MILITARY POETRY FOR “THE WHITE NIGHT”.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the street in Madrid on the night of 11th September, to enjoy the over 200 cultural activities scheduled on the occasion of "The White Night".   The Army again participated, as in previous festivals, by opening the gates of “Buenavista” Palace, Army headquarters.  On this occasion, its gardens became the scenario for a poetry recital titled "Military Poetry throughout History", which was attended by over 20,000 people.
The aim of this initiative was to make known the close relationship that has been established throughout the centuries between the military world and poetry, a relationship that, far from being antagonistic, has been and continues to be extremely fruitful.  The four authors selected for “The White Night” are an example of this:  Garcilaso de la Vega, el Duque de Rivas, Luis López de Anglada and Juan Carlos Rodríguez Búrdalo.
In the case of Garcilaso, a 16th century soldier and the first great Spanish Renaissance poet, a part of his Eclogues was recited.  Following this, there was a three century jump in time to enter fully in literary Romanticism, represented by the poem “With Eleven Mortal Wounds” by Ángel María de Saavedra y Ramírez de Baquedano, Duke of Rivas.
Then, it was the turn for “Sonnet for the End”, a work by Luis López de Anglada, an Army officer who passed away in 2007. To conclude, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Búrdalo, Civil Guard Major General, recited his poem “Heritage of the Soldier”,  which closes the book “From an Infinite Service”.  Musical accompaniment was the responsibility of the King’s 1st Immemorial Infantry Regiment Music Unit.