The Project Gutenberg EBook of Legends, Tales and Poems
by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer
Edited with Introduction, Notes and Vocabulary, by Everett Ward Olmsted

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Title: Legends, Tales and Poems

Author: Gustavo Adolfo Becquer
Edited with Introduction, Notes and Vocabulary, by Everett Ward Olmsted

Release Date: January 24, 2004 [EBook #10814]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Legends, Tales and Poems

[Illustration: After an etching by B. Maura]

LEGENDS, TALES AND POEMS

BY

GUSTAVO ADOLFO BECQUER

EDITED

WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND VOCABULARY

BY

EVERETT WARD OLMSTED, PH.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES IN

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

* * * * *

TO

MY MOTHER

* * * * *

PREFACE

In preparing this collection of Becquer's legends, tales, and short
poems, which is the only annotated edition of this author's works that
has been published as yet for English-speaking students, the editor
has aimed to give to our schools and colleges a book that may serve,
not only as a reader for first or second year classes, but also as an
introduction to Spanish literature, through the works of one of the
most original and charming authors of the Spanish Romantic school.

Fondness for good literature should be stimulated from the very first,
and the quaint tales and legends of old Spain contained in this
edition, told, as they are, in a most fascinating style, are well
adapted to captivate the student's interest and to lead him to
investigate further the rich mine of Spanish literature. Becquer's
poetry is no less pleasing than his prose, and not much more difficult
to read. With the aid of the ample treatise on Spanish versification
contained in the introduction, the student will be enabled to
appreciate the harmony and rhythm of Becquer's verse, and in all
subsequent reading of Spanish poetry he will find this treatise a
convenient and valuable work of reference.

The Life of Becquer, though concise, is per