10 LYRICS BY LORCA: 8 THE ROSE

This is a third casida from Lorca's 1936 book Divan del Tamarit. It's noticeable how many of Lorca's poems deploy the idea of the search as an action intrinsic to desire, including several in the selection of 10 lyrics I am posting. The subject of this one is often a symbol of love, and especially in the case of Lorca's friend Salvador Dali, of sexual love. The picture I am showing is a work by Dali 'The Meditative Rose' (1958) in which, though it long post-dates Lorca's poem, the parallels between the lyric and the painting are striking.  It seems possible that Dali may have had his long dead friend's poem in mind.

Casida de la rosa                                             The rose

La rosa                                                                            The rose
no buscaba la aurora:                                                     doesn’t look for the dawn:            
casi eterna en su ramo,                                                  never-ending on its stem,
buscaba otra cosa.                                                          it looks for another thing.

La rosa                                                                            The rose
no buscaba ni ciensia ni sombre:                                   doesn't look for science, or shadows;
confin de carne y sueño                                                  enclosed by flesh and sleep
buscaba otra cosa.                                                           it looks for another thing.

La rosa                                                                            The rose
ne buscaba la rosa.                                                         doesn't look for the rose.
Immóvil por el cielo                                                       Motionless high in the sky
buscaba otra cosa.                                                          it looks for another thing.