CHAPTER IV

Tl-IE SPANISH CIVIL WAR : THE POETRT OP WAR

•Ay, Spain of my l i f e I
Ay, Spain of my d e a t h I '

These l i n e s by Miguel Hernandez e x p r e s s t h e cry (AhI)

of a tormented p e r s o n . The f a t e of Spain was o b v i o u s l y t h e
f a t e of t h e poet who voiced t h e f e e l i n g s of h i s countrymen
at l a r g e .

Hence u n l i k e t h e e a i ' l i e r c h a p t e r s (on t h e F i r s t World

Wax) t h a t d e a l t h only w i t h t h e poems by B r i t i s h p o e t s , this
c h a p t e r w i l l a l s o c o n t a i n an a n a l y s i s of a few poems by
Spanish p o e t s i n t r a n s l a t o n . The S p a n i s h p o e t s have been
i n c l u d e d t o t r y and d i s t i n g u i s h t h e d i f f e r e n c e between
t h e i r r e s p o n s e t o t h e war and t h a t of t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Brigade.

A d i f f e r e n c e i n w r i t i n g might be e x p e c t e d fi'om t h e
diffei-ence i n c i r c u m s t a n c e s .

(a) Pix'st f o r t h e Spanish p o e t s i t was t h e i i - own l a n d

t h a t was r a v a g e d .
They had t h e i i - r o o t s in S p a i n , t h e country t h a t had
borne them and made them what t h e y were. They cai-ried t h e
s p i r i t of Spain w i t h i n them.
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To quote Garcia Lorca -

If by the Grace of God I become famous
half of that fame w i l l belong t o Granada
which formed me and made me what I am, 2
In fact here Lorca more than recognizing himself as a Spanish
poet regards himself as Granada's poet. So the f e e l i n g i s
more l o c a l i z e d than t h e love of o n e ' s country. Indeed i n
many Spanish poets we s h a l l find t h i s intense attachment t o
the region of one's b i r t h .

(b) Secondly the Spanish poets were forced to be

p a r t i c i p a n t s unlike the members of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Brigade
who volunteered,

(c) And l a s t l y a g r e a t e r inv7ardness of expex-ience i s

f e l t in t h e i r work r e s u l t i n g from t h e i r intimate knowledge
of the l a n d . To i l l u s t r a t e t h i s point one can i-ecall the
bombing of Guei-nica.

The i s o l a t e d northern zone was t h e l o g i c a l t a r g e t

for the N a t i o n a l i s t s a f t e r four unsuccessful attempts to
cut short the war by capturing Madrid. The northex^n zone
was Republican texritox-y and in Aux-'il 1937 the n a t i o n a l i s t s
began theix- attack with the bombing/GuexTiica.' I t was the
f i r s t massive bombardment of civiliajci tex'x-itox-y.

The whole of Guex-nica was a buxTit skeleton except

the pax-liament buildings and the oak t r e e . The fix^st
parliament of Spain had held i t s meeting in Casa de J u n t a s
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under the same oak t r e e . Thei^efore with the bombing Guernica

became a witness of the spii-it of Spain, her pi-ide, her stiniggle
foi' l i b e r a t i o n and of her matyrdom.

Such i n c i d e n t s have a symbolic significance for a

Spaniard who had h i s r o o t s deep i n the h i s t o i y and c u l t u r e of
his land. The survival of the oak t r e e would not mean
anything to a foreigner who knew nothing of i t s h i s t o r i c a l
significance. Something of h i s nature can be observed i n
the poem. 'The Winds of People* by Hernandez t h a t i s analysed
l a t e r in t h i s chapter.

Thus one might expect to find a difference between

the Spanish poet's response to the war and t h a t of t h e B r i t i s h .
For the volvmteers of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Brigade i t was t h e i r
made
p o l i t i c a l awareness that£them conscious t h a t the f a t e of the
whole world hinged on the outcome of the c i v i l war in Spain,
Someo of t h e most deeply involved of these did not even wi'ite
any poetry a r i s i n g out of t h i s experience, foi* instance
Ralph Pox and Christopher Caudwell.

As for the c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of the poems p e r t a i n i n g to

the Spanish C i v i l War they cannot be categorised as e a r l y ,
t r a n s i t i o n a l and l a t e r poems ( l i k e the poems of the F i r s t
Woi'ld war i n C h a p t e r U ) , Instead they have been categorised
themewise and grouped as follows.
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4.1.1 The Cause

This section includes poems projecting a sense of a
cause, a sense of commitment among the Spanish and non-
Spanish, s o l d i e r and non-soldier p o e t s .

4-• 1 • 2 Spain Fifchts for Humanity

Poems t h a t bi-ing out the significance of the Spanish

War foi- a l l humanity are likewise included.

4.1.3 I n t e r n a t i o n a l Intervention

Poems where a poet i r o n i c a l l y a t t a c k s the foreign

intervention and non-intei>vention p o l i c i e s towards Spain
are discussed, here,

4.2 A P i c t u r e of Destruction

This section has sub-sections as follows:

4.2.1 The Ravaged Land

Poems t h a t describe the ravaged land mingled with

memories of the past are analysed i n t h i s s e c t i o n .

4.2.2 C i v i l i a n Deaths

There are also poems t h a t deal with c i v i l i a n deaths

and the r e a c t i o n t o c i v i l i a n deaths.

4.3 Experience of B a t t l e

This section c o n s i s t s of poems t h a t desci-ibe the

experience of b a t t l e and death i n b a t t l e .
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4.4 Defeat

This section analyses poems that express the feeling

of defeat. The Spanish Republic appeared quite certain of
defeat, yet the confidence that the future genei-ation would
cariT^ on the sti'uggle to fight fascism will be i^evealed
through the poems in this section.

4.5 Conclusion

The conclusion will bring out the difference in the

poetry of the Spanish Civil War by the Spanish poets and
the British poets. It will then px-oceed to highlight the
features of the poetry of this war which appear to
distinguish it fi-om that of the other wars.

4.1.1 The Cause •

To start with a quotation from Hernandez from

•The Injured' :

For freedom I shed blood,

fight and live
For freedom my eyes and my hands,
As a carnal tree, generous captive
I give to the sui-geons.^

The poet speaks of fi'eedom as the cause for which

he is ready to sacrifice himself. He is ready to sacrifice
every pax-t of his body, by mentioning this the poet may be
wanting to stress the importance of the cause. Just as a
person who gives his body to be operated to the sux-'geon
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gives himself i n f u l l f a i t h without any second thought the

poet writes about h i s body
' I give i t to the surgeons',
meaning h i s dedicating himself to the cause. This
comparison in a way further enhances the importance of the
cause,

If one attempts an analysis of the imagery the

phrase ' a carnal t r e e ' s t r i k e s the r e a d e r ' s a t t e n t i o n . It
does seem t o suggest a d i f f e r e n t s t y l e i n Spanish and English.
An English poet may speak of a ' c a r n a l desii'e' but would not
use an expression such as 'carnal t r e e ' . In t h i s context
since i t i s a t r a n s l a t e d poem one can suggest that the poet
r e f e r s to a t r e e of f l e s h . The body rooted in the land as
a t r e e i s in the s o i l of Spain, The image also reminds one
of the raw flesh beneath the skin t h a t w i l l be exposed in
battle. The tone denotes how he wishes to convince h i s
audience and create an awai-eness among them i-egarding the
importance of h i s cause.

