Summary of the Journey
Stage Location Emotional Shift Symbolism
1. Before Cemetery Outside Romantic grief Longing
Gates of
2. Entry to Cemetery Reverence Mortality
necropolis
3. Reflection on
Inside cemetery Irony & insight Vanity
Tombs
4. Calavera Appears Grave zone Fear Death personified
Shame,
5. Calavera Speaks Stillness Memento mori
recognition
6. Collapse Kneeling at grave Despair Existential fall
Madness, truth
7. Imprisonment Physical prison Alienation
rejected
Timeline of the Persona's Journey in the Poem
1. Restless Night: The Search Begins
Quote: "Una noche de misterio, estando el mundo dormido, / buscando
un amor perdido, pasé por el cementerio."
(“One night of mystery, while the world lay asleep, / seeking a lost
love, I passed by the cemetery.”)
State: The speaker is restless, emotionally distressed, haunted by a lost
love.
Tone: Romantic, melancholic, introspective.
2. Observing the Sacred Space of the Dead
Quote: "Desde el azul hemisferio la luna su luz ponía / sobre la muralla
fría de la necrópolis santa..."
(“From the blue hemisphere, the moon cast its light / on the cold
wall of the sacred necropolis…”)
State: Entering sacred ground, the speaker adopts a reverent tone. He
is aware of death’s solemnity.
Tone: Awed, hushed, sacred.
3. Facing the Graves: Irony and Empathy Appear
Quote: "Vi en medio de aquel silencio surgir blancos mausoleos / como
ilustres sarcófagos de ilusiones y deseos..."
(“I saw, in the midst of that silence, white mausoleums rise / like
illustrious sarcophagi of illusions and desires…”)
State: The speaker reflects on the vanity of human ambition.
Tone: Ironic, philosophical, critical of pride.
4. Encounter with the Skull (La Calavera)
Quote: "Entonces vi una calavera reír con risa sardónica..."
(“Then I saw a skull laugh with a sardonic laugh…”)
State: Fear emerges. The speaker is startled by death’s mocking
presence.
Tone: Eerie, threatening, allegorical.
5. The Skull’s Speech: Moral Judgment
Quote: "¡Soy el símbolo funesto de la humana vanidad!"
(“I am the grim symbol of human vanity!”)
State: The calavera voices universal truths. The speaker becomes a
passive listener, confronted with the futility of wealth, power, and
pride.
Tone: Didactic, moralizing, accusatory.
6. Existential Collapse
Quote: "Y cayendo de rodillas lloré con amargo llanto..."
(“And falling to my knees, I wept with bitter tears…”)
State: The speaker reaches a breaking point. Emotionally and
philosophically shattered.
Tone: Despairing, penitent.
7. Social Rejection and Confinement
Quote: "Y después... después la gente, al verme con gesto loco, / creyó
que ya estaba loco y me encerraron en prisión."
(“And then… then the people, seeing my mad expression, /
believed I had gone insane and locked me up in prison.”)
State: The speaker is misunderstood, alienated, and imprisoned—
physically and spiritually.
Tone: Tragic, ironic, disillusioned.