/ VALLE-INCLAN AS POET

(VOLUMES I AND II) VALLE-INCLAIi AS POET

VOLUME I

Dissertation

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

Gy

\V ,AilL Catherine Mjrfry B orelli, 3.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 19%

Approved'

Adviser D ep artm en t Romance Languages (S p a n is h ) i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This dissertation was prepared under the direction of Professor Stephen Gilman. I would like to thank Professor Gilman very sincerely for his help and guidance.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Professor Claude E. Anibal for the help he gave me after Professor Gilman left this

University. 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction...... 2 >

►

► Chapter Is VALLE INCLAN'S AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES . . .13 (La Lampara Maravillosa)

I Chapter 2; TRADITION IN POETRY...... 62 * (Aromas de Leyenda)

' Chapter 3s MYSTICISM AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY...... 137 I (El Pasajero) I 0 _ Chapter ^s VALLE INCLAN AND THE ESPERPENTO .... 218 (La Pipa de Kif)

Conclusion...... 298

Appendix Is Claves Liricas ...... 306

Appendix 2s Valle Inclan's Verse Plays ...... 370

Appendix 3s Poetic Fragments in Valle Inclan's Prose Works . . . 407

Bibliography 429 2

INTRODUCTION

This study is an analysis of the poetry of the

Spanish writer Ramon Marfa del Valle Inclan.

The prose works of the same author attracted the attention of critics from the moment of their publication, at the beginning of the present century, and although there does not exist to date any monograph dedicated to the whole production of Valle Inclan, it may be said that the importance of his novels and plays has been sufficiently indicated by a number of critics.

Valle Inclan's poetic works, on the other hand, have met with a certain indifference, especially at the hands of his own fellow-writers. Even those who have compiled anthologies of modern Spanish poetry have only at a late date become aware of the poetic presence of Valle Inclan, and now that biographers, critics and builders of anthologies are beginning to give the poetic work of this eminent writer the place it deserves, his poetry would 3

seem, in our opinion, to merit closer examination.

For this reason we have undertaken to present here an analysis of the poetic production of Valle Inclan.

• «»•••••

Don Ramon Mar£a del Valle Inclan was born in 1366 and died in 1936. Those familiar with the literature of Europe, especially in France and Spain, know how many facts of cultural importance are contained within those two dates. In France, the violent reaction against positivist realism brought about the movement that took the name of Symbolism, and French culture, which at that time held the key position in the general picture of European culture, was concentrated around the names of writers and poets such as Baudelaire, Verlaine,

Rimbaud, Mallarme. At the same time, and even beyond the confines of France, poets of the preceding and opposing school (namely Parnassianism) such as Heredia and Leconte de Lisle, continued to be read.

Parnassianism, which was a tendency rather than a 4

real school, is close to Realism, inasmuch as its poetry was expressed in images and musical verse.

Jasinski in his Histoire de la litterature francaise (1) says:

...le groupe, dans son ensemble, tend \ la synthase de 1'esprit positiviste et de 1'esprit "artiste1*. II reagit contre le lyrisme personnel, surtout celui de Lamartine et de Musset. II veut une poesie savante, riche de substance, ennoblie par l'harmonie plastique et la perfection de la facture. Telle est 1*orientation maitresse, le commun ideal. On peut, sans contredire aux faits. parler de l'ecole parnassienne. (2)

The subsequent Symbolist poetry was entrusted more to suggestion and evocation, and in order to call up poetic visions to the reader, it made use - so said its poets - of symbols. This school had idealistic and mystical aspects, which Sir Cecil Bowra explains clearly as follows:

Against this scientific Realism the Symbolists protested, and their protest was mystical in that it was made on behalf of an ideal world which was, in their judgment, more real than that of 5

the senses. It was not in any strict sense Christian. It is true that Verlaine had his days of sinqple unquestioning belief, that Baudelaire*s diabolism was an inverted form of Catholicism, that Mallarme derived much of his imaginative ritual from the ceremonies of the Church. The mystical character of Symbolism was less definitely Christian than any of these manifestations. It was a religion of Ideal Beauty, of *le Beau* and *l*Ideal*. This may be seen in Baudelaire*s belief in that ideal beauty which he contrasted so poignantly with his own life, in Verlaine*s attempt to write on parallel lines of soul and body, in the oracular and enigmatic utterances of Mallarml. For Baudelaire the Ideal and the Beautiful gave force and purpose to his tortured and disordered soul; for Verlaine it justified the search for forbidden pleasure; for Mallarme it was all that mattered. The fabric of their Christian beliefs had been mutilated or undermined, and feeling a need for a gospel to take its place, they found in the Beautiful something which unified their activities and gave a goal to their work. To this belief they clung with a conviction which can only be called mystical because of its intensity, its irrationality, its disregard for other beliefs and its reliance on a world beyond the senses. Symbolism, then, was a mystical form of Aestheticism. (3) Poetic currents of the same character and patterned more or less on the French mould arose a little everywhere in Europe, and therefore also in Spain.

The poetic school which inflamed the hearts of

Spaniards at the time of Valle Inclan's youth was called Modernism and had as its leader the Nicaraguan poet, Ruben Darfo. Valbuena Prat in his history of

Spanish literature (4>) presents Modernism thus:

Como reaccion frente al realisrao de un lado, y como estilizacion a la vez de las corrientes romanticas, que no habian desaparecido, en lo esencial, a traves de la segunda raitad del siglo XIX, se forma un estilo, refinado, exquisito, virtuoso de la forma, y que, ya revistiendo formas de simbolismo o ambientes de miniatura costumbrista, encierra una emocion quintaesenciada. A diferencia del descuido exterior de la escuela realista, el modernismo posee el culto de la forma, el sentido mas estricto del verso y de la estrofa en poesfa, y del detalle narrativo y el recortado encuadre de la accion en la novela. (5)

This definition seems to show clearly enough what were the ideals and realizations of the poet Ruben Dario and 7

of most of his followers* They sought to express beautiful inspiration in poetry, with beautiful forms and beautiful verses. They drew their inspiration in great part from what came to them from the rest of

Europe, and particularly from France* Without making precise distinctions, they somewhat indiscriminately took as their models either the Parnassian poets or the

Symbolists. Pedro Salinas in his volume Llteratura

Esoanola Siglo XX says*

Ruben Dario se acerca a todas las formas de la lfrica europea del siglo XX, desde el romanticismo al decadentismo* (6)

In the chapter from which we have drawn the above-quoted passage, Salinas also discusses a phenomenon that assumed capital importance in the history of Spanish culture: the Generation of 93* The historical facts which led in 1893 to the reduction of the Spanish colonial empire had also deep spiritual repercussions on territorial

Spain. Thus we find certain characteristics common to the Spanish thinkers of that time, to the extent that a certain group of writers earned the title of

Generation of 93. In the following words, Azorfn has described this generation, to which he himself gave the name and to which he belongs:

La generacion del 1893 ama los viejos pueblos y el paisaje, intenta resucitar los poetas primitivos (Berceo, Juan Ruiz, Santillana); da aire al fervor por el Greco ya iniciado en Cataluna, y publica, dedicado al pintor cretense, el numero unico de un periodico: Mercurio; rehabilita a Gongora... se declara romantica en el banquete ofrecido a Pfo Baroja, con motivo de su novela Camino de perfeccion; siente entusiasmo por Larra... se esfuerza en fin, en acercarse a la realidad y en desarticular el idioma, en agudizarlo, en aportar a el viejas palabras, plasticas palabras, con objeto de aprisionar menuda y fuertemente esa realidad. La generacion del 93, en suma, ha tenido todo esoj y la curiosidad mental de lo extranjero y el espectaculo del desastre - fracaso de toda la polftica espanola - han avivado su sensibilidad y han puesto en ella una variante que antes no habfa en Espana. (7)

As can be seen from the two passages cited above,

Modernism and the Generation of 98 are two currents 9

that are contemporaneous but of different origin and

of different nature. Pedro Salinas explains in his

work already quoted above that the Generation of 93

lived for a certain time alongside Modernism:

...los aliados temporales, modern!smo y la generacion del 93, rompieron en natural obediencia a sus distintas razones de ser. (3)

Valle Inclan lived precisely in that period. He

began as a writer of stories, then in the course of a

few years of literary experience he acquired mastery

of the art of narration. Between 1902 and 1905 he

composed the Memorias del Marques de Bradom£n. sub­

divided into four Sonatas, thus establishing himself

as a novelist. This work still has great importance

in the history of Spanish letters, because it is

justly considered one of the best examples of

Modernistic prose. In this respect, it is enough to cite the title of the work of Alonso Zamora Vicente

Las'"Sonatas” de Ramon del Valle Inclan - Contribucion

al estudio de la prosa modernista. (9) 10

From that time Valle Inclan continued to produce

stories, plays and novels in great quantity. Between

1906 and 1909 he published La Guerra Carlista. a collection of three novels constructed against the background of the unhappy history of the Pretender to the throne. In the same years, he composed two powerful plays, Xguila de Blason (1907) and Romance de

Lobos (1903). Revealing in these works a strong interest for the principle of Spanish tradition, Valle rises to moments of great dramatic intensity, in which his artistic language opens new horizons.

In the years that preceded the First World War,

Valle Inclan concerned himself with the theater and at the same time with aesthetics. It was during this period that he condensed his interpretation of art into the treatise which bears the title La Lampara Maravillosa

(1916).

After the war, Valle wrote other plays, tales and novels, among which are the outstanding Luces de Bohemia 11

(1924)j a play, and Tirano Banderas (1926), a novel.

His post-war works are pervaded by a certain bitterness springing from a sarcastic attitude which goes as far as to suggest to him a new stylistic form: the esperpento.

We have mentioned here the titles of a few of Valle

Inclan’s principal works with the intention of showing the trajectory of his artistic experience, which undergoes considerable transformation in its course. From the

Modernistic moment of the Memorias del Marques de Bradomin right up to the post-war period, this course is long and varied, and it is precisely at three different moments in its development that we find located the three volumes of poetry which Valle Inclan left us.

It is our intention to examine in detail these three volumes of poetry, first of all to see how far they coincide with the evolution of the thought and art of our author, and in the second place to try to make an evaluation of the art of Valle as poet. FOOTNOTES TO INTRODUCTION

Jasinski, R., Histoire de la litterature francaise. Paris, 1947.

Jasinski, R., op. cit. Vol.II, p.592.

Bowra, Sir Cecil, The Heritage of Symbolism. London, Macmillan, 1943, pp.26-27.

Valbuena Plrat, Angel, Historia de la literatura espanola. Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 1946, tercera edicion.

Valbuena Prat, Angel, op. cit. t.III, p.368.

Salinas, Pedro, Literatura Espanola Siglo XX. II edicion, Mexico, 1949, p.15.

Azorfn (JMR), Clasicos v Modernos. Madrid, 1913, p.254.

Salinas, Pedro, op. cit. p,24.

Zamora Vicente, A.. Las Sonatas de Ramon del Valle Inclan - Contribucion al estudio de la prosa modernista. Buenos Aires, 1951. 13

CHAPTER I

VALLE INCLAN1S AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES

1. His aesthetics formulated. 2. Breve Noticia. 3. La Lampara Maravi1losa. Note on the esperpento. 5. Conversacion con Gerardo Diego. 6. Conclusion: Beauty, Poetry, Art.

The aesthetic principles of Valle Inclan could perhaps

be deduced from examination of his literary production as

it has come down to us. In both his prose and his poetry,

it would be possible to arrange in order the principles

that he has followed, proceeding from an analysis of single

facts, grouping and classifying them. In this way, we

could reach a point where we could make a generalization

based on a series of single observations, and thus establish a theory.

This search for a general theory or for an internal directive usually leads to the establishment of the character of a literary work and allows its classification. 14-

In the case of the poetry of Valle Inclan, it is one of the tasks of critics to establish whether or not it belongs to the school of Spanish poetry known as

"Modernismo11. If our analysis leads us to an affirmative answer, then it will be further necessary to discover to what degree Valle Inclan's poetry adheres to that school and where it breaks away. The conclusion of an examination of this kind would then lead us to determine rather precisely the character of his work, considered first in the light of the various schools and then in itself, to discover its own intrinsic value.

Our procedure must, however, be a little different here from the obvious course, because Valle Inclan has taken the trouble on three separate occasions to set down some of the principles of his art. These three pronouncements together represent, so to speak, his aesthetic. (1) The three occasions in chronological order are:

a) The preface to the volume of short stories

entitled "Corte de Amor". This preface was 15

written and published in 1903, and is dated

thus: "Aranjuez, Agosto, 1903".

b) La Lampara Maravillosa, published in 1916.

This is an entire book in which Valle’s aesthetic

doctrine is presented in the curious form of

mystical and magic "Ejercicios Espirituales".

c) Conversacion con Gerardo Diego, 1934. This

consists of half a page reported by Gerardo Diego

in his anthology Poesia Espanola. Since this

anthology was published in 1934j two years before

the death of Valle Inclan, it is very probable

that it appeared with his consent, and we there­

fore consider it permissible to treat the

conversation as an original document.

Valle Inclan's aesthetic principles are thus expressed with at least a semblance of scientific seriousness in a preface, a treatise and a conversation, and the existence of these statements imposes on us a plan of work slightly different from what we would undertake if they did not 16

exist or if they were not worthy of consideration. In

our opinion, it is necessary to do here what criticism > has so far left undone, that is, to subject these three ► documents to careful examination, in order to see whether

I it is possible to gain from the direct statements of

Valle Inclan some theoretical principles upon which he i may have based his activity as a lyric poet. We propose,

therefore, to follow a method that might be called of

convergent lines. First we will examine the theoretical

affirmations of our author, and when we have collected

them from the three documents mentioned, we will pass on

to the analysis of his poetry. By comparing what we

find in the theory and what is offered by the poetry as

such, we will then seek the key to the evaluation of the

art of our poet.

Considering the brevity of the Breve Noticia and the

Conversacion con Gerardo Diego, we think it well to make

his book, the Lampara Maravillosa. the center of our

discussion. This scheme will also allow us to respect 17

the chronology of the three works. 18

2. BREVE NOTICIA

The first document containing statements on the aesthetic opinions of. Valle Inclan is found in his

Breve noticia acerca de mi estetica cuando escibx este libro. (2)

The BN has the form of a polemical article and is placed before a collection of short stories which Valle presents to his readers in a re-printed edition. This very fact of its being a re-print takes the author's mind back to the time when he wrote the stories, and inspires in him certain nostalgic tones in favor of la juventud, which must be "arrogante, violenta, apasionada, iconoclasta". (3) It gives him an opportunity to inveigh against those who cultivate traditions already out of date, and he incites his readers to break the bonds which, keeping them too much in contact with the past, merely bind them in chains and prevent freedom of movement.

"En el arte como en la vida, destruir es crear." (4)

From these invectives of a general character, the writer 19

goes on to speak of himself:

Yo he preferido luchar para hacerme un estilo personal, a buscarlo hecho, imitando a los escritores del siglo XVII. (5) and he continues:

...Hallo mejor hacerme un huerto y trabajar en el, solo y voluntarioso. De esta manera hice mi profesion de fe modernista: buscarme en mi mismo y no en los otros. Porque esfe escuela literaria tan combatida no es otra cosa. (6)

What particularly interests us here is the fact that Valle

Inclan in 1903 in a preface to one of his own books declares himself in favor of Modernism. This is our main reason for quoting these passages, even if the close observer finds in Valle*s words at least one curious contradiction: while he affirms his own independence from all tradition and introduces us into his ^huerto*1, where he insists that he likes to work ”solo y voluntarioso”, we suddenly find that he has gathered inside with him the whole school of Spanish Modernism. What is important, 20

however, is that in speaking of Modernism our poet declares himself a follower of that new artistic

"religion1* (or something similar, since he speaks of

"faith").

Valle then continues, attributing specific charac­ teristics to Modernism.

La condition caracteristica de todo el arte moderno, y muy particularmente de la literatura, es una tendencia a refinar las sensaciones y acrecentarlas en el numero y en la intensidad. Hay poetas que suenan con dar a sus estrofas el ritmo de la danza, la melodfa de la musica y la majestad de la estatua. (7)

Thus new sensations are required, or rather, Valle means that poetry must "evocar" new sensations, although there is no actual mention of evocation in this text. But for greater clarity he continues*

Teofilo Gautier (8), autor de la "Sinfonia en bianco mayor" (9) afirma en el prefacio a las "Flores del mal" que el estilo de Tertuliano tiene el negro esplendor del ebano. (10) 21

Cuando Gautier habla de Baudelaire (11), dice que ha sabido recoger en sus estrofas la leve esfumacion que esta indecisa entre el sonido y el color; aquellos pensamientos que semejan motivos de arabescos y temas de frases musicales. (12)

El mismo Baudelaire dice que su alma goza con los perfumes, como otras almas gozan con la rausica. Para este poeta, los aromas no solamente equivalen al sonido, sino tarabien al color. II est des parfums frais comme des chairs d*enfants, Doux comme les hautbois. verts comme les prairies. Pero si Baudelaire habla de perfumes verdes, Carducci ha llamado verde al silencio (13), y Gabriel D*Annunzio ha dicho con hermoso ritmo: Canta la nota verde d'un bel limone in fiore. (14-)

Thus Valle Inclan illustrates the technical term "synesthesia", a device which we will find used by him in his own poetry.

The names of these French poets appear in the BN because they have written some poetic phrase which can be linked with the well-known poem of Baudelaire: "Correspondences", and thus they call to mind the French school of the Symbolists, or at least one aspect of it. Modern Italian criticism (15) would certainly not accept the affiliation of Carducci or of D*Annunzio with the French Symbolist school, but it is probable that Valle wants to make ’’Modernism11 embrace

much more than the; movement founded by Ruben Dario has

come to imply. For Valle it is clear that the whole

school has the peculiar characteristic of finding

analogies and equivalents among the sensations, and he

offers us all these poets together under the one general

heading. He says:

Esta analogia y equivalencia de las sensaciones es lo que constituye el ’’modernismo” en literatura. (16)

Valle’s information does not go very deep nor does it

seek to clarify the interpretation of modern poetry in

an adequate manner. It is enough for him to have

presented some examples showing that the sensations of which a poet speaks may be more numerous, more novel and

more varied in conjunction with elements which hitherto

had been treated separately, and thus we go from the

’’divino del pian silenzio verde” to the perfumes ”verts

comme les prairies” and finally to the often-quoted

colored vowels of Rimbaud. (17) Mention of Gautier and 23

Carducci might lead us to think rather of Parnassians than of Symbolists. This is not mere confusion in our poet's mind, but it is simply that at that time the succession of the two poetic schools of Parnassianism and Symbolism was not very clear, especially beyond the boundaries of France, and that Ruben Dario and his followers sought poetry and poets where they could find them. Sometimes it would be a Parnassian, at others a

Symbolist. (18)

Towards the end of the preface, Valle Inclan proceeds to speak of the word '’decadente”.

Las historias que hallareis en este libro tienen ese aire que los cr£ticos espanoles suelen llamar decadente... (19)

To tell the truth, the word had already undergone a modification in its meaning and had been ennobled by

Gautier himself, whom Valle mentions in connection with his Notice to the Fleurs du Mai. Gautier sayss 24

Le pokte des "Fleurs du Mai" amait ce qu'on appelle improprement le style de decadence, et qui n*est autre chose que l*art arrive k ce point de maturite extreme que determinent k leurs soleils obliques les civilisations qui vieillissent: style ingenieux, complique, savant, plein de nuances et de recherches, reculant toujours les bornes de la langue, empruntant k tous les vocabulaires techniques, prenant des couleurs It toutes les palettes, des notes k tous les claviers, s*efforgant a rendre la pensee dans ce qu*elle a de plus ineffable, et la forme en ses contours les plus vagues et les plus fuyants, ecoutant pour les traduire les confidences subtiles de la nevrose, les aveux de la passion vieillissante qui se deprave et les hallucinations bizarres de l'idee fixe tournant k la folle. (20)

Gautier uses the word "decadent" and says that his use is incorrect. Yet he follows it with an exaltation of the concept.

Thus we see that the ideas of Valle Inclan on art are, by his own admission, at least at the moment when he wrote the short stories and also when he wrote the preface,

"modernist", "symbolist", "decadent".

The mystical flavor of French Symbolism, and in 25

general of all those anti-positivistic currents of the

second half of the eighteenth century, does not particularly

seem to have struck Valle Inclan when he wrote his preface.

It is, however, interesting to observe that in his almost

revolutionary anxiety to renew, he turned to poets with these characteristics. The mystic tendency in Valle*s thought is to find its full expression many years later

in the Lampara Maravillosa, but the germs of that book may, although only vaguely, be discerned in the very

attitude that he displays in the BN. In the following

section of this chapter, we shall see how our poet*s mind developed with the passage of time, for between this preface and the Lampara Maravillosa there is a space of more than twelve years. 3. LA LAMPARA MARAVILLOSA. El anillo de Giges.

Milagro Musical. Exegesis Trina. Quietismo

Estetico. La Piedra del Sabio.

As we have seen, the Breve Noticia was written in 1903. In the complete title, Valle Inclan took pains to underline the fact that the ideas contained in that short polemical preface constituted his ’'estetica1*.

We must not forget that the word "estetica*1 was

somewhat widespread among the writers of the time, and especially among those who were concerned with French literature, where the term was also used in the title of so many books and treatises of the last century.

If we remember that Valle Inclan was not a spontaneous writer and that, on the contrary, he spent

long hours at his table working with the utmost care on his compositions, then it is not surprising that we find just as much attention given to his formulation for his own use of the principles to be followed in the construction 27

of his works. This was so strong within him that one

day he even felt the need of publishing nothing less than a whole treatise on aesthetics.

The volume with the mysterious title La Lampara

Maravillosa was published in 1916, but it is to be presumed that the ideas expressed in it were in large part already formulated in our author’s mind many years earlier.(21) He had already been considering at length the concepts expressed in the LM, and we can consider them as a product that in their formulation preceded the

First World War.

In order to be able to give an exact panorama of this book, which furnished poetic material for a whole volume of poetry, we shall first of all present a very brief summary of its contents.

The LM consists of five chapters, preceded by an introduction. The general title of the book:

La Lampara Maravillosa. is further followed by a sub-title:

Ejercicios Espirituales. The introduction bears the 28

title* Gnosis. These few words considered by themselves already reveal what the general tone of the book is to be: it will be a treatise on mysticism.

In his introduction, Valle declares his faith of a seer in the mystic credo, and expounds his mystic and quietistic credo with open references to Miguel de

Molinos (22) and to this author*s Guxa (23)

La contemplacion (says Valle Inclan) es una manera absoluta de conocer, una intuicion amable, deleitosa y quieta, por donde el alma goza la belleza del mundo, privada del discurso y en divina tiniebla: es asx como una exegesis raxstica de todo conocimiento, y la suprema manera de llegar a la comunion con el Todo. (24)

Thus, contemplation, according to this way of thinking, is superior to meditation, because the former avoids the meanderings of the mental process.

Estos Ejercicios Espirituales (continues Valle in prophetic tone) son una guxa para sutilizar los caminos de la Meditacion, siempre cronologicos y de la substancia misma de las horas. Ante la razon que medita se vela en el misterio la suprema comprension del mundo. El 29

Alma Creadora esta fuera del tiempo, de su misma esencia son los atributos, y uno es la Belleza. La lampara que se enciende para conocerla, es la misma que se enciende para conocer a Dios: La Contemplacion. (25)

This contemplation is later identified with love, love being for Valle, as well as for the mystics of the past, the greatest activity of man:

HI amor de todas las cosas es la cifra de la suma belleza, y quien ama con olvido de si mismo penetra el significado del mundo... (26)

The first chapter of the LM is entitled: El anillo de Giges. With this title, which recalls the ancient myth of the man on whom a ring conferred the gift of invisibility, Valle introduces us into the world of mysticism and necromancy. Adopting a scheme that is admirably suited to the nature of the argument, Valle has sub-divided these chapters into sections, and each section is capped by an enunciation that he calls by the name of glosa. The narration, which is not necessarily summed up in the glosas. is interwoven with 30

personal reminiscences. These are recollections,

idealized by memory and which here, in the exposition

of other ideas, acquire a delicate poetic savor. There

is absolutely no system in the composition, yet the

reader is able in the somewhat confused order to

distinguish material which at times approaches pure

mysticism, and at other times seems to be tinged with

strange necromantic beliefs.

Valle adopts the great maxim of all mystics: Time

is synonymous with Satan. Thus he denies a positive value to the existence of time and exalts as its contrary the immobility of things eternal. He denies and combats movement, because movement is conceivable only in time.

He exalts contemplation, because with this we can put ourselves into contact with eternity. In order to say

all these things, Valle needs to refer to certain mystic authorities, whom he quotes at great length and recalls all through his book, and also to certain symbols, which he either takes from the tradition of the mystic thinkers or invents with delightful pictorical effect. The

seventh glosa of the first chapter will give an idea

of this:

Cuando tu mires tu imagen en el espejo magico evoca tu sombra de nino. Quien sabe del pasado, sabe del porvenir. Si tiendes el arco, cerraras el circulo que en ciencia astrologies se llama el anillo de Giges. (27)

In the second chapter, El Milagro Musical, the writer goes deeper into the aesthetic aspect of his

treatise, by examining the value of the word, and

while he affirms the limitations of man in the use of

this means of expression, he at the same time declares

its evocative power. Man with words:

...logra despertar emociones dormidas, pero crearlas nunca. (28)

He then returns to this concept in speaking of poetry:

El poeta ha de confiar a la evocacion musical de las palabras, todo el secreto de esas alusiones que estan mas alia del sentido humano. (29)

It is quite clear that Valle Inclan has taken these

concepts from the French Symbolist currents. But it is 32

surprising to observe how he has been able to establish a direct contact between this concept of evocation and the doctrine of quietism of Molinos.

Thus, the mere words of the dictionary, when they are used by the poet, acquire a harmony beyond that of the language of every day. It is a harmony that Valle quite simply calls musica. And this musica in turn leads us into contemplative ecstasy, which fits in, according to our author, with the mystic principle of the philosophy which he has adopted:

El verso, por ser verso, es ya eraotivo sin requerir juicio ni razonamiento. (30)

Then we take another step forward in the theory of poetry, that seems fairly traditional:

La rima es un sortilegio emocional del que los antiguos solo tuvieron un vago conocimiento. (31)

And a little further on:

La rima junta en un verso la emocion de otro verso con el cual concierta... 33

El concepto sigue siendo obra de todas las palabras, eeta diluldo en la estrofa, pero la emocion se concita y vive en aquellas palabras que contienen un tesoro de emociones en la simetrxa de sus letras. (32)

As can be seen here, the theoreticisn, rather than invent new means of poetic expression, is exalting those that tradition has given him.

With the third chapter, which is called Exegesis

Trina. we return to mysticism. Here Valle will explain the number three and attribute an aesthetic function to it. Using vocabulary typical of all Spanish mystics, our author establishes three successive states, or transitos, through which the soul passes before being initiated into the mystery of eternal beauty. These are amor doloroso, amor gozoso and amor con renunciamiento y guietud. (33) The quietist doctrine offers him the necessary terminology. Passing through a series of mysterious phrases, in which mention is made of Cornelius

Agrippa with Saint Francis of Assisi, platonic ideas and 34

Neoplatonism, we finally reach the mystic symbol that

has had the greatest effect on the poetic imagination

of our author: the rose. Valle introduces it here without preamble and the reader, attracted by the

beautiful loquacity of this prose, accepts it in the

very same way as he accepts all the other cabalistic

symbols and instruments in the LM.

The rose seen from above has the form of a circle,

or rather of many concentric circles. A rose may be

divided and sub-divided with geometrical precision and

therefore satisfies the needs of a symbol of perfection.

The rose has a long mystic, philosophical and artistic

tradition. In addition, it is always a thing of beauty,

it is always fragrant with perfume, it is always an

object of admiration.

Here in the LM, Valle gives us three roses:

a) la rosa erotica, b) la rosa clasica, c) la rosa del

matiz. Alwaysproceeding under the guidance of the

number three, which is the mystic number governing the whole chapter, we find that Valle without expressly saying so, has established a correspondence between the three transitos of the soul and these three roses.

While the three transitos represent the direct contact with eternal beauty through the medium of loving contem­ plation, here the contemplation is presented to us in its artistic aspect. This aesthetic side then receives a significance of universal scope, in which

Valle, suddenly becoming nothing less than theologian, mentions (in glosas VI, VII and VIII) the correspondence of his three aesthetic roses with El Padre, El Verbo

and El Paracleto, of the Holy Trinity. This is possibly the most audacious (and least convincing) moment in the whole treatise.

In the fourth chapter, Quietismo Estetico, Valle returns to the subject of the preceding chapter, but with greater personal intimacy. The tone still

continues in prophetic vein and the whole texture of the chapter is woven only to repeat with new imagery the 36

Neoplatonic aesthetic principles considered earlier.

But we are already on the testing-ground and Valle’s own prose is by now an artistic product. He insists on the prophetic tone:

En las creaciones del arte, las imagenes del mundo son adecuaciones al recuerdo donde se nos representan fuera del tiempo, en una vision inmutable. (34-)

After denying to Time its free ingress into the temple of art, it was still necessary for Valle to save

♦•el recuerdo”, and it must be admitted that the argumen­ tation is skilful. With this great battle being waged pn Tigie, Valle only wants to justify what is nearest to his heart in art, that is to say, that beautiful fixity found in the pictures of Velazquez and Leonardo under the mysterious patina of time: la rosa del matiz.

Valle would like to spread that same patina over all truly artistic things, including poetry.

The last chapter, La piedra del sabio, should, if it followed the pattern of the rest of the book, explain 37

to us how to become philosophers. But Valle is now immersed in a kind of evocation of his memories and even here the magico-mystic theologian in him turns his treatise into an autobiography. It is still useful to us, however, inasmuch as in the first example in the chapter we find the clearest symbol of his whole symbologys

Anochecido, cuando bajaba del monte hacia mi casa (thus Valle begins with a prose style very strongly reminiscent of Also sprach Zarathustra of Nietzsche) impensadamente, en fcl trillado del sendero di con una sierpe partida en dos pedazos que se retorcian... (35)

He gives the interpretation of this incident on the following page:

...me detuve queriendo penetrar el sentido oculto de aquella sierpe cernada que se retorcfa sobre mi camino, por volver a juntarse en sus pedazos. Atemorizado halie el simbolo de mi vida, tambien estaba rota, tambien se debatia bajo la losa de los remordimientos. (36)

As we can see, the process that Valle Inclan follows in his search for the symbols of his poetry is extremely 38

simple and occasional. For this reason his symbols do not enjoy very long iife. They last just long enough to support a poetic concept. Besides, they can change their meaning at will. This will be seen especially in the analysis of the poems.

In the conclusion to this book, Valle, who is always precise in his creations, tells us that the philosopher*s stone is universal love. This is a conclusion entirely worthy of the subject, even if not very profound, and it is beautiful as a prophetic conclusion:

El corazon que pudiese amar todas las cosas ser£a un Universo. Esta voluntad alcanzada raisticaraente hace a los magos, a los santos y a los poetas. Es el oro filosofal de que habla simbolicamente el Gran Alberto: ILa piedra del Sabio! (37)

We have wished to give here a brief analysis of the LM for two reasons: 1) to show the fundamental principles upon which Valle works and 2) to indicate, even very summarily, that magic and mystic atmosphere 39

that has furnished the poet with so many images, especially in the volume of poetry entitled HI Pasajero.

Valle Inclan is a poet who expresses himself essentially through imagery. If we therefore wished to place him in relationship with some school or tendency, we would be induced to consider him as being nearer to the art of a Theophile Gautier than to that of a Mallarme.

We have chosen these two extremes because, as a measuring-stick they bring greater clarity to our idea of Valle. Notwithstanding his symbols, Valle seems to us to be more Parnassian than Symbolist. 4. SHORT NOTE ON THE ESPERPENTO

Towards the end of the LM, in the chapter called

La piedra del sabio, there is a moment in which Valle yields once more to speaking darkly about his life and his disillusions. He says:

Voy por el mundo con los ojos vueltos atras, estoy lleno de recuerdos como si hubiese vivido mil anos. En una gran tiniebla, sobre un vasto mar de naufragio, se me represents mi vida...(38)

Yo estoy obseso de remordimientos, estas larvas de un pasado que no se ama, que no puede amarse, son mis agonfas de conciencia... A lo largo de los caminos por donde he ido, queda mi sombra en velos invisibles para los ojos mortales...(39)

Mi vida se repite en el mundo incorporeo de los fantasmas...(AO)

The lovely images of our mystic poet grow darker, they become deformed, and of the beautiful forms there only remains a de-huraanized memory that calls forth sarcasm.

These silhouettes with their disharmonious outlines, these visions of images in disorder, would seem to be the forerunners of the future technique of the esperpento. 41

Valle Inclan himself gave very precise definitions of his new artistic attitude in a work of great dramatic violence: Luces de Bohemia, which was published in 1924.

In that play one of the main characters says, among other things:

El esperpentismo lo ha inventado Goya...Los heroes clasicos reflejados en los espejos concavos dan el Esperpento. El sentido tragico de la vida espanola solo puede darse con una estetica sistematicamente deformada ...Las imagenes mas bellas en un espejo concavo son absurdas. Pero la deformacion deja de serla cuando esta sometida a una matematica perfecta...(41)

In his book, Literatura Espanola Siglo XX (42),

Pedro Salinas has given a very penetrating analysis of this art form. He has one statement in particular that we would like to quote here:

Esa matematica se propone, por raision estetica un poco paradojica y no menos ardua, que dL horror del deformar cause admiracion, por el arte maravilloso con que se realiza...Tal artista sera un desilusionado del mundo y de sus projimos, pero nunca el desesperado total, porque le queda una fe, en las potencias del arte, la cual le empuja a la esperpentica con todo su afan de escritor. (43) 42

Valle has never lacked faith in his art. Even when the bitter post-war period in Europe and the disillusions of his own personal experience brought him a new philosophy, full of sarcasm, Valle still did not lose faith in his art. The esperpento was the new incentive he needed to express his tormented soul. Salinas has observed (44) that the collection of poems entitled La Pipa de Kif (1919) constitutes a kind of "preludio en verso del esperpento1'. The sublimest forms of this new genre will find their full expression in Valle*s later plays, but it is a fact that these poems which he presents to us as phantoms of the smoke of an oriental drug have all the flavor of the esperpento. and have a double interest for the reader, firstly because they are in poetic form and also because in their time they were an extremely audacious experiment. 43

6. CONVERSACION CON GERARDO DIEGO

It now remains for us to discuss the Conversacion con Gerardo Diego* This is a half page of prose at the end of the biographical information on Valle Inclan

in Gerardo Diego's anthology Poesfa Espanola, published

in 1934. (45) This anthology had already appeared for the first time in 1931, but Valle was included only in the later re-printed and amplified edition.

It is legitimate to suppose that our poet had been

invited to make a statement on his art. The note begins with a generalization:

No hay diferencia esencial entre prosa y verso. (46)

With these words it is possible that Valle intended to

justify his inclusion in an anthology of poetry. He may

have been aware of the fact that in the literary world

he was considered rather as a prose writer than as a

poet.

It would seem that the conversation then passed on 44

to the subject of style, for we find the following words:

Todo buen escritor, como todo buen poeta, sabra encontrar nuraero, ritmo y cantidad para su estilo. (4-7)

This affirmation emphasizes a conviction of the poet which would be a good guide for critics seeking theories, schools, movements; after all, what counts is the personality of the writer, since it is upon this that his style is modelled. This statement is then followed by another outlining the stylistic taste of Valle himself and at the same time linking him with the Modernist school of earlier times, from which he had never really broken away. Great poets, he says, know how to choose

...las nobles palabras, llenas, plasticas y dilatadas. (43)

As an example, he quotes the first two lines of a famous poem by Ruben Dario: 45

fnclitas razas uberrimas, sangre de Hispania fecunda Espfritus fraternos, luminosas almas, I Salve! (49)

Thus, beautiful words that are sonorous, long and rhytmical

are what make up style. He further adds that rhyme:

...no debe ser pobre; entonces es una puerilidad. Pero cuando la rima recae en palabras de profunda significacion y de bella fonetica, provoca toda su magfa. (50)

As can be seen, the leitmotivs of the Lampara Maravillosa

have not faded from the mind of our writer. If anything they are only slightly modified. Here magic means artistic and no longer carries any necromantic coloring.

Words in the LM were poor, everyday things and had to be charged with magic by the poet: here, in the

Conversacion. they are divided into at least two classes, those that are vacxas and those that are llenas.

Valle*s respect for rhyme is preserved intact. H has even inriched it with a strange image that might be of Symbolist origin: 46

Es a un tierapo cifra de simul- taneidad y memoria reversible, y en un solo sonido se superponen > dos o tres colores. Asx en una cucharilla de cafe legxtimo y admiramos a la vez negro de laca, oro reflejo y el color propio del cafe, que por ser la suma de esos ^ dos, es ya otro distinto. (51)

Valle had already touched on this subject in the Breve

, Noticia years earlier, as we saw at the beginning of

this chapter, and it is interesting to notice how he

kept it in mind through so many years.

The Conversacion closes with a brief reference to

poetry contemporary at the time of writing, and includes

this phrase:

La disgregacion de la gramatica, el empleo de las imagenes distantes, el juego de las cesuras y silencios, el nuevo escandido, responden a una necesidad de expresion no euclidiana que tendra que preparar el terreno a la novela futura. (52)

It is a somewhat imprecise statement, and this is not

the place to discuss the legitimacy of each word. It

is merely important to notice that Valle was conscious 47

at that moment of the evolution of current poetic trends, but that even in speaking of them he could not tear himself from the instruments with which he himself had worked.

The Conversacion is dated 1934, and much time had passed since the Lampara Maravillosa first saw light of day. Yet Valle Inclan is still of the same outlook as in the time of the LM and no new current had changed his ideas. Ultraismo, Futurismo and the several other trends or schools have left no trace upon his thoughts. Here in the Conversacion. we are still concerned with rhyme and music in poetry, just as he discussed them in the LM. The Symbolist nuances, instead of carrying us forward in time, have taken us even further back into the past, right back to the era of the Breve Noticia, where we discovered a whole display of Symbolist imagery, with the accompanying fusion of colors, sounds and perfumes. Nor can we take too seriously the simple prophecy on grammatical decadence or the ^silencios11 which concludes the Conversacion.

It is a fact that the lack of evolution is in

harmony with that incapacity for philosophical

speculation which we had reason to indicate in the

Lampara Maravillosa. The literary currents which

must have appeared on the poetic horizon of our writer

after the LM have not impressed him enough to make him

take a stand, and it is for this reason that we find

his ideas unchanged. Even these ideas, as we have

seen, were never completely assimilated. By this we do not wish to accuse Valle Inclan of superficiality.

We merely want to point it out now, since it will be

important further on when we come to examine the true nature of his artistic production. 49

6. CONCLUSION

BEAUTY

We have seen from our analysis of the Lampara

Maravillosa, and in general from the other two documents which we have examined above, that Valle

Inclan concerned himself more than once with the theoretical aspect of art. We found frequent mention of the word estetica, the most obvious case being its appearance in the complete title of the Breve Noticla

(Breve noticia acerca de mi estetica cuando escribx este libro).

What exactly Valle means by this word is a little vague: the lack of precision of this concept is even more apparent since he frequently speaks of "mi estetica".

We are rather inclined in considering our poet and his poetry to understand the word estetica in the wide sense of "philosophy of art". In this interpretation, we are basing ourselves on the authority of Lehmann (53), who 50

begins his discussion on the aesthetic of the Symbolist movement (54-) by opportunely distinguishing in the expression "aesthetic" the meaning of "philosophy of art" and rejecting that of "an aesthetic approach".

Apart from his superstructures of fantasy, Valle has a very decided concept of "belleza" in his mind. It engenders a principle that in philosophy might be expressed thus: Beauty is something spiritual, which is outside of ourselves. It is a divine attribute. We have an idea of this divine attribute, and we feel that all our spiritual forces are attracted towards God, but the process of thought is too slow. Valle, like the

Neoplatonists and the mystics, advises contemplation.

It is possible through contemplation to reach that state of ecstasy that allows one to see beauty with the eyes of the soul, beauty being one of the characteristics of

God. 51

ART

Art, according to Valle Inclan, has the task of awakening in our consciousness the concept of beauty.

We carry this dormant concept always within ourselves, like the memory of a Platonic idea, and art brings back this memory. The task of the artist is there­ fore eminently evocative.

This, in nuce. is Valle’s aesthetics. It is a

Neoplatonic principle whose mechanical aspect Valle manages to reproduce with a good degree of success.

To this artistic principle he further adds the idea of

Time. Having established the equation Contemplation =

Immobility,he finds it easy to arrive at a further equation of like form but contrary meaning: Action s

Movement. Movement is Time. Immobility, however, cannot admit the idea of Time. Thus Contemplation is outside of Time, or at least carries us beyond it. Art is beyond the boundaries of Time and in its fixity excludes Movement and Action. It can admit only 52

Conten$»lation. Here we are still within the realms of Neoplatonism, but it is a Neoplatonism tinged with a strong coloring of mysticism.

