Life, Death, and Love in Miguel Hernandez's Poetry

The Intertwined Nature of Life and Death

Across his poems, Miguel Hernandez pays homage to nature, celebrating the beauty of all life. However, a recurring theme is the experience of living, intrinsically linked with pain. Hernandez feels life is constantly threatened by uncontrollable forces. This duality of life and death forms an indissoluble association, shaping his biography and becoming the vibrant center of his poetry.

This dualism presents a clear existential significance, pointing towards the inevitable finality of death. Life and death become a discord, splitting the self. The fullness of life, like that of a bull, is marked by a tragic destiny—the ever-present experience of death.

Love as a Tragic Force

In Hernandez's work, the concept of love matures into a tragic human destiny. Love becomes intertwined with death, an irresistible urge for procreation. Blood, a recurring motif, symbolizes both life, flowing from the heart, and death, returning to the earth. For Hernandez, blood becomes a sacred element.

Symbols of Death and Despair

Death evokes anger and despair in Hernandez's poetry, represented by symbols like knives and lightning. This theme intensifies in his poems written during the Civil War and his imprisonment, where he faced a death sentence later commuted to life imprisonment.

Existentialism and Literary Influences

Hernandez's exploration of life and death sometimes approaches existentialism. His poetry reveals influences from Gongorism, the Calderonian school, Quevedo, Garcilaso, Pablo Neruda, and Vicente Aleixandre.

Metaphors of Love and the Female Form

Hernandez frequently uses the metaphor of a wound to represent love. The thunderbolt also serves as a key symbol of love, while blood takes on a metaphorical meaning of love's power. He places vital importance on sexual union and procreation. In some poems, the often unattainable oasis symbolizes the female body, with sand representing its earthly counterpart.

Understanding Hernandez's Poetry

To understand the poetry of Miguel Hernandez, this great poet and lover, one must consider the intertwined themes of life, death, and love, interpreting the recurring symbols of wounds, three spokes, or moons.