GÖNGORA Y ARGOTE, LUIS de. — Spanish priest and poet, born in Córdoba on 11 July 1561, died there on 23 May 1627. He held a benefice in his native cathedral and, in Madrid, was honorary chaplain to Philip III. He devoted himself to poetry, earning, through his singular inspiration, admirers and friends.
When, however, he resorted to those stylistic excesses which came to be called “Gongorism,” he incurred 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 ultimately prevailed through “gerundianism,” giving rise to the Baroque, of which the Jesuit Baltasar Gracián was the foremost exponent.
In Góngora two distinct poetic manners must be distinguished: the early one, conforming to the popular-Castilian style, with agitated inspiration and, at times, picaresque in tone; the second, properly Gongorine, revealed in the *Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea* (composed ca. 1611–13) and in the *Soledades* (the first part completed in 1613; the second later), where the poet displays his brilliant preciosity, full of lights and shadows, rich in imagery and subtleties. Many recognize in Góngora the precursor of certain modern poetic forms (Parnassianism, Symbolism, etc.).