Gustavo Adolfo Domínguez Bastida, better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, (February 17, 1836, Seville - December 22, 1870) was a Spanish post-romanticist writer of poetry and short stories, now considered one of the most important figures in Spanish literature. He adopted the alias of Bécquer as his brother Valeriano Bécquer, a painter, had done earlier. He was associated with the post-romanticism movement and wrote while realism was enjoying success in Spain. He was moderately well known during his life, but it was after his death that most of his works were published. His best known works are the Rhymes and the Legends, usually published together as Rimas y leyendas. These poems and tales are essential to the study of Spanish literature and common reading for high-school students in Spanish-speaking countries. His work approached the traditional poetry and themes in a modern way, and he is considered the founder of modern Spanish lyricism. Bécquers influence on 20th century poets of the Spanish language can be felt in the works of Octavio Paz and Giannina Braschi. The Legends are a variety of romantic tales. As the name implies, most have a legendary tone. Some depict supernatural and semi-religious (Christian) events, like The mount of the souls, The green eyes, The rose of the Passion (a blood libel) with references to the Holy Child of La Guardia and The miserere (a religious song). Others cover more or less normal events from a romantic view, like The moonlight ray and Three dates. This is a high quality book of the original classic edition. This is a freshly published edition of this culturally important work, which is now, at last, again available to you. Enjoy this classic work. These few paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside