JOSE MARIA GABRIEL Y GALAN AND HIS POETRY
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Authors Stadt, Bessie Winifred Stanford, 1914-
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STADT, Bessie W. Stanford, 1914- JOSE MARiA GABRIEL Y GALAN AND HIS POETRY. [Portions of Text in Spanish], University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1969 Language and Literature, modern
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
©COPYRIGHTED
BY
BESSIE W. STANFORD STADT
1969
iii • • / JOSE MARIA GABRIEL Y GALAN
AND HIS POETRY
by
Bessie W. Stanford Stadt
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the
DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN SPANISH
In the Graduate College
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
1969 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
GRADUATE COLLEGE
I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Bessie W. Stanford Stadt entitled Jose* Maria Gabriel y Galan and his Poetry
be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
• L-- Jt mn Dissertation Director
After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:"
dn>H/ tiLJ m AT 3 Q / d f
3 f.
* This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR
This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to bor rowers under rules of the Library.
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SIGNEDhi. SU/Jf PREFACE
The decision to study Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan and his
poetry brought with it the problem of evaluating a "regional" poet. In
order to resolve this problem and to arrive at a fuller comprehension
of Gabriel y Galan1s poetry, a trip to Spain and the areas in which he
lived was undertaken in the summer of 1966.
I should like at this time to express my deep appreciation of the
courtesy and help granted me in Spain. I am most grateful to Jose
Canal Rosado of Caceres and Jesus Delgado Valhondo of Badajoz who
were most generous with their assistance in furthering my research.
- I am likewise indebted to the Provincial Deputations of Salamanca,
Caceres, and Badajoz which not only presented me with copies of
journals from their archives but also opened their libraries to me
when they were officially closed. I cannot fail to mention Miss
Margaret Hussman, United States Consul in Madrid, whose gracious
letter of introduction opened many doors on which I would otherwise
have knocked in vain. My thanks are extended also to the grandson of
the poet, Jose Maria Gabriel y Galan Gabriel for his interesting com
ments on his grandfather as well as for the opportunity to examine the
autograph of "El Cristu Benditu.11
iv V
I am very thankful to Professor Charles Olstad and Professor
Robert Anderson for their reading of the manuscript and their valuable suggestions as well as to Professor Renato Rosaldo, Head of the
Department of Romance Languages at The University of Arizona, for his encouragement of my scholastic endeavor. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT viii
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. BIOGRAPHICAL DATA ... 3
3. A SURVEY OF THE CRITICISM OF THE POETRY OF GABRIEL Y GALAN 10
Contemporary Appraisals of Gabriel y Gal&n 10 Interim Criticism 24 Commemorative Studies Honoring the Fiftieth \ Anniversary of Galin's Death 41 Recent Appraisals of the Poetry of Gabriel y Galan 52
4. AN ANALYSIS OF GALAN'S IDEOLOGY 59
His Spiritual Naturalism 60 The Countryside as a Setting for the People 65 The People as Inhabitants of the Countryside 90 His Attitude toward Solitude, Death, the Past, and his own Environment 122 Loneliness, Nothingness, and Death 122 Ubi ierunt? 140 The Country in Contrast to the City 148 His Use of Dialecticisms 160
5. AN ANALYSIS OF LITERARY INFLUENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS 169
His Poetry as an Expression of his Literary and Environmental Heritage 171 His Poetry as an Expression of Contemporary Ideas and Techniques 209
vi vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS- - Continued
Page
6. CONCLUSIONS 261
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 268 ABSTRACT
A review of the biographical material concerning Jos6 Maria
Gabriel y Galan (1870-1905) and a comparison of the criticism cover ing his literary production with the poems themselves invalidates many of the opinions held by previous critics and opens the way for a broader interpretation of his poetry.
During the poet's lifetime and on the occasion of his death, the majority of the critics praised him, stressing his regionalistic quali ties and the beauty of his descriptions of nature and accepting the dialect of the Extremefias as Extremaduran. Pardo Bazan classified him as apart from the other poets of his period. For the next fifty years, this type of broad spectrum criticism was repeated. Modern istic qualities were found in his poetry by M. Henriquez Urefia and the poet's association with the Generation of 1898 was also mentioned by
A. Valbuena Prat during this period. In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, previous eulogies were recapitulated and the critics still favored the theme of nature in their studies. A romanti cized biography by V. Gutierrez Macias, a quite objective analysis by
C. Heal de la Riva, and journalistic studies by Emilio Salcedo are outstanding. Recently critics from outside his area have become in terested in Galan's poetry.
viii ix
An investigation of his poetry reveals that Galan's descriptions of the countryside and his- socio-psychological vignettes carry the underlying philosophy of Spiritual Naturalism which was predominant during the latter part of the nineteenth century. This visualization of nature's organic constitution transcends the exteriority of nature to find an association with God. The theme of love, the expression of the poet's interest in the less fortunate, the brotherhood of mankind, and the regeneration of Spain pertain to this concept. Even in his attitude toward loneliness, death, nothingness, ubi ierunt, as well as in his contrasting of city and country life is seen his basic philosophy.
Linguistically speaking, the Extremefias are poems of a region and are not in the Extremaduran dialect but the vulgar speech of Salamanca.
Galan's literary and environmental heritage includes Biblical
and folk themes as well as influences from Fray Luis de Leon,
Mel6ndez Vaides, and Espronceda. Analysis of his poems negates
many of the prejudiced opinions of early critics. For example, sev
eral thematic and stylistic influences of Modernism found in his poetry
illustrate his expression of contemporaneous ideas and his use of in-
novational techniques.
His relationship with Unamuno and his connection with the
Generation of 1898 are seen in his realistic descriptions of the coun
tryside, his analysis of the ills of Spain, and his participation in the
Unamunian concept of intrahistoria. Basically, however, Galan's thought more closely approximates that of Gald6s as a comparative
analysis of Marianela, El amigo Manso, and Fortunata y Jacinta with
representative poems shows. The Spiritual Naturalism of Gald<5s
finds its poetic representative-in the poetry of Gabriel y Galdn. CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The attitude of the critics toward Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan has ranged from little more than a cursory dismissal to the warm eulogies of his contemporaries and those participating wholeheartedly in the revindication of his poetic ability fifty and more years after his death. Between these two extremes there are a few objective analyses of his work. His themes have been broadly classified on an obvious basis, but in few instances have his poems been examined in depth for
underlying motifs.
The purpose of this study is to attempt to place Jose Maria
Gabriel y Galan in the proper perspective in his epoch, by evaluating
the validity of the critical material that has sprung up around his poetry
and by reappraising the more representative examples of his poems.
The continuity of this critical material will be examined to determine
to what extent it is based on the personal prejudices and regional bias
of the critics and to what extent it reflects the literary standards and
atmosphere of the time in which it was written.
The poems will be scrutinized in the light of this criticism and
their constituent thematic, stylistic and linguistic elements investigated.
1 i
2
Influences, sources and similarities revealed by a comparison of
Galan's poetry with that of preceding and contemporary writers will be noted. His participation in the Modernist Movement and his re lationship to the Generation of 1898 will be discussed from today's viewpoint in an endeavor to show the correlative implications. The theme of Nature, stressed by the majority of the critics, will be demonstrated to have greater significance than previous discussions of its exterior aspect indicate, and the existence of the theme of spiritual naturalism, common to both Galan and Gald6s, will be proven.
No special effort has been made to arrive at the literary value of Galan1 s poetry inasmuch as such evaluations are dependent on the individual outlook and the time in which they are written. The follow ing pages will simply try to present a comprehensive view of the problems as stated and the solutions as the writer sees them. CHAPTER 2
BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
The people of Leon, Castile and Extremadura have all claimed
Jose Maria Gabriel y Galan as their own by reason of birth, and/or residence as well as literary output. The poet himself tells us in a letter to Emilia Pardo Bazan: "naci de padres labradores, en Frades
de la Sierra, pueblecillo de la provincia de Salamanca."''' The date, not indicated by the poet, was June 28, 1870.
The mention of his humble and country origin also appears
many times in his poetry, as will be shown later on. His love of the
kind of farm life in which he grew up undoubtedly influenced his return
to the farm after his marriage. He entered la Escuela del Magisterio 2 Masculino de Salamanca in 1885 to prepare himself to teach in an
elementary school and received his degree shortly before his eighteenth
1. Emilia Pardo Bazan, Obras completas, Vol. XXXII: Retratos y apuntes literarios (Madrid, n. d.), p. 84.
2. Ramon Esquer Torres, "Algunos datos de interes acerca de Gabriel y Galan,11 Revista de literatura, XXV (January-June, 1964). p. 125. These data were obtained from consultation with actual docu ments. Valeriano Gutierrez Macias [Biografia de Gabriel y Galan (Madrid, 1956), p. 35], quoting N. Hernandez Luquero's "El poeta campesino. Josi Maria Gabriel y Galan, " Blanco y Negro [No. 1547 (January 9, 1921)] states that the poet attended the Escuela Normal de Maestros of Tormes.
3 4 birthday. The year 1888-1889 was spent in further study at the
Escuela Central del Magisterio de Madrid. According to the letter to
Emilia Pardo Bazan, cited previously, he obtained the position as teacher in the school in Guijuelo (Salamanca) when he was seventeen, lived in that small town for four years, taught for another four years
3 in Piedrahita (Avila), then retired.in 1898 to Guijo de Granadilla
(Caceres) a few months after his marriage. There he died on January
7, 1905, leaving behind his wife, Desideria Garcia Gasc6n, three small sons and one daughter yet unborn.
According to G6sar Heal de la Riva, "La verdadera poesla de
Gabriel es por lo tanto la que comienza con 'El Cristu benditu' en 1899 y se cierra a finales de 1904 con algunos poemas de Nuevas caste-. 4 lianas." "El Cristu benditu" was read by Josh's brother, Baldomero, to Unamuno, who took charge of having it published. Then a newspaper of Salamanca, El Labaro, began to accept the poetic compositions of
Galan. On September 15, 1901, his poem "El ama" received the prize at the Juegos Florales of Salamanca. His recognition by Unamuno,
his acceptance by the University of Salamanca as a poet, the winning
of the Flor Natural: all combined to bring to public notice the work of
3. CSsar Real de la Riva, Vida £ poesla de Jos£ y Galan (Salamanca, 1954), p. 31, places him as having spent three years in Guijuelo and six in Piedrahita.
4. Ibid., p. 63. 5 this erstwhile country schoolteacher turned farmer. Without this overt appreciation, he might easily have remained not mute but cer tainly inglorious in his time. The Bishop of Salamanca, P. Camara, wrote an introduction and published three or four of the poems in 1902.
Shortly thereafter in the same year, the book of Castellanas appeared,
prologued by Francisco F. Villegas (Zeda). Later in the same year,
Extremefias was published; in 1904, Campesinas; and in 1905 some months after the poet's death, Nuevas castellanas. The enthusiasm thus engendered for his poetry has led to the incorporation in the Qbras
completas of some of the less than poetic verses that he composed as
well as to the compilation of a group of religious poems under the general heading "Religiosas." Even though don Gesar complains of
this lack of selectivity in the incorporation of the poems of Galan's 5 youth in the Qbras completas, Ramon Esquer Torres recently found
it worthwhile to compile and publish the Obra in^dita y olvidada de
Gabriel y Galan, which includes poems written by Galan between Feb- g ruary, 1896, and the end of the first quarter of 1900.
Vera Camacho indicates the development that has taken place
in Extremadura since the turn of the century in the following statement:
"Extremadura esta hoy de moda, gracias al 'Plan Badajoz,' ya que ha
5. Ibid., p. 62.
6. Ram6n Esquer Torres, Obra inedita y olvidada de Gabriel y Galan (Madrid, 1965), p. 14. 6 revalorizado la riqueza regional y nacional hasta limites insospecha-
7 dos." The economic resurgence of this area has led to a renascence of interest in the culture and traditions of Extremadura, especially during the past ten or twelve years. Compilations and studies of the 0 musical folklore as well as of animal and flower imagery, make manifest this new interest, as do the historical travelogues that qualify g Extremadura as "la tierra en la que nacian los dioses."
But the Extremadura to which Jose Maria Gabriel y Galan moved in the middle of 1898 did not then have a Badajoz Plan, a Gil
Garcia nor was it a fashionable province eulogized by the Generation of 1898 as was Castile. Vera Camacho characterized it thus:
En el siglo pasado, la norma de vida, en Extre madura, era, como es natural, la agricultura, muy prospera porque el terreno, potencialmente era fructifero; pero no tanto como debiera, por la gran cantidad de terreno incultivable, lo que creaba un paro estacional que solo era absorbido en €pocas de siega y recogida de la aceituna. El nivel de vida era bajo, y la cultura, apenas iniciada en los grandes nucleos urbanos, y casi desconocida en los rurales. Escaseaban las escuelas y lo rutinario predominaba en el "habitat" regional.
7. Juan Pedro Vera Camacho, "Extremadura, hace un siglo, " Revista dee studios extremeflos, XVIII (1962), 177.
8. See, for example, the work by Bonifacio Gil-Garcia, Cancionero popular de Extremadura (vol. I, 2nd ed.; Badajoz, 1961).
9. Miguel Mufioz de San Pedro, Conde de Canilleros, Extremadura (La tierra en la que nacian los dioses) (Madrid, 1961).
10. Revista deestudios extremeflos, XVIII (1962), 183. 7
A fragment of a letter, written by Gabriel y Gal£n and pub lished by La Voz de Pefiaranda, in their No. 1410 of May 27, 1905, also indicates the type of environment in which Galan found himself and the effect it was having on him after he had retired from teaching:
Yo, por el contrario, lo poco que habia podido adelantar lo voy perdiendo con velocidad de tren. Leo muy poco, casi nada; nada puedo aprender tampoco de gentes que no est&n a mi nivel intelectual, y como si todo esto fuera poco, hablo mucho de chotos, de jacas, de olivos y ganado cerdal, como dijo el otro. Con tales elementos, bien me s6 yo a d6nde se va a parar con la cabeza, y tu debes sospecharlo, aunque yo no te lo diga por lo claro. Si, si: llegara dia en que me guste descifrar charadas, tocar el acordedn y leer folletines de peri6dicos. Pero al cabo yo no tengo los elementos de cultura que tu tienes ya hoy, y mas que tendras mafiana, si pasas algun tiempo en sitio mejor que ese que ocupas, que tampoco tiene nada de sobresaliente, aunque sea mejor que esto.
Another complaint of the cultural desert in which he lived is found in his reply to a letter from Unamuno, advising the poet to read essays on geography and history as well as the poetry of Jos£
Asunci6n Silva:
El consejo que en ella me da de que lea poesia con parsimonia, vengo practicando desde hace mucho tiempo, no s6lo porque no tengo libros, ni hay por aqui quien los tenga, sino porque estoy convencido de la bondad del consejo, que da el modo mejor de evitar los mas funestos incon- venientes. Lo poquisimo que contienen unos minusculos tomitos de poesia cl&sica, lo he leido ya muchas veces, y no lo miro: me cansa ya.
11. Esquer Torres, Obra in&iita, p. 128. 8
Lo que siento es que la carencia de libros se extiende a los de otra indole, que, como usted me dice, me convendrian muchisimo. No leo mas que cartas, noticias de peri6dicos, una o dos revistas y algun librito que me dedique su autor. Con esta gran ignorancia de lo que se ha escrito y se escribe, el aislamiento en que vivo y el poco tiempo que el campo me deja libre, ya ve usted que podr6 hacer, aun contando con que pudiese hacer algo que mereciera la pena de leerse. Asi que me limito a aprovechar mis ocios escribiendo algo, saiga lo que saliere. ^
The above letter has often been quoted to attest to the paucity of
Galan's literary and cultural resources. Yet the Epistolario, gathered up by Santiago Cividanes, makes evident that he was in contact with many men of letters for the interest and sponsorship of Unamuno had introduced his work to other writers of nation-wide fame. Whether the humility and constant plaint of Galan regarding his lack of cultural resources were sincere or not, still the fact remains that he showed himself very much aware of current literary movements.
Some salient points taken from a letter written to "Crontontilo"
(pseudonym of Jose Gonzalez Castro, ed. of El Adelanto) will serve to illustrate not only this fact but also his understanding of literary criti cism:
^De que podria yo hablar en el pr6logo de tu libro ? ^Del libro mismo? Pues para ello me falta sabiduria
12. Epistolario de Gabriel y Galan, ed. by Mariano de Santiago Cividanes (Madrid, 1918), pp. 205-206. liter aria, y por lo mismo, osadia para pretender ilustrar a tus lectores, que son cultos y son muchos.
Y esa es mi pobre opini6n; en resumen: que l£L obra es, en el fondo inmoral, y a veces inverosimil. Lo primero no es cosa buena para ti ... ni para tus lectores, sobre todo los de veinticinco afios abajo. Lo segundo, es pecado literario grande. ....^^
En la novela advierto escasez de dialogos. Todo nos lo cuentas tvi, todo nos lo explicas tu ... y ya sabes que eso es m&s facil que hacer hablar a sus tipos, para que el lector los conozca, no por referencias, aunque ella sea cosa exacta, sino de modo directo.
Lo dificil, lo portentoso del Arte, es que este consiga dar al lector, en la precis a medida, y a distancia, la sensaci6n necesaria, sin meterle la cabeza en el fangal, sin estropearle la ... inmaculada pechera, porque al que limpia la tiene, no lo dudemos, le fastidia que se le llene de fango. Nada mas dificil que el Arte naturalista, en el sentido en que debes interpretarme la frase en estos momentos. 17 Bien sabes que detesto las fiofieces literarias.
13. Ibid., p. 239.
14. Ibid., p. 243.
15. Ibid., p. 244.
16. Ibid., p. 245.
17. Ibid., p. 246. CHAPTER 3
A SURVEY OF THE CRITICISM OF THE POETRY OF
GABRIEL Y GALAN
In 1955 Jos£ Montero Padilla published an article, "La actitud de la critica ante la obra de Gabriel y Galan," in which he reviewed the reaction of a number of critics to the poetry of Gabriel y Galan.
His quotation of the outstanding points of such criticism indicates that
the attitude of the critics has changed over the years. It is evident
also from his article that this literary criticism reflects the critical
values in force during the period he surveys as well as the individual
standards of criteria of the various critics. An up-to-date survey and
an appraisal of the criticism pertaining to Galan's poetry are there
fore indicated. A chronological approach will be used in an attempt
to relate the evaluations to the environment in which the criticism was
developed.
Contemporary Appraisals of Gabriel y Galan
If, as Vera Camacho has said, Extremadura is fashionable to
day, what made Gabriel y Galan not only beloved by the country folk
1. Revista de literatura, Vll (October-December, 1955), 339-348.
10 11 among whom he lived but also fashionable some sixty-five years ago among the men of letters ?
First of all, he was a poet of occasion, writing of and for his neighbors, reading his poetry at various local gatherings, and publish ing it in the local newspapers and magazines. Among his early poems, 2 collected by Esquer Torres, are several written for his students with obvious didactic intent, during the period in which he was a teach er in the Escuela de Piedrahita (Avila).
Escritas en los anos de la primera juventud del autor, si no poseen la perfeccidn literaria de las - "" posteriores, estan en cambio avaloradas por su fin altamente educador y por reflejar el amor a los ninos del hombre consagrado a la honrosa profesion que ejercia, y en la que por ese medio les daba elevadas lecciones pedag6gicas. 3
The first two and last two stanzas of a long poem, entitled "La
Escuela" may serve to illustrate this point:
La Escuela es la maestra de la existencia, la guia protector a de nuestra infancia, la aurora que despierta la inteligencia del sueno tenebroso de la ignorancia con la clara y fecunda voz de la ciencia.
o La Escuela es un hermoso jardin fragante donde oscuros y humildes cultivadores, con benditos afanes y fe constante, cultivan almas pur as en vez de flores.
2. Obra inedita.
3. Ibid. Quoted by the author from the anonymous prologue of an anthology for schools, Jose Maria Gabriel y Galan, Poesias seleccionadas para lectura en las Escuelas de Primera Ensenanza, 2 vols. (Madrid, n. d.), p. 95. 12
Cuando apenas balbuciente la cuna abandona el nifio, donde durmid dulcemente mecido por el carifio que s6lo una madre siente; viene al templo del saber de su bienestar en pos, para empezar a aprender c6mo se cumple el deber, c6mo se bendice a Dios.
Y aqui le ensellan a orar, y aqui le ensefian a amar y le erisefian a creer, y le ensefian a mar char por la senda del deber. La Escuela es campo abonado do no arraiga la ignorancia, donde crece el hombre honrado: j por algo las han llamado ^ los jardines de la infancia!
A note to this poem in the anthology just mentioned states: "Esta com- posicion, una de las primeras del autor, la escribi6 para leerla per- sonalmente en la solemne apertura de la Escuela de Parvulos de Pie-
5 drahita (Avila), y es in€dita."
The fact that he is a poet of occasion is illustrated as well by such poems as: JL'Vamos a esperarlos, " written for the Feast of the g Kings organized by the Circulo Catolico de Obreros of Salamanca;
4. Ibid., pp. 95-97.
5. Ibid., p. 95. _ - -
6. Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan, Obras completas (4th ed., Madrid, 1955), pp. 350-352. Unless otherwise stated, all citations of his poetry are taken from this edition, which will be referred to in future references as OC. "El catecismo,11 written for the children's festival of the Catechesis
(OC, pp. 353-354); "S6lo para mi lugar" (OC, pp. 529-553), com posed and read to the townspeople on April 13, 1903, when Guijo de
Granadilla adopted Galan as its son. "Brindis" (OC, pp. 111-118) was written and read at a banquet honoring Unamuno in Salamanca on
October 16 of that same year. "La cen£fica" (OC, pp. 266-269) celebrates the granting of the title of "Muy Ben£fica" to the Red Cross of Plasencia for its humanitarian aid in repatriating soldiers returning from the colonial wars. "Surco arriba y surco abajo" (OC, pp. 103-
106), read in the Breton Theatre of Salamanca, and "A su majestad el rey" (OC, pp. 107-110), first published in the special edition of the magazine Las Hurdes, commemorate the visit of Alfonso XIII to
Salamanca in September of 1904. "Las sublimes" (OC, pp. 365-366) appeared in the November, 1904, special issue of the Revista de
Extremadura which honored the four hundredth anniversary of the death of Isabel la Cat6lica.
It is obvious, then,-why Galan was so esteemed by the country people among, whom Jfcie lived. He wrote of the things and people they knew as well as for their various celebrations. Even today, the man in the street in Salamanca can tell you just where Galan was born and direct you to the little plaza with three statues set up in his honor. In
Bejar, the waiters in the Hotel Col6n, during my visit there in the summer of 1966, quoted Galan's verses, especially the last two lines 14 of "E! Castaflar" (OC, pp. 554-559):
De B6jar, al Castaflar y del Castaflar, al Cielo (OC, p. 559).
The academic popularity of Galan's poetry during his lifetime
and immediately after his death might itself be called one of occasion.
He wrote at a time when it was fashionable to describe the people,
scenes, and customs of the patria chica in which a writer lived,
whether it was done in the form of cuadros de costumbres, region-
alistic novels, or poetry. Such Latin American works as Ricardo
Palma's Tradiciones peruanas and Jos€ Hernandez' Martin Fierro
circulated widely in Spain. And Gabriel y Galan was awarded the Flor
Natural, Premio de Honor, from the Asociaci6n Patri6tica Espafiola
and the Centro Catalan of Buenos Aires shortly before his death. The
popularity of regionalism knew no boundaries.
But more than this, the critics of his time and later read into
his poetry the meanings that were most applicable to tljeir own stand
ards or criteria and often set the pattern for later critical studies.
Many of them were bound by the chains of their own regionalism, their
Roman Catholicism and their reactions to the literary fashions of the
day, and they evaluated accordingly the poetry of Galan. We have
nothing to say about the standards of the non-literary people; their
relationship to the work of Galan can be neatly classified by Damaso 15
Alonso's general statement: "La intuici6n del autor, su registro en el papel; la lectura, la intuici6n del lector. No hay m&s que eso: nada mis.
Unamuno, paterfamilias, himself, started the critical ball
rolling with the promulgation of his enthusiasm for "El Cristu benditu"
(OC, pp. 227-233), his faith in the pueblo, and his specific interest in
Castile. Gal&n wrote of the three provinces in which he lived; Unamuno, omitting both Leon and Castile, says of the poet, "Cant6 como una g alondra la^tierra extremefia." The sefiorita Garcia Araez adds as a summary of the material on Galan, "Y por dondequiera que va g [Unamuno] por aquellas regiones ve su recuerdo [de Gal&n].11
Nevertheless, since the first important book of his poetry pub
lished was Castellanas, on writing the prologue for it, Zeda (Francisco
F. Villegas) evaluated it in terms of Castile, identifying with it the
obvious theme of Nature. He says of this "apasionado cantor de los
campos castellanos":*^
7. D&maso Alonso, Poesia espanola. Ensayo de m£todos y llmites estilisticos. (4th ed.; Madrid," 1'962), p. 44. .
8. Quoted by Josefina Garcia Araez, "Unamuno y la litera- tura, " Revista de literatura, VII (January-June, 1955), 79.
9. Ibid.
10. Jose Maria Gabriel y Galan, Castellanas, with a Prologue by Zeda (Salamanca, 1902), p. xxiii. 16
No ha mucho, cosa de un afio, lei en El L&baro, diario salmantino, una composici6n po^tica en quintillas, titulada Castellanas. Con jubilo ech£ de ver, desde los primeros versos, que su autor era un verdadero poeta, Sentlase, al trav£s de las rimadas frases, amor apasionado a la naturaleza, hondas palpitaciones del alma nacional, ecos vibrantes de la voz varonil con que cantaron sus alegrlas o sus dolores las generaciones vigorosas que ha engendrado la noble tierra de Castilla. ^
Back-handedly complimenting Galan for his casticismo, and agreeing with Unamuno's views on the Modernist movement, Zeda-also takes advantage of the prologue to expound his dislike for the French
} influence on poetry of that period.
En la inspiraci6n de nuestra poeta no entra por nada ni para nada la influencia enfermiza de esa literatura que han dado en llamar modernista, y que tiene su origen en Las flores del mal de Baudelaire. Las influencias que facilmente se advierten en Castellanas, proceden de la misma tierra en que han nacido, y de lecturas casi exclusivas de nuestros escritores clasicos, entre los antiguos Mirademescua y Fr. Luis principalmente, y entre los modernos Nuftez de-Arce. ...*^
Another prologuist, Juan Maragall, this time of the Extremefias, 13 addresses the reader. "Lector: He aqui un libro de poesla1' and
11. Jos€ Maria Gabriel y Galan, Obras completas, 2 vols. 2nd ed. enlarged, with a Prologue to vol. I by Zeda (Salamanca, 1905), p. ix.
12. Ibid., p. xxi.
13. Jos€ Maria Gabriel y Galan, Obras completas, 2 vols, with a Prologue to vol. II by Juan Maragall (Salamanca, 1905), p. iii. 17 goes on to describe in impassioned terms what he sees in this collec tion of Gal&n's poetry.
Todo el libro es ;.. vivo; todo escrito en ese . lenguaje desarropado, es decir, vivo: escrito en dialecto, como la Iliada y la Diyina comedia; porque no son las lenguas las que hacen las obras, sino las obras las que hacen las lenguas. Y la poesla grande, la viva, la tinica, gusta mucho de brotar en dialectos;1.4.,.,.
Gabriel y Galdn dominaba perfectamente el castellano literario ... pero no habla de expresar con igual fuerza el sentimiento de la vida en aquel lenguaje. Porque la pasi6n humana, sincera y viva, £l la sentla brotar en el ambiente popular que respiraba, en esa lengua extremefia de las gentes sencillas que la rodeaban, de cuya vida ^1 participaba con amor, que es el alma de la expresion humana1.^...
. Los clisicos espaftoles del siglo XX que a mi parece descubrir ya, son Vicente Medina que alia en un rinc6n de Murcia canta el alma mureiana en su dialecto, y este Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan que en el ya glorioso lugar de Guijo de Granadilla compuso este libro. *6
Prologuist of Gabriel y Gal&n's Nuevas castellanas in 1905,
Emilia Pardo Bazan, had already become interested.in the poet before his death and had written him in 1904 asking for information regarding his life and work. The often-quoted letter referred to on page 3, was his reply. Because of her interest, she, along with a number of
14. Ibid., p. v.
15. Ibid., p. vi.
16. Ibid., p. vii. 18
17 others was asked to contribute to the "Numero extraordinario" of
El Labaro (Salamanca), printed in January of 1905 to do homage to the poet whose untimely death had so emotionally aroused not only those who knew him personally but also those who knew him only through his poetry. Eulogies from people in all walks of life are included in this special edition: he is called "un genio independiente, sin bagaje de ideas ajenas, arrebatado por la contemplaci6n de la Naturaleza, que siente y canta con espontaneidad jamas sobrepujada y con inspiracion verdadera y emocionante" by A. Garcia Maceira, an engineer; "el vate cristiano, un Fray Luis de Le6n sin habito ni capucha, que traia embobado al mundo del arte con sus dulcisimas poesias, con su estro prodigioso" by N. Pereira; "cantor vibrante, campesino y tierno, ... la matinal y enamorada alondra cuyo plumaje bafia de lagrimas el rocio de las auroras castellanas" by Manuel Reina, etc.
Unlike most of the other contributors, to this special edition and to 18 the "Numero extraordinario" of El Adelanto (Salamanca) March 26,
1905, Emilia Pardo Bazan limited her eulogy to little more than a
simple statement of grief at his death. The first real expression of
her appreciation for Galan's poetry is to be found in the speech she
delivered in Salamanca also onJMarch 26, 1905. We are indebted to
17. Without pagination.
18. Without pagination. 19
Ram6n Esquer Torresfor the publication of the original and his indication of the modifications made by the author when she incor- 19 porated it in her Obras completas.
Jos6 Luis G6mez wrote: "No la Revista de Extremadura; el 20 mundo literario esta de luto." Even though he admits his lack of ability and training in the field of literary criticism, still he makes some interesting points.
Galan, que es honra de Castilla por su nacimiento y es honra de Extremadura por su arraigado, por su largo y complacido vivir, es tambi£n una gloria de Espafia por lo mucho que avalor6 la lengua de Cervantes y Garcilaso, de Quevedo y Fray Luis de Le6n, de Jovellanos y de Zorrilla. *
Galan canta los sentimientos sin buscar la novedad en la retorcida manera de expresarlos ni en la desconcertada manera de sentirlos, como va siendo uso en los modernistas; la naturalidad clasica y la frescura y fuerza de su coraz6n y de su talento, realizan su obra.^2
Gal&n canta la naturaleza exterior como la cantan todos los poetas, por la extrafia y sorprendente harmonia que existe, como decia un orador portugu€s, entre el mundo interior y el mundo exterior; ... en esta relaci6n de los sentimientos y de las cosas, Galan canta de dentro a fuera, con verdadera ex6smosis artistica lo que le destaca, le individualiza y le sefiala
19. Obras completas, XXXII, pp. 129-132.
20. "Jos£ Maria Gabriel y Gal&n: Impresiones, " Revista de Extremadura, LXVII (January, 1905), 32.
21. Ibid., p. 33.
22. Ibid., p. 35.
m 20
como poeta lirico, al contrario de los que cantando de fuera a dentro, end6smosis literaria, quedan borrados en su misma obra por los agentes exteriores.
Thus the first links in the chain of criticism were already well forged by February 11, 1905, when Francisco Moran, professor at the
Instituto de Zamora, delivered a lecture on Gabriel y Galan to the
Circulo Obrero de Salamanca. Here many of the qualities already dis covered by other critics were re-enumerated such as that Galan was
"el cantor moderno del campo castellano, de la fe sencilla, y de los 24 sentimientos y penas de los labradores." Moran goes on to comment on the effect the times are having on literature, "La literatura que
decae a compas de la grandeza y de la vida de una nacion. se refugia
entonces en las regiones y se alimenta de elementos privativos de 25 cada una. " Galan was able to depict the soul of Castile so well "por
su bondad, por su fe, por su piedad, por su sencillez, y por laexpre- 2 6 sion sincera de sus creencias y afectos." He finds in Galan "un amor 27 intenso y efusivo ... a la naturaleza castellana" as well as "sincera, 28 edificante, consoladora fe religiosa. "
23. Ibid., p. 36. 24. Francisco Moran, Por Gabriel y Galan. Conferencia leida en el Circulo Obrero de Salamanca el 11 de febrero (Zamora, 1905), p. 4. 25. Ibid., p. 7. 26. Ibid., p. 11. 27. Ibid., p. 12. 28. Ibid., p. 17. 21
In the introduction, written by Mor5n for the publication of this speech in April, 1905, he shows another facet of the criticism of that day and criticizes Juan Valera for having omitted GalSn in his
Florilegio de poeslas castellanas, Azorln for attributing the nature inspiration of Galon's poetry to the reading of other poetry rather than to nature itself, and Pardo Baz&n for haying talked much and said little in favor of the poet, in the speech she gave at the memo rial for Gabriel y Gal&n in Salamanca the previous month. Even the opinions of Garcia Maceira are cited to controvert the detractors.
Stemming out of her prologue to Nuevas castellanas as well as the speech she gave in memoriam of Gabriel y GalSn, already a syn thesis of previous criticism, is the more general study made by 29 Emilia Pardo BazSn. With consummate modesty she justifies her evaluation of the poet: "Yo agradezco a Dios que me hay a dado gusto comprensivo, sensibilidad dispuesta para asimilarme todas o, por lo menos, muchas y muy variadas manifestaciones de la belleza artls> ' 3*0 ticai" Reminding us of one of the statements made by Jos£ Luis
G6mez, she says:
La impresi6n que producen los versos de Gabriel y Galan es, en ocasiones, no dir6 estar viendo, sino
29. Obras completas, XXXII, pp. 83-116.
30. Ibid., p. 100.
31. Revista de Extremadura, LXyil, .36.. 22
estar contemplando la naturaleza castellana. Absoluta es la compenetraci6n de su Musa y de la tierra, no en sentido material, en otro mas alto. .. .Es preciso en Castilla cavar hasta el hond6n; su atractivo no est& en la superficie, sino en la entrafia;on sale de adentro, y adentro vuelve; ...