These are the principles that Valle applies to all forms of plastic art. He seeks also to explain why El Greco, Leonardo and Velazquez are great. The reader is left with the impression that the whole contemplative principle of Valle is based on the fact that any work of art, especially if displayed in a museum, invites contemplation, and hence carries us beyond Time. 53

POETRY

Valle Inclan's ideas on the subject of poetry are more concrete. He has given very careful consideration to the value of the word. We have seen how at different times he has spoken of words as being beautiful or ugly, full or empty, plastic or non-plastic. He studies them not so much from the historical or etymological point of view as from that of sonority. To discover his preferences, it is enough to consult the volume of Jeschke La

Generacion de 1898 en Espana (55) even it at times the process of this critic might appear rather too rigid. Valle Inclan speaks of words, not with that magic meaning attributed to them by Mallarme, but rather from the point of view of a Parnassian. Here we mention Parnassian to indicate that, like the poets of that French school, Valle Inclan is interested in words furnished with sound and rhythm, and in the

Lampara Maravillosa. as also in the Conversacion. we 54

are almost led to think of the physical sound of the word. For this reason we want to stress the meaning of symbol in Valle Inclan. For him the symbol is a picturesque figure, and we are far removed from the

Symbolist concept of the French poets. (56) As for

Parnassianism, we shall see in good time, when we come to study the poems, how near Valle is to that group and how far removed from it. For the moment, since we are still in the theoretical field, it is enough to say, without establishing direct influences, that the two poetic tendencies are similar and that there were predecessors to the poetic manner of Valle.

Valle Inclan was concerned with the nature of the word. The word, rhythmic in itself, takes its place in the line of poetry, and the line of poetry must be just as rhythmic. These lines, or verses, are further linked by rhyme. Here Valle sings the praise of the decadent Latin poets, just as did the Axel of

Villiers-de-l'Isle-Adam (57) because their use of rhyme 55

enriched their poetry much more than the classical hexameter. This is one more reason for placing our poet in line with the schools of the past, with tradition, even where the exterior form of his expression seems to be more closely linked with the newer tastes of the Symbolist poets.

Valle*s allusion to Symbolism is really to be found only in the Breve Noticia, which dates from the earliest years of his literary activity. In the

Lampara Maravillosa, he is concerned with techniques that link him with Gautier, Leconte de Lisle, Heredia and perhaps even with Carducci, always under the guiding hand of Ruben Dario.

In the Conversacion of 1934> we return to the same subject of rhythmic words, as if nothing had occurred in the meantime. The only novelty is that

Valle now declares explicitly that there is no essential difference between prose and verse. In this way he shows that in both these forms he, the writer, has 56

always felt himself an artisan who worked and polished

his expressions and forged his sentences with study

and tenacity, and that beauty is a concrete fact,

attainable, controlable and ever-present. This may well be called the poetic of an optimist. It is

certainly a principle that springs from a strong

character, from a man with will-power and a completely

non-decadent outlook.

In these pages, we have tried to present summarily what we consider to be the theoretical principles on which Valle Inclan has based his convictions as a writer. In many ways these principles hold true for both his prose and his poetry. But we have underlined especially those that apply to Valle as a poet. On

his poetry per se we have witheld comments and conclusions for the moment, because we feel that the ends of clarity will best be served by an analytic study of all his poetic works, and only when this is done shall we be able, basing ourselves on considerations made 57

in the theoretical field first and in the practical

field later, to reach some positive conclusion.

i 58

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER I

1. Corte de Amor, Madrid, Ferlado, Paez, Companfa, 1 9 U ; La Lampara Maravillosa, Madrid, Sociedad General Espanola de Librena, 1916. (Henceforth called LM in these footnotes) Diego, Gerardo, Poes£a Espanola. Madrid, Signo, 1934*

2. Preface to Corte de Amor.

3. Breve Noticia (henceforth called BN in these footnotes), p. 21.

4. BN p.23.

5. BN p.23*

6. BN pp.23-24*

7. BN pp.27-28.

8. Gautier, Theophile. French poet. 1811-1872.

9. Gautier, T., 6naux et Camees. Lille - Gen&ve, Textes litteraires Frangais, 1947, p.21.

10. Baudelaire, C., Les Fleurs du Mai. Paris, Calmann-Levy, 1868. Notice by T. Gautier, p.XVII.

11. Baudelaire, C., ibid. Notice by T. Gautier.

12. Baudelaire, C., ibid. Notice by T. Gautier, p.LXX.

13* See the sonnet, II Bove in Poesie di Giosufe Carducci. Bologna, Zanichelli, 1921, p.552. 59

14. See Canto Novo in Le POesie dl G. DlAnnun2io. Milano, Mondadori, 1947, p.25.

15. Flora, Francesco, Storia della letteratura italiana. Milano, Mondadori, 1943; vol.Ill, part Z, pp.401 seg. and 442 seg.

16. BN p.31.

17. Rimbaud, Arthur, Oeuvres. Paris, Mercure de France, 1937, p.93.

18. Mapes, E.I., L»influence francaise dans l 1oeuvre de Ruben Dario. Paris, Champion, 1925.

19. BN p.31.

20. Baudelaire, C., op. cit. Notice by T. Gautier, p.XVI.

21. Fernandez Almagro, M., in Vida v literatura de Valle Inclan. Madrid, Editora Nacional, 1943, p.181, states that Valle was working on it at least two years previously.

22. Miguel de Molinos. Spanish priest and mystic. 1640-1697.

23. Guxa espiritual que desembaraza el alma v laconduce al interior camino para alcanzar la perfecta contemplacion. Madrid, Espasa-Calpe, 1935. Miguel de Molinos wrote his Guia Espiritual in 1675.

24. LM p.12.

25. LM p. 14.

26. LM p. 15.

27. LM p.55. 60

28. LM p.60.

29. LM p. 61.

30. LM.p.69.

31. LM p.69.

32. LM p.70.

33. LM p. 112.

34. LM p. 167.

35. LM p.209.

36. LM p.210.

37. LM p.228.

33. LM p.211.

39. LM p.211.

40. LM p.213.

41. Luces de Bohemia. Madrid, Imprenta Cervantina, 1924) p.224.

42. Salinas) Pedro, Literatura Eseanola Slglo XX. Mexico, Antigua Libreria Robredo, 1943.

43. Ibid. p.100.

44. ibid. p.95.

45. Diego, Gerardo, op.cit.

46. Ibid. p.35. 61

47. Ibid. p.85.

48. ibid. p.85.

49. Dario, Ruben, Obras poeticas completes. Madrid, Aguilar, 1945, p.695.

50. Diego, Gerardo, op. cit. p.85.

51. Ibid. p.85.

52. ibid. p.85.

53. Lehmann, A.G., The Symbolist Aesthetic in France. Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1950.

54» Lehmann, A.G., op. cit. p.256.

55. Jeschke, Hans, La Generacion de 1898 en Espana. Chile, Editorial de la Universidad de Chile, 1946.

56. Lehmann, A.G., p*308«

57. Wilson, Edmund, Axel1s Castle. New York, Scribner*s, 1936, p.264. 62

TRADITION IN POETRY

AROMAS DE LEYENDA - Themes - Style

Versification - Evaluation

Aromas de Leyenda is the first book of verse published by Valle Inclan. Before this he had published no less than fourteen works of proses

Femeninas (1895), Epitalamio (1897), Adega (1899),

Cenizas (1899), Sonata de Otono (1902), Jardxn

Umbrio (1903), Corte de Amor (1903), Sonata de Estfo

(1903), Sonata de Primavera (1904), Flor de Santidad

(1904), Sonata de Invierno (1905), Jardin Novelesco

(1905), Historias Perversas (1907) and "Aquila de

Blason (1907).

Aromas de Leyenda contains fourteen compositions.

It was published for the first time in Madrid in 1907, and reappeared a second time with certain modifications and additions in the collection of the author*s Opera Omnia, Madrid, 1913. It was further re-published in

1930, when it appeared again in Madrid in one volume

with El Pasajero and La Pipa de Kif under the general

title of Claves Lfricas.

In Aromas de Leyenda Valle faces the technical problem

of verse-writing for the first time. Until then he had

dedicated himself almost wholly to prose. This does not

mean, however, that his artistic mind was not concerned

by the technique of poetry. We have already seen in.

the Breve Noticia, written as early as 1903, which we

discussed at some length in the preceding chapter on

Valle’s aesthetics, that he treats especially the problems

inherent in poetic writing rather than those presented by prose.

We have also had occasion to note, in this respect, that Valle had ever present in his mind an element that the poets of his time or a little before him had used widely and with success; synesthesia. Following in the wake of a discovery recalling the work of Ruben Darxo, 64

Valle declares to his readers the importance of the

celebrated poem of Baudelaire "La nature est un temple"

and places side by side Gautier, Baudelaire, Carducci, ► D'Annunzio and Rimbaud, all related by a common

I technique which they more or less practised. The

kernel of the Breve Noticia is the analysis of a

( problem of poetic technique, notwithstanding the fact

that it is placed at the head of a collection of short

stories. In the Lampara Maravillosa, Valle is to take

up again the exaltation of verse, rhyme and strophe.

But it is not until 1934 that we find, in the Conversacion

con Gerardo Diego, a statement that justifies his whole

conduct as a writer of prose and of poetry: we allude

here to those words at the beginning, where Valle declares

that there is no substantial difference between verse

and prose. With these words he seems for a moment to be

placing himself in the current of all the poets who, from

Baudelaire onwards, essayed "pofemes en prose1'. On the

other hand, however, it is possible to take that statement 65

as being dictated simply by his desire to have his readers judge him by one and the same yardstick in both his poetry and his prose. Valle the prose- writer, who studies and calculates each word and phrase to be used in his story, is the same meticulous crafts- man when he comes to write poetry. For him the step is short. Shorter than might appear at first glance to the casual reader.

In order to be able to examine carefully the various elements and the whole structure of Aromas de

Leyenda, we will adopt the procedure already used in the analysis of the Lampara Maravillosa, that is to say, we will proceed from the periphery to the center - from the external aspect of the book and the analysis of its content to the style and poetic value of the various components. 66

1. THEMES

The poem which opens the book bears the seraphic title Ave. It is a hymn, an invocation to distant memories of a distant land. Ancient fables - land­

scapes with pine-forests - old women who gather

firewood and the fruit of his country. (24 lines)

All this is recalled in long exclamations, in which the memory of the author enjoys so many bygone things.

It is the re-evocation of a landscape which is fixed in the mind of our poet and this re-evocation is itself the subject of his praise and of all the lyrical train of this so-called preface. We say wso-calledw because the book begins only on the following page where the title is given to us in full, indicating the scope of this small volume of lyrics: Aromas de leyenda, versos en loor de un santo ermitano.

The flavor of antiquity that we find expressed in the sub-title, especially in the word "loor1", reminds us immediately of the works of Berceo. This suggestion 67

is further encouraged by the well-known fact that

Berceo was one of the favorite authors of the writers

of the Generation of 93 and of the Modernists. Ruben

Dario dedicated a sonnet to Berceo:

Amo tu delicioso alejandrino...(1)

Manuel Machado in *'Alma, Museo, Los cantares" has a

passage entitled ^Retablo" in which he mentions Berceo with veneration. Antonio Machado, in a poem entitled

"Mis poetas" says:

El primero es Gonzalo de Berceo llamado... (2)

These authorities will be enough to show how well Berceo was known and respected at the time of Valle Inclan.

But, to go a step further, in 1903, Perez de Ayala had

given to the public his famous first book of poems

La Paz del Sendero, which begins precisely with a

sequence of alexandrines in the style of Berceo:

Con sayal de am&rguras, de la vida romero, Tope, tras luenga andanza, con la paz de un sendero. (3) 68

It is clear to critics that Perez de Ayala's "paz del

sendero" is none other than that of which Berceo speaks

in the introduction to his Milaqros, in other words,

but with the very same flavor:

Yo maestro Gongalvo de Vergeo nomnado Iendo en romeria caegx en un prado Verde e bien sengido, de flores bien poblado, Logar cobdiciaduero pora omne cansado. (4-)

The following verses in Perez de Ayala's book and the content of the volume itself do not seem to indicate other points of contact with the poetry of Valle's

Aromas de Leyenda, and the technique of the two poets is so fundamentally different that we do not see any real similarity between them. Yet, we can do no less than observe that the expression "paz del sendero" occurs in the third line of the third stanza of Valle's

Ave Serafxn. This is important merely as indicating that Berceo was very much in the minds of poets at that time and was an element of their culture.

The first poem of Aromas de Leyenda. after the poetic preface, is entitled Milagro de la manana. It m

is a brief sketch containing a chime of bells in a village, in the style of a prayer - the song of a nightingale - the bell inspires faith - and the whole picture is bathed in sunlight. (21 lines)

We then come to Los pobres de Dios: the blind, the sick, the leprous - they are without shelter - they have no bread - for this reason the Madonna regards them as her sons - they walk painfully through the countryside. (12 lines)

The third poem is Georgica. It is morning - the air is crystal - a rustic landscape - peasants on the road. Here we have the ancient customs and all the facets of a traditional life enriched by memory. Valle does not intrude his "ego11, however, and his poem has merely the tone of an enumeration of elements. Nothing happens, yet there are people who move within the landscape setting. The author paints them in, as it were, line by line, in the manner of a painter producing a picture. (24 lines) When we speak of the theme of 70

Galicia in the poetry of Valle Inclan, we mean that the things of which he speaks are a part of the ideal panorama of his youth as reflected in his memory.

This is a positive element in the pastoral composition of Aromas de Leyenda. The poet who returns in his imagination to those places reconstructs their atmos­ phere and lingers there with obvious pleasure. We shall find a complete change of viewpoint when Valle treats his subjects in the esperpento manner. There we shall find a sarcastic, destructive, negative attitude, and the most artistically expressed images will then acquire life through dramatic contrasts, and not in the harmony of their parts, as we find here.

No digas de dolor is another poem of apparent staticity. There is an ancient house at the roadside - a dog barks at the passing caravan - the house sleeps - in the garden a fountain murmurs - from the balcony a child smiles - the sick make a halt in the morning - they suffer and the poet with them. (4.2 lines) 71

This is followed by Prosa de dos ermitanos, a dialogue, as its title suggests, between two hermits.

The first strophe sets the scene, which is in the mountains with wild landscape. San Serenln and San

Gundian (5) enquire in alternate strophes the nature of death. The two hermits as they converse seem to be encouraging each other toward a state of contemplation.

They speak of time and space with pre-Socratic imagery, and thus the enigma of death leads to a discussion of the enigma of life. The whole poem is pervaded by a tone of apparent Franciscan sanctity, maintained by the facf that the two address each other with the title of

Saint. The note of edification is limited to the surface of the words, but the decoration is enough to create this atmosphere, which is perhaps all that the poet sought. (60 lines)

It is interesting to note that the presence of the saints, San Serenin and San Gundian, who appear also in other poems, assumes in the general picture of 72

Valle's poetic technique a function that is in part objective and in part decorative, in the sense that they establish an atmosphere and at the same time have the task of limiting it. It will be seen that these poems are characterized by a style of composition reminiscent of a picture, in which it is the composition that is the center of the poet's attention. The landscapes of Valle Inclan in the poems of Aromas de

Leyenda are not limitless: the sense of sight of our poet seems, so to speak, to require boundaries, as happens when one looks from a room through a window.

The window places limits on the landscape that are narrower than the vision of the human eye. The same may be applied to this particular type of poetry, and in doing so, we can understand the real function of certain figures, as for example the two Galician saints already mentioned. This observation is naturally in keeping with the fact that Valle Inclan's poetry moves in images, and it is evident that images, on account of 73

their own characteristic of appealing to the sense of sight in order to be perceived in their full meaning, impose certain limits to the work of art.

Ave Serafin is a poem of wider scope and also of more elaborate mechanism. The hermit has a good influence on nature - the wolf is gentle as a dog among the sheep - many other animals forget their savage instincts - *toda vida es amor*. *E1 mal es el Enigma*. The poet continues in the present indicative, adding figures, animals and symbols, until a strange presentiment of necromancy threatens to displace the religious mysticism. We do not enter the realm of magic, however, because the poet warns us in time that it is all a miracle:

El alma de la tarde se deshoja en el viento, Que murmura el milagro con murmullo de cuento.

Suddenly the whole poetic sequence passes to the preterite tense and the hermit*s contemplation becomes immortal in death. The poet returns in the following 74

strophe to the present tense:

Fueran como un instante, al pasar, las centurias. El pecado es el tiempo: las furias y las lujurias Son las horas del tiempo que teje nuestra vida Hasta morir. La muerte ya no tiene medida...

Then all that surrounds the hermit springs to life in the continuous present. It is a present which includes the hermit himself, who

...siente en el jardxn del alma... Abrirse la primera rosa de la raanana. (70 lines)

In Estela del prodigio we find another miraculous episode in the edifying life of San Gundian, who returns to his hermitage after three hundred years and finds another hermit waiting for him there. Here, too, the mystic flavor of the scene is the true content of the poem, which is at the same time somewhat reminiscent of an old ballad. (60 lines) In this poem we can feel some­ thing of the spirit of Berceo's Milagro G U I (6) in which a friar who died unshriven obtains resurrection after thirty days in order that he may repent. He, too, returns to his old monastery. 75

The poem Pagina de misal is the actual poetic description of a page of a missal) illumined with mediaeval miniatures: singing-birds - an oak-tree with roses entwined in its branches. It is the missal of San Seraffn containing his favorite prayers.

(24 lines)

Valle*s mind seems to be obsessed by a caravan of suffering humanity winding its way through the country­ side. This theme, which we have already seen earlier, reappears in Lirio Francescano. and now seems poetically more mature. These sufferers are nearer to death, but after Calvary they are given a mystic promise:

Pan sin acedo y vino De la vina eucarfstica. iY en las palmas llagadas Habra una rosa mistica!

The mystic images grow ever mo® abundant as we proceed in our reading of the book. (42 lines)

In Sol de la tarde we find one of those rare moments in Valle's poetry when he gives us an auto­ biographical recollection. The afternoon sun is the 76

most striking element in his poetic vision of his own

country, of his own people, of his own home . Apart ► from the mystic note, the lyrical tone of the poet is ► inspired by memory and here we find it expressed with

; the sun as its symbol. (24 lines)

The poetic language becomes dramatic in a i popular song, which rings gaily and cheerfully in Son

de muneira. This brief poem, like a song with its

onomatopeia which takes us rather by surprise, is

pleasing in its unity. It is a song which seems to

accompany the action of the beaters who beat the flax

on the threshing-floor before a mill. (12 lines)

Passing through legend and folklore, we reach

the last poem of the series, En el camino, which

continues with the rhythm of a song, but this time on

a mythical theme, which it links mystically with the

name of Mary:

Madre, Santa Marfa, 6En donde canta el ave De la esperanza mia? 77

The poet speaks to Mary in the first person and confesses to her his sadness of heart, which is a kind of presentiment, nostalgia, mystery and poetry, as he seeks a voice, which is the trilling of a bird.

Me detuve en la senda Y respire el ingenuo Aire de la leyenda.

With these words, we return to the persistence of the note which concludes the book, after having pervaded it throughout. (21 lines)

As can be seen from these few indications, the content of this volume of poetry is unitary. It would seem to be dictated by a single inspiration and has all the appearance of having been composed during a single season in the spirit of our author. We have considered it advisable to present, even if very summarily, the content of these poems, because in this way we may now 73

proceed to a deeper analysis of the unifying thread, i The principle elements and the basis of inspiration f ' in this book of poems are tradition and mysticism. Or, ► in other words, the mystic inspiration has found support

^ in the concrete elements of tradition. By "tradition1'

we mean a certain taste that Valle reveals for ancient

, things, customs of the people among whom he was born

and with whom he spent his childhood. Now, far from

Galicia in time and space, the poet looks back on it.

He does not, of course, want to portray the Galicia

of the moment of writing. Between Galicia and Valle's

poetry there is no relationship of contemporaneity.

Valle speaks to us of his memories. And it is precisely

from those memories that the land of Galicia emerges in

all its beauty, dreamy and mystical, colorful and sweet.

It is all the more beloved since it is the object of

recollection: in other words, it is not costumbristic.

In his poems, Valle never once mentions the name

Galicia. Nor does he intend to give us a simple 79

description of that landscape just because he loves

it. The countryside springs from his imagination

as an integral part of his memories and thus is

poetic material. In fact, if we look carefully, we

discover that Valle never stops for a moment to

observe a scene, and it would be erroneous to believe

that he is directly interested in it as such. Each

of his poems, as we have seen, has a much deeper

theme, and the landscape, always sketched with brief

indications, is the setting for the poetic fact which

interests him. He is much more attracted by tradition,

although even this theme is never faced squarely. It

is indicated merely in certain of its pictorial aspects which Valle uses to compose his poetic vision.

The mystic element may be considered the most preponderant. There is a longing for faith, a

searching for peace of soul, which at times moves us.

These old hermits have not the consistency of real human beings, and as saints they seem to have acquired 80

the staticity of figures on a tapestry. They are flat and lack psychological relief. But the interesting fact is that the poet lets them wander slowly through the valleys and over the mountains of his celtic land and takes them from legend, to place them in that plastic setting of tradition which inspires his solemn verses. At certain points, his mysticism, or rather his mystic culture, takes him by the hand and then we find ourselves in the presence of an unexplained profusion of mystic flowers, rigid in the immobility of contemplation, a contemplation which is at the same time prayer and nostalgia. This religious contemplation is incompatible with action and the passage of time. Time destroys and is thus synonymous with death. These thoughts are to lodge for years in the mind of our poet and will receivt; other expression in a more elaborate form in the Lampara

Maravillosa. Here, in the Aromas de Levenda, they are still at the picturesque stage and are eminently pleasing 81

to the reader, because Valle uses them to gain certain poetic effects of real value. His mysticism is, then, poetic material which, together with tradition,

forms the basis of his poetic argument. Indeed it is possible to find in tradition as well as in mysticism that certain plasticity which yields him one of the most delicate means of entering into the realm of

absolute poetry.

At the end of each poem in Aromas de Leyenda, there is a stanza in Gallego-Portuguese dialect. At the dawn of Spanish literature, Galician was the literary

language of the earliest lyric poets of Spain. After the fourteenth century, Galician literature fell into

oblivion, and, apart from the oral traditions and

popular songs, it remained thus until the nineteenth

century, when there occurred a veritable Renaissance

of Galician lyric poetry, whose chief figure was

undoubtedly Rosalia de Castro. (7) This poetry is typified by the feeling expressed in the word saudades, 82

the nostalgic wistfulness of a soul separated from home, land and love, who lives in a state of sentimental

sadness.

The stanzas which Valle has added here at the end of his poems are clearly drawn from popular tradition

and have in them all the fragrance of the C a . « £ u y & s de

Amigo. (8) In including them here at the end of each

Castilian poem, our author has wished to underline the

character of his whole book, which is inspired by his

strong taste for tradition and his familiarity with the land of Galicia, the land of his forefathers.

These verses are imbued with a folkloric wisdom, expressed almost in proverbial form, but without a visionary tone. An intimate humility seems to have

presided over the composition of these brief stanzas,

and in their economy of words, they acquire a power

of suggestion and evocation which may well have been

lacking in the original folk form.

Valle has placed these stanzas within the framework 83

like a memory that he wishes to carry always with him, like an object with which he is unwilling to part, and they add to the feeling of timelessness that pervades the whole book. 84

2. STYLE

Valle Inclan is as circumspect in the construction of his verse as he is daring in the composition of his prose. An examination of Aromas de Leyenda reveals that he never gains his effects by mere abundance of words, such as would make us think that he was led to his inspiration on the wings of music or rhythm. On the contrary, his choice of words is carefully studied and his language is forged to gain the deepest impression with the most economical means.

In order to enjoy this type of poetry it is not necessary to read it aloud. The whole tone seems to suggest a gentle murmur, or at least a prosaic rendering without declamation. Some lines chosen at random will illustrate this:

Y en el viejo camino Cantaba un ruisenor, Y era de luz su trino. (Milagro de la manana) 85

Hay una casa hidalga A un lado del camino, Y en el balcon de piedra Que decora la hiedra, ► Ladra un perro cansino. (No digas de dolor)

► . Aromaban las yerbas todas, Con aroma de santidad, Y el sendero se estremecxa 1 Bajo el orballo matinal, Cuando a su retiro del monte Se tornaba, San Gundian. , (Estela del prodigio)

Como en la leyenda de aquel penitente, Un pajaro canta al pie de la fuente, De la fuente clara de claro cristal. iCristal de la fuente, trino cristalino, Armoniosamente se unen en un trino, Que aroman las rosas de un santo rosal! (Flor de la tarde)

This poetry contains its own internal rhythm with but

scant resonance. It is a rhythm that tends to be

difficult, that does not move in strongly marked groups,

and this is in line with the limited use that Valle has

chosen to make of vocabulary in this book. It isworth

noting these points with regard to Aromas de Leyenda.

because Valle Inclan has always been judged a great 86

stylist, and this qualification has come to include

rhythm and sound. Cesar Barja (9) has shown the

sonorousness of our author's prose, but his remarks

cannot be applied to Valle's first book of poetry.

The poet is extremely cautious here in entrusting his

ideas to verse.

As we have already mentioned, Valle has kept his vocabulary limited. He does not seek unusual words,

apart from a few cases where he has used "orballo"

for gentle rain and "albo1" for white, and these are

part of his native dialect and are therefore not unusual to him. Even these examples are rare, and

he adheres in general to the common, everyday expressions of ordinary conversation.

Valle has used certain stylistic devices to decorate and enrich his poetry and with these he has

succeeded in strengthening the effect. These devices are superficial in nature, just as the illumination of a capital letter in a mediaeval manuscript is, technically 87

speaking, superficial, but like the decorated letter, so Valle’s linguistic ornaments add a spiritual quality to the external beauty and have a value far beyond the merely picturesque.

The most frequently used of these devices in

Aromas de Leyenda is undoubtedly that of repetition.

We know that this was one of the most important figures of ancient rhetoric, and all through the ages it has been one of the greatest principles of a literary composition. (What we call the typical vocabulary of an author is, in a last analysis, based on nothing more than repetition.) But it would be wrong to consider this device in a purely quantitative light, that is to say, as a mere re-doubling or addition of an expression, since in practice the expression repeated almost always takes on added meaning.

There are two kinds of repetition: identical repetition (the iteratio of ancient rhetoric) and etymological repetition (variatio). Identical repetition is an insistence on the same expression with the object of letting it persuade the reader by an intensification of the idea. Etymological repetition is the repetition of the same linguistic root in another syntactical form, and is not only an intensification or prolongation of the idea, but it also brings variation. It is as though the author wanted to have his idea considered from more than one point of view. Naturally the device of identical repetition is that most frequently found in literature, although Valle has also developed the other form to a quite surprising degree.

An example of identical repetition in Aromas de

Leyenda is:

Van entre el polvo como las hojas. Van por caminos de sementeras, Caminos verdes entre eras. (Los pobres de Dios)

Here the anaphoric van adds to the impression of fatigue and the insistence on caminos points up the reason for this fatigue. 89

Another case is:

...el ropero Donde se guarda el lino, el buen lino casero. (Georgica)

Here the first lino is merely descriptive of ropero, but the recurrence of lino a second time shifts the importance then to the content of the cupboard and adds a positive value to the picture. This repetition is not merely decorative: it carries us a stage further in our grasp of the scene.

We also find:

Ladra un perro cansino. Ladra a la caravana (No digas de dolor)

The anaphoric ladra gives an intensification and a shift in emphasis (as in the case of lino above). First the dog is merely part of the description as he barks} then he barks for a reason.

Examples like these are legion in Aromas de Leyenda and when they are merely duple, they tend fcnly to shift the center of interest without a break, using the repeated 90

word as a kind of axis. But these simple examples

lead naturally to a more complicated development, which

in a lesser author might degenerate into mere play on words or decoration for its own sake. Even in ornate passages, however, such as the following example with

its Leixapren (10) of fuente, claro, cristal, Valle

still manages to set the scene and give us the quality of the bird-song, reproduced in the onomatopeia of the last two words (trino cristalino) - which are still linked integrally with the rest of the strophe - without falling into superficiality;

Un pajaro canta al pie de la fuente, De la fuente clara, de claro cristal. Cristal de la fuente, trino cristalino. (Flor de la tarde)

In this example, Valle has added further interest to his repetitions by the uae of chiasmus, as seen in the middle line. He has used this device, also, in other poems, as for instances 91

...que del ave celeste, la celeste plegaria (Ave Seraffn)

...del ave celeste, del celeste Abril (Pagina de misal)

Examples of epizeuxis (that is, the immediate reinforcement of an expression) are also present. This kind of repetition tends to intensify an emotion to a very high pitch and is used mainly in passionate declamations. In Valle we find such phrases as:

...Era un viejo, muy viejo. ...Es noche, toda noche. (Ave Serafxn)

Here the reiteration of the single word heightens the effect to a quite remarkable degree.

Etymological, or varied, repetition is a more complicated form of identical repetition and it reveals an even greater desire to play with ideas. The poetic style is not on the whole very well adapted to play on words or paradoxical tricks, but there are times when their discreet use can add greatly to the poetic quality of a line, for they are like the reflection 92

in a mirror which sends back reality under a changed form and renders it more intense and more vibrant.

Valle uses this device on a great many occasions, most often in the form of a verb root repeated in a noun (or vice versa). For examples

...que rxe todavia con su reir pagano ...se apago al apagarse la celestial querella ...estelaba, con una estela de leyenda ...que murmulla el milagro con murmullo de cuento (Ave Serafin)

Valle also uses this device in an extended form that might be termed "echo repetition’1, as for example:

No tienen albergue en la noche fria, No tienen yantar en la luz del dia. (Los pobres de Dios)

Here the anaphora emphasizes the pathetic character of the description and adds a poignant note to an already sad scene.

We find it again:

Cantan las mozas que espadan el lino, Cantan los mozos que van al molino. (Son de muneira)

In this extract the anaphora again heightens the feeling 93

of the joy and well-being of young people who work hard and find satisfaction in their labors. The two

lines have all the ring of a song, heightened by the connotation of the word cantan. There might be a temptation to see in these examples the same use of the device that we find in Ruben Dario's Sonatina (ii) where the repetition is for purposes of rhythm and the

strong musical pulse carries it almost without our being aware of it, like the bass note of a waltz accompaniment. For example:

...que ha perdido la risa, que ha perdido el color ...quiere ser golondrina, quere ser mariposa ...ni el halcon encantado, ni el bufon escarlata ...esta presa en sus oros, esta presa en sus tules

The difference consists in the fact that after the repetition of the "echo" element (que ha perdido, quiere ser, ni el and esta presa en sus) Ruben Dario continues with parallel expressions (la risa: el color - golondrina: mariposa - halcon encantado? bufon escarlata - oros: tules) whereas Valle follows his "echoes1" with expressions that are not completely parallel (en la noche fria: en la 94

luz del dxa - espadan el lino: van al molino). It would have been very easy for Valle to catch the *'jingle” of this poem of Ruben Dar£o, but his music is not primarily a music dominated by rhythm. It is a more tranquil music, where melody takes precedence. The fact that Valle constantly mixes his binary and his ternary movement and thus avoids strong rhythmic patterns will be discussed

later in the section on his versification, but it is worth noting here, since the devices he used could very easily have led him to write in the style of the great

Modernist, Ruben Dario.

The foregoing examples have illustrated separately the different types of repetition used by our author.

It is not hard to imagine that, concerned as he was with

style, he experimented with a mixture of the various simple kinds of repetitive devices. One example will be enough to show his mastery of the medium: 95

Pajaro que dices tu canto, escondido En el viejo roble de rosas florido, Sobre la vitela del viejo misal.

El misal en donde rezaba aquel santo Que oia en su rezo el canto de encanto, Del ave celeste, del celeste Abril: Del ave que sabe la aurea letanxa

Del ave que sabe la ardiente plegaria (Pagina de misal)

Here we are caught in a world of fantasy beyond mere decoration, where a bird is not only an element of an illumination, not only a real bird and not only a symbol.

It is the same bird which takes on various identities, until, as the poet himself tells us, it becomes fixed again in the painted capital of the manuscript:

Y en la inicial roja, gotica y florida, El ave modula su canto, prendida. (Pagina de misal)

In observing the abundance of repetition in these poems of Valle Inclan, we cannot but think of Galician lyric poetry, especially the popular songs, in which repetition was one of the major characteristics. The following quatrains will exemplify this: 96

Cando ha de ser domingo, Domingo cando ha de ser, Cando ha de ser domingo, Minina, para te ver.

Mina terra, mina terra, Mina terra y eu aqui: iAnxos d'o ceo, levaime A terra dond’eu nacxu!

Airinos, airinos, aires, Airinos d»a mina terraj Airinos, airinos, aires, Aires, ivolvedem* a ela! (12)

Another stylistic device which Valle uses with a certain frequency is internal rhyme, which adds a rolling movement to the line. This is obviously a musical device and is used for decorative purposes as well as for reasons of intensifying the meaning, as for example:

ama la llama (Ave Serafin) lentas sonolientas (Flor de la tarde) trino cristalino (Flor de la tarde) las furias y lujurias (Ave Serafin) la rosa mas hermosa (Sol de la tarde) derrama sus ramas (Pagina de misal) sonrisa de la brisa (Sol de la tarde)

In addition to repetition and internal rhyme, Valle has also indulged on occasion in internal assonance. One 97

example will be enough to show his use of this device;

A la tierra, que tiembla bajo el sagrado vuelo (Sol de la tarde)

The foregoing examples must necessarily come from the few poems that Valle wrote in the longer meters. In poems of shorter lines, he used other devices to gain his artistic effects. In Estela del prodiqio it is interesting to notice that the three first strophes each beging with a verb:

Aromaban las yerbas todas

Tania en la gloria del alba

Estabase una molinera

At first sight this might seem to be an indication of action, but examination of these particular verbs shows that they are all completely static and do not give the impression of movement that a verb usually implies.

The use of antithesis, so popular in scientific prose (where polar distinctions can often clarify a difficult point) and popular also in oratorical language

(where the speaker uses striking contrasts to impress his 98

public) is naturally coraewhat out of place in lyric poetry. Yet Valle uses it discreetly to color an image, as for example:

Senda vieja y primaveral (Lirio Francescano)

...prosas Que rezo y conjuro juntamente son (Flor de la tarde)

The use of the rhetorical question as a stylistic device is limited to a few cases in Aromas de Leyenda, probably because it tends to make the style heavy and

Valle’s poems in this first book are characterized by their limpid, ethereal quality. The question form is found, naturally, in the exchange of question and answer between the two saints in Prosa de dos ermitanos.

Valle makes slightly more use of the exclamation, both in pure exclamations and in apostrophe. The apostrophe also lends itself readily to personification and through its use an inanimate object can assume human characteristics and play the part of a real person in a given situation, thus making that situation spring 99

to life. Valle uses it in this ways

iOh tierra de la fabla antigua, hija de Roma, Que tiene campesinos arrullos de paloma! (Ave)

iOh tierra, pobre abuela olvidada y menguada, Besame con tu alma ingenua de cantiga! (Ave)

The apostrophe to the sun, although not punctuated with exclamation points, is really the same type of exclamation as that quoted above and also personifies its

Sol de latarde, hermoso patriarca del cielo

Sol de latarde, Augusto Sembrador

Sol de la tarde, buen amigo de los viejos (Sol de la tarde)

The following are two isolated examples of pure exclamations which are the predecessors of those that will abound later in the Pasajero:

IRuisenor! iAlondra! (Ave Serafin) already foreshadows:

iSierpe! IRosal IFuego! (Cortesana de Alexandria) 100

and in

JAzucena Mistica! iTorre de Marfil!

JAurea Cotovial iAve Serafxn! (Pagina de misal) we can already see the germs of

iAurea MatematicaJ INumen Categorico! (La Rosa del Sol)

and of so many other lines of the same kind that occur in the later book.

It is clear, however, that Valle did not seek verbal acrobatics as an end in itself} he simply wished to create an atmosphere, an aura of wonder, of staticity, such as we find in the miracle writings of the Middle Ages and in the frescoes of that time. The artistic intention is there and makes itself felt in

Valle’s effort to use economical means, and it is this very lack of technical aids which is so well adapted to the kind of poetry which our craftsman produces.

On account of its relative fixity in Spanish, the 101

adjective is one of the most expressive parts of speech, simply because its removal from the normal position in the sentence can change its emphasis or add to its power.

Syntactically we find that Valle goes counter to

Spanish usage when it suits his artistic purpose. The adjective of color that the Spaniard prefers to place after his substantive is used indiscriminately by Valle either after or before, with no apparent change in emphasis. He says la azul santidad in one place and la santidad azul in another, los verdes herbales and la seda verde. It is interesting to observe, also, that his range of color-adjectives is here very limited and that for visual effects he prefers colorless adjectives like cristal, plata, bianco.

In Aromas de Leyenda Valle uses sparingly the device of synesthesia - a device denoting a tendency to confuse the sense, as for example, interpreting taste in terms of color, or sound in terms of vision, with 102

the intention of expressing intense and unusual experiences. In Ave Serafin we find:

El alacran tiene el candor que aroma El simbolo de amor que porta la paloma

En la luz de su canto alzo el pajaro el vuelo

...la luna alma en pena palida de ideal

Una llama... Ardxa, y aromaba como en un incensario

Y blanca como un sueno... El ave de la luz entreabre el horizonte

Although by nature the poetic line does not lend itself to a device popular with Valle in his prose, namely the use of three adjectives to qualify the same noun, he still finds occasion to use it in

Pagina de misal:

Y en la inicial roja, gotica y florida and again in Los pobres de Dios:

Ciegos, leprosos y tullidos...

The J'demon d'analogie4' of Mallarme is nothing more than the voluntary or involuntary search for metaphors 103

and it seems to be an indispensable elemtent of poetry.

1 Valle’s metaphors and similes are likewise original I and strikingly picturesque. They seem to go beyond

► the merely pictorial and are dictated by a feeling

I deeper than a mere love of visual effects. For example

in Ave; i El lago de mi alma yo lo siento ondular Como la seda verde de un naciente linar

and again in Ave Serafin:

El cefiro, que vuela como un angel nocturno, Da el amor de sus alaa al monte taciturno.

...Su barba, igual que una oracion Al pecho daba albura de comunion.

In Flor de la tarde;

Y al flanco caminan, como paladines Del manso rebano, los fuertes mastines.

La fontana late como un corazon Y pone en el agua yerbas olorosas.

Valle’s use of imagery, although limited in this book,

is still picturesque and we tend to find it presented in

a wistful context. In Ave:

Cuando deshoja el sol la rosa de sus oros 104

and again in Ave Serafin:

El alma de la tarde se deshoja en el viento

There is in the construction of Valle*s poems a squareness that might become monotonous were it not for the infinite variety of evocations that takes precedence over the mechanical strophe-division. He uses remarkably few run-on lines. The end of a line is frequently the close of a sentence or phrase, and the end of a strophe is almost invariably the conclusion of an idea, being punctuated by a period. This cannot fail to remind us of the cuaderna via. It reduces each strophe to a small, complete element, a picture in itself. The variety within the smaller elements of his rhythmic periods, which gives him a flexibility of style, will be discussed presently when we take up the question of his versification. 105

3. VERSIFICATION

The great difference that exists between Spanish and English (or German) poetry is that whereas in the latter, each line is made up of a set number of feet, each foot containing two or more syllables with a certain pattern of accentuation, in Spanish verse the line is considered as having a certain number of syllables and an ictus. Another important difference is that, apart from composite lines (the longer lines, such as the twelve-syllabled and the Alexandrine) the single Spanish line is not usually considered as having any rhythm in itself, and only several lines in a series will acquire a rhythm because of the regular repetition of the ictus.

For instance, it takes more than one line of

Milagro de la manana to establish a rhythm:

Tanxa una campana En el azul cristal De la santa manana.

Oracion campesina Que temblaba en la azul Santidad matutina. 106

whereas one line alone of an English or German poem is usually enough to fix the rhythmic pattern of the whole composition:

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day

Ich weiss nicht was soli es bedeuten (13)

The system of counting by syllables rather than by feet was that generally adopted in Spain until the advent of the Modernists. These poets found that the classical verse-forms were not elastic enough for the delicate nuances that they wanted to express, and to give the line more flexibility, they adopted a new system, whereby they repeated a small unit, usually of two or three syllables and containing an ictus.

Thus they came closer to the English and German method and we find, naturally, that many of their poems written in this style conform to the categories of trochee, imab, dactyl, amphibrach and anapest.

Besides this innovation of writing poetry in binary and ternary movement, they went a step further 107

and developed a system which has been called "rhythmic phrases". According to this method, the line is composed,of breath groups (rhythmic phrases) of one or more metric syllables and with an ictus. Rhythmic phrases can vary from monosyllabic to heptasyllabic.

Beyond seven syllables a line almost always contains more than one rhythmic phrase.

In examining the versification of Valle Inclan, we must take into account that he professes himself a Modernist, and that, as for Ruben Dario, so also for

Valle, the traditional method of counting syllables to determine the meter of a poem is not always enough.

The new varied rhythms introduced by Ruben Dario also demanded a new theory of prosody, and Ricardo Jaimes

Freyre’s theory of rhythmic phrases (14) is the one that we shall apply when we find that Valle has been inconsistent in the number of his syllables. Thus, throughout this study the older method will be used for the conventional rhythms, and where that does not apply, 108

we shall examine the poem in terms of rhythmic phrases.

Valle’s meter in this first book of poems is very conservative indeed. He has used only four of the traditional verse-lines, those of seven syllables, of nine, of twelve and of fourteen. In two cases he has written in lines of rhythmic groups.

It is interesting to note that he has avoided the sonnet form altogether. Another striking feature is the fact that he has no irregular lines and no pie quebrado, such as we will find later in the Pasajero.

An important point is that once he establishes his first line, the whole poem continues in that meter, and the quality of the rhyme as set in the first stanza almost invariably remains throughout: for example, a rima liana will keep its position consistently, a rima aguda will also be found regularly in its original position.

