Federico García Lorca (Video)
- -Hi. I'm Rachel Stein, the research and instruction
- librarian at the Latin American Library at Tulane University.
- For the library's National Poetry Month celebration,
- I've chosen to share one of my favorite poems, "Romance Sonámbulo,"
- also known as "Verde Que Te Quiero Verde"
- by the Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca.
- Lorca was born in Granada, Spain in 1898, and he was tragically killed
- by nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
- His legacy lives on in some of the most beautiful
- and profound literary works ever written in the Spanish language.
- Several parts of the poem I'll be reading have been enshrined
- in popular culture as well, by way of flamenco music.
- This poem has stuck with me for more than a decade.
- I first read it as a freshman in college at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
- The first verse repeated throughout, and the green imagery are unforgettable.
- I hope you'll enjoy.
- "Verde que te quiero verde. Verde viento. Verdes ramas.
- "El barco sobre la mar y el caballo en la montaña.
- "Con la sombra en la cintura ella sueña en su baranda,
- "verde carne, pelo verde, con ojos de fría plata.
- "Verde que te quiero verde. Bajo la luna gitana,
- "las cosas la están mirando y ella no puede mirarlas.
- "Verde que te quiero verde. Grandes estrellas de escarcha
- "vienen con el pez de sombra que abre el camino del alba.
- "La higuera frota su viento con la lija de sus ramas,
- "y el monte, gato garduño, eriza sus pitas agrias.
- "¿Pero quién vendra? ¿Y por dónde...? Ella sigue en su baranda,
- Verde carne, pelo verde, soñando en la mar amarga."