[Although] Guillén did indeed write, at some point in his career, poetry which might well be described as dehumanized, pure, classicist or Gongoristic, by the time [Cántico (1919–1928)] was ready for publication he had freed himself from these categories….

His poems [before 1925] were often occasional pieces, lacking substance and almost always without the polished sophistication which distinguishes every edition of Cántico. (p. 24)

[Guillén] revised his early work [for Cántico] … in order to present a book of poems which had organic unity. (p. 25)

[Desiring to translate poetic experiences as faithfully as possible, Guillén] rejected sentimentality and realism. Such an attitude need not imply the dehumanization of poetry. Indeed, by this very rejection, Guillén focussed attention upon those things he considered to be at the very centre of human experience…. The very symbol of transitory beauty, the rose, which is often used by Guill...