The Collected Poems: A Bilingual Edition (Revised) [Paperback]

Federico García Lorca (Author), Christopher Maurer (Editor, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2002

A revised edition of this major writer's complete poetical work

"And I who was walking
with the earth at my waist,
saw two snowy eagles
and a naked girl.
The one was the other
and the girl was neither."
--from "Qasida of the Dark Doves"

Federico García Lorca is the greatest poet of twentieth-century Spain and one of the world's most influential modernist writers. Christopher Maurer, a leading Lorca scholar and editor, has substantially revised FSG's earlier edition of the collected poems of this charismatic and complicated figure, who--as Maurer says in his illuminating Introduction--"spoke unforgettably of all that most interests us: the otherness of nature, the demons of personal identity and artistic creation, sex, childhood, and death."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Long regarded as one of the premier Spanish modernists, Federico García Lorca's newly revised Collected Poems is a welcome contribution to this outstanding poet's prolific body of work. This bilingual edition includes many recently discovered poems and revised translations, updating the completeness of the verse produced by Lorca during his short life (he died at 38). Lorca's poetry is quirky, playful, not only filled with orange groves and olive trees, but a strange, physical world where a river has "garnet whiskers" or there exists a "recumbent sky" or "mummified ocean." Lorca wrote love poems, though we can never be sure what exactly is desired. His poetry isn't abstract, but the images are sometimes a bit out of reach--if anything, he tried to give the abstract a physical presence. For example, a lovers' exchange is given dimension in "The Poet Tells the Truth": "Let the skein never end / of I love you you love me, ever burnt / with decrepit sun and old moon." What Lorca wrote of a friend gored by a bull in "Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías" seems applicable to his poetry generally: "I sing of his elegance in words that moan / and I remember a sad breeze in the olive grove." Collected Poems is an important addition to any poetry collection, especially for those unfamiliar with Lorca or those who wish to read the poems in their original Spanish. --Michael Ferch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

As readerly interest in Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) soared over the last 10 years, so too did scholarly attention to Lorca's work. A number of lost manuscripts were unearthed, and new, more authoritative translations, as well as a definitive four-volume collected works in Spanish, were published based on the findings. All this has inspired a new edition of Lorca's Collected Poems. Edited by Christopher Maurer (who also put together the last edition), the new bilingual edition includes the works from Poet in New York (previously published as a separate volume), newly recovered poems (including complete versions of the cycles "Fairs" and "Summer Hours") and some updated translations.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1056 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Revised edition (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374526915
• ISBN-13: 978-0374526917
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Spanish

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry of Lorca is superb!, November 3, 2006

By 

History Fan (Southwestern US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Collected Poems: A Bilingual Edition (Revised) (Paperback)

I usually find most modern poetry boring. Not Lorca's. His poems are short but potent and piercing, full of vivid imagery. His Spanish is difficult to translate literally into English while still retaining vibrancy, but this translator did a good job. The Spanish poetry is presented on the left-hand pages and its English version on the right-hand pages for easy comparison. Not a literal translation by any means, but a very effective one. A strong recommend.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent!, August 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Collected Poems (Hardcover)

When I first came across this book in my library I was so smitten with it I tried to gulp it all down in one swallow. As a poet myself, though, I am still eating and enjoying every bite. Burdened by the beauty of his metaphors it has been a challenge to read him without weeping. Though my only famil- iarity with him is through the translations in this volume, I am Latin enough to feel the intense passion, sorrow and melancholy he seems to have been possessed of in his lifetime. His struggle with himself, his love for his country and its ancient symbolism, his devotion to the Old Songs, his sadness at the death of a friend who was a Bullfgihter, his generous respect for the Gypsies, are all painted with the deep colors of language ... sometimes sweet, sometimes tongue-in-cheek humerous sometimes sardonic, sometimes satirical ... even ironical. But there is a mysticism that illuminates it all ... even his sorrow shines. He is a true wanderer ... he roams his! own world and ours and leaves us all mystified, a little confused, and wondering.. What is his "green" ... what does it, can it, truly, signify? Will anyone ever know? This volume is an accumulation of poems that demonstrates a rare and prodigious talent. His assassination at the hands of his enemies deprives us of more of his great work. This is a luminour opus! It is a shame it is out of print. Every poet, every wanna-be-poet, should read and re-read this book!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spanish made easy, January 9, 2007

By 

D. Zane Smith (Ventura, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Collected Poems: A Bilingual Edition (Revised) (Paperback)

I don't know if this is the best way to work on learning Spanish, but it's certainly one of the least painful. It's great to have the original Spanish and the English translation opposite each other. I can't think of a better way to work on your pronunciation than to read these poems out loud to yourself [or others if they're interested]. The musical sound of the poetry makes you love the language and want to learn it. Maybe someday I finally will. In the meantime just reading and speaking it is it's own reward.