Rimas (Rhymes) by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (♦♦♦♦♦)
This collection of poetry was my first
exposure to the genre, starting when I was eleven years old. My subsequent dabbling in poetry was heavily influenced, in the beginnings, by Bécquer, and
still today he remains one of my favorite poets alongside Pablo Neruda and
Jorge Luis Borges.
I really like Rima X, incorrectly labeled in this edition as IX. It is about the strange vibrations in the air when Cupid is passing by. Rima XII is my favorite of them all. It is about a young woman who has green eyes and would like them in a different color. The poet tries to convince her of how pretty they are, mentioning all the examples in nature of the color green. Unfortunately, this rhyme (rima) is incomplete in this collection.
Porque son, niña, tus ojos
verdes como el mar, te quejas;
verdes los tienen las náyades,
verdes los tuvo Minerva,
y verdes son las pupilas
de las huríes del Profeta.
El verde es gala y ornato
del bosque en la primavera;
entre sus siete colores
brillante el Iris lo ostenta,
…
I really like Rima X, incorrectly labeled in this edition as IX. It is about the strange vibrations in the air when Cupid is passing by. Rima XII is my favorite of them all. It is about a young woman who has green eyes and would like them in a different color. The poet tries to convince her of how pretty they are, mentioning all the examples in nature of the color green. Unfortunately, this rhyme (rima) is incomplete in this collection.
Porque son, niña, tus ojos
verdes como el mar, te quejas;
verdes los tienen las náyades,
verdes los tuvo Minerva,
y verdes son las pupilas
de las huríes del Profeta.
El verde es gala y ornato
del bosque en la primavera;
entre sus siete colores
brillante el Iris lo ostenta,
…
