Recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize for Literature, Jian Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958) ranks among the foremost Spanish poets. The early influences of German Romanticism and French Symbolism led Jiménez to the development of his unique voice, and he became a leader in the vanguard known as the modernistas, who staged a Spanish literary revival at the turn of the twentieth century.
Jiménez's most popular work, Platero y yo, unfolds in his native Andalusia. A series of autobiographical prose poems about the wanderings of a young writer and his donkey, it first appeared in a shorter version, suitable for children, in 1914. This new, accurate English translation is drawn from the complete edition, which was published in 1917. The only dual-language edition of this classic of Spanish literature, it is accompanied by an excellent introduction and explanatory notes that will assist students in understanding and appreciating this work.