In anothei" poem 'The Winds of People' once again

we have Hernandez giving x'easons for suppox-ting the Spanish
cause. He writes

The winds of people s u s t a i n me

spreading within my heax't
The winds of people impel me
and roar in my very thi-oat.
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It is clear from the above lines that he is a people's

poet and his voice that is heard in reality is the voice of
his people.

Latei* in the poem the poet calls on the Basques of j

armoux-ed stone, brave Asturians, lively ValencianOs, tempered
Castillians, Andalusians like lightening^ rye field
Estremadurans, Galicians of calm rain, dour trustful
Catalans, piu-e born of Aragon, dynamiting Muricans, men of
Navarre and Leon and tells them that they

G-o from life to death

go from nothing to nothing.

The poet calling the people from each state or part

of Spain, addressing them by their special qualities
i*eveals his intense consciousness of the characteristics
of each region. This awareness of region as detenaining
the qualities of people, noting the diversity of soil
and temperament, is a tendency one observes in many Spanish
poets (for example Lorca). And also one must i-emembei- that
such awareness and closeness can be found only in Spanish
poets.

In the poem the poet wishes to unite his people of

such diverse qualities to fight against the common
foe - fascism. These people with their various qualities
insnii-e and imcel the ooet who end the last vei'se as:
 126

Singing I vait for death

for t h e r e are n i g h t i n g a l e s
t h a t sing
above the r i f l e ' s voice
and in the b a t t l e ' s midst.

The word ' s i n g i n g ' suggests t h a t the poet does not want to
dwell on the grinmess of the wai". Also i n a way i t
symbolises the p o e t ' s calm, h i s courage as he awaits death.

Thus the poems reveal how a Spanish poet voices a

Spanish cause, Spain's cause and i t s struggle had a profound
impact in many countries in Eux-ope. One may therefore next
proceed to examine W.H. Auden's poem 'Spain' which bi-ings
out the significance of the Spanish wai" to a l l hvimanity.

4.1.2 Spain Fiphts foi- Humanity

Auden t r i e s t o i-epresent the Spanish struggle and i t s

seriousness and t o do t h i s he gives a l a r g e r dimension to i t .
And t h i s i s in the presentation of an e n t i r e c i v i l i z a t i o n .

He describes the v a s t , variegated histoi-y of the

past by mentioning the s c i e n t i f i c inventions of clocks and
cartwheels, the world of n a v i g a t o r s , the a b o l i t i o n of
f a i r i e s and g i a n t s , which r e p r e s e n t s the C h r i s t i a n r e l i g i o n
substituting pagan b e l i e f s .

In a l l t h i s siirvey of the past he di*aws moi*e a t t e n t i o n

t o those t h i n g s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Spain and t h a t i s t h e
t h e o l o g i c a l feuds, the b e l i e f i n the absolute value of
Greece e t c . And t h i s entix-e past i s counterposed against the
 127

present stx^uggle to which he comes back at the end of

most vei'ses by saying -

But to-day the struggle

Then Auden captures the views, the moods, the s o c i a l
values and a s p i r a t i o n s of the p a s t . ThxLs he mentions a poet
whispering among the pines, the work of a researcher cari'ving
out experiments on the b a c i l l u s , the poor in t h e i r f i i ' e l e s s
lodgings wishing for b e t t e r times.

But beside the struggle i n Spain everything p a l e s

i n t o nothingness. Life in ordinary circumstances may take a
v a r i e t y of forms,. ' l i f e ' i s presented as saying:

I am whatever you do, I am

your vow t o be
Good, your humourous s t o r y .
I am your business v o i c e . I am
youi" marriage.

In the midst of a l l t h i s the thought of Spain and i t s

fate i s always p r e s e n t , l i f e today takes the form of the
c a l l of Spain. Spain questions humanity ( i t s defenders);

What's your proposal? To build the

just city? I will
I agi'ee. Or i s i t the suicide pact, t h e
romantic
Death? Veiy well, I accept, foi*
I am your choice, yovir d e c i s i o n . Yes,
I am St)ain.
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Man i s l e f t v;ith no other option. E i t h e r the j u s t c i t y has

t o be b u i l t or one has to accept the suicide pact t h a t was
death.

Aftei- t h i s Auden continues to dv;ell on how the news

of Spanis struggle spread, the t h r e a t of fascism being
recognized u n t i l the a r r i v a l of the volunteers t h a t Auden
recalls as:

Madrid i s the h e a r t , Oui- moments of

tendei-ness blossom
As the ambulance and the sandbag;
Oiir hours of fi-iendship i n t o a p e o p l e ' s
army."

This i s one of the few verses where Auden makes concrete

dii"ect references t o ' t h e happenings i n Spain, Otherwise i t
i s a ' r a t h e i ' distanced poem* which r e v e a l s a sense of
momentousness but not an immediacy.

But while being involved in the present Auden

v i s u a l i s e s the f u t u i « . He sees in the rediscoveiy of
romantic l o v e , the young poets awakening, a future whex-e
one 1-6verts back to the same kind of p e t t i n e s s l i k e in t h e
p a s t , the going back t o the same unimportant i s s u e s . This
w i l l r e s u l t i n a future worse than the past u n l e s s the good
and the best of the past are defended today. Instead Auden
says today there i s increase only in the chances of death,
makeshift, consolavtions, and evei-y thing u n s a t i s f a c t o r y .
 129

I t i s only i n the l a s t verse t h a t there i s a strong

sense of a s s e r t i o n by Auden to t h e world
The s t a r s are dead. The animals
w i l l not look.
We are l e f t alone with our day, and -
the time i s s h o r t , and
History t o the defeated
May say al8.s but cannot help or
pardon,

Auden cominents t h a t the human beings alone are l e f t

t o continue the s t r u g g l e , The l i v i n g and non-living forms
of n a t u i ^ have a l l l e f t man. And today i f hximanity does not
defend i t s e l f tomorrow h i s t o r y also w i l l not pardon them.

Thus Auden expresses the strong sentiment t h a t humanity

cannot afford to be defeated. They oust have t o win t h i s
battle.

