The aim of this edition is to make the poem approachable to those who are coming at Gongora, or Spanish Golden Age poetry, for the first time, and to help them understand and enjoy it. Fusing epic and pastoral, the poem describes a journey through the countryside and contrasts the beauty of nature and of the rural crafts and customs with the vices of court, commercial greed and colonial exploitation. This edition, with its literal verse translation, aims to make the poem available to anyone with a reading knowledge of Spanish, or even without.
