Don Luis de Góngora y Argote

PROGRAM GONGORA CONGRESS NOVEMBER 2011

2011-10-12T15:21:00.018+02:00

Congreso Internacional

El universo de Góngora: orígenes, textos y representaciones

Comisario y Director Académico:
Prof. Joaquín Roses

Córdoba, Salón de Actos del Rectorado de la Universidad de Córdoba

14 al 19 de noviembre de 2011

Circular Informativa

El 11 de julio de este año se cumplieron los 450 del nacimiento de Góngora, uno de los más valiosos patrimonios poéticos hispánicos y un referente ineludible en la Historia de la Literatura. Pese a su limitada producción y escasa diversidad genérica —que lo diferencian de otros autores canónicos—, la renovación iniciada por Góngora puede parangonarse a las contribuciones de Shakespeare o de Cervantes en el teatro y la novela respectivamente. Sus novedades expresivas irradiaron desde Córdoba hacia el resto de España, Europa y América, y transformaron definitivamente las letras del Siglo de Oro.

La obra de Góngora, con todo lo que representa en la poesía hispánica —por su excepcional categoría y por su relevancia como anticipo de la modernidad— ha merecido durante el siglo pasado la atención de estudiosos de los cinco continentes que han favorecido su conocimiento y valoración. Nunca se ha dejado de leer y de estudiar a Góngora, y esa actividad se ha desarrollado en destacados núcleos de investigación dispersos por el mundo.

En Córdoba, gracias al liderazgo del Grupo de Investigación de la Junta de Andalucía «Góngora y el Gongorismo» (fundado hace 15 años, y que tengo la responsabilidad de dirigir), se ha venido contribuyendo al estudio riguroso de Góngora con varias iniciativas consolidadas: 10 ediciones del «Foro Anual de Debate Góngora Hoy» (1997-2007) y «Colección de Estudios Gongorinos» (11 números publicados desde 2002), realizaciones ambas patrocinadas por la Diputación de Córdoba, numerosos libros y artículos de investigación sobre el poeta publicados por los miembros del Grupo de Investigación y varias tesis doctorales en proceso.

Durante este año y el siguiente se han desarrollado y se desarrollarán algunos proyectos en torno a la figura de don Luis, entre los que destacan tres:

1. Una magna exposición auspiciada por la Sociedad Estatal de Acción Cultural (AC/E), dependiente del Ministerio de Cultura, y que se inaugurará en Madrid (Biblioteca Nacional) para trasladarse luego a Córdoba;

2. Serie de publicaciones financiadas por la Dirección General del Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas de la Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía;

3. Congreso Internacional dedicado a don Luis y patrocinado por la Diputación de Córdoba, el Ayuntamiento de Córdoba y la Universidad de Córdoba. También colaboran en este último la Dirección General del Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas (Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía) y la Sociedad Estatal de Acción Cultural (AC/E) del Ministerio de Cultura.

El Congreso Internacional, el primero de estas características dedicado específica-mente a don Luis en España, llevará por título “El universo de Góngora: orígenes, textos y representaciones” y se celebrará en Córdoba del 14 al 19 de noviembre de 2011.En él se estudiarán las tradiciones y códigos involucrados en la formación literaria del poeta, se analizarán e interpretarán sus grandes obras y se examinarán sus proyecciones en la poesía posterior y en otros discursos artísticos.

MUCH MORE INFORMATION HERE !

450 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF GONGORA. CONGRESS 14-19 NOVEMBER 2011

2011-09-28T07:34:00.004+02:00

Prof. Joaquín Roses

The coordinator of the congress which will take place in Córdoba (Andalucía) this autumn, Professor Joaquín Roses Lozano, has confirmed that the definite dates are 14-19 November 2011.

La Mezquita

Some information can be found HERE.

An significant number of leading academics / gongorists will be present at this congress in Córdoba:

Profs. Joaquín Roses Lozano, Laura Dolfi, Giullia Poggi, Melchora Romanos, Antonio Carreira and many others.

Córdoba Central Station. The super fast AVE stops here.

Calle Luis de Góngora in the Judería of Córdoba.

For gongorists around the world this congress might be one of a few chances in a life time to meet these experts in person! There are easy bus and train services to the airports of Madrid, Granada, Seville, Málaga and Almería.

450 YEARS SINCE BIRTH OF GONGORA (1561-2027) CONGRESS IN CORDOBA: NOVEMBER 2011 (SOURCE: WWW.JACK DE GROOT.COM)

2011-09-05T15:21:00.005+02:00

Art Work (above): Madero Cubero

In November 2011 a Congress will be organized in Córdoba celebrating the 450 years since the birth of the poet. The theme of this congress will be: "El universo de Góngora: orígenes, textos y representación." The congress will be coordinated by Prof. Joaquín Roses, who has invited a number of well-known specialists in this field. A budget of €125.000=, generously donated by various authorities, will guarantee the visitor a congress of high stature indeed. Speakers from Mexico, Argentina, France, Italy and Spain have been invited, as well as a number of musicians who will perform music of the time. (E.g. "Cinco Siglos".)

