Once upon a man stuck to a nose: commentary and analysis

Surely you have ever heard the phrase "Once upon a man stuck a nose", referring to someone with a fairly prominent nose. What you may not know is that this sentence belongs to the sonnet titled to a nose, of Francis of Quevedo. This poem written in the 17th century parodies the size of a nose. Do you dare to discover who this large appendage belonged to?

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to explain the commentary and analysis of Once upon a man stuck a nose, so you can understand all the sarcasm that is hidden between his verses.

He poem to a noseis the work of Francis of Quevedo and it is the author's most famous sonnet, which belongs to the category of satirical poetry. The theme is easily identifiable, from the first words: Quevedo intends to humiliate someone, but do you know who? The recipient of this message is, neither more nor less, than his greatest poetic adversary: ​​Góngora, who became his literary and personal rival. In unProfesor we talk about the rivalry between Góngora and Quevedo.

A man with such a large nose is an example of a ludicrous deformity or exaggeration that causes the object to become a mocking comment. It is a sonnet made up of two quatrains and two triplets in which two distinct parts can be identified.

part 1 of to a nose

"Once upon a man stuck a nose,

once upon a superlative nose,

there was a sayon ​​nose and write,

Once upon a very bearded swordfish.

It was a badly faced sundial,

there was a pensive alquitara,

once upon a face up elephant,

Ovidio Nasón was more nosey.

Once upon a galley ram,

once upon a pyramid in egypt

the twelve tribes of noses was."

The first part goes from verse 1 to 11 and describes with irony and cruelty, the nose of a man. He employs a long list of metaphors to achieve his goal. The author expresses it with adjectives in a superlative degree, such as "once upon a superlative nose". This helps him to express the maximum idea of ​​what he is describing and for the reader to imagine an incomparable nose.

The rest of the metaphors that are used in this first part are increasingly hurtful, until reaching the cruelest, in verse 11: "the twelve tribes of noses was", where Quevedo expresses his maximum contempt for that nose. It is funny that the author never uses the word big to describe the nose, but he says much worse things to ridicule Góngora.

In this first part the author he insists a lot on ugliness and contempt that the greatness of that nose produces in him, so much so that it has led him to write his poem.

part 2 of to a nose

"Once upon a very infinite nose,

so much nose, nose so fierce

that in the face of Annas it was a crime."

The second part of to a nose goes from verses 12 to 14, that is to say, it is the last tercet and concludes all that has been previously said. Verse 12, which says "once upon a very nosed infinity", summarizes all the characteristics that have been named in the previous stanzas.

Regarding the expressive resources or rhetorical figures used by Quevedo in this poem, it is important to note that The entire work is a succession of descriptive metaphors, whose main purpose is the humiliation of the man to whom the poem is dedicated.

Now you have read the poem and you know how to interpret what the verses of it are telling you. For this reason, we believe that it is time to go one step further and delve into the internal structure of the sonnet with this analysis that we present to you. In this analysis we will talk about the content and form of the sonnet to a nose

The topic

the theme of to a nose it's a attack with irony or hurtful satire towards Góngora's nasal appendage. In turn, Quevedo calls him Jewish and long-nosed, which was a typical prejudice of the time. This is because Góngora had a Jewish ancestor, which meant being under suspicion of justice.

Argument

Góngora's nose is the instrument of satirical criticism used by Quevedo to write his sonnet to a nose. We can see how the author uses allusions to mythology, religion and talks about objects reminiscent of an exaggerated nasal appendage.

division of the poem

The poem is a sonnet that is divided into two initial quartets and two final triplets.

meter and rhyme

The rhyme is consonant. In the quartets the rhyme is ABBA and in the triplets it is CDC and DCD. Regarding the metric, we can see that the sonnet is composed of hendecasyllabic verses de Arte Mayor, typical in the sonnets of the time.

stylistic devices

The poem is full of stylistic devices and these can be found, practically in every verse. We show you what they are, to see if you can identify them in the text:

• Anaphora: In almost the entire sonnet, the word “once upon a time” at the beginning of the verse. Verses 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-12.
• Hyperbole: The whole poem is hyperbolic. Verse 2"superlative" and verse 12 "very nose").
• Metaphor: Verse 10 "a pyramid of Egypt" and verse 11 "the twelve tribes of noses was."
• Personification:verse 6"she was a pensive alquitar."
• Comparison:Verse 4"baleen swordfish.", verse 5 "mischievous sundial.", verse 7"elephant upside down.", verse 9 "galley spur." and verse 10 "Egyptian pyramid."
• Irony: The entire sonnet is ironic.

Now you know the commentary and analysis of the work of to a nose by Francisco de Quevedo. So the next time you hear the phrase "Once upon a man stuck a nose", you will know what it refers to and who is the recipient of this satire. If you want to continue learning more about this subject and find out about other interesting works of poetry, do not hesitate to consult our reading section.

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