n d to D a r i o ' s
declaration that "I detest the life and times to w h i c h I w a s b o r n . " T h i s
statement is not, h o w e v e r , a rejection of Spanish A m e r i c a . Q u i t e the
contrary, D a r i o finds poetry in " o u r A m e r i c a , " as he did in Azul. . ., in
"the old things," in Palenke and Utatlan, in the sensual and refined Inca,
and in the great M o n t e z u m a . A s is clear from his o w n remarks, the thrust
is t o w a r d the cosmopolis and the future in both of w h i c h the Spanish,
Spanish A m e r i c a n , and European (Parisian) w o u l d find a balance. T h i s
future milieu w o u l d facilitate the creation of a modern mode of discourse,
that is, a poetry that responds to the constraints of modern life by
rediscovering the soul of language and its musical nature ("Since each
36
Modernist poetry
w o r d has a soul, there is in each verse, in addition to verbal harmony, an

ideal melody. Frequently, the music comes exclusively from the idea.").
T h e reference to the soul of language implies a body w h i c h , in D a r i o ' s
poetry, is clearly female. For language to become poetry it must be
inseminated w i t h ideas that are in essence " a n ideal m e l o d y . " T h i s image
of poetic creation adds a revealing dimension to the role of w o m a n and to
the overall sexuality of Prosas profanas. For example, with regard to
influences, he declares " m y wife is from my homeland; my lover, from
Paris." Similarly, he concludes "Palabras liminares" w i t h the mandate:
" A n d the first l a w , creator: create. Let the eunuch snort. W h e n a M u s e
gives y o u a child, let the other eight be left pregnant." Despite the jocular
tone of this c o m m a n d , D a r i o is never blind to the possibility that he may
not find the female other that he seeks. T h i s concern continues into the
first three p o e m s of Prosas profanas.
D a r i o begins w i t h Eulalia of " E r a un aire suave. . . " By characterizing
her - or, actually, her golden laughter - as cruel, D a r i o softens the bold
and ambitious declaration of artistic goals of the prose preface. H e
a c k n o w l e d g e s the possible recalcitrance on the part of poetic language to
be molded to the form he envisions. By calling her eternal, he affirms his
aspiration - and that of the other Modernists - to take Spanish A m e r i c a n
discourse out of its limited and anachronistic present and to have it
become " m o d e r n " through a syncretic exaltation of the beauty and art of
all ages, primarily as they c o m e to him filtered through contemporary
French sensibilities. For this reason, the second part of "Era un aire
s u a v e . . . " is a series of questions regarding the setting of the first part. T h e
repeated proposing of alternative periods to w h i c h the scene described
could belong suggests the degree to w h i c h D a r i o aspires to transcend
temporal and spatial limitations and to achieve universality. T h e human,
particularistic elements are clearly subsumed to the creation of atmos
phere and tone; passion becomes role-playing; eroticism becomes art.
A t the perfect point in the timeless evening of the p o e m (in the last three
stanzas of the first section), surrounded by auspicious and evocative music
and an ivory-white s w a n of formal beauty and fluid grace, the poet will join
with Eulalia, vanquishing his rivals, the " v i z c o n d e r u b i o " ["the blond
viscount"] and the " a b a t e j o v e n " ["the y o u n g a b b o t " ] . T h i s reference to
the defeat of his social and literary competitors offers some solace, but the
poet's happiness is mitigated by the fact that there is no lasting amorous
conquest. O n the contrary, he remains her page, her servant. Both sections
of " E r a un aire s u a v e . . . " end with references to Eulalia's m o c k i n g laughter.
W i t h this emphasis on Eulalia's aloof nature and the possible intractabi
lity of poetic language, " E r a un aire s u a v e . . . " anticipates the lament as well
as the images of " Y o persigo una f o r m a . . .," w h i c h w a s added as the last
p o e m to the 1901 edition of Prosas profanas. Y e t whereas " Y o persigo una
37
f o r m a . . . " pretends to decry the poet's limitations ( " Y o persigo una forma
que no encuentra mi estilo, / . . . / Y no hallo sino la palabra que h u y a , / la
iniciación melódica que de la flauta fluye..." ["I pursue a form that my style
does not find, I . . . I and I find only the w o r d that flees, / the melodic
introduction that flows from the flute.. . " ] ) , " E r a u n a i r e s u a v e . . . " s u g g e s t s
cautious optimism as D a r í o enters the fétes galantes and competes w i t h
Verlaine and his other (imported) role models and rivals.
T h i s sense of response to the proliferation of cultural elements that
dominated European and Spanish A m e r i c a n values at the end of the
nineteenth century is central as well to " D i v a g a c i ó n , " the second p o e m in
Prosas profanas. " D i v a g a c i ó n " is filled w i t h cosmopolitan references,
exquisite vocabulary, and esoteric proper names. M o r e o v e r , like " E r a un
aire suave . . . , " it deals w i t h a beloved that is much more than a possible
love interest. Y e t , throughout his poetic journey across the globe, he finds
that no one w o m a n can satisfy; no one style can fulfill his longing for an
original mode of discourse. T h e poet's aspiration to a comprehensive
grasp of reality takes him through a literary " m u s e u m , " w h i c h he
ultimately leaves behind. H e affirms instead the p o w e r of poetry, through
w h i c h he claims divine k n o w l e d g e and authority. H e makes this claim in
the final three stanzas of the p o e m in w h i c h he leads the reader off the map
into the w o r l d of the transcendental, thereby emphasizing the divine
mission that he strives to achieve, a mission he shared w i t h the less self-
assured Silva. T h e savior of poetry appears - as he does in " S o n a t i n a , " the
next p o e m of the collection - highlighting D a r i o ' s fundamental concern
with his o w n success in choosing the proper vessel to receive his poetic
energy, the proper language to inseminate w i t h ideal music.
A t the end of " S o n a t i n a " the sad princess is given hope for happiness,
love, life, and salvation in the form of
el feliz caballero que te adora sin verte,
y que llega de lejos, vencedor de la Muerte,
a encenderte los labios con su beso de amor!
the happy knight that adores you without seeing you
and that arrives from far away, conqueror of Death,
to enflame your lips with his kiss of love!
N o matter h o w frivolous " S o n a t i n a " appears at first w i t h its nursery-
rhyme rhythm and its fanciful gardens and palace, by the final stanza the
profound nature of the fairy-tale couple becomes evident. T h e knight w h o
arrives mounted on his w i n g e d steed, victor of D e a t h , is more than the
proverbial "Prince C h a r m i n g " w h o appears in time to revive the lovesick
princess. T h e linking of the hero/savior with Pegasus, the horse of the
M u s e s , identifies the hero as an artist. His ability to lead his love - and his
readers — out of the imperfect present into a paradisiacal future recalls the
38
Modernist poetry
Christ-like attributes that become a recurrent feature of D a r i o ' s later

poetry about poetic responsibility. If the knight w h o arrives at the end of
" S o n a t i n a " most closely corresponds to the p o e t / h e r o / s a v i o r , the prin
cess w h o awaits him is the female consort of the male creator. It is here
that the central image and the title of the p o e m s h o w their fundamental
union, one that is etymological. T h e rich, elaborately housed princess
serves as a female other, a type of Muse, w h o makes possible the creative
articulateness of the male voice. She a l l o w s him to fulfill his role as savior
by turning language into music. T h i s goal is further emphasized by the
rhythmic virtuosity of the p o e m , w h i c h is written in superb dactylic
Alexandrines. T h e interplay a m o n g language, music, and poet thus
delineated in " S o n a t i n a " is a continuation of D a r i o ' s attempts to clarify
his artistic aims w h i c h he had begun in "Palabras liminares," "Era un aire
suave . . . , " and " D i v a g a c i ó n . "
D a r í o holds that poetic language has lost its vitality and color; it is
imprisoned in a golden vessel. T h e music that should be heard is silent; the
atmosphere is stifling, unimaginative, and uninspired. T h e objects that
have c o m e to be associated w i t h the princess's imprisonment as well as
with her physical and spiritual decline are boldy denounced. Y e t D a r i o ' s
detailed rejection is just the opposite of w h a t it claims to be. It becomes a
w a y of possessing, internalizing, and incorporating into his art those
aspects that he pretends to d i s o w n . H e disdains the palace and its wealth
as incapable of providing spiritual gratification. In fact they appear as
obstacles to k n o w l e d g e and distractions that prevent the enlightened from
seeing beyond the superficial trappings of life (as in " E l rey b u r g u é s " of
Azul. . . and in " P o é t i c a " by M a r t i ) . A t the same time, h o w e v e r , he takes
possession of the opulence through description.
T h i s ambivalent position w i t h regard to the riches of the palace reflects
an even greater struggle - one c o m m o n a m o n g modernist authors. T h e
poet challenges the superficial materialism of the bourgeois society in
w h i c h he lives. H e strives to assert the w o r t h of his creation in an
environment that tends to ignore the value of his art, k n o w l e d g e , and
spiritual insight. T h e poet fights for the respect and esteem that he feels he
deserves by taking up the w e a p o n s of the enemy - wealth and opulence -
and by poetically rendering them impotent. A s the princess's wealth is
made subservient to the spiritual w e a l t h offered by the poet, the value of
poetic vision and artistic achievement is doubly raised a b o v e everyday
reality ("the life and times to w h i c h [he] w a s b o r n " ) : as clear a response to
the established order of life as M a r t i s , C a s a l ' s , or Suva's. O n l y after the
princess (poetic language) recognizes the appropriate (inferior) position
of material wealth can the poet fulfill his superior destiny. In short, the
poetic goals outlined in " S o n a t i n a " and the other pieces examined point
to a political and philosophic awareness behind the frivolity, musicality,
39
and aesthetic play w i t h w h i c h Prosas profanas has generally been

characterized.
Assessments of the collection have tended to be shaped by the
o v e r w h e l m i n g impact of its formal artistry and conceptual innovation by
w h i c h D a r í o continued the discovery or recovery of a large variety of verse
forms begun by earlier Modernists. In addition to the dactylic A l e x a n
drine of " S o n a t i n a , " D a r í o resuscitated verses of twelve syllables in
" E l o g i o de la seguidilla" and the poetry of the cancioneros of the fifteenth
century in " D e z i r e s , layes y c a n c i o n e s . " T h r o u g h caesuras placed at
different points and the use of enjambement, he further expanded the
musical effect of traditional forms. T h e great flexibility of poetic prose
appears in " E l pais del s o l , " and the synaesthetic mixing of music and
color is evident in "Sinfonía en gris m a y o r , " a p o e m inspired by the
Parnassian art of Gautier. Y e t in all these w o r k s the passing pleasure of
artistic experimentation and/or of the sexual pas de deux is an aspect of
profound, enduring, social, and even religious concerns.
T h e resolution of these and other apparent contradictions is proposed
in D a r i o ' s masterpiece of this period, " C o l o q u i o de los c e n t a u r o s . " O n
the magical " G o l d e n Island" the centaurs strive for a reconciliation of the
tensions within their composite nature and a reintegration into the
harmonious and w e l l - w o r k i n g universe. A s Q u i r ó n helps them perceive
w h a t is evident to the poet/seer, namely, that the language of nature
reveals the hidden order of the c o s m o s , they c o m e to understand that the
acceptance of the fundamental accord of all existence - the essential unity
of the bestial and the divine, g o o d and evil, male and female, life and death
- is the key to the paradisiacal vision that they pursue.
T h e neoplatonic and pantheistic premises of the esoteric Pythagorean-
ism that underpins the w o r l d view of " C o l o q u i o " are further developed in
" L a s ánforas de E p i c u r o , " a series of poems that w a s added along with
" C o s a s del C i d " and " D e z i r e s , layes y c a n c i o n e s " to the 1901 edition of
Prosas profanas. T h e s e delicate and thoughtful poems elaborate, w i t h a
new-found grace and transcendent quality, previously expressed themes:
the enduring presence of G o d throughout creation, the harmonious
nature of the c o s m o s , the reconciliation of opposites, love, poetry, and
poetic responsibility. By 1901 D a r i o ' s perspective, while still influenced by
classical and European styles, tends to the universal and timeless. T h i s
trajectory w o u l d reach its zenith in Cantos de vida y esperanza. Los cisnes
y otros poemas, in w h i c h D a r í o will reveal himself to be a poet w h o is
more sure of himself and more willing to express his sense of difference -
his sense of being Spanish A m e r i c a n . T h e imported models that d o m i
nated his poetic imagination in Prosas profanas will have receded. His
concerns will reflect his sad awareness of the passage of time and of the
40
Modernist poetry
youthful squandering of energies. T h e y will also address directly the

