Renaissance Lyric Poetry: Garcilaso, Fray Luis, and San Juan
Characteristics of Renaissance Lyric Poetry
The sixteenth century saw the renewal of Castilian lyric poetry thanks to the incorporation of Italian forms. Juan Boscán began to use Italianate themes and forms, but it was his friend Garcilaso de la Vega who brought these compositions to their highest perfection.
Key Changes
- Regarding Meter: The use of hendecasyllables and heptasyllables became predominant, with the sonnet as the preferred verse form.
- Regarding Themes: Love is the central theme of the compositions, usually presented as an unrequited love. Nature is melancholy and inspiring, serving as the setting for these love laments. Classical mythology appears in many compositions. Mythological stories are revived and sometimes compared with the poet’s personal history.
- Regarding Songbooks: These are not a collection of different poets and different topics, as in the fifteenth century, but become the daily and personal testimony of a single poet who defines, through it, his entire love affair with a lady.
Garcilaso de la Vega: Life and Work
A poet, born in Toledo in 1501, Garcilaso was the expert in noble arms and letters that the times required. He served Emperor Carlos I, which led him to travel and participate in various diplomatic and military campaigns. The inspiration for his poetry was a Portuguese lady named Isabel Freire. The emperor banished him to an island in the Danube, and he returned to Naples, where he encountered the Italian cultural background. He died in Nice in 1536 from wounds suffered in the assault on the fortress of Le Muy, France.
Work
Garcilaso’s work was not published until after his death in 1543, when the widow of his friend Juan Boscán published the poetry of both in a single volume. His works are collected in a songbook that combines the poet’s knowledge and erudition with the authentic feeling of a man in love. The ordination of these compositions is a problem; the poems were grouped by metrics, but to understand the vital process, they should be placed in chronological order by date of composition. His theme is love.
Two Major Themes of the Renaissance
Nature and mythology. The tone is melancholic and sometimes painful. The poetically idealized nature is gentle and harmonic, the stage and witness to the suffering of love. Mythology is used sometimes for aesthetic reasons and others as an expression and projection of feelings. The style is simple and far from rhetoric.
Fray Luis de León: Life and Work
Fray Luis de León was born in Belmonte (Cuenca) in 1527. A man of vast knowledge, he was jailed in 1572, accused by the Inquisition of not meeting the standards of the church in his translations of the Bible. He died in 1591. He synthesized humanism and religion in his person and also represents religious and national character.
Work
The work consists of less than forty original compositions. His most important works in verse are: Vida Retirada (Life Retreat), Noche Serena (Serene Night), and Oda a Francisco Salinas (Ode to Francisco Salinas).
In Prose
He translated the Song of Songs and the Book of Job, adding personal comments.
His Themes
The desire for solitude, the contemplation of natural balance, the longing for spiritual peace, and the harmony of the universe as a reflection of Dion. His works show the influence of medieval Christianity and classical culture. His style is sober and simple. He is also distinguished by the use of a long Renaissance verse: the lira.
San Juan de la Cruz
San Juan de la Cruz was born in Fontiveros (Ávila) in 1542. He joined the Carmelites and carried out the reform of the order, following in the footsteps of Saint Teresa of Jesus. He died in Úbeda (Jaén) in 1591.
Work
His work represents the desire for the absolute. It is a poem in which nature becomes a symbolic element. San Juan de la Cruz wrote poems of traditional compositions, including three great mystical ones: Noche Oscura del Alma (Dark Night of the Soul), Cántico Espiritual (Spiritual Canticle), and Llama de Amor Viva (Living Flame of Love). The most used stanza is the lira, and exclamations are often displayed. He often uses the paradox of paradoxes. The lexicon is varied. The images are constant, as well as sensory elements. All the work of San Juan de la Cruz is the ultimate expression of love, whether divine or human.
Canary Islands Renaissance Authors
Bartolomé Cairasco de Figueroa and Antonio de Viana.