Similarly Rex Warner dwells on the s i t u a t i o n i n Spain

as an o u t s i d e r to the coizntx^y. In h i s poem'The Toui-ist'
ft
looks at Spain Warner says:
Spain has torn the v e i l of Europe, And because
of the t o r n v e i l the world outside could see the
courage of the forces who defended the Republic, In
a sense for the Republicans the war was fought in
self-defence so the poet says:
Hear what they say who came from
fara and factory,
the few weeks soldiei-s s l a i n
 150

Ox- kept in the cruel wire, for fear and

fury,
the t r a g i c joke or abject surrendei" of
the cracked nerve.

The a t r o c i t i e s on the c i v i l i a n s , and t h e f a t e of those

who joined the sti-ange forced by circumstances ai'e c l e a r from
the above l i n e s .

In the next verse the poet a t t a c k s the Church's

involvement in t h e wax. To quote:

Christ i s crowned with bombs,

the most s a i n t l y have become most
noted for t h e i r l i e s .
They have wept and handed out the guns
for s l a u g h t e r .

The poet mocks at the int-ervention of r e l i g i o n in

the war and how the r e l i g i o u s l e a d e r s have d i r e c t e d arms
t o slaughter mankind. He exposes the abandoning of v i r t u e s
and i d e a l s by the r u l i n g c l a s s e s and g l o r i f i e s the freedom-
fight ei"s.

I t i s the aim t h a t i s r i g h t and the

end i s freedom.
To defeat fascism and achieve freedom was not j u s t
S p a i n ' s s t r u g g l e but i t was for a l l Europe because:
In Spain i s Europe. England also i s
in Soain.
The poet describes the threat spreading all ai'ound in
the form of clinging mist, though at the moment the light was
chiefly falling on Spain.
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The poet i s aware t h a t in the present i t w i l l not be

easy to i-esort t o nonnal g u i l t l e s s l i v i n g . He says:
Not for many years now w i l l love he
gviiltless
' Or boating or autumn l e a v e s .
And in the concluding verse of t h e poem he says:
See Spain and see the world. Pi-eedom
extends or conti-*acts i n a l l h e a r t s .
Near Bilbao are buried the vanguards of
our anny.
I t i s us too they defended who defended
Madrid.
The poet wishes to reveal the saci-ifices of those who died
defending Madrid and adds t h a t t h e i r s a c r i f i c e was not j u s t
t o save Madrid but for the whole of hvimanity.

4.1.3 Inte m a t ional Inte rvent ion

Varner i s p a r t i c u l a r l y indignant about foreign

7
intervention. In h i s other poem 'Anns in Spain* Rex Warner
openly c r i t i c i z e s the I t a l i a n aid t o Saain. He i s s a r c a s t i c
about the N a t i o n a l i s t s and the Church joining hands and
seeking foreign aid to make slaves of theix" own Spaniards.
The poet w r i t e s i n the second v e r s e :
So t h a t the drunken Genei-al and the
Christian millionaire
Might continue b l i n d l y to rule in
complete dax'kness,
t h a t on rape and ruin order might
be founded fix-m,
these guns wex-e sent t o save
civilization.
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The foreign aid v.as sent to serve a wrong purpose and an

i r o n i c a l l a s t l i n e confirms the p o e t ' s view. The poet has
even mentioned l a t e r i n the poem t h a t the guns came from
Chi-istian I t a l y and the reason for i t i s ' l e s t peace and
u n i t y ' be restoi-ed i n Spain the 'Anns in Spain came from
Christian I t a l y . That i s to say t h a t countries l i k e I t a l y
wanted to increase the ruin and disoi'oer r a t h e r than t r y to
r e s t o r e peace.

Both these poems reveal the p o l i t i c a l awareness of

the volvinteers who came t o serve Spain. Theii* poems show
how they were conscious t h a t the fate of the whole woi-ld
depended on the outcome of the c i v i l war i n Spain, Though
these volunteers arrived to serve the cause s e l f l e s s l y and
even die for Spain the closeness to the SpaJiish s o i l , the
oneness with i t t h a t the Spanish poets display i s n a t u r a l l y
lacking i n t h e i r poems.

Poet H.B, Mallalieu in h i s poem 'Spain' rejects

mere sympathy and p i t y , foi* he says t h a t for Spain
P i t y and love are no moi-e adequate.
The poem addi*essed to a foreign audience declares t h a t S p a i n ' s
struggle had reached a stage where i t could no longer* be
helped j u s t by ' p i t y ' and ' l o v e ' . These t h i n g s had not
helped to decrease the death t o l l nor had they brought any
r e l i e f to the p e a s a n t s .

Only as the struggle continued i t had strengthened

the forces of horror, h a t e , and tyx-aziny. People had become
 03

desperate; there was no love among them. The physical said

mental suffering had only r e s u l t e d iln' madness.

The poet wishes to restoi-e s a n i t y , s t r e n g t h , and

linity t o prove:

We have the w i l l , then l e t us show the

might,
Who have forborne and p i t i e d too long.

The poet wishes to prove t o those n a t i o n s who offer j u s t •

p i t y towards the Spanish struggle t h a t i n Spain i t s s p i r i t
the
i s not dead. There i s s t i l l / w i l l power remaining in those
Spaniards who have borne a l l the s u f f e r i n g s .

4.2 A P i c t u r e of Destruction
4.2.1 The Ravaged Land

This l e a d s us to examine those poems t h a t describe

the ravaged land which i s a common ground for destruction
by both s i d e s , the Republicans and the F a l a n g i s t s , resxilting
i n mass k i l l i n g s of the innocent.

The f i r s t poem analysed in t h i s section i s 'Hear* t h i s

q
voice* by Miguel Hernandez. This poem could have been
discussed in the e a r l i e r section because the poet does t e l l
us why he wished to defend Spain. Yet since the d e s c r i p t i o n
of the I'avaged land and bloodshed are s i g n i f i c a n t l y brought
out in t h i s poem, i t has been included i n t h i s s e c t i o n .
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The opening lines of the poem are:

Singing I defend myself

and I defend my people when
•barbarians of crime
imprint on my people their
hooves of powdex' and desolation.

The poet emphatically declares his commitment to defend

himself and his people fi'om the 'barbarians of crime'. The
use of words like 'barbarians of cx^ime' and 'imprint' reflect
the ati'ocities that were commited on the civilians so that it
left a mark tha,t could not be wiped out.

Hernandez describes the mass killings when he writes:

and there is no i-oom for so much death

and there is no I'oom for so many coffins.

This sight disturbs the poet so much that he feels -

Spain will collapse

from the weight of blood which
soaks through hei- muscles.
I'ight to the bread which is eaten.

These lines reflect how the amount of mutual hatred was so

much that in their bloodshed they did not spare any of their
own folks too.

