Jose Marti's Versos libres as moral poetry: from Western philosophy to Buddhism

Versos libres has been studied from a variety of perspectives: as a work in continuity with Golden Age Spanish literature, as an instance of Americanness, as a romantic or modernist work, as a book prefiguring the avantgarde, and even as a text anticipating Lorca's poetry and its denunciation of dehumanization in the megalopolis of New York, a symbol of technocratic progress. However, what is probably the most genuine aspect of this work by Marti - its moral dimension - has not been specifically and systematically explored. Versos libres revolves around human customs, censuring their pernicious aspects while, on the other hand, praising virtue (to the point of almost reaching a mystical state). Various moral traditions coexist in this poetry collection: Platonic-Christian, but also Stoic, and even Buddhist morals (with key concepts in this philosophy as Maya, Sunyata, Karma, Samsara or Nirvana). In that respect, we could refer to hybridity, rather than harmonious eclecticism.