Also an exposition of manuscripts and paintings will bring visitors and góngorists to the ancient city on the Guadalquivir, some manuscripts dating back to the seventeenth century. The exposition will be accessible to the public from December until February (later on in Madrid), and is named "Góngora: magnitud estética y universo contemporáneo".
The City of Córdoba ("Metáfora de Góngora") was in the running to become "Capital europea de la cultura" in 2016. (July 2011: The chosen city is San Sebastián).

An interesting film clip features here. Please, dear góngorists, note that don Luis died in 1627, not one year earlier. Otherwise we would have to rewrite half of Spain's literary history.

More on the "450 Years since Góngora's Birth" here.

A university in Barcelona organizes a seminar (<) on 10 and 11 November 2011.

NOTE: I once stayed in Pensión Luis de Góngora, Calle Horno de Trinidad no. 3 in Córdoba (next to the house where don Luis lived, and close to his statue.)
This pensión is very noisy, and motorcycles will keep you awake until 5 am! (There is a discotheque nearby.) No poetry is being written here anymore AD 2011.
There are lots of good, economic hotels in the Judería though, with stunning patios. Simply book through the Internet.

Rare (Printed) Góngora Manuscript Discovered (Approx. 1669)

2011-07-17T13:29:00.005+02:00

While walking the Camino de Santiago through Asturias in June 2011 Jack de Groot met a man who possesses a private library of some 50.000 books. Needless to say that this collection contains books written by just about every Spanish writer, including Luis de Góngora. The man showed him a tiny booklet, covered in black, which contained two small booklets published by Costa in Portugal in approximately 1669. Most of Góngora's oeuvre features in this booklet (Soledades, Polifemo) which measures approximately 15 x 9 x 7 cms. (No picture available).

Its current value: some € 2000=.

While in Mexico, years ago, Jack visited one of the large bookshops in the centre of town. In one of them he encountered the first edition of Lorca´s Romancero gitano, published in Argentina in 1943. (Gongoresque imagery may be encountered in some of the romances, not all.)

The price: 15 Mexican pesos (in 2002). (below)

In the same bookshop he encountered another publication of the Romancero/cante Jondo, published in Mexico in 1963. Price: 40 Mexican pesos. (pictures above & below)

In Córdoba the booklet Versos de Góngora was for sale in a bookshop in the centre of town. This booklet was printed in 1927 and is now quite rare (it can be found in many libraries though).
The price was (bound in leather) 3000 Pts.

Books are worth what one is prepared to pay for them.

Góngora Congress (1561-2011): November 2011 in Córdoba, Andalucía.

2011-07-16T16:56:00.002+02:00

400 Years "Las Soledades" (1612-2012)

2011-05-17T12:59:00.002+02:00

Béjar: some old parts of the town have been preserved.

The Castle of the Duque de Béjar

Bars and restaurants opposite the castle

Did Don Luis de Góngora initiate his masterpiece "Las Soledades" in 1612? Many researchers think that the answer is affirmative, although drafts may well derive from earlier years. Some imagery which features in "Las Soledades" appears (with alterations) in earlier poetry.
The poem is dedicated to the Duke of Béjar, so it is likely that don Luis regularly followed the Pilgrims Road named Vía de la Plata (from Sevilla to Santiago de Compostela) on horseback. "Pasos de un peregrino son, errante," starts the (complex) dedication to his wealthy sponsor.
A few lines later don Luis writes: "Oh tú ... / que / bates los montes, que, de nieve armados, / gigantes de cristal los teme el cielo./
The Duke hunted bears, now extinct in Spain (except in the Pyrenees and in Asturias) and saw the high mountains by which Béjar is surrounded. They looked like sleeping giants, covered in snow. Today nothing has changed.

The (sleeping) giant can easily be recognized, here with little snow.
(Picture taken in May)

The renovated castle.

P.S. Cervantes' Don Quijote de la Mancha is also dedicated to the same Duke. The Town of Béjar proudly remembers both poets.

LATEST NEWS: The City of Córdoba will organize a photo exposition regarding the 450 Years since don Luis' birth, an exposition which will also feature in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid next year. Also a Congress will be organized in honor of the 450-Year milestone.

The Quatrocentenary of Góngora's Death: 1627 - 2027. Will a New "Generation of 27" Arise? Shall We Experience a Rebirth of Don Luis' Oeuvre?