sociopolitical context only alluded to previously.
After living in Buenos Aires for five years, D a r í o returned to Spain in
1898 as correspondent for La Nación. H e w a s to remain in Europe for
several years, residing in Barcelona, M a d r i d , and Paris. H e also traveled in
Italy and southern Spain, finding much to admire throughout his jour
neys. Between 1902 and 1905 he w r o t e a number of articles w h i c h he later
published as Opiniones. In 1906, after a trip to Brazil, he w a s named
N i c a r a g u a n C o n s u l in Paris and then, in 1907, N i c a r a g u a n A m b a s s a d o r to
Spain. T h o u g h during these years he w a s at the height of his career and
fame, he never fully resolved the financial and personal problems that
plagued him from the beginning. H e did, h o w e v e r , find a supportive and
caring female c o m p a n i o n , Francisca Sánchez, w h o , in 1900, bore him a
daughter and, in 1903, a son, w h o m he nicknamed Phocás and referred to
in a p o e m published in his next major w o r k , Cantos de vida y esperanza.
Tragically Phocás lived just a short time. A second son, also called R u b é n
D a r í o Sánchez w a s born in 1907.
Like Prosas profanas, Cantos de vida y esperanza begins w i t h an
important prose introduction that responds to the critics of the day and
that clarifies a number of points already discussed. D a r í o defends his
poetry by emphasizing its grounding in the "aristocracy of t h o u g h t " and
the "nobility of art" w h i c h , in turn, continue to be offered as antidotes to
the mediocrity, intellectual stultification, and aesthetic superficiality that
he sees in contemporary society. W i t h pride he recognizes that M o d e r n
ism, unlike previous literary movements, originated in Spanish A m e r i c a
and later spread to Spain, although he slants the historical picture
s o m e w h a t by proclaiming himself the founder of the movement. T h o u g h
not the first Modernist, he certainly gave to M o d e r n i s m a breadth of
vision, a philosophy of language, and an intellectual depth that unified
disparate elements from diverse countries and a l l o w e d him to be con
sidered its head. H e also increased, as he notes, against entrenched
resistance, the flexibility of Spanish poetic expression, maintaining as his
goal a pure and direct reflection of his view of beauty. W i t h this
apparently simple statement, D a r í o reaffirms his links to romantic literary
theory and its emphasis on art as the evocation of the profound realities of
existence as they are perceived by and filtered through the unencumbered
and undistorted soul of the poet. H e repeats this position in the first p o e m
of the collection, " Y o soy aquel que ayer no más d e c í a , " w h e n he asserts
the importance of sincerity and the dangers of artifice. A s D a r í o had made
clear in " L a fuente" from " L a s ánforas de E p i c u r o , " modernist art
demands that poets be true to themselves and to the music that they find in
themselves. D a r í o concludes the " P r e f a c i o " by pointing out that this truth
4i
includes open and direct discussion of the social and political concerns
made more pressing than ever before by the Spanish A m e r i c a n W a r of
1898 and US intervention in the creation of Panama in 1903. In Cantos de
vida y esperanza there is, in turn, a greater enthusiasm for his Spanish and
Spanish A m e r i c a n heritage - an enthusiasm that carries over into his next
collection, El canto errante.
" Y o soy aquel que ayer no más d e c í a " can be read as a poetic
complement and continuation of the introduction, a brilliant reappraisal
of his literary career and his personal life as well as an insightful
declaration of his n e w orientation. W i t h opening echoes of H u g o ' s " C e l u i
q u i . . . , " references to his cosmopolitan embrace of art, and refutations of
having achieved formal perfection at the expense of emotional depth and
honesty, D a r í o reviews his early endeavors. It becomes clear, h o w e v e r ,
that he has n o w entered a new phase, one in w h i c h the primary
importance of art is its redemptive p o w e r w h i c h makes it possible for the
poet and reader to become one with the harmony of the universe within
the "sagrada s e l v a " ["sacred forest"] of controlled passions and resolved
tensions. D a r í o calmly admits that the promise of salvation is not
absolute:
la adusta perfección jamás se entrega,
y el secreto ideal duerme en la sombra
[austere perfection never gives itself up,
and the ideal secret sleeps in the shadow]
Y e t he consoles himself in the last stanza by affirming that the journey
t o w a r d death goes by w a y of Bethlehem w h e n virtue and discipline
determine the course.
T h r o u g h o u t Cantos de vida y esperanza D a r í o develops the issues
presented in these t w o introductory pieces. H e confronts the passage of
time and the inevitability of death ( " C a n c i ó n de o t o ñ o en p r i m a v e r a , " " A
Phocás el c a m p e s i n o " ) ; he struggles w i t h his religious doubts and despair;
and he affirms the divinity of his poetic mission ( " P e g a s o , " " ¡ T o r r e s de
Dios! ¡Poetas!"). W h e n traditional beliefs fail him, faith in art, in the
harmony of the universe, and in the perfectibility of man as revealed by art
become the basis for hope ("Mientras tenéis, oh negros c o r a z o n e s , "
" H e l i o s , " " F i l o s o f í a , " " A y , triste del que un día. . .," " C a r a c o l " ) . Even
love becomes an aspect of his search for transcendence. Influenced by
esoteric thought, D a r i o ' s erotic poetry is no longer as playful, light-
hearted, or defiantly rebellious as it had been throughout most of Prosas
profanas; it n o w evokes the eternal order and perfection of creation ("Por
un m o m e n t o , oh Cisne, juntaré mis a n h e l o s , " " ¡ A n t e s de t o d o , gloria a ti,
L e d a ! " " ¡ C a r n e , celeste carne de la mujer! A r c i l l a , " " E n el país de las
A l e g o r í a s , " " A m o , a m a s , " " P r o g r a m a matinal"). Y e t modern life repeat-
42
Modernist poetry
edly cuts him off from this sense of well-being and belonging, leaving him
either to recall the religious answers of his youth ( " C a n t o de esperanza,"
" S p e s , " " ¿ Q u é signo haces, oh Cisne, con tu encorvado c u e l l o , " " ¡ O h ,
terremoto mental!" " E l verso sutil que pasa o se p o s a " ) or to suffer the
anguish of total despair, a despair w h i c h is often exacerbated by an
o v e r w h e l m i n g sense of guilt ("La dulzura del ángelus," " N o c t u r n o i , "
" M e l a n c o l í a , " " N o c t u r n o 11," " L o fatal"). Unable to see beyond the
chaos and disorder around him, he accuses himself of failing to fulfill the
divine destiny he claimed for himself as poet/seer in " A l m a m í a " of " L a s
ánforas de E p i c u r o . " W h i l e D a r i o ' s political poetry - even those poems
such as "Salutación del optimista" or " A R o o s e v e l t " that express concern
regarding the strength of the United States - often strikes t o d a y ' s reader as
naive and outdated, his poems of desperation retain the p o w e r of their
modernity and the intensity of their suffering. " L o fatal," the t w o
" N o c t u r n o s " from Cantos de vida y esperanza, and a third from El canto
errante stand out for their emotional energy and for their poetic artistry.
T h e three " N o c t u r n o s " share a single poetic climate and are united by a
serious, almost tragic tone of self-examination. In the first D a r í o
announces their central theme: the dual horror of consciousness and
conscience. H e confronts the fleeting nature of existence, the halting but
inexorable march t o w a r d "the unavoidable u n k n o w n , " and the disjunc-
ture between the artistic and personal goals he has set for himself and
w h a t he has actually achieved. T h e distant clavichord never yielded its
sublime sonata to the poet's imagination, and he n o w fears that he must
pay the cost of his search for beauty and pleasure. His only consolation is
the belief that life is merely a nightmarish, fitful sleep from w h i c h he will
be a w a k e n e d to see a truer reality. T h i s image is taken up in the second
"Nocturno."
If life is a fitful sleep, the nights of insomnia b e c o m e the moments of
vision. It is during the dark, sleepless hours that D a r í o sees w i t h greatest
clarity both the illusion of life and the omnipresence of death. H e joins in
union w i t h all w h o , in their sleepless self-reflection, have developed an
acute sensitivity to the w o r l d that surrounds them. T h e y are the ones w h o ,
in the mysterious silence of the night, w h e n the past escapes from the
prison of oblivion and resurfaces as the voice of conscience, understand
the full significance of his verse. By the fourth and penultimate quatrain, it
becomes clear that D a r i o ' s greatest concern is that he may have failed to
be w h a t he should have been and he has lost the k i n g d o m that should have
been his. W h i l e the poet's unanimity with the beat of universal life
suggests the promise of salvation through the assimilation of the divine
order, it also reminds the poet of the responsibilities of his v o c a t i o n and,
as is even more evident in " L o fatal," reinforces the imperatives of the
doctrine of transmigration of souls. T h e resulting anguish is most
43
intensely expressed in the fourth stanza. T h e alliteration of the p's

