Dámaso Alonso was one of the strongest forces in the intellectual and cultural history of twentieth-century Spain. His contributions to literary and stylistic analysis inspired a new approach to literary criticism, particularly in poetry. As a member of the Generation of 1927, which included such poets as Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, and Vicente Aleixandre, Alonso initially embraced the prevailing aesthetics of "pure poetry"--the poetry of abstraction. Yet, following the Spanish Civil War, he began to forge an anguished and existential vision that restored the human condition as a vital theme in Spanish poetry and offered a new freedom of technique and style. As teacher and mentor he exerted a singular influence on an entire generation of young poets--an influence continuing to the present day.

Alonso was born in Madrid on 22 October 1898 into an upper-middle-class family...