Farewell by Federico Garcia Lorca

From the very first line, the poet says, 'if I die, leave the balcony open.' He requests his family members to leave the balcony open when he dies. He would come back and see how the family members are living and how they are enjoying their lives. He wants to see the little boy eating his oranges from the balcony. He wants to see that the reaper is harvesting the wheat. He wants to come back to his balcony and see their activities, listen to them talking each other and get engaged in the worldly activities. The poet again repeats in the refrain 'if I die, leave the balcony open.' This repetition also indicates that he wants to get back to his balcony even after his death.

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Here, the title 'Farewell' refers to none other than the death, his departure from this world. Farewell is such a 'good-bye' when you do not come to that place in the same condition. But it also implies that you don’t like to go away; it is your compulsion, an obligation. In the same way, the poet does not like to go away; but it is an obligation that he has to. In this sense, the poet seems to be attached with this sensory world which he finds really engaging.

This poem could be interpreted as a discourse on the attachment to the sensory world. People say that there are two kinds of worlds: sensory or the real world and the spiritual or ideal world. Sensory world is the world of reality in which we are living now. It is concrete and lively, and it has physical existence. Here, we can see, touch or feel the things. Many people believe that this is the world we experience, we enjoy and make the dreams fulfilled. On the other hand, spiritual or ideal world is an imaginary world from where all human souls come and go back after their death. The spiritual world is not felt by sensory organs. It is related to the final good, final destination. Some people also believe in the existence of such idealistic world. In this poem, the poet seems to have believed in the existence of the both, but he seems to have preferred the sensory and practical world. He does not like to go away from this world even after his death. He is guided by the dedication on life rather than the death or a next life. 

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