The poet appears desperate to seek help for Spain.

He cries -
Apply your ears
to my clamour of violated people,
to the 'ay' of so many mothers, to the
groans
of many a lucid being whom grief
devoured.
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Spain i s not Spain i t i s an immense

ti-ench,
a vast country red and bombarded,
The bai'barians have M l l e d i t t h u s .

Words l i k e 'clamour', ' g r o a n s ' , ' g r i e f devoured', 'immense

t r e n c h ' a l l express the p o e t ' s intense g r i e f which i s fui'ther
enhanced by the exclamation or cry ' a y ' . The p o e t ' s repeated
use of the v/oi-d ' b a r b a r i a n s ' , brings out the pictux-e of the
b r u t a l k i l l i n g s of the innocent.

In the l a s t verse he waxns t h a t the earth w i l l be

desolated i f the other n a t i o n s do not j o i n the Republicans
t o bi-eak the ^ferocious f a n g s ' . The comparison of fascism to
fei-ocious fangs r e v e a l s the t h r e a t to the whole world.

Here we can r e c a l l Auden's 'Spain' a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e

poem by a B r i t i s h poet voicing concern over S p a i n ' s struggle
and compai-e i t to the voice of a Spanish poet. The Spanish
p o e t ' s concern for Spain i s expressed in language which i s
wilidei", more dramatic, clamorous with the i n t e n s i t y of g r i e f ,
whereas in the poems by the B r i t i s h poets the Spanish e a r t h
and people are not an actual pi'esence. The closeness to the
r e a l i t y of suffering i s lacking i n B r i t i s h poets though
t h e i r awareness of the Spanish struggle i s predominant.

4.2.2 C i v i l i a n Deaths

Many poems desci-ibe the k i l l i n g of c i v i l i a n s ; i t may

be a child a famous poet, or the death of a thousand people
at a time.
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The 'Dead P o e t ' "^ by Ortega describes the death of

S p a i n ' s most loved and renowned poet Garcia Lorca. The poet
has used a p a t h e t i c f a l l a c y t o describe the meadows of
Granada, the sky, the sun, the mountains, the S i e r r a Nevada;
the r i v e r s Genii and Dara each of which mourns the death of
Lorca.

The poet has spoken of gypsies who shed blood from

tfeeir eyes, for t h e i r beloved poet.

In a way the poet r e v e a l s t o the world the fate of

the i n t e l l e c t u a l s and the c r e a t i v e a r t i s t s in Spain when
he says:

Ohl Prederico Garcia

for being a poet they k i l l e d you,
if you were not a poet
never would they have taken
your l i f e I
What i s evident through the l a s t l i n e s i s t h a t Lorca was
k i l l e d only because he v;as a p e o p l e ' s poet.

The poem r i g h t from the d e s c r i p t i o n s of the meadows

t o the end l o c a l i s e s the scene. I t i s Granada t h a t moux-ns
r a t h e r than Spain, L o r c a ' s recognition i n being primarily
Granada's poet and only secondly a Spanish poet b r i n g s out
a charactei-istic feature of Spanish writing - the attachment
to the place from where one o r i g i n a t e d , though of course there
i s also the devotion to o n e ' s country.
 137

Stephen Spendei- ti-ies to bring out the vraste in the

k i l l i n g of a young boy by speaking of the money spent on
bringing about h i s death. In h i s poem 'Ultima Ratio Hegum'
Spendei* reveals what games poxver, money and p o l i t i c s could
,play. The poem opens with the following l i n e s :

The guns s p e l l money's ;iltimate

x-eason
In l e t t e r s of lead on the spring h i l l s i d e
But the boy lying dead under t h e
olive t r e e s
Was too young and too s i l l y
To have been notable to t h e i r
important eye.
He was a b e t t e r t a r g e t for a k i s s .

Spendei- i s s a r c a s t i c t h a t the u l t i m a t e end of money has been

t o piirchase amis and i r o n i c a l l y enough those aims are used
b l i n d l y t o k i l l an innocent boy who was meant to be loved,
kissed and fondled.

He regx-ets t h a t when the boy was alive those vex-y

powex-s t h a t k i l l e d him did not off ex* him anything, did not
acknowledge him ox- x-'ecognize him yet had voted to make him
theii- tax-get.

Spendei" compai^es the innocence of the young child to

the l i g h t n e s s i n the atmosphex-e with the l i g h t bx-eeze blowing,
and suddenly a l l t h a t i s cx-ushed by the angex- of the machine
guns so t h a t l a t e r :
 138

The tweed cap rotted in the nettles

In comparing the amount spent on killing the young

boy to • what would have been spent on the boy if he were
alive he concludes:

One bullet in ten thousand kills a manI

So Spender writes:

Ajak. Was so much expenditure justified

On the death of one so young and so silly
dying under the olive trees, 0 world,
0 death?

Spender t r i e s to draw a t t e n t i o n to the large-scaLe

involvement of money in the p-urchase of arms and t h a t in
turn i s u t i l i s e d in taking a l i f e which seemed to be of
much l e s s value,

/although Spender's g r i e f i s no doubt sincei-e there i s

not the personal closeness t h a t one observes i n the poetry of
the Pii-st World War or in the poems by Spanish p o e t s . I t seems
a waste not only of a young l i f e but of money, energy, the
labour of men involved in running the S t a t e . I t i s ii'onicaJL
t h a t so much effort should lead only t o death.

The ii'ony of fate i s captured through the f e e l i n g s of

12
the mother i n the poem 'Proud Motherhood' by P.L. Lucas,
An ambitious mothei* 'Dolores' dreams t h a t her son Jose'
who was j u s t three years old w i l l be known f a r and wide. And:
 139

Kind Providence f u l f i l s
Colore's guess:
Her d a r l i n g ' s p o r t r a i t t h r i l l s
the foreign pi-ess.
But the l a s t verse reveals the irony; at what cost Dolores*
dream was f u l f i l l e d . The poet brings out the irony i n
describing the photograph of the hoy:

Though t h a t ' s no v/i-eath of bay

About h i s h a i r
That•s j ust the curious way
Bomb-splinters t e a r .
Vhile 'bomb s p l i n t e r t e a r ' express the way the boy had been
k i l l e d , wreath of bay conti"asts the dream of the mother
who wished glory for her son.

In the l a s t verse the poet shockingly reveals the

fate of the proud mother. The irony l i e s in the contrast
between the mothei-'s assujnption of her s o n ' s glory and the
reality.

Every Spanish family was involved in the wai- and the

futxire consequences i f one apprehended them would be worse
than the present r e a l i t y of war. The Poet Manuel Altolaguli-re
expresses s i m i l a r concei-n and fear over such omnipresence of
death and does not wish the children of pai-ents involved to
get involved in the war. Also the poem expresses the p o e t ' s
fear over the war t u r n i n g t h i s a fratx-icidal one.

