Soledades

by Luis de Góngora y Argote

Las Soledades es un poema de Luis de Góngora, compuesto en 1613 en silvas de versos endecasílabos y heptasílabos.

El poema nació como un proyecto dividido en cuatro partes que iban a llamarse «Soledad de los campos», «Soledad de las riberas», «Soledad de las selvas» y «Soledad del yermo». De este ambicioso poema, Góngora sólo concluyó la «dedicatoria al Duque de Béjar» y las dos primeras Soledades, de las cuales dejó inconclusa la segunda.

Esta obra supone la cumbre del estilo gongorino y fue reivindicada y alabada por parnasianos y simbolistas franceses y por la generación del 27, que rindió un merecido homenaje en 1927 a Góngora con motivo del tricentenario de su muerte, acontecimiento que dio nombre a la citada generación poética.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Spanish Literature, Fiction, Spain, 17th Century, Siglo De Oro

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1613

About the author

Luis de Góngora y Argote (11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered to be the most prominent Spanish poets of their age. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorism (Gongorismo). This style existed in stark contrast to Quevedo's Conceptismo.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across ‘The Solitudes’ by searching the library catalogue for books by Alberto Manguel, my favourite non-fiction author. He wrote the introduction to this edition and I trust his taste, so decided to read a 17th century poem I’d never heard of. It was a good decision, as ‘The Solitudes’ is an extraordinary experience. Given the length, I expected a narrative poem, however there is no story to be found here. Instead, the reader finds an absolute plethora of sensuous description as a shipwreck survivor wanders about beautiful countryside. The natural world and romantic love are the main focus of dizzying metaphors that meld classical mythology with nature. Gongora loves crystals and nymphs from Greek myth, both of which recur constantly. Although I often had little idea what he was talking about, I enjoyed the overwhelming sumptuousness of everything. The shipwrecked man’s surroundings seemed vividly hyperreal, as if each tree and blade of grass concealed mystical significance. A favourite passage:

The first flies, frosting the waves;
the second, in an indolent motion meets
the sea, whose white-coloured foam
makes of its dark slender prow
the bright resplendent throat
of an august Coya, empress of Peru,
to whom the Southern Sea rendered each hour
one hundred strands of pearls.
The morning dried no more of Aurora’s tears
shed on black violets
than the pearls, fleeting but beautiful pearls
overridden and crushed by
the cutwater in vain show.

Unusually, I didn’t feel compelled to read this particular poem aloud. The pleasure was in the imagery rather than the assonance, I think. The translator comments that the rhyme in the original Spanish couldn’t readily be reproduced in English. I agree with her that rhyme is probably easier to achieve in Spanish than English in general. Actually, this poem made me wish I could read Spanish, not for the first time. Mapping words to their translations was rather fun, although I didn't attempt it systematically. (Sadly, the only Spanish I know is some swearing.)

Although I thought the translation was beautifully done, I sometimes found fault with the explanatory notes. Most are very helpful, as it often not remotely obvious what Gongora is referring to. Some seemed unnecessary - Sisyphus and Bacchus are pretty well known, right? On the other hand, I had to look up some words that weren’t explained. Lustrum was new to me, for instance; apparently it means a period of five years. The inclusion of obscure words fitted well with the density of allusions to minor mythical figures, though, and my knowledge of mythology has definitely been enhanced. Now I know who Pomona is and where the cornucopia came from. Thus ‘The Solitudes’ was an informative as well as dreamily sensuous poetic experience.

