Garcia Lorca

[Miranda]

Does anyone know the Song of the Horseman by Garcia Lorca. I found an excerpt of this poem in a book and kept a copy of it, but I have lost it. I put the only words I knew in 'Search' and found this translation but it's not the one I had.

Cordoba.
Far off and solitary.
A black horse, a round moon,
there are olives in my pack.
Although I know the roads
I will never get to Cordoba.

Across the plain, into the wind,
a black horse, a red moon.
Death is staring at me
from the towers of Cordoba.

Oh, how long is the road!
Oh, how brave is my horse!
Oh, see how death is waiting for me,
before I get to Cordoba!

Cordoba.
Far off and solitary.


Does anyone know a different version? And what does it mean..what is thw story behind the poem? Why is Cordoba important and why is death waiting for him there? The words I remember were 'alas how long the road, 'alas my valiant pony, ' alas death waits for me' before I get to Cordoba, Cordoba, remote and lonely.' I don't know anything about Garcia Lorca. Can anyone tell me something about him, or the background to this poem? I wish I had the other translation - it was more poetic and evocative.

[anabanana]

Hi everybody! I´m new here and I don´t understand much english, so if it is something bad writted, now you know why, I was going in the page and I don´t know how to see poems of authors that aren´t in the list so can somebody help me?
Miranda, I think I know that poem can you send me all of it?

[crisaor]

Miranda, I searched the net and I came across something interesting. The poem you posted is in fact the Song of the Horseman (which is translated from the original in spanish Cancion de Jinete). However, there seems to be a second (or first part), that is also called that. In fact, in some sites this other part is listed as Cancion del Jinete, so it might as well be a different one, but I doubt it. I'll post here the original part you're missing, I hope it's of some help.

Federico Garcia Lorca
Cancion del Jinete

En la luna negra
de los bandoleros,
cantan las espuelas.

Caballito negro.
¿Dónde llevas tu jinete muerto?

...Las duras espuelas
del bandido inmóvil
que perdió las riendas.

Caballito frío.
¡Qué perfume de flor de cuchillo!

En la luna negra
sangraba el costado
de Sierra Morena.

Caballito negro.
¿Dónde llevas tu jinete muerto?

La noche espolea
sus negros ijares
clavándose estrellas.

Caballito frió.
¡Qué perfume de flor de cuchillo!

En la luna negra,
¡un grito! y el cuerno
largo de la hoguera.

Caballito negro.
¿Dónde llevas tu jinete muerto?

[amuse]

um. after a quick perusal - the translation is very loose, yes?

[crisaor]

amuse, what I posted is not the translation of the one Miranda posted, if that's what you're implying and if I understood you correctly.

[amuse]

oh (lightbulb goes on), i get it. :)

[Isagel]

Perhaps Cordoba has some kind of special meaning if you know spanish customs? I found this poem by Lorca where he mentions the city. In the poem he mentions Sevilla and Granada. I know that Sevilla is a famous place for bullfights, and Granada is a almost mythical romantic beautiful place with an old morish castle. It might also help that some of Lorcas poems where in part made or inspired by old traditional songs:

Arbolé, Arbolé . . .
Federico García Lorca
Translated by William Logan


Tree, tree
dry and green.

The girl with the pretty face
is out picking olives.
The wind, playboy of towers,
grabs her around the waist.
Four riders passed by
on Andalusian ponies,
with blue and green jackets
and big, dark capes.
"Come to Cordoba, muchacha."
The girl won't listen to them.
Three young bullfighters passed,
slender in the waist,
with jackets the color of oranges
and swords of ancient silver.
"Come to Sevilla, muchacha."
The girl won't listen to them.
When the afternoon had turned
dark brown, with scattered light,
a young man passed by, wearing
roses and myrtle of the moon.
"Come to Granada, inuchacha."
And the girl won't listen to him.
The girl with the pretty face
keeps on picking olives
with the grey arm of the wind
wrapped around her waist.
Tree, tree
dry and green.

edit - I almost forgot , I copied some info about lorca from Journal of amarican poets. I do not know why he was in there catalogue but anyway they had a good summary. if you ever get achance, try and see one of Lorcas plays. "La Casa de Bernarda Alba " is one of my favorites. It is a tragedy that is both in some ways classical, but still modern in the way he makes the female characters. The tragedy that grows in the house of Bernarda Alba, and between the women that lives confind in it is almost horrifying to watch.

"Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca is possibly the most important Spanish poet and dramatist of the twentieth century. García Lorca was born June 5, 1899, in Fuente Vaqueros, a small town a few miles from Granada. His father owned a farm in the fertile vega surrounding Granada and a comfortable mansion in the heart of the city. His mother, whom Lorca idolized, was a gifted pianist. After graduating from secondary school García Lorca attended Sacred Heart University where he took up law along with regular coursework. His first book, Impresiones y Viajes (1919) was inspired by a trip to Castile with his art class in 1917.
In 1919, García Lorca traveled to Madrid, where he remained for the next fifteen years. Giving up university, he devoted himself entirely to his art. He organized theatrical performances, read his poems in public, and collected old folksongs. During this period García Lorca wrote El Maleficio de la mariposa (1920), a play which caused a great scandal when it was produced. He also wrote Libro de poemas (1921), a compilation of poems based on Spanish folklore. Much of García Lorca's work was infused with popular themes such as Flamenco and Gypsy culture. In 1922, García Lorca organized the first "Cante Jondo" festival in which Spain's most famous "deep song" singers and guitarists participated. The deep song form permeated his poems of the early 1920s. During this period, García Lorca became part of a group of artists known as Generación del 27, which included Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel, who exposed the young poet to surrealism. In 1928, his book of verse, Romancero Gitano ("The Gypsy Ballads"), brought García Lorca far-reaching fame; it was reprinted seven times during his lifetime.
In 1929, García Lorca came to New York. The poet's favorite neighborhood was Harlem; he loved African-American spirituals, which reminded him of Spain's "deep songs." In 1930, García Lorca returned to Spain after the proclamation of the Spanish republic and participated in the Second Ordinary Congress of the Federal Union of Hispanic Students in November of 1931. The congress decided to build a "Barraca" in central Madrid in which to produce important plays for the public. "La Barraca," the traveling theater company that resulted, toured many Spanish towns, villages, and cities performing Spanish classics on public squares. Some of García Lorca's own plays, including his three great tragedies Bodas de sangre (1933), Yerma (1934), and La Casa de Bernarda Alba (1936), were also produced by the company.
In 1936, García Lorca was staying at Callejones de García, his country home, at the outbreak of the Civil War. Toward the end of July, he was arrested by Franquist soldiers. After a few days in jail, soldiers took García Lorca to "visit" his brother-in-law, Manuel Fernandez Montesinos, the Socialist ex-mayor of Granada whom the soldiers had murdered and dragged through the streets. When they arrived at the cemetery, the soldiers forced García Lorca from the car. They struck him with the butts of their rifles and riddled his body with bullets. His books were burned in Granada's Plaza del Carmen and were soon banned from Franco's Spain. To this day, no one knows where the body of Federico García Lorca rests."

[Miranda]

Wow that's great!! Thankyou Crisaor and Isagel for your help. I didnt know a thing about Lorca or the poem beyond the few lines I had. I wonder if anyone here can translate the spanish for me so I could know the rest of the poem? I wish I knew the significance of Cordoba and why he is heading there. I really love the second poem you have posted Isagel and will copy it to my poetry folder. Its descriptions are so vivid arn't they. I think this is why I liked the few lines that I had - they are like paintings in words that you can see...if you know what I mean 'jackets the colour of oranges, swords of ancient silver'. I like how the girl completely ignores all these passing men and keeps on picking her olives. I think its a great poem..and I wish I could read Spanish.

I didnt know Lorca wrote plays..well I didnt know anything about him. I wonder if any of them are in English and on the internet?

Lorca sounds a really romantic figure doesn't he..but its so sad what happened to him - and not all that long ago. What sacrilage to burn his books. I hope that none were lost forever and copies of everything survived.

Thanks again for all this and for taking the time to find it for me.
Miranda

[Isagel]

Lorcas plays are translated to english. They are quite popular. I think there is a filmed version of "The house of Bernarda Alba" . Glad you liked it.

