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Góngora's Sonnet Neophilologus (2018) 102:15–24 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-017-9541-9 Go´ngora’s Sonnet ‘‘El Cuarto Enrico yace mal herido’’ Diane Chaffee-Sorace1 Published online: 24 October 2017 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017 Abstract This article is an analysis of Luis de Go´ngora’s skillful employment of language to characterize King Henry IV of France in the funereal sonnet ‘‘El Cuarto Enrico yace mal herido.’’ Go´ngora wrote his poem in 1610 to honor Henry who was murdered in Paris in that same year by Jean-Franc¸ois Ravaillac. In the text the Spanish lyric poet creates historical, mythological, and heraldic allusions, rhetorical figures, and images of color. In particular, he is adept at forming various types of metaphors. By relating these metaphors to charges on Henry’s coats of arms as well as to accounts of the king’s personal history, Go´ngora paints a brilliant verbal picture of one of France’s most beloved rulers. This vibrant description of King Henry reveals that Go´ngora, the baroque poet, was also Go´ngora, the master of portraiture and expert commentator on events connected to the period in which he and the monarch lived. Keywords Luis de Go´ngora Á Spanish Golden Age Á Poetry Á Heraldry Á King Henry IV of France The Spanish baroque poet Luis de Go´ngora wrote verse extolling patrons, friends, sovereigns, politicians, ecclesiastics, and other important individuals. He also often composed sonnets to commemorate events involving these men and women such as their births and deaths. Although Go´ngora mostly praised his fellow Spaniards, he sometimes extended his acclaim to luminaries with roots outside of his country. For example, he lauded the queen, Margaret of Austria, the Portuguese nobleman, Cristova˜o de Moura, and the painter, El Greco. Thus, it is no surprise that the poet & Diane Chaffee-Sorace [email protected] 1 Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA 123 16 D. Chaffee-Sorace wrote the eulogistic sonnet ‘‘El Cuarto Enrico yace mal herido’’ when King Henry IV of France was murdered in 1610.1 The son of Jeanne d’Albret and Antoine de Bourbon (Pitts 2009: 1–2), Henry had been instructed in his childhood in Protestant precepts by tutors hired by his Huguenot mother (Pearson 1963: 4). As a teenager, he began fighting for the Huguenots in the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598), a conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestants (Pearson 1963: 7–8; ‘‘Wars of Religion’’ 2017). After Jeanne, Queen of Navarre, died in 1572, Henry rose to be the crowned head of that realm (cf. Pearson 1963: 11; Pitts 2009: 57–58). In 1589, Henry III of France was assassinated, and Henry of Navarre succeeded him as king according to monarchical tradition (Pitts 2009: 142–43). However, the Holy League, a powerful Catholic group designed by the Cardinal of Lorraine, organized by the Duke of Guise, sanctioned by the Pope, and supported by Philip II of Spain had been trying to exterminate the Huguenots in France (Pearson 1963: 25–26). Under Henry III, the Protestants had enjoyed some freedom of worship, and the country had benefitted from some peace, but hostilities broke out in 1584 because Henry of Navarre became heir to the throne (‘‘Wars of Religion’’ 2017). Realizing that, if he remained a Protestant, he would never be France’s king in more than a name and that civil war would be a permanent problem in his homeland, Henry of Navarre decided to convert to Catholicism (Pearson 1963: 80, 82). He believed that this was the only way to restore prosperity and amity to France as Henry IV (Pearson 1963: 82). By the time of his death, Henry IV was a very popular king.2 Go´ngora probably admired him for his religious tolerance and strong leadership, traits lacking in Spain’s Philip III who was controlled by the influential and corrupt Duke of Lerma.3 Possibly, too, the slaying of Henry shocked Go´ngora, evoked his sympathy, and inspired him to pen the adulatory sonnet. This is especially plausible, for unlike in France, there had not been any regicides in Spain during Go´ngora’s lifetime.4 In fact, after receiving the first of a pair of stab wounds, Henry had exclaimed, ‘‘Oh the security of Spain!’’ according to a servant of his wife, Maria de’ Medici (Da´vila 1 Where appropriate I have modernized the spelling and capitalization in Go´ngora’s piece and in quotations from works by other writers. 2 Pearson reports that Henry still ‘‘lives in the love’’ of the French people (1963: 241). 