Medardo Ángel Silva Rodas (June 8, 1898 at Guayaquil – June 10, 1919 at Guayaquil) was an

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

ian poet and a member of the ''

Generación decapitada The ''Generación decapitada'' (Spanish for "Beheaded/Decapitated Generation") was a literary group formed by four young Ecuadorian poets in the first decades of the 20th century. The group comprised two men from the city of Guayaquil, Medardo Áng ...

''. The "Decapitated Generation" was a group of four young Ecuadorian poets in the first decades of the 20th century. Two men from Guayaquil, Medardo Ángel Silva and

Ernesto Noboa y Caamaño Ernesto Noboa y Caamaño (August 2, 1889 – December 7, 1927) was an Ecuadorian poet and a member of the " Generación decapitada" (The Decapitated Generation). Noboa y Caamaño came from a wealthy family in Guayaquil, and was always plagued b ...

, and two men from Quito,

Arturo Borja Arturo Borja Pérez (1892 – November 13, 1912) was an Ecuadorian poet who was part of a group known as the " Generación decapitada" (Decapitated Generation). He was the first in the group to excel as a modernist poet. He did not produce a lot ...

and

Humberto Fierro Humberto Fierro (1890 – August 23, 1929) was an Ecuadorian poet who was part of a group known as the " Generación decapitada" (Decapitated Generation). The group is called "decapitada", or decapitated, because all its members committed suicide ...

, were the precursors of ''

modernismo ''Modernismo'' is a literary movement that took place primarily during the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth-century in the Spanish-speaking world, best exemplified by Rubén Darío who is also known as the father of ''Modernismo''. The ter ...

'' in Ecuador. These four writers were greatly influenced by the modernist movement of

Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (January 18, 1867 – February 6, 1916), known as Rubén Darío ( , ), was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as ''modernismo'' (modernism) that flourished at the end of ...

and by 19th-century French romantic poetry. Though they knew each other and dedicated poems to each other, they never met together to create a true literary group. The term "generación decapitada" originated in the middle of the 20th century, when Ecuadorian journalists and historians decided to name them, noting similarities in the authors' poetry. Silva was the lowest class of the four poets, troubled by his dark skin and economic status. He did however attend a prestigious high school and work as a journalist at '' El Telégrafo'', a major newspaper in the city. His poems reflect fantasy and a fascination with death. The cause of his own death is not certain; he died at 21 while visiting a young girlfriend. He is believed to have committed suicide, but may have been murdered as the result of a love triangle. Silva's poem "El alma en los labios" was made into a song and made famous by the Ecuadorian singer

Julio Jaramillo Julio Alfredo Jaramillo Laurido (October 1, 1935 – February 9, 1978) was a notable Ecuadorian singer and recording artist who performed throughout Latin America, achieving great fame for his renditions of boleros, valses, pasillos, tangos, a ...

Bibliography

* ''El árbol del bien y del mal'' (1918) * ''María Jesú'' (novel, 1919) * ''La máscara irónica'' (esays) * ''Trompetas de oro'' * ''El alma en los labios'' * ''Obras completas'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Medardo Angel 1898 births 1919 suicides 1919 deaths 20th-century Ecuadorian poets Writers from Guayaquil Suicides by firearm in Ecuador