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Our story started in a morning of October, or maybe November. I don't remember if it was a cold one, but I like to think that it was chilly and I was tightly wrapped in my scarf and coat, although it's highly unlikely. It must have been around 8:30 AM and Mariano had just entered the room with his permanent half smile. Mariano was my Spanish teacher, and that was the first lesson of the day. I was 15 years old, and that was my fourth year of high school (in Spain, high school lasts 4 years -ESO- plus 2 voluntary for those who want to access superior education -Bachillerato-). Mariano was a new person for me, I didn't even recall seeing him in the corridors, but that was probably because my memory is bad with faces. He was a calm person, his voice was soft as honey (terrible cliche, I know), profound and low, and an absolute delight to listen to; what a pity it also was the kind of voice that made you want to sleep, therefore not a good combination for the earliest lesson of the day.
That was the second year we had literature. We were just starting with the Romanticism, a period I was very interested in but knew very little about. My class was terrible: we were nearly 40 people (the only Humanities class of our year) and many of them were insufferable teens who were talking all the time; it especially bothered me when it was Mariano's time, because I really loved to listen to his voice and, if I didn't pay close attention, it could barely be heard above the background noise. In the literature days was even worse: just stop talking, this is my favourite part of the subject!
Mariano announced that he would read to us; it was the best way to understand, right in the first class, what Romanticism was about. He said he'd read to us El Monte de las Ánimas ("Mountain of Souls"), one of the Legends written by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer.
"Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer in his death bed", by Vicente Palmaroli
(Museum of Romanticism, Madrid).
I fell in love, just a little. With Mariano, with his voice, with Bécquer, with his words, with his works. That out-loud reading changed me, changed the way I approached to poetry (even though Legends is prose), to Romantic literature, to Bécquer and to my own writing. Nowadays I can still see the influence that fascinating tale of knights, lost souls, dark nights and graveyards made on my poetry and my own sensibility.
I had to wait until June to have enough free time to read Legends, and before that Rhymes, Bécquer's poetry corpus. I had never read something that had moved me so deeply before. His words became a lullaby during my nights, a warm blanket over my heart; his poems a work of art I could only dream of achieve. He taught me not to be afraid of not following strict verse composition rules, to just let my feelings run free and pour them on paper.
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is considered by many the best Spanish poet of Romanticism, although most of his work was written when the movement had worn off a bit in Spain. His life was the typical tragic one of the poets of that time: a wife who didn't love him back, a love interest that ignored him, poverty, disasters regarding his works (most of Rhymes was burnt in a fire in his editor's house), etc. However, recent studies have proven that this Romantic image was created after his death by his friends, probably to hide his conservative views on politics and to help make a myth out of his figure: his life wasn't as tragic as they made it sound like.
Despite all of this, no one can deny that Bécquer is one of the most important writers Spain has had. Whether his life was a "Romantic" one or not, his words are, his poems possess a stunning beauty and sensibility, his prose is rich and powerful, and his newspaper articles and other works reflect the reality of the whole country.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because he deserves it. Because he is one of my favourite writers and someone I admire. Because he's known mostly only in Spain, and I believe that should change: his works should be praised internationally, as Cervantes, Lope de Vega or Lorca are (at least I hope they are). Tradutore traditore, Latin says ("translator, a traitor"), and I bet part of his talent will be lost in translation, but the sensations he can produce will remain.
Therefore, I recommend to all of you to read his works. You can learn more about him on Wikipedia, and you can read for free a very complete compilation of his works (mine is more complete and the most recent :P) translated to English here. For Legends, apart from the already mentioned "Mountain of Souls", I recommend "The Miserere" and "A Ray of Moonlight". As for Rhymes, there are so many I *love* that I can't choose one, but I'll copy a escerpt of one of my favourites:
(Although I would translate "intuition" like "inspiration", as this rhyme is talking about the differences between reason and heart, in the context of creative writing).
Give Bécquer a chance, and I'm sure you won't regret it.
Monument to Bécquer in the Park of María Luisa, in Seville (the city where he was born).