Her interest in Nature and in the varying attitudes of those poets who wrote about it may be seen in the following statements:
No es menos curioso relacionar la impresidn dire eta del campo en el Maestro Leon, en Melendez Vald6s, en Gabriel y Galan. El aristocratico, el estetico, el artista, es el Maestro; el razonador, y por consiguiente el prosaico, Melendez; pero el espontaneo, el que trasciende a terron removido, el verdadero campesino, es el poeta charro, ^3
She continues: "Insisto en que el secreto de Gabriel y Galan es lo que le sugiere la tierra, la transformaci6n de las apariencias lianas y vulgar es en alteza y hermosura.
In addition to the beauties of nature, she also finds a sincere and religious sentiment: "La mayor belleza en el arte actual esta 35 impregnada de sentimiento religioso."
She calls Galan "social," but not in the same sense as Leo 36 Tolstoy, who, to her is "antisocial. " For her, "Gabriel y Galan
32. Obras completas, XXXII, pp. 89-90. O O C C Ibid., P. 96. • • CO Ibid., P. 97.
35. Ibid., P. 100.
36. Ibid., pp. 105-109. 23 no podia, sopena de perder el encanto de lo sincero, ser un roman- 37 tico, un parnasiano, un decadentista, un colorista ..."
Yet, in spite of all the generalizations as to what he is and what he cannot be, still she finds him difficult to classify, and places him in a spot apart:
Si se me preguntase cual es el puesto de Gabriel y Galan entre los liricos espafioles muertos hace poco, yo diria que es un puesto aparte, y el encomio no me parece escaso. Basta para la gloria de un lirico diferenciarse y no seguir estelas, y nadie puede dudar que Gabriel y Galan tiene otra voz, emite otra nota que Campoamor, Zorrilla, Nufiez de Arce, Balart, sin hablar de los numerosos poetas regionales a quienes deja atras y en nada se asemeja, a pesar de sentir tan adentro la regi6n; y cuando digo su region, no me refiero s6lo a Salamanca, sino a Castilla y Extremadura QO ^ en general. 00
In the final analysis, she includes him among those poets who have been able to convey their thoughts and ideas to others: "El poeta mas grande sera siempre el que mas enteramente se comunique.
The preceding are the critical judgments and evaluations of the contemporaries of Gabriel y Galan, brought into sharper focus and with a greater depth of emotionalism than would be expected were it not for his early death. Obvious themes and qualities have been
37. Ibid., p. 104.
38. Ibid., p. 114.
39. Ibid., p. 116. 24 stressed: nature, religion, sincerity, regionalism. When this flurry of interest died down, the name of Gabriel y Galan was relegated temporarily to limbo.
M ** » Interim Criticism
During the period between the eulogies after his death and the studies done for the fiftieth anniversary of his death, only a few critics occupied themselves with the poetry of Gabriel y Galan. One, Mariano de Santiago Cividanes, a friend of the family, took it upon himself to collect, select, and publish in 1918 some of Jose Maria's correspon dence, along with a few critical notes and explanations of his own, in the Epistolario previously mentioned. Many of these letters lack the
« ! date and name of the person to whom they are addressed. The joint 40 effort of Alberto and Arturo Garcia Carraffa was also published in
1918. This, too, derived in part from a personal knowledge of the family and like the Epistolario could be included in the previous group of works written immediately after the death of Gabriel y Galan. The
point of departure for their criticism is that the Spain of their day needed reforming and that it especially was confronted with the prob lem of inadequate individual education. Their reasoning goes thus:
A ese espafiol, hoy perfectamente ineducado, hay que adiestrarle en el sacrificio que la vida social exige, acostumbrarle a veneer el
40. Espafloles ilustres: Gabriel y Galan (Madrid). 25
monstruoso egoismo que por todas partes asoma, arrojarle de nuevo en los ardores del patriotismo, hoy muy debilitado, inculcarle el amor a la familia, que, por efecto de importaciones nefastas, esta en crisis. Por eso presentamos en este libro a un hombre bueno que pas6 su breve vida haciendo el bien, amando a los campos de su.tierra y cantandolos en tiernisimas estrofas, sintiendo hondamente el cariflo de la familia, y acertando a propagar este amor fuera de las paredes del hogar, alentado por la caridad cristiana. Jos£ Maria Gabriel y Galan merece los honores de un espafiol ilustre
Using the theme of the poet as a moral guide for the people of
Spain, they reiterate many of the evaluations made by previous critics,
citing particularly those of Pardo Bazan and Maragall. More than
that, their chapter XXI is largely a quotation of the salient paragraphs
of the critical study done by Emilia Pardo Bazan!
Casto Blanco Cabeza also collected and edited some of Galan's
letters and poems not previously published. His edition of Cartas y
poes&s in^ditas de Gabriel y Galan was published in Madrid in 1919.
Since Blanco Cabeza was a close friend, whom the poet visited for a
month at San Saturnino in La Corufia during the summer of 1889, his
comments on and descriptions of events give us information not other
wise available.
Jose Rincdn Lazcano amplified one of the opinions of Alberto
and Arturo Garcia Carraffa to the effect that "Gabriel y Galan, que
41. Ibid., p. 8. 26 estudi6 en Salamanca y en Madrid, conocia la vida ciudadana y no se 42 dej6 seducir por sus encantos" in his article, "Madrid y el poeta 43 ^ Gabriel y Galan.11 Although Rinc6n Lazcano was a madrilefio, born and bred, Carlos Sainz de Robles considers his poetry to belong to the 44 school of Gabriel y Galan. It is no wonder, then, that Rinc6n
Lazcano too stresses that "Gabriel y Galan fu€ un poeta campesino y
cristiano que amaba al terrufio que le vi6 nacer y al adoptivo de
Extremadura con ansias infinitas de ideal; y poeta porque Dios quiso 45 lo fuese, ..." He, too, reiterates the praises already sung by
Zeda, Maragall, Pardo Bazan, and other writers featured.in the
special editions of El Adelanto and El Labaro. He quotes from a
translation of Shelley's A Defense of Poetry, to substantiate his own
opinion that some day the works of Gabriel y Galan will be analyzed
in their totality;
Ningun poeta ha llegado en vida a la plenitud de su fama: el jurado que asiente juicio sobre un poeta, perteneciendo 61 como pertenece a tbdos los tiempos, debe estar constituido por sus. iguales: y ha de ser elegido por el Tiempo de entre los mas
42. Ibid., pp. 9-10.
43. Revista de la Biblioteca, Archivo y Museo, II (1925), 165-173.
44. Federico Carlos Sainz de Robles, Ens ayo de un dicciona- rio de la literatura, Vol. II: Escritores espafioles e hispano- americanos (3rd"edl., Madrid,-1964), p. 976.
45. Revista de la Biblioteca, p. 169. 27
selectos de los sabios de muchas generaciones. Un poeta es un ruisefior, que permanece en la oscuridad y canta para alegrar su propia soledad-con dulces sones; sua oyentes son como hombres arrebatados por la melodia de un musico no visto, y se sienten conmovidos y enternecidos sin saber desde d6nde ni por qui£n ...
In the meantime, however, various historians of Spanish litera ture dealt in the same vague and pleasant generalities. Aubrey F. G, 47 Bell repeats Pardo BazSn's classification of Gabriel y Galan as occupying a place apart, as a poet of Nature, Castile, and Extremadura, and not a modernist. George Tyler Northup includes him in the post- romantic poets, calls him a regional poet of Central Spain, repeats the themes already established as "family affection, love of nature and the common people, and religion.... For him religion is the sovereign remedy. This poet is therefore, a traditionalist. He is a Spanish 48 Robert Burns." The third edition of this history revised and en larged by Nicholson B. Adams, published in 1960, repeats this evalua tion in its totality. For Juan Hurtado and Angel Gonzalez Palencia in their Historia de la literatura espaflola, he is one of the poets who "se
46. Ibid., p. 170.
47. Aubrey F. G. Bell, Contemporary Spanish Literature (New York, 1926), pp. 224-226.
48. George Tyler Northup, An Introduction to Spanish Litera ture (Chicago, 1925), pp. 403-404. 28 han librado del modernismo, volviendo los ojos a los elementos tradi- cionales, ... poeta espontaneo, del amor, de la paz del campo y. del 49 trabajo. ...11 In this same decade, S. Griswold Morley translated, revised and enlarged Ernest Merim^e's third edition of the Precis d'histoire de la litterature espagnole. A short paragraph is allotted to the poet:
Among provincial or regional poets one of the best must not be omitted: Jose Maria Gabriel y Galan (1870-1905), who made himself the special singer of the Castilian plains and the tierra de campos. His justly praised poems, some of them in the local dialect, were collected under various titles: 4 ... In him the simplest, deepest emotions of home, family and native soil found an interpreter with power to touch the reader's heart.®®
In 1930, a so-called "Estudio critico sobre Jose Maria Gabriel
y Galan" was published in Buenos Aires by Martin Alonso, under the
title El cantor de Castilla. This is more panegyric than critical study,
with very strong overtones of regional bias, especially since Martin
Alonso was born in La Armufia (Salamanca), and as he himself states
on page 4 among
unas palabras al lector: ... A1 entrar por estas paginas, no lleves la ilusi6n de encontrar la novedad de la critica o el m6rito literario. Busca mas bien el recuerdo de nuestro malogrado poeta, que yo te aseguro que ha de vibrar en todos los renglones.
49. (2nd ed., Madrid, 1925), pp. 1,057-1058.
50. A History of Spanish Literature (New York, 1930), pp. 518-519. 29
Much of what Martin Alonso says is a very strong echo of what has been previously written, though acknowledgment of his source is often incomplete and there are times when the reference is
not mentioned at all. For example, the letter, previously mentioned, that Gabriel y Gal&n wrote to Emilia Pardo Bazan serves as the open
ing biographical sketch. Yet no mention is made of the source of his
information. The only reference cited is Cartas y poesias;ineditas de
Gabriel £ Galan, edited by Casto Blanco Cabeza.
The conspicuous motif that Martin Alonso finds in the poetry
of Gabriel y Galan is el amor: "Todas sus composiciones podemos 51 decir que son producto del amor al hogar y del amor a sus campos."
He finds the key to Galan1 s aesthetics in the first three lines of the
last stanza of the poem "A su majestad el rey,"
Setior: no soy un juglar. Yo nunca rimo un cantar Si no me lo pide amor (OC, p. 110).
Even though the obvious themes and underlying ideas of Galan1 s
poetry will be discussed in detail in a later chapter; still it is of
interest to point out at this time how in his study Alonso justifies his
categorization of Gabriel y Galan as "El cantor de Castilla," and
then weaves his interpretation around the central motif of love. On
the way to his paeanic conclusion, he makes statements such as "Su
51. Martin Alonso, El cantor de Castilla, (Buenos Aires,
1930), p. 12. 30 inspiraei6n mas natural y mas acertada viene siempre de los campos 52 de su pueblo, como para las abejas viene la miel de lasflores."
Among the poems having to do with the life and customs of the country side, he considers first class: "Regreso," "Las sementeras," "Mi vaquerillo, " "Los pastores de mi abuelo,11 "Canciones de la noche, "
"Ara y canta," "Canci6n" (there are two, but he does not specify which one)>!and "El canto al trabajo." This last poem is also extolled by Pardo Bazan for its work theme and it is on this poem that she bases her study of Gal&n's socialistic ideas. According to Alonso,
"Poeslas todas ellas que hubieran prohijado con orgullo Lope de Vega 53 y Garcilaso y los mas brillantes y refinados ingenios del siglo XVI. "
He praises "Los pastores de mi abuelo" in these terms: "Por la nobleza de los pensamientos, vigor de la fantasia y elevaci6n y sin-
ceridad de los afectos, es tad vez este el mejor himno-a la vida 54 pastoril, que en verso castellano puede citarse."
In his chapter on Galan as the poet of the "hogar castellano,"
Alonso launches another flight of praise, this time honoring maternal
love as the poet depicts it. He states that for Galan, "el alma del
hogar es la mujer y ... la reina del hogar, por naturaleza y por
52. Ibid., p. 24.
53. Ibid., p. 28.
54. Ibid., p. 32. 31 55 derecho, es la madre, ..." Since hogar symbolizes family life,
Alonso interprets "El amo" in these terms: [Gabriel y Galan] "con- sidera al hogar a modo de pequelio templo y 'El amo1 es all! el 56 sacerdote que ejerce su ministerio." As Alonso construes it, the poet's love transcends that of things of this earth to reach heavenly heights and he characterizes "El ama" (OC, pp. 35-44) and "Regreso"
(OC, pp. 57-67) as:
Las dos obras maestras ... fabricadas con el jugo de esas dos aromaticas flores de su inspira- ci6n: el amor al hogar y el amor a sus campos, han vertido sus pensamientos y sus afectos en el molde del amor cristiano, que en las manos del vate salmantino es como la vara magica que todo lo dignifica y engrandece. ^
In summation of his encomium, Alonso, like Par do Bazan, finds that Gabriel y Galan "ocupa un lugar aparte entre los poetas de su tiempo, that he is an "autor castizo y tradicional y de inspira- 58 ci6n genuinamente espafiola." He encounters none of the traits of the
Modernist movement in Gal&n's poetry and like earlier critics takes
advantage of this opportunity to decry what he considers the character
istics and, from his point of view, the faults of the movement. The • 55. Ibid., P- CO
56. Ibid., P. 54.
57. Ibid., P. 68. en 00 • Ibid., P- 93. 32
suggestion is also offered that "si la muerte no nos lo hubiera
arrebatado tan temprano quiz as hubiera sido Gal&n el Pereda de
Salamanca.
Continuing the expression of regional interest in the poetry of
Gabriel y Galan, the Revista del Centro de Estudios Extremefios VI
(Badajoz) published in 1932, an article entitled, "^Qui&i colabor6 60 con Gabriel y Galan? Historia de una poesia o una poesia de historia,"
in which the author refutes the claim of a sefior Alvarez Jusu£ that
someone collaborated with Gabriel y Galan in the writing of "El t cantar de la chicharra" as well as possibly other poems. He was able
to disprove the accusation by comparison of an autograph with a later
printed copy corrected in the poet's handwriting.
The evaluation of another Salamancan, Federico de Onfs, is 61 found in his Antologia de la poesia espaftola e hispanoamericana.
Onis includes two of Gabriel y Galan's poems in his anthology, "El
ama" and "El Cristu benditu," in the part devoted to "Poetas regio-
nales. " Many of his introductory remarks are drawn from those of
earlier critics, but since he does not share in the distaste for modern
ism expressed by many of Gabriel y Galan's admirers and contempo
raries, he is able to discern some of its qualities in the poetry. He
59. Ibid., p. 23. 60. Antolin Gutierrez Cufiado, VI (May-: August, 1932), 175-186. 61. (New York, 1961). 33 explains the contemporary, criticism of Gabriel y Gal&n, adding his interpretation which is as follows:
En mucha parte la consagraci6n apresurada de Gal&n significaba no s6lo entusiasmo por su obra, sino protesta y censura contra lastendencias revolucionarias de la nueva literatura. Sin embargo, Galdn, aunque cat6lico y tradicionalista sincero, est aba en la parte primera y mejor de su obra mas cerca de su £poca que de los reaccionarios que le aplaudlan. Su sentimiento del paisaje castellano es el mismo de Unamuno, uno de los rasgos m&s caracterlsticos de la £poca; y su poesia dialectal extremefia--cori.todas.sus diferencias de tempera- mento--deriva de la de Vicente Medina. Su mismo clasicismo de los principios es modernista mis que reaccionario, porque no se inspira en el clasicismo convencional del siglo XIX, sino en aspectos especiales de la poesla rtistica antigua, desde Juan de la Encina a Lope de Vega, y en la poesia popular. Sus sentimientos tradicionales son sinceros y vividos, aprendidos desde nifio en los pueblos y alquerias de Salamanca, donde las costumbres campesinas conservaban todavlala armonla y grandeza de la mejor Espafia del pasado: eran los mismos sentimientos de que estaba hecho €1. Por eso su tradicionalismo era sano, alegre y sereno--no triste y pesimista como el de los modernistas europeizados--; era comprensivo y tolerante--no negativo y dogmatico como el de los reaccionarios teorizantes, afrancesados tambi^n. Todo esto es verdad de sus primeras poesias "charras" o Mcastellanas"--que trascienden de lo regional por ser tan normalmente espafiola la compleja y. elevada cultura popular de aquella regi6n--, y lo es tambi^n de sus "extremeftas," en las que el uso del dialecto--leon€s oriental muy pr6ximo al castellano-- simplifica y acentua lo rustico y primitivo. Si Galan se hubiera mantenido en este terreno, depurando su ex- presi6n del exceso, vulgaridad y pedanteria de la ret6rica del siglo XIX que abundan aun en sus mejores composiciones, hubiera llegado a ser el verdadero gran poeta que llevaba dentro y que se manifestaba en ciertos aspectos de su poesia con fuerza y originalidad que, a pesar de sus defectos y de sus detractores, aseguran a 34
su obra no s6lo la popularidad de que goza, sino vida permanente y un lugar propio en: la literatura de esta £poca.
Thus we have points which controvert some of those of the previous appraisals, that his classicism is modernist rather than reactionary because it does not find its inspiration in the conventional classicism of the 19th century but in special aspects of old rustic poetry from Juan del Encina to Lope de Vega and in the poetry of the people. With the perspective of time, Onls also sees the similarity between Galan's feeling for the Castilian countryside and Unamuno's and finds the source for Galan's dialectal poetry in that of Vicente
Medina. As later critics have shown, this last point is debatable as is his acceptance of the name of the dialect in which the Extremefias were written.
An impassioned and flowery biography of the poet appeared in 63 1936, written by another Salamancan, Fernando Iscar Peyra. While he relates specific incidents of the poet's life, some of which he gained from interviews with members of the family, still, like that of many of his predecessors, his literary criticism is laudatory and lacking in
62. Onls, Antologia de la poesla, pp. 544-545. This quotation is identical with the one given by Jos6 Montero Padilla who cites the 1934 edition of the Antologia in his "La actitud de la crltica ante la obra de Gabriel y Galan, Revista de literatura, VII (October-Decemr ber, 1955), 346.
63. Gabriel y Galan poeta de Castilla, vol.. LV of Vidas espafiolas e hispanoamericanas del siglo XIX (Madrid). depth. His is the "bleeding heart" type of biography dealing with the poet's home, family and friends, in which the poetic influence of the mother is stressed. He even quotes a "geographical ballad" that she composed, lamenting the absence of four of her five children, to show that it was the maternal influence that led Jos£ Maria into writ ing poetry. He ignores the fact that her verses are very similar to 64 some "Coplas geograficas" transcribed by Bonifacio Gil Garcia and that her muse, like that of her son, may have its origin in the folk poetry of the area. Iscar Peyra also sees a reflection of the events of Gabriel y Galan's life in his poetry and finds that his es thetics coincide with Schiller's, "que tenia al poeta como guardian de la Naturaleza, asign&ndole a sagrada misi6n de revelarsela a la 65 Humanidad cuando se desvia de ella. "
Like Federico de Onis, Angel Valbuena Prat did not change his opinion of Gabriel y Gal£n from the first to the latest edition
(1964) of his Historia de la literatura espafiola. (Barcelona). Follow- mm—m ing the tempered reaction of the other Catalan, Maragall, and without his enthusiasm for the Extremefias, Valbuena Prat considers the poetry of Gabriel y GalSn more representative of the realism and
64. Cancionero popular de Extremadura, I (Badajoz, 1961), pp. 158-159.
65. Gabriel y Galan, p. 201. 9> 36
costumbrismo of the nineteenth century than of the style and attitudes
of the modernists and the Generation of '98.
Gabriel y Galan, aunque tardlamente, viene a llenar el hueco de nuestra 6poca realista, como un equivalente retrasado de nuestra novela y teatro. Como los novelistas a lo Par do Bazan, fue un excelente autor de descripciones donde tal vez est£ la mayor fuerza de su obra. El sentimiento del campo es en estos casos visuales, pict6ricos, de verdadera fuerza, aunque casi siempre una ingenua humanidad le separa de los trazos sobrios y aun tr&gicos de un Antonio Machado. Coincidi6 con los autores del 98 en el descubrimiento del paisaje castellano, en la atenci6n a los motivos pintorescos de las aldeas, pero falta en 61 en absoluto la critic a resultante de su concepci6n pesimista del mundo. Gabriel y Galan es ingenuamente optimista, ...
While he concedes that Gabriel y Galan is "un llrico de
abundantes e intensas dotes naturales, " he finds him a "provinciano 67 que no lleg6 a superar una timida concepci6n del arte." Even the
Extremefias have little more to recommend them than the fact that
they have a "valor documental del espiritu costumbrista que arras- 68 traba desde el siglo XIX. " He concludes that:
Gabriel y Gal&n es un verdadero e intenso poeta, desigual, de gusto dudoso, de forma demasiado facil, pero de vigorosas condiciones de paisaje y emoci6n burguesa o vulgar. Mds adecuado que un paralelo con Fray Luis de Le6n completamente inaceptable, proclamado por algunos criticos,
66. Historia de la literatura espaflola, II, 1937, p. 806.
67. Ibid.
68. Ibid., p. 808. 37
serla declararle--con diferencias--el Pereda de la poesia lirica.
Segura Otafio's criticism of Azorin for having omitted
Extremadura and its writers in his El paisaje de Espafia visto por los espafloles inspired a pacense, Jose Lopez Prudencio, to publish ..70 an article entitled "Fray Luis de Leon, Gabriel y Galan y Azorfn. "
Here he examines the reasons for Azorin's disparagement of Gabriel y Galan, attributing it to the fact that Azorin undoubtedly had never travelled through the province of Extremadura nor had he carefully 71 perused the poet's works. This ignorance led Azorin in his article,
"Pidiendo discrecion, " to affirm that the poet lacked a direct and 72 living vision and sensation of the countryside and that to compare 73 him with Fray Luis de Leon shows disrespect for the latter. But
Lopez Prudencio finds Azorin to be extremely unilateral and explains it thus:
Azorin no considera de gran altura ni obra de arte ni artista que ncf coincida con su exquisitez refina- disima, con sus peculiares modos de mirar la vida, de comprenderla y de expresar su concepto de ella.
69. Ibid.
70. Cuadernos de literatura, II (November-December, 1947), 479-486.
71. Ibid., p. 483.
72. Ibid., pp. 482-483. (cited)
73. Ibid., p. 480. 38
Cosa que le pasa a todos los criticos, digan lo que digan; pero hay algunos que tienen mis tolerancia, mis comprensi6n para las creaciones y para las aptitudes productoras que no coinciden con sus preferencias.
And, even though L6pez Prudencio believes in the value of Gabriel y
Gal&n as a poet, still his is among the first of the criticisms to acknowledge the fact that a writer's stature increases or diminishes according to the perspective and the inherent point of view of the critic. This type of moderate praise is quite indicative of the general attitude toward Gabriel y Galan during the period preceding the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
In 1948, Angel del Rio dismisses the poet in one of the shortest appraisals to be found, even in a history of Spanish literature:
Coincidiendo con el 98 y las corrientes de renovaci6n lirica, se desarrolla en lengua castellana una poesla de tipo regional con motivos campesinos, representada por el murciano Vicente Medina y el salmantino Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan.
The wave of interest in the poet had simply descended into a trough to gather the force to form another crest as 1955 approached.
Symptomatic of this new surge of enthusiasm is the dissertation written by Sister Maria Thecla Hisrich, "Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan,
74. Ibid., pp. 484-485.
75. Historia de la literatura espaflola, II (New York, 1948), p. 213. 39 76 Spanish Folk Poet." This is a highly emotional and subjective examination of his life and poetry, that proclaims as does Martin
Alonso, that "love" is the inspiration of Gal&n's muse, and finds all kinds of banal (though not so identified) sentimentalism in the poetry on maternal love and the home. For her, Galan. is a poet of the fields, a charro and yet an intellectual, and she notes that, "although the realistic element is intense and deep in his compositions, it is only a piece of clay over which must pass the vivifying and animating breath 77 of the spirit. " But it is in the chapter on him as a poet of humanity that her enthusiasm reaches a peak. Her conclusion sums up the obvious points cilready noted by previous critics, makes the statement that Galan* is "an unconscious blending of lo culto and lo popular," 78 without having proved lo culto, and finds some similarity between the
poet's work and that of the metaphysical poets, another point not
brought out in the body of the dissertation. In one of her concluding
statements, she calls Galan "the true cantor del alma popular, a 79 twentieth century Spanish folk poet. "
76. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1949.,
77. Ibid., p. 86.
78. Ibid., p. 123.
79. Ibid., p. 125, 40
During the first semester of the academic year 1948-1949,
Max Henriquez Urefia taught a course on modernism at Yale University
He later arranged and amplified his lectures into the Breve historia del modernismo, which was first printed in Mexico in 1954, Within the second edition (1962) itself can still be seen indications of a tran sition in opinion from that expressed at the time of his lectures to his more recent appraisal of the poetry of Gabriel y Galan.
In his chapter "El modernismo en Espafia," he considers the poet to have reacted against modernism: "Por otro lado surgieron manifestaciones de poesia regional, que arrancan de Gabriel y Galan."
An apparent contradiction is found in the chapter "Jos€ Asunci6n Silva,1 whom he classifies as a Modernist, since there he points out the in fluence of the latter poet on the former:
La influencia del "Nocturno" no se manifest6 solamente en punto de forma: trascendi6 tambi^n a la ideologia po€tica. En no pocos poetas, tanto de America como de Espafia, hubo despu€s invocaciones a la noche, que recuerdan los acentos de Silva. Baste un ejemplo, el del poeta espafiol Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan (1870-1905), que reiteradamente, en composi- cionesposteriores a 1900, trae reminiscencias de Silva.81
The contradictory statements found, in Max Henriquez Urefia's
Breve historia del modernismo are quite indicative of the trend that
80. Breve historia del modernismo (2nd ed.; Mexico. City, 19*62), p. 527.
81. Ibid., p. 137. 41 the criticism took during this limbic period. Critics from the same area as Galan delighted in pointing out the poet's traditionalism, his descriptions of the countryside, his interest in the common man, and his exaltation of the home with the attendant maternal virtues, since by so doing they seem to reaffirm their own ties to the patria chica.
Of the group, Onis is the only one who seems not to have been carried away by this emotional force and who recognized certain modernistic tendencies in the poetry.
The comments of many of the historians of Spanish literature are superficial and often blindly follow the attitudes already established.
Even Valbuena Prat recapitulates the criticism expressed previously, though he is among the first to recognize the coincidence of Galan's poetry with the writings of the Generation of '98. He denies any parallel with the poetry of Luis de Le6n but crystalizes Martin Alonso's suggestion that Galan could have become the Pereda of Salamanca.
Though we also find the beginnings of a more detailed analysis of Galan1 s poetry during this half century, it is not until later that the sentimentalism obfuscating the vision of the critics clears away and the poetry is placed in truer perspective.
Commemorative Studies Honoring the Fiftieth Anniversary of Galan's Death
As the fiftieth anniversary of Galan's death approached, a strong revival of interest in his poetry became apparent, especially in 42 the areas in which the poet had lived. B€jar en Madrid, also celebrat ing the fiftieth anniversary of its first fiesta de los Juegos Florales, reviewed the awarding of its first prize to Gabriel y Galan for his
"Amor de madre, " reprinting the poem and reiterating the love theme 82 of his poetry.
The literary .journal Alcantara published by the Diputaci6n
Provincial de Caceres featured both poems and studies in homage of 83 the poet. In general lacking in critical depth, most of these articles recapitulate the praise of earlier biographers and reviewers and pres ent few new ideas. Enrique Segura Otafio, in his article; "Extremefias, " accepts the classification of the dialect used by Gabriel y Galan as that of Extremadura and finds that "Todas las cuerdas del vivir coti- 84 dianoy campesinoha pulsado la lira de Gabriel y Galan. " Carlos
Callejo in the same issue with brief mention disposes of the Nature themes of such writers as Virgil, Fray Luis de Le6n, Garcilaso, etc., because of their artificiality and characterizes Galan as "el unico gran 85 poeta naturalista con que cuenta el Parnaso hispanico. " The poet's naturalism, however,, is not of the tragic pantheistic type sponsored
82. "Cincuentenario, " Sept. 18, 1954, pp. 3-7.
83. X (July-December, 1954), and'XI (April-June, 1955).
84. Alcantara, X (July-September, 1954), 10.
85. "Un poeta naturalista, " ibid., p. 19. 43 in Spain by Emilia Pardo Bazan, nor of the "degenerate" type found in such a writer as Zola:
Su obra ofrece, como es sabido, dos facetas esenciales; una, el documento humano regional, y otra, el naturalismo estrictamerite eritendido. Con ser valiosos e inimitables sus logros en la primera, a nuestro juicio la segunda es mas especlfica por mas exclusiva. Apenas puede leerse un poema suyo en que la Naturaleza no desempefle un papel impor- tante, si no el principal. Colocado en medio del paralso natural, este dnico Adan de nuestras letras se identifica con €\, penetra en su unidad y variedad; abre los ojos a lo que le rodea y lo con- templa con asombro primero, luego con amor y finalmente con agradecimiento porque sabe que estas joyas resplandecientes, gozo inefable de nuestros sentidos, son las primicias de Dios a su criatura predilecta y primordial, la.unica formada a su imagen y semejanza. Su extatica latria por la Naturaleza sigue la filosofia franciscana y no cae jamas en el tragico panteismo de algunos de sus colegas de estilo. ... Gabriel y Galan, en el terreno portico, tanto como su hom6nimo,. Jos€ Maria de Pereda, nuestro primer naturalista en prosa, ha devuelto a esta escuela su limpio contenido etimo - logico en contraposici6n a otros naturalismos literarios, casi siempre extranjeros en donde el calamo descriptivo, se ha complacido en disefiar no lo natural, sino lo aberrante y degenerado, haciendo sucia caricatura de lo que merecia un brillante retrato.
In his article,"Personalidad e inmortalidad de Gabriel y Galan,"
"El Lazarillo de Tormes," a pseudonym that I have not been able to identify, follows the same critical routes as his predecessors and exalts the poet's love for the countryside, in "El regreso"; the home,
86. Ibid., 20-21. 44 in "Amor de madre'1 and "El ama." He amplifies Unamuno's simile and says of Galan's poetry, "Su obra es canto de alondra mafianera que emigra del ruido pasional de la ciudad y hace en el remanso del campo la melodia de sus versos.
Another Extremaduran, Valeriano Gutierrez Macias, con tributed a series of two articles on Gabriel y Galan to two of the commemorative issues of Alcantara, X (July-September, October-
December, 1954), the subtitle of which furnishes the motif of his ex position: "Semblanza del inspirado y sereno poeta que transmitio un mensaje de amor. " These articles were later expanded into the
Biografia de Gabriel y Galan (Madrid, 1956) after the appearance of the more definitive Vida £ poesia de Gabriel £ Galan by G£sar Real de la Riva. Gutierrez Macias' work is a romanticized collection of biographical data and his evaluations are emotionally laudatory, based almost exclusively on opinions expressed by previous critics. Like
Segura Otafio, he acknowledges the earth force that inspired the poet:
"Poeta naturalista, la tierra es el elemento esencial de la vida y de 88 la poesia de Galan, que en el campo naci6 y para el campo vivifi" and quotes at length this critic's comments on the poesias extremeflas.
Gutierrez Macias is an Extremaduran paying homage to another
87. Alcantara, X (July-September, 1954), 39.
88. Valeriano Gutierrez Macfas, Biograffa de Gabriel y
Galin, pp. 97-98. 45
Extremaduran; for it he received the "primer premio Gabriel y
Galan de periodismo."
Early in December of 1904, the Provincial Deputation of
Salamanca "acordaba declarar hijo predilecto de la provincia a Jos€ 89 Maria Gabriel y Galan. " Fifty years later, the Salamancan, Cesar
Real de la Riva, professor of Spanish Literature and librarian at the
University of Salamanca, gave a lecture at the University in tribute to the memory of the poet. The lecture consisted of the first part and a synthesis of what is now the second part of his Vida y poesia de Jose
Maria Gabriel Galan. Although don C£sar shares much of the en thusiasm exhibited by earlier critics and finds many of the same themes (mother, earth, and life itself), still his is the first full-length study of the life and poetry of Gabriel y Galan to show an impartial and thoughtful analysis of these themes. Real de la Riva recognizes the limitations of Gabriel y Galan1 s muse, while at the same time admir ing the depth of his sentiment and his sincerity. He considers the poet, "uno de los hitos indiscutibles y antoldgicos de la moderna lirica espatiola.
The issue of Alcantara, XI (April-June, 1955), continued the tribute to Gabriel y Galan with poetic testimonials, an article "En loor
89. Real de la Riva, Vida y poesia de Gabriel y Galan, p. 11.
90. Ibid., p. 88. 46 91 de Gabriel y Galan" by Sdnchez Herrero, and a short analysis of the
"Clima, paisaje y naturaleza en la obra de Gabriel y Galan" by Carlos
L6pez Bustos. The point of departure for the latter article is a quota tion; from the prologue to the Nuevas castellanas by Pardo Bazan in which she states: "La impresi6n que producen los versos de Gabriel 92 y Galan es ... estar contemplando la naturaleza castellana." Mr.
Lopez finds descriptions of the local climate for almost every month of the year in the work of Gabriel y Galan, apparently, the first instance of theme-counting in the history of the literary criticism of the poet.
From a discussion of the weather the critic passes on to a non-
exhaustive examination of the countryside of Gal&n's poetry and a cur
sory exposition, couched in scientific terminology, of the flora and
fauna found there.
El campo en la poesla (De Hesiodo a Gabriel £ Galan) by
Eleuterio Sanchez Alegria follows the same theme of a study of na- 93 ture. Mr. S&nchez evidently believed in beginning at the beginning,
for he starts his literary panorama with a discussion of Genesis and
continues with a brief run-down of Greek and Latin writers before
dealing with the Spanish predecessors, precursors, forerunners, and
* 91. pp. 90-92.