emphasizes the echo of " p e s a r " [ " s o r r o w " or " r e g r e a t " but also the verb
" t o w e i g h , " " t o be w e i g h t y " ] in " p e n s a r " ["to think"] and evokes the
o v e r w h e l m i n g impact of the poet's loss ("perdida"), while the masculine
rhyme of the second and fourth lines intensifies the poet's cry of remorse
for his mistakes. W i t h its deliberately ambiguous ending, " N o c t u r n o n "
captures D a r i o ' s see-sawing emotions, his sense of inadequacy and
despondency as well as his hopes and pride.
In " L o fatal," the last p o e m of Cantos de vida y esperanza, D a r i o
juxtaposes the sense of failure to meet his spiritual responsibilities w i t h
the apparent ignorance or insensitivity of the creatures on the l o w e r levels
of existence. W h i l e he envies their immunity from the pangs of conscience,
D a r i o dreads the thought that his soul may descend from the human to the
animal in retribution for having sullied his elevated status w i t h "the flesh
that tempts." T h i s allusion to the great chain of being serves as an
underlying metaphor w h i c h enhances the p o e m ' s evocation of d o w n w a r d
spiraling despair. By the end there is a total b r e a k d o w n of grammatical
and stropic structures. T h e poet conveys the stranglehold of fear w i t h
sentences and stanzas that remain unfinished, w i t h the purposeful elimi
nation of the last line of w h a t w o u l d have been a sonnet.
Like the reference to the " k i n g d o m that should have been h i s " of
" N o c t u r n o II," the line " y el temor de haber sido y un futuro terror" ["and
the fear of having been and a future terror"] reflects D a r i o ' s obsession
w i t h the past and the future, especially w i t h the life that will be his after
death. T h e horror of the future stems from the dual burden of conscious
ness ("la vida consciente" ["conscious life"]) and conscience ("sufrir por
la vida y por la s o m b r a " ["to suffer for life and for the s h a d o w s " ] ) . Unlike
the tree and rock w i t h w h i c h the p o e m begins, the human is fully a w a r e of
his responsibilities and h o w well he has met them. For the modernist poet
w h o holds that his obligations include fulfilling the visionary destiny of an
advanced being, the burden is even greater. In D a r i o ' s case, he often
alludes to this situation, describing himself as being pulled between the
animal and the divine, as being one w a y but wishing to be another. T h i s
tension is central to D a r i o ' s entire poetic production and is represented -
as in the graphic art of the turn of the century - with extraordinary
concision in the many composite creatures that populate his poetry.
D a r i o ' s next b o o k of verse, El canto errante, incorporates poems from
throughout his career, some from as far back as 1885 and 1886. Like the
previous t w o collections, it begins w i t h an important prose introduction,
" D i l u c i d a c i o n e s , " w h i c h reiterates the fundamental tenets of modernist
art as D a r i o conceived them and points to perhaps the w o r k ' s most salient
feature, namely, its diversity of themes, styles, and verse forms. D a r i o
states: " T h e true artist understands all modes and manners and finds
44
Modernist poetry
beauty in all forms. A l l glory and all eternity are in our conscious g r a s p . "
In El canto errante there is a brilliantly executed eco ("Eco y y o " ) , an
extensive and revealing epístola ("Epístola," w h i c h is dedicated to
L e o p o l d o Lugones's wife), and a ten-part ode written in m e m o r y of
Bartolomé M i t r e ( " O d a " ) . T h e r e are p o e m s about A m e r i c a ( " A C o l ó n , "
" M o m o t o m b o , " " D e s d e la P a m p a , " " T u t e c o t z i m í " ) including one in
praise of the United States ("Salutación al á g u i l a " ) , p o e m s that e v o k e the
ancient Mediterranean ( " R e v e l a c i ó n , " " H o n d a s , " " E h e u ! " " L a canción
de los p i n o s " ) , and others that portray the magical w o r l d s of art, fantasy,
and self-indulgence ( " A F r a n c i a , " " V i s i ó n , " " L a hembra del p a v o real,"
" D a n z a elefantina," " L a bailarina de los pies d e s n u d o s , " " D r e a m , "
" B a l d a en honor de las musas de carne y h u e s o , " " F l i r t " ) . T h e r e are
poems about poets and poetry ( " A n t o n i o M a c h a d o , " " P r e l u d i o , " " C a m -
p o a m o r , " " S o n e t o " ) and p o e m s that offer reincarnation as an alternative
to the o r t h o d o x v i e w of human destiny ("Eheu!" " H o n d a s , " " M e t e m p s i -
cosis"). A s in the first and title p o e m of the collection, the images c o m e
from all corners of the globe, G r e e k and R o m a n m y t h o l o g y , the Bible,
w o r l d literature, and modern life. Despite this syncretic vision and the
many bases for consolation and optimism that it offers, D a r í o is unable to
conquer completely the profound anguish and despair that became
particularly acute w i t h the passage of time and the approach of death
("Sum," "Eheu!" "Nocturno," "Epístola").
In 1907 D a r í o w e n t h o m e to N i c a r a g u a , where he w a s accorded all the
honors of a national hero and named N i c a r a g u a n A m b a s s a d o r to Spain,
thereby achieving a steady if modest income. U p o n his return to M a d r i d ,
he w a s received again w i t h adulation and honors. F r o m then until 1 9 1 4
D a r í o spent most of his time in Spain and France, though he did take trips
to M e x i c o , Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. In 1 9 1 0 he w a s asked to write
a p o e m c o m m e m o r a t i n g the hundredth anniversary of Argentina's inde
pendence. T h e resulting " C a n t o a la A r g e n t i n a " w a s published in La
Nation on M a y 25 and later became the centerpiece of Canto a la
Argentina y otros poemas. T h e commissioned w o r k turned out to be
D a r i o ' s longest single p o e m , a masterpiece of civic poetry that reveals
hidden links to other Spanish A m e r i c a n literature. Its vision is w i d e -
reaching and all-inclusive, m o v i n g freely from scenes from Greek myth
ology to the wheatfield of the Pampas to the latest immigrants seeking
solace and sustenance in their n e w homeland. W h i l e some sections are
patriotic and grandiloquent, others are intimate and lyrical. Its overall
exuberance, h o w e v e r , is conveyed by an abundance of images and
detailed, elaborate description. A l l these elements, the tone, the images,
and, to a certain extent, the themes recall O v i e d o ' s Historia general y
natural de las Indias, Z e q u e i r a y A r a n g o ' s " A la p i n a , " Bello's " L a
agricultura de la zona tórrida," Lugones's Odas seculares, as well as
45
sections of N e r u d a ' s Canto general w i t h its drive to rewrite history, to

include the c o m m o n man, and to assert a n e w , Spanish A m e r i c a n o u t l o o k .
T h i s o u t l o o k , while rooted in the past, takes shape and gains strength
within the modernist movement.
In 1 9 1 0 D a r í o also published Poema del otoño y otros poemas. T h i s
short collection begins w i t h " P o e m a del o t o ñ o , " w h i c h continues the
philosophic and reflective tone begun w i t h Cantos de vida y esperanza.
O n c e again the rapid passage of time, the loss of y o u t h , and the proximity
of death o v e r w h e l m D a r i o ' s v i e w p o i n t and encourage modern variations
on the ancient theme of carpe diem, a theme repeated in the more light-
hearted, closing p o e m , " E l clavicordio de la a b u e l a . " T h i s perspective is
modified, h o w e v e r , by the consolation the poet finds in the harmony,
beauty, and living unity of the c o s m o s . T h e beating heart of the universe,
w h i c h appears intermittently throughout D a r i o ' s poetic production -
most often in the rhythmic echo of the ocean — becomes the central image
of the p o e m ' s concluding six stanzas. It p u m p s the vital life fluid
throughout all the creatures on the great chain of being, underscoring the
erotic p o w e r at the core of universal harmony. T h i s fundamental oneness
of life is extended to poetry and art in " V e s p e r a l , " w h e r e crabs leave
illegible writings on the shore, and to w o m e n , w h o in " C a n c i ó n " become
w o r k s of art of the sacred universal artist. O t h e r poems collected at this
time were " R e t o r n o , " D a r i o ' s masterly reflections on his visit to N i c a r a -
gua, in w h i c h his homeland is perceived through a veil of art and
philosophy, and less serious pieces such as " A M a r g a r i t a D e b a y l e " and
" E n casa del D o c t o r Luis H . D e b a y l e . T o a s t . "
T h e last collection D a r í o published, Canto a la Argentina y otros
poemas, brought together " C a n t o a la A r g e n t i n a " and eleven other
p o e m s , most of w h i c h were written between 1 9 1 1 and 1 9 1 4 . In " L a
cartuja" D a r í o continues to hope for spiritual peace despite the unre-
solved conflicts within his being. A l l the visions of order and w i s d o m
remain alien to him as he continues to feel himself pulled t o w a r d the
bestial while aspiring t o w a r d the angelic. A s is clear from " L a cartuja," till
the end of his life, D a r í o oscillated between the cognitively and artistically
satisfying philosophies based on harmony, perfection, and analogy and
those simple and direct beliefs about sin, guilt, and damnation that he
learned in his youth. T h i s struggle appears in t w o excellent, uncollected
poems written during the last months of his life, "Pasa y o l v i d a " and
" D i v a g a c i o n e s . " T h e r e are nearly fifty uncollected p o e m s that are n o w
regularly published as part of his complete poetic production. M a n y are
equal in quality and interest to those that D a r í o collected for publication.
D u r i n g these last years of his life, D a r í o continued to produce prose
w o r k s as well. Letras, published in 1 9 1 1 , and Todo al vuelo, published in
1 9 1 2 , bring together articles written from 1906 to 1909. D a r í o also w r o t e
46
Modernist poetry
t w o revealing autobiographical w o r k s : La vida de Ruben Dario escrita

por el mismo (1912) and Historia de mis libros (1913). In 1 9 1 4 , the First
W o r l d W a r broke out and D a r i o had to leave Paris. Ailing and w i t h o u t
means, he found shelter in G u a t e m a l a thanks to the hospitality of that
country's dictator, M a n u e l Estrada C a b r e r a . In 1915 R o s a r i o , his legal
wife, came for him and t o o k him back to N i c a r a g u a , where, in 1 9 1 6 , after
t w o operations, he succumbed to years of self-inflicted abuse.
The late Modernists

It is impossible to determine a specific m o m e n t at w h i c h M o d e r n i s m
reached its plenitude. Generally the "second s t a g e " of the m o v e m e n t has
encompassed the heterogeneous g r o u p of modernist poets w h o survived
beyond 1896. S o m e w h e r e between that date and 1905 - during the period
in w h i c h D a r i o m o v e d from Buenos Aires to M a d r i d - M o d e r n i s m
developed a strong sense of itself and reached its widest diffusion. A
number of talented poets continued, to a greater or lesser degree, the
predominant modernist tendencies (Enrique G o n z a l e z M a r t i n e z [ M e x i c o ,
1 8 7 1 - 1 9 5 2 ] , A m a d o N e r v o [ M e x i c o , 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 1 9 ] , R i c a r d o Jaimes Freyre
[Bolivia, 1868-1933], G u i l l e r m o Valencia [ C o l o m b i a , 1 8 7 3 - 1 9 4 3 ] , Jose
M a r i a Eguren [Peru, 1 8 7 4 - 1 9 4 2 ] , Jose Santos C h o c a n o [Peru, 1 8 7 5 -
1934], and Delmira Agustini [Uruguay, 1886-1914]). Still others drew
upon the modernist impetus t o w a r d change and pushed further the
expansion of the poetic repertoire in Spanish thereby, s o m e w h a t p a r a d o x
ically, beginning the movement's unraveling as it began to anticipate the
innovations of the Hispanic A v a n t - G a r d e . T h i s tendency is best observed
in the w o r k s of L e o p o l d o L u g o n e s (Argentina, 1874-1938) and Julio
Herrera y Reissig (Uruguay, 1 8 7 5 - 1 9 1 0 ) .
Enrique G o n z a l e z M a r t i n e z
If Herrera and L u g o n e s are n o w recognized as poets w h o contained

within themselves the seeds that gave fruit during the creative explosion of
la Vanguardia [the A v a n t - G a r d e ] , G o n z a l e z M a r t i n e z has long been
linked with the poetic changes identified w i t h Postmodernism. Y e t the
w o r k of no other poet s h o w s better that Postmodernism is not an
independent movement but rather a continuation and natural develop
ment of M o d e r n i s m , for G o n z a l e z M a r t i n e z became, despite his longevity
and nineteen collections of verse over a forty-nine year period, a poet with
one essential concern and one insistent style. In p o e m after p o e m
G o n z a l e z M a r t i n e z explores the fundamental modernist desire to reveal
the hidden order of the universe through the grace, beauty, and h a r m o n y
of poetry.
47
Early critics w h o saw in his w o r k a departure from M o d e r n i s m tended