PS: If I talked about Mariano so much it wasn't only for my obvious crush on him, but above all because he was the teacher that made me love Bécquer and one of the best human beings I have ever known. Besides, the complete works of Bécquer that I own? It was a present from him, so I can't help but being reminded of him everytime I read the book. Great, great man <3
That was the second year we had literature. We were just starting with the Romanticism, a period I was very interested in but knew very little about. My class was terrible: we were nearly 40 people (the only Humanities class of our year) and many of them were insufferable teens who were talking all the time; it especially bothered me when it was Mariano's time, because I really loved to listen to his voice and, if I didn't pay close attention, it could barely be heard above the background noise. In the literature days was even worse: just stop talking, this is my favourite part of the subject!
Mariano announced that he would read to us; it was the best way to understand, right in the first class, what Romanticism was about. He said he'd read to us El Monte de las Ánimas ("Mountain of Souls"), one of the Legends written by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer.
"Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer in his death bed", by Vicente Palmaroli
(Museum of Romanticism, Madrid).
I fell in love, just a little. With Mariano, with his voice, with Bécquer, with his words, with his works. That out-loud reading changed me, changed the way I approached to poetry (even though Legends is prose), to Romantic literature, to Bécquer and to my own writing. Nowadays I can still see the influence that fascinating tale of knights, lost souls, dark nights and graveyards made on my poetry and my own sensibility.
I had to wait until June to have enough free time to read Legends, and before that Rhymes, Bécquer's poetry corpus. I had never read something that had moved me so deeply before. His words became a lullaby during my nights, a warm blanket over my heart; his poems a work of art I could only dream of achieve. He taught me not to be afraid of not following strict verse composition rules, to just let my feelings run free and pour them on paper.
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is considered by many the best Spanish poet of Romanticism, although most of his work was written when the movement had worn off a bit in Spain. His life was the typical tragic one of the poets of that time: a wife who didn't love him back, a love interest that ignored him, poverty, disasters regarding his works (most of Rhymes was burnt in a fire in his editor's house), etc. However, recent studies have proven that this Romantic image was created after his death by his friends, probably to hide his conservative views on politics and to help make a myth out of his figure: his life wasn't as tragic as they made it sound like.
Despite all of this, no one can deny that Bécquer is one of the most important writers Spain has had. Whether his life was a "Romantic" one or not, his words are, his poems possess a stunning beauty and sensibility, his prose is rich and powerful, and his newspaper articles and other works reflect the reality of the whole country.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because he deserves it. Because he is one of my favourite writers and someone I admire. Because he's known mostly only in Spain, and I believe that should change: his works should be praised internationally, as Cervantes, Lope de Vega or Lorca are (at least I hope they are). Tradutore traditore, Latin says ("translator, a traitor"), and I bet part of his talent will be lost in translation, but the sensations he can produce will remain.
Therefore, I recommend to all of you to read his works. You can learn more about him on Wikipedia, and you can read for free a very complete compilation of his works (mine is more complete and the most recent :P) translated to English here. For Legends, apart from the already mentioned "Mountain of Souls", I recommend "The Miserere" and "A Ray of Moonlight". As for Rhymes, there are so many I *love* that I can't choose one, but I'll copy a escerpt of one of my favourites:
"Madness that excites
and inflames the spirit;
the divine intoxication
of creative genius…
This is intuition!"
and inflames the spirit;
the divine intoxication
of creative genius…
This is intuition!"
(Although I would translate "intuition" like "inspiration", as this rhyme is talking about the differences between reason and heart, in the context of creative writing).
Give Bécquer a chance, and I'm sure you won't regret it.
Monument to Bécquer in the Park of María Luisa, in Seville (the city where he was born).
PS: If I talked about Mariano so much it wasn't only for my obvious crush on him, but above all because he was the teacher that made me love Bécquer and one of the best human beings I have ever known. Besides, the complete works of Bécquer that I own? It was a present from him, so I can't help but being reminded of him everytime I read the book. Great, great man <3
