Antonio Machado: Master Poet of the Generation of '98

Biography of Antonio Machado

Antonio Machado was born in Seville into a liberal and progressive bourgeois family and was a student at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. He traveled to Paris, where he met Pío Baroja and Rubén Darío. Later, he won the French chair at the Institute of Soria.

Life in Soria and Personal Tragedy

He married the young Leonor Izquierdo, who died early; her memory and the Soriano landscape remained permanently joined in his life and work. He later lived in Baeza, Segovia, and Madrid. During this time, he met Pilar de Valderrama, the 'Guiomar' of his verses and his late love.

Exile and the Generation of '98

In 1927, he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Language. Loyal and committed to the Republic, he went into exile shortly before the Civil War ended. He died in Collioure, a village in southern France near the border, where he is buried. He is considered the most important poet of the Generation of '98 and one of the greatest figures in Spanish lyric poetry.

Poetic Style and Major Themes

His poetry is characterized by a deep fraternal humanism with a clear supremacy of life over art. The main themes include:

• The identity of personal destiny
• Time and dreams
• Love (especially the memory of Leonor)
• The landscape and the decline of Spain
• The hope for a better future

The Three Stages of His Poetic Career

Soledades, Galerías y Otros Poemas

This stage shows a modernist influence. The writer dives into the 'galleries' of his soul to understand the riddles of existence and his inner world. The poet establishes correspondences between the elements of nature and his state of mind through symbols:

• Water: Representing the passage of time and life.
• The Path: Life as a search.
• The Air: Symbolizing freedom.

Campos de Castilla

In Campos de Castilla, Machado alternates poems dedicated to the memory of Leonor with the evocation of the lands of Castile. There are also poems about the past, present, and future of Spain, denouncing the faults of a 'superficial and sterile Spain,' such as the brutality of the peasants, envy, and ignorance.

Nuevas Canciones

In Nuevas canciones, thoughtful poems predominate. These are short, pithy poems that express personal thoughts in poetic form. Machado uses plain and sober language to achieve great lyrical depth and emotion. Symbols abound throughout this stage.

Literary Technique and Meter

In his meter, Machado used varied stanza and verse combinations. There is a predominance of assonance rhyme, the romance, and the silva.