Rosalía de Castro Knihy

This selection covers the author's work in both of her languages - her native Galego (Galician) and also Castilian Spanish. A revolutionary figure in both languages, albeit for different reasons, her work is an essential stepping-stone on the way to 20th-century Spanish poetry, and - in Galician - the beginnings of modern poetry in the language. Much misunderstood and indeed under-rated in her time - above all by the major (male) Castilian poets - she came to be viewed in the 20th century as a major figure by poets such as Lorca and Cernuda. This is the first major collection of her work in English. Michael Smith is well-known for his work translating from Spanish - Vallejo (for Shearsman Books), Miguel Hernandez, Garcia Lorca, Neruda, Machado, Gongora, Quevedo and many others.

Sus versos están dominados por un pesimismo casi enfermizo, la desesperanza y la incertidumbre religiosa. Esta angustia existencial anticipa las grandes cuestiones que se planteará el ya cercano siglo XX. En su obra no falta tampoco la denuncia indignada de la miseria que sufre Galicia. Cantares gallegos – de tono folclórico y más alegre – y Follas novas fueron escritos en gallego, en la selección que se presenta figura su traducción al castellano, que es la lengua original de En las orillas del Sar.