Synaptic

Writing Objective: Shape a synthetic paper focused on some aspect of ecocriticism

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Antonio Machado is one of the most prominent Spanish writers and poets of the twentieth century: Classified as a member of the Generation of ’98, Machado took port in a movement to reestablish the political, cultural, and intellectual import a nee of his country. His appreciation for Spain is expressed, in much of his work, through descriptions of the physical landscape of Spain. In addition to simple descriptions, however, the images in Machado’s poetry often refer to social and political situations in the country.

This paper looks at the images of nature in Jour of Machado’s poems: “Fields of Soria: lyric ill.” “On the Hanks of the Hirer Duero. ” “Spring Gently the Tree Grove kissed.” and “As the Snow Melts. ” Included in the discussion are specific symbols that appear in these and other poems, as well as their connection to the Spain of Machado. Also examined are the ways in which these images represent occurrences in the personal life of the poet, and how Machado’s use of nature fits into theories explained in Joseph Meeker’s. “The Comic Mode. “

In the introduction to his book of translation. Michael Predmore calls Antonio Machado “a towering figure in the literature and culture of twentieth-century Spain” (5). Others have praised his “power and genius and the “pure spirit with which his poems are written (Cobb 173). Poet and professor Jorge Guillen calls Machado “simply the best poet of the century” (Predmore 1). While Machado wrote prose and drama, he is most known for his poetry and its symbols and themes.

Through these poems, he explores his past and current relationships and political situations in Spain. Nearly all exploration comes through images of nature: the speaker finds emotion and symbolism, and eventually lessons and comfort in the world around him. Often, natural objects take on human characteristics: this “pathetic fallacy,” so named by John Ruskin, is common in Machado’s work. In addition, according to George Tyler Northrup, Machado does not have to say how he feels in his poems. His thoughts are developed through descriptions of bis surroundings: “Landscape and mood being in harmony. Antonio Machado arrives at mood through nature” (426). From an ecocritical standpoint the personal and social representations in Machado’s poems oiler a rich category of study.

Much available criticism of Machado focuses on his inclusion in the “Generation of ‘98.” These Spanish poets, novelists, and essayists produced works at the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s, shortly after the end of Modernist influence. The time was one of political, cultural, and intellectual transformation in Spain (Cobb 17). The country was recovering from a lost war with the United States, and direction for the future divided citizens and government. Conservatives wanted to maintain Spain- character, and traditions, while liberals sought change by taking on the character of other European countries.

The writers of the Generation of ’98, united by common ideals, tried to reestablish the prominence of Spain’s literary and intellectual works. They questioned norms in both literature and government, and often used descriptions of place, people, and culture in their writing (Hutman 6). Through their works, they attempted to define “lo Española”: the essence of Spain, its landscape, and its people (7). These “place* pieces often included physical descriptions on which an ecocritical study could be based. The use of nature by many Generations of ‘98 poets, including Machado. follows the theories of ecocritics such as Joseph Meeker. John Ruskin, and Scott Slovic.

Northrup says Machado belongs to the Generation of ’98 because of his “fondness for landscape, simplicity. and sincerity” (426). As a member of the group, he personally attempts to renew pride in Spanish literature through his descriptions of Spain s landscapes. Campos de Castilla (fields of Castille), for example, is Machado most well-known and characteristic collection of landscape poetry. In this book, the speaker not only describes the scenery of Castille, but also lets those landscapes represent issues in the Spanish political, historical, and cultural systems.

Northrup discusses Machado’s sense of the “spirit of the landscape in this Collection of poems:

“He views it admiringly as the theater of epic exploit, sadly as the abode of present desolation in contrast with past grandeur. He sees its wastes people with a race of semibarbarous peasants, with limitless possibilities for good or evil…” (426).

In the physical landscape, Machado sees good and bad: when this nature represents the people of Spain, they also take on these characteristics. The process of understanding humans through nature, builds a unique use of pathetic fallacy. Machado also pays attention to the balance of power, the social class system, and the leaders of his country. Though all of these themes are present. Campos de Castilla is not simply a historical or sociological study: it is a book of descriptive, lyrical poetry, as well (426).

