No habrá sino recuerdos
…..

como parte de una Realidad innegable.

Reality and ir-reality are common words in our daily vocabulary. However, in the realm of art, there are not two "realities," but three. The other is a "dis-reality," a type of atmosphere created in which both reality, what is verisimile, and ir-reality, what is fantasy, are partaken of.

This paper will attempt to discuss Fervor de Buenos Aires, an early work of Borges, as an example of extremely localized poetry (Buenos Aires), but possessing a style which makes use of elements of dis-reality. We want to consider as a basis for our discussion Anderson Imbert's comment: '"Reduccion de la lirica a su elemento primordial: la metáfora' habia sido su primera formula" [Ε. Anderson Imbert, Historia de la Literatura hispanoamericana, 1957]. The first poem of this collection, "Las Calles," [Fervor de Buenos Aires] fittingly employs a metaphorical image to preface the poems which follow:

Hacia los cuatro puntos cardinales
se van desplegando como banderas las calles;
Ojalá en mis versos enhiestos
vuelen esas banderas.

Anderson Imbert goes on to celebrate the fact that the poet does not quite realize his intent in this and subsequent books of poetry. So be it; we may still be permitted the examination of the devices which he does use and the extent to which he employs them. But going beyond this one book of poetry, it is necessary for the critic to discuss as separate entities the metaphysical ideas which Borges expresses. In order to do this, we shall refer to a volume of short stories, El Aleph, which appeared in 1949 and which represents more or less a synthesis and a depuration of Borges' concepts, now fully matured, which appear in the poetry and which in the short stories are made into fictional narrations.

The metaphysical elements which constitute Borges' poetry are Time, Space and Consciousness. In Fervor de Buenos Aires we are localized within a fixed time-space boundary, but the poet soars off on tangents, which, like complex geometrical creations, raise the subject matter to third, fourth and fifth dimensional planes.

Son aledaños suyos tiempo y espacio
son arrabales de alma
con las herramientas y son las manos del alma
y en desbaratándose está,
juntamente caducan el espacio, el tiempo, elmorir,
como al cesar la luz
se acalla el simulacro de los espejos.

"La luz" is, of course, mental and physical consciousness, as the cessation of light ending the continuing reflection and re-reflection of mirrors, so does death and the continuum of human consciousness. These verses point out a very common poetic and metaphysical device: the labyrinth. These labyrinths are a manifestation of the poet's belief in a "fifth" dimension—a continuing circle of existence which by nature of its essential indestructibility transcends the bounds of Time and Space. The synthesis of this belief is to be found in his short story "El immortal." With particular reference to the poetry, the belief and employment of a transcending essence raises the "local" themes of Buenos Aires to a much higher level of importance. Such a "trick" may be accused of shallowness and may be criticized as the bringing of sophomoric philosophies into poetry. This may be a valid criticism, for a philosopher. However, as poetry, what is important is the degree to which the poet succeeds in using his elements to create a vivid impression and an enlightening vision. Through recourse to the poetry, we may examine these labyrinthal metaphors.

En supremo aislamiento
cada árbol está conmovedoramente perdido
y son sus vidas tan incomunicadas y hurañas
…..

cual espejos que profundizen habitaciones distantes
o como el soñar de muchos durmientes
que reúne idéntico techo.

The labyrinth is established in these lines by the mirrors which give profundity. One mirror alone lacks the ability to create depth, but several mirrors face to face echo and re-echo a vision to unrecognizable and hence profounder extents. The metaphor, with relation to the trees, is particularly effective, for we have all been fascinated by the reflecting qualities of two mirrors: "Sirena / La eternidad espéra en la encrucijada de estrellas." Here, the "crossroads of the stars" seems to hold a secret for eternity which eternity, in turn, waits on. The canvas of stars appears on a clear night as a complex of dots—a labyrinth. In this way the concept of a secret of eternity locked in a maze of dots is familiar and reappears in Borges' work "La escritura del Dios," in which the configurations on a tiger's back hold the key to the universe. There is an element of surrealism inherent in this concept—the hypnotization induced by the configuration, either of stars or lines producing from the subconscious a new vision or reality. But Borges never carries his images or metaphysical suggestions this far and continues to function in a realm of dis-reality, the realm of the transcendent metaphor.

La llamarada salta y disporrotea.
… Yo paso junto a la llama; yo escucho
lo que quiere proclamar su lengua de
fuego, … doy palabras y voz a lo que
susurra esa llama.

