Farewell: Federico Garcia Lorca - Summary and Critical Analysis

The poem Farewell presents the condition of the poet who is approaching death or who must be an old person. Farewell is an expression which we use when we leave someone or when we are left by someone. However, the farewell here in the poem is the final leave of the world. Death is regarded to be the final and the most unpleasant of farewells.

The main focus of the poem is a poet’s intense desire to feast on the pleasures of life even after death. The poet says if I die, please keep the balcony open. From the balcony I can see the boy eating oranges. I can also see the reaper harvesting the wheat and singing.

I can also enjoy the songs if the balcony is kept open. I can enjoy the sights and sounds of the world even after my death. The speaker wants the balcony left open because he thinks that even after his death the open balcony would allow him to enjoy the familiar views. He knows that he is dying shortly but his love for life is unending. He would like to see the little boy eating oranges and reaper singing and harvesting the wheat, which are the symbol of life. The poet conveys a message to the reader that this world is a very enjoyable place and the delights of living are really great.

In this short poem; the word 'balcony' has been repeated four times. The speaker asks his companion to leave the balcony open so that he could enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the surrounding even after his death. The balcony is the most powerful image in the poem from where the speaker can have a clear view of the world. The repetition of 'balcony' shows that the speaker is interested more in celebrating the pleasures of life rather than the death.

Finally, the poem may be trying to say that life and death are natural phenomena. They are unavoidable.