A Study Guide for Octavio Paz's "Sunstone"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Octavio Paz's "Sunstone," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Mar 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535829793

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08

Sunstone

Octavio Paz

1957

Introduction

Sunstone, an epic poem (or lengthy narrative poem) by Mexican writer Octavio Paz, is Paz's most famous poetic work. Inspired by the Aztec reverence for the planet Venus, Paz wrote Sunstone to be 584 lines long, a structure that reflects Venus's 584-day synodic orbit—the amount of time it takes for the celestial object to return to its original position relative to the sun. The title also evokes the famous Aztec sacrificial altar stone recovered in Mexico City in the eighteenth century.

In the poem, Paz writes about his loneliness, seeks understanding of human existence, and discovers solace and companionship in loving other people. The gods, distinctly Aztec in their bloodthirsty characterization, are omnipresent but, as the narrator of the poem learns, do not give human beings salvation. Humans must find salvation within each other, the poem concludes.

When Paz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990, the Swedish Academy declared Sunstone to be one of the high points of Paz's poetry. Originally published as a stand-alone piece titled Piedra de sol in Spanish in 1957, Sunstone was first translated into English by the bilingual poet Muriel Rukeyser and published in 1962. An updated translation is available from Eliot Weinberger in The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987 (1987).

Author Biography

Octavio Paz was born on March 31, 1914, in Mexico City, Mexico, to parents Octavio and Josefina. His father was an assistant to the revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, tying the Paz family to the political and cultural elite of Mexico; however, they were also impoverished during Paz's childhood by these radical associations. As a teenager, Paz began publishing his short stories and poems. His first book of poetry, Luna silvestre (Sylvan Moon), was