Concision and the rehumanization of poetry in El alba en los ojos (1926) by Ricardo Peña Barrenechea

Yampi R.G. · Studia Romanistica (2026) · DOI: 10.15452/sr.2026.26.0004

Resumen

Ricardo Peña Barrenechea (Lima, 1896–1939), one of the most distinguished Peruvian poets of the 1920s and 1930s, wrote in 1926 the twenty-four poems of El alba en los ojos, the briefest in Peruvian literature. At that time in Peru, the Ultraist ideals of verbal synthesis in favor of metaphor as the textual axis were crystallizing in individual poetic proposals, while, more broadly in the Hispanic world, a reaction was emerging against the dehumanization of poetry—processes to which Peña’s collection responds. In order to address the near-total lack of bibliographic studies on this significant work, the present article analyzes, in five sections, the figurative structure and lyrical background of El alba en los ojos, taking into account the author’s thought and literary references. Following the introduction, the second section examines the creative connection with modern Spanish poetry, especially with Ramón Gómez de la Serna’s greguería, which inspires the compositional model of the poems in question. The third and fourth sections interpret the Romantic-rooted theme of how dawn becomes a symbol of the beloved woman and of childhood. The fifth section explores Peña’s use of simile and metaphor within the framework of the rehumanization of poetry, highlighting traces of Symbolist influence. As can be observed, the author redirects the structure of the greguería as conceived by Ramón Gómez de la Serna, and his verbal synthesis does not seek to eliminate the emotional dimension, but rather embraces the unavoidable fragmentation of the exploration of the soul, represents the transience of time, and emulates the sensitivity of childhood.

Instituciones: Universidad de Piura