The Guitar by

Federico Garcia Lorca

Federico Garcia Lorca

(June 5, 1898-August 19, 1936)

● Born in Fuente Vaqueros, Spain in 1898.● One of the most important Spanish poets in the

twentieth century.● Came from a wealthy family● Was not a very successful student, took nine

years to graduate from the University of Granada.

● Very gifted musician● The Guitar relates to Realism, the idea of

focusing on one's life and all things that come with life; the obstacles, the ups, and the downs.

● Towards the end of the 1920’s he became increasingly depressed.

● He lived during the Spanish Civil War.● Brutally murdered in 1936 by Nationalist

soldiers during the Spanish Civil War.● Monument built by Spain fifty years later in

honor of him.

goblet - a bowl shaped drinking vessel without handlesmonotonously - in a dull, unvarying way

camellias - a flower found in East and Southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. They are economically important in the Indian subcontinent and Asia since the leaves of Camellia sinensis are processed to create tea. (The flower is also a symbol for death.)yearning - a feeling of intense longing for something

Vocabulary

The Guitar by Federico Garcia Lorca

The weeping of the guitar 1

begins. 2

The goblets of dawn 3

are smashed. 4

The weeping of the guitar 5

begins. 6

Useless 7

to silence it. 8

Impossible 9

to silence it. 10

It weeps monotonously 11

as water weeps 12

as the wind weeps 13

over snowfields. 14

Impossible 15

to silence it. 16

It weeps for distant 17

things. 18

Hot southern sands 19

yearning for white camellias. 20

Weeps arrow without target 21

evening without morning 22

and the first dead bird 23

on the branch. 24

Oh, guitar! 25

Heart mortally wounded 26

by five swords. 27

LiteraryDevices

personification● “the weeping of the guitar” (1), “water weeps” (12), “the

wind weeps” (13), “hot southern sands yearning for white camellias” (19-20), “weeps arrow without target” (21)

extended metaphor● the playing of the guitar represents a wounded person

crying. As the guitar begins to play as a person would cry, it cannot stop playing, and there is no use to try and stop it.

symbolism● the weeping guitar is a symbol for the despair the speaker

feels. The guitar's song is “impossible to silence” just as it is impossible for the speaker to combat the sorrow he/she feels.

repetition● Throughout the poem. repetition is used when it repeatedly

refers to how the guitar is “impossible to silence.” This repetition emphasizes the severity of the sadness the speaker feels.

alliteration● “water weeps” (12)● “wind weeps” (13)● “southern sands” (19)● “bird on the branch” (23-24)

assonance● “goblets of dawn” (3)● “over snowfields” (14)

caesura● “Oh, guitar!” (25)

free verse● no rhyme scheme

Imagery

sight

● “first dead bird on the branch” (23-24)

● “the goblets of dawn are smashed” (3-4)

● “over snowfields” (14)

● “distant things” (17-18)

● “heart mortally wounded by five swords” (26-27)

hearing

● “the weeping of the guitar begins” (1-2)

● “it weeps monotonously as water weeps as the

wind weeps” (11-13)

touch

● “hot southern sands” (19)

smell

● “white camellias” (20)

Tone & ThemeThe weeping of the

guitar

begins.

The goblets of dawn

are smashed.

The weeping of the

guitar

begins.

Useless

to silence it.

Impossible

to silence it.

It weeps monotonously

as water weeps

as the wind weeps

over snowfields.

Impossible

to silence it.

It weeps for distant

things.

Hot southern sands

yearning for white

camellias.

Weeps arrow without

target

evening without

morning

and the first dead bird

on the branch.

Oh, guitar!

Heart mortally

wounded

by five swords.

● Words like “weeping”, “mourns,” “silence”, “mourns,” “dead,” and as well as “yearning” and “smashed” project a strong sad, negative, even miserable tone

● it maintains the same type of emotion throughout the poem.

Theme:

The Guitar represents a timeline of emotional events that happened in a persons life and each string is a heartbeat that the more it plays the longer the song of life continues

● Lorca uses the guitar metaphorically to represent the imminence of life and death, love and hatred, and how the guitar can represent all these things that just do not stop happening throughout someone's existence.

