A Daily Glance
Francisco Aragón’s Puerta del Sol is a bilingual book translated (if one can translate one’s own works) by the poet himself. Many of the poems concern life in Spain, especially Madrid. In fact, the title comes from the Plaza Puerta del Sol, a major square (a piazza) in Madrid just down the street from the famous Plaza Mayor. The pieces are mostly contemplative pieces exploring daily events. For me, it was hard when reading not to skip back and forth across the page and just read the individual pieces as single instances. On the whole, I like the Madrid focus, but I wonder if I like them because I like Madrid. Basically, I wonder if the Madrid poems would hold up as well with someone who doesn’t know the city. Beyond that, several individual pieces strike me as wonderful, such as “First Time Out”/”Mi Primera Salida,” a poem about a first trip in a sailboat on the Mediterranean. Ultimately, these poems seem collectively to concern finding a comfortable place.
Francisco Aragón’s Puerta del Sol is a bilingual book translated (if one can translate one’s own works) by the poet himself. Many of the poems concern life in Spain, especially Madrid. In fact, the title comes from the Plaza Puerta del Sol, a major square (a piazza) in Madrid just down the street from the famous Plaza Mayor. The pieces are mostly contemplative pieces exploring daily events. For me, it was hard when reading not to skip back and forth across the page and just read the individual pieces as single instances. On the whole, I like the Madrid focus, but I wonder if I like them because I like Madrid. Basically, I wonder if the Madrid poems would hold up as well with someone who doesn’t know the city. Beyond that, several individual pieces strike me as wonderful, such as “First Time Out”/”Mi Primera Salida,” a poem about a first trip in a sailboat on the Mediterranean. Ultimately, these poems seem collectively to concern finding a comfortable place.
Comments