Renaissance Lyric Poetry: A Guide to Spanish Literature
1. The Renaissance
1.1. Political, Social, and Economic Aspects
In 16th-century Spain, political stability and peace (except for minor disturbances) were coupled with an influx of gold and silver from the Americas. Spain’s emergence as a world power led to ongoing conflicts and wars abroad. In the 1520s, Charles I became Holy Roman Emperor. His early reign faced internal conflict with the Revolt of the Comuneros. Due to his imperialist policies, Charles V also fought wars against France, the Turks, and the Protestants. Castile experienced economic and population growth, while other parts of Spain suffered from poverty and hunger, with a stratified society.
1.2. Reformation and Counter-Reformation
16th-century Europe underwent a spiritual renewal, including the Reformation, which birthed Protestantism. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses sparked this movement, emphasizing individual religious experience, God’s love, and Gospel values. Devotion grew in urban areas, influencing the Enlightenment and Protestantism. Erasmus of Rotterdam’s ideas, advocating for personal faith, clergy reform, and a return to the Bible, had a significant impact on Spain. The Catholic Church responded with the Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent, preceded by reforms like religious orders and the Society of Jesus.
1.3. Collective Beliefs
Religion and magic were often intertwined. “Clean blood” was highly valued, with “old Christian” lineage being the most prestigious. Purity of blood connected to honor and public perception. A family’s honor rested on the conduct of both men and women.
1.4. Culture
The Renaissance shifted perspectives on humanity, God, and nature. Anthropocentrism placed man at the center. This cultural transformation stemmed from a renewed focus on education and the revival of classical literature by humanists.
2. Humanism
Humanism, centered on humanistic studies, required Latin for accessing ancient works. Humanistic works celebrated nature and pleasure, reflecting an optimistic worldview. Humanists actively participated in urban life.
2.1. Humanism and Renaissance in Spain
Humanism gained prominence in the late 15th century. Cardinal Cisneros played a key role, promoting the Complutensian Polyglot Bible and founding the University of Alcalá de Henares. Antonio de Nebrija published the first Castilian grammar, and Juan de Valdés wrote the Dialogue of the Language. The Renaissance also saw a revival of the chivalric ideal, blended with cultural pursuits, and the emergence of the ideal courtier.
3. Renaissance Lyric Poetry
Petrarch harmonized the Provençal poetry tradition and classical literature with the Italian poets of his time.
3.1. Formal Aspects
Italian poetry introduced the hendecasyllable and enjambment. Renaissance lyric adopted verses and forms from Italian opera: terza rima, the lira, the ottava rima, the sonnet, and the Sapphic stanza. Early 16th-century style emphasized simplicity and natural expression. Adjectives, epithets, metaphors, and anastrophe became prominent.
3.2. Themes and Poetic Motifs
Themes and ideals from Neoplatonism, classical literature, and Petrarchan poetry shaped the new poetry. Virgil’s model, reworked by Sannazaro, and Horace’s odes and epistles were imitated. Love, suffering from absence, death, or unrequited love, is the central theme. The pain of love, its power, and the conflict between reason and desire are explored. The Renaissance ideal of female beauty is depicted through nature imagery. Nature, described as a locus amoenus, reflecting the poet’s mood, is another recurring theme. Carpe diem is represented by images of nature’s cycles. Classical mythology, particularly Ovid’s Metamorphoses, expresses love relationships. Friendship and courtly praise are less prominent. Religious and moral poetry dominate the latter half of the 16th century, with themes like beatus ille, disdain for urban life, controlling passions, and self-knowledge.
4. Evolution of Renaissance Poetry
4.1. First Stage
The first half of the 16th century saw poetic renewal through Petrarchan and classical influences. Key figures include Garcilaso de la Vega, Gutierre de Cetina, and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza.
4.2. Second Stage
This stage aligns with the rise of spiritual literature, drawing on religious sources. Moral and ascetic themes, including mysticism, develop. Fray Luis de León and San Juan de la Cruz are prominent religious poets. This period encompasses ascetic and mystical lyricism. Asceticism strives for perfection through purgative, illuminative, and unitive stages. Mysticism corresponds to the unitive way.
5. Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso’s brief but influential work revolutionized Spanish lyric poetry and became a model.
5.1. Themes and Poetic Evolution
Garcilaso’s main theme is love, expressed through melancholy and sadness, often linked to nature. He finds solace in his inner world. Other themes include friendship, fate, fortune, and controlling passions. His early poems are more conventional, using traditional lyric techniques. After 1532, his work shows greater Petrarchan influence, incorporating classical genres.
5.2. Eclogues
His three eclogues share themes of love and suffering. Eclogue I features two shepherds lamenting unrequited love and the death of a loved one. Eclogue II explores the pain of unrequited love and praises the House of Alba. Eclogue III tells stories woven by four nymphs along the Tagus River, using ottava rima.
5.3. Style
Garcilaso’s style is characterized by natural expression, emphasized by epithets, metaphors, personifications, and hyperbole.
6. Fray Luis de León
His poetry coincided with the rise of spiritual literature.
6.1. Original Poetic Work
Primarily moral poetry, with some religious poems, influenced by Horace, Virgil, and biblical texts. Neoplatonism and Stoicism are also evident. He uses themes like vivere secum, beatus ille, and locus amoenus.
Style: Nature metaphors, repetition, anaphora, Latinate words, hyperbole, polysyndeton, and asyndeton.
6.2. Prose Works
Key works include Exposition of the Song of Songs, Exposition of the Book of Job, The Perfect Wife, and The Names of Christ.
7. San Juan de la Cruz
7.1. Poetic Work
A milestone in Western lyric poetry for its intensity and literary excellence. It blends traditional lyric, classical, Italianate, and biblical influences.
Major Poems: Dark Night of the Soul, Spiritual Canticle, and Living Flame of Love.
Prose Works: Four mystical treatises glossing his poems: Ascent of Mount Carmel, Dark Night, Spiritual Canticle, and Living Flame of Love.