92. Cited, p. 19.
93. El campo en la poesia (De Hesiodo a Gabriel y Galan) (Madrid, 1957). 47 contemporaries of Gabriel y Galan. In his chapter on Latin literature, he summarily disposes of Lucretius, Virgil, and Horace as follows:
"No encontraremos ya en toda la literatura parecido caso de otro poeta que con mas ardor ame la campifia si no es llegando hasta nues- 94 tro vate Gabriel y Galan." The second part of his book is the re production of a lecture sponsored by the Instituto Laboral de Trujillo, that he gave on December 7, 1954, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Gabriel y Galan. In paying homage to the 95 poet, he draws on the laudatory criticism of Unamuno, Pardo 96 Bazan, and various other prologuists. He ends by placing Gabriel y Galan "entre nuestros mas genuinos y clasicos poetas del siglo
XX. "97 To him, "Gabriel y Galan fue un poeta campesino eminente- 98 mente popular, " one who "amaba con ansia el campo m^s que el 99 mismo Horacio." He goes beyond Pardo Bazan's concept of Gabriel y Galan as a social poet, finding in him a reflection of the recognition of the social problems of the first part of the twentieth century, with
94. Ibid., p. 37.
95. Ibid., p. 102.
96. Ibid., p. 119.
97. Ibid., p. 120.
98. Ibid., p. 129.
99. Ibid., p. 153. 48 especial reference to the poverty of the jurdanos. Like the countess, he, too, exalts the poet's belief in the salutary forces of labor. Like
Alberto and Arturo Garcia Caraffa, he cites the poet himself not only as a proponent but also as "un modelo de las virtudes propias del buen labrador, en el cual el amor a Dios, a la Patria y a su hogar llegan a la cumbre.
During this same commemorative period, the Salamancan journalist, Emilio Salcedo, wrote several articles examining the lit erary position of Gabriel y Galan and his relationship to Unamuno. * ^
With a certain amount of "journalese," he approaches the problem from an editorial point of view and discusses some of the extra-literary aspects of the "caso Gabriel y Galan." Just as earlier critics took advantage of the opportunity to express their opinions on the values, or lack of them, of the Modernist Movement, Salcedo uses his essays on Gabriel y Galan also as a vehicle for his criticism of those poets' poets of today like Vicente Aleixandre, Damaso Alonso, and Carlos
Bousono who write for each other. He feels that they form an "escuela 102 cerrada.11 He continues with his ideas on the literary environment
100. Ibid., p. 185.
101. Later collected, revised and published with additional essays under the title, Literatura salmantina del siglo XX (Salamanca, 1960).
102. Ibid., p. 37. 49 in which Gabriel y Gal&n found himself and the conditions in Spain which gave rise to the so-called Generation of *98.. "A finales de siglo es Espafia el gran barco que hace agua. No es preciso llegar a 1898. 103 Aquello fue lo ultimo. La p^rdida de las colonias fue algo accidental."
The regenerative movement, sponsored by the Generation of *98, gave rise to regionalism, due to "una necesidad de supervivencia en la 104 Historia. " According to Salcedo, it received.its own name, cas- ticismo, instead of folk-lore or that of a popular literature. Thus he classifies Gabriel y Galan as a regional poet and places him. in the middle of the movement.
El casticismo, en su derivaci6n popular o folkldrica, hibrido de ciencia y literatura, camp6 por sus respetos en Salamanca en tor no a los afios 1891--en que arriba Unamuno a la ciudad--a 1905--en que muere Jos6 Maria 1 HR Gabriel y Galan--, y aiin coleo despu^s.
Luis Maldonado's poem, Querellas del ciego de Robliza--
according to Salcedo, the first example of authentic regional literature,
written in dialect--appeared in 1894 with a prologue by Unamuno that
occupies 27 of its 56 pages. Maldonado, another Salamancan, and
also according to Salcedo, of a literary stature second only to Unamuno's'
in that period in Salamanca, created the poem in answer to the Martin
103. Ibid., p. 41.
104. Ibid., p. 42.
105. Ibid., p. 43. 50
Fierro of Jos6 Hernandez. A social phenomenon-that also incited the movement toward interest in the popular was the exodus of people from the country to the city which gave rise to the fear that the customs and dialects of the former would be lost to posterity. This was the intel lectual atmosphere then that surrounded Jos6 Maria Gabriel y Galan, characterized by Salcedo as "Hombre de campo que siempre se encontro mas a sus anchas en la aldea.11 It is for this reason, as he points out, that "la tentaci6n de la literatura regionalista que por todas 106 partes se le ofrecla, cay6 en terreno abonado y propicio. "
More with the probing of a journalist into the background of a news story than with the acumen of a literary critic, Salcedo discusses
Unamuno's discovery of Gabriel y Galan. He also analyses the "Poesia y verdad en 'El ama1" for he is preoccupied with the question of the 107 "sincerismo o insinceridad del poeta lirico. " ' A product of the imagination is to him a lie. It is with a great deal of satisfaction, therefore, that he proclaims Gabriel y Galan's sincerity: "es absurdo creer que tuviese necesidad ni ganas de inventar nada, porque le 108 bastaba con sentir, intensamente, como hizo.11 His study of "El
106. Ibid., p. 45.
107. Ibid., p. 57.
108. Ibid., p..65. 51 109 Dios ib€rico de Machado y Gal£n" is perfunctory, based on a com parison of the vocabulary and certain stylistic similarities and char acteristics of a few odd stanzas taken from Galon's "Canci6n, "
"Presagios 1,11 "Canto al trabajo," "Las sequias," with; some of
Antonio Machado's "El Dios ibero." Beyond this he has to admit that the poets differ in their literary backgrounds and attitudes toward religion:
Lies diferenciard siempre la solida formaci6n humanistic a y el gran aliento portico de Machado, sobre la no muy intensa cultura literaria de Gabriel y Gal&n y el tono menor de su poesla; la religiosidad de £ste tiltimo sobre el escepti- cismo del primero.
Nevertheless, the work of Emilio Salcedo marks an. important
step in the development of the studies on Gabriel y Galan. Though
many might differ with his conception of the Generation of '98, still
he places Gabriel y Gal£n within its sphere of influence and, by
developing further Unamuno's definition of casticismo, categorizes
him as a regional poet, the outgrowth of the interest in regionalism
prevalent in Spain (and Latin America) at the time. Later critics
pose and attempt to answer the question as to whether Gabriel y
Galan belonged to the group or not. Unlike the majority of the critics
cited from his area, Salcedo does not emotionally eulogize the poet
and his work.
109. Ibid., pp. 73-78. 110. Ibid., p. 77. 52
Recent Appraisals of the Poetry of Gabriel y Galan
With the approach of the 1960's, the tendency to write homenajes, praise which had characterized the fiftieth anniversary of the poet's death, disappeared, while that of reworking previous criticism in the guise of originality remained. One of the last tri butes to the socialistic implications of Gabriel y Galan's poetry appeared in 1959 with the publication of a booklet El Rey don Alfonso
XIII, el poeta Gabriel y Galan y la comarca de Las Hurdgs. This is a description of the previous poverty of the region, the later amel ioration of the conditions under which the hurdanos lived, due in part to the efforts of Gabriel y Galan, as well as a reprinting of three of the relevant poems: "A.S. M. el rey,11 "La jurdana, " and "Dos paisajes. "
In 1960, Jose Maria de Cossio published his two-volume study of Cincuenta aflos de poesia espafiola (1850-1900). 112 He considers
Gabriel y Galan "como el principal representante del naturalismo 113 rural que en este capitulo estudio." He finds some imitation of
Zorrilla, Nufiez de Arce, Jose Asuncion Silva, and Mira de Amescua.
Like Onis, he correlates the poet's inspiration with the special
111. B£jar: Publicacidn de la Revista Bejar en Madrid.
112. 2 vols.; Madrid.
113. Ibid., p. 1255. 53 aspects of rustic poetry as expressed by Juan del Encina. The themes are those found by earlier critics whom he does not identify: "el fondo 114 social" of Emilia Pardo Bazan, the "sentimiento campestre y 115 hogarelios" (which he amplifies by finding the "tema preferente el 116 ideal de fecundidad," p. 1264) of Martin Alonso, and "la religiosidad" t of Francisco Moran. To him, much of Gabriel y Galon's poetry is 117 costumbrista with an accent of sentimentality, and he sums up the incontrovertable characteristics as being:
Su sentimiento directo del campo, su intensidad patetica, su fidelidad a una tradici6n villanesca, a la que se sinti6 ligado sin conocer acaso su existencia, su puntualidad en el retrato de tipos y costumbres rurales**?.. .Su artificio, que le tiene y no de buena calidad, ... se refiere a las formas y no al contenido de su obra. 1 1 Q
Characteristic of the analytical tendency and the kind of liter ary investigation done today are the efforts of Ram6n Esquer Torres, former Professor of Language and Literature of the Escuela Normal of Salamanca and Associate Professor of Literature of the University
114. Ibid., P- 1261.
115. Ibid., P. 1266.
116. Ibid., P- 1268.
117. Ibid., P- 1267.
118. Ibid., P- 1269.
119. Ibid. > P- 1270. 54 of Salamanca. During the six years he spent in Salamanca he became interested in Gabriel y Galan and in 1960 published a short article, 120 "Sobre Gabriel y Gal£n y el manuscrito de 'El ama.In this he compares the original text of "El ama,11 awarded the Flor Natural in the literary competition held in Salamanca in 1901, with the version that was later published in the various anthologies. He recognizes the value of Unamuno's sponsorship of the poet: "que, posiblemente, sin el apoyo moral y la instancia inteligente y generosa de Unamuno, hubiera quedado ignorado o lo que es peor, in£dito, en aquel rinc6n paradisiaco de su labor y sus amores.
During that same year a doctoral thesis was presented by Pablo 122 Pou Fernandez at the University of Madrid. His study was occasioned by the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the poet and takes as its point of departure the fact that there has been a great deal of insistence on the "expresion directa" of Gabriel y Galan. He inter prets the word metafora in its widest sense to mean metaphorical or figurative expression, and analyzes much of his poetry in order to de rive certain conclusions. Like many of htis critical predecessors, he
120. Revista de literatura, XIX (October-December, 1960), 257-271.
121. Ibid., p. 257.
122. "La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan" (unpub lished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Madrid, 1960). 55 finds the outstanding themes to be a "sentimiento del paisaje, 123 religioso, y patri6tico." He goes beyond even Salcedo in placing
Gabriel y Galan within the Generation of '98, but with romantic in fluences which he justifies by the "abundancia de slmbolos bisemicos, 124 sinestesias y oximoros. " Pou also considers that Galan belongs to the "escuela popular con dos estilos claramente diferenciados: uno ornamental, con frecuentes adjetivaciones y repeticiones y otro exento, 125 de forma dialogada 'representable.1,1 Unlike Valbuena Prat, he be lieves that the technique of the poet is a forerunner of later techniques.
According to Pou's evaluation, Gabriel y Galan's poetic quality varies and the critic favors the deletion of some of the poems from any col lection of the poet's works. Yet he admits that "Gal&n es poeta, no porque diga cosas, no porque emplee muchas palabras del vocabulario popular, sino porque sabe decirlas poSticamente.
With the eclecticism of many historians of literature, in their
A Iffew History of Spanish Literature, Richard E. Chandler and Kessel
123. Ibid., p. 343.
124. Ibid. The term "bis£mico" is a word apparently coined by Carlos Bousofio and used in his Teoria de la expresi6n po&tica to describe a phrase in which the adjective carries both a literal and figurative meaning.
125. Ibid.
126. La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan.! Extracto. (Madrid, 196TJ7 p. 31. , 56 127 Schwartz, like Pardo Bazan, find that Jos£ Maria Gabriel y Galan
"represents a direction in poetry which is altogether different from 12B that taken by the other poets of [what they call] the transition period."
Like Valbuena Prat, they relate him to the regionalism and costum- brismo of an earlier period in the nineteenth century, and, even though they do not place him in the Generation of 1898, they still state that he anticipated the movement "with his appreciation and glorifica tion of the Castilian landscape, but fell short of their artistic tastes 129 and standards." They believe the comparison with Fray Luis de
Le6n to be a mistake and agree with Valbuena Prat's designation of 130 Galan as "the Pereda of lyric poetry."
One of the latest vindications of his poetry is found in La • • 131 poesia di Gabriel"y Galan. Like the others before her who used the broad-spectrum approach (especially Real de la Riva), Maria Romano
Colangeli discusses the general aspects of his poetry and classifies it into the usual general groups: patria, famiglia, fede, natura, and amore. For example, she finds that "il sentimento della fede e
127. Baton Rouge, 1961.
128. Ibid., p. 357.
129. Ibid.
130. Ibid. -
131. Maria Romano Colangeli (Bologna, 1965). 57 l'estatica contemplazione della natura rappresentano poi la linfavitale 132 che circola per tutto el tessuto poetico galaniano." Galan's love for
Spain is interwoven with the threads of his interest in the poor and humble among whom he lived, and his concept of the fatherland is identified with that of his family. "II concetto della Patria e quello della famiglia in poeti tempra morale di Gabriel y Galan scaturiscono 133 come dalla stessa matrice." The love-motif is the poet's inspira tion: "Ed h l'amore, come sempre, il grande maestro, il versatile suggeritore di Galan. m1^
Again, like earlier critics, Maria Romano Colangeli considers the poet's style to be extremely simple, utilizing traditional metrics.
And as had been said before, though in slightly different phraseology by Valbuena Prat, aesthetic complaisance is never the objective of the poet: "II compiacimento estetico, infatti, non e mai l'obbiettivo 135 principale dell'Autore."
Thus we have the forging of a chain of literary criticism, with
the strength of the later links dependent on the trueness of the steel of
132. Ibid., p. 60.
133. Ibid., p. 97.
134. Ibid., p. 182.
135. Ibid., p. 183. 58 the earlier ones and each one reflecting the background, skills and prejudices of its forger. The following themes or aspects of the poetry of Gabriel y Galan have been recognized by the critics: nature, the belittling of the city and the praise of the countryside, the native land, regionalism, traditionalism, social interest, religion, love, mother, the home, sincerity, the apartness of the poet, Castile, and the Generation of '98. CHAPTER 4
AN ANALYSIS OF GAL AN'S IDEOLOGY
The survey of the criticism has pointed out the limitations of the critical material written about Gabriel y Galdn's poetry. Evalua tions have been based on obvious themes considered as separate entities and superficial analogies have been made. Galan's descrip tions of nature have been used as a point of departure in the identifica tion of his poetry; his religiosity and realistic characterizations of people have been given a second and third place in importance respec tively. It is the writer's opinion that a synthesis of these three factors, applied to the analysis of Galan's poetry, would lead to a more valid appraisal and would identify his ideology with the trend toward spirit ual naturalism current in Spain at the end of the nineteenth century.
An analysis of Galan's representative poems is proposed.in order to show that a basic theme of spiritual naturalism is to be found in his poetry. His attitude toward loneliness, nothingness, death, the past, and his own environment, as well as the dialectal implications of his poetry will be examined, and their relationship to his basic philoso phy will be discussed. The question of literary influences and
59 60 relationships will be dealt with after the fundamental characteristics of Galan's poetic ideology have been established.
His Spiritual Naturalism
In The Modern Spanish Novel Sherman H. Eoff identifies "spir itual naturalism" as one of the philosophical attitudes found in the late nineteenth century:
Contemporaneous with the somber view of life so stoutly exemplified by Zola, there was an equally virile manifestation of optimism. It is an attitude that must not be confused with "Victorian complacency, " for it was characterized more by determination than by placid contentment. Evidencing respect for but not fear of scientific developments, it was the expression of a frank effort to incorporate the biological, social and moral sciences in a meaningful whole. The philosophical out look is appropriately called "spiritual naturalism," a term in wide use in the late nineteenth century. *
Also according to Eoff, the "irrepressible optimism in the nineteenth century [is] now sometimes referred to as a naive belief in progress."
This belief in progress carries the meaning of spiritual evolutionism
"to those, . . . who looked for divine design in the theory of biological evolution and at the same time believed that God and nature are some-
3 how to be identified. ..." Eoff sums it up by saying that
1. Sherman H. Eoff, The Modern Spanish Novel (New York, 1961), p. 120.
2. Ibid., p. 7.
3. Ibid., p. 8. 61
There was, in short, another kind of naturalism, a "spiritual naturalism, " which visualizes nature's organic constitution from a psychological or, more exactly, socio-psychological viewpoint and which pre sents a picture of man achieving, singly and on his own responsibility but always in association with others, his oneness with the divine Mind. ^
This is an extension of the theological definition of naturalism as stated by Webster: "The doctrine that religious truth is derived from
5 nature and not from miraculous or supernatural revelation. "
In El naturalismo espafiol Pattison makes the following state ments about naturalism:
Hasta cierto punto los personajes son el producto del medio ambiente y el momento hist6rico. Este determinismo ambiental se evidencia claramente porque el protagonista de la novela ya no es un h€roe--por definici6n, una excepci6n--, sino un hombre cualquiera. El protagonista vive sumergido en corrientes que le llevan adonde quieren. ®
El protagonista puede reflejar el determinismo hereditario, ... Pero hallamos poquxsimos ejemplos de esta forma de determinismo durante los primeros afios del naturalismo espafiol, mientras que en cambio hay muchos casos de determinismo ambiental. ^
La nueva libertad reclamada por los naturalistas se manifestd ... en el estilo. ... Reivindicaron el
4. Ibid., p. 8.
5. New International Dictionary of the English Language (2nd ed. unabridged, 1943).
6. Walter T. Pattison, El naturalismo espafiol (Madrid, 1965), p. 128.
7. Ibid., p. 129. 62
derecho a reproducir exactamente el lenguaje del pueblo y que sus oponentes se encarnizaron contra las palabras crudas. Pero a pesar de su derecho te6rico, los naturalistas espafioles de los primeros ados nunc a llegaron a los extremos de los franceses, ni aun a los que iban a ser usuales en los espafioles tardios. ... Pocos libros hay donde el autor ... no vacila en sefialar la moraleja de su obra. ®
He places the addition of a spiritual element to naturalism in the last decade of the nineteenth century: "En la ultima d£cada del siglo XIX
[el naturalismo] iba aliandose con otros elementos--el espiritualismo, 9 la psicologia, y aun, ... el costumbrismo. " In cpntradiction to articles of literary criticism in which a new idealism was placed in opposition to naturalism and in which the death of the latter movement was announced, he believes that the form of the Spanish school has simply been altered to include psychological and moral along with physical motives:
En ellos [los articulos de critical se oponia el nuevo idealismo al naturalismo, anunciando, ... la muerte de 6ste, cuando en realidad habria sido mas justo hablar de una forma alterada de la escuela espafiola, forma que abarca los motivos psicol6gicos y morales tanto como los fisicos.
Evidently unaware of Eoff's study of the modern Spanish novel, published some four years before Pattison published his study of
8. Ibid., p. 130.
9. Ibid., p. 175.
10. Ibid., p. 147. 63
Spanish naturalism, the latter also states:
Nadie, que sepamos, ha hecho destacar la relacifin entre el naturalismo moderado, con su ideal de un justo medio entre el naturalismo y el idealismo, y la nueva corriente espiritualista. Parece evidente que dentro de la f6rmula adoptada por casi todos los literatos espafioles no hacxa falta mds que un pequelio cambio de acento para llegar al naturalismo espiritual. **
Both critics consider Benito P£rez Gald<5s the foremost exponent of the Spanish spiritual naturalism of the nineteenth century. Eoff says that "the outstanding Spanish representative of this phase of nineteenth- 12 century thought is Benito PSrez Gald6s. " He adds, "Participating in the dynamics of an evolutionary view of mankind, Gald6s portrays the natural man climbing toward the level of his divinity or fullness 13 of being by strength-giving labor. And Pattison, also writing of
Galdds, states, "No hay otro autor que manifieste tan claramente las 14 tendencias literarias de la ultima d€c^da del siglo pasado. "
Just as these definitions have been applied to the novels of
Galdos so may they also provide a touchstone in the criticism of the poetry of Gabriel y Galan, especially since the preceding statements amplify in modern and more precise terms what Carlos Callejo seems to have been trying to say with regard to Galan's poetry:
11. Ibid.. p. 147. •12. The Modern Spanish Novel, p. 8. 13. Ibid., p. 259. 14. El naturalismo espafiol, p. 165. 64
Apenas puede leerse un poema suyo en que la Naturaleza no desempefie un papel importante, si no el principal. Colocado en medio del paraiso natural, este unico Adan de nuestras letras se identifica con 6l, penetra en su unidad y variedad; abre los ojos a lo que lo rodea y lo contempla con asombro primero, luego con amor y finalmente con agradecimiento porque sabe que estas joyas resplandecientes, gozo inefable de nuestros sentidos, son las primicias de Dios a su criatura predilecta y primordial, la unica formada a su imagen y semejanza. *5
The related themes, such as nature as a creative force, love as a creative process, the poet's interest in and his compassion for the less fortunate, his conception of man as a social being with emphasis on brotherhood, and the material as well as the spiritual benefits to be derived from work, are integral parts of this spiritual naturalism, and should be evaluated as such and not as individual and separate themes as previous critics have done. It is true that there are other underlying ideas that may or may not contribute to his ex pression of spiritual naturalism; still it will be demonstrated that the main line of the poet's philosophy follows the basic thought just defined.
In Galan's poetry we see two slightly different approaches to the expression of this philosophy. One is his description of a country side, a generalized concept of the region in which he lived and in which he locates himself and/or other people. The other is a more narrative, dialogued, or dramatic type of poetry involving the people among whom
15. "Un poeta naturalista, " p. 19. 65 he lived, the poet himself as narrator and/or participant, all reflect ing or reacting to the locality in which they reside. The first is the telluric force exerted on the people, whether they live in Castile,
Leon, or Extremadura, and the second is a primary concern with the people as they respond to their own particular circumstances. The two approaches are not always mutually exclusive, yet the attempt has been made to select representative examples and to consider each type separately.
The Countryside as a Setting for the People
"La tierra es elemento esencial de la vida y de la poesia de 16 Galan" says Real de la Riva, to which he adds, "Sobre la tierra esta el hombre, con su vida, que ha de transferir al terruho poderoso 17 para seguir el mismo viviendo. "
The force of the earth is shown in "El poema del gafian" (OC, pp. 80-88). Galan portrays the countryman's life governed by the demands the land makes and the rewards it offers. He depicts autumn in the country--not an autumn that signals the approach of winter, but a season that requires fulfillment with the sowing of the wheat. The poet sets the scene in generalized terms, then places the laborer in the
16. Vida y poesia, p. 22.
17. Ibid., p. 43. 66 field where the workman reacts with a vague perception of "los misterios profundos" (QC, p. 81) of the equilibrium of the universe.
Co-relating the season for the sowing of the wheat with human produc tivity, Galan becomes more specific in his references to the value of work and the rewards of love and even metaphorically exalts the peas ant to the position of priest of the land. The moral at the end of the poem sums up the place of this countryman in the poet's world. The following excerpts typify these concepts.
Era el tiempo llegado de las puras mafianas otofiales, las que tienen un sol tibio y dorado que, de la hermosa vega enamorado, desgarra, para verla, los cendales de flotante vapor que la han velado en las primeras horas matinales. (QC, p. 80)
El alma vislumbraba los misterios profundos del eterno existir de los espacios y el perenne equilibrio de los mundos. (QC, p. 81)
Trabajo era honradez y Amor promesa; Trabajo era virtud y Amor corona. Y el ganan laborioso se deleitaba en el sentido her mo so del cantar de la moza castellana, que al elegir para mahana esposo buscaba labrador para mahana. El tambi£n intuia que el trabajo es virtud, es armonxa, es levadura del placer humano, fuente del bien, secreto de la suerte, deber del hombre sano, honra del var6n fuerte y vanidad de mozo castellano que el pan que come con la misma toma con que lo gana diligente mano. (QC, pp. 83-84) 67
El hijo del trabajo, surco arriba marchando y surco abajo, buscaba en el trabajo solamente los pedazos de pan que el suelo encierra, porque siempre crey6 cosa evidente que el sudor de la frente es el mejor abono de la tierra, Pero tambi£n crela que es la mano de Dios omnipotente quien a la tierra laborable envla el sol que la caide a, la escarcha que la enfria, la brisa que la orea, la lluvia que la bafia y la sanea... La mano soberana, fuente de vida de la raza humana; la mano de las grandes maravillas; la que encierra en mintisculas semillas g£rmenes diminutos, misterio del amor encantadores de donde brotan las hermosas flores, de donde surgen los sabrosos frutos... Asi se lo decla la firme y pura que adquirido habla fe de granito en el hogar amado; y aquel cantar piadoso y sosegado que del alma escap6 por la garganta fiel expresi6n de sus sentires era, porque el alma sincera lo que siente, y no mis, es lo que canta. (OC, pp. 85-86)
La labor terminaba. Atardecla, y la copla postrera. vol6 por la llanura y en el alma cay6 por el oldo con cadencias de l&nguida dulzura, (OC, p. 86)
Todo en ella decla que €1 era el alma del terrufto muerto, 61 era lengua del paisaje mudo, €1 la nota viviente del desierto, el sacerdote rudo 68 de aquel templo desnudo, al culto grave del trabajo abierto. (OC, p. 87)
Ese es un hijo de la patria mla: el que Natura para el Cielo cria, el que entero en la vida se derrama, porque a vivirla, generoso, viene, trabaja, reza y ama: jDios no le pide mis: da lo que tiene! (OC, p. 88)
An amplification of this same theme is found in "Las semen- tera^' (OC, pp. 151-155), except that here it is the poet himself who is involved, not as a workman, but as the owner of the land and over seer of the farm laborers, "presidiendo mi hermosa sementera"
(OC, p. 152). Again the force of the earth is shown and given meta physical attributes. As he did in the previous poem, Galan draws an analogy between the sowing of the seed in the fields and human fertili zation "de la mujer fecunda" (OC, p. 153). He characterizes his home as "el cielo de la tierra" (OC, p. 154) and ends trying to make a pact with the Deity, thus carrying his analogy to its ultimate terms.
Y tal como si el alma del terrufio viniese toda condensada en ella, la tonada de arar surge solemne, la tonada de arar al alma llega cantando cosas dulces, diciendo cosas buenas. (OC, p. 153)
jSefior, que das la vida! Dame salud y amor, y sol y tierra, y yo te pagar€ con campos ricos en ambas sementeras. (OC, p. 155)
In "Canci6n" (OC, pp. 96-99), designated by Pou as a "canto 18 al trabajo, " a slightly different semblance of the poet's naturalism
18. "La metaf ora en la poesi a de Gabriel y Galan, " p. 44. 69
is found. There is still the preoccupation with the fruitful labor of
mankind, since the poet recognizes that " jEl trabajo es la ley!" (OC,
p. 97), and he uses the images of the nest-building swallow, the bee,
- and the ant as examples. But more than this, there is a communing
with God through the solitude of the countryside with the desire ex
pressed before that the earthly world be a temple and mankind, its
priest.
Aqul se siente a Dios. En el reposo de este dulce aislamiento un fecundo sentido religioso preside el pensamiento.
Entonces toca el alma lo profundo del alto amor sin nombre y quisiera que un templo fuera el mundo y un sacerdote el-hombre. (OC, p. 96)
Desde este solitario apartamiento del monte sosegado contemplo el armonioso movimiento de todo lo creado.
Quiere la golondrina nido blando para el amor sentido, y mis ojos fatiga acarreando pajuelas para el nido.
A los vientos la abeja se encadena y la hormiga al sendero, para llenar aqu€lla su colmena y estotra su granero. (OC, p. 97)
The redeeming value of work is also expounded in "Canto al
trabajo" (OC, pp. 156-160) in which the poet sees the law of work
coming from God. 70
A ti, de Dios venida, dura ley del trabajo merecida, mi lira ruda su cantar convierte; a ti, fuente de vida; a ti, dominadora de la suerte. (OC, p. 156)
In "Las reptiblicas" (OC, pp. 127-133), Galdn again uses the communal effort of ants and bees to symbolize the benefits of labor. He begins by expressing his admiration of the industry of a colony of ants and follows with the description of the activity of a hive of bees, situated in the midst of pastoral abundance. Continuing with the symbolism of the creatures in nature, Gal&n sets up ewes as an example to be fol lowed by human mothers. He draws the moralizing conclusion of the basic goodness of nature in which all creatures work together for the common good and no offspring is left untended.
He admirado el hormiguero cuando henchlan su granero las inniimeras hormigas. (OC, p. 127)
Son comunes los quehaceres, son iguales los deberes, los derechos son iguales, armoniosa la energia, generosa la porfia, los amores fraternales. (OC, p. 128)
He observado la colmena al mediar una serena tarde pl&cida de mayo. La volante, la sonora muchedumbre zumbadora laboraba sin desmayo.
j Qu£ magnlfica opulencia la de aquella florescencia de los campos amarillos! 71
Madreselvas y rosales, agavanzos y zarzales, mejoranas y tomillos ... (OC, p. 129)
No se estorban ni detienen las que ricas de oro vienen, las que en busca van de oro ,.. Unas liban y acarrean, otras labran y moldean, jtodas hinchen el tesoro! (OC, p. 130)
En la honrada pastorla cada amante madre crla su corderuelo querido .,, {No hay cordero destetado porque lo haya abandonado la madre que lo ha parido! (OC, p. 132)
Esta vida que vivimos los que reyes nos decimos de este mundo engaftador, no es la vida sabia y sana ... I Ay! ;La reptiblica humana me parece la peor! ... (OC, p. 133)
In "La tregua" (OC, pp. 220-224) we see a personalized de scription of the life of the farmer. It is an optimistic type of poem written in the spirit of Browning's "God's in his heaven and all's well with the world, " expressed by Galan as "Dios estd en todas partes"
(OC, p. 221). In spite of the fact that the title of the poem carries the meaning of a respite from work, still the theme of the poem itself sets a goal of the activity of production-- a basic concept of the poet's philosophy. This is evident in his reminder that the worker has the
power to carry out his responsibilities to himself, his fatherland, and
his God and, therefore, that he must return to his labors. 72
Ya pasaron, ya pasaron las pliimbeas modorras esas del sol de julio, que inflama; del sol de agosto, que tuesta; de aqu£l,< que la espiga dor a, y de ^ste, que la platea.
Y til, labrador, ya tienes, ya tienes aqui la tregua. Si^ntate un rato y descansa (OC, p. 220)
... tienes armas para matar la miseria, tiene^ tu honor de hombre honrado fiel pagador de tus deudas, puntal de la pobre patria, sost€n de holguras ajenas ... (OC, p. 221)
j Arriba otra Vez, arriba! Muy breve ha sido la tregua, pero es larga del trabajo • la abrumadora cadena, y nadie romperla debe, que a Dios le toca romperla. (OC, p. 222)
The fragments of "Ana Maria" (OC, pp. 190-204) are part of an ambitious work, never finished, which, according to the poet's notes, would consist of four cantos, each one describing a season of the year, along with the parallel development of a young girl through courtship, marriage, the birth of children, grandchildren, etc. Nat ure in conjunction with the Deity once more is the great preceptor.
Natura le dio belleza; su madre le di6 ternuras; su padre, viril nobleza, y Dios, la humilde grandeza que tienen las almas puras. (OC, p. 193)
^Qu£ ensefta Naturaleza que no Se deba aprender? (OC, p. 194) 73
The poet's personal reaction to the literal and figurative smallness of man in comparison with the grandeur of nature is found in "La montafia" (OC, pp. 167-171). ' His consolation-is his ability to ex press himself.
jHablemos, atalaya gigantea! Desde tu inmensa altura, ^me verSs muy pequefio en esta hondura del valle estrecho en que mi choza humea?
j Es tanta tu grandeza!..., tan soberbia tu historia, tan altiva levantas y tan alta la cabeza, que s6lo pequefiez, s6lo pobreza veras en lo de abajo desde arriba. (OC, p. 167)
Y, en fin, mole dormida, aunque sintieras como yo la vida, me envidiaras, sin duda, jporque yo s€ cantar y tvi eres muda! (OC, p. 171)
Undoubtedly inspired by his visit to Blanco Cabeza in Galicia during the summer of 1889 is "El arrullo del Atlantico" (OC, pp. 180-
185). The motion and the sound of the waves must have suggested the title to the poet since the message conveyed by the poem is more of a call to action than a lulling to sleep. Galan begins the poem: "En el nombre de Dios canto la vida" (OC, p. 180) and continues with his version of spiritual naturalism which has few restful qualities. The excerpts quoted show, first of all, his preoccupation with dawn as a life-giving force. Then, Galan views the ocean as more of a unifying than a divisive entity and phrases the "cantico" (OC, p. 181) of the
Atlantic as an invitation to progress as well as to point out the kinship 74 between the peoples of Argentina and Spain. The apostrophes by the ocean are directed at a series of mythological figures, the Christian deity, and mankind in order to request better understanding and com munication between the two countries, fruits from their labor, Chris tian leadership, and the co-operation of true brotherhood.
Era la hora en que la luz esperan, para iniciar la cotidiana huida, las sombras densas de la noche oscura que en el abismo ca6tico fundieran el abismo del mar y el de la altura. jNaturaleza!, cuando est&s dormida y el alma que te adora por nocturno cresp6n te ve cubierta, se finge en su carifio que est Us muerta, y perdida te llora, hasta que luz de aurora te despierta ... j Salve, luz creadora! Si de la mano del Sefior salida pristina creaci6n es toda vida segunda creaci6n es toda aurora. (OC, p. 180)
Verdes musas erraticas de almas de luz y liras cristalinas, nereidas de pupilas abism&ticas, sirenas de gargantas peregrinas, monstruos del fondo, genios de las olas, acres brisas marinas, que venls de las playas espafiolas o venis de las playas argentinas ... (OC, p. 181)
j cantad conmigo la canci6n gigante con que -a los hombres al pr ogreso invito!
