Renaissance Spanish Poets: Garcilaso & Fray Luis

Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso de la Vega embodies the model of the Renaissance man. Of noble origin, he was a poet-soldier whose life was marked by Emperor Charles V. He met Isabel Freyre, who inspiró many of his love poems. His interest in education was that of a humanist: he knew Greek and Latin, and had read Italian Renaissance poets. He died at 36 years old.

Works

His brief but significant work highlights his sonnets and three Eclogues:

• Égloga I: The most valued, where the shepherds Salicio and Nemoroso express their complaints in a gentle, bucolic natural setting. Salicio laments the disdain of his lady Galatea, while Nemoroso mourns Elisa. Both shepherds represent Garcilaso himself, singing to his beloved in life and after death.
• Égloga II: Recounts the story of the unfortunate loves of Albania and the shepherdess Camila.
• Égloga III: Features four nymphs who weave tragic love stories into a tapestry, set amidst a gentle, bucolic nature. The first three stories refer to mythological characters, and the fourth is the love affair between Salicio and Elisa. It ends with the singing of two shepherds. Garcilaso's work signified a formal and thematic renewal in Spanish poetry; he transformed and renewed the metric treatment of subjects, love, and nature.

Key Themes

Love is the central theme in Garcilaso's lyrics. He combines the Petrarchan fashion of love with the real experience that characterizes his lyrical persona. The way he expresses this feeling is restrained and severe, resulting in intimate poetry. He also notably incorporates Nature into Castilian poetry.

Style

Garcilaso pursues elegant expression. His renewal is essential, particularly through the use of epithets. The adaptation of the hendecasyllable into Spanish verse is also a crucial aspect of his style.

Fray Luis de León

Fray Luis de León's life faithfully reflects the confusing times he lived through, marked by tensions between Renaissance humanist trends and the religious susceptibilities of civil and ecclesiastical power. He was an educated man who taught theology at the University of Salamanca. The Inquisition condemned him for defending the reading of the Bible in its original language and for having translated the Song of Songs into Castilian.

Poetry

Most of his odes are written in liras. He addresses issues of a moral tone reminiscent of classical authors like Horace, whose influence includes Stoicism. His themes include the longing for spiritual peace, praise of the simple life in the countryside against social vanities, etc. His tribute to the retired life recreates the beatus ille theme. He fuses Platonism and Christianity, representing the world as a painful exile from which man can rise to eternal truths through the contemplation of nature and art.

Style

His style is natural and elegant. He consistently avoids ostentatious brilliance that could overshadow the content, ensuring that all stylistic resources are subordinated to the meaning of his poems.