Written Landscapes of the Vic Plain: Verdaguer and Martí i Pol
Written Landscapes of the Vic Plain: Verdaguer and Martí i Pol is a project
that aims to link land and poetry. Jacint Verdaguer and Miquel Martí i
Pol were born within a short distance of each other. Folgueroles and Roda de
Ter are neighbouring villages that have become major landmarks in Catalan literary
geography. The River Ter, the backbone of this area, also takes us to other key
places in the lives of Verdaguer and Martí i Pol. One of the most important
for Verdaguer was Masies de Voltregà, which is also involved in this project
On the surface there is nothing extraordinary about the fact that the two poets
were born near each other. It does, however, serve as a starting point to embark
on an exploratory comparison.
To compare Verdaguer and Martí i Pol, giants of contemporary Catalan poetry,
is to look at them under a new light that reveals affinities and similarities,
contrasts and contradictions, more than may, at first, be expected.
What else links them together and what else separates them? Who knows whether,
besides the place, a local "genie", a
genius loci, does not link
them together making them intimately closer to each other than, to all appearances,
they seem to be? And that makes them both closer and further away at the same
time.
The human imprint on an area is more visible in the case of poets and artists
because poetry and art are expressions of a land, a people, a landscape and,
in short, a way of life.
Areas linked to the poets:
The foundation of this project is provided by the literary heritage institutions
that preserve the memory of Verdaguer and Martí i Pol:
Verdaguer House Museum, Folgueroles
Espai Miquel Martí i Pol, Roda de Ter
Verdaguer, Les Masies de Voltregà