2010-11-17T13:25:00.003+01:00

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When on Whitsunday 23 May 1627 a sixty-five year old Luis de Góngora died at Córdoba, it appeared that his extensive oeuvre of mainly poetry was to die with him. Having left a significant school of poets behind - one of the most prominent the Granadine poet Pedro Soto de Rojas - don Luis was to be tragically remembered and honoured by Lope de Vega as the "única luz que no dejó segunda". In "A la muerte de don Luis de Góngora" Lope for once revels in the use of "palabras cultas", often used as clichés.

Despierta, O Betis, la dormida plata
y, coronado de ciprés, inunda
la docta patria, en Sénecas fecunda,
todo el cristal en lágrimas desata;

repite soledades, y dilata
por campos de dolor vena profunda,
única luz, que no dejó segunda;
al polifemo ingenio Atropos mata.

Góñgora ya la parte restituye
mortal al tiempo, ya la culta lira
en cláusula final la voz incluye.

Ya muere y vive: que esta sacra pira
tan inmortal honor le constituye
que nace fénix donde cisne expira.

The poem is larded with Gongoresque imagery, often ridiculed by Lope as the Guadalquivir which floods Andalucía, and the "fénix" (Lope) which is born out of the death of "el cisne" (don Luis). What prima facie appears to be an elegy (1) is in reality an attack on all those who had tried and failed to imitate the Cordovan master, imitation itself being an accepted practice though in the 17th century, even a sign of literacy. With "four-thousand poets on every street corner of Madrid" (according to Francisco de Quevedo) every text surely was to become the continuation of another one. The same Quevedo was to ridicule the Cordovan in his well known "La Culta Latiniparla" (1628), in which he suggests that the use of "palabras cultas" derives from homosexuality. (Quién quiere ser culto en sólo un día etc.") After that spain entered a period during which the Cordovan's poetry was only to collect dust.

Don Luis, near the spot where he died in on 23 May 1627, Plaza de la Trinidad.

In the late nineteenth century, well before the Tercentenary of Góngora's death in 1927, the Cordovan's works were to be rediscovered. Spanish literature again blossemed after a long decay. Alfonso Reyes, for instance, studied Góngora's oeuvre seriously around the turn to the twentieth century, as did many (now) unknown members of tertulias: groups of artistic persons from all sorts of backgrounds who met up in cafés and private homes. However, not everyone was to appreciate Góngora as much as the earlier mentioned, often anonymous pioneers. For instance, H. Butler Clarke states in his Spanish Handbook (An Elementary Handbook):

[Góngora's] Panagyric of the Duke of Lerma, his Fable of Polyphemus,and his Soledades are lasting memomorials of the depth to which a really good poet can sink once his judgement has been thoroughly perverted. So intricate and obscure are they that, though received with applause by a select circle of initiated, they were found incomprehensible even by the most cultivated; learned commentators at once sat to work to explain the writings of the great master to his admiring disciples. (1893, 126)

In 1925 Lorca was to obtain access to Góngora's obscure world of rose-colored allusions with the aide of the edition of the Obras Poéticas published in New york in 1921 by the Hispanic Society of America, far before the Tercentenary was on anyone's mind. However, even this limited access, somewhat euphemistically described by Dámaso Alonso as the "doubtful presence of gongorine influences in Lorca's oeuvre",(Lorca, OC, Tomo V, 1978, 763)(2) was questioned by many critics for the best part of the twentieth century as will be discussed shortly. Alonso's use of the noun "influence" had not yet become the Cultism which is was to become later on that century.
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The "Generation of 1927" (second from left Lorca, second from right Alonso, white coat Guillén).

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The revival of Góngora's oeuvre was not solely to derive from the "Generation of 1927" (picture) or from the many tertulias by which it was surrounded. Dámaso Alonso already studied Góngora in detail in the early 1920s, reading the old books written by Pellicer and Salcedo Coronel. One of the first mentionings of interest amongst the others of the "Generation of 1927" derives from April 1926. During a tertulia in a café in Madrid the issue of the Tercentenary is put on the table by Gerardo Diego: "Hay que hacer algo." (Lola, nr 1, December 1927). Lorca had discussed the same issue already in 1925 with Salinas and Guillén, predominantly because of the fact that Guillén had just received a doctorate after studying the Cordovan's works in detail.

As so many Spanish teenagers, Lorca had been introduced to Góngora's oeuvre in the "Instituto", a fact which came to light in his Impresiones y paisajes (1918): "Los altos álamos de cascabeles que cantó Góngora rumorean gratamente su tiempo." (Chapter "La Montaña"). Much later, on 16 February 1926, after a year of (private) literary studies, Lorca read his paper "La imagen poética en don Luis de Góngora" in Granada. During the thirties he would again use his knowledge of Góngora's oeuvre to write new (much, more personal and well digested) "gongorine" poetry. It appears that Lorca used his knowledge of the Cordovan's works at any opportune moment (just like Alonso), not only in 1927, as will be discussed shortly.