[Pável Granados · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿Cómo es que la inmensa arquitectura de la poesía gongorina fue cubierta por el polvo del tiempo? Se lo pregunté, hace años, a Antonio Alatorre y me contestó que fue la inercia de una época. La pereza que fue creciendo entre los preceptores, que leían a sus alumnos la poesía de Horacio –la pálida muerte hiere con igual zarpazo / las cabañas de los pobres y los palacios de los ricos– y preguntaban: “¿Qué bonito poema, verdad, niños?”; en cambio qué horror: “Pasos de un peregrino son errante / cuantos me dictó versos dulce musa”, quién sabe qué es eso. Y fueron arrumbando, olvidando un estilo de hacer poesía. Aquellos conocimientos que circulaban entre lectores fueron perdiéndose y llenaron estantes de discusiones en forma de “antídotos contra el gongorismo”, los cuales prepararon otro tipo de poesía, la neoclásica, en donde no hemos encontrado un poeta comparable que rehabilitar. Todavía no se cumple un siglo de su redescubrimiento, del imborrable año de 1927 que sepultó un prejuicio. Tan alta es la genialidad poética de Luis de Góngora (1561-1627) que se me figura una torre más alta que la de Babel, respetada por los idiomas y no sobrevolada por ningún otro talento. Los poetas –¡es que tienden a proponer disyuntivas inútiles!– lo han opuesto a Quevedo, y muchos han seguido a este último: Díaz Mirón, Borges, Paz…, y han visto en las Soledades arquitecturas huecas, fastidio repetido. Todavía en 1986, Octavio Paz escribió: “Hace mucho quería decirlo y ahora me atrevo: las Soledades es una pieza de marquetería sublime y vana. Es un poema sin acción y sin historia, plagado de amplificaciones y rodeos divagantes; las continuas digresiones son a veces mágicas, como pasearse por un jardín encantado, pero la repetición de maravillas termina por parecer tediosa” (en “Contar y cantar. Sobre el poema extenso”). Un juicio semejante sólo me parece aceptable porque entonces aún no se publicaba la incomparable edición de Robert Jammes (1927-2020). Antes de ella, la lectura de las Soledades podría parecer una labor sin fruto. Pero el especialista francés prosifica el poema y comenta línea por línea. Y donde antes había confusión se encuentra incuestionablemente la claridad. Me gustaría tener una metáfora digna para haber enunciado lo anterior, pero no es posible. Pero sí, el gusto de saber que Jammes no vivió en un cubículo académico, sino entre las cabras, en un monte. Eso me pareció un homenaje más vivo al poeta de Córdoba. Dije que lo que es difuso se torna claro: claro a un nivel de exactitud. Tres jóvenes se embarcan por un río y descubren a lo lejos un cortejo de cazadores. La descripción de la cetrería significó para Góngora un conocimiento preciso de ese arte, y para Jammes la capacidad de revivirlo para explicárnoslo. Pasa volando, rápidamente, un borní, la delicia volante de cuantos ciñen líbico turbante; y el editor no deja pasar la oportunidad de usar su propia cetrería para cazar el momento de la belleza poética y hablarnos del borní y de su capacidad para matar palomas, e incluso liebres, si es enseñado. Y así, va limpiando, mostrando, el inmenso instrumental poético de Góngora, destinado a crear un irrepetible poema que nos dice con insistencia que la vida verdadera está en otra parte.

Luis de Góngora. Soledades (redactadas entre 1612 y ¿1626?, publicadas en 1627), ed., intr. y notas, Robert Jammes. Madrid, Castalia, 1994. (Col. Clásicos Castalia, 202)

[Carlota · Rating 2 out of 5]

No he entès res.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

solo tengo dos cosas que decir:

1. Qué buena gente Dámaso Alonso, muy agradecida con él, porque si no, no habría entendido nada.
2. Siempre team Góngora, nunca team Quevedo

[Edward Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times dazzling, at times simply obscure, Góngora's bracing fragment is apt to remind us just how dizzying modernity was at its inception. There is so much archaism here that it is stupefying to discover that Góngora's moment feels at the same time as though, indefinitely prolonged, we are still in its midst.

This is definitely the translation to read; I tried Wilson's first, and it was impossible. I subsequently compared the present translation with another recent one, by John Dent-Young, and that one seemed too disconnected from the original text, more a reconstruction than a translation.

