Literary Voices: Spain’s Generation of ’27 Poets
Jorge Guillén (1893-1984)
His two most important books are Song and Clamor. In Song, he presents a perfect world. In Clamor, he reflects on war, misery, pain, oppression, and torture. Despite these themes, the poet does not fall into despair or distress, maintaining his faith in life.
Gerardo Diego (1896-1987)
His work is characterized by a variety of topics and receives influences from Modernism, Ultraísmo, Creationism, Gongorism, and classical styles. Some notable titles include: Picture, Manual of Foam, and Lark Truth.
Vicente Aleixandre (1898-1984)
Among his most important works are: Destruction or Love, Shadow of Paradise, and History of the Heart. His poetry is heavily influenced by Surrealism, often celebrating the land, sea, sun, and wind. His style features abundant free verse, an accumulation of images and metaphors, and the frequent use of questions and exclamations. In 1977, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
In his first books—Book of Poems, Poema del Cante Jondo, Suites, and Songs—he displayed the central themes of all his work: frustration, pain, love, death, and rebellion. In Gypsy Ballads, he blended cultured tradition, avant-garde elements, and popular forms to express a worldview where human lives are marked by tragic fate.
Following his stay in New York, Lorca composed Poet in New York. This collection denounces a ruthless capitalist society where everything is marked by the power of money. In this environment, the poet expresses his own personal obsessions, including:
- Emotional uprooting
- Loss of personal identity
- The proclamation of freedom for homosexual love
In his later works, he experimented with new forms. For example, in Diván del Tamarit, he uses the mold of classical Arabic poetry; in Sonnets of Dark Love, he employs the classic sonnet form; and Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías combines popular and cultured elements.
In addition, Lorca was a great playwright. His major works include Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda Alba.
Emilio Prados (1899-1962)
During the 1930s, Prados’s poetry reveals the imprint of Surrealism, both in its poetic resources and its social commitment. During his exile, he developed a dense poetry that recalls mystical traditions, with An Enclosed Garden being its best example.
Rafael Alberti (1902-1999)
His extensive work can be distinguished into four stages: initial books, his avant-garde period, his poetry during the Republic, and the long period of exile. His first books—including Marinero en tierra, The Lover, and Dawn of the Wallflower—are popular in character, showing the influence of the Andalusian copla. The most important book from his avant-garde stage is On the Angels, where he expressed his personal desolation. During the Republic, he wrote poetry engaged in denouncing injustice and oppression.
In his exile, his poetry remained diverse, but he felt nostalgia for his lost country, as reflected in works like Return of the Living Far Away and Ballads and Songs of Paraná.
Luis Cernuda (1902-1963)
He collected his poetry under the title Reality and Desire. His work is central to the conflict between reality and desire, and between society and the poet. Faced with established values, he champions the strength of desire and the passion of homosexual love. The difficulty in reconciling reality and desire also reveals that the aspiration for perfect beings and worlds is doomed to dissatisfaction because reality is ever-changing and imperfect. Hence, the love one desires often leads to frustration.
Other themes include loneliness, boredom, the longing for a more livable world, and the exaltation of beauty. At maturity, Cernuda reflects on Spanish identity and life in a consumer society. He meditates on the passage of time, aging, and death, offering a more contemplative view of love and the meaning of poetry.