J.V. Foix: Analysis of Sun and Mourning and Key Poems

Josep Vicenç Foix (1893–1987)

Josep Vicenç Foix is a complex figure, difficult to classify, often labeled as avant-garde, post-symbolist, or Noucentista. His subjects are distributed across his books, written in a variety of shapes, styles, and techniques that blend avant-garde and classical literary traditions.

Work: Sun and Mourning (1947)

Topic: The protagonist experiences disorientation in nature, perceiving it as an innate land. Though the author feels lost and alone, he immediately recognizes the landscape of a thousand years ago; nothing seems strange, and he rediscovers the countryside where he walks. The space where the poem is set is where he feels lost and lonely due to the elements of nature.

Structure: A sonnet consisting of two quatrains and two tercets, with a rhyme scheme of ABBA, ABBA, CDC, DDC.

Form: Endecasyllabic verses (major art) with consonant rhyme.

Literary Resources

• Hyperbaton: Verse 2 (I often see dark solitudes).
• Anaphora: Verses 4 and 5 (I pools... I say...).
• Rhetorical Question: Verses 5, 6, and 7 (I say: Where sound? To what land old—Why cell of death—or pasture dumb, delegate fool?).
• Metaphor: Verse 6 (Why cell of death—or pasture dumb).
• Contradiction: Verse 10 (It is not strange to me).
• Enjambment: Lines 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 13.
• Anaphora: Verse 10 (Of a thousand years ago, the odd does not surprise me).
• Antithesis: Verses 13 and 14 (God and the devil).

Work: It Is When I Sleep I See Clearly (1953)

Author: Josep Vicenç Foix Mas (Sarrià, 1893 – Barcelona, 1987). He collaborated with various publications, serving as an editor. His work gained significant popularity following the musical adaptation of his poem "It is when I sleep I see clearly" by Joan Manuel Serrat. This poem appears in the collection Where I Left the Keys... (1953).

Topic: To know the truth of things, one must rely on more than just arguments.

Structure: A traditional song with a chorus repeating the initial two lines. It is formed by three stanzas of ten lines each.

Form: Heptasyllabic verses (minor art) with consonant rhyme. Metric scheme: abc, BCB, baab.

Literary Resources

• Anaphora: Lines 1 and 9 (When it rains I dance alone).
• Anaphora: Verse 10 (Seaweed dress, gold and scales).
• Metaphor: Verses 7 and 8 (The pirate mansion is a large sunflower).
• Anaphora and Alliteration: Verses 11 and 19 (Which is when I am rich...).
• Anaphora: Verses 12 and 20 (Under the age of the pond).
• Polysyndeton: Verses 14 and 15 (And pursues the landlords, among pine and oak).
• Anaphora: Verses 21 and 29 (Sleep is when I see clearly).
• Metaphor: Verse 24 (I live in the heart of a shell).