The existence of any possibility of a relationship between Lorca and Góngora was denied as late as 1962 by Elsa Dehennin (1932-2009):

L'on ne saurait donc, en aucun cas, parler d'une influence gongorique sur Lorca, [. . .] And:

Lorca est, en effet, incapable de se nourrir de littérature. Le contact permanent avec le réel, son réel, lui est indispensable. (1962, 115 & 142). And:

Lorca n'a pas songé à soumettre Góngora a une deuxième lecture (1962, 108).

Here Dehennin refers to Lorca's speech on Góngora in which he states: "A Góngora no se puede entender de ninguna manera en la primera lectura. No hay que leerlo, hay que estudiarlo."

A decade later Joseph Velasco comes to different findings, stating that some imitative elements are present in Lorca's oeuvre, but that: "[. . .] relativement peu nombreuses [exemples] embellissent l'oeuvre poétique de Lorca." (1979, 48 & 83)

Nine years later Miguel García-Posada went a big step further: "[...] los préstamos no son escasos, aunque estén siempre muy elaborados." (1988, 43)

Clearly the possibility of an intertextual relationship was slowly but surely becoming a reality, the year 1927 not being the only pretext for such research to be performed, and certainly not the reason for this phenomenon to exist. Although Lorca was part of the "1927 Celebrations", he did not participate whole-heartedly for reasons which will be discussed in a moment.

Lorca's early start of the Tercentenary (he wrote the speech on Góngora in late 1925 and early 1926 after lengthy studies in Madrid)was the result of events which took place in 1925: Rafael Alberti and Gerardo Diego had received National Literary Prizes for their works Marinero en tierra and Versos humanos. Because of this succes of his fellow members of the "Generation", Lorca's thoughts wandered into the same direction, also because of early recognition of his talents and encouragement received by Juan Ramón Jiménez and Fernando de los Ríos. Temporarily Góngora was to become Lorca's source of inspiration, perhaps not the only one, but still a significant one.

He had written two booklets (printed with his father's money) which had not sold. His Poema de cante jondo was still unpublished because no publisher could be found, let alone an institution that was going to award him for his "Complete Works". However, for quite some time already Lorca had a wonderful, commercially-viable idea of a "Romancero gitano" on his desk, an idea from which he would distance himself few years later after having been nicknamed "the primitive, savage gypsy poet from the South" by an unknown, but growing group of followers.

In 1924 Lorca had only completed five of the eighteen romances which were to become part of the end product:
Burla de don Pedro a caballo (completed on 28 December 1921), Romance de la luna, luna (July-October 1923), Romance Sonámbulo (September 1923), Romance de la pena negra (30July 1924) and La monja gitana (20 August 1924).
After studying Góngora's oeuvre in 1925, Lorca took up his shelved Ballad Book in late 1926 and in early 1927. Gongorine peculiarities are very noticeable in most of the romances written during this period. "Preciosa y el aire", for instance, is dedicated to Dámaso Alonso because of neogongorine imagery "a la Lorca": "anfibio sendero" and "de cristales y laureles". Also "Reyerta", "Muerto de amor" and in particular "San Rafael" remind of Góngora. The last ballad abounds in "bimembración simetral", one of Góngora's strong points in his ever immaculate sonnets. Here Lorca mirrors the City of Córdoba in the Guadalquivir river: "Blanda Córdoba de juncos./Córdoba de arquitectura."
Even the horse-driven coaches, which usually stand alongside the Mezquita (in Calle de Torrijos), are mirrored in the same river through the peculiarly-shaped pillars of the Roman bridge: "Coches que el Guadalquivir/tiende en su cristal maduro."

One of the last romances written, "Muerto de amor", was a contribution to the Litoral magazine dedicated to Góngora in October 1927, an edition which was to contain a collection of poetry written by several poets, even a musical fragment by Manuel de Falla. Lorca was forced to contribute, because he had not attended the celebrations in Madrid on 23 May 1927, nor had he contributed text to the Gaceta literaria of 1 June of that year, dedicated to the Cordovan. Instead Diego had put a somewhat pathetic "Romance apócrifo de D. Luis a caballo" on the front page, signed with the name Lorca, who took the joke well.

