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Unity And Development In The Poetry Of German Pardo Garcia

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Unity And Development In The Poetry Of German Pardo Garcia

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Xerox University Microfilms
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
'p.r-1
'•"v I
74-28,433
DICKSON, David Lewis, 1942-
UNITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE POETRY OF GERMAN
PARDO GARCfA.
University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1974
Language and Literature, modern
t University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
i.
Copyright by
DAVID LEWIS DICKSON
© 1974
THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED.
UNITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE POETRY
OP GERMAN PARDO GARCIA
by
David Lewis Dickson
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Spanish)
June 1974
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE ORADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 9 0 0 07
This dissertation, written by
.D&yiil..Lej?i.s..Bickson.......................
under the direction of his.... Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by a ll its members, has
been presented to and accepted by The G raduate
School, in partial fulfillm ent of requirements of
the degree of
D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y
C
Dean
Date.
D I g c T ? o n r A 'T T r w T r ,r\A/TTV/TT'Tv r ’C'T?
Chairman
..
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION........................................ 1
Chapter
I. THE POET'S THEMES.................... 5
The Major Themes
Thematic Influences
Thematic Unity
II. FOUR SOURCES OF IMAGES................ 74
Pantheism
The Judeo-Christian Tradition
Technology
Classical Mythology
Conclusions: Continuity and Growth
in Pardo Garcia's Sources of Images
III. TWO STUDIES OF POETIC RESOURCES..... 164
Development of Pardo Garcia's Use
of Epithets
The Hendecasyllabic Sonnet
IV. THE COSMOLOGY OF PARDO GARCIA'S POETRY .... 233
V. CONCLUSIONS.......................... 243
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................ 251
APPENDIX A. Correspondence....................... 263
APPENDIX B. Guide to the Location of Poems in
Books, Anthologies, and Periodicals . . 289
ii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Mystical Vocabulary of Pardo Garcia,
1930-1938 . 114
2. Mystical Vocabulary: Summary................ 116
3. Frequency of Epithets....................... 174
4. Common and Metaphorical Epithets............ 179
5. Classification of Metaphorical Epithets . . . 182
6. Incoherent and Suggestive Epithets in
Sonnets and Other Forms ................... 190
7. Personifications ............................. 193
8. Other Characteristics of Pardo Garcia's
Epithets.................................... 196
9. Metaphorical Epithets in Sonnets and
Other F o r m s................................ 199
10. Sensory Epithets in Sonnets and Other
F o r m s ...................................... 200
11. Concrete Epithets with Abstract Nouns .... 201
12. Rhythmic Density of Pardo Garcia's
Hendecasyllable ........................... 226
13. Rhythmic Structure of Pardo Garcia's
Sonnets.................................... 227
iii
INTRODUCTION
German Pardo Garcia's first book of poetry was pub
lished in 1930, although he had been writing and publishing
poems for many years.^ In August of 1973 he published his
twenty-seventh book of poems. The massive body of poetry
published by the poet during this forty-four year period
2
has been examined in many reviews and articles. Not many
of the critics, however, have examined more than a small
part of Pardo Garcia's production. Those few who have
studied most of his works have concerned themselves pri
marily with his themes, concentrating on the differences
and similarities between given books or periods, or on the
presence and characteristics of one or more themes.
^His first published poem appeared in 1916 in
Diego Uribe's weekly El Literario. For the details of the
poem's publication see the poet's letter of Nov. 9, 1971,
to me, in Appendix A. (Future notes will refer to his
letters as "Correspondence" and give the date of the letter
in question. )
2
Pardo Garcia estimated that these articles and
reviews number more than one thousand. (Correspondence,
Dec. 26, 1969.)
1
Such studies are important, and help the reader to
understand the Colombian's poetry. Even more important in
the case of an extensive work such as his, is the examina
tion of the development of his poetry, and of the ways in
which these differences and similarities which the critics
have seen in his books have resulted from that development.
A handful of critics have commented briefly on this point.
Only one has given the matter much attention, and she has
3
limited her considerations to the poet's themes.
This dissertation will attempt to fill the gap by
examining the development of Pardo Garcia's poetry from the
1920's to the 1970's. The study will focus on the unity of
the poet's work, pointing out common, recurring elements
as well as new or atypical aspects of his poetry. It will
attempt to demonstrate the generally continuous nature of
the development. Those discontinuities which may exist,
however, will be pointed out and discussed in full.
The study will examine the unity and development of
Pardo Garcia's poetry in four areas: the poet's themes, his
sources of images, his use of poetic resources, and his
3 x
Mary E. Arenas, "La obra poetica de German Pardo
Garcia," Diss. George Washington, 1971.
cosmology. The review and analysis of his themes will be
based partially upon the articles and reviews which appear
in the bibliography, although in several areas the conclu
sions drawn here will conflict with those of the critics.
The study of Pardo Garcia's sources of images will focus on
four selected domains: Christianity, pantheism, Greco-Roman
culture, and modern technology. The examination of his use
of poetic resources also will be selective, concentrating
on two elements which can provide reliable information con
cerning the internal development of the poet's art, as well
as its relationship to the poetic environment in which
Pardo Garcia has existed. The exposition of the cosmology
of Pardo Garcia's poetry will consist of a brief statement
of that cosmology and a discussion of its implications for
the topic under consideration.
The conclusions drawn from these four areas will be
synthesized in the discussion of the fifth chapter. These
conclusions will define the development of Pardo Garcia's
poetry in both general and specific terms, but they will
not be exhaustive, nor will they pretend to define the
poetry itself.
Several types of supporting information will be
presented in the appendices, including the poet's
3
correspondence with me, and a guide to the various texts
of his poems.
This dissertation covers all of Pardo Garcia's
books which have been published to date, from Voluntad
(1930) to Desnudez (1973). Chapter III ("Two Studies of
Poetic Resources") is the only exception to this statement.
Because of the prohibitive amount of time that would be
required to conduct a detailed examination of the poet's
use of epithets in each of his twenty-seven books, that
portion of the third chapter will be based upon a selection
of the poet's works. This selection will consist of books
which represent either certain periods in Pardo Garcia's
career or apparent turning points in his use of his re
sources. Care has been taken to assure that the results
obtained from the analysis of this selection will not
differ greatly from those which would be obtained from some
other representative sample.
CHAPTER I
THE POET'S THEMES
The question of whether there is unity in Pardo
Garcia's poetry springs from its themes. On the basis of
their examination of these themes, the critics have taken
three contradictory positions regarding the unity of his
work. One tendency is to affirm the unity of it for nega
tive reasons: "No poet can write so much without repeating
1
himself, unless he says nothing. " Bernard Gicovate has
written nearly the same thing: "There is little change and
2
no direction in the poetic career of Pardo Garcia."
The second tendency is to affirm the fragmentary
nature of this work, but as a positive value:
^Francisco Aguilera, rev. of Claro Abismo, in Hand
book of Latin American Studies, vol. 6, ed. Miron Burgin
(Cambridge, Mass., 1941), p. 371 (para. 4225).
2
Rev. of 30 aftos, in Handbook of Latin American
Studies, vol. 26, ed. Earl J. Pariseau (Gainesville, 1964),
p. 175 (para. 1743).
5
German Pardo Garcia, como alguien le dijo en atinada
frase, posee la facultad de cambiar de cerebro en cada
libro que produce. Entre los mejores elogios que su
poesia merece estci el de ese impulso de renovacion que
lo obliga a buscar la belleza bajo nuevos ingulos y
nueva s forma s.^
Seven years earlier, in 1943, Belisario Betancur Cuartas
had interviewed the poet concerning the book Sacrificio.
On that occasion Pardo Garcia also offered a fragmentary
interpretation of his own work:
El poeta me hablo de la variedad de su poesia y de la
presencia de seis hombres distintos a lo largo de su
obra. Asi pues, hay seis actitudes ante la vida, ante
si mismo, ante la Divinidad. ... En cada [libro] .. .
un hombre se mueve con absoluta independencia de los
anteriores.^
Within the third tendency are found the many
opinions which stress both the persistence of some of the
elements of his poetry, as well as an impulse for renova
tion. In his review of Las voces naturales, Andres Holguin
stated that
Voluntad, Los iubilos ilesos, Los canticos, Los sonetos
del convite, Poderlos, Presencia, Claro abismo, Sacri
ficio, son libros de incomparable belleza que, no
obstante las diversas modalidades que los caracterizan
3 ^
Octaviano Valdes, rev. of Poemas contemporaneos,
Abside, 14 (1950), 535.
4
Rev. of Sacrificio, Universidad Catolica Boli
var iana, No. 34 (Oct.-Nov. 1943), p. 147.
y los diversos estados animicos que revelan, conservan
una clara unidad, un mensaje comun.^
Eleven years later an anonymous reviewer said that in
Eternidad del ruisenor,
... su viejo caudal lirico sigue en pie y sigue parti-
cipando de los elementos anteriores que hemos venido
apreciando en sus m&s recientes libros, pero hay cierta
temcitica que antes le habia preocupado a German solo en
tal o cual momento, y que en cambio ahora, en Eternidad
del ruisenor, aparece con voluntaria constancia.®
The same point of view has also been expressed by Gaston
7
Figueira in 1943 and Otto Morales Benitez in 1948.
In this first chapter I will attempt to describe
the chronological development of the poet's themes, dealing
with the description of the themes themselves only when
necessary for the clarification of my arguments. I will
put special emphasis on the analysis of the relationship of
the various themes and their interdependence, in order
to demonstrate not so much that unity exists, but more
5 ^
Revista de America, July 1945, p. 150.
g
Cuadernos Americanos, Aho 15 (Nov.-Dec. 1956),
p. 287.
7
Figueira, "Vision lirica de German Pardo Garcia, "
Sustancia, March-April 1943, p. 329? Morales Benitez, "Un
gran poeta de America: La soledad, la angustia y la muerte
en la poesia de German Pardo Garcia," in Estudios criticos
(Bogota, 1948), pp. 68-69.
7
importantly, how the development of his themes has created
and supported that unity. My synthesis will refer fre
quently to the published conclusions of the critics, who
have devoted a major portion of their efforts to the dis
cussion of Pardo Garcia's themes. The most important study
of this nature has been the doctoral dissertation of Mary E.
Arenas, in which she described what she considered to be
g
the most important themes of the period from 1930 to 1969.
Her work is largely a descriptive one, however, and does
not deal with the relationship of the various themes, nor
with their development as a body. I usually follow Arenas1
categorization of the various themes. The discussion of
the development of the various themes, however, is based
upon my own observations, except when otherwise indicated.
The Major Themes
Solitude and Desolation
The role of solitude in Pardo Garcia's creation
9
was first pointed out by his friend, German Arciniegas.
Q
"La obra poetica de German Pardo Garcia, " Diss.
George Washington, 1971.
g
"Exergo," in Pardo Garcia, Voluntad (Bogota,
1930), pp. 11-14.
8
For him, as for many later critics, the essence of Pardo
Garcia's poetry derives from the man's isolation from
others, and from the desolate environment in which" he was
raised. ^ He is a solitary being, even though he appears
always to have had friends.^ His solitude has produced a
pronounced tendency towards introversion, which in turn has
led the poet to become absorbed in the reflection upon the
meaning of life, death, and the rest of the human experi
ence. Again and again the critics have related Pardo
Garcia's themes to the solitariness which constitutes his
psychological viewpoint for analyzing both life and the
human race.
But not only is it a springboard for the poet's
themes; solitude is itself present as an important theme of
his poetry. Pardo Garcia's first published poem, "Noche
triste" (1916), is an expression of the aching sense of
isolation which the adolescent felt when thinking about his
mother, who had died when he was an infant:
^Arciniegas, "Exergo," pp. 12-14. See also:
Carlos Garcia Prada, "Ahora ... un poeta de la soledadj
German Pardo Garcia," Repertorio Americano, 38 (1941),
pp. 56-58; Arenas, pp. 6-10.
"^Arenas, p. 6.
9
Solo en esa noche triste
y sumido en pensamientos,
sollozaba entre las ruinas
de mis amores ya muertos.-^
This adolescent suffering appears in Pardo Garcia's
first book as a sense of isolation from his fellow man.
This is evident in "Signos":
Los hombres me vieron
un dia bajo la noche,
trazando mis signos,
y los hombres rieron ... *
In "Silencio" of the same book the poet's sense of isola
tion appears to carry with it a touch of pain, as Pardo
Garcia again thinks about the reactions of people to his
activities:
He puesto una tienda
con las ultimas novedades
de me silencio.
Vendo trivialidades
y cambio pensamientos
por estrellas y por canciones
para mis soledades.
12
I use a typed copy of the poem, provided me by
the poet. See Appendix A for the full text of the poem and
for Pardo Garcia’s notes on its publication and content.
13
Voluntad (Bogota, 1930), p. 59. All of Pardo
Garcia's books after Voluntad were published in Mexico
City. In future notes I will therefore give only the title
and date of publication of those books.
10
Y lo que pensarcin los hombres:
estci loco el poeta.
Pero ninguno sabe mis saudad.es.
(p. 55)
The theme of solitude is more pronounced in Los
iubilos ilesos (1933), in which an entire poem is dedicated
to the subject, and especially in Los canticos (1935),
where an entire section of the book concerns "la soledad. "
However, the solitude which these two works treat is not a
painful experience, but rather an enriching spiritual exer
cise. Here the poet presents isolation as a vital means of
coming closer to the universal Being whose presence he
seeks. A change in this attitude is already visible, how
ever, in the sonnet cycle which followed Canticos: Los
sonetos del convite (1935) . In this short work, solitude
acquires a nostalgic tone which is but a premonition of the
poet's approaching reversal of his attitude to one which
considers solitude to be oppressive.
As Dr. Arenas has emphasized (p. 36), beginning
with Poderios (1937) the pain of isolation is a recurring
14
theme in the Colombian's poetry. Indeed, it would seem
14
Arenas, in fact, has affirmed that this theme
originated in Poderios (p. 36). Her statement may be due
to the fact that the text which she used (30 anos) omits
most of Voluntad and half of Jubilos.
11
fair to say that this pain is the central element of nearly
his entire production after 1935, and that in part the
development of the poet's thematic repertoire has been a
process of discovering and nurturing new means of express
ing or combating the pain. This is nearly opposite to the
point of view of Manuel Scorza, for whom the solitude of
15
Pardo Garcia is little more than a mask of death. While
an awareness of death is constantly present in this poetry,
it is my contention that the poet's concern for death is
but one aspect or consequence of his feeling of social and
spiritual isolation. This can be seen, for example, in
several poems of Apolo Thermidor (1971) where a premonition
of death and a sense of loneliness occur side by side:
Mas pudieran valerme estas senales
si algfin dla vulgar, un dia amargo
sin fecha, como hay muchos en la vida;
sin prodigalidad, un dia avaro,
yo me muero en la calle como muere
bajo la oscuridad un perro anciano.
(pp. 125-126)
The same sense of absolute isolation from people character
izes the sonnet "Destruccion":
15
"Prologo, " in Pardo Garcia, Acto poetico (Mexico,
1953), p. 17.
12
Trascendia a carrona, a muerto hediondo.
Cave con furia y me enterre en el fondo.
Me enterre sin piedad y hui muy lento
de la inmensa planicie congelada.
Despues, ni un ruido, ni dolor ni nada.
Sonibras arriba. En la llanura el viento.
(p. 176)
The critics have also related the poet's introver
sion and sense of solitude to his theme of spiritual desola
tion, which is little more than another side of the theme
of solitude. I have already shown that prior to Pardo
Garcia's poetry of 1933-1935, his work was already partially
characterized by the theme of the pain of a solitude which
is not freely chosen but rather imposed by psychological or
other circumstances. For one reason or another the poetry
of Jubilos and Canticos turns its back upon this theme, and
concentrates instead upon the theme of solitude as an
avenue to spiritual clarity. Beginning with Poderios, how
ever, spiritual clarity appears only as an ideal state
which the poet frequently yearns to achieve, but which he
never again believes himself capable of reaching.
This, then, is the basic thematic complex of Pardo
Garcia's first ten years: solitude, with and without an
guish, often accompanied by a longing for spiritual peace,
or less frequently, by a sensation of having achieved such
peace.
13
Death
The theme of death surfaces from time to time
throughout Pardo Garcia's career, focused from two con-
16
trastmg poxnts of vxew. From one point of view, the
thought of death produces anguish and an attitude of de
fiance, while from the other it is an inevitable fate to
which he is resigned. This second point of view does not
occur very frequently in his early poetry, but in his later
17
works his resignation becomes more evident.
As I have already stated, the theme of death is
related to the theme of solitude and desolation, and
appears to reflect the poet's feeling of social and spiri
tual isolation. It is also rooted in his need to define
himself as a part of the Cosmos. In his later years, and
especially in Apolo, Pardo Garcia demonstrates great con
cern for his immortality or for that of his poetry:
No me intimida la muerte porque mi razon
es mas honda
que el pensamiento de los dioses.
Pero £quien sabe algo de mi, de mi fulgurante
entusiasmo,
16
Arenas, p. 38. Her treatment of the theme of
death appears on pp. 38-43.
■^Arenas, p. 39.
14
de mi destino heroico,
de mi solidaridad humana, humilde y tierna?
Mis himnos a los obreros y las cosas,
Ip J
iquien escucha?^0
The thought that not even his poetry will survive him leads,
for a moment, to a mood of self-pity:
Se que no puedo combatir con mi clava de roble
contra una compulsidn acorazada.
He perdido la orientacibn divina.
Soy un n&ufrago del Tiempo, un heroe occiduo.
The theme of death is also tied to the theme of
nature, through the pantheistic framework of Pardo Garcia's
poetry. In his most recent book, however, even the pan
theistic concept of chemical reincarnation which had always
given him a hope of immortality, now has lost its reassur
ance for him:
Y senti miedo de esa muerte;
de la tercera, pues detr&s
de cada muerte hay otra grande:
la dispersion molecular
para juntarse al organismo
del que la Tierra no es el fin
ni es el origen, y nosotros
la pensadora cicatriz.20
18
Apolo, p. 372. See also: Lucero sin orillas
(1952), pp. 29-31, 62; El defensor (1964), p. 21; Los
relampagos (1965), p. 91.
19
Apolo, p. 372.
20
Desnudez (1973), pp. 56-57.
15
The development of this theme follows not a simple
linear pattern, but rather one of ebbing and flowing. An
awareness of death is nearly always present beneath the
surface of Pardo Garcia's poetry, but the theme of death
only erupts from time to time. And although there is a
general trend for the expression of the theme to progress
from the horrified, rebellious posture of the early works
to a more quiet resignation and even fascination with death
in the later works, the earlier mood can be seen at times
even in tandem with the attitude of resignation. There is
also a tendency for the poet to concern himself in his
later years with what Arenas (p. 41) has called the prepara
tion for death. In Desnudez he pictures himself returning
to the decayed house of his parents with the declaration:
"... soy el aguila que retorna a morir donde naciera"
(p. 62). Yet Pardo Garcia is not to have even this degree
of control over his own destiny, for when he tries to enter
the house,
... un ingel nocturno y silencioso
bajo la faz de un perro amenazante,
desnudb las espadas de sus dientes
y me nego la entrada al paraxso.
(p. 62)
16
Love: Human and Divine
Another major theme of the early stage of the
poet's career requires some special consideration: the
theme of human and divine love. This is one of the aspects
of Pardo Garcia's poetry where the interpretations of the
critics have been most contradictory, and for which a re-
evaluation is needed in order to decide certain problems
that arise regarding the thematic unity of the poet's work.
The theme of human love appears in the very first
poem of Voluntad. In the rest of the book the reader occa
sionally encounters ideas and themes derived from the love
of a woman, but love is not a major element in the book.
During the period of 1933 to 1935, on the other hand, love
is inescapably present, although the critics have not
agreed on what the object of that love is. After 1935
there are only scattered traces of love of any type in
Pardo Garcia's poetry. The examination of this theme will
therefore be concentrated on the three books published from
1933 to 1935 (Los jubilos ilesos, Los canticos, and Los
sonetos del convite).
The most common interpretation of these books has
been that they treat of a love for God. Because of the
17
images used by the poet, many have taken these works to be
mystical poetry. It has been said of the poet that he is
21
a "mistico sereno, casi desasido de toda forma terrena."
Antonio Llanos compared him to Nervo, and noted the move-
22
ment to a mysticism of a high order. Another critic
wrote in a review that Pardo Garcia "cantaba la union mis-
23
tica en Los sonetos del convite. " In 1939 it was said of
the poet's work that "en toda ella palpita un sentimiento
religioso mis intenso que aparente, convertido en motivo
lirico; dentro de lo religioso, domina lo eucaristico, la
24
sugestidn del Gran Sacramento. " But there are also those
who have taken the opposite view. Justino Cornejo wrote,
also in 1939, that "Pardo Garcia no es un lubrico ni es un
mistico, sino, sencillamente, un hombre normal y honesto
21
Andres Holguin, "La obra poetica de German Pardo
Garcia," La poesia inconclusa v otros ensayos (Bogota,
1947), p. 169.
22"Sobre: German Pardo Garcia," rev. of Los jubilos
ilesos, Repertorio Americano, 30 (1935), 109.
23
R. J. A., rev. of Las voces naturales, Revista de
las Indias, No. 80 (1945), p. 317.
2^Rev. of Seleccion de poemas, Revista Nacional de
Cultura, No. 10 (1939), p. 168.
18
que ama y cree. " Arango Ferrer has also had some doubts
about the mysticism of Pardo Garcia: "Dicen que German
Pardo Garcia es un poeta mistico, pero Dios no aparece por
su nombre en sus cantos.
The interpretation of the nature of the poetry of
this period is complicated by the fact that the faith which
Pardo Garcia had inherited from his very religious father
and his superstitious stepmother has evaporated over the
years. The poet himself cannot pinpoint a time when he
ceased to believe: "Mi convencimiento de que el cristianismo
o cualesquiera religiones no son sino hermosas historias
sin validez cientifica alguna, no fue cosa de un instante,
27
sino un proceso de medio siglo." Several times m his
letters the poet has denied that he was a mystical poet in
his early years: "El supuesto misticismo franciscano que me
atribuyen, es una de tantas opiniones inconsultas que los
criticos suelen expresar. Esa ficcion mistica no tiene
25
"El ultimo libro de German Pardo Garcia," rev. of
Presencia, Universidad de Antiocruia, 8 (1939), 595.
26
"German Pardo Garcia o el poeta de la desola-
cion," Revista Iberoamericana, 9 (Feb. 1945), 35.
27
Correspondence, Dec. 31, 1971.
19
28
en mi sentido religioso o telogico [sic] alguno." Nearly
two years later he declared that "lo que haya referente a
cualquiera doctrina, especialmente cristiana, en mis libros
Los iubilos ilesos y Los Ccinticos, no es sino una refrac-
29
ci6n de sus hermosas liturgias."
What, then, is the nature of this poetry? It is
true that the poet has used a variety of techniques to give
these works the appearance of mysticism, and the experi
ences which he relates can be accommodated to the schemes
of mysticism which have been devised by the mystical
writers. Yet, nevertheless, the mysticism of this poetry
cannot be considered a Christian mysticism. As Arango
Ferrer pointed out, the name of God never appears in these
30
books. There are not even indirect references to God
which could not equally as well be taken to refer to nature
28
Correspondence, Jan. 24, 1970.
29
Correspondence, Dec. 31, 1971.
30
"German Pardo Garcia o el poeta de la desola-
cion," p. 35. The only exception to this statement is the
poem "A las voces de los muertos," in which the poet uses
the name of Christ in an image to compare the voices of the
dead to a "derrumbamiento de campanas ... en las ciudades
dicifanas de Cristo." This metaphoric use does not refer to
Christ or to God, but rather to a traditional image of the
residence of the spirits of the dead.
20
or to some unnamed woman.
Besides the fact that God's name is absent, some of
the ideas expressed in this poetry are not compatible with
Christian theology and mysticism. In almost all of these
poems, for example, there is a strong emphasis on the en
joyment of life:
Cumbre de la alegria y primavera
del corazon, que asi, no mas, quisiera
sentir la luz de la pasion ungida
sobre sus hondos jubilos impresa,
y retornar, en su unidad ilesa,
0*1
al gozo del amor y de la vida.
Christian mysticism, on the other hand, "is in no way con
cerned with adding to, exploring, re-arranging, or improv-
32
ing anything in the visible universe. " Furthermore, the
soul of the Christian cannot be alone, because it always
has the companionship of Christ. Nevertheless, Canticos
includes the statement "que estci mi alma sola hasta la
muerte" ("Agua de soledad"). Neither does the concept of
death in this poetry concur with the Christian view:
31
Canticos, "Perfeccion de la alegrxa," n.p.
32
Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism: A Study in the
Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness,
12th ed. (19307 rpt. New York: Meridian Books, 1957)
p. 8.
21
Serein los gozos fieles
y las virtudes, vida.
La luz sera fervor.
La sangre, claridad.
Morir un dulce transito. ^3
Sumirse en una pdlida quietud.
This pale quiet does not seem to bear any resemblance to
Heaven. Rather it seems to be an escape from the bothers
of life. One would expect that a Christian mystic would
look upon death as the final union and therefore represent
it with more positive and joyful images than "una palida
quietud."
If this mysticism cannot be considered Christian,
there is much evidence to support the contention that it is
an expression of mystic pantheism. The countryside is the
location to which many of these poems refer and is the
stimulus that inspires the emotions of other poems. This
is most obvious in Jubilos where six poems have titles
which refer directly to nature, and where there are other
poems in which nature plays an important role in the de-
34
velopment of the poet's ideas. In Canticos and Sonetos,
33
Canticos, "Los lirios de la pasion," n.p.
"Al viento del mediodia," "Gloria de estio," "A
las nubes del otoho," "A la dulzura de otofto," "Alba final,"
and "Aire divino." Jubilos gives different impressions
22
the importance of nature is less immediately obvious, as
they are more symbolic and abstract works. Both of them
focus on the analysis of a series of psychological experi
ences, almost completely eliminating the anecdotal explana
tion of their cause. It is this distillation of the
content which has led the critics to offer such contra
dictory interpretations of these two books.
In spite of this separation of the effects from
their causes, there are sufficient indications in Cdnticos
to demonstrate that the experiences related there are pan
theistic in nature. For example, in the third poem of the
book, the poet attributes his spiritual levity to the
influence of the wind:
Por tx, aire de junio, soy tan leve
como las nubes que tu paso mueve.
Tta me difundes en la claridad
y me dejas el alma desasida,
to the reader, depending upon which edition he reads. The
text which appears in the anthology 30 ahos (1961) omits
half of the poems contained in the original edition of
1933. A comparison of the omitted poems with those which
were included in the anthology indicates that the poet
wanted to augment the appearance of Christian mysticism in
the book by eliminating those poems which have the most
pronounced pantheistic aspects. I believe that had
Dr. Arenas used the original edition rather than the an
thology, she could not have said, as she did, that "en Los
jubilos ilesos y Los canticos el joven poeta siente los
efectos del amor divino" (p. 11).
23
flotando entre las glorias de la vida
y los asombros de la eternidad.
( "A1 viento de junio")
Some poems take place in the night, under the stars:
Flavos iris de luz dan a lo inmenso
de la noche estelar, pasmo profundo.
El corazon descansa, y como el mundo,
sobre la soledad estd suspenso.^
"A la verdad divina" suggests in its initial lines that the
happiness of which it sings is pantheistic, when it refers
to a universal joy:
Mi casa llena estci de la alegria
universal, y el corazon alerta
a todo lo que pasa por la puerta.
In "Los lirios de la pasion" the poet refers to a universal
love, and in another poem he seeks unity in the heavens:
He de tornar al Ser subitamente,
como estrella un instante separada
de su constelacion, y limpiamente
a su orbita de luz incorporada.
Todas las noches salgo ansiosamente
por ver si le descubro la mirada.
("A la presencia del Ser")
There is no reason to believe that this Being is any dif
ferent from the universal spirit of Jubilos.
Los sonetos del convite is a short cycle of son
nets which relates an affair between love and life in an
QC
"Esplendor de soledad." See also: "DicLlogo en la
soledad" and "A la presencia del Ser. "
24
36
apparent allegory whose real plane is not identified.
The six sonnets in this little book relate the various
stages in the allegorical affair, from the first meeting to
the ultimate disillusionment and resignation. In the first
poem ("El hallazgo"), the two protagonists are presented by
the narrator:
Yo soy la vida y dan mis espaciosas
ventanas a la luz del mediodia,
y tu el amor, tranquilo en su osadxa,
sombrxo en sus verdades luminosas.
(30 afios, p. 65)
It also relates their first meeting:
Lleno de amor salx a mis lotananzas
por ver si al fin venxas. Y alabanzas
dije, al hallar tu mano entre la mia.
The second sonnet ("La morada"), relates the effects of the
presence of Love upon the narrator ("la vida"), his house,
and nature. With the skillful use of a recollection of
elements from the first sonnet, the poet begins to effect
a tentative fusion of the two protagonists:
36
This book consists of six hendecasyllabic son
nets, according to Pardo Garcia (see correspondence,
Jan. 24, 1970, in Appendix A) . I have not been able to
locate the original edition in the United States, and
therefore use the text in 30 aftos (all six sonnets are in
cluded there, as well as in two other anthologies: Selec-
cion de sus poemas, published in 1939, and Antolocrxa
poetica, published in 1944).
25
Y tu, el amor, estabas en el seno
de aquella luz cuyo fulgor sereno
ungia las ventanas espaciosas.
Tu, el amor, en la casa convertida
por el amor, en ara de la vida,
eterna en sus verdades luminosas.
(p. 66)
In "El hallazgo" it was Love which was characterized by
"verdades luminosas," but now this trait has been given
also to Life. In the third poem of the series ("El con-
vite"), the union of the two is presented as a ceremonial
banquet:
Toma de este manjar y que este vino
sea en el dulce vaso diamantino
la primera sehal de nuestra alianza.
(p. 67)
The product of the union is an eternal hope:
Yo soy la vida y tu el amor. Y el fruto
del encarnado amor, en el minuto
cuajo la eternidad de su esperanza.
(p. 67)
But this hope is a hollow one, more presumed than
realized. Life recalls, in the fourth sonnet, the exchange
which took place:
Te ungi de gloria y te mostre mi cielo.
Mas tu vertiste en mi profundo anhelo
el vino cruel de tu palabra inerte.
Y tu palabra huyo por mi destino
como el aire glacial por un camino
que se angustio de sombras y de muerte.
(pp. 67-68)
26
Now the banquet table is abandoned and the joy of "La
morada" is gone:
En las copas el agua es un memento
y en la casa la voz un alarido.
(p. 67)
The union has been forgotten by everyone but Life:
Nadie dira que en esta misma mesa
fue servido el convite apasionado;
Nadie sabra que espero lo esperado
por la senda que a nadie me regresa.
(p. 68)
In this, the fifth sonnet ("El olvido"), Life has not given
up all hope, but yet he realizes that things are not as
they were, or rather as they seemed to be:
Yo fui la vida y fui la idolatria.
Y tu el amor, tranquilo en su osadxa,
terrible en sus verdades luminosas.
Tu el amor. Yo la vida solitaria
que hoy se abre una dicha imaginaria
y cierra sus ventanas espaciosas.
(p. 68)
Whereas Love was characterized initially as being somber in
its luminous truths, now Love is seen to have been terrible.
Life is now determined to isolate himself from Love, closing
the windows that lead to the path of Love. In this poem,
even more than in the others, the poet characterizes Life
as one who incorrigibly continues to hope, even though
he knows that his hope is imaginary ( "se abre una dicha
27
imaginaria") .
Life's suffering continues in the final sonnet
i("La lejania"), but it is tempered by an attitude of resig-
i
i
nation which has produced a degree of peace. Life describes
his absent Love:
... Tu ser es semejante
a un jardin clausurado que visita
por las tardes el anima infinita.
(p. 68)
In the rest of the sonnet this image is developed, as Life
describes the garden against the background of the approach
ing sunset. The garden is both a place which the soul
haunts "como una pena abscondita y maldita, enclavada en
la sombra sollozante," and a setting in which the heart can
begin to forget its bitterness and find peace:
Se ahonda en la tiniebla el alarido
y la amargura fluye hacia el olvido,
sobre la paz del corazon inmenso.
(p. 69)
Nowhere in these six sonnets is there a real clue
for the interpretation of the book. The cycle revolves
around the narrator, who is identified as Life ("la vida"),
and the content of the six poems depicts the protagonist's
reactions to his encounter with Love. The poet provides
no details which might suggest the nature of the reality
upon which the book is based. Consequently, various
28
interpretations of the book are possible and have been
offered.
One critic, convinced of the religious nature of
Jubilos and Canticos, asserted that Pardo Garcia "cantaba
37
la uni6n mistica en Los sonetos del convite." This pos
sibility is incompatible with what has already been shown
in previous pages. A second possibility, which cannot be
ruled out on the basis of any known evidence, is the inter
pretation offered by Arenas, that "Los sonetos del convite
parecen seguir la trayectoria de un amor humano" (p. 16).
Indeed, this would appear to be the most logical explana
tion, based upon the text of the sonnets. A third inter
pretation is possible, however, if external evidence is
considered as well. This interpretation is that Sonetos
is a condensed description of the development of the moods
which were presented in Jubilos and Canticos, and which
have already been shown to be pantheistic in nature. Only
the first three sonnets ("El hallazgo," "La morada," and
"El convite") follow the route of those books; the last
three poems of Sonetos carry those moods in a new direction,
37
R. J. A. (review of Las voces naturales), Revista
de las Indias, No. 80 (1945), p. 317.
29
that of disillusionment. It is precisely this fact which
lends credence to the pantheistic interpretation being
offered here, since the two books which follow Sonetos do
indeed portray a mood of bitter disillusionment and then
resignation, similar to the process depicted in the last
three sonnets in the cycle of 1935.
Poderios (1937), the book which follows the Sonetos,
is not a work of joy, but rather one of anguish. All of
the poet's hopes seem to have been frustrated, and now his
vision is expressed in a vocabulary that is very different
from that of his previous books. The poet reveals a new
ritual:
Llamas de angustia en el altar desierto,
iluminando el estertor del rito;
en la palabra un ambito de grito,
y un libro cruel en mi interior abierto.
Leo en mi propio corazon y advierto
firmes en el, estigmas de infinito.
Palpo su arteria y hdllolo precito
y atormentado y al temor despier to.
("El rito," n.p.)
In "El presagio" the poet reveals that he is conscious of
the change that has taken place in his spirit:
En que desolaciones he caido,
yo, que soy luz de espacio y de esperanza.
Como la sombra hasta mi fuerza alcanza.
Que pecho mas salobre y contenido.
30
Poderxos is followed by Presencia (1938) . Its tone
is the same as that of Poderxos, although in some poems
there are traces of hope, which was completely missing in
Poderxos. For the present discussion, the most important
part of Presencia is the final group of four sonnets, which
treat of the presence of autumn, and which as a group are
parallel to Los sonetos del convite. The only difference
is that the poet sang of the coming and going of love in
1935, while in these sonnets of 1938 he sings of the pres
ence and absence of autumn. To "El hallazgo," "La morada,"
and "El convite" of 1935 corresponds "Otofto vida," in which
the autumn purifies the air and sweetens past bitterness:
... Universal ternura
se vierte como un anfora escondida,
y tu a dorar las claridades vienes,
y a convertir la voz de la amargura
en una rosa palida de vida.
(Presencia, p. 112)
Love had served nearly the same function in "La morada" in
Sonetos:
Y tu, el amor, estabas en el seno
de aquella luz cuyo fulgor sereno
ungxa las ventanas espaciosas.
T6, el amor, en la casa convertida
por el amor, en ara de la vida,
eterna en sus verdades luminosas.
"Otofto vida" is followed by "Otofto espacio," which
31
corresponds to "S61o un memento" and "El olvido" of Sonetos.
The poem presents a hypothetical presence of autumn:
Si la sangre a los dmibitos fluyera
por sus cauces de oculta idolatria,
otono espacio la difundiria,
hasta mostrarla absorta y verdadera.
(p. 115)
It also presents a hypothetical absence of autumn/ along
with the spiritual desolation which this absence would
produce:
Y el dulce otono hacia el celeste olvido#
subiria en los tr&nsitos del viento
que pasa por las cimas espaciosas;
y el hondo corazon ensombrecido,
quedarxa como un rubi sediento#
sepulto en la amargura de las cosas.
(p. 116)
"Otono ausencia" of Presencia more or less corre-
sponds to "El olvido" of 1935, and traces the consequences
of autumn's absence:
Silencio humano en la palabra, trunca
como una flor; y asombros en la frente,
desolada en la paz de su conciencia
pues la dicha que no vivimos nunca,
se habra perdido irremediablemente,
en las consternaciones de la ausencia.
(p. 120)
Notice that he says "la dicha que no vivimos nunca. " He
suffers the maximum disillusionment of believing that his
joy not only was something transitory, but also was illu
sory. This recalls the lines of Sonetos: "Yo la vida
32
solitaria que hoy se abre una dicha imaginaria y cierra sus
38
ventanas espaciosas. " In one poem of Poderios Pardo
Garcia had approached this same position when he wrote
about his blessing:
Mirad mi dicha sordida. Por un instante,
os digo,
compartid este gozo que en mi ser eterniza
la negacion de un cielo cuya abismal ceniza
desciende sobre mi, cual plumbago castigo.
Venid a mis victorias a coronar conmigo
los desolados tumulos de un amor que agoniza,
y ved como al asombro de atmdsfera caliza,
prosterna su abundancia mi corazon mendigo.
("La dicha cruel," n.p.)
The final poem of the group, and the last one of Presencia,
is "Otono lejania. " In it the poet seems resigned to being
permanently abandoned by the autumn that had brought his
jubilation:
El otoho sera la lejania.
Lo que jam^s al corazon regresa.
Lo que tuvo por un instante, impresa
la seftal que en los jubilos ardia.
Volverlo a aprisionar, jquien lo podria.'
Las penumbras invaden su certeza,
y otofio flota en languidez, sin esa
majestad de su tr&gica alegria.
(p. 123)
The correspondence between this poem and "La lejania, "
the final poem of Sonetos is significant. In both poems
38"E1 olvido," 30 afios, p. 68.
33
the poet misses the force that had brought his joy and
which is now gone forever. In both cases all that remains
is a memory.
On the basis of this comparative analysis, it
appears that the nature of Poderios and Presencia, the fact
that Sonetos was published after CcLnticos and the parallel
ism between Sonetos and the final poems of Presencia,
provide strong support for the interpretation that the
sonnets of 1935 constitute a concise review of the waxing
and waning of the poet's mood, beginning with the rejoicing
of Jubilos and ending with the disillusionment that is
later concentrated and mixed with bitterness in Poderios
and Presencia, after the poet had had more time to reflect
upon his loss. It is also possible, of course, to accept
the interpretation offered by Arenas, that Sonetos is a
history of a human love. In such a case, this book would
constitute one of the rare manifestations of the theme of
human love in Pardo Garcia's poetry. In any event, there
is no justification by either internal or external evidence
for the position that the book is an expression of a love
for God, or of a Christian mysticism.
It therefore seems safe to affirm, on the basis
of the examination contained in the preceding pages, that
34
Pardo Garcia's mysticism is not Christian, but rather pan
theistic, in spite of his many efforts to give a Christian
appearance to his three mystical books. This mysticism is
thus only a further manifestation of his pantheism, and
should be considered a unique facet of his mystical pan-
39
theism. The theme of divine love thus does not exist m
Pardo Garcia's poetry, except in a pantheistic sense. This
finding is partially consonant with Arenas' conclusion that
the poet does not believe in God as a source of salvation,
40
but only as a creator. In addition to resolving the
doubts of previous critics, this conclusion also clarifies
the chronological development of Pardo Garcia's poetry, as
it eliminates much of the thematic and tonal discontinuity
that have always appeared to separate his works of the
thirties and early forties into completely disjointed
periods of from one to three books each.
This mystical pantheism, the need for spiritual
clarity which it reflects, and the sequence of moods that
I have just outlined, are natural products of the poet's
39
See the discussion of pantheism and mystical
pantheism in Chapter II.
Arenas, p. 48.
turning inward. This introversion does not appear to have
begun in Mexico/ since it was manifested in his poetry
published in Colombia several years prior to his departure
for Mexico. Several poems of Voluntad indicate an in
creased preoccupation with his own spirit and its destiny.
The first is "La inquietud," in the section "Horizonte/"
which bears the date of 1924:
La primera inquietud
hiere mi. pensamiento.