Four of the fourteen poems in Aromas de Leyenda are heptasyllabic. Milagrp de la manana and En el camino both consist of three-line stanzas, rhyming ABA, for 109

instance:

Tania una campana En el azul cristal De la paz aldeana. (Milagro de la manana)

Valle has chosen gentle, pastoral vocabulary which harmonizes well with the short lines, and the undulating effect of the alternate rhymes gives a transparent and almost ethereal character to these two short lyrics.

Since the end of each stanza also marks the end of a complete idea, these works have a somewhat impressionistic character, as though made up of a number of isolated elements which must be glimpsed at first individually and then merged into a complete whole - the finished picture.

The other two compositions in lines of seven syllables,

No digas de dolor and Lirio francescano, have also, rather curiously, seven lines in each stanza. The rhyme-scheme is possibly an original invention on the part of Valle, since in both cases it is the same irregular arrangement:

ABQCBDB, with A and D in each stanza quite independent of the CB rhymes and also of each other. Once more the end 110

of the strophe marks the end of a complete idea, but this time the longer stanza-form gives more possibility

for connected thought and these two poems are slightly more narrative in character than the first two.

Valle's two poems in nine syllables, Prosa de dos ermitanos and Estela del prodigio, would seem to be a variation of the octosyllabic romance verse-form, since they do not rhyme but have assonance in a.. This

assonance in a palabra aquda is fixed to conform with the name of one of the two saints, who appears in both poems, San Gundian. The Prosa de dos ermitanos is extremely symmetrical, consisting of an introductory

stanza to set the stage, as it were, a closing stanza to round off the scene and bring the poem to a close,

and eight intermediate stanzas of alternating question and answer, each question and answer being contained in a complete stanza. Estela del prodigio follows very much the same pattern with complete narrative stanzas separating complete stanzas of conversation. There is Ill

nothing daring in this versification. Valle has indulged in no startling rhythmic forms or revolutionary en.jambement.

The thought is moulded into the set framework and the assonance is maintained in the alternate lines, according to rule.

There are normally two types of twelve-syllabled line. One may be the union of two hexasyllables, each accented on the 5th syllable. This type is found more often in Valle than the second. The second type is a combination of seven and five syllables, accented on the 6th and 10th. We shall find one example of this latter in the Fasajero, but there is none in Aromas de

Leyenda.

The two poems in twelve syllables, Flor de la tarde and Pagina de misal, have a sextilla rhyme, AABCCB.

The fourteen-syllabled line, the Alexandrine, is found in four poems of this book: Ave, Georqica, Ave

Serafxn and Sol de la tarde. Valle has chosen the pareado rhyme so greatly favored by the Modernists for 112

the last three of the poems mentioned above, but Ave

differs from the others. Ave has an interesting rhyme-

scheme (AABBBB) because after the first two rhyming

lines, the remaining four in monorhyme have the precise

form of the cuaderna via, although they do not maintain

the cesura. A comparison of four lines from Berceo with four from Ave will show the flexibility of Valle’s

application of it.

Senores e amigos, lo que dicho habemos, palabra es oscura, exponerla queremos: tolgamos la corteza, al meollo entremos, prendamos lo de dentro, lo de fuera dejemos. (15)

El lago de mi alma, yo lo siento ondular Como la seda verde de un naciente linar, Cuando tu pasas, vieja alma de mi lugar, En la musica de algun viejo cantar. (Ave)

In the extract from Berceo it will be seen that the cesura, which is even marked with a comma, falls regularly after the seventh syllable, the sixth being accented. In

Valle, the first two lines conform to the pattern, but typically, he varies it, anticipating it for greater 113

elasticity. It would seem that Valle used this traditional form of the cuaderna via to convey the rather static, wondrous atmosphere of the landscape of his memories, and to suggest the timelessness of the scene.

The remaining two poems of this collection, Los pobres de Dios and Son de muneira do not fit any regular verse-forms and must therefore be considered in terms of pure rhythm.

Los pobres de Dios, a poem of four three-lined stanzas, has a line consisting of four rhythmic groups.

Syllabically they appear thus: (9 12 9) (11 11 12)

(10 9 10) (10 8 9)• For the most part the measures are a mixture of dyssyllabic and trissyllabic phrases.

It is, of course, the varying lengths of the anacrusis that account for the marked syllabic difference. The rhyme-scheme (these are monorhymed tercets) shows French influence.

Son de muneira merits special study, since it is Valle*s most marked attempt to use a Gallegan verse-

form in the Castilian language. The muneira (a word

linked with molino - mill) was the traditiohal

hendecasyllable of the ''gaita gallega11, accented on

the 1st, 4th and 7th. Apparently the music and dance

were the most important parts of this popular form, and words, if any, were subordinate. The music had to be

a lilting six-eight, which explains the necessity for

the regular accents in the words. The dance and song were accompanied by the gaita, with the beat given on

the bass-drum and the non-accented beats accompanied by

the nervous ringing of timbrels. The dance was performed

in pairs. The woman kept her eyes on the man's feet in

order to follow him as he improvised new steps, and the whole was accompanied by snapping fingers in a Castanet

effect.

With mere words Valle has tried to give us the whole idea of this dance and song. We find the effect

of the dance in pairs in the parallelism of the opening 115

lines:

Cantan las mozas que espadan el lino, Cantan los mozos que van al molino. ► This is so strongly rhythmic - unlike Valle's usual ► poetry - that it would be possible to dance to a mere

I repetition of the words. In the iToc! iTocl iTocl

of the opening two lines of the second stanza, although i these words do not necessarily apply to the drum, we

can feel its beating. These two staazas are enough to

give the spirit of the dance and song, and in the last

two stanzas, Valle goes on with his sketches of the

country setting. The fact that the lines are of

irregular syllabic length - they are (11 11 10) (9 9 9)

(10 10 11) (9 9 12) - makes it necessary to consider

this poem in terms of rhythmic groups. The line consists

of four rhythmic groups, as was the case with Los pobres

de Dios, but unlike the case of the latter poem, this

cannot be attributed to the use of a varied anacrusis,

but rather to the preponderance of binary movement in 116

what is normally a ternary-movement form.

The short stanzas in Gallego-Portuguese dialect conform in many cases to the popular pattern: the cuarteta in octosyllables, with the odd lines unrhymed and the even lines in assonance, as for example:

Cando o sol esmorecxa Vin o moucho nun penedo... jNon che teno medo moucho, Moucho non che teno medo! (Sol de la tarde)

In several instances, Valle has not followed this pattern} he has kept the assonance scheme quite consistent but has preferred a hexasyllabic or heptasyllabic line, as for example:

Pro sobre o rosal Voa un paxarino Que leva unha rosa A Jesus menino. (Flor de la tarde)

Como chove miudino, Como miudino chove, Pel*a banda de Laino, Pel1a banda de Lestrove. (Los pobres de Dios)

In two of these examples, we find striking use of one 117

of the most characteristic elements of this type of

poetry: repetition. It is in the form of chiasmus

in both cases.

i 118

4. EVALUATION

In his presentation of the poetry of Valle Inclan

in an anthology published in Germany in 1927, Jose F.

Montesinos (16) observes that our poet in Aromas de

Leyenda very obviously betrays his Galician origin.

Das Gedicht zeigt... galizischen Einschlag. (17)

Montesinos remarks that San Severfn and San Gundian, the two hermits taking part in the dialogue poem

Prosa de dos ermitanos. are at home in Galicia, inasmuch

as they are

Gestalten aus dem keltischen Nordwestspanien. (18)

Even the sound of the verse is Galician.

Noch starker galizisch ist Milagro de la manana gefarbt, das, wie andere Gedichte desselben Bandes, sogar mit Dudelsackversen endigt und uberhaupt in der ganzen Art des Versform, des Rhythmus und der Inspiration den Galizier Valle-Inclans verrat. (19)

The same idea finds similar expression in Federico de 119

Onxs (20), who begins his presentation of Valle Inclan, the poet, in his anthology with the simple qualification:

"Gallego". He then continues:

Esto podemos decirlo, sin destruir la leyenda vivida y verdadera que es toda la vida de Valle Inclan porque el ha aceptado este hecho en ella y ha llenado de materia y espxritu gallegos su obra. (21)

Onxs reveals also the Galician background of the poetic production of our author.

Madariaga, in his Genius of Spain, begins his chapter on Valle Inclan with three beautifulpages in which he describes the landscape of Galicia. When he comes to speak of Aromas de Leyenda, he says:

In this book of poems, Galicia - a Galicia perhaps a little old-fashioned and beautified - is sung with its quiet hills, its wandering flocks and shepherda, its hermits and pilgrims, its grey atmos­ phere, which covers with a protective mantle dreams ever rising and never-dying beliefs. (22)

It cannot be denited that the things named in the poems of this book are all of the same origin, and that this origin is Galicia. We know that Valle was proud 120

of being Gallegan, and Onxs, in choosing Gallego, has found a most opportune word with which to open his discussion. It is worth observing, however, that none of the critics of Valle seems to have stopped to analyze what exactly is the nature of this paisaje of our author.

For, if they had, they would certainly .have reached the conclusion that here we are faced with a real landscape of the soul of a poet. This landscape is beautiful, not because the nature of Galicia is beautiful, but because such is the nature of the poet. This is our conviction. In fact, to find the true value of a poem, it is necessary to take into consideration the elements as they are offered to us in that poem. Or, stated more simply, it is the poetry of Valle that interests us, not the object of which he speaks. And how he presents his poetic objects to us is all explained in that first line of his first poem: Ave:

iOh lejanas memorias de la tierra lejana...

The bibliography of the works and on the works of 121

Valle Inclan, published in 1936 by the Instituto de las

Espanas (23) is preceded by some introductory pages among which is found also an essay entitled Valle Inclan y la elegia de America by Jorge Manach. In this article we find, on page 16 of the book, a statement that helps in the exposition of our thought. Manach says:

Esta proyeccion del pasado sobre el presente es...caracteristica del historicismo literario de Valle Inclan. Casi diriamos que informa toda su estetica.

The observation is apt and is applicable to all the works of Valle Inclan, without regard for their date of composition. This is a constant note, which accompanied his thought and his visions.

We have already seen, when analyzing the Lampara

Maravillosa, how concerned our poet is with the idea of

Time, even if only to deny it. He says, for example:

...amamos aquello donde se atesora una fuerza que oponer al Tiempo. (24)

Solo la memoria alcanza a encender un cirio en las tinieblas del Tiempo. (25) 122

It is an awareness of Time that torments him, and the more he denies it the more he speaks of it, until on almost every page of the Lampara Maravillosa there is some autobiographical mention, or some historical re-evocation, and above all an insistent dwelling of his imagination on that magical aura recalled by words such as viejo, antiquo, milenario.

Manach reminds us, on that same page quoted above

(page 16) that Valle once said:

Las cosas no son como son sino como se recuerdan. (26)

This is a sentence that explains the whole artistic attitude of our writer, and in particular the whole pattern of Aromas de Leyenda, The poet who tried in the Sonatas (27) to re-create a world of fantasy between the present, distant in space, and the past of some centuries ago - which past can only live again on the screen of our imagination - has cast from him all attachment to daily reality and has found in the garden of memory the magic world of art. 123

The scenes and the landscapes of this poetry of

Valle Inclan seem to be limited not only in space but

^ also in time. Our poet, with his particular aversion

► , for the concept of time, does all he can to abolish

it from his compositions by limiting the function of

the verb. This tendency is characteristic of that period

to which Valle belongs. Unamuno spent much energy in I defining the nature of time and from his analysis of

history he produced an intrahistoria demonstrating a

profoundly human interest for detail. (28) We find

the very same intention in the prose of Azorin, who with

his constant use of verbs in the present tense, modifies

the whole tradition of prose. By narrating facts of the

past in terms of the present, he obtains an artistic

effect in which the notion of time seems to be completely

absent. Ortega y Gasset in his essay on Azorin says:

...el arte de Azorin es un ensayo de salvar al mundo, al mundo inquieto que properante va hacia su propia destruccion. Azorin lo petrifica esteticamente. Quisiera suspender la vida del mundo en una 124

de sus posturas, en la mas insignificante, por siglos de los siglos. Y esta quietud virtual es para Azorin la unica forma de la inmortalidad. (29)

Valle does not follow any special system to obtain the

same effect, but it is a fact that in his timeless

Galicia he tries to give us a sense of eternity, of

incorruptibility, which is at the same time an expression

of faith and of optimism.

In human life it is not possible to recollect without the concept of Time. Every recollection must be generated

in Time. But it is also clear that once projected in

memory, the facts that one recalls acquire a characteristic

fixity of their own without the element of Time. Then

Time flov/s for us and becomes a concept of a continuous

"Present11. We evolve because we are living, but the

images of memory do not. They remain in our imagination

always contemplated by us and always enriched by our

individual experience of individuals in Time. Contemplation

is synonymous with immobility, while movement is in Time, 125

which generates memories. The two extremes meet, forming a circle.

iOh lejanas memorias de la tierra lejana...

The Galicia which we find in Valle's poetry is like this. This tone, almost sung, in litany style, sets the mood for the choice of language in the Aromas de

Leyenda. Valle likes words which emphasize this antiquity, yet his search for tradition never means for him a facile echoing of popular rhythm. It is enough to observe the opening lines of some of his lyrics:

Tania una campana...

Por los caminos florecidos...

Humeda de la aurora, despierta la campana...

Hay una casa hidalga...

Por la senda roja, entre maizales...

This almost prosastic method of opening a series of poems is in him always synonymous with a severity of style which seems to indicate a strict interior discipline. 126

Valle seems to feel the need to present the picture immediately and let us contemplate it. He does not

like to show poetic evolution, and where it is necessary, he cuts up the whole composition and presents a series of separate pictures.

In Aromas de Leyenda. it is rare for the poet to express himself in the first person. Where he does so, as in the last poem, En el camino, the reader appreciates it, because he feels some participation in the mystery of his poetry. The prose tone of the Sonatas, so fluent, sonorous, abundant, where it is all narrated in the first person, is completely absent in this group of poems.

In his prose, no matter how ornate, Valle has confidence in his verbal abundance. Here, on the other hand, his language is limited, metrically circumscribed in rhythm, studied, and, we might almost say, "solitary”. The tumult of his heart is subdued, there is no disorder, no passion. And this sometimes makes is think of the methods of a painter, when we witness the construction of Valle's poetic picture. But his poems are all paintings of

inner things, like his landscape reflected in memory.

Montesinos observes:

Wie die Mehrzahl der Modernisten stellt er das Postulat auf: die Kunst muss vor allem individuell und Ausdruck der Empfindungen des Dichters sein... (30)

These "Empfindungen” are what Valle calls in the Breve

Noticia "sensaciones”, to which he and his contemporaries

gave the task of evocation. To this evocation is

entrusted the poetic value. But apart from those

examples of synesthesia which we found when considering

his style, Valle's evocation is not entrusted to any

great extent to the description of sensations as much as

it is to a simple exposition of poetic facts, projected

on the screen of memory.

Valle's mysticism may have literary roots. Already, when considering the Lampara Maravillosa, we had occasion to observe that it may have many precedents, especially in the French Symbolist current. From the mystic theme 123

proceeds the concept of contemplation, which in Valle has a philosophical or pseudo-philosophical aspect in the Lampara Maravillosa, but is already an artistic element in almost all his previous works.

Before Aromas de Leyenda in 1904, Valle had published a long story with strongly mystical coloring,

Flor de Santidad. The central nucleus of this story is to be found in another short story which appeared in

1899 under the name of Adega. This fact is enough to show how dear to Vallefs heart the mystic theme was.

He was to treat it repeatedly during his whole literary career. In Flor de Santidad there are, scattered all through the narration, many poetic themes that reappear in essence almost intact in the poetry of Aromas de Leyenda.

These themes are all developed in a kind of legend involving a pilgrim and an innocent country-girl in a scandal with tragic consequences. The author, in narrating Flor de

Santidad. has taken special pains to reproduce the atmos­ phere of a region abounding in both water and superstition, which we recognize immediately as being his beloved

Galicia. From the wealth of the account and the abundance of descriptions, the reader feels himself plunged right into a real legend: pilgrims who go to sanctuaries, shepherds in the meadows, votive chapels, age-old superstitions, stories of miracles.

The tone of this novel is set right from the start, as will be seen from these few phrases:

Caminaba rostro a la venta uno de esos peregrinos que van en romerxa a todos los santuarios y recorren los caminos salmodiando una historia sombrxa...(31)

This kind of tone offers the possibility of stopping every now and again in the narration to insert a description:

Anochecxa y la luz del crepusculo daba al yermo y riscoso paraje entonaciones anacoreticas que destacaban cod sombrxa idealidad la negra figura del peregrino... (32)

A little further on we come to the child:

Sentada al abrigo de unas piedras celticas, doradas por lxquenes milenarios, hilaba una pastora. (33) 130

Aromas de Leyenda is the expression in verse of this very same tone. The only difference is that in the prose version there is an abundance of words, while in the poetry the words seem to be counted and measured.

In Flor de Santidad the setting is rather more localized than in the poetry, and Galicia has a much more pronounced importance. In fact, it might be said that the inspiration, which is mystic contemplation, clarifies and becomes more transparent in the passage from prose to verse.

The fact of having chosen as subject of this book of poems a theme that he had already treated, has saved

Valle Inclan from seeking inspiration elsewhere. It will not be easy to find in Aromas de Leyenda traces of imitation. Certain poems of Verlaine may have been present in our poet's mind, certain aspects of Jammes, Rimbaud or

Leconte de Lisle. There are only distant echoes. Valle already had his poetic subject and he cultivated it in a closed garden, with the means he had at hand. Naturally

Ruben Dario was in style and French poetry was being read 131

and imitated in the whole of Europe. However, it must be admitted that Valle has been able to imprint, even on those first few poems, a very definite stamp in which the whole of his personality is already visible. Federico de Onxs says:

...la sustancia poetica la da la Galicia rustica, arcaica, mrtica y legendaria, y la obra de creacion de un nuevo idioma poetico es toda de Valle Inclan. (34)

To say that in Aromas de Leyenda we have a 1,nuevo idioma poetico*' is perhaps a little exaggerated, but we feel that the message contained in these poems is at least original. The book has its limits, but it also has its merits. The poet, treating with skill his favorite material of contemplation, of pictorial mysticism and of the tradition of his land, has succeeded in capturing certain aspects of an artistic vision that is his, clearly defined and beautiful in itself, because it is genuine. The almost absolute lack of facts, of episodes of life, is an indication of a poetic attempt far from any didactic or narrative form, and very near to certain more abstract aspects of very modern poetry.

The evocative intention, however, keeps Valle near to the French currents and includes him in the group of

Spanish Modernists, but always with his own strong personality and independence. The reader of Aromas de

Leyenda cannot fail to observe that the author is driven by a poetic necessity, which aspires to an ideal of beauty. By beauty we mean that the themes treated by the poet have for him a poetic importance of their own.

He chooses them because to him they are beautiful, because they have an ecstatic atmosphere that irradiates from them, and because, if they have a decorative aspect, that alone can already create a magic note far from any indications of realism. It is that artistic magic that has fascinated to such an extent all the poets of our century, of all schools and tendencies. This manner of proceeding by hints is characteristic of modern poetry. Valle in Aromas de Leyenda has not narrated 133

legends to us. He has let us feel the aroma of them.

i 134

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER II

1. Dario, Ruben, Foesia, Mexico, 1952, p.251.

2. Machado, A., POesias Completas. Madrid, Espasa- Calpe, 1928, p.244*

3. Ayala, R. Pierez de, La Paz del Sendero, Madrid, 1903.

4. Berceo, G. de, Milaqros de Nuestra Senora. Madrid, Ed. de «La Lectura", 1922, p.l.

5. San Serenin and San Gundian were two saints particularly worshipped in Galicia.

6. Alfonso el Sabio, Cantigas de Santa Marfa. Madrid, 1883, Vol.I, Cantiga ClII.

7. Rosalia de Castro. Spanish poetess. 1837-1885.

8. See: Lang, Henry R., Cancioneiro Galleqo-Castelhano. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1913, p.237.

9. Barja, Cesar, Libros v Autores Contemporaneos. New York, Stechert, 1935, p.302.

10. In Miscelanea scientifica e literaria dedicada au Doutor J. Leite de Vasconcellos. Coimbra, Imprenta da Universidade, 1934? Vol.I, p.27, Henry R. Lang defines Leixapren: thus: "A repetigao de palavras rimantes na finida dos trovadores galaico-portugueses.* See also: Clarke, Dorothy Clotelle, A Chronological Sketch of Castilian Versification together with a list of its metric terms. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1952, p.344* 135

11. Darfo, Ruben, Obras Ptaetlcas Completas. Madrid, Aguilar, 1945, p.617.

12. Barja, Cesar, En torno al lirismo qalleqo del siqlo XIX. Northampton, Mass. and Paris, 1926, p.15, p.23.

13. Gray, Thomas, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard", Poems. London, 1937, p.73. Heine, Heinrich, "Die Lorelei", Gesammelte Werke. Berlin, 1887, p.143.

14. Jaimes Freyre, Ricardo, La Versificacion irregular en la poesia castellana. Madrid, 1890

15. Berceo, G. de, op. cit. p.5.

16. Montesinos, Jose F., Die moderne Spanische Dichtung, Leipzig, Teubner, Berlin, 1927.

17. ibid. p.85.

18. ibid. p.85.

19. Ibid. p.85.

20. Onfs, Federico de, Antologfa de la poesia esoanola e hispanoamericana (1882-1932), Madrid, 1934.

21. Ibid. p.322.

22. Madariaga, Salvador de, The Genius of Spain. London, O.U.P., 1923.

23. Bibllografxa. Instituto de las Espanas, N.Y., 1936.

24* LM pp.45-46.

25. LM p. 182. 136

26. Manach, J., *Valle Inclan y la elegfa de America*, in Bibliography published by Instituto de las Espanas, N.Y., 1936, p.16.

27. Sonata de Otono 1902. Sonata de Estio 1903. Sonata de Primavera 1904* Sonata de Invierno 1905.

28. See: Lain Entralgo, Pedro, La Generacion del 98. Madrid, 1945, Chapter VII, p.261.

29. Ortega y Gasset, J., Obras Completas. Madrid. 1950, t.II, p.174-

30. Montesinos, JoseF., op. cit. p.85.

31. Obras Completas, I, p.23.

32. Ibid. pp.23-24.

33. Ibid. p.24.

34. On£s, Federico de, op. cit. p.323. 137

MYSTICISM AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY

EL PASAJERO; CLAVES LIRICAS - El Pasajero -

Laureles - Tentaciones - Talisman - Themes - Style -

Versification - Evaluation

1. EL PASAJERO: CLAVES LIRICAS

The volume of poems entitled El Pasajero; Claves

Lxricas was published for the first time in the year 1920.

In the interim between the appearance of Aromas de Leyenda in 1907 and this new book lyrics, Valle had published seventeen other works, among them some plays in verse which will be discussed later in this study.

These seventeen works in order are: El Marques de

Bradomin (1907), Romance de lobos (1908), Una tertulia de antano (1908), Los cruzados de la causa (1908), El yermo de las almas (1908), El resplandor de la hoguera (1909),

Cofre de sandalo (1909), Gerifaltes de antano (1909),

Cuento de abril (1910), Voces de gesta (1912), La Marquesa 138

Rosalinda (1913)? El Embrujado (1913), La cabeza del

dragon (1913), La lampara maravillosa (1916), La media

noche (1917), La pipa de Kif (1919) and the Farsa de la

enamorada del rey (1920).

It is important to notice that one year earlier

than the Pasajero, Valle had published another volume of

poems called La Pipa de Kif. The chronology of publication

dates would suggest that we proceed in that order in our

consideration of his poems, but this does not seem to be the logical order in which the books were written.

A glance at the total production of Valle Inclan reveals that it presents a certain characteristic in the early years, a characteristic that might well be defined as ’'pastoral1', such as is found in Aromas de Leyenda.

In this respect, Madariaga calls him the "poet who sang a pastoral rhapsody in Aromas de Leyenda" (l) and Lain

Entralgo describes his landscapes as "pureza idilica o georgica". (2) This is the fruit of Valle*s early period and appeared when he was 43 years old. This stage 139

is then followed by a period of artistic maturation in which he dedicated himself to the composition of plays and novels. These are works constructed cn a vast panorama in which he frequently lets his aesthetic taste develop in themes which exalt tradition. This is exemplified in the three novels with the background of the "Carlist War*': Los Cruzados de la Causa (1903),

El Resplandor de la Hoguera (1909) and Gerifaltes de

Antano (1909). Balseiro in his essay on Valle Inclan observes in this respect:

Valle Inclan reanuda, con su amor al carlismo, su aficion a la musica armonica de los vocablos, a la estructura bien medida y al gesto aristocratico. (3)

A sense of the aristocratic in art then leads our poet to the composition of plays, such as the Marguesa

Rosalinda (1913) - which will be discussed in greater detail later in this study - where the gardens of a

"Mozartian11 eighteenth century are the expression of a taste for past things which is very close to his love of tradition.

Then in 1916 Valle gave the world La Lampara

Maravillosa with its mystical basis.

Thus we have a continual development or passage from the pastoral, which led to tradition, then to the use of tradition based on real facts, and finally the further step of the marriage of tradition with mysticism.

The next, and last, phase will occur when our poet, entering an artistic period which is the result of all his earlier years proceeds to the deformation of his images, which he unites with a sardonic attitude of his mind. Thus he will create for his art a new form, which might also be called plastic, to which he himself gives the name esperpento. We shall seek later in this study to describe that attitude which has passed into history

linked with the name of Valle Inclan. We mention its existence here for reasons which we will presently explain: certain aspects of the esperpento appear at times in the volume El Pasajero and they seem to pervade the Pipa de Kif. It will therefore be logical to study the art of esperpento particularly in relation to this latter book, which appeared only one year earlier than the Pasa.iero. In this way, we shall have placed the poems of Valle Inclan in three periods of the artist’s growth:

a) Aromas de Leyenda

b) El Pasajero

c) La Pipa de Kif

Valle Inclan himself revised and rearranged all his poems, and in 1930 he published them in a single volume, entitled Claves Lxricas. It is interesting to note that in this volume the poet himself arranged the poems in the order that we have given above, placing the

Pasajero before the Pipa de Kif.

In the original edition of 1920, the volume contained

36 poems. The fact that the book was published in 1920 does not necessarily mean that all the poems were written at that time. The mystic flavor that pervades the whole 14.2

work leads us to think that there is a strong relation­ ship between this volume of poems and the aesthetic treatise of four years earlier: the Lampara Maravillosa.

It is enough to glance at the titles of the various poems, which are in the form of symbolic roses for the most part, and to remember the fundamental part that roses played in that treatise. Then when we read the poems we cannot fail to notice that same mystic aura that colored the philosophy of our poet and inspired his book on aesthetics. It is as though Valle had calculated his steps well, giving first the norms which enable us to understand these difficult poems, and then passing on to the exemplification of those norms, thus putting his theory into practice. Our author has undoubtedly done this with calculation. To know how

Valle loved to be precise in his art, it is enough to remember his words in the Lampara Maravillosa:

La rima junta en un verso la emocion de otro verso con el cual concierta. (4) This precision, or at least this aspiration to such precision, is found in all his works. The vagueness that clothes all his mystic concepts suggests that, like many mystic philosophers and poets, he felt the need for the certainty of numbers. We feel this very strongly here, where he has revealed his great respect for the science of numbers by dividing his total work into four quarters and placing nine poems in each quarter (nine being a multiple of the mystic number three). In the re-publication of the Pasajero in 1930

(in the comprehensive volume entitled Claves Lfricas) we find that Valle suppressed the sub-division into quarters, removed four poems and added a new one. These changes still conform to his fondness for the science of numbers, however, since the book, presented as an unbroken whole, then contained 33 compositions - still a multiple of the mystic number three. The character of these changes will be discussed later, but for purposes of examination we shall use the early edition of 1920. We 144

shall use this edition for two reasons: firstly, it contains the greater number of poems, and secondly it represents Valle’s artistic taste at the time of writing and thus gives us a better picture of his development as a poet.

This book, then, with the full title El Pasajero:

Claves Lxricas, is divided into four equal sections, and each section contains nine poems. Our poet has given to each of these poems its individual title and the further identification of Clave with its number in the series. The word clave is already symbolic in itself, inasmuch as it is taken from the technical language of music and has no corresponding term in poetry apart from that implied by Valle. It is probable that he used the word with the meaning of ’'measure*' or "norm*', and since it is used symbolically in the general title of the book - El Pasajero: Claves Lxricas - it is reasonable to presume that the word pasajero is also imbued with hidden meaning and that it may well represent the author himself. H 5

In fact, in one of the poems of the first section, which also bears the title El Pasajero, we find mention of its

Este amor tan lejano, ahora vestido De sombra de la tarde, en el sendero Muestra como un Arcangel, el sentido Inmortal de la vida al Pasajero. (En un libro guardada esta)

Thus we have seen that the title El Pasajero which is the title of the whole work also gives its name to the first of the four sections. The other three sections are called: Laureles, Tentaciones and Talisman.

We will now pass on to review the structure of these four sections. 2. EL PASAJERO. VALLE - THE PILGRIM OF LIFE

The title which Valle has given to the whole book of poems reappears also as the title of the first group of nine compositions. It is clear that the poet wishes to tell us that the book contains poetic themes that might occur to someone walking or at least travelling. If we imagine a reader who proceeds chronologically through the works of Valle Inclan, perhaps simply a contemporary of his, or better still, one of his fellows, we can very easily divine the significance that this title must have had. Valle lived his best years of youth in the era of the

"Generation of 98", that is to say, among writers who read assiduously and loved the works of Berceo. Azorin reminds us of this in his definition of that generation which we quoted in our Introduction. The Milagros de

Nuestra Senora are narrated by a kind of "pasajero" - a romero. Not only that, but Berceo himself is of the opinion that we are all "passers-by1' in a certain sense 147

Todos somos romeros que camino andamos (5)

With these words he gives a religious meaning to our lives. If we now transfer the term "pasajero" or

" romero" from its original religious setting and consider it on a simpler literary leve} we see that it preserves a certain mystical flavor and a certain poetic fascination.

It is not difficult to relate this word also to a tradition that is very Spanish, since in the heart of the culture of that nation there are to be found at least two mythical figures of "travellers" in the Cid and Don Quijote. Also in the Soledades of Gongora there is a traveller:

Pasos de un peregrino son errante cuantos me dicto versos dulce musa... (6)

In short, this is a concept that is closely linked with the Spanish mind and Spanish tradition, and when Valle opens his book with this word, he is in a certain sense paying homage to that tradition. IAS

The concept of the "pasajero" was in the air at the time when Valle wrote his work. This is clear if we think of the title of Perez de Ayala's book of verse La Paz del Sendero (1904), the Pasajero (1914) of Jose Moreno Villa, and Versos y oraciones del caminante (1920) of Leon-Felipe.

In Valle's book, the poet does not show us a

"pasajero*1 as such, but gives us a sensation of move­ ment, of passage, through a landscape portrayed as if it were in fact seen by a pilgrim.

In Rosa de llamas, which opens the collection, we find a winding pathway and the "sornbra lajana de uno que camina". In the second poem, Rosaleda, it is the poet who speaks of his own past life, presenting it in a series of imperfect tenses, which give it an aura of timelessness. We feel right here that he himself is the real "pasajero";

Escuche una esperanza cantar sobre el camino...

Even in the following Rosa Hiperbolica, which is possibly the most autobiographical of the whole collection, there is continuous movement:

Va la carreta bamboleante Por el camino...

Here the confession bursts from his heart and the poem becomes dramatic:

Echeme al mundo de un salto loco, Fux peregrino sobre la mar.

Life, he says, has given him so much bitterness and has made him very aware of his proud and solitary character

Yo marcho solo con mis leones Y la certeza de ser quien soy.

Having established this central theme and given it prominence, Valle then proceeds to perfect the picture by filling in an idyllic background. Thus we find:

Alamos frios en un claro cielo Azul, con timideces de cristal. (Rosa del Caminante)

In Rosa Matinal the whole of the first stanza is a picture, with emphasis especially on the pictorical elements: 150

Ante la parda tierra castellana, Se abre el verde milagro de una tierra Cristalina, en la paz de la manana, Y el castanar comienza con la sierra...

At certain points Valle alternates visual elements ► with auditory elements and obtains a satisfying fusion

( of masses of coirs and sounds. This is striking in

the third stanza of Rosa del Caminante:

, La fuente seca. En torno el vocerio, Los odres a la puerta del meson, Y las recuas que bajan hacia el rio...

The last two verses of Rosa Matinal are another example:

Y la gaita de grana da sus voces Montanera. iDel Celta es la Victoria!

A visual idyllic sense mixed with the auditory

element occurs also in Rosa Vespertina. which opens

thus:

Anochece: En la aldea, Un gallo cacarea Mirando el amapol Del sol.

In these settings the poet tries to establish an idyllic

equilibrium, but his tendency to populate his landscapes

with live persons and animals turns him from his original

purpose. This can be seen in Rosa del Caminante: 151

Los hombres secos y reconcentrados, Las mujeres deshechas de parir... and again, further on, in Rosa de mi Romeria:

Un pastor, consejo Demanda de un viejo Letrado en la ley, Y al darlo, el anciano Halaga el lozano Lomo de un gran buey.

In certain isolated expressions we feel that the contemplative Neoplatonism of the Lampara Maravillosa influences the poetic creation, but this is no more than suggested here, and this theme will acquire preponderance only in the other three sections of the book.

Sometimes the autobiographical theme seems to be submerged in an abundance of images, yet it returns with insistence in the last two poems of the group: in Rosa del Paraxso. and even more obviously in Rosa

Venturera. The latter poem, which was later suppressed when Valle re-published El Pasajero as part of Claves

Liricas in 1930, has a certain importance, because the poet lets us feel the passage from this section of the book to the next. The theme of the vagabondage of youth should cease with the last two lines of this poem, which (although poetically they are among the poorest that Valle has ever written) are important as indicating this link:

Y como consecuencia logica Decoro, mi sueno, un laurel. 3. LAURELES. VALLE THE CREATOR

In the mystico-aesthetical treatise, the Lampara

Maravillosa. Valle says in one of the first glosas;

El extasis es el goce de ser cautivo en el cfrculo de una emocion tan pura, que aspira a ser eterna.

This is, in a manner of speaking, the theme that the poet will try to develop in almost all the poems of the

Pasajero, but it is found most conspicuously in this second group, called Laureles. He sketches here and there figures and facts re-told, but then concentrates his greatest constructive effort in exclamations which have the task of expressing an ’'emocion’1. This is the moment in which he expressed himself almost always in symbols, upon which the mention of names of magicians of the past confer greater evocative significance. In

Rosas Astrales, we even find mention of the necromancy of Trismegistus, and in La Rosa del Sol, we are given exclamations such ass

I Salve Sacro Verbo! iPneuma Categorico! iLogos de la Forma! iTeologal Crisol! iSacro Verbo Metrico, ... 154

In Alegoria, we are given the figure of an Indian, who in the fixity of his presentation seems to represent the effort that Valle is making to obtain in his poetry

a sense of immobility and thus a sense of eternity outside of time.

The Arcadian climate of Rosa de Melancolia tends to demonstrate the same principle. The same thing can

also be said for Rosa Panida, which is more classical

in its themes with a Horatian savor. A pagan echo re-appears in Rosa del Suspiro, while in Vitrales, we

have a gothic theme that requires further exclamations to express an emotion in terms of ,,eternidadH. A nostalgic hint of forms of pagan life appears in Gozos de la Rosa, and finally in Rosa de Saulo, we are given the presence of the poet himself with his own history and

his own experience. Here the roses adorn a Panic-mystical

image. However, the poem has its importance, for in the

second stanza, Valle reveals to us the meaning of the title of the whole section: 155

Ame el gladio y el salto cuando era En el comienzo de la vida. Ahora El delfico laurel de mi cimera Bajo la tempestad se dobla y llora.

Here again we have an autobiographical note. In his youth the poet loved the fight, the vigor of life, then he gathered the laurel of the poet. But the struggle of life bent his back. 4. TENTACIONES. THE ETHICAL PROBLEM

At a certain point in the Lampara Maravillosa,

Valle inclan, while insisting on the negative character of Time and incidentally on the positive character of art as representing immobility in Time, justifies the presence of recollection in artistic production, maintaining that it is beyond the bounds of Time:

En las creaciones del arte, las imagenes del mundo son adecuaciones al recuerdo donde se nos representan fuera del tiempo, en una vision inmutable. (7)

This concept is present more or less all through the writings of Valle Inclan, and is particularly salient in the third group of poems in the Pasajero, where all the themes that he treats have the character of reminiscence.

Rosa de Furias is reminiscent of youth. Rosa de

Turbulus becomes a real re-evocation, in which the adventure of Valle's trip to Mexico is symbolized in a woman. Then from poem to poem the reader finds himself 157

immersed in an atmosphere in which the word ’'Temptation”

acquires value. Even for living things, for natural

life, there comes a moment when the subject is faced with a tempting force, of vaguely Satanic quality.

In Rosa de Oriente, there is an allusion to Eve

and her temptation. In Rosa del Reloj, we pass from the

mystic plane to the magic, with attractive hypnotic

forms cast on creatures as though they were an inherent

part of their life. Then the theme darkens in Rosa del

Pecado, where the temptation takes on the force of an

obsession, but this tumult calms down again in Cortesana

de Alexandria. Here we find magico-mystic symbolds: the

serpent of temptation, the rose of beauty, the fire of

passion. All these themes reach a moment of splendid

equilibrium in Asterisco, where the entire composition

is dedicated to the fixity of one scene. The dueha

"la mano puesta en circunflejo" stands motionless as she

follows the flight of a fly in the reflection of a mirror.

In the following poem, Rosa de Belial, and especially

in the last of the group, Rosa de Bronce, we return to 158

the theme of temptations as the poet himself has felt them. Notwithstanding the mystic tone and subject, the real inspiration of the whole section is fundamen­ tally autobiographical. 159

5. TALISMAN. SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM

The last chapter of the Lampara Maravillosa is called, as we have already seen, La Piedra del Sabio.

The last glosa of that chapter sayss

Peregino sin destino, hermano ama todas las cosas en la luz del dia, y convertiras la negra carne del mundo en el aureo simbolo de la piedra del sabio. (3)

In the text which precedes that glosa, Valle had already explained that the piedra del sabio was the universal principle of love. He has placed this at the end of his treatise as though to signify that there could he no better conclusion. The correspondence between this symbol and the symbol of Talisman is evident. The collection of poems of the Pasajero concludes with a talisman, which is, like the philosopher's stone, a victory over "Tentaciones" and at the same time the conclusion of a life.

Memories return and crowd through the mind of our poet. Rosa Salomonica is inspired by melancholy, and 160

also in the following poem Rosa de mi Abril, the reminiscence is colored with sadness:

Clara memoria de mi historia De amor, tu rosa deshojada...

There is a new sense of weariness in the trend of this group of poems that catches our attention, although the magico-rnystic theme has not entirely disappeared.

In En un libro guardada esta, we find such expressions as:

En el espejo magico aparece Toda mi vida... where melancholy pervades the composition at times without being overtly expressed. In this same poem, there is an amor lejano, which lends a wistfulness at the same time both sweet and sad.

We find a return to mysticism in the exclamations of

Rosa Gnostica, but the theme tends to rise towards the heights of sublime truths:

iTodo es Eternidad! jTodo fue antes!... 161

In La trae un cuervo, we are again presented with the personal theme, although in this case immersed in a diffuse sense of tragedy:

iTengo rota la vida! en el combate De tantos anos ya mi aliento cede...

The same tone pervades Rosa de Job, La trae una paloma,

Rosa Deshojada, until in the last poem, Karma, we reach a sudden unexpected solution, which carries us with the peace of the oriental Karma into a sphere of greater calm, beyond the funereal sense of tragedy that reigned in the preceding compositions. The funeral march develops into a solemn adagio, and in the notes of those Quiero with which five of the seven strophes begin, we feel that something is fulfilled, concluded, sealed:

Quiero una casa edificar

Quiero labrar mi eremitorio

Quiero mi honesta varonia Transmitir al hijo y al nieto 162

Quiero hacer mi casa aldeana Con una solana al oriente

Quiero hacer una casa estoica

The house to be built acquires in the course of the poem the aspect of a tomb, a pyramid, a convent cell for its

Karma.

It is clear that this Karma is in reality an aspiration and not a conclusion. In other words, the author cannot stop being a "pasajero" who travels towards his Karma.

From the point of view of the mystical principles that Valle himself has taught us, this whole book is an attempt to express and to compensate for a principle of fatal movement that had not yet begun in Aromas de Leyenda.

This principle of movement, so evident in the first poems of this volume, can be seen in latent form in the whole collection and is subjected to the contemplative principle that in Aromas de Leyenda had conferred a too rigid fixity on the landscape. It is curious to observe that 163

here the movement seems to take hold of the poet who can no longer restrain it. This suggests to us that perhaps in those very reminiscences he may have sought an anchor to place limits to this movement and hence also to Time.

For Valle, memory is a means of fixing things in order to expose them to contemplation, as if memory were outside of time. Even the sonnet form, so frequent in this volume, seems to be prompted by a contemplative intent, being a circumscribed composition and complete within itself. It is well adapted to its role of containing the poet’s images, which remain fixed in a position or gesture, as though photographed.

The titles of the four sections of the book reflect

Valle's desire to place limits on Time, if we see in

Pasajero a youthful pilgrim, in Laureles the age of ambitions, in Tentaciones the most human aspect of life and in Talisman the victory of the spirit. It is that very Talisman which prompted the magician of the

Lampara Maravillosa to say: 164

Este moment efimero de nuestra vida contiene todo el pasado y todo el porvenir. (9) ► What particularly induces us to give this interpretation ► of the book is the insistence of autobiographical references,

^ which, arranged under the four titles, form the whole lyric

experience of a poet who attempts to formulate and fix his

own life in the mediaeval manner. 165

6. THEMES

In the treatment of the major themes which recur

in the poems of the Pasajero, we have had frequent

occasion to observe the important part that the -

autobiographical element plays in Valle’s art. By

"autobiographical element11 we do not only mean the

expression of lyrical motifs which spring from the personality of the poet, but also the facts of his

life. Valle Inclan mentions them and almost uses them to sustain the lyrical element in his compositions, to such a degree that we have seen in the last analysis that the book El Pasajero is, in a manner of speaking, his autobiography. This is clear if we think of poems such as Rosaleda, Rosa Hiperbolica, and then later, towards the end of the volume, La trae un cuervo, Rosa de Job, Rosa Deshojada and especially Karma. The first trip to Mexico which Valle made when still a young man, his first literary experiences, the impressions of the young Galician poet who went to Madrid and immediately entered the literary arena - all of these, especially the

trip to Mexico - are factors which remain so strongly

entrenched in his memory that they are even stronger than

his lyrical nature. It is for this reason that these

factors occupy such a prominent position in the art of our poet and in a sense dictate its limits.

Another insistent note in the Pasajero is, naturally, the mystic theme, and it is possibly the favorite of

Valle Inclan. As we have had occasion to observe above,

Valle has concentrated all his mystic knowledge and convictions into one book with the oriental title of

La Lampara Maravillosa. That book was published in 1916.

Since the publication date of the Pasajero is 1920, it is legitimate to assume that the two works are the product of a single season, which we are pleased to call J,mystic" - of the peculiar mysticism characterized by contemplative

Neoplatonism. Not that Vallefs mystic convictions are limited to that period. Traces of mysticism are to be found throughout the work of our writer. But at that 167

time his mind must have dwelt at length on such arguments, if we are to judge by the result of the two volumes of the same character published at a distance, of only four years from each other. Considering also the nature of the volume of poetry and the evidence of subsequent revision, it is also legitimate to add that in the wake of the prose of the Lampara Maravillosa, the poetic works flourished through four years that preceded the actual publication date.

The mystic factor that we find in the Pasajero is none other than that of the Lampara Maravillosa. We cannot find any trace of evolution of thought or of taste.

The same vocabulary serves for both the prose and the verse, and the thought is all concentrated in the obsession of Time.

El Tiempo es la carcoma que trabaja Por Satanas. iY Dios es el Presente! (Rosa Gnostica)

The supreme ideal of human life continues to be represented by contemplation and the fixity of things. 168

What moves, moves because it exists in Time. Time disturbs the order of things and creates tragedy in the human spirit. On the other hand, contemplation is beatitude. Hence that aura of religiosity which pervades the poems of the Pasajero, where, after reading the book we feel that we have indeed lived the life of a traveller who has tried all that life has to offer in order to be able- to reach the eventual peace of the spirit.

If we want to discover a difference between the contemplation as it appears in the prose of the Lampara

Maravillosa and that of the poetry of the Pasajero, then we must remember that the Lampara Maravillosa was conceived as the theoretical expression which was then followed by its practice in verse. In the Lampara

Maravillosa, Valle Inclan speaks of contemplation and explains it. Now, in the Pasajero, he applies it.

Thus it is no longer a case of merely mentioning the word, but the principle is exemplified. It is enough to 139

think of those poems which are made up of exclamations:

iEternos imperios! iDorados sagrarios! iClaves del gran Todo! iRezo en sus laudes! iVoluntades quietas! JSolemnes virtudes! ... (Rosas astrales)

iAurea Matematica! IWumen Categorico! iLogos de la Forma! ITeologal Crisol! (Rosa del Sol)

These exclamations can also appear in Valle’s poetry in a more extended form, sometimes comprising whole sentences, which take up a complete strophe:

iEscalas por donde Al alma responde El que se me esconde! (Vitrales)

Or they can be a whole prophetic pronouncement:

JTodo hacia la muerte avanza de concierto, Toda la vida es mudanza hasta ser muerto! (Rosa de Job)

Here we find a very decided echo of the famous Coplas of Jorge Manrique in both the form and the content of the verse. (10)

The didactic tone which was so insistent in the 170

Lampara Maravillosa, when he says, for instance "Mirar atras con el dolor de haber vivido es pasar bajo el

arco de la muerte", appears also in the Pasajero, but in minor mode. Here the poetic form imposes restrictions, whereas in the Lampara Maravillosa he had only to let his pen flow.

The mystical note is accompanied by magic, and it is precisely this magic that has inspired one of Valle’s finest sonnets. The duena, in Asterisco, who raises her hand to catch the fly, motionless in her position with her eyes intent on her prey, which is the only moving thing in the whole picture, has all the appearance of a "bruja" and "ciencia cabalxstica dicta sus posturas".

In other places, the magic element which is diffused through the book in much the same way as the mysticism, provides the picturesque aspect. Not only is the vocabulary the same as that in the Lampara Maravillosa, but the images are also repeated. Valle loved magic.

Already in his treatise the fusion of mystical and magic 171

elements took place so naturally that the inattentive reader might well overlook them. But when we are aware of their presence, we feel just how much Valle enjoyed them, their sound and their effect on the reader. Thus, as in the Lampara Maravillosa, so also in certain lines of the Pasajero we find the word •'enigma1' cropping up from time to time. Even if we know quite well what the word means, we cannot escape that magic aura that it casts, linked as it is in the history of centuries with Egyptian and Mexican pyramids, but no matter. Valle loves the magico-exotic and uses any figure, where the meeting of straight lines, even geometrically, gives the suspicion of the presence of magic. But he goes no further than that. It can be said that the magic of

Valle Inclan, both in his prose and in his verse, has never raised phantoms: it has created images and symbols, but it has called forth nothing more than poetic sentiments.

Valle is very free in the creation of his symbols, and what gnostic culture has suggested to him is not enough: 172

he uses it all and then adds more of his own. The. symbols take on a certain meaning according to the fancy of our author, and even change within the course of a single work, being sometimes reduced to the mere indicative function of the word itself. Let us take the case of the word "rosa11. In the Lampara Maravillosa, this expression is used as a symbol of the product of love and finds, with three different attributes, three different applications to a principle of trinity, which the poet establishes at the highest point of a mystic construction. But the principle of the rose appears again here in the Pasajero, especially in the titles, always accompanied by a different attribute. This induces us to think that the term ’’rosa11 is given a meaning even wider, to the point of making us suspect that Valle simply wants to say: paragon, flower, perfection and therefore - symbol par excellence.

With the use of these symbols, as with the use of the whole magico-mystic equipment, Valle Inclan tends 173

to give us a cold, impersonal type of art, made up of images. But as we have seen, the autobiographical factor crops up here and there with a certain insistence, and it is strange to observe that the very same thing happens in the Pasajero as happened in the Lampara

Maravillosa. In the earlier book, where he wanted to express all his aesthetic principles, we find repeated allusions to essential facts of his life mixed in with the mystic-aesthetic treatise. Just as he was unable there to fuse them completely in the theoretical exposition, so here we find that they give rise to two types of lyric, according to whether they are, or are not, present.

However, in the Pasajero, the poet succeeds in keeping himself always at the level of a deep and internal unifying thread, both where he draws on the symbology of his mysticism and also where the personal aspect abounds. This book is almost entirely lacking those references to the landscape of his youth that we 174

found in Aromas de Leyenda, and the whole discourse seems to be cast upon a higher plane of symbols and lyricism. The experience of our poet is more mature and more productive. Valle now composes his lyrics by himself, with the material that he himself has created. He has no further need to retrace figures in his past experience nor to present them to the reader with the sometimes rather facile lyricism inspired by memory. In the workshop of the Lampara

Maravillosa Vall$, the artisan,has created his material and now he presents it to us, forging a work that is original and finished in all its parts.

The mysticism of numbers suggests the arrangement of the poems: thirty-six poems grouped in four sections

(each containing nine, which is a multiple of three) the four parts reminiscent of four aspects of man’s nature. It is worth noting here that Valle frequently tried to present his works in well-balanced compartments: the idea of the four aspects of man is not overtly 175

expressed here, but Valle had already applied the same

kind of technique in the adventures of the Marques de

Bradomxn, whose autobiographical book is presented in

four seasons of the protagonist*s life.

In the Pasajero, it would not seem that Valle first

designed the whole book and then wrote poems suitably

to fit the various compartments. The plan looks rather

as though it had been made afterwards, and it is very

probable that the individual poems were written

according to his fancy, without any previous intent.

The idea of ordering them into a set pattern could well

have come to him later, for the reader, attracted by the

external division, will seek in vain for an obvious unifying thread. There are some entirely allegorical

poems, in which the allegory hides the magic landscape of the visionary, as we saw at times in the Lampara

Maravillosa. At other times, and without any evident

intention, the poetry is an impression, with the fixity

of a picture in the various objects described. At still 176

others, it is a mere feeling portrayed. Sometimes it is polemical, autobiographical, angry, personal. One fact alone gathers these poems under one and the same heading, and it is the common material that we find in the Lampara Maravillosa. Even in this book, the diffuse mysticism is not enough to allow us to define it as truly mystic, nor do the other elements let us regard it as aesthetic - or, much less, autobiographical.

It is a composite book, certainly beautiful in many points, but confused and lacking homogeneity. And where the autobiographical note, having shaken off the weight of doctrine, acquires a shape of its own, there we find sublime passages, projected as they are out of the history of a man into the crystalline aura of art, beyond human experience, in contact with true poetry.

Almost the same reasoning must be applied to the themes that we find in the Pasajero, with the difference that the preaching tone has now disappeared. In the Pasajero, the visionary gives us his fruit, so to speak, the result of his magic. Not that he always succeeds easily.

However, we wish to point out here the attempt, because it is a very peculiar part of the book. The great oriental images that we find in our reading of these poems are interwoven with autobiographical memories, as though one idea suggested another in a harmonious chain. Yet the two thematic elements never fuse and they end by giving the impression of being of too diverse a nature to stand side by side. 178

7. STYLE

Stylistically, the Pasajero is more mature than

Aromas de Leyenda, and the passage of years separating

the two books can be felt in the greater variety and

daring of Valle’s craftsmanship and in the increased

sophistication of his verse-forms. The tone is still restrained and the language admirably controlled, but the wider range of theme inevitably brings increased vocabulary, and the poet has adhered less rigidly to the unity of expression within the line or stanza, thus making his verse more flexible. We find also that Valle's interest now centers almost entirely on the evocative quality of his words rather than on their

sound or his manner of using them with musical ends.

We saw that in the Breve Noticia he advocated the union for the first time of apparently antagonistic expressions in order to create a new personal poetry, and he has attempted this here with great success and without exaggeration. In the Pasajero, the language is strong and force­ ful because the poet’s imagination is vivid, but we find that it is the plasticity of his images that remains with us rather than the musical or artistic expression of them.

The few poems with landscape background are reminiscent of the Aromas de Leyenda, but this landscape cannot be fully linked with the poet’s memory of Galicia.

It has now taken on a more abstract quality of anonymity expressed in the interplay of abstract and concrete expressions as well as by the lack of verbs, as for instance in Rosa del Caminante:

Alamos fnos en un claro cielo. - Azul con timideces de cristal - Sobre el rio la bruma como un vuelo, Y las dos torres de la catedral.

And later in the same sonnet:

la fuente seca. En torno el vocerio, Las odres a la puerta del meson.

We find the same technique in the listing of disparate

Celtic elements without verbs in Rosa Matinal: 180

El agrio vino, las melosas ninas, La vaca familiar, el pan acedo, Un grato son de flauta entre las vinas, Y un mistico ensalmar en el robledo.

As long as we remain in this style of impressionistic listing of the constitutive elements of a picture, the sense finishes not only with each stanza, but also at the end of each line (and sometimes also at the cesura) and there is no tendency to use en jambement♦ In this respect Valle is still in some ways the poet of Aromas de Leyenda.

Since the tone of the Pasajero is, however, predom­ inantly mystic, the language is that of the Lampara Mara- villosa and in the more obscure poems the very difficulty of the specialized vocabulary demands of the reader just that contemplation devoid of reasoning that Valle advocates for the appreciation of Beauty. Only by contemplating aid enjoying these poems can we get into tune with our author in his flights into the realm of the extra-sensory.

He himself describes the mystic process in Rosaleda: 181

El Alma se daba, Dandose gozaba, Y transcendia Su esencia en goce. Se consunua En la alegria Del que conoce.

For example, in Valle's sonnet to the sun, Rosa del Sol, a literal approach on the part of the reader will help very little in understanding the second quatrain:

iSalve Sacro Verbo! iPheuma Categorico! iLogos de la Forma! iTeologal Crisol! iSacro Verbo Metrico! Canta el Pitagorico Yambico, Dorado Numero del Sol.

Besides this specialized mystic vocabulary, Valle has occasion in one or two poems reminiscent of his Spanish-

American trip to introduce Mexican terms. But even here there is great restraint in their use, and we are not made to feel that they supply mere external decoration.

They set a mood and their heavy, exotic quality adds to the heat of the scene.

It is in two poems of Mexican inspiration that we find a new technique in the presentation of persons. 182

Apart from a few scattered examples, we have now left behind the tapestry-like figures that regularly wound their way through the landscapes of the old-world

Galicia of our poet*s soul in Aromas de Leyenda, and we are brought closer into touch with the few people that appear in isolated poems of the Pasajero. Two of these are Mexican and remain in our minds as individuals, for they have now taken on a third dimension and leave an impression that stands out sharp and clear in its outline. Valle has presented them to us in a fixed moment of experience that remains frozen for the duration of the poem. The Indian rider in Alegorxa is, as it were, petrified in the light of the setting sun, and only at the end of the sonnet does he move.

When he does finally break the spell, it is to ride away like a whip. The golden brown coloring pervading the picture gives a sense of Mexican heat and thick, heavy hues: 183

Era nocturno el potro. Era el jinete De cobre - un indio que nacio en Tlaxcala - Y su torso desnudo, coselete Dorado y firme, al de la avispa iguala.

The other person presented as a Mexican individual, the nina of Rosa de Turbulus, is placed in all the burning heat of Mexico in a setting of exotic words.

The stifling atmosphere and the effect of sultriness are intensified by the few languid movements of an otherwise static poem. We have flies "bordoneando con el calor", the payado^s guitar "se desconsuela", the serpent, having shed its "clamide", is now basking in the sun on the stones of a pyramid, where "se hipnotiza frente a la luz", the hammock "vuela . . . con ritmo lento", the nina (who is surely none other than La Nina Chole of

Sonata de Estxo) all golden beneath her hipil "asoma un pie de oro bajo el fustan" and "se abanicaba con una rosa"

(this last being possibly one of the clumsiest lines that our style-conscious poet has ever written). The constant shifting between the present and the imperfect tense, 184

apparently without any special design, gives a feeling of timelessness and a sensation of being half-overcome by the stifling afternoon. Despite the slight move­ ment within each element of the picture, the scene is caught and fixed, as it were, in a petrified whole.

Another individual who remains long in our memory, through being presented by the same technique, is the duena of Asterisco, who is equally frozen into her sinister attitude. Here the buzzing of the fly provides the only movement around what might be a piece of statuary, but we know that when the duena moves it will also be with the speed of a whip to catch her prey. The immobility of the figure is suggested particularly by the monotony of the unusual sonnet rhyme (AAAA BBBB CCC DDD) and by the plasticity of the description, which is heightened by the fact that the duena is watching the fly in a mirror and that the image is therefore in duplicate.

Ready to catch the unsuspecting fly, she holds her hand rigid ’’puesta en circonflejo1'. The hand is further 185

described as '"suspensa en el aire la mano felina11 and

"la mano suspensa para obrar el mal". The completely

impersonal Parnassian technique gives the sharpness

of a carving to these poems.

In the Pasajero, Valle has not relied on the

stylistic devices of internal rhyme and assonance for

any of his effects, as we found in Aromas de Leyenda, but his technique is concerned rather with imagery. He

has suppressed similes to concentrate on metaphors, which are now even richer and more original than in the earlier book. Since a metaphor is a comparison in which the term of comparison is omitted, the poet counts on the collaboration of his reader, for he merely suggests this comparison and leaves it to the reader to follow the play of his images. This is one of the characteristics of modern poetry, and it is only natural that Valle should develop its use in the Pasajero.

Some typical metaphors ares 186

Y era la armoniosa voz del mundo, una Onda azul que rompe en la playa de oro. (Rosa de Melancolia)

Rojo pecado sus labios son, Y sus caderas el anagrama De la serpiente. (Rosa de Turbulus)

El tiempo es la carcoma que trabaja Por Satanas. (Rosa Gnostica)

jEspina del dolor, rasga mi vida En una herida de encendida lumbre! (La trae una paloma)

Examples of synesthesia also abound, but they are in no way exaggerated, such as:

La luz anaranjada . . . rie (Rosa Vespertina)

iEra el cielo cristal, canto y sonrisa! (Rosa del Paraiso)

Decia su hamaca con cadenciosa Curvo de opio, versos de Abril. (Rosa de Turbulus)

...En la tiniebla transparente De sus ojos, la luz es un silbido. (Rosa de Oriente)

Valle's imagery is striking and remarkably concrete. With great skill he has put into practice his theory of mating 187

apparently disparate words and has thereby gained a

striking effect. The following examples, taken from

three typical poems, will illustrate his style:

Y tengo el alma libre de hiel (Rosa Hiperbolica)

Pulsan las penas en la ventana (Rosa Hiperbolica)

Yo marche solo con mis leones (Rosa Hiperbolica)

Cantan todas las hojas de los olmos, La mano azul del viento va entre ellos. (Rosa del Parafso)

Vi sobre el mar una nocturna vaca (Rosa del Parafso)

Violento como un leon Estruje en la garra rampante, Humeante, mi corazon. (Rosa de Furias)

These examples are typical of many, all just as original

and personal.

In the Pasajero, as in Aromas de Leyenda, Valle

Inclan is clearly concerned with the position and choice

of adjectives. In the later book we no longer feel that he places them before or after a noun merely to 188

satisfy a musical end. On the contrary, if he has

broken away from normal Spanish usage, it is in order to heighten the effect of certain images. A change

in his taste is also to be observed in his choice of

adjectives of color, for the colorless adjectives

" cristalino", "bianco”, depicting the transparent hues

in Aromas de Leyenda have now been replaced by strong reds and yellows - the typical colors of Spain - and more insistence on greens and blues - which are usually

connect with land and sea (or sky) but which here are not necessarily applied to Nature. The whole setting of this book has thus become more dramatic and passionate.

The reds, yellows (usually rendered "dorado"), greens

and blues are conspicuously predominant all through, and

it is interesting to note the position he assigns to each with regard to its substantive.

The adjective rojo regularly precedes its noun, as

in rojas claveles. rojos corales, rojo pecado, roja llama

(Rosa de Turbulus). The adjective dorado tends also to 189

precede its noun, as in dorada historia (Rosa Matinal), dorados cerros (Rosa de mi Romerfa), dorado numero

(La Rosa del Sol). The adjective verde is also found frequently before its noun, as in verde cristal (Rosa

Matinal), verde brote (Alegorxa), verde clamide (Rosa de Turbulus). The adjective azul shows the opposite tendency, possibly because the accent on the second syllable makes for smoother pronunciation when it follows. Thus we find: azules espejos (Rosa de mi

Romerfa), onda azul (Rosa de Melancolfa), tarde azul

(Rosa del Reloj).

Naturally there are times when the musical result plays some part in the choice of position for an adjective, and these will be distributed to give an effect of balance. This is noticeable in two consecutive lines of Rosa Matinal, when in the first line both the adjectives precede their noun and in the second line they follow: El agrio vino, las melosas ninas, La vaca familiar, el pan acedo.

We find a similar phenomenon in Rosa de mi Romeria, where three lines of one stanza contain the attributive adjective before its noun:

iPor dorados cerros, Dorados becerros, Pastoril tropel! and in three lines of the following stanza, the very same type of adjective follows:

Risas halagiienas, Tropel pastoril. Las sayas villanas...

Valle's favorite prose device of using three successive expressions of one kind, although rendered difficult by the limitations of the poetic form, still occurs with a certain frequency.

The following examples of three successive nouns are found:

Era el cielo cristal, canto y sonrisa (Rosa del Parafso) Lagrimas, cartas y carvtares (Rosa del Reloj)

iSlerpe! IRosa! iFuego! (Cortesana de Alexandria)

Three adjectives occur together:

Los ojos negros, calidos, astutos (Rosa de Oriente)

iRosas divinas, castas, lujuriosas! (Gozos de la Rosa)

The same device occurs with three infinitives:

De amar, cantar y adormecer! (La Rosa Panida)

As we saw with the device of repetition in Aromas de Leyenda, the use of anaphora gives an even stronger effect, as will be seen from the following examples.

We find the word era used in this way:

Era una reina de raza maya, Era en un bosque de calisaya, Y era la aurora. (Rosa de Turbulus)

Anaphora of the adjective rojo is found with telling effect:

Rojas claveles prende en la rolla, Rojos corales al cuello enrolla, Rojo pecado sus labios son. (Rosa de Turbulus) 192

this device is found in more extended form with the

word donde used anaphorically:

cDonde la verde quiebra de la altura Con rebahos y musicos pastores? cDonde gozar de la vision tan pura

Que hace hermanas las almas y las flores? dDonde cavar en paz la sepultura Y hacer mxstico pan con mis dolores? (La trae un cuervo)

One of Valle’s very few onomatopeic effects is also

triple in movement:

El gato que runfla, La puerta. que cruje, La gotera glo-glo-glo. (Rosa del Pecado)

In summary, we can now say that in the style of the poems of the Pasajero we have been able to find two

fundamental characteristics:

1) the use of the fixed image

2) a word-technique which is new to Valle

The images tend towards an immobility analogous to that of a picture. They have an inner dramatic quality that is expressed rather in their meaning than in the 193

lines that designate them. Valle seeks to express a contemplative ideal, by stopping the action and immobilizing it. Even the choice of words seems to favor his mystic contemplation, especially when used in the technique of exclamatory formulae.

With these tv/o means, Valle wages his battle with

Time, always pursuing the chimera of eternity in art.

His true conquest lies, however, in his personal style or at least in a change that has offered him possibilites differing from those revealed in his first volume of poems. 194

8. VERSIFICATION

Valle’s main interest is still in the connotation

of words rather than in their mere rhythm or sound, and

in constructing his lines he continues to avoid regularly

marked rhythmic patterns and strong resonance. Thus

his poetry is to be read rather for its meaning than for

the exhilaration of its music.

Every poem in the Pasajero is rhymed, whereas in

Aromas de Leyenda we found assonance on eccasion. Here

again Valle has no difficulty with rhyme. His rhymes

are strong and rich, and they always sound unforced and

natural. The rhymes are always perfect. It is

interesting that in the Lampara Maravillosa, as we saw,

Valle stressed the great importance of rhyme, but he did

not tackle the problem of rhythm. He said:

La rima es un sortilegio emocional del que los antiguos solo tuvieron un vago conocimiento. (11)

and again: 195

La rima junta en un verso la emocion de otro verso con el cual concierta... El concepto sigue siendo obra de todas las palabras, esta diluido en la estrofa, pero la emocion se concita y vive en aquellas palabras que contienen un tesoro de emociones en la simetrxa de sus letras. (12)

Having discussed the poetic value of the word and rhyme, it is significant that Valle did not declare himself on the subject of rhythm, yet he must have given great attention to his versification. One detail suffices to show his concern: once he begins a pattern, for instance ABAB with A a rima liana and B a rima aquda, he keeps the llana-aguda pattern even when the rhyme changes. This happens absolutely consistently and is enough to show how aware he was of verse-length.

In general Valle prefers an alternation of rima liana and rima aquda. or rima liana alone. There is an almost total absence of rima esdrujula.

In the Pasajero, fifteen of the thirty-six poems are sonnets, which is interesting in view of the fact that Aromas de Leyenda contained no sonnets at all and

we will see later that Valle has used one only in

La Pipa de Kif. As we saw in the section on themes,

Valle’s whole effort in this book is directed towards

the construction of forms for human existence, and it

may well be that he saw in this very verse-form the

ethical expression of existence. In the timeless

Aromas de Leyenda, where movement was denied, we tended

to find the longer narrative forms of poetry. In the

later Pipa de Kif, where Valle will break all bounds,

the sonnet will no longer contain his expression. Thus

it may be explained that almost one half of the Pasajero

is expressed in the sonnet form and that it does not occur (with one exception) in the other two books.

The majority of the sonnets are rhymed in theFrench

style (ABAB etc.) rather than in the Spanish manner (ABBA etc.)

and,following the trend of Ruben Dario still further, Valle has three French-type sonnets in short lines (two of nine

syllables and one of ten syllables). The remaining poems 197

in the Pasajero vary from the hexasyllable to the

Alexandrine.

There is a perfect example of the hexasyllabic

line in Rosa de mi Romeria, with sextilla stanza

rhymed AABCCB. Vitrales is another hexasyllabic poem,

in monorhymed tercets. This somewhat un-Spanish rhyme

scheme is possibly derived from the French, who used it

frequently with a decasyllabic line, later imitated by

Ruben Darfo in dodecasyllables.

Rosa de Belial and Rosa Deshojada are also in

hexasyllables, with cuarteta rhyme (ABAB etc.). This

cuarteta rhyme was Valle's favorite by far and recurs

in a great majority of his poems.

Valle has only one poem in heptasyllables in the

Pasajero (Rosa Vespertina) and with pareado rhyme-scheme.

This is not a perfect heptasyllabic stanza, however, for the fourth line is always a pie quebrado of from two to four syllables.

The romance line of eight syllables does not occur in this book. 198

The eneasilabo is popular with Valle and appears six times in the Pasajero. Four of these are long poems- three of which have cuarteta rhyme and the fourth

(La Rosa del Reloj) has a five-lined stanza, which could be a variation of the quintilla (usually in eight syllables) since it rhymes ABBAA. The two shorter poems are nine- syllabled sonnets in the French style, one with the traditional Spanish rhyme (ABBA) and the other rhymed in the French manner (ABAB). Of the longer poems, two

(Rosa Panida and Karma) have pie quebrado, which greatly adds to the intensity of feeling.

Valle uses the ten-syllabled line in Rosa de Turbulus with sextilla rhyme (AABCCB), in Rosa Hiperbolica rhyming

ABAB, and in a 10-syllabled sonnet, also rhyming ABAB etcT

This type of line adapts itself so readily to the alter­ nation of dactyl and trochee, giving the "jingle11 effect of a compound duple time in music, that only a consummate artist of Valle’s calibre could succeed in writing a poem in this meter that still gives precedence to meaning over 199

rhythm. How easy it would have been for him to continue in the strong movement of Va la carreta bamboleante (Rosa Hiperbolica), Crepusculares moscas de pro (Rosa de Turbulus) or Es la tristeza divina herencia (Rosa Salomonica) and find himself caught in the rhythmic progression! Not only this, but Valle has deliberately run a further risk by giving the B rhyme in each of these three poems to a palabra aquda, which he maintains throughout seven stanzas in the one poem, no less than ten stanzas in the other, and in the seven alternating rhymes of the sonnet. For example:

Por el camino sobre una foz (Rosa Hiperbolica)

Bordoneando con el calor (Rosa de Turbulus)

Voy peregrine sobre la mar (Rosa Salomonica)

Valle avoids this danger by the devices of varying the position of his stresses and by strong enjambement, thus diverting attention from the rhythm and bringing the meaning of the words into prominence.

The eleven-syllabled line is well represented in the 200

Pasajero. It is found in both sonnets and longer poems.

Valle has used the twelve-syllabled line for the

sonnet form, as for example in Rosas Astrales, La Rosa del Sol, Rosa de Melancolxa, Cortesana de Alexandria,

Asterisco and Rosa del Suspiro.

The fourteen-syllabled line, the Alexandrine, occurs only once in the Pasajero, in Rosaleda, which is a mixture of forms, containing five stanzas of Alexandrine, one of hendecasyllable and one of hexasyllable, with an irregular rhyme-scheme.

No matter what length of line Valle chooses, he is

always careful to keep the number of his syllables consistent, but it is characteristic of his poetry that

it does not break up into regular binary or ternary move­ ment, as does that of many of his predecessors. It is a natural tendency of a traditional poet to feel the rhythm of his verse in regular movements, which he will then intentionally break, if he finds that they become monotonous over a period of time. Thus a marked rhythm is 201

characteristic of poetry, and any break-away would constitute the exception.

In Antonio Machado, we find consistent binary movement in:

Leyendo un claro dfa mis bien amados versos, he visto en el profundo espejo de mis suenos (Introduccion a Galerias) or equally consistent ternary movement in:

dSevilla?..iGranada?..La noche de luna Angosta la calle, revuelta y moruna, de blancas paredes y obscuras ventanas. (Fantasia de una noche de abril)

Ruben Darfo, when not writing in rhythmic groups, also shows consistency in maintaining binary movement:

A mi frente agobia un lauro que predice mi futuro, y en la vida soy un Tauro que derriba fuerte muro. (Toison) or ternary movement:

Es viejo ese lobo. Tostaron su cara Los rayos de fuego del sol del Brasil. (Sinfonia en gris mayor) 2 0 2

To go even further back, we find the same features in Becquer:

Yo soy el invisible anillo que sujeta el mundo de la forma al mundo de la idea. (Rima V)

iCuanta nota dormxa en sus cuerdas como el pajaro duerme en las ramas (Rima VII)

These typical examples should suffice to show the contrast between the strong rhythmic sweep of poets whom Valle knew and the broken rhythms that he himself preferred to employ. It is almost as though Valle made a special effort to avoid the regular movement in order to give his his verse the musical effect of hemiola - or cross-rhythm - and thus bring his poetry nearer to the sound of prose.

It would thus be impossible to march or dance to a recitation of Valle’s verse.

There are times when, although he writes in a set number of syllables, he seems to feel the line in rhythmic phrases, as we discussed in connection with Aromas de 203

Leyenda. It is possible, for instance, to find within

a single stanza of four lines four different types of rhythmic phrases, one to open each line. The opening

stanza of Rosaleda illustrates this:

Cuando iba (dissyllabic) Escuche (trisyllabic) En la alborada (tetrasyllable) Daba (monosyllabic)

This poem might even be written as prose:

Cuando iba por la selva nocturna, sin destino, escuche una esperanza cantar sobre el camino, en la alborada de oro. Yo pasaba. Su canto daba sobre una lirica fresca rama de acanto. Saliendo de mi Noche, por una rosaleda entre. La luz que habxa era verde reseda.

This calls to mind Valle’s own statement in the Conversacion con Gerardo Diego: "No hay diferencia esencial entre prosa y verso." This free use of enjambement is new to Valle in the Pasajero. We saw in Aromas de Leyenda how the sense tended to finish with each line and the topic frequently finished at the end of a stanza. But in the

Pasajero, our poet seems to have gone to the extreme limits in the use of this device. It is enough to cite the indefinite article separated from its noun: 204

Y era la armoniosa voz del mundo, una Onda azul... (Rosa de Melancolfa)

Y amanece en las ondas sobra una Barca de piedra... (Rosa Matinal) or a demonstrative adjective separated from its noun:

...Aquella Dulce nina que la manzana Ofrecfa como una estrella. (Rosa de mi Abril)

In this daring and revolutionary use of enjambement which went against the current rules of prosody, we can already see the transition from standard versification to free verse - or, poetic prose. 205

9. CONCLUSION

The volume El Pasajero appeared, as we have said, in

1920. The preceding year saw the publication of the

Pipa de Kif, another short collection of poems. A careful

examination of articles and reviews in the periodicals of

the time does not reveal that critics gave special attention

to Valle Inclan’s poetry, even on its first appearance.

The reason for this silence might be sought in the fact that Valle’s art, although extremely individual, does not offer anything particularly sensational. It was not

Ultraist, nor Futurist, nor Surrealist, and it might even

have seemed ’’passe" to some of the more advanced young

Imagists of the time. Possibly, too, the fact that he was better known as a prose writer and dramatist tended to obscure his poetry.

If we observe the words of Montesinos in his anthology published at Leipzig in 1927, only seven years after the appearance of the Pasajero, we will find a very significant echo of this lack of attention on the part of critics. 206

Montesinos says:

[Es darf uns also nicht wundernehmen], dass Valle Inclan der ehemalige "sensacionalista" zu einem der typischesten "intelectualistas" und "La Pipa de Kif" (1919) sowie "El Pasajero" (1920) die beiden fiir seine Lyrik bezeichnendsten Werke wurden. (13)

This makes us think that Montesinos, in order to give a qualification to the poetry of Valle Inclan of those years felt the adjective "intelectualista" more than justified, perhaps because this qualification corresponded to the general opinion of critics and readers.

In that one word "intelectualista", it is possible to read a whole interpretation that the critic has wished to make of his writer. Valle Inclan in certain moments, perhaps for that very characteristic that he had of expressing himself through images, may appear cold, and it is this coldness that is frequently imputed to the

Parnassians. Since the image is a product rather of the intellect than of the heart, this may well have led to Valle*s having frequently been considered an "intelectualista". 207

Undoubtedly Valle Inclan is not a spontaneous

writer and his inspiration lies dormant in his mind

for a long time before it takes shape in expression on

the page. In the particular case of the poems of the

Pasajero, we have seen how the poet first, some time

before, created for himself the sources of his

inspiration in writing the Lampara Maravillosa, which

he then followed with the volume of verse, elaborating

with great care all its details. The inspiration of

the Pasajero is thus in large part already fixed, since

the book of prose was constructed before it. On this

point there can be no possible doubt. It is important

to remember that the Lampara Maravillosa is not a novel,

nor an ordinary work of fiction. With all its defects, we cannot deny its fundamental character of a book of

philosophy. It is a treatise of that particular section

of philosophy called ^estetica3'. Valle Inclan says in that book what his principles of aesthetics are and

presents them to us based on mystic principles. In the 208

Pasajero, we find those very same aesthetic principles and those mystic principles, no longer expounded in theory, but now applied in the practice of poetry.

Thus if, with Montesinos, we want to speak of "intellec- tual poetry*', we must not forget to add also the adjective "mystic". All that we find of calculation, of numerical or premeditated in the Pasajero, is such because of the mystic thought that guided the poet in his composition. Mystic images have always had a strong attraction for poets - it is enough to think of

Dante - and their pictorical symmetry has inspired artists of all times, without imposing limits on them.

The fact that Valle Inclan had already in his treatise, the Lampara Maravillosa, the major sources of his inspiration, has preserved him from the direct influence of other contemporary poets. A study of influences such as that made by Casares (14) on the prose of Valle Inclan may perhaps yield some isolated fruit, but it can never shake the fundamental originality 209

of this poetry. From the Lampara Maravillosa there have passed into the Pasajero not only its merits but also its defects. For example, the reader of the

Lampara Maravillosa finds that there is a certain dis­ continuity in the book, not only in the thought, but also in its composition. The autobiographical note sometimes takes the hand of the philosopher, who dilates in long descriptions of memories of youth that have no real part in the text. A very similar thing occurs in the Pasajero. As we have already observed earlier in the analysis of the themes of this book, the individual poems, although contained within a framework which binds them in a certain unity, do not constitute a homogeneous group and can very easily be read separately and in any order. The design of the life of man in its four aspects may have suggested the position of this or that poem, but there is no inner linking thread by which we might retrace the development of thought or of art, parallel to that of the life of man. The single poems 210

are, however, classified at least into two large sections: one containing those of mystic character and the other those on the autobiographical subject. But each poem considered individually is homogeneous and well-rounded: just as the poetica of the Lampara Maravillosa suggests.

The autobiographical recollections are scattered through the collection and give it a certain variety, even a depth, that is never attained by the mere mystic exaltation.

In order to understand the real scope of the mystic contemplation of many of these poems, it is necessary to have first read the Lampara Maravillosa, because only by so doing does one find that all those allegories, those symbols, acquire meaning. For example: in the sixth stanza of Rosa Gnostica we find:

Guarda el Tiempo el enigma de las Formas Como un dragon sobre los mundos vela, Y el Todo y la Unidad, supremas normas, Tejen el infinito de su estela.

This is the poetic form of the fifth glosa of the chapter entitled El anillo de Giges in the Lampara Maravillosa. 211

The glosa reads:

Cuando se rompen las normas del tiempo, el instante mas pequeno se rasga como un vientre prenado de eternidad. El extasis es el goce de sentirse engendrado en el infinito de ese instante. (15)

In the body of the chapter these affirmations of

Neoplatonic faith are placed in relationship with the direct experience of the poet, who says at a certain point:

Halle y goce como un pecado mistico la mudanza de las formas y el fluir del Tiempo. (16)

Thus we move from a personal experience to a mystic interpretation, and thence to its poetic expression.

Yet when in his mystic ecstasy the poet intones his invocations:

iNumen Celeste! iGeometrxa Dorada! even the best informed reader finds it difficult to be moved or to feel the poetic inspiration.

The poems devoid of ^mysticism” are quite another matter. In them the inspiratory motif is provided by 212

certain events that have left a deep mark on the psyche

of our poet. In some cases it is not even a question

> of definite facts, but only of a particular attitude

► assumed by the poet in bygone times. The poetic aura

which surrounds these results from the fact that they

1 are essentially memories. The period of youth is

characterized by the poet's first sea-trip over the

Atlantic Ocean, and his first stay in Mexico. Then

his return and his life as a man of letters in Madrid.

In the poems which treat this subject, the mystic

element is completely lacking. On the contrary there

predominates an intimacy of expression, a depth of

feeling, that we do not find when we are dealing with

the other topic. In both - the mystic and the personal -

Valle Inclan must express himself with a certain elaborate­

ness, with a certain study of syllables and accents: yet

the personal experience is the one which dictates to him,

here and there, lines that are of the highest beauty.

We talk of beauty in relation to those lines where the 213

harmony of the composition is perfectly adapted to

the thought expressed.

Valle Inclan proceeds always to his expression

by means of images, and this is also the most success­

ful element of his art. The image, in the expression

of our poet, takes on a magic fixity which seems to

be an integral part of the nature of the poet. It is

not improbable that from this characteristic of thinking through fixed images he may have derived all his

contemplative mysticism and his aesthetics.

In the Pasajero, if we except the mystic part and

look at the more human part of his collection, after removing what is superfluous, we find ourselves left with two or three striking pictures, no more. If we then had to choose, or at least to indicate, those that

seem of the greatest beauty, we feel that the task would be somewhat difficult. Yet in our opinion, Valle Inclan has succeeded in giving us great poetry in those compositions where his images are the finest - where the 214

image is a human form contemplated in the fixity of an instant, with that process of mystic contemplation recommended in the Lampara Maravillosa. We remember, for example, Alegoria, where the figure of the Indian becomes ever more alive in its fixity right up to the last line, when the silence is broken by the stroke of a whip. We also remember Asterisco, where the woman at the mirror is fixed with her gaze upon the fly, and her fixity is so strangely magic. The images have acquired human form and in their contemplated fixity we feel that they are incredibly alive. This would seem to be the progress that Valle Inclan has made since the more humble art of Aromas de Leyenda. Naturally, we must not neglect the fact that in the time which had elapsed since the publication of the earlier book of poetry, Valle had undergone very diverse experiences.

His art had become refined and deepened; it had touched sublime moments of dramatic beauty in the Comedias Barbaras, of heroic passion in Voces de Gesta, of harmonious delicacy 215

in La Marquesa Rosalinda, and all these works must

have engendered as many experiences, highly important

in his progress as a man and as an artist. Thus his

art had acquired a greater human echo.

That human echo was already present in the

Lampara Maravillosa and had already emerged from Valle's

pen with new tragic accent. Here for the first time,

it appears in the discipline of poetry and it must be

admitted that we frequently find ourselves in the

presence of a new artistic conquest. We know with what

instruments Valle worked, and we know, too, that his

"forma mentis" could not yield up anything other than beautiful images. This tendency would place him among the poets of Parnassian taste.

By connecting one image with another, the poet reconstructs his own world and therefore also himself.

In the Pasajero, we feel that Valle, besides having the intention of composing single poems of a certain inspiration, has also tried to give us his self-portrait, 216

as in an effort to represent his own life in an allegorical formula. Throughout the book, the reader feels, or at least suspects, a certain attempt on the part of the poet to reconstruct himself in the effort to give to his own life a meaning deeper even than the poetry itself. This fact frequently remains at the stage of being an attempt, because by its very nature it is beyond the realm of art, yet it has not' prevented Valle's poetry from reaching moments of high lyricism. 217

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER III

1. Madariaga, Salvador de, op. cit. p.137.

2. Lafn Entralgo, P1., op. cit. p.93.

3. Balseiro, Jose A., Cuatro Individualistas de Espana. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1947, p.147.

4* LM p.70.

5. Berceo, G. de, op. cit. Introduction, p.6.

6. Gongora, Luis de, Soledades. Madrid, 1927, p.41.

7. LM p.167.

8. LM p.246.

9* LM p.51.

