Octavio Paz is such a masterly presence in the dialogue of Latin American culture that it is easy to forget he is first and foremost a poet… in the polyphony of his voices the poetic one still rings loudest and clearest.

Roberto González Echevarría, New York Times Book Review

Eagle Or Sun?

by Octavio Paz

Translated from Spanish by Eliot Weinberger

Edited by Eliot Weinberger

The first major book of short prose poetry in Spanish, Eagle or Sun? (Aguila o Sol?) exerted an enormous influence on modern Latin American writing. Written in 1949-50 by Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz, Eagle or Sun? has as its mythopoeic “place” Mexico––a country caught up in its pre-Columbian past, the world of modern imperialism, and an apocalyptic future foretold by the Aztec calendar. Indeed, three personae of the book–the goddess Itzapaplotl, the prophet clerk, the poet––are manifestations of the threefold aspects of the land. Paz himself explains: “Eagle or Sun? is an exploration of Mexico, yes, but at the same time, and above all, it is an exploration of the relations between language and the poet, reality and language, the poet and history.”

Paperback(published Nov, 01 1976)

ISBN
9780811206235
Price US
15.95

Clothbound(published Nov, 01 1976)

ISBN
9780811206228
Portrait of Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz

Twentieth-century Mexican Poet

Octavio Paz is such a masterly presence in the dialogue of Latin American culture that it is easy to forget he is first and foremost a poet… in the polyphony of his voices the poetic one still rings loudest and clearest.

Roberto González Echevarría, New York Times Book Review