[James Violand · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reader's visualization of Gongora's poetry should be breathtaking. A prerequisite is a thorough education in Greek mythology, for the poet repeatedly alludes to that substantial body of work. If you have this knowledge, then you will be amazed that Gongora is so little known outside of Spain. He has inherited the vestments of the ancient Greek poets. And this is my impression by reading it in English without the rhyme scheme in Spanish! Truly a brilliant poet.

[Justė Gadliauskaitė · Rating 4 out of 5]

"[...] en urna dejó decente/ los nobles polvos inclusos,/ que absolvieron de ser huesos/ cinamomo y calacumbo./ Y en letras de oro: 《Aquí yacen/ individualmente juntos,/ a pesar del Amor, dos;/ a pesar del número, uno.》

《Fábula de Píramo y Tisbe》, de romances.
(1618)

[Andreua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Això no és una review. Potser, però, la faig després d’aquest breu apunt de caire contextual.

Decidit a llegir les Soledades de Góngora per poder fer un treball final i impressionar a monstres acadèmics de proporcions dantesques (cert professor pausat, de ironia fàcil de hispanisme trampós i pesat), aquesta tarda l’he destinat a buscar bibliografia i a llegir la peça central. Amb una pedanteria exhuberant, clausurat en la foscor íntima d’una petita habitació de preu desorbitat, he decidit recitarles en veu alta. Ja de normal, Góngora és un autor de nas gros, pedanteria immensa, i d’estil que embut l’esòfag. Imagineu doncs el cant que, durant una hora i mitja, els meus veïns, a través del pati interior, han sentit.

Un Góngora amb accent fallit de segle d’or; amb un deix gironí suposo que divertit.

Tinc la boca extremadament seca.

Árida serpentina de cascabel desierto
entumeciendo el habla de la arena
capada de burbuja reunida de zafiros no dada.

Pos eso

[Elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque es difícil de entender, cuando lo entiendes SLAY. La primera mitad me ha encantado y la segunda se me ha hecho un poco bola (he leído una edición con muchas cosas: las soledades y la fábula de Polifemo y Galatea ha sido lo más duro incluso teniendo explicación) pero es innegable que este libro es 1 obra de arte.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A courtly youth discovers pastoral & fishing idylls. It reads like a caricature of baroque excess, but I quite like it.

[Dusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won't pretend I read this whole poem, start to finish -- but I did give it the old "college" try. I was certainly thankful for Dámaso Alonso's explanatory introduction and prose translation, even if his is just one of so very many possible interpretations of Góngora's so-called masterpiece.

[ouliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

feeling so educated and cultured right now

[Rubén Moragues · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es, sin lugar a dudas, el poema más complicado, codificado y hermético con el que me he topado jamás.
Tengo la sensación de que interesa más a los lingüistas que a los literatos.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Introduction, Alberto Manguel says that the “Solitudes is a poem ‘about’ nature, but the natural world in this work does not serve as the backdrop for a highly expressive love poem or spiritual meditation. It is there to be evoked for its own sake in the most rarefied, figurative, sensuous language because language itself, not its emotive referent or expressive content, is the intrinsic aesthetic component of poetry.” I could not do a better job summarizing this brilliant, obscure, and difficult collection of poetry. Gongora belongs in the great pantheon of classic poets. Mythology sings throughout nearly ever stanza. He also belongs in every age, as elements can be found in nearly each style. It is difficult stuff, but beautiful. My favorite verses are from the First Solitude:


Wonder is mute, it speaks by being silent,
and, blind, it follows a river, that-shining
child of those precipices--
in convoluted discourse, and digressive,
benevolent it tyrannizes the fields;
with its banks ornamented by fruit trees,
Copia herself desires it for her horn
-if the creature of Amalthea had been armed
with crystal transparency-;
setting edifices in its silver,
crowning itself with walls,
it embraces, imprisons islands,
from the high grotto where it first breaks free
to the opaque jasper waters deep where
pride is lost and memory hides away. (21)

