Two Poems by Federico García Lorca

The Moon Comes Out

When the moon comes out
the bells fade into silence
and impenetrable paths
come to light.

When the moon comes out
the sea floods earth’s surface,
the heart feels like an island
in the infinite.

Nobody eats oranges
under the full moon.
The right thing is to eat
only green and icy fruit.

When the moon comes out,
one hundred identical faces,
your silver coins
weep in your pocket.

He Died at Dawn

Night of four moons,
one solitary tree,
one solitary shadow,
one solitary bird.

I seek in my flesh
the traces of your lips.
The fountain kisses the wind
without touching it.

I carry the No you gave me
in the palm of my hand
like a wax lemon
almost without colour.

Night of four moons,
one solitary tree.
Upon the point of a pin
my love is spinning.

Two Poems
by Federico García Lorca

Think about the following questions carefully before writing answers to them in your books. Try to get all the work done in the lesson; hand in your books at the end.

What mood is created by each poem?

How does Lorca use imagery to create this mood?

What do you find particularly effective about each poem?

How is the moon used as a central image in each poem?

How are images of the moon used in films and TV to create specific moods?

Choose one of the poems. How would you illustrate it in a video to accompany the voice of an actor reading the poem? (That is, what pictures would you use, and when?)

Now, write your own poem, setting it out neatly and starting on a clean page.

Use the line When the moon comes out at the beginning of each of four or five verses (or stanzas as they should properly be called). Try to create original and careful images and to create an unusual and effective mood.