Miguel Ángel Asturias was a Guatemalan novelist, poet, diplomat and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1967. He is best known for his novels—including El Señor Presidente (The President), Hombres de Maíz (Men of Corn) and Mulata de Tal (Mulata)—and his substantial contribution to the novelistic technique called magical realism. The Nobel Committee took special note of his little-known poetic cycle, Clarivigilia Primaveral (Clearvigil in Spring), calling it an "impressive" work that "deals with the very genesis of the arts and of poetic creation, in a language which seems to have assumed the bright splendor of the magical queztal's feathers and the glimmering of phosphorescent insects."

EPR #3: Six excerpts from Clarivigilia Primaveral
(English translations by Robert W. Lebling)

Introductory Note
1. A la Luz de los Oropensantes-Luceros // In the Light of the Goldthinking-Stars
2. Castigo de Profundidades // Punishment of Profundities
3. Ombligos de Sol y Copales Preciosos // Navels of Sun and Precious Copals
4. Artesanías Ocultas // Hidden Crafts
5. Andaraiz de la Flor del Aire // Movingroot of the Flower of the Air
6. El Baile de las Quimeras // The Dance of the Chimeras