Legends, Tales and Poems

[Footnote 1: Macmillan's Magazine, February, 1883, p. 307.]

[Footnote 2: Blanco Garcia, op. cit., vol. II, p. 79.]

Becquer has none of the characteristics of the Andalusian. His lyrical genius is not only at odds with that of Southern Spain, but also with his own inclination for the plastic arts, says Blanco Garcia. "How could a Seville poet, a lover of pictorial and sculptural marvels, so withdraw from the outer form as to embrace the pure idea, with that melancholy subjectivism as common in the gloomy regions bathed by the Spree as it is unknown on the banks of the Darro and Guadalquivir?"[1] The answer to the problem must be found in his lineage.

[Footnote 1: Ibid., p. 80.]

In spite of the fascination early exercised by Julia Espin y Guillén over the young poet, it may be doubted if she can fairly be said to have been the muse of his Rimas. She doubtless inspired some of his verse; but the poet seems to sing the praises or lament the cruelty of various sweethearts. The late Don Juan Valera, who knew Gustavo well, goes so far as to say: "I venture to suspect that none of these women ever lived in the world which we all corporeally inhabit. When the mind of the poet descended to this world, he had to struggle with so much poverty, he saw himself engulfed and swallowed up by so many trials, and he was obliged to busy himself with such prosaic matters of mean and commonplace bread-winning, that he did not seek, nor would he have found had he sought them, those elegant and semi-divine women that made of him now a Romeo, now a Macías, now an Othello, and now a Pen-arch.... To enjoy or suffer really from such loves and to become ensnared therein with such rare women, Becquer lacked the time, opportunity, health, and money.... His desire for love, like the arrow of the Prince in one of the tales of the Arabian Nights, shot high over all the actual high-life and pierced the golden door of the enchanted palaces and gardens of the Fairy Paribanú, who, enraptured by him, took him for her spouse."[1] In fact Becquer, speaking of the unreality of the numerous offspring of his imagination, says in the Introduction to his works, written in June, 1868: "It costs me labor to determine what things I have dreamed and what things have happened to me. My affections are divided between the phantasms of my imagination and real personalities. My memory confuses the names and dates, of women and days that have died or passed away with the days and women that have never existed save in my mind."[2]

[Footnote 1: Florilegio de Poesías Castellanas del Siglo XIX, con introducción y notas, por Juan Valera. Madrid, 1902, vol. I, pp. 186–188.]

[Footnote 2: Obras, vol. I, p. L.]

Whatever may be one's opinion of the personality of the muse or muses of his verse, the love that Becquer celebrates is not the love of oriental song, "nor yet the brutal deification of woman represented in the songs of the Provençal Troubadours, nor even the love that inspired Herrera and Garcilaso. It is the fantastic love of the northern ballads, timid and reposeful, full of melancholy tenderness, that occupies itself in weeping and in seeking out itself rather than in pouring itself forth on external objects."[1] In this matter of lyrical subjectivism Becquer is unique, for it cannot be found in any other of the Spanish poets except such mystic writers as San Juan de la Cruz or Fray Luis de León.

[Footnote 1: Blanco Garcia, op. cit., p. 83.]

In one of Becquer's most beautiful writings in prose, in a Prológo to a collection of Cantares by Augusto Ferran y Forniés, our author describes two kinds of poetry that present themselves to one's choice: "There is a poetry which is magnificent and sonorous, the offspring of meditation and art, which adorns itself with all the pomp of language, moves along with a cadenced majesty, speaks to the imagination, perfects its images, and leads it at will through unknown paths, beguiling with its harmony and beauty." "There is another poetry, natural, rapid, terse, which springs from the soul as an electric spark, which strikes our feelings with a word, and flees away. Bare of artificiality, free within a free form, it awakens by the aid of one kindred idea the thousand others that sleep in the bottomless ocean of fancy. The first has an acknowledged value; it is the poetry of everybody. The second lacks any absolute standard of measurement; it takes the proportions of the imagination that it impresses; it may be called the poetry of poets."[1]

[Footnote 1: Obras, vol. III, pp. 112–113.]

In this description of the short, terse, and striking compositions of his friend Ferran, Becquer has written likewise the apology for his own verse. His was a poetry of "rapid, elemental impressions." He strikes but one chord at a time on his lyre, but he leaves you thrilled. This extreme simplicity and naturalness of expression may be well illustrated by the refrain of the seventy-third poem:

  ¡Dios mío, qué solos  Se quedan los muertos!

