Recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize for Literature, Jian Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958) ranks some of the foremost Spanish poets. The early influences of German Romanticism and French Symbolism led Jiménez to the development of his unique voice, and he became a leader in the leading edge referred to as the modernistas, who staged a Spanish literary revival at the turn of the twentieth century.
Jiménez’s most well liked work, Platero y yo, unfolds in his native Andalusia. A series of autobiographical prose poems about the wanderings of a young author and his donkey, it first seemed in a shorter version, suitable for children, in 1914. This new, accurate English translation is drawn from the complete edition, which used to be published in 1917. The only dual-language edition of this classic of Spanish literature, it is accompanied by a very good introduction and explanatory notes with a purpose to lend a hand students in understanding and appreciating this work.