Metamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'

The reference to the mythological sea god Glaucus at the beginning of Antonio Machado's 'El poeta' conjures up the protean quality of his poetic vision. Water carries a constant transformative element into Machado's poetry and its imagery prompts some of the most lyrical passages...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: De Ros, X
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2010
_version_ 1797092799547441152
author De Ros, X
author_facet De Ros, X
author_sort De Ros, X
collection OXFORD
description The reference to the mythological sea god Glaucus at the beginning of Antonio Machado's 'El poeta' conjures up the protean quality of his poetic vision. Water carries a constant transformative element into Machado's poetry and its imagery prompts some of the most lyrical passages of his work. Whilst this aspect has generally been interpreted in connection with the theme of time, water imagery is also related to a worldview dominated by a sense of indeterminacy and fluidity which has its ultimate source in Ovid's Metamorphoses. This metamorphic imagination is at play in 'El poet a', an important but overlooked early poem included in his collection Soledades. Galerías. Otros poemas. A close analysis of this poem reveals that Machado's meditation on the poet's predicament goes beyond the self-referential framework in which his Symbolist poems tend to be read. While the poem's richly allusive texture highlights Machado's increasing confidence as a poet, its embedded dualism shows his sensibility for paradox - a form of discourse which would underlie his whole poetics. © Queen Mary, University of London 2010.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T03:51:11Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:c1505aa9-6fdc-4862-836a-5d030ecbe7a8
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T03:51:11Z
publishDate 2010
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:c1505aa9-6fdc-4862-836a-5d030ecbe7a82022-03-27T06:00:39ZMetamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c1505aa9-6fdc-4862-836a-5d030ecbe7a8EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010De Ros, XThe reference to the mythological sea god Glaucus at the beginning of Antonio Machado's 'El poeta' conjures up the protean quality of his poetic vision. Water carries a constant transformative element into Machado's poetry and its imagery prompts some of the most lyrical passages of his work. Whilst this aspect has generally been interpreted in connection with the theme of time, water imagery is also related to a worldview dominated by a sense of indeterminacy and fluidity which has its ultimate source in Ovid's Metamorphoses. This metamorphic imagination is at play in 'El poet a', an important but overlooked early poem included in his collection Soledades. Galerías. Otros poemas. A close analysis of this poem reveals that Machado's meditation on the poet's predicament goes beyond the self-referential framework in which his Symbolist poems tend to be read. While the poem's richly allusive texture highlights Machado's increasing confidence as a poet, its embedded dualism shows his sensibility for paradox - a form of discourse which would underlie his whole poetics. © Queen Mary, University of London 2010.
spellingShingle De Ros, X
Metamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'
title Metamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'
title_full Metamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'
title_fullStr Metamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'
title_full_unstemmed Metamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'
title_short Metamorphic Imagination in Antonio Machado's 'El poeta'
title_sort metamorphic imagination in antonio machado s el poeta
work_keys_str_mv AT derosx metamorphicimaginationinantoniomachadoselpoeta