The poetry of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer has been recognized as one of the most representative in Hispanic literature. It is characterized by brief rhymes of intimate tone, and the content by contradictions and themes ranging from the dream, reason and woman, to the popular and aristocratic.

In this article we will see several of the best poems by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer , one of the most important Spanish poets.

15 poems by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer was born in Seville in 1836 and died in the same city, at the age of 34, in 1870 from tuberculosis. His posthumous work, located in Romanticism, has become one of the most representative of Spanish literature. Likewise, the influence of this poet went beyond the limits of literature to place himself in painting as well, since he was an excellent drawer, which was recovered by later art criticism.

His most renowned work is Rhymes and Legends which is a compilation of his poems and stories. Currently, the latter is considered one of the classic and obligatory works in Hispanic literature. We will see below some of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s most popular rhymes.

1. Rhyme I

I know a giant, strange hymn

that announces in the night of the soul a dawn,

and these pages are from this hymn

cadences that the air expands in the shadows.

I would like to write it down, from the man

taming the rebel, petty language,

with words that were at the same time

sighs and laughter, colours and notes.

But in vain is to fight; that there is no number

capable of locking him up, and just barely, oh beautiful!

if I hold yours in my hands

I could, in your ear, sing it to you alone.

  • Several verses that reflect the limitations of language to express feelings.

2. Rhyme II

I have peered into the deep chasms

of earth and sky,

and I have seen the end or with my eyes

or with the thought.

But alas! from a heart I came to the abyss

and I leaned in for a moment,

and my soul and my eyes were troubled:

It was so deep and so black!

  • A comparison between the world of knowledge and the world of emotions .

3. Rhyme III

In the key of the unsafe bow

whose stones time reddened,

work of rough chisel campeaba

the Gothic coat of arms.

Plume of his granite helmet,

the ivy that hung around

shaded the shield on which one hand

he had a heart.

To contemplate him in the desert square

we both stopped.

And, that, he said, is the full emblem

of my constant love.

Oh, it’s true what he told me then:

truth that the heart

he’ll carry it in his hand… anywhere…

but not on the chest.

  • Verses about the inability to connect with reality.

4. Rhyme VII

From the room in the dark corner,

of its owner perhaps forgotten,

silent and covered with dust,

see the harp.

How many notes he slept on his strings,

as the bird sleeps on the branches,

waiting for the hand of snow

who knows how to rip them off!

Oh, I thought; how many times does genius

so he sleeps in the depths of his soul,

and a voice like Lazarus waits

to say “Get up and walk”!

  • A single object can inspire such inspired rhymes as these.

5. Rhyme IX

Kiss the softly moaning aura

the slight waves that playing curl;

the sun kisses the cloud in the west

and purple and gold tints it;

the call

  • Example of a scene description attributing human characters to different inanimate elements .

    • 6. Rhyme X

    The invisible atoms of the air

    around them throb and swell;

    the heavens melt into rays of gold;

    the earth trembles with joy;

    I hear floating in waves of harmony

    rumble of kisses and flapping of wings; my eyelids close… What’s going on? –

    It’s love that happens!

    • Several sensations related to the way Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer experiences love .

    7. Rhyme XIV

    I meet her sometime around the world

    and passes by me

    and he passes by smiling and I say

    How can you laugh?

    Then another smile appears on my lip

    mask of pain,

    and then I think: -She laughs,

    as I laugh.

    • This is one of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s poems based on the simplicity of a single anecdote.

    8. Rhyme XVI

    When they told me, I felt the cold

    of a steel sheet in the bowels,

    I leaned against the wall, and for a moment

    I lost consciousness of where I was.

    Night fell on my spirit

    in anger and in pity the soul was overwhelmed

    and then I understood why people cry!

    and then I understood why he kills himself!

    The cloud of pain passed… with sorrow

    I managed to babble a few words…

    Who gave me the news? A faithful friend…

    He was doing me a big favor… I thanked him.

    • About the arrival of a bad news.

    9. Rhyme XXI

    What is poetry, you say as you nail

    in my pupil your blue pupil.

    What’s poetry, and you’re asking me?

    Poetry… it’s you.

    • One of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s most famous and memorable poems.

    10. Rhyme XXIII

    For a glance, a world,

    for a smile, a sky,

    for a kiss… I don’t know

    to give you a kiss.

    • Passion is one of the recurrent themes of this artist.

    11. Rhyme XXX

    A tear came to his eyes

    y… my lip a sentence of forgiveness;

    pride spoke and wiped away a cry,

    and the phrase on my lip expired.

    I go one way, she goes another;

    but thinking about our mutual love,

    I still say: Why did I keep quiet that day?

    And she’ll say, “Why didn’t I cry?

    It’s a matter of words, and yet

    neither you nor I ever,

    after the past we will agree

    who’s to blame

    Too bad love is a dictionary

    nowhere to be found

    when pride is simply pride

    and when is dignity!

    • About a breakup.

    • You may be interested in: “The 5 problems of love breakups, and how to deal with them”

    12. Rhyme XXXVIII

    Sighs are air and they go into the air.

    Tears are water and go to the sea.

    Tell me, woman, when love is forgotten,

    Do you know where he’s going?

    • About the veracity of past loves.

    13. Rhyme L

    What the savage who with clumsy hand

    makes a log at his whim a god

    and then before his work he kneels,

    that’s what you and I did.

    We gave real shapes to a ghost,

    of the ridiculous mind invention,

    and made the idol already, we sacrifice

    take me with you!

    Lightning-breaking storm clouds

    and in the fire you will burn the detached borders,

    caught in the dark fog,

    take me with you!

    Take me out of pity to where vertigo

    with the reason that I’m ripping out my memory.

    For pity’s sake! I’m afraid to stay

    with my pain alone!

    • About the vertigo that loneliness produces in certain circumstances.

    15. Rhyme XVI

    If when rocking the blue bells

    from your balcony,

    you think sighing passes the wind

    mumbler,

    knows that hidden among the green leaves

    I sigh.

    If you sound confused behind your back

    vague rumor,

    you think he called you by name

    distant voice,

    knows that among the shadows that surround you

    I’ll call you.

    If there is a frightful crowd at night

    your heart,

    when you feel a breath on your lips

    blazing,

    know that although invisible next to you

    I breathe.

    • About memories that can come back to haunt us.