¿Quiénes son los tres serranos?
--Son tres flamencos de Flandes
que instalaron un semáforo
para dar órdenes falsas
a los vientos y a los barcos. (3)

Loss of interest regarding the doctrines of the "terrible teacher of poetry" as some called Góngora, as well as a failed attempt (as so many before) to imitate his "Soledades" through a personal "Soledad insegura" à la Lorca, were the reasons not to participate in anything. In 1927 he deliberately distanced himself from the "Grupo Góngora". In a letter to Guillén (picture), written in May 1927, he states:

Comprendo que estoy muy ligado con otros poetas y sería terrible mi voz. ¡Pero qué voz tan pura y poética! ¡Ay!, querido Jorge, vamos por dos caminos falsos: uno que va al romantícismo y otro que va a la piel de culebra y la cigarra vacia. ¡Ay! ¡Cuánta trampa! Es triste, pero tengo que callar. Hablar sería un escándalo. (OC, 1957, LV)
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It appears that Lorca's pilgrimage, which commenced and finished early, was a rather private one, undertaken solely for opportunistic reasons (used in a positive sense) mentioned earlier. Alberti, who had written an excellent "Third Solitude", had again produced good, finished text at an earlier stage than Lorca. His "Solitude" (larded with hyperbaton) was printed on the opening pages of the special edition of Litoral:

Celosas ninfas, dulces ya, -- los brazos,
pórtico y diadema retorcidos --
bailadores guirnaldas
--que a los infantes lazos
de sus finas guedejas esmeraldas
penden el son y vuelo
de sus libres limones atrevidos,
el campo esmerilado o combo cielo
de las lisas espaldas,
la pierna, que viajara,
dispara la cadera
y bebe de los pies el raudo yelo--,
al caminante--las agrestes voces
su círculo estrechando--
aprisionan, unisonas, girando,
fieles al coro, lentas o veloces. (Part X, 8-9)

Lorca, being well aware of Alberti's progress, made the right decision to forget his own "Soledad insegura" and contribute "Muerto de amor" instead. This romance is situated near the "Abadía del Sacromonte" alongside the Darro river east of Granada. Although today only six crosses adorn the Calle Siete Cuestas leading up to the "Abadía" (the seventh cross may have been carried by Christ) they do remind of the number seven used by Lorca in this romance:

Siete gritos, siete sangres,
siete adormideras dobles,
quebraron opacas lunas,
en los oscuros salones.
[...] Y el cielo daba portazos
al brusco rumor del bosque,
mientras clamaban las luces
en los altos corredores. (final lines)

The "altos corredores" clearly imagine the trails which cover the Sacromonte, while an earlier fragment (which described the Alhambra) has been depicted by several critics as to have been inspired on Góngora's "De la toma de Larache".

Lorca:

Ajo de agónica plata
la luna menguante, pone
cabelleras amarillas
a las amarillas torres

Góngora:

La fuerza que infestando las ajenas
Argentó luna de menguante plata

Lorca's enthousiasm, regarding Góngora's oeuvre mainly appears in writing during late 1925 and the whole year 1926, to be revived much later, for totally different reasons, in the thirties, when he wrote his Sonetos del amor oscuro and LLanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. Although Lorca would distance himself completely from the Tercentenary in the year in which his "Romancero gitano" was published, 1928 (and even distanced himself from the gypsies), the early interest in Góngora's oeuvre aided him in completing this very successful book, which was to (temporarily) overshadow the ones written by his poet friends.

The Quatrocentenary of Góngora's death is now only 17 years away. It is unlikely that a new generation of poets will rise to revive the memory of don Luis. Times have changed, and writers may have become less indealistic and more materialistic. (The quatrocentenary of the creation of Las Soledades is nearby though: 1612-2012.) Furthermore, don Luis oeuvre has been fully published and fairly well interpreted, so a revival will not be required. Imitation is also unlikely, because the sheer magnitude of don Luis' oeuvre will satisfy everyone. Maybe the discovery of a third "Solitude" will set the world on fire?
It is very likely that in a city like Córdoba an international congress will be organized, just like the one which took place in 1998 in Granada to honor the one-hundred's year since the birth of Lorca. (Granada will have to wait until 1936 to have another congress like the one mentioned earlier).

The "Foro Góngora Hoy", organized by the University of Córdoba (by Prof. Joaquín Roses Lozano), which has been held many times since 1997 in the building of the Diputación de Córdoba may well be one of the starting points of the celebrations to be held in 2027. Also the University of Michigan has shown a great interest over the years in Góngora's oeuvre. Any other initiative, like the ones initiated by the various members of Lorca's group, will be a surprise. Góngora's writings are here to stay and to enjoy. No rebirth will ever be required. The one that occurred around the turn of the nineteenth century proved to be definite.
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ABOUT "GONGORA HOY" 1997

Whilst studying towards my doctoral degree at the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia), I (re)visited Andalucía in April 1997 to collect articles and books. I arrived at the (old) bus station of Córdoba and walked towards the centre of town, where the Ayuntamiento is. Large posters hung from all the street lights, with the head of Góngora on it, and the text "Foro Góngora Hoy".

"When is this?", I thought. "When? In three days time!" I could not believe my luck, and walked to the Cajasur bank to pay the enrolment fee. The three-day foro was organized by Professor Joaquín Roses Lozano, who had invited a good number of prominent catedráticos like José Luis Lara Garrido, Laura Dolfi and Robert Jammes. Jammes' interpretation of the Solitudes (yellow book) had just been published, with some remarkable improvements on earlier interpretations published by Alonso, Pellicer and Salcedo Coronel. One element of the Foro was a walk through the old centre of Góngora, where, inside the Mezquita I met Robert Jammes personally. "They have changed the lights", he said. While leaving the Mezquita he asked me why I was in Córdoba. "I am a doctoral student and study don Luis' works," I replied. He smiled and said goodbye, before disappearing into a souvenir shop. He probably stayed overnight in the hotel next to it, and wanted to hide his tracks. Of course he was aware of the "oldest trick in the book", played out by so many postgraduate students: bump into a prominent writer on a conference, and use their stature to get your study approved and published. This wasn't my intention at all. I had bumped into Prof. Jammes by pure coincidence and still had two years of study to go to obtain my title.

In the years which followed, while living in Granada, I visited the "Foro Góngora Hoy" several times. One afternoon I walked to the place north-east from Córdoba where the poet had written most of his poetry: in a valley with two streams and a deserted railway bridge (!). Before I reached this bridge I had almost been stopped by a sign: Stop! Danger! This did not bother me too much, because I only saw a herd of sheep and goats which seemed friendly enough. Later I realized what the farmer had ment to transmit to me: Rattle snakes, Sir!
I usually stayed in the same hotel in the Judería near Calle Góngora, and sat down on a bench close to his statue on the Plaza de la Trinidad. In the serene presence of don Luis, the Gongorist writer of the twenty-first century will always find piece and tranquility.

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Written in the Albayzín of Granada, late 2001 (rewritten in 2010)
I thank Prof. Alfredo Martínez Expósito (Head of the School of Languages, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia) for his suggestions and corrections.

Calle Góngora anno 2010

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NOTES

(1) C.C. Soufas, 1986.
(2) In: Estudios y ensayos gongorinos, 1955, 573
(3) This reminds of "Romance sonámbulo" (1923): "Verde viento/...El barco sobre el mar."

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALBERTI, Rafael. La arboleda perdida. Barcelona: Editorial Bruguera, 1980.
ALONSO, Dámaso. Obras completas. Vols. V-VII. Madrid: Gredos, 1978-82.
BUTLER CLARKE, H. Spanish Literature. London: Swan Sonnenshein and Co., 1893
CHANDLER, Richard E. and SCHWARTZ, Kessel. A New HIstory of Spanish Literature. Revised edition. Baton Rouge: Louisiana STate University Press, 1991. (First Edition: 1961).
CONNELL, Geoffrey. Spanish Poetry and the Grupo Poético de 1927. New York: Pergamon Press, 1977.
DEHENNIN, Elsa. La Résurgence poétique de Góngora et la géneration de 1927. Paris: Didier, 1962.
DIEGO, Gerardo. "Crónica del Centenario de Góngora (1627-1927)". In: Lola, nrs. 1 & 2. December 1927 & January 1928.
GARCIA LORCA, Federico. Obras completas. 23rd Edition. First reprint: September 1993. Tomos I-III. Madrid: Aguilar, 1990.
----- "Romance apócrifo de D. Luis a Caballo". In: La Gaceta literaria, nr. 11, 1 June de 1927, p.1.
----- "La imagen poética de don Luis de Góngora". In: Residencia, nr. 4, 1932, pp. 94-103.
GARCIA-POSADA, Miguel. "Hermetismo, neogongorismo y estilo en el Romancero gitano". In: Singularidad y trascendencia Conference. Boulder: Society of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies, 1986, pp. 215-27.
----- (ed.) Federico García Lorca: Primer romancero gitano / Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. Madrid: Castalia, 1988.
GONGORA, Luis de. Obras de don Luis de Góngora. [Manuscrito Chacón]. Edición de José Lara Garrido. Tomos 1-3. Ronda: Real Academia Española, 1991.
GROOT, Jack de. Intertextuality Through Obscurity. The Poetry of Federico García Lorca and Luis de Góngora. New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2003.
----- "Existía una relación intertextual entre Lorca y Góngora?" In: Congreso Federico García Lorca: Clásico moderno. (1898-1998). Biblioteca de ensayo no. 43.Granada: Diputación de Granada, 2000, pp. 312-16.
GUILLEN, Jorge. Lenguaje y poesía. Segunda edición. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1972. (Primera edición 1962).
JAMMES, Robert. Soledades. Madrid: Edición Castalia, 1994
LARA GARRIDO, José Luis. Los sonetos de Góngora. Diputación de Córodoba. (Also: Obras de don Luis de Góngora, see above)
PELLICER DE SALAS Y TOVAR, José. Lecciones solemnes de las obras de don Luis de Góngora. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1971.
ROSES LOZANO, Joaquín. Una poética de la oscuridad. London: Tamesis, 1994.
----- Las Soledades habitadas. Universidad de Málaga: 2007
SALCEDO CORONEL, José García de. Soledades de D. Luis de Góngora comentados por don García de Salzedo Coronel. Madrid: Imoprenta Real, 1636.
SOUFAS, C. Christopher Jr. "Lope's Elegy to Góngora and the Culteranismo Debate." In Hispanófila, 1986, pp. 19-27
VELASCO, Joseph. "Góngora et Lorca." In: Criticón, nr. 6, France-Ibérie Recherche, Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail, 1979, pp. 47-83
----- Lorca: Poésie d'une vie. New Orleans: University Press of the South, 1996.

