Renaissance Characteristics, Lyric Poetry and Key Figures

General Characteristics of the Renaissance

A) Exaltation of the Classical World

Recovery of Greco-Roman culture (mythology, the classical canon of beauty, proportion, balance, naturalness, etc.).

B) Anthropocentrism and Individualism

1. Anthropocentrism and individualism. A sense of security and self-assertion.
2. Man considered the greatest achievement of creation; above nature in his dignity.

C) The Nature of Man

The nature of man: a critical and rational look toward nature.

D) Religious Spirit

1. Counter-Reformation and new approaches emerge that renew religious spirit and behavior.
2. Free interpretation of the Bible and challenges to papal authority.
3. Protestant Reformation. The Church responds with the Council of Trent; the Counter-Reformation emerges.
4. Erasmus — calls for reform and moral renewal in the Church.
5. Thomas More (Tomás Moro) — religious renewal and nonconformity in conscience.
6. Juan Luis Vives (Luis Vives) — his work relates to reformist currents and humanist education.

E) Neoplatonism and Love

1. Neoplatonism: a cosmic force that drives the union of beings so they can achieve perfection and approach a divinity.
2. The mission of man is to discover the beauty hidden in nature (landscape, the human body, etc.).
3. Dialogues of Love (León Hebreo).

F) Renaissance Man

1. Man as curiosity: intellectual culture of the person and vitalism.
2. He wants to know everything and to live intensely.
3. Figure of the courtier: Baldassare Castiglione (the ideal courtier).
4. His behavior is governed by ethics.

The Renaissance Lyric

Models: Petrarch and classical poets such as Virgil, Horace and Ovid.

Themes: Love, patriotism and religion.

This Renaissance poet looks again to the past. The soul is full of melancholy when remembering the beloved.

• Locus amoenus.
• Virgin, pastoral nature and the pastor-lovers motif.
• Bucolic landscapes: Eclogues of Virgil and the eclogue tradition.
• The Arcadian and other Arcadian references.

New Forms of Spanish Poetry

1. Renewal of themes and the use of heroic verse forms and heptasyllables.
2. Verse forms: silvas and estancias.
3. Major stanza in cultured Renaissance lyric: the Renaissance sonnet.
4. Romance as a popular verse form.
5. Genres: eclogue, ode, epistle and song.

Garcilaso de la Vega

1. Began his career with poetic eclogues and courtly love songs.
2. From 1526, he was influenced by Petrarchan models.
3. His body of work, quite short: 3 eclogues, 2 elegies, a letter, 5 songs and 38 sonnets.
4. Love is the main theme of his work. His beloved: Isabel Freire.
5. Carpe diem motif appears in his poetry.
6. Musicality is a defining feature of his verse.
7. Soft, metaphorical language, full of melancholy and feeling.
8. Elegance and selectivity of diction; passion and melancholy lyricism characterize a musical and heartfelt poetry.
9. Followers of Garcilaso: Hurtado de Mendoza, Hernando de Acuña and Gutierre de Cetina.