Also from the First Solitude, I can’t think of a more eloquent way to say that the spectatros are astonished and can’t raise their eyebrows:
Astonishment, accoutered in cold marble,
scarce could raise its eyebrows;
emulation, shod in hard ice, is rooted, slow. (75)

Lastly, I love the line: “Dust does not cause the field / to disappear, for wings do not tread on grass;” (79)

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t immediately won over – I had to parse Gongora’s hypertrophic style first, then justify it – but I’ve come to admire what is a phenomenal achievement in verse. I do justice to Gongora’s intentions when I say that it took five rounds to understand a verse paragraph and another five to appreciate it: The Solitudes were designed to be difficult at a moment when (decorous) rhetorical obscurity and conceited poetics were in vogue. That the syntactic experimentation – marked by flagrant and sometimes illegal hyperbaton and a flair for Latinate expression – read extreme for the seventeenth century, though, is the moral of the backlash against the text, in part. Where they didn’t find his subject unworthy of his talent, Gongora’s detractors invoked “the misfortune of Babel” (presumably, Lope de Vega’s phrase) in connection with his overwrought complexity, which lent itself to a stylized mode of expression, culteranismo, thereafter eponymous with Gongora himself, as gongorismo. Notwithstanding private abuses and courtly rivalries, the preoccupation with Gongora’s interventionist linguistic practices was fair, his decisions reasonably controversial. Yet so is Gongora’s verse astounding, between the way he sustains rhyme and syllabic form (the lines are 7 or 11 syllables long) while scrambling syntax, the depth of perspective and level of detail, the astonishment of each conceit, and the concentrated prolixity of his descriptions. Intellectually and visually stimulating – as effective conceited verse goes – and paired well here, I thought, with Edith Grossman’s translation.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the first Solitude might be my favorite epic poem. It is hypnotic, adventurous, peaceful, and sublime. The language is haunting and elusive, but never distant. At its most abstract, it remains centered on the most concrete human experiences: love, life, adventure, mystery, and communal bonding. It is about a shipwrecked outcast who is welcomed home in a place that is very far from home. Despite its very Spanish and Latin roots, I found myself thinking of the old Anglo-Saxon epics of wanderers and outcasts, which perhaps speaks to both the universality of the poem and my own background as an English-speaker.

I read the first Solitude twice in a row in different translations just to experience the journey again. The second Solitude, which I only read once in the Edith Grossman translation, was admittedly more abstract and slightly more difficult for all the allusions to myth. Footnotes are required for both Solitudes, but I also recommend reading through them once without consulting the footnotes, just for the pleasure of being lost -- sometimes literally, in the case of the second poem -- in the text. This is required reading for lovers of the written word.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely difficult yet marvelous poem that rewards multiple re-readings. The poem's hyper-baroque syntax forces you to process its imagery in such a way that, in order to understand Gongora's meaning, you have to engage with his language in extremely unusual ways. Ultimately, Gongora's syntax performs the process of poetic perception itself in all its chaotic excitement, and in doing so transforms his readers into visionary poets, exulted yet burdened with poetic inspiration and imagery. The pilgrim is a prince who finds himself exiled after being rejected by his beloved. He lands on shore, finds a rural hut, observes a wedding ceremony (along with a feast and games), joins fishermen, and observes the majesty of the local birdlife, all while trying to cope with the pain of being ignored by his beloved.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying that well before finishing even the first Soledad (there are two), I knew I would have to go back and re-read these poems (which I intend to do).

John Beverley's introduction and footnotes are incredibly helpful, and sometimes nearly fill up entire pages. Good job, Catedra. Also, the inclusion of a back-and-forth between a critic and Gongora is wonderful because we get an idea of how the poet viewed his own writing.

I feel like I spent so much time trying to unravel these poetic knots just to follow the plot that I couldn't fully appreciate the poet's art and skill. Hence the required re-reading. I think I will be able to give a better review after that.

The second Soledad's closing image is incredible and probably my favorite part of either poem.

