Julián del Casal
Encyclopedia
José Julián Herculano del Casal y de la Lastra (November 7, 1863 – October 21, 1893) was a Cuba
n poet
.
He took up many of the French poetic styles of the day, and later influenced Rubén Darío
and Modernismo
. Like Manuel González Prada
and José Martí
, Casal was an important forebearer of modernistic expression throughout Latin America
. Casal seemed almost obsessed when comparing natural vs "made by man" perspectives.
Major Works
Casal published only two poetry collections during his lifetime, Hojas al viento and Nieve. His last collection, Bustos y rimas, appeared in 1893, shortly after his death, and was completed with the help of Casal's friend Hernández Miyares. It differs from his earlier works because it contains both prose and poetry. Hojas includes forty-nine poems and is considered an example of Casal's early writing style. The poems in this collection are topical in nature and often refer to contemporary events. A few of them were even characterized as "imitations" and show the influence of other writers. The work was well received by his contemporaries as an early offering by a poet with much promise. Casal continued to publish poems in various Cuban periodicals, and in 1892 he collected many of these pieces in his second collection, Nieve. Divided into five sections, the poems in this collection are categorized according to theme. The first section, "Bocetos antiguos" includes poems inspired by pagan and Judeo-Christian thought; the second section, "Mi museo ideal," is famous because the poems contained in it were inspired by the art of Gustave Moreau, with whom Casal had an ongoing correspondence. The third section, "Cromos españoles," is a collection of well-known Spanish word pictures; the fourth, "Marfiles viejos," contains sixteen sonnets, all reflecting his fears and concerns about life in general. The fifth section, titled "La gruta del ensueño," completes the collection with seventeen miscellaneous poems. Nieve met with some critical success, although most contemporaries in Cuba felt that Casal's themes were too dark and pessimistic.
de Hojas al Viento
La Habana, 1890.
Mis amores
Soneto Pompadour
Amo el bronce, el cristal, las porcelanas,
las vidrieras de múltiples colores,
los tapices pintados de oro y flores
y las brillantes lunas venecianas.
Amo también las bellas castellanas,
la canción de los viejos trovadores,
los árabes corceles voladores,
las flébiles baladas alemanas,
el rico piano de marfil sonoro,
el sonido del cuerno en la espesura,
del pebetero la fragante esencia,
y el lecho de marfil, sándalo y oro,
en que deja la virgen hermosura
la ensangrentada flor de su inocencia.
El arte
Cuando la vida, como fardo inmenso,
pesa sobre el espíritu cansado
y ante el último Dios flota quemado
el postrer grano de fragante incienso;
cuando probamos, con afán intenso,
de todo amargo fruto envenenado
y el hastío, con rostro enmascarado,
nos sale al paso en el camino extenso;
el alma grande, solitaria y pura
que la mezquina realidad desdeña,
halla en el Arte dichas ignoradas,
como el alción, en fría noche oscura,
asilo busca en la musgosa peña
que inunda el mar azul de olas plateadas.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
He took up many of the French poetic styles of the day, and later influenced Rubén Darío
Rubén Darío
Félix Rubén García Sarmiento , known as Rubén Darío, was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-American literary movement known as modernismo that flourished at the end of the 19th century...
and Modernismo
Modernismo
Modernismo is Spanish for modernism, however the term Modernism also indicates a more specific art movement:* Modernismo refers to a Spanish-American literary movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío...
. Like Manuel González Prada
Manuel González Prada
Jose Manuel de los Reyes González de Prada y Ulloa was a Peruvian politician and anarchist, literary critic and director of the National Library of Peru...
and José Martí
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
, Casal was an important forebearer of modernistic expression throughout Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. Casal seemed almost obsessed when comparing natural vs "made by man" perspectives.
Major Works
Casal published only two poetry collections during his lifetime, Hojas al viento and Nieve. His last collection, Bustos y rimas, appeared in 1893, shortly after his death, and was completed with the help of Casal's friend Hernández Miyares. It differs from his earlier works because it contains both prose and poetry. Hojas includes forty-nine poems and is considered an example of Casal's early writing style. The poems in this collection are topical in nature and often refer to contemporary events. A few of them were even characterized as "imitations" and show the influence of other writers. The work was well received by his contemporaries as an early offering by a poet with much promise. Casal continued to publish poems in various Cuban periodicals, and in 1892 he collected many of these pieces in his second collection, Nieve. Divided into five sections, the poems in this collection are categorized according to theme. The first section, "Bocetos antiguos" includes poems inspired by pagan and Judeo-Christian thought; the second section, "Mi museo ideal," is famous because the poems contained in it were inspired by the art of Gustave Moreau, with whom Casal had an ongoing correspondence. The third section, "Cromos españoles," is a collection of well-known Spanish word pictures; the fourth, "Marfiles viejos," contains sixteen sonnets, all reflecting his fears and concerns about life in general. The fifth section, titled "La gruta del ensueño," completes the collection with seventeen miscellaneous poems. Nieve met with some critical success, although most contemporaries in Cuba felt that Casal's themes were too dark and pessimistic.
de Hojas al Viento
La Habana, 1890.
Mis amores
Soneto Pompadour
Amo el bronce, el cristal, las porcelanas,
las vidrieras de múltiples colores,
los tapices pintados de oro y flores
y las brillantes lunas venecianas.
Amo también las bellas castellanas,
la canción de los viejos trovadores,
los árabes corceles voladores,
las flébiles baladas alemanas,
el rico piano de marfil sonoro,
el sonido del cuerno en la espesura,
del pebetero la fragante esencia,
y el lecho de marfil, sándalo y oro,
en que deja la virgen hermosura
la ensangrentada flor de su inocencia.
El arte
Cuando la vida, como fardo inmenso,
pesa sobre el espíritu cansado
y ante el último Dios flota quemado
el postrer grano de fragante incienso;
cuando probamos, con afán intenso,
de todo amargo fruto envenenado
y el hastío, con rostro enmascarado,
nos sale al paso en el camino extenso;
el alma grande, solitaria y pura
que la mezquina realidad desdeña,
halla en el Arte dichas ignoradas,
como el alción, en fría noche oscura,
asilo busca en la musgosa peña
que inunda el mar azul de olas plateadas.