* * * * *
Such qualities--both the positive and the negative--are apparent in his
poetry. In it, the appeal of force and sincerity is usually stronger
than that of art. This is particularly the case in his first volume
(_Poesias_, 1907), in which a lofty inspiration, a noble attitude of
mind, a rich and racy vocabulary, a keen insight into the spirit of
places, and above all the overflowing vitality of a strong man in the
force of ripeness, contend against the still awkward gait of the Basque
and a certain rebelliousness of rhyme. The dough of the poetic language
is here seen heavily pounded by a powerful hand, bent on reducing its
angularities and on improving its plasticity. Nor do we need to wait for
further works in order to enjoy the reward of such efforts, for it is
attained in this very volume more than once, as for instance in _Muere
en el mar el ave que volo del nido_, a beautiful poem in which emotion
and thought are happily blended into exquisite form.
In his last poem, _El Cristo de Velazquez_ (1920), Unamuno undertakes
the task of giving a poetical rendering of his tragic sense of life, in
the form of a meditation on the Christ of Velazquez, the beautiful and
pathetic picture in the Prado. Why Velazquez's and not Christ himself?
The fact is that, though in his references to actual forms, Unamuno
closely follows Velazquez's picture, the spiritual interpretation of it
which he develops as the poem unfolds itself is wholly personal.
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