[Jaime Carbajal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es necesario leer una edición que explique bien las soledades, sino es prácticamente imposible enterarse. A mi el libro no me gustó porque no soy capaz a enterarme de las numerosas referencias mitológicas, tampoco es que la historia que cuenta me haya entusiasmado. Lo increíble es la capacidad de Góngora para retorcer el lenguaje y hacer las metáforas que hace, le doy dos estrellas porque la lectura a mi no me produjo nada, no porque considere que sea malo.

[Mariana Romo-Carmona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las soledades y el Polifemo, además de su poema, Canción VI, ("Qué de invidiosos montes levantados...") fueron el tema de mi ensayo sobre Góngora. Adoro muchos de sus sonetos. Creo que estos tres textos son mis favoritos... Opinión de crítica no-medievalista ni erudita - Góngora gana este round, a ver si para otro estudio con la Dra. Lía Schwartz me convence más Quevedo.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although at times his phrasings and descriptions were a little dense, still Góngora wrote beautiful poetry. His allusions to mythology, his descriptions of pastoral life and seaside scenes, they spoke to me. The spurned lover at the wedding… I wish that he had finished.

[Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poema difícil donde los haya. Recomiendo esta versión, muy "limpia" de aparato crítico: la edición de Castalia supera las 1000 páginas para un conjunto que supera en poco los 2000 versos.

[Hugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great metaphorical reflections coupled with an infusing of the quotidian world with mythological reference. There's some great lines about owls too!!

[Simone Subliminalpop · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://www.subliminalpop.com/?p=8113

[Regitze Xenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes you have to read the most boring texts for classes and this was one of them.

[Jason Perlman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a little over-ambitious for my first book-length poem in Spanish. But Edith Grossman's facing translation is a masterful lifeline.

[Raúl · Rating 5 out of 5]

No voy a hablar de la monumentalidad de Las Soledades, una de las más grandes obras no solo de la literatura española, sino de la universal. Aunque me temo que ni él, ni Quevedo, ni el resto de la constelación de la sobresaliente lírica del Siglo de Oro, tienen la consideración ni la difusión debida fuera del mundo hispano. Góngora llegó el idioma hasta sus límites a través del desorden de la construcción sintáctica, de la creación de nuevos significados que suponía la búsqueda una sintaxis diferente y de la concentración del sentido de una manera brutalmente densa, utilizando no solo cultismos, sino construcciones morfológicas transplantadas desde el latín y el griego arcaico. El resultado, poemas que se hunden en una oscuridad llena de esplendores, y que nos devuelven un horizonte de belleza extremo. Las Soledades es una obra inconclusa. No sé si por agotamiento del lenguaje o por la incomprensión, las cuatro soledades proyectadas se quedaron en dos, la última inacabada o acabada de una manera somera, perdiendo así el arco narrativo que formaría la obra completa. Eso no le quita grandeza a este poema, sobre el que se han estrellado cientos de estudiosos y miles de lectores.
Esta edición de Robert Jammes recoge el legado de tantos intérpretes, tanto los más críticos hacia las Soledades como los más entusiastas, hasta llegar al gran trabajo efectuado por Dámaso Alonso, asumiendo a pie de notas la reconstrucción de las primeras versiones de la primera oledad, así como el trabajo en las Obras Completas editadas más recientemente por Carreira.
Tras una larga introducción, el poema se sirve con su paráfrasis en prosa, con sus notas que ocupan las páginas pares y que nos concretan no sólo cuestiones semánticas, sino interpretativas de los comentaristas más destacados, empezando con el adverso y cuidadoso poeta Juan de Juáregui. Unas nuevas notas, fuera de texto, amplían contextos y referencias que exederían lo compacto de la edición. Un apéndice conformado con las notas que recogen los estudios, comentarios y alusiones de la época al poema, nos muestras lo que fue el comienzo de la crítica y epistemología gongorina.
Es una gran edición que nos da todas las herramientas para acceder plenamente a esta obra.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an epic Spanish classic written in the early 1600s. The book's introduction is very useful, as are the many footnotes. The poem's style is ornate with many references to Roman mythology. The introduction indicated that both of these elements may have been used to mask criticism of the Spanish monarchy's policies in the New World. As such, this work bears reading more than once. The first time I primarily focused on following what was happening and gleaned only glimpses of possible duplicity of meaning.