His poetry has often been compared to that of Heine, whom he is said to have imitated. Becquer did not in fact read German; but in El Museo Universal, for which he was a collaborator, and in which he published his Rimas, there appeared one of the first versions of the Intermezzo,[1] and it is not unlikely that in imitation of the Intermezzo he was led to string his Rimas like beads upon the connecting thread of a common autobiographical theme. In the seventy-six short poems that compose his Rimas, Becquer tells "a swiftly-moving, passionate story of youth, love, treachery, despair, and final submission." "The introductory poems are meant to represent a stage of absorption in the beauty and complexity of the natural world, during which the poet, conscious of his own high, incommunicable gift, by which he sees into the life of things, is conscious of an aimless fever and restlessness which is forever turning delight into weariness."[2]

[Footnote 1: Blanco Garcia, op. cit., p. 86.]

[Footnote 2: Mrs. Ward, loc. cit., p. 316.]

Some of these poems are extremely beautiful, particularly the tenth. They form a sort of prelude to the love-story itself, which begins in our selections with the thirteenth. Not finding the realization of his ideal in art, the poet turns to love. This passion reaches its culminating point in the twenty-ninth selection, and with the thirtieth misunderstanding, dissatisfaction, and sadness begin. Despair assails him, interrupted with occasional notes of melancholy resignation, such as are so exquisitely expressed in the fifty-third poem, the best-known of all the poet's verse. With this poem the love-story proper comes to a close, and "the melancholy, no doubt more than half imaginary and poetical, of his love poems seems to broaden out into a deeper sadness embracing life as a whole, and in which disappointed passion is but one of the many elements."[1] "And, lastly, regret and passion are alike hushed in the presence of that voiceless love which shines on the face of the dead and before the eternal and tranquil slumber of the grave."[2]

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Ward, loc. cit., p.319.]

[Footnote 2: Ibid., p. 316.]

Whatever Becquer may have owed to Heine, in form or substance, he was no servile imitator. In fact, with the exception of the thirtieth, no one of his Rimas seems to be inspired directly by Heine's Intermezzo. The distinguishing note in Heine's verse is sarcasm, while that of Becquer's is pathos. Heine is the greater poet, Becquer, the profounder artist. As Blanco Garcia well points out,[1] the moral inclinations of the two poets were distinct and different also. Becquer's instinct for the supernatural freed him from Heine's skepticism and irreligion; and, though he had suffered much, he never doubted Providence.

[Footnote 1: op. cit., p.86.]

The influence of Alfred de Musset may be felt also in Becquer's Rimas, particularly in the forty-second and forty-third; but in general, the Spanish poet is "less worldly and less ardent"[1] than the French.

[Footnote 1: Corm, op. cit., p. xl.]

The Rimas are written for the most part in assonanced verse. A harmonious rhythm seems to be substituted for the music of the rhyme. The meter, too, is very freely handled. Notwithstanding all this, the melody of Becquer's verse is very sweet, and soon catches and charms even the foreign ear. His Rimas created a school like that inspired by the Doloras of Campoamor. But the extreme simplicity and naturalness of Becquer's expression was difficult to reproduce without falling into the commonplace, and his imitators have for the most part failed.

AN UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF THE POET BECQUER, ONE OF THE FEW THAT HAVE SURVIVED HIM, ADDRESSED TO SOR. C. FRANCO DE LA IGLESIAS, MINISTERIO DE ULTRAMAR, MADRID. DATED IN TOLEDO, JULY 18TH, 1869.[1]

[Footnote 1: The accentuation and punctuation of the original are preserved. This letter is of particular interest, showing, as it does, the tender solicitude of Becquer for his children, his dire financial straits when a loan of three or four dollars is a godsend, and his hesitation to call upon friends for aid even when in such difficulties. The letter was presented to the writer of this sketch by Don Francisco de Laiglesia, a distinguished Spanish writer and man of public life and an intimate friend of Becquer. Señor de Laiglesia is the owner of the magnificent portrait of Gustavo by Valeriano Becquer, of the beauty of which but a faint idea can be had from the copy of the etching by Maura, which serves as a frontispiece to the present volume. ]

Mi muy querido amigo:

Me volvi de esa con el cuidado de los chicos y en efecto parecia anunciarmelo apenas llegue cayó en cama el mas pequeño. Esto se prolonga mas de lo que pensamos y he escrito á Gaspar y á Valera que solo pagó la mitad del importe del cuadro Gaspar he sabido que salio ayer para Aguas Buenas y tardará en recibir mi carta Valera espero enviará ese pico pero suele gastar una calma desesperante en este apuro recurro una vez mas á vd. y aunque me duele abusar tanto de su amistad le ruego que si es posible me envie tres ó cuatro duros para esperar el envio del dinero que aguardamos el cual es seguro pero no sabemos que dia vendrá y aqui tenemos al medico en casa y atenciones que no esperan un momento.

