Octavio Paz is one of the greatest Latin American poets best-known for El laberindo de las Soledad (Labyrinth of Solitude,) Sun Stone and other love poems. He was a 1990 Nobel laureate, the first Mexican to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
Early Life of Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz was born on March 31, 1914, in Mexico City. His family was mostly of Spanish but with part-Indian descent. He was educated at a Roman Catholic school, then at the University of Mexico. He refused to take his degree, but instead he set off to found a secondary school in Yucatán, where he researched Mexican history.
His influence and affinity with books started from his novelist grandfather who had a large library. Through his teenage years Paz read widely. His writing career began when he was only 19 with the publication of his first book of poems, Forest Moon.
Effect of the Spanish Civil War on Paz
At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he avoided dogmatism when Pablo Neruda made it possible for him to experience the Spanish Civil War. He still went on to fight for the antifascist republicans but was appalled by the horrors of war. He returned to Mexico and started several literary magazines.
Guggenheim Fellowship and Entry to Diplomatic Service
At 29-years-old, Octavio Paz was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship that enabled him to study and travel in the US. Two years later, he entered the Mexican diplomatic service. His first posting overseas was to Paris, where he met many leading French writers and artists.
The other passion of Paz was modern painting. He wrote poetry about it, and dedicated his poems to some Dadaist and Surrealist artists including Balthus, Joan Miró and Marcel Duchamp.
He resigned as ambassador in 1968 in India to protest against his government's suppression of student riots in Mexico.
The Poetry of Octavio Paz
Eagle or Sun? was published when Paz was 37-years-old. It contains a series of poems that together provide a haunting picture of Mexico's past and future. Regarded his most important poem, Sun Stone, came out when he was 43. It is about the planet Venus, a symbol of sun and water in Aztec folklore. The poem's 584 lines reflect the structure of the Aztec calendar.
Some of his stories combine sources from Nathaniel Hawthorne, the poetry of W.B. Yeats, and Indian poet, Vishakadatta. One of his key works is El laberinto de la Soledad (Labyrinth of Solitude). It provides a glimpse of the Mexican culture. In this poem he talked about the minds of his countryman hidden behind the masks of solitude.
Last Insights on Octavio Paz
Paz is an outstanding Spanish poet and died at the age of 84, April 19, 1998. He went through phases of belief disciplines, from Marxism to surrealism to Oriental philosophies. However, his characteristic themes revolve around a search for harmony, notably in erotic experience, and a desire to make language more melodious.
He influenced younger Mexican writers, including Carlos Fuentes. Paz was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1990. Many of his volumes of work have been edited and translated into American English by Eliot Weinberger.
"Between what I see and what I say, Between what I say and what I keep silent, Between what I keep silent and what I dream, Between what I dream and what I forget, poetry." ~ Sheaf, Octavio Paz, Translated by Eliot Weinberger
Works by Octavio Paz
- Forest Moon, 1933
- Beneath Your Clear Shadow and Other Poems, 1937
- The Labyrinth of Solitude, 1950
- Eagle or Sun?, 1951
- Sun Stone, 1957
- The Monkey Grammarian, 1974
- One Earth, Four or Five Worlds, 1985
- The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism, 1995
Sources:
Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994.
Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997.
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