to view modernist verse as superficial, decorative, concerned only with the
formal enhancement of Spanish poetry. M a n y were u n a w a r e (i) that
M o d e r n i s m ' s recourse to swans, gardens, princesses, palaces, and Euro
pean cultural models of all sorts reflected profound concerns regarding
language, reality, and Spanish A m e r i c a ' s place in the modern w o r l d ; (2)
that considerably before 1 9 1 1 , as early as the publication of " L a s ánforas
de E p i c u r o " in the 1901 edition of Prosas profanas, M o d e r n i s m had
already evolved t o w a r d a simpler, more introspective, and self-assured
style, and (3) that the " s w a n s of deceitful p l u m a g e " that he criticizes did
not belong to modernist poets but rather, as G o n z á l e z M a r t í n e z himself
w o u l d m a k e clear, to the myriad, n o w long-forgotten hack imitators w h o
echoed the language of M o d e r n i s m , its opulence, elegance, and ornamen
tation, without comprehending the underlying issues that defined moder
nist poetics. H e preferred the simpler and unadorned language reflective
of his profound and unswerving faith in the p o w e r of poetry to establish
an unimpeded link between the soul of the poet and the soul of the w o r l d ,
a faith grounded in the pantheism, occultism, and aesthetics of the
symbolist poets that he k n e w well. (He had successfully translated into
Spanish Baudelaire, Heredia, Verlaine, Maeterlinck, Jammes, and
Rodenbach.)
W h a t G o n z á l e z M a r t i n e z ' s poetry does, in short, is underscore the
modernist foundation in analogy as well as its ideological distance from
the irony, skepticism, and doubt of avant-garde poets. O r , as O c t a v i o Paz
w o u l d state it, "he offers [Modernism] an awareness of itself and its
hidden m e a n i n g " (cited in J. O . Jiménez, Antología crítica de la poesía
modernista hispanoamericana, 280). T h i s meaning w a s doubly hidden,
for M o d e r n i s m ' s profound significance w a s hidden from early readers
w h o failed to realize that it sought to penetrate - through the musicality
and evocative p o w e r of its verse - the eternal and harmonious order of
existence that is hidden by the chaos of every-day reality. T h i s concern
provides the b a c k g r o u n d to his most famous postmodernist p o e m ,
" T u é r c e l e el cuello al c i s n e . . . " (from Los senderos ocultos), in w h i c h the
" p o s t m o d e r n i s t " o w l replaces the " m o d e r n i s t " s w a n . Whereas the s w a n ' s
natural grace embodied for D a r í o and other Modernists the rhythm of the
universe and the perfection of form, it came to be identified with h o l l o w
echoes of modernist poetics and, therefore, w i t h obstacles encumbering
the vision of harmony, with deceit, obfuscation, and the inability to "hear
the soul of things and the voice of the landscape." W h i l e the o w l does not
have the s w a n ' s beauty, it does have the ability to see into the dark and to
interpret w h a t others cannot detect. Attention to formal beauty is thus
replaced by an emphasis on clarity of perception and an intuitive
understanding of the order of the c o s m o s . For G o n z á l e z M a r t í n e z , it is this
48
Modernist poetry
combined ability to perceive and understand that structures his poetry. H e

seeks a profound beauty that exists in accord with nature - not a s h o w y ,
superficial distraction.
Like the D a r í o of " L a s ánforas de E p i c u r o " and Cantos de vida y
esperanza, he hopes that his poetry will reflect the rhythms of existence,
the art of nature, and the harmonious soul of the universe. Y e t while
D a r i o ' s poetry is energized by a tortured uncertainty, G o n z á l e z M a r t i
nez's is characterized by a relentless optimism and a supreme confidence
in the order of things. D a r í o confronts the gulf that exists between w h a t is
desired and w h a t is real; he struggles to replace doubt and anguish with
faith and solace; he suffers with the fear that he is not up to the challenge of
his mission as poet. T h e s e tensions are almost completely absent from
G o n z á l e z Martinez's w o r k and so the individual p o e m s become variations
on a theme, masterful reworkings of one fundamental premise:
Y que llegues, por fin, a la escondida

playa con tu minúsculo universo,
y que logres oír tu propio verso
en que palpita el alma de la vida.
[And may you arrive, at last, at the hidden
beach with your minute universe,
and may you succeed in hearing your own verse
in which beats the soul of life.]
("Irás sobre la vida de las cosas. . ." from Silenter)
Busca en todas las cosas el oculto sentido;

lo hallarás cuando logres comprender su lenguaje;
cuando sientas el alma colosal del paisaje
y los ayes lanzados por el árbol herido. . .
[Look for the hidden meaning in all things;
you will find it when you succeed in understanding its language;
when you sense the colossal soul of the countryside
and the sighs hurled by the wounded tree. . .]
("Busca en todas las cosas" from Los senderos ocultos)
Hará que los humanos

en solemne perdón, unan las manos
y el hermano conozca a sus hermanos;
no cejará en su vuelo
hasta lograr unir, en un consuelo
inefable, la tierra con el cielo;
hasta que el hombre, en celestial arrobo,

hable a las aves y convenza al lobo. . .
49
[It [the sacred wind] will make humans, in solemn forgiveness, unite
their hands and brother recognize his brothers; it will not restrain its
flight until it succeeds in uniting, in ineffable consolation, heaven and
earth; until man, in celestial rapture, speaks to the birds and convinces
the wolf. . .]
("Viento sagrado" from El libro de la fuerza, de la bondad y del
ensueno)
T h e exceptions to this replay of themes and symbols (the night, the lake,
the w i n d , the hidden fountain, etc.) are his final w o r k s , El diluvio de fuego
and Babel, w h i c h have p o e m s that deal w i t h the death of his wife and son,
the poet Enrique G o n z a l e z R o j o , as well as w i t h gripping historical events.
Y e t even in these later p o e m s that deal w i t h personal loss and the horrors
of N a z i G e r m a n y , G o n z a l e z M a r t i n e z often counters despair with trust
and faith.
Amado Nervo
M o r e like D a r i o and more in keeping w i t h modern sensibilities w h i c h are

often defined by their uneasy - even unhappy - relationship w i t h
dominant beliefs and values, A m a d o N e r v o has been characterized as a
poet pulled between opposite poles, between a desire for material
pleasures and an aspiration t o w a r d spiritual goals, between sensuality
and religiosity, and between faith and doubt. His o v e r w h e l m i n g longing
to see transcendence in w h a t appears limited and mutable, to reach
beyond the immediate and the tangible, and to find a philosophic
framework that w o u l d approve and endorse his erotic nature led him, like
D a r i o and the French Symbolists before him, to explore a w i d e variety of
u n o r t h o d o x belief systems including pantheism, mysticism, theosophy,
spiritualism, Bergsonian Vitalism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. N e r v o
found, in all these, effective responses to the dry intellectualization of
Latin A m e r i c a n Positivism in w h i c h value derived exclusively from
material things and industry w a s e n d o w e d w i t h glories and virtues. H e
came to see the failure of positivistic thought in its inability to grasp the
nature of anything other than the purely mechanical and static. C o n s e
quently, he sought to immerse himself in the flow of existence and achieve
a k n o w l e d g e of reality more profound than the fragmented and incom
plete visions afforded by modern science and commerce. His La hermana
agua (1901?) can be read as a statement on the primacy of "fluidity" in this
alternate w a y of v i e w i n g the w o r l d as well as in modernist poetics in
general, w h i c h held that to dictate form w o u l d be to inhibit w h a t the poet
most hopes to achieve, namely, direct contact and accord between
language and the universe.
A t the same time that N e r v o explored untraditional w o r l d v i e w s , he
50
Modernist poetry
remained tied to his early religious training; his short-lived studies for the
priesthood combined w i t h his philosophic curiosity to reinforce the
syncretic tendencies prevalent a m o n g modernist writers. H e easily
equates Christ w i t h other divinities - Jove, A l l a h , Brahma, A d o n a i - and
aspires to a loss of self, of self-importance, and of desire that is reminiscent
of both Christian asceticism and Buddhist spiritualism.
It is the recognition of these fundamental tensions of N e r v o ' s w o r k that
has generated renewed interest in, and a recent reassessment of, his w o r k .
For a period of some forty years following his death, N e r v o ' s reputation
declined and critics questioned the value of his poetic production, faulting
his writing for its supposed vulgarity, superficiality, and lack of origina-
lity. W h i l e it may be true that in some of his later collections his poetry
suffers from a facile application of various philosophic perspectives or
from an artificial cultivation of a sense of intimacy, it is also true that
N e r v o m o v e d from a mastery of modernist aesthetics, w i t h its aspiration
to grace, elegance, and richness of texture, to a controlled, personal, and
intimate poetry that anticipated and reinforced " p o s t m o d e r n i s t " deve-
lopments. H e achieved these changes while addressing diverse issues of
fundamental concern — from the political and social to the personal and
philosophic - returning repeatedly to the themes of time, change, loss,
love, and desire. A l l these c o m e together in his much quoted " V i e j a l l a v e "
(En voz baja), a sensitive examination of the illusion of immutability and
the p o w e r of evocation (poetic discourse) in a w o r l d of flux and
impermanence.
M o r e o v e r , w i t h p o e m s like " L a raza muerta," " L a raza de b r o n c e , "
" C a n t o a M o r e l o s , " " L o s niños mártires," and " G u a d a l u p e la C h i n a c a "
(from Lira heroica), N e r v o , as José Emilio Pacheco has noted (in his
Antología del modernismo), anticipates the C h o c a n o of Alma América,
the D a r í o of Canto a la Argentina, and the Lugones of Odas seculares, in
attempting to strike a balance between cosmopolitanism and patriotic
concerns, a balance that reflects a profound awareness of the movement's
extraordinary place in Spanish A m e r i c a n history. T h i s awareness is
evident as well throughout his extensive prose writings, in w h i c h he
constantly refers to literary enterprises as a possible antidote to the
prevalent stultification of the y o u n g and their unbridled regard for money.
H e also defends modernist innovations in poetic form and language as a
deliberate and enlightened response to the movement's immediate con-
text. In this attention to national issues, in his nostalgic vision of
provincial life, and in his eroticism tinged w i t h guilt, N e r v o lays the
g r o u n d w o r k for later poets, most notably R a m ó n L ó p e z Velarde.
N e r v o ' s w o r k divides into three periods. T h e first includes Místicas,
Perlas negras, Poemas, La hermana agua, El éxodo y las flores del camino,
and ends w i t h the political Lira heroica. In these collections N e r v o
5i
confesses his personal obsession w i t h erotic passion and religious doubt.

Stimulatingly u n o r t h o d o x ideas offered by esoteric thought appear in the
consoling pantheism and universal accord of La Hermana agua and in the
powerful occultist figure of the cosmic androgyne in " A n d r ó g i n o "
(Poemas).
Los jardines interiores and En voz baja m a k e up the second stage in
w h i c h , as M e r l i n Forster notes in Historia de la poesía hispanoamericana,
N e r v o ' s poetry becomes more serene as he seeks a place for himself in the
material - and materialistic - w o r l d in w h i c h he lives. In " M i v e r s o , " the
second p o e m from Los jardines interiores and a poetic statement of
N e r v o ' s artistic goals, he wrote:
Querría que mi verso, de guijarro,

en gema se trocase y en joyero;
que fuera entre mis manos como el barro
en la mano genial del alfarero.
[I would wish that my poetry, made of stone,
be changed to gem and jewel,
that it would be in my hands like the clay
in the ingenious hand of the potter.]
T h e g o a l is to create objects of transcendent beauty and w o r t h from the

mundane and prosaic, objects that, as he suggests in the second stanza,
w o u l d enhance individual lives as well as have spiritual significance. Y e t if
N e r v o wants to " m i n t " stanzas and turn verses into g o l d , it is also in order
to be able to m o v e from w h a t he called the "aristocracia en h a r a p o s "
["aristocracy in rags"] to the aristocracy of money and p o w e r from w h i c h
he felt excluded but to w h i c h he felt — by privilege of merit - he belonged.
T h e poet's aspirations to wealth - even if only verbal - is exemplary of his
conflictive attitudes t o w a r d the dominant values of the day and the
materialistic society that fostered them.
T h e third period w a s colored by the death of his beloved wife, A n a
Cecelia Luisa Daillez, in 1 9 1 2 , and by a search for consolation that never
fully relieved his unremitting grief. T h e most tortured p o e m s appear in La
amada inmóvil: versos a una muerta, most of w h i c h were written in the
very year of her death but w h i c h were not published until 1920. T h e later
collections, Serenidad, Elevation, Plenitud, El estanque de los lotos, and
El arquero divino, explore the possibilities for solace and transcendence
offered by both Christian and oriental philosophies.
Ricardo ]aimes Freyre

