Luis de Góngora and The Solitudes

A new translation of Luis de Góngora’s poem The Solitudes (Soledades) invites renewed interest in Góngora’s work – some of the most acclaimed poetry of the Spanish Baroque.

You can view the original Spanish text of The Solitudes here (Grossman’s translation also includes the original text on facing pages), and the MLA International Bibliography indexes a number of resources on Góngora: search for “Góngora y Argote, Luis de” as a Subject term to find articles discussing his poetry.

Edith Grossman was the translator of this new version of The Solitudes. Grossman’s past translations include works by Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Gabriel García Márquez, as well as her widely praised translation of Don Quixote. Grossman is also the author of a short book about the difficulty and importance of the translator’s work, Why Translation Matters. Interviews with Grossman include this 2008 interview from Bookforum and an August 2011 interview from Publishing Perspectives.

Alberto Manguel has also written an introduction to the new translation, discussing Gongóra’s writing and detailing the poetics of the Spanish Baroque: you can read the full text of Manguel’s introduction at Poetry Daily.

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