Life and Works of Luis de Góngora and Francisco de Quevedo
Luis de Góngora
Life
Born in Cordoba in 1561, Luis de Góngora benefited from his father’s scholarly library and his mother’s illustrious family name. His father’s high rank and erudition provided him with opportunities for literacy and education. At 15, he was sent to Salamanca to study, supported by his uncle’s ecclesiastical offices. However, his passion for poetry emerged early on, with his first poems known by the age of 19 (1586). Cervantes praised Góngora’s early work, though they later became literary rivals.
Góngora received higher orders and balanced his travels with poetry commissioned by the council, reflected in some of his sonnets. In 1610, he wrote “La Toma de Larache,” marking a shift in his style, which some critics consider his second period, during which he produced his best poems: Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea and Solitudes. In 1617, he established himself in court thanks to the Duke of Lerma, for whom he wrote Panegyric to the Duke of Lerma. The Duke also appointed him chaplain to the king, requiring him to be ordained a priest at 55. A prolonged illness plagued his final days in court, leading him to return to Cordoba, where he died in May 1627 at the age of 66.
Friends and Admirers:
- Duke of Lerma
- Count of Lemos
- Count of Villamediana
- Friar Hortensio Paradiccino
- Count-Duke of Olivares
Enemies:
- Quevedo
- Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega admired Góngora, but Góngora disdained him, resulting in a literary feud. Quevedo and Góngora, both men of strong character, engaged in a feud that extended beyond the literary to the personal. Quevedo ultimately triumphed over Góngora with his satire.
Obra (Works)
Góngora died without publishing his poems. His friend, Chacón, compiled and organized his poetry into what is known as the Manuscript Chacón.
Góngora was largely forgotten in the 18th century until the Generation of ’27, particularly Dámaso Alonso, revived his work in the 20th century.
His work consists of:
- Ninety-four authentic romances
- Eighteen attributable romances
- One hundred sixty-seven true romances
- Fifty-three attributed sonnets
- Thirty-three authentic love compositions
- The Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea
- The Solitudes
- Panegyric to the Duke of Lerma
- Firmness of Isabela (theater)
- Dr. Carlino (theater)
- One hundred seventy-five letters (three in Cordoba, and one hundred twenty-one in Madrid)
Góngora was a respected, feared, and famous poet in his time, confident in his abilities. He invented a brilliant, elite poetic language known as culteranismo, which aimed not to represent reality but to transform it through intricate metaphors. His poetry is generally aesthetic and sensory, admired for its intellectual appeal. However, it rarely expresses emotions, avoiding sentimentality.
Critics often distinguish two types of Góngora’s poetry: a cultured style and one closer to traditional lyricism, often treated with derision. The Góngora of letrillas, romances, and songs is nicknamed “The Prince of Light” for his clear and accessible language, despite using learned words. No other poet achieved what Góngora did with these compositions.
The second stage, beginning in 1610 after “The Taking of Larache,” sees Góngora known as “The Prince of Darkness.” This period is characterized by difficult, learned words and obscure metaphors. Góngora himself addressed the criticism of his complex compositions.
Dámaso Alonso argues that this duality is not entirely accurate. He acknowledges that Góngora’s longer poems are more elaborate but attributes this to their length. Alonso maintains that understanding Góngora’s difficult works is possible with patience and careful reading.
Poetic Style
Góngora’s cultism differs from the pre-existing literary cultism, which used Latin-derived words sparingly. Góngora’s style accumulates learned words and metaphors to create vivid imagery. He doesn’t invent anything new but intensifies existing Renaissance poetic techniques, pushing the boundaries of difficulty and formal beauty.
Góngora uses pure metaphors in succession, complicating comprehension. He favors Castilian words with stress on the antepenultimate syllable and uses words with many vowels to create a rich sound. His syntax is also complex, featuring hyperbaton (lengthy sentences with numerous commas and parentheses), creating a puzzle-like effect. He employs an accumulation of words, circumstantial add-ons, and static language. Descriptions abound, with epithets of color (light, crisp colors), auditory epithets, and substantive epithets that reinforce color. He repeats metaphors and syntactic structures and masterfully places words in verses to enhance the rhythm. He uses precious stones and evocative words to elevate beauty.
Use of Figures of Speech
Rhetorical figures had become commonplace in Baroque and Renaissance poetry due to overuse. Góngora, however, uses them in a unique way. For him, they are not mere ornamentation but the content itself. He aims for pure poetry, discovering new nuances and beauty. He elevates poetry to its highest levels. Unlike other poets, the author does not project himself into his poetry. Only triumphant beauty remains, devoid of personal feeling, provoking only admiration. This beauty is cold, distant, and static.
