AMADO NERVO: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS, PHRASES - LITERATURE - 2024

Amado Ruiz de Nervo Ordaz (1870-1919) was a Mexican writer and poet. His work was framed within the current of modernism, standing out for being fine, elegant and highly creative. His poetry, particularly, many times evidenced the melancholic personality of the author.

Nervo's work was influenced by the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío; at first it had religious overtones, and special elegance in language and sound. Later, his poetry was transformed due to his relationships with Spanish and French poets.

Loved nerve. Source: taringa, via Wikimedia Commons

On a personal level, happiness was not always on the side of the writer. During his life he went through several difficult episodes: the loss of several loved ones made him sad and nostalgic. It was inevitable that his feelings and mood were reflected in his lyrics due to the melancholy he suffered.

Biography

Birth and family

Amado Nervo was born on August 2, 1870 in Nayarit, Tepic, in the nucleus of a middle-class family, but with serious financial problems. His parents were Amado Nervo y Maldonado and Juana Ordaz y Núñez. When the future poet was barely nine years old, he was orphaned.

Nervo Education

Amado Nervo carried out his first years of study at the Colegio San Luís Gonzaga in the city of Jacona, in the state of Michoacán. Later, in Zamora de Hidalgo, he trained in philosophy and science. In addition, for a year, at the seminary in that town, he studied law.

Change of course

Since the death of Nervo's father, his family's financial situation has not been good. This led him to withdraw from his academic preparation in 1891. Due to this, he returned to his hometown, and then went to Mazatlán, where he practiced as a lawyer's assistant, at the same time he began to write in a local newspaper.

New opportunities in Mexico City

In 1894 Amado Nervo had already settled in Mexico City, determined to give continuity to the journalistic career that began in Mazatlán. At that time he began to write for the Blue Magazine, which was a showcase for the modernist movement and a meeting point for the ideas of many poets.

Nervo's work began to give him recognition among the intellectuals of the time. This allowed him to come into contact with Mexican writers such as the poet Luis Gonzaga Urbina, and others of international stature, among whom were Ramón de Campoamor and Rubén Darío.

Nervo in

Amado's journalistic work spread to the newspapers El Mundo, El Nacional and El Universal; But it was in El Mundo where he became part of the board of directors. There he was in charge of the humorous content insert El Mundo Cómico; later the supplement became independent.

Façade of El Universal, the Mexican newspaper where Nervo worked. Source: LDAB, via Wikimedia Commons

The Mexican writer managed to achieve fame when El bachiller came to light in 1895. Three years later, he ratified it with the poetry collections Black Pearls and Mystics. He was also part of the creation and direction of the Modern Magazine, between 1898 and 1900.

Stay in Paris

Amado Nervo, within his profession as a journalist, worked as a correspondent in Paris for El Imparcial, on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition in 1900. During that time he met writers of the stature of Oscar Wilde, Jean Moréas and Leopoldo Lugones, and also consolidated friendship with the poet Rubén Darío.

Oscar Wilde, one of the great writers that Amado Nervo met in Paris. Source: Napoleon Sarony, via Wikimedia Commons

The time that the writer spent in Europe led him to lean towards the philosophy of Parnassus, which rejected the romantic to give way to the pure. His writings are from that time: Poems, The Exodus and the Flowers of the Road, and The Voices. At this time, he also took the opportunity to visit several European cities.

Love life of Amado

Amado Nervo's stay in Paris, apart from connecting him with important intellectuals, also did so with the love of his life: Ana Cecilia Luisa Dailliez. They began their relationship in 1901, which lasted until 1912, the year he passed away. Sadness led him to write La amada inmóvil. Ana left a daughter: Margarita.

Nervo as a diplomat

In 1905 Amado Nervo returned to his country, where he had the opportunity to teach Spanish at the National Preparatory School. Then he was appointed secretary of the embassy of his country in Spain. He continued his literary career and wrote works such as Juana de Asbaje and En voz baja.

Last years and death

The last years of Amado Nervo's life passed between his diplomatic and literary career. However, due to the Mexican Revolution, that trade was stopped for a time until it was retaken in 1918, when Uruguay and Argentina were assigned.

