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Abstract:
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Delmira Agustini (Uruguay 1886--1914) enjoys the reputation of being the first feminist poet of Latin America. Her poetry book Los calices vacios (1913), her best work, was received with much acclaim by the critics and the public. The heart of this investigation lies in the examination of the images which express the main theme in Delmira's Los calices vacios. Starting from the proposition that this is love both erotic and transcendent, we proceed to find two categories which help understand the duality of love: the concept of love and the concept of the lover, expressed by a number of dual images. Subsequently we study the presence of literary currents in Delmira Agustini's Los calices vacios. The examination of different aspects of Romanticism, Parnassianism and Symbolism (which make up Modernismo, the most influential literary current of Delmira's time) contribute to deepen the understanding of the nature and functioning of the images which belong to the concepts of love and the lover. It is hoped that this contribution will throw more light on the complexity and high artistic achievement of Agustini's love imagery. The erotic-transcendent love so masterly expressed in her poetry is worthy of her short, rich life. |
