Collected Poems

Federico Garcia Lorca was killed by Falangist forces in 1936 when he was thirty-eight, and the body of work he left behind has had a presence in twentieth century poetry far larger than the size of it would suggest. Collected Poems brings the full range together in English translation, including the early Andalusian work, the New York poems written during his time at Columbia, and the late deep song cycles.

Lorca’s imagery is the part that stays with you. Moons, knives, oranges, the green that runs through Romance Sonambulo. The translations vary in how well they carry that, depending on which translator handled which poem.

For readers new to Lorca, the gypsy ballads and the New York poems are the obvious starting points. The dramatic monologues take more work but reward it.

For anyone serious about modern poetry, Lorca is essential. This collected volume is a reasonable place to spend years with him.