As we survey the scene presented by Spanish American poetry after the mid-twentieth century, what strikes us most is the virtual absence of any critical framework within which we can situate all but the most famous of the individual poets. The critic's situation is rather like that of someone hacking a way through a jungle which contains a few clearings here and there but remains basically unmapped. Occasionally he or she will meet someone who is similarly engaged and exchange a few cautious signals, before both proceed on divergent paths. The trees are many; the landmarks few; the danger of getting lost ever present. Thus, to take only a few prominent examples: Gonzalez and Treece, in The Gathering of Voices (1992), deal with Neruda, Cardenal, Dalton, Parra, Lihn and a few others. William Rowe, in Poets of Contemporary Latin America (2000), includes Parra, Cardenal, Gonzalo Rojas, Jorge Eduardo Eilson, Juan L. Ortiz, Ana E. Terán, Raúl Zurita and Carmen Ollé. Carmen Alemany Bay, in Poética coloquial hispanoamericana (1997), looks primarily at Jaime Sabines, Roberto Fernandez Retamar and Gioconda Belli, with passing remarks on Mario Benedetti and Enrique Lihn. Rosa Sarabia, in Poetas de la palabra hablada (1997), chooses Raúl Gonzalez Tunón, Parra, Rosario Castellanos, Luisa Futoranski and Cardenal. Gustav Siebenmann in Poesía y poéticas del siglo xx en la América Hispana y el Brasil (1977), listed thirty-seven poets from and including Darío, the latest being Sara de Ibanez, José Lezama Lima, Paz, Parra, Juan Liscano, Cintio Vitier, Roberto Juarroz, Cardenal, Carlos Germán Belli and Enrique Lihn.