Read this when
Beside the River Sar (En las orillas del Sar)
They told her she was too old to keep dreaming. She wrote back: fine, I'll be grey and still dream. 🌿
Who it's for
Written near the end of Rosalía de Castro's life, these poems stay with sorrow, fading hope, lost faith and the passing of time without forcing consolation.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Rosalía de Castro's 1884 poetry collection, written in Spanish (Castilian) rather than the Galician of her earlier books, is a loose gathering of mostly untitled poems composed over a long span late in her life. The poems draw on personal experience and the Galician landscape and address nature, faith and spirituality, social injustice, illusion versus reality, and death. English translations include S.
Where to find it
Spanish original is public domain and free online (e.g., Cervantes Virtual, which also hosts recordings of some poems). English translations: S. Griswold Morley's 1937 selection may be found used or i.
Before you start
Heads up: Sustained grief and despair.
Age: Ages 14+
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Joy and Sorrow”