Tomb of Amado Nervo, in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons, Mexico. Source: Thelmadatter, via Wikimedia Commons

It didn't take long for the writer's life to die down. Nervo died on May 24, 1919, in Uruguay, due to kidney disease, when he was barely forty-eight years old. His remains rest in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons in his native Mexico.

Style

The literary style of Amado Nervo was characterized by belonging to the modernist movement. However, many of his writings were in opposition to this current, because they were more aligned with his experiences and personal feelings, where sadness and nostalgia had the greatest importance.

The language used by the Mexican writer in his literature was cultured, well elaborated and refined. Nervo was a perfectionist writer, in his work you can see his care for the form of the verse, as well as the relevance of the stanzas.

Evolution and theme

The work of Amado Nervo was initially oriented by his religious interests, and was characterized by being mystical. However, after his trip to Paris and his contact with other writers, they allowed him to evolve towards a subject more towards man, of universal interest and with greater breadth.

Plays

Poetry

- Black pearls (1898).

- Mystics (1898).

- Poems (1901). Edition published in Paris.

- Sister Water (1901).

- The exodus and the flowers of the road (1902).

- Heroic lyre (1902).

- The voices (1904).

- The interior gardens (1905).

- In a low voice (1909).

- Serenity (1912).

- In peace (1915).

- Elevation (1916).

- Fullness (1918).

- The lotus pond (1919).

- The divine archer (1920).

- The immobile beloved (1920).

- Complete poems (1935).

- Morning of the poet (1938).

- The last moon (1943).

Brief description of some of his most representative collections of poems

Black pearls

It is considered the first collection of poems by Amado Nervo. Most of the verses contained in the book were originally published in the different newspapers where the writer worked. This work was similar in theme to Mystique, a manuscript that also came to light in 1898.

Shield of the National Preparatory School, where Nervo taught. Source: UNAM, via Wikimedia Commons

It was a short work, composed of more than seventy poems oriented towards the religious. It was also a reflection of the poet's personal experiences, in relation to the loss of family; the feelings of sadness and loneliness gave rise to a conversation between the poet and a spiritual deity.

Fragment of the poem "V"

"Do you see the sun, quenching its pure light

in the waves of the amber sea?

So my luck sank its brilliance

so as not to be reborn on my way.

Look at the moon: tearing the veil

from the darkness, to shine begins.

So it rose above my sky

the funeral star of sadness.

Do you see the lighthouse on the rotten rock

that the restless sea with its foam

carpet?

This is how faith radiates over my life, lonely, pure, hidden:

Like the face of an angel in the shade! ”.

Mystical

It was one of the author's first poetic works, so it was focused on his youth experiences and his passion for religion. The content of the work is autobiographical in nature, its experience in the seminary was notorious, while there were some poems oriented towards the sensual and erotic.

Fragment

“O Lord, God of hosts, Eternal Father, Eternal King, for this world that you created

with the virtue of your power, because you said: let it be light, and your word was the light;

because you coexist with the Word, because with you the Word is

from ever and ever

and without tomorrow and without yesterday… ”.

The inner gardens

This work by Amado Nervo consisted of a set of poems, of autobiographical content and with some anticipated features about an unspecified love relationship. Perhaps it was an inspiration given his real situation with Margarita, the daughter of his beloved Ana.

The theme of the collection of poems revolves around love for a woman named Damiana. The author oriented the work towards overcoming love disappointment; the language used by Amado Nervo was cultured and lyrical. In it, the writer did not put aside his religious influences and interests.

Poems included in this collection of poems

- "My verse".

- "Night".

- "Sad".

- "Naive".

- "The May Flower Song".

- "Vagueness".

- "Who is Damiana?"

- "This sweet and serious girl…".

- "You come with the dawn."

- "Exhalation".

- "Damiana is getting married."

- "They are the dreams that pass."

- "Return".

Fragment of "Who is Damiana?"

