Spanish poet & playwright (1898-1936)
The bride, the white bride
today a maiden,
tomorrow a wife.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
Blood Wedding
Fire is fed by fire.
The same small flame destroys
Two stalks of wheat at once.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
Blood Wedding
Never let me lose the marvel
of your statue eyes or the accent
that by night the solitary rose of your breath
places on my cheek.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
"Sonnet of the Sweet Complaint"
You have always been smart. You have always looked for the worst in people, and have been quick to notice when people are up to no good... But in the case of your children, you are blind.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
The House of Bernarda Alba
A dead man in Spain is more alive than a dead man anywhere in the world.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
"Theory and Play of the Duende", A Poet in New York
But hurry, let's entwine ourselves as one,
our mouth broken, our soul bitten by love,
so time discovers us safely destroyed.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
"Sonnet of the Garland of Roses"
Lydia's madness is a watery madness, gentle, full of seagulls and lobsters.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
letter to Ana Maria Dali, autumn 1925
The groom
is like a flower of gold.
When he walks,
blossoms at his feet unfold.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
Blood Wedding
Just as the light and weightless vegetation of saltpeter floats over the old walls of houses as soon as the owner gets careless, so the literary vocation springs up in you.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
letter to Jose Bello, summer 1925
It's a trick, love's word, a broken mirror, footsteps in the water. Then you'd leave me in the tomb again, just as everyone does when trying to convince those listening to them that true love is impossible.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
The Public
Even money, which shines so much, spits sometimes.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
Blood Wedding
To see you naked is to recall the Earth.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
"Casida de la Mujer Tendida"
I know there is no straight road
No straight road in this world
Only a giant labyrinth
Of intersecting crossroads
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
"Floating Bridges"
My tongue is pierced with glass.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
Blood Wedding
Ever since I got married I've been thinking night and day about whose fault it was, and every time I think about it, out comes a new fault to eat up the old one; but always there's a fault left.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
Blood Wedding
I'm satisfied. I am progressively making my life and my name in the surest and purest manner. If I catch on in the theater, as I think I will, all the doors will gladly open wide for me.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
letter to his family, November 1924
I'll always be happy if they'd leave me alone in that delightful and unknown furthest corner, apart from struggles, putrefactions and nonsense; the ultimate corner of sugar and toast, where the mermaids catch the branches of the willows and the heart opens to a flute's sharpness.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
letter to Melchor Fernandez Almagro, autumn 1924
Oh, what grief not to have
grief, and to spend your life
on the colorless grass
of the undecided path!
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
"Crossroads"
To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
Blood Wedding
We're all like the little sailor. From the harbors we hear the strains of accordions and the murky soapy noises of the docks, from the mountains we receive the dish of silence that the shepherds eat, but we don't hear more than our own distances. And what distances without end and without doors and without mountains!
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
letter to Jose Maria Chacon y Calvo, 1920s