Adios estoy aburrido de ver que esto nunca cesa. Adios mande vd. á su amigo que le quiere

Gustavo Becquer

Espresiones á Pepe Marco S/c Calle de San Ildefonso Toledo. Si le es á vd. posible enviar eso hagalo si puede en el mismo dia que reciba esta carta por que el apuro es de momento.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

A list of the works consulted in the preparation of the sketch of Becquer's life.

WORKS BY BECQUER

Obras de Gustavo A. Becquer. Quinta edición aumentada con varias poesías y leyendas. Madrid, Librería de Fernando Fé, 1898. Three volumes.

Historia de los Templos de España, publicada bajo la protección de SS. MM. AA. y muy reverendos señores arzobispos y obispos—dirigida por D. Juan de la Puerto Vizcaino y D. Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Tomo I, Madrid, 1857. Imprenta y Estereotipia Española de los Señores Nieto y Campañía. Becquer is the author of only a portion of this work—see Introduction, p. xx.

La Ilustración de Madrid, January 12-October 12, 1870, contains a large number of articles by Becquer that have never been published in book form. The same can be said of other periodicals for which Becquer collaborated.

TRANSLATIONS

Gustave Becquer—Légendes espagnoles. Traduction de Achille Fouquier, dessins de S. Arcos. Paris, Librairie de Firmin-Didot et Cie, 1885. French.

Terrible Tales—Spanish. W. W. Gibbings, London, W. C. In this collection the following seven out of the twelve tales that it contains are by Becquer,—"The Golden Bracelet," "The Green Eyes," "The Passion Flower," "The White Doe," "Maese Pérez, the Organist," "The Moonbeam," and "The Mountain of Spirits." The translation is often inaccurate.

WORKS OR ARTICLES ON BECQUER

P. Francisco Blanco Garcia. La Literatura Española en el Siglo XIX, parte segunda, Madrid, 1891, contains a good criticism of the literary work of Becquer, pp. 79–91, and pp. 274–277.

Narciso Campillo. Gustavo Adolfo Becquer is the title of an excellent article on the Seville poet, by one who knew him well, in La Ilustración Artística, Barcelona, December 27, 1886, pp. 358–360. This number (261—Año V) is dedicated to Becquer, and contains many prose articles and much verse relative to him.

Achille Fouquier. Gustave Becquer, Légendes Espagnoles. Traduction de Achille Fouquier, dessins de S. Arcos. Paris, Firmin-Didot et Cie, 1885,—Avant-Propos, pp. 1–19. An interesting sketch of Becquer's life and an excellent appreciation of his style.

José Gestoso y Pérez. Carta á Mr. Achille Fouquier is the title of a valuable article in La Ilustración Artistica, Barcelona, December 27, 1886, pp. 363–366. This article contains important genealogical matter regarding Becquer, which had not until that time been published.

Eduardo de Lustono. Becquer is the titie of a sketch by this writer, published in Alrededor del Mundo, No. 109, July 4, 1901, pp. 11–13, and No. 110, July 11, 1901, pp. 22–23. It is largely a copy of the article by Narciso Campillo, mentioned above, and of the following by Rodriguez Correa.

Ramón Rodriguez Correa. Prólogo de las Obras de Gustavo A. Becquer. Quinta edición, Madrid, Fernando Fé, 1898. Vol. I, pp. IX-XLV. This is the principal biography of Becquer and the source of all the others. Its author was Becquer's most intimate friend.

Juan Valera. In Florilegio de Poesías Castellanas del Siglo XIX, Tomo I, Madrid, Fernando Fé, 1902, pp. 182–191, may be found an excellent appreciation of the poet by one of the most capable of Spanish critics and a personal friend of Becquer.

P. Restituto del Valle Ruiz, Agustino. In his Estudios Literarios, pp. 104–116, there is a chapter devoted to Gustavo A. Becquer, which contains an interesting critique of his poetry.

Mrs. (Mary A.) Humphrey Ward, in Macmillan's Magazine, No. 280, February, 1883, pp. 305–320, has an article entitled "A Spanish Romanticist: Gustavo Becquer." This is one of the best articles on Becquer that have been published.