● Lorca expresses himself through the sad sound of a guitar.

● The poem all together, is just an extended metaphor.

● This poem belongs to the book Poema del Cante Jondo.

Analysis

The sound of the guitar is like a wail (llanto), the same word that refers to the flamenco singing. “The weeping of the guitar begins” is the opening line of the poem, and it is repeated two lines later. The guitar’s weeping is monotonous and repetitious (like the wind and the rain), and García Lorca achieves this effect through further repetition.

The weeping of the guitarbegins.The goblets of dawnare smashed.

The weeping of the guitarbegins.Uselessto silence it.

Impossible to silence it.It weeps monotonouslyas water weeps

as the wind weepsover snowfields.Impossibleto silence it.

It weeps for distant things.Hot southern sandsyearning for white camellias.

Weeps arrow without targetevening without morningand the first dead birdon the branch.

Oh, guitar!Heart mortally woundedby five swords.

Three times he writes the phrase, “It is impossible to silence it,” or writes something similar. Meanwhile, the strength of the guitar’s sound is sufficient to break the wine cups of dawn.

In a series of metaphors, García Lorca supplies some answers ask to what the guitar wails for, summarized in the lines, “It weeps for distant things.” “Hot southern sands/yearning for white camellias” associates the guitar with Andalusia, situated on the Mediterranean Sea with its beaches and flowers.

“It weeps arrow without target/ evening without morning.” Arrows without targets and evenings without mornings are metaphors of disorientation. “The first dead bird/ upon the branch,”is a reference to the loss of innocence.

Analysis (cont.)

The guitar plays so loudly that the guitar shatters.

The five swords are a representation of fingers. The body of the guitar represents the heart, and is wounded by the fingers of the person playing it. And like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, wounded by the grief of the world.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps by

George HarrisonAlthough the song is similar to the poem, it was

not inspired by Lorca but rather the Book of Changes.

Harrison was committed to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening the book.

Those words being, “gently weeps.”

La Guitarra

Llora monótona

como llora el agua,

como llora el viento

sobre la nevada.

Es imposible

callarla.

Llora por cosas

lejanas.

Arena del Sur caliente

que pide camelias blancas.

Llora flecha sin blanco,

la tarde sin mañana,

y el primer pájaro muerto

sobre la rama.

¡Oh guitarra!

Corazón malherido

por cinco espadas.

Empieza el llanto

de la guitarra.

Se rompen las copas

de la madrugada.

Empieza el llanto

de la guitarra.

Es inútil

callarla.

Es imposible

callarla.

spanish translation analysis

Lorca intended for the poem to sound similar to a Flamenco style song "cante jondo".

In the Spanish version it uses two different words with similar meanings, llanto and llora. Llanto is to cry loudly much like "weep" or "wail" while llora would simply mean "cry". The word weep has a much more negative

connotation.

The connotation of the words used in the translation are much more dramatic and heavy in the English translation.

Quiz 1. Where was Federico Garcia Lorca born?

a) Fuente Vaquerosb) Granadac) Madridd) Valencia

2. Federico Garcia Lorca was a very gifted ________.a) Musicianb) Writerc) Poetd) All of the above

3. What song is very similar to the poem?a) “Teardrops on My Guitar”b) “Guitar Man”c) “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”d) “Heart Shaped Guitar”

4. What is the tone of the poem?a) playfulb) ironicc) calmd) sad

5. Is there a rhyme scheme in the poem?a) Yesb) No

6. In the poem, “hot southern sands” refers toa) the region of Andalusiab) the desertc) the beaches in South Americad) an island

7. Which line is repeated twice throughout the poem?a) useless to silence itb) the guitar starts to cryc) impossible to silence itd) both b and c

8. Why does “the guitar weep"?a) it yearns for white camelliasb) it longs for distant thingsc) it has regrets from the pastc) it mourns the dead bird

Quiz9. What is the guitar a metaphor for?

a. the despair the speaker feelsb. someone's heartbreak after a lost lovec. longing for homed. a death in the speaker's life

10. The original poem differs from the translated version in thata. there's a rhyme scheme in the originalb. there is personification in the translated poemc. the metaphors have different meanings in the originald. the original is written to sound like a song