The mechanics of poetry
Translated from the Spanish and introduced by Line Amselem
Editions Allia
"Imagination attacks the subject furiously from all sides, while inspiration receives it at once and surrounds it with an immediate, pulsating light, like those great carnivorous flowers that imprison the bee, trembling with fear, and dissolve it in the acidic juice secreted by their merciless petals."
In this lecture delivered in 1928, Federico García Lorca defines three categories that characterize all creation: imagination, inspiration and escape. In his eyes, imagination is "poor", always subject to the limits of reality. In contrast, inspiration, drawing on dreams and the forces hidden beneath reality, breaks the order of reason. It is inspiration that brings about the "miracle" of escape. García Lorca summons poets and painters, and criticizes even the most brilliant technicians of the imagination. He makes the case for a poetry for all, both absolute and embodied, far removed from the elitism of pure abstract poetry. A luminous demonstration, a veritable manifesto, La Mécanique de la poésie delivers the poet's vibrant vision and the quest that drove him.
Translated from the Spanish and introduced by Line Amselem.
