Romance of the black penalty of LORCA: analysis and meaning [RESUMEN!]
The black sorrow romance is a lyrical composition that he wrote Federico Garcia Lorca in 1928 and that is part of Gypsy romance of the author. Lorca was able to appreciate the gypsies, even though he was not part of this ethnic group, and it shows in each of his poems.
For the author, the gypsies they are capable of abstracting from reality to cover only the emotions that it produces and capture them in their art and in their way of living. In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we want to explain to you the analysis and meaning black sorrow romance.
The first thing you should do to approach a lyrical work is to know its metric composition. Next, we show you each of the verses divided by syllables, so that you can see the skeleton of this poem in a very practical way.
The black sorrow romance from Federico Garcia Lorca this written in octosyllables throughout the poem, that is to say that it has a homonymous metric that never varies. The rhyme is also assonantonly in the even versesOn the other hand, the odd lines do not have any type of rhyme.
Las/ pi/que/tas/ de/ los/ ga/llos/ = 8 syllables
ca/van/ bus/can/do/ la au/ro/ra,/= 8 syllables
cuan/do/ por/ el/ mon/te os/cu/ro/= 8 syllables
ba/ja/ So/le/dad/ Mon/to/ya./= 8 syllables
Co/bre a/ma/ri/llo,/ su/ car/ne,/= 8 syllables
hue/le a/ ca/ba/llo/ y a/ som/bra./= 8 syllables
Yun/ques/ ahu/ma/dos/ sus/ pe/chos,/= 8 syllables
gi/men/ can/cio/nes/ re/don/das./= 8 syllables
So/le/dad,/ why/ who/ pre/gun/tas/= 8 syllables
sin/ com/pa/ña/ y a es/tas/ ho/ras?/= 8 syllables
Pre/gun/te/ by/ who/ pre/gun/te,/= 8 syllables
tell/me: to/ you/ what/ do/ I/ you im/ for/ ta?/= 8 syllables
Ven/go a/ bus/car/ lo/ que/ bus/co,/= 8 syllables
mi a/le/grí/a y/ mi/ per/so/na./= 8 syllables
So/le/dad/ de/ mis/ pe/sa/res,/= 8 syllables
ca/ba/llo/ que/ se/ des/bo/ca,/= 8 syllables
al/ fin/ en/cuen/tra/ la/ mar/= 8 syllables (7 + 1)
y/ se/ lo/ tra/gan/ las/ o/las./= 8 syllables
No/ me/ re/cuer/des/ el/ mar,/= 8 syllables (7 + 1)
que/ la/ pe/na/ ne/gra,/ bro/ta/ = 8 syllables
in/ las/ tier/rras/ de a/cei/tu/na/= 8 syllables
ba/jo el/ ru/mor/ de/ las/ ho/jas./= 8 syllables
So/le/dad,/ what/ pe/na/ you/have!/= 8 syllables
¡Qué/ pe/na/ tan/ las/ti/mo/sa!/= 8 syllables
Llo/ras/ zu/mo/ de/ li/món/= 8 syllables (7 + 1)
a/grio/ de es/pe/ra y/ de/ bo/ca./= 8 syllables
¡Qué/ pe/na/ tan/ gran/de!/ Co/rro/ = 8 syllables
mi/ca/sa/ co/mo u/na/ lo/ca,/= 8 syllables
mis/ dos/ tren/zas/ por/ el/ sue/lo,/= 8 syllables
de/ la/ co/ci/na to/ la al/co/ba./= 8 syllables
What/ pe/na!/ Me es/toy/ po/nien/do/= 8 syllables
from a/za/ba/che/ car/ne and/ ro/pa./= 8 syllables
Ay,/ mis/ ca/mi/sas/ de hi/lo!/= 7 syllables
Ay,/mis/mus/los/ de a/ma/po/la!/= 8 syllables
So/le/dad:/ la/va/ tu/ cuer/po/= 8 syllables
with/ a/gua/ de/ las/ a/lon/dras,/= 8 syllables
y/ de/ja/ tu/ co/ra/zón/= 8 syllables (7 + 1)
en/ paz,/ So/le/dad/ Mon/to/ya./= 8 syllablesPor/ a/ba/jo/ can/ta el/ rí/o:/= 8 syllables
vo/lan/te/ de/ cie/lo/ and ho/jas./= 8 syllables
With/ flo/res/ de/ ca/la/ba/za,/= 8 syllables
la/ nue/va/ luz/ se/ co/ro/na./= 8 syllables
Oh/ pe/na/ de/ los/ gi/ta/nos!/= 8 syllables
Pe/na/ limp/pia y/ siem/pre/ so/la./= 8 syllables
Oh/ pe/na/ de/ cau/ce o/cul/to/ = 8 syllables
y/ma/dru/ga/da/re/mo/ta!/= 8 syllables
Image: Spanish language and literature
This poem is composed of highly visible initial structure, since the first 38 verses are separated from the next 8 with an asterisk. This is a clear example of the thematic separation that the author wanted to make. But, if we look a little deeper into the meaning of the poem we can find three distinct parts and they are the ones that give rhythm to poetry.