Nobles razas gemelas que ard£is en fraternales sentimientos
jTejed, tejed sobre mi haz hirvientg de nuevos derroteros red tupida! Poderoso Neptuno, que dominas las iras bravas de mis glaucas olas (OC, p. 182) ] tincelas a las naves peregrinas que vengan de las playas espaflolas o que vengan de las playas argentinas!
j Enfrena, Eolo, enfrena la cuadriga briosa delos vientos y fija en popa ordena que sople una veloz brisa serena que endulce y apresure movimientos!
Y vosotras, nereidas ambarinas
jalejad a esas ricas mensajeras de escollos y de sirtes traicioneras!
Y til, Dios soberano, que todo lo creaste y lo gobiernas; (OC, p. 183) bendice el alma de tus pueblos fieles, haz que cuajen sus flores en frutos dureos de sabrosas mieles.
Tiende sobre mi haz el invisible manto de tu poder incontestable, y por seguros derroteros fijos bogaran en legi6n interminable tus laboriosos hijos.
Hermanas gentes cuya entrafia encierra sangre y alma espafiolas: jel cielo es vuestro; sojuzgad la tierra! j Vuestro yo soy; encadenad mis olas! Unid mis dos orillas con oscilantes puentes (OC, p. 184) de regueros longulsimos de quillas henchidas de riquezas y de gentes. Y con los brazos en la brega dura, en Dios la fe y el coraz6n en todo, gozad el oro en su virtud mas pur a, poned la muerte entre el honor y el lodo, sentid el arte eh su divina altura, buscad la gloria donde eterna sea, trocad la ciencia en savia sustanciosa, 76
cambiad amor del que deleita y crea ... j Vivid la vida en su verdad hermosa! (OC, p. 185)
Nature doing homage to God is also seen in "Adoracitfn" (OC, pp. 307-310), in which Galdn shows a concern with dawn similar to that found in ME1 arrullo del Atl&ntico." In ,1Adoraci6n, " however, the significance of the aurora goes beyond that of the previous poem-- it is a main theme, not an. introduction. The poem opens with a presentation of the pre-dawn stirrings that announce the rising of the sun, then continues with a description of the awakening of Nature and the homage everything renders to God, "el dueno de esa gran Natur- aleza" (OC, p. 310). After his description of dawn in a beautiful but non-specific landscape, Galan places man in this countryside and con cludes with a very real account of Mass being celebrated in a near-by hermitage. In his strongly expressed personal reaction, the poet again manifests his religious convictions through the medium of nature.
Iba a salir el sol. El horizonte de luz amarillenta se tenia, y de rumores se llenaba el monte y el valle se poblaba de armonla; y en el oscuro monte rumoroso, (OC, p. 307) surgiendo acompasada, se iniciaba la intensa melodla del sublime y grandioso preludio musical de la alborada.
Iba a salir el sol. Lo presentla la gran Naturaleza, que en el sereno despertar del dia, espl&idida, sublime en su grandeza, y henchida de vigor se estremecia.
El soberano toque misterioso de la mano de Dios la despertaba, y a su sereno despertar grandioso con vigor portentoso, la vida universal se reanimaba.
De su jugo vital iban a henchirse los g€rmenes hundidos en la sombra; al beso de la luz iban a abrirse los c&lices plegados de las flores que al valle dan alfombra y a las brisas suavisimos olores; la tropa peregrina de p&jaros cantores, aun dormidos, iba a cantar su estrofa matutina al posarse en los bordes de sus nidos la del radiante sol, luz argentina;
jTodo cuanto en la tierra produce, con acentos diferentes, (OC, p. 308) trino, ruido, voz, eco o lamento al sentir ya cercana la luz del astro, que preside el dla, preludia con garrula armonia el himno anunciador de la maflana!
Y el sol sali6. Sus vivos resplandores se esparcieron en franjas ambarinas y explosiones de luz y de colores, de acentos y rumores, palpitaron por valles y colinas.
El coro de los pajaros cantores, desatando sus lenguas peregrinas, inundo de armonias el ambiente; y para el gran concierto que a la aurora dedicaba la gran Naturaleza, el bosque di6 su voz, ...
Y aquella voz magnifica, una y varia, que en sus senos encierra, con toda la armonia de los cielos 78
los rumores que vibran en la tierra, (OC, p. 309) al cantar a la aurora sonriente su himno de amor, magnlfico y ardiente, parece que decla: {Gloria al Dios cuya voz omnipotente del caos hizo el dla!...
En medio del alegre y peregrino concierto musical de la mafiana, un eco grave, dulce y argentino se dilata en el valle ... jEs la campana de la ermita cercana!
Implo, ven conmigo; y til cristiano, ven conmigo tambi^n. Dadme la mano, y entremos juntos en la pobre ermita solitaria, paclfica, bendita ... Ante el ara inclinado ved alll al sacerdote ... Ya es llegado el sublime momento ... jElevad un instante el pensamiento! El duefio de esa gran Naturaleza que admirabais conmigo hace un instante, el soberano Dios de la grahdeza, el Dios del infinito poderjo j es Aquel que levanta el sacerdote en su trSmula mano! |De rodillas ante El! jTSmele, implo! — -,De rodillas! ;Ad6rale, cristiano! Yo tambi€n me arrodillo reverente, y hundo en el polvo, ante mi Dios, la frente. (OC, p. 310)
"Desde el campo" (OC, pp. 316-319), like "Adoraci6n, " con tains beautiful descriptions of the countryside in general, not of one place in particular. It shows the very personal reaction of the poet to his God as he sees Him, in forests and fields, on mountains and in valleys, in all kinds of weather and during all the seasons of the year.
Contemplando la armonta de la vida bajo el ancho cortinaje de los cielos. 79
yo he pasado las de agosto noches puras y las negras noches l6bregas de invierno en la cumbre de colinas virgilianas o en la choza de lentiscos del cabrero, o en las htimedas umbrlas de los montes bajo el palio de follaje de los qu£jigos. Y han henchido mis pulmones con sus r&fagas el de mayo, delicioso ambiente fresco, el solano bochornoso del estlo y el de enero flagelante duro cierzo.
Y en la sierra, y en elmonte, y en el valle, y en el rio, y en el antro, y en el pi£lago, dondequiera que mis ojos se posaron, dondequiera que mis pies me condujeron, me decian:-- ^Ves ji D_ios?--Todas las cosas, y mi esplritu decia:--Si, lo veo. '(OC, p. 318)
In "Cara al cielo" (OC, pp. 256-260) a farm worker expresses his religious feeling through his admiration of the beauties of the night.
The rude philosophizings of the peasant reflect the poet's constant association of the wonders of nature with God's creation of the world.
The account of the scoffings of Don Silvestre is Galon's device to ex press, as he does so often, the idea that the soul of such an untutored man is closer to God than that of the educated veterinarian.
jQu£ nochi tan rica! jQu£ luna tan guapa! (OC, p. 256)
y siempre se ha oido de que Dios jizu el mundo ... --Y mos basta sabel quiSn lo jizu; eso s€ yo n'amis. - - j Es que no f alta genti de estudio que se poni a lleval la contraria!
don Silvestre, el alb^ital, pa dilnus a la Virgen del Valle, a pujala. 80
|Juy, Dios si lo oyis! j Juy, c6mo galraba! Daba gusto olio, pero daba tami€n repunanza, porque jizu tami£n de la Virgen asin como guasa. Yo no pueo explicalti el sentlo de tantas palabras, pero vinon a dal a que el mundo no lo ha jecho el de arriba ... (OC, p; 259)
Di que no jue acuerdo, cuando tanto galraba en la plaza, pero ya verSs tii si le igo cuantis yo me lo jechi a la cara: " jNo se jabla tan mal del de arriba pa jechalsi ust£ mesmo alabancias, que la genti tami£n comprendemos lo que ca uno jaga, lo que ca uno envente, lo que ca uno valga! Y si no, ya ve ust€, yo le pongo esta comparanza: ]E1 de arriba mos da los ganaos, y ust£ mos los mata! " (OC, p. 260)
The comparison of the earth with man's soul is the subject of
"Las sequlas" (OC, pp. 345-347). The poet comments that, and questions why, God is more merciful to the parched earth than He is to neglected souls, since He revives the dried earth with rain but does nothing for unresponsive souls. The answer to the poet's questioning carries the precept of reciprocity--the idea of interchange for mutual benefit in nature as well as in the spiritual realm.
Eres, Sefior, mis piadoso con esta tierra agostada que con los secos eriales de las almas. 81
Cuando la tierra que hollamos los rayos del sol calcinan, con lluvias consoladoras la reanimas.
Pero jamis a las almas que se marchitan sedientas con roclos de ideales las refrescas.
j Selior! ^Por qu£ mis piadoso con esta tierra liviana que con los p&ramos muertos de las almas?
"A1 beso del sol fecundo, la tierra hacia el Cielo exhala los ricos jugos que encierran sus entrafias; (OC, p. 346)
y el Cielo que los absorbe, los cuaja en frescos roclos y en lluvias se los devuelve convertidos.
Pero las almas ingratas que en h&litos de oraciones al alto Cielo no elevan Fe y amores,
no esperen que el alto Cielo la sed que las mata apague con amorosos roclos de ideales ... " (OC, p. 347)
An amplification of this theme of religion in nature is found in
"En todas partes" (OC, pp. 355-357), which depicts the attitude of the
soul toward the various aspects of God. Gal&n's constant association
of God with nature is everywhere evident in the imagery he employs.
From the mountains where the symbolism of life and death is expressed 82 by the bursting forth of a new shoot and the falling of the withered leaves in contrast to the eternity of God, the poet turns his eyes to the world of the valleys where the soul feels the Goodness of God through the sensation of a breath of fresh air. The soul also feels that God is
Provident as well as Wise "en esa escarcha que la tierra hiela," "en ese rayo que el ambiente abrasa, " and "en esa lluvia que mis surcos bafia" (OC, p. 356). [The italics are mine. ] This last personalized reac tion is likewise seen in his designation of God as "Padre del hombre"
(OC, p. 356) whose goodness the poet feels in various aspects of his life.
En los montes de encinas seculares donde toda raiz profunda arraiga, todo tronco es columna inconmovible y brazo gigante toda rama; alii donde en la vida se suceden, cual recordando lo que nunca acaba, el estallido de la yema nueva y el caer funeral de la hojarasca; alii, Sefior del tiempo te siente Eterno el alma.
Con las pupilas y la mente hundidas en los espacios de las noches claras;
junto a la base de la oscura sierra, mirando el risco de las crestas asperas; sobre el perfil de la montafia ingente, mirando el mundo de las tierras bajas, alii, Sefior del mundo, te siente Grande el alma. (OC, p. 355)
y un ruido de aire que entre frondas pasa, asi por el sentido, te siente Bueno el alma.
Sobre la pefia del erial hirsuto paladeando hieles las entrafias; 83
bajo la hiedra de heredado huerto saboreando amores o esperanzas; revolcando mis carries sobre abrojos cuando me acusa la conciencia airada, o en mi lecho campestre de tomillos cantando paz de honrado patriarca, alii, Padre del hombre te siente Bueno el alma. (OC, p. 356)
Another example of religious sentiment interpreted through nature is found in "La Virgen de la montafia" (OC, pp. 323-331). The first verse of the 121st Psalm would seem to be its inspiration even though Galan's poem is more Marian than Jehovan.
Alzare mis ojos a los montes de donde vendra mi socorro
Contrary to his usual practice, here Galan appears to have a definite locality in mind, a mountain just outside of Caceres where a shrine to the Virgin is located. Even so, his descriptions of the countryside are generalized in contrast to the very specific personal reactions of the poet to his own woes. Just as his mood reflects the day: "Era un dla quejumbroso de diciembre ceniciento" (OC, p. 323), so does the pil grim symbolize Christ "como cuesta de un calvario rendidisimo subi6"
(OC, p. 327). Having alleviated his sorrows by the pilgrimage, Galan
uses the second part of the poem to deliver a homily on the spiritual
beauties the "bellisima cacerefia" (OC, p. 328) may derive from
emulating the Virgen. He even amplifies his moral by adding that all
the virgins of the earth will benefit from a visit to the heavenly virgin. 84
Era un dia quejumbroso de diciembre ceniciento cuando yo sub! la cuesta de la mistica mansi6n: el que aquella cuesta sube con angustias de sediento, baja rico de frescura el ardiente coraz6n.
Era un dia de diciembre. La ciudad estaba muerta sobre el drido repecho calvo y frio del erial; la ciudad estaba muda, la ciudad estaba yerta sobre el yermo fustigado por el halito invernal. (OC, p. 323)
Y el oscuro peregrino que la cuesta de tu ermita como cuesta de un calvario rendidisimo subio con la carga de miserias que en los hombres deposita la ceguera de una vida que entre polvo se vivi6,
descendi6 de tu montafia con los ojos empapados en aquella luz que hiende las negruras del morir, y el espiritu sereno de los hombres resignados que sonrien santamente con la pena de vivir. (OC, p, 327)
Sube, preciosa ermitafta, que algo que no da Natura se lo dara a tu hermosura la Virgen de la Montafia. (OC, p. 330)
j Sera un cielo aquella sierra cuando, levantando el vuelo, visiten a la del cielo las virgenes de la tierra! ... (OC, p. 331)
In "Mensaje" (OC, pp. 379-386) the poet departs from his own locale to eulogize another Virgin, this time of Zaragoza. The device of the flight of a hymn of praise from Castile to Zaragoza gives the poet the opportunity to philosophize about the countryside over which it passes, the past glories of Spain, and the brotherhood of man "esa tierra de hermanosV" (OC, p. 382).
Laruda musica ardiente de una canci6n de mi lira. 85
tendio hacia el Norte su vuelo.
Cruzo las llanuras anchas de la desierta Castilla, manchas de mies amarilla, grises y est6riles manctias de muerta, misera arcilla ... (OC, p. 379)
Y atras el erial quedaba y atras dejando la brava soledad de pardas sierras, ya volaba, ya volaba, por aragonesas tierras.
Y atras las viejas ciudades que despiertan las memorias de los tiempos de las glorias y las heroicas edades que nos pintan las historias ... (OC, p. 38Q)
"jSeftora! De la lejana noble tierra castellana, donde se os rinden loores, traigo un mensaje de amores a tierra zaragozana. ..." (OC, p. 381)
Like "La Virgen de la montafia" (OC, pp. 323-331) "La romer^a del amor" (OC, pp. 415-422) has as its theme an excursion to a shrine of the Virgin. This time the poet is one of a group re turning from the pilgrimage. Again the countryside is used as a set ting for the people and the effect of the grandeur of nature on the soul of the poet is shown. The poem begins with afternoon drawing to a close and the movements of nature awakening after the heat oij the day to the symphony of a calm night. To the poet, the actual shadows of the twilight represent the emotional gloom he feels alone in the midst
of the happy group. Yet, instead of succumbing to his feeling qf 86 loneliness th$ poet is swept up by the emotion of the other young
people—their very human and procreative love--and he feels that if he can share this kind of love, both his poetry and his life will be that
much richer. As Galan identifies himself as the poet, he shakes off the shadows of death, figuratively rises up in the tomb of despair, and
expresses his belief in his own physical and spiritual future.
Declinaba la tarde lentamente.
,.. Naturaleza despertando del hondo suerio incubador del dxa empezaba a moverse, preludiando la inmensa rumorosa sinfonia de una noche serena de bpisfts mansas y de luna llena. (OC, p. 415)
Las sombras del crepusculo amoroso, velos de muerte de la tarde quieta, cayeron sobre el valle misterioso, cayeron sqbre el alma del poeta ... (OC, p. 417)
La alegre juventud, con sus cantares, lleno los encinares, y en amantes parejas separados caminaban por valles y caftadas, ellos enamorados y ellas enamoradas ... (QC, p. 418)
S6lo el pobre poeta, el visionario, el hongo de los valles de la aldea, por los cuales pasea un dolor siempre igual y siempre vario. no tiene un alma ^miga, un alma de mujer hermosa y pura que por el sienta amor y se lo diga con la voz empanada de ternura. (OC, p. 419)
un amor fuerte y sano, tan fecundo en promesas, tan humano como el que en alas de esperanza ciega 87
iba cantando por aquel camino la canci6n de la vida que se entrega en los brazos fecundos del destino. (OC, p. 420)
Si aquel amor su espiritu tocara, sus entrafias de hombre sacudiera y su mente j El poeta era yo! Sentime fuerte, llena mi carne se sinti6 de vida, lleno de fe mi corazqn inerte, llena de luz mi mente oscurecida .,. I Me alee en la tumba y sacudi la mu^te! Y tornando a la ermita abandonada, ya envuelta en la qallada, tranquila y santa soledad serena de la noche ideal de luna llena, ante sus muros me postr& de hinojos, al alto ventanal iluminado alee mi corazon, alee mis ojos y del fondp del pecho enamorado (OC, p. 421) me sali6 e^ta oraqi6n: "jVirgen bendita!, no volvere a tu ermita a rendirte miserrimos cantares, a poner con los hielos de la mente, ofrendas de artificio en tus altares, coronas de oropel sobre tu frente. I Volver& cuando traiga de la mano, para rendirlo ante tus pies de hinojos, un angelillo huma,np que tenga azules, como Tu, los qjos!..." (OC, p. 422) Another example of the effect of the forces of nature on the poet is found in the realistically expressed "Pletora" (OC, pp. 279- 280). A campesino describes the surge of the life-giving force of springtime in his veins. The combination of Extremadura and the 88 season of the year makes the countryman feel stronger, even capable of overcoming "Gorio" who evidently symbolizes power. Yo no s6 qu£ tieni, qu£ tieni esta tierra de la Extremaura que cuantis que Uegan estos emprencipios de la primavera se me poni la sajigre encendia que cuasi me quema, se me jincha la caja del pecho, se me jaci m&s grandi la juerza, se me poni la fi^ente mSorra y barruntu que asina me entra como yn jormiguillo que me jo^miguea ... (OC, p. 279) Si viniese ahora mesmo aqui Go;rio y quisiesi luchal una giiqlta ... jJuy, Dios, que Goriazo le jacia pintal en la tierra! (OC, p. 280) This type of sensuousness is also found in "El cantar de la$ chicharras" (OC, pp. 281-285). The creative power of nature is felt this time in the summer heat, which first impresses the poet as being destructive, then as soporific, and lastly as the life-force. His own personal reaction to a serving girl of the household not only reflects the temperature of the day but also reminds him that thp overpowering heat incubates life and promotes the flourishing and ripening of the olives, grapes, grain, as well as family gardens and orchards. His conclusion is a sensuous summation of the effect that the summer heat, symbolized by the chicharra, has on him. Que se que man los lugaf es. bajo el h&lito encendido • de este sol abrasador de los desiertos. (OC, p. 281,) La extensi6n indefinida de la tier^a empedernida pierd© el tono de la vida que en el seno s'6lo vive de la idea .., (OC, p. 282) Es el sueno de un despierto, es la calma del desierto, es un vivo mundo muerto ... j Es la ardiente Ext^emadura que sestep.! ... Vete lejos, linda Andrea, que el bocjiorno. me marea, me emborracha, me caldea, m? pervierte los sentidos perezosos .,, Vete lejos, criatura, que en tus labios hay frescura y en mi sangre calentura, y en mi mente suenos arabes borrosos ... (OC, p. 2jE}3) • • • T • V ' « j Ve^e y vuelve, muchachuela, qu^ me deja una estela de f-rescujra que consuel^ cuando pasas, cuando pasas a mi lado! jTrae la jarra, trae la jarra! jQue se calle la chicharra! j Que las hojas de la parr a mueva el halito del c£firo encalmado! j Pero no, que el fuego es vida; y bajo esta derretida lumbre roja desprendida de ese sol abrasador de los dpsiertqs, vida incuban los lugares, sus azules olivares, sus dormidos encinares, y sus vifia? y sus mieses y sus huertos! (OC, p. 284) Y entre tanto, lira mia, t\i con barbara armonxa de chicharra, dile al dia los contrastes que me brinda la fortuna; . 90 de mafiana; briga y parra; en la siesta, la chicharra, y a la noche, la guitarra, las mucha,chas, los engueftos y la, luna .. t (OC, p. 285) The poems cited are representative examples of Galan's inter pretation of the countryside as a setting for its inhabitants. Through his descriptions of nature he has shown the influence of environment on the people and has developed si,iph themes as: the creative force of nature, a feeling of man's union with the Divinity through nature, love as a creative process in nature, as well as the values of work, brother hood, and cooperation in cpmmunal endeavors. The People as Inhabitants of the Countryside Naturale^a ha querido que cada ser de una nota viva un campo y tenga un nido; orden sabio y bien sentido * 1Q que solo el cuco alborota. The above is in essence Galan's expression of man's place on earth, a theme which he develops with variations in the poetry prim arily concerned with the manner in which the people respond to their own particular circumstances. Even though the poet says that nature has desired for every being a well-ordered life, still many of his poems with their realistic descriptions pf the country-folk do not hide the more gruesome aspects of country life, Apcording to Real de la 19. "Brindis," OC, p. 112. Riva, "No es ingenuo el poeta, ni tampoco un idealista. Percibe y siente con fina psicologia la tosquedad y groseria de los seres, sus apetitos bajos, la desproporci6n ridicula de sus ademanes en. la vida.'m 20 Idealist or not, Galan nevertheless depicts his ideal of 21 femininity in "El ama" (QC, pp. 35-44): the combined image of the two women in his life--his mother and his wife. The death of his mother provided the inspiration for this poem, but, in describing her and her position in the home as wel], as the effect her death h^s on the people who knew her, he also depicts the traits and characteristics he finds most admirable in the mistress of a household. He represents this paragon as the ideal Christian woman of Spain, the center of her small universe. As such, while she was alive the countryside re flected the happiness of her home just as the life in the village was ti,nged with sadness when she died. He goes on to relate how this feel ing of sorrow was intensified by the absence of his mother when he joined with the other members of the household in a kind of group therapy to say the Rosary. To display further the force of her in fluence, Galan adds to his list of mourners all the various people who had ever come into contact with el ama. Even the image of the 20. Vida y poesla, p. 37. 21. Cited by Real de la Riva a,s having been written six days after the death of Galan's mother (June 30, 1901), Vida y poesla, note 16, p. 90. 92 countryside in the poet's mind has been changed by his grief from one of peaceful life to one of unproductive death. Yet in his moralizing conclusion Galan shows through his acceptance of God's will that he has achieved union with the Divine Mind. Yo aprendl en el hogar en qu£ se funda la dicha mas perfecta, y para hacerla mla quise yo ser como mi padre era y busqu£ una mujer como pciadre entre las hijas de mi hidalga tierra. Y fui como mi padre, y fu6 mi esposa viviente imagen de la madre muerta. (OC, p. 35) Todo lo pudo la mujer cristiana, logrijlo todo la mujer discreta. La vida en la alqueria giraba en torno de ella paclfiqa y arnabl$, mon6tona y serena ... (OC, p. 36) El alma se empapaba en la solemne clasica grandeza que llenaba los ambitos abiertos del cielo y de la tierra. jQu£ p],acido el ambiejite, qu6 tranquilo el paisaje, qu£ serena la ^.tm6sfera a^ulada se extendla por sobre el haz de la llapura inmensa! La brisa de la tarde meneaba, arjiorosa, la alameda, los zarzales floridos del cercado, los guindos de la vega, las mieses de la hoja, la copa verde de la encina vi^ja ... (OC, p. 37) Pero bien se conoce que ya no vive ella; el coraz<5n, la vida de la casa que alegraba el trajin de las tareas, 93 la mapo bienhechora que con las sales de ensaftanzas buenas (QC, p. 38) amaso tanto pan para los pobres que regaban, sudando, nuestra hacienda. j La vida en la alquerxa se till6 para siempre de tristeza! Y rezamos, reunidos, el Ropario, sin decirnos por quien ..., pero es por ella. Que aunque ya no su voz a orar nos llama, su recuerdo querido nos congrega, y nos pone el Rosario entre los dedos y las santas plegarias en la lengua. (OC, p. 39) Hasta el hosco pastor d$ mis ganados, ... se enjuga una lagrima sincera, (OC, p. 40) ••••••••••••••• j j ,.. los mendigos ' que Uegan a mi puerta llorando se descubren y un Padrenuestro por el "ama" rezan! (OC, p. 41) Vuestra paz era imagen de mi vida, joh campos de mi tierra! Pero la vida se me puso triste y su imagen de ahora ya no es 6sa: en mi casa, es el frio de mi alcoba, es el llanto vertido en sus tinieblas; en el campo, es el arido camino del barbecho sin fin que amarillea. Perc? yo ya se hablar como mi madre y digo como ella cuando la vida se le puso triste: 11 jDios lo ha querido asi! jBendito sea.' " (OC, p. 44) The death of his mother is likewise the theme of "Treno" (OC, pp. 138-139) but this time divested of familiar surroundings and «« placed in contrast to various catastrophes of nature. Such disasters are a device to point up the psychology of Galan's grief--they are of 94 lesser importance to him than his own loss. By identifying himself with Christ as an image of suffering, as he also did in "La virgen de la mofitana," he reaffirms the concept of his relationship to God. Tengo el alma serena para toda amenaza de catastrofe; la tengo muda y sorda para voces de amores que me llamqn; la tengo seria CQmo un campo yermo; quieta la tengo como aqqel cadaver de quien yo no crei que fuese tierra porque era el de mi madre. • • • Rayo de la tormenta: podras romperme, pero no espantarme; volcan rugiente que escupiendo fuego me enseftas el abismo de tu crater; sierra que te derrumbas y ante las puertas de mi casa caes; rio que te desbordas y azotas de mi casa los umbrales; huracan que su techo le arrebatas; (OC, p. 138) muertp que rondas mi olvidada calle jque pequenos sois todos, qi^e pequefxos, y mi dolor que grande! Y vosotros tambien, hombres perversos, que me heris con salivas el semblante; y vosotros tambien, hombres amigos que a la vida feliz quereis tornarme con la ambrosia de la humana gloria, miel al beber y al digerir vinagre ..., me heris los unos con esteril sana, porque hepis a un cadaver; luchais los otros con afan esteril porque nadie logro que el mudo hable. Solo podra mover me, desde la noche de la gran catastrofe, la voz de Dios gritandome; "jHijo! jHijo! jEespondele a tu padre!" (OC, p. 139) Thoughts of his own mother impel Galan to describe situations of poor and unfortunate mothers in general, especially their moral courage in the face of adversity. In "Amor de madre" (OC, pp. 474- 480), characterized by Martin Alonso as "la apoteosis m&s sublime que se puede hacer para pintar con rasgos de m&rtir el amor mater- 22 nal,11 the poet attempts to raise his concept of mother love to heroic heights. To carry out his thence, he first acknpwledges his earthly ineptitude at versification and expresses the feeling that praise of maternal love should be celestial in origin. Then he goes pn to describe the martyr-like fortitude that various mothers have required in order to cope with the emergencies and tasks of the daily life ip. the country that the poet knew. Going as he often does from the general to the specific, Galan follows with the account of one mother whose love for her renegade son brings about her own death. In this section of the poem, both the natural and spiritual environment depicted seem to parallel the development of a psychological crisis in the life pf the mother. Carrying this analogy still further, the poet hears in the calm after the storm the announcement pf the flight of the two souls to heaven, the son redeemed by the love of his mother.' This poem aptly illustrates several of the distinctive features of spiritual naturalism mentioned by Pattison, particularly the extension of naturalism to 1 ! 1 1 I 22, El cantor de Castilla, p. 50. 96 include psychological implications along vyith 9. concluding religions moral, as may be seen in the passages quoted. Antes de que el poeta alpe su canto a un santo amor a quien le debe tanto, dejad que el hijo que lo santo siente, comience haciendo, con respeto santo, la senaj. de la cruz sobre ^u frente. Siempre la sello con el signo eterno cuando al borde me inclinp del mar inmen^o del ampr divino o del torrente del an^pr m^iterno. La cuerda del laud, ruda y bravia, que los canta con mise^a armopia, debiera ser al llamamiento muda, porque la mano que lo pulsa e$ mla, porque lp. cuerda que response es ruda, y ejl salmo sani;o de las cosas sant^s debe bajar de alturas celestiales con letras de seraficas gargantas y acentos de laudes edeniales. (OC, p. 474) La hq visto arrqdillada junto a la cuna del enfermo hi jo, (OC, p. 475) La vi en el crudp y frio, turbio y callado amanecer de enerof yerta junto al helacjo lavadero en las gelidas margejies del rio. Hacia el bosque sombrio la vi subir por los barrancos rojos; la vi bajar de las ag;restes faldas, desgarrando sus plantas los abrojos, desgarrando la lefia sus espaldas ... Yo la he visto dejar su pobre casa cuando julio cruel ciega los ojos, brufie los cielps y la tierra abrasa, y en los ardient^s aridos ra^trojps disputando su presa a las horpiigas yo la he visto buscar unas espigas perdidas entre sabanas de abrojos. Yo la he visto cargada, camino de la vegaf con la azada, delante de un verduga que a la humana legi6n desheredada disputaba a pellizcos un mendrugo, y en el hijito el pensamiento fijo, iba la martir amarrada al yugo, pues solo de su sangre con el jugo la martir amasaba el pap del hijo. Yo la he visto bajar a los fangales donde el hijo it>feliz se revolcaba, (OC, p. 476) donde las alas de su amor manchaba eon el lodo de amores criminales. Era una noche brava, sin luz y fria como el alma loca de aquel hijo per dido, que al antro infame a derramar ha ido baba de impio de la torpe boca, fango de amor del coraz6n podrido ..., una noche de aquellas en que, al verse tal vez mas ofendido, vela Diop las estrellas, y no le queda al hombre ot^a luz que el ful^or de las centeljas y el de la fe eri pi nombre del Dios que vibra justiciero en ellas .., Noches para el hogar, que nadie sabe si en una de ellas estara dispuesto que el mundo fragil espantado acabe, y del naufragio en el momento grave, el que no este en su hogar no esta en su puesto. Y en una de esa§ de terrores llenas, noches que zumban como el mar airado el latigo de acero de las penas ech6 a la madre de su hogar honrado. Al hijo desmandado iba a llamar con doloroso acento al antro tenebroso donde, hambriento, encueva sus n^iserias el p^cado. (OC, p. 477) el barbaro asesino, con la mas espantosa de las safias alza el pufial que ensangrentado oprime y lo hunde en las entrafias llenas de amor de la mujer sublime, 9Q La sangre de la debil ancianita, cayendo sobre el pecho palpitante del hijo agonizante,- como lluvia bendita, corri6 caliente hacia la herida abierta, y el rojo raudalillo desatado que abierta hall6 del coraz6n la puerta, , inund6 el corazon del hijo amado. Brillaban las estrellas cual topacios en el humedo azul de los espacios, que el soplo del Selior limpi6 de nubes, la borrasca paso; reino la calma, (OC, p. 479) y, en su augusto callar, oyo mi alma que una gentil tropilla de querubes ante las puertas de oro del alcazar de Dios, cantaba a coro: "jSefior, Selior! En el humano suelo de tu amor una chispa aun ha quedado que el alma de una madre trae al cielo la de un hijo infeliz regenerado! ..." (OC, p. 480) "Lo inagotable" (OC, pp. 50-52) is the very macabre treatment of a mother mourning the death of her son by hanging. As in "Amor de madre" the glorification of the fortitude of a mother in the face of adversity is the main theme with nature complementing the desolation of the scene. Galan's moralizing conclusion points out God's (a,nd the poet's) awareness of her sorrow. De rodillas delante de la fosa donde se pudre el moceton garrido, la pobre vieja sin moverse pasa la tarde del domingo. Una tarde otofial, helada y muda, de cielo muy azul, campifia yerta, y un sol amarillento que se muere de frio y de tristeza. (OC, p. 50) 99 ; Y dieron todavia otras dos lagrimas aquellos ojos que estruj6 el dolor! Ni ignoradas ni est£riles les dieron: jlas vipios Dios y yo! (OC, p. 52) Written in a lighter vein, but still with the ideal woman in mind--the woman the poet would like to marry--is "Mi montaraza" (OC, pp. 74-79). The list of her virtues is very similar to the one given in "Elama. n With his usual emphasis on nature, the poet de picts these attributes in similes to the flora and fauna of his natural surroundings. In his concluding stanzas Galan reiterates his idea of man's place on earth stressing, as he has done so many times, the values of work, food for the body, and a happy home. No hay bajo el cielo divino del campo salamanquino, moza fcomo Ana Maria, ni m&s alegre alqueria que Carrascal del Camino. No nace en tierra cristiana flor silvestre mas lozana ni hormiga mas vicidora, ni moza mis castellana, ni mujer mas labradora. Hermosa sin los ama&os de enfermizas vanidades tiene unos ojos castaTios con un mirar sin engafios que infunde tranquilidades. (OC, p. 74) Sen cilia para pensar, prudente para sentir, recatada para amar, discreta para callar, y honest a para decir; 100 robusta como una encina, cas era cual golondrina que en casa canta la paz, algo arisca y montesina como paloma torcaz; agria como una manzana, roja como una cereza, fresca como una fontana, vierte efluvios de alma sana y olor de Naturaleza. (OC, p. 75) Y corrigiendo criados, y amparando desgraciados sera nuestra casa un dia vivienda de hombres honrados, colonia de la alegrla. ^Qui6n mas dichoso ha de ser que el hombre que va a tener bellos campos que cuidar, sabroso pan que comer y esposa a quien adorar? (OC, p. 79) Many examples of Galan's idealization of femininity are to be found in his poetry of which several examples have already been cited. Strangely enough there are no comparable examples of the male represented as an ideal character. The poet may compare his own sufferings to Christ's and the paternal image in the home to the priest in a temple, but nowhere does he glorify man as he does woman. Even when he describes his father as he does in "Ganadero" (OC, pp. 68-71), the man depicted is noteworthy as a traditional charro whose characteristics and appurtenances satisfy the require ments of the life he leads. Using his father's industriousness as an example, Galan again extols the virtue of work as he does in SQ ma,ny of his other poems. 101 Tiene un viejo caballote, de gigantesca armadura, buen correr, mala andadura, largo piensd y alto trote. • •••••••••••«••••••• Tiene ... nada a lo moderno: perdiz con ancho jaul6n, escopeta de pist6n y polvorines de cuerno. (OC, p. 68) Y tiene tan larga capa, tan ancha capa de paflo, que al caballote castaflo nalgas y cuello le tapa. Gran pensador de negocios, ladino en compras y vent as, serio y honrado en sus cuentas, grave y zumbon en sus ocios, vividor como una oruga, su vida de siempre es £sta: con las gallinas se acuesta, con las alondras madruga. Clavado en la dura silla de su viejo caballote, se va a Extremadura al trote y al trote torna a Castilla; y toma alia montaneras, y arrienda aqui espigaderos, y busca alia invernaderos, y goza aqui primaveras, y viene y va con ganado, ~~ y vende, y vuelve a arrendar, y paga y vuelve a criar ... y siempre esta atareado. (OC, p, 69) "El amo" (OC, p. 211) is the fragment of a poem written shortly after the death of Galan's father (November 26, 1904), probably intended as a companion piece to "El amar" It is a very 102 personal lament showing his reaction to the loss in an identification of himself with the image of Christ as well as in the denomination of the home as a temple. En el nombre de Dios que las abriera, cierro las puertas del hogar paterno, que es cerrarle ami vida un hori2;onte y a Dios cerrarle un templo. Es preciso tener labios de martir para acercarse a ellos la hiel del caliz que en mi mano tr^mula con ojos turbios esperando veo. (OC, p. 211) The emotions felt by a father toward his first child--a Beg otten include a strong paternal pride of accomplishment. In "El Cristu benditu" (OC, pp. 227-233), Galan shows himself to be an exception to this generalization: he gives thanks to Christ for having given him a son and takes no credit for himself. Besides his grate fulness, his reactions to his first-born include those of a teacher turned campesino. As such, his impressions of the situation in which he finds himself are expressed in dialectal terminology to show regret for his withdrawal from the world of learning as well as the necessity for him to adapt to the conditions of his new life. The non-bestowal of worldly gifts by Christ is compensated for by the simple joy of fatherhood and Galan1 s tenderness is associated with the sanctity of his home and the sounds of nature around him. ^Ondi jueron aquellos pensaris que jacian dolel la cabeza de puro lo jondus 103 y en re&os que eran? Ajuyo tuito aquello pa siempri, y ya no me quea m5s remedio que dilme jaciendo a esta via nueva. (OC, p. 227) jQu€ gtieno es el Cristu de la ermita aquella! -- Pa jacel m&s alegri mi via, ni dineros me di6 ni jacienda, polque ice la genti que sabi que la dicha no esta en la riqueza. Ni me jizu marques, ni menistro, ni alcaldi siquiera, pa podel dil a misa el primero con la ensinia los dias de fiesta y sentalmi a la vera del cura jaciendu fachenda, jPa esas cosas que son de fanfarria no da nada el Cristu de la ermita aquella! (OC, p. 229) Pero aquel que jaciendo pucheros se jinqui en la tierra, y, dispu€s de rezali, le iga las jielis que tenga, que se vaiga tranquilo pa casa, que ha de dali el Cristu lo que le convenga. A mi me di6 un hijo que paeci de rosa y de cera, como dos angelinos que adornan el retablo mayol de la inglesia. (OC, p. 230) The foregoing illustrate Galan1 s deep personal involvement in the familial themes of his poetry, an involvement that finds further expression in episodic narrations having to do with his neighbors. Some of these are very realistic descriptions of what would seem to be actual happenings, others could be classified as realistic allego ries. Furthermore, in his poetry of the people Galan is often 104 didactic, often moralizing, often trying to better the conditions of the less fortunate either by precept or by example, "Mi vaquerillo" (OC, pp. 427-429) is one of these realistic descriptions, apparently based on the poet's own experience. While the poem seems directed to show the harshness of life for the young cowherd in the mountains of Spain, it nonetheless serves to point up Galan's compassion for the boy--a compassion carried beyond that of mere emotion to a tangible conclusion. In this case it is not the sub ject of the poem, the boy, who responds to the stimulus of environ mental stress, but the poet whose conscience is moved to ameliorate the herder's working conditions. He dormido esta noche en el monte con el nirio que cuida mis vac as. i Me daba una lastima recordar que en los campos desiertos (OC, p. 427) tan solo pasaba las noches ... ! j Recordar que dormido pudieran pisarlo las vacas, morderle en los labios horrendas tarantulas, matarlo los lobos, comerlo las aguilas! ... jVaquerito mio! j Cuan amargo era el pan que te daba! He pasado con 61 esta noche, y en las horas de mas honda calma me habl6 la conciepcia muy duras palabras ... y le dije que si, que era horrible ..., que llorandolo el alma ya estaba. (OC, p. 428) 105 Y le dije con voz de carifio cuando vi clarear la maflana: - - j Despierta, mi mozo, Tu te quedas luego guardando las vacas, y a la noche te vas y las dejas ... jSan Antonio bendito las guarda! ... Y a tu madre a la noche le dices que vaya a mi casa, porque ya eres grande y te quiero aumentar la soldada. (OC, p. 429) "Elegla" (OC, pp. 457-463) may be considered a companion poem to "Mi vaquerillo" even though it is not a first but a third person narrative since the poet himself is not directly involved. Instead, as an onlooker, he dramatically relates the catastrophe that befalls a little girl sent into the mountains to take food to a goatherd, similar to the vaquerillo. The poem tells a simple story and describes in very realistic terms not only the details of the girl's trip to the pasturage but also what remains of her after she has been attacked by the wolves. The simplicity of the account is enhanced by the sin cerity of the boy's sorrow, associated, as is customary with Galan, with the imagery of nature. Trece aftos cumple para la Pascua la cabrerilla de Casablanca. Su pobre madre sola la manda todas las tardes a la majada. 106 Lleva ropilla, lleva viandas y trae jugosa leche de cabras. Vuelve de noche, porque es muy larga, porque es muy dura la caminada para un asnillo que apenas anda. (OC, p. 457) j La cabrerilla de Casablanca por fieros lobos, jay!, devorada! Sangre en las penas, sangre en las matas, j la virgencita, desbaratada! j Toda en pedazos sobre la grava: (OC, p. 460) los huesecitos que blanqueaban, la cabellera presa en las matas, rota en mechones y ensangrentada! ... Los zapatitos, las pobres say as todas revueltas y desgarradas! ... y el cabrerillo de la majada mudo y atonito tremiendo estaba con los ojazos llenos de lagrimas, despavorido como zorzala de un aguilucho presa en las garras. ^Como los arboles no se desgajan? ^Como las perias 107 no se quebrantan, y no se enturbian las fuentes claras y no ennegrecen las noches blancas ? (OC, p. 461) Ya vienen hombres con unas andas con unos patios, con una s&bana; los despojitos en ella guardan y se los llevaii a Casablanca. Y al cabrerillo nadie lo llama, pero 61 camina tras de las andas mirando a todos con la mirada de herido pajaro que en torno vaga de los verdugos que le arrebatan el dulce nido donde habitaba. (OC, p. 462) Both "Los postres de la merienda" (OC, pp. 249-252) and "Balsamo casero" (OC, pp. 261-263) describe in dramatic narrative style the arduous life led by the peasant whose hopes often end in disappointment and whose fears for the welfare of his family are not always alleviated by the results of his own labors. Francisco of "Los postres de la merienda" is portrayed as contending not only with an unfriendly environment but also with an inconsiderate overseer. In this poem, Galan offers no mitigating moral or plea for help. In stead, he lets the uncompromising attitude of the boss and the despair of the worker speak for themselves. 108 El sol quemaba, y al mediar el dia interrumpi6 Francisco la faena: una faena trabajosa y ruda, menos propia de hombres que de bestias. Y laxos ya los musculos de acero, medio asfixiando, con las fauces secas, limpiandose los ojos escaldados y mascando el polvillo de la tierra, a la sombra candente de un olivo se dispuso a comerse la merienda: un pedazo de pan como caliza y un trago de agua ... si la hubiese cerca. (OC, p. 249) "Seguiremos asin, como poamo$, aguantando, aguantando lo que venga, jasta que ya se llenin las medias, i porque me gieri que el muchacho y ella no se puean jartal de pan y trigo ni un torresnino por colalo tengan! ...11 Por aqui iba Francisco en sus pensares Y ante Francisco, en ademan air ado, gruri6 el verdugo con la voz muy seca: "No quiero jornaleros comodones que a la sombra tan frescos se me sientan, ni senoritos finos que se tardan una hora en comerse la merienda. La herramienta parada, tu sentado, y luego, j qu£ te paguen a peseta! Te debo medio dia, deja el corte y a la noche te vas a por la cuenta. " (OC, p*. 251) In "Balsamo casero" the poet shows us the discouragement of a tenant farmer. This time, however, the ability of a family to cooperate in a mutual endeavor to get out of debt is presented as the restorative fac tor. Est&mos perdibs, no hay que dali gualtas, 109 que ya estoy mu jar to de jechal la cuenta, y caves que giielvo se me poni dolo de cabeza. --Quicio, no te agines. (OC, p. 261) Verda que se debin toas esas gabelas; pero, mira, tenemos posibles pa pagal sin vendel la jacienda. Trienta duros quicias la potranca te vali en la feria; tres guarropos, a cinco, son quinci, y prena la lichona mos quea; entri yo y la muchacha otros cinco mos ganamos jilando dos telas, que quicias esti ivierno poamos jilal dos y media; con los burros, a dias perdlos, tii te sac as tres durus de guebras, y las miajas de rastras que faltan y el r€ito que sea, lo poemos maral con jornalis de la aceitunera de los cavucheos y de la laveria. (OC, p. 262) Si asperan un afio, no se quea a debel una perra. (OC, p. 263) "Cuentas del tio Mariano" (OC, pp. 53-!jj6) and "Surco arriba y surco abajo" (OC, pp. 103-106) further illustrate the poet's con sciousness of the poverty of the tenant farmer as well as the farmer's need for assistance. Both protagonists call upon the charity of a higher terrestial power: in the first poem, of the owner of the land; in the second, of the king who is coming to visit Salamanca. Both the owner and the king represent absentee landlords who have the power to im prove the lot of their people. In the "Cuentas, " Tio Mariano asks only 110 for a lowering of his rent to which the poet adds his moralizing plea: ... el tio Mariano puso cara de ansiedad, dijo con pena, mirando y el cuerpo zarandeando, las torres de la ciudad: "Si hogaTio fuese alia un dia y el amo bajar siquiera seis fanegas ..., ; cualisquiera, cualisquiera me tosia! ...11 j Sefior del tio Mariano!: si acude a ti, s€ piadoso, que haras un hogar dichoso con seis fanegas de grano. (OC, p. 56) The two cows yoked together to plow "surco arriba y surco abajo" symbolize the servitude of the peasant. In this poem Tio Roque is the farmer struggling to raise a crop at the same time denouncing the harshness of the land he is trying to cultivate. With the simplicity of the untutored man he expects the king not only to be aware of his needs but also to be able to satisfy them. Through the medium of these two campesinos Galan is forcefully calling attention to the poverty of those who work the soil. In fact, he read "Surco arriba y surco abajo" dur ing a function attended by King Alfonso XII in the Breton Theatre (Salamanca) in September of 1904. Ca vez mas senora te se pone la tierra y mas mala. No te sirve que le eches simiente como chochos de gorda y de blanca. Ill ni que en piedra lipiz gastes las pestafias, ni que rompas, y bines y tercies, y les des arica bien temprana. Cuasi con coguelmo seis fanegas u siete derramas y te dan veintinueve raidas, que ni cuasi el trabajo le sacas. Y esto es echar uno las cuentas galanas, porque si una palabra te viene, que no son muy ralas, ni siquiera te deja un pajuco pa sacar del invierno las vacas, j cuanti mils un chocho pa meter en casa! Y enta no es lo malo que no coj as nada, porque en un apur6n, hate cuenta que un invierno ... en la careel se pasa; (QC, p. 104) Yo no s6, pero yo me magino de que el rey no vendra a ver la Plaza, que en el mesmo Madrid habra muchas, no agraviando a la nuestra, tan guapas. Me magino de que 61 no se fia y que viene a oservar lo que pasa, porque hacienda en poder de criaos se la lleva en un verbo la trampa. Me magino que viene a enterarse de si tiras p'alante u atrasas, de si siembras, u comes, o ayunas, u pierdes u ganas. De modo y manera que en queriendo fijarse una miaja, se ha de dir al Palacio enterao de ma e cuatro la^timas, que, si a mano viene, podra remediartelas, u siquiera poner los posibles, que en pusi£ndolos bien no te fallan ... (PC, p. 106) 112 During that same month of September, Gal in wrote and had published in the numero extraordinario that the magazine Las Hurdes dedicated to the king, a long poem in quintillas "A su majestad el rey" (OC, pp. 107-110). In this poem the poet identifies himself with a country background and begs the king to help the people of Las Hurdes, who are dying of hunger. Even though we have found innumerable instances of the value of work in the poetry of Galan, here he recog nizes the need of some poor humans to be helped so that they will be able to work. He identifies the king with God, with the idea of public welfare, as well as with the patria, and reminds him, 11 jPatria sois tambi£n, selior!" (OC, p. 110). Sefior: No soy un juglar; soy un sincero cantor del castellano solar. Canto el alma popular; no tengo nombre, sefior. (OC, p. 107) No s£ con reyes hablar; mas bien podr6is perdonar que yo platique con vos tal como en son de rezar platico de esto con Dios. Estame la fe ensefiando y estame el amor diciendo que todo se torna blando a nuestro Dios invopando y a nuestro rey requiriendo. Sefior: en tierras hermanas • de estas tierras castellanas, no viven vida de humanos nuestros miseros hermanos de las montafias jurdanas. (OC, p. 108) 113 aqui los parias estan ... De hambre del alma se mueren, se mueren de hambre de pan. (OC, p. 109) However, it was not until June of 1922 that the king actually . visited Las Hurdes and started public works projects to bring help to the people. In the meantime the conditions depicted in "La jurdana" (OC, pp. 486-488) prevailed. In this poem Galan uses a woman and her starving baby as symbols of the poverty of the region in order to call the attention of the people of Spain to the conditions that exist in this unproductive area. In his conclusion, Galan recognizes, as he has done in other poems, two requisites for the regeneration of the jurdanos: food for the body and ideas for the mind. • Era un dia crudo y turbio de febrero que las sierras azotaba con el latigo iracundo de los vientos y las aguas ... Unos vientos que pasaban restallando las silbantes finas alas ... Unos turbios desatados aguaceros, cuyas gotas aceradas descendian de los cielos como flechas y corrlan por la tierra como lagrimas. Como bajan de las sierras tenebrosas las fam£lic&s hambrientas alimafias, por la cuesta del serrucho va bajando la pauperrima jurdana ... Lleva el frio de las fiebres en los huesos, lleva el frio de las penas en el alma, lleva el pecho hacia la tierra, lleva el hijo a las espaldas ... Viene sola, como flaca loba joven por el latigo del hambre flagelada, con la fiebre de sus hambres en los ojos, con la angustia de sus hambres en la entrafia. (OC, p. 486) 114 Es la imagen del serrucho solitario de miserrimos lentiscos y pizarras; es el simbolo del barro empedernido de los Slveos de las fuentes agotadas ... Ni sus venas tienen fuego, ni su carne tiene savia, ni sus pechos tienen leche, ni sus ojos tienen lagrimas ... Y ahora viene, y ahora viene de sus sierras a pedirnos a las gentes sin entrafias el mendrugo que arrojamos a la calle si a la puerta no lo pide la jurdana. (OC, p. 487) Yo les pido dos limosnas para ellos a los hijos de mi patria: jPan de trigo para el hambre de sus cuerpos! jPan de ideas para el hambre de sus almas! (OC, p. 488) The companion poem, "Dos paisajes" (OC, pp. 481-485), pre sents this same problem in a more allegorical setting, depicting two types of countryside: one dreamed and the other lived. The reality is that of the "muerto vivir" (OC, p. 483) imposed on the people of Las Hurdes by the barren land on which they live while the dream is the poet's conception of an idealized transformation from the image of living death to one of vibrant life. This metamorphosis includes not only the regeneration of the soil but also of the people so that Galan's dream of productivity may be fulfilled. As we have pointed out before, food for the mind is of equal importance to the poet as food for the body and both concepts are linked to his high esteem of the value of labor. The excerpts quoted show first the hopelessness of the people who inhabit this unproductive area^then, in contrast, the happiness of 115 the jurdanos whose land and life have been reclaimed. Gal&n's moral again calls attention to the power of love. Era un trozo de tierra jurdano sin una alquerla; era un trozo de mundo sin ruido, de mundo sin vida. Era un campo tan solo, tan solo como un cementerio, donde mas hondamente se sienten los hondos silencios. (OC, p. 481) No tenian trigales las lomas, ni huertos las vegas, ni sotillos las frescas umbrias, ni arboles la sierra ... ... holgaban desnudos nifritos hambrientos, devorando sopores de muerte del alma y del cuerpo. Y unas ruines mujeres traian de pueblos lejanos miserables mendrugos mohosos envueltos en trapos ... Y unos hombres huraftos y entecos la tierra arariaban como ruines raposos sin presa que el paramo escarban. (OC, p. 482) Era un trozo de tierra jurdana con una alquerla; era un trozo de mundo vibrante, de ruido s de vida. Era un campo con flores y frutos, con hombres y pajaros, con caricias de sol y aguas puras de limpios regatos. (OC, p. 483) 116 j La visi6n de los campos incultos que ricos se tornan si los bafia del sol del trabajo la luz creadora! Y del tfti'l saber en un templo bando alegre de nifios que un hombre discreto guiaba, la salud y la vida beblan del cuerpo y del alma. Y unas madres ..., amasaban el pan de los suyos, rezaban, bullian, gobernaban la casa cantando, jcantando la vida! (OC, p. 484) Y unos hombres briosos y cultos labraban los campos con la sana alegria que infunden la paz y el trabajo. jDos paisajes! El uno soflado y el otro vivido. Del vivir al sofiar, ^hay distancia? jPues amor cegara tal abismo! (OC, p. 485) "Los sedientos" (OC, pp. 134-137) is of the same allegorical type as "Dos paisajes" but without specific reference to the region of Las Hurdes. The poet uses the symbols of an emaciated virgin with twenty skinny female goats in a wilderness on one side of a river in opposition to a husky young boy with twenty vigorous female goats wandering in lush vegetation on the other. The boy seems to repre sent the hope of mankind--to make the desert bloom literally and figuratively. Again the moral is stated that there should be better 117 communication and mutual understanding among men and that love and work should be brought to the desert. Vagando va por el erial ingrato, detras de veinte cabras la desgarrada muchachuela virgen, una broncinea enflaquecida estatua. Tiene apretadas las morenas carnes, tiene ceftuda y sofiolienta el alma, cerrado y sordo el coraz6n de piedra, secos los labios, dura la mirada ... Sin verla ni sentirla, la est6ril vida arrastra encima de unas tierras siempre grises, debajo de unas nubes siempre pardas, Come pan negro, enmohecido y duro, bebe en los charcos pestilentes aguas, se alberga en un cubil, viste guifiapos; y se acuesta en un lecho de retamas. (OC, p. 134) A1 otro lado del sereno rio que el borde del erial lavando pas a, Naturaleza derram6 unos montes Por esos montes que robusto crian todo lo vivo que en sus senos guardan, vaga un hermoso zagal6n impuber detras de veinte vigorosas cabras cuyas duras pezufias no repican sobre est6riles lechos de pizarras, pues tiene el monte alfombras esplSndidas y blandas, musgo de terciopelo en los pefiascos y tr€boles de seda en las caRadas. (OC, p. 136) El es el limo de las tierras virgenes, el es promesa de las tierras aridas, €l es esti'ofa del amor dormido, 61 un vaso de savia que en abundancia de cogiielmo rico rebosara m aft ana. 118 Y entonces el salvaje solitario clavara las pupilas dilatadas en la virgen sedienta del p&ramo sediento que la mata, y sediento de amor, ebrio de vida, desnudos cuerpo y alma, querra cruzar el espumoso rio, querra posar en el erial la planta, querra quebrar en el trabajo el cuerpo, querra dormir en el amor el alma ... j Hombres de la cultural, tended un puente sobre aquellas aguas ..., que se acerquen los hijos de los hombres, que se junten los hatos de las cabras, jque del monte feraz pasen al paramo del amor y el trabajo las sustancias! (OC, p. 137) The fecundity motif is found in a number of Galan's idyls. In the previous two poems it was used as a contrast to the theme of sterility and to indicate the poet's ideal of productivity in nature. In the following four poems this same ideal is presented as a correla tion of the fulfillment or, in some instances, the thwarting of human expectations. In "Fecundidad" (OC, pp. 401-406) the solitary, taci turn man, living alone among the high peaks, reflects the starkness of his environment yet finds happiness with the mitigating influence of love, marriage, and a home. Alia, en las crestas de los riscos negros, cerca del vientre de las nubes pardas, donde la mano que los rayos forja las detonantes tempestades fragua, alii vivia el montaraz cabrero su tenebrosa vida solitaria, melanc6lico Adan de un paraiso sin Eva y sin manzanas ... 119 Las sierras imponentes le dieron a su alma la terrible dureza de sus rocas, la intensa lobreguez de sus gargantas, las sombras tristes de las noches negras, la inclemencia feroz de sus borrascas, los cefios de sus dias cenicientos, las asperezas de sus brefias bravas, la indolencia brutal de sus reposos y el eterno callar de sus entrafias. (OC, p. 402) Y vi una tarde el amoroso idilio sobre la cima de la azul montafia: un sol que se ponia, una limpia caseta que humeaba, una cuna de helechos a la puerta y una mujer que ante la cuna canta ... Y el hombre en un pefiasco tafiendo dulce gaita que va atrayendo hacia el dorado aprisco los chivos y las cabras ... (OC, p. 406) The earthy symbolism of virginal farm lands and the marriage of a young couple, along with a feeling of thankfulness for fulfillment, is seen in "Campos virgenes" (OC, pp. 264-265). --Tierra bien jolga y de sierra ... j Lo que le jechis te cria! ... --Y asin debi sel la tierra, y asi la genti ..., agraecia ... (OC, p. 265) "Noche fecunda" (OC, pp. 144-146) is another example of the poet's concern with the procreative process--in both the human and the animal world. The poem ends with the ironic twist of the birth of live twin daughters and the still-birth of twin bull calves during the same night. Y asi pasaban los dias, que ya diez meses sumaban; 120 Juan Antonio, trajinando; Josefa, metida en casa; la vaca, creciendo en ubre; y el tiempo, dando esperanzas ... (OC, p. 145) --jDos churros ... y dambos muertos! jDos nifias ... y vivas dambas! (OC, p. 146) The parallelism of the disillusion of human hopes with the destruc tion by natural forces of a cr9p of wheat is the theme of "Una nube" (OC, pp. 407-409). Again Galan's didactic tendencies are displayed as his concluding moral intrudes into the irony of the situation. Que se casen al afio que viene, dispues de cosecha, y hogafio entre dambos le daremos tierra pa que el mozo ya siembra pa ellos esta sementera. (OC, p. 407) Agosto ya vino; su sol ya platea los inmensos tablares de espigas que doblandose henchidos revientan ... j La brisa!... j La brisa! ... sopl6 mas caliente, sopl6 con mas fuerza, humill6 las espigas al suelo, ... la nube cargada de piedra ... jY la nube en los campos inermes derrumb6 aquella carga siniestra!... (OC, p. 408) j Ya no pueden los mozos casarse cuando ellos quisieran! Y es bueno que esperen, jque no es firme el amor que no espera! (OC, p. 409) These, ther^ are some of the poems that illustrate most strongly Gal&n's spiritual naturalism. Where the countryside is 121 dominant, the poet has developed the themes of man within the realms of nature achieving union with a God of nature; he has extolled the virtues of nature and love with an emphasis on voluptuous fecundity and has expressed his ideas of work and prayer as a communal endeavor. He has indicated a real consciousness of the harmony of life as best exemplified by the sincerity of the untutored soul. In the poems where the people involved are of primary interest, we have a repetition of the theme of the group therapy of prayer, which seems to bear out Eoff's statement regarding man's achievement of union with the Divine Mind. Additional motifs include particularly the poet's ideal of womanhood and the embodiment of his ideal. He ex tends this concept, in some instances, to show the moral courage of mothers. Just as his own mother is the prototype of what he would like his wife to be, so is his father the model charro whose example the son would emulate. The poet's interest in the poor and unfortunate is especially evident in his narrative poems describing the life of the campesinos as well as in his attempt to call the unproductivity of Las Hurdes and the poverty of the jurdanos to the attention of the king. The theme of fecundity appears again not only to form a contrast to the sterility of the barren lands, but also as a natural goal. Throughout these poems he shows the effect of environment on the individual and the individual's reaction to the conditions under which he lives; yet at 122 the same time Galan utilizes his descriptions of nature and people as a vehicle for the expression of his ideology. His Attitude toward Solitude, Death, the Past, and his own Environment Solitude, death, the past, and his own environment constitute what may be considered minor or secondary themes in Galan1 s poetry. As such they do not appear so often nor do they play so dominant a role as the concept of spiritual naturalism does in his poetry. Never theless, they are important as a manifestation of the poet's ideology, and selections have been chosen to indicate the relationship of these themes to Galan's basic philosophy as well as any apparent deviations from it. Loneliness, Nothingness, and Death "Gabriel y Galan es ingenuamente optimista ..." says Angel 23 Valbuena Prat, amplifying a comment made by -Federico de Onis 24 that "su tradicionalismo era sano, alegre y sereno. " Fundamentally the statements are in accord with many of the ideas encompassed by Galan's spiritual naturalism as set forth by both Eoff and Pattison. This optimism has also been shown in the poet's expression of what he 23. Historia de la literatura espaflola, II, p. 806. 24. Antologia de la poesla espaflola e hispanoamericana, p. 545. 123 feels to be a realizable ideal--the improvement of man's lot on earth through work and cooperation in conjunction with faith in a God of nature. Yet Valbuena Prat and Onis do not take into account the poet's concern with the ideas of loneliness, nothingness, and death. The three concepts are not mutually exclusive nor are they often main themes, since one, two, or all three of these ideas can also be found underlying the expression of a more predominant motif. The loneliness of men who die without having known the infinite love of God is like that of the sun setting in a desert where there is nothing to register its going down ("Puesta de sol, " QC, pp. 72-73). This is one example of what loneliness means to Galan--a loneliness made concrete in the desolation of a desert of no love. Here the approach to spiritual naturalism is from the negative point of view in which the lack of involvement is emphasized and its consequent need is stressed. Por un cielo mudo y frio, sin nubes y sin color, bajaba un sol moribundo, Eran las tierras de ocaso desiertos que Dios cre6 para que el hombre se acuerde del Paraiso de Dios y muera con la nostalgia del que es infinito amor; Y no tuvo en su caxda ni pueblo que la sinti6, ni pajaro que cantara la vespertina canci6n, 124 ni selva que se moviera, ni hombre que alzara su voz. Entre desiertos desnudos la muerte le sorprendi6, y al que muere en el desierto no le ve nunc a el amor, ni nadie le presta oidos, ni nadie le dice adi6s. Asi muri6 aquella tarde solo y quejandose el sol: jAsi se mueren los hombres que han vivido sin amor! (OC, pp. 72-73) As has been shown previously in "Fecundidad" (OC, pp. 401- 406), the loneliness of man is ended when he takes a wife and has a family of his own. Yet in this same poem, when Galan describes the high mountains among which the solitary Adam lived, he also conveys the idea of the nothingness (la nada) that surrounds these heights: Alia, en las cumbres de las sierras hoscas, alia, en las cimas de las sierras bravas; en la mansi6n de las quietudes grandes, en la regi6n de las silbantes aguilas, donde se borra del vivir la idea, donde se posa la absoluta calma, su nido asientan los silencios grandes, el tiempo pliega sus gigantes alas y el espiritu atento siente flotar en derredor la nada ...; (OC, p. 401) The same feeling is evident in "Desde el campo" (OC, pp. 316-319); Luz ingravida, hija blanca de la nada que te ciernes en los ambitos del cielo; (OC, p. 316) In "Confidencias" (OC, pp. 520-523) Galan speaks of "los mundos de la nada" (OC, pp. 521 and 523) where lives "una sombra peregrina de 125 mujer irrealizable" (OC, p. 520). Unlike most of Galan's poetry directed at femininity, here his ideal is separated from-the physical image. He would like this ideal to take the form of his beloved, but: Dios no quiere que en la vida cristalicen esas sombras de los mundos de la nada; Dios no quiere que la aroma de la idea, condensado por anhelos de quien ama, caiga dentro de ese vaso peregrino de viviente forma humana. (OC, p. 521) Si; las flores y los frutos y las savias de mi vida para ti, que eres humana: los aromas, para ella, que es fantastica figura de los mundos de la nada. (OC, p. 523) An apparent reference to the genesis of the world with God's hand moving "el abismo de la nada" (OC, p. 392) is found in "A la definici6n dogmatica de la Inmaculada Concepci6n" (OC, pp. 392-397). The melancholy of the depths of nothingness appears in "Las canciones de la noche" (OC, pp. 496-500). In this poem the theme of hopelessness is inextricably bound to the poet's feelings of loneliness, nothingness, and death in his unsatisfied search for fulfillment and happiness. Three nights are described. During the first, as the melancholy and lonely poet wandered, all of nature reminded him of the sadness of solitary souls, and he felt that he was the essence of death itself: Por el seno de los montes triste y solo yo vagaba con el alma mas vacia que el abismo de la nada. Y los coros rumorosos de la noche 126 con su musica de oro me cantaban la canci6n de la tristeza de las almas solitarias. Yo era un hongo de los valles de la vida, yo el cadaver de mi raza, yo una sombra que pasaba por el mundo sin dejarle ni la huella de mis plantas, ni los trozos de mi carne redivivos, ni la imagen de mi alma en otras almas, ni los nidos de mis goces, ni los charcos de mis lagrimas ... Yo era sombra, yo era muerte, yo era est£ril movimiento sin sustancia ... y por eso los rumores musicales de la noche misteriosa me cantaban la cancidn de la tristeza, ruin idioma de las almas solitarias. (OC, pp. 496-497) In the course of the second night the poet, "triste y solo, como siem- pre" (OC, p. 497), found a baby boy asleep in the doorway of a goat- herder's hut. This is the symbol of Galan's hope for happiness. In his third night of wandering, the poet returned to the hut only to find the boy dead. With the death of the boy, the poet's soul returned to its former state of vacuity and despair: Todo el pecho de aquel ancho cielo plumbeo gravit6 sobre mi alma, y dej6mela el delito como antes, mas vacia que el abismo de la nada. Y le dije a la armonia de la noche: "No me cantes la canci6n de la esperanza: canta el himno del dolor inapelable, que es la carga ineludible de mi alma.11 (OC, p. 500) The loneliness and lack of hope manifested in "Las canciones de la noche" are also found in "Soledad" (OC, pp. 333-337). The latter poem, however, does not end on a pessimistic note but goes 127 beyond it to find hope for redemption through the Virgen de la Soledad. Antithetical ideas are presented: the happiness and feeling of com pletion that the poet enjoyed when his loved ones were alive are con trasted with the loneliness and agony of emptiness that the poet suffers now that they are dead. Redemption for the weakness and sins of man kind is found through the sufferings and intercessions of the Madre de Dios. The realization of the depth of the Virgin's anguish delivers the poet from the sloughs of his own despair. Yo un dia--jlejano dia!-- gocl de la compaliia de mis placeres mejores; yo bebi de la ambrosia del amor de mis amores; (OC, p. 333) Y otro dia-- jturbio dia! - -, la misma mano que el cielo de mis venturas tefiia con luz de rosa que un velo de eterna aurora fingia, trajo nubes por Oriente, vibr6 el relampago ardiente con cardenos resplandores ... jy el rayo cay6 en la frente del amor de mis amores! Y he sentido en torno mio las tinieblas del vacio con sus hondas ansiedades, y he sentido todo el frio de las grandes soledades ... Y he gritado en la arenosa solitaria inmensidad con ronca voz clamorosa: jNo hay soledad dolorosa como esta mi soledad! (OC, p. 334) 128 jDulce estrella matutina! I Virgen de la Soledad! jYo tambi£n puse una espina sobre la frente divina del Sol de la Humanidad! (OC, p. 336) j Madre mia, madre ml a! Llorando yo soledades que eran como una agonia, dije que nadie sufria tan horrendas ansiedades. Y hoy, que, al ver tu duelo santo, vislumbr£, anegado en llanto, un punto de su grandeza, me han causado igual espanto tu dolor y mi flaqueza. j Dolorida gran Sefiora!, tu soledad, -,ay!, ha sido la segunda redentora de este coraz6n herido que en tu soledad te adora. (OC, p. 337) "Amor" (OC, pp. 450-454) is a series of human yet religious pictures depicting a conflict between death and love. Galan describes the despair he felt over the loss of his mother whom he had loved so deeply. At the beginning of the poem, this despair is translated into complete negation--that a person who does not love is fortunate--he does not have to suffer the deprivation of his loved ones. Again the poet is searching, this time for something impossible to obtain and a goal that he really does not want to reach--"un rinc6ri ... donde no hubiera amor y hubiera vida" (OC, p. 450). Wherever he looked, he found life and there he also found love, whether it was in a shepherd's hut, in a convent, on a desert-like plain, or in the place he least 129 expected--a cemetry. All these episodes are used to point up the poet's grief and loneliness. The beauties of nature and his mother's spirit, however, made him amenable to a change in attitude. He re cognized the regenerative force of love and its ability to bring about a consequent union with the Divine Mind. His faith in the future, seen in the poems discussed in the previous section, has been restored. La muerte con sus soplos heladores apag6 unos amores que fueron viva y rutilante llama; y la copa de hiel de mis dolores me hizo decir: M jFeliz el que no ama! " Y hui cobardemente, vertiendo sangre de la abierta herida, en busca de un rinc6n-- jpobre demente! -- donde no hubiera amor y hubiera vida. En un repliegue de la sierra brava la pobre choza del pastor estaba, y del rustico albergue en los umbrales urraTpobre mujer canturreaba dulcisimas tonadas guturales. (OC, p. 450) i Era un nido de amores la choza de los rusticos pastores! En la cumbre del paramo vacio vi la fabrica ingente de un convento, y, a acogerme corri dentro el sombrio grandioso monumento. Y en las penumbras vanas de sus mlsticas carceles oscuras, una legi6n de virgenes humanas, cantaban y declan: --jjesus! jJesus! ... jTe adoran tus esposas! (OC, p. 451) 130 Cruc£ meditabundo la llanura mon6tona y desierta ..., un pedazo de mundo donde la vida se imagina muerta. S6lo en la lejania un minusculo punto se movia ..., tal vez un hombre que escap6 al desierto, cobarde, como yo, y alii vivia porque todo en redor estaba muerto. Era un ganan que araba la tierra f6rtil de la gris llanura que yo me imaginaba paramo est£ril, infecunda grava, polvo de sepultura ... Y con una tristisima dulzura que convidaba a padecer dolores, vibr6 la voz del rudo campesino y este cantar de amores llev6 la brisa hasta el lugar vecino. (OC, p. 452) i Aqul no hablan de amor! --dije a las puertas del de los muertos olvidado asilo; y por las calles, frias y desiertas, triste vagu£, pero vagu£ tranquilo. Y en losas sepulcrales, "jAmor, amor, amor!" leian mis ojos, j Mentira! --dije--. j Soledad y olvido! Los vivos, ^d6nde estan? jEstan viviendo! ... Y de alia, del rinc6n mas escondido, ... una pobre anciana .,. ... asi decia: --jNo estas solo, hijo mio! jTe acompana el dolor del alma mia! (OC, pp. 452-453) Pas£ despu^s por la gentil pradera jYo me embriagu£! Las puertas del sentido 131 y del alma las puertas, torn£ a poner frente al vivir abiertas, llam£ al amor y me entregu£ rendido. Y la sombra querida que en el sepulcro abandon^ en mi huida, me dijo que el amor era la cosa m£s bella de la vida; me dijo que el amor era mas fuerte, mas grande que la muerte; me dijo que la vida en el desierto es cobarde vivir de un vivo muerto; Y me dijo tambi^n: "La vida es bella; si en ella descubrieses, tras mi huella, la honda belleza de que esta nutrida y me quieres amar ..., ama la vida que a Dios y a mi nos amaras en ella. " (OC, pp. 453-454) Death induced by jealousy compounded with witchcraft is the theme of "Sortilegio" (OC, pp. 493-495), an unusual example of the supernatural among Galan's writings. There is no beauty in this night described by the poet, only the horror of the diabolical and supernatural. Instead of a union with God, a union with the opposing forces of evil that have taken possession of the sorceress and the jealous woman is depicted. No faith in the future is shown; it is re placed by desperation and suicide. In fact, "Sortilegio" seems to express the direct opposite of the philosophy of Galan's other poems. Una noche de sibilas y de brujos y de gnomos y de trasgos y de magas; una noche de sortilegas diab6licas; una noche de perversas quiromanticas, y de todos los espasmos, y de todas las eclampsias y de horribles hechiceras epilfipticas. 132 y de infames agoreras enigmdticas; una noche de macabros aquelarres, y de horrendas infernales algaradas, y de pactos, y de ritos, y de oraculos y de todos las diab6licas vesanias, por horrendos petiascales que blanquean, a los rayos de una enferma luna palida, con la fiebre de la hembra, la celosa, ya delante de la vieja nigromantica. Como sombras del abismo se detienen a la orilla de rugiente catarata. (OC, p, 493) jNo esta Dios en la celosa, no esta Dios en la sortilega sat&nica! (OC, p. 494) - - [Que la ama! ... La celosa llen6 el aire con los timbres de una horrenda desgarrante carcajada y acercandose a los bordes del abismo se arroj6 tras el infierno de las aguas. (OC, p, 495) The following three poems also have death and despair as their main themes, but unlike "Sortilegio" the despair is a result of death or dying, not the cause of it. In the first of the poems ,"La vela" (OC, pp, 433-426), Galdn describes the dolefulness of the death and burial of a young man's sweetheart. The poet here is not only ths narrator and commentator but also the only one to see the symbol of hope--a piece of farm equipment "ardiendo con tr£mula luz opaca el aguij6n" (OC, p. 426). La moza muri<5 a la aurora y el moza no sabe nada, que m&s temprano que el dia se levant<$ esta maftana, y alma blanda y cuerpo recio bregando est&n en la arada. 133 con una pena muy honda, con una tierra muy aspera. (OC, p. 423) Parece que Dios se ha ido del yermo que antes llenaba y el alma se siente sola en el centro de la nada. (OC, p. 424) Llegaron al campo santo cuando aquel gaTian llegaba ya con el dltimo surco del campo santo a la tapia que araba el muchacho en tierras al cementerio rayanas porque en vida y en amores piensa no mas el que ama. (OC, p. 425) Cay6 el mozo de rodillas, una mano en la aguijada, otra mano en la mancera, un dogal en la garganta, y en el coraz6n un nudo, y un mar de hiel en el alma, - - j Ni una velita siquiera que tengo para alumbraria! — Asi, con honda ironia, dijo el gaftan sin palabras. Si hubiese alzado a los cielos la triste turbia mirada, viera mansamente ardiendo con tr6mula luz opaca el aguij6n que guarnece la enhiesta, recta, aguijada ... (OC, pp. 425-426) "El desahuciado" (OC, pp. 244-247) is the lament of a man for whose illness, as the title indicates, there is no remedy. Here no hope nor religious faith is evident to mitigate the anxiety the dying man feels for his family. Instead, he ruminates, La jacienda, tuita perdia; los pagos, cayendo; 134 la mujel y el chiquino, escaldaos, jechos unos negros, que me estoy ajogando de ansionis n'amas que de velos. (OC, pp. 244-245) "El embargo" (OC, pp. 239-240) develops a similar theme of despair, except that this poem narrates the effect the death of a man's wif$ has on him. He is being evicted; most of his possessions have already been sold to pay for medicine which did not cure her. Of the few things that are left, he wants to keep only the bed in which his wife died. Again, in his interpretation of the countryman's emotions, Galan omits all reference to the solace of faith. Embargal, embargal los avios, que aqui no hay dinero: lo he gastao en comtas pa ella y en boticas que no le sirvieron; y eso que me quea, porque no me di6 tiempo a vendello, ya me esta sobrando, ya me esta jediendo, (OC, p. 239) Sefiol jues: que nenguno sea osao de tocali a esa cama ni un pelo, porque aqui lo jinco delanti ust6 mesmo. Llevaisoslo todu, todu, menus eso, que esas mantas tienin suol de su cuerpo ... ;y me giielin, me guelin a ella ca ves que las giielo! ... (OC, p. 24Q) Similarly macabre is "^Qu^ tendra?" (OC, pp. 149-150) ex cept that in this poem death is an abstract rather than a specific theme. The scarves worn to the dance by the daughter of the 135 undertaker are the symbol of the cessation of life which the poet places in contrast to the symbol of life--the dance itself. Again the spiritual side of Galan's naturalism has been omitted; only man's horror of the attributes of death is apparent. ^Qu£ tendra la hija del sepulturero, que con asco la miran los mozos, que las mozas la miran con miedo? Cuando llega el domingo a la plaza y esta el bailoteo como el sol de alegre, vivo como el fuego, no parece sino que una nube se atraviesa delante del cielo; no parece sino que se anuncia que se acerca, que pasa un entierro ... (OC, p. 149) Y ella sigue desdenes rumiando, y ella sigue rumiando desprecios, pero siempre acercandose a todos, siempre sonriendo, Presentandose en fiestas y bailes y estrenando mas ricos panuelos ... ^Qu6 tendra la hija del sepulturero? Me lo dijo un mozo: 11 ^Ve usted esos panuelos? Pues se cuenta que son de otras mozas ... jde otras mozas que estan ya pudriendo! ...11 Y es verdi que paece que guelen, que gGelen a muerto ... (OC, p. 150) A mordant and realistic commentary on the life of the poor people in the country is found in "La 'Galana'" (OC, pp. 208-210). The poem also demonstrates against nature since the transferral of 136 'the goat's maternal instinct to the human baby causes the death of her own kid. But this violation of natural instinct is not successful in saving the baby's life; the goat is mortally injured and with its death the child also dies. Justice did not shine in this instance, bitterly comments the poet. j Pobrecita madre! jSe muri6 solita! Cuando vino el cabrero a la choza con la cabra Galana parida y el tr£mulo chivo sin lamer ni atetar todavia, vi6 a la madre muerta y a la nina viva. Sobre un borriquillo, sobre una angarilla de las del aprisco, se llevaron la muerta querida y el se qued6 solo, solo con la nina ... La envolvi6 torpemente en panales de dura sedija, y amoroso la puso a la teta de la cabra Galana, parida ... " j Galana, Galana! I Tate bien quietita! ... jTate asin, que pueda mamar la mi niria!11 Y la cabra balaba celosa, por la fiebre materna encendida, y poquito a poquito, la teta fue chupando la d6bil ninita ... jPobre cabritillo! j Corta fu€ tu vida! (OC, pp. 208-209) ^Serlan los lobos? ^Algdn hombre perverso serla? Una tarde la cabra Galana, la amante nodriza, se arrastraba a la puerta del chozo mortalmente herida. 137 Ni leche de ovejas ni dulces papillas, ni mimos, ni besos . .. jSe muri6 la nifta! jEsta vez qued6 el crimen impune! jEsta vez no brill6 la justicia! (OC, pp. 209-210) "Sortilegio, M "El desahuciado, " "El embargo, " "^Qu€ tendra?," and "La 'Galana'" can hardly be said to contribute to Oni£' classification of a wholesome, happy, and serene traditionalism. Obviously the treatment of the idea of death in the somber vignettes just considered differs greatly from the very personal projection of the poet's emotions in "El ama, " "Treno, " "El amo, " "Amor de madre, " and "Lo inagotable, " discussed in a previous chapter. In the latter poems there is greater identification of the poet with the people in volved and less abstraction of the themes of loneliness, nothingness, and death. Galan's interest in the theme of death goes beyond the instances of familial involvement or narrative non-involvement mentioned. Two poems bring out a somewhat different viewpoint: "Presagio" (OC, pp. 89-92) and "Canci6n" (OC, pp. 212-216), of which the second seems to complement the first. "Presagio" depicts an elderly husband's consciousness of the debilities of old age as well as of his approaching death. For the first time we see a vicarious fear of dying on the part of the poet. 138 ^Ves ese tronco, Agustina, que en el hogar se calcina y da a mis miembros calor? Pues es el de aquelle encina del valle de Fuenmayor. No mataron sus vigores ni el cuchillo de la helada ni el dogal de los calores, sino la mano pesada de los alios destructores. (OC, p. 89) Yo tengo miedo, Agustina, que el tiempo que se avecina me busca amenazador ... j Ay, que ya muri6 la encina del valle de Fuenmayor! ... (OC, p. 92) nCanci6nM (OC, pp. 212-216) reveals this same preoccupation with death, peculiar to the aging and the aged, coupled with the des perate striving to keep on living seen in "El desahuciado. " Galan was 25 only 34 years of age when he wrote this poem, and, even though he speaks of the evening of his life as if he were already an old man, he does not want to rush through the doors opened by God but go step by step. He feels that his union with God should be accomplished through the living and thus wants to leave behind a physical as well as a spirit ual heritage. The resignation and acceptance of God's will that are found in "El ama,11 for example, are not at all evident in "Cancidn, " when it is his own death that is being contemplated: 25. Described in an editorial note as "La ultima que escribi6 el autor, pocos dias despu£s de la muerte de su padre, y pocos tambi£n antes de la suya propia. " (OC, p. 212). 139 I Ay! . A1 Uegar a las puertas de la tarde de mi vida, voz de los cielos venida me ha dicho: Ya estan abiertas! j Entra y sigue, ..." (OC, p. 213) jQuiero vivir! Dios es vida. ^No veis que en vida convierte la ancianidad que en la muerte cay6 con dulce caida? ^No soy yo vida nacida de vidas que a ml se dieran? Pues vidas que en mi se unieran, si vivo, no han de morir, jpor eso quiero vivir, porque mis muertos no mueran! (OC, p. 215) j Quiero vivir! A Dios voy y a Dios no se va muriendo, se va al Oriente subiendo por la breve noche de hoy. De luz y de sombras soy y quiero darme a las dos. jQuiero dejar de mi en pos robusta y santa semilla de esto que tengo de arcilia, de esto que tengo de Dios! (OC, p. 216) It appears from the foregoing examples that the statements made by Valbuena Prat and Federico de Onis are not always applicable to Galan's poetry. While the poet's optimism may mitigate the desola tion of loneliness in such poems as "Fecundidad" and "Soledad, " it does not do so in "Puesta de sol. " The nothingness described by Galan does not relate to optimism nor to pessimism but to the awe some spaces within the poet's natural world and its surroundings. With the exception of "Sortilegio," death is treated as a natural force 140 and, at times, with brutal effectiveness so that little-; of the spiritual side of Galan's naturalism is manifest. Ubi ierunt ? Contrary to what one might expect, the memento mori theme is strikingly absent from Galan's poetry as is the question, ubi sunt?. Even in "El ama" and "Treno, " the two poems most deeply inspired by his mother's death, he does not philosophize on the passing of the vanities and glories of mankind. The people and things with whom and with which she was associated remain and the poet draws no conclusions as to the universality of death. The questions that the poet does ask • concern where certain ideas, inspirations, traditions, and people have gone, and why some of these "good old times" do not return, not where they are now. And his questions are found in poems other than those in which death is a prominent theme. In "El Cristu benditu" (OC, pp. 227-233) his lament is for the personal loss of ideas and inspirations that used to be of value to him; here the loss is compensated by the birth of his son: ^Ondi jueron los tiempos aquellos, que pue que no guelvan, cuando jul presona leia que jizu comedias y aleluyas tami£n y cantaris pa cantalos en una vigiiela? (OC, p. 227) ;Qu6 guapo es mi neni! jYa no tengo pena! jQu€ giieno es el Cristu de la ermita aquella! (OC, p. 233) 141 But his main concern, national rather than personal, is with the past glories of Spain and his often expressed hope that the people will rise again to the stature that they formerly enjoyed. Much of this is inextricably bound in with his feeling for the countryside as a repository for the traditional values he esteems. "Los pastores de mi abuelo" (OC, pp. 464-469) is one manifestation of Galan's poetic association with the past and the countryside. Here the attitude of the common man, as typified by the shepherds and the cowhands, reflects conditions--both past and present--in Spain. Using these workers as a symbol, the poet extols the merits of the past, laments the change for the worse, and wishes that the past could return since he can no longer find the true country poets nor the good life about which they used to sing. He proposes no remedy to cure the ills that he finds in his contemporary society, however. He dormido en la majada sobre un lecho de lentiscos embriagado por el vaho de los humedos apriscos y arrullado por murmullos de mansisimo rumiar. He comido pan sabroso con entrafias de carnero que guisaron los pastores en blanquisimo caldero suspendido de las Hares sobre el fuego del hogar. Y al arrullo sonoliento de mon6tonos hervores, he charlado largamente con los rusticos pastores y he buscado en sus sentires algo bello que decir ... , Ya se han ido, ya se han ido! j Ya no encuentro en la comarca los pastores de mi abuelo, que era un viejo patriarca con pastores y vaqueros que rimaban el vivir! Se acabaron para siempre los selvaticos juglares que alegraban las majadas con historias y cantares y romances peregrinas de muchisimo sabor. (OC, p. 464) 142 jHe dormido en la majada! Blasfemaban los pastores maldiciendo la fortuna de los amos y sefiores que habitaban los palacios de la m&gica ciudad; y grufixan rencorosos como perros amarrados venteando los placeres y blandiendo los cayados que heredaron de otros hombres como cetros de la paz. (PC, p. 465) Yo quisiera que vagase por los rvisticos asilos, no la casta fabulosa de fantasticos Batilos que jamas en las majadas de mis montes habitd, sino aquella casta de hombres vigorosos y severos, mas leales que mastines, mas sencillos que corderos, mas esquivos que lobatos, jmas poetas, ay, que yo! (PC, p. 467) jQue reviva, que rebulla por mis chozos y casetas la castiza vieja raza de selvaticos poetas que la vida buena vieron y rimaron el vivir! j Que repueblen las campinas de la cl&sica comarca los pastores y vaqueros de mi abuelo el patriarca que con ellos tuvo un dia la fortuna de morir! (PC, p. 469) In "Tradicional" (PC, pp. 470-473), the poet not only recalls nostalgically his ancestral past but also expresses in a forthright fashion his desire to carry on the traditions of his forefathers. He accepts the fact that his ancestors have died and looks only for a wife and family to live with him in the garden he has inherited. El huerto que hered£ de mis mayores no tiene bellas flores de efimero vivir ni tenues frondas; tiene hiedra sagrada de hojas perennes y ralces hondas; fresca nifiez y ancianidad honrada. (PC, p. 470) He nacido en amenas, castizas y santisimas comarcas y corre por mis venas sangre de venerables patriarcas 143 que me legaron ensefianzas buenas, huerto, escudo, solar y oro en sus areas. Mas, en mi est£ril soledad hundido. Amor me ha visitado. Amor me ha herido, y hervor de sangre que mi cuerpo inunda dice que no he nacido para morir est£ril junto al nido de una raza fecunda. Dondequiera que est£s, mujer hermosa, predestinada esposa, que merezcas posar aqul tu planta, que merezcas sentarte en esta piedra que coron6 de hiedra la mano de una santa, ven al huerto querido, y a la sombra de Dios, Padre del mundo, pondremos cama nueva al viejo nido que mi sangre y mi Dios quieren fecundo. (PC, p. 472) Unlike in "Los pastores de mi abuelo" and "Tradicional, " the theme of "La canci6n del terrufio" (OC, pp. 517-519) is not limited to the life surrounding Galan's immediate forebears, but is extended to include the familial relationship of all Spaniards in general. The poem is concerned with the decadence of Spain, and the land, person ified, is both cradle and grave for the bodies and souls of its sons. Spain has become "un decr£pito ya est£ril" (OC, p. 518), one which should be rejuvenated by God as is Nature. This renewal of strength and vigor needs more than God's help, however. It also requires not only effort on the part of the Spaniards but also, as the poet has stated before, the inspiration of new ideas. De los cuerpos y las almas de mis hijos yo soy cuna, yo soy tumba, yo soy patria; yo soy tierra donde afincan sus amores, yo soy tierra donde afincan sus nostalgias, yo soy alveo que recoge los regueros de sudores que fecundan mis entrafias, yo soy fuente de sus gozos yo soy vaso de sus l&grimas ... Yo el calvario de sus b£rbaras caidas, yo el oriente de sus tenues esperanzas, yo la carga de sus dias mal vividos y el insomnio de sus noches abreviadas, yo el tesoro de sabroso pan moreno que las manos honradisimas amasan de los hijos bien nacidos y la esposa bien amada. (OC, p. 517) Pero yo soy un decr6pito ya estSril, sin las virgenes frescuras de las savias, que mis bellas primaveras de otros dias encendieron y cuajaron en sustancias, j en sustancias de la vida que rebosan porque hierven, porque sobran, porque matan si cuajando en otras vidas sus esencias no derraman! (OC, p. 518) Y es preciso que renazcan, que rebullan, que revivan en mi hondura nuevas savias, que me enciendan fructuosas concepciones, que me alegren florescencias soberanas, que me engrian madureces olorosas de cosechas opulentas bien gozadas ... ; Hizo Dios asi a Natura: grande y f£rtil, bella y sana! Pero quiero que los hijos del trabajo no derritan de su carne las sustancias en la vieja brega est£ril que me oprime, en la ruda brega torpe que los mata ... No con riegos de sudores solamente se conquistan y enriquecen mis entranas. jHace falta luz fecunda! jSol de ideas hace falta! (OC, pp. 518-519) 145 26 In "Brindis" (OC, pp. 111-118) Gal£n extols the past glories of The University of Salamanca and laments its later decadence. Just as the Spanish people are represented as being the children of the terrurio, in "Brindis" so are the students symbolized as being the off spring of the university. In both cases, food for the body is equated with food for the mind and the poet would like a rejuvenated past pro jected into the future through these rustic or intellectual progeny. Dice la Escuela: "Yo un dia fui madre y templo sagrado de toda sabiduria. Jamas numerar podria los hijos que he amamantado. Del seno de que nacieron saberes hondos bebieron disueltos en fe de Cristo. Honor los hijos me hicieron, grande los siglos me han visto. Fui fragua del pensamiento, yunque del ertfendimiento, levadura de la vida, brujula en mar turbulento, sol de la Patria querida. (OC, p. 114) Ahora, lacrimosos coros me afligen con tristes lloros diciendome que soy ruipas, que goy hueco de tesoros, jir6n de edades divinas, sombra augusta y venerable, muerta gloria inolvidable, 26. ''Leido por su autor en el banquete celebrado en Salamanca el 19 de octubre de 1903, en honor del poeta y del seflor Unamuno." (OC, note to p. 111). 146 vieja majestad caida, triste membranza adorable, puesta de sol dolorida ... Algo lloran que es verdad. Vinieron tiempos tiranos que al grito de libertad encadenaron las manos de esta pobre majestad. Y adi6s trono, cetro y manto, y adi6s oro y esplendores, jmucho grande y mucho santo! I Mas no los santos amores de los hijos que amamanto! No el pan de su inteligencia ni la luz de su conciencia, porque yo siempre sere el alcazar de la Ciencia y el Castillo de la Fe. Si reina fuese, mi suerte rodara por rumbos fijos que van a dar a la muerte. No soy reina; soy mis fuerte: j soy madre de muchos hijos! I Hijos!, os pido un maSiana como ^1 ayer que goc6, (OC, pp. 115-116) "Fe" (OC, pp. 338-341) expresses the poet's pessimism regard ing the state of Spain and his faith in the regenerative powers of God. j Sefior! j Mi patria llora! La apartaron, johDiosj, de tus caminos, y ciega hacia el abismo corre ahora la del mundo de ayer reina y sefiora de gloriosos destinos. Hijos desatentados, que ya la vieron sin pudor vencida, la arrastran por atajos ignorados ... (OC, p. 338) 147 Y los justos te aclaman, alzando a Ti los brazos, y te llaman; y porque Espafia s6lo en Ti confia, al unfsono claman todos los hijos de la Patria mla: jSalva a Espafia, Sefior; ... ! (OC, p. 341) "La virgen de la montafia" (OC, pp. 323-331), like "Fe" ex presses the poet's belief in the regenerative powers of God and, like "Brindis, " his comments on the present decadence of Spain which has followed past glories: Los palacios y las torres de los viejos hombres idos en el carro de los tiempos de las glorias y el honor, dormitaban indolentes, indolentemente hundidos de seniles impotencias en el languido sopor. (OC, p. 323) A call to arise from the abulia, which afflicted the Spanish, is sounded in "Patria" (OC, pp. 657-663). Again the poet eulogizes the past glories of Spain and laments its present deterioration. He does not ask where these glories are now; he is concerned only with the re building of the people and the country through work and a forward- looking effort. Vieja Espafia, gloriosa madre santa, la naci6n que tuviera del mundo en el rinc6n mas apartado sobre cada ciudad una bandera; la que a la Historia hiciera grabar en cada pagina una hazafia, la que ayer soberana y grande era, la que ahora esta caida ..., j 6sa es Espafia! (OC, pp. 657-658) 148 Tu puedes, ciudadano, prestarle nueva vigorosa vida, si esas miseras ldgrimas que viertes en gotas de sudor, cual yo, conviertes por la doliente Patria empobrecida. ^No la ves otra vez ir resurgiendo del fondo del abismo, donde la hundiera el trepidar horrendo del fiero cataclismo? j Arriba el coraz6n! j Lucha y espera! (OC, p. 659) These, then, are some of the examples of the ubi ierunt theme as. it appeared to Gabriel y Galan. He admires the historical glorious past, but accepts the fact that it has gone. He feels no emptiness, no futility, he urges only that Spain shall reconstitute herself through the power of her religious faith and the strength of her people working to gether. The Country in Contrast to the City Beyond the glorification of Gabriel y Galan as a country poet, few of the critics have interested themselves in the poet's attitude toward the city in contrast to life in the country. The brothers Garcia 27 28 Carraffa and Rinc6n Lazcano simply state that the poet knew city life and did not allow himself to be seduced by its charms. Real de la Riva feels that "La contraposici6n del campo y de la ciudad es tin mero contraste expresivo que en Gal&n no alcanza nunca el rango literario 27. Espafioles ilustres, pp. 9-10. 28. "Madrid y el poeta Gabriel y Galan. " 149 del tema del campo en la literatura clasica, no la honda antinomia de 29 qxiien conoce a fondo ambos mundos." The biography of his life as we know it shows that Gal&n spent only a year studying in Madrid, and three years more or less as a student in Salamanca, Due in part to his association with Unamuno, he did return to Salamanca a number of times, but apparently never stayed long enough to become involved with the life of the city. Thus, the conflict between city and country modes of existence in Galan's poetry would seem to derive more from the natural distrust and sus picion of a countryman toward something he does not understand than from a sophisticated knowledge of the evils of the city. In general, Galan scorns city life as an illusion, but interestingly enough, he does not always idealize country life in contraposition. In some of the poems he places his opinions in the mouth of a peasant; in others, he speaks as the poet. Two examples of the former, both written in dialect as if spoken by a campesino, are nVar6n" (OC, pp. 234-238) and "La jedihonda" (OC, pp. 270-273). ,,Var6n" represents a father's ignorant diatribe against education as he sees it in externals (clothing, manner of speech, cleanliness, and interest in books) rather than in what he considers real work, i. e., the duties connected with the farm. The father blames the people of the city for the effeminizationof his son. 29. Vida y poesia, p. 32. j Me jiedin los hombris que son medio jembras! Cien vecis te ije que no se lo dieras, que al chiquin lo jacian marica las gentis aquellas. (OC, p. 234) Ca instanti se lava, ca instanti se peina, ca instanti se mua toa la vestimenta, y se encrespa los pelos con jierros que se lo retuestan, y en los dientis se da con boticas de unos cacharrinos que tieni en la mesa, y remoja el moquero con pringuis n'amas pa que gtiela. jJiedi a sefiorita dendi media legua! (OC, pp. 234-235) Ya no dici padri, ni madri, ni agiiela. "Mi papa, mi mama, mi abuelita ... 11 asi chalrotea, como si el mocoso juesi un sefioruco de los de nacencia. Ni mienta del pueblo, ni jaci otro oficio que dil a una escuela y palral de bobas que alii aprendi, que pa na le sirvin cuantis que se venga. (OC, pp. 235-236) No le quise mental del gurrapo ni icile siquiera que hogatiazo vendimus el churru pa comprar un cachuju de tierra. j Alii no se jabla de esas cosas ni en ellas se piensa! N'amas que se jaci cornel confituras, melcal vestimentas, dirse a los cafesis, dirse a las comedias y palral de bobas que no valin ni siquia una perra. (OC, pp. 236-237) 151 "La jedihonda" is a mother's tirade against her son, who wants to marry a woman who has moved to the village from some worldly city. Asin jablaba la madri --Si sigues asin penando, te mueris, hijo del alma, y si te casas con ella te jundis y a tos mos matas. (OC, p. 270) Una mujel que ha venio de alguna ciuda mundana, jqu€ habrd jecho pa estal sola sin naide de la su casta!... jQu£ habra jecho!, lo que dicin que jaci aqul: cosas malas, que a mi me cuesta decilas, pero a ella jacelas, nada. Bien sabis tu que la genti la "Jedihonda" la llama porque dicin tos los hombris que endi lejos jiedi a mala. (OC, p. 271) The poet's express praise of the country at the expense of the city takes definite form in poems such as ,lInvitaci6n" (OC, pp. 100- 102) and "Regreso" (OC, pp. 57-67). The firs't is an invitation to the men of the city, "los del cerebro cansado" (OC, p. 101), to go to Nature and the countryside for inspiration and to leave the artifice of the city. Again Galan expresses his belief that the simple beauty and sincerity he finds in the country have greater value than the contrived loveliness and hypocrisy he encounters in the city. The invitation itself is as follows: Sefiores de la ciudad: los del cerebro cansado, 152 que aun corre tras la verdad; los del ingenio aguzado que inventa la novedad ... Si frlvolos y ligeros, cual sus artificios ruines, no os parecen ya sinceros esos de vuestros jardines ruisefiores prisioneros, jvenid al campo a escuchar a otros sencillos cantores que os pueden acaso dar algo mas que los primores de un ingenioso cantar! jSubid, siquiera, a la altura de esas torres elevadas, a ver si la brisa pura "lleva del campo tonadas de las que ensefia Natural •(Y aunque el ingenio las mida y arguya que no son bellas, probad su savia escondida, sentid con ellas la vida y haced el arte con ellas! Sefiores de la ciudad: si henchir quereis de verdad el mundo de la belleza, dejadle a Naturaleza su cetro de majestad. (QC, pp. 101-102) In "Regreso, " Galan has been to the city and is returning to the country, not at all favorably impressed with what he has seen or heard. His disappointment is obvious. The values he revered were lacking, the wisdom he expected to find was not there, and even the desire to acquire knowledge was carried to such an extreme that "love was studied as if it were a problem.11 To him, the substance 153 (materia) of the city was Mest£ril disimulo de la muerte" (OC, p, 63), On the other hand, life in the country reflects the ideals of his philoso phy: honorable work, the brotherhood of mankind, as well as rever ence toward God as a creator of nature. According to the poet, countryfolk are the repository of a natural wisdom and have a natural capacity for love. Thus life in the country is fecund, not sterile. The following excerpts illustrate these points of view. Estuve en la ciudad. Vi la materia brillar resplandeciente, correr arrolladora, sonar dulce y rugiente y en la vida imperar como sefiora. (OC, p. 57) Conocen all! todos los secretos del Arte y de la Ciencia; saben de varios modos faltar a la verdad con elocuencia; saben negar, audaces; saben reir, satlricos feroces; saben gustar, voraces, las mieles de las mieles de los goces, y saben ser flexibles, distinguidos, hablar con gran finura y obrar con gran descoco ... i Saben vivir unidos amandose muy poco! jEl saber, el saber! Ese era el lema, la aspiraci6n suprema de la vida veloz que se vivla. jSe estudiaba el amor como un problenia! (OC, p. 61) Yo pasaba los dlas presurosos, entre sabios famosos, — y las noches pasaba entre poetas. ;Qu£ dias tan ruidosos! Y las noches, ;qu£ est^riles, qu£ inquietas! Y despu£s de vivir la f£cil vida que una noble ambici6n, humana y santa, me pint6 de grandezas toda henchida. 154 ni ella me di6 sabiduria tanta como a cualquiera le infundio Natura, ni a cantar aprendi con mas dulzura que la que puso Dios en mi garganta. Pero ya estoy aqui, compos queridos, cuyos encantos olvide por otros amasados con miel y con veneno. (OC, pp. 61-62) Aqui no vive la materia inerte esa vida que presta el artificio, esteril disimulo de la muerte. Hombres de mi alqueria, custodios fieles de la hacienda mia: debemos todos contemplar la vida. jHijos humildes del trabajo honrado!, yo la vuestra contemplo como el mas alto ejemplo del vivir generoso y resignado; y vuelvo a vuestro lado, porque todo lo bueno que he aprendido vuestro grave vivir me lo ha ensefiado. Yo traigo, en cambio, el corazon henchido de anhelos puros, de doctrinas buenas y de costumbres santas, . y vengo hasta vosotros decidido a derramar el bien a manos llenas, porque el Dios.que me dio riquezas tantas didme con ellas el mayor tesoro que recibi de su divina manor jun corazon de oro que de todos los hombres me hace hermano! (OC, pp. 63-65) The same type of derogatory comments regarding life in the city is found in "Desde el campo" (OC, pp. 316-319). Besides the sterility of the materia, Galan also complains of the perverse inhabit ants of the magic artificial city who insult his God without knowing Him. If they cannot hear Him because of the noise that surrounds them, then 155 they should come to the country where everything speaks of God. He concludes the poem: j Cuantas veces he llorado la miseria de la turba dislocada de perversos que en la migica ciudad artificiosa injuriaban a mi Dios sin conocerlo! Si es verdad que no lo encuentran, aturdidos, de la mdgica ciudad por el estruendo, que se vengan a admirarlo aqul en sus obras, que se vengan a adorarlo en sus efectos, en el seno de esta gran Naturaleza donde es grande por su esencia lo pequeno; donde, hablSndonos de Dios todas las cosas, al rev£s de la ciudad de los estruendos, lo soberbio dice menos que lo humilde, el reposo dice m£s que el movimiento, las palabras hablan menos que los ruidos, y los ruidos dicen menos que el silencio ... (OC, p. 319) In "A su majestad el rey" (OC, pp. 107-110) the poet again makes disparaging remarks about the hypocrisy of the city. He clas sifies himself as "un sincero cantor" because he sings of the "alma popular" (OC, p. 107),and in contrast refers to the "doradas sirenas que s6lo cantan ficciones" (OC, p. 108). Indeed, cities to Gal£n are often gilded or golden, not of gold. Another instance of this qualification is found in "Castellana" (OC, pp. 45-49): ^Te place la patria ml a ? No en sus hondas soledades busques con vana porfla la estrepitosa alegria de las doradas ciudades. (OC, p. 45) 156 Antithetical in evaluation, as the poet often is when he has a particular city of his area to describe, is the poem "El Castaflar" (OC, pp. 554-559). Here his distrust of cities in general is ignored in order to praise B£jar and the mountain Castaflar. that': rises up at the edge of the city: Templo en que Naturaleza puso grandiosa belleza, tan llena de majestad ... desde tu espl£ndida alteza, mira la hermosa ciudad. (OC, p. 557) All of the values that Galan believes in so thoroughly are mentioned in this poem: beauteous countryside, love, brotherhood, work, songs of the workers, good health, peace, the Virgin in her hermitage, and faith. All are qualities that he usually attributes to the countryside and denies to the cities. In this case, however, B£jar seems to lack the faults of urban life since he mentions only its virtues. The follow ing selections show how this point of view differs, for example, from that expressed in "Regreso,11 where no specific city is described, j Ved la verde maravilla de belleza y de frescura que puso Dios a la orilla del desierto de Castilla y el erial de Extremadura! Es el arpa soberana donde vibran los rumores de la ciudad be jar ana, que es una hermosa artesana rica en virtudes y amores. 157 Cuando, entregado a mis suefios, tristlsimos o risuefios, corro por tierras de hermanos, de los campos extremefios a los campos castellanos; (OC, p. 554) Si hacer su epopeya quieres, escoge en salmos austeros plegarias de sus mujeres, rumores de sus talleres y cantos de sus obreros. (OC, p. 557) i Hinche de salud briosa la vida de esas legiones de la gente laboriosa, y reine en sus corazones tu paz augusta y sabrosa! ^ Bejarano ed£n ameno: ^qu£ es lo que no podras dar, si, para hacerte m&s bueno, puso el Senor en tu seno la Virgen del Castanar? I Abre veneros tan sanos, y tus cultos bejaranos y tus lindas bejaranas beban perfumes cristianos disueltos en brisas sanas! (OC, p. 558) The same type of commendation is given in "A Plasencia" (OC, pp. 286-290). Gal&n also finds this city beautiful: Plasencia: tu historia honrosa me ha dicho que eres gloriosa, y mis ojos al mirarte me dicen que eres hermosa, que eres digna de cantarte. (OC, p. 287) An ironic and satiric commentary on Galin's attitude toward the city would seem to be expressed in "La fabla del lugar" (OC, pp. 274-278). Lacking the acrimony of "Var6n" and "La jedihonda,11 it 158 represents a dialogue between two campesinos, one of whom is the poet on his return from C&ceres. Unlike in "Regreso," the poet does not scorn the shallowness of the learning that he found and comes back with a somewhat supercilious attitude toward the provinciality of his stay-at-home friend, yet lamenting his inability to use the fine words that the city people do in order to thank them for publishing his poems. It is difficult to judge how much of this attitude, illustrated by the quotations cited below, is the poet's honest belittling of his own talents and how much of it is a pose. Unos senorinis que jablaban m£s finus que perlas se ajuntaron, asln que me vieron, jablaron con pries a y le andaban diciendo a los otros en la calle mesma: "jSerioris, seiioris, a vel qu£ se piensa, que ha vento p1 aca de las Jurdis un muchacho que sabi de letras, que jaci aleluyas, que jaci comedias, que jaci unas coplas jasta all! de giienas! " (OC, p. 276) j Compadri, qu£ gentis tan finas aqu€llas, qu£ gentis tan listas, y tami€n qu£ giienas! Yo no pueo explical lo que dijon, pero dijon tami€n cosas gtienas de las coplas que jice hoganazo pa imprentarlas en libro, ^te acuerdas? (OC, p. 277) --^Y tu qu6 decias cuando vias aquellas finezas que han jecho contigo 159 pol sabel de letra? --Pus compadri, pal caso, ni chispa, porque yo pa decil cosas gttenas paeci que me jacen un ftuo en la lengua. j Ya ves tu si vendr£ agraecio de la gente aquella! N'am&s una espina me escarabajea pa en dentru, pa en dentru de las entretelas: no poeli habel dicho a la genti con palabras bien finas y gtlenas: " j Sefioronis, que yo no merezo toas esas querencias! ;Que Dios vos lo pagui y que yo de yerda lo agraeza! " (OC, p. 278) It is obvious from the examples given that Galan's attitude toward city in contrast to country life is not always consistent. To him the city is a symbol of all that is artificial and illusory and the people who live there are false and far removed from God. Yet when he describes particular cities like B£jar and Plasencia he has nothing but praise for them and their inhabitants. He depicts the countryside as beautiful and real and the countryfolk as sincere and close to God. At the same time he recognizes the awfulness of the forces of nature and the prejudices and ignorance of the people who live close to the soil. Although Galan may reject the city on occasions, he does not ignore it; and in the specific instances pointed out even praises it. This would seem to controvert the statement by Real de la Hiva that 160 M|Ara y canta, labrador,1 sin mirar a la ciudad es su postura mas 30 sincera y definitiva." His Use of Dialecticisms It is not the purpose at this time to do a linguistic study of the dialect employed in the group of poems known as Extremefias but to correct the error that has crept in from the first acceptance of this dialect as Extremaduran. The socio-psychological significance of the poet's use of the dialect alone or in combination with Castilian will also be noted. In spite of the fact that it was the custom of the costumbristas to dignify their sketches with the name of the area to which they per tained and that Gal&n included in his collection of Extremefias two poems not written in dialect, many critics have automatically taken the title to mean both dialect and subject matter. The first to accept the title as the name of the dialect is, of course, the original pro- loguist, Juan Maragall. According to him, "Todas las poesias hablan 31 en dialectp extremeno, que es el de la tierra del poeta." Some critics, by not questioning the classification of the dialect, show a tacit acceptance of Maragall1 s statement. Among the others who 30. The citation is the last line of "Ara y canta" (OC, pp. 430-434), quoted in Vida y poesla, p. 32. 31. Jos£ Maria Gabriel y Galan, Obras completas, (Salaman ca, 1905), II, v. , 161 32 33 reaffirm it are: Sister Maria Thecla Hisrich, Enrique Segura, 34 35 Real de la Riva, and Jos£ Maria de Cosslo. The question as to what constitutes a dialect has always been a moot one and the answer varies with the progress of time. There was a period in which the speech of Aragon, Leon, and Castile competed for supremacy and the first two ceded to the third, which became the language of culture. With the cessation of fragmentation of the root language, dialectal usages have remained as deviations from the norm and not really as part of a distinct dialect. Thus Maragall's state ment that the book of Extremenas is "escrito en dialecto, como la 36 Illada y la Divina comedia, " would seem open to dispute; we should rather be inclined to agree with Manuel Alvar that "la poesia o el teatro del siglo XX no son nunc a dialectales en sentido lato, sino 37 castellanos con dialectalismos en sentido estricto.11 He goes on to 32. "Jos£ Maria Gabriel y Galan, Spanish Folk Poet,11 pp. 126-134. 33. Alcantara, X (July-September, 1954), 4. 34. Vida y poesia, p. 53. 35. Cincuenta afios de poesia espafiola, II, p. 1268. 36. Gabriel y Galan, Obras completas. (Salamanca, 1905), II, v< 37. "Los dialectalismos en la poesia espafiola del siglo XX, " Revista de filologia espafiola, XLIII (January-June, 1960), 61. 162 say that "en espafiol no hay escritores dialectales, sino escritores 38 con dialectalismos." Particular mention is made of the poetry of Gabriel y Gal&n, who publica poeslas salmantinas y extremefias, pero sus pretensiones apenas quedan logradas; cuando se proyecta sobre ellas la lente del investigador resulta que no hay tales dialectalismos extremefios, y no demasiados salmantinismos, sino que est in escritos en espafiol vulgar. ^9 El "extremeflo" que conoci6 el poeta fu€ el aledafio a Salamanca. Dialecto caracterizado por unos rasgos muy arcaizantes: la conservacidn de £ y £ sonoras. Este mantenimiento que--como al chinato--da peculiaridad distintiva a las hablas del norte de Caceres, no ha sido observado por Gabriel y Galdn, a pesar de la vitalidad y singularidad del hecho. Ni un solo testimonio en sus versos. Otra vez, en ellos, el vulgarismo salmantino, el trasfondo de castellano rustico del campo charro. ^ In his book, Textos hispanicos dialectales: Antologia hist6rica, Alvar includes only one of Galan's poems, "El embargo," in his section 41 leon£s, characterizing it as salmantino vulgar. His justification for this characterization is found in a footnote on page 237: "El \ habla de las Extremenas es, mas que extremefia, vulgarism© salman- 42 tino. " The following are the opening verses of "El embargo": 38. Ibid. 39. Ibid. 40. Ibid., 67-68. 41. (Madrid, 1960), pp. 237-238. 42. Ibid., citing A. Zamora, Filologia, II, (1950), 114. o 163 Sefiol jues, pasi ust£ mas alanti y que entrin tos £sos. No le d£ a ust6 ansia no le d6 a ust6 mieo ... (OC, p. 239) The preceding statements made by Alvar corroborate the findings of Juan Jos6 Velo Nieto, whose doctoral dissertation was written on the 43 basis of several extended trips to the region of Las Hurdes. As has been mentioned, Galan's home in Extremadura, after his marriage, was in Guijo de Granadilla, in a dry rolling area located between the green mountainous section of Hervas and the mountainous, unbelievably barren area of Las Hurdes. In "La fabla del lugar,11 Galan describes himself as "un muchacho ... que ha venio p'aca de las Jurdis" (OC, p. 276). It was to the towns that he knew that the poor jurdanos came to beg for bread. It was also the speech of this region that he heard but is judged not to have reproduced accurately in his Extremefias. To cite some other discrepancies: Velo Nieto mentions nowhere in his study of this region the change of £ to u, found particularly in "El Cristu benditu. " He does, however, comment on 44 45 the prevalence of an aspirated intervocalic and final £, neither of which is found in Galan's poetry. Yet, the presence of the aspirated 43. "El habla de Las Hurdes, " Revista de estudios extremeflos, XII (January-December, 1956), 59-207. 44. Ibid., 74. 45. Ibid., 75. 164 final £ and the absence of the change of o to u are to be noted in the folk poetry transcribed by Bonifacio Gil Garcia, as, for example, in: Ya vienen loh Reye por lah Maraviya, ya le traen al Nifio suh ricah mantiya. From the foregoing, one may draw the conclusion that the Extremefias do not constitute a faithful reproduction of the speech of the area. It is more probable that the poet carried in his mind and wrote on his paper the speech patterns that he heard in his childhood and youth in Salamanca, where he lived for the first twenty-one years of his life. From whatever source they were derived, the dialecticisms serve to give an air of authenticity to the feelings of the campesinos he is portraying, and through the mouth of whom he is enabled to ex press himself more naturally than he could in standard Castilian, Of the eighteen poems in Extremefias, twelve are in the poet's version of campesino speech, four are a mixture of Castilian and "dialect" and two are Castilian alone. Thematically they represent the different postures of the poet already discussed. For example the predominant influence of the countryside is seen in the completely dialectal poems: "Cara al cielo" (OC, pp. 256-260) and "Pl£tora" (OC, pp. 279-280) as well as in the poem in Castilian, "El cantar de las chicharras" 46. Cancionero popular de Extremadura, I, 118. 165 (OC, pp. 281-285), The reaction of people to their environment is particularly seen in "El Cristu benditu" (OC, pp. 227-233), "Bdlsamo caser-o'-HOC, pp. 261-263), both dialectal; and in "Los postres de la merienda" (OC, pp. 249-252) and "Campos vlrgenes" (OC, pp. 260- 265), both a combination of "dialect" and Castilian. Incidents of death and dying, written as if a campesino were talking, are seen in "El embargo" (OC, pp. 239-240) and "El desahuciado" (OC, pp. 244- 247). The ubi ierunt theme is also found in "El Cristu benditu" though from a different point of view from that expressed in the Castilian poem, "Patria" (OC, pp. 657-663). The attitude of the rustic toward the city is displayed in "Var6n" (OC, pp. 234-238), "La jedihonda" (OC, pp. 270-273), and "La fabla del lugar" (OC, pp. 274-278), all three dialectal manifestations. The attitude of the poet toward a specific city that he admires is shown in "A Plasencia" (OC, pp. 286-290), the other of the two poems in Castilian in this group. Of the three remaining poems of Extremeflas in "dialect, " "La embajadora" (OC, pp. 241-243) is a versified monologue of a woman trying to get Pablos to acknowledge his illegitimate son. Two comments in the poem are of interest to show the attitude of these people; one that there are some facts that education does not teach: Y pa sabel que esto es tuyo no es menestel dil a'scuela. (OC, p. 241) 166 and the other, the message that the embajadora is to carry back to the mother, showing the consideration for the child: jQue gdeno ... que ir€ p'alanti .... mas por esti que por ella!... (OC, p. 243) "Sibarita11 (OC, p. 248) is the philosophical monologue of a rustic voluptuary, who sees only the pleasures of the flesh in the life of a rich man, a priest, or a doctor, and satirically displays the limita tions of the rustic's viewpoint! jA mi n'amas me gusta que dali gustu al cuerpo! Si yo juera bien rico jacia n'amas eso: jechalme gtienas siestas embajo de los fresnos; andal, bien jateao, jechal ca instanti medio, fumal de nuevi perras y andalmi de paseo lo mesmo que los curas, lo mesmo que los medicos ... (OC, p. 248) "La cenefica" (OC, pp. 266-269), as was indicated before, is an occasional poem, read at a soiree honoring the granting of the title of "Muy Ben^fica" to the city of Plasencia for its humanitarian aid to the soldiers returning from the colonial wars. It tries to personalize, in the speech of the people, the loss of the colonies, the goodness of the townspeople, the love of the fatherland, and the brotherhood of mankind. 167 "El desafio" (OC, pp. 253-255) is a combination of Castilian and dialect. Descriptions are in the former and the challenge of a lover to his competition is in the latter: En la izquierda la guitarra la navaja en la derecha, terciada la manta al hombro, la faja encarnada, suelta; la actitud provocativa, la mirada descompuesta, roja de rabia la cara, ronca la voz y algo trSmula, asi aprostrofaba el mozo mas rumboso de la aldea a cuatro o seis rondadores que invadieron la calleja donde el mozo le cantaba cantares a su morena: (OC, p. 253) Torn6 el mozo a la ventana de la muchacha morena, y la guitarra pulsando hiri6 con rabia las cuerdas, y al aire lanz6 esta copla con la voz un poco tremula: "No le jurguis al leon que anda alreor de la jembra, ni te enredis con el hombri que canta al pie de una reja." (OC, p. 255) "Las represalias de Pablos" (OC, pp. 291-295), a hunting ballad, again describes the countryside in Castilian and uses "dialect" for the dialogue. Such is the collection of poems labelled Extremefias. Lin guistically, according to modern philologists, not Extremaduran; thematic ally, with the exception of the last two cited, they fall into the categories previously analyzed. There are a few other examples of the use of rustic speech combined with Castilian among his other poems: "Cuentas del Tlo Mariano" (OC, pp. 53-56), "Surco arriba y surco abajo" (OC, pp. 103-106), "De ronda" (OC, pp. 119-123), "Una nube" (OC, pp. 407- 409), "La 'Galana'" (OC, pp. 208-210), and "Un don Juan" (OC, pp. 172-176), in all of which country speech gives the flavor of realism to his poetry. CHAPTER 5 AN ANALYSIS OF LITERARY INFLUENCES ~ AND RELATIONSHIPS In the preceding analyses the writer has shown Spiritual Naturalism to be an integral theme of Galan's ideology. She has also pointed out in the previous survey that critics in general overlooked this modifying spiritual aspect of the poet's naturalism and that in their discussions of his poetry they considered nature and religion as two separate themes. It has been noted as well that the critics tended to make broad, rather than specific evaluations of Galan's poetry even when they compared it with that of his predecessors and contempo raries. Thus analogies are made and names are mentioned in many instances without documentation. A critic such as Sanchez Alegria considers Galan's poetry better than that written by Lucretius, Virgil, and Horace, while Carlos Callejo mentions Virgil in this connection. Maria Romano Colangeli, on the other hand, makes some specific comparisons with Horace's poetry. Martin Alonso feels thatGarcilaso de la Vega and Lope de Vega would have been proud to include Galan's poems among their own. Federico de Onis sees a resemblance to the rustic aspect of the poetry of Lope de Vega and Juan del Encina; Jos£ 169 170 Maria de Cossio acknowledges only the resemblance to Juan del Encina. Emilia Pardo Bazan relates Galan's poetry to that of Mel&idez Valdes and denies any similarity to the poetry of Campoamor. Other critics such as Martin Alonso, Valbuena Prat, as well as Chandler and Schwartz, with an eye on the regionalistic aspects of his poetry, see in him "the Pereda of lyric poetry. " Federico de Onis, Pablo Pou Fernandez, and Emilio Salcedo place Galan within the sphere of influence of the Generation of '98. This concept is denied by Valbuena Prat since he feels that Galan lacks the pessimistic outlook characteristic of the members of that Generation. According to Zeda, Gomez, Pardo Bazan, Bell, Hurtado y Palencia, and Onis, Galan's poetry does not show any of the Europe- anized type of Modernism. Onis does express the opinion, however, that Galan's classicism is Modernist rather than reactionary. Cossio and Max Henriquez Urefia see the influence of the Colombian Modern ist Jos6 Asuncion Silva in Galan's "night poetry"; Emilio Salcedo sees certain similarities between Antonio Machado's and Galan's descrip tions of Castile. It should be recognized that literary indebtedness is a very difficult thing to establish; only too often it is a question as to whether similarity of subject-matter carries along with it a corresponding similarity of reference or whether the apparent relationship is based on general knowledge, general traditions, common sources, or sheer 171 coincidence. An investigation of some of the analogies mentioned by previous critics, as well as of additional influences seen by the writer herself, will be undertaken-in an effort to shed some light on this problem. This examination will be developed in two parts: the first to deal with literary and environmental sources that may be considered Galan's heritage; the second, with contemporary ideas and techniques that may be found in his poetry. His Poetry as an Expression of his Literary and Environmental Heritage In spite of Galan's complaint in a letter to Unamuno regarding the paucity of his literary and cultural resources, * critics have noted various resemblances between Galan's poetry and that of earlier writers. Maria Romano Colangeli finds a similarity of atmosphere, for example, between Galan's "La Fuente Vaquera" (OC, pp. 680-692), in which he describes the peacefulness surrounding a fountain named Vaquera, and Horace's Ode III. "E si paragonino con quelli di Orazio che, pur attraverso un rigore stilistico d'altro stampo e d'altra simmetria estetica, creano analoga atmosfera di serenity e di ristoro 2 spirituale." To prove her point, she quotes the following lines from Galan's "La Fuente Vaquera" (OC, pp. 680-692): 1. Quoted in Chapter 2. 2. La poesia di Gabriel y Galan, p. 199. 172 hay un valle tan lindo que no hay quien halle un valle tan ameno como aquel valle. Entre sus arboledas, por la espesura, solitaria y tranquila, corre y murmura una fuente tranquila y bullanguera, a que dieron por nombre Fuente Vaquera. Esta tan escondida bajo el follaje, guarda tanto sus aguas entre el ramaje, que cuando por el valle va murmurando toda clase de hierbas „ va salpicando. (OC, pp. 680-681) She compares this description with the first two and the ninth through the sixteenth lines of the thirteenth strophe of Horace's Ode III: O fons Bandusiae splendidior vitro, dulci digne mero non sine floribus. Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae nescit tangere; tu frigus amabile fessis vomere tauris praebes et pecori vago. Fies nobilium tu quoque fontium, me dicente cavis impositam ilicem saxis, unde loquaces ^ lynphae desiliunt tuae. Even though Romano Colangeli bases her reasoning on an intuitive 3. Ibid., p. 198. 4. Ibid., p. 199. 173 reaction to the poetry, two additional points may be made to indicate that Gal&n was aware of the Latin classics. One is a phrase used in "Desde el campo" (OC, pp. 316-319), "la cumbre de colinas virgil- ianas" (OC, p. 318) [italics are mine]; the other is a footnote to a let ter the poet wrote on February 14,1899, to Mariano de Santiago Cividanes, in which the compiler of the Epistolario remarks: "Enton- ces le hablaba yo de los cl&sicos latinos, que estaba traduciendo; £l 5 los leia traducidos por fray Luis de Le6n." Although similarity of atmosphere, an isolated phrase, and the statement by Santiago Cividanes do not prove classical influence, still they do serve to iden tify Galan with the long line of writers of bucolic poetry. On the other hand, Real de la Riva rejects the idea of any particular connection with classical poetry; instead he associates the rustic aspects of Galan's poetry with the Salamancan poetic tradition that goes from Juan del Encina and Lucas Fernandez to Galan and Unamuno: Digamos antes de nada que Galan responde a una tradici6n po^tica salmantina, que va desde Juan del Encina y Lucas Fernandez hasta 61 y Unamuno, y de la que constituye una de las notas mas caracteristicas la tendencia a los temas bucdlicos y campestres. Tal afici6ri nace, ... bien del clasicismo humanista universitario, bien de circunstancias mas vagas e imprecisas referibles al medio ambiente, no solo espiritual, sino tambi^n fisico y natural. Y como en Galan no existe la primera causa, el tema de la tierra 5. Epistolario de Gabriel y Galan, p. 202. 174 y del campo brotard exclusivamente a impulsos de su personal anhelo v de las condiciones ambient ales de su patria chica. ® Romano Colangeli carries this idea a step further by finding a coincidence between Mingo's offerings to Pascuala in the "Egloga de Placida y Victoriano" by Encina and those listed by Gal£n in "Caste- liana" (OC, pp. 45-49). To illustrate this resemblance, she quotes an excerpt from the "Egloga": Y frutas de mil maneras Le dar£ desas montafias: Nueces, bellotas, castaftas: Manzanas, priscos y peras. Dos mil yerbas comederas: Cornezuelos, botijinas, Pies de burro, zapatinas, Y gavanzas y acederas. Berros, hongos turmas setas, Anocejas, refrisones, Gallicresta y arvejones, Florecicas y rosetas. Cantilenas chanzonetas Le chapar£ de mi hato, Las fiestas de rato en rato, Altibajos, zapatetas. Y aun darkle pajarillas Codornices y zorzales, Y patojas en costillas. Pegas, tordos, tortolillas, Cuervos, grajos y cornejas „ This is compared with the following lines from "Castellana": 6. Vida y poesia, p. 65. 7. La poesia di Gabriel y Galin, pp. 222-223. 175 ^Quieres que vaya a buscar cuarzos biancos al repecho, colorines al linar, nidos de alondra al barbecho y endrinas al espinar? Para que tu te regales, no dejare una con vida veloz liebre en los eriales, ni esquiva perdiz hundida del cerro en los matorrales, (OC, p. 46) Though he may belong to the Salamancan poetic tradition of Juan del Encina and Lucas Fernandez, Galan's own words cast .doubt on such a link as a conscious one on his part. On the occasion of their meeting, Garcia Maceira told the poet that his Campesinas re minded him of the Eglogas of Juan del Encina. "No las conozco, don g Antonio, " was Galan's reply. Another comparison is attempted by Romano Colangeli between a serranilla of the Marques de Santillana and Gal&n's poem "Mi montaraza" (OC, pp. 74-79). She quotes the following lines from the serranilla: En toda la su montana de Trasmoz a Verat6n g non vi tan gentil serr ana to show their resemblance to the following strophe from "Mi mon taraza": 8. Labaro, Numero extraordinario, January 20, 1905. 9. La poesia di Gabriel y Galan, p. 224. 176 No hay bajo el cielo divino del campo salamanquino, moza como Ana Maria, ni m4s alegre alquerla que Carrascal del Camino. (OC, p. 74) The comparisons cited are too brief in the case of Santillana and too general in the case of the bucolic to be convincing. They establish little beyond a certain similarity or coincidence of theme. But other instructive comparisons can be made, some suggested by previous critics, some outlined for the first time in this study. Such critics as Pardo Bazan, Francisco Mor5n, the Garcia Carraffa brothers, Martin Alonso, Onis, Cossio, and Romano Colangeli have all found a strong religious feeling in Galin's poetry. This sentiment of religion seems to have been an integral part of his life and mani fests itself in varying ways: in the poetry that he was called upon to write for various religious celebrations of his community as well as in the choice of themes that he adopted from his region; in his ap parent adaptation of Biblical themes and vocabulary; and in his trans cendental interpretation of Nature. Galdn's participation in the life of his community as well as his indebtedness to its religious tradition are revealed not only in his poems written for a specific occasion but also in his. frequent refer ences to the Virgin. His occasional poetry includes examples such as: "Vamos a esperarlos" (O.C, pp. 350-352), to celebrate the Fes tival of the Kings; "Almas" (OC, p. 332), written on the death of his 177 good friend and prologuist of the first published collection of his poetry, Padre C£mara; and a sonnet, "A Teresa de Jestis" (OC, p. 398). The strength of the cult to the Virgin in Extremadura is appar ent in the number of references made to her in the folkloric verses of that province10 as well as in Galan's poetry. In his Cancionero Gil Garcia includes a number of songs such as in Vol. I: "A la Virgen de los Eemedios" (p. 162 of the "Parte musical") and in Vol. II: "La buenaventura a la Virgen" (pp. 70-71), as well as "A la Virgen del Rosario" (p. 143). The first stanza of Galan's "Inmaculada" (OC, pp. 299-306) alludes to the popular tradition: Dime coplas, musa mia. ^Me las niegas por vulgares ? ^Me reprendes la osadia de que en coplas populares quiera cantar a Maria? (OC, p. 299) The elevation of the Virgin above mankind and her concern for the people at her feet is shown by the popular coplas: Maria de l'Asunci6n tiene la ermita en un alto; dende alii bien puede ver la necesida del campo. ** In "La Virgen de la montafia" (OC, pp. 323-331), Galan expresses similar adoration thus: 10. Gil Garcia, Cancionero popular de Extremadura. 11. Ibid., I, p. 124. 178 ^Qu£ tendras en tu tesoro para iaquellos caballeros del hidalgo pueblo noble que es alfombra de tu pie ? (PC, p. 327) This Virgin of the Mountain, particularly venerated by the people of C£ceres, is also the subject of a song "A la Virgen de la montana," composed in 1859 by the Extremaduran, Publio Hurtado. Gil Garcia includes it among the popular ballads to the Virgin. Certain verses of the second section of Galan's poem seem to be adapted from this song. In Gil Garcia's collection one finds the verse: entre brefias y riscos tiene su ermita; y en la alta loma, parece el casto nido de una paloma. ^ Gabriel y Galan's interpretation is: Sube a la mistica loma, que no hay mansi6n deleitable mas llena de paz amable que el nido de una paloma. (OC, p. 329) The underlined passages suggest that Galan is deliberately using two images, the hill and the dove's nest, clearly identified with the Virgin of the Mountain in the verses of Publio Hurtado. Another example of the poet's participation in the religious life of the community may be seen in his poem "Viejos soles" (OC, pp. 669-673). Esquer Torres explains that the poem was written: 12. Ibid., I, p. 163. 179 para ser leido en Salamanca en la velada que la Academia de Santo Tomas dedic6 al Doctor Ang6lico en 1902/ segun reza la introducci6n a dicha composici6n, public adaenla revista La Aurora de la Juventud, en recorte sin fecha, conservado entre los recuerdos del sacerdote y amigo de Galan, don German Fern&ndez Iglesias. According to Galan, there are two suns: the physical one that the Creator placed in the firmament of the universe and its human counter part that God put on this earth. Just as the poet considers the sun to be the luminary of the planetary world, so does he regard Thomas Aquinas to be the guiding light of human thought. The following selec tions illustrate these concepts: El sol que nos alumbra ya es muy viejo. Las primeras auroras que pint6 su purisimo reflejo fueron del tiempo las primeras horas, del universo el inicial bosquejo. En el centro del mundo planetario, uno en sus leyes y en grandeza vario, la Eterna Voluntad que lo creara encendi6 la del sol rica lumbrera y le dijo a su fuego que radiara, y le dijo a su luz que presidiera. (OC, p. 669) Nuestro sol del saber tambiSn es viejo. Dios lo puso en el cielo de la vida, y alumbr6 su vivisimo reflejo la del saber regi6n oscurecida. (OC, pp. 671-672) La cuspide, la fabrica, el asiento del mundo del humano pensamiento, el de la ciencia faro peregrino, el astro diamantino que rueda con solemne movimiento 13. Obra in6dita, p. 143. 180 en derechura al eternal destino, es el mismo de ayer. jTomis de Aquino! (OC, p, 673) In poems not bound to a specific line of argumentation by their association with a special occasion or person, that is, where no dog matic or other point is to be made, Galdn seems to have used the Bible as an original source of inspiration, Maria Romano Colangeli expresses the following opinion in this regard: ... L'Autore guardft alia Bibbia come al testo per eccellenza, tesaurizzandone i preziosi ammaestramenti, che trasferl dal piano etico a quello lirico, e intese il verbo di Cristo come la grande rivelazione d'un mondo rinnovato. A scorrere la raccolta delle Religiosas, non si stenta a riconoscere la derivazione tutt'altro che occasionale dalla salmistica davidica e dall'innografia della Chiesa. E indubitato che il Poeta aveva consuetudine col movimiento di pensiero della liturgia cristiana e col patrimonio sacramentale della fede come testimoniano i testi sacri della su biblioteca. In substantiation of her statement, she cites several examples of thematic resemblances with the Psalms. Her Biblical quotations are in Italian, accredited in a footnote to La Sacra Bibbia, a cura di P. 15 Eusebio Tintore, Pia Society S. Paolo, Roma, 1945. Even though the use of a Bible in Italian may not make the similarities more or less apparent, still the writer of this paper feels that the validity of the comparisons would have been enhanced had a Spanish Bible been consulted, since this is the one to which Galjan undoubtedly had access. 14. La poesia di Gabriel y Gal£n, p. 209. 15. Ibid., p. 210. 181 Therefore the corresponding Biblical passages in Spanish will also be given. Romano Colangeli finds an echo of Psalm 8 in Galon's poem "En todas partes" (OC, pp. 355-357), several stanzas of which have already been quoted in my section on the poet's Spiritual Naturalism. She, however, cites only the first two lines of the poem and omits specific references to the various attributes of God shown through the reaction of the poet's soul. If these qualities are kept in mind--God's infiniteness, goodness, providence, wisdom, and greatness--along with the concept of their omnipresence, then it is more evident that the first verse of Psalm 8 could have served as an inspiration for "En todas partes." Galdn's complete poem, not just the introductory two lines, is needed, however, to validate the echo that she hears. It is noteworthy that the Italian version of Psalm 8 uses the word "maesti" in the place of "gloria" found in the Spanish version. If "gloria" and "maesti" are interpreted to mean the Divine Presence or its manifestations, then the analogy she draws is possible. The Italian version of Psalm 8:1 is as follows: O Signore, nostro Signore, Quanto fe ammirabile il tuo nome in tutta la terra! . La tua maesta s'innalza al-di sopra dei cieli.*® The Spanish equivalent of the above is: 16. Ibid. 182 Oh Jehova, Sefior nuestro, i Cuan grande es tu nombre en toda la tierra, Que has puesto tu gloria sobre los cielos! ^ She also finds in the poem "En todas partes" a reflection of the sound of Psalm 18 (Psalm 19 in the Cipriano de Valera version), a resonance that extends to Galan's "Adoraci6n" (OC, pp. 307-310). Writing of the poet, Romano Colangeli states: Quando egli canta la potenza di Dio che penetra ed k dovunque, come appunto s'intitola la poesia "En todas partes, "... s'ascolta l'eco dell VIII Salmo di David ... e s'intende pure la risonanza del Salmo XVIII, ... e che idealmente si allaccia anche ad "Adoraci6n" di Galan. As I pointed out in the chapter dealing with the poet's Spiritual Natural ism, the main theme of "Adoraci6n" is that of nature at sunrise paying homage to God. The selections from the poem quoted in that chapter to corroborate my statement are also applicable to Romano Colangeli1s comparison. However, she cites only the first two verses of the Italian Psalm 18--those having to do with the glory of God. The first six verses of the Spanish version of Psalm 19, the last three of which include a reference to the power of the sun, make the resemblance more striking. Even though the last stanza of Galan's poem does deviate in meaning from the Psalm--it presents the Christian concept 17. Salmo 8:1, La Santa Biblia (old version of Cipriano de Valera; Madrid, 1932), p. 573. Unless otherwise stated, all follow ing Biblical references in Spanish are taken from this edition and only chapter and verse will be indicated. 18. La poesia di Gabriel y Galan, pp. 209-210. 183 of God at the moment of transubstantiation-- still both the Psalm and MAdoraci6n" express the basic concept of the glory of God. Romano Colangeli quotes the following two verses of Psalm 18: I cieli narrano la gloria di Dio, E il firmamento proclama 1'opera delle sue mani. II giorno ne trasmette la parola all'altro giorno, La notte la fa sapere all'altra notte. The first six verses of Psalm 19 include the Spanish version of the above quotation as well as the additional reference to the sun: Los cielos cuentan la gloria de Dios, Y la expansion denuncia la obra de sus manos. El un dia emite palabra al otro dia, Y la una noche a la otra noche declara sabiduria. No hay dicho, ni palabras, Ni es oida su voz. Por toda la tierra sali6 su hilo, Y al cabo del mundo sus palabras. En ellos puso tabern&culo para el sol. Y 51, como un novio que sale de su tdlamo, Al^grase cual gigante para correr el camino. Del un cabo de los cielos es su salida, Y su giro hasta la extremidad de ellos: Y no hay quien se esconda de su calor. Besides these conceptual and linguistic analogies mentioned by Romano Colangeli, which are allied to the Spiritual Naturalism discussed earlier, I have found other suggestions of influences from the Old Testament on Gal&n's poetry. For example in "La jedihonda" (OC, pp. 270-273), the feeling of the country mother toward the city woman not only are the result of her natural distrust for a stranger 19. Ibid., p. 210. 