“Campos de Sorian” (“Fields of Sorian”), at the heart of Campos de Castilla, is a long poem divided into nine lyrical sections. Each focuses on an aspect of nature, but also represents issues in Spanish culture or history. In Lyric VII, the speaker begins on the “rocks of reddish hue” (line 2) in the “silver-tinted hills’ around Soria (1). Her personifies much of nature: “Somber groves of oak” (5) “Fierce stony ground (6), and fields where “even the rocks dream” (12). The attitude of sadness and anger that Machado s speaker gives the rocks and trees and ground suggests the area is in entirely, peaceful. If nature is read as symbols of the people of the Soria. it shows discontent in their lives. Again. Machado’s work echoes Ruskin’s theory of the use of pathetic fallacy.

In this poem, nature also presents military images, in addition to the tension of the people. The Duero River curves like a “crossbow’s arc” (4) and the afternoons in Soria are warlike and mystical” (8). Historically, Soria was a city of fortification: soldiers there defended much of the surrounding region, so confrontation was normal (Cobb 87). Thus Machado’s descriptions of the scenery play on the city’s past and on the political situations of the area. This realistic/symbolistic contrast is typical in Machado’s work (Hutman 113).

“A orillas del dueron” (“On the Banks of the River Duero”). discusses the same river from Lyric VII, but in more detail. The speaker journeys on the hills beside the Duero and describes the scenery in what Cobb calls “a Woodwardian sense” (80). Like the Romantics, Machado sets this poem ill a specific place and the setting is a pastoral scene. It takes place at a specific moment in the afternoon, with a speaker who writes his own meditations. At the end of the piece he walks back down the hill with the sun selling, and returns to present reality and personal conclusion (81). During his observations, the speaker describes everything from the “fissures of the rock” on the path (2) to the “mountain’s strong scented rosemary. sage, lavender and thyme” (12-3) to the “majestic flight ” of a wide-winged vulture (13).

As in “Fields of Soria. “Banks of the Duero” uses war-like descriptions of nature to represent the contrast in Spain’s past and present. I field below are “bitter” and on them, the sun “vents its rage (13). The curved hills in the distance look like shields (16): the Duero again looks like an “archer’s bow” (20), and Soria is “a fortress for Castille’s tower before neighbors Aragon’s warlike door” (21-2). Later, the speaker talks more about Castille after it has lost main battles: “Miserable Castille, who yesterday did reign, wrapped now in rags” (43-4) and “devoid of water…decrepit cities…as rivers do they flee the dying home (38-41). Nature here is not beautiful; it reflects the region’s losses from lighting, and the tension that still exists. This contrast between nature’s simplicity and society complexity is another aspect common to writers, according to Joseph Meeker s “The Comic Mode (Glotfelty & Fromm 168). This theory supported by Lyric VII and “Hanks of the Duero.” The poems were written in the early 1900s, which was a time of political strife in Spain. The country was recovering, economically and emotionally, from a war. Citizens were unhappy: numerous protests and revolts took place in cities across the country. Spain’s four-year Civil War started shortly after, in 1936 (Cobb 79). The images in Lyric VII and “Banks of the Duero” show the simple beauty in nature; at the same time, however, they become symbols of the divisions within the Spanish society. Nature, people, and politics are intertwined, as die citizens and their environment are changed by the unrest in the country.

In addition to descriptions of the physical landscapes representing externa] difficulties, Machado uses these images to reflect his own memories and snuggles. These “landscapes of the soul deal with everything from childhood events to personal journeys to grief for the poet’s deceased wife (Predmore 15). Scot Slovic says nature writing is a “literature of hope”: Machado fits this definition (Glotfelty & Fromm 368). Often his natural images become a means of personal encouragement for the speaker.

The symbols of nature with which Machado achieves mood are nearly as numerous as his poems. Many of the symbols themselves are not unique to Machado. By reading works such as Leaves of Grass. Walden. and North of Boston, it becomes evident that writers such as Wordsworth, Thoreau, and Frost have described their own journeys in and relationships with nature. For Machado, however, the lyrical descriptions, personal use of language, symbolism often make these seemingly stock descriptions more individual. Emily Dickinson, for example, does not describe rivers as crossbows, or talk often about fortresses and battles. The multiple meanings that grow out of his symbols characterize Machado’s work, as well. While nature always has a physical presence in his poems, it also represents emotion, temporality, and change (I hitman 106).