10. Manrique, Jorge, Cancionero, Madrid, Clasicos CasteHLanos, 1929, p.206.

11. LM p.69.

12. LM p.70.

13. Montesinos, Jose F., op. cit. p.85.

14. Casares, Julio, Crftica Profana (Valle Inclan, Azor£n, Ricardo Leon), Madrid, 1931*

15. LM p.43.

16. LM p.39. 218

CHAPTER IV

VALLE INCLAN AND THE ESPERPENTO

1. LA PIPA DE KIF 2. Smoke Visions 3. Illusion and Disillusion U- Castilian Landscape and its Tragic Humanity 5. Metropolis without Joy 6. From the Experiment with Imagery to the Analysis of Sensations 7. Summary of Themes o. Style 9. Versification ■ 10. Evaluation

1. LA PIPA DE KIF

In 1919, Valle Inclan published a volume of poems with the suggestive title of La Pipa de Kif. At first sight this is not a book of particularly wide scope, nor is i t a homogeneous work containing poems on the same argument or of the same character. Such is the impression 219

that strikes one at a first reading. But a more careful examination immediately dissipates this suspicion and reveals the same characteristic that we already noticed with regard to Aromas de Leyenda and the Pasajero:

Valle has planned an overall design that is large enough to contain poems written on various occasions. Thus in

Aromas de Leyenda, he has placed those compositions which are characterized by their legendary flavor. In the Pasajero, we find something more, which is the chronological influence of the Lampara Maravillosa, and here, in the Pipa de Kif, we are given other poetic dreams which Valle presents all together in the shape of pictures which he sees in the smoke as it emerges from an oriental drug in his pipe. Between Thomas de

Quincey (1) and Baudelaire (2) it is easy, only too easy, to find immediate predecessors of this pipe. In fact, Romantic precedents are too numerous to let us imagine a spontaneous generation of the pipe, and we shall see very soon how slight the relationship is between 220

the title and the poems.

The use of drugs to stimulate the imagination is one of the most striking elements of that artistic tendency which is usually called "Decadentismo". The term "artificial paradise" became familiar to poets, particularly in France, after Baudelaire published in

1861 a volume of essays on that subject, bearing the very title Les Paradis Artificiels. In this volume of essays we find among other things an elegant summary of the Confessions of an English Opium Eater, the work of Thomas de Quincey which had appeared in 1821. In this same volume, the last essay by Baudeliare is entitled Du vin et du haschisch, compares comme moyens de multiplication de l’individualitei, showing that the effect of hashish, or rather opium, had been of interest to the literary world for some time. This interest would certainly not be unknown to Valle Inclan who, along with the other Modernists in Spain, was well aware of contemporary French literature. Valle’s book of 221

poems thus bears a label that immediately relates it with French decadentism. Not only this, but we shall also find at the end of his book a sonnet in which he speaks of the effects of chloroform. The poems which furnish the real content of the volume thus stand between these two hallucinations - hashish and chloroform and the two drugs have merely the function of a literary artifice. 2. SMOKE VISIONS

Valle has taken great pains to make the reader understand that this book is new and bizarre in style.

It is presented by means of a pipe - a pipe smoked by the poet himself. Francisco Madrid reports a talk given by Valle during his stay in Buenos Aires on

Los Excitantes in which, commenting on the influence of hashish in literature, he said:

Confieso que lo he tornado en abundancia, sin saber sus consecuencias, y por prescripcion medica. (3)

The reader is to enjoy the results of this smoking, in the form of images distorted by a new artistic approach.

We find this idea conveyed in the first poem, consisting of eleven stanzas each containing four lines, which is called by the same title as the whole book: La Pipa de Kif.

Valle, as he presents himself to us with his oriental pipe, describes his rejuvenated soul:

Mis sentidos tornan a ser infantiles 223

and adds that for him the world has an early-morning

grace that is quite new:

En mi pipa el humo da su grito azul

and in the whirls of smoke there re-appears

...nina Primavera Que movio la rosa de mi corazon.

He imagines that he is in a

Barca fragante que guarda el tesoro De aromas y gemas de un cuento oriental!

The poet then proceeds to invite this beautiful girl,

”nifia Primavera”, and at the same time exalts her and dedicates to her an entire stanza of exclamations of the very same mystic tor.e as those that we found so often in the Pasajero:

iEncendida rosa! iEncendido toro! iEncendidos numeros que rimo Platon! iEncendidas normas por donde va el coro Del mundo. Esta el mundo en mi corazon.

The second poem, entitled iAleluya!, is much longer and of greater scope. It contains forty-one rhyming couplets and is a kind of Bacchic hymn, a mixture of the 224

studentesque and the carnivalesque. It shows one of those moments when a poet comes before his public and jokes, as though he were on holiday. The whole poem is a joke, full of sarcasm for the ancient rhetoric and of grotesque pleasantries for the new poetry.

Valle mentions Ruben Dario, whom he exalts in a long burst of fireworks and enthusiastic exclamations.

The intention of this poem is not serious, but merely wants to let us see in a certain way that even the poet likes to enjoy good company. This is expressed in lines that immediately recall Berceo:

Apuro el vaso de bon vino Y hago cantando mi camino.

Thus Valle, too, knows how to be jovial along his way, that is, as he travels the road of his life. 225

3. ILLUSION AND DISILLUSION

In the next four poems there is a flavor of

sadness which the poet feels in the contrast between

a life of pleasure and disillusionment. Following

somewhat in the spirit of certain paintings of Goya,

without describing what goes before and after, Valle

reaches a high point of pathos by showing us the

ruins of a house of cards trodden underfoot at the

end of a holiday - the smashing of illusions which

had produced temporary jocundity.

This is exemplified in the slightly ironical

laughter of the third poem, Fin del Carnaval, in

sixteen four-lined stanzas, where the poet does indeed present to us the last moments of a great day of carnival madness.

This composition is full of images and colors in strong contrast, and underlying these elements, there is also a bitter melancholy which, little by little, invades the whole poem, until it mingles with the last 226

coarse laughter of the carnival. Here we are in the presence of the germ of that esperpento which will find full flowering later in Luces de Bohemia and in the trilogy Martes de Carnaval. Here Valle seems to have approached his theme through the exercise of the preceding poetry and he now moves forward through a series of violent contrasts in which he juggles with opposing elements like laughter and tears, illusions and disillusions, hope and despair. Here the poet's favorite tool is still the image and many aspects of his presentation make us think that Goya may have been his real inspiration, as for instance in:

Con ritmos destartalados Lloran en tropel, Mitrados ensabanados. Mitras de papel.

Goya is also quite clearly present at the end, where

Valle's words recall the famous painting entitled

Entierro de la Sardina, which shows the end of a carnival in very much the way that Valle has pictured it: 227

Incerteza vespertina, Lluvia y vendaval: Entierro de la sardina, Fin del carnaval.

By now the reader has been well introduced to a technique which shows a new side of Valle’s art.

Here, among these grotesque images, we are in the presence of esperpento.

A similar flavor is found also in the fourth poem, which gives in thirteen cuartetas the description of a

Marina Nortena. This is seen from a tavern and we are given both the inside and the outside. Outside it is raining, but that does not prevent our having a strong impression of forms, colors and figures. As always in

Valle Inclan, the description of the scene cannot be made without letting us feel the presence of men and their work:

Viento y lluvia del mar. La luna flota Tras el nublado. Apenas se presiente, Lejana, la goleta que derrota Cortando el arco de la luz poniente. 228

Se ilumina el cuartel. Vagas siluetas Cruzan tras las ventanas enrejadas, Y en el gris de la tarde las cornetas Dan su voz como rojas llamaradas.

Thus the poet proceeds through the whole composition, observing and opposing one element with another, using verbs always in the present tense and sometimes inserting whole phrases that have no verb. This is a technique that reminds us of the Impressionistic painters, especially Cezanne, with the difference that here Valle also mentions and reproduces sounds. We might say, however, that he has entrusted the whole of the poetry of feelings to the evocative power of these things, which he manages so skilfully. The poem concludes:

De un quinque de laton la luz bisunta El tubo ahumado con un grito raja, Y esta en la puerta el hombre que pregunta: - cQuien quiere sacar filo a la navaja?

Now that we are accustomed to these new subjects and to the poetic forms of the new Valle, it does not come as a surprise to find that the fifth poem of the collection

is called: Bestiario, and that the one immediately following 229

it presents a circus. In Bestiario, the poet tells

us that in the Buen Retiro he discovered that the

^ casa de fieras is a romantic spot. Sixteen animals

* attract his powers of description: the lion, the

kangaroo, the tiger, the bear, the leopard, the wolf, I the giraffe, the panther, the elephant, the peacock,

the monkey, the parrot, the stork, the flamingo, the i goat and the crocodile.. An artist in search of images

could have found no better subject than a zoological

garden. But Valle’s images reflect also that sardonic

humor that we have already'observed, as he recalls in

past centuries the nobility (or less than nobility) of

these animals. It is not really these particular

animals that he is describing, but he finds himself

attracted by the evocative power of their shape and

their name.

In the sixth poem, we have the arrival of a circus:

El Circo de Lona. This is presented in thirty-eight

stanzas divided into three sections. In the first 230

section, there is the description of the entrance to the circus tent, and we are given an idea of its whole appearance from the outside. The second section deals with the inside, and gives us the main items of the program, all punctuated with an air of solemn sadness. In the third section, we are brought into contact with the performers as real people, when the show is over. The whole poem concludes with an air of melancholy that has a somewhat literary flavor: it shows the circus on the road again between one perfor­ mance and the next.

The whole description here is maintained in the present indicative. From the major figures right down to the smallest details, everything has importance in the composition:

El mono, sobre el tinglado, Mima al gato un gesto astuto, Y lanza el gato, erizado, Su exabruto.

But we find that the poet has not entirely forgotten certain accents that were present in his mind when he let his imagination conjure up Aromas de Leyenda, and there 231

is a strong reminder of the earlier book in:

iTarde! Rojas sinfonxas, Un toro en el horizonte, Azules las lejanias Sin un monte.

In the second section of Circo de Lona, we are given the impression of a real performance, where the participants are described in bold strokes, with special attention to the precise choice of adjectives.

For instance the can-can dancer is described as blonda, oronda, pechona y redonda.

The third part of this tryptich shows us the private life of the actors and clowns. It is pervaded by a certain sadness that is not overtly expressed, until at the end we find an exclamation:

iCircos! iCantos olvidados De fabulosas edades! IHeroicos versos dorados De Alcibiades! 232

4. CASTILIAN LANDSCAPE AND ITS TRAGIC HUMANITY

In the history of the poetic works of Valle Inclan, as in that of his prose, there comes a point around 1919 where we notice a change in his landscape which coincides with the innovation of the esperpento in his literary style. From the tranquil solitude of Galicia, we find him move to the villages of Castile, and thence to

Madrid, with an accompanying human interest that is at the same time deeper and turned tragic. This landscape becomes populated with more people, and these people live and suffer their own tragedy intensely.

Salinas finds a coincidence in the new attitude of our poet with the fundamental characteristics of the men of the Generation of 98, and explains how, in the case of Valle Inclan, it is his modernism which is transformed in this rapid movement:

Mas de veinte anos vivio Valle en los paraisos artificiales del modernismo, presumiendo de hallar nubes exquisitas... Pero un dia se cae del nido, del nido de sus nubes, y va a parar en medio de 233

sus companeros de generacion, es decir, en medio de la preocupacion de Espana. Y el magnifico despreocupado de las Sonatas, se convierte en uno de ellos. Uno mas en el sentir, dolorido y acerboj en la preocupacion, que ya no le abandona en su arte, de lo espanol. (4-)

Since he has thus revealed himself to be of the same nature as the men of 93, the words of Lain Entralgo about this generation, with reference to landscape, may also be applied to Valle:

En el paisaje de la provincia nativa - un paisaje remoto, transfigurado por la distancia y la nostalgia - estan anclados los recuerdos infantiles de todos los escritores del 98. A ese paisaje se unira luego otro, descubierto y conquistado ya avanzada su juventud: el paisaje de Castilla. Estos dos paisajes, el provincial y el castellano, superficialmente enlazados en las almas de todos, incitan en ellas, con rara constancia, un sentimiento complejo, en el cual se funden el gozo del descanso, cuando la tierra se ofrece desnuda e intacta, y una acerba desazon humana y espanola, cuando el hombre proyecta su sombra sobre la tierra. (5)

From the seventh to the fourteenth poem, our poet is concerned with a highly tragic theme, set in Castile and entirely expressed in images. The people of a village seem to be petrified in a kind of static life which imprisons them, then with the description of a crime, the poet moves his reader by the very audacity of the play of lines and colors in contrast, such as one usually finds only in a painter. It is not a painter, however, but the poet Quevedo who seems to be Valle's real inspiration here.

With the seventh poem, Valle begins his series on the village of Medinica. With this vaguely folkloric background, our author observes his images and presents them with his new esperpentic technique. We find as we gradually proceed through these themes, that the word esperpento can be applied sometimes to the inspiration, sometimes to the tone that the poet assumes, and some­ times to the choice of subject. But whatever the angle, it always maintains its fundamental character of "grotesque"

The term esperpento is metaphorical and refers to certain concave and convex mirrors which at the time of 235

our author were placed for amusement of the passer-by

in the Callejon del Gato in Madrid:

I y En el Callejon del Gato hubo hasta hace poco - says Ramon Gomez de la Serna in y his biography of Valle Inclan - calzados en la pared y del tamano del transeunte de estatura regular, dos espejos, uno concavo y otro convexo que deformaban I en Don Quijote y Sancho Panza a todo el que se miraba en ellos... Callejuela misteriosa de vendedores de gomas de expendidurfa de ! botellas de an£s y con alguna sastreria, fue bien elegida por Valle Inclan para punto de partida de una estetica nueva, caprichuda, arbitraria, ambozada en burla. Como si hubiese operado su conversion el verse reflejado en aquellos espejos, piensa en los heroes y las cosas deformadas asfmismo... el antiguo esteta que persiste en Valle Inclan no quiere sentirse improvisador y evadido a toda ley y anade para tranquilidad de su conciencia: ’'La deformacion deja de serlo cuando esta sujeta a una matematica perfects. Mi estetica actual es transformar con matematica de espejo concavo, las normas clasicas." (6)

With this last sentence, which Valle puts in to the mouth

of Max Estrella in the twelfth scene of Luces de Bohemia (7),

the esperpento is partially explained. Valle shows that

it has become for him an artistic tendency in which the 236

images are deformed as in those mirrors, that is to say, as a result of a scientific law. But the important point for us is that we are still dealing with images, since we speak of mirrors and of precision, for Valle himself talks of "matematica de espejo". The externa}, visual aspect of the new aesthetic is thus a measured deformation of images. But there is also an internal aspect: sarcasm, and regarding this Fernandez Almagro comments as follows in his monograph on Valle:

Lo que hay de nuevo realmente en el Valle Inclan de los esperpentos, ya que no el panorama ni el miradero, es la mirada misma. Nuestro autor ve las coaas de arriba abajo, con desprecio que es franco sarcasmo. El sentido crxtico y la intencion satirica se agudizan en terminos que escasamente corresponden al Valle Inclan de otras epocas, como si un enorme resentimiento le calase el alma...La reaccion de Valle Inclan contra las Instituciones historicas de su Patria es evidente... La barba de D. Ramon blanquea con prisa. Pero la vejez no le ha dado el don de la serenidadj mas bien exalta en su espxritu toda posibilidad de violencia. El factor tiempo pesa enormemente sobre Luces de Bohemia y demas "esperpentos". (S) 237

In this strange drama of a Bohemia more recent than its original prototype, contemporary with Valle and "madrilena" the esperpento has found its concrete application, while in the Pipa de Kif, one can merely feel the shadow of its presence, as yet undeclared and without name. However, the two works are both the fruit of the post-war period of the First World War, and sarcasm pervades them both.

Valle Inclan who has so frequently been included in the

Generation of 93 on account of a certain attitude that he assumed with regard to the destiny of his country in the years of his youth, seems to rise again now that he is almost old, to assume the position of a prophet as times grow ever more serious, and this is expressed with a sarcastic tone as his mind is more and more concerned with the politics of the day. In the Pipa de Kif, it must be observed, however, that such an attitude is restrained and seems to be controlled by the limitations of the verse- form to which Valle entrusts the harmony of his composition 238

Locuras mas con normas - observes Salinas - rnonstruos quiz!, pero obras de uia arte, hechuras de arte, y por consiguiente de belleza... Tal artista sera un desilusionado del mundo y de sus projimos, pero nunca el desesperado total, porque le queda una fe, en las potencias del arte, la cual le impuja a la obra esperpentica con todo su afan de escritor. Fe, de la mejor ley, ya que se manifiesta en obra y en obras. (9)

El Jaque de Medinica, in seven six-lined stanzas, presents a tavern setting, with a serving-girl and a rough character with a guitar. The spirit of this whole group of poems in general and of this composition in particular is reminiscent of a type of poetry inaugurated by Quevedo, in which low characters or assassins present themselves before a hypothetical public and narrate their adventures with arrogance. This type of poetry was given the name of jacara, and was later transformed to the stage to amuse a real audience, as the entr'acte of comedias. (10) Here in Valle's poem, the limited action is restricted to the entrance of the man, who orders something to eat. His guitar and the other characters are sketched in broadly. The description gradually 239

takes in images of things, and gives us an idea of the house, first inside, then moving outside, and finally, with an image very reminiscent of Garcia Lorca’s Romance de la guardia civil:

...En los monolitos Del camino, fuma la Guardia Civil.

The whole poem has a pictorical intention, with special emphasis on certain figures and attitudes, that are, however, motionless - with everything brought into the foreground.

Medinica, although less tragic in tone, is presented with the same technique and is also a description, in eight four-lined stanzas. The jacara tone, which gives slight coloring to the general theme of this whole group of poems is not always persistent. The poet in fact does not intend to cause laughter, and we are not in the presence of a low type who wants to speak himself of his adventures or experiences to entertain the publis, as in the compositions of Quevedo. The poet of Medinica 240

observes slowly, as though meditating on his subject,

( and arranged his images, one alongside the other,

^ creating a strange atmosphere that envelops both

^ people and things. There is no movement in this

poem either, to the extent that sometimes Valle will I use no verbs at all, for a whole stanza:

Corrales con tolvanera, 1 Anchos patios de mesones, Carros de gente arriera, Guitarras de valentones.

The elements of this poem appeal particularly to the

sense of sight, and are placed before our eyes with

the same technique as that used by painters of the

time - that is to say, single elements, which the viewer

must then blend into a complete whole for himself, as in

Monet. The only variety that Valle offers in this poetry

is that he places himself more or less near to the objects

that he sees and gives the reader a mere hint of the poetic

value. By now we are far removed from the time in which

his verse suggested a song of nostalgia: 241

Oh, lejanas memorias de la tierra lejana (Aromas de Leyenda)

We might say that by now his interior artistic discipline has led him to new conquests that are absolutely original, especially in poetic themes.

In the ninth poem, in seven long six-lined stanzas, we are given the figure of a lady of the village: la

Infanzona de Medinica. The movement of this poetry is very akin to prose. It describes an elderly lady on her balcony. She is well-known to everyone in the village, and as she is unmarried, she has three Siamese cats purring on her lap. The poet tells us about her, sketching ha: character in words that grow ever more sarcastic and he reveals her as the tyrant of the village. Then, moving the center of interest away from the balcony, he tells us what she can see from it. As the old lady counts the stitches of her knitting and conjectures on the weather and the crops, the village chaplain crosses the square. This means that it is time to go to church for the novena. 242

The last strophe, still maintaining the sarcastic

tone, puts Doha Estefaldina back again into the frame­ work of her balcony as she makes a gesture of greeting

to the chaplains who pass by. In this poem, the technique of the use of the image really seems to have reached a completely pictorical level, but the process

has a new twist, because here we have one figure of

gigantic proportions and the rest in small details.

The tenth poem in the book is the fourth of the

group on Medinica. It is entitled Tijeras Abiertas, by which the poet alludes to the fact that to dream of open scissors is a bad omen for the superstitious. Dona

Estefaldina is superstitious and she has had this very dream. The poem in seven stanzas of four lines each seems to be a kind of appendix to the foregoing composition, at least in the opening strophe. Then the esperpentic style leads the poet’s imagination to speak of other evils and of animals which at night lead strange, sinister, grotesque lives: 243

Saita la barda la raposa, Su sombra la luna ha marcado, Cautelosa La sombra va por el cercado.

We are back again in magic circles, but what seems to interest Valle here is the strange novelty of elements in strong contrast.

In the fifth poem on Medinica (the eleventh in the book), Valle wants to shock us with a sudden violent action, which breaks the calm description of an interior. It is interesting to note at this point that no matter how vivid or agitated he becomes in this new style that by now we have come to call esperpento. Valle keeps it controlled and does not abandon his norm of completing each poem by placing it in a setting - a kind of framework that limits it, as a window or a doorway limits a view. In La Coima (of nine four-lined stanzas) we have first of all a cat sleeping on a chair, a lamp lighting the room. A woman in disarray is half asleep.

Suddenly there is a knock on the window. She opens the 244

door. It is el Jaque who enters, el Jaque the ill-

famed character, who at first is stealthy and cautious,

^ and then draws out a blood-stained dagger and laughs -

, and -

...La bribona I Se enciende amorosa y carnal.

The real end of the poem is in the last strophe, which

! is merely a repetition of the first, with the cat which

is still asleep, and this time the lamp goes out. Between

the first and last verses is contained an incident, a

scene between two people, and the heavy atmosphere of the

recently committed crime.

The following poem, El Preso, in sixteen rhyming

couplets, tells the consequence of the crime committed in

the previous poem - the capture of the assassin. He has

already been taken when the poem opens, and the men of

the Guardia Civil are even now leading him to prison. Here,

too, Valle proceeds with elements appealing to the eye.

The composition assumes a merely indicative function, and 245

once again the verbs are all in the present. The

dramatic interest is in the things and the people.

Sometimes the landscape increases right to the sky

and as far as the horizon. The hour is set in picturesque terms, as for example when the group containing the prisoner moves along the dusty road:

Ya dibuja la luna sus perfiles inciertos Y el grillo y la cigarra comienzan sus conciertos.

The description becomes even more intense where the images are closer to us and less pastoral:

Negros y siluetados los tricornios, parejos, De la tarde poniente reciben los reflejos.

The tragic intensity of the scene reaches its peak when in the last line someone from among those who run to watch the assassin pass, shouts at him:

He d*ir a Medinica cuando te den piola.

At this point the reader is caught up in a narration that continues from poem to poem. In the following composition, the seventh of the group on Medinica,

Garrote Vil, we find in seven seven-lined stanzas the 246

presentation of the last episode of the Jaque, the

assassin, whom the gallows awaits. As before, we

pass, without being aware of any development of action,

from one-image to the next. The poet describes first

the gallows, which the hangman is erecting. Here the

picture is offered to us first in onomatopeia, which

adds to the sinister note of the whole scene:

ITan! iTan! iTan! Canta el martillo El garrote alzando estan.

We then pass on to a few observations on the Guardia

Civil, to the crowd which waits to see the assassin

punished, with all the details inherent in an incident

of this kind, from which the poet wishes to derive the

strongest effect by emphasizing the contrast between

those who are always ready to profit from the occasion

to sell, for example, churros, and the violent end of

the Jaque.

This group finishes with the fourteenth of the book, called El Crimen de Medinica, one of the most fascinating of the Whole collection. It consists of seventeen three-lined stanzas, of which two are given to a kind of introduction or Prologue, followed by a Scene I, (three stansas), then a Scene II (four stanzas), a Scene III (three stanzas) and a Last Scene (three stanzas). The last two stanzas provide a final commentary, a kind of Epilogue. Here the theme of violence takes on a folkloristic tone which for a moment reminds us of the pastoral flavor of Valle’s early poems. But the strong dramatic experience that he has undergone in the interim has given this composition a quite remarkable artistic maturity. El Crimen de Medinica concludes the evil deed related in the preceding poems, presented, as it were, by a troubadour. iVe must imagine this poem related by a popular poet who shows the passers-by at some street corner a group of four pictures and comments on them.

After the introduction, we have the description of the picture illustrating the crime, evidently committed by a gang of thieves, to which the Jaque belonged. Finally, 24a

after showing us two more pictures, the coplero comes to the fourth and last, revealing to us the full horror of the incident:

iSu propia madre! Canta el coplero.

The whole poetic exposition is here a series of images, in the style that by now we have come to expect as typical of Valle Inclan. His imagination seems to concentrate more and more on the pictorical aspect and the attributes he chooses play their very important part.

Here are some examples:

Abren la puerta brazos armados

Sale una dama que se desvela

Azul de Prusia son las figuras

Naturally he tells us that it is a picture that he is describing, and even goes as far as to say that although by an amateur

...acaso hubiera placido al Griego

There are many ways of describing a picture, but our poet has chosen the one calculated to give us the highest degree of visual effect, because it is that closest to the technique of painting:

Manos abiertas en abanico...

The esperpentic incongruity helps him also in the composition and he has certain moments that give a real tragic feeling of the incident:

Coge en las manos un relicario, Y con los pelos de visionario Queda espantado frente al canario.

Although this reminds us superficially of Quevedo’s jacaras, we must note that in Quevedo it is the protagonist who narrates the facts, whereas with Valle it is the poet himself who describes, and the description becomes the principal subject of the composition because the movement has been broken up into so many small sections and the image thus assumes a static aspect.

A theme like that of Medinica reminds us of a poetic composition of Antonio Machado, which bears the title of

La tierra de Alvargonzalez and in which the poet narrates a gruesome legend of blood which ends in the death of two 250

brothers guilty of parricide. (11) The tragedy of

Machado is played against a country landscape, and the

art of the poet consists in enveloping his subject in

a lyricism which recalls a kind of. legendary tale narrated in epic poems: here it is the poet himself who tells the story. In Valle’s composition the

lyrical element is entrusted to the tragic pictorical quality of the imagery, and here it is the eye of the poet which describes. There is also a narrator in

Valle's poem, who plays his part in the story, and thus the poet, by giving us the sensation of pictures painted on sections of canvas by a story-teller, succeeds in deepening the meaning of his tale against the background of a village square which the reader is expected to imagine for himself. 251

5. METROPOLIS WITHOUT JOY

We find that when the poet dedicates himself to the description of Madrid, together with1 the esperpentic artifice, there appears a sociological preoccupation and at the same time a sense of fatigue, of sadness, which seems to raise a problem impossible of resolution.

We have now moved far from the somewhat static quality of Valle’s previous works when we are shown, as though distorted in the smoke of the pipe, a whole aspect of contemporary Madrid. Here he uses striking examples of common types against whom he can project the meanness of urban life, and behind the stopped images in which he catches a certain fixed moment and considers the city focused in immobility, we are made to feel a certain blind rebellion against the gross inhumanity of this great metropolis.

The fifteenth poem plunges us into the capital, with

Vista Madrilena, where in twelve stanzas of nine lines each, the poet describes an afternoon in the city of 252

Madrid. He tells us the objects that he sees, the sounds that he hears, in such a way that from the expression of the ideas we can feel that peculiar atmosphere, so typical of Madrid and so appealing as a subject of this type of poetic inspiration. We are given the typical street cries that can be heard in almost any popular quarter of the city, we observe the poeple who pass by and hear those who sing. It is simply a picture of street life, as for example:

La tarde calina, La murga en la esquina iHorchata y limon!

...Pasan los tranvias Con algarabfas Para Tetuan...

The form of verse-division does not even remotely invite a rhythmic reading of the poem, and it is much closer to the prose form:

...Una chica fea - Que la tifoidea Pelona dejo - Baila en la guardilla 253

Occasionally the poet injects an adjective as his own comment, and when he does, we feel that it is because he is seeing the scene pictorically and that, having almost finished his canvas, he re-examines it with care and adds a brush-stroke here and there:

Agria y triste brota La luz, una nota De cromo y anil. Pueril y lejana, Tahe una campana Su rezo monjil. La tapia amarilla, Color de Castilla, Da un reflejo hostil.

The crude reality of Madrid life re-appears in

Luces de Bohemia, which in its forms and expression is at times close to certain aspects of Futurism, and in the principle of distortion of the esperpento there is something that makes one think of Futurism. But this is only a Futurism of imagery, for Valle always respects form, especially verse-form.

Round Madrid, in Castile, there are not the beautiful soft colors of his beloved Galicia, and this fact shows also in Valle's next poem on the same kind of subject:

Resol de Verbena, in seventeen four-lined stanzas. As

its title suggests, it portrays a popular scene. In a

suburb of the city, the people are on holiday, but

despite their gaiety, the poet seeks the tragic aspect

of the scene:

Ingrata la luz de la tarde, La lejania en gris de plomo, Los olivos de azul cobarde, El campo amarillo de cromo.

It is not the pleasure enjoyed by innocent souls that

interests our poet. His attention is taken rather by

the sunset that sheds sinister light on this mob of

people around the booths and on the swings. We find

some lines given up to pure exclamation, but the mystic content so far associated with this style has now entirely disappeared, and Valle is completely absorbed by the

stridency of contrasts. Here the exclamations are simply the voices of the show-people: 255

iUn real, la cabeza parlante! iA la suerte del pajarito! iLa foca y el hombre gigante! iLos gozos del Santo Bendito!

With this poem, Valle concludes the group on Madrid and he then moves on to a lengthy poetic exercise which describes nothing less than the herbs found in

La Tienda del Herbolario.

This poem is an extended composition of sixty- nine couplets, with a conclusion of a four-lined stanza. The flavor of this poem carries us to a poetic atmosphere somewhat different from the esperpento forms that we have so far encountered. We might even say that the necromantic tinge relates this composition at times to those in the Pasajero, and even to certain magic formulae in the Lampara Maravillosa.

Yerba del Hombre de la Montana, canela, heliotropo, coca, xalapa, campeche, opio are some of the herba that particularly attract the poet’s attention, and for each one that he chooses to describe, he has a comment, partly sarcastic and partly solemn. Valle gives the impression here of wishing to entertain the reader with a poem, but the result is an uninspired and very artificial work, both in its form.and in its content. The final stanza would seem to justify this opinion, as it resolves into a ribald laugh of a clown who has simply pretended to be a magician:

Se apago el fuego de mi cachimba, Y no consigo ver una letra. Mientras enciendo - Taramba y timba Tumba y taramba - pongo una . 257

6. FROM THE EXPERIMENT WITH IMAGERY TO THE ANALYSIS

OF SENSATIONS

The volume La Pipa de Kif closes with Rosa del

Sanatorio, a sonnet which is strangely out of place

(from the point of view of form) in this collection

which so far has contained no sonnets. In. the poem,

the poet tells us how under the influence of chloroform

the whole of reality is deformed for him:

Cubista, futurista y estridente, Por el caos febril de la modorra Vuela la sensacion, que al fin se borra Verde mosca, zumbandome en la frente.

Under the action of the chloroform, other images are

deformed before his eyes. This time they are images of reality: they become distorted before this sick man

and remind him of concepts of art and literature very

similar to his esperpento, namely Cubism and Futurism.

The rhythm of the sonnet is regular, as though the poet wanted to give us a final example of his mastery of this form, while his senses betray him and he no longer knows whether he lives in reality or in imagination. 258

The piercing note of a violin cuts across his conscious­ ness - so perfectly expressed in the sharp rhyme of the word violin with jardin and confin, and in the choice of the word p£o to represent the note:

De un s£ bemol el transparente p£o Tiembla en la luz acuaria del jard£n, Y va mi barca por el ancho r£o Que separa un conf£n de otro conf£n.

The title of this sonnet is a strong reminder of the mystic components of the Pasajero, and in this respect it would seem to be more in keeping with that book than with the spirit of the Pipa de Kif. Only the images which appear deformed under the influence of the anaesthetic justify its relationship with the oriental drug of the pipe. 259

7. SUMMARY OF THEMES

We have analyzed with a certain attentiveness the fundamental themes of the Pipa de Kif, because it is our conviction that with this collection of poems Valle

Inclan already found himself in a different creative moment from that which produced the Pasajero. In the

second place, it seems to us that in the contrasts which we will establish between these two books, published only one year apart, we will be better able to focus our judgment on the art of our poet.

If we now keep in mind what we observed in the preceding chapter on the Pasajero and what we have said

about the themes of the Pipa de Kif, it will be easy to

note at least the following five points:

1. The symbols which adorned the mystic intention

in the Pasajero have now completely disappeared.

There is a rose, one single rose, which appears

in the title of the last poem, but we have

already observed that this does not fit the pattern set by the other poems in the Pipa

de Kif. It is striking that it is the only

sonnet in the book and that the Pasajero is

the collection which contains the numerous

other sonnets that Valle wrote.

2. From the second poem onwards we find expressions

such as funambulesco, grotesco, and (with the

exception of the last sonnet, mentioned above)

there is a constant sarcastic bitter, critical

intention, which frequently - especially in

violent tragedy - makes use of a technique

based on ''grotesque1' factors.

3. The themes chosen by the poet are no longer

pastoral. There is no longer any inspiration

drawn from the countryside. The basis of this

book is the whole low life of the city.

-4. The human beings delineated in the Pasajero have

real dignity in their presentation and a kind of

statuesque nobility. Here, on the other hand,

Valle presents characters of the street and of 261

base haunts.

5. In the Pasajero the poet made decorative use

of lights and colors which almost always rose

to heights of symmetric composition, recalling

the balance of an altar. Here, Valle wants

at all costs to make us feel the disorder of

the lines, and his masses of color run together

and overlap.

Thus we are faced with different themes treated with a completely different technique. Valle has as yet not formulated the word esperpento, but it is beyond doubt that he is already conscious of his poetic intent. It cannot be denied that in the three collections - Aromas de Leyenda, the Pasajero and this last book, the Pipa de Kif - there are differences so fundamental as to reverse the whole attitude of a poet.

The ',,Georgic'H life of the early poems, and also the contemplative life of the mystic period are by now the experience of a bygone era. It was an era in which the 262

poet stood with his eyes fixed on the sky and drew his inspiration from the artistic wonder of legends or from the symmetrical decorations of strange aesthetic symbols.

It is as though he sought a human dignity realized in aesthetic contemplation.

In the Pipa de Kif, the landscape of the poet is now populated with an endless series of low creatures, inhabi­ tants of the low, dirty, repulsive haunts of the large city. We look in vain for J,Los pobres de Dios” who sang to us in Aromas de Leyenda, for the common rabble of Madrid does not wander through "Caminos verdes entre eras, En donde cantan las vaqueras1'. The poet’s mind is now concentrated on the daily tragedy of these poor wretches in the city and as his words become ever more biting, we feel that his thought has assumed a sociological aspect which was formerly lacking. This, then, is the real nature of the esperpento, as we shall find in Valle later on, especially in Luces de

Bohemia. Thus the typical esperpento that we have come to link with the name of Valle Inclan has a poetic antecedent 263

in the Pipa de Kif, and it cannot be denied that the

new poet's mind, as it has been transformed from his

first studies of the image, has produced extremely worth-while results. This has arisen between the

hashish and the chloroform, according to the literary intention of our poet, but has touched subjects and

forms not found in any "artificial paradise". If we wish to adhere to wh,at we noticed at the beginning on the literary antecedents of this "pipe", we will have to conclude that Valle Inclan has placed in a framework of

Modernistic taste the themes which concerned the men of the Generation of 98. And in so doing, he has experimented with a means that is entirely his own: the esperpento. 264

8. STYLE

It is clear from what we have already said in our

discussion on the themes that Valle Inclan is engaged in

a new type of poetry. It would be natural, therefore,

to expect a similar new style of technique, and in many ways this is so. But a poet can never really drop one

personality completely to assume another, without

revealing some traces of what is inherent in him, and thus we find certain basic qualities in common through

all three books, with only the superstructure changed.

These basic qualities concern his handling of the poetic medium much more than his poetic expression in itself.

For example, we still find the perfection of rhyme to which we are accustomed, and Valle still has a marked tendency to finish one element of his thought with the end of a stanza, even when the stanza is nothing more than a couplet.

His meter is still syllabically accurate, and as

a-rhythmic as before, giving the impression of prose in 265

many instances. Just as we found in the Pasajero that the change in vocabulary was one of the most marked features that differentiated its style from that of

Aromas de Leyenda, so also here it is the new vocabulary that is the most striking innovation - a new vocabulary to treat new themes. In the Pasajero. what was then

’'new1' vocabulary was necessary to give fitting and perfect expression to the new mystic and magic subject matter. Here the same is true, but Valle goes a step further and selects his words with the added intention of shocking the reader by violent contrasts.

We are particularly impressed by the poet’s sudden interest in the palabra esdrujula: this is the first time that we have had such insistence on words such as ironico, acrobatico, cabalistico, faraonico, espasmodico, and Valle gives the impression of choosing the word now because its sound is important, and not only because of its connotation. This is particularly obvious when he plays with four such words in succession: Farandula. 266

Arnmula, Vagula, Blandula (Aleluya).

He also shows great predilection for funambulesco and grotesco, which appear on several occasions and which he uses also to describe his own poetry. Here

Valle is consciously examining his art with us from a technical point of view, instead of employing his technique to present his poem, and letting us examine

(or not examine, as we choose) the means he used or the effect he produces. In this way he lays bare the tricks of his magic, giving us not only the result, but also the instrument used to produce that result.

Taking the word instrument quite literally, we find that here for the first time he mentions musical instruments in giving us impressions of sounds. In Aleluya we find mention of the gaita celta and the gaitero galaico. Fin del Carnaval presents an acordeon, and Circo de Lona an organillo which bate su estribillo. In Circo de Lona,

Valle goes to even greater lengths of musical technicality, for he has a negro blowing into the mouthpiece of a trumpet 267

from which he arranca un bemol. We find this same phenomenon again in HI Jaque de Medinica, where the

Jaque tunes his guitar, then presses the frets and plucks the bass string, and later in the poem tunes his guitar again. In Vista Madrilena, there is a clarinet with its nota en falsete, a bass-drum and a trumpet which se irrita. The technical term for the musical staff is used with sublime picturesque effect in Marina Nortena:

Su pentagrama el arco policromo Proyecta tras los pliegues del chubasco.

The very same phenomenon is observed in Valle*s use of color in this book. He is no longer content with suggesting the vague tint or hue of an object. He now states it clearly in the technical language that a painter might use when buying his materials from a shop. For example, the light in Marina Nortena is cobalt blue, there is a background in Bestiario that is indigo blue, the figures in El Crimen de Medinica are Prussian blue, 268

the carts in Vista Madrilena are ultramarine blue, the sky in HI Jaque de Medinica is a special light blue.

We are now far removed from the vague crystalline blue of Aromas de Leyenda. Similarly we find that the fields in Resol de Verbena are chrome yellow, and that in Vista Madrilena, the light gives off a note that is both cobalt blue and chrome yellow.

The same insistence can be found with regard to the idea of movement, in Valle's sudden obsession with the word ritmo. Never before has he let us into the secret of his concern with rhythm. This word occurs no less than four times in the opening poem (La Pipa de

Kif): el ritmo del orbe, mi ritmo, el ritmo orfico and ritmicos saltos. It comes up again twice in the second poem (Aleluya): ritmo de la vida, and the highly technical ritmo trocaico. Here, in this latter example, it is not used in connection with poetry, as would seem indicated by the bare reference to it here, but it is certainly an expression that forms part of the technique of verse- 2(f)

writing. These few examples are enough to indicate the direction that Valle's mind was taking in the composition, of these poems.

Another word with which he has suddenly become obsessed is grito. It recurs frequently all through the book, and the reason for its popularity is not hard to seek, for it is a strident element and one that frequently betokens violence. Valle's most successful uses here would seem to be in synesthesia, as in Bestiario, where the afternoon dies with a rojo grito. In La Pipa de Kif, the smoke in the poet's pipe gives a grito azul. In Marina Nortena it is not connected with color:

La triste sinfonxa de las cosas Tiene en la tarde un grito futurista.

Here the technical word sinfonxa is very strangely used in connection with grito. Again in Marina Nortena we find:

...la luz bisunta El tubo ahumado con un grito raja 270

In La Infanzona de Medinica the word is strangely linked with flannel and honey:

Bayeta amarilla es grito de miel

In Tijeras Abiertas, it is applied to shadow:

. . . Con su grito la sombra

Again, in Garrote Vil, we find grito de jota. Besides these figurative cases, it naturally occurs many times in the literal sense, as in El Crimen de Medinica:

. . . iQue grito del bandolero!

Valle uses synesthesia much more freely in this volume than in the other two earlier books, but it is almost always the sense of sight that is linked with that of sounds and the other senses are very much in the back­ ground. He achieves some highly picturesque effects, such as:

Y en el gris de la tarde las cornetas Dan su voz como rojas llamaradas. (Marina Nortena) 271

La nota verde, rabiosa, De la catorra, asesina Sobre el escarlata y rosa De la cortina. (Circo de Lona)

Pasa mis nervios, con gozoso frio, El arco de lunatico violin. De un si bemol el transparente pio Xiembla en la luz acuaria del jardin. (Rosa del Sanatorio)

Agria y triste brota La luz una nota De crorno y anil. (Vista Madrilena)

Lejanas estrellas nacen gorgoritas En el cielo zarco. (El Jaque de Medinica)

Valle’s use of color adjectives is much more subtle than in the other books, and he has chosen them with much more care as to the precision of the expression. We find, for instance, la sombra morada (Resol de Verbena), crepusculo malvo (La Pipa de Kif), faja violeta (El Jaque de Medinica), faja morada (El Crimen de Medinica).

Valle’s imagery maintains its plastic character and continues to be just as original and striking. It is remarkable for its concreteness of expression. The

"absurd afternoon" is portrayed as a macabra mueca de dolor

(La Pipa de Kif). The monkey in Bestiario esmalta cada

salto de un mohin. In the same poem, the goat, a favorite

buttof humor in any language because of its effluvia,

dibuja una aldea dando vaho de la nariz. In Circo de Lona,

La Pepona has HI talle con alusiones de vihuela. In El

Jaque de Medinica, the rooftops of the distant city are

haldudos. In El Crimen de Medinica, the flight of the poor canary, startled by the crime,is described:

Jaula torcida con el canario Vuelo amarillo y extraordinario.

