Analysis of Lorca's 'Sin City Dream' and Salinas' 'The Soul Had'

Federico Garcia Lorca - Sin City Dream

Topic: Lorca describes a New York night, focusing on the city's skyscrapers, which he finds monstrous and unfamiliar. This perception characterizes Lorca's tendency to anthropomorphize buildings, blurring the lines between the built environment and the animal world. The poem highlights the dehumanization prevalent in the city that never sleeps, where constant activity and a sense of modernity lead to a monotonous existence, with residents seemingly waiting for death without hope. The subtitle, 'Night of Brooklyn Bridge,' reinforces the theme of a sad city devoid of rest.

Metrics

The poem is written in free verse, with rhythm achieved through repetition of ideas, words, and sentence structures (e.g., 'whip!, i whip!,' 'Alert, Alert,' 'No one is sleeping.')

Questions and Answers

1. Is the title of the poem related to the text?

Yes, New York is the 'city not dream' Lorca describes throughout the poem. It is a city where people do not dream, including the dead in the cemetery and the enraged ants.

2. Does Lorca refer to animals?

Yes, he relates animals to the skyscrapers of New York City, a city where inhabitants lead monotonous lives controlled by machines in factories. Lorca views the skyscrapers as monstrous beings.

3. What is the meaning of these verses: ('But if someone closes eye / whip, boys, a whip! | life is no dream')?

For Lorca, life is a dream, but one that has become a state of vigilance, a nightmare. There is no rest, not even in death.

4. What is synesthesia? Is there synesthesia in the poem?

Synesthesia is a figure of speech that combines images or sensations from different sensory domains. An example in the poem is verse 37 ('and the skin of the camel stands on end with a violent blue shudder'), where 'chill blue' combines touch and sight.

5. Identify a clear example of emphasis in the poem.

The following verse provides a clear example: 'No one is sleeping in heaven. No, no.'

6. Locate an adjectival subordinate clause and identify the function of 'who'.

In the sentence 'One day the horses live in the saloons and angry ants attack the yellow skies that take refuge in the eyes of cows,' the clause 'that take refuge in the eyes of cows' is an adjectival subordinate clause, and 'that' functions as the subject.

Pedro Salinas - The Soul Had

The author contemplates the vastness of the soul, suggesting it is so expansive that complete knowledge of it is unattainable.

Theme

The central theme is unrequited love, where the lover seeks their beloved but faces insurmountable obstacles. The author emphasizes the difficulty of attaining love, portraying it as a search reflected through concepts like 'the way' (access), 'border' (limits), and 'gates' (access). The 'I' engages in a dialogue with the 'you,' representing the soul.

Metric

The poem consists of 25 hexasyllabic verses, with minor art and irregular rhyme.

Questions and Answers

1. Find a synonym for the following words: Narrow, Franca, It began, Lindes.

• Narrow: Reduced
• Franca: Sincere
• It began: Home
• Lindes: Limits

2. What role does the 'se' play in: 'Your soul was by wide roads'?

Indirect object.

3. What type of subordinate clause is: 'The soul had such a clear and open, I could never in your soul may go in'?

Adverbial subordinate consecutive.

4. Explain the meaning of the poem.

This poem explores the theme of unrequited love, depicting a man's unsuccessful search for the love of a woman, ultimately leaving him alone, sad, and lovelorn.

5. Identify two stylistic resources found in the poem and provide examples.

• Rhetorical question: Where does it end?
• Contradiction: 'so clear and open, I never could may go in your soul.'

6. What does the phrase, 'Thy soul was by wide roads' mean?

It means that her soul is so vast that it cannot be reached.