Rubén Darío Study Instructions and Questions |
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Read "El cisne" in Spanish or English or both; read it both silently and out loud before answering these questions. |
Q1. |
How many lines does the poem have? How many syllables does each Spanish line have? How many stanzas does the poem have? Can you find the rhyme scheme? (Hint: it's both very tradition and modernista . What kind of poem is this? |
B. |
Notice the slight break or pause in the middle of each line. It's called a cæsura, and each half-line is called a hemistich. |
Q2. |
According to the poet, in the first stanza, something amazing happened, and something changed. What happened and what changed? |
Q3. |
In the second stanza, look up Wagnerian Swan, Germanic Thor, and Argantir. What are they references to? |
Q4. |
In the third stanza, what do Helen and Leda refer to? This stanza begins an analogy. What is the first part of the analogy? |
Q5. |
In the last stanza, the poet refers to a "new Poetry". What is this new poetry? |
C |
If you can read Spanish, read the poem again and try to get a sense of the poem's sounds, rhymes, rhythms? What sensation do you get and how does that contribute to the poem's meaning? If you read English only, reread the translation and see if you can imagine what Spanish elements shine through the translation. |
Q6. |
In what ways is that poem modernista (Modernist)? |
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