SOURCE: McKinlay, Neil C. “Order Into Chaos: The Loss of the Absolute.” In The Poetry of Luis Cernuda: Order in a World of Chaos, pp. 8-43. London: Tamesis, 1999.

In the following essay, McKinlay outlines the metaphysical search for order in Cernuda's poetry, pointing to the poet's contemplation of art as a rebirth of hope.

Luis Cernuda: Poet of Eros, Ethics or Crisis of Faith?

We have chosen to foreground the crisis and loss of faith as central to La realidad y el deseo. At first sight this may seem curious, for probably its most obvious thematic concern centres, not around such overtly existential matters, as around love and erotic interest. Certainly the French subtitle ‘À mon seul désir’ points towards an erotic import. Furthermore, the centrality of Eros to Cernuda's own existence, from which his poetry assuredly springs,¹ is beyond question. Harris is able to go so far...