This week on My Poetic Side we bring you an article about a lost poetry verse written by Federico Garcia Lorca.
Federico Garcia Lorca Verse Found 93 Years After it was Written
A verse that was previously unknown has been found. The writing, which is attributed to Federico Garcia Lorca, has been discovered 93 years after it was written and is believed to have been penned on the back of one of the celebrated Spanish poet’s manuscripts.
It is thought that Lorca wrote the eight-line poem in 1933 whilst he was working on his homage to the Arab poet, Diván del Tamarit. The verse which has only recently been discovered is written on the back of a manuscript for Gacela de la raíz Amarga, one of the Tamarit poems. The manuscript was purchased by Miguel Poveda, a flamenco enthusiast and fan of the poet, from a German antiquarian.
Pepa Merlo, a Lorca expert has verified the verse, and it will be featured in a forthcoming book.
The short verse, which was written approximately three years before Lorca was sadly murdered, is inspired by the poet’s preoccupation with the passing of time, a theme that is recurring in much of his work.
Poveda, who recently was at the forefront of efforts to transform Lorca’s childhood home into a cultural centre that would be dedicated to the life and work of the poet said that the discovery had deeply moved him. a cultural centre dedicated to the poet’s life and work, said he had been deeply moved by the fortuitous discovery.
Discussing the discovery Merlo said that whilst the verse is likely to have been missed because it was scribbled on the back of another work.
Lorca who was a gay, progressive writer, who penned works like Poet in New York, Yerma and Gypsy Ballads was shot in August 1936 by a right-wing death squad. He is considered to have been one of the most prominent victims of the three-year civil war in Spain. It is believed that he may have been buried in a shallow grave at the bottom of a mountain slope situated near Granada although his body has never been found.
As the centenary of his death approaches, interest in Lorca has grown. Last year a facsimile edition of his Sonnets of Dark Love, a homoerotic and posthumously published work, was issued to allow a new readership to access his work. The sonnets which are well known to scholars of the poet had been hidden away by his family for fear that they might taint his legacy and reignite old hatreds.
The newly discovered poem will be highlighted in a book that has been written by Merlo and Poveda and is titled “Things from the Other Side: The Unpublished in Federico Garca Lorca. (Las cosas del otro lado. lo inédito en Federico Garcia Lorca).
You must register to comment. Log in or Register.