The poet feels in this passage that he is able to decipher the flame's message, the flame whose burning and movements also have a compelling and hypnotic effect and whose existence seems to carry a meaning behind and beyond its physical presence. It is the penetration into the flame's meaning and profundities which gives rise to the labyrinthal metaphor in this case.

In a sense, the whole pattern of Buenos Aires forms a complex for the poet. His sense of aloneness, discussed further on, and the effect which the mere walking of the city's streets, tracing the complexes, has upon him tend to make one believe that all of this is a labyrinth and his poetry is his attempt to capture the essence and mood of the city by deciphering each object's meaning and signif icance—the part each component plays in the complete form:

Quizá esa hora única
aventajaba con prestigio la calle
dándole privilegios de ternura
haciéndola real como una leyenda o un verso:
lo cierto es que la senti lejanamente cercana
como recuerdo que si parcce llegar cansado de lejos
es porque viene de la propia hondura del alma.

I have discussed the labyrinths and given a few examples to show how these metaphors give a deeper meaning to the images than would a superficial reality.

The dis-reality of Space furnishes the poetry of Fervor de Buenos Aires with one of its principal elements. In poetry we often find the element of Space restricted to a real fixed point, which with the union of all points forms the totality of the universe. Or one finds, on the other hand, a complete disregard for spatial localization, in which case we have the "eternal" or "heavenly" or "universal" or such emotion—emotions and images which possess no localization. In this poetry we have the disreal element of spatial intensification introduced. By this it is meant that a point or locale becomes intensified to the degree that it moves beyond its union with the other points of the universe and assumes either a primordial position or a bimundial position. The primordial position is called an "Aleph" and is evidenced in the story called "El Aleph": "Aclaró que un Aleph es uno de los puntos del espacio que contienen todos los puntos." The bimundial position is a point which exists simultaneously in two realms of consciousness (cf. "The Crystal Egg" by H. G. Wells).

Clearly, Buenos Aires itself represents a primordial point in Space: "La ciudad está en mí como un poema …" What is within knows no spatial boundaries, and becomes important as an ego-centric object. Or note, the "Aleph" quality which the poet evokes with his patio scenes:

Patio, cielo encauzado.
El patio es la ventana
por donde Dios mira las almas.
El patio es el declive
por el cual se derrama el cielo en la casa.

or

Los patios agarenos
llenos de ancestralidad y eficacia,
Pues están cimentados
en las dos casas más primordiales que existen:
en la tierra y el cielo.

Many of the poems' images have a final quality, such as "en el Juicio Final de cada tarde!" This finality arises from a suprareal situation, as the fixed point (Buenos Aires and the poet's vision) which represents all points (the conscious universe and the totality of the poet's experience). Thus a single event is a total event.

Much more complex and extensive is the dis-reality of Time, which either stands still and is primordial, or which refuses to stop and is universal (and must therefore again be primordial). "Quizá es hora única" expresses the idea of a moment in time being unique—time for the poet seems to either stand still or be removed from reality in order to allow him to contemplate his vision, and he goes on to say: "la sentí lejanamente cercana." This oxymoron completely establishes this dis-reality.

Time also is conceived of with a labyrinthal metaphor, as in this verse fragment: "… por las malezas del tiempo." Time is indeed a "thicket" to the poet, a complex which has no real value: "va poblando el tiempo usurpado." Time as an infinite repertoire of possibilities is expressed in these lines: "La causa verdadera / es la sospecha universal y borrosa / de las metafisicas posiblidadades del Tiempo." One of the "metaphysical possibilities" is observed in this statement:

(Al salir vi en un alboroto de niñas
una chiquilla tan linda
que mis miradas en seguida buscaron
la conjetural hermana mayor
que abreviando las prolijidades del tiempo
lograse en hermosura quieta y morena
la belleza colmada
que balbuceaba la primera).

Here we observe both Time and Space dis-reality functions. In the first place, the child plays a role in two worlds, having her location through two points in Time-Space—she is a vision of "la primera." In order to accomplish this, the poet must succeed in "abreviando las prolijidades del tiempo." And finally, by being picked out of "un alboroto de ninas," the poet catches her as a primordial vision—the focal point of his perspective even though seemingly confused in a group.

Time can be used in a metaphor in which it is devoid of meaning and importance just because it is "real" time: "cuyo reloj austero derrama / un tiempo ya sin aventuras ni asombro / sobre la lastimosa blancura." The comment that this is time "ya sin aventuras" implies that there is a time "con aventuras": the Time which we have examined above.