[Miranda]

Thanks Isagel - I will ask at the library next time I go. Do you know if any of his poetry collections are available in English too?

[crisaor]

Ok, this is a very loose translation. The tempo is probably wrong, and the words are pretty subjective: horseman might as well be rider, pony could be little horse, perfume de flor de cuchillo is practically a nonsense in the first place, etc.; also, I couldn't find an exact translation for ijares, which I believe are part of the horse's side. So anyway, don't call me on it.

Federico García Lorca
Song of the Horseman

In the black moon
of the brigands,
the spurs sing.

Black little horse.
¿Where do you carry your dead horseman?

...The hard spurs
of the motionless bandit
who lost the reins.

Cold little horse.
What a flower knife perfume!

In the black moon,
Sierra Morena's side
was bleeding.

Black little horse.
¿Where do you carry your dead horseman?

The night spurs
its black ijares
nailing stars.

Cold little horse.
What a flower knife perfume!

In the black moon,
a scream! and the long horn
of the bonfire.

Black little horse.
¿Where do you carry your dead horseman?

Also, check this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0811200914/qid=1089937743/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6987785-7484933?v=glance&s=books) out for some of his published poetry in english.

[Miranda]

Thats great Crisaor - thanks for translating it for me. At least I have an idea now about what its about. Do you think that Sierra Morena is a bandit that has been wounded and has mounted his pony, telling it ride to Cordoba..perhaps Cordoba is home? But though he dies on the way, the pony keeps on its journey to Cordoba? Where it says about the knife, perfume and flowers, could 'knife' mean sharp...like the sharp perfume of the flowers?

I followed the link to the books and have written the titles down and will see if I can order them from the library. They are pretty good at getting things. Thanks again Crisaor for taking the time.

[crisaor]

NP Miranda. :)
Those assumptions you made are good, I pretty much agree with them.

[Raven]

I've never read any of his poetry, but I have read his plays - if anyone else has read his plays, you will realise that they are easier to understand if you study them like poetry.

[Isagel]

I had never thought of reading the plays like poetry, but you are right. Interesting.

Miranda - In a book called Three Tragedies of Garcia Lorca you will find The house of Bernarda Alba. I found a short summary of it:

"This short play is set in rural Spain at the turn of this century. The characters, all women, exist in a cloistered household managed by a newly widowed mother of five daughters. Under the shadow of the church and the tyranny bred from a need to protect the reputation of the family, the matron (Bernarda Alba) represses her daughters by enforcing an eight year mourning period. The tensions build rapidly among the imprisoned women, with a demented grandmother playing a role resembling that of a Greek chorus. Eventually, the natural spirits of the daughters circumvent Bernarda, but the result is violence and a suicide.

The powerful features of this work include its terse dialogue, rapidly built tensions which are relentlessly sustained until the dramatic climax, and the hint of madness and impending chaos which informs the behavior of the characters in conflict. This is a study in family relationships under the strain of culturally and socially imposed taboos regarding sexuality and the self-determination of women. "

[Miranda]

Thanks Isagel - I will try and read the plays, particularly the one you have mentioned as it sounds really interesting. I have found a list of books that are available from my library and I am spoilt for choice now. I would like to read the play you are suggesting but don't know which book it might be in. I thought I might try Barbarous Nights as it mentions legends and I thought it might lead me to finding out about Cordoba. Below is a list of the available books. I've just found out about a new service they have and I can order any of them on-line.

Lorca - the drawings: their relation to the poet
Author: Oppenheimer, Helen
Year: 1986

Hardback Title: Lorca: a dream of life
Author: Stainton, Leslie
Year: 1986

Paperback Title: Selected poems
Author: García Lorca, Federico
Year: 1997

Book Title: Blood wedding
Author: Garcia Lorca, Federico
Year: 1996


Book Title: Barbarous nights: legends and plays from the lit
Author: García Lorca, Federico
Year: 1991

Hardback Title: Collected plays
Author: Garcia Lorca, Federico
Year: 1976

[Nemerov]

I love Lorca. Does anybody know any similar authors that I would like?