ABSTRACT
The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was once asked which were the best and worst language vehicles for his poetry in translation. After pondering the matter, the poet opined that he preferred Italian, since it "comes closest, because by keeping the values of the words, the sound helps reflect the sense." English poetic expression is far more muted, pace Dylan Thomas, more for the eye than the ear. One only has to compare and contrast any of the recordings made by Neruda and T, S. Eliot to hear the most convincing testimony on this matter. The poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca has offered similar challenges to a translator from Spanish to English over the years. Professor Christopher Maurer has given us a short literary history of Federico Garcia Lorca's poetic development, and there are so many disparate elements synthesized therein that summary is well nigh impossible.
