Miguel Hernández: Tradition and Modernity in Poetry
Tradition and Modernity in Miguel Hernández's Poetry
In short, Hernandian poetry moves under the influence of two aspects: tradition and innovation. Tradition comes from the poetry and drama of the Golden Age, from popular oral tradition, and from anonymous poetry arising from the people, as well as the poetry and drama of modernity and his contemporaries. The Vanguard influence on Miguel Hernández appears in the period before the Civil War and arrives, on one hand, from pure poetry and literary Cubism (Perito en lunas) and, on the other, from Surrealism between mid-1935 and early 1936.
Influences of the Spanish Classics
He was influenced by Spanish classics, including the mysticism of St. John of the Cross, the asceticism of Fray Luis de León, and the Petrarchan style and existentialism of Garcilaso de la Vega and Quevedo.
Calderón de la Barca left his mark on the art of the auto sacramental (Quién te ha visto y quién te ve y sombra de lo que eras), and Lope de Vega taught him the epic tone of theater (Los hijos de la piedra and El labrador de más aire). However, the greatest impact of all came from Luis de Góngora, through his use of metaphor and his secrecy.
Romanticism and Modernism
He also received Romantic influences from Bécquer, Espronceda, and Zorrilla, from whom he rescued the human tone of poetry. From Modernism, he learned from Rubén Darío, admired the existentialism of Unamuno (whom he called his "Spiritual Father"), praised Machado for his expression of the Spanish spirit and vision of Spain, and felt a special fondness for the fine sensibility of Juan Ramón Jiménez.
The Vanguard and Surrealist Influence
His contacts with the Vanguard were scarce, but he emphasized a preference for the purity of Jorge Guillén, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and the French Symbolists. What Miguel Hernández truly achieved was adding new surrealist influences and irrational images to the influence of Góngora (complicated syntax, rationalist metaphors). This eventually led him to address the common people with clear exposition and the traditional romance verse.
Pure Poetry and Cubism
Perito en lunas is Miguel Hernández's contribution to pure poetry: an uncontrolled irrationality that comes from the subconscious and reminds us of Cubist painting. However, he was a surrealist poet only occasionally, between 1935 and 1936, in about a dozen poems such as "Vecino de la muerte" and "Sino sangriento."
The Return to Tradition and Neopopularismo
Regarding the duality of art and tradition, from the end of 1935 through 1936, he dispensed with avant-garde influences and immersed himself in the classic sonnet in El rayo que no cesa, establishing oral tradition and folk poetry as his primary literary sources.
Popular tradition, referred to as neopopularismo by the Generation of '27, reached its peak in Miguel Hernández's Cancionero y romancero de ausencias, where art is no longer merely seen but becomes the popular tradition itself.