«NO QUIERO SEGUIR VIVO EN ESTE MUNDO»: SUICIDE IN LUIS ALBERTO DE CUENCA’S POETRY

Abstract

Death being one of the major subjects of Luis Alberto de Cuenca’s poetry, the theme of suicide appears in a wide range of forms and with diverse meanings. This article traces the presence of the suicide motif in Cuenca’s work, both in poems dealing with suicide («Peligrosa», «Isabel», «La mentirosa», «Eterno femenino», «Epigrama» and «Brujas suicidas en un bar») and in a number of other fleeting references which require explicating in each case. The development in cre- scendo of the motif is then examined in relation to certain favoured devices of the poet (such as humour and irony) and to his playful recourse to autobiographical fiction. The article also outlines the different modalities of suicide in the light of tradition and in comparison with other contemporary poets.