SPANISH PROSODY

The basis for the following remarks on Spanish prosody is, for the most part, E. Benot's Prosodia Castellana y Versification, 3 vols., Madrid, 1892. Other works which have been consulted are the Ortologia y Arte Metrica of A. Bello, published in his Obras Completas, vol. 4, Madrid, 1890; Rengifo's Arte Poètica Española, Barcelona, 1759; J. D. M. Ford's "Notes on Spanish Prosody," in A Spanish Anthology, published by Silver, Burdett & Co., 1901; and a Tratado de Literatura Preceptiva, by D. Saturnino Milego é Inglada, published at Toledo in 1887.

Spanish versification has nothing to do with the quantity of vowels (whether long or short), which was the basis of Latin prosody.

There are four important elements in Spanish versification. Of these four elements two are essential, and the other two are usually present.

The essential elements, without which Spanish verse cannot exist, are—

I. A determined number of syllables per line.

II. A rhythmic distribution of the accents in the line.

The additional elements usually present in Spanish poetical compositions are—

III. Caesural pauses.

IV. Rhyme.

I. SYLLABIFICATION

Consonants.—In verse the same rules hold as in prose for the distribution of consonants in syllables.

Vowels.—If there were but one vowel in a syllable, Spanish syllabification would be easy; but sometimes two or more vowels are found either between consonants, or at the beginning or at the end of a word. When such is the case, intricacies arise, for sometimes the contiguous vowels are pronounced in a single syllable and sometimes they are divided into separate syllables.

The contiguous vowels may belong to a single word (see A); or they may be the final vowel or vowels of one word and the initial vowel or vowels of a following word or words (see B).

A. Diphthongization,—If two contiguous vowels of a single word are pronounced in but one syllable they form a diphthong, e.g. hu^esped.

B. Synalepha.—If two or more contiguous vowels belonging to two or more words are pronounced in a single syllable, they form synalepha.

Ex. Yo sé^un himno gigante y^extraño, p. 164, I, l. 1.

Since Spanish verse depends upon a determined number of syllables per line, diphthongization and synalepha are important factors in versification.

A. DIPHTHONGIZATION

Mute h between vowels is disregarded and does not prevent diphthongization, e.g. a^h^ora, re^h^usar.

The separation of two vowels that are usually united in one syllable is called diaeresis, e.g. vi|oleta.

The union in one syllable of two vowels that are usually in separate syllables is called synaeresis, e.g. ca^os.

1. THE TWENTY-FIVE POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS OP VOWELS IN DIPHTHONGS

The vowels may be divided into strong vowels (a, e, o) and weak vowels (i, u). For purposes of versification y as a vowel may be treated as i. The five vowels (a, e, o, i, u) taken in pairs may form diphthongs in twenty-five possible combinations, as follows:

a. Pairs of two weak vowels: ui, iu, ii, uu.

b. Pairs of two strong vowels:

{ ae, ao, aa,

{ ea, eo, ee,

{ oa, oe, oo.

c. Pairs of a strong vowel plus a weak vowel

{ ai, au,

{ ei, eu,

{ oi, ou.

d. Pairs of a weak vowel plus a strong vowel

{ ua, ue, uo,

{ ia, ie, io.

NOTE: In diphthongs a dominates o and e; and o dominates e. Any strong vowel dominates a weak one.

Ex. In Bo^abdíl, if a were not dominant, the diphthong would be dissolved.

2. DIPHTHONGS AND WORD ACCENTUATION

There are with regard to accent three possible conditions under which two contiguous vowels may occur within a word.

a. The contiguous vowels may precede the accented syllable.

b. One of the contiguous vowels may be accented.

c. The contiguous vowels may come after the accented syllable.

a. Two contiguous vowels before the accent.

(1) Of the twenty-five possible combinations all are admissible in diphthongs in a syllable preceding the accented syllable.

Ex. Habrá po^esta, p. 165, IV, l. 4.

(a) Diaeresis may be employed to dissolve the diphthong.

Ex. Sobre una vi|oleta, p. 169, XIII, l. 8.

b. One of two contiguous vowels accented.

(1) When two contiguous vowel's are strong.

(a) There is no diphthong if one of two contiguous strong vowels receives the accent.

Ex. Chispë|ando el sol hiere, p. 173, XXVI I, l. 17.

Ex. Tú, sombra a|érea que, cuantas veces, p. 170, XV, l. 7.

By synaeresis, however, a diphthong may be formed, especially in the combinations á^o, á^e, ó^e—c^a^o^s, c^a^e, ro^e. But in order to diphthongize oa, ea, and eo, when the accent naturally falls on the first vowel, the accent must shift to the second, which is a dominant vowel. Such diphthongization is harsh. For example, loa would shift the accent from o to a in order to form a diphthong. The accent would also shift in cre^a, fe^o.

