Spanish Romantic Poetry: Themes, Style, and Major Poets

Spanish Romantic Poetry: Themes and Characteristics

Romantic poetry is the genre that best expresses the Romantic spirit. Its poetic themes include freedom, the ideal woman, disappointment in love, melancholy, weariness of life, the satanic, the supernatural, death, and the exotic and legendary. These feelings are often reflected in the landscape (night, moon, cemetery, rough sea). Formally, Romantic poetry shows a clear intention of renewal. It introduces new rhythms and accents, imbuing poems with a great musical sense, and often alternates verses of different meters and measures. The language is cultured and rhetorical.

Two types of poetry emerged: epic or narrative poetry, which drew themes from tradition, history, or legend, and rehabilitated the romance. Among its creators, Duke of Rivas stands out with his work The Foundling Moor (1834), and José Zorrilla, author of the lyric poem Granada. Prominent lyric authors include Espronceda, Bécquer, and Rosalía de Castro.

Key Figures in Spanish Romantic Poetry

José de Espronceda: The Liberal Romantic

José de Espronceda is considered the quintessential liberal Romantic poet, both for his work and his attitude towards society. His poetry is divided into several periods:

• Neoclassical Period

  Poems on pastoral themes, influenced by Meléndez Valdés. His most remarkable work from this period is Pelayo, a narrative poem about the Muslim invasion.

• Transition to Romanticism

  Works like Hymn to the Sun or the narrative poem Oscar and Malvina.

• Romantic Lyric Poetry

  He wrote lyric poems such as Song of the Pirate, where he often defends freedom. His two great narrative poems, El Estudiante de Salamanca and El Diablo Mundo, are significant works. El Diablo Mundo remained unfinished, containing an introduction and seven cantos.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: Intimist Romanticism

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer represents the culmination of Spanish Intimist Romanticism and is considered a foundational modern poet, one of the pinnacles of Spanish poetry of all time. From his prose, literary works like Letters to a Woman, Letters from My Cell, and especially his Legends stand out. Legends are fantasy stories characterized by both their romantic themes (the ideal woman, disappointment, the yearning for absolute love) and their characters (knights, courtiers, artists, beautiful women) and environments (the medieval world, the night). Notable Legends include The Red Caudillo and The Mountain of the Spirits. His poetry is primarily found in Rimas (Rhymes), the first complete edition of which was published in 1871 by the poet's friends. His poems are brief, feature varied metrics, parallel structures, musicality, use of both major and minor art verses, assonance rhyme, broken feet, and intimate dialogue. It is an intimate poetry, arising from the evocation of feeling.

Rosalía de Castro: Simple and Intimate Verse

Rosalía de Castro wrote in a similar vein to Bécquer, with a simple and intimate style. Among her works: in Galician, Cantares Gallegos and Follas Novas; in Castilian, En las orillas del Sar.