"The woman who in my lush

youth could have been

–If God had wanted–

mine, in the inner landscape

of a paradise of love

and poetry;

the one who hero or villager

'my villager' or 'my princess'

it would have been called, that

it is, in my book, Damiana ”.

Quietly

This collection of poems by Nervo was a dedication to his mother Juana Ordaz who died close to the date of publication of the book. The work was a kind of confession by the author himself about his wishes for a woman within the texts who became his ally on his literary path.

The language used by the poet in the book is subtle and implicit, which perhaps gave rise to the name of the work. Perhaps Amado's intention was to strengthen ties with readers, especially women, in a society that was in the hands of the male figure.

Serenity

It was a work published under a Madrid publishing house. In this collection of poems Amado Nervo reflected the serenity and inner peace that he found in his life, at the same time that he expressed hopelessness. However, he kept in mind the possibility of love in the face of loss.

The structure that the poet gave to the book was more for his personal organization than for the reader himself. Also, he listed them and gave them a title. The intention of the writer was the reflection and evolution of being, all framed within symbolism and modernism.

Fragment

"Beyond impatience

from angry seas, the quiet indifference

of the iridescent limbs

and the placid existence

of monsters not dreamed of.

… Beyond the insane river

of life, of the bustle

passion, the Pacific Ocean…

with its severe gray wave, with its immense inert back

that does not whip flying

any breeze… ”.

In peace

It was a poem in which Amado Nervo expressed with a clear and very personal language his gratifying position in front of life, as a consequence of his evolution and maturity in the face of different experiences. The writing was later included in his work Elevation in 1916.

The poem was a reflection of the poet's personal learnings, which were confirmed in a first-person narration. The final message was the responsibility of the human being before life, the experiences lived and the path that he had to travel.

Fragment

"Very close to my sunset, I bless you, life, because you never gave me even failed hope, no unfair work, no undeserved penalty;

because I see at the end of my rough path

that I was the architect of my own destiny…

I certainly found the nights of my sorrows long;

but you didn't just promise me good nights;

and instead I had some holy serene…

I loved, I was loved, the sun caressed my face.

Life, you owe me nothing!

Life, we are at peace! ”.

Elevation

In this work, the Mexican author put aside religiosity and also youthful passions. His themes went more towards philosophical and reflective themes. Amado Nervo managed to expose with this title tranquility and peace, a calm and serene spirit.

The main themes were related to love and peace. Nervo also developed the poems both with free verses, as well as assonance and consonant rhymes. At the same time, he used a lot of metaphors. He gave readers easily understandable poems.

Fragment

"Mysterious mother of all genesis, mother

portentous, mute and faithful of the lofty souls;

immeasurable nest of all suns and worlds;

a sea in which the fiats of all causes tremble!…

domain in which the azure wings of dreams fly:

be my mirror pupils that copy your orbs;

be your silence subtle communion of my life;

may your arcane divine sting of my mind;

be your remote truth, behind the grave, my inheritance ”.

The immobile beloved

It was one of the best known poetic works of Amado Nervo, due to its heartbreaking and painful content. In it, he reflected the suffering left to him by the sudden death of the love of his life: Ana Cecilia Luisa Dailliez, after typhoid fever.

The collection of poems was made by the writer as a way of venting his grief, so he kept it intimate. However, a year after his death the work was published, and the expressiveness and feelings of the poet transcended.

Fragment

“He kissed me a lot; as if afraid

leave very early… His love was

restless, nervous.

I did not understand such feverish haste.

My rude intention

never saw very far…

She sensed!

She sensed that the term was short, that the candle wounded by the lash

from the wind, he was already waiting… and in his anxiety

he wanted to leave me his soul in each hug, put an eternity in his kisses ”.

Novels

- Pascual Aguilera (In two editions: 1892 and 1899).

- The bachelor (1895).

- The giver of souls (1899).

- The disinterested devil (1916).

Brief description of some of his most representative novels

The bachiller

It turned out to be one of the most recognized novels by Amado Nervo, it was short and naturalistic in theme. The work was composed of autobiographical nuances, to which religion, eroticism, love and human evolution were added.

