Sonnets to Madness and Other Misfortunes

"Sonnets to Madness and Other Misfortunes" is a collection of poetry by Francisco X. Alarcon. The poems are in Spanish; the book is presented in bilingual format, with English translations by Francisco Aragon. Most of the poems in the book are assigned Roman numerals instead of titles.The book as a whole has a sad, thoughtful tone, but I found it ultimately hopeful. A number of poems are about loneliness and the desire for love. Consider the quote, "could it be I'm the last person / on the face of the earth?" (XXII). Some poems have a political edge; in one he asks "how much for Central American coffee / that hums with bullet-ridden blood?" (XX).I found the strongest poems in the collection to be a trio that deal with words and language. In one of these three Alarcon writes that "beneath this language there's another, / more ancient, agile, elusive" (XVI). He seems to be pointing towards an ur-language that transcends language. Overall, a solid collection by an important Latino poet of the United States.