Bécquer's Rima XIII: Eye Imagery and Natural Symbolism

Rima XIII (Your Eyes)

The theme of Rima XIII is love. Bécquer compares the characteristics of his beloved and beautiful women with natural elements; these elements reflect his feelings and emotions.

Poetic Structure

• It consists of three quatrains, each with four verses.
• The first three verses of each stanza are hendecasyllables, while the last verse is heptasyllabic.
• The rhyme is assonance in paired lines (ea).

Imagery and Comparison

The poem focuses intensely on the beloved's eyes:

First Stanza: Laughter and the Sea

In the first verse, the poet explains that his beloved's blue eyes, when she laughs, remind him of the vibrant glow of the sea when reflected in the first rays of the sun.

Second Stanza: Tears and the Violet

In the next stanza, the poet notes that the tears of his love resemble drops of dew on a violet. Therefore, he compares his beloved to a flower, the violet. Once again, nature reflects his views and sentiments.

Third Stanza: Brightness and the Lost Star

The last stanza compares the brightness of her blue eyes to a star lost in the sky. Her blue eyes become the blue sky, and the star is a point of light lost in broad daylight. In this poem, Bécquer compares the emotions of his beloved with elements of nature, focusing solely on her eyes.

Expressive Resources

Anaphora and Parallelism

The expressive resources highlight:

• Anaphora: "Your eyes are blue" begins the first verse and is repeated at the beginning of each stanza.
• The first and second verses share the same syntactic structure: "Your eyes are blue, when you laugh / cry." There is also a parallel structure expressing opposite sentiments (antithesis).

Similes and Metaphors

Comparing each verse appears:

• The first compares the beloved's eyes when laughing to the vibrant sea in the morning.
• The second compares the beloved's tears to dew drops and the beloved herself to a violet flower.
• The last stanza compares the brightness of her eyes to a star lost in the blue sky.

Other Figures of Speech

Another expressive device used in the poem is hyperbaton in verse 4 ("which is reflected in the sea").

We must also emphasize the epithets:

• V.6: "the clear tears"
• V.12: "a lost star"
• V.2: "soft light"
• V.6: "clear tears" (repeated emphasis)

Personal Address and Conclusion

We must emphasize the use of the second-person singular pronoun, tú, who addresses his beloved. Throughout the poem, very similar verbs appear, such as *I remember*, *me included*, *I think*. I gather that the poet fell in love with a beautiful woman, and his love is so strong that he compares her to the sea, sky, and stars. The poem contains no elements that indicate sadness, such as night, but rather elements that relate to a feeling of happiness; therefore, this suggests a profound, perhaps idealized, love.