In October 1938, the International Brigades were formally withdrawn from Spain by Prime Minister Juan Negrín in an attempt to win British and French support and to pressure Germany and Italy to remove their troops. The farewell parade for the International Brigades was held in Barcelona on November 15, 1938, with thousands of volunteers from over 50 countries marching through the city. The withdrawal was a bitter blow to the Republic, as the Brigades had provided some of its most dedicated and experienced troops.

The withdrawal of the International Brigades inspired a wave of farewell poetry, with volunteers and Republican poets writing elegies for the lost comrades and the doomed cause. The poetry of the International Brigades, which had been a vibrant genre throughout the war, now turned to themes of memory, loss, and exile. The farewell parade itself was chronicled in verse, with poets capturing the emotional farewell of the volunteers to the Spanish people.