CENTENARY OF ILDEFONSO MANUEL GIL, AN ARAGONESE WRITER

 
PHOTO: http://www.aragondigital.es/noticia.asp?notid=9371

WITH MICHAEL
The sun ascends to its fullness revealing
of the stone and the bird,
while you and me are playing in the garden without shadows,
with the naked souls dedicated
to the pure demand of the moment.

Your tender age and my weary years
get equal and pleasant
together in this enjoyement that denies their distances
that melts us in the cheerful cry, in the smiling
of the shared innocence.

I know without sadness the decline of the sun into the dark
rule of the blinding night,
I accept the illusion of the stopped time
in this top happiness of playing together,
now, in the garden, matched
my yesterday and your tomorrow,
you and me in endless hapiness.

                                              The tiny birds
the quiet flight of leaves,
the habbit of the intimate garden
come back,
as the unique luxury of an only rose
under the air, pierced by November.


 ILDEFONSO MANUEL GIL was born in the village of Paniza (Zaragoza) on the 22nd January, 1912, and he was buried in Daroca in 2003 at the age of 91. He defined himself as a "man of The Generation of 36". Law Degree from the University of Madrid abd PhD in Literature.
  He suffered the repression of Franco´s dictatorship and was imprioned in Teruel during the Civil Was, as a prominent Republican. Later, he was harassed for refusing to swear the principles of the national movement of Francisco Franco. He and his friend Ricardo Guillón founded a Literature magazine. He taught at Santo Tomás College in Zaragoza.
  In the 60s, he went to America to teach Literature at a university in New York, where he worked until his retirement. In 1983, during the transition from the dictatorship to democracy, he returned to Spain. He moved to Zaragoza. In this city, he led the Institution "Fernando el Católico" and was designed honorary counselor. He was a member of the American Academy of the Spanish Language, and as such, corresponding member of the Royal Spanish Academy. During these years he received several awards: in 1982, he was awarded the Gold Medal of Zaragoza; in 1993, he got the Medal of Santa Isabel de Portugal. Aragonese of Honor in 1996 and received the Medal of Honor from the Institution "Fernando el Católico" in 2000.  His death would come three years later, possibly due to a broken hip a few years ago.