SOURCE: "Cardenal's Poetic Style: Cinematic Parallels," in Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, Vol. XI, No. 1, 1986, pp. 119-29.

In the following essay, Valdés discusses the cinematic images and techniques Cardenal utilizes in his poem "Oráculo sobre Managua."

In commenting on the ethical purpose and art of the poet, Cardenal writes in his poem "Epístola a monseñor Casaldáliga":

These lines declare even as they demonstrate a belief in the avoidance of highly figurative language, and they suggest the reasons for this belief. Indeed, the reader of Hora 0, Salmos, and the poetry that follows will be struck by the abundant use of literal, commonplace details and the paucity of figurative language. The details include historical and current events, ordinary household objects, commercials, well-known biblical references, the names of some of Cardenal's friends, and familiar, twentieth-century political figures, all having an existence apart from the subjective...