Spanish poet and playwright, born in Granada. The clarity and lyricism of his work have attracted more translations than any other European poet of the twentieth century. His language and form show the influence of the Andalusian songs of that area of Spain and of the crises of the psyche felt so acutely in Spain during that period. In fact, he was killed by the Falangists during the Spanish Civil War.

Lorca's 1929-`1930 experiences in the United States are reflected in his Poeta en Nuevo York of 1940. His plays Bodas en Sangre/Blood Wedding and La casa de Bernarda Alba/The House of Bernarda Alba were performed by the touring theatrical company he founded in Spain after his return from New York.

ODE TO WALT WHITMAN (final stanza)

And you, beautiful Walt Whitman, sleep on the Hudson's banks,
with your beard toward the Pole and your hands open.
Bland clay or snow, your tongue is calling for
comrades that keep watch on your gazelle without a body.
Sleep; nothing remains.
A dance of walls agitates the meadows
and America drowns itself in machines and lament.
I want the strong air of the most profound night
to remove flowers and words from the arch where you sleep,
and a black boy to announce to the gold-minded whites
the arrival of the reign of the ear of corn.

STEPHEN SPENDER
AND J. L. GILI

ODA A WALT WHITMAN (stanza fínal)

Y tú, bello Walt Whitman, duerme a orillas del Hudson
con la barba hacia el polo y las manos abiertas.
Arcilla blanda o nieve, tu lengua está llamando
camaradas que velen tu gacela sin cuerpo.
Duerme, no queda nada.
Una danza de muros agita las praderas
y América se anega de máquinas y llanto.
Quiero que el aire fuerte de la noche más honda
quite flores y letras del arco donde duermes
y un niño negro anuncie a los blancos del oro
la llegada del reino de la espiga.

from The Selected Poems of Federico García Lorca, Ed. by Francisco García Lorca and Donald M. Allen. New York, 1961.

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