One of the landscape symbols that often represents that same emotion, temporality, and change in Machado’s work is the river. Often, as in “Banks of the Duero”, it is the Duero River, but Machado uses other rivers, as well. According to Cobb, the rivers in Machado’s poems often represent “eternal change and flow* in the life of the poet (61). Rivers also parallel roads in a symbol of life s journey, complete with difficulties such as rocks and whirlpools. In “Banks of the Duero,” the journey is so difficult that the rivers “flee the dying home” (line 41). The personification in pieces like this strengthens the connection between the action of nature and the actual sentiment of the citizens described in the poem.

In contrast to the movement of die rivers, a number of the poems in Machado’s book Soleadades (Solitudes) contain sculptured stone fountains. The fountains are often associated with events in the speaker’s childhood (Predmore 14). Combined with the Stone that represents a type of permanence, the fountain becomes a paradox. The poet is pulled in different directions: one way by his past (stone). and another by die ever-changing issues immediate to his life (water). Cobb calls this “the paradox of the double eternity of water and stone” (61).

In “La primavera besaba (“Spring Gently the Tree Grove Kissed”), water, as a symbol, appears in the form of mist and rain. This piece uses water in a different paradox, however. It first seems a gentle sign of life and change: new spring growth is like “a green mist alter the brown of winter (line 4). But the rain also tests that new growth, as the branches “tremble” beneath its power (7). In the end. the life-giving aspect of the rain prevails, and the trees are suddenly so lull of life that they are “bowed with blossoms” (10). The “fresh April rain” helps to wash away the remnants of the past months (8). Nature has a healing power and gives the hope that Slovic mentions in “Nature Writing and Environmental Psychology” (Glotfelty & Fromm 368).

”Spring Gently Kissed’ also carries a feeling of innocence, which is often associated with spring. The speaker notices the clouds above the “young field and lane.” and the branches tremble much like a child would when scared or upset (6). At the end of the third stanza, this youth and innocence in nature reminds the speaker of his own youth. Though he is now “midway” in life, he stops to remember how love affected him in his past (13). The romantic: image of the spring kissing the trees is reflected in this memory7 of the speaker’s youth. He was never “kissed,'” however: his younger days were “devoid of love” (12). The speaker even goes so far as to remember he had once “damned”‘ those lonely days (11).

It seems that the speaker is still alone but, through nature and the promise of spring, he finds hope. He sees that the trees can turn green and flowers again after months of being cold and brown. He knows, also, that though the branches tremble they still withstand the aggression of the rain. Seemingly dead pieces of nature can be filled with new life, and these delicate things can endure the almost cruelly of other forces of nature. So too, then, can the speaker overcome his difficulties and find love. The rebirth observed in nature parallels the personal rebirth the speaker needs as he adjusts to life without Iris love. Nature is a teacher that proves that change is possible. The journey, both physically and emotionally, that the speaker lakes to this realization are mirrored in the image of the Mane in the second stanza.

In “As the Snow Melts,” also from Campos de Castilla, Machado again looks at the connections between nature, memories, and love. The mood of this poem is affected, however, by a defining event in the poet’s life. “As the Snow Melts” was written soon after the death of Machado s wife (Hutman 101). In this poem, then, spring seems to represent not only the transition from youth to a more mature wisdom, but also the cycles of life and transitions of death.

Like other Machado poems, “As the Snow Melts” also focuses on the greening that happens in the spring. By the warmth of the “April sun” (4), the snow from the mountains melts and runs down into the fields and valleys. Machado uses the metaphor of a “green flamen” to describe how the valley changes from its winter state (5). As in “Spring Gently the Free Grove Kissed,” there are branches “shooting forth white buds” (12) and the aroma floats on the “sweet breeze” that touches the speaker (13). All of these changes are so easy and natural that Machado says the valley “bears life, effortlessly” (5-6).

