Eliot, it explores the situation of the Mexican peasant under the domineering landlords of the day. There, he began working on the first of his long, ambitious poems, 'Entre la piedra y la flor' ('Between the Stone and the Flower') (1941, revised in 1976). The school was set up for the sons of peasants and workers. In 1936, Paz abandoned his law studies and left Mexico City for Yucatán to work at a school in Mérida. During this time, he became familiar with leftist poets, such as Pablo Neruda. In 1932, with some friends, he funded his first literary review, Barandal.įor a few years, Paz studied law and literature at National University of Mexico. Two years later, at the age of 19, he published Luna Silvestre ('Wild Moon'), a collection of poems. Īs a teenager in 1931, Paz published his first poems, including 'Cabellera'. These Spanish writers had a great influence on his early writings. During the 1920s, he discovered Gerardo Diego, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Antonio Machado. Paz was introduced to literature early in his life through the influence of his grandfather's library, filled with classic Mexican and European literature. The family briefly relocated to Los Angeles before returning to Mexico.

The family experienced financial ruin after the Mexican Revolution and the exile of Zapata supporters (known as Zapatistas). His father had been an assistant to Emiliano Zapata.

His family was a prominent political family in Mexico, with Spanish and indigenous Mexican roots.

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