Descent and ascent of the poetic soul through the celestial spheres in Altazor

Abstract

This article focuses on the following idea: the influence of Mallarmé is important in Altazor, by Vicente Huidobro, particularly in regards to the different levels of meaning in the extensive poem. In Altazor there are three levels of meaning: astronomical, astrological and poetic. The astronomical level allows the lyrical subject to be placed in the cosmos; in the astrological one, Anábasis takes a trip through the Mithraic system’s seven planets of antiquity ; in the poetic, this trip reveals a double perspective: a) the poet descends, along with the language of poetry, towards death and destruction; b) the magician, by means of a spell, aspires to create the new poetic language from an ascending perspective