The resemblance of wax running down a candle to tears is exploited poetically in Circo de Lona as lloroso cabo de vela, and again in Garrote Vil as llora una vela amarilla.

Even the sounds are represented concretely in Resol de

Verbena:

Encadenados los pregones Hacen guirnaldas de babeles. Another innovation in this third book of Valle

Inclan’s poetry is the use of distorted word order to add' value to the grotesque quality of the themes. By placing the subject late in the sentence he gives a somewhat surprising, almost angular, effect to what one would expect to find as smooth, rhythmic stanzas.

In Fin del Carnaval, we find an almost gongoristic construction;

A1 pie de un farol, sus flores Abre el panolon De la chula.

In Marina Nortena, there are three striking examples of the same kind of technique;

Y alza en vano de esmeril su domo Arrecido de cuervos, un penasco.

...Tiene una luz verde Ante la puerta, la cortina de agua.

De una nueva emocion y nuevas glosas Esteticas, se anuncia la conquista.

An example on the kangaroo in Bestiario is singularly fitting to the angular jumping of the animal when it walks

Antipatias tiene el canguro, de embrion. 274

In Circo de Lona we are impressed by:

Y con un restallo De la fusta, el callo Se oyo, de un caballo Que vino despues.

which so accurately describes the events in the order in which they take place and in which we realize what is happening when we watch a circus.

There is an almost ulstraistic stanza in which the swing of the fair reminds Valle of the movement of the waves on the seashore, waves from which a mermaid peeps out - the mermaid then presumably being identified with the pretty girl riding the swing:

Se alza el columpio alegremente Con el ritmo de onda en la arena, Onda azul donde asoma la frente Vespertina de una sirena.

From all that we have said so far it will be evident that in this book Valle Inclan is concentrating his attention more and more on the new technique of the esperpento. His favorite device of using expressions in three’s appears 275

here again, but in this book, since it is a poetry of exaggeration, it is not suxprising to find that he has even given us examples also of the use of four similar expressions.

We find several examples of the use of three nouns

Tu amabas las rosas, el vino Y los amores del camino. (Aleluya)

Latas, sartenes, calderos Pasan en ciclon. (Fin del Carnaval)

To describe a tavern setting we have:

Hran alii pictoricos trofeos, Azafran, pimenton, fuentes azules

(Marina Nortena) and again in the same poem, the activities of the Jaque and his friends are described in three isolated nouns:

El tabaco, los naipes, la reyerta... (Marina Nortena)

In El Jaque de Medinica, the braggart Jaque and his friends

Demandan el gasto, pagan y se van. 276

The three adjectives used in describing the scaffold in Garrote Vil are obviously contrived to give the sordid effect of the incident. They are carefully graded, being a palabra esdrujula, a palabra liana and a palabra aguda in decreasing order, so that the feeling of despair reaches a climax in the sharp, strident sound of gris:

El patibulo destaca Tragico, nocturno y gris.

The three exclamations in the three consecutive lines of El Crimen de Medinica are calculated to tell the whole story by themselves, even without the following comment:

iMadre! Que grito del bandolero. IMuerta! Que brazos de desespero. iSangre! A sus plantas corre un reguero.

These groups of three’s are obviously intended to heighten the effect of the situation, and have little to do with the mere musical quality of the repetition. This is as we found it in the Pasajero and in Aromas de Leyenda. But

Valle has used groups of three's also with purely musical intentions, where the triple movement adds little to the meaning, but rhythmically heightens the sound effect, as 277

for example:

iNaranjas! iTorrados! iLimones! iClaveles! iClaveles! iClaveles! (Resol de Verbena)

These three-fold groups have been exaggerated in several instances to include four expressions of the same kind. In the Pasajero we found the word encendido used three times running to good effect. Here, in the poem entitled La Pipa de Kif, the same word appears no less than four times, as though the poet were reluctant to leave behind him the Pasajero, as he writes this first composition of the new book, and yet at the same time anxious to embrace new themes and a new technique:

iEncendida rosa! iEncendida toro! iEncendidos numeros que rimo Platon! iEncendidas normas por donde va el coro Del mundo: Esta el mundo en mi corazon.

The slight lengthening of the phrase breaks the monotony of what might otherwise become a sterile device.

The use of acaso four times in question form in

Aleluya is also interesting. Here, too, the poet has 278

succeeded in breaking the monotony, although he uses it anaphorically in each case, by placing it the third time at the end of a line, and employing what for Valle is a most daring enjambement:

dAcaso una flor de amapola Sin olor? La gracia espanola.

dAcaso la flor digital Que grana un veneno mortal

Bajo el sol que la enciende? dAcaso La flor del alma de un payaso?

dAcaso esta musa grotesca - Ya no digo funambulesca - ... (Aleluya)

In the same poem, the last four words can have no other intention than that of sound and joking:

Llevo mi verso a la Farandula: Anfmula, Vagula, Blandula. (Aleluya)

There are further examples of all these stylistic devices, but it is enough to have indicated here a few typical examples. 279

9. VERSIFICATION

An examination of Valle Inclan's versification will reveal that he has been very meticulous in his adaptation of his themes to the various metric systems.

He has used every variety from the six-syllabled line to the fourteen-syllabled line, with two exceptions: the seven-syllabled line and the thirteen-syllabled line are not represented. Two notable differences between the Pipa de Kif and the previous Pasajero are the more extensive use of mixed verse-forms and the greatly increased use of rima aguda, both features which aid him in the expression of the grotesque.

Vista Madrilena contains a nine-lined strophe with six syllables in each line. The rhyme scheme (AABCCBDDB) is reminiscent of a sextilla, but is more extended because here the stophe is longer than the sextile strophe. The

B rhyme in this case is a rima aguda and is maintained throughout the entire poem. The other rhymes are consistently lianas. The rhyme is always pure. 280

A six-syllabled line is used also in the middle section of El Circo de Lona, with a rhyme-scheme AAABCCCB.

Once again the A rhyme is always liana and the B rhyme aguda, Valle has quite remarkable facility with his rhyme, which is always strong, natural and convincing.

The eight-syllabled line appears in four of the fourteen compositions. In Fin del Carnaval it is alternated with a .six-syllabled line, rhyming ABAB.

Once again we find A a rima liana and B a rima aguda, maintained consistently throughout all the sixteen stanzas.

The first and third sections of El Circo de Lona are also octosyllabic (three lines of eight syllables with a pie quebrado for the fourth line), rhyming A3AB.

Medinica is another poem in eight syllables, rhyming ABAB.

Garrote Vil, apart from the two occasions on which a line consists only of iTan! iTan! iTanl, contains seven octosyllables, rhyming ABABAAB. A is rima liana 281

and 3 rima aguda throughout the entire poem.

There are four poems in nine syllables: Aleluya,

Bestiario, La Coima and Resol de Verbena.

Aleluya is entirely in rhyming couplets and is clearly an echo of the octosyllabic "aleluya" verse-form which is also characterized by AA rhyme. Bestiario opens and closes with a regular quatrain, rhyming ABAB, and this rhyme scheme is maintained throughout the poem, but the third line is a pie quebrado. Here, too, we find that A is consistently rima liana and B rima aguda.

La Coima and Resol de Verbena are both in cuarteta rhyme. In La Coima A is rima liana and B is rima aguda.

In Resol de Verbena the rhyme is always liana.

The ten-syllabled line is represented by two poems:

El Crimen de Medinica and La Tienda del Herbolario, both of the compound variety, that is to say, consisting of two five-syllabled groups, each accented on the 4th.

El Crimen de Medinica is in monorhymed tercets, always with rima liana. La Tienda del Herbolario is in pareados. 282

The hendecasyllable is found twice in the Pipa de

Kif; in Marina Nortena and again in the last poem, the sonnet called Rosa del Sanatorio. Marina Nortena is rhymed in cuartetas, ABAB, with rima liana. Rosa del

Sanatorio is the typical sonnet rhyme, ABBA, etc. and is remarkable because for once Valle changes half way through the poem from rima liana in the first eight lines to alternating rima liana and rima aguda in the last six.

In twelve syllables we find La Pipa de Kif. in cuartetas, and La Infanzona de Medinica and El Jaque de

Medinica with a sextilla rhyme AA3CCB. In all these poems, the 3 rhyme is aguda, alternating with an A rhyme that is liana, with two single exceptions: La Pipa deKif has one isolated A rhyme aguda and another single A rhyme esdrujula. This twelve-syllabled line is the union of two hexasyllables, accented on the 5th.

The only Alexandrine is found in El Preso, with pareados, always in rima liana. The striking fact that emerges from this examination

of Valle's versification is his partiality for alternating

rima liana and rima aguda, which he has clearly employed

to heighten the effect of stridency and contrast, and that

despite his strong predilection for the palabra esdrujula

in this book, it occurs veiyinfrequently in rhyming

position. Instead, he has developed the rima aguda to

a quite extraordinary degree and we find that it occurs in

every alternate poem. He seems to have felt a strange

need to place these rhymes in alternating sequence of

poems, which is in line with his general love of symmetry.

This pattern is broken only at the end, with Rosa del

Sanatorio, which, to keep the alternation perfect, should

have been second-last rather than last. But the number of poems containing it is still fifty per cent, which is very high in comparison with Valle's previous books. 234

10. EVALUATION

In speaking of the volume La Pipa de Kif, we can make one statement of a general nature, and that is that it is the fruit of a certain creative moment in the art of Valle Inclan, and from the various indications that we have given in treating the subject of his themes and style, we seem to be justified in concluding that the fundamental characteristic of the book is provided by the new technique of the esperpento. The poet has also thought to include his poems within a framework, which gives the title to the whole book. In fact, the- book opens with the opium of the poet and closes with his chloroform in a hospital. Both means give a kind of temporary hallucination which can very well justify the fantasy of a poet whose purpose it is to be bizarre.

The last composition, Rosa del Sanatorio, belongs in many respects to a formal taste that is closer to the Pasajero than to the Pipa de Kif. The first poem, also, is not of very special interest, since it constitutes 285

nothing more than the explanation of the title of the book.

It is, like the other poems of our author, well constructed, but it is a contrived composition in which we feel the craft of the writer rather than the brilliance of inspiration.

It is, on close examination, merely an enumeration of poetic themes, expressed in cold, lifeless words. The esperpentic theme might well have been taking shape at that very moment, for we learn that, from the whirls of smoke from the pipe, as the poet tells us, figures and phantoms are formed. Yet certain ecstatic exclamations remind us too much of the

Pasajero for us to include it wholeheartedly in this volume.

Apart from the first poem and the last, then, La Pipa de Kif is a homogeneous book, and the new experiment is completely convincing.

When speaking of Valle's art, there is one point that may be affirmed in his favor, and that is his authenticity of vision. An indication of this quality may be found in

■those very verses which, having been declared funambulescos and grotescos. insist on maintaining this characteristic in the attempt that the poet makes to use them as new instruments in a new poetic experiment.

With the words funambulesco and grotesco so openly applied to the poems of this collection, Valle Inclan tells us that he will follow a celebrated example: the

Odes Funambulesques of Theodor de Banville. This is a collection of lyrics which, published in 1357, marks an important date in the history of French poetry of the nineteenth century. Banville, a friend of Theophile

Gautier, lined himself alongside the latter against the sentimental poetry of the first romanticism. He, too, wanted to defend the theory of "art for art's sake", giving honor to the study of technique and of form. But

Banville interpreted these theories in a highly personal manner. As his verses show, art was for him an elegant game. In this way he made his contribution to the formation of Parnassian poetry. Although his verses show a certain superficiality of thought, they please because one feels that they were dictated by a real facility in 287

which lyricism is wedded to satire with a delicate touch. i For Banville the word "funambulesque" recalls the life of > ^ the circus and of acrobats performing on the trapeze, but

^ this whole world is suggested to him simply by the sensation

that he, the poet, composes his verses with the skill and

I agility of an acrobat. In the collection of the Odes

1 Funambulesques, Joseph Bedier and Paul Hasard say of

^ Banville (12):

...il a voulu faire du moderne et du "comique rime". La rime y est generale- ment si riche qu’elle devient calembour. Grace la rime, l1 ode bouffonne est appelee a marcher de pair avec l*ode lyriquej ainsi que les hauts sommets de la poesie, la corde raide du funambule elfeve le po&te au-aessus des "fronts de la foule". Les tours de force que Banville a tentes et reussis dans ce receuil ont eu d'innombrables imitateurs. C*est l!, surtout, qu’on a vu son dessein deMrestituer les anciennes formes poetiques" et de "tenter d’en creer de nouvelles". Ballade, sonnet, rondeau, rondeau redouble, motet, villanelle, virelai, chant royal, sextine, glose, pantoum: que n’a-t-il pas essaye? Les parnassiens recommenceront ces prouesses rhythmiquesj ils ne les depasseront que rarement. (13) 288

However, any d irect relationship between th is book and the work of Valle Inclan is limited to the title, or at the most justifies Valle's intention of entrusting rather less solemn themes to poetic expression. In itself, the title of Banville's collection must have suggested to our poet a theme, rich in images, which on account of their extra­ vagance, do not often come within the sphere of poetry.

The word funambulo immediately suggests acrobatic trick s and circuses, and it is this fact that must be stressed at the beginning in our discussion of its connection with

La Pipa de K if.

In a deeper stratum of this same art, we find sarcasm and even a certain concern that might be termed so cio lo g ica l.

In the esperpento, the sarcastic attitude of Valle Inclan has indeed found its best means of expression. This was a sarcasm due in part to a personal attitude and in part to the things that surrounded him. We know that the post­ war period following 1918 threw all the nations of Europe into a state of pessimism, and this may also have influenced 289

our poet. The European situ ation of that time had a

marked influence on artistic expression and gave impulse

to certain revolutionary currents that had already

appeared before the war. Certain aspects of Futurism,

of Cubism, may be placed in relation sh ip with the

esperpento, although only up to a certain point. On

this common taste for circuses, marionettes and masks,

we find an in terestin g comment in Cubism and Abstract Art

by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. in the footnote to page 15, which we quote here:

In spite of the fact that the Cubists themselves and their most ardent admirers attached little importance to subject matter, Meyer Schapiro of Columbia University advances an interesting theory that consciously or unconsciously the Cubists through their subject matter reveal sig n ific a n t preoccupation with the bohemian and artistic life. It is possible of course that the things in a Cubist still-life: bottles, playing-cards, dice, violins, guitars, pipes, which Dr. Schapiro calls "private instruments of idle sensation-" may be a direct rather than a symbolic inventory of objects in the cubist’s studioj and the painting of le tte r s , introduced by Braque 290

into Cubism, may be, lik e h is use of imitation wood and marble textures, merely a reminiscence of his early apprenticeship as a house painter, rather than a symbol of the art of literature; and the repetition of such word-fragments with artistic connotations as Etude, Bal, Bach and so forth may be balanced by the names of daily newspapers, Figaro, L'Intran, Journal - and "Hennessy" (f ig . 67) by "Baker's Cocoa" (fig. 93). Never­ theless, the continual repetition of figure paintings called Pierrot, Guitarriste, Clarinettiste, Harlequin, in later Cubist pictures suggests a concern with the world of art instead of the world of life and may consequently be taken as a symbol of the modern artist's social maladjustment - which is, however, not limited to Cubists. (1,4)

It is clear that the poems of this book were largely inspired by a crude everyday reality, observed with the piercing eye of a man who felt something approaching bitterness in life, although this is not real bitterness in the ordinary sense of the word but rather an increase in thematic potentiality. The pastoral ideal of Valle's youth is now far behind him. The man has travelled a long road. And now, we find him before us, mature and 291

almost wise. He no longer proclaims his own wisdom,

as in the Lampara Maravillosa, but he reveals himself

simply as a man whose feelin g of manhood has become

deeper with the passing years.

Pedro Salinas, in concluding his extensive study on the esperpento of Valle Inclan, emphasizes the new moralistic attitude of the writer as follows:

Emparentado por su manquedad con Cervantes,hermano por los espejuelos de Quevedo, es tambien su hermano menor, en esperpentismo y furia e tic a . Su obra que parecfa tan poco espanola, tan g a lic is ta , se puede mirar ahora, desde que descubre el esperpento, enhilada con la de lo s autenticos grandes de Espana: Quevedo, Velazquez, Goya. Quevedo, castigador feroz, autor de un estilo denigratorio y flagelante; Velazquez, pintor de infantas, igual cjue de enanos, dando a cada cual la misma perfeccion; Goya, cafdo de los tapices a los disparates. (15)

If life has caused a change of attitude in Valle, i f his ownpersonal philsophy has made him come down from the heights of contemplation, if the radiant suns of his 292

mystic visions have become dimmed, there is, however, still something very important that has remained in him: his artistic nature and the intimate need that he felt to experiment along new artistic paths. Here he wants to give us a new artistic form, which is adapted to his new spiritual attitude. Indeed, one has the impression, when studying the Pipa de Kif, that Valle has not simply composed a book of poems on a new subject. These poems, as we have indicated in our analysis of the themes and technique, represent something more basically new and original. They are also the result of a work to which the poet has applied himself with all the seriousness of a man conscious of the difficulties of his task. In certain points the new art does not quite achieve its full result. It was a question of introducing asperities of thought, of imagery and of language, to which, certainly, the readers of Ruben Dario were not accustomed. We find that at times the poetic form does not accept these asperities without running the risk of becoming prose. Yet the verse-form has its 'raison d'etre1 also for a writer like Valle, who saw no essential difference

between verse and prose. Many of the compositions in

the Pipa de Kif, in our opinion esp ecia lly the group

on Medinica and those pictures of Madrid, have the

outward form of m iniatures. But here the art of our

poet confers on them a profundity that is not common in

the art of the miniaturist.

The true esperpento of Valle Inclan has found its

most apt expression in dialogue and prose, yet, as

Salinas observes:

...en la Pipa de Kif sentimos acercarse lo s pasos del fenomeno, que estaba para lle g a r . En este librito todo es caprichoso y encaprichado, caprichos del Pata de Cabra, Caprichos de Goya, encaprichando a don Ramon para los suyos. (16)

We have talked of "pictures” with the intention of

defining Valle's poetry in this way. He has changed his

technique and also the subjects of his inspiration, but he 294

has never given up what is most ch aracteristic in him: the artist who expresses himself through images. Even where he may seem at times to approach the trends of other artistic currents, we still find the Parnassian sub-stratum, which is the very nature of the poet himself. We do not wish with this definition - which, like all definitions, is only a vague approximation to the quality that we wish to define - to express any censure. We simply want to indicate in the clearest possible manner what we have found in the Pipa de K if.

The spirit and technique of the esperpento, as we find them expressed in the poetry of the Pipa de Kif, have certain limits, inasmuch as they are one phase of the artistic personality of Valle Inclan. What we define esperpento may in fact bear similarities with the artistic currents of the time, but in itself it never became a school, for it is a tendency that is manifested only in the career of a single man. We are not in the presence of any revolutionary fact, but rather of an evolution of the personality of the artist himself.

In th is sense, i t seems to us, the esperpento is an evolution of that Modernism from which Valle in Aromas de

Leyenda took his first steps into poetry. The lines are still carefully considered, as they were then, the syllables and rhymes scrupulously calculated, and right underneath we can still feel the school of Ruben Dario, by now so far back in history.

If we choose to see it thus, then the esperpento is simply a new branch on the old tree, and a striving for autonomy. 296

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER IV

1. Quincey, Thomas de. 1785-1859. Author of Confessions of an English Opium Eater.

2. Baudelaire, Charles. 1821-1867. Author of Les Paradis Artificiels.

3. Madrid, Francisco, La Vida Altiva de Valle Inclan. Buenos Aires, 1943) p.193.

4. Salinas, Pedro, op.cit. p.112.

5. Lafn Entralgo, P., op. cit. p.95.

6. Gomez de la Serna, Ramon, Don Ramon Mar£a del Valle Inclan. Buenos Aires, Mexico, 1944, p.148.

7. Luces de Bohemia. Madrid, 1924*

8. Fernandez Almagro, M., op. cit. pp.210-211.

9. Salinas, Pedro, op. cit. p.100.

10. Cotarelo y Mori, Emilio, Historia de la Zarzuela. Madrid, 1934, p.34.

11. Machado, Antonio, op. cit. p.137.

12. Bedier, J., and Hasard, P., Litterature Francaise. Nouvelle Edition, Paris, 1949.

13. Bedier J., and Hasard, P., op. cit. Vol.II, p.331.

14. Barr, Alfred H., Cubism and Abstract Art. N.Y., 1936. 297

15. Salinas, Ptedro, op. cit. p.114-.

16. ibid. p . 103. 298

CONCLUSION

As we have already seen in the preceding chapters,

Valle Inclan was always animated by a real interest as an artist towards expression in verse. This interest produced three volumes of poetry, five plays in verse and a certain number of scattered poetic fragments inserted in other prose works.

Valle Inclan's real originality as a poet found its expression in the three volumes of poems: Aromas de

Leyenda, El Fasajero and La Pipa de Kif. These three volumes are found at three d ifferen t moments in the long serie s of novels, plays and other works of our author and are indicative of the artistic period in which they were produced.

Aromas de Leyenda is clo se st to the f ir s t period of the artistic experience of Valle Inclan, that is to say, to the traditional period. A sense of tradition and a certain melancholy mood make him sing of his native land 299

of Galicia. The poet echoes in his verse a rhetorical tone which he has already expressed in prose, especially in Flor de Santidad. This is a tone which keeps alive an interest for that interior life which the romantics were the first to discover in folklore, that is to say, in the purest form of popular expression. Valle, however, is a highly refined and polished writer and seems to weigh the meaning and value of every word and to use it in his poetry with the greatest care. Already from these fourteen poems that make up Aromas de Leyenda, we can feel that images have preponderance in his verse.

These images come to him spontaneously and the poet works on them to polish and modify them with an ardor that brings him very close to the technique of a painter.

The tremendous importance that images had for our author can be deduced from the fact that more attention is given to them than even to the poetic style. That impalpable melancholy which he arouses with the evocation of a taste for tradition and the ancient things of his 3 0 0

country and people is the fruit of a well-balanced juxtaposition of images more than the direct expression of a state of mind. In this respect, Valle calls to mind a certain type of poetry that may be termed

‘'Parnassian".

For other reasons, however, he must be included in the Modernists: namely for a certain litera ry preciosity and for his choice of poetic forms, but this does not deny Valle Inclan his fundamental originality of poetic inspiration.

El Pasajero, published at a considerable distance from the f ir s t volume (13 years later) reveals a new literary and artistic experience that the poet has enjoyed in the interim. It is that same mystic- aesthetic experience that dictated the Lampara Maravillosa in 1916. El Pasajero is the poetic aspect of the prin­ ciples which in the Lampara Maravillosa are expressed in the rhetoric of mystical treatises. Valle's predilection for images is ever present, but they are now expressed 301

with new formulae, in repeated exclamations and hermetic

expressions, which have their key in the Lampara Mara­

villosa. Valle finds his real poetry in the principle

of contemplation, inasmuch as beauty is an aspect of

d iv in ity and d iv in ity can be reached only through

contemplation. With this principle, Valle, like his

contemporaries, wages war on Time. In the immutability

of things and in the calm of mind in ecstasy, he feels

true life. It is with this poetic material that Valle

has composed his Pasajero. The poetic autobiography

is hidden under a simple enigma, which has the advantage

of suggesting to him certain moments of true lyricism.

The Modernistic background is s t i l l there, as is also

his distant relationship with Parnassianism. Yet it must

be recognized that Valle has created for himself a style

and a poetic world that are highly personal and that

express in beautiful form a lyrical moment in his artistic

l i f e .

The third volume, La Pipa de Kif, shows very clea rly 302

the signs of a new current which appears in Valle’s art in the post-war years: the esperpento. This term was invented by the poet himself to express, as we have already seen, a certain attitude of bitter sarcasm toward the world and life. His art, influenced by this state of mind, produced a sty le of deformed figures, such as might be reflected in distorting mirrors. In this new style it is still the image that has full play. This new tendency is to yield its mature fruit later, but here in the Pipa de Kif, can be seen already the e ffe c ts of his change in attitude. The style is closer to prose, even where the poet has constructed his verse most rigorously, and his imagination has chosen its figures, silhouettes, color, patterns, on the basis of a new principle of pictorical contrasts. Here in the

Pipa de Kif, as in general in the esperpento, Valle

Inclan shows a certain ethical concern and sociological interest which were lacking in his earlier works.

The moments in the poetry of Valle Inclan are, then, 303

three: a) the traditional, b) the mystico-aesthetic and c) the esperpento, and for each of these three moments, Valle has given us a volume of poetry. But now that we are at the end of our analysis, we must underline a fact that is always important in art, as in life in general, and that is that these poems also have their significance outside any consideration of

school, tendency or classification.

Valle Inclan is basically a writer of tales, novels

and plays. This is his acceptance by the public and by critics. Yet his career as a writer shows a lyrical

aspect that finds concrete expression outside and along­

side of his major works in his three volumes of poetry.

These are his poetic message, that is to say, they are the lyrical aspect of his art.

1/Ve have had occasion to indicate in the preceding

chapters in what points it seerns to us that his Muse

finds i t s happiest accents. Aromas de Leyenda is the

product of a poet who already carries within him his 3 0 4

whole artistic conscience already formed. There is no moment of weakness and no attempt that has failed.

Yet it is a lyricism of facile inspiration, based on a tone of tradition and nostalgia.

Valle’s poetic maturity lies rather in HI Pasajero, where he tr ie s new ways for h is art. Here trad ition assumes the forms of mysticism, and this mysticism - the fruit especially of wide reading - is fused with the autobiographical factor. In this book, Valle acquires greater consciousness of himself as a poet, his style becomes more vigorous and his verse more d ecisiv e.

Finally, in the Pipa de Kif,we find that the esperpentic tendency offers other, more original subjects to the poet. However strident and bitter this product may be, it is real poetry in many cases - beautiful at times and interesting at others.

In our treatment we have tried to underline the fact that Valle was in his poetry as well as in his prose an artist of real worth. Many of his compositions 305

have resisted the attacks of time and even today they can be read with the same pleasure offered by many other poets of the past, that is to say, just as Vail himself would have 'wished - outside of Time. 306

APPENDIX I •

CLAVES LIRICAS

1. Claves Liricas 2. List of Variants 3. Aromas de Leyenda 4. El Pasajero 5. La Pipa de Kif

1. CLAVES LIRICA2

When, in 1930, Valle Inclan re-published his three

books of poetry, Aromas de Leyenda, El Pasajero and

La Pipa de K if,he collected them together into one

volume which he called Claves L irica s. As we have

observed earlier, in naming this collection he used part

of the title that he had originally given to El Pasajero, when in 1920, it came out under the name of El Pasajero:

Claves Liricas. In the 1930 edition, each single poem

is indicated by the name Clave, together with its number

in the individual section to which it belongs. Thus in

the section Aroma de Leyendas, we have fourteen Claves 307

in the section, El Pasajero, we have thirty-three Claves, and in the final section, La Pipa de Kif, there are eighteen Claves. Before this time, only the poems in the single book El Pasajero had been given the individual name of Claves.

We have already seen that Aromas de Leyenda was published no less than three times (1907, 1913, 1920) before being finally included in the comprehensive volume Claves L iricas in 1930. La Pipa de Kif and

El Pasajero were each published once (1919 and 1920 respectively) before being placed in Claves Liricas.

It is not surprising to find that before re-publishing them, Valle revised them and made certain changes. These changes are many and diverse. Francisco Madrid in his volume La Vida A ltiva de Valle Inclan reports a statement made by our poet, which seems in d ica tiv e. In an interview which he gave on one occasion, Valle is reported as saying:

Si releo estoy perdido porque soy el mas terrible critico de mi mismo. Entonces soy capaz de romper lo que llevo escrito, aunque sea casi todo un libro porque no me gusta la musicalidad de mi prosa...(l) 3 0 8

and he must have had a similar attitude towards his poetry, if we are to judge by the corrections that he made before re-publishing these three books in Claves Liricas.

For the convenience of readers of Valle's poetry, we have thought it opportune to append here a complete list of the variants yielded by a comparison of the various editions, since as far as we are aware, there does not exist to date any such compilation. We have naturally taken account only of publications made during the poet’s lifetime, therefore presumably under his guidance. 309

2. VARIANTS

In compiling the lists of variants, we have used

^ letters to designate the various editions as follows; ►

AROMAS DE LEYENDA: A - 1907 edition I B - 1913 edition

C - 1920 edition I X - CLAVES LIRICAS

EL PASAJERO: D - 1920 edition

X - CLAVES LIRICAS

LA PIPA DE KIF: E - 1919 edition

X - CLAVES LIRICAS 310

AVE

line 10 A Y que en aguella noche ha de ahumar en los Hares, BOX La lena que de noche ha de ahumar en los llares,

line 11 A Mientras cuenta su. voz los cuentos seculares, BCX Mientras cuenta una voz los cuentos seculares,

line 24- A iO mis viejas abuelas, mis memorias lejanas! BCX iOh las viejas abuelas, las memorias lejanas!

Gallego-Portuguese poem A Campana campanina do pico sacro, Toca porque floreza a rosa do milagro.

BC Campana campanina do pico sacro, Toca porque floreza o rosal do milagro.

X ITes no teu piteiro, Paxariho novo, Gracia de gaitero!

MILAGRO DE LA MANANA

line 3 ABC De la santa manana. X De la paz aldeana. lines 19« 20, 21 ABC Esta santa conseja La recuerda un cantar En una fabla vieja.

X (omitted)

LOS POBRES DE DIOS

line 5 ABC No tienen yantar en la luz del dfa, X No tienen yantar a_la luz del dfa,

Galleqo-POrtuquese poem, line 2 ABC Pel1a banda de Laino, pel*a banda de Lestrove. X Pol1a banda de Laino, fiol'a banda de Lestrove.

GEdRGICA

line 1 ABC Hurneda de la aurora despierta la campana X Hurneda de rocio despierta la campana

line 2 ABC En el azul cristal de la paz aldeana, X En los azules cristalinos de la manana. 312

GEORGIGA - continued

line A ABC Los viejos labradores, camino de las eras, X Eos tardos labradores, camino de las eras,

line 16 ABC Y el molino, que esconde ba.io la vid su entrada, X Y el molino que complica con la vid su entrada

line 17 ABC Dice el aureo recuerdo de una historia sagrada X Campesinos enigmas de la Historia Sagrada

line 18 AB De la sangre y la carne, de la hostia y el vino C De la sangre y la carne, de la Forma v el Vino. X De la sangre y la carne, la Borona y el Vino.

Galleqo-POrtuquese poem, line 2 ABC Pra un ermitano do. monte o pan levaba no vico. X Pra un ermitano d ^ monte o pan levaba no vico.

FLOR DE LA TARDE

line 6 ABC Albos los colmillos y. el ojo avizor. X Albos los colmillos, el ojo avizor. 310

FLOR DE LA TARDE - continued

line 12 ABC Y un epitalamio dice el maizal. X Y un epitalamio reza el maizal.

line 24- ABC Que aroraan las rosas de un santo rosal! X Que aroman las rosas del Santo Grial.

Gallego-Portuguese poem, line 2 A Por sobre o rosal voa un paxarino BC Pro sobre o rosal* voa un paxarino X Sobre sol e lua. voa un paxarino

PROSAS DE DOB ERMITANOS

line 36 A En ceniza se trocaran. BCX Son en el aire Eternidad.

line 60 AB Abrxa su vacxo mirar. CX Abrxa su hueco mirar. AVE SERAFfN

line 13 A Es amor la ponzona que lleva como estigma. BCX Es amor la ponzona que lleva por estigma.

line UP ABC Y no se conocio al verse en el espejo X No se reconocio al verse en el espejo

line 57 AB Una llama en el pecho del santo visionario C Una llama en el pecho del moncje visionario X Una llama en el pecho del monje visionario

line 62 ABC Sobre la ermita donde morara el ermitano.. X Sobre la ermita donde moraba el ermitano..

Gallego-Fortuguese poem - entire poem A JRuieenor! jCotovia!...iPaxarino lindo! Cantame n'o peito q*uo teno ferido. {An que sea ven baixo, canta paxarino!

BC IRuisenor! iCotoviaI...iPaxarino lindo! Cantame n*o peito q*uo teno ferido. ilnda que ven baixo, canta paxarino!

X Paxarino louro Gaiterino lindo, Cantame no peito C*o teno ferido. 315

ESTELA DEL PR0D1GI0

line 12 A Por la senda llena de paz. BCX En en aire lleno de paz.

line 16 ABC Y en los labios tiene un cantar. X En los labios tiene un cantar.

line 23 A Que me basta a. desconocerlo BC Pues me basta a desconocerlo X PUes me basta a desconocerlo

line 4-7 A Que en suenos le fuera anunciado BCX En suenos le fuera anunciado

PAGINA DE MISAL

line 6 ABC Que vo vi pintado en viejo misal. X Sobre la vitela del vieio misal.

line 15 ABC Abre la dorada puerta celestial. X Abre la sellada puetta celestial 316

PAGINA DE MISAL - continued

line 16 ABC Ruisenor. Alondra, que Nuestra Senora X Aurea cotovla, que Nuestra Senora

line 24 ABC iRuisenor1 iAlondraI iAve Serafin! X {Aurea cotovla! iAve Serafxn!

LIRIO FRANCESCANO

line A ABC Como dos insinuantes X Como dos arroqantes

line 17 A Que un, aire campesino BCX Que el aire campesino

Galleqo-Portuguese poem, line 1 ABC Pel1a manan cedo, lindo ruisenol, X Pol*a manan cedo, lindo ruisenol,

line 2 A Hay n*a tua cantiga un roc£o de frol. BCX Hay n*a tua cantiga orballo de frol. 317

SOL DE LA TARDE

line 11 ABC Con tu brazo solerane que el^ infinito abarca. X Con tu brazo solemne que al, infinito abarca.

line 17 AB Como jueces de un tiempo en que jueces no habia CX Como jueces del, tiempo en que jueces no habia

SON DE MUNEIRA

Title A Son de flfeiineira BCX Son de Muneira

EN EL CAME NO

lines 7. 8. 9 ABC Era de una ideal Dulzura, su figura Grave y pontifical.

X (omitted)

line 17 ABC Se hizo noche en la senda, X Se hizo luz en la senda, 318

EN EL C AMINO - continued

line 19 ABC iMadre, Santa Maria X Ciego de luz de aurora

line 20 ABC En donde canta el ave X Que en rueca de plata

line 21 A Que anuncia un, nuevo dial BC Que anuncia el, nuevo dfa! X Y volvf a quedar ciego.

Gallego-Portuguese poem - complete poem. ABC IOrballino fresco, nas pallas d'aurora! iOrballino, gracia de nosa Senora!

X iOrballino fresco Nas pallas d'o dfa! iOfballino, gracia D*a Virgen Marfa! 319

EL PASAJERO

Title D El Pasajero: Claves Liricas X El Pasajero

Title-page D I No muerdan los canes de la duna ascetica La sorabra sombrxa del que va sin bienes, El alma en corabate, la expresion frenetica, Y un ramo de venas saltante en las sienes!

Z (omitted)

ROSA DE LLAMAS Clav. I

line 1 D Claras lejanias* dunas escampadas. X Rafagas de ocaso* dunas escampadas*

line 3 D Mistica tragedia de rojas espadas X Mitica tragedia de rojas espaldas

line 5 D El camino bianco* el herren barroso* X La culebra de un sendero tenebroso 320 line9 IPor IPor el dolor negro del alma enconada, line 13 line 14. line 15 lines 17. 18. 19. 20 Con im torbellino de acciones y ciencias: Las torvas blasfemias por pan justiciero, Por tu negro verbo de Mateo Morrals Con tu torbellino de acciones y cienciass Las rojas blasfemias por pan justiciero, Mitica tragedia de rojas espaldas La luz y la sombra gladiando en el monte; Que estallo en las ruedas del Carro Real! Y alados mancebos, sobre el horizonte. X Venteaban los canes de la duna ascetica ROSA DE LUMAS- continued D No muerdan los canes de la duna ascetica X Lobrega su estrella le alumbra el sendero D En mi senda estabas. lobrego lucero D Tu fuiste en mi vida una llamarada, Q Q X Q X X Rafagas de ocaso, dunas escampadas. (first stanza repeated) 321 (stanza omitted) line 13^ lines 9. 10. 11 . 12 lines 9. 10. . 11 line 5 line 6 line 7 line 8 Los Los senderos en fuga culterana y ambigua La nota de las rosas iba como un revuelo, Por el encantoverde que vibra desde el suelo. Era el paisaje pauta del pincel puntillista, Converse con las rosas y como un amuleto Conjugaban el tema de la fabula antigua. Juntaba pena v gozo aquella luz ambigua, Una luz vibradora. moderna y muy antigua. Con la luz emotiva del siglo modernista. Converse con las rosas, y las ame en secreto. D X Saliendo de mi Noche por una rosaleda Saliendo de mi noche, me perdi en un recinto D X Entre. De rosas. La luz que habia era verde reseda. Por los metricos selloBde un laberinto ROSALEDA Clav. II ax ax a x ax ROSALEDA - continued continued - ROSALEDA D En cada rosa cada En omitted) (stanza X D omitted) (stanza X lauros los de panidos gozo y luz, iSagrada D X O X O X o Como el amor de un Rey Israelita. Rey un de amor el Como Mi deleite de amor se hizo sagrado, sagrado, hizo se amor de deleite Mi Adamita, del renove gracia La pecado, sin deleite ellas en Tuve esposa. una de lozano amor el Guste Oriente de cielo el por pere

line 27 D El_ alma se daba X Mi Alma se daba

ROSA HIPERBOLICA Clav. Ill

line 16 D Quedo mi vida como un cantar. X Deje mi vida como un cantar.

lines 21. 22. 23. 2L D Peregrinando por mis caminos, No tem£ hambres iTemi mujer! Quien va senero tras sus destinos Lleva la espada para veneer.

X (stanza omitted)

line 25

D Yo marche solo con mis leones X Yo marcho solo con mis leones

line 27 D Mo. me asustaron las tentaciones X El Diablo escucha mis oraciones 324

ROSA HIFERBOLICA - continued

line 28 D Y dije siempre: iManana es hoy! X Canta mi pecho: iManana es hoy!

lines 29. 30* 31. 32 D (first stanza not repeated)

X Va la carreta bamboleante (first stanza repeated) Por el caraino sobre una foz, El can al flanco va jadeante, Dentro una sornbra canta sin voz.

ROSA MATINAL Clav. V

line 16 D Barca de piedra, el aureo Cebedeo. X Barca de luz. el aureo Cebedeo.

ROSA DEL PARAISO Clav. VIII

lines 17. 18. 19. 20 0 En su temblor azul, devoto y pronto Tiene ansias de ideal la flor del lino, Ansias de deshojarse en el tramonto Y hacer de su temblor, temblor de trino.

X (stanza omitted) X mundo, el copiaba que redondo, ojo Su D sagrada._ claridad la tocar Quise sagrada,^ claridad la tocar Quise X D X (stanza omitted) (stanza X continued - PARAISO DEL ROSA D Mi alma tendida como un vasto sueno vasto un como tendida alma Mi D X D X CJ Y busque la. manzana en su profundo la. profundo su busque en Y manzana Con un dedo de rosa levantado. rosa de dedo un Con Me hablo como la sierpe del pecado, del sierpe la como hablo Me lines 4-5. lines del sierpe laEstigma. Flamfgero copa la diseno en su enroscaba Ya line line vaca. nocturna una mar el sobre Vi (stanza omitted) (stanza vaca. nocturna una mar el sobre Fue luceros los bajo luces de Gentil luceros los bajo encendxa se Y lines 37, 38, 39, 40 40 39, 38, 37, lines 36 line eaer aoe arbol elenigma. del bajo alegro Se line 27 line UU 6 A , 48 £7. 325 326

ROSA VENTURERA Clav. IX

Con el recuerdo de otras vidas En el corazon a cantar Parti con las alas tendidas Sobre los tumbos de la mar.

En las voces desconocidas Senti el pasado resonar, Y claridades presentidas Iluminaron mi avatar.

Bogo mi alma paradojica En un cristalino bajel, En una isla mitologica

Me embriague con hidromiel, Y como consecuencia logics Decoro mi sueno, un laurel.

X (whole poem omitted)

D Title-page LAURELES iComo me hablastes en las rosas Cuando rosas sego mi hoz, Voz de las cosas Lejana voz!

(title-page and stanza omitted) ROSAS ASTRALES Clav. I ROSAS ASTRALES Clav. IX

LA ROSA DHL SOL Clav. II LA ROSA DEL SOL Clav. X line 5 JSalve Sacro Verbo! iPneuma Categorico! iAurea Matematical iNumen Categorical line 6 iLogos de la formal iTeologal Crisol! iLogos de las Formas! JTeologal Crisol! line 7 iSacro Verbo Metrico! Canta el Pitagorico iSalve Sacro Pneuma! Canta el Pitagorico line 9 El Sol es la Gracia de luz que provoca El Sol es la ardiente fuente que provoca

ALEGORIA Clav. Ill ALEGORIA Clav. XII line 12 Era el jinete frente al solj_ desnudo, Era el jinete frente al solj_ Desnudo, This stanza is omitted in X ) 328 {Como {Como me hablastes en las rosas iComo me hablaste en las rosas IFragancia de la letania! JLuz JLuz de Eucologio! iSalmo del dfa! iVerso iVerso euforico! ) given to lines iVerso iVerso solar! )29, 30, 31, 32 in D line 1 lines 9. lines 9. 10. 11. 12 lines 17. 18, 19. 20 LA ROSA PANIDA Clav. XIII ROSA DE MELANCOLfA ROSA DE MELANCOLIA Clav. IV Clav. XII LA ROSA PANIDA Clav. V Y tu fuiste a mi corazon, De Salomon! Voz de lujuria Como el verso que dice el mar! ) This stanza is X (stanza omitted) D IMistica rosa del elogio! D era lYo lleno de alegre furia, Q X Q X Q X X JVerso dorado y pitagorico ) 329

LA ROSA PANIDA - continued

lines 25, 26. 27, 28 D JEstrofa de liricos prismas, Tu enganaste mi corazon, Con sofisraos De Zenon!

X (stanza omitted)

lines 29, 30, 31, 32 # D JVerso dorado y pitagorico Como el verso que dice el mar! iVerso euforico! iVerso solar!

X This stanza occupied lines 17, 18, 19, 20 in X and no new stanza has been added to fill lines 29, 30, 31, 32.

lines 37, 38. 39, 40 D iRosa llena de alegorxas Antiguas! iDivina y carnal! iFlor de Herodxas Y del Grial!

X (stanza omitted) 330

D ROSA DEL SUSPIRO Clav. VI

Ardiente Pentaculo, clausula sellada, Verbo de una eterna luz primaveral, Sangre de venusta boca enllamarada, La rosa las clausulas guarda del cristal.

Rosa, que a la carne de Venus das norma, La diosa encendida de furia carnal, Consagro en la gracia cordial de tu forma Para sus misterios, fragante grial.

Rosa venusina, tu sentido oculto Promueve los ritmos del agreste culto De Pan. Armonfas me das de placer.

Como un arroyuelo me corre el exulto Del extasis. Llevas belico tumulto A mi sangre. Voces me das de mujer.

X (whole poem omitted)

D (whole poem omitted)

X ROSA MfcTRICA Clav. XIV

JNumero Celeste I iGeometrxa Doradal iVerso Pitagorico! iClave de Cristal! iCanto de Divina boca enllamarada! iVerso del Ardiente Pentaculo Astral! ROSA METRICA - continued

Las pomas del seno, Diana Cinegetica Timbra con tu ardiente alusion carnal, Divina promesa que enciende la estetica Del fauno rugiente de furia nupcial.

Con f,eliz congoja, con mxtico insulto Panida, arrebatas mi sangre en tumulto Aurea solfa del Dorado Facistol.

Rosa Alejandrina, tu sentido oculto Promueve los ritmos heroicos del culto Apolxneo. iRosa Metrics del Sol!

D VITRALES Clav. VII X VITRALES Clav. XV

line 2 D Clave del sonoro X Selva del sonoro

line 3 D Orqano del coro! X Ruisenor del coro!

line 7 D Sois de los vitrales X Sois en los vitrales GOZOS DE LA ROSA Clav. VIII

ICarne de ofrenda! ICarne sin sevicia! iLuz deleitosa! iPanica obsesion! iCarne gloriosa! iMxstica leticia! IGrito del mundo! jEstrofa de pasion! iRosas fragantesl ICristalinas rosas! IRosas evocadoras del Haren! iRosas divinas, castas, lujuriosas! iSenos de Eva! iCarne del Eden! iCarne! iDivina carne sin pecado, Ardiente geometria del cristal, Concepto ferainino inmaculado, Eva en el Paraiso Terrenal!

El apolfneo canto matutino Resuena en ti. Concepto eres del Sol, Como explicaba un mago alejandrino, Que primer movil le llamo al crisol.

Cuando tu gracia nubil y pagana En la bicorne frente era laurel, La que peco de amor te hizo cristiana De amor besando por las huellas de El.

El numen teologal del bizantino Te dio a la piedra, y transcendida en luz, Cobras gracia de estrella en el divino Roseton que se enciende ante la Cruz. iRosal que eres de espinas coronado, Acendrado y fragante de dolor, Parfuma con tus rosas mi pecado Que lleva espinas y no lleva amor! RS EFRA Ca. I Clav. FURIAS DE ROSA D omitted) stanza and (title-page X TENTACIONES D continued - ROSA LA DE GOZOS RS EFRA Ca. XVII Clav. FURIAS DE ROSA X X D omitted) poem (whole X Cuando la tarde del verano verano del tarde la Cuando Como un Demonio yo la deshoje. la yo Demonio un Como OAD AL Ca. XVI Clav. SAULO DE ROSA OAD AL Ca. IX Clav. 5AUL0 DE ROSA De las nubes mando un milano milano un mando nubes las De Title-page luminosa, Angel un como era que La rosa la extatica, rosa Aquella Es la hora de los enigmas, los de hora la Es Sobre las palomas benignas... benignas... palomas las Sobre fue, mano mi en que Hnamoxada iEs la hora Enigmas! hora los laiEs de 333 334 line 8 line 19 Se Se ondula la onda de calcedonia El El lavo canta versos solares line 20 Abrian su vuelo como un tesoro Abren vuelosu como un tesoro El lago canta versos de Jonia line 21 line 27 Y ondula la onda con malabares De rudos Soles, su sombra dan. De rudos soles, su sombra dan. line 3 Con tornasoles de indo chaul. Juegos de luces, su indo chaul. ROSA DE ORIENTE Clav. Ill ROSA DE ORIENTE Clav. XIX D ROSA DE TURBULUS Clav. II X ROSA DE TURBULOS Clav. XVIII D Anuncian sus corales v sus flecos Q x QX Q X Q X Q x QX X Enlabia con moriscos embelecos 335

ROSA DE ORIENTE - continued

line U D Un sueno oriental de lo divino > X Su boca oscura. cuentos de Aladino.

►

D LA ROSA DHL RELOJ Clav. IV X LA ROSA DEL RELOJ Clav. XX

line 3 D De las nubes mando un milano X De las nubes mando un milano

D ROSA DEL PECADO Clav. V X ROSA DEL PECADO Clav. XXI

D CORTESANA DE ALEJANDRIA Clav. VI X CORTESANA DE ALEJANDRIA Clav. XXII

D ASTERISCO Clav. VII X ASTERISCO Clav. XXIII

line 5 D Suspensa en el aire la mano felina (as line 6 in X) X Atentos los verdes ojos de adivina 336 12 line 6 line line 14- Sobre la consola invoca Belial.a Quieta como un £dolo. mirando al cristal, Quieta y sibilina. mirando al cristal, Con su circonfle.io invocaCon su circonfle.io Belial.a line 53 ROSA DE BELIAL Clav. VIII apaga mi ciencia line 55 ROSA DEBELIAL Clav. XXIV Apaga mi aliento Esta tu sentencia Esta tu cimiento D X Mirando al espejo como una adivina. Suspensa en el aire line manola 5 in felinaD) (as, ASTERISCO - continued D ROSA DE BRONCE Clav. IX

QX QX QX QX QX X ROSA DE BRONCE Clav. XXV 337

D Title-page TALISMAN Este amor tan lejano, ahora vestido De luz crepuscular en el sendero Muestra como un Arcangel, el sentido Inmortal de la Vida, al Pasajero.

X (title-page and stanza omitted)

D ROSA SALOMONICA Clav. I

Es la tristeza divina herencia, Corazon triste, buen corazon. Solo dolores labran conciencia, Dolor es ciencia de Salomon.

Penas de amores la preferencia Llevan. Sus flechas foradas, son Ansias divinas, vozo y cadencia De aquel Salterio que oyo Sion.

Oyendo el canto de las sirenas Voy peregrino sobre la mar, Y con los hierros de mis cadenas

Sigo la pauta de su cantar. iSolo cantares diviertan penas1 iCanto el Salmista para llorar!

X (whole poem omitted) 338

D ROSA DE MI ABRIL Clav. II x ROSA DE MI ABRIL Clav. XXVI

lines 17. 18. 19. 20 D iJardfn azul, endonde el canto De la alondra escucho JulietaJ... iJardfn con ecos de su llanto, Y una nostalgia de poetal...

X (stanza omitted)

lines 29. 30. 31. 32 D Ciego de azul, ebrio de aurora,) Era el vertigo del abismo ) This stanza is given to En el grano de cada hora, )lines 33, 34, 35, 36 inX Y era el horror del silogismo. )

En mi pecho daba su canto I El ave azul de la quimera, ) This stanza is given to Y me coronaba de acanto )lines 33, 34, 35, 36 in D Una lirica Primavera.

lines 41. 42. 43. 44 D jOh, rosa, que numen te informa? iPor que claridades benignas, Levantas tu metrica forma En el Mundo de mis enigmas?

X (stanza omitted) 339

D EN UN LIBRO GUARDADA ESTA Clav. Ill

(This poem is reproduced in part in X under the title Rosa de Zoroastro)

D En el espejo magico aparece Toda mi vida, y bajo su misterio Aquel amor lejano se florece Como un Arcangel en un cautiverio.

Llega por un camino nunca andado, Ya no son sus veredas tenebrosas, Desgarrada la sien, triste, aroroado, Llega por la camina de las rosas.

Vibro tan duro en contra de la suerte Aquel viejo dolor, que aun se hace nuevo, Esta batido como el hierro fuerte Tiene la gracia noble de un mancebo.

Reza, alma triste, en su devota huella, Los ecos de los muertos son sagrados, Como dicen que alumbran las estrellas, Alumbran los amores apagados.

Este amor tan lejano, ahora vestido De sombra de la tarde, en el sendero Muestra como un Arcangel, el sentido Inmortal de la vida al Pasajero.

Yo iba perdido por la selva obscura Solo oia el quebrar de mi cadena, Y vi encenderse con madrosa albura En la selva, una luz de anima en pena.

Tuve conciencia. Vi la sombra m£a Negra, sobre el camino de la muerte, Y vi tu sombra blanca que decia Su oracion a los tigres de mi Suerte. X ROSA DE ZOROASTRO Clav. XXVII

(This poem is reproduced in part from D, from a poem entitled En un libro guardada esta)

X En el espejo magico aparece Toda mi vida, y como cirio mistico Aquel amor lejano aun estremece Con su luz, el pleroma cabalfstico.

Reza, alma triste, en sus devotas huellas, Los ecos de los muertos son sagrados, Como dicen que alumbran las estrellas, Alumbran los araores apagados.

Esta cera que enciende su lucero, Mas luminoso cuanto mas distante, En el magico circulo agorero Signa la eternidad de cada instante.

Suspende el grano en el reloj de arena, Y los enigams de mi noche obscura Alumbra con su cirio de alma en pena, Del sellado cristal, en la clausura.

En el espejo, vi la sombra mxa Negra, sobre los pasos de la muerte, Y el enima llorosa que vencia Con su oracion el Sino de mi Suerte.

Aquel amor lejano, ahora vestido De niebla sideral, su ardiente Idea Abre como un Arcangel, el sentido Inmortal de la vida, en mi alma atea. 341 line 35 En el Instante que abre los instantes ROSA GNflSTICA ROSA GNflSTICA Clav. IV ROSA GNOSTICA Clav. XXVIII En el Instante que hace los instantes lines 5. 7. 6, 8 LA TRAE UNCUERVO Clav. V LA TRAE UNCUERVO Clav. XXIX ROSA DE JOB Clav. XXX LATRAE UNA PALOMA LA TRAE UNA FALOMA Clav. VII Clav. XXXI ROSA DEJOB Clav. VI Purifica este logos de pecado, De mi forma sera vaso sagrado, Donde el enigma de las formas rimo Con la divina forma del Amado. Verbo de luz la carcel donde gimo Con la sierpe del tienpo encadenado. D Espina del dolor, redime al limo, QX QX QX QX QX X Por tu gracia de lagrimas el limo 342

D ROSA DESHO-JADA Clav. VIII X ROSA DESHOJADA Clav. XXXII

lines 9. 10. 11. 12 D lAdios desenganos! iAdios ilusiones! Ya logran mis anos Las quietas razones.

X iAdios ilusiones! Ya logran mis anos Las quietas razones De los desenganos.

D KARMA Clav. IX X KARMA Clav. XXXIII 343

LA PIPft DE KIF

LA PIPA DE KIF

line 7 Su risa en la entrana del azul del dxa Su risa en la entrana delflea del d£a

line 19 De aquella celeste azul Primavera De aquella riente, nina Priraavera

line 27 La barca fragante que guarda un tesoro La barca fragante que guarda el tesoro

line 28 De aromas y gemas y_ un cuento oriental! De aromas y gemas de un cuento oriental

ALELUYA

lines 5. 6 E Con el punto de extravagancia Que Banville ha tenido en Francia.

X (omitted) 344

ALELUVA - continued

line 82 E Y a, compas de un ritmo trocaico X Y al_ compas de un ritmo trocaico

line 84 E Animula, Vagula, Glandula. X Animula, Vagula, Blandula’.

MARINA NORTENA

line 49 E De un quinque de laton la luz visunta X De un quinque de laton la luz bisunta

BESTIARIO

line 97 E Y a Dionisio Aeropagita X A Simeon el Estilita 345 line 103 lines 121 - 128 line 47 line line 3 Lo exprime y lo augura, Es un Gurugu. line 37 line46 Estira el camello, Lo enarca y lo apura, Pobre Caballero Andante Que termina en U. Como el escudo dorado Toda la figura Cobra en la puerta cte Cobra la entradaen la puerta cte Parasoles remendados Con largo resuello Que abres el vuelo gigante Con el escudo dorado Cobra en la puerta la entrada Quitasoles remendades E Y el pelado cuello X (stanza omitted) X Jugador marchoso E Jugador garboso EL CIRCO DE LONA tux uix tu x tux 346

EL CIROO DE LONA - continued

lines 137 - 144 E (stanza omitted)

X Y siguen azares De los estelares Juegos malabares Que ama el japones. Y con un restallo De la fusta, el callo Se oyo, de un caballo Que vino despues.

lines 145 - 152 E (stanza omitted)

X Al fin sale al coso El mono vicioso, Que se hace el gracioso Y no lo hace mal. Puja de anarquista Y es el gran fumista Exhibicionista Internacional.

lines 205. 206. 207. 2 0 8 E Y las falsas pantorilias, Dando gritos de falsete, Se tuercen en las canillas Bajo un siete.

X (stanza omitted) EL CIRCO DE LONA - continued

line 227 E Barbaros versos dorados X Heroicos versos dorados

TIJERAS ABIERTAS

line 26 E Con su grito lo asombra. X Con su grito la sombra*

LA COIMA

lines 29. 30, 31, 32 E Tiene el Jaque de Medinica En la frente un rojo tachon. Atenta la oreja, predica Su dedo en los labios: iChiton!

X (stanza omitted)

LA TIENDA DEL HERBOLARIO

line 4-2 E Rimo estas prosas de apolgetica* X Rimo estas prosas de apoloqetica. x m x m continued - HERBOLARIO DEL TIENDA LA Tumba y taramba - pongo una una pongo - taramba y Tumba Rumba y taramba - pongo una pongo - taramba y Rumba line 142 line 125 line IOh! marihuana, verde neumonica verde IOh! marihuana, pneumonica, verde iOh! marihuana, 3 4 3 34-9

3. AROMAS DH LEYENDA.

The changes made in the course of the four editions of Aromas de Leyenda (1907, 1913, 1920 and its final inclusion in Claves Liricas in 1930) are fairly extensive, for only one of the fourteen compositions - No digas de dolor - has remained intact throughout. By far the greater number of corrections appear in the final version, the three preceding editions, which were published separately, remaining virtually the same. Unless otherwise indicated, the discussion which follows will be based on the differences found between the three almost identical versions of 1907,

1913 and 1920, and the fourth which appeared in 1930 as a part of Claves Liricas.

The corrections which Valle Made range from a change in one relatively unimportant word to the suppression of a whole stanza, and would seem to have been dictated by varying motives.

Frequently, as we have indicated, he has only replaced a single word or expression by another with very little 350

change in meaning, such as: humeda de la aurora replaced

by humeda de rocio (Georgica), los viejos labradores by

los tardos labradores (Georgica), un epitalamio dice al

maizal by un epitalamio reza el maizal (Flor de la tarde),

de la santa mahana by de la paz aldeana (Milagro de la

mahana) and, curiously, the reverse substitution of

El azul cristal de la paz aldeana by Los azules cristalinos

de la manana (Georgica). Here Valle was clearly seeking

what he considered a more perfect or polished form of

expression for his ideas, but he has not fundamentally

changed his poetic message.

A tendency that is noticeable in the amendments is

Valle*s preference for the definite article to the

indefinite, with the possible intention of strengthening

the meaning. For example, already in the second edition

of 1913, we find that que un aire campesino becomes que el aire campesino (Lirio francescano) and que anuncia un nuevo dia becomes que anuncia el nuevo d£a (En el camino).

In the third edition, he still feels the need for this 351

greater precision, as is shown in the change of

.jueces de un tiempo to jueces del tiempo (Sol de la tarde).

Certain changes between the three first editions and the fourth would seem to be dictated by a need for even greater economy of expression than he had used earlier, with a resultant strengthening of the line.

By suppressing the connective y_, he has conferred greater severity on such lines as albos los colmillos y el ojo avizor, corrected to albos los colmillos., el ojo avizor

(Flor de la tarde), Y no se conocio al verse en el espejo changed to No se reconocio al verse en el espejo (Ave Serafin) and Y en los labios tiene un cantar changed to En los labios tiene un cantar (Estela del prodigio). The suppression of que has the same effect when Que en suefios le fuera anunciado becomes En suenos le fuera anunciado (Estela del Prodigio).

Some corrections in vocabulary might be taken as indicating a desire to render the expression more abstract, possibly as a result of Valle’s mystic experience as expressed in the Pasajero in 1920. For example, in 352

1920, we find that he changed las rosas de un santo rosal

to las rosas del Santo Grial (Flor de la tarde) and ► el moling, que esconde bajo la vid su entrada to el molino,

► que complica con la vid su entrada (Georgica). A similar

I change occurred earlier, in the 1913 edition, which might

be taken as linking it with the Lampara Maravillosa (1916), i when he says of the bird, the arrow and the stone that

en ceniza se trocaran (1907) and then son en el aire

Eternidad (1913) (Prosas de dos ermitanos).

The greatest changes in Aromas de Leyenda are found

in the omission of two complete stanzas, one from Milagro

de la mahana and the other from En el camino. In the

former poem, the omitted stanza is the last. It merely

winds up the poem and adds very little to the message,

so that its suppression does not harm the unity in any

way. The omitted stanza reads:

Esta santa conseja La recuerda un cantar En una fabla vieja. 353

The stanza omitted from En el camino is the description of the pilgrim whom the poet met upon his way. It is the only stanza in which Valle does not present himself and his reactions, since it is entirely dedicated to the pilgrim, and it is possible that he wished to omit it in order to keep the whole poem to the theme of his personal experience. The omitted stanza reads:

Era de una ideal Dulzura, su figura Grave y pontifical.

The changes which occurred in the Gallego-Porguguese poems are almost all of a very minor nature and are simply the re-working of the same idea in most cases. The only real substitution occurs in the poem at the end of Ave, where the original stanza reads:

Campana campanina Do pico sacro Toca porque floreza A rosa do milagro.

and the 1930 edition 354

shows a change to:

iTes no teu piteiro Paxarino novo, Gracia de gaitero!

It will be seen that, although rather extensive, these corrections are not particularly significant in themselves. They are, however, very important as indicating the tremendous care which Valle took in composing his poetry and are a very clear indication that he did not write spontaneously or carelessly.

The changes that he made between the two editions of

Pasajero, being very much more extensive in nature, will confirm this idea even more. 355

4-. EL PASAJERO

It is in the two editions of El Pasajero (1920 and its later inclusion in Claves Liricas in 1930) that we find the greatest number of alterations. Not only did

Valle suppress in 1930 the headings of the four sections -

El Pasajero, Laureles, Tentaciones and Talisman, and with them their accompanying strophe, thus abolishing entirely the idea of sub-dividing the book - but he also removed four poems (Rosa Venturers, Rosa del Suspiro, Gozos de la Rosa and Rosa Salomonica), he re-shaped one poem (En un libro guardada esta) and gave it a new title (Rosa de

Zoroastro) and he added one that seems entirely new,but that is a re-working in different terms of Rosa del Suspiro

(Rosa Metrica). It would almost seem that in including the Pasajero in the Claves Liricas, Valle no longer saw it as a separate entity, but wished to integrate it with the other two volumes.

Although numerically a far greater number of poems remained intact in the Claves Liricas edition of the 356

Pasajero than was the case with Aromas de Leyenda

(more than one third of the total number, represented by: Rosa del Caminante, Rosa Vespertina, Rosa de mi

Romerxa, Rosas astrales, Rosa de Saulo, Rosa de Furias,

Rosa del Reloj, Rosa del Pecado, Cortesana de Alexandria,

Rosa de Bronce, La trae un cuervo, Rosa de Job and Karma) the changes in the others are so extensive as to make this book the most thoroughly revised of the three.

Unlike the conservative changes in Aromas de Leyenda, the amendments in the Pasajero are at times drastically different from the original and frequently alter the meaning completely. Since they are almost all concerned with imagery, however, they do not usually alter the basic message of the poem, but merely convey the idea in what

Valle must have considered a more striking form. These amendments vary from the mere replacing of a period by a comma to the suppression or addition of a whole poem.

Some of the most striking changes occur in the substitution of complete stanzas (or their omission), or the rearrange- 357

ment of their order. It would seem that he was not satisfied with the Pasajero as it stood - which may appear paradoxical in view of the numerical evidence that more than one third of the original book was left intact. But the changes in the remainder are so drastic that he must have given a considerable amount of time and care to the revision.

The simplest type of change is that involving the substitution of a new expression which does not basically alter the meaning. We find this in La Rosa del Sol, where Logos de la forma becomes logos de las Formas, and again where mere exclamations are varied, such as Salve

Sacro Verbo becoming Aurea Matematica and Sacro Verbo

Metrico becoming Salve Sacro Pneuma.

There are times when Valle has deliberately changed his vocabulary to produce a new image, as in Rosa de Llamas, where las rojas blasfemias becomes las torvas blasfemias, and in Vitrales, where Clave del sonoro organo del coro is changed to Selva del sonoro ruisenor del coro. 358

In the opening words of the first poem, Rosa de Llamas,

Valle has completely changed one of the elements of the composition of his landscape. In 1920, he wrote claras lejanias, but in 1930, he preferred rafagas de ocaso. In the same poem, he made a curious change from nastica tragedia de rojas espadas to mitica tragedia de rojas espaldas, and further on, el camino bianco, el herren barroso becomes the more effective, and incidentally more esperpentic, la culebra de un sendero tenebroso. 3esides these changes in imagery, Valle has made this particular poem impersonal and kept himself a distant onlooker or passer-by, by removing the tu form, and with it the implied tu~yo participation. Thus, con tu torbellino becomes con un torbellino, en mi sendero estabas, lobrego lucero is changed to lobrega su estrella le alumbra el sendero, and to take the place of the last stanza, which he suppressed, Valle repeats the first one again, which is the setting of the scene. This technique of ’'framing11 a poem within certain limits, which we find in many Parnassian poets and even in Baudelaire, is used 359

frequently by Valle Inclan. In the case of this poem, the fixed limits are supplied by the one stanza of descriptive elements whose repetition serves the double purpose of setting a limit on the poem and of removing a stanza involving tu_, thus lessening the autobiographical element. The omitted stanza reads:

Tu fuiste en mi vida una llamarada, Por tu negro verbo de Mateo Morral: iPor el dolor negro del alma enconada Que estallo en las ruedas del Carro Real!

The first stanza of the poem, repeated at the end, reads:

Rafagas de ocaso, dunas escampadas. La luz y la sombra gladiando en el monte; Mxtica tragedia de rojas espaldas Y alados mancebos, sobre el horizonte.

The same kind of repetition of the first stanza at the end of a poem is the amendment in the later edition of Rosa Hiperbolica, where again it places a limiting

framework around the message of the poem.

On the whole, Valle's tendency has been to omit rather than to add, but very frequently the omissions do

not remove anything vital from the poem. In Rosa del 360

Paraiso, of the three omitted stanzas, the first merely contains further elements of landscape - it is the middle stanza of five of pure description, so that its omission does not detract from the overall picture. The second of the omitted stanzas is the only realJy abstract stanza of the whole poem, and its omission gives greater unity to the amended version. The third stanza omitted was the summing up of the child’s impressions as he tried to touch the eye of the cow. Possibly Valle felt it better artistically to end the poem on the climactic line:

En mi ardor infantil no cupo el miedo, La vaca vino a mi, de luz dorada, Y en sus ojos enormes, con el dedo Quise tocar la claridad sagrada.

and leave the reader to his own reactions, rather than to risk an anti­ climax by further explanation.

Stanzas of the exclamatory, mystical type have been omitted on occasion, as for instance the four in Rosa

Panida and the two in Rosa de mi Abril. One example of 361

omission from each poem follows:

iRosa llena de alegorias ► Antiguas! IDivina y carnal! iFlor de Herodias > Y del Grial!

iOh rosa cque numen te informa? dPor que claridades benignas ' Levantas tu metrics forma En el mundo de mis enigmas?

, So far we have only dealt with changes made within

poems, but the greatest alterations are to be found in

the total suppression of four poems: Rosa Venturers,

Rosa del Suspiro, Gozos de la Rosa and Rosa Salomonica.

The omission of Rosa Venturers might be attributed

to the fact that it is somewhat similar to Rosa del Pararso,

the poem immediately preceding it, being a kind of childhood

recollection, but shorter and more abstract and in a sense

less poetic. We noted earlier that the real importance

of Rosa Venturers seemed to be that it introduced the

section Laureles in the 1920 edition with:

Y como consecuencia logica Decoro mi sueno, un laurel. 362

Since the idea of sub-dividing the book into sections was also abolished in the later edition, this poem no longer served even that purpose.

One particularly interesting change is the suppression of the sonnet Rosa del Suspiro and the addition of the sonnet Rosa Metrica in the same position in the book.

Although at first sight these would seem to be two completely different compositions, a closer examination reveals that the replacement is virtually a re-working of the same material within a remarkably similar rhyme-scheme.

Six of the original rhyme words are preserved intact, which leads us to think that Valle gave a great deal of attention to them in the original sonnet and felt satisfied with them. What is 'really changed is the expression of the erotic theme, which in the second version has lost its realistic nuances. It would seem that where Valle changes furia carnal to alusion carnal, and Armonfas me das de placer to Aurea solfa del dorado facistol, he sought the support of his symbolic instrument in order to conceal any contact with reality. The eroticism so openly expressed in the earlier Rosa del Suspiro is now, in Rosa Metrica, symbolized in the sun and moon rather than being applied to living people, and the change of title is indicative of the change of approach. The last three lines of each of these sonnets will be enough to illustrate the difference in attitude between the two compositions:

Como un arroyuelo me corre el exulto Del extasis. Llevas belico tumulto A mi sangre. Voces me das de mujer. (Rosa del Suspiro)

Rosa Alejandrina, tu sentido oculto Promueve los ritmos heroicos del culto Apolineo. jRosa Metrica del Sol! (Rosa Metrica)

We feel that Valle betrays here a certain artificiality, inasmuch as the substitution of one sonnet for another seems to us an intellectual procedure rather than the result of poetic inspiration. Once more we find our poet concerned with distributing his compositions according to cabalistic numbers: the new scheme of placing 33 poems in the Pasajero section of Claves Liricas 364

could not permit the publication of both these sonnets, so that the only recourse was substitution.

The suppression of Gozos de la Rosa and Rosa Salomonica may be attributed to Valle1s desire to shorten the book.

Gozos de la Rosa treats the subject of carnal love, and just as it would seem that our poet felt for some reason impelled to reduce the obviously erotic element in Rosa del

Suspiro, he may have felt this necessity also with regard to Gozos de la Rosa. Rosa Salomonica is a gentle, short- lined sonnet on sorrow. Valle must have felt that this poem could best be spared in the re-casting of the book.

The only other notable change is in the re-working of En un libro guardada esta, with its new title Rosa de

Zoroastro. In essence the poem remains the same, although shortened by one stanza and drastically re-worded. The fifth stanza of the earlier version (En un libro guardada esta) shows a significant change in detail, as it becomes the sixth and last of Rosa de Zoroastro, for Valle has now removed the word Pasajero from the last line and replaced 365

it by mi alma atea.

Thus we find in more ways than one that the original idea of the Pasajero no longer pleases him when he inserts it in the Claves- Liricas. However, extensive as these changes undoubtedly are, they still cannot be said to constitute a real shift in attitude, but should only be considered as evidence of the painstaking care with which our poet shaped his verse. 366

5. LA PIPA DE KIF

As in Aromas de Leyenda, so also in the Pipa de Kif,

the corrections that Valle made in the 1930 edition,

although affecting a considerable number of poems, were

in essence quite limited.

He suppressed a stanza on occasion and twice he added

a new one. The suppressions have not removed anything of vital importance to the meaning of the poem concerned and the additions are in the same spirit and tradition as the original work, and thus add very little.

The greatest number of changes will be found in isolated words and phrases. Frequently it is merely the orthography of a word that differs, which might even be attributed to a printer's error, as visunta replaced by bisunta (Marina Nortena). On one or two occasions, it has been the sound of the word that seems to have dictated the change, as in Glandula changed to Blandula (Marina Nortena) and Quitasoles changed to Parasoles (El Circo de Lona).

Certain replacements in vocabulary would seem to 367

indicate merely a desire to polish the verse, or to

enrich it by adding a word charged with deeper meaning, ► as for instance la entrana del azul del dia which becomes

► la entrana delfica del d£a (La Pipa de Kif). j As regards differences in whole stanzas, the tendency

has been to suppress rather than to add. One stanza in i La Coima describing el Jague has been omitted, with the

effect of increasing the pace of the poem. The omitted

lines have a certain dramatic power and supply a striking

detail to the scene, but their removal does not spoil the

unity of the poem. They read:

Tiene el Jaque de Medinica En la frente un rojo tachon. Atenta la oreja, predica Su dedo en los labios: iChiton!

Two stanzas of pure description, originally placed

among so many other stanzas of description, were removed

from the long poem El Circo de Lona and in the same poem

a new stanza replaced an old one. Since this is a purely

descriptive poem, presented in a series of fragmentary pictures, the suppression, addition or exchange of stanzas merely indicates a shift in emphasis on the part of the poet.

Although these variants are not of any vital importance in themselves, they are - as in the other two books - extremely interesting as indicating the precision with which Valle worked and polished his poetry. The mere change from definite to indefinite article, or from possessive adjective to definite article, reveals a meticulous attention to detail and a desire to express his poetic message as fully and precisely, and in the noblest way possible. 369

FOOTNOTES TO APPENDIX I

1. Madrid, Francisco, op, clt» p . 1 0 9 . APPENDIX II

VALLE INCLAN1 G V Ell SE-PLAYS

1. The Verse-Plays. 2. Background. 3. Cuento de Abril. X. Voces de Gesta 5. La Marquesa Rosalinda. 6. La Enamorada del Rev. 7. La Reina Castiza. 8. Conclusion

1. THE VERSE-PLAYS

Valle Inclan's poetic message is concentrated in the three volumes of poetry that we examined in the preceding chapters. With this statement we mean that the poems in Aromas de Leyenda, El Fasajero and La Pipa de Kif are the result of his intention to present himself to us as a lyric poet. We find this statement confirmed by the fact that when, in 1930, he wanted to re-publish his poetic output in one single volume, he gave to the new book the title of Claves Liricas. implying by this title that it was to be the comprehensive collection of his lyrical product. 371

But Valle has used the verse-form also on other

occasions. He wrote five plays in verse and the reader

of his prose works. - novels or dramas - will find quite

frequently that he inserted in them a number of poetic

fragments dictated by varying circumstances.

In the chapter that we dedicated to the aesthetic

ideas and the poetic theories of our author, we had

occasion to observe more than once that Valle Inclan

attributes to verse a musical value that is quite

special. In his Lampara Maravillosa, in the chapter

entitled El Milagro Musical, our poet said among other things:

El verso,por ser verso, es ya emotivo, sin requerir juicio n.i razonamiento. Al goce de su esencia ideologica suma el goce de su esencia musical, numen de una categoria mas alta. Y este poder del verso, en la rima se aquilata y concreta. La rima es un sortilegio emocional del que los antiguos solo tuvieron un vago conocimiento... (l) 372

He was thus convinced - and this is also one of the tenets of Parnassianism - that verse and rhyme were concrete forms of poetic expression. Later, as we have already mentioned, Valle, in the Conversacion con

Gerardo Diego, is to observe that there is no essential difference between.prose and verse. Many years had passed and perhaps our poet was looking for a means of aligning himself with the more recent poetic currents.

However, we think that for our purpose we must take account of that implicit profession of Parnassianism that was made in the very years in which his verse-plays were composed.

It is clear that a play can be studied from many different points of view, but considering the nature of this thesis, we think it opportune to limit our examination to the lyrical aspect as we review these five plays in verse. 373

2. BACKGROUND

The verse-plays that we intend to examine are these:

Cuento de Abril (1910), Voces de Gesta (1912), La Marquesa

Rosalinda (1913), La Farsa de la Enamorada del Rey (1920) and La Farsa y Licencia de la Reina Castiza (1920)

As can be seen from their dates of publication, these five plays are distributed over a period beginning immediately after the most fruitful years of Valle's production. It was before 1910, and more precisely between 1901 and 1905, that he had composed his famous four Sonatas, four short novels creating a "fin-de-si&cle" Don Juan - the Marques de Bradomin.

In 1904 he wrote Flor de Santidad: Historia Milenaria, of which we found many echoes in Aromas de Leyenda. In 1907, and in the following year, 1903, he published two powerful dramas,

Aguila de Blason and Romance de Lobos, deepening and perfecting the tragic figure of Montenegro, a Spanish "mayorazgo", and succeeding at times in conferring on him an almost Shakespearian stature. These are also the years of his three novels on the Carlist Wars: Los Cruzados de la Causa (1903), 374

El Resplandor de la Hoquera (1909) and Gerifaltes de

Antano (1909). Then, with Cuento de Abril, his first

play in verse, we find Valle returning with intensified

interest to poetry. He uses it in this play which is,

through its medium, suffused in poetic sweetness. He

uses it again two years later in Voces de Gesta and

again in La Marquesa Rosalinda. In 1916 he gives in

the Lampara Maravillosa his ideas on art and poetry, and

then in 1920, in the very year of publication of the

Pasajero (one year later than the P'ipa de Kif) we find

his two "Farsas11, also in verse.

W e ‘shall see in the course of this study how Valle's artistic taste develops along the same lines and by

following the same forms as in the books of poems. 375

3. CUENTO DE ABRIL

This play is constructed around an amorous adventure

attributed to the Provengal troubadour, Peire Vidal.

We know of this poet in real life that he travelled

a great deal and was in contact with princes and kings.

Tradition presents him to us as a court poet, but nothing

definite is known about his many amorous intrigues. In

the thirty poems that he left, there prevails a human

and ly rica l sense of vagabondage. His Vida (2) has

been deduced from the references that abound in his book

of poems; these show the whimsical, bizarre, fantastic temperament that characterized his psychology and his

inspiration.

Valle Inclan presents this Peire Vidal to us in the garden of a Provengal castle, at the court of a princess of whom the troubadour i s enamoured. When the princess becomes aware of his love, she dism isses him.

There arrives an Infante from C astile to seek the princess as his bride and at this time Vidal suffers an unpleasant 376

adventure in the nearby forest where he is taken for a boar and attacked by the Infante. The princess rejects the suit of the Infante, who returns forthwith to Castile.

She forgives the troubadour and he returns to the court.

The play is in three scenes, with the setting always the palace garden. According to our author's intention, it should move somewhat in the form of a b a lle t, directed by the magic wand of poetry. The play bears a prologue, in which the author begins with this very idea:

La divina puerta dorada Del jardin azul del ensueno Os abre mi vara encantada Por deciros un cuento abrileno...

The poetic fiction is sustained throughout the whole play by the delicate style, which seems to bend before the necessities of this new genre. The stage-directions are in prose, but their whole tenor is rather that of poetry and they serve to emphasize the ballet movement.

For instance we find in the second stage-direction of 377

scene I (I I, 301):

Otras azafatas salen cogidas de la s manos corao ninfas en una alegorxa. and again in the fifth (II, 309):

Todas las azafatas asoman riendo. Vienen por los senderos del jardfn. Son siempre ninfas de una alegoria.

It is this musical tone that predominates throughout.

It might even be said that i t is the tone which has dictated the style and that this intention has made Valle relegate the plot to second place, since it is no more than a pretext for his poetry.

As the title rightly suggests, we have here a 1,cuento”.

Valle has even been precise enough to add a sub-title which is very indicative: Escenas rimadas en una manera extravagante. This is a fairy-tale in poetry, and it is on this very poetry that our author has concentrated his whole attention.

Both the versification and the rhyme-schemes of Cuento de Abril are highly irregular, as though Valle wished to 378

convey by his technique the somewhat improvised effect of the choreography of certain modern ballets. He does not use a consisten t verse or rhyme-scheme for any appreciable length of time, and there is great elasticity in his d ivision of one lin e between two speakers. As if to avoid any danger of rigidity, Valle has made extensive use of irregular line-lengths - not in any alternating or regular pattern, but seemingly at the dictation of whim. He frequently obtains a piruette effect by decreasing sharply the length of his line in successive verses, as for instance:

La cazaremos para tu paje En el bosque De laurel. (3)

The rhyme - characteristic of our author - is consistently p erfect.

Perez de Ayala has observed in his Mascaras(4) that this Cuento de Abril really fulfils the task of a poetic drama. He even sees in the figure of the princess and in that of the Infante the personification of two 379

civilizations:

La princesa de Imberal - universo riente espejado en el alma bienoliente y oleaginosa de Provenza. El Infante - universo ascetico, purgado de toda superfluidad sobre el yermo heroico de C a stilla . (5)

This affirmation is perhaps a little too enthusiastic,

even if it is true. Fernandez Almagro, observing in his

Vida y Literatura de Valle Inclan (6) that in this work

there seem to be gathered together many cliches of

Modernism, has perhaps succeeded better in formulating

a critical judgment on it. He recognizes that the

J,don verbal" never fails in Valle. Yet:

...lo s personajes hablan por hablar, sin que la accion que pudiera exigirse, dado el caracter de la.obra, se logre teatralmente y sin que el verso compense en todo instante la falta de interes. (7)

On the technique, Fernandez Almagro adds a little further

on:

...m as que al c a lific a tiv o de extravagante corresponde a la versificacion el de desigual, por la variedad de metros y por unos 3 8 0

resultados que s i a ratos nos d ivierten con su primor formal, otras veces caen en pretenciosa tr iv ia lid a d . (8) 381

U. VOCES DE GESTA

We cannot help feelin g that Cuento de Abril gave more pleasure to the literary people of the time than to the general public of the theater. This is confirmed by

Fernandez Almagro(9) and in so doing he also tells us about the ta ste of those tim es. Thus, Cuento de Abril was well received by the friends of Valle Inclan and the author himself was pleased with its success. When, two years la te r , he was about to launch his second verse-play, Voces de Gesta, we find that in an interview with a journalist of El Debate, he made the following statement:

Sera un libro de leyendas, de trad icion es, a la manera de Cuento de Abril, pero mas fuerte, mas importante. Recogere la voz de todo un pueblo. Solo son grandes lo s libros que recogen voces amplias, plebeyas. La Iliada, los dramas de Shakespeare... (10)

Voces de Gesta is indeed a play of wider scope than was Cuento de A bril. This time i t is not in scenes, but 382

in three jornadas. The sub-title declares: Tragedia pastoril en tres jornadas. In it the poet intends to exalt the principles of tradition, which is in a certain way personified- in the character of Ginebra, a shepherd- g ir l.

Ginebra is, in a manner of speaking, the symbol of the shepherd people, whose king has been exiled. A soldier in the pay of the usurper, during a search for the king, violates and blinds Ginebra. Ten years later, the soldier chances to enter the very house where his son has grown up. He becomes drunk and k ills the boy, whereupon Ginebra, recognizing her seducer by his voice, takes advantage of his drunkenness to kill and behead him. She decides to carry the head of her victim in homage to the king of her people. King Arquina - whom

Valle is to re-christen later Carlino - is still in exile and forced to wander. It is ten years later still when

Ginebra, now grown old, finally meets him and offers him the skull as a token of her loyalty. The king says: 384

La ofrenda del odio quede sepultada junto al viejo roble de la tradicion. (11)

In this drama, much more than in the earlier one,

Valle reaches several moments of real dramatic power.

He manages to touch his audience by re-creating a mythical atmosphere, which acquires real beauty through being rendered in verse and phrasing that are quite new.

And it is strange that he considered it, according to what he said in the interview quoted, of the same nature as Cuento de Abril. We can only think that he meant to allude to the fact that the second play, like the first, was written in verse.

The theme is, in a certain sense, linked to that of the novels of La Guerra Carlista, in which Valle describes

in highly dramatic colors the life of soldiers who remained

faithful to Don Carlos, Pretender to the throne. Yet

here the characters are all invented, as well as the

situation itself, and we can only find vague and inter­

mittent similarities with other people of the poetic world of our author. Valle Inclan had already treated 384

epico-legendary material in the long Flor de Santidad, but we find here for the first time a real drama in verse, where fictitious characters live in an epic atmosphere expressed in dramatic tones to which the verse-form adds some moments of sublime lyricism .

It is clear that this play does not avoid certain tendencies that were part of the literary taste of the time. There are moments when the reader is tempted to seek a concrete D'Annunzian im itation. Certain lin e s make us think for a moment of La Figlia di Iorio and perhaps also to some degree of Francesca da Rimini, but a d etailed examination would only reveal the most distant echoes of any such influence. Fernandez Almagro rightly says:

El acento epico-dramatico supera en robustez al de las Comedias Barbaras, y si se perciben ecos literarios diversos - aesde el Antiguo Testamento hasta D’Annunzio - en la voz comunicada por e l autor a sus criaturas, no regateemos por eso valor personal a la inspiracion de Valle Inclan porque este conocfa 385

muchas cosas intuitivamente, y no por estudio interesado, a tono con su gusto y temperamento. (12)

Stylistically, Valle has wedded his thought and the expression of that thought into a happy unity. Madariaga says of him in this respect:

It is a poem, modern in the polish of i t s form, in the impeccable use of language and style, in the deliberate play of effects and in the skilful resources of its orchestration. (13)

The verse-form has a range of from five syllables to fourteen, the nine-syllabled line being the most frequently found. The rhyme, which is always a true rhyme, seems to be a matter of whim and varies sometimes in its pattern even within a single speech. The patterns most frequently employed are ABAB, ABBA and pareados.

Sometimes to give a particularly strikin g e ffe ct,

Valle w ill employ a device that we already observed in

Cuento de A bril, and that is to increase or decrease the verse-line, as for example: 386

Sobre las adargas de cuero de buey Con los estandartes Del rey. (14-) and again:

Si te tuve ley Aun no es olvidada. Tendras la mi mano para ser guiada Y llegar con la ofrenda de sangre hasta el Rey. (15)

These examples are somewhat extreme, however, and this play is much more regular and has less division of verse between two speakers than was the case in Cuento de A bril. 5. LA MARQUESA ROSALINDA

In 1913, Valle Inclan published La Marquesa Rosalinda, his verse-play in which appear, interwoven in the poetic atmosphere that our author had already explored in Cuento de Abril the lazzi (jokes) of the Italian Commedia dell1Arte.

Fernandez Almagro t e l l s us (16) that the comedy was written earlier than the publication year, and was, in fact, produced for the first time in 1912. This information is useful, since we can thus place La Marquesa Rosalinda in the same poetic season that produced Cuento de Abril and Voces de Gesta.

Madariaga, in his essay on Valle Inclan in The Genius of Spain declares it:

...the masterpiece of his courtly “French" s t y le ...a unique gem in Castilian poetry. (17)

And continuing further in this enthusiastic tone, he adds:

It proves in most brilliant fashion that that masculine language which seems f i t only for the forcible 388

accents of the epic ballad, the intense lyricism of the mystics, the grandiloquence of the conventional ode and the m etallic b la sts of war­ like songs, can be rendered as slim and graceful as a Versailles marquise, as subtle as an eighteenth century abbe, as nonchalant as a Verlainian decadent, as exquisitely humorous as a musical comedy of Mozart. (IS)

The poet himself announces all these things in a long poetic prologue, in which he tells us that:

Olor de rosa y de manzana Tendran mis versos a la vez, Como una farsa cortesana De Versalles o de Aranjuez.

The play opens "En el siglo XVIII y en un jardin con cisnes y rosas". We see the arrival of a cart of Italian players, from which step down Harlequin, Columbine, Pierrot and Pulchinella. They have stopped to seek aid for their horse which is about to die. In the garden they meet an abate, then the Marques. Following th is , we have the appearance of a Duena, a daughter of the Marques called

Doha Estrella, who is being courted by a page, and finally the Marquesa Rosalinda h erself. The Marquesa, beautiful 339

and charming, attracts the attention of Harlequin, who immediately begins to pay his court to her, notwithstanding the fact that he already has a wife in Columbine. The plot then develops through three jornadas, with a gentle dance rhythm, which rec a lls very v iv id ly the eighteenth century manner, as in a delicate minuet. It is this

"manner" that is the real subject of the whole play, even in the conclusion where Rosalinda must say farew ell to

Harlequin:

Rosalinda: iAdios! iPor siempre adios! Harlequin: iAdios senora! Rosalinda: ILlego el terrible instante!

We are very aware throughout the play what pains

Valle took to produce a work of miniature, precise in its smallest details, by handling with care and good taste all the ingredients that constitute the 18th century in the minds of a r tis ts . Thus Rosalinda is of noble and sincere sentiments, although only up to a certain point, where we being to suspect her of having the heart of a d o ll. Harlequin is coarse and commonplace, 3 9 0

in keeping with the character of the participants of the Commedia dell*Arte, but within those limits that still allow him to have an amorous intrigue with a

Marquesa in a garden of Versailles or Aranjuez.

In matter of style, Valle has suited his language admirably to the eighteenth century taste. His verse has all the lightness and grace, all the aristrocratic refinement, that the court setting requires, and if at times the arabesques and superficial decoration seem a little overwhelming, if at times the language tends to become a l i t t l e "precious", i t must be remembered that he was picturing the age of the minuet - an age of sophistication.

Our author varies the length of his line to avoid monotony, but keeps the rhyme almost con sisten tly ABAB.

He has a marked tendency to express his stage directions

(which are in verse) in quatrains, varying from five syllables to as many as fourteen, but always rhyming

ABAB. Occasionally there are irregular lines alternating 391

with the established pattern, and sometimes pie quebrado.

There is the same squareness in verse construction that we observed earlier in Aromas de Leyenda: the sense

frequently ends with the line or strophe and there is

little enjambement. The charm lies precisely in the

choice of vocabulary and in the decorative figures, for

as Madariaga says:

Every scene is sung in i t s right melody, every line rings true, every word weds sound and sense in the most fe lic ito u s harmony. (19)

It is indeed true that in this delicate comedy Valle has given everything over to the poetry, and he has concentrated all his poetic imagination in giving us a constant and popular rhythmic form - just that amount that confers on the whole play a dance-tone. Just as

Madariaga observed, he has pervaded h is work with the exquisite humor of Mozart,and the poetic stage-directions only add to the delightful sophistication of the whole play. 392

6. LA ENAMORADA DEL REY

This verse-play was published for the first time in 1920, eight years after La Marquesa Rosalinda.

Fernandez Almagro observes, in commenting on it :

La condicion de "farsa italiana" no le vale para mejorar la formula que aplicara en otro tiempo a sus hermanas mayores y, concreta- mente, a la Marquesa Rosalinda. (20)

In this work, Valle has in fact tried to reconstruct the same artistic atmosphere that had already brought him such fame as a playwright. This is another amorous intrigue, again in an eighteenth century court.

The grandchild of an old woman who owns an inn becomes enamoured of the king. An Italian marionette showman, an ex-student, pays court to her a little himself, and helps also to further her romantic dreams. There are a number of characters, identified more by the clothes that they wear than by the spirit of their words, as for instance El Caballero del Verde Gaban and La Dama del Manto.

The scenes move slowly and the p lot becomes complicated 393

until finally the king himself (in shepherd disguise) meets the lovelorn girl and the play ends without any real action developing.

The reader feels, together with the lack of satis­ faction deriving from the plot (which is intricate but somewhat empty), a lack of spirit in the language, for in this work it is even more elaborate than was the case in the Marquesa Rosalinda. Fernandez Almagro seems to have summed i t up w ell as a slig h t work when he says:

Se trata, pues, de un cuento escenico mas, sin nuevas cualidades que compensen la reiteracion de ciertas efectos conocidos. (21)

The versification of the play is extremely regular.

The verse-line varies from five syllables to thirteen, but it is not broken, as we found in Voces de Gesta and

Cuento de A bril. The rhymes are ch a ra cte ristica lly strong, predominantly ABAB, and there is little enjambement.

This regularity gives an effect of greater stylization 3%

and serves to emphasize the artificiality of the already decorative language. 395

7. LA REINA CASTIZA

This is the la s t verse-play composed by Valle

Inclan. It was published for the first time in the

August and September numbers of the 1920 issue of the

magazine La Pluma, and its full title is Farsa y Licencia

de la Reina C astiza.

Our author returns once more in this play to the

themes that he holds most suitable for this genre. As

in the ’'farsa’' La Enamorada del Rey, so also th is comedy

is destined to be performed by m arionettes. The narration

in i t s general lin e s seems to be very close to the other

"farsas" of Valle Inclan, yet the spirit has changed.

We are once more in the garden of a royal palace.

We have the Gran Preboste, who i s approached by a

strange type of "cadger" - el Sopon - who wishes to

sell him a certain letter in which the Queen gives him

an amorous tr y s t. In exchange, the "cadger" wants an

Archbishopric. Many other characters enter and leave, while an almost non-existent action develops slowly, 396

for this first discussion of the letter is protracted throughout the entire play.

Valle succeeds, nevertheless, by means of lively dialogue, in keeping his audience interested, but this in terest must have been aroused much more by what the characters said than by anything that they did.

He presents a Spanish court in which corruption is the important artistic moment, because it recalls for the people of Madrid the reign of Isabella II in terms of very evident sa tir e . Tradition, so highly honored by Valle, appears here in its last battle with contem­ porary life, producing stridency. Our poet declares with his satire the intrinsic impossibility of con­ ciliating these two factors - daily life and tradition - at least in Spain.

Fernandez Almagro informs us that when Valle published the "farsa’1, two years after its initial appearance in

La Pluma, he sent a copy to Alfono III with this inscription: 397

Senor: Tengo el honor de enviaros este libro, estilizacion del reinado de vuestra abuela Doha Isabel I I, y hago votos porque el vuestro no sugiera la misma estilizacion a los poetas del porvenir. (22)

It is a fact that the Reina Castiza is far from being a good example of womanhood, and i t must not be

forgotten that this queen, with the attribute castiza, was intended to recall to many spectators contemporary with Valle the whole national problem of Spanish casticismo. Thus besides being a satirical commentary on the actual reign of Queen Isab el, i t was at the same time an attack on Spanish officialdom.

Valle presents the queen as sensuous and carnal, in the midst of a court where scandal is the order of the day. It must be said that in this respect the play has some highly successful moments, artistically speaking.

The beautiful eighteenth century decoration has here the function of being an element of contrast in times that by now have greatly changed, and for this very 398

reason it is well suited to the author’s purpose.

Another sentence of Fernandez Alrnagro sheds

further light on the character of this play; he says

that in

...la Farsa y Licencia de la Reina Castiza aparecen, para dar fondo a figuras y pasos de pantomima, la intencion de satira politica y la interpretacion caricaturaL de la H istoria que van a d efin ir e sp ecifica - mente el "esperpento". (23)

and this is very

true, for we are in fact in the preludial phase of the

esperpento. The contrast between historical tradition

and the post-war daily life of Europe, especially the

atmosphere in which Valle himself lived, has become ever

more strident, and in denouncing it in the form of art,

our a r tis t has found himself faced with deformed figures which suggested a new technique to him. It will be

remembered that this is the year in which the Pipa de K.if was published, and that we are in the presence of a new

attitude of our poet’s mind, as i t seeks new means of 399

expression.

The verses and rhymes of the Reina Castiza are still those of the preceding plays, yet one feels that they are animated by a new spirit. The artifice which succeeded so happily in the earlier comedies is gradually being tinged with a bitter flavor. The wooden performance of these mechanical creatures is no longer as attractive as it was in .the Marquesa Rosalinda, whose verses reminded us so readily of the Magic F lu te.

Here, in the Reina C astiza, the poetry seems to have lost some of that delicacy suggestive of the dance, for although Valle does play with his verse, what he expresses no longer has the delicacy that we tend to associate with the Modernists. It might be said that he has preserved the exterior forms of his art only to use them in sardonic laughter, which is a cover for a certain fundamental bitterness. Although the composition suggests colors here and there, the general picture gives the impression rather of a series of pen-and-ink 400

drawings than of a painting. VALLE INCLAN AS POET

VOLUME II

Dissertation

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Catherine Mary Borelli, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1954

Approved by* i / ! r

Adviser 8. CONCLUSION

We have wished to examine b rie fly these fiv e plays in verse, because i t seems indisputable that in a certain way they also form part of the poetic work of our author.

It is clear that a complete study of the dramas as such should take account also of many other aspects of Valle’s art, and we know that th is would be a very p rofitable study, but i t would be out of place here. We have had to limit this discussion to giving a general picture, in order to be able to examine the poetry in its own righ t.

We have seen how the fiv e dramas are distributed over a period that is very rich in the artistic production of the poet, and it is natural that they should reflect the proximity of other major works whose composition possibly occupied the mind of our author more intensely.

There is a relation sh ip , even i f in d irect, between the gardens of the Sonatas and those of Cuento de Abril. 4-02

This refers only to the setting. The theme of the princess, the garden and the troubadour-poet was common domain among the Modernist poets. Valle Inclan had little to invent in choosing to treat this subject, but he had to develop i t and the other works offered ambient and characters.

From the scenes of violence of the Comedias Barbaras and from the three novels with the h isto ric a l background of the Carlist Wars, comes Voces de Gesta. Then Valle returns to the Arcadian theme of Cuento de Abril in the

Marquesa Rosalinda where, with the introduction of the

Italian maschere, he begins to reveal a special taste for the marionette type of play.

After the First World War, he made first of all an attempt to return directly .to the Modernistic gardens and swans, with the Enamorada del Rey, only to reach sincerity of expression in the Reina Castiza, where we feel in his sarcasm and political allusions the first signs of the esperpento. 4-03

The use of poetry on the stage has had many ups and

downs in i t s history. There have been times when i t

has expressed true popular sentiment, and other times

when it was the expression of a few cultivated spirits

who drew their inspiration from books rather than from

l i f e . Valle must have been led to the conception of

Cuento de Abril, Voces de Gesta and the Marquesa Rosalinda

through a sincere need for a certain spirituality that

could only find expression in verse, although the result

is not without a certain a r t if i c ia l it y . There happened

to him what had happened to other w riters of that time.

Indeed he had examples before him, both close and far,

more or le ss contemporary, among whom i t i s enough to

mention Rostand in France and Giuseppe Giacosa in Italy.

After the War, with the imminence of the esperpento. the repartee of the marionettes in the Reina Castiza becomes sarcastic, revealing a new spirit in art that was undoubtedly dictated by the new era. From this it m

is only a short step to certain contemporary verse-plays characterized by mordant humor from the pen of Christopher

Fry. 405

FOOTNOTES TO APPENDIX II

1. LM p.69.

2. Bouti&re. Jean, and Schutz. Alexander H., Biographies des Troubadours. Toulouse, Privat, 1950, pp.235-249.

3. Obras Completas, Madrid, Rivadeneyra, 1944) Vol.II, p.310.

4. Avala. R. Perez de. Las Mascaras. Buenos Aires, Austral 1944, pp. 138-139.

5. Ibid. pp.138-139.

6. Fernandez Almagro, M., op. cit. p.157.

7. Ibid. p.158.

8. Ibid. p.158.

9. Ibid. p.159.

10. Ibid. p.162.

11. Obras Completas, II, p.287.

12. Fernandez Almagro, M., op. cit. pp.163-164.

13. Madariaga, Salvador de, op. cit. p.137.

14. Obras Completas, II, p. 253.

15. ibid. p. 270.

16. Fernandez Almagro, op. cit. p.164. 406

17. Madariaga. Salvador de. op. cit. p.135 to 1—1

• ibid. p.135.

19. Ibid. p.136.

20. Fernandez Almaoro, M., op. cit. p.203.

21. ibid. p.203.

22. Ibid. p.206.

23. Ibid. p.203. 407

APPENDIX III .

POETIC FRAGMENTS IN VALLE INCLAN1S PROSE WORKS

We have seen in the preceding chapters how Valle

Inclan has used the verse form to express his lyric world and how he has used it also in his poetic plays, where the subject required an especial harmony that

prose could not give. It now remains to glance at

some groups of isolated verses that are found scattered

through his novels and dramas in prose.

Valle Inclan, as we have seen from our study of the

Lampara Maravillosa, considered the verse form as

conferring particular harmonic beauty on human speech.

We have also had occasion to note that his lyrical

composition did not seem to be spontaneous or improvised,

according to the inspiration of the moment, but rather that i t was the product of careful work, somewhat in the manner of an artisan. The very fact that our author has 4-03

thought to insert scattered stanzas of poetry at certain moments in his prose would seem to confirm this interpretation of his art. With this statement we do not wish to throw any shadow on the highly meritorious work that Valle Inclan has left us. Our intention is merely to try, inasmuch as it is possible to do so, to formulate a definition, and the examples which we have chosen from the innumerable cases of this addition of poetic fragments to prose works, should serve to reveal how he resorted to this device in order to render his prose more effective.

Valle has used the device of opening a scene in a play by letting the curtain rise on a character seated alone on the stage, then, before the action starts, having that character sing a short song. This technique, which has the advantage of setting the mood for the audience and of letting one grasp the scene and the situ ation before the play gets under way, is used in

Aguila de Blason, at the beginning of Scene IV. Here, 4-09

Liberata la Blanca, the miller's wife, is discovered

as she s it s alone under a pergola beating cream, and

before anyone joins her, she sings a popular quatrain, whose words have no d irect bearing on the play:

iVexo Cangas, vexo Vigo, Tamen vexo Redondela !... iVexo a Ponte de San Payo Camino da mina terra!

It is a Galician popular song from the district of

Pontevedra that Valle has used here, and with it the miller's wife is introduced to the public before she takes her part in the development of the action. Then, when don Pedrito, son of Montenegro, enters, the song gives him a chance to open the conversation naturally with a remark on her singing. This he does in a way typical of one aspect of Valle Inclan: he breaks the lyrical spell with a sarcastic comment: "You have good sight!"

The same kind of technique is used in La adoracion de los reyes, one of the ta le s of Jardxn Umbrio. Although 410

it is not in dramatic form, this little story can very easily be imagined as a simple Nativity play, in which the three kings come to bring gifts to the Child. The narrative part of the story is almost in the form of stage directions and the conversation could easily be used as it stands by three characters playing the parts, since it is typical of the explanatory dialogue that frequently opens a play. There is even a speech in unison. The part that interests us, however, is the inclusion of a popular v illa n cic o in the form of a carol that opens the story and another villancico that closes it. This pattern is also typical of Valle1s fondness for framing a work, since here it is the two poems that place the bounds on the story. We do not know who sings the opening carol, but it is very typical of the incidental carol that frequently opens a Nativity play. 411

Vinde, vinde, Santos Reyes Vereil, a joya millor, Un menino Como un brinquino * Tan buitino, Qu'a nacer nublou o sol! > The final quatrain which accompanies the return of the

I kings to their own country is sung by an old woman and

a little girl, as they strip ears of maize at the door

1 of their mill. This poem strikes a dramatic note with

its sinister warning, as the three kings "ajenos a todo

temor", mount their camels to ride away and are "advertidos

por el cantico lejano de una vieja y una nina". Valle

closes his story by saying: nY era este el cantar...”

Caminade, Santos Reyes, por caminos desviados, que pol'os caminos reas Herodes mandou soldados.

This device of klebdonomancy is of long trad ition , being

a favorite technique with dramatists of the Golden Age.

I t is found p articu larly in situ a tio n s of tragic fore­

boding, as for instance in Lope de Vega's El Caballero de

Olmedo, Velez de Guevara's Reinar despues de morir and Tirso de Molino’s Los Arnantes de Teruel, to name only

a few.

Besides preparing a mood or introducing a character

with a poem, Valle has used verse forms as an added

commentary on h is story - a commentary which ra ises the

pitch of emotion and colors the narrative as no mere

prose description can do.

In Nochebuena,another tale of Jardin Umbrio, we are

made to feel the Christmas Eve spirit in the song of a

group of shepherd children who visit the house of the

Arcipreste de C eltigo, where V alle Inclan, as a small

boy, is supping before going to midnight mass. This popular v illa n c ic o is a charming l i t t l e ru stic carol that they sing, accompanied on panderos, urging men to be quiet so as not to wake the Child.

Falade ven baixo Andade pasiho, Porque non desperte 0 noso menino. 0 noso menino, 0 noso Jesus, Que durme nas pallas Sen verce e sen luz. 413

The genial Arcipreste gives the children food and

drink and sends them on th eir way, s t i l l playing th eir panderos. Then, from the darkness, an unknown voice cuts across the innocence of the peaceful kitchen scene with a dreadful quatrain telling of the incest of the holy man. The spell is broken - the Arcipreste’s niece slams the window shut - Valle Inclan is made to

fetch his Nebrija and spend Christmas Eve on Latin verbs.

This bitter, sarcastic twist that Valle loves to give has a telling effect, just because of the innocence of the children and the purity of their Christmas joy in contrast with the revelation about the Arcipreste:

Esta casa e de pedra, 0 diaho erguena axina Para que durmixen xuritos 0 Alcipreste e sua sobriha.

This quatrain was probably written by Valle himself and is typical of many on the same subject of the cura and his ’'sobrina*1 - a very old theme in Galician folklore.

Dramatic use of a d ifferen t kind is found in the -Un­

popular quatrain at the end of Eulalia, one of the

sto ries of La Corte de Amor. It forms a sin is te r

climax to the tale, all the more dreadful since it

is an innocent song sung by a "mozo aldeano que cruzaba

por la orilla, cantando en la noche para arredrar el

miedo". He has no idea that it accompanies the

drowning of E ulalia, whose body flo a ts down the river

in the moonlight to its tune.

In La Mina Chole, one of the Historias Perversas, we have the inclusion of two stanzas of a song to

emphasize a mood. Valle Inclan is travelling in a

train in Mexico in s t if lin g heat. He is drowsy, in

that half-waking state where the mind does not take in

the r e a lity of the moment but wanders from impression to

impression, mixing recollections of early childhood with

recent events. He thinks vividly of Nina Chole, whom

he has only seen once, and she becomes confused in his rnind with the image of a woman in a creole lullaby that

put him to sleep as a child. Between the movement of 4-15

the train and his memories of childhood, we have a l song in Modernistic style that is remarkable for i ^ i t s strong rhythm and regular cesuras, which we can

^ imagine Valle’s repeating drowsily to the hum of the

wheels:

I A1 par que en la falda, reposa una mano Con la otra abanicas el rostro gentil, ( Arrulla la hamaca, y el cuerpo liviano ^ Dibuja entre mallas, tu airoso perfil.

1 Son griegas tus formas, tu tez africana, Tus ojos hebreos, tu acento espahol, La arena tu alfombra, la palma tu hermana, Te hicieron morena, los besos del so l.

The train stops and Valle gets out, to wander down to

the beach. On the way he hears a vendor singing his

wares, and we have a completely different type of

, stanza:

- Cuatro por medio Y ocho por un real, Mirando que el tiempo Esta tan fatal.

He then offers his sweetmeats to Valle: 416

- iivli alma lo s aljafores! para pobre y para rico , de leche de mantequilla: la s traigo de a medio y tambien de a cuartilla.

In the first jornada (entitled Georgicas) of the play El Embruj'ado, we find a song presented in duet form, the alternating stanzas being taken by a blind man and the g ir l who leads him. While waiting with other peasants to pay their dues to the loca landowner, these two people relate the story of their master in song. The tale, in the form of a romance, concerns the son of the house, who was treacherously murdered one night, but who left behind a token of himself in the child who was later born to a serv in g -g irl. Here the blind man sings the three stanzas telling about the old father and his sorrow, while the girl interposes two stanzas concerning the son:

iAy! Un hijo que ten ia Galan de muy buena gracia, J AyI traidores lo mataron Entre la noche y el alba. 417

iAy! Un murmuro le miente Que el muerto prenda dejaba. I AyI Prenda engendrada en moza Que tiene la casa liana.

This device of using an explanatory song to establish the atmosphere and to set the scene for subsequent action is much more effective than any prose narrative would have been, since i t i s not so stark and cold as normal dialogue and becomes almost legendary in the sung form. In using a song for his 1,flashback", Valle is only following a tradition of long standing, for i t was a device popular with dramatists of the Golden

Age.

La Cabeza del Dragon is a delightful fairy-tale in dialogue form, and it is therefore not surprising to find a short stanza repeated at intervals. Precedents in Grimm and Anderson are numerous and i t is enough to think of the Wicked Queen and the Mirror in Snow-White and the Seven Dwarves to see how effective this use can be. 418

In V a lle's play i t i s a "duende del bosque"

imprisoned in the King's palace who chants:

^ iDame libertad, Paloma real! ► iPalomita que vuelas tan a lto , sin miedo del gavilan!

I This stanza appears three times in this form, and is

followed by a modification in the final version: i iMe diste libertad, Mi palomita real! Palomita que vuelas tan alto sin miedo del gavilan!

The song is heard by the Prince, who e n lis ts the duende's

help (in the form of a diamond sword) to k ill the dragon.

The end of the story is revealed in typical fairy-tale

manner by the song of an unknown shepherdess, who passes

through a wood singing:

iQuien a la sierpe matara con la Infantina casara! iQuien diera muerte al Dragon reinaria en el reino de Micomicon!

This use of song lifts the whole tale into the ethereal

realm of faery fantasy in a way denied to mere prose, no 4-19

matter how a r tis tic a lly composed.

Valle makes frequent use of the device so

popular in the Golden Age comedia of having shameful

information imparted by an anonymous and frequently

unseen singer. The two elements of anonymity and song

are obviously intended to soften the impact of information which, although necessary to the development of the plot,

is of a nature to require delicate handling. We saw an

example of this technique already in the copla informing us of the Arcipreste*s shame in Nochebuena. It occurs

again in the third jornada of Divinas Palabras, where a

stone is first thrown on to the roof of the house and the husband and w ife then hear the song:

iTunturuntun! La Mari-Gaila. ITunturuntun! Que tanto b ailo. ITunturuntun! La Mari-Gaila. iTunturuntun! Que malpario.

The song, which is a parody on a popular Galician song, is taken up again in another version in the last scene where Mari-Gaila i s shamed by being drawn nude through 420

the streets on a cart while the crowd sings:

iTunturuntunI La Mari-Gaila. iTunturuntun! Que tanto bailo. iTunturuntun! La Mari-Gaila. Que la camisa se qui£o.

In the la ter esperpentic works we find another type of song-fragments, which, in keeping with the new style and subject matter, have topical or political references.

There are many examples in Viva mi dueno, of which the following are typical, both sung by a blind romancista:

- La mas culpada de todos, Una mujer ha salido! Oprobio del b ello sexo, Por sus perversos instintos, A las inocentes victimas Sacaba los h ig a d illo s ...

iEn un negro calabozo, confesados y convictos, pagan su sanguinidad los malvados asesinos! Piden indulto al Gobierno el Clero y el Municipio, militares y paisanos, viejos, mujeres y ninos.

This is obviously a caricature of the typical romance de ciegos. A commentary on the time is found in:

- iUna Espana con honra queremos, Y que in victos decoren su sien, Los laureles de Otumba y Pavia, De Sagunto y Numancia tambien.

This is obviously an original quatrain from Valle's own pen.

We also find in Viva mi dueno a jingle1' style of verse, s lig h tly reminiscent of the famous English nursery rhymes:

- iBueno, bueno, bueno! iSe caso Moreno! iMalo, malo, malo! I Mato a su mujer de un palo!

Although this may be original in Valle, it is clearly based on a type of popular song frequently found in

Galician folklore.

As may be expected, Tirano Banderas also contains song fragments of topical allusion. For example, as

Tirano Banderas himself stands motionless at his window, we have the popular presentation of a copla by a blind man,who plucks a guitar below him in the darkness of the 422

garden:

- Era Diego Pedernales de noble generacion, pero las obligaciones de su sangre, no sigu io.

This insistence on having coplas sung by a blind man is in lin e with the trad ition , from Homer onwards, of associating minstrelsy with a blind singer.

A little further on in Tirano Banderas, in the midst of a fe s tiv a l on a crowded str e e t, a man in a doorway - the singer is always anonymous - plucks his guitar and sings:

- Era Diego Pedernales de buena generacion.

A p articularly e ffe c tiv e use of the copla sung by a singer unseen by those listening, although this time not unknown to them, i s found in La Cabeza del B au tista.

El Jandalo (so reminiscent of El Jaque de Medinica in the

Pipa de Kif) returns with his new-found tavern friends to find the tavern closed. He sings to ask admittance, little knowing that at that very moment the innkeeper A23

has the tools in his hand with which to dig his grave,

and that when El Jandalo does finally enter it will

be to meet his death. The copla that he sings is a

typ ical Mexican mananita:

Patron descorra la Have, por hacer gasto venimos y a darle las buenas noches la lengua mojada en vino.

The innkeeper begins to dig, as the group outside sings

another mananita, this time to La Pepona - the innkeeper*s woman - who will be the one to stab the braggart singer:

Asomate a la ventana que a cantarte hemos venido, rosa mas soberana, en el pensil de Cupido.

It is worth noting that whereas in the story, Valle has used the usted form when El Jandalo addresses La Pepona,

here in the serenade he has kept the tu_ of the popular version. These two songs seem innocent enough when taken out of context, but the circumstances under which they are sung lend them an added s in iste r meaning, for

El Jandalo really demands entry to blackmail the innkeeper, 424

and he has at the same time the intention of seizing

La Pepona, "rosa mas soberana". The irony of the

hidden meaning gives the coplas a very special dramatic

effect in this context.

It is not possible to mention all the poetic

fragments that Valle has chosen to include as decoration

in his prose works. The examples of the different usage which we have indicated above should be enough to give

an idea of the extent of his use of this device.

There is , however, one further example that merits our attention, which can hardly be called a "fragment"

and yet which is a poetic addition to a prose-work. We

allude here to the somewhat longer Romance de Ciego which forms the Epilogue to Los Guernos de Don F rio lera .

This is a completely satirical poem, written in the romance form, with - superficially speaking - all the flavor of the real romance. But Valle has given it the sardonic twist that we have come to connect with his esperpento style and we know that it is not to be taken 4-25

at its face value.

The la st six lin e s w ill be enough to illu s tr a te th is attitude:

El Rey le elige ayudante, la Reina le da una banda, la Infanta Doha Isabel un alfiler de corbata, y dan a la luz su retrato las Revistas Ilust'radas.

Fernandez Almagro says in speaking of Los Cuernos de

Don Friolera:

Valle Inclan no pretende llevar los celos y venganza de Don Friolera, afrentado por Doha Loreta, su mujer, a un piano intelectualista, ni intenta exploraciones psicologicas de cierto m a tiz.. . Sobre cualquier intencion de esta clase prevalece la satira rabiosa- mente h o stil a tip os o ideas de caracter militar. Busca el autor un aire chacota, y situandose fuera del laboratorio en que se analizan pasiones, ventila sus burlas en un corro de plazuela. El ciego Fidel no necesita otro publico. Asi es de grosero su cantar. (l) u 26

In taking a summary view of Valle Inclan1s poetic

fragments that appear in his prose works we find that we can divide them into two main cla sses:

a) traditional

b) original

The traditional snatches of verse are those with an essentially folkloric tone, carols, ballads and other poetic lore. The original fragments are those which he himself felt impelled to create in order to heighten the quality of a story or play.

These fragments are found to adhere to three d istin c t types:

a) fragments of traditional folkloric

poems, either Gallegan or C astilian

b) serious mood poetry

c) ironic verse

The fragments with folkloric flavor may be either traditional or invented by Valle himself on a traditional pattern. These would seem to reflect the tone expressed 427

in Aromas de Leyenda.

The serious mood poetry is original. An example of this is the Modernistic description of the Mexican woman in La Nina Chole. If we were to link this type of verse with one of the p oet’s three major books of poems, i t would undoubtedly find its closest relationship with

El Pasajero.

The ironic verse, as may be expected, is Valle’s own, and is found eith er in the form of caricature of existin g poetic types or as a completely new invention. Whatever its type, it cannot fail to remind us of La Pipa de Kif. FOOTNOTES TO APPENDIX III

Fernandez Alraagro, M., op. cit. p.215. 429

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Owen, A.L., "Sobre el arte de Don Ramon del Valle Inclan", Hispania. Stanford, California, 1923, VI, 69-80, also in Nosotros. 1923, V.43, 555-562.

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Fego, A., "El asendereado espfritu de don Ramon", Hermes. mayo, 1936.

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Perez de Ayala, R., "Los muertos del La Prensa. Buenos Aires, 28 febrero 1937.

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Perez Ferrero, M., "Rasgos de la vida y la obra de Valle i Inclan11, Heraldo de Madrid* Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

! Pillepich, P., "Ramon del Valle Inclan", Rivista bimestrale * dellUstituto Cristoforo Colombo. Roma, 1930, V, 130-138. ► Pi toilet, C., "Don Ramon del Valle Inclan y Montenegro", La Renaissance dtQccident. Bruxelles, 1923, VIII, | 1018-1028.

| ----- '"La nouvelle oeuvre de Valle Inclan (Cara de Plata)” . La Renaissance d 1Occident. 1923) VIII. > i ----- «Les deux traductions frangaises des Sonates de Valle Inclan", La Renaissance d tOccident. 1925, XIII, 560-577.

Pons, J.S.^ "Le roman et l'histoire. De Galdos % Valle Inclan", En Hommage It Ernest Martlnenche. Paris, D*Artrey, (c. 1939) 380-389.

Prat, J., "Ramon del Valle Inclan", Revista de America. Bogota, 1945, II.

Prieto, Indalecio, "D. Ramon del Valle Inclan", El Mercanti1 Valenciano. Valencia, 10 enero 1936, 7.

Rejano, J., "Valle Inclan y sus aventuras mejicanas”, El Popular. Mexico, 27 septiembre, 1946.

Revista Hispanica Moderna. Valle Inclan (1866-1936) Vida y Obra - Bibliografjfa - Antologfa, iBstituto de las Espanas, New York, 1936.

Reyes, A., "Algo mas sobre Valle Inclan", Repertorio Americano. San Jose^ Costa Rica, 8 septiembre 1924. 447

Reyes, A., "Apuntes sobre Valle Inclan", Los dos camlnos, Madrid, 1923, 73-91.

- - - - - "Bradomfn y Aviranela", Simpatfas y diferencias. Madrid, 1921, 73-77.

- - - - - "La parodia tragica", Simpatfas v diferenclas, Madrid, 1921, 19-33.

- - - - - "Las fuentes de Valle Inclan", Social. Madrid, mayo 1922, 14-18.

- -- "Valle Inclan 1866-1936* Vida y obra, bibliograffa, antologfa", New York, 1936.

- - - - - "Valle Inclan, teologo", Cartones de Madrid. Mexico, Cultura, 1917, 87-91.

"Valle Inclan y America", Repertorio Americano. San Jose, Costa Rica, 23 marzo 1935, also in La Pluma. Madrid, 1923, VI,

- - - - - "Valle Inclan y sus coetaneos", Indice Literario. Madrid, 1936, V, 1-5.

Richard, E., "Valle Inclan qui vient de mourir", La Nowvelle Revue Francaise. 1936, XXIV, 309-310.

Richert, G., "Zura Tode von Ramon del Valle Inclan" Ibero-Amerikanisches Archiv. Berlin, X, 1936.

Rico, Emilio, "Un biografo de Valle Inclan", Revlsta de las Indias. Bogota, 1948, XXXIII, num. 103.

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Rivas Cherif, C., "Adios, Don Ramon5’, La Polftica. Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

----- ’’Bradomfn en la corte", Heraldo de Madrid. Madrid, 4 agosto 1924*

_ - - - - *La comedia barbara de Valle Inclan", Espana. Madrid, 16 febrero 1924*

- - - - - "Los espanoles y la guerra. El viaje de Valle Inclan” , Espana, Madrid, 11 mayo 1916.

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Rodrfguez Garavito, A., "La novela social: Esperpentos", Arte. Colombia, 1934, 231-233*

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Rogers, P.P., "A Spanish version of the Mateo Falcone theme", Modern Language Motes. Baltimore, 1930, XLV, 402-403.

. - - « - Introduction to the edition Jardfn Umbrfo, New York, Holt, 1923, xi-xxvii.

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Rojas, Ricardo, "Valle Inclan, el hombre imaginario", La Nacion. Buenos Aires, 6 noviembre 1933. Rosenbaum, S.C. and Guerrero Ruiz, J., "Ramon del Valle Inclan, bibliograffa", Revista Hispanica Moderna. New York, 1936, II, 307-314.

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- - - - - "Paralelismo literario", ABC. Madrid, 9 marzo 1936.

Salazar Chapelo, E., "Improntas: La timidez del escritor", Voz, Madrid, 12 febrero 1933.

Salinas, P., "Significacion del esperpento o Valle Inclan, hijo prodigo del 98", Cuadernos Americanos. Mexico, 1945, 218-244.

------"Sobre Valle Inclan", Heraldo de Madrid. Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

- -•„ - "Valle Inclan, visto por sus coetaneos", Literatura Espanola Siglo XX. Mexico, 1941* 161-174.

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- - "Valle Inclan y su paisaje", Romance. Mexico, 1940, 1.

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- - - - - "Valle Inclan, polftico", La Nacion. Buenos Aires, 8 mayo 1949.

Sanfn Cano, B., "A proposito de Valle Inclan", El Tiempo. Madrid, 8 mayo 1949. 450

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- - - - - "The treatment of landscape in the novelists of the generation of 1898”, Hispanic Review. Philadelphia, 1936, IV, 226-238.

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Seguro Covarsi, E., "Los ciegos en Valle Inclan”, Clavileno. XVII, 1952.

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- - - - - »Valle Inclan y la dificultad de la tragedia”, Cuadernos Americanos. Mexico, 1952, XI, 241-254*

Serfs, H., ”Sobre F. Madrids La vida altiva de Valle Inclan.” 1946, num. 1, 159-161. 451

Solalinde, A.S., "Prosper Merimee y Valle Inclan*, Revlsta de Filologfa Espanola, 1919, VI, 389-391•

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- - - - - *Sobre Gerifaltes de antano". La Lectura. Madrid, 1910, X, 59-61.

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Valdes, P"., "Vida y letras: lectura de una sonata41, La Provincial Huelva, 7 mar20 1936.

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Velazquez Bringas, E., "Don Ramon Marfa del Valle Inclan en Mexico14, Repertorio Americano. San Jose, Costa Rica, 23 noviembre 1921.

- - -- - "Ramon del Valle Inclan", Pensadores v artistas. Mexico, Cultural, 1922, 9-13.

Vides, J. Jose, "Ramon del Valle Inclan: sus Sonatas41. Simiente. Santa Ana, El Salvador, 1944, I*

Villa, Pedro, "Sobre Cara de Plata44. La Libertad, Madrid, 1924.

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Zamora Vicente, A., De Garcilaso a Valle Inclan. Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1950.

- - - - - Las Sonatas de Ramon del Valle Inclan, Buenos Aires, Instituto de Filologfa, 1951.

- - - - - "Variedad y unidad de la lengua en Tirano Banderas."La Nacion. Buenos Aires, 29 julio 1951.

Zea, L., "El esteticismo simbolico en la obra de Valle Inclan", America. Mexico, Septiembre 1940.

Zeitlin, M.A., "Don Ramon del Valle Inclan", The Modern Language Forum. Los Angeles, California, 1933, XVIII, 82-96. 4&3

Zulueta, L. de, "La muerte de Valle Inclan®, El Mercantil Valenciano. Valencia, 11 enero 1936.

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES

"Don Ramon del Valle Inclan en Mexico", Repertorio Americano San Jose, Costa Rica, 28 noviembre 1921. {Contiene artfculos de Esperanza Velazquez Bringas, M. Horta, R. Barrios, reproducidos de los diarios El Heraido y El Universal, de Mexico.)

"El entierro de Valle Inclan", La Prensa. New York, 8 enero 1936.

"El homenaje a don Ramon", El Sol. Madrid, 8 junio 1932.

"El homenaje de Galicia a D. Ramon del Valle Inclan", El Sol. Madrid, 10 agosto 1935.

"El novelista: la prosa", El Sol. Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

"En la muerte de D. Ramon del Valle Inclan", El Sol, Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

"Fallecimiento de D. Ramon del Valle Inclan", ABC. Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

"Galicia y Valle Inclan fue el tema del senor Castelao", La Prensa. New York, 19 abril 1939.

"Hablando con Valle Inclan", El Sol, Madrid 7 octubre 1928.

"Homenaje a Valle Inclan", El Sol. Madrid, 1 junio 1932.

"La Academia de la Lengua no acepta a del Valle Inclan", La Prensa. New York, 11 diciembre 1934* "Las cuatro anecdotas mas divertidas de Don Ramon del Valle Inclan", Digame, Madrid, 16 abril 1940*

"Los escandalos de Valle Inclan", Cervantes, La Habana, 1943, XVIII, nums. 9, 10, 11, 12.

"Nueva edicion de las obras de Valle Inclan", La Prensa. New York, IS diciembre 1944*

"Rasgos de la vida del insigne escritor", El Sol, Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

"Valle Inclan en Asturias", La Estafeta Literaria. Madrid, 30 novierabre 1945.

"Valle Inclan en la Habana", Repertorio Americano. San Jose, Costa Rica, 7 novierabre 1921.

"Valle Inclant la figura, sus primeras obras, el estilo, rasgos", La Pblftica, Madrid, 7 enero 1936.

"Valle Inclan, visto por los hombres de 1S9&", Estampa Madrid, 11 enero 1936. (Responden Azorin, Baroja (Pfo), Baroja (Ricardo), Bueno, Maeztu)

Valle Inclan y sus coetaneos", Indice Literario, Madrid, 1936, V, pp.1-5. (Glosario de las crxticas de Azorin, R. Baroja, Benavente, Bueno, Jimenez, Madariaga, Maeztu y Unamuno acerca de Valle) m

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I, Catherine Mary Borelli, was born in Cowell,

South Australia, September 21, 1903. I received my secondary school education at St. Columba's School,

Kilmacolra, Scotland. My undergraduate training was obtained at the University of London, England, from which I received the degree Bachelor of Arts in

1934 and Bachelor of Arts with Honours in 1935.

From the Ohio State University I received the degree

Master of Arts in 1951* While in residence at the

Ohio State University, I received the appointment of Graduate Assistant in the Department of Romance

Languages. I held this position for five years while completing the requirements for the degree

Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy.