Analysis of 20th Century Spanish Poetry: Salinas, Guillén, Diego, and Aleixandre

Pedro Salinas: "I Do Not Want to Live..."

For the poet, the essence of a woman is paramount. Everything else is merely an addition used to dress her. The essence of the couple is summarized in a "you and me," individualized by love.

• Structure: This poem is a couplet in seven-syllable lines with assonant rhyme, with the exception of verse 14 (trisyllabic) and verse 27 (tetrasyllabic: 3+1).
• Themes:
  • In verse 2, the poet rejects luxury and exotic settings (islands, palaces, towers) in favor of pronouns.
  • Verses 5-6 reflect how external additions (costumes, signs, pictures) blur a woman's true essence.
  • Verse 10 presents the woman without additives: pure, free, and irreducible.
  • Verses 19-20 name elements used to reach the essence (names, signs, history), while verses 24-25 emphasize the anonymity of all things in their essence (naked stone, the world).

Jorge Guillén: "The Twelve of the Clock" and "Equestrian Statue"

• "The Twelve of the Clock": This is a dirge romance (assonant seven-syllable lines rhyming in pairs). The title refers to exact noon, a time repeated in the final verse. Everything revolves around this moment, when nature is at its fullest.
• "Equestrian Statue": This is a tenth (quatrain, couplet, and quatrain). Silence is represented by words such as tight, motionless, calm, and bronze, while movement is conveyed through terms like jogging, start, remote, charger, vigor, and strength.

Gerardo Diego

"The Three Sisters"

This romance describes three sisters at a lookout point as the poet passes by. He chooses the youngest, which leads him to share a secret through a long gaze. The poet is rapt in contemplation of the youngest sister.

"Table"

An avant-garde poem where the poet observes a still-life painting containing a tablecloth, a liqueur, blocks, and a guitar. These elements are described using free verse and include:

• Risky imagery (closed Tuesdays).
• Synesthesia (the sun I put damper).
• Associations between distant terms (my poetry and apple).
• A lack of punctuation.

Vicente Aleixandre: "Shadow of Paradise"

This work contains risky imagery blurring the lines between reality and dreams, such as "kissing winged plumage on its blue plumage." The entire poem revolves around the memory of a real kiss. The poet describes various images of these kisses, the teeth involved, and the lasting effects they produced.