The Poet and the Thinker: The Dialogue between Antonio Machado and Ortega y Gasset

Abstract

While the impact of philosophical ideas in Antonio Machado’s poetry has received critical attention, his dialogue with José Ortega y Gasset has not been the object of much critical scrutiny. Even less consideration has been given to Ortega’s engagement with Machado’s work. However, Ortega’s review of Machado’s collection Campos de Castilla (El Imparcial, 22 July 1912) was the starting point of a life-long relationship, mostly conducted in writing. Although their correspondence shows mutual appreciation and cordiality, they also engaged with each other’s work from increasingly antagonistic positions. In his essay ‘Reflexiones sobre la lírica’ (1925), Machado takes issue with Ortega’s disdain for nineteenth-century realism and with the new Ortega-influenced poetic tendencies that emphasize a rift between life and poetry. Some discrepancies were already manifest in 1915 with Machado’s critique of Ortega’s first book, Meditaciones del Quijote (1914), but it is only in the unfinished draft of his inaugural lecture to the RAE where Machado’s criticism of Ortega’s ideas extends from aesthetics to social and ultimately political concerns. This article explores aspects of their relationship conducted through mutual references and allusions to their respective work.