While there aren't many explicitly violent acts that take place in "Romance Sonambulo," many of the effects of violence can be seen in the poem. Even though there is a beautifully green gypsy girl that our speaker is after, this ain't The Notebook, that's for sure. Our speaker endures some pretty harsh treatment to get near her. In some ways, that's perfectly understandable, given the circumstances under which the poem was written. Lorca was working on this poem in the years leading up to a bloody civil war in Spain, and it seems like much of the violence of the poem seems to anticipate the kind of bloodshed and horror that was to come for the poet's beloved country.
Questions About Violence
- Given the items he's looking to trade, what do you think this speaker's attitude toward violence might be?
- How do you think the speaker got his wounds?
- Is it significant that the speaker was wounded in the chest, over his heart? Why or why not?
- Why do you think the policemen are at the speaker's door?
Chew on This
The speaker's wounds are simply metaphorical in nature. He was never actually wounded in a battle. He's fine. We promise.
The poem demonstrates that violence from even the distant past remains with us in the present.