SOURCE: Kulp-Hill, Kathleen. “En las orillas del Sar (On the Banks of the River Sar).” In Rosalía de Castro, pp. 77-99. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.

In the following essay, Kulp-Hill discusses Castro's final collection of poetry, comparing its structure and style to Follas novas.

I Background

The collection of poetry En las orillas del Sar (On the Banks of the River Sar), 1884, is Rosalía's last book of poetry and last published work. Between the publication of Follas novas (New Leaves) in 1880, and the appearance of The Sar, she had published a novel, El primer loco (The First Madman), in 1881, and a long article, “Padrón y las inundaciones” (“Padrón and the Floods”), which was serialized in the periodical La Ilustración Gallega y Asturiana (Madrid), also in 1881. Her literary career begins and closes with poetry. The Sar is, like New Leaves, an accumulation of poems written...