Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Ballad Of The Moon, Moon" by Federico García Lorca is a poem of surreal beauty and haunting imagery, illuminating the realms of myth, mortality, and cultural superstition. The moon, often an emblem of mystery or feminine power, here enters the human world, visiting a forge in a bustle of "flowering nard." Right away, the reader is plunged into an atmosphere of enigmatic wonder.

The young boy in the forge, perhaps the poem's most puzzling character, becomes the focal point for the moon's visit. He "stares" at the moon, fascinated yet fearful. The moon reciprocates his attention, yet her interaction comes with an undertone of seductive danger. Described as "lubricious and pure," the moon's "breasts of hard tin" hint at an allure that's both magnetic and untouchable.

The boy and the moon then engage in a dialogue fraught with apprehension. The boy warns the moon to flee from the approaching gypsies, who would use the moon's heart to create "white necklaces and rings." This seems to suggest that even celestial bodies are not immune to human exploitation. The moon's response hints at fatalism, resigning the boy to a similar fate of being found "on the anvil with your lively eyes closed tight." Her tone suggests that escape is futile; we're all subject to some form of cosmic determinism.

The entrance of the gypsies adds a layer of palpable dread and cultural stereotyping. Presented as ominous figures "dream and bronze," with "their heads held high, their hooded eyes," the gypsies embody an archaic fear, a menace to both the boy and the moon. The night owl's calls amplify the sense of impending doom, adding a layer of natural foreboding to this already tense tableau.

But then Lorca unveils a shocking twist: the moon ascends, taking the child with her. It's an act that subverts the previous warnings and frightful atmosphere. Perhaps the moon herself is the ultimate gypsy, beguiling the boy to escape his earthly confines, joining her in the elusive sky. This moment triggers a chorus of lament from the gypsies, turning them from potential aggressors into mourners. They cry in the forge, left behind, as the moon and the child ascend to some inscrutable fate.

"The air is veiwing all, views all. The air is at the viewing." These final lines, cryptic as they are, suggest a kind of omniscient witnessing. Every act, every lament, every escape, is part of a cosmic spectacle, observed by the unfeeling universe. It leaves us pondering the cruel beauty of life's transient moments and the mysteries that remain forever ungraspable.

In "Ballad Of The Moon, Moon"," Lorca combines elements of folklore, cultural fears, and metaphysical questions to create a poem that captivates and bewilders. It's a journey into the surreal, reminding us that the border between the earthly and the cosmic is not just thin but permeable, tragic, and inexplicably beautiful.

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...