From Publishers Weekly
Poet, playwright and composer Lorca (1898-1936), who was murdered by Franco's soldiers, is widely held to be Spain's greatest modern poet. This bilingual volume of poems, the most complete anthology ever to appear in English, features translations by many outstanding poet/translators: Francisco Aragon, Catherine Brown, Cola Franzen, Will Kirkland, William Bryant Logan, Christopher Maurer, Jerome Rothenberg, Greg Simon, Alan S. Trueblood, John K. Walsh and Steven F. White. Featuring poetry drawn from every book of poems Lorca published during his lifetime as well as from his uncollected work, this authoritative edition displays Lorca's extraordinary range and power, documents his aesthetic and technical evolution and reestablishes him as a consummate poet of desire, drama and death. From the lighter, at times whimsical, verse in "Suites and Songs" to the many elegies and laments he wrote, Lorca's singular voice, fiercely emotional and imagistically brilliant, shines through in all its vivid intelligence. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Although this unusually comprehensive bilingual anthology of Lorca's poems contains about half as many as the two previous volumes in the series Poet in New York (LJ 2/1/88) and Collected Poems (LJ 3/15/92), it has nearly three times that of the standard collection, Selected Poems (New Directions, 1961). The modern translations, identical to those published earlier in the Farrar series, sample from all Lorca's poetic output, both famous ("Rider's Song," "Sleepwalking Ballad") and lesser-known (Suites, not published until 1983). Notes have been shortened but updated, and the bibliography has been slightly enlarged. Despite the cloned contents, this compendium serves as either an inexpensive or a more portable alternative to the two earlier volumes of one of the most enduring voices of modern Spanish poetry. Recommended for public and academic libraries.?Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib. Dublin, OhioCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The entire poetic spectrum of Spain's greatest modern poet and dramatist is showcased in this new bilingual anthology. Lorca (1898^-1937) drew upon his country's rich and sonorous musical tradition for inspiration, and his early poems are spellbindingly beautiful, animated with the sweet breath of the Andulusian land he loved so much and lit with images and metaphors as bright and quick as birds. His ballads, nocturnes, and "Suites" are tender inquiries into the dark corners of heart and mind set in a promising realm of gardens and roads. Gradually, as Garcia Lorca's passion for the theater intensified, his poems became longer and more dramatic, and as our brutal century picked up speed, his heretofore gentle surrealism became harsher and more pronounced. His poetry changed even more radically once he moved to New York. Words such as mire, putrid, anguish, and blood surface repeatedly as he captures the cruelty of this racially divisive city. Scholar Maurer has chosen well from all 10 of Lorca's published poetry collections as well as from a selection of previously uncollected works, and the translations are superb. Donna Seaman


Review
"García Lorca's poems remain influential, mysterious, and some of the most emotional we have." --The Bloomsbury Review

"The entire poetic spectrum of Spain's greatest modern poet and dramatist is showcased . . . Lorca scholar Maurer has chosen well from all 10 of Lorca's published poetry collections as well as from a selection of previously uncollected works, and the translations are superb." --Donna Seaman, Booklist



Book Description
The work of Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain's greatest modern poet, has long been admired for its emotional intensity and metaphorical brilliance. Few poets take us more directly and memorably to what Lorca described as "the dark root of the scream," the terrain of the duende, where inspiration delivers a new poetic reality and "intelligence" discovers its limitations.

For many years, until the recent publication of FSG's Collected Poems, English readers' view of Lorca has been determined by a few well-known books-The Divan at Tamarit, Poet in New York, The Gypsy Ballads-and by a lamentably small number of poems. Now this Selected Verse, the most complete paperback anthology available in English, draws on FSG's two-volume Poetical Works, providing authoritative versions by outstanding poets and translators: Francisco Aragon, Catherine Brown, Cola Franzen, Will Kirkland, William Bryant Logan, Jerome Rothernberge, Greg Simon, Alan S. Trueblood, John K. Walsh, and Steven F. White. In this bilingual edition, Lorca's poetic range comes clearly into view, from the playful Suites and stylized evocations of Andalusia to the utter gravity and mystery of the final elegies, confirming his stature as one of our century's finest poets.



Language Notes
Text: English, Spanish (translation)
Original Language: Spanish


About the Author
Federico García Lorca, born in Granada in 1898, was murdered by Franco's soldiers in 1936.

Christopher Maurer is head of the Department of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Poet, playwright and composer Lorca (1898-1936), who was murdered by Franco's soldiers, is widely held to be Spain's greatest modern poet. This bilingual volume of poems, the most complete anthology ever to appear in English, features translations by many outstanding poet/translators: Francisco Aragon, Catherine Brown, Cola Franzen, Will Kirkland, William Bryant Logan, Christopher Maurer, Jerome Rothenberg, Greg Simon, Alan S. Trueblood, John K. Walsh and Steven F. White. Featuring poetry drawn from every book of poems Lorca published during his lifetime as well as from his uncollected work, this authoritative edition displays Lorca's extraordinary range and power, documents his aesthetic and technical evolution and reestablishes him as a consummate poet of desire, drama and death. From the lighter, at times whimsical, verse in ``Suites and Songs'' to the many elegies and laments he wrote, Lorca's singular voice, fiercely emotional and imagistically brilliant, shines through in all its vivid intelligence. (Jan.)

Library Journal

Although this unusually comprehensive bilingual anthology of Lorca's poems contains about half as many as the two previous volumes in the series Poet in New York (LJ 2/1/88) and Collected Poems (LJ 3/15/92), it has nearly three times that of the standard collection, Selected Poems (New Directions, 1961). The modern translations, identical to those published earlier in the Farrar series, sample from all Lorca's poetic output, both famous ("Rider's Song," "Sleepwalking Ballad") and lesser-known (Suites, not published until 1983). Notes have been shortened but updated, and the bibliography has been slightly enlarged. Despite the cloned contents, this compendium serves as either an inexpensive or a more portable alternative to the two earlier volumes of one of the most enduring voices of modern Spanish poetry. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib. Dublin, Ohio

BookList - Donna Seaman