Despite his very limited poetic production Jaimes Freyre continues to be
read and remembered today for three important reasons: (1) his active
52.
Modernist poetry
collaboration in Buenos Aires w i t h D a r i o , w i t h w h o m he founded in 1894

the short-lived but influential Revista de América, (2) his innovative
adaptation and enthusiastic defense of free verse, and (3) his syncretic
recourse to medieval and N o r d i c myths and legends to express concerns
regarding the general artistic and sociopolitical context in w h i c h he
wrote.
Jaimes Freyre's practice of free verse developed within the literary circle
headed by D a r í o and Lugones between 1893 and 1898, w o r k i n g , as he
stated, a little by intuition and a little under the influence of French,
Italian, and Portuguese writers. His first collection of p o e m s , Castalia
bárbara, w a s published in Buenos Aires in 1899 and contains six of the
earliest examples of free verse in Spanish poetry. T h e y divide into t w o
types, one based on the silva and the other on prosodic groupings. His
second and only other collection of poetry, L o s sueños son vida, also
contains three poems of these t w o types along w i t h " A l m a helénica," a
c o m p l e x , polymetric p o e m . Between the publication of these t w o b o o k s ,
he published Leyes de versificación castellana in 1 9 1 2 , in w h i c h he spelled
out his basic assumptions and beliefs.
H e held that only accent has the ability to generate rhythm and that
Spanish verse forms are created by combining "períodos p r o s ó d i c o s "
["prosodic g r o u p i n g s " ] . T h i s concept a l l o w s him to distinguish between
prose and poetry since the latter is characterized by a combination of
equal or analogous groupings. His emphasis upon accentual rhythm
instead of upon the mechanical counting of syllables provided theoretical
support for the type of free verse that he had already begun to write and
resuscitates, as noted by Henríquez Ureña (Breve historia del moder-
nismo), the irregular versification of old Spanish verse. A t the same time,
h o w e v e r , this v i e w of poetry considerably restricted the definition of free
verse itself, limiting it, within Jaimes Freyre's scheme, to an arbitrary
mixture of different prosodic groupings or a combination of phrases
w i t h o u t any rhythm at all. Nevertheless he claims for himself the honor of
a s
having been the first to introduce free verse in Spanish. H e gives 1894
the date of one of his early pieces, thereby m a k i n g it contemporaneous
with Suva's " N o c t u r n o , " w h i c h in 1894 expanded Spanish metrics
through the free accumulation of clauses.
Related to Jaimes Freyre's attention to the possibilities of versification
and the innovation of poetic form is his recourse to medieval and N o r d i c
myths and legends. T h r o u g h both, he struggles to achieve a poetic vision
that is in touch w i t h the primordial rhythms of existence and the visions of
a simpler time and place. Like W a g n e r , w h o s e incursions into his pre-
Christian W a l h a l l a reflected changing political concerns and a search for
redemption from the crass and sterile realities of nineteenth-century
G e r m a n y , Jaimes Freyre, w i t h his G e r m a n i c g o d s , heroes, and genies,
53
attempted to respond to his immediate milieu by capturing a w o r l d alive

w i t h spirits, vibrant w i t h song, and saturated w i t h the lifeblood of
existence. W h i l e the title of his first collection recalls Leconte de Lisle's
Poèmes barbares (1854) and underscores a source of inspiration other
than the castalia clasica of traditional Spanish poetry, the freedom of the
verse and the energy of the subject suggest a desire to tap a primitive - not
Parnassian - p o w e r and a desire to evoke w i t h symbolist magic and
musicality an uncorrupted energy that underlies all life and action. A l s o
like W a g n e r , w h o achieved a sense of salvation only with the writing of
Parsifal and a return to Christian themes and imagery, Jaimes Freyre relies
on a syncretic blending of p a g a n and Christian symbols and motifs
throughout his poetry. Perhaps the best-known example is " A e t e r n u m
v a l e , " in w h i c h the end of one world-order, that envisioned in G e r m a n i c
m y t h o l o g y , ushers in another based on " e l D i o s silencioso que tiene los
brazos abiertos" ["the silent G o d w h o s e arms are open"] in a redemptive
embrace.
His second collection of poetry published eighteen years after the first is
less G e r m a n i c and more universal, developing both the philosophical and
political aspects implicit in many of the poems of the earlier collection.
" R u s i a , " written in 1906, demonstrates a keen political awareness and a
profound sympathy for the masses. Politics, h o w e v e r , w a s not an
occasional intellectual exercise for Jaimes Freyre. O n c e back in Bolivia,
after having taught for many years in T u c u m a n , Argentina, he assumed
several high administrative posts and even considered running for office.
Guillermo Valencia
Even more than for Jaimes Freyre, politics w a s a central activity in the life
of G u i l l e r m o V a l e n c i a . H e served in the C o l o m b i a n Congress, in high
administrative positions, and in the diplomatic corps. H e w a s also twice
named the Conservative Party candidate for president - though he w a s
never elected. Despite his public service, he maintained an active literary
career, a large part of w h i c h revolved around translation. His sense of
g o o d taste, his solid humanist education, and his k n o w l e d g e of several
classic and modern languages are evident throughout his sensitive and
skilled translations, the earliest of w h i c h were of his European contem-
poraries and immediate predecessors - Keats, H u g o , Flaubert, Heine,
Baudelaire, Gautier, Leconte de Lisle, Verlaine, D ' A n n n u n z i o , Stefan
G e o r g e , H u g o van Hofmannstal, and O s c a r W i l d e - as well as of the
Indian writer and philosopher Sir Rabindranath T a g o r e . Later, in his
Catay, he presented idiosyncratic versions of w o r k s by Chinese poets such
as L i - T a i - P o , T u - F u , and W a n g Hei based on the French prose transla-
54
Modernist poetry
tions by Franz Toussaint. T h e minimalist nature of these oriental pieces

reinforced the poetic trends developing throughout Spanish A m e r i c a at
the time. D u r i n g the same period, José Juan T a b l a d a ( M e x i c o , 1 8 7 1 -
1945), w h o is generally classified as a postmodernist poet, w a s introducing
the elegant simplicity of the Japanese hai-ku to Spanish.
Valencia's o w n poetry consists of one b o o k of verse, Ritos, w h i c h w a s
originally published in 1899 and w h i c h reappeared in an expanded version
in 1914. His w o r k is dominated by a seriousness and a symbolic density,
by a linguistic sophistication, terseness, and polish that have been
characterized both as classical and as Parnassian. H o w e v e r , his w o r k
defies easy classification, demonstrating in addition a sensual and s y m b o l
ist attention to the tone and texture of verse. R o b e r t J. G l i c k m a n
emphasizes V a l e n c i a ' s desire to celebrate "literary rites" that set out to
counter the negative forces that impede the spiritual elevation of the
individual and society. T h i s effort - encased within a poetry of verbal
splendour, encyclopedic breadth, and punctilious precision - links V a l e n
cia with other Modernists.
José María Eguren

Equally difficult to classify is the w o r k of José M a r i a Eguren. H e
published his first poems in the magazines of L i m a around 1899 and his
first b o o k , Simbólicas, in 1 9 1 1 ; with it he began a poetic career that w a s
generally misunderstood and much maligned. His w o r k contradicted the
emphatic and declamatory poetry popular at the time, a poetry epito
mized by the w o r k of Peru's soon-to-be poet laureate José Santos
C h o c a n o . H e remained throughout his career, w i t h the later publication
of La canción de las figuras and Poesías: Simbólicas, La canción de las
figuras, Sombra, Rodinelas, a little-known, marginal poet w h o s e sup
porters — such illustrious Peruvians as A b r a h a m V a l d e l o m a r , M a n u e l
G o n z á l e z Prada, José C a r l o s M a r i á t e g u i , and César Vallejo - praised his
radical independence, his originality, and his unique and solitary nature
despite widespread public and critical antipathy and misapprehension.
If Eguren w a s criticized during his life-time for being difficult, obscure,
and " h e r m e t i c , " he is n o w esteemed as the supreme representative of
Symbolism in Peru and even as a forerunner of the A v a n t - G a r d e . His w o r k
- w i t h its references to the night, to the tenuous and frightening realm of
childhood memories, and to the w o r l d of nature turned unreal - reveals
the poet's sense of mystery and a w e regarding the order of things. F r o m
his first texts on, Eguren's poetic imagination provides a type of spiritual
idealism offered as an alternative to personal tragedies and social ills.
N a t u r e is often viewed w i t h a w o n d e r m e n t that borders on the religious,
55
and this vision is generally presented w i t h the language of the fantastic

and a musicality derivative of modernist innovations but more personal
and idiosyncratic.
T h o u g h Eguren's w o r k w a s deemed marginal to M o d e r n i s m because of
its symbolist tendencies, its lack of epic breadth and tropical lushness, and
the absence of Versaillesque gardens and swans, it manifests key features
that reaffirm its placement a m o n g that of other modernist writers. A s
Rodríguez-Peralta has noted (in " T h e M o d e r n i s m of José M a r í a
E g u r e n " ) , his poetry is filled w i t h exoticism, oriental fantasies, and
references to both classical and N o r d i c mythologies; his vocabulary
includes neologisms, French, and Italianate forms; and there are examples
of the frivolous, elegant, and aristocratic details that for many defined
much of early M o d e r n i s m . Y e t these standard elements did not obscure
his creativity w h i c h shocked and alienated his early readers. T o d a y his
neologisms and his scenes of childhood innocence turned menacing d o not
only recall the fanciful inventions of M o d e r n i s m and its search for the
paradise lost to modern man but also the fearful visions of the A v a n t -
G a r d e , most notably the poetry of his fellow Peruvian César Vallejo. T h u s
Eguren's w o r k can n o w be understood to contain a creative m i x of
elements from M o d e r n i s m , Postmodernism, and the early A v a n t - G a r d e , a
mix that underscores the interdependence a m o n g , rather than the rup
tures between, these movements.
Leopoldo Lugones
A n even more extreme and varied mix is central to the poetry of L e o p o l d o
Lugones; for this reason it has virtually become a truism of modernist
criticism to say that his w o r k is the product of many Lugoneses. T h o u g h
the diverse nature of Lugones's poetic production has long been recog
nized, only recently - with studies such as those by Saul Y u r k i e v i c h
(Celebración) and G w e n Kirkpatrick (The Dissonant Legacy) - has the
significance of this shifting pattern of imitation and innovation begun to
be appreciated. T h e contradictions and asymmetries within Lugones's
poetry are indications of fissures within modernist poetics that result from
an evolving artistic and socio-political context and eventually lead to a
distancing from and even a disenchantment w i t h literary models — a
disenchantment that anticipates the poetic transformations of the A v a n t -
G a r d e . In other w o r d s , the philosophic, emotional, and hierarchical
dislocations produced by the continuing changes within the ideological
and social structures of modern Argentina provide the b a c k d r o p to
Lugones's many poetic and political voices.
T h i s feature of Lugones's w o r k , w h i c h on occasion has been read as a
type of superficiality or artistic fickleness, hides a profound, almost tragic,
56
Modernist poetry
realization that coincides with w h a t Paz in Los hijos del limo specifies as a
characteristic central to the transition from M o d e r n i s m to the A v a n t -
G a r d e , a characteristic that occurs at that m o m e n t w h e n the correspon-
dence of analogy is broken and dissonance takes over. Paz identifies this
dissonance w i t h irony in poetry and with mortality in life. Borges, in his
famous study, Leopoldo Lugones, emphasizes this moment w h e n he
describes the poet as a man w h o :
controlled his passions and industriously built tall and illustrious verbal
edifices until the cold and the loneliness got to him. Then, that man,
master of all the words and all the splendor of the word, felt within his
being that reality is not verbal and may be incommunicable and terrible,
and went, silently and alone, to look, in the twilight of an island, for
death.
Borges refers here both to the poet's suicide and to the loss of faith in the
decipherability of the universe, a loss that defines an essential change in
modernist poetry.
Even though Modernists had rejected a rigid sense of referentiality and
had turned a w a y from " r e a l i s m , " for the most part, they continued to
idealize poetry as a striving t o w a r d beauty and transcendence. T h e cult of
the exotic, the emphasis on sonority, the enrichment of poetic form, and
the delight in verbal play remained tied to a romantic faith in the poet's
ability to intuite the profound and transcendent. Y e t the natural develop-
ment of modernist tendencies led to a linguistic c r o w d i n g , an overloading
of sensory devices, and a certain formal - and even conceptual - instability
that gave w a y to new poetic possibilities. In this regard the innovations
introduced by L u g o n e s and Herrera y Reissig, namely, the breaks in
syntax, the eruption of the unintelligible, the irony and self-parody,
prefigure the w o r k s of later, avant-garde poets and their progressive
disenchantment with the p o w e r of poetry to fill the spiritual void of
modern society.
A l m o s t paradoxically, in spite or because of these fundamental shifts
and the cataclysmic dislocations they generate, Lugones rather quickly
came to turn his back on innovation and the u n k n o w n and chose to affirm
the great traditions of rhyme and patriotism. Starting as early as 1910 w i t h
Odas seculares Lugones's experimentation recedes and conservative
values and visions c o m e to the fore. Until then, in his first three
collections, Las montañas del oro, Los crepúsculos del jardín, and
Lunario sentimental, the impetus is t o w a r d the deliberately new.
T h e modernist delight in presenting the unexpected and u n o r t h o d o x ,
the iconoclastic playfulness evident, for e x a m p l e , in the title and poems of
D a r í o ' s Prosas profanas, appear throughout Las montañas del oro. N e x t
to prose pieces there are poems in w h i c h the verses run on separated only
57
by hyphens, and L u g o n e s purposely replaced the y w i t h /, an orthographic

