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Song of the Heart
Selected Poems by Ramón López Velarde
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Ramón López Velarde
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Translated by:
Margaret Sayers Peden
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Illustrator:
Juan Soriano
Languages:
Spanish, English
Published/Copyright:
1995
About this book
Ramón López Velarde (1888-1921) was one of the most Mexican of Mexican poets, whose sense of history found expression in many poems, including his best-known "La suave Patria" ("Sweet Land"). This bilingual collection, drawn primarily from Poesías completas y el minutero, offers English-language readers our first book-length introduction to his poetry.
Often called a "poet of the provinces," López Velarde gives us a glimpse into a slower and more gentle way of life. His poems present the contrast between city and hometown and between urban and pastoral landscapes. Through these contrasts runs the thread of religious faith, while urgency of language informs the entire body of his poetic production.
Original, specially commissioned drawings by noted contemporary Mexican artist Juan Soriano complement the poems. This combination of poetry and art speaks to universal emotions; indeed the poetry of López Velarde belongs to everyone who sings the Song of the Heart.
Author / Editor information
Corecipient of the first Gregory Kolovakos Award in 1992, Margaret Sayers Peden is a distinguished critic and translator of Latin American literature.
Reviews
This posthumous, bilingual collection of the works of Velarde (1888–1921), one of Mexico's most cherished poets who remains relatively unrecognized in the U.S., is a celebration of passion, that "song of the heart," in all its beautiful, tortured, contemplative, urgent glory. Peden's faithful translation allows the passionate perfection of Velarde's work, which consistently couples extravagant, consuming emotion with cool, formal precision, to shine through. Although there is much pain and anguish in these poems, sounded most consistently is the joyful music of simply being alive.... Soriano's sensual line drawings, created for this edition, are a deceptively simple visual complement of Velarde's streamlined, powerfully moving verse.
— Publishers WeeklyTopics
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Frontmatter
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CONTENTS
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El retorno maléfico / Ill-Omened Return
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La mancha de púrpura / The Purple Stain
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Mi prima Agueda / My Cousin Agueda
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Boca flexible, ávida... / Avid, Ambivalent Lips . . .
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Me estás vedada tú... / Forbidden
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Noches de hotel / Hotel Nights
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Del pueblo natal / Hometown
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En el piélago veleidoso / Ever-Changing Seas
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Mi corazón se amerita... / My Heart Fares Better...
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Tierra mojada... / Wet Earth
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Humildemente... / Humbly...
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Día 13 / The 13th
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El campanero / The Bell Ringer
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Que sea para bien... / May It Be for the Best
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El sueño de los guantes negros / Dream of the Black Gloves
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El sueño de la inocencia / Dream of Innocence
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A Sara / To Sara
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Nuestras vidas son péndulos / Our Lives Are Pendulums
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La última odalisca / The Last Odalisque
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En las tinieblas húmedas... / In Misty Darkness
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Te honro en el espanto... / In My Terror, I Honor You
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Memorias del circo / Circus Memories
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La suave Patria / Suave Patria: Sweet Land
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Disco de Newton / Newton's Disk
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El viejo pozo / The Old Well
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Canonización / Canonization
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Y pensar que pudimos... / And to Think...
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La lágrima... / The Tear
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El son del corazón / Song of the Heart
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Afterword
103
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 12, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9780292753389
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9780292753389
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
