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Empieza el llanto de la guitarra. Se rompen las copas de la madrugada. Empieza el llanto de la guitarra. Es inútil callarla. Es imposible callarla. Llora monótona como llora el agua, como llora el viento sobre la nevada. Es imposible callarla. Llora por cosas lejanas. Arena del Sur caliente que pide camelias blancas. Llora flecha sin blanco, la tarde sin mañana, y el primer pájaro muerto sobre la rama. ¡Oh, guitarra! Corazón malherido por cinco espadas.
Text Authorship:
- by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936), "La guitarra", appears in Poema del Cante Jondo, in Poema de la siguiriya gitana , no. 2, first published 1921 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "La guitarra", from Romancero Gitano, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ramiro Cortés (1933 - 1984), "La guitarra", from Three Spanish Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "La guitarra", 1986 [ voice and guitar ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "La guitarra", 1986 [ voice and 2 guitars ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alex Taylor , "La Guitarra", first performed 2020 [ tenor, cello, percussion ], from Poema de La Siguiriya Gitana, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Marina Ivanovna Tsvetayeva (1892 - 1941) , "Гитара" ; composed by Aleksandr Borisovich Matyukhin.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Richard Gard) , "The guitar", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Guitar", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La guitare", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ivo Zandhuis
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-11
Line count: 26
Word count: 76
The weeping of the guitar begins. The goblets of the dawn are shattered. The weeping of the guitar begins. It is useless to silence it. It is impossible to silence it. Monotonous, it weeps as the waters weep, as the wind weeps over the snowfall. It is impossible to silence it, It weeps for things far away. Burning sands of the South that long for white camellias. It mourns the arrow without a target, the afternoon without a morning, and the first bird dead on the branch. Oh, guitar! Heart gravely wounded by five swords.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2020 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Spanish (Español) by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936), "La guitarra", appears in Poema del Cante Jondo, in Poema de la siguiriya gitana , no. 2, first published 1921
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-13
Line count: 26
Word count: 95