10
      that will have to be left for another occasion. Interspersed between the long, supple lines spoken by Inez, a Spanish Republican fighter; and her son, the journalist and editor Guido, a traitor to the goyernment, the drama unfolds with short questioning songs like this one:
      Who can say why
      Our sons must die?
      Who can say why?
      Some say for bread We give these dead Dust is their bread
      and the answer comes at the climax of the tale:
      You ask me why Our sons must die This then, is why:
      To stand up straight In the narrow gate, Once to stand straight.
      Is that all, then, Once to be men? That is all, then!
      The stark simplicity of these lines, interwoven with much more complicated rhytyms and images suggest that the poet Kenneth Leslie had been deeply moved by Lorca's passionate lyricism; and that he, more than any other Canadian poet had assimilated the lessons of politics and made them one with xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx art. Lorca's influence of course has continued tp be felt by Canadian poets: during those days following his death I wrote a poem for him, and so have other poets more recently: Dudek,mxxxxxx and others . Young activists today are putting on his plays and singing his songs. It is true that in the narrow sense Lorca was not a political poet : I believe his association, as friends, with men of both sides led to his betrayal and execution. However, it was because of his deep roots in his own country, Granada, that he was a people's poet. As he has declared:
      If by the grace of God I beome famous half of that fame will belong to Granada, which formed me and made me what I am: a poet from birth and unable to help it.
      How many Canadian poets, I wonder, have had the maturity to say