Literary Analysis: Garcilaso, Quevedo, and Bécquer
Analysis of Literary Works: Garcilaso, Quevedo, and Bécquer
Garcilaso de la Vega: Sonnet Analysis
Location: Lyric poem by Garcilaso de la Vega, a Spanish Renaissance author and prototype of the knight of the time.
Topic: The poet urges a young girl to love before time withers her beauty (Carpe diem).
Structure:
- The poet refers to the color and grace of youth (lines 1-8).
- The poet refers to old age (lines 9-14).
Analysis and Content Development
- This sonnet falls within the hedonistic doctrine, which seeks
Gongora, Lope de Vega, Quevedo: Culteranismo and Conceptismo
Luis de Góngora and Culteranismo
A champion of comedies of little relevance, Góngora’s work is purely lyrical. He wrote mostly secular and religious poetry, using the verses of the time, long or short verses: romance, ballad, quatrains, sonnets (a large and complicated structure for perfection to create a poetic language itself), triplets, silvas, eighths, etc. His inspiration is oriented towards two opposite poles: humorous or burlesque, on the one hand, and refined idealization, on the other.
Read MoreUnderstanding Lyrical and Heroic Poetry in Anglo-Saxon Literature
Lyrical Elegy
In these poems, a mood of lyrical elegy dominates.
The Wanderer
It is a poem about the laments of a solitary man who once was happy in the service of a lord, but after his lord’s death, his happiness and friendship disappear, so he becomes a wanderer. The poem ends with a moralism like you have to be good. It’s an impressive lament for the gone joys.
The Seafarer
It has the same melancholic tone as The Wanderer, the same feeling of regret. It is about an old sailor who remembers the loneliness
Quevedo’s Sonnet: A Baroque Reflection on Mortality
Analysis
In the 17th century, the Baroque movement disrupted Renaissance conventions, embracing exaggeration and disproportion. Francisco de Quevedo’s sonnet exemplifies this aesthetic. Written in traditional form—two quartets and two tercets, each verse with 11 syllables and a cross rhyme scheme—the poem explores the author’s confrontation with mortality.
Structure and Themes
The sonnet is divided into two parts. The first (the quartets) depicts the author’s struggle with impending death, a battle
Read MoreAntonio Machado: A Deep Dive into His Poetic Legacy
Antonio Machado is the great poet of his generation and one of the most important Spanish poets of all time. Although his first poems are close to the aesthetics of modernism, early modernism leans towards an intimate Bécquerian tone, full of symbols of great simplicity and formality. His membership in the Generation of ’98 is manifested by the appreciation of landscape, the fear of the passage of time, concern for the Spanish situation and their future, skepticism, and affirmation of the supremacy
Read MoreShakespeare’s Sonnet 30: Analysis and Biography
Sonnet 30
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought…
Analysis of Sonnet 30
Voice and Mood
Voice: The poem begins in the first-person voice until verse 13, where the poet suddenly addresses his beloved. This creates a sense of surprise, as initially, the reader believes the poet is alone in his thoughts, revealing a deep connection to a specific person.
Mood: The prevailing mood is melancholy, characterized by sadness and a sense of loss.
Summary
When the poet is in silent thought, he rekindles his
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