Casal, Julián del , 1863-93, Cuban poet, b. Havana. A friend of Rubén Darío, Casal became a leader in
modernismo. He was greatly influenced by the French
Parnassians. Afflicted with a painful form of tuberculosis, he wrote verse expressing deep pessimism, often choosing subjects from antiquity and far-off lands, especially Japan. His best-known collections are
Hojas al viento [leaves in the wind] (1890) and
Bustos y rimas [busts and rhymes] (1893).
Bibliography
See critical edition of his poems in English (3 vol., 1976-78); selected prose in English (1949); study by P. Pearsall (1984).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