La primera inquietud
estremece mi espiritu como un golpe
de viento.
Tti, que miras mis ojos
y que buscas mis manos,
me dices que hay un nuevo mirar
en mis ojos
Un mirar a otros mundos/ jarcanos.'
(p. 51)
Here/ at age 22, the poet is already revealing the con
sciousness of death which will become so important when he
approaches 40. The poem "Signos" in the same section of
the book also ends on a morbid note: "habrcin de ver que
nublanse mis ojos y que mis manos hacen un signo funeral.' "
(p. 59). The poet indicates in "Transicion" an intention
to pursue his self examination:
Ya es hora de empezar a restarme los ahos
y a sumar en los dedos, lentamente,
y uno por uno los desengahos.
36
Profunda aritmetica
que turba mi alegria
y le cambia de rumbo a mi estetica.
(p. 63)
The development of this early concern for death,
and of the mild sense of desolation which is occasionally
evident in Voluntad, into a mood which is at times hopeful
and at others even euphoric, is not documented in Pardo
Garcia's known poetry. It seems probable that the self
evaluation which is reflected in the fragments which I have
just quoted from Voluntad, led to a desire for a sense of
purpose and identity and that this desire found propitious
circumstances in the poet's early years in Mexico.
Nature
From Presencia (1939) to Sacrificio (1943), Pardo
Garcia's poetry showed a clear trend toward the greater and
greater integration of nature into the world of the poet.
Andr&s Holguin wrote of Presencia that "Ahora el poeta, ya
desnuda el alma y transida la carne, se acerca a la pura y
tremula maravilla de la naturaleza. Pero observese que
todavia existen dos fuerzas, dos energias opuestas: el
poeta y la naturaleza, el creador— quien descubre, crea—
y la creacion. Sin embargo, hay alii un principio de
37
aproximacion a la tierra. Tierra y poesia quedarin enla-
41
zadas desde entonces." In Sacrificio the duality man:
nature is "broken, and man is from that point on an integral
part of nature (p. 172) .
It would be wrong to assume, on the basis of Hol
guin's statement, that prior to Presencia nature was absent
from Pardo Garcia's poetry. Indeed, I have already estab
lished above that nature played a critical role in his
poetry of the years 1933 to 1935. Its role in Voluntad,
however, was minimal, perhaps due to the young poet's
desire to avoid certain of the more stylized features of
the poetry of the nineteenth century.
During most of Pardo Garcia's career, nature has
42
seldom appeared in a major thematic role. During the
period prior to 1943, nature was used thematically only as
43
a reflection of the poet's mood or state of mind. Thus
in Jfibilos where the poet's spirit is calm, nature is pic
tured in terms of serenity, as in this fragment from
^"La obra poetica de German Pardo Garcia, "p. 171.
42
See Chapter II, however, for a discussion of the
important role that nature plays as a source of Pardo
Garcia's images.
43
See: Arenas, pp. 19-23.
38
"A las nubes del otono":
Nubes de otofto, nubes del otono.
Celestes nubes de apacibles oros,
sostenidas sobre los altos hombros
de la tierra que sazon6 sus dcidivas.
(n.p.)
In this book, as in Canticos, it is possible to consider
that nature is not only used as a reflection of the poet's
mood or state of mind, but that she is even one of its
causes (See my discussion of these books, pp. 17-24,
above.)
This same function can be seen later on, in
Poderios, where Pardo Garcia published three sonnets whose
theme is nature: "Los p&ramos," "El pantano," and "Los ris-
cos." For Andres Holguin, the inclusion of these poems was
44
an error on the part of the poet. Nevertheless, when the
tone of these poems is compared with that of the rest of
the book, it appears obvious that the critic's judgment,
rather than that of the poet, is faulty. Poderios is a
book of anguish, the cry of a lost and helpless soul in a
bleak world which seems all the more barren and dark be
cause of the contrasting optimism of the preceding books.
44
"La obra poetica de German Pardo Garcia,"p. 170.
39
In the three sonnets in question, nature appears as a per
fect reflection of this mood. In "Los paramos, " for
example, the poet used the following epithets: desoladas,
oscuros, triste, estancadas, infecundas, castiqadas, hela-
das, tenaz, aterido, mustio, and yerto. The verbs and
nouns of the poem follow the same lines, and in conjunction
with the epithets help to create an air of desolation. An
identical result is obtained by examining the other two
sonnets.
The thematic role of nature as a reflector of Pardo
Garcia's frame of mind continues throughout his career. In
addition, beginning with the approximation of nature and
man in Presencia, nature as such appears from time to time
as the theme of a poem, rather than as a symbol or reflec
tion of something else. Mary Arenas demonstrates three
manifestations of nature as a theme: the nearness of the
earth (in Claro abismo of 1940 and Hay piedras como ldgri-
45
mas of 1957), the beauty and goodness of the earth (in
Claro abismo, Sacrificio, Las voces naturales of 1945, and
46
Los anqeles de vidrio of 1962) , and the world of the
45
Arenas, pp. 18-19.
46
Arenas, pp. 23-28.
40
^ 47
senses (in Los suefios corporeos of 1948) . It should be
noted that only as a reflector of moods does nature have a
consistent and persistent thematic role in Pardo Garcia's
entire work, and even then, her place is usually a rela
tively minor one.
Nature's importance as a part of Pardo Garcia1s
poetic world is due to the poet's preocupation with finding
48
his place in the Cosmos. His search, which Arenas
rightly, but perhaps redundantly, identifies as the unify
ing principal of Pardo Garcia's poetry, led him to nature,
first as an ally in the effort to "know" the Cosmos, and
47
Arenas, pp. 28-29.
48 ^
Arenas also has identified Pardo Garcia's inquiry
into the nature of life as one of his themes (pp. 47-50).
She defines this theme as the poet's search for the origin
of life in a general sense, and of his own life or spirit
in a specific sense. The examples which she cites are from
the books Sacrificio (1943), Los suenos corporeos (1947),
Lucero sin orillas (1952), and Eternidad del ruisehor
(1956). Throughout the poet's career, however, he has been
inquiring into the nature of life in one way or another.
In reality the only difference between this theme, as
Arenas has defined it, and many manifestations of such
themes as the exploration of space and the presence of
nature, is the circumstance in which they occur, since he
seeks to find an answer to the mystery of life both within
himself and outside of himself in nature and the cosmos.
Perhaps it would have been more exact for Arenas to have
offered this area as a major group into which many of Pardo
Garcia's themes fall, rather than as a specific theme.
41
later as the only tangible and cognizable manifestation of
that same Cosmos. His inclination to turn to nature as a
basis of his identity may be safely attributed to the rural
environment in which he matured, as well as to his own
psychological isolation which was produced in part by that
same environment.
Social Consciousness
It would be interesting to speculate about what
direction Pardo Garcia's poetry would have taken without
the influence of World War II. His use of nature as a
primary theme appeared to be on the increase in the three
books published from 1943 to 1947. However, they were fol
lowed in 1949 by Poemas contemporcineos, which was precipi
tated by his reflections upon the war, and which gave an
apparently new direction to his poetry. This book clearly
established Pardo Garcia as a social poet. In it he
unequivocably declared himself a champion of humanity.
The contrast with the egocentrism of his previous
books made Poemas contemporaneos appear from a thematic
point of view to be a completely new poetry for this man.
And yet the careful reader could find antecedents in his
previous works. Voluntad, for example, with its poetry
42
of rebellion and individual will, contained two poems with
a social theme. In "La cancion del pan" the poet sings of
the bread which sustains the poor:
Pan nuestro
de cada jornada, de todo momento.
Pan nuestro, formado
de un trigo cruento, sembrado
en surcos de pena y rencor.
Pan nuestro que moja el dolor,
pan nuestro con sangre amasado.
Yo te he visto, lejos de la alegria,
caer entre las bocas lividas
de los hombres que nunca h&n el ruego
ni en los ojos el rastro que deja
la suplica.
Pan nuestro, comido ante el fuego
del tugurio, en las noches sin fin,
en que azota, cual latigo, el viento.
(p. 69)
In the poem which followed this one, Pardo Garcia pro
claimed himself a poet of the poor:
Yo soy vuestro poeta,
manos esclavizadas.
Yo soy vuestro poeta,
oh plantas desgarradas
bajo el Dolor que azota
los Destinos.
(p. 73)
These poems from Voluntad have been overlooked by the
critics. Arenas, however, has pointed out another possible
antecedent of Pardo Garcia1s social poetry in Las voces
43
naturales, in the poem "Bob Maimes, mozo de mar" (pp. 95-
49
98). Although not precisely following a social theme, in
the-sense of a concern for a large group of humanity,
nevertheless in this poem Pardo Garcia took the unusual
step of probing into the essence of another human being.
This poem could thus be taken as a reminder of the poet's
latent interest in mankind.
Beginning with Poemas contempor^neos, the theme of
social consciousness pursues three diverse courses in Pardo
Garcia's poetry. One is the compound theme of the destruc
tion and suffering caused by war, especially by nuclear
war. Arenas, who has examined this theme in some detail
(pp. 65-75), observes that Pardo Garcia is not interested
in condemning or judging anyone, that his only interest is
a profound compassion for humanity, of which he is a part
(p. 75). Thus, in Poemas contempordneos he condemns both
the bombing of Hiroshima by the United States and the
German razing of the Czech village of Lidice. His own
suffering has undoubtedly made him more sensitive to that
of others.
49
Arenas, p. 65.
44
There is an interesting connection between this
theme of the social effects of war and the theme of nature.
Several times in his poetry, Pardo Garcia injects as a
secondary theme a concern for man's aggression against
nature. In "Una rosa padece" a lonely rose outside of the
barbed wire fence of a concentration camp suffers from the
50
oppression of the war. Another example from the same
book is "Atbmica flor," which was the poet's first cry of
protest against the atomic bomb. In his boredom, reports
the poem, man gave himself a terrible mandate:
Crear una flor de tal modo extranjera
en el bosque y el llano, la vereda
y el rio,
que al sentirla crecer todo quedari
inmovil;
estrangulados los pulmones verdes
por donde el tierno vegetal respira;
cegados los origenes del agua;
extenuada la sed;
el arbol paralitico,
y una desolacion desconocida
lloviendo sobre todo lo creado.
(p. 44)
A second course which his social poetry has taken,
is that of taking a position in defense of a given social
group. This tendency can be seen already in "Por los
50
Poemas contempordneos, pp. 11-13.
45
humildes, " where the poet proclaims his poetic advocacy of
51
the peasant. Again in "Compaheros agrlcolas" of 1954,
he champions the peasant, and in several sonnets of Hay
piedras como lctgrimas he focuses on the humble tiller of
52
the soil. Another aspect of this direction is his con
cern for the destitute Indians of Mexico in "Imitacion de
53
la vida. " In the concluding stanzas of this poem, Pardo
Garcia recalls the environment of his youth and establishes
a link between his own experiences and those of the Indians
of the Mezquital:
Yo, un habitante de inertes pdramos
con mis diluvios acci llegue,
y con las brumas que no olvidaramos
cuando los Andes abandone.
Y ahora pago con mi moneda
menos opaca, lo que de aqui
yo soy sonando y aqui se queda,
como las tumbas del otomi.
Y hago este canto desguarnecido
que un duelo imita y escombros es,
al mexicano que asi ha vivido
con llamaradas bajo los pies.
^ Voluntad, pp. 73-74.
52
U.Z. llama al espacio (1954), pp. 65-72; Hay
piedras como lagrimas (1957), pp. 139-140, 167-168.
53
Centauro al sol (1959), pp. 47-59.
46
Y este es un canto de madrigueras
que el viento cubre de polvo y sal,
y el miserere de las hueseras
y de los indios del Mezquital.
(p. 59)
A similar relationship between the experiences of
a social group and his own experiences has led Pardo Garcia
to proclaim himself the defender of the factory worker.
First, in "Resurreccion de Prometeo" the reincarnated Titan
reports that he may be found in the factories:
Buscadme entre las grandes multitudes.
En el dolor de las naciones
y en la agonia de las razas.
... Una vara de hierro me confiere,
con su brillo de cetro proletario,
dinastxa dinamica en el mundo ^4
y fuerza ante la angustia de los hombres.
The next year, in two poems of Eternidad del ruisehor
(1956), Pardo Garcia clearly reveals his inclination to
identify with the worker, with the workers who, like him,
have struggled for their existence in the mines and fac-
55
tories of the continent. In "Obreros trabajando" Pardo
Garcia likens the world to a factory, and his poetic labor
54
U.Z., p. 99.
55
Pardo Garcia has not only worked in mines and
factories, but has also had many other kinds of employment,
some of which are reflected in his poetry. See: corre
spondence, Dec. 26, 1969? and Arenas, p. 6.
47
to that of a factory worker:
Trabajo en esta fabrica. Soy un obrero
silencioso.
Trabajo como vosotros, companeros mas amados
que nunca
por mi corazon comun, igual al de un hombre
cualquiera
Os amo, companeros, y soy uno de vosotros.
No importa si mi labor es de nubes, de
crecientes abismos.
(pp. 30-31)
In his long "Canto a la fuerza sindical" he again estab
lishes his own identity as a worker, perhaps in an effort
to make more concrete his identification with the rest of
humanity.
This theme of social and racial solidarity gener
ally appears when the theme of the suffering of war is
absent, so that the two themes may be considered to be two
facets of the same concern. Although social solidarity is
a theme of the mid-fifties, when war is absent from his
work, it disappears in the latter part of that decade, when
the poet's concern for war resurfaces. The theme of social
solidarity does not reoccur until Apolo Thermidor, when
again the theme of war as such is absent.
56
Eternidad, pp. 63-81.
48
The third type of social theme is a general concern
for the nature of modern civilization and its effects upon
man. There may he a trace of this in the poem "Un hombre
se ha extraviado," in which the poet searches for a lost
57
soul against a repulsive urban background. A decade
later Pardo Garcia is more explicit in his rejection of the
modern city in "Evasion":
Huyamos, absoluta compahera,
lejos de la ciudad atormentada.
Y al retornar a la ciudad que tiene
bruscos cerrojos y brutales gemas,
nos encuentren los hombres coronados
por armoniosa claridad de vida,
como si apareciera la esperanza ^g
en un sitio de horror aspero y solo.
Here and there in the poetry of the years following Poemas
contemporaneos the theme of the oppressiveness of modern
civilization recurs. This theme is one of the focal points
for Pardo Garcia's space poetry, as he attempts to draw a
balance between the idea that the exploration of space is
an enriching activity for mankind, and the idea that such
^7Poderios, n.p.
58 -
Poemas contemporaneos, p. 21.
49
exploration is really no more than a process of self
enslavement in which man relinquishes an ever-increasing
portion of the positive values of life in exchange for a
small degree of control of the universe.
Nowhere is this concern for man's destiny in a
technological age more apparent than in the futuristic poem
"El Tercer Hombre, " of Apolo Thermidor. In this poem Pardo
Garcia predicts a new kind of man for the twenty-first
century. This man will be an offspring of Albert Einstein,
who is present throughout the poem:
jOh Tercer Hombre que al unibral de un siglo
que nos dar& Conocimiento, llegasj
;En el cerebro de Einstein encarnado,
el es el inductor de tu heroismo.'
jDe sus centros nerviosos a tx fluyen
las hipotesis grandes, como ascienden
de la raiz al endocarpio savias.'
(p. 161)
The Third Man will be the final product of the mental and
physical evolution which the poet summarizes at the begin
ning of the poem. He will be able to communicate with the
divine universal spirit whose existence has been unrecog
nized by the second incarnation of man:
jMas allci de esa niebla originaria,
Alcruien padece por manifestarse
y signos telepciticos envxaj
jUna Fuerza inorg^nica, una Mente
sin principio, unos brazos sin origen.'
(p. 165)
50
Although he will be able to travel to places still
unknown to us, and although his mental, physical, and
spiritual capabilities will be extraordinary, something
about the Third Man worries the poet:
jY sentimos temor, que no es el miedo
de todas las criaturas a la Muerte,
sino el escalofrio que producen,
al rozar nuestras celulas cutineas,
las hondas de un Temblor Desconocido.'
(p. 167)
The poet analyzes this fear and finds himself concerned
about the identity of this new being, built with organs
transplanted from other beings. Pardo Garcia seems to con
sider the transplant of organs to be a fraud against life:
dSer&s eso tan solo, una penumbra
que asume faz y complexion humana?
cUna sombra evadiendose del globo
herida por sus vertigos de angustia?
£Un necrangelo que hurta a los cadaveres
sus organos y en el resurrecta?
£Un robot con la vida de los muertos,
porque los muertos generaron vida?
(p. 168)
In the final verse of the poem he synthesizes his
meditations on the future of man. After twenty years of
thinking and writing about the conquest of the universe,
the poet has not been able to decide either in favor of the
enterprise or against it. His latest position as expressed
in "El Tercer Hombre" is indecision: "jFantasma o heroe,
51
te proclamo/ oh monstruo de eterea sien y corazon postizo.' "
(pp. 168-169). Although he recognizes the decadence of
present-day man, nevertheless he seems to feel that the
salvation of the human race through the fulfillment of its
dreams of universal conquest has too high a price in the
loss of individual identity that it will involve.
The poem "El Tercer Hombre, " like Pardo Garcia's
space poetry, stands as a monument to his efforts to bridge
the artificial gap between the creations of the scientists
and engineers and those of the artist. In the words of
Leopoldo de Luis, "la poesia encuentra aqui una tem^tica
nueva, valientemente aliada a la ciencia, cuyos elementos
se manejan en dificil y original simbiosis: lo cientifico
da impulso, realidad y problema a la poesia y esta insufla
59
humana trascendencia a lo friamente tecnico."
The Exploration of Space
Basic to nearly all of Pardo Garcia's poetry is an
attitude of rebellion and a need to define himself as a
central part of the universe. Arenas has discussed this
attitude as a reflection of the poet's consciousness of
59"Ciencia y poesia en la obra de German Pardo,"
La Estafeta Literaria, Nov. 1, 1969, p. 9.
52
death (p. 36). This consciousness and the rebelliousness
which results from it are also reflected in another theme
which emerged in the fifties: the theme of space explora-
60
tion. Arenas has examined it by grouping the poems
according to whether they treat of a figurative exploration
of the Cosmos, or of a physical conquest of space. It is
• *
useful, however, to establish a second scheme of categori
zation by identifying within the broad theme of space
exploration two specific themes: the heroic nature of the
effort to conquer space, and the spiritual consequences of
the same effort.
Although the exploration of space was not mentioned
in his poetry until 1954, the expansion of Pardo Garcia's
interest in the heavens during the previous decades laid a
groundwork for this new theme. It is important to empha
size that the theme of space travel did not emerge com
pletely unannounced, but rather was a natural consequence
of the fusion within Pardo Garcia of the rural man's
consciousness of the heavens and the urban man's awareness
of technology. Furthermore, Pardo Garcia's interest in
60
Arenas, pp. 52-53. Her discussion of his space
poetry appears in pp. 52-64 of her dissertation.
53
space was not a late development. Indeed, his first refer
ence to space flight occurred three years before the launch
ing of Sputnik I by the Russians, in U.Z. llama al espacio
(1954) . In one of the poems of this book Prometheus speaks
of his own figurative exploration of the universe: "Yo, el
mcis Hrido y tenaz explorador del Universo, estoy firme otra
61
vez sobre la Tierra." In another poem of the same book
Pardo Garcia seems to view the exploration of space, which
still had not become a reality, as a means by which man can
once again become great:
£Vais a recuperar la primitiva altura
del espiritu,
con vuestro salto atmosferico?
Si es asx, llevadme en vuestro carro que deja
relampagos de carburo detras de su partida
y dejadme compartir vuestro jubilo frenetico
el dia en que planteis
las banderas del hombre entre los astros.
(pp. 80-81)
Although his support for the space effort seems clear far
ther on in the poem, many of the things that he says
contradict the values he has expressed in his poetry both
before and after this book:
61U.Z., p. 87.
54
Vais a partir. Y si es preciso que subyugu&is
la vida y la muerte
para dar un impulso a vuestra cdlera,
esclavizad la Fortaleza;
destruid el espxritu de los debiles;
incendiad los baldlos ojos de los que lloran;
arrasad el albedrio de los mansos;
las lenguas que suplican
y el corazon de los que aman.
jSolo vuestro inplacable af&n de partir es
digno de la existencia
y de la muerte.' {Solo es grande partir.'
(pp. 82-83)
It is evident that this is an ironic conclusion, that he
actually feels dislike for these "new men," for he compares
them to satanic arch-angels (p. 77), calls them glaring
Anti-Christs (p. 80), and says that they have humbled the
ancient sea (p. 78) and that they have even reached the
point of destroying the symbols of fragility (p. 79).
When the Russian and American space programs began,
Pardo Garcia was ready to chronicle the events in his
poetry. Even before the epic conquest of the moon, he men
tioned several episodes. In "A Venus vesperal" he described
the evening star and warned her that
... la Tierra solitaria lucha
por entibiar tu aniquilante frio,
lanzando como r&faga al vacio, ^
sondas que nadie en el misterio escucha.
6 2
La Cruz del Sur (1960), p. 89.
55
This reference to the radar exploration of Venus was fol
lowed two years later by a reference to the probes which
crashed into the moon between 1959 and 1962:
Son ellos, los arc&ngeles lunarios,
los que estaban desnudos, solitarios,
fijos en su metcilica laguna,
pero que huyen si un ruido los aterra,
cada vez que un disparo de la Tierra
sacude las entranas de la Luna.®3
Again in 1965 he referred to these projectiles:
Vieja luna de esponja y celuloide.
Ayer te bombardeamos, jay, fue ayer.'
In these passages the poet does not reveal himself to be an
admirer of the space effort. Rather he seems to be con
cerned because man has invaded an alien domain, and has
thereby endangered the whole universe. His reaction to
reading of the impact of a rocket upon the moon is to ask
forgiveness of that body:
Lo dijo algun periodico y me duele
bajo la piel la caustica noticia.
Quisiera que lo olvides. jAy, fue ayer.'
Perdonanos. Perdoname. Yo mismo
no logro comprender estos ultrajes
con agujas de polvora y estano.
(Labios, p. 45)
63
Los cincreles de vidrio (1962), p. 72.
64
Labios nocturnos (1965), p. 45.
56
The advent of manned spaceflight led to some
changes in the attitudes expressed in his poetry, and in
the way the poet used space in his compositions. Beginning
with the publication in 1962 of the small book El cosmo
nauts, Pardo Garcia expanded his use of the topic of space
exploration to include the celebration of the heroism of
man and a continued speculation on the future of the human
race. Por him, the cosmonauts and astronauts were pacific
conquerors and civil heroes. As a troubadour, he wanted to
sing of their deeds, and he is proud to lay claim to being
the first Hispanic poet to publish a poem in honor of man's
arrival on the moon.^
In addition to many short references to the explora
tion of space, the poetry of Pardo Garcia includes four
major poems which are based on space-flight and its related
technology. The first was El cosmonauta (1962), which was
republished in 1964, in El defensor ("Cosmonauta,"
^Correspondence, Dec. 13, 1969. The two poems
which he says are the first in the Spanish language are
"Antistrofa a Apolo Lunario," which was published July 20,
1969 (the day of man's landing on the moon), in Revista
Mexicana de Cultura, and "Apoteosis," which was published
in the same magazine a few days later (exact date unknown).
Both poems were completed a few days before July 20, and
are included in revised form in Apolo Thermidor.
57
pp. 77-96). The other three poems are included in Apolo
Thermidor: "Antistrofa a Apolo Lunario" (pp. 89-93),
"Apoteosis" (pp. 97-103), and "CrepGsculo 2.000" (pp. 135-
137).
In spite of the title of "Cosmonauta," its repeated
spatial images, and its frequent references to astronaut
Glenn and cosmonaut Gagarin, the poem only uses the ex
ploration of space as a means of talking about man's rela
tionship to the earth. The cosmonaut of the poem is not
like those that we know, but rather a poet-cosmonaut who is
tired of the earth and seeks to conquer space:
No soy Gagarin, el intrepido,
ni el rudo Glenn intemporal.
Soy el poeta que se lanza
contra el Abismo, y mas alia.
(Defensor, pp. 77-78)
In the first section of the poem ("Cosmonauta al partir")
the poet-cosmonaut describes the offerings of the earth
which have not satisfied him. In the second part ("Cosmo
nauta en Saturno") he speaks from Saturn, where he has
discovered the oppressive loneliness of space. He recog
nizes the earth in the distance and repents of his rebel
liousness :
jAl horizonte estas, oh TierraJ
jOh madre mia que ultrajo
58
la rebeldia de mi espiritu
con su bestial insurrecci6n.'
Yo he estado ciego desde siglos.
No conocia el resplandor
de las llanuras y montaftas,
ni tu profunda vibracion,
ni tus reservas carboniferas
y tus veneros de aluvidn.
(pp. 94-95)
Basing the poem on the same worry as "Atomica
flor," i.e., the decadence of modern civilization and the
boredom of man, the poet has compared the heroic efforts of
Glenn and Gagarin to his own pantheistic search for mean
ing. Unlike his atomic poetry, this poem holds out a hope
for mankind: by abandoning his quest and returning to the
earth, he can again become what he used to be. The atti
tude here is the same as in "Los hombres nuevos" of 1954:
that man is better off returning to nature than conquering
the heavens.
Man's conquest of the moon temporarily appears to
have changed Pardo Garcia's opinion of space's role in
man's destiny. In the two poems composed on the occasion
of the first landing on the moon, he seems to think that
the exploration of space will change man. The narrator of
"Antistrofa ..." is urged by Apollo to leave behind his
wasted life:
59
|Tu, Apolo, incitcmdome
a abandonar la pesadumbre de la inercia
que at&vicamente
a las gravidas formas me liga.1
lExcitcindome con tu voz pulmonarmente
1 c salubre,
a subyugar las Enfermedades,
a salir de las fosas
donde las Ciegas Costumbres
y los Veniales Delitos,
como a un oxidado infusurio me asfixian.'
(Apolo, p. 91)
The deeds of the Apollo XI astronauts mark a dividing point
in the experiences of the human race. After that landing
of July 1969, man will no longer be the lowly creature that
he was before (p. 100). Now, sings the poet in "Apoteosis, "
Verdaderamente el hombre es grande, hermoso
y puro.
. .. proclamad con jubilo al Hombre-Aguila,
de garras de metal
y atlanticos sentidos .. .
(p. 97)
Even on the moon, man will retain his ties to the soil:
A la rapidez de la luz
iremos a vivir al hogar cenital inmediato.
Llevaremos nuestras pacificas herramientas,
entibiadas al humo del carbon transfundible.
y pronto en el Universo
va a aparecer un huesped agricola
de cabellos textiles:
el Hombre.
(pp. 1 0 2 -1 0 3 )
60
The importance of the earth to man is the theme of
another poem of Apolo Thermidor: "Crepiisculo 2.000." Here
the astronaut interrupts his reading of "los divinos pre-
socrSticos" (p. 135) first to gaze at his spaceship, and
then to remember the earth:
La frente inclino sobre la memoria
de los vivos y de los muertos
que alia deje. Pienso en mis padres
que adoraron
este prodigio de la Luna.
En los pacxficos seres
que adornaron la Tierra de jardines,
y tambien en los violentos
que la injurian hasta verla desangrada.
cComprenderemos algfin dia
que la Tierra es sosten, noble alimento,
y desde lejanxas contemplada
el mas deslumbrador de los zafiros?
(pp. 136-137)
This poem emphasizes the relationship of Pardo Garcia's
space poetry to the theme of nature and to the pantheistic
cosmology upon which the poet's entire creation is based.
Thus, not only is the theme of space exploration rooted in
the earlier works through the presence in them of the
heavens, but it is also laterally rooted in the central
concerns of the poet. In the end, man's struggle to con
quer space is no different from his effort to till the
soil:
61
y por cada victoria de Von Braun,
habrci siempre en el mundo un campesino
defendiendo el rigor de su parcela.
(Desnudez, p. 85)
Physical and Moral Corruption
During several periods of his career, Pardo Garcia
has shown an interest in physical corruption. In Sacri-
ficio (1943), and again in the books of 1954 to 1957
(U.Z. llama al espacio, Eternidad del ruisenor, and Hay
piedras como lacrrimas), his poetry aggressively and rebel-
66
liously explores the world of decaying bodies. According
to Arenas (p. 50), this theme arose initially as a result
of his feeling that he had been rejected by the realm of
light and clarity which he had felt himself a part of in
Jubilos and Canticos. In fact, this theme seems to be a
macabre extension of the preoccupation with death that was
harbingered in Voluntad and which emerged centerstage in
Poderios, where the poet professes a reaction of horror to
the death which seems so inevitable:
Leo en mi propio corazon y advierto
firmes en el, estigmas de infinito.
Palpo su arteria y h&llolo precito ^
y atormentado y al terror despierto.
^Arenas, pp. 50-52. 67"El rito," n.p.
62
In the group of poems isolated by Arenas, on the other
hand, the poet appears to have allied himself on the side
of death, although his attitude is somewhat defensive.
Unmentioned by Arenas is another group of poems in
which Pardo Garcia pursues a related theme: the tragedy of
men who are outcast from society because of their homo
sexuality:
Hay una soledad p&vida y triste.
Como a los condenados, un reflejo
de luna cadaverica la inviste,
y es la m^s grande soledad que existe:
la soledad del pederasta viejo.88
At times the narrator of Pardo Garcia's poems identifies
himself in this way, as when in "Pequefta biografia de un
hombre contemporaneo" the narrator describes himself as
... Un nadie. Un ser castrado.
La inmunda cabellera hasta la espalda.
Un infeliz androgino barbado.^
68
Apolo, p. 257. The poems which deal with homo
sexuality are, from La Cruz del Sur, "Esquema para un
paisaje" (pp. 45-47), "Clamor ante Edgar Poe" (pp. 99-103),
"Sexos en lucha" (pp. 107-108), "Teorla de Arthur Rimbaud"
(pp. 133-139), and "Leyendo a Baudelaire" (pp. 143-146)7
and from Apolo Thermidor, "El arbol que no ama" (pp. 211-
212), "Orfeo traicionado" (pp. 239-240), "Alucinogenos"
(pp. 243-244), "Monologo de Oscar Wilde" (pp. 247-250),
"Soledad" (p. 257), and "Mision cumplida" (pp. 359-360).
69
Apolo, p. 125.
_____ 63
The attitude of compassion that is reflected in these poems
contrasts with the rebellious attitude which accompanies
the theme of physical corruption. This may be due to a
change in outlook, since the group of poems currently under
discussion is found in La Cruz del Sur (1960) and Apolo
Thermidor (1971), both posterior to the group examined by
Arenas. It may also be due to the fact that these two
books are the only ones of the poet's entire career which
convey a feeling of bitterness and self-pity. The pity
which he feels for himself may project onto other people
whom he feels society has wrongfully ignored.
Whatever may be the reason for the difference in
tone between the treatment of the themes of physical and
moral corruption, it is important to note the relationship
of these two themes with the poet's other themes. The
defiant reveling in the corrupt world of the dead is, as
Arenas indicated, a reaction to Pardo Garcia's apparent
feeling of having been rejected by the universal Being with
whom he sought unity in his early years. It may therefore
be considered to be one development or direction taken by
the theme of desolation which I discussed earlier. The
theme of the tragedy of the homosexual, on the other hand,
64
is related to Pardo Garcia's theme of social consciousness.
Even though in the poems of this group the theme is focused
on a single individual, the application is broad, and the
repetition of the theme in a number of poems indicates that
the poet's concern is not for one person who happens to be
homosexual, but for homosexuals as a group.
Thematic Influences
We can look for unity not only in the themes which
Pardo Garcia uses, but also in the influences reflected by
his themes. It is difficult, however, to point out spe
cific influences of given poets in his work. Pardo Garcia
himself has insisted that there are no such influences:
"Ningun poeta me ha influido. He tratado de crear mi
propio idioma y mi propio mundo. Pero me he guiado mas que
por poetas, por grandes corrientes: los poetas griegos, los
latinos, especialmente Lucrecio y Catulo, los grandes
liricos alemanes. Elios sobre todos. La saudade portu-
guesa. Los liricos ingleses. Especialmente Shelley y
70
Keats." Somewhere it has been written that all of these
currents have not been so much influences or even guides
70
Correspondence, Dec. 31, 1971.
65
for the poet, as they have been mere affinities. In each
current, he has seen themes and moods which are similar to
his own, and he has received strength from the knowledge
that he is not alone in perceiving the world from this or
that point of view.
If his themes cannot be traced to the influence of
given poets or movements, in a more general way they can be
related to certain geographical, social, and chronological
influences. These factors also contribute a type of unity
to his poetry.
Geographically, Pardo Garcia is an American poet,
due mostly to the nature which keeps reappearing in his
poetry. Outside of nature, the other aspects of his poetry
give only the image of a cosmopolitan poet of the Western
world. His concern for the Indians of Mexico would not
prove that his roots are in that country, any more than
would his poem to "Jess Cook" prove that he resides in
Pittsburgh, or any more than his various European poems
would prove the existence of physical ties to that con
tinent. However, the nature which appears in his poetry,
and which is both Colombian and Mexican, has left its mark
on his work to the extent that the poet can call himself
"Poeta de America":
66
Esta lira de nacares y espumas
la arroj6 entre mis manos el Mar J6nico.
Mas no cant6 con ella
como Calxmaco y Teocrito.
Le di frondaje personal, corteza
de mi epidermis y alarido propio.
Instinto de veloces animales,
calor de americano territorio.
Con la garganta del terrigena
y el huracan entre los bronquios
verdes que tengo, porque yo soy verde.
Un dia en los pantanos vi mi rostro
y soy inconsolablemente verde.
jY asi somos
los poetas de America que hablamos
un idioma tigral, humedo, hediondo,
y en el nos entendemos y lanzamos ^
clamor de buitre, sollozar de toro.'
Pardo Garcia's themes also reflect the social en
vironments in which he has found himself. His first works
are clearly rooted in a rural environment. In fact, with
the exception of the poem "Un hombre se ha extraviado" of
Poderxos, the urban world did not appear in Pardo Garcia's
poetry until Poemas contemporaneos (1949), a full eighteen
years after his move to Mexico from Colombia. This fact
may reflect two conditions. One is the poet's almost
exclusive concern, until 1949, with defining himself by
looking inward and by looking to nature for roots and
71Apolo, pp. 271-272.
67
identity. There was no place for the city and its trap
pings in this concern. The second condition is the rela
tive ease with which one can shut out the urban nature of
Mexico City by escaping to a rural or semirural environment.
Once the poet had begun to look around him, how
ever, once Poemas contemporaneos had drawn him out of his
self-absorption, he became a poet of the social conditions
of his day and of the atmosphere in which he found himself.
His poetry of social consciousness thus constitutes a clear
link between the poetry and the reality of the poet.
But it is not only his theme of social conscious
ness which gives relevance to his work: several of his
themes are obviously directly derived from the events of
Pardo Garcia's day. His concern about nuclear warfare, his
interest in the exploration of space, and his eulogies of
such men as John Kennedy and Pope John XXIII, all make him
a poet of modern times. Furthermore, as Arenas has stated,
Pardo Garcia has represented all of the major preoccupa
tions of modern man in his poetry (p. 95). It is for this
reason that she has called him one of the most modern of
poets (pp. 90, 95). That this could be said of German
Pardo Garcia in 1971 is remarkable, in light of the fact
that his books include poems written during a period of
68
a half century. It is one of the greatest tributes that
could be made to his artistic ability and to the youthful
ness of his vision.
Thematic Unity
I have tried to indicate throughout this chapter
those points at which Pardo Garcia's various themes are
related. I have shown that at the core of his poetry is
the theme of solitude, which has been present in his works
from 1930 to the present. Emanating from this basic theme
were first, from 1933 to 1935, the theme of spiritual
clarity and union with the universe, and then the theme of
desolation, which resulted from an apparent disillusionment
with the unity that he had seemed to have achieved. Spiri
tual desolation has been with the poet in one form or
another since his youth, although the tone which accom
panies it has vacillated between bitterness and resigna
tion. As Arenas has pointed out, Pardo Garcia's poetry has
always reflected a polarity of concerns: a need for light
and spiritual clarity, and a deep-seated conviction that
he would never know that kind of peace (pp. 44-45) .
69
The other themes that I have reviewed are con
sistent with this basic core of themes, being either
distinct manifestations of them or parallel concerns, such
as in the case of the theme of death. Occasionally one of
the poet's themes will spring forth without apparent warn
ing and without apparent connection to his other themes.
To the careless reader this might have appeared to be the
case with his theme of desolation, which seems to have
erupted full-grown in Poderios, although a closer examina
tion shows glimpses of that theme in Voluntad and Los sone-
tos del convite. Pardo Garcia1s interest in the exploration
of space similarly might have appeared to be a radically
new theme when it first appeared in U.Z. llama al espacio,
but in retrospect it can easily be seen as an extension of
his spiritual search for meaning, and as a development
which was concomitant with his growing awareness of modern
72
technology.
I have not yet discussed the two themes which
appear to be least related to the poet's other themes: the
praise of famous men, and the acclamation of famous places
72
In Chapter II, I will discuss from another point
of view Pardo Garcia's interest in technology, and I will
review the development of that interest.
70
in Europe. Arenas has treated these as one theme/ but even
though they are related and usually occur together, I
believe that they correspond to different motivations. The
eulogies of famous men reflect the poet's concern with
death and immortality: "Quisiera sobrevivir de una forma u
otra. Por lo tanto se acerca a grandes figuras humanas,
no solo para alabarlas sino tambien para preguntarles el
por que de su fama eterna. El tambi&n tiene deseos de
73
ganar tal eternidad." The praise of famous cities and
countries, on the other hand, seems to be an aspect of
Pardo Garcia's interest in the origins of man's spirit.
Each place that he praises has either been the site of sig
nificant cultural developments (Rome, Florence, Toledo), or
has been related to some individual who has made signifi
cant cultural contributions.
The poetry of German Pardo Garcia possesses a con
siderable degree of thematic unity which is based on the
persistence of the basic theme of solitude as well as
certain related themes. Around this theme the poet has
woven a varied fabric which alternates between light and
dark, depending upon his reigning mood, and which expresses
73
Arenas, p. 97.
71
his concerns either directly as the result of an inward
look, or indirectly, as the result of a look at nature or
as the result of a look at the rest of humanity. Although
rarely do more than two consecutive books resemble each
other very closely, there does not seem to be an incon
sistent and disjointed growth in the poet's themes, but
rather a steady development of thought which is revealed at
different times from different emotional and intellectual
points of view.
It may be true, as Arenas has affirmed, that the
Colombian's poetry is united by virtue of his persistent
search for the key to the transcendental problems of the
existence of man and the universe (p. 93) . And yet Pardo
Garcia's poetry is more than an exercise in intellectual
curiosity. It is the troubled cry of an anguished spirit,
the profound rebellion of a man who feels that existence
has forced him to define his own justification and salva
tion. His search is more emotional than conceptual, more
spontaneous than systematic. The poet himself has written:
"La esencia de mi obra es el cosmos, en todas sus dimen-
siones grandes y pequehas. No he dejado sitio en donde
no meta las narices. Huelo la poesxa lo mismo en las
72
frutas que en las letrinas." Thus, recasting Arenas'
generalization into emotional terms, I would say that the
thematic unity of Pardo Garcia's poetry is derived from a
persistent need for a definition of himself which would
provide for both his "ser" and his "estar, " as these terms
are used in existentialist discourse. That is, his entire
work is the result of his need for recognition by the rest
of the universe as a being existing now, and for a guaran
tee of meaning outside of the chronological limits of his
own existence. It is this continuing motivation which
ultimately gives rise to the complex of themes which I have
reviewed in this chapter.
74
Correspondence, Nov. 9, 1971.
73
CHAPTER II
FOUR SOURCES OF IMAGES
The images with which Pardo Garcia develops and
supports his themes are based on many different kinds of
vehicles. Like any other language content these vehicles
can be grouped into semantic categories or domains for con
venient reference and analysis. An examination of the
poet's vehicles suggests at least four categories for such
a grouping:, pantheism, Christianity, technology, and
mythology. These are not all of equal importance in his
poetry. The most common is pantheism, which in one way or
another plays a supporting role in much of Pardo Garcia's
production, and which appears in conjunction with each of
the other three domains at various stages in Pardo Garcia's
career. Neither are these the only such categories; other
groupings are possible. These four types of vehicles
nevertheless occur over a relatively long span of the
poet's career. They, therefore, can offer a perspective
which will complement the thematic view of the development
______________ 74
and unity of the ideas and preoccupations reflected in his
poetry. This second chapter will concern itself with the
study of this aspect of Pardo Garcia's creation.
