The Spanish symbolist poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881-1958) was one of his country's greatest writers. His influence on the succeeding generation of writers was profound.

Juan Ramón Jiménez was born in Moguer in Andalusia on Dec. 24, 1881. After early training in a Jesuit school, he was sent to study law in Seville; he chose, however, to study literature, especially romantic poets. In 1900 Jiménez went to Madrid, carrying an ample collection of his early poems, finally published under the delicate titles Ninfeas and Almas de violeta. At this time he suffered a mental breakdown, spending months in clinics in France and in Madrid. In spite of his condition, Jiménez helped to found and direct the literary journal Helios and continued to write poetry. His expressive titles indicate accurately the type of poetry he was writing: Arias tristes (1903), Jardines...