Juvenile Poems
Góngora’s early works include over two hundred letrillas and romances in a popular and accessible style. This part of his work remained free from criticism by his contemporaries. The themes are hypocrisy, social pretensions, and human weaknesses, with traces of humor, sometimes bitter, sometimes joyful.
His romances showcase various aspects of his character, surpassing Lope de Vega and Quevedo. “The Fable of Pyramus and Thisbe,” composed of five hundred and eight verses, tells the tragedy of these lovers in a grotesque manner, contrasting with the Renaissance style. He mocks classical and Renaissance conventions. He also wrote Moorish and chivalric romances.
His themes include pastoral, lyrical, Moorish, mythological, and captive narratives. He sometimes mixes classical elements with burlesque (as in the aforementioned fable). His satirical novels and letrillas often feature concise and witty conceits.
Sonnets
Góngora’s sonnets differ from Lope de Vega’s in their artificiality. Lope’s sonnets focus on feeling, like Quevedo’s, while Góngora emphasizes formal artifice.
Until 1582, the theme of love dominates his sonnets, after which he explores a variety of subjects.
Three Major Poems
These three poems encapsulate his poetic style.
Panegyric to the Count of Lerma: a flattering, obligatory work, considered the weakest of the three.
The Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea: based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, it tells the story of Polyphemus’s love for Galatea, who has an affair with the shepherd Acis. Polyphemus kills Acis with a rock, and Galatea asks the gods to transform Acis, whose blood becomes a river of the same name. The poem’s novelty lies in its language, creating a poetic language far removed from the ordinary. It requires interpretive effort and knowledge of mythology to decipher the periphrases and metaphors.
The Solitudes: the most challenging of the three. Góngora intended to write a symbol of the four ages of man but completed only two, leaving the work unfinished. The narrative serves as a pretext for a hymn to nature, to the simple and humble life, and to everyday objects, achieving a new beauty through Góngora’s metaphors. The contrast between the subject matter (natural, simple, and humble) and the brilliance and richness of the language is striking. The beginning of “The Solitudes” exemplifies the culterano style, building up in a few verses a violent hyperbaton, alliteration, and varied rhythm.
- The solitude of the fields
- The solitude of the banks
Francisco de Quevedo
Life
Born in 1580 in the palace where he spent his childhood, Francisco de Quevedo studied with the Jesuits and at the University of Alcalá. He was a highly cultured man, studying classical languages, English, Italian, and philosophy. While in Valladolid, thanks to the Duchess of Lerma, he secured a position as a poet and befriended many other writers.
He remained in Madrid from 1606, dedicating himself to literature. He became a close associate of the Duke of Osuna but was dismissed when the Duke fell from favor. He became an enemy of the Count-Duke of Olivares, criticizing him numerous times, leading to his exile to Torre de Juan Abad. From there, he wrote flattering letters and obtained a pardon. In 1632, he resumed writing satires and opposing the Count-Duke, resulting in another exile. Severely ill, he died in 1645 in Villanueva de los Infantes.
Quevedo was largely anti-feminist until his old age. He had several children with a woman known as la Ledesma. At 54, he married the widow Esperanza de Aragón, but they separated after two years. He was a writer of great wit and complexity, immersed in court intrigues. He held a pessimistic view of life, embodying the Baroque antithesis. He symbolized both the greatness and decline of Spain: greatness in literature and decline in politics. He was also deeply patriotic.
Poetic Work
His poetic work can be divided into three categories based on themes:
Existential (philosophical-moral):
- Existential Poetry
- Moral-political poetry
- Religious poetry
Amorosa (Love Poetry):
Sometimes gallant, sometimes pessimistic.
Burlesque, satirical:
- Satirical-burlesque
- Jácaras and dance
- Heroic poem of the absurdities and follies of Orlando Enamorado
Philosophical:
- Existential
Quevedo adopted a Stoic, Christian mindset towards life (Spanish Baroque neostoicism: disappointment and melancholy towards life). He believed in suppressing passion and remaining unmoved, showing indifference to pleasure and pain, and demonstrating fortitude in the face of misfortune. Quevedo lived by these precepts. His main themes are death and life as antitheses, the passage of time, and disillusionment. “Life is a short time of living, dying.”
Quevedo was influenced by Seneca and Zeno. He did not fear death, viewing it as a law of nature.
Language and Style:
- Repetition of a verb or noun like a refrain (clothes are the garments of my soul).
- Frequent polysyndeton.
- Use of colloquialisms for greater impact (oh, life!).
- Antithesis.
- Epithets with broad meanings.
- Alliteration.
- Renewal of old images and metaphors, making them original, beautifying or deforming, personifying objects and objectifying human beings.
- Direct language to penetrate the soul without elaborate imagery or classical allusions.