Book excerpt: The book offers an in-depth, critical appreciation of seven major Spanish poets. Emphasis is on the modern period, with five of the poets being twentieth-century poets. It is argued that the roots of modern poetry are to be found in Romanticism's anguished search for meaning. The seven Spanish poets include Becquer, Rosalia de Castro, Antonio Machado, Jorge Guillen, Pedro Salinas, Garcia Lorca and Rafael Alberti.