Story plot

The novel tells the story of Felipe, a young man with a melancholic personality and religious inclination, who made the decision to study theology. However, the disciplinary nature of the race caused his health to decline.

Felipe goes to his uncle Don Jerónimo's ranch, the place where he grew up after the death of his mother. There she finds love in Asunción, her friend since childhood, and he confesses it to her. The story takes a turn when the bachelor, Felipe, made the decision to "save himself" through castration.

The novel was structured in four parts: a preamble, "In arms of the ideal", "Temptation" and "Origins". Also the author, in his affinity for religion, gave rise to the story with a verse from the Gospel of Saint Matthew, which referred to getting rid of a member of the body if it causes one to fall into temptation.

The giver of souls

It was the third novel by Amado Nervo, its publication was given in the supplement El Mundo Cómico. The content of the story was developed within the humorous, philosophical and fanciful; It was a work related to the link between man and his soul.

Fragment

"Ah! I am sad and a bit dreamer, I have the melancholy of the Sunday evening, total absence of affection, not even an affection: my kingdom for affection, my cat, that taciturn emblem of the celibate weary me. My cook, Dona Corpus, no longer invents and calves about her stews. Books tire me… Do I wish to have a wish…?

Stories

- Souls that pass (1906).

- They (Unknown date).

- Fullness (1918).

- Mysterious tales (1921).

- The balconies (1922).

Brief description of some of his most representative stories

Mysterious tales

This work was a posthumous collection of a series of stories by the Mexican author. The stories were framed within the imaginary. In addition, three phases predominated: that of romance and passion, that of modern elements, and a last more philosophical and also religious.

Some of the titles that made up the series of stories were:

- "The beautiful yaqui."

- "Those who do not want to be loved."

- "The horoscope".

- "Don Diego at night".

- "Dead and risen."

- "The capitalism".

- "History of a franc that did not circulate".

- "A Marseillaise".

- "Buquineando".

- "The inner sign".

- "The country where the rain was bright."

- "The snake that bites its tail."

- "The fallen angel".

Fragment of "The beautiful yaqui"

“One day my friend noticed a large, slim Indian woman with a muddy face.

"Why is that woman so dirty?" –He asked the interpreter.

The interpreter replied:

- Because it is pretty; she left the boyfriend in her land and does not want 'foreigners' to see her.

The Indian woman, meanwhile, motionless, stubbornly lowered her eyes.

-Let's see! –Said my friend–, let them wash his face. Bring water!…

His short mouth, red as the prickly pear; her cheeks matte with a delicious flesh; her sensual, half-open nose; and above all that, her bright and sad eyes… ”.

Test

- The exodus and the flowers of the road (1902).

- Juana de Asbaje (1910). Biography of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

- My philosophies (1912).

Theater

- Consuelo (1899, premiered at the Teatro Principal in Mexico City).

Phrases

- “Love as you can, love who you can, love everything you can. Don't worry about the purpose of your love ”.

- "True love works miracles, because it is already the greatest miracle."

- “Those who ask for logic in life forget that it is a dream. Dreams have no logic. Let's wait to wake up ”.

- "Higher souls are only afraid of one thing: to commit an injustice."

- “There is something as necessary as daily bread, and it is the peace of each day. The peace without which bread is bitter ”.

- "The most obvious sign that the truth has been found is inner peace."

- “If you are proud, you should love solitude; the proud are always left alone ”.

- "The soul is a glass that only fills with eternity."

- "I have lived because I have dreamed a lot."

- "If living alone is dreaming, let's do good dreaming."

References

1. Loved nerve. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (2004-2019). Loved nerve. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. Moreno, V., Ramírez, M. and others. (2019). Loved nerve. (N / a): Search Biographies. Recovered from: Buscabiografias.com.
4. Mejías, A. (S. f.). Loved nerve. Spain: Cervantes Virtual Library. Recovered from: cervantesvirtual.com.
5. Amado Nervo: biography, characteristics, poems and more. (2019). (N / a): Historical Characters. Recovered from: charactershistoricos.com.