Miguel Hernández: Poet of Social Commitment and Despair

Social and Political Commitment

In Madrid, Miguel Hernández experienced the coup against the Second Republic. He solidified his socio-political stance by joining the Communist Party. This commitment crystallized in his works Wind Village and The Man Stalks. Hernández was passionately rooted in solidarity with humanity. His poetry leans more towards social commentary than political rhetoric. Inspired by the 'winds of the people,' he engaged in solidarity actions and spoke out against injustice and exploitation. Until the war broke out, he wasn't strictly a revolutionary poet. The ballad form became his vehicle to encourage the fight. As time progressed, his vision of reality grew starker.

Wind Village (1937)

Wind Village is a thematically unified collection of poems. It includes testimonies of people's suffering, such as in Child Yuntero. It contrasts the imagery of oxen at the plow with lions, eagles, and bulls shaking the heavens (Winds of the people I have). The collection denounces fascist barbarism and laments the tragic reality of a torn Spain, while still hoping for a better future through the workers' efforts (as seen in Harvesters). On March 9, 1937, he married; his wife became pregnant, but Miguel soon went to the front. He later received news of his son's death at 10 months old, triggering a new phase of poetic despair.

The Man Stalks

The title The Man Stalks refers to the dehumanizing cruelty of war, hunger, and deprivation. The tone is less optimistic than Wind Village, reflecting the poet's increasing despair. The poems become more bitter and gritty, setting a model for post-war Spanish poetry. After the Civil War, Hernández began his journey through Spanish prisons, a pilgrimage that ended with his death.

Song and Ballad of Absences

Slowly and painfully, he wrote Song and Ballad of Absences, free from literary models and focused on his grief. The book's themes revolve around absence, encompassing two personal tragedies: the death of his child and the separation from his wife. It also includes the eager pursuit of the beloved and the exaltation of motherhood. Shortly before the end, his second child was born, and his wife's new motherhood became a symbol of the lost child. These poems vibrate with a carnal attraction to women. The poet's continued imprisonment deepened his pain of separation from loved ones. Nanas de la cebolla (Onion Lullaby) is a tragic example, reflecting his nostalgia for childhood and his view of life as a struggle where the only defense is 'teeth'.