Three of these domains have been studied by the
critics from a thematic point of view, but none has been
examined from the more limited point of view to be taken in
this chapter.^ Each domain will be examined in isolation
The role of nature in Pardo Garcia's poetry has
been the subject of many passing comments. Detailed exami
nations may be found in: Andres Holguin, "La obra poetica
de German Pardo Garcia," in La poesia inconclusa y otros
ensavos (Bogota, 1947), pp. 165-178; and Mary Elshoff
Arenas, "La obra po&tica de German Pardo Garcia" (Diss.
George Washington Univ., 1971), pp. 18-29. Christianity
and related thematic influences, including mysticism, have
been discussed in: Arenas, pp. 11-16; Holguin, "La obra
pp. 168-169; Antonio Llanos, "El camino poetico de
Pardo Garcia," Repertorio Americano, 35 (1938), 58-60;
Carlos Garcia Prada, "Ahora ... un poeta de la soledad,"
Repertorio Americano, 38 (1941), 56-58; R. J. A. (rev. of
Las voces naturales), Revista de las Indias, No. 80 (1945),
p. 317; "Seleccion de poemas" (anon, rev.), Revista
Nacional de Cultura, No. 10 (1939), p. 168; Justino Cor
nejo, "El ultimo libro de German Pardo Garcia" (rev. of
Presencia), Universidad de Antiocruia, 8 (1939), 595; Julio
Arango Ferrer, "German Pardo Garcia o el poeta de la deso-
lacion," Revista Iberoamericana, 9 (Feb. 1945), 35. The
influence of modern technology on the poet's work has been
partially covered by Arenas, pp. 52-64, and by Leopoldo
de Luis, "Ciencia y poesia en la obra de German Pardo,"
La Estafeta Literaria, Nov. 1, 1969, p. 9. No critic has
dealt in depth with the Greco-Roman influence on Pardo
Garcia's poetry. The only known comments on this aspect of
his work deal specifically with his poem "Akroteraz, " pub
lished separately in 1968 on the occasion of the Mexico
City Olympic Games, and republished in Apolo (1971).
75
from the others. The study will focus first upon the
presence of each domain in Pardo Garcia's poetry, and then
upon the analysis of its contribution to the poet's images.
The final section of the chapter will attempt to coordinate
the information derived from the separate analyses of the
four sources of images.
Pantheism
Presence of Pantheism
It has already been stated elsewhere that the
critics have frequently referred to the presence of nature
in the poetry of Pardo Garcia, or to the pantheism of his
work, without undertaking a study of this aspect of his
work and without even defining what they mean by "pan
theism. " Only Arenas and Holguin stand out for having
paused to examine this important point in some detail.
In 1947 Andres Holguin studied the role of nature
in the poetry of Pardo Garcia from Presencia (1938) to Las
voces naturales (1945). According to Holguin, nature was
an unimportant element in Pardo Garcia's poetry until 1938,
Holguin, "La obra poetica de Germdn Pardo Garcia,"
pp. 165-178.
76
but in Presencia the critic encountered the beginnings of
an approximation to the earth (p. 171). In this book the
poet had blended the two tendencies of his previous books
(contemplation and anguish) in order to come closer to
nature. Nature and the poet, however, were still two dis
tinct forces in opposition within the living universe. The
same characteristics were found in Claro abismo (1940), in
which nature was even closer to man, although still dis
tinct from him (pp. 171-172).
In Sacrificio (1943) Holguin discovered the sup
pression of that dualism, and the reintegration of man with
the rest of nature. From this point on, the poet would be
the voice of nature, feeling himself nourished by her very
essence (p. 172). In Las voces naturales (1945), the same
critic noted the presence of a unitary vision of the uni
verse, which he defines as the return to the only common
source (the earth) and to silence and a new solitude
(pp. 174-175).
In her doctoral dissertation, Mary Elshoff Arenas
isolated three thematic functions of nature in the poetry
of Pardo Garcia. She found that in his pantheistic concept
of life the earth is a refuge from which man leaves when
77
3
he is born, and to which he returns at death. Nature
appears also as a reflection of the poet's state of mind
(p. 19) and as a thing of visual beauty which -he describes
(p. 23). In some poems the beauty of nature is also de
scribed with other senses (p. 28). Arenas observed that
for Pardo Garcia "volver a la tierra corresponde ... a una
necesidad espiritual. ... La tierra le es un refugio donde
puede deleitarse con su belleza, alabar su fuerza, y sen-
tirse uno con toda la creacion terrestre" (pp. 27-28).
The pantheism that these two critics have noted in
his poetry is not a religion nor even an organized phi
losophy. It is simply an intuition that man and nature are
in harmony, and that the union of the two is possible.
Philosophy would call it a monistic pantheism, because of
. 4
the absence of any and all gods from it.
Pantheism is almost never a theme of Pardo Garcia's
poetry. Rather, it constitutes the basic point of view
3
"La obra poetica de German Pardo Garcia,"p. 18.
4
R. C. Zaehner, Concordant Discord (Oxford: Oxford
Univ. Press, 1970), p. 153. This type of pantheism is very
different from Christian pantheism, for which God and the
Universe are spiritually united. See: Bertrand Russell,
A History of Western Philosophy (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1945), p. 353.
78
from which the poet develops his themes, and from which
spring many of his images. Its importance arises precisely
from this constant presence in his work. Although Holguin
believed that the first rapprochement of man and nature did
not occur until Presencia (1938), in reality the pan
theistic concept of life also is reflected in his earlier
works. In fact, German Arciniegas had written in the
"Exergo" of Pardo Garcia's first book that "El ha dicho que
es un cirbol, que en su vida hay de la raiz y de la fronda,
del jugo de la entrafta profunda y del vuelo musical de los
g
aires." Pantheism is the most fundamental concept con
tained in his poetry. It permeates all of the other
aspects of his poetry, and often is the major key to the
interpretation of his work.
Principal Manifestations of Pantheism
This pantheism has four principal manifestations
in the poetry of Pardo Garcia. At times it is simply an
expression of the idea that man and nature are in harmony.
5 . *
The presence of pantheism in Pardo Garcia's
second, third, and fourth books has already been demon
strated in Chapter I, pp. 22-37.
g
Voluntad, p. 13.
79
Other times it manifests itself in the complete metamor
phosis of some part of nature, and it also appears as an
interchange of attributes between man and nature. Its most
complete form consists of the presentation of man and
nature either physically or spiritually united.
The most elementary form is the idea of harmony
between the two. Pardo Garcia frequently uses images based
in nature to bring out certain of man's qualities. Gener
ally these are positive qualities. Thus, he refers to his
family as a casta de toros to underline their vitality, and
he calls Pope John XXIII leon de la ternura and toro cle-
7
mente. Occasionally he uses nature-based images to
emphasize tragic aspects of human beings as when he de
scribes the wretched cry of the guerrilla as the wail of a
forlorn dog (Defensor, pp. 97-98). At times his poetry
transcends this mere paralleling of characteristics, to
attribute to nature a spiritual will for harmony: "se
siente como cada vegetal intenta aproximarse a nuestro
g
espiritu." The only limit to this harmony is man's own
insensitiveness and aggressiveness, which the poet often
7
Defensor, p. 75; Rel&mpaqos, p. 40.
g
Lucero sin orillas (1952), p. 91.
80
laments in his poetry.
One of the most important aspects of his pantheism
9
is the metamorphosis of nature. In Pardo Garcia's poetic
world the identity of things is neither clear nor fixed.
Everything is permutable, and there is a constant flowing
of names, essences, and attributes in his poetry. The poet
has written that "me place mucho cambiar a los seres y a
las cosas sus colores, sus atributos, su esencia y oponer-
los sus contrarios.This fondness for changing things
is not a mere game, but an essential part of his art and
a way of living:
Y aprendi del negocio de la vida.
Permute por naranjas aceitunas.
Les ofreel a los angeles lagunas,
y me dieron toronja humedecida.
... Algunas
oxidaciones se volvieron lunas,
joya el insecto, resplandor la herida.
(Ancreles, p. 45)
With this habit of permuting the attributes of
natural entities, the poet establishes the fact that nature
9
Alfredo Hurtado briefly mentions this process m
his review of Eternidad del ruisenor in Estaciones, I
(1956), 603.
■^Correspondence, Nov. 9, 1971. He has said the
same thing in his poetry. See: Eternidad del ruisenor
(1956), pp. 144-145; Los Sncreles de vidrio (1962), p. 93.
81
is a single being, with various manifestations which can
change at any time. The erasure of the differences between
the orange and the olive, or between the insect and the
gem, makes the distinction between man and nature less
defensible.
This last distinction is partially destroyed in
another of the manifestations of his pantheism: the inter
change of characteristics between man and nature. This
interchange takes two forms: the cases in which man takes
on attributes of nature, and those in which nature is per
sonified. The personification of nature is frequent in the
work of many writers, and in isolation it would not have
any particular relationship to pantheism. Its importance
in Pardo Garcia's poetry derives from its conjunction with
the other manifestations of the pantheistic relationship
between man and nature.
The characteristics which man takes from nature are
usually physical traits, as when in the poem "Ficcion de
Orfeo" Euridice invites her lover: "Reclxnate en mis hom-
bros y te cubro con mi pelo frondal, musgo de encinas"
(Defensor, pp. 52-53) . It is obvious, however, that in
these cases the poet is merely using the physical images
82
as a means of attributing to man moral or spiritual charac
teristics which the poet has seen reflected in nature. It
is an indirect manner of obtaining the same sense of
harmony that was referred to earlier. The effect is more
complete because the reduction of the physical limits
between the natural and human worlds increases the possi
bility of a spiritual identification between the two.
The most distinctive and important facet of this
poet's pantheism is the union of man with nature. At times
this union is obtained through a type of chemical rein
carnation:
Aquel grupo de fresnos
que tanto ame? ...
Ese solemne, frondal sabino
isera la consistencia de mi padre?
(Apolo, p. 188)
Sometimes he uses a reincarnation in which the spirit is
treated chemically:
Tal vez un rio inmenso ...
... lavara la piedra que aposento mis suerios,
para que asi me alcance
la purificacion de las criaturas
que inmaculadas viven debajo de la tierra,
confundidas con el espiritu de los muertos
y los seres incorporados a la unidad.
(Voces, p. 188)
83
In some cases the reincarnation could be interpreted as
being both chemical and spiritual. This possibility is
especially common when the poet uses the image of a tree as
the reincarnation of some deceased person:
... hay hombres que al morir crecen y crecen
adentro de las funebras maderas,
porque en los bosques de la vida hay drboles
humanos, como Juan, que en este instante
se siembra en los terrenos del sepulcro
para seguir alzandose a la Vida.
(Defensor, pp. 128-129)
One interesting way in which the poet presents the
union of the two is through their hybridization. There are
many examples of this process in his poetry. Por example,
he often uses the hybrid man-tree:
jQue hermoso poder compararles con el agua
del mediodia,
o con la felicidad de una manzana.'
j Saber que si total quietud allx los arraigara
para siempre,
cirbol-hombre de columnarias piernas,
tronco central de musculosos nudos
y arquitectura de ramales brazos,
se cubriria inmensamente de hojas parecidas ^
a la cabellera de una mujer flotando al viento.
11
Lucero, pp. 91-92. This hybrid is also found xn
the poem "El arbol que no ama" (Apolo, pp. 211-212). Other
hybrids are "atleta-ruisehor" (Relampaqos, p. 105), "hombre-
alondra" (Defensor, p. 131), "Mujer naturaleza" (Voces,
pp. 11-17), "mujer trigo" and "mujer lluvia" (Voces, p. 15),
"mujer-mar" (Lucero, p. 100), "mujer oceanica" (Lucero,
p. 98), "mujer-tierra" (Lucero, pp. 81-84), and "mujer-
yegua" (Apolo, p. 279). The centaur appears in twenty
poems.
84
Some of the hybrids are used as short images.
Others serve as the controlling image of a long passage or
an entire poem. For example, in the poem "El arbol que no
ania" the image of the man-tree is the basis of a presenta
tion of the suffering of the celibate confronted with the
temptation to love a woman. In this poem, as in the verse
quoted immediately above, the identification of the two
entities as one being is nearly complete. The narrator of
the poem not only calls himself hombre-arbol and hombre-
planta, but he also refers to his various parts as if they
were products of the fusion of a man and a tree. Thus, his
fingers are arboreos, his instincts are vegetable, his
larynx is of moss, and his throat is wooden.
The identification of these two beings, neverthe
less, can never be complete. Their very incongruence is
what permits the effective development of "El arbol que no
ama. " Man has the inclination to love, although he might
not have the physical or psychological capability of ex
pressing that love in a sexual relationship. The tree does
not have this inclination and therefore does not love.
Furthermore, man has the capacity for suffering and the
habit of being made to suffer by love, while the tree has
85
neither. Thus, there will always be a limit to the unity
of man and his forest brother and to that of man with any
other part of nature.
The poet recognizes this limit and takes advantage
of it in another of his devices for presenting the unity
of man and nature: the image of man as nature's lover.
This image first appeared in 1952, when Pardo Garcia wrote:
Otros dias fue la tierra solidaria la que
acepto mi silencio,
escrito vagamente por mi sobre las formas,
mientras como un amante conocia
los sitios mas ocultos de las selvas,
subyugondolas bajo mi cuerpo
con el equilibrio que dan las consumadas
posesiones.
(Lucero, pp. 48-49)
A similar image appears in another poem of the same book
(pp. 81-82), but it is not found again until 1960, in La
Cruz del Sur (pp. 68-69). Since that year, the sexual
relationship between man and nature has appeared several
12
times in the poetry of Pardo Garcia. Sometimes it is
only mentioned; other times the relationship is described
in great physical detail. Often it is an aggressive rela
tionship:
12
See, for example: Angeles, pp. 51-52 and 55-56;
Apolo, pp. 261-263.
86
Desde el primer instante sufriste
la violencia
de mis sacudimientos inferiores;
el incesante asalto de mi espiritu;
la agresion de mis nubes con tempestad;
el choque
de mis potencias desordenadas .. .
(Lucero, p. 82)
Another case in which nature is personified as a
woman is in the frequent image of Mother Nature or Mother
Earth. Seen as the son of nature, man is still belligerant
and aggressive towards her. For example, the cosmonaut
reflects upon the earth he left behind:
A la distancia est&s, joh Tierra.'
;0h madre mia, que ultrajo
mi pensamiento perturbado
con su inaudita insumision.'
(Defensor, p. 92)
In another poem, the earth suffers indirectly from the
suicidal tendencies of her human children, and blames her
self for their shortcomings:
Yo no sabxa que me encuentro llena
de unos hoyos carnivoros que matan,
y que al pie de tuberculos florales
esta la equivalencia del sepulcro.
<*Sere quizd, la bestia que devora ^
las entranas calientes de sus crlas ...?
In a recent poem the poet has blended the image of man as
nature's lover with that of him as her son, to form the
13
Centauro al sol (1959), p. 76.
87
image of the incestuous son. The resulting poem ("Incesto")
is the most vivid declaration that Pardo Garcia has made of
14
the pantheistic relationship between man and nature.
The poems in which the poet presents a union
between nature and man constitute a kind of mysticism. The
students of mysticism have called this form nature mysti
cism, but the name appears to stress too heavily the
mystical component of the phenomenon, and thus tends to
15
attribute too much of a religious aspect to it. The
students of pantheism have used the term mystical pantheism,
which seems to be more appropriate."^
The mystical pantheism of Pardo Garcia is charac
teristic of this type of experience. As in almost all of
the works studied by Zaehner, this poet's works deny the
14
Apolo, pp. 261-263.
15
Nature mysticism is the topic of three books:
J. Edward Mercer, Nature Mysticism (London: George Allen
and Co., 1913); R. C. Zaehner, Mysticism, Sacred and
Profane (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1957); and Zaehner,
Concordant Discord (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1970).
16
This term was used in Spanish by Carlos Bousoho,
in reference to the poetry of Vicente Aleixandre. See:
La poesia de Vicente Aleixandre (2nd ed. , Madrid: Gredos,
1968), pp. 74-79.
88
existence of all gods. Aside from his nightly routine
of writing and contemplating the night, the work of Pardo
Garcia does not reveal any special preparation for his
18
mystical experiences. In this he does not differ from
the other writers of mystical pantheism, who rarely under
take a preparatory discipline in order to experience union
19
with the universe. Although it is difficult to judge the
time covered by a poem, it appears that the experiences
related in Pardo Garcia's poetry are of short duration.
The only aspect of his mystical pantheism which does not
follow the usual pattern is the frequency of the experience
of union, which is much greater than normal.
17
Mysticism, Sacred and Profane, p. 50. The denial
of the existence of all gods is repeated several times in
this poet's correspondence and in his poetry, beginning
with Osiris preludial (1960): "Iba a decir: |Dios mio.',
pero (Lcomo? si yo soy un idolatra y no creo! " (p. 66).
Even more significant is the complete absence of any god in
his poetry, other than the large number of Greco-Roman
deities which he uses as people or even mere adornments,
rather than as gods.
18
This is not true of one small portion of his pan
theistic poetry: that part which appears to be Christian
mystical poetry, and which is examined in Chapter I, as
well as in the following section of this one.
19
According to Zaehner, the experiences of the
mystical pantheist occur without any special preparation,
are brief, and are rarely repeated (Concordant Discord,
p. 292).
89
These four manifestations of pantheism (harmony of
man and nature, the metamorphosis of nature, the inter
change of attributes between man and nature, and the union
of the two) constitute the framework of Pardo Garcia's
approach to nature. By applying them to specific aspects
of nature and of man, the poet is able to obtain certain
characteristic effects, which will be discussed in detail
in the following pages.
Sources and Effects of the Imacres
Of the three natural realms (animal, vegetable, and
mineral), Pardo Garcia makes most frequent use of the first
two as vehicles for his images. Most common is the image
of the man-tree, in which man takes on the physical charac
teristics of a tree. With this and other images based on
vegetation, Pardo Garcia achieves the effect of highlight
ing man's docile and tender nature:
Ese solemne, frondal sabino
cserd la consistencia de mi padre?
Cuando las ramas lentamente inclina,
recuerdo su actitud confortadora.
(Apolo, p. 188)
The same effect is also produced by the opposite procedure:
the attribution of human qualities to nature. The quali
ties usually given in this way would be considered to have
90
a positive moral value in the Occidental cultural tradition.
For example, man's enslavement by the routine of life and
death is given a certain aura of nobility by the poet's
personification of the trees of Rome in the following
verses:
... la naciente primavera
colocando de nuevo en los ramajes
sus reniformes hojas,
esas monedas tan humanas
con que los arboles pagan el salario
de la muerte y de la vida.
(Eternidad, pp. 36-37)
A second major result of the poet's frequent use of
botanical images is the attribution of a sort of immortality
to man. It should be recalled that Pardo Garcia's poetry
emerges largely as an effort to define himself, and that
one of his major concerns, especially in recent decades,
20
has been for his own immortality. These vegetable images,
allied with the concept of chemical reincarnation, permit
the poet an assurance of at least a chemical permanence.
The tree produces its offspring, dies, and is reborn as a
part of the substance of its own descendants:
20 _ _
See Chapter I.
91
jAh, los cirboles, los agricultores cirboles
pa trios.'
Padres ellos mismos de criaturas agrestes
identicas a las hojas y un rumor de arterias
acu&ticas
pasando ...
(U.Z., p. Ill)
Many years earlier the poet seems to have alluded to this
concept of immortality when he wrote "Que hacia un paxs
azul de sosegados cirboles, en barcas de cristal navegan mis
estios" (Sacrificio, p. 26). A similar idea is contained
in Voluntad, where he wrote:
... son arbol que en reposo,
sin saberlo, alimenta silencioso
el germen de otros arboles futuros.
(p. 23)
Pardo Garcia's images which are based in the animal
portion of nature tend to stress man's vitality and force
fulness, in contrast with the docility brought out by
vegetable based images. Usually this vitality is a positive
quality, as in the image of Pope John XXIII as a leon de la
ternura, where the poet creates the extraordinarily dynamic
portrait of a man whose tenderness is so dominating that it
is capable of overpowering even the most fearful of forces
(Relciinpaqos, p. 40).
At times the poet views man's vitality as a blind
force, an expression of his will to define himself before
92
the rest of creation. On these occasions he uses animal
and sometimes mineral vehicles for his images:
Como se amansa a un tigre, a una pantera,
asi domo la furia de la vida.
Con latigo la tuvo sometida,
lamiendole los pies cual una fiera.
Para su galopar no hubo frontera.
Caballo al viento, revento la brida.
(Defensor, p. 139)
The over-all effect of Pardo Garcia's use of images
which relate man and nature is a balanced view of man as a
benevolent being who nevertheless has the power, the need,
and the right to try to impose his will upon the rest of
the universe.
Women, however, are not given such favorable treat
ment. Due to the various ways in which nature and women
are related in his poetry, Pardo Garcia's work in fact pro
jects an ambivalent attitude towards women. Woman can be
represented on the or.e hand as a docile being ("la mujer
duerme su sueho vegetal de planta amante": Eternidad,
p. 30), and on the other hand, as a wild beast:
Yo soy el que hallara un dia
a una mujer tan morena
como aveliana del tropico,
y la violara y le diera
un hijo que habrd de estar
como un cachorro en la selva.
(Voluntad, p. 44)
93
She nearly always appears as a sexual being, except for the
few occasions when the poet refers to his own mother.
Frequently the associations in Pardo Garcia's
images project a negative view of women. In one poem of
Centauro the drought is likened to a woman:
Y cual si fuera mujer
de pulmonares hidropicos,
la sequedad de los tropicos
se apronta a reverdecer.
(p. 124)
In another poem a horrifying jaguar is compared to a woman:
Fulges horror y en tu crueldad pareces
un sanguinario amante de la Luna,
que eclipsase por ti si fosforeces.
Yo te quisiera amar con mi acuerpada
pasion y descubrirte cual senuelo,
contornos de mujer y su mirada
felina de selvatico recelo.
(Centauro, pp. 191, 193)
The reverse of this conversion of the beast into a woman
that can be loved is also present in Pardo Garcia's poetry.
Several times he has transmuted a woman into an animal in
order that she might be sexually more desirable:
De alia saliste, de las brumas blancas,
mujer de pubescente carnadura,
y un comienzo de firme curvatura
casi animal en las rupestres ancas.
Musculos largos. M&s que piernas, zancas
de ciervo que conoce la espesura
y esccipase al sentir la crispatura
del jaguar poblador de las barrancas.
(Hay piedras, p. 155)
______ 94
During the past twenty years Pardo Garcia's poetry
has shown an increasing tendency to present women as the
objects of an aggressive male sexual self-assertion. Dur
ing the same period, the theme of homosexuality has taken
an inescapable place in his poetry. The impression of the
woman' s secondary place in the world thus is supported not
only by the poet's use of images linking woman and nature,
but also in an indirect fashion by this new theme of homo
sexuality.
Chronology and Development of Pardo Garcia's
Natural Images
From the very beginning, the poetry of Pardo Garcia
has used images which are based on the real or supposed
affinity of man and nature. In his first books he ex
pressed the harmony of the two entities in conventional
ways, including the mysticism which is discussed in Chap
ter I and in the following section of this chapter. During
the decade of the thirties his images were limited to
similes, the personification of nature, and the naturaliza
tion of man. Pardo Garcia explicitly introduces the con
cept of pantheistic unity in Las voces naturales (1945),
when for the first time he gave nature a major thematic
95
role in his poetry (pp. 21-22). In the same book the poet
also introduced images of chemical reincarnation (p. 21)
and the personification of nature through her hybridization
with woman (pp. 11-17). The representation of pantheistic
union through this type of hybridization has occurred re
peatedly in the books that have followed Voces.
Seven years later Pardo Garcia began a radically
new direction in his use of pantheistic images: the repre
sentation of the union of man and nature in sexual terms.
In one poem of Lucero he wrote:
Otros dxas fue la tierra solidaria la que
acepto mi silencio,
escrito vagamente por mi sobre las formas,
mientras como un amante conocia
los sitios mils ocultos de las selvas,
subyugandolas bajo mi cuerpo
con el equilibrio que dan las consumadas
posesiones.
(pp. 48-49)
In his following book, U.Z., the poet enriched his pantheism
by ascribing physical sexual characteristics to nature:
Tierra mujer de intensos perimetros
sexuales.
No esteril al calor bajo el asalto,
sino hernbra genital estremeciendose
al sentir el empuje de las bramas
penetrar en sus ovulos salvajes
con vigor de relampagos oscuros.
(U.Z., pp. 68-69)
96
This same attribution of sexual characteristics also occurs
without the creation of a hybrid, as when the poet writes:
21
"Multiplica el cipres la fuerza de sus 6vulos desnudos. "
Pardo Garcia culminates nearly two decades of nurturing
this concept of nature as a sexual being, and more than
four decades of presenting her as an intimate part of man1s
reality, by developing the extended image of man as the
incestuous son of nature in Apolo (pp. 261-263).
The Judeo-Christian Tradition
Presence of Judeo-Christian Images
The poet's culture is deeply rooted in the Catholic
tradition which he inherited from his father. Pardo Garcia
has written of his religious life that "hasta cierta edad
fue el reflejo de lo que yo habia vivido al pie de mi
padre, un hombre profundamente religioso. Y la memoria de
los anos pasados en el pueblecito de Coachi, entre campanas,
22
nubes de incienso y dngeles de madera." The influence of
this background in his poetry has been persistent even
21
Eternidad, p. 110.
22
Correspondence, Nov. 9, 1971.
97
though Christianity has not played a major role in his
poetry since 1935. During the years following his so-
called mystical poetry, Pardo Garcia has lost his faith in
his ancestral religion, with the result that, for the poet,
the Catholic religion is no different from the Greek and
Roman legends:
Me distancie de ese mundo fantdstico del cato-
licismo, y de leyendas hermosas, porque llegue a la
conclusion de que son eso nada mas: leyendas. Pero
las sigo amando, como me place el Quijote o Las mil
y una noches. Pero yo no tomaria esos cddices inmor-
tales como guias para una perennidad del alma, inexis-
tentes, tanto el alma como la perennidad.
Al lado de Lucrecio y Epicuro aprendi que el alma
es una fabula hermosa y nada mas.
... Todo principio teologico o religioso es re-
chazado por mi.^
Throughout his career this poet's Catholic back
ground has been reflected in his use of images based upon
24
the Christian tradition. Although his use of these
images continued as his religious beliefs were evaporating,
there were certain changes after 1935. For that reason
this study will be conducted in two parts. The first part
23
Correspondence, Nov. 9, 1971.
24
Only three books do not contain this type of
image: Sonetos (1935), Poderios (1937), and Hay piedras
(1957).
98
will focus on Pardo Garcia's use of Christian images after
1935. The images of the earlier books will be given care
ful consideration in the latter part of this section, where
the entire matter of the poet's creation of an apparently
mystical poetry will be examined.
This type of image appears most frequently in Los
iubilos ilesos and Los Ccinticos (eleven times each) . Only
Poemas contempordneos, which is a much more extensive work,
even appears to approach this level of use. There is also
a difference between the two periods in the degree to which
Pardo Garcia uses the images in a straightforward sense.
This fact constitutes part of the disguise of Jubilos and
Ccinticos; many of the Christian images which are used in
these works are employed in contexts where they might
appear to represent Catholic concepts and beliefs. This
fact, in turn, makes it possible for the critics to con
sider Catholicism to be the focus of the books, and to
consider that the expression of a mystical experience is
their purpose. In contrast with these two works, the
images contained in the other books are usually employed in
an obviously figurative, non-religious sense, in order to
associate some element of Catholicism, or some emotion
99
derived from it, with whatever reality the poet might he
describing.
This difference may be seen through a comparison of
images from the two periods. The first is taken from the
poem "Lo eterno," of Jubilos:
Morir, para mi, seria
ir hacia lo verdadero.
Detener la voluntad
ante los divinos terminos?
ver mi sangre transformada
en luz del costado abierto.
(n.p.)
The image of the last line, obviously a reference to Christ,
is inserted in a series of apparently straightforward state
ments regarding the meaning of death. The implication is
that the poet is looking at death from a Christian point of
view, and that he views it as a means of union with God.
The poetry of the period after 1935, however, is repre
sented by the use of Christian images to represent some
other, non-religious, reality. He refers to Jose Asuncion
Silva's Jewish ancestry, for example, by using images which
refer to Christ:
... este hombre
de cera no llevaba
ninguna cruz sobre los hombros,
a pesar del relieve nazareno.
(Esccindalo, p. 45)
100
On the same page he again makes this same point by refer
ring to Silva's "... perfil de Cristo patal6gico."
In the non-mystical books Pardo Garcia also uses
the artifacts and rituals of Catholicism as a frequent
background for his poetry. This practice is most notable
in Angeles, which begins by describing the role of religion
in the life of Coachi. It is developed around an image
based upon one of the artifacts from the village church:
the wooden angels which were placed upon the altar during
the Easter season.
It is fitting that the poet should dedicate an
entire book to the image of people and natural entities as
angels and archangels, since this is the most common of his
Christian images in the other books of the second period.
Twenty-nine of the eighty-nine Christian images used in the
25
books after 1935 have to do with Angeles or arccingeles.
At times the images are traditional, as when the poet
refers to the Angel of Death in "Presencia de la muerte":
25
These totals exclude the many examples of cingel
and arcctngel images in Angeles, since they are so frequent
that including them would have given a distorted picture
of the poet's use of Christian images in the period after
1935.
101
buscaba la presencia del poderoso Arccingel,
bajo una soledad de cedros y de pinos.
(Presencia# p. 43)
Generally, however, these images are bolder, as when he
writes in "Mar enemigo":
En las rocas agudas, alcatraces anclados
custodian, como arcangeles, las criptas
del mar ciego.
(Sacrificio, p. 16)
These angels and archangels can be benevolent, such as the
ones which in earlier, more civilized times, used to carry
26
away the children who had died. They can also be male
volent, however, like the ones which Pardo Garcia uses to
represent the metals which man has liberated from the
rocks, only to have them turn on him:
Y al hombre se le vio correr sin rumbo.
Comer el fango de los negros pozos,
perseguido por Angeles metalicos
y colera de arcangeles metalicos.
(Poemas contempordneos, p. 103)
Another common type of image is that of the Cross
or of the crucifixion, which the poet has used fifteen
times since 1935, beginning with "Bloqueo" (1949):
... sobre el monte suplicante surge
la cruz de las metropolis bloqueadas,
y un calvario de ejercitos y abismos.
(Poemas contempordneos, p. 66)
^Poemas contemporaneos, p. 27.
102
The image of the Cross is usually used to represent some
type of suffering, as in the last example, or in the fol
lowing :
... el hombre aguarda
ser desclavado de su cruz de acero,
no por arccingeles falsarios o nubes penitentes,
sino por un ejercito de caras musculares ...
(U.Z., p. 59)
Perhaps the most interesting example of this type of image
is the following one, in which the poet epitomizes the
suffering produced by the German razing of the Czech vil
lage of Lidice:
Vieronse Cristos mutilados
bajar de los altares abolidos;
tomar su cruz y sus ardientes clavos;
cargar los miserables atributos
del que implora,
y como el hombre y la sumisa bestia,
iniciar la agonia del destierro.
(Poemas contempor^neos, p. 70)
Pardo Garcia has used images based on the Mass and
its liturgy a total of nine times since 1935. These tend
to be simple images, such as the use of the epithet "euca-
risticas" in the following description:
... la inmensidad sera columna de mis porticos,
y habrci maravilladas gladiolas, entre ramos
de lotes estelares y nubes eucaristicas.
(Sacrificio, p. 28)
In "Carta a una oruga," the poet uses the Host to represent
his childhood faith:
103
Tu panteismo elemental crecia
junto a mis hostias de sabor cristiano.
(Voces, p. 35)
In a later poem he uses the Host in an image which con
tributes to a pantheistic version of his father's funeral:
Las hostias vegetales elevandose
en custodias de greda incombustible.
(U.Z., p. 59)
In a further pantheistic expression, he worships the South
ern Cross:
Inclino suavemente las rodillas
flexionadas al peso de tu encanto,
y en &xtasis te digo: jSanto, Santo,
oh caliz de las hostias amarillas.'
(Cruz, p. 15)
None of the Christian images used by Pardo Garcia
since 1935 are very complicated, and all are rooted in
relatively superficial aspects of Catholicism. The most
extended of his Christian images is that of Cain as the
world-travelling would-be undertaker of his brother's body,
27
in the long poem "Cain, el Inocente. " Yet even here the
Biblical basis of the image is only skeletal; the depth of
the image is provided by the poet's imagination and his
view of modern warfare. The poem contains brief images
based on other Biblical figures: Lazarus, Jonah, and Daniel.
27
Centauro, pp. 199-245.
104
Aside from this poem, only two others contain images based
on specific Biblical figures.
The Creation of a Mystical Poetry
The nature and content of Pardo Garcia1s so-called
mystical poetry in Jubilos, C^nticos, and Sonetos have
already been discussed in Chapter I. Because of the dif
ferences between this poetry and the rest of the poet's
production, however, it will be useful to examine it from
still another, more elemental point of view. In the pages
that follow, the focus will be upon the manner in which the
poet has given meaning to his images by creating the im
pression of a Christian mysticism. Three aspects of this
poetry help to create this impression: the organization of
the content along the lines of the traditional schemes of
Christian mysticism, the poet's choice of vocabulary, and
his use of Christian images in the first two of these
28
books.
28
Another technique which the poet has used to
create an impression of mysticism in this poetry is the
selection of poems from Jubilos for reprinting, on the
apparent basis of whether they seem to be mystical. See
note 34 of Chapter I.
105
The poetry of these works includes expressions of
the major characteristics of traditional Christian mysti
cism. -The most fundamental of these characteristics is the
29
feeling of being absorbed in God by the power of love.
This is a special kind of love, which is "a total dedica
tion of the will; the deep-seated desire and tendency of
the soul towards its Source. It is a condition of humble
30
access." The mystic does not seek to obtain anything,
but rather wishes to give himself completely to God without
prior conditions (Underhill, pp. 70, 72) .
This characteristic, which is usually called the
unitive way, is presented in the majority of the poems in
these three books by Pardo Garcia, although the role of
love is not quite the same as that prescribed by Underhill.
At times the absorption in God is represented in a uni-
versalist manner:
29
Kees W. Bolle, The Freedom of Man in Myth (Kings
port, Tennessee: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 1968), p. 129.
Bernardina Conradina Broers, among others, stresses the
essentialness of love in mysticism. See her Mysticism in
the Neo-Romanticists, Diss., Amsterdam (Amsterdam: H. J.
Paris, 1923?), p. 19.
30
Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism: A Study m the
Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness,
12th ed. (1930: rept. New York: Meridian Books, 1957),
p. 85.
106
Mi casa llena esta de la alegria
universal, y el coraz6n alerta ^
a todo lo que pasa por la puerta.
The poet feels himself to be a vital part of the universe,
and this gives him a feeling of abundance:
Asoxribro de estar vivo aun, cuando la vida
ya es solo plenitud, eternidad, y vuelo.
(Jubilos; "A la dulzura de otono, " n.p.)
Estoy sobre la tierra
cubierto de alegria,
en el dorado instante de la plenitud.
(Jubilos: "Al viento del mediodia")
Allied to his euphoria is a presentiment of eternity:
Me anticipe a la dicha que llegaba
hasta mi corazon, puro y eterno.
Eternidad de amor y de alegria.
(Jubilos: "La dicha")
The air which he feels is a divine air of eternity (Jubilos:
"Aire divino") and the poet concludes Los cdnticos with the
following line printed in capitals: "Y MI PALABRA ENCIERRA
EL INFINITOJ" ("Cintico de los Ccinticos") .
The poet's joy brings him a peace which is as much
31
Los c£nticos: "Al viento de junio," n.p. In "Los
lirios de la pasion" of the same book, the poet refers to
the universal love, and in "A la presencia del Ser" he
seeks unity in the heavens of the night: "He de tornar al
Ser subitamente, como estrella un instante separada de su
constelacion. ... Todas las noches salgo ansiosamente por
ver si le descubre la mirada."
107
a harmony with the natural world as it is a harmony with
his own anguished self. Immersed in universal love, not
even death causes him fear:
Morir, para mi, seria
ir hacia lo verdadero.
(Jubilos: "Lo eterno")
Morir, un dulce transito.
Sumirse en una p&lida quietud.
(Canticos: "Los lirios de la pasion")
Above all, his jubilation is accompanied by love.
At times it is love in isolation, as a pure emotion; other
times it is the love of an unidentified being, which seems
to be the universal being in which the poet feels himself
absorbed. In "Amor, tremula sonibra" (Jubilos) the poet
seems to sing of his love for nature, which is his spiri
tual Source. In another poem of the same book he sings of
his love for the clouds ("A las nubes del otono"). "A las
voces de los muertos" celebrates his love for those voices
(Ccinticos) .
In these works the mystical union is accompanied by
the suspension of the senses, which is often an accidental
32
quality of mysticism. In Ccinticos it seems to him that
32
Joseph Marechal, Studies in the Psychology of the
Mystics, trans. from the French by Algar Thorold (1927:
rept. Albany: Magi Books, Inc., 1964), p. 102.
108
time has been stopped by love:
Asi la gloria del amor fue mia,
mientras sereno el aire diluia
como un polvo de oro, el tiempo manso.
("A la gloria del amor")
This comparison of time with a dust that can be dispersed
is especially apt, and the choice of the epithet "manso"
deprives time of all of its independence. In another poem
of Canticos the poet also makes time a concrete substance:
"... reposa la abundancia del tiempo entre mis manos"
("A la fuerza del tiempo"). Once he suggests that he has
lost his consciousness of worldly dimensions:
Me rodea una gloria purisima. De nada
me acuerdo. Perdi el limite, y el nombre,
y la mirada.
(Jubilos: "A la dulzura de otono")
These poems repeat several times the idea that the poet has
lost his material being and become converted into pure
spirit:
Tu me difundes en la claridad
y me dejas el alma desasida,
flotando entre las glorias de la vida
y los asombros de la eternidad.
(Ccinticos: "Al viento de junio")
Pasan el ser, la voz, la luz, el viento,
y solo queda ante mi arrobamiento,
radiante y honda la verdad divina.
(Canticos: "Triunfo de la alegria")
109
In order to arrive at the unitive way, the mystic
must first pass through the purgative and illuminative ways
(Broers, p. 18). This requires an effort by the mystic,
who has to submit himself to an ascetic regimen (Broers,
p. 5). The ascetic practices may include penitence, physi
cal discipline, mental discipline, spiritual purification,
33
and isolation from things of the senses.
A number of the poems of Pardo Garcia represent the
purgative way. Some of them speak of his search, of his
anxiety for union, and of the regimen which he follows. In
"A la presencia del Ser" he expresses his certainty that
he will find union with the being for whom he searches in
the night:
He de tornar al Ser subitamente. ...
Todas las noches salgo ansiosamente
por ver si le descubre la mirada,
y cada noche el corazon le siente
mas prbximo, en la soiribra iluminada.
(Ccinticos)
His purgative routine is the contemplation of the country
side:
33
Fernando Del Rio, Historia de la literatura
espanola, rev. ed. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
1963), I, 256.
110
Presencia del otofio. Descanso de este cielo
divino en que los aires dan fin a su venida.
Contemplando los campos, en mi voz se invalida
la palabra que en vano le confio al anhelo.
(Jubilos; "A la dulzura de otono")
It also includes the adoration of the light:
Claros silencios. Subordinaciones
de mi alma, a la luz que el cielo envia.
... Mi ser ansia
transubstanciarse en luz de eucaristia;
en la celeste luz de las unciones.
Desencarnar y ser la transparencia
de la luz. ...
(Ccinticos; "Esplendor de la alegria")
In addition to the light, silence and solitude are
necessary conditions for his search for union. Solitude
permits him to concentrate on his search. Its importance
is detailed in "La soledad," where the poet describes soli
tude with images based on the four elements of ancient
alchemy (water, air, fire, and earth). Solitude is an
... Aire de transparencies
inmortales, divinas.
Aire de oro de la tarde de oro.
Aire de Luz.
Aire de Espiritu.
Aire de Vida.
Aire de Amor.
Fuego en que arde, como una lampara
de sacrificio,
mi corazon eterno.
Maravillosa soledad.
Ill
Tierra toda cruzada de caminos
hacia la beatitud.
Tierra de mi alegria,
y de mis jubilos.
(Jubilos, n.p.)
Silence has its own purgative effect on his spirit, and is
also the entryway to solitude:
Silencio, supremo silencio.
Yo te llamo columna de las bovedas
siderales.
Puerta de oro de la sabiduria.
Montana de las revelaciones.
Indivisible numero.
Camino de la soledad.
(Jubilos: "El silencio")
The illuminative way is represented in many poems
by the light which is so common, especially in Ccinticos:
34
"dQui&n me ha dado esta luz, que en mi no ardia?" In
this book the poet uses luminary images to represent his
return to the universal being ("A la presencia del Ser"),
to characterize his solitude ("Esplendor de soledad"), and
to define the limits of life: "La vida es una gloria, sus-
pendida entre la luz, los transitos y el viento" ("Triunfo
de la alegria").
Along with the presence of these psychological
attributes of Christian mysticism, Pardo Garcia uses
34
"A la verdad divina."
112
another, even more basic element to build the impression of
mysticism in his poetry: his choice of vocabulary. A com
parison of the vocabulary of the six books published from
1930 to 1938 clearly demonstrates this effect. In these
books there are one hundred and four different words which
can be considered to be related to mysticism and which, due
to their concentration in the three books of 1933 to 1935,
help to create the mystical air which the critics have
noted. These words, of course, are not exclusively indica
tive of mysticism nor even of religion, and therefore they
occur in other books as well. What is important is not
their presence in his poems, but rather their relatively
high frequency in Los jubilos ilesos, Los cdnticos, and
Los sonetos del convite.
Table 1 is a list of these words, grouped in nine
categories, according to the main concept of each group.
(It would be possible to group them in other ways, of
course, and some words could be included in various groups.)
The adjectives in the list also represent their various
substantive forms. For example, "eterno" and "lo eterno"
are both represented by "eterno," while "lo infinito" and
"el infinito" are both included under "infinito."
113
TABLE 1
MYSTICAL VOCABULARY OF PARDO GARCIA, 1930-1938
1. JOY
abundancia
alegria
elevacidn
enorme
esperanza
f irme
gozo
gloria
glorioso
jdbilo
jubilosamente
jubiloso
maravilla
maravilloso
paz
plenitud
sereno
transfigurado
transfigurarse
transformado
transformarse
transubstanciado
transubstanciarse
2. LOVE
amar amor
3. CLARITY
clarldad
claro
diafanldad
dlafano
impoluto
inmaculado
lucido
transparencia
4. COSMOS
celeste cosmico Cosmos sideral
5. ETERNITY
eternidad
eternlzarse
eterno
ilfmite
infinitamente
infinito
inmortal
inmortalidad
insondable
6. LIGHT
alumbrar
ardor
deslumbrador
deslumbrar
deslumbramiento
dorado
encendido
esplender
esplendor
fulgor
iluminado
irradiar
luminoso
luz
oro
radiante
resplandecer
resplandor
7. PROFUNDITY
inmensidad
inmensamente
inmenso
hondamente
hondo
profundamente
profundidad
profundo
8. PURITY
alto
desnudarse
desnudez
desnudo
fiel
ileso
1impiamente
limpido
limpio
perfecto
purificado
purificar
purlsimo
puro
9. RELIGIOSITY
Arcdngeles
Cristo
devoto
divino
espiritual
eucaristla
idolatrla
idol^trico
liturgico
mfstico
resurrexo
reverente
sacrificado
sacrificio
sacro
sagrado
soberano
subordinacion
supremo
uncirfn
ungido
ungir
114
Table 2 shows the frequencies of these groups of
words in each of the six books of 1930-1938. The total
frequency of the nine groups of words reaches its maximum
in Ccinticos, declines somewhat in Sonetos, and reaches its
35
lowest point in Poderios. Although these words have a
greater frequency in Presencia than in Poderios/ they are
still much less frequent than in the three books of 1933
to 1935. They have a nearly identical frequency in Jubilos
(46.1) and Sonetos (46.4), but this is due to the extremely
high frequency of the category LOVE in Sonetos. Without
this category, Sonetos and Presencia would have nearly
identical total frequencies.
The analysis, in Chapter I, of the books of the
period 1933 to 1938 traced the development of the poet's
emotions in a broad, somewhat subjective scope. This emo
tional development is revealed in a more objective fashion
35
Note that the frequency is reported in terms of
cases per one hundred lines. Aside from a few pentasyl
lable lines in Voluntad, the poems of these books are
written in lines of from eight to fourteen syllables; the
mean line in each book is probably that of eleven syllables.
Por this reason it has seemed reasonable and pra.ctical to
choose the line as the basis for calculating the frequency
of these words. The number of lines in these books are:
Voluntad, 653; Jubilos, 425; Ccinticos, 440; Sonetos, 84;
Poderios, 398; Presencia, 560.
115
TABLE 2
MYSTICAL VOCABULARY: SUMMARY
Group
Frequency (Cases per 100 Lines)
Voluntad Jubilos Canticos Sonetos Poderios Presencia
1. JOY 2.8 10.6 15.0 7.1 3.8 4.3
2. LOVE 1.4 2.8 9.1 15.4 0.0 0.5
3. CLARITY 2.3 1.4 6.4 0.0 0.5 3.4
4. COSMOS 0.0 0.7 2.5 0.0 0.3 1.4
5. ETERNITY 1.1 6.6 5.5 3.6 1.8 2.5
6. LIGHT 1.5 6.1 18.9 7.1 3.8 6.3
7. PROFUNDITY 2.1 3.3 2.7 2.4 2.5 4.6
8. PURITY 3.1 7.8 7.3 4.8 1.3 2.9
9. RELIGIOSITY 0.6 6.8 7.7 6.0 0.5 3.2
TOTAL 14.9 46.1 75.0 46.4 14.3 29.3
t—1
I —1
C T i
by these statistics on Pardo Garcia's "mystical" vocabulary.
The results are the same: in Jfibilos, in contrast with
Voluntad/ the poet is immersed in a positive spiritual air
which has an even greater presence in Ccinticos. The loss
of that spirituality is confirmed by the reduced frequency
of these words in Sonetos, and by their nearly complete
disappearance from Poderios.
The categories of JOY, LOVE, COSMOS, ETERNITY,
LIGHT, PURITY, and RELIGIOSITY follow the same pattern as
the total list, although LOVE and LIGHT stand out due to
their greater frequency in Sonetos than in Jubilos. This
is probably due to the form of Sonetos, which is presented
as the concrete story of the love of two abstract charac
ters, "Love" and "Life." Jubilos, on the other hand, is
presented in much more abstract terms. The category of
CLARITY has a reduced presence in Jubilos, but it neverthe
less basically follows the pattern of the whole group.
PROFUNDITY does not demonstrate any significant variation,
except in Presencia, in contrast with the other five books.
It can be seen that the selection of this vocabu
lary in Jfibilos and Ccinticos, in contrast with the other
books, supports the intention of the poet to reflect his
117
emotions in a form which could be called mystical. An
examination of the specific words used by the poet demon
strates even more clearly the role of Pardo Garcia's
vocabulary in this mystical creation.
Of the one hundred and four words in Table 1,
page 114, the most frequent in Jubilos is "divino," which
occurs a total of sixteen times. It occurs fourteen times
in Ccinticos, but in this book there are four words from the
list which have a greater frequency than "divino." This
word is used skillfully by the poet to suggest that his
poetry represents a true mysticism. Although many times it
appears to be a predicative adjective, it really has an
attributive function, with a semantic value of "magnifi
cent. " An example from Jubilos is the poem "A las nubes
del otono," where the clouds are called "divinas y altas
36
nubes del otono." "Descanso de este cielo divino" is a
characteristic of autumn which is evoked in "A la dulzura
de otofto" (Jubilos). In "Al viento del mediodia" of the
same book, the poet evokes the "viento de la alegria. De
la divina alegria," and is really saying that this wind
36
Titles of poems are used m these citations be
cause none of the books of 1933 to 1937 included numbered
pages.
118
is magnificent, rather than that it pertains to God. This
adjective "divino" is found two times in the poem "Aire
divino":
Temblor de rama que al dorado viento
del mediodia, opone la certeza
de su fruto. Divino movimiento
de algo que a ser inconmovible empieza.
Aire de eternidad, aire divino.
(Jfibilos)
It is obvious that in the first case the adjective is
attributive. In the second case the value is the same,
even though the poet has suggested that it might have
predicative value, by using it in a position that is paral
lel to that of the possessive phrase "de eternidad."
Almost as frequent in Jubilos as "divino" is the
word "oro," which occurs fourteen times, either in its noun
form "oro" or its adjective phrase form "de oro." In some
cases the phrase "de oro" is used with predicative value,
as in these words of "A la gloria del amor":
mientras sereno el aire diluxa
como un polvo de oro, el tiempo manso.
(Jubilos)
In "Trcinsito del amor" of the same book, "de oro" also
appears to have a predicative function, but it is also par
tially affected by the value of the attributive adjective
119
which precedes the noun:
le tiende en la noche inmensa
divina escala de oro.
In fact, the phrase 1 1 de oro" frequently appears to function
in Jubilos as an attributive adjective with practically the
same meaning as "divino," that is, "magnificent." This is
the case in "A1 viento del mediodxa":
Viento del mediodxa. Viento de
la alegrxa.
De la divina alegrxa.
Viento que llegas a mi del otoho,
Con tus doradas manzanas
y tus silencios de oro.
At the same time that it synesthetically attributes the
color of autumn to the wind, this phrase also gives to the
wind something of the attribute of magnificence. A clearer
case is the poem "Casa de oro" of Jubilos, in which the
poet describes the site of his joy as a house of gold
("casa de oro").
Other words which occur eight times or more in
Jubilos are "alto" (10 times), "amor" (10 times), "eterno"
(9 times), "infinito" (8 times), and "supremo" (8 times).
All of these except "amor" give an air of divinity to his
poetry and thus contribute to its mystical appearance.
In Ccinticos the two words of Table 1, page 114,
120
which are most frequent are "amor" (39 times) and "luz"
(38 times). Following these in frequency are six other
words which are also highly suggestive of mysticism:
"alegrxa" (15 times), "gloria" (15 times), "divino"
(14 times), "jubilo" (12 times), "celeste" (10 times), and
"gozo" (9 times). It has already been shown that "divino"
has an attributive function in this mystical-appearing
poetry. The adjective "celeste" sometimes has predicative
value, referring to some element of the heavens which is
present during the poet's jubilation; at other times it has
the same attributive value as "divino." The adjectives
"tremulo" and "claro" occur eight times each and help to
contribute perfection to the joy which Pardo Garcia ex
presses in this poetry.
The category of Table 1 which gives the greatest
support to his creation of a mystical appearance is RELI
GIOSITY, due to its obvious connections with Christian
mysticism. The poet never mentions the name of God in
these books, and uses the name of Christ only once, to
refer to the residence of the dead as "las ciudades diafa-
37
nas de Cristo." Even without using these names, however,
37
Ccinticos, "A las voces de los muertos. "
121
he is able to give the impression that God and Christ are
the center of these books. His success in this effort is
indicated by the words of the anonymous reviewer who wrote
of Pardo Garcia's work that "en toda ella palpita un senti-
miento religioso mas intenso que aparente, convertido en
motivo lirico; dentro de lo religioso# domina lo eucaris-
38
tico# la sugestion del Gran Sacramento."
The use of this selected vocabulary is related to
the effect of the poet's images derived from the Christian
tradition. It was pointed out earlier that these images
are much more frequent in Los jubilos ilesos and Los canti-
cos than in any other book, and that they frequently appear
to have a Christian interpretation in these two books. To
a great extent this interpretation is made possible by the
selection of vocabulary that has already been discussed.
Thus, the vocabulary and the images support each other, and
are jointly supported by the content and the occasionally
allegorical nature of these books.
In contrast with Pardo Garcia's images in the books
published after 1935, all except one of the Christian
38
Rev. of Seleccion de sus poemas, Revista Nacional
de Cultura, No. 10 (1939), p. 168.
122
images of these earlier books deal with non-material
aspects of Catholicism. Many are based on the mystery of
transubstantiation:
Mis glorias son las del amor divino,
transubstanciado, como.el pan y el vino,
en la desolacion de mi ternura.
(Canticos: "Presencia de la alegria")
... Mi ser ansia
transubstanciarse en luz de eucaristia;
en la celeste luz de las unciones.
(Cjmticojs: "Esplendor de la alegria")
Other images incorporate elements of the liturgy:
Sabed: esta es mi carne.
La de los anchos brazos siempre abiertos.
La de la arteria sin cesar vertida.
Y yo os la entrego, transformada en vida.
(Jubilos: "El don")
... Poseerla,
y decir, en esta lagrima
estoy presente en Espxritu,
en Voluntad y en Palabra.
Por tres veces, genuflexo,
repetir: en esta lagrima.'
... Y una, y Trina,
con su firme luz Intacta,
devolverla a sus oceanos
de eternidad y de calma.
(Jubilos: "La gloria")
Three times in Canticos, Pardo Garcia uses the mystical
image of a ladder to Heaven to portray the union of the
123
narrator with a Universal Being ("A la presencia del Ser") ,
of love with the soul ("Transito del amor")# and of love
with 1 1 lo inmenso" ("Silencio del amor"). Numerous images
refer to Christ, and two refer to the Trinity. One image
characterizes silence as an avenue to divine knowledge:
Silencio, supremo silencio.
Yo te llamo columna de las bovedas
siderales.
Puerta de oro de la sabidurxa.
Montaiia de las revelaciones.
(Jubilos: "El silencio")
Development and Unity in the
Judeo-Christian Images
The change in Pardo Garcia's use of Christian
images after 1935 has been permanent. His partial turning
away from the spiritual aspects of Catholicism as sources
of images, the concomitant increase of images based on the
material culture of Catholicism, and his abandonment of all
pretensions of traditional mysticism signalled a decisive
turn in his poetry. The development which occurred through
1935 was truncated, forcing his Christian images to develop
in a different direction after that year, in the direction
of a figurative usage applied to non-religious themes and
contexts. This second period, that of the years following
1935, has been characterized by continuity with regard
124
to the presence of Christian images, although it would be
inaccurate to say that these images have revealed a process
of growth. On the contrary, it is apparent that after 1935
the Christian religion took a minor place in the poet's
consciousness, much like a long-abandoned civic building
whose only function is to provide a reference point for
mapping out a modern city. Only when Pardo Garcia attempted
to recreate poetically the village of his youth in Los
dngeles de vidrio did the old religious framework seem to
come to life.
Technology
The Presence of Technology
Although Pardo Garcia has always maintained his
ties with the rural environment of his youth, he has also
developed a strong interest in the modern urban world in
which he has lived during most of his adult life. Nowhere
is this interest more evident than in the role of tech-
39
nology plays in his poetry.
39
In a strict sense, the terms "science" (man's
knowledge about the universe and its inhabitants) and
"technology" (man's application of that knowledge) are dis
tinct terms. However, unless I specify otherwise in my
125
The entry of modern technology into his poetry was
preceded by a gradual expansion of his awareness of the sky
and the stellar bodies during the period of 1930 to 1949.
At the beginning of his career the sky was a relatively
unimportant backdrop for some of his poems, although in his
mystical books, it also served as an important stimulus of
his emotions. Beginning with Sacrificio, in 1943, Pardo
Garcia began to incorporate more stellar bodies into his
poetry. By the time Poemas contemporaneos was published
in 1949, he had developed a poetic celestial map consisting
of five constellations and the planet Saturn; during the
following twenty-two years the poet added dozens of addi
tional bodies to his cosmography. Although the role of the
sky in his poetry has always been one of background, during
recent years the heavenly bodies have followed the general
trend of his poetry in turning away from the individual man
to become involved with the efforts of the entire species
to control its own destiny.
discussion, I use the term "technology" to include both of
these areas, as well as mathematics. In the poetry of
Pardo Garcia, true science is usually subordinate to tech
nology, since the poet is concerned with what affects man
rather than with why it works.
126
His awakening to the urban world and to modern
technology followed a similar course, although its real
beginning did not come until Poemas contempor^neos. This
book reflected the effects of the horrifying events of
World War II upon the mind and spirit of the poet. Pre
viously egocentric and nature-oriented, he was forced to
consider all of mankind in his reflections on the conse
quences of such war episodes as the Nazi leveling of the
Czech village of Lidice, the naval blockades, or the
nuclear attack on Hiroshima. Having stepped into the
modern world with Poemas contemporaneos, the poet has since
continued to probe deeper and deeper into the nature of our
era and into its consequences for man's spirit. Much of
the time he concentrates on man's efforts to control his
destiny and his fellow man through the use of technology.
This has already been shown in Chapter I in the discussion
of the themes of the suffering caused by war (pp. 44-45),
the effects of modern civilization upon man (pp. 47-52),
and the exploration of space (pp. 52-62). His focus is
upon man as a temporal being with a historical past and a
future of one kind or another. In this respect he differs
greatly from Colombia's Nadaistas of the 1960's. The
127
Nadaxstas believed that the advances of science were im
portant poetic material, but they also believed that their
poetry should concern itself only with the present, reject-
40
ing the past and the future.
In all of his efforts to use technology as a poetic
recourse, Pardo Garcia reveals himself to be a well-read
amateur, but by no means a scientist or engineer. In some
areas, such as chemistry and biology, his poetry does
little more than incorporate relatively familiar terms,
as in the phrases "moleculas saladas, hierro y fdsforo y
41
silicatos" and "neuronas enigmaticas." In the area of
astrophysics, on the other hand, the poet's reading has
obviously been extensive, and indicates that in his efforts
to weigh the benefits of technology to the human race, he
has taken testimony from both sides of the question. He
likes to think of himself as a representative of both the
humanistic and scientific camps, and although he identi
fies himself as a poet, he has also called himself a
40
Pablo Gonzalez Rodas, "El Movimiento Nadaista en
Colombia," en Revista Iberoamericana, 32 (1966), 234, 236.
41
U.Z. llama al espacio (1954), p. 24; Eternidad
del ruisenor (1956), p. 19.
128
part-time mathematician and physicist.
The fusion of these often contrary points of view
has required a sacrifice on the part of the poet. He
describes this task as one which he did not seek con
sciously, but rather one which imposed itself upon him with
irresistible force:
Pude ser cenital unicamente.
Un hombre elemental como la harina.
Sembrar un lirio y escuchar sediento
la corriente savial por sus raices.
jPero no.' Los luceros y los ntimeros
arrasaron mi sien como a los troncos
de una selva oscurisima al verano.^
Most of this exploration of modern man has focused
on three major areas: the technology of modern war, the
epic of the exploration of space, and modern industrial
technology. There are also other aspects of technology in
Pardo Garcia's poetry of the past two decades, but they
appear only as scattered details in this large body of
verse.
Pardo Garcia's point of view in dealing with tech
nology, is that of a humanist. His interest in modern
warfare is not that of a student of tactics, but that of
42
Correspondence, Dec. 26, 1969.
43
Labios nocturnos (1965), pp. 112-113.
129
a horrified spectator of man's self-destruction. He uses
military technology, and particularly the atomic bomb, in
order to emphasize the unfavorable aspects of man's nature.
Space and its exploration also give him a chance to reflect
upon the present and future states of man, but his reflec
tions from this point of view produce conflicting results,
as the poet recognizes both the heroism of the space effort
and the potential for spiritual enslavement which the
related technology represents. His view of industrial
technology is similar.
Each of these three areas has been discussed from
a thematic point of view in Chapter I (pp. 42-62). The
present chapter will concern itself with the role of tech
nology in the construction of Pardo Garcia's images, in
their specific sources, and their effects.
As was indicated earlier, technology did not make
its first appearance in Pardo Garcia's poetry until Poemas
contemporaneos (1949). It was also in this work that tech
nology was first used as the vehicle of an image. Since
that time, the poet has used technological images in all
but two books: Osiris preludial (1960), and Mural de Espaha
(1966). Two books, U.Z. llama al espacio (1954), and
130
Apolo Thermidor (1971), contain a much larger number of
technological images than the others (twenty-three and
fifty, respectively). The frequency of these images has
fluctuated around a median of nine, with a mean of eleven.
There does not appear to be any real chronological trend in
the frequency with which the poet uses this type of image.
Sources and Effects of the Images
These images may be classified according to the
area of science or technology from which their vehicle is
taken. Throughout the twenty-four year period covered by
this study, only three areas are important sources of
images: astronomy (fifty-one images), physics (fifty-four
images), and mathematics (forty-seven images). Only thirty-
nine other technological images are to be found in the
poet's work. These come from such sources as industrial
technology, chemistry, space science, biology, and tele
pathy. No real trend is discernible in these minor sources
of technological images.
The major sources, however, do reveal certain
trends which might demonstrate the growth of the poet's
awareness of science and technology. During the decade of
1949 through 1958, astronomy, physics, and mathematics
_____________ 131
provided nearly an equal percentage of the technological
images used by Pardo Garcia in that period (21, 27, and
23 per cent, respectively). During the decade of 1959
through 1968, however, a disproportionate share of his
images came from the realm of astronomy (54 per cent),
while the percentage based on physics and mathematics was
greatly reduced (8 and 21 per cent, respectively). This
trend was reversed in the three books published since 1969,
with astronomy providing only 14 per cent of the images, in
contrast with the 41 per cent derived from physics and
28 per cent from the realm of mathematics. On the basis of
these statistics it is reasonable to suppose that the
poet's interests and his reading in these areas were at
first both general and balanced, but that as the explora
tion of space became more of a reality, he became more and
more interested in astronomy and astronomical phenomena.
This interest appears to have led him, in recent years, to
a deeper study of the knowledge which has made spaceflight
possible, and thus to a concentration on physics and mathe
matics in his images of the past four years.
Many of the technological images which are to be
found in these books bear some relationship to the
132
exploration of space, through their basis in astrophysics,
even though the area of spaceflight itself provides a very
small percentage of Pardo Garcia's technological images.
A few of the images derived from physics are related to
military technology by the poet's concern about the terror
of nuclear warfare. Relatively few images are related to
industrial technology. A significant portion of the images
are concerned in one way or another, with the effects of
technology upon man.
One of the major effects of these images is the
emphasizing of contemporary man's technological roots. At
times the poet creates this result simply by using a tech
nical vehicle to present a tenor that could have been
conveyed by plain language, while on other occasions the
tenor itself is derived from technology. The following
passage from Lucero sin orillas (1952) illustrates both
types of image, as the poet addresses the trees of the
forest:
Asi voy hacia vosotros cuando el sol
mas violento asedia
la integridad de todas las figuras;
cuando del aire bajan electrones
a saturar la solidez del mundoy
cuando la luz de misteriosas venas
invade los eternos logaritmosy
133
cuando el cuerpo camina m^s seguro
de su gravitacion sobre las cosas.
(p. 90)
In lines three through six, the vehicles and tenors of the
images are technological, while lines seven and eight could
have been stated in simple terms: "cuando el cuerpo siente
mis su peso ..."
A clear example of the poet's use of technological
images to relate a human subject to technology is the poem
"La pared" (Apolo Thermidor, pp. 149-151) . In twenty-eight
lines the poet describes a man seated alone in a room,
presents his mental history using technological images, and
suggests that his future is little different from the past:
detras de la pared sigue violento
pensando en la Dinamica Homicida.
(p. 151)
The poet's introduction of his subject is concise:
... Aqui la cuarteadura
semeja un endoscopio que dejara
ver en el centro de salon vacio,
a un hombre nuclear que meditara.
(p. 149)
The use of the image of the endoscope, which is used to
examine the excretory organs of the body, immediately
creates an unfavorable attitude toward this man. The epi
thet "nuclear" places him instantly within the atomic age.
134
But he is more than just a man: he seems to be a symbol of
all of modern man:
Ha pensado, ha pensado y ha pensado
termicamente. El es el Pensamiento
sobre un mundo electronico inclinado.
(p. 150)
This characterization is fqJLlowed by a series of images
which describe the effects of his labor of meditation as
though he were a product of technology:
Penso en la muerte y se torno violento
cual atomo al sufrir el paroxismo.
La relatividad del movimiento
9
lo transformo en un palido espejismo
de la quietud. Analizo la vida,
y le desintegro su mecanismo.
(p. 150)
Even his esthetics are a humanistic disaster:
En su sien matematica, la rosa
fue un quarismo no mas, un elemento
de la Fisica Quantica ...
(p. 150)
A similar analysis of the relationship between man and
technology occurs in the poem "El Tercer Hombre," also of
44
Apolo Thermidor. This poem also contains a number of
images whose vehicles are taken from the realm of tech-
nology.
44
See the discussion of this poem in Chapter I.
135
In many other cases, the technological images do
not appear to have as their major purpose the development
of a link between man and technology, but rather the attri
bution of one or more characteristics to man or to some
concrete or abstract entity. In the following selection
Pardo Garcia expands upon an emotion of horror by building
an image based on astronomy:
jQue terrible orbe mecanico nocturno.' Mi
corazon no puede
sino contemplarle con el terror que la materia
impone,
y mi conciencia meteorica,
sometida al temblor de choques din^micos,
semeja esos luceros
que atraviesan el espacio como antorchas
y convierten masas de sodios cosmicos en
i 45
lividas hogueras.
He uses the image of the solar system in a similar manner
to portray the importance of bread:
... el pan es el sol primario y unico
de una constelacion alimenticia,
en donde la cebolla esta cihiendose
anillos de cristal, como Saturno;
el rabano se eclipsa entre sus ciscaras
de candidez y porfidas hortenses,
y el ajo dividido reproduce ^
la divina menguante de la Luna.
45
U.Z. llama al espacio, p. 76.
^ Centauro al sol, p. 106.
136
The importance of astronomy in Pardo Garcia' s perception of
the world is indicated by the fact that he would use such
an image as that of the second passage to deal with a sub
ject which is completely unrelated to astronomy or any
other aspect of technology.
At times these images convey a logically acceptable
tenor, as in the case of the epithet "telesc6picos1 1 in the
following passage from "Resurreccion de Prometeo":
Viaje sobre sus suehos absolutos
escuchando el crepitar de cumulos gigantes,
la aceleracion de cifras fotometricas
y el crecimiento de telescopicos guarismos,
hasta caer aniquilado
por tanta inmensidad.
(U.Z., pp. 95-96)
In Lucero sin orillas, Pardo Garcia had used this same epi
thet ("telescopico") with the meaning of "from far away."
At one point in the poem "Crepusculo del silencio, " he
described the twilight of his silence ("los crepusculos de
mi silencio") as if it were a comet returning from outer
space:
Quizas pasaron hace mucho
por estas mismas zonas aparentes,
y regresan ahora saturados
de polvo telescopico y de abismos.
(p. 53)
This same sense of "distant" also appears to apply in the
image from "Resurreccion de Prometeo. "
137
In many cases, however, these technological images
do not have a logical sense, but rather an imaginary or
emotional sense. Pardo Garcia often seems to use words as
much for their phonic or rhythmic value as for their
semantic value, with the result that they create images
which convey a vague emotion rather than a specific idea or
picture. Such is the case in the following lines, which
immediately precede the above passage from U.Z.:
Desencarno mi esplritu y sus sienes
ardieron como selvas habitadas
por aguilas logarltmicas que llevan
soles azules en sus garras
y ellpticas en sus plumas directrices.
(p. 95)
The sense of "acruilas logarltmicas1 1 is not logical, but
rather emotional. It helps to convey an impression of a
pain that is not physical but overwhelmingly abstract, one
which the reader can share but cannot consciously define.
This type of image, which Carlos Bousoho has called "imagen
visionario," is common in the poetry of the twentieth cen-
47
tury and in the work of Pardo Garcia.
47
Bousoho, Teoria de la expresion poetica, 4th ed.
(Madrid: Gredos, 1966), pp. 104-123.
138
Growth and Continuity
A chronological examination of the images derived
from the three major sources— mathematics, physics, and
astronomy— shows that in each area Pardo Garcia expands his
repertoire of vehicles over the years. This tendency is
less evident in his mathematical images than in the other
two types, but it nevertheless exists. It is doubtful,
however, that his addition of new mathematical images
reflects a growth in his knowledge of mathematics. Only
one image of the past four years is based on knowledge that
is any more advanced than that reflected by his images of
1949 to 1958:
Nos vio encender la hoguera atomica
y dilatar el organismo
de la insondable cibernetica.
(Apolo, p. 145)
In the area of astronomy, the poet's images like
wise give little evidence of any great growth in his
knowledge of the field, aside from an interest in the
theories concerning the origin of the universe. This in
terest is first reflected in the poem "Cosmonauts" of 1962,
where the cosmonaut-poet proclaims himself to be as old as
the cloud of matter which, according to one current theory,
gave birth to the universe:
139
No he envejecido, aunque ya tengo
millones de aftos; esa edad
de la tiniebla primitiva
y la galaxia original.4®
It appears in "El Tercer Hombre":
jTe explica que esas letras son
las lamparas
que un Poder Enigmcitico alimenta
con gas de la primaria nebulosa
forjada entre los hornos del abismoj
In contrast with the nearly total lack of growth in
the depth of the mathematics and astronomy used in his
images, Pardo Garcia's images which derive their vehicles
from physics demonstrate an active interest in that field.
This growth does not begin to be reflected, however, until
Apolo Thermidor. Suddenly in this book, Pardo Garcia's
familiarity with the terms and ideas of modern physics
appears to have grown from a very basic level to a much
more advanced and complex understanding. Now he builds
images based upon modern physics:
y hablare, por seftas, con figuras
pertenecientes a la Nueva Fisica.®®
4ft
El defensor (1964), pp. 79-80.
49
Apolo Thermidor (1971), p. 164.
50
Desnudez (1973), p. 43.
140
Foremost among these figures is Einstein:
jMira al Gran Padre Sideral erguirse
sobre sus Relativas EcuacionesJ
jAcechar con las avidas miradas
la faz de las protonicas potenciasi
(Apolo, pp. 161-162)
Einstein's Theory of Relativity is a frequent source of
images in the books of 1969 to 1973. But other physicists
have left their mark on Pardo Garcia's images. Several
images are superficially based on quantum physics:
jOh niho nuclear que en los trapecios
de la Fisica Quantica te meces.'
(Apolo, p. 163)
En su sien matem^tica, la rosa
fue un quarismo no mas, un elemento
de la Fisica Quantica.
(Apolo, p. 150)
Other physicists who have become a part of Pardo Garcia's
imagery are Max Plank:
jOh Ser Lejano ...
• • • • • • • • •
jOh cumulo aritmetico que escondes
la constante de Plank en tus arcanosj
(Apolo, p. 165)
and the German, Joseph von Fraunhofer:
jTu, que puedes entrar ...
donde en murallas de cristal proyectan
las difractoras bandas de Fraunhofer
el espectro de un mundo en agonia.'
(Apolo, p. 166)
141
The increased scientific and technological sophisti
cation shown by the poet's images of the past four years
reflect an unmistakable study of the area of physics. It
should not be supposed, however, that this has been a study
of scientific texts. Rather, it appears that Pardo Garcia
has read works for the educated layman. But even though
his knowledge of science and technology may not be that of
a professional, the poet's use of technological images has
restricted the audience for at least part of his poetry to
scientists, engineers, and interested laymen like himself.
The esoteric nature of these images is merely another of a
series of factors which have made Pardo Garcia's poetry a
work for a limited minority. Although he skillfully blends
these images with natural images and images from daily
life, the vastness of his vocabulary and the sometimes
confusing apparent complexity of his ideas have served as
barriers to the ordinary reader of poetry or to the reader
who does not have the time to consider the relationships
and ideas posed in Pardo Garcia's work. It appears that
the poet is well aware of the limited audience which he
reaches, although he may not be aware of the reasons for
its inconsiderable size:
142
No me intimida la muerte porque mi razon
es m^s honda
que el pensamiento de los dioses.
Pero iquien sabe algo de mi, de mi fulgurante
entusiasmo,
de mi destino herbico,
de mi solidaridad humana, humilde, y tierna?
Mis himnos a los obreros y a las cosas,
iquien escucha?
(Apolo, p. 372)
Classical Mythology
Presence of Mythology
Pardo Garcia's use of classical mythology began
with the publication of U.Z. llama al espacio (1954), in
which the figures of Prometheus, Dionysus, the centaur, and
the cyclops appeared. The permanent installation of my
thology as an important element of his poetry came in 1959,
with Centauro al sol, but its maximum presence, like that
of technology, was not attained until a more recent work,
Apolo Thermidor (1971) . Of the fifteen books he has pub
lished since 1954, three carry titles which are based on
mythology (Centauro al sol, Himnos del Hierofante, and
Apolo Thermidor), and many of the others contain poems
whose titles and images are related to ancient culture.
Sometimes the myths serve as themes for his poetry,
but in general mythology only provides Pardo Garcia with
143
metaphors. These are generally ideological in nature,
although they often have plastic qualities as well. They
never have the sensual qualities found in Dario's use of
mythology. Pardo Garcia's mythological images often evoke
brutal or tragic elements, and rarely convey positive feel-
51
ings. Even when a myth serves him as the theme of a
poem, he does not retell the inherited myth, but rather
constructs his own version. In this, he is no different
from the majority of modern writers, whose mythology "tends
to be a private fabrication utilizing traditional personae
and details . . . to project a personal vision of the world
that expresses a certain notion about man and his 'reality,'
the world, and some power or destiny that lies beyond or
within."52
51
See the examination of Dario's images in Dolores
Ackel Fiore, Ruben Dario in Search of Inspiration (New
York: Las Americas, 1963), pp. 77-109. See also: George D.
Schade, "La mitologia clasica en la poesia modernista
hispanoamericana," in La cultura v la literatura ibero-
americana (Memorial del Septimo Congreso del Instituto
Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana, Berkeley,
California, 1955) (Mexico: Andrea, 1957), pp. 123-129.
52
Walter A. Strauss, Descent and Return: The Orphic
Theme in Modern Literature (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ.
Press, 1971), p. 4.
144
Pardo Garcia's mythology includes many gods, semi
gods, heroes, and creatures, but only three beings have a
frequent and important role in his poetry: Prometheus,
Orpheus, and the centaurs. The others come and go, often
appearing as mere adornments, as in the long elegy on the
53
Mexico City Olympic Games of 1968. Precolumbian figures
appear only in that same elegy.
Of the less frequent mythological figures in his
poetry, only Apollo and Heracles have any kind of indi- >
viduality. In Heracles' final appearance in a metaphorical
role, he serves as a symbol for German Pardo Garcia as the
poet looks back over his literary career, which he views as
being similar to the labors of the Greek:
Soy Heracles, semidios y pugilista griego.
Poeta fui tambien de Colombia, mi patria.
Le ayude a Prometeo a arrebatar a los dioses
la llama celeste.^
Apollo has various attributes which are evoked by the epi
thets given him by Pardo Garcia: "Dinosauro1 1 (Relampagos,
p. 47), "Thermidor" (Cruz, p. 136, and Apolo, p. 15),
53
"Akroteras," in Apolo, pp. 61-75.
54
Apolo, p. 371. Pardo Garcia here distorts the
myth in using it for his own purposes. In reality,
Hercules had no part in the theft of fire.
145
"Cerbero" ( Apolo, p. 51), and "Pankr&tor" (Apolo, p. 62) .
On one occasion he serves as a fearsome guardian of the
poet's creations:
Amor no existe
ni hay cielo en estas paginas.
;Un foro gris de ritos itifalicos.'
jApolo Thermidor cuida la entradaj
(Apolo, p. 15)
Only once does he fulfill his traditional role of musician
and friend of man.55
Prometheus
The story of Prometheus has at least three facets
which have parallels in the major themes of Pardo Garcia,
and which therefore have facilitated the incorporation of
the Titan into his poetic world. Like the narrator of the
Colombian's poetry, Prometheus defied the powers of Heaven.
He also was isolated from divine benevolence, although in
contrast with the poet's narrator, Prometheus never doubted
the existence of Zeus, and he was never allowed to believe
that the gods had forgotten him. Finally, Prometheus was
a champion of man, as has been Pardo Garcia through his
poetry.
55
Labios, p. 69.
________________________________________________________ 146
Although Pardo Garcia takes advantage of all of
these ideas, his major focus is upon the punishment of the
Titan. Prometheus suffered greatly as the result of his
defiance of the gods, but his anguish was purely the
physical pain of his exposure to the elements and that of
the constant gnawing of the vulture upon his intestines.
German Pardo Garcia's narrator, on the other hand, suffers
a great spiritual anguish, which the poet gives an extra
dimension of horror by evoking the fate of Prometheus. In
"Sinceridad" the narrator reveals his true "self":
Tu que llevas coral sobre la frente,
tenias que saberlo antes que hollaras
la red de este jardin incandescente
donde un buitre me come las escaras.
(Centauro, p. 188)
In his "Invocacion a Gustavo Adolfo Becquer," he compares
his own spirit with that of Becquer, again evoking Pro
metheus 1 vulture:
Y tu con tus acentos
clarisimos matandote a golpazos.
Y yo con mis lamentos
oscuros y aletazos
de un buitre sideral entre los brazos.
(Relampagos, p. 81)
In order to interpret his own suffering and beliefs,
Pardo Garcia adds new interpretations to various details
of the myth. On one occasion he converts Prometheus, the
147
traditional symbol of physical suffering, into a symbol of
mental suffering, along with Hamlet and Raskolnikov:
Sentenciadme a una celda luminosa,
con Hamlet y el vencido Prometeo,
ya juzgados tambien por su amargura.
(Defensor, p. 120)
Tradition attributes no remorse to Prometheus, who was ever
confident of his eventual release and the destruction of
the rule of the unjust Zeus. This image is, therefore, the
poet's own interpretation of what the Titan should have
felt. On another occasion a narrator who has become de
humanized by his spiritual struggle, presents himself:
;Insensible al Amor, sobre una roca
y sin temer la oscuridad espero.'
jSin piedad, sin dolor, alma de acero,
contra el Espacio mi conciencia chocaj
(Himnos, p. 7)
But Prometheus did not lack pity for others, as was demon
strated by the understanding he showed the unfortunate Io
when she passed by his mountain. In another poem ("Los
testimonies del viento"), Pardo Garcia does not present
Prometheus in his traditional role of friend of man, but
rather as an accomplice of the suicide of the human race:
|0h ciencia mia natural que mueres
bajo las ruedas de agresivo fierro.'
jAy de mis hijos que en las manos tienen
estrellas con electricos volumenes. 1
148
jAy de ti, Prometeo, que les diste
los poderes ocultos de las llamas.'
(Centauro, p. 85)
The poet's most complete and most modern treatment
of the myth of Prometheus occurs in "Resurreccion de Pro-
56
meteo." Here, the pantheistic, scientific, mythological,
and social strands of Pardo Garcia's poetry come together.
Prometheus presents himself once more upon the earth after
a spiritual journey through the Cosmos. His resurrection
is not like that of Christ, but rather is a pantheistic
reincarnation into a mechanical form composed of various
substances made possible by the fire that Prometheus had
originally brought to earth:
Mis manos astrofxsicas, ya prontas
a levantar pesados materiales,
en el centro de fabricas obreras
impulsan las palancas y motores.
Mi pecho es de metal acorazado.
Mis hombros guarnecidos con escamas
unidas por violentas soldaduras.
Mis pies estdn calzados con defensas
manchadas de cemento y de petroleo.
(pp. 98-99)
In most of the poem Prometheus relates the history
of his struggle against the stars and the monstrous ele
ments of the young earth. Although Prometheus calls
56
U.Z., pp. 87-99.
149
himself "el primer caudillo de la tierra, su primer capitcin
contra los cielos" (p. 91), it appears that Pardo Garcia
attributes his rebellion not to a generosity towards man
kind, but to the pursuit of the Titan's own interests:
Senti en mi cuerpo la crueldad de la naturaleza
y la impiedad de lo eterno en el espiritu.
Vi cruzar un relampago y despues otro relampago,
incitandome a la conquista
de las alturas y del fuego.
(p. 90)
In the final part of the poem, the poet builds a pantheistic
view of death around the Titan's punishment. But this poem
is, above all, a part of Pardo Garcia's social poetry, and
is an expression of his solidarity with the working class.
At the end of the poem the Titan, who was man's first
friend in the heavens, proclaims:
Buscadme entre las grandes multitudes.
En el dolor de las naciones
y en la agonia de las razas.
