What Guillén's early poems indicate, above all, is a scrupulous care on the part of the poet, an ideal of perfection that is apparent both in a thematic context and in the business of making poems. (p. 111)

[The basic idea of the theory of pure poetry] is that of elimination, which in turn contains implicitly the notion of a compression or synthesis: elimination of the non-poetic…. The stringencies of this theory, which must have influenced (though not riveted) Guillén's sensibility, help to explain his special affection for the short poem where strict confines allow for a more densely worked piece, and from which, hopefully, flaws may be cast out.

Outstanding amongst the short poetic forms employed in the first Cántico is the décima. The seventeen décimas of this volume are most representative of Guillén's inclination towards a concision coupled with a disciplined...