The Unending Lightning: Selected Poems

Hernandez (1910-1942) was one of the constellation of poets whose virtuosity and vigor helped make Madrid a literary nerve center in the 1920s and early '30s. His later poetry gave lyrical expression to the Loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War. It also landed him in one of Franco's fearsome prisons, where he died. Honig, a poet and author best known for his accomplished translations of Lorca, has selected a sampling from Hernandez's five collections of poetry to introducewhy reintroduce? his work is out of print?eed this sensual, fiery poet to English-language-language ?eed readers. It's a praiseworthy undertaking: from the ardent sonnets of The Unending Lightning to the anguished defiance of his prison poems, Hernandez's poetry is g muscular, soulful and formidably imagined. This valuable edition is marred in two g respects: original texts and translations should have been set on facing pages rather than in two discrete clusters, and it's g disappointing to find that Honig saw fit to present only 19 poems by a poet whose stature deserves wider recognition outside the Hispanic world. ( June )