... Una vara de hierro me confiere,
con su brillo de cetro proletario,
dinastia din&mica en el mundo
y fuerza ante la angustia de los honibres.
(p. 99)
Orpheus
The Orpheus of Pardo Garcia includes three aspects
of the myth: Orpheus' role as a superb musician, his descent
150
into Hell, and his discovery of homosexual love. Twice
Pardo Garcia evokes him as a musician. He serves as a
symbol for Pardo Garcia's narrator, who reflects upon his
approaching death:
Me habre cansado de hacer surgir el Sol,
como Orfeo,
al resonar de mi silvestre cdntico,
y no convocare ciervos ni alondras
para cantarles mi pasion de vida.
El arpa polifona sera monicorde lefto,
o estara rota y olvidada.
(Cruz, p. 82)
He will be both deaf and blind, since he hears and sees
through his harp. Without his instrument, he will not even
be able to detect his love as she passes by:
mas no podre escuchar ni percibir
entre las nubes,
la cabellera de Euridice pasando.
(p. 82)
By comparing himself with Orpheus, the poet's narrator
appears to be laying claim to a pivotal role in the
functioning of nature:
y el Sol, por mi siempre invocado,
retorne y cante
y cante
sobre mi paz de taciturno Orfeo,
porque yo soy el pulsador de
universales citaras.
(p. 84)
In another poem the narrator again is likened to Orpheus,
151
this time by the use of an epithet. Although Orpheus'
music can move the world, it cannot end the narrator's
suffering:
Hay un muro de sangre, me dijiste.
Se alza un muro de sangre ante mi espiritu.
Con tus poderes orficos destruyelo.
Y al fulgor de la luna y en un lago,
vi que mis sienes orficas sangraban
a traves de secretas cuarteaduras,
y que mi sombra semejaba un muro ^
de soledad sangrando en el silencio.
The descent into Hell is used in two of Pardo
Garcia's poems. In the first, "Casi elegia," the narrator
thinks about a woman whom he has loved but whom death has
taken from him. He promises to follow her:
No por una serpiente, cual Euridice,
traspasaste recintos y murallas
donde cada ladrillo es una tumba.
Mas desde entonces bajo en las tinieblas
a buscarte en las llamas del infierno.
(Labios, p. 57)
In the second poem the detail of the descent into Hell is
used to build up a case of apparently mistaken identity.
An individual who claims to be Euridice, the beloved of
Orpheus, is repeatedly addressed as Orpheus by an unidenti
fied woman. Among the pleas of this temptress is:
57
Labios, pp. 21-22.
152
... No desciendas a las criptas
interrctneas.'
Con tu amor y tus musicas excltame.'
(Apolo, p. 239)
One of the strangest touches which Pardo Garcia
gives to the myth is the mistaken identity of the Thracian.
There is an element of this in "Casi elegia, " even though
it is obvious from the beginning of this poem that the nar
rator is merely acting out the Orphic role in a symbolic
58
fashion. In three other poems Orpheus either is pre
sented through his absence, or else is not really Orpheus
at all. Indeed, only in "Orfeo de dolor" is the described
person really Orpheus, and even in this case he is not the
kind, inspiring person he believed himself to be, but
59
rather an embodiment of suffering. In "Cuando mis labios
se cansen" the narrator of the poem is initially only
similar to the ancient musician, but at the end of the poem
the distinction between the two is nearly erased:
y el Sol, por mi siempre invocado,
retorne y cante
y cante
sobre mi paz de taciturno Orfeo,
porque yo soy el pulsador de
universales cxtaras.
(Cruz, p. 84)
58
Labios, pp. 57-58.
59
Labios, pp. 21-22.
_____________________________ 153
In the only two poems dealing with the love between
Orpheus and Euridice, a woman calls out for Orpheus, but
the narrator denies being the tragic lover. The first of
these poems is "Ficcion de Orfeo," in which Orpheus recalls
an idyllic afternoon of love-making with Euridice, one
which ended with his confession:
Euridice frutal: no soy Orfeo,
y mi sitio es aqui frente a las rocas,
junto a los seres fragiles y tristes,
cerca al soldado muerto en las batallas,
donde estan los sepulcros de los heroes
y al pie de las cenizas de los m^rtires.
(Defensor, p. 56)
What occurs here is a complex fusion of the Thracian musi
cian with Pardo Garcia's defender of the common man, pro
ducing a narrator who is very similar to the first person
of most of the rest of the poet's work.
The second case in which the identity of the lovers
is confused introduces the theme of Orpheus' homosexuality.
"Orfeo traicionado" tells of the frustration of Orpheus
when a woman begs for his love, apparently after he had
60
turned to the love of young boys. Three times he insists
60
This aspect of the myth seems to have been origi
nated by Ovid, who offered it as an explanation of Orpheus'
death at the hands of the women of Thrace. Virgil, and
with him all of Spanish literature, ignored this detail,
154
that he is not Orpheus, but rather Euridice. He promises
her that if she should call for him again, he will again
reject her:
... Y enfrentcindome a los dioses
y a mi naturaleza erronea y triste,
si tu sollozas: jven, Orfeo!
ire a ti como un hombre y en voz firme
de masculina resonancia,
volvercis a sentir, cuando supliques,
la imprecacibn que os lanzo, dioses crueles
que a Orfeo traiciondis: jyo soy EuridiceI
(Apolo, p. 240)
This seemingly bizarre adaptation of the myth of Orpheus
and Euridice is one of a number of poems in Apolo Thermidor
which deal with the tragedy of homosexual love in a hetero-
61
sexual world. The entire poem may be considered to be an
extended image of the type "not A but B, " and is the most
original of Pardo Garcia's uses of mythological figures for
the construction of images.
The Centaur
Even though the centaur is the most frequently
offering other explanations for the musician's death. See:
Pablo Cabahas, El mito de Orfeo en la literatura espafiola
(Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas,
Instituto Miguel de Cervantes de Filologia Hispanica,
1948), pp. 30-31.
61
See also: "El arbol que no ama," pp. 211-212;
"Monologo de Oscar Wilde," pp. 247-250; "Soledad," p. 257.
155
encountered mythological being in Pardo Garcia's poetry,
it serves as an extended image in only one poem, the sonnet
62
"Hombre centauro. " This centaur is never used as a theme
in this work. The most usual role of this half-man is as
an image which conveys some of the qualities of the centaur
or of the environment in which the poet imagines him to
have lived. In this capacity, the centaur is often related
to the poet's pantheism.
In several poems the centaur approaches being the
product of a pantheistic union and as such, he underlines
man's double nature of beast and noble being. In "Testi
monies del viento" the earth remembers her missing chil
dren:
Su consanguinidad con los cuadrupedos
les daba simbolismo de centauros,
porque bestiales como potros eran,
y a la vez de celeste jerarquia.
(Centauro, p. 67)
In "Sombras acusticas" the narrator remembers having told
a woman that "... yo te interpreto unicamente con las iras
63
del centauro, bestia en la sombra y en tus aras hombre.
6 2
Centauro, pp. 19-20.
63 _ _
Centauro, pp. 11-12.
156
In another poem the physical contact between a man and a
centaur gives both dominion over life and provides a
stimulus to love: "la vida es nuestra y el amor entero
64
cimbra al contacto de tu faz membruda."
Most commonly the image of the centaur evokes blind
strength and will. The narrator describes his morning
routine as an explosion of energy, as if he were a centaur,
and even the morning sun has centaur qualities:
He roto las son&mbulas cadenas,
y el sol piafante y harponero mxo
deslumbrame la piel y ojos y venas.
(Centauro, p. 36)
His own struggle with the heavens has been like the tearing
about of a stampeded centaur: "Fue esteril que domara los
abismos con mi galope justador y ciego. 1 This use of the
image of the brutal energy of the centaur in order to
underline man's impotence is repeated in "Mater et magis-
tra, " where after a long eulogy of Pope John XXIII, the
narrator admits that his praise is laid on a weak base:
Pero soy un vencido como tantos,
un hombre con su idioma resonindole
falsamente a galopes de centauros.
(Relampagos, pp. 49-50)
64 ^
Centauro, p. 19.
65 ^
Centauro, p. 44.
157
Related to this brute strength of the centaur is an agility
which makes him an apt image for describing athletic en
deavors. The winner of a foot race is pictured in one poem
66
as a centaur. When the narrator of "Himno de triunfo"
climbs a mountain to shout out his protests against the
67
Cosmos which has deserted him, he does so as a centaur.
At times Pardo Garcia uses the centaur as a symbol
of common man and the simple life. Thus, the narrator who
insists that he is not Orpheus uses the image of the cen
taur to assure Euridice that he is not the musician:
y deja que te cubra con mi espiritu,
mientras tu cuerpo, Euridice de vida,
cabalga en mis rihones de centauro.
(Defensor, p. 57)
When the poet decries the new life led by modern man under
the fear of war, far from the values and environment of the
poet's own childhood, he uses the centaur to represent the
old life:
Y jay del que no desligue la mirada
de la inmensa llanura bombardeada
por donde huyen los ultimos centauros.'
(Himnos, p. 19)
66
Apolo, pp. 129-131.
^7Angeles, p. 101.
158
Pardo Garcia always attributes vitality to his sub
jects, by comparing them to centaurs. This may be the
reason that so often the narrator of his poems is presented
as a centaur, since throughout his career Pardo Garcia has
considered vitality and the will of the individual to be
supreme qualities.
Growth and Continuity of the
Mythological Images
Pardo Garcia's use of mythological images has not
been as persistent as his use of the other three types dis
cussed in this chapter. Mythological images are not as
frequent as the others, and do not play as vital a role in
his poetic creation as do his pantheistic and technological
images. They do contribute, however, an additional facet
to his work and to the concept of man that is expressed in
his poetry. It is important to note that except for Apollo,
the most predominant mythological figures in Pardo Garcia1s
poetry are not omnipotent beings. In fact Prometheus is
the only one who was a god, and even he had fallen from the
favor of the gods in power.
There is a degree of continuity in the poet's use
of these images. Only Hay piedras como lagrimas (1957)
159
and Mural de Espana (1966) do not contain mythological
images. The continuity is due more to this continued
presence of Greco-Roman mythology in Pardo Garcia's poetry,
than it is to the presence of any specific figure. Pro
metheus is the only one of the five most common mythologi
cal figures which has any pronounced presence in this
poetry before 1959. Although the centaur, like Prometheus,
is first introduced in U.Z., it is not until Centauro al
sol that the centaur acquires an important role. The other
three figures— Orpheus, Apollo, and Hercules— do not appear
until La Cruz del Sur (1960).
This is one indication that Pardo Garcia's use of
mythological figures grew, that it did not spring forth in
a mature form. Another indication of this is the poet's
development of the expressive capabilities of the myth of
Orpheus, through the various stages of comparison, identi
fication, and contrast of Orpheus and Pardo Garcia's nar
rator. The examination of the role of Prometheus and the
centaur has also shown development, since the poet has not
adopted a single function for each, but rather a series of
associations.
160
Conclusions; Continuity and Growth in
Pardo Garcia's Sources of Images
Four sources of images have been discussed at some
length in this chapter. Two— pantheism and Christianity—
have been serving the poet since his first book was pub
lished, forty-four years ago. The other two— technology
and Greco-Roman mythology— have figured in his work since
1949 and 1954, respectively. Only the images derived from
Christianity appear to demonstrate discontinuity in their
development, and it appears that even in this case the
changes that appear after 1935 are only partially in the
images themselves. A great part of the change is in the
context in which they are used, and this in turn appears to
reflect a severe spiritual or psychological crisis in the
poet's life.
Pantheism, or nature, is the single most important
source of Pardo Garcia's images, and is as well the single
most important influence upon the ideas presented in his
poetry. Indeed, its presence in his poetry constitutes one
of the basic elements of the continuity of his work. To
a lesser extent, this continuity is also derived from the
other three sources of images which have been examined
161
in this chapter. Each area, once it was introduced by the
poet, has continued to be a part of his repertoire of
poetic recourses. It could be argued that the poet's use
of Christianity as a source of images represents a case of
discontinuity rather than continuity, since there are marked
differences between the images of 1935 and earlier and
those which he built after 1935. It has been shown, how
ever, that the differences between the images of the two
periods are not due to the nature of the images themselves
so much as they are due to the context in which the poet
uses them.
There has been a process of growth in Pardo Garcia's
use of each area as a source of images, except for the area
of Christianity, in which no development has occurred, per
haps because of his loss of interest and faith in Chris
tianity. In each of the other areas, however, his images
have reflected a process of growth. His pantheistic images
have followed a trend toward greater complexity, from the
simple notion that man and nature are in harmony with each
other, to the complicated image of man and nature as in
cestuous sexual partners. His technological images have
reflected an increasing degree of sophistication, and his
162
mythological images have evidenced a greater versatility
through the years.
This chapter has shown that Pardo Garcia has not
been a poet with a formula, one who must resort to the same
tired images year after year. He does retain useful images,
it is true, but in his application of them, he seeks to
expand their expressive potential. An example of this is
his use of the centaur, which often represents a brute
force, but which can also be a nostalgic image of "the good
old times. " Even more important is the fact that the poet
has continued to expand the resources for his images, add
ing completely new domains in 1949 (technology) and 1954
(mythology). The result has been the creation of a poetic
idiom which accurately reflects the cosmology of the poet,
in which man is both a historical and a natural phenomenon
whose job is to draw a balance between his own desire to
rule the universe and his tendency to surrender control to
the supernatural.
163
CHAPTER III
TWO STUDIES OF POETIC RESOURCES
The resources which a poet has at his disposal are
really rather limited. The ways in which he can use each
of them, however, are much more numerous. It is this
variety of expressive possibilities which permits the de
velopment of epochal and individual styles. Conversely,
these styles can be examined through the study of the ways
in which a poet or a group of poets use their poetic
resources.
This is the approach which will be taken in the
present chapter. Two carefully defined aspects of Pardo
Garcia's art will be examined in detail. The results will
present the development of his craft from a stylistic
perspective which might complement the more ideological
perspective revealed by the examination of his themes and
images in the previous chapters. The themes of the two
studies included in this chapter are Pardo Garcia's use of
164
epithets, and his use of rhyme and rhythm in the hendeca-
syllabic sonnet. These particular aspects of style have
been chosen, rather than others, because they can be pre
cisely defined and limited, even in such a vast body of
poetry as that produced by this poet. They are also more
capable of being summarized in simple statistical form,
which makes the information easier to compile and the con
clusions more accurate than if only subjective impressions
could be used as a basis for drawing conclusions. The
statistics used in this chapter are only frequencies and
percentages, and should not frighten the reader. Neither
should he be taken aback by the large number of tables
included in the text. They are used only because they are
the most efficient method of presenting the summary data
necessary for the development of the reasoning of the two
studies. Neither the tables nor the numerical information
which they present should be thought of as conclusions, for
they are only supporting data for the deductive process
leading to the conclusions which are drawn in the text.
The text is thus an interpretation of the descriptive
evidence offered by the statistical results of the various
examinations of Pardo Garcia's poetry.
165
The results of the two studies, whose conclusions
will he stated separately, will not be an over-all view of
the poet's style, of course. An attempt to define his
style in meaningful terms would have to take into consider
ation many other aspects of his art, in addition to the two
considered in this chapter. The purpose of these studies
is not so much to define his style, as it is to determine
a few of the ways in which his style might have changed
over the many years of his career, and to relate whatever
changes have occurred to other information about his work.
Development of Pardo Garcia's Use of Epithets
Pardo Garcia's poetry appears to reveal several
different styles or approaches to the poetic art. If this
impression is proven to be accurate, it will have an im
portant bearing on the conclusions of this dissertation,
since it will reflect directly upon the poet's concern for
the unity of his work. It is essential, therefore, to
devote a portion of this study to the examination of the
stylistic unity of Pardo Garcia's poetry.
It would be possible to examine a variety of sty
listic elements and to draw conclusions based upon a
166
synthesis of the results of these examinations. Such a
study would become a dissertation in itself, however.
There is, nevertheless, a single stylistic element which
has been demonstrated to be a sensitive indicator of dif
ferences in poetic styles: the epithet. Gonzalo Sobejano
has traced the use of the epithet from the beginnings of
Spanish lyric poetry to the surrealism of the 1930's, and
has shown the ability of the epithet to distinguish between
the poetry of successive poetic movements.^ He has even
shown how various movements were harbingered in the epithets
2
of the previous movement. It appears possible to take a
similar approach to the examination of Pardo Garcia's
styles, using a number of indices developed for this study.
Procedures of the Study
This approach to the study of style requires that
each of the epithets in a given body of poetry be identi
fied and then classified in each of seven possible sets of
parameters. The process of identifying and classifying
^~E1 epiteto en la lirica espanola, 2nd rev. ed.
(Madrid: Gredos, 1970).
2
See, for example, his examination of the epithet
of Melendez Valdes, pp. 307-318.
167
these epithets involves several problems whose early dis
cussion and resolution will help to make this study more
comprehensible. '
Foremost among these problems is the matter of the
extent of the body of poetry to be studied. Given the
vastness of the poet's production, a sampling procedure
appears to be the only reasonable approach to the study,
and therefore five of the poet's books have been selected
3
for examination. The books, which were selected at
approximately ten year intervals, are: Los jubilos ilesos
(1933), Sacrificio (1943), Lucero sin orillas (1952), La
4
Cruz del Sur (1960), and Desnudez (1973). If even
3
A sixth book has been added for a special purpose
which is discussed in the same paragraph of the text. A
sample of from 15 to 20 per cent of the pages or lines of
each of the poet's books could also have been used. Such
a sample would have provided a more reliable picture of
each period in the development of Pardo Garcia's poetry.
It would not have permitted, however, any reliable syn
chronic comparispns between the epithets used in the poet's
sonnets and thosl < 2 used in other types of poems. Since the
differences in the epithets of these forms were hypo
thesized to be significant, the proportionate sampling
method was rejected in favor of the spot-sample described
in this paragraph.
4
Jubilos was chosen as the starting point of the
study, rather than Voluntad, because the latter was an im
mature work, and it is obvious to any reader that there was
a great amount of growth between the publishing of the two
books. To begin this study with Voluntad would seem to be
superfluous.
168
intervals were to have been maintained, Los angeles de
vidrio (1962) should have been used instead of Cruz. It
was hypothesized, however, that there would be a difference
between the epithets of Pardo Garcia's sonnets and those
of the rest of his poetry, due to the constraints placed
upon the poet by the short rigid form of the sonnet. For
this reason Angeles, which consists entirely of sonnets,
was substituted by Cruz, which contains both sonnets and
open-ended forms. A similar reasoning led to the inclusion
of Himnos del Hierofante (1969), a book of sonnets, to pro
vide a synchronic comparison with the epithets of Desnudez,
which includes no sonnets. The sample of six books allows
a synchronic comparison of the sonnets and other poems at
several points in Pardo Garcia's career (1933: Jubilos;
1943: Sacrificio; 1960: Cruz; and 1969-73: Himnos and
Desnudez), as well as a diachronic study of the development
of Pardo Garcia's use of epithets from 1933 to 1973.
The second major problem involves the definition of
an epithet. The definition developed by Sobejano is stated
in clear terms: "... es epiteto aquel adjetivo morfologica-
mente tal que significa cualidad y se ad junta al sustantivo
inmediata o mediatamente, pero sin nexo copulativo, para
169
expresar aquella cualidad referida a una sustancia, sin
necesidad logica de expresarla" (p. 135). That is to say
that under Sobejano's definition, only an adjective can be
considered to be an epithet; an adjectival phrase cannot
be an epithet. Only those adjectives which are not deter-
5
minatives can be considered to be epithets. Furthermore,
only that adjective which is not logically necessary, i.e.,
g
which is not restrictive, is an epithet. It is this lack
of necessity which gives the epithet its great stylistic
importance. Since the poet has complete freedom to use one
epithet or another, or even to use none at all, whatever
epithet he does use reflects his style.
The determinative adjectives include all adjec
tives which indicate quantity or a relationship of any
kind: the demonstratives, the possessives, the indefinites,
the numbers (cardinal and ordinal), the quantitatives
(mucho, poco, total, solo, doble, etc.), those adjectives
which denote special relationship (anterior, cercano,
lejano, etc.), and the substantive adjectives (of material,
of purpose or function, of origin, those derived from
common nouns, etc.), except when these are used in a meta
phorical sense. See: Sobejano, pp. 88-94.
6
In order to determine whether an adjective is
necessary, it is necessary to delete it. If the sentence
makes sense without the adjective, even though it may not
be the same sense as the original sentence, then the adjec
tive is not necessary. This is not always effective,
especially with written texts, but it is suggested by
Sobejano as the most practical test of necessity (p. 105).
170
Under Sobejano's definition, the position of the
adjective has nothing to do with whether it is an epithet.
In fact, one of the types of adjectives which are excluded
by Sobejano are those whose meaning depends upon whether
they are placed before or after the noun, since the poet
7
does not have absolute freedom m their use. Other adjec
tives which are excluded because the poet is not free to
use them in whatever position he wishes are the comple
mented adjectives (lleno de, util para, etc.), the peri
phrastic comparatives (la muier bella como la noche) and
those adjectives which are modified by an adverb (una muier
0
tan bella).
This definition presents two main problems in its
practical application. The substantive determinative
adjective (see note 5), at times does not have its literal
sense of relationship, but instead comparts a quality to
the noun by means of a metaphoric application. For example,
if the poet wrote un arbol silvestre the adjective would
obviously have the primary function of expressing the
7 ...
Among those which are excluded are: cierto, viejo,
nuevo, bueno, triste, grande, pequeno, extrano, malo,
simple, bonito, puro.
0
Sobejano, p. 126.
171
tree's relationship to the forest. But if he wrote un
sueno silvestre it would be another matter. In the present
study this latter type of adjective is accepted as an epi
thet if it appears that its qualificative function pre
dominates over its determinative function. In addition to
the problem of this type of adjective, there is also that
of the necessity of the adjective. In much of modern
poetry there is not always a consistent logical content to
reveal the poet's intention with regard to the restrictive
value of an adjective. In such cases, I accept the adjec
tive as an epithet whenever there is any doubt as to its
restrictiveness.
A final problem concerns the selection of a basis
for comparing the epithets of the various books and por
tions of books. Pardo Garcia uses many different meters in
his poetry, and a large part of the books to be studied are
written in free verse of varying lengths. For this reason
the line cannot be used as a comparison without some
adjustment. I have chosen to report Pardo Garcia's epi
thets in terms of the number of epithets per one hundred
hendecasyllable lines. The number of hendecasyllable lines
in each poem is determined by counting exactly the number
172
of lines in the text, multiplying the result by the number
of syllables in each line to arrive at the total number of
syllables in the poem, and then dividing that number by
eleven. In the case of poems with lines of fixed lengths,
this process produces an exact count. In free verse poems,
however, it is only possible to estimate the average length
of the lines of a given poem, and the result is thus only
9
approximate. A hendecasyllable line count for each book
or portion of a book is finally arrived at by summing the
count for each poem in the text. The data from this count,
as well as that from the count of epithets in each body of
text is reported in Table 3. It should be noted that not
all of the poems which are not sonnets are written in free
verse. Many have a regular meter, and have thus produced
an exact count. The error estimate is applied only to
those poems which have not been counted exactly.
9
The accuracy of the estimate depends primarily
upon the relative degree of regularity of the length of
the lines. In Lucero, for example, the length of the lines
in most poems varies greatly, with many short lines and
many very long lines. As a result, the maximum possible
error of the hendecasyllable line count for this book is
estimated to be 20 per cent, as opposed to an estimated
10 per cent for the more homogeneous free verse of Sacri-
ficio and Desnudez.
173
TABLE 3
FREQUENCY OF EPITHETS
Text Number of
Epithets
Number of
Hendecasyllable
Lines
Frequency
(Epithets/100
Hendecasyllables)
(Sonnets)
Jubilos 47 H 6 a 41
Sacrificio 70 177a 40
Cruz 62 12 6a 49
Himnos 250 700a 36
(Other Forms)
Jubilos 98 275a 36
Sacrificio 187
543 ± 12b 34(33.7-35.2)
Lucero 444 1511 + 322c 29(24.3-37.4)
Cruz 459 1185 t 66d 39(36.7-41.0)
Desnudez 269 902 + 35b 30(28.7-31.1)
(Total)
Jubilos 145 39 la 37
Sacrificio 257 720 + 12b 36(35.2-36.3)
Lucero 444 1511 ± 322c 29(24.3-37.4)
Cruz 521 1331 ± 66d 40(37.8-41.8)
Himnos 250 700a 36
Desnudez 269 902 + 35b 30(28.7-31.1)
aExact count
^Maximum error on free verse portion of count: 10 per cent
cMaximum error on free verse portion of count: 20 per cent
^Maximum error on free verse portion of count: 15 per cent
174
Results of the Study
It might be expected that the frequency of epithets
in Pardo'Garcia's poetry would show a tendency to vary, and
even to change in a single direction. As Sobejano has
shown, the various poetic movements have attached different
degrees of importance to the epithet, so that some, such
as the Pure Poetry of the decade following World War I,
tend to reduce the use of epithets to a bare minimum, while
others, such as Modernism, go in the opposite direction,
using epithets at a very high rate. Since Pardo Garcia's
career has covered so many years and has passed through so
many different poetic environments, it would be expected
that the frequency of the epithets in his works might
demonstrate some sort of a pattern, which could be related
to possible changes in his view of his poetic task.
The data of Table 3, however, at first seem to
indicate that the frequency of Pardo Garcia's epithets has
not varied sufficiently to define a clear pattern. It may
be possible, however, in view of the possibility that the
frequency for Lucero could fall within the higher portion
of the error range, i.e., near the thirty-seven level, to
consider that the level of the use of epithets was more
175
or less constant around thirty-six epithets per hundred
hendecasyllabic lines until the publication of Cruz, in
which suddenly the epithet became somewhat more important.
From this point, however, the importance of the epithet
shows a decreasing trend in Himnos and Desnudez (from the
forty of Cruz to thirty-six and then thirty in Desnudez).
This apparent trend is not very pronounced, and cannot by
itself constitute proof of a change in style. The meaning
of these changes can only be determined in conjunction with
other changes to be discussed below.
Each of Pardo Garcia's epithets may be placed in
one of two mutually exclusive categories, depending upon
the nature of the relationship of the epithet to the noun
it accompanies. If the epithet expresses directly a quality
which the noun really possesses, be it essentially or acci
dentally, the epithet is a common epithet. If, on the
other hand, the epithet expresses some quality by means of
a transformation of the sense of the noun, it is a meta
phorical epithet.10 The following are examples of the
^For a more detailed discussion of the metaphori
cal epithet, see Sobejano, pp. 150, 291-300, and 380-383.
I consider to be metaphorical epithets even those whose
sense, although not direct but rather transformed, is made
176
common epithet:
J 3 Los dias se me van, como caballos^
iovenes ...
S 81 En sus tupidos ebanos la oscuridad
lo asila ...
L 42 hasta hallar los espiritus benignos ...
C 51 Tu, f6tida llanura, no has podido
reaimirte jamis ...
H 9 ... y la paloma
tendra un inmenso resplandor marino.
D 139 envolviendonos en un fulgor desconocido.
The following are metaphorical epithets:
J 6 Suave temblor derrama sobre mis hombros
el oro y el silencio del otono.
S 9 un rumor inmenso
de mares y de bosques.
L 83 Solo pude mostrarte graniticas agujas ...
C 84 el viento cante y cante
sobre mi ser y mi vestido astroso ...
H 27 Si a mi mano triunfal doblo las sienes ...
D 21 y cual la muerte, inmensa paz.’
clear by the context of the verse or poem. (In general,
this study concerns primarily the relationship between the
epithet and the noun it modifies, without reference to the
rest of the poem. This emphasis is based on the belief
that whenever two words which are to some degree incom
patible are joined together, the poetic shock which is
created affects the reader even though the apparent incom
patibility may be explained or even removed by the follow
ing verse.)
^For purposes of economy of space, all textual
references in this portion of Chapter III will be made by
giving the first letter in the title of the book and the
page number. In the case of Jubilos, in which the pages
are not numbered, the number of the poem will be given
instead of the page number (see Appendix B for the title
and corresponding page numbers in Pardo Garcia1s antholo
gies) .
177
Each of these metaphorical epithets ascribes to its noun a
quality which it cannot possess in any real sense. Some of
these examples, such as "suave temblor," "rumor inmenso,"
and "inmensa paz" involve only slight transformations of
meaning, while the "vestido astroso" involves a complete
change in the meaning of the noun.
The data regarding the distribution of Pardo
Garcia’s epithets between the categories of common and
metaphorical are summarized in Table 4. It is interesting
to observe that the percentage of common epithets greatly
increases in the last three books of the sample. This is
most evident if a ratio of metaphorical to common epithets
is calculated (see the third column of Table 4). The mean
ing of this trend will become evident later on in this
study (see pp. 181-184).
Metaphorical epithets: the descriptive epithet.
Each of the metaphorical epithets can be further assigned
to one of three categories, according to the degree of dis
cord between the epithet and the noun. The first of these
categories is that of the descriptive epithet, which
associates a quality which the noun is capable of possess
ing, by means of one of the traditional rhetorical figures,
178
TABLE 4
COMMON AND METAPHORICAL EPITHETS
Text
Common
Epithets
{% of Total)
Metaphorical
Epithets
(% of Total)
Ratio
M/C
(Sonnets)
Jubilos 32 68 2.1.
Sacrificio 31 69 2.2
Cruz 50 50 1.0
Himnos 44 56 1.3
(Other Forms)
Jubilos 43 57 1.3
Sacrificio 39 61 1.6
Lucero 40 60 1.5
Cruz 46 54 1.2
Desnudez 48 52 1.1
(Total)
Jubilos 39 61 1.6
Sacrificio 37 63 1.7
Lucero 40 60 1.5
Cruz 47 53 1.1
Himnos 44 56 1.3
Desnudez 48 52 1.1
179
such as the metaphor, the sinecdoque, the personification,
12
etc. It is important to note that this category only
involves epithets whose qualities can be logically assigned
to the noun, and which create a modified reality which
bears a one-to-one relationship with the real object. This
is the most traditional of the three categories of meta
phorical epithets. The following are examples of this
type:
J 8 y le mostre las manos silenciosas
S 98 Nadie ver& nuestra infinita huella
ni escuchard nuestro fluir divino.
L 60 ... la brisa
que conduce en sus iris migratorios
el molde sin orilla de un espiritu.
C 52 ... una serpiente fcilica . ..
H 65 y senalar con suplicante dedo
D 9 la imagen vegetal de la lechuga.
The first, third, and fourth passages involve physical
characteristics which normally exist in the respective
nouns, but which the poet gives novel forms. Hands are not
normally considered to be silent, since they do not have
the capability of speech, and can only make noise by clap
ping or by some similar process. This appears to be an
example of sinecdoque. The third example involves a
12
Sobejano only refers to this type of epithet in
contrast with other types (p. 150).
180
complex metaphor, as the eyes (of the breeze) are compared
to migratory beings because of their constant movement. In
the fourth passage, the shape of the serpent is underlined
by the epithet "filica," and the serpent itself is thereby
changed into a new type of entity. The epithets of the
second passage are examples of what Sobejano has called
emphatic epithets (pp. 251-253). The fifth example demon
strates a true sinecdoque, as the finger represents the
poet, timid and frightened as he points out the throne of
the new god, the atom. In the sixth case, a new entity is
13
created by the epithet.
The first column of Table 5 shows the percentage of
the metaphorical epithets in each book which are descrip
tive. It is obvious from the figures of the first column
of Table 5 that Pardo Garcia's epithesis underwent a drastic
This sixth passage also exemplifies one of the
difficulties of determining what is an epithet. At first
glance, this would appear to be a case of a determinative
adjective which specifies which one of a number of possible
types of images is being referred to (vegetable, instead
of, say, mineral). Omitting the adjective, however, re
sults in no disruption of the logic of the sentence and no
change of meaning, since the phrase de la lechuga effec
tively places the same limitation upon the noun imagen.
For these two reasons, the adjective vegetal is therefore
considered to be freely used for expressive rather than
logical purposes, and is an epithet.
181
TABLE 5
CLASSIFICATION OF METAPHORICAL EPITHETS
Per cent of Metaphorical Epithets____
Text Descriptive Suggestive Incoherent
Jubilos 68 13 19
Sacrificio 48 16 36
Lucero 50 16 34
Cruz 47 28 24
Himnos 56 24 19
Desnudez 50 19 31
182
change between Jfibilos and Sacrificio. During this period,
his use of descriptive epithets dropped 20 per cent, and
remained at about 50 per cent for the rest of his career,
with the exception of Himnos. The 9 per cent increase
between Cruz and Himnos is great enough to be significant,
but is only temporary, as the frequency of descriptive epi
thets drops bad: to 50 per cent in Desnudez. When Pardo
Garcia's common epithets are combined with his descriptive
metaphorical epithets, and their frequency is expressed as
a percentage of the poet's total epithets, the result shows
a very high frequency of these classical types of epithets
in Jubilos (81 per cent) , followed by a sharp drop in
Sacrificio (67 per cent). Following the latter book, this
frequency gradually rises to 70 per cent in Lucero,
72 per cent in Cruz, and 76 per cent in Himnos, only to
drop back to 74 per cent in Desnudez.
The marked difference between Jubilos and the other
books probably reflects a difference in Pardo Garcia's
poetic interests. It has already been shown that Jfibilos
appears to have been a deliberate attempt to utilize the
formulas of mystical poetry for the expression of the
poet's moods and experiences. The predominance of common
183
and descriptive metaphorical epithets in this book would
seem to demonstrate a stylistic, as well as formal influ
ence of the Golden Age poets. The relatively low frequency
of the other two types of metaphorical epithets, the sug
gestive and the incoherent, indicates that Pardo Garcia
had not yet been swept up in the poetic language of the
twenties and thirties. It appears that he had abandoned
the romantic poetry of Voluntad in order to perfect a
classical poetry in Jubilos, C^nticos, and Sonetos. A
detailed study of the epithesis of each book between
Jubilos and Sacrificio would probably show a gradual
decline of the importance of the descriptive epithet, as
it is doubtful that the change occurred from one book to
the next.
Metaphorical epithets: sucrcrestive and incoherent
epithets. The rest of the metaphorical epithets can be
divided into two categories: suggestive epithets and inco
herent epithets. In Spanish lyric poetry these are charac
teristic of Pure Poetry and Surrealism, respectively. The
suggestive epithet is that epithet which associates with
the noun some quality which that noun cannot really possess,
but whose semantic relationship with the noun can be
184
established by a logical process. The incoherent epithet
is that epithet which associates with the noun a quality
which bears neither an exterior nor an interior relation
ship with the noun. Or as Sobejano defines it, the in
coherent epithet "... aparece funcionando como portador de
una imagen cualitativa incoherente respecto de la sicrnifi-
15
caci6n real del sustantivo al crue se adiunta. "
Although there is an obvious difference between the
two types of epithet in these theoretical definitions, in
their practical application to the classification of a body
of epithets, a considerable amount of confusion is possible,
due to the fact that the relationship between the noun and
the suggestive epithet is tenuous, and depends upon an
association of ideas. If the reader does not find the
appropriate chain of ideas, the epithet is, in effect, an
incoherent epithet for him, even though it may be suggestive
14
Sobejano follows F. Paulhan (La double fonction
du lancracre) in drawing the distinction between the descrip
tive epithet and the suggestive epithet. He discusses the
suggestive epithet on p. 150, and also on pp. 389-402,
where he discusses the Pure Poetry movement.
15
Sobejano, p. 406 (his emphasis). He examines the
incoherent epithet on pp. 403-419, in his discussion of
Surrealism.
185
for the poet or for some other reader.
It is true that in many cases the difference
between a suggestive epithet such as "lividos gritos” and
16
an incoherent one such as "lirica mano azul" is obvious.
In the first case the two terms have at least a tenuous
relationship by means of the human body. And although in
the second example the combination "lirica mano" could per
haps be understood as the hand of a poet, and "mano azul"
as a very cold hand, the combination of the three words
appears devoid of any logical sense, and the two epithets
are thus incoherent. There are many other cases, however,
in which the decision is much more subjective. An example
of this is a pair of epithets whose classification is clear
for Sobejano: "los camellos sonambulos" and "una primavera
17
redonda." Sobejano considers the first of these to be
incoherent, and the second suggestive, but it appears
easier to find a relationship between camels and somnam
bulism (camels are animals and would therefore appear to be
16
From Jorge Guillen and Vicente Alexandre, quoted
by Sobejano (pp. 394 and 409, respectively).
17
From Lorca and Guillen, respectively (Sobejano,
pp. 412 and 393).
186
capable of sleepwalking), than between roundness and Spring
(which is abstract and can in no way have a shape).
The following passages include epithets which in my
opinion are suggestive:
J 6 en el dorado instante de la plenitud.
9 ... capaz del firme acento.
S 20 y el aire aquas de cielos vencidos
estremece
77 Sus miradas esclavas en la noche cobriza
26 .. . un pais azul de sosecrados cirboles
L 47 ... la dimension oris de las noches
liquidas
61 ... un comienzo de hundida primavera
83 los pequenos, humanos altares de la
felicidad
C 55 ... su mortal beligerancia.
11 ... la sangre temerosa
70 y al hombro verde y humedo cargada
H 19 jAh del mundo que ame, tierno y sencillo.'
23 ... el corazon violento.'
41 ... la azul transpiracion del rio
D 17 con sus ojos estaticos, ilicruidos
17 unidad de los atomos ambiguos
25 somos asi: saetas asordadas
These examples contrast with the completely incoherent
nature of the following passages:
J 10 Ala -justa de todo lo que pesa
20
y en aquel instante inmenso.
de negacion infinita
s 43
con esplendor metcilico de livida esperanza.
60 ... la blanca geometria del verbo ...
L 21 ... mis arduas violencias ...
21 ... su luz posesiva
C 16 ... Sueho esferizado.'
17 ... sordas arguerias
187
H 7 ... perturbada esfera
9 y un tigre azul ...
49 ... sonador cabrio.
D 13 la desnudez abstracta de las formas
43 ... magnetismo vecretal del bosque.
43 y asorda mi sinf6nico desorden.
Because of the subjectivity of the process, the
separation of the remaining metaphorical epithets between
the suggestive and incoherent categories will yield data
that can only be considered approximate. The results of
this separation will have to be considered significant only
if supported by the results of other considerations.
The lowest frequency of both the suggestive and the
incoherent epithets occurs in Jubilos (see Table 5, p. 182).
The level of use of the suggestive epithet rises slightly
in Sacrificio, but not until Cruz does a significant in
crease occur, to 24 per cent. From this point the frequency
gradually drops to a level that is slightly above that of
the books prior to Cruz. The use of the incoherent epithet,
however, took a sudden jump after Jubilos, from the
19 per cent level of that book to the 36 per cent level
of Sacrificio. After Sacrificio and Lucero, the frequency
of incoherent epithets gradually dropped so that by Himnos
it was at the same low level as Jubilos. Desnudez, how
ever, features a renascence of the incoherent epithet.
188
These trends appear to represent an infusion of a contempo
rary influence in Sacrificio, and a continuation of it in
Lucero, followed by a tendency toward a more classical
approach to epithesis in the 1960's.
This return to classicism came during the time when
the poet also was returning to the use of the sonnet, after
having abandoned this form for fourteen years in order to
experiment with the complexities of free verse. The de
emphasis of the incoherent epithet in the 1960's, however,
involved not an increase in the frequency of the classical
descriptive epithet, but rather of the suggestive epithet.
This suggestive epithet is characteristic of Pure Poetry,
which Sobejano has called a classicism without tradition
(p. 403). The return to the classical form of the sonnet
thus is paralleled by Pardo Garcia's epithesis. It should
not be inferred from the coincidence of these two trends,
however, that the reduced use of incoherent epithets is the
direct result of the inclusion of sonnets in Cruz and
Himnos. The data of Table 6 show very clearly that there
is no correlation between the form of Pardo Garcia's poems
and the predominance of incoherent epithets in them. This
table, which reports the ratio of incoherent epithets
189
TABLE 6
INCOHERENT AND SUGGESTIVE EPITHETS IN SONNETS
AND OTHER FORMS
Text
Ratio of Incoherent to Suacrestive Epithets
Sonnets Others Total
Jubilos 2.08 1.23 1.46
Sacrificio 1. 29 2.79 2. 25
Lucero - 2.13 2.13
Cruz 1.00 0.82 0.86
Himnos 0.79 - 0.79
Desnudez 1.63 1.63
190
to suggestive epithets in the sonnets and other types of
poems, shows that this ratio is lower for the sonnets than
for the other poems of Sacrificio and Himnos (in pseudo-
synchronic comparison with Desnudez), while in Jfibilos and
Cruz the ratio is higher for the sonnets than for the other
forms.