The speaker's bi-other Luis in the poem 'My Brother

Luis' bids him good-bye in a h e s i t a n t way as though he was
 140

not sure of h i e r e t u r n , imd in t r u t h h i s "brother did not

i-etui-n and h i s whereabouts could not be t r a c e d .

The speaker who has fre.ntically looked for h i s brothei"

Luis i s now more perplexed and worried about h i s b r o t h e r ' s
sons. He expresses deep concern as he says:

Uhere are the sons of my brother?

Why are they not here? ,
VJe can recognize h i s fear and suspicion of a frati-cidal
war. The poet does not wish t h i s to happen; he does not want
the sons to get involved l i k e t h e i r f a t h e r . He f e e l s :
I t would be b e t t e r if they ran
by the r i v e r .
If they ran among flowers without
looking at them
l i k e flowers also
l i k e boys
Who never stop
as I have stopped
too much at the edge of sea and of d e a t h . "

The speakei- clear^.y r e v e a l s how he does not wish the sons

of h i s brother to get involved. He i s so much affected by
the death in evei-y fajnily, t h a t t h i s personal f e e l i n g i-eveals
an experience of one whose counti*y was involved.

One can draw p a r a l l e l s between t h i s poem and tbe poem

'Music in a Spanish Town' by Laurie Lee.

The poet speaks of the sounds of popxilar Spanish music

being replaced by the noise of guns and arms. Filling i s
 141

ubiquitous so much so t h a t the poet f e e l s t h a t h i s own 'fiddle*

i-esembles a gun and h i s own music resembles a shooting.

The cold-blooded way i n which c i v i l i a n l i f e was

destroyed i s captured i n the following l i n e s :

Each s a l t white house i s a

niombei-ed tomb,
i t s s i l e n t window crossed with blood.
The r u t h l e s s slaiighter of defenceless victims can be
v i s u a l i s e d thix)ugh the reference to 'windows crossed with
blood'.

That the dead outnumbered the living is quite evident

when the poet says:

My notes explode everywhex-e

like bombs,
When I should whisper in fear
of the dead.

The poet does not f a i l to describe the p a t h e t i c s t a t e

of the children i n the l a s t few l i n e s where he says:

Suddenly t h e i ^ i s a q\iick
f l u t t e r of feet
and childx'en crowd about me,
l i s t e n i n g with sores and infected
ears,
Watching with lovely eyes and
vacant l i p s .

A vei-y touching picture is captured here. These

children it is evident are all suffering from lack of proper
 142

medical caxe. The t h r e a t of k i l l i n g i s a l l around the

p l a c e , yet these children do not depi'ive themselves of
these small joys of l i v i n g . They i-an out of t h e i r houses
cui'iously to watch the scene on hearing the sounds of the
poet's fiddle. Pi-obably the poet wishes to question why
then should these children he pawned in the game of money,
p o l i t i c s and po\v-er.

Now hoth the poems j u s t discussed have as theii*

theme the involvement of children i n the war; while the
Spanish poet expresses concern and feax, at the same time
wishes that they should not get involved the B r i t i s h poet
describes an observed scene. Also i n the e a r l i e r poem the
whole poem expi«sses the various feelings of the poet while
the l a t e r poem merely captures a moment which i s of covurse
pathetic.

Yet anothei- poem i s analysed t h a t reveals a c i v i l i a n

i-eaction on hearijag the news of death. The poem i s
•A thousand k i l l e d ' 1 5 by Bernard Spencer. To quote the
opening l i n e s :

I read of a thousand k i l l e d
And am glad the scrounging imperial paw
Was thei-e so b i t t e n .

These l i n e s reveal t h a t the poet i s not appalled or even

concerned on reading of the death of a thousand men, r a t h e r
he i s glad t h a t in t h e i r death they had i n f l i c t e d a defeat
on the enemy.
 143

And pi-obably because t h e poet h a s only r e a d the news

and not seen t h e s e k i l l i n g s he inuaediately f e e l s thrilled
l i k e a man who h a s won the e l e c t i o n s . This i s revealed also
in the l i n e

(That f i g h t i n g was a l o n g way o f f . )

He p i c t u r i s e s t h e c a n d i d a t e i n the e l e c t i o n s buj^-ing
h i s v o t e s w i t h money and o t h e r i t e m s w^hen he suddenly
i - e a l i s e s t h e f a l s e n e s s of t h e comparisoa.

Immediately t h e poet becomes c r i t i c a l of h i s own

earliex" a t t i t u d e and i n an i r o n i c a l t o n e e x p r e s s e s h i s viev;
i n the l a s t verse:

V/ars t h e most g l o r i o u s
V i c t o r y winged and s t e e p l e
uproarious
With the l i v e s burned o f f .
Of young men and b o y s .
The poet has woken up t o t h e ideality of war.

WhUe t h e above poem r e v e a l s a B r i t i s h p o e t ' s reaction

on h e a r i n g t h e news of a thousand k i l l e d , t h e poem 'At
Castellon' by Spender g i v e s the h a p p e n i n g s i n an a l r e a d y
dead c i t y .
Houses are tombs, t a r p a u l i n s
CO vex"
M y s t e r i o u s t r u c k s of the lox'i*ies ovex".
The town v a c a n t l y seems t o v.'ait
The e x p l o s i o n of a f a t e .
 144

V/hile t h e f i r s t l i n e suggests the tov.-n i s already bombed, in

the second l i n e the word 'mysterious t r u c k s ' makes one
wonder vrhether the k i l l i n g s and bombings c a r r i e d on even
a f t e r the town was dead.

Under such circumstances there i s s t i l l the hope to

go t o the next v i l l a g e and t r y t o survive. This i s presented
i n a working man; t h e l i n e s on h i s ravaged face r e v e a l what
aa
a traizma"he has undex-gone yet the face l i f t s up to/A smile
when the sentry allov.'s him to pass out of the town.

j a i t h i s i s again contx-asted in the l a s t verse whex'e

Spendei* writes of how the b a t t l e px'oceeds to disengage these
p e o p l e ' s l i v e s fx'om the gx-ooves in which they move. Such
mass k i l l i n g s , t h e t o t a l l y desti*oyed towns, c i v i l i a n s drawn
into the war did not leave anyone ignox-ant of death. Tom
•K ' ,17
Wintingham in h i s poem 'Bax-celona Nerves' says:
Neithex" f o o l s , noi* childx-'en any longex-;
Those ways, tx-aits, gone and away
That once made l i f e a luck game,
death a stranger :
We 'i-e going on.

These l i n e s x-eveal man's awareness of the war, h i s involveiaent

in i t and h i s continuing stx-uggle.

