Unfortunately, the whole poem was too large for Poemage to work with, so I chose to focus on three sections that deal heavily with classical symbolism and the Sublime (I explain this in more detail here). You can find the analyses of these sections on the outcome/analysis page. For the sake of clarity and context, I’ve provided the whole text. Though the full text appears below, I acknowledge that I did not write the poem, nor do I claim ownership of it. I am using the poem for completely academic purposes and with no incentive for commercial gain, so its reproduction on this page qualifies as fair use.
A quick summary: “Spain” is a political poem dealing with the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and how the democratic government was overthrown by a Fascist system. In this poem, the speaker laments the tragic loss of the democratic ideals the country used to hold dear. However, Spain/the “voice of Life” reveals that the Civil War came out of the speaker’s own ideas about and participation in cultural criticism. To read a more in-depth close reading of the poem, see the further reading page or click here.