Renaissance Lyric Poetry: Themes, Styles, and Schools
Lyric poetry in the first Renaissance: In the early 16th century, Spain entered the Italian sphere through lyric poetry. Spanish poets lived in the Neapolitan court. The drivers of this trend were Garcilaso de la Vega and Juan Boscán. Renaissance poets sought the expression of beauty. The most common themes are:
Love
Its conception is purely platonic. Through love for a woman who is idealized, the person is ennobled. The poet analyzes and transmits the mood experienced during infatuation. Sometimes they feel depressed because of the coldness or indifference of the lady, and sometimes they feel happy for a look, a word…
Nature
Nature is the best framework, the haven of peace and tranquility in which love develops. The elements of nature identify with the poet in love and feel the same as them.
Mythology
Greco-Roman mythology is used to exemplify a situation or an experience that you want to convey. Others are used only as a resource to embellish the text. The style of the Renaissance is characterized by the naturalness of expression and good taste. For this, the poet pursues a simple and elegant style with easy comprehension, using resources such as metaphors, comparisons, and epithets. Poets imitate Italian forms, which is a metric renewal during the Renaissance. Habitually, the hendecasyllable (11 syllables) and heptasyllable (7 syllables) are used. The most common verses are those composed of hendecasyllables (triplet, eighth, and sonnet) and stanzas of combination between hendecasyllables and heptasyllables (lira, silva, estancia). The most common subgenres are eclogue, elegy, ode, and epistle.
Second Renaissance Lyric Poetry
In the second half of the 16th century, lyric poetry primarily reflects religious and national concerns as a result of the moral and political crisis suffered by Spain. There are current poetic styles, very different from each other, that reflect these concerns. On one hand, the idealized love and patriotic feeling are shown in the Seville school. On the other hand, religious issues arising under the guidelines of the Council of Trent are contained in the Salamanca school. Authors are poets, ascetic and mystic.
The Seville School
Its maximum exponent is Fernando de Herrera. It reflects the influence of Petrarch in the treatment of themes of love and elaboration of the literary language. Unlike Boscán and Garcilaso, the Seville school introduces metaphors, epithets, careful selection, and Latin cultism.
The Salamanca School
Horacio is the maximum exponent of this school, and the prevailing themes are calm poems and religious reflection. But the most representative of Salamanca is Fray Luis de León. Their characteristics are measured use of rhetorical devices in pursuit of a clear poetic language, simple and balanced presence of moral, philosophical, and religious themes.
Ascetical and Mystical Poetry
This is also a cultivated theme at this time, an exceptional religious quality that arises from two facts: the Christian restoration begun under the direction of Cardinal Cisneros during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs and the climate of religious fervor and devotion created in countries outside the Council of Trent.