GÓNGORA Y ARGOTE, LUIS DE. - Spanish priest and poet, b. at Cordova on 11 July 1561, d. there on 23 May 1627. A beneficiary at the cathedral of his native city and, in Madrid, honorary chaplain to Philip III, he devoted himself to poetry, gaining for his singular inspiration admirers and friends.

When, however, he reached those excesses of style that were called after him "gongorisms," he drew upon himself the wrath of his rivals, among them Lope de Vega and Quevedo; yet even his enemies had to acknowledge the excellence of his poetic gifts. "Gongorism" in the end prevailed and, together with "gerundianism," gave rise to the Baroque, of which the greatest exponent was the g.s. uira Baltasar Griscán.

In G. two different manners of poetry must be distinguished: the youthful one, conforming to the popular Castilian style, of agitated and at times picaresque inspiration; the second, properly Gongorine, which reveals itself in the Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea (composed in the years 1611-13) and in the Soledades (the 1st part completed in 1613; the 2nd later), where the poet displays his brilliant preciosity full of lights and shadows, rich in images and in undertones. Many recognize in G. the precursor of certain modern poetic forms (Parnassianism, Symbolism, etc.).

Bibliography8 works

BIBL.: Works: Obras poéticas de don L. de G., edited by R. Foulché-Delbosc, 3 vols., New York 1921; Romances de G., edited by J. M. Cossio, Madrid 1927; Soledades, edited by D. Alonso, ibid. 1927. Studies: R. Foulché-Delbosc, Bibl. de G., in Revue hisp., 18 (1908), pp. 73-161; A. Reyes, Reseña de estudios gongorinos (1913-18), in Rev. filol. esp., 7 (1920), pp. 312-36; M. Artigas, Don L. de G. y A.-Biografía y estudio crítico, Madrid 1925; E. J. Gates, The metaphors of L. de G., Philadelphia 1933. Cf. Res. fil. esp., 14 (1927), iv, dedicated to G. Cf. also: K. Vossler, Poesie der Eingamheit in Spanien, Munich 1940, pp. 147-154; B. Croce, Poesia antica e moderna, Bari 1941, pp. 285-304; V. Borghini, Poesia e psicologia spagnuola, Bologna 1945, see index.

Costanzo Eguia

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Góngora y Argote, Luis de

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