Rosalía de Castro: Life, Poetry, and Galician Romanticism
Rosalía de Castro: A 19th-Century Romantic Voice
Contextualization
Rosalía de Castro lived in the 19th century. Her poetry is part of the Romantic movement, an era of great societal confrontation. Romanticism, as a cultural and political movement, opposed rationalism. Intellectuals of the time realized that reason alone could not explain everything. There are aspects that reason cannot fully grasp: feelings, emotions, ideals, and fantasies. Romantics vindicated their right to express themselves
Read MorePre-Renaissance Literature: Poetry, La Celestina, and Romancero
**The Pre-Renaissance: Learned Poetry**
It is styled concepts and tries on different themes: love, satire, morality. It is preserved in the song of the day.
**Jorge Manrique: *Verses on the Death of His Father***
Jorge Manrique was a good poet of the *cancioneros*.
Author: Jorge belonged to one of the great families of the Castilian nobility. He participated in battles with his father and died in combat at the age of 39. He composed couplets on the death of his father.
The poem is an elegy that expresses
Read MoreSan Juan de Baños: Visigothic Church in Palencia, Spain
San Juan de Baños: A Visigothic Architectural Gem
The church of San Juan de Baños features a basilica with three naves and three apses, although only the central apse is authentic. Over the years, it has undergone partial reconstructions, even affecting the original layout. The original plan was widened up to the fourth and final arch, forming a transept that opened onto a triple header consisting of three rectangular chapels. After reconstruction, the side apses disappeared, and the plan was converted
Spanish Literature: Key Authors, Works, and Literary Concepts
Spanish Literature: Key Authors and Concepts
Jorge Guillén (1893-1984)
Jorge Guillén was a prominent representative of pure poetry. His work includes the book Air Ours, which brings together three collections of poems:
- Song: Poems in this collection emphasize the happiness of being alive, using images that suggest lightness and perfection.
- Clamor: This collection addresses issues such as poverty, death, and suffering, which contradict or question the perfection held in Song.
- Tribute: These poems praise
Spanish Courtly Lyric Poetry in the 15th Century
The 15th Century Courtly Lyric
The fifteenth century was a transitional period between medieval and modern times.
Social and Cultural Changes of the 15th Century
Much of the 15th century developed in Spain, but the unification of the realms of Aragon and Castile through the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs restored stability to the country after a civil war. The economy still had a rural, agrarian base. The economic crisis brought social upheaval.
The most crucial renewal of this period occurred in
Read MoreMystical Poetry of Saint John of the Cross and Garcilaso de la Vega
Saint John of the Cross
The importance of Saint John of the Cross derives from three of his poems: Spiritual Canticle, Living Flame of Love, and Dark Night of the Soul. The theme of the three is the same: the mystical union with God, symbolized by the love of a man and a woman. They have two levels: literal and symbolic. The poems describe the mystical process with phases of search and suffering at times, and others that come on suddenly. The religious sense is so subtle that without John’s comments
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