3 Cf. Feros (2000: 1). See Luis Rosales who perceives the sonnets in honor of Henry IV by Go´ngora’s Spanish contemporaries such as the Count of Villamediana and Francisco de Quevedo as an expression of desengan˜o motivated by satire (1966: 74, 78; cf. De Armas 1986: 56). Rosales understands these texts to describe the French king, a rival of Philip III, as a role model, while indirectly addressing Philip about the relinquishment of Spanish authority (1966: 78). Rosales’s interpretation could also apply to Go´ngora’s poem. Cf. Frederick de Armas who comments that verse by the Count of Villamediana points out the difference between Henry’s ‘‘tolerance and Spain’s warlike, imperialist stance’’ (1986: 56). In contrast to Philip’s struggle to defend Catholicism (e.g., Spain’s expulsion of the Moriscos and conflict in the Low Countries), Henry signed the Edict of Nantes to establish the rights of both Catholics and Protestants in France (see the discussion of Philip’s reign in Feros 2000: 139–141; Pearson 1963: 133–134). Since Go´ngora was an ‘‘anti-imperialist poet’’ in the latter part of his life (de Armas 1986: 56), it is logical that Henry’s action would have resonated with him. See Chaffee-Sorace (2016: 11, 14) who cites Pearson, de Armas, and Rosales. Noting the plethora of sonnets about Henry’s death, Robert Jammes suggests that ‘‘los poetas fueron en esta ocasio´n solicitados por una academia’’ (1987: 239). 4 Even as late as the mid-nineteenth century, the word for regicide did not exist in the poet’s native land (Wallis 1853: 185; Churton 1862: 112). 123 Go´ngora’s Sonnet ‘‘El Cuarto Enrico yace mal herido’’ 17 1623: 100; cf. Churton 1862: 112). The king’s injuries were delivered by Jean- Franc¸ois Ravaillac, a Catholic and a ‘‘religious maniac,’’ who attacked Henry in Paris as the king sat in his royal carriage on route to visit the Duke of Sully.5 Ravaillac committed the fatal crime for two main reasons. He was under the false impression that Henry was planning to go to war against the Pope, and he incorrectly thought that the king was not returning France’s Protestants to Catholicism.6 Focusing on the Bourbon ruler’s demise, Go´ngora records the unjust and grave assault on Henry in the opening lines of the sonnet (Salcedo Coronel 1644: 751): El Cuarto Enrico yace mal herido, Y peor muerto de plebeya mano. (Go´ngora 1628: 1: 33, vv. 1–2)7 As in much of his carefully crafted verse, the poet goes on to incorporate figures of speech, images of color, and mythological, historical, and heraldic allusions into this text. Specifically, he includes metaphors of people, animals, weapons, and nature. By relating them to the coats of arms and personal life of Henry, he creates a portrait of a beloved monarch. In his depiction of Henry, Go´ngora compares the king to the legendary character, Orion: El que rompio´ escuadrones, y dio al llano Ma´s sangre, que agua Orio´n humedecido. (Go´ngora 1628: 1: 33, vv. 3–4) Here, the idea is that Henry was a warrior who bathed the fields of battle in more blood than Orion soaked them in rain.8 However, some of the blood which Henry spilled on the countryside was that of birds and animals. The king was known to go hawking for partridges and, with the help of his greyhounds, to capture hares (Pearson 1963: 225). On occasion, his passion for the chase was detrimental to his health, as when he caught a bad cold in pursuit of a stag at Fontainebleau (Pearson 1963: 225–226). Henry’s enthusiasm for hunting was shared by Orion, except that the sport cost the Greek youth dearly. In one widely read tale recounted by Hesiod and translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Orion went to Crete to hunt with Artemis and her mother, Leto (1914: fragm. 4). While at that island, he appeared to threaten the destruction of all the beasts on Earth (Hesiod 1914: fragm. 4). To preempt their slaughter, Earth sent a giant scorpion against him which stung and killed him 5 Pearson (1963: 239–240); cf. Pitts (2009: 328–329). See Salcedo Coronel who states that Ravaillac had previously spent time in jail for homicide (1644: 751). Ravaillac had also persevered for 3 years in a plot to kill Henry, but he was thwarted in his initial attempt by the fear of carrying out such a heinous act (Salcedo Coronel 1644: 751). 66Pearson (1963: 240–241), cf. Pitts (2009: 327–328). See Chaffee-Sorace (2016: 18n17) who quotes Pearson and Pitts. 7 Ciplijauskaite´ explains that the term ‘‘mal herido’’ was used in tournaments and that the phrase ‘‘peor muerto’’ brings to mind the vile manner in which Henry died (Go´ngora 1969: 204). See Salcedo Coronel (1644: 751). 8 Chaffee-Sorace (2016: 5). See Salcedo Coronel: ‘‘Y que dio a la campan˜ama´s sangre de sus contrarios, que suele dar agua el pluvioso Orion’’ (1644: 751).
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