... The majority of the poems translated here appeared in cancioneros between 1511 and 1605... However, not much attention, other than literary, has been given the actual content of these songs. There is a truly remarkable fact hidden--and hidden only because we have been overwhelmingly chauvinistic in our approach. In a goodly number of these traditional poems the voice heard is the voice of the female, of woman in her womanly condition. And yet, to our knowledge, no one has gone from there to recognize that perhaps, quite simply and logically, the creators were women.

...Just as our poetry is often colorless or merely strident and suicidal, so our lives tend to be drab and listless. I recall reading a group of these translations at a literary gathering and getting little reaction. I saw that the sexual allusions of some of the simplest poems were going over the heads of the audience, sophisticated twentieth century people. To them, a two-line poem such as:

... The Spanish text has been left as found in the original sources... In translating I have followed the line of least resistance, rhyming where possible and, in general, trying to preserve the spirit and verve of each poem.