top of page
th_spanish_flag.jpg

Federico García Lorca
A Great Spanish Poet and Dramatist

Federico was born in 1898 in the village of Fuente Vaqueros, near Granada.  

lorca.jpg

His first published work was a collection of prose pieces called Impresiones y Paisajes (Impressions and Landscapes) in 1918 when he was just twenty years old. 
 
Federico became well-known for his wonderful work, partly because he liked to recite his poems and writings to groups of listeners in cafés and houses.

In 1919 he went to study Law in Madrid where he became the friend of film director Luis Buñuel and painter Salvador Dalí.

In 1928, his first famous collection of poems was published.  This work is called Romancero Gitano (Gypsy Ballads).

Federico loved the theatre and he became director of a university theatre company of Madrid called La Barraca.  They toured towns, taking drama to smaller towns where theatres did not exist.

His first great play was Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) in 1933.  Over the next two years, he completed his other two most popular plays - Yerma and La Casa de Bernarda Alba.

In July 1936, Federico returned to his home area of Granada.  Soon afterwards, perhaps for political reasons, he was arrested and executed without a trial.  There is a great deal of mystery about the reason why he was killed and the place of his burial.  His grave has never been found and remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of Spanish history. 

Federico was killed at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War which took place between 1936 and 1939 when two political parties were fighting for power - the Republicans and the Nationalists.   

In 1986, the Spanish Government decided to erect a statue of Federico García Lorca in Madrid - to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his death and to recognise his brilliance as a Spanish writer and poet.  Below is a photo of the statue.

 

Garcialorca_madrid_lou.jpg

¡Muchas gracias Federico!
Thank you for your wonderful, poetic works!



Below are some of Federico's short poems:

 

Tan, Tan

Tan, tan.
¿Quién es?
El Otoño otra vez.
¿Qué quiere el Otoño?
El frescor de tu sien.
No te lo quiero dar.
Yo te lo quiero quitar.

Tan, tan. 
¿Quién es?
El Otoño otra vez.

Canción Tonta

Mamá
Yo quiero ser de plata.


Hijo,
tendrás mucho frío.


Mamá,
Yo quiero ser de agua.


Hijo,
tendrás mucho frío.


Mamá,
Bórdame en tu almohada.


¡Eso sí!
¡Ahora mismo!


 

Nieve

Las estrellas
se están desnudando.
Camisas de estrellas 
caen sobre el campo.

 

bottom of page