The complete poetry A bilingual edition

Eshleman (emer., Eastern Michigan Univ.) and his cotranslator Jose Rubia Barcia won the National Book Award for their translation of Vallejo's Complete Posthumous Poetry (CH, Oct'79). Here he provides complete access to one of the 20th-century's most prominent, albeit understudied, literary figures. More than a compendium of translations, this is a polished product of many revisions and proof of Eshleman's profound understanding of Vallejo and his work. The introduction by Krista, along with the foreword by Mario Vargas Llosa and the chronology appendix by Stephen Hart, serve to firm up Vallejo's place in the canon. For this reviewer, however, the "Translation Memoir" that appears as an appendix is the special touch that gives insight into the editor's and the poet's humanity. Eshleman, himself an accomplished poet, reveals his journey (personal and professional) in understanding and interpreting Vallejo even for those who know his poetry well but recognize its linguistic and philosophical challenges. This book will help poetry aficionados appreciate not only the complete work of a master but also the many obstacles, practical and intellectual, a translator must face to render faithfully in a second language the nuances of a poet who can be inaccessible even to speakers of his own tongue. Summing Up: Essential. All readers; all levels. S. T. Clark California State University, San Marcos

Less famous than Neruda or Lorca, the Peruvian Vallejo (1892-1938) may stand as their equal among the great Spanish language modernists. At times more demanding than both-and just as devoted to "eternal love," "animal purity" and "the absolute Encounter"-Vallejo has inspired devotion and imitation across continents. The lyrical, quotable poems of The Black Heralds (1918) record an intense young man's struggle with his Andean and Catholic heritage. Dense in its beauty, packed with neologisms, Trilce (1922) shows Vallejo at his strangest and most original: determined to forge a new language for the New World, the volume weaves together pellucid laments for the lost loves of childhood with "thrips and thrums from lupine heaps." The posthumous Human Poems (1939) mingle nostalgia, eroticism and rage as they follow the poet's years in Paris; the more conventional Spain, Take This Cup from Me (1939) records Vallejo's devotion to the Loyalist (left-wing, and losing) side of the Spanish Civil War and memorably mourns the fallen. Decades in the making, this faithful and forceful complete text from poet and essayist Eshleman (see page 40 for a review of his newest book of verse) deserves as much notice as any poetic translation can get. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved