University of Kentucky UKnowledge Spanish Literature European Languages and Literatures 1973 The Spanish Ballad in English Shasta M. Bryant Wake Forest University Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Bryant, Shasta M., "The Spanish Ballad in English" (1973). Spanish Literature. 6. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_spanish_literature/6 STUDIES IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES: 8 Editor JoHN E. KELLER Associate Editor for Spanish JOSEPH R. JONES Editorial Board French Portuguese WILLIAM C. CALIN EowARD GLASER RoBERT CHAMPIGNY GERALD MosER LESTER G. CRocKER J. H. MATTHEWS Spanish MICHAEL RIFFATERRE JOHN W. KRONIK JosE J. ARRoM Italian JUAN BAUTISTA AVALLE-ARCE GLAUCO CAMBON Ons H. GREEN WILLIAM DESUA KARL-LUDWIG SELIG This page intentionally left blank THE SPANISH BALLAD IN ENGLISH This page intentionally left blank THE SPANISH BALLAD IN ENGLISH BY SHASTA M. BRYANT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY LEXINGTON ISBN 978-0-8131-5154-0 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 72-81314 COPYRIGHT © 1973 BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY A statewide cooperative scholarly publishing agency serving Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky State College, Morehead State University, Murray State University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University EDITORIAL AND SALES OFFICES : LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY 40506 DEPOSITO LEGAL: v. 3.902- 1973 ARTES GRAFICAS SoLER, S. A. - }AVEA, 28 -VALENCIA (8) - 1973 CONTENTS PREFACE 9 INTRODUCTION 11 I. The Cid Ballads 39 II. Other Historical Ballads 115 III. Moorish Ballads 153 IV. Ballads of Chivalry, Love, and Adventure 187 CONCLUSION 225 APPENDIX A. A List of Romances that have been translated into English, with the Names of Translators 233 APPENDIX B. Alphabetical List of Translators and Location of Translations 247 INDEX OF BALLAD TEXTS 255 GENERAL INDEX 257 This page intentionally left blank PREFACE A large number of Spanish romances, or ballads, have been trans­ lated into English, but with minor exceptions, the only translations which are widely known are those of !ohn Lockhart. In some ways this is unfortunate, since the popularity of Lockhart's work has tended to obscure the existence of equally good or better English versions of a great many traditional romances. !ames Young Gibson, especially, merits considerably more attention as a translator of Spanish ballads than he has received heretofore. Analysis of Gibson's efforts and those of the other translators studied in this work indicates that the English reader actually has a wide range of worthwhile and enjoyable materials which can provide him with a thorough introduction to a most important branch of Spanish literature. These materials are not always readily available, however, and the chief aim of this volume is to furnish a broader and P'erhaps more truly representative sampling from the English translations of romances. Besides the selections in­ cluded herein, attention is directed to hundreds of others through the textual references and the appendixes. In addition to the fact that detailed study of a translation requires close comparison with the original, the inclusion of the Spanish texts with the English renditions implicitly recognizes that many persons familiar with the romances, students of comparative literature and others, have more than a casual interest in and knowledge of the subject. The discussions are intended primarily for the nonspecialist, however, and the ability to read Spanish is not requisite to the un­ derstanding and appreciation of the ballads. I hope, rather, that the specimens reproduced here may encourage the general reader to extend what may be his first acquaintance with the romances. The Spanish texts are taken from various well-known anthologies, including the Cancionero de romances de Amberes, first published around 1548 and re-issued by Menendez Pidal in facsimile editions in 1914 and 1945; the Romancero general of Agustin Duran, which 10 THE SPANISH BALLAD IN ENGLISH came out in Madrid in separate volumes between 1828 and 1832, and again in Volumes 10 and 16 of the Biblioteca de Autores Espafioles in 1916 and 1921; and Wolf and Hofmann's Primavera y flor de romances (Berlin, 1856). Other than supplying accent marks and, in some cases, adjusting punctuation and capitalization, I have not at­ tempted to modernize or standardize either the Spanish or the English texts. The Spanish text throughout this volume has, however, been unnaturally and arbitrarily divided to permit easier comparison of the translation. The translations were chosen as those most representative of either a particular theme or a given translation technique, or, in some in­ stances, simply because the English version seemed an exceptionally good rendition of the romance or was outstanding in some other way. Also, I considered it essential to an adequate presentation of the subject that the Spanish originals be included next to the English translations. There are several advantages to be derived from this meth­ od, not the least of which is that ballad sources for translations are frequently difficult to locate and identify. The translators found their texts in a variety of early collections, and many of these are not easily accessible. Other benefits from having the original romance placed side by side with the translation are more self-evident. A direct, point-by­ point comparison is facilitated, accuracy and faithfulness of translation are quickly checked, and the overall merits or defects of the rendi­ tion are more obvious. The brief analyses and discussions accompanying many of the selections are intended not as complete studies, but rather to call attention to certain notable qualities and characteristics of the translator or his work. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following for permission to reprint material covered by copyright: The Clarendon Press, Ox­ ford, for "Oh tis May, the month of May," from European Balladry by William]. Entwistle; the editors of the Modern Language Quarter­ ly, for the translations by George W. Umphrey. Special thanks are also due Professor Harry Lee King of Wake Forest University and Professor Edward D. Terry of the University of Alabama. Both read the manuscript and offered helpful suggestions. S.M. B. Wake Forest University January 1973 INTRODUCTION SPAIN HAS FREQUENTLY AND RIGHTFULLY been called the "land of the Romancero." No other country possesses such a rich and varied treasure of ballad literature, nor is there any other country whose history, civilization, and life are concentrated so thoroughly in its popular poetry. Loved by the common man, studied and admired by the historian and literary scholar, and a continual source of inspira­ tion to creative writers, the romances constitute one of the most important segments of Spanish literature and one of the most origi­ nal and lasting tributes to the Spanish people. The word romance comes from a Vulgar Latin term meaning "in the vernacular" and apparently was used at first to distinguish the Vulgar Latin speech (which was developing into Spanish) from Classic Latin. Archaic forms of the word appear frequently in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as synonyms for the Spanish language. By the fifteenth century, however, the word had come to mean the type of literary composition which we usually refer to as the ballad, al­ though there are important differences in origin, form, and spirit between the Spanish ballads and the English ballads. Early collections of ballads were often called romanceros, and this word is still used to designate a group of ballads bound together in one volume. It is also used for a series of ballads dealing with one subject, but when used independently and capitalized, the term refers to the entire body of Spanish ballad literature and the ballad tradition. In general, the romances may be described as short narrative poems, fragmentary in character, consisting of verses of sixteen syl­ lables, divided into hemistichs or half-lines of eight syllables each, and employing assonance rather than rhyme. (Most printed versions, however, as will be evident from the texts reproduced in this study, are 12 THE SPANISH BALLAD IN ENGLISH arranged on the page in the half-line or eight-syllable verses, and in fact this arrangement seems more in accord with the internal charac­ teristics of the ballads.) The romances were originally composed to be sung to the accompaniment of music, usually that of the vihuela, a forerunner of the modern guitar, and while these poems are normally thought of as narrative compositions, many of them are quite lyrical. The typical ballad contains from twenty-five to fifty verses, though there are some with hundreds of verses. In earlier ages, the tendency for the romance to be written in sixteen-syllable lines of monorhyming assonance was so widespread, and the association of this. meter with the ballad so strong, that often other lyrical songs which seemed to have ballad subjects, but with different metrical forms, were converted to this type of verse. 1 How­ ever, many of the romanceros contain poems which do not fit the above description, and there are many compositions with a variety of meters and poetical combinations which are sometimes classified as romances. In the older romanceros it is not uncommon to find re­ frains, rounds, carols, and poetic glosses, as well as sonnets, liras, and other poems in the Italian manner. Because many of these compositions are highly lyrical in quality, often containing a delicate charm and grace, many of them were translated and placed among the true ro­ mances, without the translator's bothering to note that they are not ballads.