metalous The Spanish metaloso appears to be a neologism, constructed in the same way that pilar/pilaroso is.
by sheer humbleness the Great was born This line originally read:
half humble all of the Great was born;
what is taking place in our epoch After this line to the end of the stanza, the original typewritten version reads:
in my male belly strangely After this line, the following one was crossed out:
Sad is the cause; the end, even happier.
"Something identifies you with the one ..." (page 551)
The whole social mechanism After this sentence, the following one was crossed out:
That is why I lock myself, at times, in my hotel, to kill my corpse and to hold a wake over it.
The date of this poem is in brackets, since no date is typed on the worksheet. On the basis of typewriter comparisons, Larrea dates it in the later part of 1937. The November 24, 1937, date appeared in the first edition of Poemas humanos.
"In short, I have nothing with which to express ..." (page 553)
my life, except my death After this line, the following second line was crossed out:
In short, I cure death with the sores of life.
A little more calm ..." (page 555)
Gonzalez Vigil conjectures that this poem is addressed to militant communists.
how to contain your volume without running This line originally read:
how to contain your mental volume without grieving.
Sermon on Death (page 563)
my potato and my flesh This line originally read:
And my potato and my flesh and my contradiction worthy of opprobrium?
wolvum The Spanish love (which plays off loco, "crazy") appears to be an intentional misspelling of lobo (wolf), a usage that Gonzalez Vigil understands as a way to link the word to ovo (egg, or ovum). I agree and have tried to approximate this construction in English.
cognitive, auriferous In place of aurifero (auriferous) Vallejo had originally written eliptico (elliptical). In the same line, brazudo (thick-armed), deriving from brazo (arm), is given an -udo suffix, an augmentative, suggesting big or strong arms.
SPAIN, TAKE THIS CUP FROM ME
The first edition of Poemas humanos (privately published by Georgette de Vallejo and coedited with her friend the historian Raul Porras Barrenechea in 1939, in Paris) seemed to be without any conscious order except for the last fifteen poems entitled Espana, aparta de mi este caliz. It is now known that although Vallejo worked feverishly on his poetry during the last months of his life, the only final draft he was able to complete was the full text of Espana, aparta de mi este caliz, a copy of which was sent to Spain for publication. The edition was to be under the care of the Spanish poet Emilio Prados and published by a cultural unit attached to the Loyalist army at the Aragon front. The book was printed in September 1938 but could not be bound and distributed, and only a single copy survived the defeat of the Spanish Republic a few months later. On February 9, 1940, Espana, aparta de mi este caliz was published in Mexico, by Editorial Seneca, under the care of the same Emilio Prados, with some preliminary words by Juan Larrea entitled "Profecia de America" and a portrait in ink of Vallejo by Picasso.
As with Human Poems, the translation of Spain, Take This Cup from Me is a significantly revised version of what Jose Rubia Barcia and I presented in the 1978 Complete Posthumous Poetry.
In Espana, two poems seemed more impressive before Vallejo's handwritten corrections were made; I present these pieces in a translation based on the uncorrected typescript in the notes that follow. Also in regard to Espana, I have translated, as an appendix to these notes, one sequence of eight Roman-numeraled poems (I - VIII) that were finally distributed throughout the manuscript in a different order, with some of the best writing elimi nated (section II was completely suppressed, as was nearly half of III, and a half-dozen lines of IV, V, and VII). I feel that the essence of this book is in these eight sections.
I/ Hymn to the Volunteers for the Republic (page 569)
civilian-fighter The Spanish miliciano literally means "militiaman." Because of current American connotations of this word, we have decided that "civilian-fighter" conveys more accurately the meaning that miliciano acquired during the Spanish Civil War.
since your long ecstatic moment ... double-edged speed Here Vallejo fully opens himself to the conflict, and thus to death, envisioning this act as a torero working against a bull's "double-edged speed." His "costumed in greatness" evokes the bullfighter's garb, the traje de laces. The last of these three lines originally read:
my tininess in the form of smoke from a fire.
biennial The biennial referred to here is the period 1934-1936, called el bienio negro (the black biennial), that preceded the war.
Calderon Pedro Calderon de la Barca (16oo-1681), famous Spanish playwright, author of La vida es sueno (Life Is a Dream). Lines 42 through 52 are an extraordinary weave of great Spanish figures of the past and contemporary war heroes and heroines.
Coll Antonio Coll, a popular hero during the war. He appears to have been the first, on foot, to knock out Italian tanks with homemade hand grenades.
Quevedo Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645), famous satirist, perhaps the Spanish poet most admired by Vallejo.
Cajal Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934), famous histologist who shared the Nobel Prize for medicine in 19o6. He specialized in the microscopic study of cells in the nervous system.
Teresa Teresa de Jesus (1515-1582), famous writer and mystic, to whom is attributed the sonnet that begins: "I die because I am not dying."
Lina Odena Popular heroine who died fighting Fascism on the southern front.
