This work is dedicated to the Sonetos espirituales (1917) by Juan Ramón Jiménez (Moguer 1881, Puerto Rico 1958). This piece of work, which is too often neglected, proves to be essential in so far as it takes up a determining position in the writer's poetical line of thought. At the turning point between his youth and the height of his art, it is the Jimenian voice that takes shape in this collection of fifty-five sonnets. Since the poet presents his work repeatedly as "una sucesión", it is under the title of the overwhelming metamorphosis and spirituality -which applies to his whole work- that we have chosen to set this study. In our chapter, we look through his written works and the poet's view of space and time, the dynamism created by the tension arising between his most intimate desires and his deepest fears. Then we deal with the elements (formal, rhythmical, graphical, structural and syntactical) which truly compose the poetical body of Sonetos espirituales by insisting on the significance of their assembling. Eventually we see demonstrated that the metamorphosis is for the Andalusian poet a real spiritual training in poetical language that helps turn this anthology into a paper mirror in which, thanks to the "memory of forgetfulness" and consciousness, our ego is reflected and identifies an image of god.
Metamorphosis and Spirituality in Juan Ramón Jiménez's Sonetos espirituales