The diminished importance of the incoherent epithet
in Cruz and Himnos thus does not reflect the form of the
poems, but rather a change in the poet's attitude towards
his task. The beginnings of this change occurred in 1957,
with the publication of Hay piedras como lagximas, the
first sonnets Pardo Garcia had published since Sacrificio
(1943). The new attitude is reflected in the traditional
forms of Centauro al sol (1959): the sonnets, tercets,
couplets, and even the eleven hundred verse hendecasyllable
composition "Cain, el Inocente. " During this period of
1957 to 1969, Pardo Garcia published a total of two hundred
fifty-nine sonnets, compared to the seventy-eight published
from 1930 to 1943. But the poet's inclination for classi
cism during the 1960' s is made even more evident by the
nature of the book Mural de Espaha (1966). This small work
consists of salutes to five of Spain's greatest classical
191
poets: Quevedo, Gongora, Manrique, Lope, and San Juan de
la Cruz. Each poet is honored in a composition written in
the form which was most characteristic of that poet: ter
cets for Quevedo, romance for Gongora, sonnets for Lope,
etc.
The resurgence of the incoherent epithet in Des
nudez appears to signify the end of this new classical
period in Pardo Garcia's poetry. In Apolo Thermidor
(1971) , the poet had included only five sonnets, turning
instead to the resources of classical Greek poetry for his
inspiration. In Escandalo (1972) and Desnudez, he in
cludes a number of poems written in blank hendecasyllabic
verse, but there are no other forms which could be con
sidered to reflect classical Hispanic poetic tradition.
Metaphorical epithets: personifications and other
types. A number of seemingly contradictory trends are
evident in Pardo Garcia's use of epithets which personify
the nouns they modify. As is shown by the data of the
third column of Table 7, there is a steady increase from
Jubilos to Himnos, in the percentage of Pardo Garcia's
metaphorical epithets which are personifications (from
21 per cent to 35 per cent). This development is followed
192
TABLE 7
PERSONIFICATIONS
Text
Per cent of Metaphorical Epithets
Which Are Personifications
Concrete Entities Abstractions Total
Jubilos 7 14 21
Sacrificio 20 6 26
Lucero 22 9 31
Cruz 22 9 31
Himnos 21 14 35
Desnudez 20 6 26
193
by a marked drop to 26 per cent in Desnudez. The real sig
nificance of this increase and subsequent decline is
revealed by the data of the first and second columns of
Table 7, which show the percentage of the poet's metaphori
cal epithets which are personifications of concrete entities
(column one) and of abstractions (column two).
Jubilos is shown to have a very different nature
than all of the other books with regard to the use of per
sonifying epithets. In the second chapter I have referred
to Jfibilos as an abstract work, on the basis of the manner
in which its themes are presented. This same abstractness
is projected by the epithets under consideration, as the
personifications of abstract nouns are twice as frequent
here as are the personifications of concrete entities.
This latter type of personification is extremely infrequent
in Jubilos in comparison with the other five books in the
sample, while at the same time the personification of
abstractions is at its highest level in Jubilos.
It appears that after Jubilos the poet reached an
equilibrium in his epithetic personification of concrete
entities, as the frequency of this type of epithet does not
vary significantly after its sharp rise from the 7 per cent
194
of Jubilos to the 20 per cent of Sacrificio. There is a
significant variation, however, in the use of personifying
epithets with abstract nouns. Following a sharp decrease
in frequency after Jubilos, this type of epithet began to
increase slowly in importance from Sacrificio (6 per cent)
to Himnos (14 per cent) . This gradual increase is com
pletely reversed in Desnudez, as the frequency of this type
of epithet returns to the low level of Sacrificio. The
examination of Pardo Garcia's use of other types of con
crete epithets with abstract nouns reveals a nearly oppo
site trend, however. These data, reported in column four
of Table 8, show a slight increase in the frequency of this
type of epithet from Jubilos to Sacrificio, followed by a
sharp drop in Lucero and a slight decreasing trend through
Desnudez. The combined total of all types of concrete
epithets which are used with abstract nouns defines still
another trend (see Table 8, column 5). The frequency of
this type of epithet decreases steadily from Jubilos
(18 per cent) to Desnudez (7 per cent) , except for a re
surgence in Himnos (13 per cent).
Although these types of epithets yield partially
contradictory conclusions, they agree in pointing out
Jubilos as being different from the poet's other works.
195
TABLE 8
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF PARDO GARCIA'S EPITHETS
___________ Per cent of Epithets____________
Concrete/
With Abstract Noun
Personi-
Text Sensory Visual fication Other Total
Jubilos 12 6 8 10 18
Sacrificio 37 25 4 12 16
Lucero 20 13 5 6 11
Cruz 26 18 5 5 10
Himnos 32 18 8 5 13
Desnudez 29 17 3 4 7
196
Further support for this conclusion is offered by the fre
quency of Pardo Garcia's sensory epithets, which are much
more frequent in his other works than in Jubilos (see
Table 8, columns one and two) . In this respect, as in the
case of the personification of abstractions, Sacrificio is
shown to be the work which most contrasts with Jubilos.
The general disagreement on the other works, however, makes
it obvious that the various factors being discussed here do
not reflect a single, uniform development, but that rather
each is independent of the others. The full implications
of the trends pointed out above will be determined in the
concluding section of this study.
Sonnets and other poems. Before attempting to syn
thesize the various results of this investigation, it would
be well to examine in detail the hypothesis that the poet's
use of epithets is different in his sonnets than in his
other types of poems. Table 3 (p. 174) shows that Pardo
Garcia consistently uses epithets about 20 per cent more
frequently in his sonnets than elsewhere. This finding is
surprising, since it would be expected that the compact
nature of the sonnet would preclude the frequent use of
unnecessary words (recall that the epithet is by definition
197
unnecessary) . Except for Cruz, the sonnets of Pardo
Garcia's books also show a tendency to have a greater per
centage of metaphorical epithets than the other poems
(see Table 4, p. 179). The over-all combination of the
increased frequency of epithets in the sonnets and the
tendency for those epithets to be metaphorical, is a con
sistently much higher frequency of metaphorical epithets,
in terms of epithets per one hundred hendecasyllable lines
in the sonnets than in the other forms (see Table 9). When
these two factors are combined, even Cruz fits into the
tendency for metaphorical epithets to be more common in the
sonnets than in the other forms. The epithets used in
Pardo Garcia's sonnets are more frequently sensory in
nature than are the epithets in his other poems, except in
Cruz (see Table 10) . Also, again with the exception of
Cruz, Pardo Garcia uses concrete epithets with abstract
nouns more often in sonnets than in other types of poems
(see Table 11).
These differences between the epithesis of Pardo
Garcia1 s sonnets and that of his other types of poems
characterize his sonnet as a denser form of poetic expres
sion than the rest of his production. In the sonnet he
198
TABLE 9
METAPHORICAL EPITHETS IN SONNETS AND OTHER FORMS
Text
Metaphorical Epithets
per 100 Hendecasyllable Lines
Sonnets Others Total
Jubilos 26.2 20.4 22.5
Sacrificio 27.1 21.0 22.5
Lucero
-
17.7 17.7
Cruz 24.6 20.8 21.2
Himnos 19.9 - 19.9
Desnudez
—
15.5 15.5
199
TABLE 10
SENSORY EPITHETS IN SONNETS AND OTHER FORMS
per
Sensory Epithets
100 Hendecasyllable Lines
Text Sonnets Others Total
Jubilos 8.6 2.9 4.6
Sacrificio 18.1 11.4 13.0
Lucero
- 5.9 5.9
Cruz 9.5 10.5 10.4
Himnos 11.7
- 11.7
Desnudez 8.8 8.8
200
TABLE 11
CONCRETE EPITHETS WITH ABSTRACT NOUNS
Text
Epithets per 100 Hendecasyllable Lines
Sonnets Others Total
Jubilos 9.5 5.5 6.6
Sacrificio 7.3 5.0 5.6
Lucero - 3.4 3.4
Cruz 0.0 4. 2 3.8
Himnos 4.7
-
4.7
Desnudez 2.1 2.1
201
concentrates more upon building metaphorical and sensory
associations than in other forms, where he uses longer,
more complex sentences with a greater proportion of sub
stantive and verbal elements. This is an apparent effort
to compensate for the limitations placed upon the poet by
the form itself. This greater accumulation of associations
and the resulting compactness of expression may explain the
common impression that Pardo Garcia is best as a composer
of sonnets, since in this form he carefully develops and
concentrates the emotions of his work. The contrary tend
ency toward a diluted expression, especially in his longer
free verse compositions, results in a type of verbosity
which has led one critic to complain with some justifica
tion of a prosaism without any underlying sense in Eterni-
dad del ruisenor.
Even though these differences exist between the
epithesis of Pardo Garcia's sonnets and that of his other
forms, combining the data from all forms into a single
total for each work does not change the general trends
discussed in the previous sections of this study. The
18
Silvio Villegas, "Un poeta cosmico," en Obra
literaria (Medellin, 1963), pp. 560-563.
202
development of the poet's sonnets follows the same general
pattern as that of his other poems. Although the separa
tion of the two types of poetry has proven useful for the
determination of the epithetic characteristics of Pardo
Garcia's sonnet, it appears unnecessary for any diachronic
study of the poet's epithets, since the differences between
the epithesis of the two groups of poems are constant with
time. In future studies of this type, therefore, it would
appear to be more useful to adopt a percentage sampling
basis instead of the periodic basis used here.
Conclusions: Epithesis and the Development
of His Poetry
The data presented in this study does not lend it
self to the drawing of a smple conclusion, as it indicates
that the various factors that were analyzed are generally
quite independent. This section therefore will be somewhat
artificial, as it attempts to describe in simple terms the
complex evolution of Pardo Garcia's epithesis. It should
be remembered throughout this discussion that the various
trends do not occur separately, but that they are simul
taneous facets of a very complex development. It is also
important to keep in mind that the epithet is only one
203
of many aspects of the poet's style, and that the exclusion
of the other factors from this study necessarily results in
a partially limited view of the development of his style.
Within these limitations, however, certain important con
clusions do appear justified.
Jubilos, which represents at least a portion of the
books of Pardo Garcia's first decade of publication, stands
out in nearly all respects as being different from the
works of the following decades. This work, in comparison
with Voluntad of three years earlier, testifies to an ex
tensive renovation of Pardo Garcia's poetry between 1930
and 1933. Gabriela Mistral referred to Jubilos as a con
tinental poetic Christmas, "porque se trata ahora ... del
19
advenimiento de criatura poetica nueva y ademas purisima. "
Among the elements which she found to be purified in Jubi
los were the poet's vocabulary, his themes, and his approach
to life. She considered Pardo Garcia to be perhaps an even
greater spiritual poet than Amado Nervo.
The continuation of this spirituality in other
works of the 1930's, and its change of direction in the
19
"Los grandes poetas de America, " rev. of Los
jubilos ilesos, Revista de Revistas, Dec. 3, 1933, n.p.
204
latter part of the decade have already been discussed in
Chapter I, in relation to the poet's themes. In the works
of the early forties it became apparent that the poet was
also changing his focus from the internal analysis of his
own spirit, to the reflection of that spirit upon the ex
ternal world, and especially upon nature. This gradually
increasing expressionism may be partially responsible for
the increasing frequency of personifying epithets after
Jubilos. As the poet involved more external elements in
his poetry, he had more opportunity to personify them, to
humanize them in order to use them more effectively to
reflect the spiritual and emotional matters that were of
concern to him. He also had less occasion to use abstract
nouns, since he was presenting abstract concepts more and
more in terms of concrete beings with strange attributes.
For this reason, the decreasing frequency of concrete epi
thets used with abstract nouns is not surprising, even
though this decrease does not begin until after Sacrificio.
The change in direction is evidenced very clearly by the
sharp turnabout from the predominance of the personifica
tion of abstract nouns over that of concrete nouns in
Jubilos to the opposite situation in Sacrificio, and by
205
the low frequency of sensory epithets in Jubilos in com
parison with the other works.
I have already alluded to the influence of two
different poetic attitudes upon Pardo Garcia's works: the
classical and contemporary views. All of the data gained
from the examination of the semantic relationship between
his epithets and the nouns that they modify, indicate that
the period beginning with Jubilos was characterized by a
classical approach to epithesis, as opposed to a contempo
rary approach in Sacrificio. Following this work, however,
Pardo Garcia's epithesis gradually returned toward a more
classical approach, albeit a classicism of a different type.
It is apparent, therefore, that the techniques of surrealist
poetry and related movements had their greatest influence
on the poet at some time during the early forties. The
trend toward increasing classicism did not develop steadily
nor uniformly; the various aspects of his epithesis de
veloped at different times, and occasionally they appear to
have been developing in opposite directions.
To say that the poet's use of epithets is'becoming
more classical is not to imply that the epithesis of today
is very much like that of Jubilos, for such is not the case.
206
The return towards more classical ways of using epithets
has been only partial: the epithesis of Desnudez has many
characteristics which the poet has but refined from their
initial state in Sacrificio. In addition, the particular
vocabulary which he uses in his epithesis has also changed
during the past forty years, with the result that the epi
thets of 1933 have almost nothing in common with those
of 1973.
The fact that the epithets of Jubilos are very dif
ferent from those of Sacrificio may seem to imply that
there may be discontinuity in the development of Pardo
Garcia's epithesis. Such a conclusion would be unwarranted,
however, since there are also enough similarities in their
use to suggest that the change from the one work to the
other involved a generally continuous development, rather
than a disjointed one. This same conclusion is inescapable
with regard to the poet's use of epithets in the years
after Sacrificio. Although there are great differences
between the use of epithets in works separated by a number
of years, and although it is possible to speak of the style
of Himnos as being different from that of Sacrificio, for
example, it would be impossible to define the limits of
207
each style by saying that one ends in a given book and the
other begins in the following work.
The Hendecasyllabic Sonnet
The meter which is used most by German Pardo Garcia
is the hendecasyllabic line. This line occurs in many
different types of composition, ranging from the poet's
free verse which is often composed around a hendecasyllabic
base, to the blank verse compositions of the past fifteen
years, and the various stanzas of fixed dimensions, such as
couplets,.tercets, quartets, quintets, and liras. The most
frequent form in which he uses this meter is the sonnet.
Pardo Garcia's books have included a total of three hundred
fifty-four hendecasyllabic sonnets, or nearly five thousand
lines in this form. This form probably accounts for more
than half of all the hendecasyllabic lines used by the poet.
Although the sonnet is a more rigid form than most
other types of poetic composition, it is not true that one
sonnet differs from another only in its content. The poet
has a wide range of rhythmic components which he can com
bine in an enormous number of ways and he has a wide variety
of rhyme patterns to choose from. He can use many different
208
types of syntactical distribution in building his sonnet;
these different distributions affect the impact of his
product. Finally, the sonneteer has at his control the
infinite resources of the language itself; these he can use
selectively and in many different ways to alter and polish
20
his poem.
Given this variety of resources which are available
to the sonnet writer, it would seem likely that in a career
of sonnet writing as long as Pardo Garcia's, it might be
possible to detect some types of changes in the way his
sonnets are structured, changes which would illustrate the
development of the poet's art. Since the poet has never
experimented with the basic form of the sonnet, always
using fourteen lines of equal meter in its composition,
this type of poem constitutes a constant mold into which he
pours the language with which he works. The sonnet is,
then, an ideal base for an examination of the growth of
Pardo Garcia's art. In the rest of this chapter, I will
examine two aspects of his sonnets: their rhyme and their
20
One of these resources was examined in the study
of Pardo Garcia's epithet in the first part of this chap-
ter, where some attention was devoted to his use of
epithets in his sonnets.
209
rhythm. Although the study will be descriptive in nature,
it will be based upon statistics gained from the analysis
of each of Pardo Garcia's hendecasyllabic sonnets.
The poet's artistic production falls into three
easily defined periods. The first period (referred to as
Period I) includes the books of 1930-1943 (Voluntad through
Sacrificio). During those years Pardo Garcia included
seventy-eight hendecasyllabic sonnets among the one hundred
21
sixty-seven poems in his books. During Period II, from
1945 to 1956, he included no sonnets in the seventy-two
poems of his six books, as he had decided to work on per-
22
fecting his free verse. During Period III, which began
with his return to the sonnet in 1957, the four hundred
forty-nine poems of Pardo Garcia's books include two hun
dred sixty-four sonnets. Thus, in Period I, 54 per cent of
his poems were sonnets, while in Period III, 59 per cent
23
of the poems have used this form.
21
Another twelve poems were Alexandrine sonnets,
which are excluded from this study.
22
See: correspondence, Nov. 9, 1971 (Appendix A).
23
Prior to the publication of Apolo, Escandalo,
and Desnudez, the frequency of sonnets in Period III was
79 per cent. Since only five of the one hundred twenty
poems of these three works are sonnets, the over-all
210
Rhyme
The use of rhyme clearly distinguishes Pardo
Garcia's sonnets of Period I from those of Period III. The
quartets do not contribute much to the difference, however.
There is no experimentation in the quartets, which always
have only two rhymes, arranged in either parallel (ABBA)
or crossed (ABAB) fashion. During both periods the classi
cal parallel rhyme of the quartets is far more frequent
than the crossed form, which was favored by the modernists,
although this latter pattern is less frequent in Period III
(3 per cent of the sonnets as opposed to 10 per cent in
Period I).
The major differences between the two periods are
to be found in the rhyme of the tercets. The sonnets of
both periods use mostly the CCDEED rhyme pattern which was
introduced by Unamuno (50 per cent in Period I; 55 per cent
24
in Period III). During Period I, Pardo Garcia's most
frequency for Period III was greatly reduced. It is too
early to tell whether these works constitute the beginning
of a fourth period with regard to the use of the sonnet.
24
Tomcis Navarro Tomas, Metrica espahola (Syracuse:
Syracuse Univ. Press, 1956), p. 388.
211
frequent alternate pattern was the traditional CDE CDE
(40 per cent of his sonnets). During Period III, however,
this rhyme occurred in only 3 per cent of his sonnets. Its
role as a major alternative to the modernist pattern was
taken by the other traditional pattern of CDC DCD (32 per
cent of the sonnets of Period III). The three patterns
mentioned have been supplemented by a variety of other,
much less frequent ones during Period III. These other
patterns all employ one of the rhymes of the quartets in
the tercets, thus reducing the traditional distinction
between the two portions of the poem. Of the poems of this
period, 12 per cent use this type of rhyme, as opposed to
25
only 3 per cent xn Perxod I.
In contrast with this increased tendency to carry
one of the rhymes throughout the sonnet, there is a reduced
inclination to use two consonant rhymes which are assonant
between themselves. According to Efren Nuriez Mata, this
practice has existed in Spanish poetry since the times
25
The various patterns of Period III are: CCD AAD
(3 per cent); CAC ACA (1 per cent); CCB DDB (2 per cent);
ABA BAB (0.4 per cent) ; CAC BAC (0.4 per cent) ; CCA DDA
(3 per cent); CBC BCB (0.4 per cent); CCB AAB (1 per cent);
and CCD BBD (0.4 per cent). The CCB DDB pattern was em
ployed in two sonnets of Period I.
212
of Santillana, and is an effect that has been consciously
26
sought by the modernist poets. The reduced frequency of
this type of cross-rhyming may indicate a slow erosion of
the more basic effects of modernism on Pardo Garcia.
Combining the frequency of the two types of cross-
rhyming results in an over-all rate of 33 per cent for
Period I and 31 per cent for Period III. This means that
in one third of his sonnets in each period, the poet uses a
rhyming pattern which tends to minimize the structural con
trast of the quartets and the tercets. During Period I
the effect of this effort is more subtle than that of
Period III, since he depended on hidden assonance then, as
opposed to the open continuation of the quartet rhyme dur
ing the latter period.
Pardo Garcia1s experimentation with continued rhyme
really did not begin until Osiris Preludial (1960). Only
one of the seventy-eight sonnets of the earlier books of
Period III used this type of rhyme. Beginning with Osiris,
however, this effort became much more frequent. Twelve
per cent of the sonnets of Osiris, 20 per cent of Angeles,
26
Historia y origen del soneto (Mexico: Ediciones
Bota, 1967), pp. 56-57.
213
18 per cent of Defensor, 25 per cent of Relcimpagos, and
10 per cent of Himnos are of this type. The use of such
rhymes appears to be deliberate, since the poet avoided
them completely in the classical sonnet cycle with which
27
he praises Lope de Vega in Murales.
Nearly half of the sonnets of this type occur in
Angeles, which is also the book where nearly all of the
cross-rhymed quartets of Period III are found. In addi
tion, the sonnets of this book use a variety of weak
rhymes. One sonnet uses a parallel rhyme in the quartets,
in which four superlative adjectives ending in "-isimas"
constitute the outer rhyme: hermosisimas, blanquisimas,
clarisimas, amarguIsimas (p. 25). A different type of weak
rhyme in a difficult pattern occurs in the sonnet "Mara-
villosos angeles" (pp. 35-36). The ostensible pattern is
ABBA ABBA CCD EED. The real pattern is, however, ABBA CBBC
DDE CAE:
Maravillosos angeles sin llanto:
vuestros ojos zafiros encendlan.
Asi desde la tierra se veian:
desnuda claridad, nubes sin llanto.
27
In these sonnets he uses only the classical
pattern of ABBA ABBA CDC DCD.
214
Maravillosos Sngeles del canto:
vuestras voces laudes parecian.
Asi bajo la tarde se sentian:
laudes ante el sol, liras del canto.
Espumas disolviendose en los rios.
Veloces claridades, suerios frios
de la luz, transparencia de los tules
en las danzas, las musicas y el canto.
Maravillosos angeles sin llanto.
Irresistibles dngeles azules.
The recollection of two different "-anto" rhymes in the
final tercet and the substitution of the epithet "maravi
llosos" for "irresistible" in the final verse contribute to
the closure force of this sonnet. This may be one of the
most difficult of the poet's efforts at experimentation
with the rhyme of his sonnets. A similar attempt appears
in the sonnet on pp. 65-66, where the first, fifth, and
twelfth lines end in "angeles," the fourth, eighth, and
fourteenth in "arcangeles," and the tenth in "subdngeles."
Others of Pardo Garcia1s weak rhymes in Angeles do
not display this degree of dexterity. He often uses verb
participles for his rhymes, and in seven sonnets he uses
conjugated verb forms in the quartets or the tercets. In
two of these cases this rhyme underlines his use of neolo
gisms, as he uses these in the axis of the sonnet. Thus,
in "Al angel de los jardines," the outer rhymes of the
215
parallel quartets are: "Naraniiza," "codorniza," "Maqno-
liza, 1 1 and "treboliza" (p. 43). In "A los dngeles del
ocaso," the first two lines of the first tereet end in
"alondrecedme1 1 and "estrellecedme," respectively (p. 92).
Although the use of weak rhymes is not limited to
Angeles, their frequency in this work, along with the fre
quency with which rhymes of the quartets are also used in
the tercets, contribute to the impression that the sonnets
of this book were not written with the same concern for
orthodoxy as those of others. This view is further sup
ported by the fact that all of the acute rhymes of
Period III occur in this book (thirty-eight lines have
acute rhymes) , and all but two of the proparoxytone
("esdrujula1 1 ) rhymes of the period are found there (thir
teen lines). This compares with a total of six acute lines
and two proparoxytone lines in Period I.
Rhythm
Rafael de Balbin has discussed at length the
28
rhythmic importance of the strophic axis of a poem. It
is this axis, which is composed of the final stressed
28
Sistema de ritmica castellana, 2nd ed. (Madrid:
Gredos, 1968), pp. 38-60.
216
syllable of each line, which determines the rhythmic
character of the entire poem (p. 40) . Of secondary impor
tance is the distribution of the prosodic accents of the
line and the unstressed intervals between them. The most
significant of these intervals, because of its proximity to
the strophic axis, is the one immediately preceding the
final stressed syllable of each line. If this interval is
short, it tends to contribute a feeling of density to the
rhythm of the poem, and if the interval is long, it pro
duces a sense of fluidity.
The hendecasyllabic lines used in Pardo Garcia' s
sonnets can be grouped in six categories on the basis of
the length of this final unstressed interval, i.e., the
span between the penultimate and the final prosodic
stresses of each line. These categories are: (1) those
lines with their penultimate stress on the third syllable
(3-10); (2) those stressing the fourth syllable (4-10);
(3) those with the stress on their sixth syllable (6-10);
(4) those with their stress on the seventh syllable (7-10);
(5) those which stress the eighth syllable (8-10); and
(6) those which have prosodic stress on the seventh syl
lable as well as the sixth (6-7-10) . The group with an
217
interval of 3-10 includes only four lines, all from
Period III, and the lines with an interval of 7-10 number
only nine (five from Period I and four from Period III).
More frequent are those with an interval of 4-10, which
Navarro Tomas refers to as deficient Sapphic hendecasyl-
lables. These constitute nearly 2 per cent of the lines of
Period I and almost 1 per cent of those of the third period.
The other three categories make up the bulk of the poet' s
sonnet lines, and will be examined in detail.
There is no difference between the two periods with
regard to the frequency of each of the three most frequent
types of line. The most frequent, that of the 6-10 inter
val, constitutes 65 per cent of the lines of Period I and
64 per cent of those of Period III. The interval of 8-10
characterizes 29 per cent of the lines of the first period
and 30 per cent of those of Period III. The interval of
6-7-10 is found in 3.5 per cent of the lines of Period I
and 5 per cent of the lines of Period III.
There is a marked difference in frequency between
the two periods, however, if the hendecasyllable lines
are grouped according to the traditional categories used
218
29
by Navarro Tom^s and others. The difference is primarily
a great reduction in the frequency of the Sapphic types of
hendecasyllable from 46 per cent in Period I to 34 per cent
in Period III. This is a clear-cut change in the poet's
practices, since only Sacrificio of Period I has a lower
frequency of Sapphic lines than Defensor, which has the
highest frequency of this type of line in Period III. Even
this small degree of overlapping might not have occurred
had the number of sonnets in Sacrificio been greater.
Concomitant changes occurred in the frequency of other
types of lines, primarily the heroic and melodic categories.
The greatest increase was in the frequency of the heroic
hendecasyllable, which rose from 17 per cent of the lines
of Period I to 24 per cent in Period III. The frequency of
the melodic hendecasyllable increased by 3 per cent, from
21 to 24 per cent. Changes in the other types were of the
magnitude of 1.5 per cent or less, and do not appear to be
29
Navarro Tom^s, Metrica espanola, pp. 503-505.
The primary categories of interest in the present discus
sion are the emphatic hendecasyllable (accents on the 1st,
6th, and 10th syllables) , the heroic hendecasyllable
(accents on the 2nd, 6th, and 10th syllables) , the melodic
hendecasyllable (accents on the 3rd, 6th, and 10th syl
lables) , and the Sapphic hendecasyllable (accents on the
4th, 6th, and 10th, or on the 4th, 8th, and 10th syllables).
219
significant.
The conclusion that the fourteen year period of
Pardo Garcia’s abstinence from the sonnet produced a basic
change in his sense of the rhythm of the sonnet, is ines
capable. It could be argued, perhaps, that the change was
due to the influence of the greater rhythmic variety of the
free verse which he composed during Period II. This
conclusion is partially supported by a tally of the various
stress patterns which are formed when the secondary pro
sodic stresses of his lines are also taken into account.
During Period I, the lines having an interval of 6-10 or
8-10 show an average of fourteen different stress patterns
per book, while during the third period, the average was
sixteen different patterns per book. An even greater dif
ference is shown in his use of lines with stress on the
sixth, seventh, and tenth syllables (two and a half varie
ties per book in Period I and five per book in Period III).
This latter type of hendecasyllable is one of the
most peculiar aspects of Pardo Garcia's sonnets. It is
formed by placing the stressed" syllable of an acute word in
the sixth position of the lines, and following it with a
word that has its stress on the first syllable, as in
220
the second, line of the following passage:
Soledad del amor que en su constancia
desehvuelve en la luz vuelos tardios,
y los pierde en recdndita distancia,
sobre un fondo de medanos sombrios.
The stress on the seventh syllable of this line is what
Balbxn refers to as an anti-rhythmic stress, since it
destroys the normal rhythmic alternation of a stressed syl-
31
lable followed by an unstressed interval. Such stresses
are not unknown in Hispanic poetry, and Balbin cites various
32
examples of them. They are not very frequent, however,
as an examination of a poetic anthology will show. This is
because such anti-rhythmic stress patterns have a cacoph
onous effect, and usually damage the expressiveness of the
33
total stanza. Pardo Garcia's frequent use of such lines
would appear to be consonant with the tone of his poems
which is always vigorous, especially in Period III.
30
Canticos, "Soledad del amor."
31Balbin, p. 127.
32
See pp. 126, 136, 147, and 148, for examples from
Melendez Valdes, Herrera, Balbuena, Espronceda, and G6mez
de Avellaneda.
33Balbin, p. 127.
221
In many cases, Pardo Garcia diminishes the cacophony
by using this stress pattern in a line which has an interior
pause between the sixth and seventh syllables. The effect
of these pauses is to convert the hendecasyllable into an
acute heptasyllable followed by a pentasyllable line. The
pause may be hyperbatic, with the normal position of the
first and second halves of the line reversed, as in the
case of the example quoted above. A special case of this
is the separation of a series of adjectives from their noun
by a prepositional phrase: "Mar de la soledad, claro y
34
ungido." This structure produces the same effect as an
apposition, partially equating the noun with its qualities.
At times the pause is imposed by the end of a sentence, as
35
in the verse "Ya no quiero morir. Amo la vida." On
other occasions the pause is only partial, imposed by an
36
apposition: "Aire de eternidad, aire divino.” Another
type of structure which imposes a partial pause is that
involving a noun modified by a complemented adjective:
34
Cdnticos, "Agua de soledad."
35
Hay piedras, p. 196.
36
Jubilos, "Aire divino."
222
Aire de soledad, alto de ausencia.
(C£nticos, "Agua de soledad”)
... iremos
hacia tu soledad limpia dellanto.
(Cdnticos, "Dialogo en la soledad")
Similarly, a pause can be produced by the use of an abso
lute phrase:
... tu cuerpo ... se restituye
a la intacta unidad, rotos los lazos.
(Claro abismo, p. 44)
At times a minor pause separates the sixth and seventh
syllables, as when the poet uses a series of lexemes of
equal syntactic value:
Alegrxa feraz, multiple y nueva.
(Jubilos, "Casa de oro")
Bajo la soledad, sombra y ceniza
hay algo ...
(Poderxos, "El presagio")
The many cases in which the poet does not introduce
a pause are more disturbing to the flow of his lines.
These lines do not usually involve any syntactic abnor
mality:
porque la de mi ser vive y perece
(Hay piedras, p. 12)
Un barro mezclador liga mi suelo
(Centauro, p. 13)
Os dar(Angeles, p. 31)
223
Occasionally the poet uses normal word order, but the ad
verbial value of an adjective perturbs the flow:
Y el corazdn tenaz oye, en su espera.
(Cdnticos, "Voz en la soledad")
una lctgrima fiel tremula baja.
(Ccinticos, "Ldgrima de soledad")
The latter example also involves the suppression of the
copulative conjunction "y" and is similar to the following
37
passage: "con antivegetal solida yedra."
Returning to the contrasts between Periods I and
III, a further difference may be noted in the density of
the hendecasyllable lines of the periods. Balbin has dis
cussed a compact accentual rhythm and a fluid rhythm
(p. 148). The character of the two is obvious: the compact
rhythm includes many closely spaced stresses, while in the
fluid line the stresses are fewer and more widely spaced.
The limit between these two types is somewhat subjective,
but can be drawn for present purposes if the fluid line is
defined to be any line with only two or three stresses and
with no unstressed interval of less than two syllables.
A middle category of semi-fluid lines would consist of
those lines having only three stresses but having one
37
Hay piedras, p. 164.
224
unstressed interval of only one syllable. All of the other
types of lines have a compact rhythm, except those with the
6-7-10 final interval, which are excluded from this scheme
because of their anti-rhythmic nature. Applying this
classification to Pardo Garcia's hendecasyllable lines
gives the results shown in Table 12. The increase in the
fluidity of the poet's line from Period I to Period III is
obvious, and can be attributed, perhaps, to the influence
of his experiments with free verse.
A final type of evidence indicates another funda
mental change in the poet's concept of the rhythm of the
sonnet. As I mentioned earlier, the final unstressed
interval before the stressed tenth syllable is a major
component of the rhythmic character of the sonnet. If each
line of each sonnet is categorized according to the length
of this final interval, each sonnet is given a rhythmic
profile, showing which kind of line occurs in each position
in the poem. Compiling the results by book, and then by
period, produces a picture of the poet's feel for the
sonnet as a rhythmic structure.
The simplest way to present the data from this type
of analysis is to focus on one type of line. In Table 13
225
TABLE 12
RHYTHMIC DENSITY OF PARDO GARCIA'S HENDECASYLLABLE
Per cent of Lines
Fluid Semi-fluid Compact
Period I 49 13 34
Period III 61 6 28
226
TABLE 13
RHYTHMIC STRUCTURE OF PARDO GARCIA'S SONNETS*
Book (Date)
L i n e
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
V (1930) XX* XX XX XX XX XX
J (1933) XX XX 00 XX XX XX XX XX
C (1935) XX 00 XX 00 00 XX XX XX 00
SC (1935) XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
Pod (1937) XX XX XX XX XX XX
Pre (1938) 00 XX XX XX XX XX XX
CA (1940) XX 00 XX 00 XX XX XX XX
Sac (1943) XX XX XX XX XX XX
Period I (Total) 00 XX 00 00 XX XX 00 00 XX XX XX
HP (1957) 00 00 00 XX 00 XX 00 XX XX 00
CS (1959) 00 00 00 00 XX 00 XX 00 00 00 XX
CR (1960) 00 XX XX XX 00 XX XX
0 (1960) XX 00 00 00 XX 00 00 00 XX
AV (1962) XX XX XX 00 00 00 00 XX XX
D (1964) XX 00 XX XX 00 00 XX 00 XX
R (1965) XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
M (1966) 00 00 XX XX XX XX
HH (1969) 00 XX 00 XX XX 00 00 XX 00
AT (1971) 00 00 XX 00 XX 00 XX 00 00 XX 00
Period III (Total) 00 00 XX 00 00 XX 00 00 XX XX 00
*Symbols indicate the relative frequency of the line with a 6-10 interval in each of the fourteen
positions of the sonnet. XX indicates that this type of line is more than 4 per cent less frequent
in this position than in the average of all positions in the indicated book. 00 indicates that the
frequency of this type of line is within 4 per cent (plus or minus) of the average of all positions
in the indicated book. A blank space indicates that such a line is more than 4 per cent more frequent
to in the indicated position than in the entire book,
to
I present a rhythmic profile of Pardo Garcia's sonnets
based on the frequency of his most common line, that with
a final interval of 6-10. For each of the fourteen posi
tions in the sonnet, I indicate book by book whether the
6-10 line has a lower frequency in the given position than
in the entire book (XX), about the same frequency as in the
whole book (00), or a higher frequency (no symbol). I have
given the equal frequency category (00) a range of 8 per
cent (4 per cent above the mean for the book and 4 per cent
below) to reduce the variation in calculations which is
induced by the varying number of sonnets in each work.
Rhythm is one of the elements which enhance the
38
closure force of poetry. The poet can write a series of
lines with a similar rhythm and produce a sense of closure,
or completeness, by writing the next to the last line with
a different rhythm than the others. In the case of Pardo
Garcia's sonnets, this practice tends to demonstrate the
division of the poem into its rhythmic units or blocks.
In Period I, the poet tended to conceive the sonnet as con
sisting of an octet and a sextet. The existence of the
octet is indicated by the abnormally high frequency of
38
Barbara Heinstein Smith, Poetic Closure (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1968), p. 50.
228
the 6-10 line in positions six and seven, and its abnormally
low frequency in position eight (see Table 13). Closure in
the sextet is achieved by the opposite procedure of a low
frequency of 6-10 lines in the penultimate position, fol
lowed by a high frequency in the final position. During
Period I there is no tendency to treat the tercets as
independent stanzas, and there is no real indication of
such treatment of the quartets.
In Period III, however, the rhythmic unity of the
sonnet is not as great, and the quartets are treated as
independent rhythmic entities, each with its own develop
ment of a rhythmic climax (see Table 13). The tercets are
still interlocked in the sextet, but even this unit has a
different rhythmic structure than in Period I. Whereas in
the earlier works the rhythmic closure was achieved by
placing the greatest frequency of the 6-10 type of line in
the final position, in Period III it appears in the penul
timate position, and the final position carries a near
normal frequency of the 6-10 line.
This discussion of the rhythmic structure of Pardo
Garcia's sonnet has been based on averages for entire
periods of time. These averages generally reflect those
of the individual books, although occasionally individual
_______________ 229
books show a tendency which is different from that of the
entire period. The trends which I have described are not
totally characteristic of- the individual sonnets, however.
This is to say that in Period III, for example, a line
which contrasts with the following line tends to occur in
the third, seventh, and thirteenth positions, but that in
few sonnets of this period will a contrasting line be found
in all three of these positions. In many sonnets, in fact,
the contrasting lines occur in other positions. One sonnet
is even organized so that the rhythm of the entire octet
contrasts with that of the sextet:
Otros dias la seda necesaria
para hilvanar en mi taller liviano
concluyese, y un purpura gusano
desciende hasta mi mesa cineraria.
Cay6 de un abedul, de una araucaria
o de algun odorifero manzano,
y con su cuerpecillo de artesano
principia su labor imaginaria.
Hila en silencio sus guirnaldas, hila
profundamente y el color del hilo
me vuelve el alma de horizontes lila.
Y sigue hilando en celestial sigilo
y luz y nieve y rosicler destila
sobre el telar del corazon tranquilo.
(Osiris, pp. 141-142)
Except for the 8-10 interval in the second line, all of the
lines of the octet have a final interval of 6-10. All of
230
the lines of the sextet, in contrast, have an interval of
8-10. The number of rhythmic combinations is so great that
only with the aid of a computer could the individual son
nets be studied accurately and completely. Yet in spite of
this great variety, the fact remains that contrasting lines
occur more often in the positions described earlier than in
the other positions.
Conclusions; Pardo Garcia as Sonneteer
The two aspects of Pardo Garcia's sonnets which
have been examined in this study do indeed demonstrate
significant developments from Period I to Period III, with
39
regard to the poet's approach to this type of poem. The
sonnet of Period III, in comparison with that of Period I,
shows less regard for orthodoxy in both his rhymic pat
terns and his rhythmic patterns. Although his sonnets of
Period I vaguely reflect the experimental attitude of
39
This study has not demonstrated any development
within the two periods indicated, nor has it intended to do
so. Because of the large quantity of data to be analyzed,
and the complexity of the statistical processes that would
have been required to examine the development within the
periods, such a task could be undertaken only with the aid
of a computer. The time and expense required by this type
of study appear to outweigh the importance of the possible
results for the outcome of this dissertation, and the
matter remains for future investigation.
231
Modernism, especially in his use of different consonant
rhymes which are assonant between themselves, most of Pardo
Garcia's experimentation with the sonnet occurred in
Period III. Period III reflects a greater distance from
Modernism in its reduced use of both assonance between
rhymes and crossed rhymes in the quartets of his sonnets.
Some of the differences between his practices of
the two periods can be attributed safely to the influence
of his exclusive use of free verse during the fourteen
years which separated Periods I and III. Among these are
the greater use of a fluid rhythm in Period III, and the
use of a greater variety of rhythms in the same period.
Other changes, such as the shift in the over-all rhythmic
pattern of his sonnet, cannot be attributed easily to any
single factor other than time. When he resumed the com
position of sonnets in 1957, his sense of rhythmic dis
tribution had been changed, perhaps by neglect, or perhaps
by his experiences with free verse.
