قصة الكتاب :
The Gypsy Ballads are a collection of verses written by Federico Garcia Lorca between 1924 to 1927. It was first published in 1928 in Spanish under the title Romancero gitano. The entire collection comprises of 18 lyrical poems, of which three were classified by Lorca as historical ballads. The original Spanish compilation was translated into English by Lorca’s niece, Gloria Garcia Lorca and Jane Duran, a family friend. The translation has been true to the original and has managed to represent the power of Lorca’s poetry convincingly. It is a treat to read with its kaleidoscope of sensory images, characters and stories. All of the 18 poems deal with the Romani people i.e. the gypsies and their culture, but they are used as a theme for Lorca to convey the message he intends to. The book became immensely popular upon publication and can easily be called Lorca’s best-known book of poetry. It is in many ways a stylized representation of the many ballads that continue to be told in the Spanish countryside. Lorca described his book as a book of Andalusia – one that he believed captured its spirit and reflected it in its pages. Most the books are full of mythic allusions, Freudian symbolism and metaphors.\r\n
\r\nLorca was the most important Spanish writer of the 20th century. He found inspiration for his work from the folklore and Gypsy culture of Andalusia. Lorca’s poetry is a tribute to the Spanish cultural diversity, that existed at the very time the Francisco Franco regime pushed for all regional and ethnic identities to be combined under the single idea of Spanishness. \r\n
\r\nThe stories have on display the seven deadly sins that Bosch explored years earlier. The reader gets to witness the lust of The Cheating Wife and her gypsy lover, the dark sorrow of the abandoned girl in the Dreamwaking Ballad, the greed of the Sons of Benameji who murder a gypsy to steal his shoes and jewellery, the wrath of the rival gangs that kill each other and finally the sloth, gluttony and vanity of the Spanish Civil Guard as they terrorize the peasants. Lorca knew that his writings would make him a marked man but did not flinch. The meaning of the writings has not been provided and is left open to the reader for interpretation. Although Lorca gained fame with his work in the Spanish and Hispanic world, it was only after his death that he earned recognition as a playwright. \r\n