The events of the story involve a well-born young man who has been shipwrecked while mourning being rejected by an unnamed love. She remains indefinite and peripheral. Despite the book's title, the protagonist spends very little time on his own. He is brought into the community of some islanders as they are preparing for a wedding. From there he is taken by boat to another place with a more specifically New World feel to it. And then it ends. Yes, it's unfinished. Gongora didn't get past Book II, 950 lines.

The title continues to perplex me. Is the protagonist "alone" because he doesn't have anyone he knows with him? Or does the title refer to the poet's own solitude since it was written after he had gone into retreat? It bears a reread for reasons mentioned above as well.

Here is a taste of the style. Sometimes the indirection reminds me of anglo saxon verse, though I assume it grew out of a different source. This style is supposedly a complete change from what he had written before going into seclusion.

Nautical industry explored this rare stone
that, as ivy embraces
the reef, grasps at the fulminating metal
that Mars puts on and wears and, a flatterer,
it woos the diamond that most brilliant shines
in the nocturnal mantle of the orb,
the star most proximate to our northern pole;
and, with strength and potency
repels when it nearby
is risen, and then inclines
either to the rosy hued
balcony of fair Aurora, or to one
who seals ashes of the day
in cold cerulean tomb.

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poem, composed in 1613, written in an intensely difficult and purposely complex style, was born as a project divided into four parts that were going to be called "Solitude of the fields", "Solitude of the riverbanks", "Solitude of the jungles" and "Solitude of the wasteland". Of this ambitious poem, Góngora only completed the first two Soledades, of which he left the second unfinished, although some critics interpret the "unfinished ending" as a literary technique that can connect the ending with the beginning of the poem.

It was the first time that the lyrical genre was used for such an extensive poem, since it does not have heroic actions as in the epic, but rather a "pilgrimage" with no apparent final destination.

In 'Soledades' we find culteranism at its maximum expression, since its narrative character is hidden under an intricate poetic ornamentation. Throughout the work, the author carries out an idealization of nature, which is opposed to the corrupt and noisy court.

The story of "First Solitude", based on the episode of Nausicaa from the Odyssey, can be summarized in a few words: a young shipwrecked man arrives on the beach of an island, is picked up by some goatherds, and ends up attending a wedding.

In "Second Solitude" the man joins some fishermen, to whom he tells his loves and the disdains of his beloved. Together with them he witnesses the fishing tasks.

The beauty of his lines are full of value and intimate emotion, creating the purest poetry for its own sake.

[José · Rating 5 out of 5]

100/100.

En el momento en el que en una de las primeras estrofas de la Soledad Primera, Góngora recupera la forma de toro de Júpiter (con la que raptó a Europa) que usó en la primera estrofa para relatar cómo el sol (Júpiter) seca al náufrago «lamiéndolo», sabía que de las cinco estrellas no bajaba.

Las soledades apenas llegan a los 2000 versos, pero el imaginario poético de Góngora es tan abrumador que es imposible no pararte en cada uno de los versos para tratar de descifrarlos y no siempre es fácil (o posible).

Las notas y la introducción de John Beverley han sido fundamentales, en especial, cuando hacía mención a las interpretaciones de Dámaso Alonso (aunque para refutarlas en muchas ocasiones, sobre todo, en cuanto a puntuación) y a las de José Pellicer, uno de los poetas barrocos a favor de Góngora en la polémica gongorina que suscitaron sus Soledades y su Polifemo.

Al leer a Góngora y pensar en la Generación del 27, no es difícil llegar a la conclusión de por qué le defendieron con tanto ahínco.