Góngora. Soledades Habitadas. J. Roses

GALICIA IN GONGORA'S OEUVRE

2010-05-03T15:21:00.175+02:00

Welcome to this new website which will be dedicated to the life and works of the Cordovan poet Luis de Góngora y Argote (1561-1627). This first blog will feature the Province of Galicia in Góngora's oeuvre.

"Galicia in the Poetry of Don Luis de Góngora y Argote".

We only posses two or three pictures from the 'Prince of Darkness' as don Luis is often referred to. The picture in the header was painted in the early 1600s by Velásquez. One part of the poet's face remains covered in darkness: the poet portrays himself in an esoteric manner. Also named the 'terrible teacher from Córdoba' (because of his Culteranist, obscure poetry in which he revolutionalised the metaphor), he visited Galicia at least once. This visit would have been made on horseback, because don Luis would not have had the time to travel the fourteen hundred kilometers, between Córdoba Galicia and back on foot, like a pilgrim. Góngora's first Solitude (written five years later) commences with the introduction of a pilgrim protagonist.

Pasos de un peregrino son, errante,
cuántos me dictó, versos, dulce musa:
en soledad confusa
perdidos unos, otros inspirados.

In the opening line we would expect the adjective 'errante' to terminate in 's' ('pasos errantes'), but this is not the case because 'errante' reflects on the peregrino himself. Don Luis could have continued his introduction with: 'Cuántos versos me dictó la dulce Musa', but this would have been too predictable. The rest of the first stanza can be easily be understood by anyone interested, not just by Gongorists. The footsteps have been lost forever, while the verses are inspired, also forever.

Why write about a pilgrim? Well, because of his involvement in the Catholic Church Góngora traveled widely (to Madrid, Pontevedra, Salamanca, Huelva, Béjar, Granada, Valladolid), and must from time to time have felt like a pilgrim himself. The pilgrimages to Santiago had established themselves as tradition during don Luis' lifetime, because they date back as far as 844.

We know for certain that the poet visited Pontevedra in 1607, so it is not impossible to reach the conclusion that the priest Góngora also visited the tomb of Saint James in Santiago, some sixty kilometers from this (then) small harbor village on the Atlantic Coast. Are there references to Galicia and to Santiago de Compostela in his oeuvre? One would think so, although we do not have any proof of a visit to Santiago.
In the early 1600s don Luis was preparing his master pieces, the 'Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea' (1613) and his 'Soledades' (1613-14). Early poetic imagery - from the 1580s and 90s - were being rediscovered and re-used by don Luis, be it in a more elaborate way. In the Introduction to his 'Soledades' he praises his sponsor, the Duke of Béjar (in Extremadura). This is understandable, because this noble man paid don Luis a salary to write these 'Soledades'. The priest Góngora was also a 'racionero' of the Cordovan cathedral, which meant that he received a ration of that church's income from land rights and income from harvest. Nevertheless, because of his habit of gambling he always required additional sums of money. This inspired one of his contemporaries, the poet Francisco de Quevedo, to write down: 'Góngora murió en Barajas.' In Quevedó's lively imagination his arch rival don Luis de Góngora were to die in the tiny village of Barajas, near Madrid. Simultaniously Quevedo created one of his well-known concepts: 'barajas' also signifies 'deck of cards'.

