The Solitudes of Góngora: plot

A new lesson from a PROFESSOR starts here that will bring us closer to one of the most complex and mysterious works of Spanish literature. In this case, our approach will be towards the argument of The Solitudes by Góngora, an unfinished work by the great Castilian poet that belonged to the one known as Spanish Golden Age, being one of the greatest exponents of it.

The enormous rivalry between Luis de Góngora and Francisco de Quevedo, two of the most talented poets of the time, is known worldwide. However, both were writers with great skills and enormous resources for prose and rhyme, which is reflected in this work by the Cordovan author.

Now, without further delay, we fully enter the world of Góngora to get to know a little better the complexity of this unfinished work and the talent of one of the greatest Spanish poets of all time.

Index

1. Brief biography of Luis de Góngora
2. Argument from Las Soldades de Góngora
3. Commentary and context of Las Soledades de Góngora

Before starting squarely with the argument of The Solitudes de Góngora, let's get to know his figure better to be able to contextualize his posthumous work and one of his most complex and ambitious projects.

Luis de Góngora and Argote he was a poet born in Córdoba in 1561 in the bosom of a noble family, although without much economic resources. From the age of 14, the writer begins his religious career for which he has little vocation.

Góngora was not a good student, however, he did begin to make himself known at the age of 19 as a talented poet. His success would end up transferring him to the court in 1617 under the auspices of the Duke of Lerma.

However, Gongora's personality was rather complex. Before his death in 1627, he would leave successful works such as The Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea or The Solitudes, which he began to write in 1614, but remained unfinished. Also famous are his already mentioned confrontations such as Francisco de Quevedo or the contempt that felt for Félix Lope de Vega despite his admiration for the poet's work Cordoba. All this garnered terrible criticism and attacks on her person and his creations.

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We already enter fully into the argument of The Solitudes of Góngora. It is difficult to define this aspect, since it is considered an unfinished work, since the author intended to write four solitudes in which he narrated the various times of man. However, he ultimately only wrote two of them, which makes any analysis more complicated.

In the poem, Góngora narrates the pilgrimage and flight of a man after suffering a love disappointment. Along his path as a wanderer, he performs a deep meditation on the nature of the human being, full of lyrics and poetry.

Loneliness First

In the First Solitude, we found a shipwrecked young man he that he arrives at an island where he is picked up by some goatherds on the beach. There he ends up attending a wedding after three days of stay.

The young man follows the light of a torch to find the goatherds with whom he spends the night. Later, he leaves with one of them and meets a mountain group on his way to a village to celebrate a shepherds' wedding. When they notice that he is a castaway, he tells them about his bitter maritime adventure full of greed.

After his misfortune, they invite him to the nuptials, which he attends, finishing the poem at dusk with the betrothed on the way to his house.

Second loneliness

In the second Solitude, at the birth of the new day, the pilgrim crosses a river next to one of the village fishermen. He witnesses the tasks and marches with these men of the sea while he recounts his amorous misfortunes. Then, he recounts marine exploits of his children to spend the next morning sailing near the coast and attending a hunting party with falcons on the mainland.

So they end The Solitudes of Góngora, somewhat abruptly, since we do not have more material since the poet did not write anything else.

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Gongora reconstructs a story using complex and beautiful stylistic devices to achieve a fantastic splendor in its composition. However, it is noted that this work belongs to the poet's most mature stage, in which he puts satire aside to face more complex pieces that need highly polished literary resources.

The subtlety and gravity with which he faces each passage of the work is noticeable. This is how I couldor revolutionize baroque poetry to the point that they cannot be understood in all their glory without his name.

In this case, the 1091 verses of the first Solitude and the 979 that make up the second Solitude are preserved. However, since it remains unfinished, we cannot observe the symbolism that he was looking for in its entirety, which, as we have commented, was to narrate the four ages of man.

All this caused the author's detractors, many in his time, before the abrupt end of the second installment, to consider that his mind was no longer available. However, the work involves considerable complexity, so understanding it in its full context and magnitude is not easy at all.

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