José Asunción Silva

José Asunción Silva (born Nov. 27, 1865, Bogotá, Colom.—died May 23, 1896, Bogotá) was a Colombian poet whose metrical experimentation and romantic reminiscences introduced a melancholy lyricism new to Spanish-American poetry. His highly personal poetry was widely imitated and greatly influenced Modernist poetry in Spanish America.

Silva’s life was a tormented one, both because of his morbid sensibility and as a result of a series of misfortunes—the economic ruin of his prominent family; the death of his only confidante, his sister Elvira; and the loss of his best manuscripts in a shipwreck. Silva escaped from the misery of his life through a brief but brilliant poetic career and, at the age of 30, through suicide. His complete works, including Crepúsculos (“Twilights”) and the Nocturnos (“Nocturnes”), for which he is best known, are collected in Obra completa de José Asunción Silva (1956).