232
CHAPTER IV
THE COSMOLOGY OF PARDO GARCIA'S POETRY
In its most general sense, the term "cosmology"
refers to
. . . that branch of learning which treats of the uni
verse as an ordered system. . . . Cosmology is that
framework of concepts and relations which man erects
for the purpose of bringing descriptive order into the
world as a whole, including himself as one of its
elements. As such, it is confined to a description
of the salient features of the observed universe, in
terms of such categories as space, time and matter,
leaving questions concerning the origin, inner nature
and purpose of the universe to the related branches of
cosmogony, ontology and teleology.^
Although a cosmology is descriptive it also must allow for
a certain degree of interpretation of man's observations
of the universe, for it is the interpretation which makes
possible the imposition of system upon them.
In his book on the subject of the cosmology of
Ruben Dario's poetry, Pedro Salinas has defined clearly and
concisely what factors must be considered in delimiting
^Encyclopaedia Britannica (1970).
233
2
the cosmology of an artist's work. According to Salinas,
the cosmology or theme of an artist ("el tema del artista"),
is a vital theme which governs the artist's literary
themes, serving as a hidden center of radiation and as the
constant active origin of his artistic creation. It is a
human and generic theme, a condition of the psyche which
is born with the psyche and exists before any effort at a
specific expression in a given art form. The theme of the
artist is very different from the specific themes of his
work, and is much more general than they are (p. 47). It
is also distinct from the theme of his life and from his
ideas and beliefs. Only his creations, in fact, can reveal
his cosmology (p. 49). Salinas sums up his description of
the theme of the author in the following terms:
El tema no es aquello que el artista quiere re-
flexivamente, lo que se propone hacer en su obra; es
lo que hace, es lo que se suma al proposito, en el
proceso de su ejecucion. Es lo puesto— por inexpli
cable agenda— sobre lo propuesto. El tema determina
misteriosamente el ser final de las intenciones. ...
Esas modificaciones decisivas que sufre el proyecto
o plan de la obra son, si, imprevistas, pero se
hallaban preexistentes, sin empleo aun, en las hon-
duras del tema vital. (p. 50)
2
La poesia de Ruben Dario, 2nd ed. (Buenos Aires:
Editorial Losada, 1957), pp. 47-51.
234
The discussion of the present chapter will follow
these concepts, and will refer not to the cosmology of
German Pardo Garcia, hut rather to that of his poetry.
This cosmology will not he an explicit rational system such
as the many scientific and philosophical cosmologies which
may be found on library shelves, but rather an inferred
intuitive cosmology. It will be seen to be reflected in
the themes and biography of the poet, but it will be dis
tinct from them. The task will be to define the intuitive
framework which has served as an unconscious filter for
Pardo Garcia's poetic production, thereby imposing an
underlying unity upon his work.
In his discussion of the relationship of an author's
cosmology ("cosmovision") to his style, Carlos Bousono has
defined two essential aspects of a poet's cosmology: his
lyrical world, ("mundo lirico"), and his psychic movement
3
("movimiento animico"). The former refers to the set of
constituent essences which compose the poet's Cosmos, and
can change during his lifetime. The latter, which exists
before the poet's lyrical world, refers to the relationships
3
La poesia de Vicente Alexandre, 2nd ed. (Madrid:
Editorial Gredos, 1968), pp. 29-30, n. 13.
_____________________________ 235
among those essences which constitute his lyrical world or
Cosmos. This psychic movement does not change with time,
as it reflects only the poet's basic conceptual patterns,
and not the slots into which he categorizes his perceptions.
These two concepts roughly correspond to the concepts
(lyrical world) and relations (psychic movement) which form
the basis of the definition of cosmology at the beginning
of this chapter.
The concepts of lyrical world and psychic movement
can be applied readily to the delineation of the cosmology
of Pardo Garcia's poetry. Throughout his career, one men
tal orientation or psychic movement is evident, regardless
of the themes being treated: the Cosmos ought to be a uni
fied spiritual whole. That is, Pardo Garcia's work pre
sents a Cosmos which is not unified, but which constantly
seeks unity. This is most evident in the pantheistic
orientation of his poetry, but can also be seen in the
supposedly mystical poetry of the thirties and in the
poetry of peace and hope ("paz v esperanza") of the past
twenty-five years.
The fact that the Cosmos is not unified implies an
opposition within the Cosmos; this opposition between the
236
ego, or the individual man of the poetry, and the rest of
the Cosmos, is fundamental to the cosmology of Pardo
Garcia's poetry. .The ego is a solitary essence, even when
it is in a state of unity with nature (recall the discus
sion of "El arbol que no ama" in Chapter II). This soli
tude is not a sickly state of escapism, but rather a
creative condition:
Creo que me pregunte: £y que es la soledad? Y halle
que tenia de ella un concepto vital, afirmativo,
masculino y creador. No la soledad del ser enfermizo
sino la soledad del hombre que se enfrenta a la vecin-
dad del cosmos, del caos, en busca de una verdad, y
regresa a si mismo, y se estremece, y crea, continua-
mente.4
This creative solitude of the ego and the will for unity of
the entire Cosmos produce a tremendously fertile dynamism
which serves as the origin of Pardo Garcia's entire poetic
work.
The lyrical world of this poetry, on the other hand,
is not constant, but has had two general phases. During
Phase I, the Cosmos of this poetry consisted of two enti
ties: an Ego and a general Other. Phase II can be con
sidered to begin with Sacrificio (1943), even though it has
4
German Pardo Garcia, "La frecuencia de Silva en
mi espiritu," Revista de las Indias, No. 89 (May 1946),
p. 186.
237
its foundation in developments which began earlier in the
poet's work. During this phase, that general Other of
Phase I was differentiated into three essences: nature,
mankind, and other. This differentiation was not instan
taneous, but rather a continuing process which occurred
over a span of more than three decades. First nature, and
then mankind were perceived as separate entities within the
Cosmos.
A second distinction which exists between the two
periods has to do with the attitude towards man1s control
of his destiny which is reflected in the poetry. Western
literature of the past two centuries is characterized by
two major outlooks on the world: the Promethean and the
5
Orphic. The Promethean outlook consists of an attitude of
rebellion towards the world, and the intent to transform
outwardly the world. The Orphic approach, on the other
hand, is not one of rebellion, but rather one which focuses
on the inner transformation of the individual man through
confrontation with himself. In the Orphic outlook, changes
in the world may occur, but they are only incidental to
5
Walter A. Strauss, Descent and Return: The Orphic
Theme in Modern Literature (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1971), pp. 10-11.
238
the important inner changes. The Promethean outlook under
lies all of Pardo Garcia's poetry, but from 1930 to 1940,
it was masked by an Orphic outlook, as the poet's Cosmos
g
focused upon the inner self. The poet himself referred to
this fact in other terms when he said to Mauricio de la
Selva that there are two worlds in his poetry: "Hasta 1940
fui un esteticista frio; de ese afio al presente ... mi
unico horizonte posible es el del hombre y su liberacion
7
definitiva." During Phase I the individual or the ego was
presented as a solitary essence which sought unity with the
other, but which could achieve that unity only in a nearly
passive fashion, searching for the circumstances which it
believed favorable for unity (solitude, silence, light,
etc.). During Phase II, on the other hand, the Promethean
ego asserted itself as an important part of the Cosmos
whose efforts at domination must be recognized by the other
three essences. The poem "Adan dignificado" could well
serve as the slogan for this phase of his poetry:
6
The youthful poetry of Voluntad (1930) shows a
trace of a Promethean outlook, mainly in "Por los humil-
des." The rest of the book, however, is basically Orphic
in nature.
n
"German Pardo Garcia, " Dictlocros con America
(Mexico, 1964), p. 100.
239
i Derrumbense las aras, y A d c in , del paraiso
saiga triunfal, no echado cual un paria
al que hiere
la soberbia del cielo rencoroso.' jEs preciso
que si tu carne sufre, que si tu raza muere,
ya dejes de gritar: ;es porque Dios lo quiso.',
y empieces a exclamar: jes porque A dcin lo quiere. 1
La lucha del humilde, para que sea el piso
menos duro a sus plantas, y el pan
que consiguiere.
La victoria de A d c in , que se lanza insumiso
contra la inmensidad, la fuerza que tuviere,
sus tr&nsitos, su angustia, su dolor manumiso,
j E s porque Adcin lo quiere, es porque A dcin
lo quiere.'
(Apolo, p. 81)
During the thirty years of Phase II, the themes of
rebellion, the individual man's conquest of the Cosmos in
nature and in the heavens, and his self-assertation as a
significant portion of the Cosmos are obvious reflections
of the Promethean outlook of this period. Also related to
this outlook are the various themes which are summed up
under the poet's slogan of paz y esperanza, especially the
theme of social solidarity. The ego can obtain part of the
cosmological unity it seeks by asserting itself as a Pro
methean leader of men, battling against the destiny imposed
by arbitrary fates and deities. In a speech to the Ameri
can Atheneum in Washington, Pardo Garcia once discussed
the mission of the poet in the post-war twentieth century
240
in similar terms:
Delante de la violencia acumulada sobre la sangre del
hombre presente, el poeta debe ser apostol de paz y
de misericordia, pues si la misericordia volviese a
estar proscrita como lo fue cuando los campos de
concentracion crearon la tecnica de la culpa, ya no
lograremos asilo y correremos hacia lo que subsiste
inviolado en los refugios de las bestias para im-
plorarles redencion.
The poet will forget his own anguish, said Pardo Garcia, in
order to struggle against the anguish of the masses, and
to become a caudillo of kindness. Although this intellec
tual pronouncement of the poet partially reflects the
position of his poetry, the ego remains at all times a
separate, self-conscious essence. The anguish of the ego
may be temporarily suppressed, but it is not forgotten as
the poet's speech asserted, and it re-surfaces throughout
his work. This is because the isolation of the ego, its
solitude, is not a part of the lyrical world of Pardo
Garcia's poetry, but rather an aspect of its more basic
psychic movement, which is rarely subject to change.
The interplay of the two aspects of the cosmology
of Pardo Garcia's poetry define an obvious unity as well as
8"Mision actual del poeta," Repertorio Americano,
46 (1950), 152.
241
a process of development. The concept of a Cosmos composed
of an ego and other essences ever separated by the self-
conscious solitude of the ego yet always drawn toward unity
by the nature of the Cosmos, contributes a constant orien
tation to this poetry. On the other hand, the gradual
differentiation of the non-ego portion of the Cosmos or the
lyrical world into several distinct and opposing elements
defines a developmental process which has made possible the
continuation of this poetic work over a half-century with
out stagnation or undue repetition.
242
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS
The studies contained in the previous chapters of
this dissertation have demonstrated a significant amount
of evidence testifying to the unity of the work of German
Pardo Garcia. It has been shown in Chapter IV that a con
stant psychic movement, or mental orientation, underlies
the poet's entire production. From his first book to his
most recent, Pardo Garcia's poetry has dealt with a Cosmos
which consists of an other and a solitary ego which are
forever separate but always drawn toward unity with each
other. It has also been demonstrated in Chapter I that his
poetry has a constant thematic core consisting of the
themes of solitude and desolation. Other themes have been
introduced from time to time, and most have remained an
important part of his poetry after their introduction. The
semantic domains from which the poet derives the vehicles
of his images have also shown a degree of continuity which
243
has contributed to the unity of his work (Chapter II). Two
of these domains (pantheism and Christianity) have served
the poet throughout his career, and the other two which
were studied (classical mythology and technology) have been
used constantly since their initial introduction into Pardo
Garcia's poetry.
Pardo Garcia has not been a poet of a single ex
pression, however. His poetry is also characterized by
development in each of the areas that have been examined.
As the cosmology of his work expanded to include a greater
number of essences, so also did his repertoire of themes
expand, giving his poetry a much greater variety. The ex
pansion of his world also led to the addition of new
sources for his images, as technology and mythology con
tributed their expressive possibilities to his work. A
development process is also evident in his use of epithets
and in his construction of hendecasyllabic sonnets.
Although it has been shown that the development of
these areas is generally continuous and progressive,
several types of apparent discontinuities have also been
found to exist. One of these is in the use of Christianity
as a source of images. After 1935 these images suddenly
244
became much less frequent than before and furthermore took
on a less spiritual nature than they had had before. This
is hypothesized to be a reflection of some sort of a reli
gious crisis. There is also discontinuity in the poet's
concept of the structure of the hendecasyllabic sonnet.
This discontinuity may be due simply to the poet's abandon
ment of the sonnet form during a fourteen year period. It
might have been possible to demonstrate continuity in the
changes which took place if he had continued to write son
nets during these years.
Several of the studies in this dissertation appear
to coincide in defining two periods in the career of Pardo
Garcia.^ A sharp change in the themes and use of Christian
images in this poetry occurs between 1935 and 1937/ when
the poet's spiritual optimism becomes a deep pessimism.
This change appears to have initiated a process which led
to a more fundamental change between 1940 and 1943 in the
cosmology of this poetry, with the first differentiation
of the non-ego portion of the Cosmos. Coinciding with this
^There would be three periods of Voluntad were to
be considered a separate period because of the sharp con
trasts between its youthful poetry of the years 1922-1930
and the mature poetry of the following books.
245
change, although doubtless unrelated to it, was a change in
the semantic nature of the poet's epithets, from a classi
cal type to more of a contemporary type. Lagging slightly
behind is the change in the poet's versification: he aban
doned the use of regular forms in favor of free verse after
1943. All of these changes clearly indicate a process of
renovation in this poet's art, an expansion of his hori
zons which eventually led him into a confrontation with the
problems of the modern urban world. Since these changes
occurred over a span of years, it is difficult to indicate
a precise limit to the first period of his poetry. An
approximate separation, however, would place the books of
1938 and earlier in the first period, and those of 1940 and
later in the second.
The combined effect of the unifying characteristics
and of the developmental tendencies described above has
been a richly varied body of poetry whose growth has been
sensitive to the changes in the poet's environment. It
cannot be said that this variety constitutes a weakness.
In fact, W. H. Auden once said that "If you take two poems
by one man and read them, and you can't tell which was
246
2
written first, that is a minor poet. " Within the latitude
required by any generalization, this test is easily passed
by Pardo Garcia.
Many of Pardo Garcia's fellow-writers have agreed
in the assessment of him as an important poet. Germdn
Arciniegas, Arturo Camacho Ramirez, Eduardo Carranza,
Carlos Garcia Prada, and Antonio Llanos of Colombia have
3
all praised his work. The most significant evaluations of
his poetry by his peers have been those of Gabriela Mistral
and Leopoldo de Luis. Mistral compared the Pardo Garcia
of Jubilos with Amado Nervo, and said of that book that she
would have liked to have written half of the perfect poems
4
that Pardo Garcia included in Jubilos. Leopoldo de Luis
has also affirmed the uniqueness of the Colombian's poetry:
Tu, German Pardo, eres con todo
lo que cantas, fraterno, uno
mismo, materia solidaria, ^
trozo vivido, grito unico.
2 .
Time, Dec. 28, 1970, p. 22.
3
See the entries in the Bibliography.
4
"Los grandes poetas de America," Revista de Revis
tas, Dec. 3, 1933, n.p.
5
"Carta a German Pardo Garcia," Estaciones, 4
(1959), 160.
247
Only the authors of the one and two sentence reviews con
tained in the various volumes of the Handbook to Latin
American Studies seem to disagree with these judgments.
But even though the value of his production is
widely recognized, Pardo Garcia is not a well-known poet.
Pardo Garcia himself is well aware of this, and has com
mented on it a number of times in his poetry. As early as
1952, he had made explicit his view that poetry is a means
of attaining immortality: "... y he escrito en el otoho
suaves palabras transparentes que tal vez alguien recuerde
6
un dia despues de mi. " The same notion appears in "A los
soldados de Francia" which was reprinted in 1964: "Es todo
lo que queda de nosotros: un nombre y una fecha y unas
7
pciginas." Yet the poet comes to realize the futility of
his hope:
Nuestro sohar no alcanza
a redimir al alma de la muerte.
jQue tr&gica mudanza,
y como nos advierte
que a la vida en caricitides conviertej
Gustavo Adolfo: el canto
no nos puede salvar. jAy, que agoniaj
(Los relampacros, p. 81)
^Lucero, p. 62.
7
Defensor, p. 21.
248
In Apolo Thermidor he looks back upon his career
and wonders who will remember his poetry (p. 372). He
appears to regret his obscurity.
In many respects this obscurity of which he com
plains is of his own making, however. I have already
discussed the reasons for it in Chapter II: the esoteric
nature of many of his images, the vastness of his vocabu
lary, and the complex mixture of themes and ideas contained
in his poetry. Silvio Villegas has commented on this
matter, saying that "Pardo Garcia insiste en una oscuridad
deliberada, con el afdn de demostrarnos que su reino no es
g
de este mundo." The unintelligibility which he criticizes
is most notable in the poet's free verse compositions of
the middle 1950's, and appears to indicate a pernicious
influence of this type of versification upon the poet's
art.
The difficulty of Pardo Garcia's poetry is not en
tirely a defect. In fact, this would appear to be so only
in those works where the poet abandoned the traditional
resources of poetry, such as well-constructed images and
rhythm. Much of the difficulty of this man's poetry,
0
"Un poeta cosmico," p. 560.
249
however, is a direct reflection of the sophistication and
complexity of the world in which he lives, rather than a
deliberately sought vagueness. Even though Pardo Garcia is
a poet of the elite, he is a major poet because of the
sincerity and originality of his themes, the variety and
quality of his poetic forms, and his ability to adapt to
a constantly changing environment. In spite of his com
plaints of obscurity, Villegas concluded his discussion of
Pardo Garcia by calling him one of the best and most origi
nal poets of Spanish America, a universal figure who should
receive the Nobel Prize for literature (p. 563). In spite
of the fact that Pardo Garcia has published a number of
weak poems along with his outstanding compositions, this
judgment by Villegas appears to be justified by the poet's
monumental poetic production.
250
BIBLIOGRAPHY
251
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CONSULTED WORKS
Books of Poetry by German Pardo Garcia
(Complete Listing)
Acto poetico. Mexico: Ediciones Cuadernos Americanos,
1953. (Anthology of the poetry of 1945-1952, including
the complete text of Lucero sin orillas.)
Akr&teraz: Adorno para los Juegos Olimpicos de Mexico.
Mexico: Ecuador 0° O' 0", 1968. (Reprinted in
Apolo Thermidor, 1971.)
Los ctncreles de vidrio. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1962.
Antolocria poetica. Mexico: Imprenta Veracruz, 1944.
(Anthology of the poetry of 1933-1943.)
Apolo Thermidor. Mexico: Libros de Mexico, 1971.
El arbol del alba. Bogota: Ediciones Colombia, 1928.
(The complete edition was burned by the poet after
having been reviewed by L. E. Nieto Caballero.
Many of the poems appear to have been reprinted in
Voluntad.)
Los Ccinticos: Poemas. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1935,
Centauro al sol. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1959.
La ciudad en las brumas. (Scheduled for publication
c. 1963, the entire edition was burned by the author.
For details, see his letter of December 26, 1969, in
Appendix A.)
Claro abismo. Mexico: A del Bosque, Imp., 1940.
252
El cosmonauta: Poema. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1962.
(Reprinted in El defensor, 1964.)
La Cruz del Sur. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1960.
El defensor. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1964.
Desnudez. Mexico: Libros de Mexico, 1973.
Elegla italiana. Mexico: Ecuador 0° O' 0", 1966.
(Reprinted in Apolo Thermidor, 1971.)
Escandalo. Mexico: Libros de Mexico, 1972.
Eternidad del ruisenor. Mexico: Ediciones Cuadernos Ameri
canos, 1956.
Hay piedras como lagrimas. Mexico: Editorial Cultura,
1957.
Los jubilos ilesos. Mexico: Imprenta Mundial, 1933.
Labios nocturnos. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1965.
Lucero sin orillas. Mexico: Ediciones Cuadernos Ameri
canos, 1952.
Mural de Espana: Paz v esperanza. Mexico: Editorial
Cultura, 1966.
Osiris preludial. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1960.
Poderios. Mexico: PLYSCA, 1937.
Poemas. Madrid: Ediciones Guadarrama, 1958. (Anthology
of the poetry of 1949-1956.)
Poemas contemporaneos. Mexico: Talleres Gr&ficos Guana
juato, 1949.
Presencia. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1938.
Los relampagos: Alabanzas a crrandes espxritus y otros
poemas. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1965.
253
Sacrificio. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1943.
Seleccion de sus poemas. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1939.
(Anthology of the poetry of 1933-1938.)
Los sonetos del convite. Mexico: Editorial A. Mijares
y Hno., 1935.
Los suehos corporeos. Mexico: Gr&ficos Guanajuato, 1948.
30 anos de labor del poeta colombiano German Pardo Garcia,
1930 a 1960. Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 1961.
(Anthology of the poetry of 1930-1960, including the
complete text of every book except Voluntad, Los
jubilos ilesos, and Las voces naturales.)
U.Z. llama al espacio. Mexico: Ediciones Cuadernos Ameri
canos, 1954.
Las voces naturales. Mexico: Editorial Veracruz, 1945.
Voluntad: Poemas de German Pardo Garcia. Bogotd: Editorial
El Grafico, 1930.
Articles About Pardo Garcia1s Poetry
(Partial Listing)
A,, D. "German Pardo Garcia." Revista de las Indias
(Bogota), 2nd epoch. No. 30 (June 1941), pp. 133-134.
Alvarez D'Orsonville, J. M. "German Pardo Garcia, " in
Colombia literaria, II. Bogotd: Ministerio de Educa-
cion Nacional, 1957. Pp. 389-396.
Arango Ferrer, Javier. "German Pardo Garcia o el poeta de
la desolacion." Revista Nacional (Montevideo) ,
Sept. 1943, pp. 421-432. Also in: Revista Ibero-
americana, 9 (Feb. 1945), 33-44. Also printed as a
prologue to Pardo Garcia, Antologia Poetica. Mexico:
Imprenta Veracruz, 1944.
254
Arenas, Mary Elshoff. "La obra po&tica de German Pardo
Garcia." Diss. George Washington Univ., 1971.
_____________________. "La obra poetica de German Pardo
Garcia." Dissertation Abstracts International,
32:2670A (George Washington Univ.).
Caparroso, Carlos Arturo. "Los Nuevos y la poesia:
Discurso leldo ante la Academia Colombiana el 2 de mayo
de 1960. " Academia Colombiana, Boletin, 10 (Jan. -
Mar. 1960), 121-139.
Diego Perez, Ismael. "La lirica de un poeta hispano-
americano." Revista Mexicana de Filosofia, 6, No. 8
(1964), 90-93.
Echeverri Mejia, Oscar. "Pardo Garcia el creador del
Tercer Hombre. " Universidad de Antiocruia, No. 176
(Jan. - May 1970), pp. 105-109.
Figueira, Gaston. "Un gran poeta colombiano." America
(Havana), 20 (Oct. - Nov. 1943), 52-56. (Identical to
the following item.)
_________________. "Visi6n lirica de German Pardo Garcia."
Sustancia (Tucuman), Mar. - Apr. 1943, pp. 328-334.
Garcia Prada, Carlos. "Ahora ... un poeta de la soledadj
German Pardo Garcia." Repertorio Americano, 38
(1941), 56-58.
_____________________. "German Pardo Garcia. Estudio y
Seleccion de Carlos Garcia Prada." Cuadernillos de
Poesia Colombiana, No. 7. Supplement to Universidad
Catolica Bolivariana, Nos. 19-20 (Feb. - Mar. and
April - May 1941), n.p. (Almost identical to the
previous item, "Ahora ...")
Herrera Soto, Roberto. "Las poesias colombianas y la
Academia de la Lengua." Bolivar, No. 47 (1957),
pp. 330-333.
255
Holguin, Andres. "La obra po&tica de German Pardo Garcia. "
Prologue to Pardo Garcia, Antologla poetica. Mexico:
Imprenta Veracruz, 1944. Also published in Holguin,
La poesia inconclusa y otros ensayos. Bogota: Edi
torial Centro, 1947. Pp. 163-178.
Lopez Narvaez, Carlos. "German Pardo Garcia: Poeta con
tinental." Espiral (Bogota), 7 (Aug. 1957), 6.
Llanos, Antonio. "El camino poetico de Pardo Garcia. "
Repertorio Americano, 35 (1938), 58-60.
Morales Benitez, Otto. "Un gran poeta de America: La
soledad, la angustia y la muerte en la poesia de
German Pardo Garcia." Estudios crlticos. Bogota:
Ediciones Espiral Colombia, 1948. Pp. 61-69.
Pardo Garcia, German. "Frecuencia de Silva en mi esplritu."
Revista de las Indias (Bogota.), No. 89 (May 1946) ,
pp. 179-188.
_____________________. "Mision actual del poeta." Reper
torio Americano, 46 (1950), 152. Also in: Revista de
America (Bogota), 20 (1950), 161-162.
_____________________. "Palabras para un poeta." Prologue
to Javier Arias Ramirez, La sombra tiene un eco.
Bogota: Editorial Iqueima, 1961. Pp. 7-11.
Paz Paredes, Rafael. "German Pardo Garcia: Persona y
creacion." Repertorio Americano, 47 (1951), 153-156.
Also in: Tegucigalpa, 34 (Oct. 7, 1951), 11-15.
. "Imagen del poeta." Revista de
America, 22, pt. 2 (1971), 621.
Scorza, Manuel. Prologue to Pardo Garcia, Acto poetico.
Mexico: Ediciones Cuadernos Americanos, 1953.
Selva, Mauricio de la. "German Pardo Garcia." Dialogos
con America. Mexico: Ediciones Cuadernos Americanos,
1964. Pp. 95-102.
Villegas, Silvio. "Un poeta cosmico." Obra literaria.
Medellin: Ediciones Togilber, 1963. Pp. 550-563.
256
Reviews of Pardo Garcia 1s Books
(Partial Listing)
A. S., J. Rev. of Los ingeles de vidrio. Universidad
Pontifica Bolivariana, 25 (1962), 462-463.
Rev. of Acto poetico. Poesia de America (Mexico), 2
(Sept. - Oct. 1953), 69-70.
A[rciniegas], G[ermdn]. "Jubilos ilesos." Senderos
(Bogota), 1 (Mar. 1934), 61.
_______________________. "Dos libros de German Pardo
Garcia, " rev. of Eternidad del ruisenor and Hay piedras
como lacrrimas. Revista Hispanica Moderna, 23 (1947),
317-319. Also in: Universidad de Antioquia, No. 132
(1958), pp. 134-136.
Aristeguieta, Jean. Rev. of Eternidad del ruisenor.
Revista Nacional de Cultura (Caracas), 20 (May - June
1958), 182-183.
Bayona Posada, Nicolas. "German Pardo Garcia: Los angeles
de vidrio. " Boletin de la Academia Colombiana, 13
(Apr. - May 1963), 139-146.
Betancur Cuartas, Belisario. Rev. of Sacrificio. Univer
sidad Catolica Bolivariana, 10 (Oct. - Nov. 1943),
146-148.
Brenes Hilarova, Fresia. "German Pardo Garcia, poeta
colombiano," rev. of Seleccion de sus poemas.
Repertorio Americano, 36 (1939), 297, 301.
Calzadilla, Juan. Rev. of Centauro al sol. Revista
Nacional de Cultura (Caracas), 22 (Nov. - Dec. 1959),
125-126.
Camacho Ramirez, Arturo. "Claro abismo de German Pardo
Garcia." El Tiempo (Bogoti), Oct. 13, 1940, Sect. 2,
p. 2.
257
Caparroso, Carlos Arturo. Glosa sobre German Pardo Garcia,
rev. of Akr6teraz. Mexico: Ecuador 0° O' 0", 1968.
C[arranza], E[duardo]. "Selecci6n de poemas, por German
Pardo Garcia." Revista del Coleqio Mayor de Nuestra
Senora del Rosario, 34 (June - Aug. 1939), 399-400.
______________________. "Signo y esquema de la poesia
colombiana." Boletin Cultural v Biblio(1969), 632-639.
"Claro abismo, por German Pardo Garcia." Revista de las
Indias (Bogotd), 2nd epoch, No. 20 (1940), pp. 154-155.
Rev. of Claro abismo. America (Havana), 11 (Jul. - Aug.
1941), 95.
Cornejo, Justino. "El ultimo libro de German Pardo
Garcia," rev. of Presencia. Universidad de Antiocruia,
8 (1939), 591-598.
"El cosmonauta." Cuadernos de Bellas Artes (Mexico), 4
(Jan. 1963), 91.
Rev. of Eternidad del ruisenor. Cuadernos Americanos,
Afto 15 (Nov. - Dec. 1956), 287-288.
Figueira, Gaston. Rev. of Claro abismo. La Nueva Democra-
cia, 23 (Mar. 1942), 26-27.
_________________. Rev. of Sacrificio. La Nueva Democracia,
25 (Jan. 1944), 24.
Garcia Prada, Carlos. "Presencia de German Pardo Garcia."
Revista Iberoamericana, I (May 1939), 189-192.
G[erbasi], Vficente]. Rev. of Antolocria poetica. Revista
Nacional de Cultura (Caracas), 7 (Nov. - Dec. 1944),
138-139.
_____________________. Rev. of Claro abismo. Revista
Nacional de Cultura (Caracas), 2 (Nov. - Dec. 1940),
143-144.
258
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(para. 1742).
_. Rev. of Centauro al sol. Handbook to
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Pardo Garcia." Revista de America (Bogota), July 1945,
pp. 150-154.
Hurtado, Aflfredo] . Rev. of Eternidad del ruisenor.
Estaciones (Mexico), 1 (1956), 602-605.
I [banez] , J[aime] . "Las voces naturales por German Pardo
Garcia." Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Revista
Trimestral de Cultura Moderna (Bogota), No. 4 (1945),
pp. 355-357.
J. A., R. Rev. of Las voces naturales. Revista de las
Indias (Bogota), No. 80 (1945), pp. 317-318.
Rev. of Lucero sin orillas. La Nueva Democracia, 33
(Apr. 1953), 96-97.
Rev. of Lucero sin orillas. Poesia de America (Mexico),
2 (May - June 1953), 76.
Luis, Leopoldo de. "Carta a German Pardo Garcia."
Estaciones (Mexico), 4 (Summer 1959), 159-161.
__________________. "Ciencia y poesia en la obra de German
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Literaria (Madrid), Nov. 1, 1969, p. 9.
Llanos, Antonio. "Sobre German Pardo Garcia," rev. of
Los jflbilos ilesos. Repertorio Americano, 30 (1935),
109.
259
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__________________________. Rev. of El defensor. Revista
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pp. 660-661.
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____________________. Rev. of Apolo Thermidor. Handbook to
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260
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____________________________ . Rev. of Hay piedras como
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(1958), pp. 9-17.
____________________________ . Rev. of 30 anos de labor del
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Abside (Mexico), 1 (June 1937), 50-55.
__________________. "Poemas contemporineos." Abside
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261
APPENDICES
262
APPENDIX A
CORRESPONDENCE
263
The letters which are reproduced in the following
pages are those which German Pardo Garcia sent to me
between September of 1969 and December of 1971. They are
included here because of their extensive use as documenta
tion in the text of this dissertation, and because of their
possible value for future studies. All letters and accom
panying information are reproduced exactly as received,
except that obvious typographical errors have been cor
rected.
Most of the letters are replies to my own letters
to the poet. Whenever it has appeared necessary, I have
included a brief summary of my letter, and any other com
ments which seem necessary for the interpretation of the
poet's correspondence.
264
Letter 1 (September 18/ 1969)
(Response to my letter of September 10, in which I men
tioned my desire to interview the poet in Mexico City.
Pardo Garcia refers to this in several letters, since the
trip was postponed several times, and finally never ma
terialized. )
Sehor Profesor:
Me honra usted in grado sumo con su atenta carta y
en respuesta me es gratisimo manifestarle que si usted
viniere a Mexico antes de fines de enero del aho ya proximo,
le agradeceria mucho se dignara enviarme una r&pida tarjeta
a mi apartado postal y yo ire inmediatamente a visitarle.
Mi telefono, que aparece en el directorio de la ciudad,
nunca contesta.
Si usted viniere despues de febrero 10, ya no me
encontrarci en Mexico porque regreso a Colombia para larga
ausencia, dejando la gaceta que funde para servir a la cul
tura, en manos amigas y responsables.
Sirvase usted aceptar los testimonios de mi admira-
cion y gratitud por honra tanta como usted me hace.
German Pardo Garcia
265
Letter 2 (December 13, 1969)
Muy distinguido profesor y noble amigo:
Con motivo de los dxas navidefios y del pr6ximo ano
de 1970, deseo a usted muy sinceramente,
P A Z Y ESPERANZA
Anexos enviole los primeros poemas lunarios escri-
tos en castellano, por mi, lo cual me complace.
Siempre he querido cantar a los mayores aconteci-
mientos humanos. Cuando estallo la primera bomba atomica
sobre Hiroshima, fui tambien el primero en condenar en mi
poema ATOMICA FLOR la destruccion masiva de la humanidad.
Cuando murio el que fuera mi extraordinario amigo y
hombre supremo del mundo, el Presidente Kennedy, mi canto
se elevo al otro dia del magnicidio, para condenar su
muerte. Lo mismo cuando desaparecio Juan XXIII, yo quise
elevarle un cantico.
Comunicole que en breves dxas viajo a Colombia y
despues a Italia, para larga ausencia. Volvere a fines de
agosto.
Reciba usted mi saludo respetuoso y pleno de amis-
tad.
German Pardo Garcia
266
Letter 3 (December 26, 1969)
(Response to my letter of December 19, in which I requested
his assistance in compiling a bibliography of his works and
of the studies that have been made of them.)
Muy distinguido profesor y noble amigo:
Doy muchas gracias a usted por su atenta carta del
dxa 19 anterior, y por el interes que se sirve usted tomar
en mis trabajos.
Deploro manifestarle que no me es posible enviarle
informacion alguna. Desde que comence a escribir en 1915
hasta hoy, se han escrito sobre mis libros mas de mil ar-
ticulos. Jamas los he conservado. No tengo archivo. La
mayoria de esos articulos los he incinerado. Otros han ido
a bibliotecas. Y ahora resulta que al querer los escri-
tores comentar mis poemas, yo, que soy el autor, no puedo
informar nada.
Creame que soy un hombre muy rudimentario. Comer-
ciante en pequeno. Agente de anuncios. Y aunque parezca a
usted extraho, no soy poeta profesional a pesar de haber
escrito casi treinta libros en 58 anos de lucha. Ya al
borde los 70 anos, estoy ligero, libre de pesos en el
cuerpo y en el espiritu. Ni siquiera tengo mis libros.
267
Un incendio ocurrido en la Editorial Cultura el 2 de di-
ciertibre de 1967, redujo a cenizas lo poco que habxa.
Me permito rectificarle los txtulos de algunos de
esos libros: MURAL DE ESPANA es lo correcto. EL ARBOL DEL
ALBA, es lo correcto tanibien. Libro totalmente incinerado
por mi. Como lo fue otro que nunca publique: LA CIUDAD EN
LAS BRUMAS. Anunciado prontamente en Colombia, un joven
poeta de all& adapto el txtulo para si, uso de mis mismos
temas y yo destrui mi libro por el fuego. He sido el gran
amigo del Fuego. El me aguarda cuando yo muera. Ser& la
final incineracion.
Le mando un libro mio publicado hace un mes por el
Fondo de Cultura Economica de Mexico. Se titula: HIMNOS
DEL HIEROFANTE. El que se anuncia en el artxculo que le
mando con ese libro, con el txtulo de GAVILAN AL DESTIERRO
cambio a: APOLO THERMIDOR. Contiene mis poemas lunarios.
Uno extenso, fxsico-matematico, que he sido en pequeho, y
titulado: EL TERCER HOMBRE. Y el poema con el cual conclux
mi trabajo en septiembre de este aho: RESURRECCION DE LOS
DIOSES. Yo soy pagano y les debxa a los sacros dioses ese
poema. Escrito, doy por terminada mi larga jornada de
poeta. Sigo actuando como editor y comerciante. He sido
268
ademcis: agricultor, ganadero, trabajador en minas de carbon,
alfarero, promotor de boxeadores y luchadores, un sin fin
de incesante movimiento. Creo que soy uno de los hombres
que mcis han caminado en la vida. Y que se han movido mas.
La quietud, el estatismo, me horrorizan.
Ese libro: APOLO THERMIDOR no sera f&cil publicarlo.
Yo carezco al final de mi vida de dinero para publicarlo.
Para reconstruir todo mi trabajo destruido estoy viendo de
d6nde consigo apoyo para reunir $600,000 mexicanos, para
hacer una edicion de lujo con mis poemas menos deficientes.
Pero esa suma es un sueno para mi.
Cuando usted venga a Mexico, le suplico que la
unica manera de anunciarme su presencia en la ciudad sea
por medio de una tarjeta a mi apartado. Mi telefono no
contesta nunca. Asi como mi vida, desde la madrugada, es
en la calle, buscando anuncios, cuando llego a mi pequeno
apartamento cambio de manera de ser y cualquier ruido,
singularmente el del telefono, es silenciado por mi.
Ya sabe usted todo lo que pudiera contarle. Mi
bibliografia es grotesca, indigna de un escritor. Casi soy
un buhonero, un aventurero de la ciudad, yo, un agricultor
nato, un ser manso y simple, metido en la revuelta humana.
269
De ahx que haya podido conservar tierno mi espxritu y sufra
intensamente por mis grandes amigos muertos. Le repito que
la muerte del Presidente Kennedy hendio mi alma para
siempre.
Como cosa rara, conservo el artxculo que escribio
Gabriela Mistral hace casi 40 anos, cuando aparecio en
Mexico mi primer libro aqui escrito: LOS JUBILOS ILESOS.
Si usted no lo tiene y puede servir a sus generosos pro-
positos, puedo enviirselo antes de irme.
Reciba usted mi gratulacion con motivo de 1970, que
le deseo pleno de PAZ Y ESPERANZA.
German Pardo Garcia
270
Letter 4 (January 24, 1970)
(Reply to my letter of January 20, in which I asked him
whether the entire text of Los sonetos del convite is in
cluded in his anthologies, and in which I commented on his
statement in his previous letter that "Yo soy pagano. ...")
Muy distinguido profesor y amigo:
Doy gracias a usted por su atenta carta y por el
interes que se sirve mostrar en torno a mis trabajos poeti-
cos.
LOS SONETOS DEL CONVITE no son sino los seis que
usted conoce.
El supuesto misticismo franciscano que me atribuyen,
es una de tantas opiniones inconsultas que los criticos
suelen expresar. Esa ficcion mistica no tiene en mi sen-
tido religioso o teologico alguno. Es el abismarse de
Pit&goras en el cosmos. 0 la inmersion de los grandes
lxricos alemanes, principalmente Liliencron, Stor y Lenau,
divinos poetas crepusculares. Tambi^n los pajaros de las
inmensas selvas colombianas en las que vivi, son misticos
y sienten un poderoso influjo cosmico a la hora del atarde-
cer o en la madrugada. Pero no tienen religion alguna, lo
cual me place hondamente, porque todo credo implica suje-
cion del espiritu humano, que debe tener soberanxa
271
intemporal.
Envxole anexo el articulo de Gabriela Mistral. Se
publico en REVISTA DE REVISTAS de Mexico, el 3 de diciembre
de 1933. Enviole asimismo un ejemplar de HIMNOS DEL HIERO-
FANTE.
Le ruego comprender que el hecho de haber regalado
todo lo que se ha escrito sobre mx no se debe a desden. Yo
no desdeno nada. Todo me apasiona de un modo vital tre-
mendo.
Distribux toda esa literatura por el simple hecho
de no sentir sobre mi conciencia poetica atadura ninguna y
por aligerarme de todo peso desde mucho antes de morir.
Paz y esperanza.
German Pardo Garcxa
272
Letter 5 (May 8, 1971)
Muy distinguido profesor y amigo:
Estuve hace tiempo esperando la noticia de su lle-
gada a Mexico. Ignoro si usted vino o si en verdad visit6
la ciudad y olvido mi atenta recomendacion de enviar una
tar jeta a mi apartado, para que yo hubiera ido a saludarle.
Creo haberle explicado que conmigo no hay otra
manera de comunicacion, porque a veces me ausento por lar-
gas temporadas, y otras, las rticis, mi telefono no contests
nunca, por razones obvias. 0
Ahora quiero comunicarle que hace ya un mes apare-
cio mi extenso libro APOLO THERMIDOR, en edicion muy
hermosa.
Los distribuidores de dicha obra estcin haciendolo,
pero con alguna lentitud. Oportunamente, quizci dentro de
un mes, le mandarin directamente un ejemplar, y tardara en
llegar, en vista de las fallas de los correos, tanto en
Mexico como en los EEUU, quizci otro mes.
