The poem
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870)
From Rimas, published posthumously in 1871.
"What is poetry?" you say, as you fix
your blue pupil upon my pupil.
"What is poetry? And you ask me that?
Poetry... is you.
Original Spanish text
¿Qué es poesía?, dices mientras clavas
en mi pupila tu pupila azul.
¿Qué es poesía? ¿Y tú me lo preguntas?
Poesía... eres tú.
About the author
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870) was a Spanish Romantic poet and storyteller from Seville. Poor, sickly and largely unpublished in his lifetime, he wrote the Rimas, short musical lyrics of love and longing, and the Leyendas, prose tales of the supernatural. Friends published his Rimas a year after his death at thirty-four, and he became the most beloved lyric poet in the Spanish language.
Themes
The definition of poetry as a person, not a thing. Asked 'what is poetry?', the speaker answers by pointing: you are. Love and poetry become the same mystery, and the poem, in four lines, performs what it describes.
Reading note
Notice the ellipsis in the last line: 'Poesía... eres tú.' The pause is the poem's engine, the moment the definition lands. Bécquer's Rimas are meant to be read aloud; the short lines and plain words carry an almost sung quality in Spanish.