For Six Strings and In Praise of Darkness Summary

In For Six Strings, "Where Have They Gone" rues the loss of heroes and spirit to death and time, but ends with the solace that they remain in memory. "Milonga of Manuel Flores" is a song to a man doomed to die by gunfire, who wonders what he will see when he is judged by Jesus. "A Blade in the Northside" describes a knife in a box in the barrio that belonged to a man now dead who killed others with it, and the poet sees the blade's readiness. "Milonga of Don Nicanor Paredes" is a song to a powerful man in Palermo, where Borges grew up. It describes his dagger, clothes, long hair, and gold ring, and the poet asks what Paredes will do in heaven, where there...