That easy life is a contrast, however, to the “death and stone” that haunts Machado (15). He enjoys the spring and its beauty: his soul, for example. follows the flight of a butterfly, which adds another element of childlike innocence. The butterfly, which appears only briefly in the poem, may also represent the shortness of his love’s life before she “flies away” to another place.

Despite the relaxation through nature, the speaker feels stifled by “bitterness” as he remembers his lost love (16). She is gone and it is difficult for him to forget that, even with the beautiful distractions of the present. He observes nature and dreams, but the speaker is still thinking of his wife and her return by “awaiting I let” (17). Her presence is so real that he writes “Her” with a capital letter: the strong emphasis on that one word makes “Her” seem almost god-like.

In spite of the difficulties he faces, the speaker is again able to find hope in nature and spring, much as he did in “Spring Gently the Tree Grove Kissed.” He feels sadness al the loss of Iris wife, yet the sweet breeze of spring “conquers” that loss (15). The greening of the mountainside and the melting snows-winter to spring-seem to parallel the speaker s change from despair to hope. In the same way that spring rids the world of winter, bringing new hope, light, and life, so does it relieve the speaker’s anguish at the death of his wife. It lessens his fear of Iris own death, since he knows there is always another spring to bring rebirth and color. According to Hutman. “Since he (the speaker) seeks life renewed rather than life preserved, the poet’s hope is not extinguished by Leonor s death. Each spring bears new witness to the cyclical fulfillment of the desire for rebirth and thus vanquishes the fear of death’s finality and of the unknown” (101).

Both of these poems, then, have purpose beyond the observations of nature and the changing of seasons. Each of them describes changes in seasons and the way7 nature develops as the speaker watches. At the same time, both deal with attitudes toward love, but in different stages of a relationship. Nature helps ease the pain of love and loss. Slovic says Thoreau takes pleasure in the “apparent identity of his own fluctuating moods and the moods’ of the passing seasons” (Glotfelty & Fromm 354). Similarly, as Machado’s speaker watches the changes around him, he is encouraged to make his own changes. Meeker says that through nature writing we learn that “some truth exists in the universe which is more valuable than life itself (Glotfelty & Fromm 167). This applies to both “Spring Gently die Tree Grove Kissed and “As the Snow Melts.” The speaker laments the loss, yet he finds comfort in that the seasons continue to change, the trees and flowers bloom again, and life goes on. He appreciates the beauty that surrounds him and can lose his worries in that beauty. Nature represents both pain and hope for the narrator.

“Spring Gently Kissed” and “As the Snow Melts” both use nature to reflect on change and personal loss. Similarly, “Banks of the Duero” and “Fields of Soria: Lyric VII” both observe the area around Soria, while hinging on deeper political meaning. Machado’s mastery of words allowed him to write these poems that can be read on more than one level. Predmore s introduction explains the tensions between these “landscapes of the soul”: “They are the objectification of what is deeply felt within, which offer a contrast between a potential reality so ardently desired and a present reality so empty and impoverished. These landscapes are also eloquent expressions of inner turmoil and frustration” (15). Through his poet RV. Machado is able to explore his country, his culture, and his own life. Still, in all of his observations and thoughts, he finds parallels between life and nature. It is in this way that he finds understanding and comfort, both personally and for the entire country of Spain.

From an ecocritical perspective, this appreciation of nature is important. While some critics may discourage Machado’s attribution of human characteristics to nature, his purpose seems to have been positive. From the poetry of Machado. the reader is able to get a sense of the culture, beauty, and people of Spain. It would have been difficult for him to do this so effectively without using nature the way he did.

Works Cited

Cobb, Carl. W’. Antonio Machado. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971.

Glotfelty, Chervil, and Harold Fromm. The Ecocriticism Reader. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1996. Hutman, Norma Louise.

Machado: A Dialogue with rime. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1969. Machado, Antonio.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online. http://www.cb.com:180/bol/topic?idxref=142424.

Machado, Antonio. Poesias. Buenos Aires: Editorial I.osada. 1962.

Northup, George Tyler. An Introduction to Spanish Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.

Predmore, Michael P. and Richard L. Solitudes, Galleries, and titer Poems. Durham: Duke University Press, 1987.

Mainer, Jose-Carlos. Modernismoy y 98. Barcelona:Edirotial Critica, 1980.