The Seeds of Time: Poetry of Manuel Maples Arce, 1919-1980

by Manuel Maples Arce, Diane J Forbes (Translator)

Manuel Maples Arce's 1920s avant-garde period is currently quite popular in Mexico, but his later poetry is largely unknown these days. Texts of his poetry were hard to find before the 1981 edition and 2013 reprint of his complete poetry, Las semillas del tiempo . A few of his volumes have been translated into Poèmes Interdits by Edmond Vandercammen , and the three 1920s estridentista volumes as Stridentisme by Antoine Chareyre ; one into Metropolis by John Dos Passos ; and a few isolated 1920s poems here and there into English. This bilingual edition, The Seeds of Poetry of Manuel Maples Arce 1919-1980 , translation and introduction by Diane J. Forbes , provides both the original texts in Spanish and the translation into English, to introduce Maples Arce to the English-language readership and to present the texts to bilingual Hispanist scholars and students working outside of Mexico. A major goal is to have readers consider Maples Arce's complete poetry and not just his 1920s Estridentismo phase. Forbes' companion book Maneuvering Time and the Poetry of Manuel Maples Arce (Stockcero, 2022, ISBN 978-1-949938-17-3) is the first book to analyze the complete poetry as a whole, explaining themes, style and trajectory. Maples Arce is an important poet who deserves recognition as a major force in modern poetry.

Genres: Poetry

398 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Manuel González V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los ríos ancestrales del tumulto
conducen hasta tu (…)

tú eres la promesa eterna de la sangre.

[Mauricio Coronel Guzmán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta recopilación póstuma revela la evolución magistral del ícono estridentista: del vértigo futurista de juventud hacia una poesía reposada pero no menos incisiva. Maples Arce dialoga con el siglo XXI antes de su llegada: su fascinación por trenes y fábricas anticipa nuestra era digital, pero su crítica a la alienación industrial y el desencanto posrevolucionario sigue vigente como un diagnóstico lúcido del capitalismo acelerado.

Lejos de ser un relicario vanguardista, el libro brilla por su simbolismo atemporal (semillas, relojes, murales agrietados) y su respuesta al nihilismo contemporáneo. Frente al "ser o no ser" de Hamlet, el poeta defiende la acción ética: "Hay otras cosas que valen la pena". En tiempos de incertidumbre global, esta voz —a la vez futurista y humanista— nos recuerda que sembrar belleza y memoria es un acto de resistencia. Un clásico necesario para navegar el siglo XXI con lucidez poética.

[Ramiro Rosales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está chido, menos sus poemas en rima, esos no me latieron. Buena incursión de la literatura alternativa en México.