In April 1938, the Nationalist forces captured the city of Lérida in Catalonia during the Aragon Offensive, advancing deep into Republican territory. The fall of Lérida was a major blow to the Republic, as it opened the road to the Mediterranean and threatened to isolate Barcelona. The battle was part of the Nationalist campaign to split the Republican zone, and its success demonstrated the growing weakness of the Republican Army.

The fall of Lérida was lamented in Catalan poetry, with writers mourning the loss of another city to the Nationalists. The battle also inspired poetry among Republican soldiers, who wrote of the desperate resistance and the growing sense of hopelessness. The poetry of this period often reflected the disintegration of the Republican coalition, as political divisions undermined the war effort.