Poetry
Bajo el sol de Tarija
Not translated into English
Óscar Alfaro · 1947
Synopsis
A collection turned towards the author's native valley, around Tarija. The poems speak of the feast of the Rosary, a spring romance, the tragedy of the chapaco, the departure for the village, the farewell, and a few verses for children; along the way we meet the blossoming peach tree, the young peasant girl, the dove of the soul. The tone is that of the sketch of local manners and of the copla, lyrical and attached to the land, and the language keeps the turns of phrase of the valley's speech.
Context
The collection came out from the graphic workshops J. Birbuet, in fifty-six pages; the sources date it to 1947, one other to 1949. It is its author's first book, and Juana de Ibarbourou praised its poetic and human sense. It opens the Tarija vein of the work, that of love of the native land, which the other vein, poetry for childhood, would soon eclipse. The chapaco speech passes in it just as it is pronounced, velay, pal pueblo, without a gloss for the passing reader.
Who it is for
Fifty-six pages in Spanish, with no French translation. Short poems, written in the language of the peasants of the valley.
Prizes and reception
The debut book of a poet whom Bolivia today regards as its great poet of childhood.
Sources for this page 6
The pages consulted to check this page.