This is a book about poetry in Spanish, and not about the poetry of Spain. The distinction is crucial for reasons of language and geography. To speak of the poetry of Spain is to imply the presence of poems written in languages other than Spanish. Catalan poetry, particularly in the medieval and modern periods, bears favourable comparison with the major literatures of Europe, while Galician poetry, so important at a formative stage of the Iberian lyric, has also experienced a renewal, although it is not as significant a body of poetry as Catalan. As many histories of Spanish literature still consulted today were written before the death of Franco in 1975, it is opportune to point to this linguistic diversity, encouraged by the policy of regional autonomy.

There is another dimension to ‘Spanishness’. As those involved in the promotion of the language as a suitable subject for the school or university curriculum never tire of observing, Spanish is a world language. In this respect it is nearer to English, the language of another early imperial power, than it is to other European languages. It is the language of the greater part of South and Central America and the Caribbean, while it is also spoken by a rapidly growing number of North Americans. The inclusion of Spanish American poetry in this volume, however, is not merely a response to a contemporary politico-linguistic reality.