Antonio Machado's Ode to an Elm Tree in Soria: A Symbol of Hope

Machado's Life and Inspiration in Soria

Antonio Machado lived in Soria from 1907 to 1912. He became a cantor of Castile: its landscape, its people, its beauty, and its miseries. In Soria, he met Leonor Izquierdo, whom he married in 1909. However, their happiness was brief, as his wife died in 1912 of tuberculosis. These circumstances should be taken into account for the commentary of this poem, which was written in the spring of 1912 when Machado knew Leonor's disease was hopeless.

Symbolism and the Elm Tree

The starting point is a specific detail of the reality of Soria: the contemplation of an elm, attacked by graphiosis, with an unexpected rebound of spring. This physical reality charged a deep symbolic value for the poet. Remember his roots in symbolist poetry (influenced by the French poets). In the poem, the elm is a symbol of a death-ridden existence, which opposes the green branch, a symbol of a miraculous recovery. The theme of this poem would be the hope that Leonor could overcome her incurable disease. It should be added that, as the poet does not specify which miracle he is referring to ("my heart awaits... another miracle of spring"), this ending can also be understood as a vague hope that gives meaning to his life.

Structure of the Poem

External Structure

The poem consists of 30 verses, combining heptasyllables and hendecasyllables, according to the poet's taste. The first 14 verses have a peculiar rhyme, starting like a sonnet (with a seven-syllable verse, the second, and two *serventesios* ABAB instead of two quartets ABBA). The other verses combine lines and hendecasyllables in an irregular fashion, rhyming with the exception of verse 14, which is loose.

Internal Structure

We can distinguish the first 27 verses from the last three. This final part functions as an epiphoneme. We are facing a very typical structure of Symbolist poetry: first, the symbol is developed (dry elm, green branch); afterward, the meaning of the symbol is revealed.

Analysis of the Content

Verses 1-4 show us the essence of the symbol, the contrast between life and death. First, he insists on what denotes destruction: old, split, rotten. Then, he is surprised by those "green leaves," noting the life of hope. In the second stanza, after the effusion of sentiment that is the exclamation point, he adds more descriptive details. Along with the above, there is a field of words that connote the idea of destruction and death: "yellow moss," the verb "stain," and the adjectives "rotten" and "dusty." Verses 9-14 give opposing ideas. The first "shall not" is the negation of a future life; it predicts that if the "poplars singers" and its "nightingale."

This reference to love acquires shocking resonances if Machado thinks that his beloved is dying. Then, in the face of what "will not" be, he sees what this elm is now. So, to those absent "nightingales" (symbols of life and love), he opposes these "ants and spiders" that produce a chilling impression of death.

Verses 15-27 are one long sentence in which Machado's obsession with time is observed.

It should be noted the effect of the four obsessive temporal propositions introduced by the temporal conjunction "rather than," anaphoric. These repetitions serve a purpose: to insist on the imminent death of the tree. Attached is a growing tone of vehemence and drama of the verbs used (breaks, burn). The climax or gradation image leads to the Manriquean image of the river that takes to the sea.

All these ideas of death are again opposed by the "grace" of the "greenish branch." The presence of the lyrical "I want to note" overlooks the subjectivity of the poet. The last three verses constitute a unit of content. The *I* of the poem is now emotionally manifested in the expression "my heart," associated with the verb "awaits." The heart is the seat of hope and feelings. After Leonor's death, he says: "...Not every heart that beats / is swallowed by the earth." With Leonor still alive, the poet's hope is that another miracle occurs, a hope fueled by the contemplation of that unusual green twig. Next to the word "miracle" crowd such positive words as "spring," "light," and especially "life."

Conclusion

After the republication of *Campos de Castilla*, Machado recognized the teaching of Rubén Darío. The highlight of the poet is a deep spiritual palpitation, blending harmoniously descriptive sheets and symbolic values to bring in a crescendo of the final endearing emotion.