He grew up surrounded by family disagreements that led him to evade himself from reality by writing, thus forming a certain romantic and dream ideal in all his early compositions. Later during his travels to Chile and Argentina he comes into contact with the new poetic trends, and, through them, with French literature. He is only 21 when he reaches his first big success with Azul. In 1892 he traveled to Spain, on the occasion of the centenary of the discovery of America, and met the main literary figures. 

He makes a synthesis of Parnassianism and Symbolism. The first defends art for art's sake, establishing a cult of absolute external perfection in writing, with the goal of obtaining a serene, balanced, and impassive poetry. It is poetry understood like a marble block that the sculptor carefully polishes to reveal the dream it embodies out of the resistant block. Different from Parnassianism, Symbolism is a current of poetic idealism that starts with the French poet Baudelaire (1821-1867). The Symbolists move away from the academicism into which the Parnassians fell. The cult of external beauty does not satisfy them and they want to go beyond appearances, without abandoning aesthetic goals. His verses are full of mystery, dreams, of those symbols that give the school its name. It is poetry that aims to suggest everything that is hidden in the depths of the essence of things. Hispanic Modernism is largely a synthesis of Parnassianism. and Symbolism.

Darío's greatest success was to make a brilliant synthesis of the "isms" that he saw circulating around him. He remarkably expands the expressive resources of the language, with verses composed with extraordinary use of adjectives and ornamental vocabulary full of color and glossy plastic effects. In addition to the pictorial effects, the notable musicality of his compositions varies in tone, sometimes playful, and sometimes languid. He is a master of the use of phonic resources, such as imitative harmony or alliteration dominating an extensive vocabulary,  always with a predominance of cultured and evocative terms, placed with singular virtuosity to construct rhetorical images and symbols. Greatly is also his enrichment of the rhythms, using special effects of accentuation or rhyme to convey the musical values ​​of his poetry. 

Azul

Cantos de vida y esperanza

Poemas de otoño

Rimas

El canto errante

El poema de otoño

Prosas profanas by Rubén Darío is composed of a set of poems that the poet describes an exuberant and mysterious fantasy world, full of princesses, kings, knights, fairies, and mythological characters.

Poetry

Modernism is a literary movement that arises as a reaction against the culture and literature of the nineteenth century, showing the dissatisfaction of the writer with the world around him. In Spain, the desire for renewal occurs in the midst of political and cultural decadence. Modernism has a marked anti-bourgeois sign, although it was born in the bosom of the bourgeoisie and rose up against what was judged as prosaic literature immediately before it. Modernists are young writers devoted to aesthetic renewal, who have adopted the name of modernists with a provocative attitude towards their enemies, who originally called them that. 

Hispanic modernism is a synthesis of the literary styles of Parnassianism and Symbolism, coming from French poetry of the second half of the 19th century. Parnassianism establishes the cult of formal perfection, under the ideal of a serene, balanced, and impassive poetry, framed in pure and sculptural lines. Symbolism, somewhat later, is a current of poetic idealism that has its origins in the French poet Baudelaire. They move away from the academicism into which the Parnassians fell. The cult of external beauty does not satisfy them and they want to go beyond mere appearances. For them, the sensible world is only a reflection, or symbol, of the hidden realities, being the poet's mission to discover them.

Modernists borrow from Parnasianism the conception of poetry as a marble block, exotic themes, and an emphasis on sensory values. From Symbolism, they take the art of suggesting and the varied musicality. Although there is a sector of its theme that focuses on the intimacy of the poet, above all Modernism, is characterized by the search for beauty, both in theme and style. Favorite themes are those of evasion into the distant place in time, hence his taste for the classic and mythology, injecting poetry with a pagan atmosphere. Other places of escape are medieval stories and legends, as well as exotic places, such as the  Orient and the Nordic countries.

Modernism supposes a profound renewal of language, with an astonishing expansion of expressive resources. This takes place in two directions, in the brilliance of the great effects and splendorous evocations and in the intense sense of the delicate, with tones in accordance with the expression of intimacy. Modernist authors have a prodigious command of the language, being masters in the use of phonic resources, such as imitative harmony or alliteration. They dominate a vast lexicon, with a predominance of cultured and evocative terms. Poetry in the Castilian language came out of Modernism completely different from what it had been previously, setting an example of artistic concern and creative freedom through language.

Modernism

Rubén Darío publishes Azul, a collection writings of revolutionionary  poetic structure. 

José Martí publishes his collection of poems, Versos libres, written between 1878 and 1882.

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Prosas profanas (1896)

By Rubén Darío

Time Period: Modernism

Genre: Poetry

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