Poetry
The Equestrian Turtle
La tortuga ecuestre
César Moro · 1957
Synopsis
A love song addressed to Antonio, a young soldier met in Mexico City. The book does not tell the story of an affair: the poems, in a passionate language new for the author, belong to surrealist writing, and desire overflows ordinary language on all sides. It is the only time the poet, who wrote in French, writes an entire book in the language of his childhood.
Context
The only major work the author wrote in Spanish, the book was composed in Mexico City between 1938 and 1939, the year of the letters and poems addressed to Antonio. It did not appear at the time: André Coyné, the poet's friend and literary executor, had it printed in Lima in 1957, the year after his death, under the title La tortuga ecuestre y otros poemas. Américo Ferrari reissued it in Madrid in 2002, another edition appeared in Santiago de Chile in 2022, and Michèle Gendreau-Massaloux and Marc Cheymol translated it into French in 2025.
Who it is for
Poems in Spanish, of passionate lyricism; they tell no story and read like a single song.
Prizes and reception
The major book in Spanish of a poet who wrote almost everything in French, and whom his publishers made known after his death.