Abyssinian lion An allusion to the Abyssinian "negus," or "Lion of Judea," exiled by Mussolini's invading forces. The Italians fought on both sides during the Spanish Civil War.
ferule The word ferula, like pecho, seems to have had a special significance for Vallejo. Unlike rod, it is not commonly used, so once again we have not interpreted it. The word comes from the giant fennel stalks traditionally used for punishing schoolboys. Vallejo uses the word several times in Spain, Take This Cup from Me.
II / Battles (page 579)
TrrLE The original title was "Batallas de Espana" ("Battles in Spain"), followed by the Roman numeral I. Later sections of this poem have additional crossed-out Roman numerals, and several later poems in the final Spain sequence also have crossed-out Roman numerals, which have been changed by hand. It appears that Vallejo originally intended an eightsection poem called "Battles in Spain," some of which was crossed out and all of which was reorganized in the construction of the final version. The original "Battles in Spain" can be reconstructed from the facsimile, and since it is an excellent poem in itself, and contains con siderable first-rate crossed-out material, we have translated it and, as mentioned above, will present it at the end of these notes.
Estremadura The names Extremadura and Extremei o are misspelled in Spanish throughout the poem, written as Estremadura and Estremei o. Extremadura, the western region of Spain, is known for its poverty and absentee landowners. The first important battle of the war took place there. The region was finally overrun by colonial Moorish troops brought to Spain to fight with the Fascist rebels.
under your foot I hear the smoke of the wolf The line originally read:
I hear under your foot the smoke of the human wolf,
the smoke of the species The line originally read:
the smoke of the evolution of the species,
and dead blood from living blood The line originally read:
and living blood from dead blood!
This line was followed by two later omitted lines, which read:
for whom life killed you and death gave birth to you The line originally read:
for whom death killed you and life gave birth to you
how you keep plowing our chests! The line originally read:
how you keep plowing with your cross in
our chests!
Estremanian bent on elbow After this line, the following one was crossed out:
to listen to the dying die
and the very sky itself After this line, the following three lines were crossed out:
The part of the poem originally under Roman numeral I ended here. The following thirtytwo lines made up what was originally Section II of "Battles in Spain":
Terrestrial and oceanic, infinite Iron!
The part of the poem originally under Roman numeral II ended here. Ir tn, a Basque town very close to the French-Spanish border, was occupied by Fascist troops on September 5, 1936, after being ferociously attacked by land, sea, and air. The Bidasoa is a river in Basque country, a part of the French-Spanish border. The following six lines made up what was originally the beginning of Section III of "Battles in Spain":
Retreating from Talavera
This last line, with the addition of an initial "Then," became the first line of what is now the fourth stanza of "Battles," or line 43
Talavera Talavera de la Reina, a town in the province of Toledo, taken by Fascist troops on their way to Madrid on September 5, 1936.
their loss in their backs This line originally read:
dying, their kneecaps on their shoulders and their loss in their backs
loving unwillingly This line originally read:
loving unwillingly, they forced Toledo to commit suicide,
in a Spanish way Originally, this line ended with a period and the next two lines, later crossed out, followed:
where to plant their pocket-size olive tree After this line, the following ten lines were crossed out:
(In the sixth line of this deleted material, "Toledo" was substituted for "Spain" at one point.) But from here This line and the two following it originally read:
Guernica Immortalized by Picasso's famous painting, the town of Guernica was sacred to the Basque people. German bombers, authorized by Franco, destroyed it completely on April 26, 1937, even though it had no military value.
Tacit defenders of Guernica In place of this line and the three following it, the end of this stanza originally read:
the cemeteries were bombed This line and the six following it originally were eight and read:
simple, just, collective This line was originally different and was followed by five lines later crossed out:
simple and one, collective and one!
Composition and strength of the fistful of nothingness, as they say, the whole living death defended life,
Malaga without father or mother This long stanza, a poem in its own right, was originally not part of "Battles in Spain"; it appears to have been added later when Vallejo was organizing Spain, Take This Cup from Me. Malaga was taken by the Italian General Roatta's troops on February 8,1937. Thousands of the city's inhabitants fled along the coast toward Almeria and were slaughtered in great numbers by German naval fire and German and Italian bombers. Literal and malaguenan Malaga This line originally read:
Literal Malaga, separation of posthumous grains of sand,
Given Malaga's proximity to the shore (and the references to sea and foam in the poem), there is probably, in the word literal, a pun on literal (littoral).
III / "He used to write with his big finger ..." (page 587)
This poem was originally VI in "Battles in Spain." It was later taken out of that sequence and turned into III in Spain, Take This Cup from Me.
Pedro Rojas Appears to be a fictitious character, a symbol of the humblest and most oppressed human beings. He has just learned to write a little, and hearing vivan as viban and avisa as abisa, misspells the words. We pickup the misspellings by using "combanions" in place of "companions."
he was killed at the base of his big finger! This line originally was two lines:
and fought with his cells Originally this and the next line read:
and when he was already close to everything After this line, the three following it were crossed out:
(This third line was later added at the end of the final version.)
