The Ballad of the Salt-water
The Ballad of the Salt-water - form Summary
Refrain of Maritime Grief
Lorca frames the poem as a simple ballad of question-and-answer stanzas. Repeated interrogations and curt replies function like a refrain, turning personal grief into a ritual chant. The sea appears as both setting and answer, its "salt-waters" echoed in the speaker’s tears and blood. The ballad structure makes the emotion communal and elemental, compressing sorrow into a steady, incantatory rhythm that returns to the same closing image.
Read Complete AnalysesThe sea smiles far-off. Spume-teeth, sky-lips. 'What do you sell, troubled child, child with naked breasts?' 'Sir, I sell salt-waters of the sea.' 'What do you carry, dark child, mingled with your blood?' 'Sir, I carry salt-waters of the sea.' 'These tears of brine where do they come from, mother?' 'Sir, I cry salt-waters of the sea.' 'Heart, this deep bitterness, where does it rise from?' 'So bitter, the salt-waters of the sea!' The sea smiles far-off. Spume-teeth. Sky-lips.
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