16th-Century Spanish Poetry: Trends, Authors, and Styles
Poetry in the 16th Century
Introduction
The 16th century in Spain witnessed a clash between traditional poets who adhered to the established model of lyrical songs and innovative, Italianate poets who sought to introduce the themes and forms of the Italian Renaissance. While traditional lyrics and ballads continued to be popular among the general population, new forms and content from Italy began to take root in the late 1520s. This period saw the introduction of new genres, motifs, themes, verses, and stanzas, along with a distinct poetic sensibility.
Topics
- Mythology: Provided poets with a rich source of themes and motifs, drawn directly or indirectly from classical authors and mythography.
- Love: Depicted differently from medieval literature, influenced by Neoplatonic philosophy. Love became less focused on physical desire and more on an understanding of virtue that elevates individuals. Through love, one ascends from the tangible to the intangible, exceeding mere sensuality through the contemplation of female beauty and absolute beauty.
- Nature: Often used as a backdrop for exploring themes of frustration and pain in love. The lover experiences the impossibility of achieving love or the realization that it is not permanent.
- Moral Poetry: Latin tags like beatus ille (happy the one) and the Golden Mean were prominent in this type of poetry, while love lyrics emphasized themes like carpe diem (seize the day) and colligo virgo rosas (I gather maiden roses).
This poetry reflects a dissatisfaction with the new urban, individualistic society and the consequences of the Counter-Reformation’s morality following the Council of Trent.
Style
Renaissance poetry was highly innovative, introducing new verses, stanzas, and genres. The hendecasyllable, often alternating with the heptasyllable, became a favored verse form. Genres from the Greco-Roman tradition, such as eclogues, odes, elegies, epistles, and satires, were adopted. The sonnet, lira, octave, and royal song emerged as popular stanzas. Love poetry, both lyrical and moral, differed in its chosen form of expression. Lyrical love was expressed in songs, sonnets, sextinas, and madrigals, while moral themes were explored in odes, epistles, triplets, and lira.
Fernando de Herrera
Fernando de Herrera served as a bridge between the simpler lira of Garcilaso and the more complex style of Góngora. He wrote epic poetry with a patriotic character. His love poetry often expresses unrequited love for a lady. His work is characterized by intellectualism and a pursuit of perfection.
Mystical Literature
Mystical literature aspired to communicate directly with God, expressed in both prose and verse. It conveyed a sense of loss and a longing for God. In a context of declining traditional religious communities, mystical literature sought to restore spiritual communication. The challenge lay in finding the appropriate language and words to reconnect with God. The mystical phenomenon eventually faded or became marginalized.
Garcilaso de la Vega
Life and Personality
Garcilaso de la Vega embodied the ideal Renaissance gentleman: a soldier and a poet. His time in Italy (Naples) exposed him to the Renaissance style, influenced by classical Greek and Latin literature. His infatuation with Isabel Freire inspired Petrarchan love themes in his work.
His Work
Garcilaso’s work includes an epistle, two elegies, three eclogues, five songs, and 38 sonnets. His sonnets played a crucial role in establishing this stanza in Spanish literature. They are generally love poems, some reflecting the style and topics of traditional lyrical songs, while others carry the new Renaissance sensibility. His work reveals a direct influence of the classics and a stoic attitude.
Eclogue 2, the most extensive of his three eclogues, features a dramatic action. Eclogue 1, with 421 verses divided into stanzas, portrays the shepherds Salicio and Nemoroso lamenting the disdain and death of their beloveds, respectively. Eclogue 3 depicts four nymphs embroidering stories of love and death on their canvases along a riverbank.
Themes
- Love: Garcilaso’s love poetry reflects a Neoplatonic conception with traces of the Petrarchan tradition. It explores the lady’s indifference, the lover’s pain, and the oscillation between hope and despair.
- Nature: Nature serves as a stylized setting where characters express their romantic woes to shepherds who listen and offer consolation. This praise of primitive and rustic nature has its roots in classical eclogues, particularly the poetry of Virgil.
His writing conveys a strong sense of sincerity, often attributed to its autobiographical nature. It combines personal feelings with literary rhetoric.
Style
Garcilaso’s poetic language aligns with Renaissance ideals of naturalness and elegance. His language is deceptively simple, fluid, and natural. He sought a balance between classical restraint and passionate expression, reflected in the frequent symmetry of his poetic structures, such as bimembral verses and syntactic parallels. His writing has a sweet, melancholic tone, often employing preposed adjectives. His verse is highly musical due to the skillful combination of accents, alliteration, rhymes, and hyperbaton.