SOURCE: "Borges' Early Love Poetry," in Chasqui, Vol. XXIII, No. 2, November, 1994, pp. 48-53.

In the following essay, Maier endeavors to establish Borges's early poetry as romantic love poetry.

The name Jorge Luis Borges rarely comes to mind in a survey of Hispanic love poets. The omission may be attributed to a general lack of familiarity with Borges' poetry, in particular his early work written as a young man during the late 1910s and 1920s. [Borges began his literary career in Spain with the publication of the poem "Himno del mar" in Grecia on 31 Dec. 1919. This and other early works, such as "Paréntesis pasional" (Grecia 20 Jan. 1920), contain sensual and erotic imagery related to the love theme. Between 1919 and 1926, Borges published at least nine poems and two prose vignettes with similar motifs in Spanish journals. In addition to the two pieces already mentioned, the others include the following: "Alejamiento...