The x'oads in the c i t y axe a l l blocked by bax*ricades,

and people wex-e awaiting bombex''s t h a t cause desti'uction.
This, of coujTse, was a common sight but the image t h a t i s
 145

s t i l l raw even a f t e r the action i s over i s :

Death means the g i r l ' s cox-pse

Warm and alive when buried;

This shovrs t h a t haste with which the bodies wei^e removed

suggesting t h a t they did not even wait to see i f the person
was dead or even if the person was dead i t was so soon a f t e r
t h a t the blood in the pei-son*s veins was s t i l l warm. And the
Spanish people had t o be helped out fi-om fury, frustration,
fear and waiting over a l l t h i s .

But what the poet f e e l s aver tbe aid rendei^ed by the

volunteers i s :

Neither fools nor children we who

are j o i n i n g
Twenty years ago I knfew war's face
We make v;hat can wreck others into
our gaining
Into our choice.

The poet conveys how for the B r i t i s h volunteers i t was a

d e l i b e r a t e choice they had made i n coming to Spain. They
wex-e aware of the d e s t r u c t i v e powei- of war and knew t h a t
though they had come t o save Spain they wei-e also
contributing to the havoc. They wei-e i n d i r e c t l y responsible
for t h e wreckage a l s o .

4• 5 Experience of B a t t l e

Nov; turaing t o poems t h a t describe the expex-ience of

18
death in b a t t l e , l e t us look at the poem 'iiiyes' by an
 146

axionymous poet "belongixig to the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Brigade.

The poet in the above poem v i v i d l y captures the
f e r o c i t y of the Spanish War. The e n t i r e war, including the
f e e l i n g s regarding the v:ax are covered by mex-ely describing
the eyes of the i n d i v i d u a l s , 'iiyes* one icnows ai-e the sense
organs t h a t speak volumes about an individual and the p o e t ' s
study of t h i s i s observed in the poem.

Eyes i n the poem e^xpi-ess f e e l i n g s of hope, fear, tiredness

l o v e , hate and sadness.

In the f i r s t verse the eyes are of those in action who

are f a l l i n g , sci-eaming, shouting, sweating, and bleedingj
while in the second part of the poem the poet sees the 'eyes
of the wounded', 'sodden i n i-ed' the 'eyes of the dying' and
those of the 'dead'.

Thx'ough the medium of eyes t h e poet wants t h e reader

to v i s u a l i s e the madness t h a t was the wax; to hear the
c r i e s , to sense the desperation and v i s u a l i s e the l a s t hope
of those livizig and involved in i t .

Eyes of men t h i n k i n g , hoping^ waiting

Eyes of men loving cai'sing^ hating
The eyes of the wounded sodden in. red
The eyes of the dying and those of the dead.

Today in the twenty-fii-st century so much study i s

cari'ied out on 'body language* t h a t i t i s said t h a t everybody
speaks a non-verbal language with theii* bodies t h a t can
 147

convey more about what they r e a l l y mean than any words. And
i n body language the l e a s t conti-oversial of a l l areas of
non-vei-bal communication i s f a c i a l expression where the
important part i s the eyes.

The poet in h i s poem has t r u l y t r a n s l a t e d evei-y d i a l e c t

of the eye to depict the picture of the Spanish V/ar to the
readers,

A view of b a t t l e by one involved i s seen in the

1Q
poem ' B a t t l e of Jai>ana 1937' by John Lepper. This b a t t l e
i n February 1937 saw t h e beginning of a close l i a s o n between
a i r and ground f o r c e s .

The poet describes the quickness of the action, the

noise of the shrapnel, t h e a i r f i l l e d with smoke and dust
i n the l i n e s :

Dust rose from the roadside

A s t i f l i n g cloud
Ambulance t o r e past
Klaxoning loud
The bombing gives I'ise t o a dust storm t h a t clouds a l l the
vision and the only thing t h a t passes aci-oss t h i s dust storm
i s the ambulance with powerful e l e c t r i c horns (klaxoning) ,
The scene brings out the ceaseless bombings, the moimting
d e s t r u c t i o n and a l l t h i s happening so quickly t h a t :

Men t o r n by s h e l l - s h a r d s l a y
s t i l l on the groimd
The l i v i n g sought s h e l t e r
not to be foTond.
 148

These l i n e s I'eveal that while the dead lay around there \;eve
those v7ho were alive fumbling t o find a sheltex* fi-om these
bombings, something t h a t was not easy. The poet d i s c r i b e s
even those who defended themselves during the bombings.

Holding t h e i r hot r i f l e s
Flushed with the fight
Sweat-streaked sui-viyors
Welled for the n i g h t .

The l a s t verse i s a dark dense image of war i n the .

form of an abandoned graveyard f u l l of h e l p l e s s bodies.
To quote

Vith the coming of darkness

Deep, in the wood
A fox howled to heaven
Smelling the blood.

The scene of s l a u g h t e r , haunted by the howling of the fox

i s r a t h e r frightening at the same time one can notice the
p o e t ' s presence of mind i n r e l a t i n g the f o x ' s howling to a
form of thanks-giving to the Almighty for h i s meal. By the
use of woi'ds l i k e 'klaxoning l o u d ' , ' S h e l l s h a r d s ' , and 'hot
r i f l e s ' , the poet t r i e s to reci-eate a bombing scene adding
to the vividness of the b a t t l e scene i t s e l f .

A very different kind of action a t t r a c t s o n e ' s

a t t e n t i o n in the form 'Jarama F r o n t ' 20 by T.A.R, Hyndman.

The poet i n i t i a l l y on purpose avoids looking at the

TDerson but heax's the v o i c e . Soon the moaning impels him t o
 149

t o look around and notice the dying s o l d i e r whom he hardly

knew, although they may have belonged to the same painty.

The poet who goes to h i s aid i s struck by the dyxng

s o l d i e r ' s l a s t gestui-e -

God b l e s s you comrades

He w i l l thank you
That was a l l .
No slogan
No clenched f i s t
Except in p a i n .

The dying person was px'obably a communist and he has no

use for God. But during h i s l a s t moments he revei-ts t o
r e l i g i o u s b e l i e f r a t h e r than p o l i t i c a l gestures l i k e
slogans and clenched f i s t s a l u t e s . Here the s o l d i e r ' s
•clenched f i s t ' was only due to p a i n . The poet reveals the
fact that in death one did not belong to any p a r t y ; anyone
around you was your comrade and thei'e was an unconcious
turning to God.