IV / "The beggars fight for Spain..." (page 591)
This poem was originally section VII of "Battles in Spain."
The mendicants fight satanically This line and the two following it were originally four lines:
at the foot of the individual This line originally read:
at the foot of the individual, on the mountain at the heart's peak
killing by merely being beggars This line was originally followed by a crossed-out line that read:
The beggars fight for the poor!
Pleas of the infantry This line originally read:
Troops of pleas on foot,
crumb under belt This line was originally followed by a crossed-out line that read:
functional attack behind their chests
V / "There she goes! ..." (page 593)
At the end of this poem, a few spaces below it, Imagen espanola de la muerte (Spanish image of death) is written in by hand. Because of specific revisions and additions to it, we suspect that this poem was written earlier than most of the Spanish Civil War poems and/or at one point intended for inclusion in Poemas humanos. In its original typed version, the poem is not connected to the war itself and, in our opinion, is a stronger piece than it finally became as Vallejo worked it into the fabric of the present book. Instead of indicating changes line by line, in this case we would like to present a translation of the poem based on the original version:
In the above version, there are a few textual variations:
with her carbonic acid declivity this phrase was crossed out in favor of "with her ink and inkwell," which was crossed out in favor of "through Teruel," which led to the final "through Iritn."
the glans penis The way in which this phrase was added, by hand, to the line indicates that perhaps it was originally not a correction for "my meatus," but rather an extension of it.
VI / Cortege after the Capture of Bilbao (page 597)
Trr1E Bilbao, the greatest industrial city in northern Basque Spain, fell into Fascist hands on June 18, 1937.
Loyalist To translate republicana here as "Republican" would be misleading. "Loyalist" conveys the idea of one loyal to the existing government, the Spanish Republic.
VII / "For several days the air, companions ..." (page 599)
Gijon An industrial town in the northern province of Asturias, which withstood Fascist attack for a long time before being evacuated on October 21, 1937.
for very many Spains ay! Gijon This line was originally followed by two lines, which were later crossed out:
VIII / "Back here ..." (page 6oi)
Back here The first stanza originally read:
Ramon Collar Pronounced Co-yar, probably a fictitious name, symbolizing a peasantsoldier in the defense of Madrid.
Ramon of sorrow This line originally read:
Ramon of sorrow and with a Collar of abuses
Back here, Ramon Collar Originally this line and the last one were three and read:
IX / Short Prayer for a Loyalist Hero (page 605)
a book was sprouting This line was originally followed by a line that was later crossed out:
a book with the quality of deep fiber or filament.
The hero was carried off This line originally read:
The hero was carried off, knees extended over his name
navehalls As it did in "Epistle to the Passersby," hombligo appears to be an intentional misspelling of ombligo (navel).
Poetry of the royal purple cheekbone This third stanza originally read:
X1 Winter during the Battle for Teruel (page 607)
TrrLE The original title, "After the Battle" ("Despues de la batalla"), was changed by hand to its final state. Previous to the addition of "Teruel," "Madrid" was written in and then crossed out in favor of "Teruel." The battle for Teruel took place in terrible weather (the temperature dropped below minus-2o degrees at times) from December 15, 1937, to February a2, 1938. It was perhaps the
most ferocious battle of the war.
the serene branch of Chemistry Following this line, there appears, crossed out:
with the swift precision of a verdict
you see it, for you touched your testicles Originally this line ended with a comma and was followed by:
while eating a moaning oyster.
XII / Mass (page 611)
After the second repetition of the refrain line ("But the corpse, alas! kept on dying"), at the end of the second stanza, the following three lines were crossed out:
XIII / Funereal Drumroll for the Ruins of Durango (page 613)
TITLE Durango, a town in the Basque province of Viscaya, was destroyed by repeated German air raids, at almost the same time that Guernica was, on April 26,1937- In the title, the word drumroll was originally hymn. Since the original version of this poem is quite different from the final one (and in our opinion is a stronger poem), we have decided to print the original in its entirety:
(In revising this poem, Vallejo crossed out stanzas three and eight and completely altered the lines and order of the others.)
XIV / "Beware, Spain, of your own Spain..." (page 615) In the facsimiles, this poem appears to have originally been section VIII, the final section of "Battles in Spain." The number VIII was then crossed out and XIV written in by hand.
XV/ Spain, Take This Cup from Me (page 617)
TITLE Taken from the words spoken by Jesus at Gethsemane: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26: 39). We have not felt bound to copy the bibilical version of the phrase but have rendered it more actively. In the facsimile, a handwritten XIII is crossed out in favor of a handwritten XV.
children, what an age of concave temples As in line 41, seines (temples) refers only to the human head. After this line, the following one was crossed out:
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