From After Love

Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984) was born in Seville and studied law at the University of Madrid. His early poetry, written mostly in free verse, is highly surrealistic and praises the beauty of nature. Later work concentrated on themes of fellowship and spiritual unity. In 1977 Aleixandre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature at a time when his poetry was barely known outside Spain, with just two small editions available in American translation. Left to go out of print, A Longing for the Light, which surveys fifty years of his work, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 1985. Aleixandre died in Madrid.