A preeminent Mexican literary figure, Paz has earned international acclaim for works in which he seeks to reconcile divisive forces in human life. His works also reflect his knowledge of the history, myths, and landscape of Mexico as well as his interest in Surrealism, existentialism, Romanticism, Oriental thought—particularly Buddhism—and diverse political ideologies. In the following excerpt from an essay that was originally published in 1965, Paz discusses the Modernist context of Dar�...

In the following essay, Jrade identifies sociopolitical themes in Darío's poetry, focusing on the literary and political similarities between Spanish-American modernism and an emergent Spanish-American identity.

In the following essay, Jensen traces the influence of theosophic Pythagoreanism on Darío's poetry, noting his classical and Christian sources and the prevalent tensions in his works.

In the following essay, Burt compares images of active and passive women in several of Darío's poems, suggesting that the contrast arose from subconscious motivations in the poet.

In the following excerpt, Torres-Rioseco explains elements of classical aesthetics in Darío's poetry and highlights the poet's emphasis of simplicity and clarity.

Chilean-born scholar and poet specializing in Latin American fiction and verse, Torres-Rioseco was the author of more than a dozen books about Spanish American literature, including three book-length studies of Darío. In the following excerpt, he traces the development of Darío's poetry, refuting claims that it is "superficial."

In the following essay, Davies examines classical and Judeo-Christian images of woman in Prosas profanas, assessing the role of the archetypal female in Darío's verse.

In the following essay, Pearsall contradicts the traditional view of Latin American modernism as an "isolated phenomenon" by revealing the movement's historical and contemporary literary significance as expressed in Darío's poetry.

Bowra was an eminent English critic, literary scholar, and translator whose studies of classical and modern literature are known for their erudition, lucidity, and straightforward style. His books include The Heritage of Symbolism (1943) and The Creative Experiment (1949). In the following excerpt from the transcript of a lecture that was delivered in 1951, Bowra observes that Darío's fame may have exceeded his achievement, and suggests that the poet's aesthetic and literary goals like...

In the following excerpt, the critic assesses Darío's career and literary influence, concluding that he "remains one of the most talked of and least understood of Latin American poets. "

In the following excerpt, Goldberg offers his estimation of Darío's role in Spanish literature.

Kinzer is an American journalist who has served as a bureau chief in Nicaragua and Germany for the New York Times. While working in Managua, Nicaragua, for nearly thirteen years, he developed a native's perspective of Central America's complex politics that few American journalists have been able to duplicate. In the essay below, Kinzer laments the neglect suffered by Darío's poetry in contemporary Nicaragua.