The Poetic Legacy of Antonio Machado and Juan Ramón Jiménez
The Poetry of Antonio Machado and Juan Ramón Jiménez
Antonio Machado was representative of the literary Generation of ’98, surpassing the poetic tradition through symbolic procedures and creating poetry of great excitement and insight. Machado defends poetry as “the dialogue of a man with his time,” emphasizing poetic intuition experienced temporally, unlike logical thinking based on concepts.
Key Themes in Machado’s Poetry
1. The Concept of Time
Machado was interested in time as lived experience, not as mere abstraction. In his poems, the poet speaks with his time. His poetry is born from a temporary feeling of distress, but also refers to temporality as fluidity and mobility.
2. Dreams and Love
For Machado, sleep is the only form of knowledge. Dreams reflect nature as a projection of the poet. As for love, there is little eroticism in his works.
3. Loneliness and Nature
In 1903, he published Soledades, Galerías y Otros Poemas. The themes of loneliness include the passage of time, dreams, and lost youth, expressing poetic reactions to nature. It is characteristic of the form of dialogues of solitudes: the seasons, night, etc.
Symbols of Solitude
- The Later: Represents decline and decay.
- The Water: Symbolizes life and monotony.
- The Source: Evokes memory and past sorrow.
- The Garden: Symbolizes illusion and is linked to the afternoon and the source.
In his work, Machado favors free nature over nature under canon.
Campos de Castilla
Published in 1912, this work has a more direct reference than symbolic, directing his gaze to the landscape, people, and history. Campos de Castilla includes:
- Proverbs and Songs: Short poems with a judgmental character.
- Seven Poems: About the death of Leonor.
- The Long Romance: “The Land of Alvargonzalez,” a fratricidal story embodying the theme of Cain.
Juan Ramón Jiménez
There is a profound change in Jiménez’s poetic career. In his early works, he was influenced by aestheticism, decadence, symbolism, and modernism. Lilies and Souls of Violet (1900) explore themes of nostalgia and the pursuit of something mysterious and decadent.
Symbolism and Modernism
The symbolism found in Años Sábados and Distant Gardens presents conflicts between eroticism and virginity, where purity becomes sterility and death. Modernism influences Ballads of Spring, Pastoral, and Platero y Yo, a prose work that implies closeness to nature and the people of Andalusia.
Transformation and Vitalism
The return to Madrid and knowledge of Zenobia transforms the melancholy of his first stage into a vitalism influenced by Ortega y Gasset. He reaches the peak of this new concept in Diary of a Married Poet (1917), revealing the world as chaos and the idea of beauty.
Inner and Outer Journeys
The actual journey to marry Zenobia in New York becomes a tour of his own conscience. The sea serves as the backbone of the work, with its dynamism and rhythm generating free verse. The distinction between prose and verse represents both geographical displacement and the inner evolution of consciousness.
Later Works
After the Diary, his poetic output includes:
- Eternities (1918)
- Stone and Sky (1919)
- Poetry and Beauty (1923): Highlights the theme of work as a coming to terms with death and the unknown.
In his latest works, he reflects on consciousness and the search for meaning. This period includes:
- Total Station: Here, the idea is that death is not the end; consciousness continues.
- Space (1943-1953): Questions his immortal consciousness.
- Animal Substance (1949): Concludes his poetic mysticism with the encounter with God, found within the poet.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956.