change that later editions do not a l w a y s respect. M o r e importantly,
h o w e v e r , he successfully incorporated into this w o r k the prophetic
splendor of H u g o , the resonant serenity of W h i t m a n , the visionary
intensity of Dante, and the fundamental p o w e r of H o m e r , swelling the
dimensions and enriching the tonalities of the p o e m s . It is with these poets
that he aligns himself in the first p o e m of the collection, w h i c h is simply
called " I n t r o d u c c i ó n . " In it L u g o n e s presents his poetic p r o g r a m , w h i c h
for the most part coincides with the premises of the modernist verse being
written at the time. M o s t significant are those that underscore the special
relationship between the poet and G o d . T h e poet hears the voice of G o d in
nature and creates a spiritual force in his verse that moves the earth and
lights the darkness of despair and ignorance.
T h e revitalizing force presented encompasses - by the final pieces of the
third cycle - a dizzying array of scientists, theosophists, philosophers,
economists, and artists. T h i s syncretic blending of the ancient occult and
modern physical sciences together with the arts and philosophy is offered
in a frenzied embrace of progress similar to the Futurism proposed by
Marinetti twelve years later, but humanized and spiritualized by a faith in
a divine and harmonious order. T h e overall impression, h o w e v e r , remains
consonant with D a r i o ' s early assessment of Lugones's poetic assimilation
as " a rapid collision of g l a n c e s . " T h e sense of excessive accumulation,
artificial overloading, purposeful distortion of forms, and, occasionally,
transgressive defiance will continue in different guises and to different
degrees in the next t w o collections.
T h e publication of Los crepúsculos del jardín in 1905 builds upon
M o d e r n i s m ' s foundations in Symbolism and the latter's emphasis upon
correspondences between the visible and transcendent realms of exis-
tence. T h e visual is the strongest element in this collection in w h i c h the
presentation of garden scenes, the patterns of fading light, and erotic
encounters e v o k e other dimensions of reality - many of w h i c h are
menacing and disquieting. It is this feature w h i c h links L u g o n e s w i t h
s
Albert Samain (1858-1900), w h o s e Au jardín de Vinfante (1893) *
considered to have been a direct influence on both L o s crepúsculos del
jardín and on Herrera y Reissig's L o s éxtasis de la montaña (1904), a
confluence of inspiration w h i c h led to an unfounded accusation of
plagiarism against Lugones in 1 9 1 2 . A l o n g w i t h Samain, the influence of
Verlaine and D a r í o is evident, but most striking is Lugones's reluctance to
maintain the sense of mystery and musicality that defines the symbolist
substructure of his w o r k . H e often interrupts the m o o d created w i t h an
unexpected term, incongruous image, or transgressive allusion. T h e effect
can be parodie, c o m i c , decadent, or - as in " E l solterón" and " E m o c i ó n
a l d e a n a " - a strange cross between irony, nostalgia, and restraint. T h i s
58
Modernist poetry
last tendency reappears in the pastoral w o r k s of Herrera y Reissig and

R a m ó n L ó p e z Velarde. T h e most disturbingly m o v i n g poems are the
twelve sonnets that m a k e up " L o s doce g o z o s . " T h e repeated references to
G o d , violence, parts of the b o d y , and death suggest a mysterious, almost
demonic rite that simultaneously plays with the possibility of, and deflects
attention from, transcendent significance. In either case, the untamed
passions are a haunting commentary on, or critique of, the stable,
traditional, and unquestioning nature of bourgeois society, an intriguing
and unnerving m i x of revolution and revelation characteristic of modern
poetry.
It is the revolutionary aspect of his verse that comes to the fore in his
next collection, Lunario sentimental, written under the influence of Jules
Laforgue (i860-1887), his Limitation de Notre Dame la Lune, and his
acerbic m o c k e r y of archetypal patterns. In this w o r k Lugones combines
prose and poetry, breaks w i t h the affectations of poetic language,
introduces colloquial discourse, builds daring metaphors, incorporates
unusual adjectivization, dissolves organizing f r a m e w o r k s , and relies
upon rhetorical games that underscore his attack upon traditional views
of poetic beauty. H e supports in his " P r ó l o g o " the freedom provided by
free verse at the same time that he insists upon rhyme as the "essential
element of modern verse." H o w e v e r , the rhymes that appear are often
disturbingly unexpected, as are the images. W h i l e the v o l u m e is unified by
the theme of the m o o n , this sacred c o w of poetic discourse, along with
others, is trivialized, caricaturized, and parodied to the point that, as
Borges pointed out, the verbal structure becomes the focus of attention
much more than the scene or emotions described.
T h e s e formal changes and, most especially, the freeing of poetic signs
from previous constraints, reflect L u g o n e s ' s changing attitude t o w a r d the
role of the poet, one that in its o w n w a y pushes M o d e r n i s m further
t o w a r d the A v a n t - G a r d e . A s Kirkpatrick has noted, in Las montañas del
oro the figure of the poet, either as prophetic leader of humanity or as a
satanic visionary, w a s an interpreter of universal meaning. In L o s
crepúsculos del jardín he became an organizing voice rearranging the
chaotic welter of elements of the perceptible realm of existence. In
Lunario sentimental he turns these roles on their head and underscores his
awareness of the inherent falseness of all things. T h i s emotional and
conceptual distance from traditional objects of esteem encourages arti-
fice, caricature, c o m e d y , and a disconcerting mix of perspective, tone, and
language all of w h i c h is offered as a defiant response to a w o r l d of
appearances.
In w h a t appears as a balancing or stabilizing alternative to the
potentially destructive consequences of these insights and innovations,
Lugones in his " P r ó l o g o " to Lunario sentimental offers a practical and
59
patriotic defense of poetry. H e proposes to demonstrate "the utility of

poetry in the enhancement of l a n g u a g e s . " O n e of its great advantages is its
concision: " B e i n g concise and clear, it tends to be definite, adding to the
language a n e w proverbial expression or set phrase that saves time and
effort." Lugones sees this p o w e r of poetic language as a national asset, one
that must be cultivated and cared for. " L a n g u a g e is a social resource,
perhaps the most consistent element of national manners and c u s t o m s . "
T h o u g h for the reader it is easy to lose sight of this fundamental link
between the formation of nation states and the creation of a modern mode
of discourse appropriate to them - especially in the verbal artifice and
fireworks of collections like Las montañas del oro, Los crepúsculos del
jardín, and Lunario sentimental - Lugones never does. In reality, it is
present throughout his poetry, in the insertion of shockingly prosaic
vocabulary such as " c o l d c r e a m , " " a l k a l i n e , " " h y d r a u l i c , " and "sports-
w o m a n , " and in c a c o p h o n o u s rhymes such as "flacucha/trucha," "die-
c i o c h o / b i z c o c h o , " " b o t e l l a / d o n c e l l a , " "fotográfico/seráfico." T h e s e ele-
ments e m b o d y the struggle for a language of national identity, one that
asserts individuality in the face of traditionalism as well as international
trends and pressures.
It is this search for a language of national identity that becomes the
focus of Lugones's next major w o r k , Odas seculares, published in 1910 as
part of the centennial celebration of Argentina's independence. T h e
collection is divided into four parts: the first consists of a single p o e m " A
la Patria," the second is entitled " L a s cosas útiles y magníficas," the third
focuses on " L a s c i u d a d e s , " and the fourth deals with " L o s h o m b r e s , "
including the most typical of all Argentinians, the g a u c h o . W i t h these
p o e m s Lugones confronts history, geography, and national spirit. W i t h
them he begins his journey to a simpler, more direct style, one in w h i c h his
concerns, desires, and reflections achieve a clarity and sincerity that had
previously been lost behind embellishment, artifice, and linguistic splen-
dor, a style that reflects another general trend not to the A v a n t - G a r d e but
to postmodernist poetry. W h i l e his next three volumes of verse, El libro
fiel, El libro de los paisajes, and Las horas doradas, seem to respond to the
same impetus t o w a r d traditional poetic form, intimacy, and simplicity,
the first is the most strongly confessional, embracing at the same time the
delights and despairs of passionate love. T h e second and third focus more
on the exterior w o r l d , both landscapes and miniatures. T h o u g h less
dramatic and certainly less studied than his earlier, more flamboyant,
inventive, " m o d e r n i s t " collections, these contain some strikingly beauti-
ful poems that demonstrate Lugones's poetic versatility and skill. H e
changes key but continues to dazzle in a new, more intimate w a y .
His final three collections, Romancero, Poemas solariegos, and
Romances del Río Seco published posthumously in 1938, continue the
60
Modernist poetry
dual trajectory t o w a r d intimacy and national identity. Romancero bears

the influence of Heine in its title, its thirteen lieder, its opening p o e m ,
" G a y a ciencia," and in its overall quietly intense tone. Poemas solariegos
and Romances del Rio Seco find the essence of Argentina in the simple
elements of life w h i c h are captured either in rich, detailed description or
minimalist minipoems. T h e s e w o r k s are a step back from the verbal
fireworks of the first three collections, w h i c h contain techniques and
perspectives that break ground for the poets of the A v a n t - G a r d e . T h e
verse that filled the last twenty-eight years of his life offers a reassertion of
the fundamental faith in poetry to e v o k e significant realities, the defining
characteristic that makes postmodernist poetry a continuation of
Modernism.
Julio Herrera y Reissig

