Rafael Morales
Rafael Morales was a prominent Spanish poet born on July 31, 1919, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain. Beginning his writing journey at the tender age of seven, he published his first work at fourteen, marking the start of a prolific literary career. His early poetic influences included Vicente Aleixandre, but he established his own voice with the publication of "Poemas del toro" in 1943. Morales pursued higher education in romance philology at the University of Madrid and further studies in Portugal. Throughout his career, he published several notable volumes, including the award-winning "Canción sobre el asfalto" in 1954, and later works like "La mascara y los dientes" and "La rueda y el viento." Alongside his poetry, he had a significant academic career, serving as a professor of literature and engaging in editorial work. Notably, Morales was vocal against Islamic terrorism in Spain in the early 2000s, and his complete poetic works were published in 2004, reflecting his themes of compassion and existential anguish. His contributions to Spanish literature continue to resonate as a testament to his enduring poetic vision.
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Subject Terms
Rafael Morales
Poet
- Born: July 31, 1919
- Birthplace: Talavera de la Reina, Spain
- Died: 2005
Biography
One of the most often read and reprinted Spanish poets of the twentieth century, Rafael Morales was born on July 31, 1919, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain. He began writing poetry at the age of seven and was first published at fourteen. In 1936, he met Vicente Aleixandre, his earliest poetic influence, but established himself as a poetic voice in his own right with the publication of Poemas del toro (poems of the bull, dedicated to Aleixandre) in 1943.
After completing his initial education in his hometown, Morales received the licenciatura degree in romance philology at the University of Madrid; he then pursued further studies at the Facultad de Letras de Coimbra in Portugal. In 1946, he published his second volume of poetry, El corazón y la tierra (the heart and the land), which even he himself considered much inferior to his first collection, and in 1947, Los desterrados (the exiles). Some of his best work was still to come, with the publication of Canción sobre el asfalto (song on asphalt, 1954), which won the Premio Nacional de Literatura award in 1954. However, his professional duties took much of his time: He served for many years as a professor of literature at the University of Madrid, as the secretary of the Department of Literature and Philology of the Juan March Foundation, and as director of the journal Estafeta Literaria.
A grant in 1957 from the Juan March Foundation helped Morales finish La mascara y los dientes (the mask and the teeth, 1958) and an autobiographical work, Antología y pequeña historia de mis versos (anthology and little history of my verses, 1958). A second Juan March Foundation grant in 1971 helped him with La rueda y el viento (the wheel and the wind, 1971). In addition to other collections, Morales published several retrospectives of his poetic output: his Poesías completas in 1967, his Antología poética in 1979, and his Obra poética in 1982. He also edited anthologies of Spanish poetry, wrote some children’s books, and published several academic articles on Portuguese literature.
Morales made headlines in 2001 at the age of eighty-two when he spoke out against Islamic terrorism in Spain, and in 2004 when his complete poetic works, Obra poetica completa, 1943- 2003, was published. In this compilation the reader sees Morales’s recurring themes: compassion for frail humanity and the existential anguish brought about by humanity’s denial of God’s presence in the modern world.