The Siren and the Seashell: And Other Essays on Poets and Poetry

Octavio Paz

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The Siren and the Seashell

And Other Essays on Poets and Poetry

Octavio Paz
Translated by: Lysander Kemp and Margaret Sayers Peden
Illustrator: Barry Moser

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 1976

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Texas Pan American Series

About this book

Octavio Paz has long been known for his brilliant essays as well as for his poetry. Through the essays, he has sought to confront the tensions inherent in the conflict between art and society and to achieve a unity of their polarities. The Siren and the Seashell is a collection of Paz’s essays, focusing on individual poets and on poetry in general. The first five poets he treats are Latin American: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Rubén Darío, José Juan Tablada, Ramón López Velarde, and Alfonso Reyes. Then there are essays on Robert Frost, e. e. cummings, Saint-John Perse, Antonio Machado, and Jorge Guillén. Finally, there are Paz’s reflections on the poetry of solitude and communion and the literature of Latin America. Each essay is more than Paz’s impressions of one person or issue; each is the occasion for a wider discussion of cultural, historical, psychological, and philosophical themes. The essays were selected from Paz’s writing between 1942 and 1965 and provide an overview of the development of his thinking and an exploration of the ideas central in his works.

Author / Editor information

Octavio Paz (1914–1998) was a Mexican poet who won the 1990 Nobel Prize in literature.

Reviews

Octavio Paz is a living incarnation of those tensions in modern poetry between human commitment and aesthetic concern, a dialectic that is fundamental to the art of all nations. And his poetics is important, for it places the poet at the heart of modern life, singing his solitary song in company with the massed voices of human solitude. In his view, the poet does not speak the language of society but turns away from it, gaining strength in exile.

— Hudson Review

Topics

Literary Studies Literary Studies, general

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Editor's Note Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
I. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Ruben Dario Jose Juan Tablada Ramon Lopez Velarde Alfonso Reyes
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	3
The Siren and the Seashell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	17
José Juan Tablada Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	57
The Road of Passion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	67
The Rider of the Air Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	113
II. Robert Frost E. E. Cummings Saint-John Perse Antonio Machado Jorge Guillén
Visit to a Poet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	125
E. E. Cummings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	131
A Modern Hymn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	137
Antonio Machado Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	145
Jorge Guillén Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	153
III. Poetry of Solitude and Poetry of Communion and A Literature of Foundations
Poetry of Solitude and Poetry of Communion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	163
A Literature of Foundations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	173
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	181

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

May 20, 2013

eBook ISBN:

9780292753471

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

196

https://doi.org/10.7560/775213

eBook ISBN: 9780292753471

Audience(s) for this book

College/higher education;

The Siren and the Seashell

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Reviews

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