If w h a t defines the link between M o d e r n i s m and Postmodernism is their
shared poetic vision based on universal analogy, a metaphoric system in
w h i c h the sensorial reveals the spiritual, the early w o r k s by Lugones and
much of Herrera's poetic production can be seen as an alternate develop
ment of modernist tendencies, one that serves as a short-cut to the avant-
garde experimentation w i t h poetry as a verbal construct - one tragically
or ironically locked within its o w n structures no longer directed t o w a r d a
transcendent vision or tied to the imitation of literary models or nature.
T h e early modernist desire to create a poetry based on "the p o e t i c " finds a
fertile development in the verbal options opened by these t w o authors,
w h o build upon w h a t the earlier poets had made possible in Spanish -
recourse to verbal correspondences and synesthesia fundamental to the
Symbolists, the incorporation of v o c a b u l a r y and images from high culture
and exotic landscapes. Y e t they push these elements out of proportion.
W h a t comes to predominate is parody, tension, and rupture, a sense of
being off balance that is identified w i t h avant-garde poetics.
W h i l e D a r i o struggles - through analogy - to reveal the divine
intelligence that imbues the universe w i t h order, Herrera expands the
verbal possibilities so that the metaphoric connection between things is
less direct and more elusive, more surprising, arbitrary, imaginary, ironic,
and critical. His most innovative metaphors are not based on external
connections but appear as projections of his o w n - not a l w a y s stable -
psychic state (hence the repeated allusions to esplin, jaquecas, neurosis,
neurastenias, and lo espectral). T h e result is violent, shocking, and often
deliberately unaesthetic. Whether this poetic vision stems from a tragic
awareness, starting at age five, of a congenital heart lesion that w o u l d
d o o m him to a short life, or from a rebellious, anarchistic, anti-bourgeois
dandyism that w o u l d keep him on the margins of society (looking out at
61
the w o r l d from within his Cenáculo [guest chamber], later called the
Torre de los Panoramas), or from an eclectic and critical nature that
wished to push M o n t e v i d e o beyond its provincial and unimaginative
conservatism, Herrera puts modernist tendencies under a magnifying
glass, perfecting, exaggerating, and distorting w h a t he passionately
embraced.
It is difficult to trace a clear chronological trajectory of Herrera's poetic
development because of the w a y he chose to publish his w o r k . H e
organized only one collection of p o e m s , Los peregrinos de piedra, w h i c h
appeared posthumously in the year of his death. It is an anthological
compilation of his entire opus. F r o m it he excluded pieces that are as
important and well executed as those he included. For example, he left out
a third of the p o e m s from Los éxtasis de la montaña and more than half of
those from Los parques abandonados. A s much as possible, scholars have
attempted to date individual p o e m s and group them within their original
collections, but the dating is often imprecise because Herrera is said to
have w o r k e d on a number of collections at the same time and to have
revised them over time. W h a t can be safely stated, h o w e v e r , is that most of
his poetry belongs to the ten-year period between 1900 and 1910. His early
poems belong to the first third of this decade, and those written before
1900 are generally considered his w e a k e r , less original pieces.
A s might be expected, the poems from 1900, especially those from Las
pascuas del tiempo, most strongly reflect the influence of other modernist
poets, particularly that of D a r i o , L u g o n e s , and C a s a l , w h o s e decadent
dandyism finds parallels in Herrera's life-long attraction to images of
disease and psychoses. T h e s e p o e m s reveal the same preoccupation w i t h
elegance, opulence, and European culture that molded much of early
M o d e r n i s m . T h e famous "Fiesta popular de u l t r a t u m b a " recalls Prosas
profanas, especially its first three p o e m s w i t h their wide-ranging e x p l o -
ration of styles and modes of discourse. T h o u g h many of Herrera's pieces
present a cultural smorgasbord similar to D a r i o ' s " D i v a g a c i ó n , " the
U r u g u a y a n ' s unique perspective is already present in the more than
occasional ironic remarks that underscore his critical distance from the
generally solemn deference given to imported high culture.
T h e next major collection, Los parques abandonados, consists of
poems written between 1900 and 1908. T w e n t y - t w o were published in Los
peregrinos de piedra as eufocordias; fifty-seven were left out. A s Allen
Phillips has noted ( " C u a t r o poetas hispanoamericanos"), Herrera s h o w s
a cosmic complicity in these gentle and touching love sonnets. In " L a
sombra d o l o r o s a , " for e x a m p l e , nature shares w i t h the poet the pain of
separation, affirming a transcendental unity interrupted by a loss that is
linked, by the blaring train, to modern life and unresponsive technology.
In " E l abrazo p i t a g ó r i c o , " the universal and eternal harmony alluded to in
6z
Modernist poetry
the title is found in the unity of the t w o lovers, their love, their song, and
their pleasure - not w i t h o u t , h o w e v e r , the characteristic Herrerian
touches of absurdity in the form of intrusive scientific terms and colloquial
phrases.
T h e poems of Los éxtasis de la montaña, called eglogánimas in Los
peregrinos de piedra, date from 1904 to 1910. T h e s e alexandrine sonnets
are pastoral in nature, eclogues full of peace and tranquility. T h e y are, at
the same time, a m o n g his most original w o r k s , containing "pre-creacio-
nista" images and metaphors. T h e poems reveal a joy in the innocent and
ingenuous nature of rural life and an intense pantheism in w h i c h the
cosmic order is repeated in the apparently insignificant details of everyday
existence. T h e landscape, h o w e v e r , takes on an unreal quality, trans-
muted into verbal constructs through deliberately archaic references and a
baroque sensibility (the influence of G ó n g o r a ) that helped prepare the
transition from M o d e r n i s m to the A v a n t - G a r d e . T h e fantasy atmosphere
is often interrupted by the absurdity of life or by a shocking image, both o f
w h i c h d r a w attention to and, as a result, m o c k the p o e m ' s literary
pretenses. " L a iglesia" ends with a flood of chickens, " E l c u r a " concludes
with the priest's piety described as licking like a c o w , and " D o m i n u s
v o b i s c u m " breaks the timelessness of the countryside w i t h the appearance
of a " z o o t é c n i c o , " a professor of w o r m s . Within this same pastoral
tendency fall " C i l e s a l u c i n a d a " (1902) and " L a muerte del p a s t o r " (1907),
t w o narrative poems of great beauty.
Often contrasted with these poems of rural life is another poetic trend
that emerges during Herrera's ten years of creativity, one that is more
specifically metaphysical in orientation. Y e t both tendencies reflect in
varying degrees and with varying intensity the same concern with the
fragility of life and the absurdity of existence, from w h i c h one can only be
partially sheltered by community, tradition, or literary imagination. T h i s
recognition seems to form the b a c k d r o p to Herrera's remarkably
" m o d e r n " poetry, w o r k s that, in their surrender to the dark and troubling
aspects of reality, break logical connections and become deliberately
difficult, obtuse, and chaotic. T h e type of angst that appears in D a r i o ' s
three " N o c t u r n o s , " for e x a m p l e , is even more disorienting and poten-
tially destructive in Herrera's " D e s o l a c i ó n absurda," written in 1903. Life
is defined by death, w h i c h tears the soul of the poet apart ("amo y soy un
m o r i b u n d o / tengo el alma hecha p e d a z o s " ["I love and I am a dying man /
my soul is torn to pieces"]); unity and salvation become impossible; the
best that love can offer is a "parenthesis"; and nature only pretends to be a
reflection of G o d . La torre de las esfinges, written in 1909 and accurately if
self-mockingly subtitled " p s i c o l o g a c i ó n morbo-panteista," is itself a
bridge from the playfully optimistic, esoteric syncreticism of M o d e r n i s m
to the morbid, nightmarish visions of the A v a n t - G a r d e . In a different w a y
63
the same is true of another g r o u p of poems from 1909, Las clepsidras,

w h i c h are more than " c r o m o s e x ó t i c o s " ["exotic color prints"], as
Herrera calls them. T h e formal perfection of these sonnets, their rich
descriptive quality, and their archaeological fascination w i t h the unusual
and u n o r t h o d o x reveal their grounding in the traditions of M o d e r n i s m .
A t the same time, h o w e v e r , they contain elements that will later define the
w o r k s of the A v a n t - G a r d e : shockingly erotic references, illogical and
disturbingly evocative images, and language that is disconcertingly
innovative. T h o u g h Herrera y Reissig remained a Modernist, in love w i t h
demanding poetic structures (the sonnet and the décima), fond of rich and
exotic landscapes and tonalities, and a disciple of the symbolist faith in
evocation and suggestion, there can be little w o n d e r that he has been
recognized by many modern writers - César Vallejo, Vicente H u i d o b r o ,
Pablo N e r u d a , Federico G a r c í a L o r c a , and Vicente A l e i x a n d r e , to men
tion only the most prominent - as a kindred spirit and teacher.
José Santos Chocano

T h o u g h José Santos C h o c a n o w a s one of the youngest Modernists, his
poetry did not anticipate the future but rather l o o k e d back t o w a r d the
past. It appeared on the scene as an exuberant affirmation of the painterly,
elaborate, image-laden M o d e r n i s m that had for the most part begun to
recede in favor of a more introverted and intimate style. Perhaps because
of this very fact - together w i t h his enthusiastic p r o - A m e r i c a n Mundo-
novismo - his poetry pleased a wide audience accustomed to modernist
fare, and he became one of the most popular poets of the time.
It is impossible to determine the factor that had the greatest impact
upon his w o r k . H e w a s driven by the idea of becoming "the poet of
A m e r i c a " and unselfconsciously called up real and imagined images of
South A m e r i c a in order to achieve this title - one that had been foreclosed
to D a r í o by José Enrique R o d ó ' s early assessment of his w o r k . South
A m e r i c a n geography, history, legend, landscapes, peoples, flowers, and
animals are painted in broad and vibrant brushstrokes, for his natural
inclination t o w a r d grandiloquence, linguistic inflation, and rhetorical
expansiveness found a perfect outlet in his purposeful exaltation of
A m e r i c a n enterprises and w o n d e r s . C h o c a n o w o u l d recite - w i t h great
personal and economic success - these activities and marvels to audiences
in M a d r i d , the C a r i b b e a n , Central and South A m e r i c a , and the oratorical
nature of these recitals further encouraged his established stylistic tenden
cies. T h a n k s to his fame, popularity, and the pose he assumed as he
executed his poetic goals, he w a s c r o w n e d national poet of Peru in 1922,
though he hardly ever lived there.
64
Modernist poetry
Since the end of M o d e r n i s m , the bombast, hyperbole, excess, and lack

of nuance of his w o r k have tended to receive as much commentary as his
accomplishments. His reputation as a poet w a s further diminished by his
soldier of fortune life-style. N o t only did he spend a year in jail for having
killed a y o u n g man in 1925, but he himself w a s killed by a Chilean w o r k e r
w h o believed that he had been bilked out of money in one of C h o c a n o ' s
many get-rich-quick schemes. Nevertheless, it is easy to recognize w h y his
verse w a s received with such enthusiasm during the thirty-nine years
between the publication of his first collection, En la aldea, and that of his
ninth, Primacías de oro de Indias, w i t h an especially triumphant reception
being given to his principal w o r k , Alma América: poemas indo españoles.
His vision w a s Hispanic rather than European; he even criticized D a r í o
for his recourse to French models and chided other Latin Americans for
their fascination w i t h Europe. His pride in A m e r i c a and his hopes for its
future — evident, in part, in his vociferous support of the M e x i c a n
Revolution - are expressed in a language that is stirringly dramatic,
strong, and assertive. T h e p o w e r of his poetry relies upon a keen sense of
rhythm and an unflinching sense of purpose. His tone is o v e r w h e l m i n g l y
optimistic, confident, and direct; philosophic anguish and doubt, as well
as poetic suggestion and subtlety, were left to others. " B l a s ó n " from Alma
América, reveals both his artistic strengths and the egomaniacal nearsigh-
tedness that has made him unpalatable to some modern readers.
Soy el cantor de América autóctono y salvaje;