We arrive now at the final and most extensive element of dis-reality—Consciousness. Consciousness is manifested in four ways: 1) Nihil novum sub sole—man and events are reflections of men and events which have preceded them—life is seen as a dynamic continuum interrupted only by the various failures to recognize this, i.e., individual existences; 2) Consciousness of man and Consciousness of God, two opposing forces; 3) Being and un-being, the former failing to have a recognizable existence, since man in general is unaware of the eternity of existence, and 4) All of which in turn depend upon the elements of Time/Space dis-reality. Borges' interesting view of Consciousness is summarized in "El inmortal": "Encarados asi, todos nuestros actos son justos, pero también son indiferentes. No hay méritos morales o intelectuales. Homero compuso la Odisea; postulado un plazo infmito, con infinitas circunstancias y cambios, lo imposible es no componer, siquiera una vez, la Odisea. Nadie es todos los nombres. Como Cornelio Agrippa, soy dios, soy héroe, soy filosofo, soy demonio y soy mundo, lo cual es una fatigosa manera de decir que no soy." Experience is eternal and man lacks singular existence from too much essence. Turning again, as we always must, to the poetry, we see these impressions emerging vividly:

Nos place la quietud
equivocamos tal paz de vida con el morir
y mientras creemos anhelar el no-ser
lanzamos jaculatorias a la vida apacible.

How can we "anhelar el no-ser"—destroy a lack of existence. Clearly we can't, as well as we are not able to become individuals entirely—we belong to a past that is eternal, as the "nina del alboroto" above.

"Solo el vivir existe." Life is eternal. This is not to be taken in a Christian sense, in which the soul lives on either in punishment or in reward, but as an expression of a life-continuity which is not unakin to the Hindu concept of transmigration:

Dead they may be; yet they exist still! "Quejambre mora / bordeando oscuramente ambas eternidades / del cielo gigantesco y delas leonadas arenas." We have seen the eternity of both the earth and the sky established in the labyrinthal metaphors introduced above. "Pueda persistir algo en nosotros inmóvil," expresses well enough the concept of an essence before and after the individual consciousness; it is "la maciza realidad primordial." One can see these ideas matured and brought to an excellent narrative-life in "Historia del Guerrero y de la cautiva," whence: "Comprendió que un destino no es mejor que otro, pero que todo hombre debe acatar el que lleva adentro." Or, in this poetry: "… cuando tú mismo eres la continuacion realizada / de quienes no alcanzaron su tiempo / y serán otros a su vez tu inmortalidad en la tierra." Observe in this quote the confusion of living and dead; and the perpetuation of all until "El último dios … el ultimo día."

Hoy el olvido borra su censo de muertes,
pues que son parciales los crímenes
si los cotejamos con la fechoría de Tiempo,
esa inmortalidad infatigable
que anonada con silenciosa culpa las tazas
y en cuya herida siempre abierta
que el último dios habrá de restañar [;] el último día
cabe toda la sangre derramada.

And, a dead man is not just a dead man, but a personification of death. "Inconmensurable, abstracto, casi divino / desbaratadas las tarduras del ser, / el muerto ya no es un muerto: es la muerte." Therefore, the poet arrives at his reality through the dis-reality of these visions: "Ya casi no soy nadie, / soy tan solo un anhelo / que se pierde en la tarde." And he feels the tenuous experience of life:

No hay más que una sola tarde
la unica tarde de siempre
…..

hora amanecer en que le síria fácil a Dios
matar del todo la amortiguada existencia.

Our wandering through the labyrinths of Time and Space, through mazes of Reality and Dis-reality have brought us to our ultimate task—that of making a final value judgement of this style and setting. If one believes that the purpose of poetry is the continual search and development of devices to evoke the eternal qualities of life. Borges will assume an undeniably great place in poetry. He has chosen tenuous perhaps even absurd metaphysical devices and images to raise the reader above the banality of Reality towards a Supra-reality of the essence of Being. Although he has centered Fervor de Buenos Aires around strictly local themes, his elements of dis-reality penetrate their commonplaceness to bring out hidden values and to cause them, literally, to transcend the bounds of Time and Space. Borges' poetic style is, as we have amply seen, built on a series of often complex and bewildering metaphors; but, like the Baroque writers, whom he so closely resembles, his obfuscation of reality is not an end in itself which could become a rhetorical toy, but rather a means of achieving a higher reality, the essense of human experience. As he says:

perseveraremos con ensalzadas minucias,
levantados a divinidad, trasmutados,
pero inmutablemente individuales,
…..

como parte de una innegable Realidad.