To distance oneself from action and dwell on other

p o l i t i c a l f a c t o r s i s what Tom Cornfoi-d does i n the poem
"Full Moon at T i e r z " . Before the stonning of Huesca

In the fii'st section of h i s poem he compares the

past to a g l a c i e r , the 'time present to a c a t a r a c t ' , and the
'time f u t u r e ' t h a t has 'no image in s p a c e ' . He i s a\vare t h a t
the present cannot be avoided when he reveals t h a t

We are the future.•The l a s t fight l e t us face.

 190

In the second section Conford expresses h i s fear and

worry over t h e i r conquest of Huesca. He had studied t h a t
the comraunish l e a d e r s had guided and shown them the way. While
Dimitrov was alone in h i s b a t t l e they now have an army
f i g h t i n g for t h e i r cause. Yet the outcome i s tuacertain.
Even i f they were fighting for the r i g h t cause v i c t o r y s t i l l
hangs ih the balance.

In the t h i r d section Cornford mentioris how i n England

apax't fi-om h i s party he had home and friends ax'ound him to
stand by him but -

Now vath my p a r t y , I stand quite alone.

Hence he i s played by
My p r i v a t e b a t t l e with my nerves,
and has to struggle to maice himself hard and i n v i n c i b l e .

And in the l a s t section he t u r n s to think of Gennany,

England and of freedom. He t r i e s to communicate to the
workers of the world t h a t the war does not end in Spain
u n t i l the workeis a l l over r e a l i s e the cause for which i t i s
being fought. And with t h a t r e a l i z a t i o n they w i l l uphold
the red flag triumphantly for Communism and l i b e r t y ,

Thex-e i s hardly any picture of the scene of the

storming of Huesca. The Spanish struggle dees not surface
as much as C o m f o r d ' s feelings for communism and i t s
involvement in Snain,
 151

4.4 Defeat

This brings us to the concluding section of t h i s

war poetry that i s the poems on defeat.

The l a s t oi* the f i n a l scene of the war Spendei- has

c a l l e d a ' v i c t o r i o u s hurricane* in h i s poem ' P a l l of a
city.'22

In the poem Spender has mentioned t h e fate o.i! hei-oes

l i k e Pox and Lorca whose h i s t o r i e s had once decorated the
town h a l l s . But a f t e r the n a t i o n a l i s t victory they have
been ' angriJ.y d e l e t e d ' .

But more p a t h e t i c than t h i s censorship of Pox and

Lorca was :

The young who learned to read

now blind
Their eyes with an ai-chaic film
The peasant i^lapsed t o a stumbling
tune
These only remember t o foi-get,

Spendei- sees the youth as a confused genei*ation while in the

case of the Spanish poets t h e i r youth represented the s p i r i t
t h a t was not dead. To the Spanish poets they x^epresented
vindying hope and commitment t o the cause.

The Spanish poet Manual Altolagu^^re has expressed such

a hope in h i s poem ' I Demand the Ultimate Death' 23 where he
demands the death of the war. He expresses h i s d e s i r e t h a t
 152

h i s body be made use of l i k e a ti-ee. Only he wishes t h a t

the r o o t s remain firm so t h a t he w i l l be able t o witness
the p l i g h t of those b i r a s who V70uld be homeless.

This reveals how t h e poet does not wish to be

completely uprooted from h i s country and the i-eason fox-
t h i s he expresses i n t h e next v e r s e .

The poet s t a t e s very o p t i m i s t i c a l l y t h a t he w i l l

erupt l i k e a dormant volcano and bear finiits t h a t w i l l be
f u l l of l i f e . To quote

Multiplied l i f e from death

Multiple are the rays of dawn.

'Rays of dawn* imply the future generation and j u s t as these

are the multiple I'ays out of t h e sun the poet has wished
t h a t hie death should x^esult i n the b i r t h of many moi^e l i v e s
who w i l l carry the s p i r i t forwai'd.

The poem has a c e r t a i n I'ichness and depth in the

language. For example: 'grievous body m o r t i f i e d ' , 'absences
of my a r m s ' , ' s i l e n c e of the spi-ing', ' i n s i n u a t i o n s of verdure
and l i f e ' , such phrases s t r e s s the importance of h i s body
to serve Spain and h i s desire to die a meaningful death
giving bii-^h to a generation to carry on hie s p i r i t . These
words lend an emphatic, detei-mined tone to the p o e t ' s d e s i r e .

Words l i k e demand, u l t i m a t e , c u r r e n t , mortified,

t e a r i n g , p r o f i t i n g a l l enhance the vividness and make the
poem md'e dramatic.
 153

Though the poet has expressed so much hope and desire

in this poem it is very touching to read his disappointment
after the defeat in his poem 'Madrid'.24 Ke writes -

Before the glorious circle of fix«

I can evoke nothing, nor anything
from anyone,
There is no memory, pleasure lived
before,
which I can c a l l hack from my past -
There i s no absence, no legend, no hope
to calm my agony wit hi i t s
illusion.

The poet has no moi-e spii^it l e f t in him; he wonders

whether the past i t s e l f had been an i l l u s i o n .

S p a i n ' s geogi*a,phical contours had changed so much,

i t had become a land of 'countless graves' so that Jack
Lindsay wrote in h i s poem 'Looking at a Map of Spain on
Devon Coast August 1937'^^
Oh, Map of Spain creviced with
coxontless graves^
even now, even now, the storm of
murder comes.
The bui-ning face of day i s blind vrith
te a r s .
I stand at t h e A t l a n t i c edge
and look
Southwax-ds and r a i s e my hand to Spain,
Salute.
As the poet has sxiggested the most appropriate gesture today
one can offer on i-ecollecting the Spanish C i v i l V/ar when one
a
i s blind with t e a r s i s j u s t t o r a i s e , hand and s a l u t e Spain.
 154

4.5 Conclusion

On the b a s i s of analysis of the poetry w r i t t e n on the

Spanish Civil War hy the B r i t i s h poets and some Spanish
poets the following conclusions can be drawn.

The f i r s t p e r t a i n s to the difference observed between

the poetry by B r i t i s h and Spanish p o e t s .

One observes a single-minded devotion to the cause of

Spain dominant among the B r i t i s h p o e t s . Theix' awai*eness of
the Spanish cause on which depended the f a t e of humanity a l l
over i s very c l e a r . The Spanish poets also wrote verses
expressing t h e i r commitment to the cause. But what i s
noticeable i s t h e i r l o y a l t y f i r s t to the x-egion of t h e i r
b i r t h and l a t e r to t h e i r country. Their f e e l i n g s are more
l o c a l i z e d , and more often a Spanish poet regards himself as
a poet of the State or the region from where he comes.