The story of the discovery of the grave of St. James the apostle (in the ninth century) also mentions a field beneath the stars. A shepherd was guided to this field (Santiago) by following the stars at night. Don Luis simply adds some mythological imagery to this scene, taken from the Odyssus and Eneida. The application of hyperbaton is obvious. 'Era la estación florido del año' and 'Y todos los rayos del Sol en su piel'. Somewhat obscure is the phrase: 'media luna las armas' etc. Shouldn't that have been 'lunas' (two horns? No, Góngora places the Moon next to the Sun, surrounded by many stars, as will be shown shortly. Stanley's translation (1651) is as follows:

Era del año la estación florida [spring]
en que el mentido robador de Europa [the disguised bull who raped Goddess Europa]
- media luna las armas de su frente [its horns]
y el Sol todos sus rayos de su pelo - [the sun rays on its velvet skin]
luciente honor del cielo,
en campos de zafiro pace estrellas [he sows stars in sapphire fields].

'T was now the blooming season of the year
And in disguise Europa's ravisher,
(His brow armed with a crescent, with such beams
Encompast as the sun unclouded streams
The sparkling glory of (the zodiac) led
His numerous herd along the azure mead.

We do posses an earlier version of the same stanza (Chacón Manuscript):

Era del año la estación florida
en que el luciente robador de Europa,
media luna en su frente,
y el sol todo en su pelo
por los campos del cielo
zafiros pissa, sino pace estrellas.

Don Luis searched the appropriate adjective to accompany 'robador', but never encountered it in the Spanish language. So he created the neologism 'mentido'. Also the earlier contrast between the Moon and Sun becomes more evident when we read the Chacón Manuscript. In the final line he places a 'sino construction' (very common in the 'Soledades') which he would remove later on.

Before continuing the search for possible Galician characteristics in don Luis' Soledades let us first analyse a sonnet which has been attributed to the Cordovan poet:

A Galicia

Pálido sol en cielo encapotado,

mozas rollizas de anchos culiseos,

tetas de vacas, piernas de correos,

suelo menos barrido que regado:

campo todo de tojos matizado,

berzas gigantes, nabos filisteos,

gallos de Cairo, búcaros pigmeos,

traje tosco y estilo mal limado,

cuestas que llegan a la ardiente esfera,

pan de Guinea, techos sahumados,

candelas de resina con tericia, [ictericia]

papas de mijo en concas de madera,

cuevas profundas, ásperos collados,

es lo que llaman reino de Galicia.

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To Galicia

Pale sun in a cloudy sky

Chubby damsels with broad buttocks

Tits like cows, legs of mailmen

the floor less swept than scrubbed.

The fields all scattered with gorse

giant cabbages, philistine turnips

roosters from Cairo, Pigmean jars

rustic clothing in badly tailored style.

Mountain slopes which reach the burning sphere

Bread from Guinea, incense perfumed roofs [of the cathedral]

Candles of resin to cure icteris [jaundice; he refers to a vulgar desease] (1)

Potatoes of millet in wooden shells

Profound caves, rough hills

It's what they call the Kingdom of Galicia.

Only two verbs feature in Góngora's sonnet, and no application of hyperbaton or oxymoron is ever attempted. Most imagery refers to a Galician world of bad weather and agricultural life only, totally different from the gitanesque Cordova or posh Madrid in which don Luis and Paco de Quevedo moved around. The Galician bread is described as 'pan de Guinea': from an unknown world far away, and so do the pompous roosters from Egypt. Neologisms and gongorine humor emerge from an imitation of the Galician language ('filisteos', 'culiseos'). We can only imagine how they would have sounded in the strong Andalusian accent of don Luis: 'Berza gihante, nao filiteo'. This perfect sonnet (as may be expected from the 'terrible teacher from Córdoba') is written in Arte Mayor on an ABBA ABBA CDE CDE construction. The translation is as follows: Góngora appears to have applied one simple formula when he wrote down this sonnet, providing the reader with a list of the items which are required to establish a Kingdom of Galicia. Quevedo wrote a similar poem in 1628, 'La culta latiniparla', in which he lists what is necessary to become a Culteranist poet like don Luis in just one day: "Quién quiere ser culto en sólo un día" etc. (2)

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NOTES

(1) I thank the Forum: SpanishDict.com for explaining the meaning of the noun 'tericia' to me

(2) Góngora features on a book published in 1791.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Góngora, Luis de. Las Soledades. Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 2001

----- Obras completas. Mexico: Edición Porrua, 2002

Groot, Jack de. Intertextuality through Obscurity.
The Poetry of Lorca and Góngora. New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2003.

----- Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Chronicle of Love.
New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2007.

Picaud, Aymeric. Liber Sancti Jacobi. Codex Calixtinus.
Galicia: Xunta de Galicia, 1999.

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