WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Poetry Fix: An Inner Happiness is Absolutely of my World

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

Today, Erika Kyba reads Salvador Espriu's "An Inner Happiness is Absolutely of my World," a self-reflective meditation on poetry as a door to the soul of the poet.

poetry fix on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm your host, Erica Kaiba, bringing you your weekly fix of poetry from across time. Today we're reading Salvador Espriu's An Inner Happiness is Absolutely of My World. This poem describes the difficulty of self-disclosure. Espriu imagines his poem as a doorway to his soul, which the reader must actively work to pass through and find him. The poet acknowledges that his verse is very dense, saying that it has the air of obscure slogans, which the critic's insight will one day clarify, to my great shame. So it takes the insight and work of readers to clarify Espidu's meaning, and once they do, they will unveil espadu's very soul. John Stuart Mill once famously wrote that the truth of poetry is to paint the human soul truly,

and the poet must necessarily work from his own experiences and inner life in order to accomplish this. Once the readers are finally able to meet the man behind the poem, though, Espidu describes feeling shame. After all, shame is the natural human response when that which should be concealed is revealed. The prospect of revealing his inner self to an audience of strangers is not liberating but terrifying to Espeu. This begs the question. Why bother with the difficult and often painful task of poetic self-disclosure. Espidu alludes to two reasons. The first is that this is how he makes his living. He writes in an ironic tone that he has the great good luck to sell himself, little by little.

The poet does not merely sell his labor like the rest of us, but he puts his own soul on the market. Again, the price of writing good poetry is the disclosure of your inner life. But there's more in it for Espeu than merely mercenary concerns. He also has a divine calling. His relationship with God as portrayed in this poem is at once intimate and distant. He says that he feels God's yearning and hears his cry. So it's as if his work as a poet is to transmit that second-hand experience, this knowledge of God's heart that he has received. But at the same time, he portrays God as far away from him, using language like out there

and beyond to describe where God is. The poet longs to so much as turn God's head with neat orderly verses. His poetry then becomes a spiritual quest, and his readers are allowed a glimpse of Espriu's innermost longing and struggle to find his creator. With all that said, let's dive in. An inner happiness is absolutely of my world by Salvador Espriou, translated by Louis J. Rodriguez. Behind this door I live, yet hardly know if I can call it life. Returning in the evening, after my day-long fight for hated bread, I have, you know, the

great good luck to sell myself, little by little, for a gleaming groat that is now worth far less than nothing. I leave outside my worn-out coat of hope, and enter by paths leading through the eyes into the empty horror, where I feel out there, my God, always out there, beyond all false prophets and strange blames, beyond the dotard. His head turned by neat, orderly verses such as these, with the air of obscure slogan. which the critics' insight will one day clarify to my great shame. Yes, you can find me, if you dare, behind the numbing nothingness of this door.

Here, where I live and feel God's yearning. Hear his cry and am, with all the nightbirds of my loneliness. A man bereft of dreams in loneliness. You've been listening to The Poetry Fix with Erica Kaiba. If you enjoyed this episode, consider following this. The Poetry Fix on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. And if you have any poems you want to see in a future episode, email your suggestions to The Poetry Fix at gmail.com.

Join me next week, and we'll be reading John Dunn's The Good Morrow.