This book provides a thoroughly edited text of Antonio Machado's Campos de Castilla, one of twentieth-century Spain's best-loved volumes of poetry. An extensive Introduction offers an in-depth commentary on his themes, techniques and metaphysical manner. In addition to examining the various influences on his work - Krausism, Bergsonism and the '98 Generation's concern for 'el problema de Espana' - the Introduction looks closely at Machado's life, especially the years of compisition, 1907-1917, and it traces the critical phases in his poetic development: the discovery of the Castilian landscape in Soria, his growing political consciousness, his personal tragedy as a bereaved husband, his existential meditations in Baeza. Annotations in the form of Endnotes provide additional factual information and clarify points of difficulty in the text.
