Theory and Play of the Duende

The Duende originated in Spanis folklore as a small malevolent creature similar to a troll or a tomte. The word comes from dueño de casa, meaning “master of the house.” Federico García Lorca first articulated a cultural aesthetics of the Duende in this public lecture from 1933, imagining it as the guiding spirit of all Spanish art: a dark force that holds death and beauty in the same hand, and flinches away from neither.

This new translation by A. S. Kline captures the energy and beauty of García Lorca’s lyric meditation. Includes a letterpress-printed keepsake of the poem “It’s True”.

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A S. Kline is the author and/or translator of the majority of works hosted by Poetry in Translation. He was born in 1947 and lives in England. He graduated in Mathematics from the University of Manchester, and was Chief Information Officer (Systems Director) of a large UK Company, before dedicating himself to his literary work and interests. His work consists of translations of poetry; critical works, biographical history with poetry as a central theme; and his own original poetry. He has translated into English from Latin, Ancient Greek, Classical Chinese and the European languages. He also maintains a deep interest in developments in Mathematics and the Sciences.