A Barcelona is a
poem
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
by
Jacint Verdaguer, published in 1883. It is a triumphant song of the transformation undergone by
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
since the mid-19th century.
Consisting of 46
quatrain
A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.
Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...
s of
Alexandrine verses, and a re-editing process started in 1874 and completed in 1875, it is the fruit of a labour started in 1883. The author then lengthened and amended it three times, the last two shortly before its publication.
Analysis
The first three stanzas present the city protected by the mountain of
Montjuïc, identified with
Alcides (Hercules), the mythic founder of Barcino according to a legend that Verdaguer had already picked up on in The Atlàntida (1878).
Next are sixteen quatrains, in which the poet celebrates the demolition of the walls and the extension of the city (1859), with a prophecy of bursting growth, beyond the Collserola mountain range and the Besos and Llobregat rivers, as if "Paris of the Seine" had been transplanted to
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
.
However, the three following stanzas, in the name of the homeland, reject any awe of the French capital, affirming instead the personality of Barcelona, which had been the Catalan center of a medieval Mediterranean empire and «She shone on Spanish lands as eastern star».
In the 23rd to 40th stanzas, the poet evokes the historical characters and the monuments that distinguish the city.
The six final stanzas, written from the perspective of the Cathedral, imaginatively transfigured into
King Jaume I, formulate the ideological conclusion, the providential perspective, in which Barcelona and Catalonia are exhorted to promote economic progress, based on their industries, but without ever renouncing the Catholic tradition, since in the end «God alone brings down or lifts up peoples».
Reception
In spite of the rhetorical flourishes denounced by some critics, the poem, rewarded with an extraordinary prize in the
Floral Games (''Jocs florals'') of 1883, expresses faithfully the expectations of the elite of the period. This is confirmed by the fact that the Ajuntament (city council) published a popular edition of the poem, with a print run of 100,000 copies.
On the other hand, the poem has also provoked numerous imitations and responses, noteworthy of which are the "New Ode to Barcelona" by Joan Maragall and the "Ode to Barcelona" by Pere Quart.
The full, annotated text of the poem is included in ''Selected Poems of Jacint Verdaguer: A Bilingual Edition'', edited and translated by Ronald Puppo, with an introduction by Ramon Pinyol
[Torrents, University of Chicago Press, 2007.]
See also
*"
Oda nova a Barcelona", by
Joan Maragall
Joan Maragall i Gorina (; 10 October 1860 in Barcelona – 20 December 1911) was a Spanish poet, journalist and translator, the foremost member of the ''modernisme'' movement in literature. His manuscripts are preserved in the Joan Maragall ...
References
{{Reflist
Jacint Verdaguer
1883 poems
Barcelona in popular culture