We are going to analyze the meaning of this poem through each one of its important moments, which tell us about very different themes, always within a common theme that is gypsy life.
initial moment
The pickaxes of the roosters
they dig looking for the dawn,
when through the dark mountain
low Soledad Montoya.
The poem begins by introducing us to his main character, Soledad Montoya, a woman who is coming down from the mountains to the city at dawn, while the pickaxes of the workers are already heard and the rooster crows. This moment creates an image for us that the roosters are the ones in charge of digging through their sound until they find the sun.
The poem uses the verb tense of the present, so that the reader feels there at the same moment as the protagonist. This woman, who shows on her behalf how she feels inside herself, returns from the forest where she has desperately gone looking for someone, on a night raid. The poet shows us loneliness in all elements of this first image that he proposes to us.
Yellow copper, its meat
he smells of horse and shadow.
Anvils smoked his breasts,
moan round songs.
In these verses, the author physically introduces us to the character through emotions which she is going through. The reference to copper is constant in the Gypsy romance of Lorca and the yellow color makes us think that the woman is not in the best state of her health, but that she has gone pale because of something that has happened to him.
The Soledad Montoya's penalty it is so big that you can even smell it and the horse is one of the characteristic elements of the gypsies of the time, which also makes us reflect on the strength of women. By comparing her breasts to an anvil, the poet shows us that the place from which the protagonist's life emanates it is cold and dead.
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Loneliness: who are you asking for?
without company and at this hour?
The poem continues with a direct appeal to the protagonist, that by other examples that we find in Lorca's Gypsy Ballads, we can determine that it is the same author speaking to Soledad. This soft, pleasant and advisory voice is the one that introduces us to the drama of the protagonist.
Ask for who you ask,
tell me: what do you care?
I come to find what I'm looking for,
my joy and my person.
The gypsy's answer does not correspond at all to the education of the interlocutor. The woman speak out of rage and she shows a very aloof position where she makes it clear that she doesn't want anyone to get into her drama. The repetition of the verbs "ask" and "search" make us see that the protagonist she is not reasoning logically and that she is not only sorrowful, but she herself is grief personified.
loneliness of my sorrows,
runaway horse,
finally find the sea
and the waves swallow him.
The voice answers the protagonist with a soft tone in which shows concern real for the woman, since she calls her Solitude of my sorrows. Her voice warns him that if she continues down that path of pride, the only destiny that awaits her is death, through comparing the protagonist with a runaway horse that goes straight into the sea, which will swallow it.
In poetry the horse is a symbol of passion and the sea of death. The author states that the passion always guide your steps towards death.
don't remind me of the sea
that the black sorrow sprouts
in the olive lands
under the rustle of leaves.
This poem was originally called black sorrow romance in Jaen, That is why it is not surprising that the protagonist places us in this Andalusian land through her mention of the olives. Soledad does not want to talk about the sea, because her sorrow comes directly from the land, from her gypsy roots.
Loneliness, how sad you are!
What a pitiful pity!
You cry lemon juice
sour waiting and in the mouth.
In this quartet, the interlocutor positions himself in a state of compassion, after having gone through worry and warning. The voice shows the readers that Soledad's sorrow is really great and that it can even be seen externally. through crying. The reference to lemon juice makes us think that her crying is much more acidic, sour and bitter than a normal cry.
She is waiting for something to appease her grief, because this is even impossible to verbalize, as she points out in the last verse, something very difficult for Soledad Montoya who is used to talking about everything that happens to her.
What a great pity! I run
my house like crazy,
my two braids on the floor
from the kitchen to the bedroom.
What a pity! I'm putting on
of jet, meat and clothes.
Oh, my linen shirts!
Oh my poppy thighs!
After her interlocutor's show of compassion, Soledad feels completely free to open her heart and Unburden. It is the longest intervention of the protagonist and also the last one that she does. The sorrow that Soledad feels makes her act crazy and go uncontrollably running towards her house.
This is the part of the poem less metaphorical in which we can really see the protagonist running to her house to continue feeling the pain in the most intimate places, like her bedroom and in the most public places, like the kitchen. The sorrow of her accompanies her wherever she goes and never finds peace.
The linen shirts and the thighs are very erotic references to the fact that her entire essence as a woman, she is being clouded by a jet black color referring to mourning.
Soledad: wash your body
with water from the larks,
and leave your heart
In peace, Soledad Montoya.
This moment of the poem ends with a interlocutor's advice who believes that the best solution to remove Soledad's sorrow is by washing it with dew water: natural, pure and cold. What the voice does not know is that the peace of the heart does not depend on the gypsy, but of the one whom she is looking for. The interlocutor ends with the full name of the protagonist to give more strength to this moment.
Down below the river sings:
sky and leaves flyer
with pumpkin flowers
the new light is crowned.
Oh shame on Gypsies!
Clean sorrow and always alone.
Oh sorrow of hidden channel
and remote dawn!
These final verses show that everything that has been reported above not only has to do with Soledad Montoya, but also refers to the entire gypsy community: the river, the sky, the leaves and all the elements will pass away, but the sorrow of the gypsies will last forever.
Now you know the analysis and meaning of the black sorrow romance of Lorca. If you are interested in continuing to learn about this topic or something similar, do not hesitate to consult the Reading section.
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