Entre el clavel y la espada: [1939-1940]

by Rafael Alberti

A los meses de provisionalidad e incertidumbre del comienzo del exilio del autor corresponde la gestación de esta obra, escrita bajo el doble signo de la flor y de la muerte, del «seco olor a sangre pisoteada» y el «aroma a jardines, a amanecer diario, a vida fresca, inexpugnable», del amor y el compromiso ineludible.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Rafael Alberti Merello (December 16, 1902 - October 28, 1999) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. Alberti published his first books of poetry towards the end of the 1920s: Marinero en tierra ('Sailor on Dry Land', 1925), La Amante ('The Mistress', 1926) and El alba del alhelí ('The Dawn of the Wallflower', 1927). This early work fell broadly into the Cancionero tradition, though from a markedly avant-garde perspective.

After falling in with the other members of the Generation of '27, Alberti began to show the profound influence of Luis de Góngora on his work, most obviously in Cal y canto ('Quicklime and Plainsong', 1929). It was, however, the introspective surrealism of Sobre los ángeles ('Concerning the Angels', 1929), whose tone was perhaps anticipated by some of the more sombre moments of Cal y canto, that established Alberti as a mature poet. Sobre los ángeles is widely considered to be Alberti's best work.