Very fev; poems t h a t have survived on the Spanish C i v i l

Wax- ax-e by B r i t i s h combatants. Thex-e ax^e a couple of poems
t h a t descx*ibe action on the b a t t l e f i e l d , a couple of poems
t h a t descx-ibe a devastated c i t y while thex^e ax-e quite a few
poems t h a t expx'ess a p o e t ' s f e e l i n g s tovrax-ds fox^eign aid t o
Spain. While the Bx-itish poets wx-ote on a l l these themes
t h e i r poetxy lacks immediacy. Thei*e i s a cex^tain distancing
fx-om the stx^uggle in theix* poetx'y. In the poems by Auden,
Spendex- and Waxnex" one obsex'ves the clevex", a l l u s i v e s t y l e of
the t h i x ' t i e s t h a t i s used to descx-ibe the Spanish cause and
t h a t detx'-acts from the ux-gency of the s i t u a t i o n .
 155

On the other hand the Spanish poets in t h e i r poems

reveal a closeness t o the land by mentioning the various
s t a t e s and t h e corresponding v i r t u e s of people. Thei'e i s a
clamorous expression of gx-ief and t h e f i n a l verses of theii-
poems are very t y p i c a l . In t h e i r e a r l i e r poems t h e r e i s a ^'
high sounding c a l l to the people of a l l the nations to j o i n
hands with the Spanish Republic to fight fascism while in
t h e i i ' l a t e r poems i s voiced a strong hope t h a t theii- future
generation will carry on t h e i r s t r u g g l e . V.e observe in t h e i r
poems t h a t even a f t e r defeat theii- s p i i ' i t i s not dead.

Thus we observe t h a t even though the B r i t i s h poets

i d e n t i f i e d themselves with the suffering of Spain, t h e i r
language as observed i n t h e i r poems appears r a t h e r contrived.
This could probably be because of a difference of n a t i o n a l
temperament and national s t y l e . That i s , a Spaniard might be
more uninhibited i n expression while the English were more
reticent.

l a s t l y regarding the d i s t i n c t i v e features of the poeti'y

of t h i s war one can say t h a t the poetry by B r i t i s h poets
r e f l e c t s the a l l u s i v e , e r u d i t e s t y l e of the t h i r t i e s while
only in the poetry by Spanish poets does one find more
l o c a l i z i n g of f e e l i n g s .

Also one does not find the o v e r a l l landscape of the

Spanish scene. The poetry only has glimpses of the b a t t l e -
f i e l d , the i-avaged land and the dead. The poetry i s not as
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memorable as t h a t v r r i t t e n d u r i n g t h e Pii-st World War or as

t h a t of t h e Second World War v/hich w i l l be observed i n t h e
next c h a r ) t e r .

End K o t e s :

1. Miguel Hernandez, Viento del Pueblo

(a) quoted i n His P a n i c H o r i z o n , N o , 3 , Monsoon 198§-87
Centre of S p a n i s h s t u d i e s .
J a w a l i a r l a l Nehru U n i v e r s i t y , New D e l h i , ( p . 15) from )
(b) J . Descola, H i s t o r i a l i t e r a r i a de Espana,
Ed. Gredos Madrid, 1969, p . 5 4 0 .
2. G a r c i a L o r c a , Quoted i n
Dorothy L i v e s a y ' s R i g h t Hand Left Hand.
( E r i n , O n t a r i o , P o r c e p i c , 1977), (p.255)
3. Herandez, El h e r i d o (The injua'ed)
(a) quoted i n H i s p a n i c Horizon - o p . c i t , p.15»
(b) J o s e L u i s Cano, A n t o l o g i a DeLaneiteva. p o e s i a
espafiola Ed. Gredos, Madrid, 1958, p . 2 9 .
4. Hernandez, 'The Winds of P e o p l e ' .
T r a n s l a t e d by A.C. Llyod i n
Poems f o r S p a i n eds Stephen Spender and John
Lehmann,
(London, Hogarth P r e s s , 1939). p . 3 7 , 5 8 , 5 9 .
5. W.H. Auden, ' S p a i n '
ed. Robin Skelton, in PenAuin Poets. Poetry of the
Thirties. (England, Penguin Books, 1964) p.133,134,135
136).
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6. Rex "Warner, The Tourish looks At Spain' in

Spender and Lehmann op.cit, p.65,66,67,68,69.
7. Wamei*, 'Arms in Spain'.
i n Spender and Lehmann, o p . c i t , p.50.
8. H.B. M a l l a l i e u , 'Spain'.
i n Spender and Lehmann, o p . c i t . p.34.
9. Hernandez, Hear This V o i c e .
Spender and Lehmann, o p . c i t , p . 2 1 , 2 2 , 2 5 .
10. B, Ortega Arredondo, The Dead P o e t .
Romancero g e n e r a l de l a g u e r r a de Esp"aha.
T r a n s l a t e d . H i s p a n i c H o r i z o n , o p . c i t . 18.
11. Stephen Spender, Ultima R a t i o Regum, S k e l t o n .
o p . c i t , p.148,
12. P . L , Lucas, Proud Motherhood.
Spender and Lehmann, o p . c i t . p . 7 8 .
13. Manuel A l t o l a g u i r r e , My B r o t h e r L u i s .
T r a n s l a t e d by I n e z and Stephen Spender*
i n Spender and Lehmann, o p . c i t , p . 9 0 , 9 1 .
14. L a u r i e Lee, Music i n A Spanish Town.
S-kelton, o p . c i t . 152.
15. Bernard S p e n c e r , A Thousand K i l l e d
Skelton, ibid, p.141.
16. Stephen Spendei-, At G a s t e l l o n ,
Spender and Lehmann, o p . c i t , p . 3 0 .
17. Tom Wintringham. B a r c e l o n a N e r v e s ,
Spender and Lehmann, i b i d , p . 2 9 .
18. Anonymous Poet ( I n t e r n a t i o n a l Brigade) Eyes.
Spender and Lehmann, i b i d , p . 3 1 .
19.John Lepper, B a t t l e of J a r a n a , 1937.
Spender and Lehmann, i b i d , p . 3 3 .
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20. T.A.R, Hyndman, J a r a n a F r o n t ,

Spender and Lehmann, i b i d , p . 4 0 .
21. John C o m f o r d , P u l l Moon a t T i e r z : Before t h e
Storming of Huesca.
Skelton. o p . c i t , p.157,138,139.
22. Stephen Spender, P a l l of a C i t y .
Skelton. o p . c i t . p.154.
23. Manuel A l t o l a g u i r r e , I Demand The U l t i m a t e D e a t h .
T r a n s . Inez and Spender
(Spender and Lehmann, o p . c i t . ) pp.42,43.
24. A l t o l a g u i r r e , Madrid.
(Spender and Lehmann, i h i d ) , p p . 9 6 , 9 7 .
25. J a c k L i n d s a y , Looking At a Map of Span On The
Devon C o a s t , August 1937.
(Spender arid Lehmann, i b i d ) p p . 6 3 , 6 4 .

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