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Spanish Renaissance Poetry: Garcilaso and San Juan

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The Early Renaissance Lyric

The lyric poetry of the Spanish Renaissance is divided into two distinct periods:

  • The lyric of the early Renaissance: Represented by Garcilaso de la Vega.
  • The lyric of the second Renaissance: Represented by Fray Luis de León.

Major Poetic Flows

The primary poetic flows of this era include:

  • Traditional lyric and romance: Traditional lírica ballads are established as reales castellanas and broken verses, focusing on themes of courtly love.
  • Romance: This style mixes old traditions with new romances.
  • Educated Castilian verse lyric: The figure who best represents the Castilian style is Cristóbal de Castillejo.
  • Italianate lyric: This flow is heavily influenced by Petrarch and Baldassare Castiglione.
  • Metric forms: These include heroic verse (hendecasyllables), seven-syllable verses (heptasyllables), and new stanzas.
  • Themes: Nature, mythology, and love.

San Juan de la Cruz

San Juan de la Cruz is a major literary figure of the second half of the sixteenth century.

  • Topics: His work is inspired by religion and the mystical experience, expressing the ineffable.
  • Style: He utilizes symbols and allegory to represent the mystical union, alongside comparisons and metaphors.
  • Work: He composed poems with traditional roots and three major mystical poems:
    • Dark Night of the Soul: Written in liras, it depicts a young man who goes out at night to meet and surrender to his beloved.
    • Spiritual Canticle: Written in liras, it features a shepherd and shepherdess following the mystical process, which consists of three ways:
      • The Purgative Way (via purification)
      • The Illuminative Way (via illuminative)
      • The Unitive Way (via unitary)
    • Living Flame of Love: Written in liras, it uses the image of the Holy Spirit as it has gripped the soul.

Garcilaso de la Vega

  • Topics:
    • The Petrarchan conception of love: Following the ideal of Petrarch.
    • The refined and idealized nature: A harmonious desire for rest and peace.
    • Mythology: Often represents despair and death.
  • Styles: His techniques include metaphors, epithets, hyperbaton, alliteration, and etymology.
  • Stages of Development:
    1. The influence of Hispanic lírica.
    2. Assimilation of Petrarchism and a new art form.
    3. The stage of fullness.
  • Work: His compositions include:
    • 38 Sonnets
    • 8 Songs in Castilian verse
    • 4 Songs
    • 2 Elegies
    • 1 Epistle
    • 3 Eclogues: The 1st is the most significant, the 2nd is the most extensive, and the 3rd is written in stanzas.

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