(2) When one of the contiguous vowels is weak and the other strong.

(a) There is no diphthong if an accented weak vowel precedes a strong.

Ex. Yo, que á tus ojos en mi agoní|a, p. 171, XV, l. 18. Synaeresis is, however, sometimes employed to overcome this rule. The accent must then shift.

Ex. Habi^a llegado una nave. Calderón.

(b) There is no diphthong if an accented weak vowel follows a strong.

Ex. ¿Cómo puede re|ir? p. 182, XLIX, l. 4.

Synaeresis serves sometimes to overcome this rule. The result is usually harsh.

Ex. En re^ir á costa ajena, les prepara.

(c) If an accented strong vowel precedes a weak, they form a diphthong. The diphthong is rarely dissolved, and is usually marked with a diaresis, if dissolution takes place.

Ex. Beso del aura, onda de luz, p. 170, XV, l. 5.

(d) If an accented strong vowel follows a weak they may or may not form a diphthong.

Ex. Por una sonrisa, un ci^elo, p. 172, XXIII, l. 2. [Diphthong.]

Ex. Domando el rebelde, mezquino idï|oma, p. 164, I, l. 6. [No diphthong.]

Diaeresis or synaeresis may usually be employed according to the case.

Thus, fiel becomes by diaeresis fi|el, and br|ioso becomes by synaeresis bri^oso.

It should be remembered that in some words the accentuation is variable, while in others it is fixed.

There are two classes of words that have a variable accentuation: first, those in which an unaccented weak vowel is followed by an accented strong vowel, e.g. majestu^oso, majestu|oso; second, those in which an accented strong vowel is followed by an unaccented strong vowel, e.g. tra|e, tra^e.

Ex. Cre^es que la afe|an. Becquer.

Cre|es que suspirando pasa el viento, p. 171, XVI, l. 3.

Etymological conditions often determine whether or not a diphthong is formed.

ie and ue, derived from the Latin e and o respectively, form indissoluble diphthongs.

The ending -ión for substantives is usually a diphthong and rarely suffers dissolution.

Synaeresis may be employed to unite in a single syllable two contiguous vowels (unaccented weak + accented strong) that are separated on account of etymology, or, in the case of derivatives, analogy with the original word; but diaeresis is employed very rarely to dissolve a proper diphthongal combination (unaccented weak + accented strong).

For example, di|ario by analogy with día, and fi|ó from the Latin fidavit, have ordinarily the i in separate syllables, but a diphthong may be formed by synaeresis.

(3) When the two contiguous vowels are weak.

(a) Two contiguous weak vowels with the accent on the first form an indissoluble diphthong, e.g. mu^y.

(b) Two contiguous weak vowels with the accent on the second may or may not form a diphthong.

Ex. Si antes no juras que por ru^in falsía. Hermosilla. [Diphthong.]

Ex. Con sus mil rü|idos, p. 188, LXXIII, l. 19, [No diphthong.]

c. Two contiguous vowels after the accented syllable.

(1) Two contiguous strong vowels after the accented syllable naturally form a diphthong.

Ex. Tú, sombra aére^a que, cuantas veces, p. 170, XV, l. 7.

Diaeresis may be employed to dissolve the diphthong.

(2) If a strong vowel is followed by a weak vowel after the accented syllable, they form a diphthong, e.g. hablaba^is, amara^is.

This diphthong is easily dissolved.

(3) If a weak vowel is followed by a strong vowel after the accented syllable, they form a diphthong, e.g. histor^i^a, ans^i^a.

Ex. De la brisa nocturna al tenu^e soplo, p. 192, LXXV, l. 6.

The diphthong may, however, be dissolved, e.g. estatu|a, tenu|e, nadi|e.

3. TRIPHTHONGS AND COMBINATIONS OP THREE OR MORE CONTIGUOUS VOWELS

If three vowels belonging to the same word are contiguous, one of them must be accented. There are then three possible arrangements.

(i) Three contiguous vowels of a word with the accent on the first, e.g. tráeos.

(ii) Three contiguous vowels of a word with the accent on the second, e.g. creia, buey.

(iii) Three contiguous vowels with the accent on the third, e.g. rehuí.

Each of the above arrangements has two combinations of accented and unaccented vowels to which the rules for diphthongs may be applied. In (i) there will be a combination of two vowels with the first accented, plus a combination of two vowels after the accent. In tráeos, for example, the a and e would probably be in separate syllables by b (1) (a), and eo would probably form a diphthong by c (1). Tráeos would, then, probably be a dissyllable.