POETRY, ART, ESSENTIAL

Rhymes, legends and experiences

Seville is not just another destination. In Seville there is something, something you can’t see, that enlivens your poetic spirit. And it is not surprising, of course, that the city has given great poets. Why don’t you try to walk through those places that inspired universal verses?

Bécquer, the romantic poet

Download Becquer itinerary.

Gustavo Adolfo Becquer is the quintessence of literary romanticism. A poet who, almost 150 years after his death, continues to reflect perfectly (as if he were reliving in time) the vicissitudes of love. Because love renews itself, new stories and sensations follow one after the other, and Bécquer’s poetry is always read with the same passion and uneasiness. In fact, Bécquer still seems «modern» in his style, in his vision of life and the afterlife.

The glorieta de Bécquer in the Parque de María Luisa is a place to stop and if you want even to reflect and feel special things. Here you will see represented, next to a bust of the poet, the three states of love: «illusioned love», «possessed love» and «lost love».

Bécquer was born in the Sevillian neighborhood of San Lorenzo, at number 28 Conde de Barajas street. A stroll through this quiet neighborhood will take you to the Casa Bucarelli. Here lived the beloved to whom Bécquer dedicated these verses:

«The dark swallows shall return
on your balcony their nests to hang»

Machado's nostalgia

If your experience in Seville can be impressive, its sensations will last for a long time. Antonio Machado conveys with purity this imprint, the first years lived in the Casa de las Dueñas, where his father worked as administrator. Enjoy today the visit to this bucolic palace and contemplate the famous clear orchard where the lemon tree ripens….

Cernuda and that eternal light of Seville

Luis Cernuda is one of the most outstanding figures of the Generation of ’27, a literary current without which poetry would not be what it is today. By the way, did you know that the Generation of ’27 experienced its baptism (a kind of initiatory event) at the Ateneo de Sevilla?

Cernuda expresses like no one else the atmosphere of Seville, and those images that acquire all their existential meaning in the distance, in the memory. His birthplace in Acetres Street, his home in Aire Street or Judería Street, where the famous magnolia tree of Ocnos was located, are places that will remind you of the quality of his work.

«Over the walls of the garden, the immense magnolia tree sprouted covering everything with its branches. Between the shiny and sharp leaves, in spring, the snowy flakes of its flowers rested with that subtle mystery of the virgin. That magnolia tree was always for me something more than a beautiful reality: in it the image of life was encoded.»

To keep in mind

01_

In the Palace of Yanduri de la Puerta Jerez in Seville, the poet Vicente Aleixandre, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1977, was born.

02_

A few meters away, a sculptural fountain pays homage to the poets of the Generation of ’27.

03_

In the adjoining Jardines de Cristina, you can see various busts of Sevillian poets of 27.

04_

Also, in Maria Luisa Park you can walk through its glorietas dedicated to literary figures.

05_

The rests of Bécquer rest in the Pantheon of Illustrious Sevillians of the Church of the Annunciation, and there, a plaque tells us of his influence on Cernuda.