mi lira tiene un alma, mi canto un ideal.
M i verso no se mece colgado de un ramaje
con un vaivén pausado de hamaca tropical. . .
Cuando me siento Inca, le rindo vasallaje
al Sol, que me da el cetro de su poder real;
cuando me siento hispano y evoco el Coloniaje
parecen mis estrofas trompetas de cristal . . .
M i fantasía viene de un abolengo moro:
los Andes son de plata, pero el León de oro:
y las dos astas fundo con épico fragor.
La sangre es española e incaico es el latido;
¡y de no ser poeta, quizás yo hubiese sido
un blanco aventurero o un indio emperador!
[I am the singer of native and wild America;

my lyre has a soul, my song an ideal.
M y poetry does not rock from branches
with a measured sway of a tropical hammock. . .
65
When I feel Incan, I render obedience

to the Sun, which gives me the sceptre of its royal power;
when I feel Hispanic and I evoke Colonial rule,
my stanzas seem crystal trumpets. . .
M y imagination comes from a Moorish ancestry:
the Andes are of silver, but the Lion is of gold:
and I forge the t w o lances with epic noise.
T h e blood is Spanish and Incan is the beat;
and if I were not a poet, perhaps I would have been
a white adventurer or an Indian emperor!]
Delmira Agustini
Delmira Agustini's life and career can be summarized with a few short
sentences that belie the p o w e r and complexity of their legacy. She began to
publish poetry in small journals at the age of sixteen. By 1907 she had
published her first v o l u m e of verse, El libro blanco. In 1910 her second
collection of poetry, Cantos de la mañana, appeared, and in 1913 she
published Los cálices vacíos w i t h an opening p o e m by R u b é n D a r í o . In it
she announced her next b o o k , Los astros del abismo, w h i c h w o u l d appear
posthumously in 1924 w i t h the title El rosario de Eros. Agustini w a s killed
in 1 9 1 4 by her ex-husband, w h o m she had taken as a lover.
Because she is so much younger than the other modernist poets, she is
often classified - along w i t h Alfonsina Storni (Argentina, 1892-1938),
Juana de Ibarbourou (Uruguay, 1 8 9 5 - 1 9 7 9 ) , and Gabriela Mistral (Chile,
1889-1957) - as a Postmodernist. She shared w i t h these later female poets
(and w i t h her compatriot and contemporary M a r i a Eugenia V a z Ferreira
[1880-1925]) innovative perspectives on art, love, feminine sexuality, and
the role of w o m e n , that affected her imagery and tone and that distanced
her from the earlier male Modernists, yet she maintained during her short
and turbulent life a strong affinity for the principal elements of modernist
verse. Her vocabulary is at different moments sensuous, ornate, evocative,
and exotic. Her descriptions are textured by subtly nuanced adjectives
and by references to precious stones, flowers, animals, and opulent
objects. Her images affirm their modernist roots in their detail, p o w e r ,
and sensuality but reject established patterns of (male) perception; they
are innovative and dramatic, based on shocking connections that assert
the individual and idiosyncratic nature of her experience. Her struggle
against imposing, inflexible, and unforgiving structures - social and
poetic — appears most often and most explicitly in her pieces on love and
art and in her repeated allusions to sadness, suffering, and death.
It has been said that love w a s Agustini's great theme, yet it is not an easy
or idealized love that she portrays, for it embraces both pain and pleasure,
surrender and rejection, p o w e r and impotence. Whether this dark and
66
Modernist poetry
tortured vision is grounded in decadent art, sado-masochistic tendencies,

or in the belief in the voluptuousness of death (as suggested by D o r i s T .
Stephens), suffering and destruction, in an uncannily prophetic manner,
are linked to love and love is linked, in turn, to a breaking out and a w a y .
W h a t is broken are norms, expectations, traditional male (and modernist)
perspectives on sexuality, authority, and transcendence. T h e s e very issues
forged her views on art as well.
W h i l e Agustini shares the modernist aspiration to an art that makes
sense of the universe and that is redemptive, she affirms the suffering and
despair that constitute the nature of the artistic process as the poet
confronts time-honored models, seeks to express the ineffable, and aspires
to exceed human, poetic, and stereotypical limitations. A s Silvia M o l l o y
has s h o w n ( " D o s lecturas del cisne: R u b e n D a r i o y Delmira A g u s t i n i " ) , in
" N o c t u r n o , " modernist art, its v o c a b u l a r y , setting, and tone are ritual
ized only to be e x p l o d e d in its surprising, touching, and frightful inversion
of the image of the s w a n . Agustini identifies herself as the s w a n that stains
the lake with its b l o o d as it tries to take flight. In this p o e m as in many
others she shouts the danger of reaching beyond. L o n g i n g and desire tear
at the idealized realms of art and love, turning the passionate poet into
w h a t she envisions in other p o e m s as a w i l d beast, a vampire, or an angel
w h o has lost her w i n g s .
Agustini w r o t e within the modernist framework at the same time that
she struggled against it. H e r w o r k is a response, at times violent and
iconoclastic, to M o d e r n i s m , to the poetry of R u b e n D a r i o , and to
traditional society. It is this antagonistic relationship to M o d e r n i s m that
has linked her to Postmodernism. Y e t her poetry - as well as that of
G o n z a l e z M a r t i n e z , Eguren, L u g o n e s , Herrera y Reissig, and that of
D a r i o himself — under-scores that the demarcation between M o d e r n i s m
and Postmodernism is imprecise. W i t h D a r i o ' s turn t o w a r d a simpler,
more introspective, less decorative style as early as 1901, w i t h the radical
innovations by poets like L u g o n e s and Herrera y Reissig as early as 1905,
the changes that at one time were identified w i t h Postmodernism can n o w
be seen as adjustments within the modernist m o v e m e n t itself. T h e true
rupture comes w i t h the A v a n t - G a r d e and its fundamental loss of faith in
the modernist w o r l d v i e w , in analogy, and in the p o w e r of the w o r d to
reveal an eternal order and beauty that is hidden by the chaos of everyday
existence.
By 1922, with the publication of Trilce by Vallejo, the Vanguardia w a s
clearly established. T h e r e were, nevertheless, poets still writing in a style
derivative of M o d e r n i s m . T h i s chronologically untidy g r o u p continued to
alter the face of M o d e r n i s m but not its fundamental Weltanschauung. In
addition to the female poets already mentioned, the f o l l o w i n g are
generally considered to be the most important of these writers: José Juan
67
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of use, available at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521340700.003
T a b l a d a ( M e x i c o , 1 8 7 1 - 1 9 4 5 ) , Regino E. Boti ( C u b a , 1878-1958), C a r l o s

Pezoa Veliz (Chile, 1879-1908), Enrique Banchs (Argentina, 1888-1968),
Luis C a r l o s L ó p e z ( C o l o m b i a , 1883-1950), Porfirio Barba Jacob ( C o l o m
bia, 1883-1942), R a m ó n L ó p e z Velarde ( M e x i c o , 1 8 8 8 - 1 9 2 1 ) , B a l d o m e r o
Fernández M o r e n o (Argentina, 1886-1950), M a c e d o n i o Fernández
(Argentina, 1 8 7 4 - 1 9 5 2 ) , Luis Llorens T o r r e s (Puerto R i c o , 1878-1944),
Rafael A r é v a l o M a r t i n e z (Guatemala, 1884—1975), C a r l o s Sabat Ercasty
(Uruguay, 1887-1982), José Eustasio Rivera ( C o l o m b i a , 1888-1928),
A l f o n s o Reyes ( M e x i c o , 1889-1959), Andrés Eloy Blanco (Venezuela,
1 8 9 7 - 1 9 5 5 ) , Dulce M a r i a L o y n a z ( C u b a , 1903-).
68

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Attempts to analyze Modernismo [Modernism] have n o w entered their

French poetry, that first attracted attention. In his famous letter to R u b é n

[I love more than the Greece of the Greeks

more pronounced w h e n the socio-economic pressures that gave rise to

culture, arrived in Spanish A m e r i c a - or, at the very least, to its great,

on analogy, that vision of the universe as system of correspondences in

as an intermediary between t w o minds, but as an instrument of p o w e r

tion, and superficiality of " b o u r g e o i s modernity," that is, the tradition of

images, religious beliefs, philosophic perspectives, and modes of dis­

Verlaine's Fêtes galantes, the writings of the G o n c o u r t brothers (Edmond

archaeological and philological search for origins). T h e s e heterodox

T h i s passage underscores certain key elements of turn-of-the-century

discursive model for modernist poetry w a s religion w i t h a progressively

Eastern thought. A s a result, w h e n tracing occultist influences on moder­

incorporated in, and to become an essential element of, the modernist

cism, w h i c h had already started to create an original literature for the

The early Modernists

places in Spanish A m e r i c a by the time he published his first major v o l u m e

Gutiérrez Nájera w a s one of the first Modernists to recognize that the

It has been virtually impossible to speak of José M a r t i w i t h o u t alluding to

of the collection alludes to the e t y m o l o g y that M a r t i attributed to Ishmael

It is revealing - about the modernist movement and the men in question -

made environment of the city and its luxurious urban interiors. C a s a l

Like C a s a l ' s , José A s u n c i ó n Suva's life w a s colored by an attraction to

source of tremendous financial turmoil and eventually led the family to

poetics with its g o a l of transforming the music of nature in an evocative

O n January 1 8 , 1 8 6 7 , Felix R u b e n G a r c i a Sarmiento w a s born in a small

influence of M e n d e s , Flaubert, H u g o , and Z o l a . T h e y s h o w D a r i o ' s

underscore a fundamental aspiration t o w a r d a harmony that is intimately

G u a t e m a l a he also published the augmented version of Azul. . . Y e t ,

beginning of Prosas profanas, "Palabras liminares," and in its three

w o r d has a soul, there is in each verse, in addition to verbal harmony, an

Christ-like attributes that become a recurrent feature of D a r i o ' s later

and aesthetic play w i t h w h i c h Prosas profanas has generally been

youthful squandering of energies. T h e y will also address directly the

intensely expressed in the fourth stanza. T h e alliteration of the p's

sections of N e r u d a ' s Canto general w i t h its drive to rewrite history, to

t w o revealing autobiographical w o r k s : La vida de Ruben Dario escrita

The late Modernists

If Herrera and L u g o n e s are n o w recognized as poets w h o contained

Early critics w h o saw in his w o r k a departure from M o d e r n i s m tended

combined ability to perceive and understand that structures his poetry. H e

Y que llegues, por fin, a la escondida

Busca en todas las cosas el oculto sentido;

Hará que los humanos

hasta que el hombre, en celestial arrobo,

M o r e like D a r i o and more in keeping w i t h modern sensibilities w h i c h are

confesses his personal obsession w i t h erotic passion and religious doubt.

Querría que mi verso, de guijarro,

T h e g o a l is to create objects of transcendent beauty and w o r t h from the

Ricardo ]aimes Freyre

collaboration in Buenos Aires w i t h D a r i o , w i t h w h o m he founded in 1894

attempted to respond to his immediate milieu by capturing a w o r l d alive

tions by Franz Toussaint. T h e minimalist nature of these oriental pieces

José María Eguren

and this vision is generally presented w i t h the language of the fantastic

by hyphens, and L u g o n e s purposely replaced the y w i t h /, an orthographic

last tendency reappears in the pastoral w o r k s of Herrera y Reissig and

patriotic defense of poetry. H e proposes to demonstrate "the utility of

dual trajectory t o w a r d intimacy and national identity. Romancero bears

Julio Herrera y Reissig

the same is true of another g r o u p of poems from 1909, Las clepsidras,

José Santos Chocano

images, religious beliefs, philosophic perspectives, and modes of dis

Eastern thought. A s a result, w h e n tracing occultist influences on moder