Es increible, pero asi es.
Reciba usted un sincero saludo y el ruego de que
al valerse de mi apartado, tenga la bondad de no hacerlo
273
de modo certificado, porque el correo devuelve todo lo que
de tal modo se me envia y que no puedo retirar, porque soy
solo para todo clase de trabajo.
German Pardo Garcia
274
Letter 6 (June 25, 1971)
(Reply to my letter of June 18/ in which I reaffirmed my
hope of being able to interview him before completing the
dissertation.)
Muy distinguido Mr. Dickson:
Doy a usted sinceras gracias con motivo de su
reciente carta y le informo que ignorante como estaba de
su nueva direcci6n, se le envi6 a la antigua, por correo
certificado, la lujosa edicion de mi libro m^s reciente:
APOLO THERMIDOR.
Confio en verle algtin dia en Mexico. Y le vuelvo
a rogar que cuando venga, se sirva usted enviarme a mi
apartado una tarjeta indicandome en que hotel se aloja,
pues no hay otro modo de comunicarse conmigo porque mi
telefono fue suspendido y de mi pequena casa salgo en las
primeras horas de la mahana para regresar muy tarde.
Un aviso a mi apartado de correos, e ire inmediata-
mente a saludarle.
Muy atentamente,
G. Pardo Garcia
275
Letter 7 (November 9, 1971)
(Response to my letter of November 7. I had finally given
up the hope of getting to Mexico City to interview him, and
suggested that perhaps I could pose my major questions by
mail. Those questions were essentially:
1. When did you lose your faith in Catholicism?
2. How long have you considered yourself a pan
theist?
3. What has been the process through which you
have corrected, or re-written your works prior
to their inclusion in your anthologies?
4. Why were no sonnets included in your books of
1945 to 1956?
5. Why have several of your poems, such as "A San
Isidro Labrador" and "A los soldados de Fran-
cia" been published in books only years after
their publication in magazines?
It is apparent from the tone and text of Letter 8, that in
paragraph two of this seventh letter, Pardo Garcia had
intended to ask that this might be his last letter, because
of the pressure of time.
Attached to this letter are his responses to my questions,
which he titled "Breve Memorandum para el Profesor David L.
Dickson," and a typewritten copy of Pardo Garcia's first
poem, and a brief commentary on it.)
Muy distinguido profesor:
Agradezco muy sinceramente todas las molestias que
usted se toma al desear penetrar en ese laberinto desorde-
nado que es mi trabajo poetico durante 55 anos.
276
Debido a mi intenso trabajo y al poco tiempo que ya
me resta en Mexico, pues salgo de aqui a principios de
enero para no regresar sino a fines de julio o de agosto,
pues voy a Colombia, Grecia, Italia, Francia, Espana e
Inglaterra, quiza por la ultima vez. A Grecia, la primera
a tratar de ver lo que sent! antes de conocerla.
Le envxo, como una curiosidad, los primeros versi-
tos que escribi, a los 14 arios. Los recorde hace pocos
dxas.
Le informo tambien que ya trabajo en mi nuevo libro
ESCANDALO, a la velocidad con que yo hago todas las cosas.
El extraho txtulo lo derivo de este breve poema, con el
cual comienza:
Cuando el gavilan arrulla cual las palomas,
surge el escdndalo.
Y es mayor el peligro si hay en las selvas
un tigre bianco.
Esa es la historia de ese libro: mis contradiccio-
nes vueltas armonxa. Me place mucho cambiar a los seres y
a las cosas sus colores, sus atributos, su esencia y opo-
nerlos sus contrarios.
Reciba usted un estrecho abrazo.
German
277
BREVE MEMORANDUM PARA EL PROFESOR
DAVID L. DICKSON
lo. VIDA RELIGIOSA.
Hasta cierta edad fue el reflejo de lo que yo habxa
vivido al pie de mi padre, un hombre profundamente
religioso. Y la memoria de los anos infantiles pasa-
dos en el pueblecito de Choachi, entre campanas, nubes
de incienso y angeles de madera. Sesenta anos despues
consolido ese mundo en LOS ANGELES DE VIDRIO.
2o. Me distancie de ese mundo, fantastico, de leyendas
hermosas, porque llegue a la conclusion de que son eso
nada mas: leyendas. Pero las sigo amando, como me
place el Quijote o LAS MIL Y UNA NOCHES. Pero yo no
tomarxa esos codices inmortales como guias para una
perennidad del alma, inexistentes, tanto el alma como
la perennidad.
3o. Al lado de Lucrecio y Epicuro aprendx que el alma es
una fabula hermosa y nada m^s.
4o. PANTEISMO, es la inclinacion natural de todo ser sobre
el planeta. Los pajaros son pantexstas a su modo. No
creo en la multiplicidad de ningun dios (pantexsmo)
278
como doctrina sino como fantasia. Todo principio
teologico o religioso es rechazado por mi.
5o. CORRECCION DE MIS OBRAS.
Nunca tengo tiempo de volver a mirar lo que escribo.
Conclui por extraviarme en un laberinto, que antes
menciono, de 25 libros escritos en galopante desorden.
No soy hombre de trabajo en gabinete cerrado. No
necesito del silencio que requieren casi todos los
escritores.
La mayoria de mis poemas han sido escritos a bordo de
buses, en las antesalas de hombres de negocios, en
donde he tenido que esperar para obtener un anuncio.
Mientras el gerente sale, yo he terminado un poema
entre ruidos de miquina y gritos de mecanografas.
El poeta del silencio y de la meditacion es un motor
suelto por las calles. No me perturba el ruido de las
ciudades, que atravieso siempre con un cuadernito de
apuntes, escribiendo y escribiendo. Sonar por las
calles es hermoso. Y crear mucho mis viendo que soy
un elemento incorporado por completo a la naturaleza,
sin que sus ruidos me hagan dano, a pesar de la sensi-
bilidad diabolica.
279
Jamis he corregido lo que escribo ni preparando edi-
ciones. Todo sale de mi en tumulto. Muchas veces, al
leer las pruebas de mis libros, se me ocurre cambiar
alguna cosa, y es asi, al pie del ruido de las m^quinas
impresoras como a veces he cambiado palabras, sinale-
fas que molestaban a mi oido de viejo conocedor de las
palabras. En Lisias, el gran orador griego, aprendx
mucho de esas minucias.
Manuscritos, no tengo ni uno solo. A veces a dos
escritores colombianos se les ocurrio pedirme todo un
libro manuscrito: LOS ANGELES DE VIDRIO, HAY PIEDRAS
COMO LAGRIMAS, y me puse a escribirlos a mano.
Los poemas A SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR, A LOS SOLDADOS DE
FRANCIA, estuvieron mucho tiempo perdidos en revistas.
Cuando los encontre los puse como mejor se pudo en un
libro: EL DEFENSOR.
Durante mucho tiempo deje de escribir sonetos para ver
si me era posible acometer todas las metrificaciones.
Y lo hice. La esencia de mi obra es el cosmos, en
todas sus dimensiones grandes y pequehas. No he de-
jado sitio en donde no meta las narices. Huelo la
280
poesxa lo mismo en las frutas que en las letrinas.
Y todo al galope, en desorden, sin tiempo de pensar.
Tal vez si yo hubiera sido un hombre de calma, de
escritorio, hubiera podido hacer una obra mds respon-
sable.
Pero trabajo a golpe de emocion, donde esta me cae
encima, a cualquier hora del dla o de la noche, en
cualquier parte. • Muchas de mis cosas menos malas, asi
las he escrito. El soneto CUARTA DIMENSION, APOLO
THERMIDOR, calificado ya como "algo increxble," dicen
los crxticos, lo escribx mientras estaba en la rega-
dera. Se me ocurrio cuando el agua me caxa, y asi,
desnudo, me salx del bafto y en tres minutos lo hice y
volvx a baharme.
Asi no se puede ser sino un demente operando sobre una
materia tan fragil como la poesxa.
Pero asi soy. ... Tal vez sentado comodamente, no
habrxa hecho sino pura retorica.
281
LOS PRIMEROS VERSOS QUE ESCRIBIO
GERMAN PARDO GARClA
NOCHE TRISTE
I
Ya la luna tras los riscos
de los pehones escuetos
aluiribraba entre fulgores
los caminos polvorientos.
Ya las aves en sus nidos,
en los frondosos abetos,
acallaban sus canciones,
acallaban sus lamentos.
Entre las mansas lagunas
se retrataban los cielos
y con ellos las pupilas
de los fulgidos luceros.
A lo lejos se escuchaban
los sonidos sordos, secos,
del aquilon que gemia
entre los montes espesos.
Solo en esa noche triste
y sumido en pensamientos,
sollozaba entre las ruinas
de mis amores ya muertos.
Y sin ver en mis pesares
esperanza ni consuelo/
en mi mente se agitaban
las bandadas de recuerdos.
282
II
La luna con' su luz blanca
deshizo los negros velos
que ante su faz oponian
los nubarrones siniestros.
Ceso el furioso aquilon
que entre los montes espesos,
quebrantaba los arbustos
con sus embates violentos.
Las aves entre sus nidos,
en los frondosos abetos,
acallaron sus canciones,
acallaron sus lamentos.
jComo lloraba mis penas
sin encontrarles consuelo,
esa noche en que la luna
con sus fulgores inciertos,
alumbraba las rttinas
de mis amores ya muertos.1
GERMAN PARDO GARCIA
(Nino de 14 anos)
NOTA: este poemita se publico en agosto de 1916, por el
poeta colombiano don Diego. Uribe, en su revista semanal
EL LITERARIO. La anotacion "niho de 14 anos," con que se
publico, es de don Diego Uribe. El autor lo iba a firmar
asi: German V. Pardo G. (la V es de su segundo nombre
Vicente. Pero don Antonio Gomez Restrepo, que habia leido
283
antes los versitos, le dijo al autor: "vas a ser un poeta
de hoy en adelante y tienes que firmar como un poeta. Eso
de 'German V. Pardo G.' es un absurdo. Tienes que firmar
sonoramente: Germdn Pardo Garcia").
Los "amores ya muertos" a que se refiere el infantil poema,
es la madre del autor, muerta ella de junio de 1905.
284
Letter 8 (December 31, 1971)
(Reply to my letter of December 26, in which I posed five
more questions:
1. Were the spiritual experiences portrayed in
Los jubilos ilesos and Los Ccinticos Christian
experiences, or some other type?
2. Why did you turn to the use of mythology in
the 1950's?
3. Which poets have influenced you most?
4. The critics have identified you as a member
of Los Nuevos. Do you consider yourself to be
a member of any poetic group?
5. What function does the sonnet serve in your
poetry?
Once again the poet affirms that his next book (Esccindalo)
will be his last, and once again he changes his mind and
publishes Desnudez in 1973. He had said the same thing
about Apolo Thermidor in Letter 3.)
Muy distinguido Mr. Dickson:
Doy a usted gracias por su atenta carta y aunque
estoy abrumado de trabajo y en condiciones poco propicias
para atender a su nueva y respetable consulta, le doy res-
puesta una vez mds con la suplica atenta de que sea por la
vez ultima. Le ruego darse cuenta de que ya soy un hombre
de 70 anos, con trabajo superior a mis fuerzas y debo
reservar mis postreras energias.
285
A fines de agosto 1972 se le enviard mi nuevo libro
ESCANDALO, dltimo de mi ya larga vida de escritor. No mds
libros. No mds correspondencia. Ya soy un poeta vivo nada
mas en sus libros.
Paz y esperanza.
Germdn Pardo Garcia
Lo que haya referente a cualquiera doctrina/ especialmente
cristiana, en mis libros LOS JUBILOS ILESOS y LOS CANTICOS,
no es sino una refraccion de sus hermosas liturgias. En
modo alguno una teologia.
Desde mi infancia cultivd la mitologia griega. Y cuando
despuds de 40 anos de escribir poesia, tuve necesidad de
modificar por completo mi vision cosmica# el panteismo
griego fue mi asilo. Por eso la aparicidn de sus dioses
amados. Pero como los cristianos, fantasias, metdforas
apenas.
Ningun poeta me ha influido. He tratado de crear mi propio
idioma y mi propio mundo. Pero me he guiado mas que por
286
poetas, por grandes corrientes: los poetas griegos, los
latinos, especialmente Lucrecio y Catulo, los grandes
liricos alemanes. Elios sobre todos. La saudade portu-
guesa. Los lxricos ingleses. Especialmente Shelley y
Keats. Pero con todo ello a cuestas, soy un poeta ameri-
cano, de selva y rio (ver en APOLO THERMIDOR, POETA DE
AMERICA).
Pertenezco al grupo de poetas colombianos conocidos como
LOS NUEVOS. Los hermanos Lozano y Lozano no son piedra-
cielistas. Son de LOS NUEVOS.
El soneto ha sido para mi la pequena honda con la cual me
prepare para los ejercicios grandes. Con esa honda di
caza al colibrx. Y me prepare para dominar las grandes
dguilas del poema heroico.
Mi convencimiento de que el cristianismo o cualesquiera
religiones no son sino hermosas historias sin validez cien-
txfica alguna, no fue cosa de un instante sino un proceso
de medio siglo. Y cuando al fin me halle frente a frente
con el poderoso Einstein, para mi el mcLs grande de los
287
hoirtbres, y trat& de penetrar en el con mis escasas luces,
llegue, con el, a la conclusi6n definitiva de que:
"todo lo que no pueda demostrarse cientxfica y
matem^ticamente no pasa de ser una ficci6n."
G. P. G.
288
APPENDIX B
GUIDE TO THE LOCATION OF POEMS IN BOOKS,
ANTHOLOGIES, AND PERIODICALS
289
All references in this dissertation, except those
to Los sonetos del convite, have been made to the original
editions of Pardo Garcia's works. A number of these books
are difficult to obtain, even by inter-library loan, be
cause of the small number of copies which were printed and
because of his relative obscurity. Readers may find his
anthologies easier to obtain than these original works,
although they should be aware that often these later edi
tions of his poems are not faithful reproductions of the
originals, as they have been partially rewritten, with an
occasional work replaced by another, lines interchanged,
etc. I have discovered more than a thousand such changes,
and doubtless hundreds more are hidden in unknown versions
of his poems in the periodicals of the Spanish-speaking
world. They usually do not change the general nature of a
poem, although they sometimes alter its rhythmic or phonic
structure.
In order to simplify the task of the reader who
wishes to pursue the arguments of this dissertation back
into Pardo Garcia's compositions, but who must refer to one
290
of his anthologies, I have compiled this guide to the loca
tion of his poems. In it, I list the poet's compositions
by book, according to the first book in which they appear.
For each poem, I supply its location in the original book,
its location in any of the poet's own anthologies in which
it has been reprinted, and any known location in the
periodicals. I do not supply, however, any references to
the multitude of general poetic anthologies which include
selections of Pardo Garcia's poetry. The books published
after 1960 have not been reprinted in any anthology. For
this reason, I only list the poems from these works which
are known to have been published in magazines or news
papers.
In the guide to the poems, I make use of several
abbreviations in order to save space. The various antholo
gies are abbreviated as S (Seleccion ..., 1939), A (Antolo-
crxa poetica, 1944), AP (Acto poetico, 1953), P (Poemas,
1958), and T (30 anos, 1961). Several of Pardo Garcia's
books include no pagination. Rather than repeat this in
formation for each poem of the book, I indicate the fact in
parentheses after the title of the book. Information on
the location of his poems in the periodicals is complete
in each case.
. __________________________________________________________ 291
Voluntad (1930)
1. La niria de las flores (17). T (11).
2. Veinte anos (23). A (3), T (13)'.
3. El arroyo (27), T (14).
4. El baino (31) . T (14) .
5. Fascinacion (35).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 18 (1929), 41.
6. Diafanidad (39).
7. Hombre llanero (43). T (15).
8. Oh, sangre (47). A (4), T (18).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 18 (1929), 41.
9. La inquietud (51).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 18 (1929), 41.
10. Silencio (55).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 18 (1929), 41.
11. Signos (59).
12. Transcion (63).
13. La cancion del pan (69). T (18).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 18 (1929), 41.
14. Por los humildes (73). T (20).
15. Los sueftos (77). T (21).
292
16. Por el hijo sin nombre (83).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 19 (1929), 154.
17. La honda verdad (87) .
18. El corazon profundo (91).
19. La sangre fiel (95).
20. La culpa (99). T (24).
21. Colina (103).
Los iubilos ilesos (1933)
(no pagination)
1. A German Pardo Garcia (sonnet by Carlos Pellicer).
2. El don. S (17), A (7), T (29).
3. Los dias.
Also: Senderos (BocrotcL), 1 (Mar. 1934), 74.
4. A las nubes del otofio.
5. A la dulzura de otono.
6. Al viento del mediodia.
7. El clamor.
Also: Repertorio Americano, 27 (1933), 336.
8. La dicha.
9. Aire divino. S (18), A (8), T (29).
10.
Casa de oro. S (20), A (9), T (30).
11. Sefial de alianza. S (22), A (10), T (31)
•
293
12. Amor, tr&nula sombra. S (24), A (11), T (31).
13. Espacios, plenitud.
14. Gloria de estio.
15. Alba final.
16. El silencio.
17. La soledad.
18. Lo divino. S (26), A (12), T (32).
19. Lo inmenso. S (27), A (13), T (33).
20. El instante. S (29), A (14), T (34).
21. La vida. S (30), A (15), T (34).
22. El equilibrio. S (32), A (16), T (35) .
23. La gloria. S (34), A (17), T (36).
24. Los nombres. S (36), A (18), T (37).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 27 (1933), 336.
25. Lo eterno. S (37), A (19), T (38).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 27 (1933),
Los Ccinticos (1935)
(no pagination)
336.
1.
A la gloria del amor. S (42), A (23), T (41) .
2. A la fuerza del tiempo. S (44), A (24), T (41).
3. Al viento de junio. T (42).
4. Al gozo de la luz. S (48), A (26), T (43).
294
5. A las voces de los muertos. S (46), A (25), T (43).
6. A la verdad divina. S (50), A (27), T (44).
7. A la presencia del Ser. S (52), A (28), T (45).
8. Aqua de soledad. S (56), A (29), T (45).
9. Soledad del amor. S (58), A (30), T (46).
10. Voz en la soledad. S (60), A (31), T (47).
11. Lagrima de soledad. S (62), A (32), T (47).
12. Dicilogo en la soledad. T (48) .
13. Esplendor de soledad. S (64), A (33), T (49).
14. Estrella de soledad. T (49).
15. Transito del amor. T (50).
16. Silencio del amor. S (67), A (34), T (51).
17. El amor es solo un cintico. S (71), A (37), T (52).
18. Perfeccion del amor. S (73), A (39), T (53).
19. Los lirios de la pasion. T (54).
20. Presencia de la alegria. T (56) .
21. Triunfo de la alegria. T (58).
22. Esplendor de la alegria. T (58) .
23. Soledad de la alegria. T (58).
24. Perfeccion de la alegria. T (59) .
25. La pa lab ra de la alegria. T (60).
26. Cltntico de los cinticos. T (60) .
295
Los sonetos del convite (1935)
1. El hallazgo. S (76), A (41), T (65).
2. La morada. S (78), A (42), T (66).
3. El convite. S (80), A (43), T (66).
4. Solo un memento. S (82), A (44), T (67).
5. El olvido. S (84), A (45), T (68).
6. La lejanla. S (86), A (46), T (68).
Poderlos (1937)
(no pagination)
1. El huesped. T (73).
2. El recinto. S (100), A (56), T (73).
Also: Manizales, 19 (Feb. 1959), 202.
3. El rito. S (102), A (57), T (74).
4. El Idolo. S (104), A (58), T (75).
5. El presagio. T (75).
6. Las llamas sombrlas. S (114), A (63), T (76).
7. Un hombre se ha extraviado. T (78).
8. Un viento en los arboles. S (98), A (54), T (80).
9. Las pausas. S (91), A (49), T (81).
10. Poderlos. T (84).
11. Un caballo en la sombra. T (86).
Also: Manizales, 19 (Apr. 1958), 44.
296
12. La sangre violenta. S (106), A (59), T (87).
13. La.dicha cruel. T (88).
14. Los p&ramos. S (108), A (60), T (89).
Also as: "Los paramos de Verjon," El Tiempo
(Bogotd), June 25, 1939, Sect. 2, p. 10.
15. El pantano. S (110), A (61), T (90).
Also as: "Pantanos de Coachx," El Tiempo (Bogotd),
June 25, 1939, Sect. 2, p. 10.
16. Los riscos. S (112), A (62), T (90).
Also: El Tiempo (Bogota), June 25, 1939, Sect. 2,
p. 10.
Presencia (1938)
1. A la presencia de la poesxa (11). S (118), A (67),
T (95).
2. Arbol humano (17). S (120), A (68), T (95).
Also: El Tiempo (Bogota), Jul. 30, 1939, Sect. 2,
p. 13.
3. Celeste lirio (21). S (122), A (69), T (96).
4. Rosa del viento (25). S (124), A (70), T (97).
5. Los sxmbolos (29). S (126), A (71), T (97).
6. Desolacion de la primavera (33). S (128), A (72),
T (98).
297
7. Presencia de la muerte (41). S (133), A (76), T (102).
8. La claridad (47). S (137), A (79), T (104).
9. La soledad (48). S (138), A (80), T (105).
10. La vida (49). S (139), A (81), T (105).
11. La muerte (50). S (140), A (82), T (105).
12. El corazon vacio (53). S (141), A (83), T (106).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 38 (1941), 66.
13. Oscuro diamante (59). T (108).
14. Serena luz (65). S (144), A (85), T (109).
15. Verdad inmensa (69). S (146), A (86), T (110).
16. Radiante aurora (73). S (148), A (87), T (111).
17. Otono azul (77). S (150), A (88), T (111).
18. Idolatrxa (79). T (112).
19. Vigor de estio (85). S (152), A (89), T (113).
20. El sacrificio (89). S (154), A (90), T (114).
21. La espiga (93). S (156), A (91), T (114).
22. La abundancia (97). S (158), A (92), T (115).
23. El ara (101). T (116).
24. Imagenes (105). S (160), A (93), T (116).
(Under the title of "Presencias" in S and A.)
25. Otono vida (111). S (164), A (95), T (119).
26. Otono espacio (115). T (119).
298
27. Otono ausencia (119). S (166), A (96), T (120).
28. Otono lejanla (123). S (168), A (97), T (121).
Claro abismo (1940)
1. Imdgenes de la poesxa (11). A (101), T (125).
2. Amargura de la poesia (17). T (127).
3. Palabras de octubre (21). A (103), T (127).
4. Elegia de un cielo (25). T (128).
5. Sabor de la tierra (31). A (104), T (129).
6. Proximidad de la tierra (33). A (105), T (130).
7. Amor de la tierra (37). A (106), T (130).
8. Humildad de la tierra (41). A (107), T (131).
Also: El Tiempo (Bogota.), Sept. 29, 1940, Sect. 2,
p. 14.
9. Invocacion a la tierra (45). A (108), T (132).
10. Ciudad sepulta (49). A (109), T (133).
11. Ansiedad (57). A (110), T (135).
12. Al olvido (65). A (114), T (137).
13. A una mujer (67). A (115), T (137).
14. Simbolos (71). A (116), T (138).
15. Clamor (75). T (139).
16. Zozobra (79). A (117), T (140).
299
17. A una mujer (83). A (118), T (140).
18. Una voz en las brumas (87). A (119), T (141).
19. Imagenes de la angustia (91). A (120), T (142).
20. Imigenes de la voz (95). T (143).
21. Im&genes de los nombres (101). T (145).
22. Confusi6n (107). T (147).
23. Por los caminos del sur (115). T (150) .
24. Las rosas de grana y miel (121). T (151).
25. Traspasame el corazon (127). T (153).
26. Ven a liberarme ya (133). T (154).
Sacrificio (1943)
1. El sacrificio (7). A (123), T (159).
2. Mar enemigo (13). A (126), T (161).
Also: Manizales, 19 (Aug. 1959), 300.
3. Naves en tierra (17). A (127), T (162).
4. Estrofas a las flores (21). A (128), T (163).
5. Estrofas a los drboles (31). A (132), T (165).
6. Nada (41). A (136), T (169).
7. Islas de sed (45). A (137), T (169).
8. Estrofas con pajaros (49). A (138), T (170).
9. Aquellas tardes claras (61). A (144), T (174).
300
10. Figuras para la soledad (69). A (148), T (177).
11. Mujer en traje de baile (75). A (150), T (179).
12. Bosque nocturno (79). A (151), T (180).
13. Hftmeda flor (83). A (152), T (181).
14. Caballo de abril (91). A (155), T (183).
15. Jinete por el cielo (95). A (156), T (184).
16. Toro radiante (99). A (157), T (185).
17. Sxmbolos (103). T (185).
18. Retrato de nifio en la brisa (111). A (158), T (188).
19. Ultima rosa (115). A (159), T (189).
Las voces naturales (1945)
1. Mujer naturaleza (11). AP (23), T (193).
2. Praderas verdes (21). AP (30), T (197).
3. Carta de amistad a un cielo (27). AP (33), T (198).
4. Carta a una oruga (33). AP (36), T (199).
5. Estampa de estio (51). AP (52), T (205).
6. Ciervo en el frxo (55). AP (54), T (206).
7. Abismo (61). T (207).
8. Los dxas de la infancia (67).
9. Vulgar elogio marino (83). AP (56), T (209).
10. Bob Maimes, mozo de mar. (95). AP (62), T (214).
11. Tempestad (101). AP (64), T (101).
301
Los suenos corporeos (1947)
1.
La voz del hombre en la noche (11). AP (69), T (219).
2. Altos nocturnos (17). T (220).
3. Naranja en el misterio (21). T (221).
4. Sitios (25). AP (71), T (222).
5. Insistencia de lluvia (29). AP (72), P (13), T (223).
6. Elegla del tacto (33). AP (74), P (14), T (224) •
7. Victoria (39). AP (76), P (16), T (226) •
8. Altos nocturnos (43). AP (77), P (17), T (226).
9. Naturaleza muerta (47). T (227).
10. Elegia del sonido (51). AP (78), T (228).
11.
Altos nocturnos (57). AP (81), P (18), T (230).
12. Elegia del color (61). AP (82), P (19), T (231) •
13. Destierro (67). T (233).
14. Elegia corporea (71). T (233).
15. Se balancea un cautiverio n&utico (77). AP (84) 9
T (236).
16. Elegia de las palabras (83). AP (86), T (237).
17. Sed (89). T (239).
18. Elegia del aire (93). T (240).
19. Arcanos (101). AP (89), P (21), T (243) •
302
Poemas contempordneos (1949)
1. Una rosa padece (11). AP (93), T (247).
2. Yo no soy un soldado (17). AP (95), P (22), T (248).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 45 (1949), 2.
3. Evasion (21). AP (98), P (24), T (251).
4. Elegia por los muertos actuales (29). AP (99),
P (25), T (252).
5. Atomica flor (41). AP (104), P (29), T (257).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 44 (1949), 345-346.
6. Bloqueo (59). T (264).
7. Elegia por Lidice (69). AP (111), P (34), T (268).
8. A un pugil negro vencedor (77). AP (116), P (37),
T (272).
Also: Repertorio Americano, 46 (1950), 152, 154.
9. Vejez de un heroe (83). T (274).
10. Agresion de los metales (87). T (275).
Lucero sin orillas (1952)
1. Estrellas antes vidas (9). AP (121), P (39), T (287).
2. Primer contacto con la nieve (15). AP (124), P (41),
T (289).
3. Victoria de la noche (19). AP (125), P (42), T (290).
303
4. Nocturno menor (23). AP (126), P (43), T (291).
Also: Poesxa de America (Mexico), 1 (May-June 1952),
5-6.
5. Aceptacion de la sombra (27). AP (128), P (44),
T (292).
6. Destrucci6n bajo el mar (33). AP (130), T (294).
7. A las formas (39). AP (133), T (297).
8. Los crepusculos del silencio (45). AP (135), P (46),
T (298).
9. Hallazgo de la vida (55). AP (143), T (304).
Also: Revista de America, 22, pt. 2 (Dec. 1951),
617-621.
10. Apoteosis de la soledad (67). AP (153), T (310).
11. A1 volver de los bosgues (87). AP (171), P (50),
T (320).
12. Ultimo sol sobre las cumbres (111). AP (187), P (57),
T (331).
U.Z. llama al espacio (1954)
1. Ansiedad (11). T (343).
Also as: "No, no puedo esperarte," Poesia de America,
1 (Nov. - Dec. 1952), 23.
304
2. Sombras acusticas (15). T (343).
Also: Poesia de America/ 2 (Jul. - Aug. 1953), 7-16.
3. Cuerpos sombrios (35). T (356).
4. Teoria de la noche americana (39). P (64), T (357).
5. Funerales de mi padre (53). P (69), T (364).
6. Compafieros agricolas (63). P (72), T (368).
7. Los hombres nuevos (73). P (76), T (373).
8. Resurreccion de Prometeo (85). T (378).
9. Habitacion para hombre solo (101). P (80), T (368).
Also: Poesia de America, 3 (Jul. - Sept. 1954), 5-6.
10. Isla de acero (107). T (388).
11. Nocturno mayor (117). P (82), T (393).
Eternidad del ruisenor (1956)
1. Eternidad del ruisenor (15). P (86), T (403).
2. Obreros trabajando (27). P (91), T (410).
3. Canto romano (33). T (413).
4. Jess Cook (45). P (93), T (419).
5. Un hombre del pueblo (51). T (421).
6. Canto a la fuerza sindical (61). P (95), T (429).
7. Canto al otono (83). P (103), T (440).
8. El desierto (103) . T (449).
9. A las lluvias del verano (123). T (460).
305
1.
Hay piedras como lacrrimas (1957)
Vida del mundo (9). T.(475).
2. Divina posesion (13). T (475).
3. Inteligencia de las alas (17). T (476).
4. Proximidad del espacio (21). T (477).
5. Fortaleza en la hermosura (25). T (477).
6. Destino de luz (29). T (478).
7. Creencia en la claridad (33). T (479).
8. Grandeza del corazon (37). T (479).
9. Liberacion (41). T (480).
10. Humildad de las cosas (45). T (481).
11. Limosna de alegria (49). T (481).
12. Victoria de la esperanza (53). T (482).
13. Cumbres de vida (57). T (483).
14. Hombre terrestre (61). T (483).
15. Toro de America (65). T (484).
16. Ruidos solemnes (69). T (485).
17. La casa en la montana (73). T (485).
18. Rotacion de la sangre (77). T (486).
19. Rios eternos (81). T (487).
20. La estrella de la tarde (85). T (487).
21. La soledad es de hombres (89). T (488).
306
22. Mi fe es de tierra (93). T (489).
23. Hombre de libertad (97). T (489).
24. Calma en la tarde (101). T (490).
25. Inc6gnito dolor (105). T (491).
26. Quietud en la noche (109). T (491).
27. Vitalidad del sueno (113). T (492).
28. Violencia en el sonar (117). T (493).
29. Llamas del sueno (121). T (493).
30. Sabidurxa (125). T (494).
31. Creacion (129). T (495).
32. Amistad (133). T (495).
33. Ad&n Tierra Quemada (137). T (496).
34. Enserianza de los valles (141) . T (497) .
35. Humildad de la poesia (145). T (497).
36. Raza de hierba (149). T (498).
37. Mujer de las montanas (153). T (499).
38. Aires de sacrificio (157). T (499).
Also: Metdfora (Mexico), No. 11 (1956), p. 13.
39. Petreos espiritus (161). T (500).
40. Juan Esperanza de la tierra (165). T (501).
Also: Met&fora (Mexico), No. 11 (1956), p. 12.
41. Lluvias obreras (169). T (501).
307
42. Memoria de mi madre (173). T (502).
43. Dolor de la materia (177). T (503) .
44. Llamas oscuras (181). T (503).
45. No puede ser (185). T (504).
46. Llagas ocultas (189). T (505).
47. He de volver (193). T (505).
48. Alto equilibrio (197). T (506).
Also: Metafora (Mexico), No. 11 (1956), p. 13.
49. Serenidad (201). T (507).
Also: Metafora (Mexico) , No. 11 (1956) , p. 14.
50. A Carlos Pellicer (205). T (507).
Centauro al sol (1959)
1. Centauro en su crepusculo (11). T (511).
2. Vecindades (15). T (511).
3. Hombre centauro (19). T (512).
Also: Estaciones (Mexico) , 2 (Sprinq 1957) , 8.
4. Alamos en la tarde (23). T (513).
5. Los huesos son vida (27). T (513).
6. Salario de humildad (31). T (514) .
Also: Boletin Cultural v Biblioqr^fico (Bocrotci) ,
4 (1961), 140.
308
7. Potencia al despertar (35). T (515).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Bibliogr^fico (Bogota),
4 (1961), 140.
8. Despojos de grandeza (39). T (515).
9. Derrota en el espacio (43). T (516).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Bibliogr^fico (Bogotd),
4 (1961), 141.
10. Imitacion de la vida (47). T (517).
11. Testimonios del viento (63). T (525).
Also: Estaciones (Mexico), 2 (1957), 430-445.
12. Fantasia del pan (95). T (547).
Also: Estaciones (Mexico), 3 (1958), 353-368.
13. Canto de vida y muerte en los tropicos (119). T (562)
14. Naturaleza muerta (139). T (574).
15. Ausencia (145). T (576).
16. Sabiduria (149). T (577).
17. Paz a las fieras de buena voluntad (153). T (578).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Bibliocrrafico (Bogota),
4 (1961), 141.
18. Esperanza (157). T (578).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Biblioqxdfico (Bogota),
4 (1961), 142.
309
19. Resurrecci6n (161). T (579).
Also: Boletin Cultural v Biblioqrcifico (Bogotd) ,
4 (1961), 142.
20. Pinos del canto (165). T (580).
21. Hombre y campo (169). T (580).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Bibliografico (Bogota),
4 (1961), 143.
22. Frutas aereas (173). T (581).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Biblioqrafico (Bogota),
4 (1961), 143..
23. Los montes volaran (177). T (582).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Biblioqrafico (Bogota),
4 (1961), 144.
24. Expiacion (181). T (582).
Also: Boletin Cultural y Biblioqrafico (Bogota),
4 (1961), 144.
25. Sinceridad (185). T (583).
26. Estrofas a un jaguar (191). T (585).
27. Cain, el Inocente (199). T (589).
La Cruz del Sur (1960)
1. Invocacion a la Cruz del Sur (7). T (625).
2. Preludio de' falsa primavera (21). T (632).
310
3. Himno de paz a Orion (29). T (636).
4. Esquema para un paisaje (43). T (643).
5. Llanuras crueles (49). T (645).
6. Selvas de infancia (53). T (645).
7. Simas del ser (57). T (646).
8. A los rios de la patria (61). T (647).
9. Manos de un hombre (75). T (654).
10. Cuando mis labios se cansen (79). T (655).
11. A Venus vesperal (85). T (657).
12. Clamor ante Edgar Poe (97). T (663).
13. Sexos en lucha (105). T (667).
14. Nocturno cazador (109). T (668).
15. Triunfo final (113). T (668).
16. Mujeres en el rio (117). T (669).
17. Hipotesis solar (121). T (670).
18. Al Angel de las Tinieblas (127). T (672) .
19. Teoria de Arthur Rimbaud (131). T (673).
•
o
C M
Leyendo a Baudelaire (141). T (677).
21. Libro de sal (147). T (680).
Osiris preludial (1960)
1 . Osiris preludial (13). T (685).
2. Odiseo en el mar (17) . T (685).
311
3. A las estaciones (21). T (686).
4. Orlgenes (25). T (687).
5. Sangre de vida (29). T (687).
6. Flores en cruz (33). T (688).
7. Zenzontles en mi vida (37). T (689).
8. Utensilios de trabajo (41). T (689).
9. Los destinos del viento (45). T (690).
10. Lebreles en los sentidos (49). T (691).
11. M&s alia (53). T (691).
12. Temor en la claridad (57). T (692).
13. Temor en la hermosura (61). T (693).
14. Heridas en la noche (65). T (693).
15. Hay sangre en las estrellas (69). T (694).
16. Los enigmas (73). T (695).
17. Los abismos (77). T (695).
18. Invocacion a la noche (81). T (696).
19. Fuerza del mundo (85). T (697).
20. Espiritu de Keats (89). T (697).
21. Luz de Fra Angelico (93). T (698).
22. Memoria de Gauguin (97). T (699).
23. Signo de Espaha (101). T (699).
24. Pasion de Italia (105). T (700).
312
25. Honda amistad (109). T (701).
26. La luz es alimento (113). T (701).
27. Desnudez (117). T (702).
28. Fidelidad (121). T (703).
Also: Manizales, 20 (May 1961), 307.
29. Atardecer (125). T (703).
30. Poder de mi universo (129). T (704).
31. Fibula del bisonte (133). T (705).
32. Fcibula de la alondra (137) . T (705) .
33. Fdbula del gusano (141). T (706).
34. Las preguntas (145). T (707).
35. Los dialogos (149). T (707).
36. Nocturno del arbol azul (153). T (708).
37. Las playas (157). T (709).
38. Licuacion de la luz (161). T (709).
39. Agua y espuma (165). T (710) .
40. Mundos extranos (169). T (711).
41. Yo soy aquel (173). T (711).
42. Jugete para ninos (177). T (712).
43. El festin (181). T (713).
44. Adoracion (185). T (714).
45. Puente al vacio (189). T (714).
313
46. Asx sera (193). T (715).
47. Ire conmigo (197). T (716).
48. Eternidad (201). T (716).
49. Cuerpo al olvido (205). T (717).
50. Libro de vida (209). T (718).
Los Angeles de vidrio (1962)
7. Angeles al campanario (19).
Also: Cuadernos de Bellas Artes (Mexico), 3 (Oct.
1963), 5.
8. El Arcangel Juan (21).
Also: Cuadernos de Bellas Artes (Mexico), 3 (Oct.
1963), 6.
9. Angeles en sus sepulcros (23).
Also: Cuadernos de Bellas Artes (Mexico), 3 (Oct.
1963), 6.
11.
Angeles de las parvas (27).
Also: Cuadernos de Bellas Artes (Mexico), 3 (Oct.
1963), 7.
16. Angeles enterradores (37).
Also: Cuadernos de Bellas Artes (Mexico), 3 (Oct.
1963), 7.
314
El defensor (1964)
6. A San Isidro Labrador (29).
Also: Hoias de Cultura Popular Colombiana (Boqotci),
No. 24 (Dec. 1952), n.p.
18. Cosmonauta (77).
Also as: El cosmonauta. Mexico: Editorial Cultura,
1962.
Apolo Thermidor (1971)
3. Elegia italiana (35).
Also as: Elecrxa italiana. Mexico: Ecuador 0° O' 0",
1966.
4. Akroteras (61).
Also as: Akroteraz. Mexico: Ecuador 0° 0’ 0”, 1968.
7. Antistrota a Apolo Lunario (89).
Also: Revista Mexicana de Cultura, Cultural Supple
ment to El Nacional (Mexico), July 1969
(exact date unknown), p. 8.
8. Apoteosis (97) .
Also: Revista Mexicana de Cultura, Cultural Supple
ment to El Nacional (Mexico), July 1969
(exact date unknown), p. 8.
315
Poems not in books
"Amor en sus banderas." Estaciones (Mexico)# 2 (Spring
1957), 7.
"Apoteosis de la libertad." El Tiempo (Bogota), Sept. 30,
1951, p. 1.
"Centauro en primavera." Estaciones (Mexico), 2 (Spring
1957), 5.
"Centauro vencedor." Estaciones (Mexico), 2 (Spring 1957),
7-8.
"Certeza de silencio." Repertorio Americano, 38 (1941), 88.
Also as "Silencio." El Tiempo (Bogota), June 15, 1941,
Sect. 2, p. 14,
"Floral amor." Estaciones (Mexico), 2 (Spring 1957), 6.
"Frutal amor." Estaciones (Mexico), 2 (Spring 1957), 5-6.
"La vida nueva." Repertorio Americano, 21 (1930), 44.
316

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Asset Metadata

Creator Dickson, David Lewis (author)

Core Title Unity And Development In The Poetry Of German Pardo Garcia

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Spanish

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Literature, Modern,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor McMahon, Dorothy Elizabeth (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Buchanan, Michelle (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-730929

Unique identifier UC11356044

Identifier 7428433.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-730929 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 7428433.pdf

Dmrecord 730929

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Dickson, David Lewis

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA