The most radically experimental collection in Spanish-language poetry. Vallejo shattered syntax, invented neologisms, and used typography and white space with a violence that made Eliot look conservative. Written partly while he was in prison in Peru, Trilce combines abstract linguistic experiment with visceral physical suffering. Neruda said Vallejo was the greatest American poet, and the question is whether "American" meant only the continent or the hemisphere.

The case for it, the case against, and the rest of the canon open with Pro.