Luis Cernuda is a Spanish poet and literary critic who belongs to the Generation 27. This author’s publications involve a considerable extent of sensibility, nostalgia, as well as expression of pain. The mentioned aspects allow referring Cernuda to the neo-romantic literary movement. Below, the essential principles and features of Cernuda’s works will be discussed, which will show the significance of his writings within the literature scope.
The author’s literary style is distinguished by his notable language that is simultaneously cultured and simple, as well as demonstrate good structure (Valente 391). The scholarly dimension, however, does not include Cernuda’s works in a particular literary movement, given considerable differentiation of his literature emphasis throughout the years of activity. Nevertheless, it might be claimed that Cernuda’s dedication to the divine perception of love and continuous expression of loneliness provides the opportunity to refer him to neo-romanticism.
Cernuda paid much attention to tradition and originality, which he referred to as the respect and balance of these aspects in his work. It was important for him to respect the traditional and his own, both from Spanish authors and the rest of Europe (Valente 383). That is why in his works, the characteristics of several writers tend to converge. For instance, there is the metric of Garcilaso de la Vega (Cernuda “Historial de un Libro” 1), as well as the development of topics like love and mythology. Juan Ramón Jimenez was also fundamental to his perception of reality and what Cernuda did to suppress the superficial and leave florid rhetoric aside. Finally, the Generation 27 showed him the path to surreal literature.
As a poet, Cernuda was an indicator of romance, where his experienced solitude allowed him to observe things that other authors did not see. Cernuda’s life was not easy from an emotional point of view because his homosexuality aspired to express itself at a time when it was considered a sin when there were many taboos in society (Morros 88). However, the isolation and loneliness he felt marked his destiny as a poet and gave life to his work.
It might be assumed that there are three primary themes on which Cernuda focuses. First, it is loneliness; ever since he discovered his sexual orientation, which he never denied, he felt isolated in a society that was neither tolerant nor understanding. In Where Oblivion Dwells, the author significantly expresses that the surrounding reality is saturated with loneliness, and he cannot help but take it (Cernuda “Where Oblivion Dwells”). It was his personal desire to live in a world that accepted those who were different in many ways. Second, it is love that did not stop appearing in Cernuda’s poetry. It was expressed as follows: love which he felt but did not enjoy; painful love, unrequited, disappointed (Logan 170); happy and mutual love; love that allowed him to protect himself from the world (Jimenez 3).
Another of the themes that Cernuda dealt with was nature, but with emphasis on everything that concerns the world and its essence. For example, in The Forbidden Pleasures, “the bodies acquire a new dimension, which objectifies them from a carpe diem of classical resonances” (Jimenez 10). This was due to their desire to exist in a natural paradise, where stigma and accusations were not supposed to interfere with the freedom of thoughts and feelings (Breeur 214).
To conclude, it seems reasonable to claim that Luis Cernuda was a brilliant poet and prose writer with a unique literary style. The above discussion shows that the author was experiencing a significant internal psychological issue – he could not express his sexual orientation to the world to the extent he desired. This formed a great foundation for the strong emotional presence in all his writings, which distinguishes Cerunda’s perception of his three main topics – loneliness, love, and philosophical understanding of nature.
Works Cited
Breeur, Roland. “Lazarus in the Kingdom of Hades. Reflections Around a Poem by Luis Cernuda.” Studia Phaenomenologica, vol. 8, pp. 199–217.
Cernuda, Luis. “Historial de un Libro (La Realidad y el Deseo)”, por Luis Cernuda.” Profedelengua.es, 1958.
Cernuda, Luis. “Where Oblivion Dwells.” Unibarcelona. Web.
Jiménez, Rafael. “Hacia un Discurso amoroso Del Cuerpo en la Poesía de Luis Cernuda: La Realidad y el Deseo (1936).”Journal of Hispanic and Galician Studies, vol. 11-12, 1999-2000, pp. 79–89.
Logan, Aileen. Memory and Meditation in Ocnos by Luis Cernuda. Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, vol. 15, no. 2-3, pp. 167–178.
Morros, Bienvenido. “Gay Orpheus in Forbidden Pleasures, by Luis Cernuda.” Critica Hispanica, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 87–102.
Valente, Jose Angel. “Luis Cernuda y la Poesía de la Meditación.”