Analysis of Gongora's Sonnet: Carpe Diem and Beauty

Analysis of Gongora's Sonnet: Carpe Diem

While to compete with your hair

Góngora develops the classic theme of the ephemeral and wilting of youth and human beauty, known as carpe diem. This classic trope is usually translated as "seize the day," that is, enjoy your youth before it passes, without thinking about tomorrow. It is an appeal to enjoy youth and beauty immediately, as well as a notice that inexorable death will reduce everything fresh and joyful that triumphs today to oblivion, to nothing. We can distinguish three elements that are intertwined: beauty, time, and the enjoyment of life. This commentary will analyze how they relate to convey the theme.

External Structure of the Sonnet

The external structure is, as already mentioned, a flawless classic sonnet: fourteen hendecasyllabic lines, grouped in two quatrains and two tercets with the following rhyme scheme: ABBA ABBA CDC DCD. The internal division is determined by the metrics, and we can distinguish the following parts:

• Part 1: Verses 1 to 8. Two quatrains containing a canonical description of female beauty. We find four temporal adverbial subordinate clauses introduced by "while," which function as circumstantial complements to the main verb, "enjoy," found in the second half.
• Part 2: Verse 9. "Enjoy" is the main verb of the sentence that forms the sonnet; it reveals a subordination regarding the meaning.
• Part 3: Verses 10 to 14. Other subordinate adverbial forms that depend on "enjoy," mentioned earlier as a key element of the poem.

Hyperbole and Symbolism in the Verses

Each of these terms is a hyperbole or exaggeration. Let's see how:

• Verses 1 and 2: The hair is compared to the gold that gleams in the sun. The canon of lyrical beauty requires women to be blonde.
• Verses 3 and 4: The forehead is compared with a lily, a white flower traditional in poetry. It is also a "beautiful lily." White skin is considered beautiful and aristocratic, unlike the tanned face, which exposes the debasing work of the field.
• Verses 5 and 6: The lips are compared to the carnation. Beautiful lips are red (indicating good health). The carnation is "early," meaning it displays the most vehement red. So beautiful are the lips of the beloved that they rise above the almost perfect red flower. In this case, the comparison is syntactic and more conventional, since we have the adverbial phrase "rather than." The glory of the lips is their greatest power of attraction ("still more eyes," attracting more eyes). Do not forget that it was a point of honor for the courtly lover to have the most beautiful love in the world.
• Verses 7 and 8: The neck of the beloved and the crystal form the two elements of comparison. We find a very telling phrase to resolve the competition between the two: "triumphs with lush contempt." Also expressive is the word "shining," which serves as no obstacle to the brightness of all the muscles, tendons, bones, and fat that join the beloved's head with the trunk.