The Exact Names

Abstract

The appearance on August 1, 1918, of Eternidades, a collection of verso desnudo from 1916-1917, fullyjustified the success of El diario de un poeta reciencasado and validated Juan Ramon Jimenez' position as doyen of Spanish poetry. Even Rafael Cansinos-Assens, chronicling the turmoil of creacionismo, acknowledged the renovating spirit behind the book from an author essentially at odds with the Spanish vanguard: Tan solo Juan Ramon Jimenez profiaba por evadirse de los alveolos de sus antiguas colmenas, llevando sus abejas a los nuevos claustros de rota arquitectura en Eternidades.2 Three of the first five pieces in Eternidades are metapoems: Accion, ;lntelijencia, dame, and Vino, primero, pura.3 Their presence initiates a period in Juan Ramon's work in which, like Mallarme and Valery, he will expend creative energy turning into poetry deliberations on the act of poetry. The first metapoem is simply a healthful recognition of fluidity and apprenticeship, with possible overtones from romanticism about the weakness of words: No se con que decirlo / porque no esta hecha todavia mi palabra. The third poem's dance of the veils-Vino, primero, pura-enjoys' the privilege of being a set piece in contemporary Spanish poetry. By contrast, ilntelijencia,