184 but also are thematically reminiscent of Proverbs 5. The apparent resemblances lie in the fact that both selections deal with a parent giving advice to a son, as well as with the type of advice rendered, -- in Proverbs 5, it is the father; in "La jedihonda, " the mother. The advice is a warning to beware of a strange woman; i. e., one who dqe» not belong to the family's own particular group- -her perfidy and evilness will lead the son to death and his family to dishonor. The similitude is evident i,n the following verses from Proverbs 5 and "La jedihonda": Hijo mio, esta atento a mi sabiduria, Y a mi inteligencia inclina tu oido; Para que guardes consejo, Y tus labios conserven la ciencia. Porque lps labios de la extrafta destilan miel, Y su paladar es mas blando que el aceite; Mas su fin es amargo como el ajenjo, Agudo como cuchillo de dos filos. Sus pies descienden a la muerte; Sus pasos sustentan el sepulcro: (Proverbs 5:1-5) Aleja de ella tu camino, Y no te acerques a la puerta de su casa; Porque no des a los extrafios tu honor, Y tus afios a cruel; (Proverbs 5:8-9) ^Y por qu£, hijo mxo, andaras ciego con la ajena, Y abrazaras el seno de la extrana? (Proverbs 5:20) Gabriel y Gal&n expresses it in forthright country terminology: Asin jablaba la madri —Si sigues asin penando, te mueris, hijo del alma, (OC, p. 270) Pa ti no es eso aparenti, ni ella con tu genti encaja, ni a ti, Gelipe, te sali esi rumbo que ella gasta. Y entdvia mds malu que eso es quetieni mala farria. Y tu cieguinu a querela, y ella jaci&idote cara pa empicarti a su persona o calentarti la entrafia. (OC, p. 271) Dicir que bebel te ha jecho de una bebla mu mala que a los hombris entonteci pa hacelos querel sin gana. Imi si es cierto, Gelipe, pa yo morilme de ansia, pa que se ajogui tu padri, pa que se aflija tu hermana, pa dicilti que te jundis y deshonras la tu casta, porque esa mujel perdia endi lejus jiedi a mala. (OC, p. 272) Not all of the similarities, however, involve stanzaic resem blances; there are instances in which only one or two verses of a poem, or even the title alone suggests a Biblical reference. For example, dawn reminds Galan of the creation of the world. Accord ing to Genesis 1:3, "Y dijo Dios: Sea la luz: y fu6 la luz." The poet recalls this verse in "El arrullo del Atlantico" (OC, pp. 180- 185): j Salve, luz creadora! Si de la mano del Sefior salida pristina creaci6n es toda vida segunda creaci6n es toda aurora. (OC, p. 180) 186 A continuation of this idea is found toward the end of "Adoraci6n" in which the poet again refers to the Creation. His verses seem to be inspired by those of Genesis 1:1, 2, 4, 5: En el principio cri6 Dios los cielos y la tierra. Y la tierra estaba desordenada y vacia,... Y vi6 Dios que la luz era buena y apart6 Dios la luz de las tinieblas. Y llamo Dios a la luz Dla,... Galin expresses it in "Adoraci6n"; j Gloria al Dios cuya voz omnipotente del caos hizo el dial ... (OC, p. 310) In "El arrullo del Atlantico," Galan uses a phrase from Genesis to express the ocean's directive to the people of Argentina and Spain--" ^.sojuzgad la tierra! " (OC, p. 184). The fact that "cri6 Dios al hombre a su imagen ..." (Genesis 1:27) is reflected in the poet's statement, "; el cielo es vuestro! " (OC, p. 184). These phrases are embodied in the following quotations. The first is from Genesis 1:27-28: Y cri6 Dios al hombre a su imagen, ... Y los bendijo Dios; y dijoles Dios: Fructificad y multiplicad, y henchid la tierra, y sojuzgadla ... In "El arrullo del Atl&ntico" Galan phrases it: Hermanas gentes cuya entrafia encierra sangre y alma espafiolas: jel cielo es vuestro; sojuzgad la tierra! (OC, p. 184) While the reference to Adam and Eve may be considered trite, still the following lines in "Fecundidad" (OC, pp. 401-406) describe the solitary male as: 187 melanc6lico Adan de un par also sin Eva y sin manzanas ... (OC, p. 402) The title of Galon's poem "La espigadora" (OC, pp. 410-414) brings to mind the Old Testament story of Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz. But examination of the poem and the Book of Ruth reveals only that gleaning is a phenomenon common to the agriqultural socie-f ties depicted. Galan's involvement with Biblical themes is not limited to those from the Old Testament alone. We have seen various types of refer ence to the Virgin Mary among the examples of his poetry discussed previously: "La Virgen de la montafia, " in which the poet suggests that the virgins of this earth should emulate the goodness of the heav^ enly Virgin; "Mensaje, " "Romeria del amor, " "El Castafiar," in which he depicts the Virgin as a source not only of inspiration but also of gifts for mankind; and "Soledad, " in which he stresses her role as the Mother of Christ. It is this last image that carries par ticular significance for Galan since through the concept of the mother and son relationship he identifies himself with the symbolism of Christ. This identification usually relates tp Christ's martyrdom ^ith specific mention of His sufferings at the time of the crucifixion. It is particularly evident in the last two stanzas of "Treno" quoted and discussed in the chapter on Spiritual Naturalism. For example, tl>e fact that Christ was spat upon appears in Matthew 27:30 "Y escupiendo 188 en £l ... " as well as in Mark 15:19, "y escuplan en £l ... ." In "Treno, M Galan expresses it: Y vosotros tambi€n, hombres perversos, que me heris con salivas el semblante; (OC, p. 139) The reference to the vinegar given Christ to drink is found in Matthew 27:34, where it is combined with g^ll, MLe dieron a beber vinagre mezclado con hiel; ... "; Mark 15:36, nY corrio uno, y empapando una esponja en vinagre, y poni&idola en una cafta, le di6 a beber, ... "; Luke 23:36, "prestandole vinagre"; John 19:29, "Y estaba alii un vaso lleno de vinagre: entonces ellos hinchieron una esponja de vinagre, y rodeada a un hisopo, se la llegaron a la boca.11 The association is not so direct in "Treno" since the poet does not drink vinegar but honey which turns into vinegar, --an unusual metamorphosis--"miel al beber y al digerir vinagre" (OC, p. 139). The idea of the bitter drink itself is not lacking, however; it is found in the following lines from "El amo." La hiel del caliz que en mi mano tr^mula con ojos turbios esperando veo. (OC, p. 211) The instances just cited all have to do with the poet's sorrow over the loss of a beloved parent--"Treno, " the death of his mother; "El amo," the death of his father. His identification with the crucifixion of Christ is not limited, however, to the expression of his personal grief; it is also found in such poems as: "La virgen de la montafia, " where, as a pilgrim, he 189 describes the ascent, "como cuesta de un calvario rendidlsimo subi6" (OC, p. 327); in "La canci6n del terrulio, " where, as the patria, he calls himself "Yo el calvario" (OC, p. 517). Following the writings of John 19:17 in which Jesus is represented as carrying the cross him self "Y llevando su cruz" rather than the writings of the other apostles which state that the cross was borne by Simon, a Cyrenian, as, for example, Luke 23:26, "Y llevandole, tomaron, a un Sim6n Cireneo, ... y le pusieron encima la cruz para que la llevase tras Jesds, " in "Canci6n" Galan speaks of the "cruz que mis hombros quebrantas" (OC, p. 215). Finally, in "La romeria del amor, " the poet proclaims "jMe alee en la tumba y sacudi la muerte! " (OC, p. 421). It is no wonder, then, that when he describes Veldzquez1 paint ing of the crucifixion of Christ in "El Cristo de Velazquez"! (OC, pp. 389-391), he does so in highly emotional terms. Inspired, as he must have been by the three-hundredth anniversary of the painter's birth (1599), the poet chose to eulogize one small canvas depicting the Cru cifixion rather than one of Velazquez' more grandiose works. The poem itself is a very personal projection of the poet's love for and his association with the Christian image into the mind and feelings of the painter. Galan justifies the inspiration of the artist in the following lines: jLo amaba, lo amaba! jNo fu€ s6lo milagro del genio! (OC, p. 389) 190 Similarity of subject matter or style can also be seen between many of Galan's poems and those of his predecessors. For example, there are instances when the parallel between the poetry of Luis de 20 Le6n and that of GalSn, seen by Emilia Pardo Baz£n, must be ad mitted in spite of the vehement denial by Valbuena Prat quoted pre- 21 viously and the refutation by Jos£ Maria de Cosslo cited below: Inevitablemente, trat&ndose de un salmantino, tenia que sonar el nombre de fray Luis de Le6n, cuyo recuerdo habla de ser familiar para el poeta, y sus composiciones capitales sabrla de memoria. La coincidencia de uno y otro en loor de la vida apartada y campesina ha hecho que se lanzara la hip6tesis de una supuesta influencia, que yo confieso no descubrir por ninguna parte. El tema no era privativo del gran agustino, y lamanera de sentirle es completamente dispar. El paisaje entra en fray Luis de Le6n como com- plemento de la reflexi6n moral, mientras en Gabriel y Galan es parte esencial de la miquina de sus versos. La sobriedad, distinci6n y empaque de la estrofa leonina ... son totalmente ajenos a la copiosa abundancia del verso de Galan que peca por el lado contrario de difusi6n incon- tinente. 22 I am inclined to agree with Heal de la Riva that Fray Luis de Le6n cannot be considered a true model for Gabriel y Gal&n, since the latter's poetry never reached the contemplative heights of the former's. It would appear that Gal&n at times attempted to imitate some of Fray Luis' poetry but lacked the Platonic background of Fray Luis and his 20. Obras completas, XXXII, p. 93. 21. Historia de la literatura espafiola, II, p. 808. 22. Cincuenta alios de poesla espafiola, II, pp. 1255-1256. 191 knowledge of philosophical complexities. To Real de la Riva the dif ferences between the two poets may be summed up as follows: La poesla para Fray Luis es liberaci6n espiritual y metafisica, y en cambio para Galan es sumisi6n, re- signaci6n, espera, sentimiento y resentimiento, gusto y regusto, santa costumbre del hombre sobre la tierra. Por eso bajo ningiSn aspecto pueden compararse, ya que pertenecen a dos mundos distintos.^ In spite of the last statement quoted above, that the two poets cannot be compared, Real de la Riva does find a significant case of imitation: Pero hay un significativo caso de imitacidn, que es el de la "Canci6n" ... cuyos versos recuerdan los de Fray Luis en la oda a Salinas as! como otras remembranzas de esta misma Oda "A Salinas" o de "Noche Serena" ... van sal- picando las seis primeras estrofas de esta "Canci6n" de Gal&n, donde intenta una ascenci6n espiritual a la manera de Fray Luis sobre el mundo de la materia. Pero ya en la quinta comienza a vacilar en su empresa y pasada la sexta estrofa da un viraje en redondo y toma apresurada- mente tierra reanudando su canto verdadero, referido a los pajaros del barbecho, al labriego sudoroso, a la yunta cadenciosa, al trabajo y a la vida. Y es que aunque a veces haya un punto de partida espiritual o.. moral semejante, las direcciones po£ticas de ambos escritores pronto se hacen contrarias. ^ The first seven stanzas of "Canci6n" (OC, pp. 96-99) show the transi tion mentioned by Real de la Riva--Galan's return to earth after his attempted spiritual ascent: Aqui se siente a Dios. En el reposo de este dulce aislamiento 23. Vida y poesia, p. 66. 24. Ibid., p. 67. 192 un fecundo sentido religioso preside el pensamiento. Derramase por uno de dulzuras ambiente equilibrado, y en el cosecha las ideas puras de que esta penetrado. Y sereno despu^s, las alas tiende y escala el firmamento, seguro como el pajaro que hiende su apropiado elemento. Entonces toca el alma lo profundo del alto amor sin nombre y quisiera que un templo fuera el mundo y un sacerdote el hombre. j El mundo, el hombre! Tras el doble abismo, s6lo esto es luminoso: •, cuan feliz puede hacerse el hombre mismo, y al mundo, cuan hermoso! Desde este solitario apartamiento del monte sosegado contemplo el armonioso movimiento de todo lo creado. jEl trabajo es la ley! Todo se agita todo prosigue el giro que le marca esa ley por Dios escrita, dondequiera que miro. (OC, pp. 96-97) In the religious feeling, sweetness, and spirit of quiet that pervade them, the first six lines quoted suggest those of Fray Luis in the ode "A don Francisco de Salinas": Aqui el alma navega 25 Por un mar de dulzura, ... 25. Ibid., pp. 66-67. 193 The sixth stanza of "Cancion" carries a note of repose reminiscent of the "Noche serena" of Fray Luis, which begins: Cuando contemplo el cielo, De innumerables luces adornado, Y miro haci'a el suelo, De noche rodeado, 26 En suefio y en olvido sepultado, ... Besides the imitation found in "Cancion" by Real de la Riva, Romano Colangeli also sees similarities between Galan1 s "Desde el campo" (OC, pp. 316-319) and Fray Luis' "Vida retirada." "Vi si replica il motivo alia vita semplice dei campi cui si contrappone quella 27 complicata della citta." She quotes the following lines from "Desde el campo" and "La vida retirada" to substantiate her statement. Galan expresses it: valle ameno, rico nido de quietudes melancolica vivienda del sosiego, donde apenas de la muerte y de la vida vagamente se perciben los linderos, que se borran en los diafanos ambientes del reposo, de la paz y del silencio; (OC, p. 316) S Fray Luis had previously said: Despi£rtenme las aves Con su cantar suave no aprendido, No los cuidados graves De que es siempre seguido El que al ajeno arbitrio esta atenido. 26. Fray Luis de Leon, Poesias completas, vol. I (2nd ed.; Buenos Aires, 1942), p. 11. 27. La poesia di Gabriel y Galan, p. 201. 194 Vivir quiero conmigo Gozar quiero del bien que debo al cielo A solas sin testigo, Libre de amor, de celo, De odio, de esperanzas de recelo. According to Pou, "A solas" (OC, pp. 367-370) is another one of Galan's attempts to compose a poem in the style and philosophy of Fray Luis. Here the "Vida retirada" with its "afioranzas de paz frente 29 a la realidad de la vida" is also the pattern as the first stanzas of each will show. Galan says; jQu6 bien se vive asx! Pasan los dias sin dejar en el alma sedimentos de insanas alegrias ni de amargos tormentos ... (OC, p. 367) Fray Luis expresses it: I Que descansada vida La del que huye del mundanal riiido Y sigue la escondida Senda por donde han ido Los pocos sabios que en el mundo han sido! Here, as in "Cancion," Galan finds it impossible to follow the line of tranquil reasoning of his model; he cannot stay apart from the world. His moment of repose must end and he has to go on " jA luchar otra vez por este mundo! " (OC, p. 370). In spite of his longings for peace, he has to face the realities of the world and he concludes; 28. Poesias completas, I, p. 16. 29. "La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan," p. 213. 30. Poesias completas, I, p. 8. 195 No se llega hasta el Dios tres veces Santo, no se llega hasta Vos, joh Dios Divinol por caminos de flores alfombrados. jSe llega con los pies ensangrentados por las duras espinas del camino! (OC, p. 370) There is, in the development of Fray Luis' theme no such change, as the last stanza of his "Vida retirada" will show: A la sombra tendido, De hiedra y lauro coronado, Puesto el atento oldo A1 son dulce, acordado, ^ Del plectro sabiamente meneado. It is Martin Alonso's opinion that the perfect Christian woman lauded by Galan in "El ama" (OC, pp. 35-44) is a counterpart of the ideal spouse described by Fray Luis in "La perfecta casada." He states that "El caracter de la mujer en las poesias del autor de El Ama, es el de la mujer de su casa, ensalzada en el libro de los Proverbios, que nada.tiene de las ternezas er6ticas y de las melosi-* 32 dades anacre6riticas de losmodernos." He goes on to classify speci fically el ama: "Porque el Ama ... es el tipo de mujer m&s noble y acabado de cuantos han salido de la pluma de Gabriel y Galin. Humilde labradora, produce la impresion de la perfecta casada descrita con rasgos magistrales por el maestro Fray Luis de Leon, y de aquella 31. Poesias completas, I, p. 7. 32. El cantor de Castilla, p. 57. 196 mujer fuerte cuya figura qued6 dibujada para siempre en los Libros Sagrados."^ Fray Luis uses Proverbs 31 as the text for his sermon to show what the perfect married woman should be and paints a very realistic picture of the woman of his time to show what the perfect married woman should not be. Galan attributes the exemplary qualities to 14s mother and then projects them into his ideal of a wife and mother of his children. No unfavorable aspects are even considered. In Pro verbs 31:11-20, the following attributes of the good womap are given: El coraz6n de su marido esta en ella confiado, Y no tendr£ necesidad de despojo. Darale ella bien y no mal, Todos los dias de su vida. Busc6 lana y lino, Y con voluntad labr6 de sus manos. Fu£ como navio de mercader: Trae su pan de lejos. Levant6se aun de noche, Y di6 comida a su familia, X raci6n a sus criadas. Consider6 la heredad, y compr6la; Y plant6 vifta del fruto de sus manos. Cili6 sus lomos de fortaleza, Y esforz6 sus brazos. Gusto que era buena su granjeria: Su candela no se apago de noche. Aplic6 sus manos al huso, Y sus manos tomaron la rueca. Alarg6 su mano al pobre, Y extendi6 sus manos al menesteroso. Verses 27 and 30 set forth some of the qualities that a woman should not have: Considera los caminos de su casa, Y no come el pan de balde. 33. Ibid., p. 71. 197 Engafiosa es la gracia, y vana la hermosura: La mujer que teme a Jehova, €sa sera alabada. Fray Luis de Leon in Chapter IX of "La perfecta casada" paraphrases the above as follows: Tenga valor la mujer, y plantara viTia; ame el trabajo, y acrecentara su casa; ponga las manos en lo que es propio de su oficio, y no se desprecie de 61, y creceran sus riquezas; no se descifta, esto es, no se enmollezca, ni haga de la delicada, ni tenga por honra el ocio, ni por estado el descuido y el sueno, sino ponga fuerza en sus brazos y acostumbre a la vela sus ojos, y saboreese en el trabajar, y no se desdene de poner las manos en lo que toca al oficio de las mujeres, por bajo y por menudo que sea; y entonces vera cuanto valen y adonde llegan sus obras. Tres cosas le pide aqui J3alom6n, y cada una en su verso: que sea trabajadora, lo primero; y lo segundo, que vele; y lo tercero, que hile. No quiere que se regale, sino que trabaje.^ Galan concretizes the positive idea thus: Una sencilla labradora, humilde, hija de oscura castellana aldea; una mujer trabajadora, honrada, cristiana, amable, carinosa y seria, jOh, como se suaviza el penoso trajin de las faenas cuando hay amor en casa y con 61 mucho pan se amasa en ella para los pobres que a su sombra viven, para los pobres que por ella bregan! jY cuanto lo agradecen, sin decirlo, y cuanto por la casa se interesan, y c6mo ellos la cuidan, y c6mo Dios la aumenta! jY c6mo la alegria y el trabajo donde esta la virtud se compenetran! (OC, p. 36) 34. Angel del Rio and Amelia A. de. del Rio, .ed., Antologfa general de la literatura espafiola, Vol. I (New York, 1960), p. 395. 198 The impression produced by a comparison of these three quotations is not necessarily one of influence on Gabriel y Galan, but more one of similarity of theme. Jos€ Maria de Cossio gives the following ex planation: El distinguido critico Angel Revilla Marcos senala el posible influjo de La perfecta casada en su concepci6n de la mujer fuerte de los proverbios de Salom6n. Rasgos de El ama coinciden en efecto, con los distintivos de la per fecta casada, pero mucho mas pr6ximo que este modelo literario tenia Galan el de tantas mujeres, regidoras y administradoras de la hacienda familiar y campesina, de tantas amas tan eficaces en la administraci6n como en la caridad, y tan firmes en la virtud como el modelo de fray Luis. ... De las artes de la mujer de los proverbios poseia sin duda "El ama" todas, pero el poeta traza su retrato buscando otros rumbos, y ni uno solo de tales •' primores cita de cuantos prolijamente habia de glosar fray Luis. ... El procedimiento de hacer resaltar la virtud es completamente distinto, y si para concebir el tipo cristiano y casero de su casada perfecta no tuvo nuestro poeta que recurrir a ejemplos o modelos no vistos, para » trazarle huy6 del procedimiento moralizador de fray Luis, y aun desdefi6 cualidades concretas de economia dom€stica que pudieran haber dado caracter a su creacidn femenina y que en fray Luis estaban deliciosamente expresadas. Galan's indebtedness to the past is not limited to religious associations alone, although his choice of Fray Luis de Le6n as a model for some of his poetry would seem to indicate a strong bent in that direction. Among other resemblances, sources, and influences to be investigated are those stemming from the poetry of Calder6n, Mel6ndez ValdSs, and Espronceda. 35. Cincuenta aflos de poesia espaflola, II, p. 1256. 199 Pou considers that three of Galan's poems show evidence of Calderonian influence: "Fecundidad" (OC, pp. 401-406), "La romerla del amor" (OC, pp. 415-422), and "La jurdana" (OC, pp. 486-488). All three display a certain ornateness of language and involved syntax 36 reminiscent of Calder6n's style. In "Fecundidad, " for instance, Gal£n depicts the morning with an extreme example of hyperbaton in the Baroque tradition: Y una que trajo de color de oro mayo gentil espl&ndida manana, con sol de fuego que arranc6 resinas de las olientes montaraces jaras, ... (OC, p. 404) Thematic ally, to Pou, "La romeria del amor" is a description of "Galan frente al tema del amor. " The poem is a "recuerdo de 37 Calder6n: El principe constante." Even though he does not validate this statement, he does indicate a passage characterized as "estilp 38 ampuloso calderoniano, " in which "mas" and "surgi6" are repeated to give force in this example of anaphora. Y del dulce, del grato seno profundo de la oscura fronda de fresnos y mimbreras del regato, romantica, alta y honda, purisima y vibrante, bizarra, magistral, insinuante, mas cargada que nunca de dulzura, 3,6. "La metafora en, la poesla de Gabriel y Gal&n," p. 335. 37. Ibid., p. 251. 38. Ibid., p. 252. 200 mis henchida que nunca de armonla, mis llena de frescura, mis rica en poesla, mis intensa y sonora, mas que nunca feliz, mis habladora, surgi<5 la incomparable, surgi6 la peregrina primorosa canci6n inimitable que brota de la lengua cristalina del pijaro cantor de los cantor es, cuando sabe que escucha sus primores en la rama vecina una enferma de fiebre incubadora que extitica reposa sobre el nido donde el hondo misterio se elabora ... (OC, p. 417) In "La jurdana" he points out a metaphor that would seem to hark back to one of Baltasar's speeches in Calderon's "La cena del Eey Bal- tasar. " Pou apparently feels that there is a similarity of imagery be tween Calderon's "lanzas de agua" and Galan's "gotas aceradas." Calder6n describes the rainfall: luego fueron lanzas de agua, que nubes y montes juntan, ... ^ Galan conveys a similar image of the heavy showers in "La jurdana": Unos turbios desatados aguaceros, cuyas gotas aceradas descendian de los cielos como flechas ... (OC, p. 486) It is doubtful that much of this represents imitation; the incidence of similarities is too sporadic. It is more likely that ideas, phraseology, 39. Autos sacramentales, ed. by Angel Valbuena Prat (Clasicos Castellanos, " Vol.' LXIX; Madrid, 1957), p. 18. 201 or metrics half-remembered from some previous exposure have been adapted to fit the impression that Gal&n was trying to make. Among his Salamancan precursors, however, there is one with whom Galan shows an affinity, even though he denies it in these lines from "Los pastores de mi abuelo" (OC, pp. 464-469): Yo quisiera que vagase por los rusticos asilos, no la casta fabulosa de fantasticos Batilos que jam&s en las majadas de mis montes habit6, sino aquella casta de hombres vigorosos y severos, mas leales que mastines, mas sencillos que corderos, mas esquivos que lobatos, jmas poetas, !ay! que yo! (OC, p. 467) Real de la Riva affirms: Para mi el poeta que esta mas cerca de Gabriel y Galan o 6ste de el, es Melendez Vaides. No del Melendez de la risuefia Arcadia salmantina que canta con blanda y voluptuosa delicadeza a la Flor del Zurgu€n o a la paloma de Filis ... ni siquiera del Melendez moralista y meditativo ... sino del Melendez que al disolverse la Escuela po^tica salmantina hacia 1780 y sentirse estragado del mon6tono bucolismo sensitivo, cobra luego ansias de renovarse y vuelve sus ojos a los hombres de carne y hueso que trabajan y sufren y mueren sobre la tierra que hacen fecunda para gente extrafia, y se acuerda y vuelve a senti? palpitar en su entrafia, su ascendencia y su nifiez labriega y terrufiera. ^ Thus, the Melendez Vald£s that Galan imitated, either consciously or unconsciously, is not the bucoliast of the "fantasticos Batilos" but the poet who returned to more realistic descriptions of the countryside after he tired of the traditional bucolism. Real de la Riva quotes the 40. Vida y poesia, pp. 67-68. 202 following lines from the "Epistola VII al Principe de la Paz" to show Mel6ndez Vaides' changed attitude: Sed en el alma labrador ... La mia, se arrebata, Seflor; habla del campo, del colono infeliz; criado entre ellos, jamas pudo sin lagrimas su suerte, sus ansias ver mi coraz6n sensible, Fueron mis padres, mis mayores fueron todos agricultores; de mi vida vi la aurora en los campos; el arado, el rudo apero, la balante oveja, el asno sufridor, el buey tardio, gavillas, parvas; los alegres juegos fueron la dicha de mi edad primera. Vos lo sabeis; nuestra provincia ilustre heroes y labradores solo cria. There is a pride, almost of ownership, among the people of a region of Spain that has given birth to a writer or nurtured him cul turally. Since Mel€ndez Vaides was born near Badajoz and held the post of professor of humanities at The University of Salamanca, he "belonged" to the same area as Galan. Therefore, it is quite likely that certain aspects of his later poetry are echoed in Galan's. In fact, Real de la Riva adds: "A veces la aproximaci6q es tan grande, que consciente o inconscientemente Melendez resulta fuente indubitable de Galan en algunos casos. Asi pasa con el romance de 'Los aradores,' antecedente claro de 'Las sementeras,' especialmente en el pasaje 42 que citamos." Even though he is very tenuous in his comparison. 41. Ibid., p. 68. 42. Ibid., p. 69. 203 still the words underlined in the following quotations do show a certain similarity of vocabulary as well as of theme. Heal de la Riva quotes the following passage from "Los aradores": j Oh!, •, qu£ bien ante mis ojos por la ladera pendiente, sobre la esteva encorvados los aradores parecen! j C6mo la luciente reja se imprime profundamente, cuando en prolongados surcos el tendido campo hienden! Con lentitud fatigosa los animales pacientes, la dura cerviz alzada, tiran del arado fuerte. Animalos con su grito y con su aguij6n los hiere el tosco gafian, que en medio su fatiga canta alegre. La letra y pausado tono con las medidas convienen del cansado lento paso que asienten los tardos bueyes. Ellos, las anchas narices abren a su aliento ardiente, que por la frente rugosa el hielo en alj6far vuelve; Y el gafian aguija, y canta, y el sol que alzandose viene con sus vivificos rayos le calienta y esclarece. ^3 43. Ibid. 204 He compares this passage with the following selection from "Las sementeras": Ya llegan mis gaiianes con las yuntas canturreando la canci6n primera que les arranca el equilibrio placido del bien venir de la mariana buena. Estoy en el repecho presidiendo mi hermosa sementera. Todo lo escucho con avaro oido: el blando hundirse de las anchas rejas; el suave rodar hacia los lados de la mullida tierra; el alentar pujante de los bueyes, de cuyos bezos charolados cuelgan tenues hilos de baba transparente que el manso andar no quiebra; aquel pausado y firme posar de sus pezufias gigantescas; el crujir dormilon de las coyundas que el yugo pulimentan; un aliento de brisa tan suave que apenas se menea, un hondo y general rumor de vida y un ruido sordo de pujante brega. Y tal como si el alma del terrufio viniese toda condensada en ella, la tonada de arar surge solemne, la tonada de arar al alma Uega cantando cosas dulces, diciendo cosas buenas. Sus mansas recaidas parecen que remedan la suavidad de las laderas dulces de la ondulada castellana tierra o el tranquilo vaiv6n de los pens ares que el mar ondulan de las almas serias. (PC, pp. 152-153) According to Real de la Riva, additional echoes of Melendez Vaides can be found in other examples of Qalan's poetry, though most 205 of them do not lend themselves to the parallel comparison seen be tween "Los aradores" and "Las sementeras. " He states: "Y aunque no consienta un cotejo tan fiel, indudablemente hay muy amplias resonancias descriptivas ... entre la 'Epistola' al Principe de la Paz, 44 yacitada, yen la poesia de nuestro autor 'A. S. M. el Rey. •" This relationship is reflected in the humanitarian attitude shown by both poets: MelSndez Vald'Ss weeps over the lot of the field worker; Galan over the poverty of the jurdanos. Gal£n expresses it: Tanta pena he contemplado que unas veces he llorado con llanto de compasi6n, y otras mi voz han velado gemidos de indignacidn. (OC, p. 109) The transcendentalism or spiritual naturalism found in Galan's poetry is lacking, however, in Mel€ndez Vald€s, as Real de la Riva states in his final evaluation of the points of similarity in the work of the two poets: Gabriel y Galan conocia por lo tanto muy a fondo a Melendez Vaides y le seguxa o recordaba a veces, lo que no menoscaba su originalidad es^ncial, sino que la ambienta hist6ricamente en una tradici6n literaria que Galan renueva hasta el fondo de su alma, que es de donde extrae su trascendentalidad y densidad sensitiva y po€tica que, por ejemplo en "Las sementeras," se condensa sobre el hilo tematico realista, pero meramente descriptivo, de "Los aradores."^ 44. Ibid., p. 70. 45. Ibid. Another Extremaduran whose verse echoes in the poetry of Gal&n is Espronceda. His "El reo de muerte" could very well have served as a thematic inspiration for Gal&n's "Lo inagotable" (OC, pp. 50-52), since the latter poem would make a plausible sequel to the former. The mother mourns before the hanging in "El reo de muerte1' and after it in "Lo inagotable" while the same "vela amarilla" burns in both poems. Espronceda treats the execution by hanging from the point of view of the condemned man: Reclinado sobre el suelo Con lenta amarga agonia, Pensando en el triste dia Que pronto amanecer&; En silencio gime el reo Y el fatal momento espera En que el sol por vez postrera En su frente lucira. 4" More important to Gal&n than the death of the man is the sorrow caused to the mother: De rodillas delante de la fosa donde se pudre el mocet6n garrido, la pobre vieja sin moverse pasa la tarde del domingo. (OC, p. 50) Espronceda places the candle in the chapel and describes it thus: Languida vela amarilla Tifie en su luz funeral;^ 46. Jos£ Sanchez, ed., Nineteenth-Century Spanish Verse (New York, 1949), p. 61. : ^ 47. Ibid., p. 62. 207 Galon's candle is in the cemetery: Una vela amarilla que no alumbra, se que ma, ... (OC, p. 50) Espronceda describes the memories of the young map: Es un joven, y la vida Llena de suenos de oro, Pas6 ya, cuando aun el lloro De la ninez no enjug6: El recuerdo es de la infancia, i Y su madre que le llora, Para morir asi ahora Con tanto amor le cri6!!! In Galan's poem, the memories are those of the mother: Mont6n de carne rota que una madre tuvo un dia pegado a sua entranas, y espejado en las ninas de sus ojos y en el centro del alma. (OC, p. 51) Both poets use the gaiety of the living to accentuate the poignancy of dying. Espronceda describes the contrast of happiness before the execution: 4 Mas qu£ rumor a deshora Rompe el silencio? resuena Una alegre cantilena Y una guitarra a la par, ' Y gritos y de botellas Que se chocan el sonido, Y el amoroso estallido Oe los besos y el danzar. Y tambi£n pronto en s6n triste Lugubre voz sonora: j Para hacer bien por el alma Del que van a ajusticiar 149 48. Ibid. 49. Ibid., p. 63. 208 Galan counterposes merriment to the putrefaction of death and person alizes the scene with a girl who used to dance for the young man when he was alive: Y de la plaza del lugar venian sones de tamboril y castalluelas, notas de gaita que al hablar de amores infundian tristeza. j C6mo bailaba la muchacha alegre para quien fu£ belleza vigorosa lo que era ya bajo viscosa hierba mont6n de carne rota! (QC, p. 51) From the foregoing it is evident that many of the comparisons drawn between Galan's poetry and that of his predecessors serve only to associate him with the bucolic tradition and to relate him in a gen eral way to poets such as Horace, Juan del Encina, and the Marques de Santillana. The comparisons made between Galan1 s poems and various chapters from the Old Testament would seem to indicate a definite Biblical influence on the themes and the language he used. At times this religious feeling also has its foundation in the cult of the Virgin expressed in the folklore of the region. Another manifestation of his Christianity is his identification of his sufferings with those of Christ, an identification found particularly in his symbolic references to the cross, the resurrection. Calvary, and the bitter chalice. Galan also appai ently modeled some of his poetry on that of Fray Luis de Le6n but lacked the philosophical background and poetic technique of the 209 latter. His image of the ideal mother--and wife--could have been drawn from Proverbs 31, Fray Luis' La perfecta casada, or the gen eral ideal of the Spanish woman. Characteristics of the Calderonian style can be seen in the ornateness of language of some of Galan's descriptions of nature. The post-bucolic phase of Mel6ndez Vald6s,poetry also seems to have influenced Galan. Echoes of Espronceda can be heard to a limited extent in Galon's poetry; thematically the "Lo inagotable" of the latter could plausibly serve as a sequel to the poem "El reo de muerte" of the former. As has been shown, Galan's literary indebtedness to the past is difficult to prove. Analogies and similarities have been pointed out; in some cases, from the poet's references, we can judge them to be incontrovertible, in others, debatable. His Poetry as an Expression of Contemporary Ideas and Techniques The disparity of opinion among the critics already mentioned would indicate that the problem of Galan's rapport with the ideas and literary techniques of his time has no easier solution than the deter mination of his literary and environmental heritage. During the period in which Galan lived, Ram6n de Campoamor reached the end of his long career, the Modernist Movement came into being, a group of writers at the turn of the century was classified as the Generation of 210 of 1898, and many novels were published by authors such as Jos6 Maria de Pereda and Benito P6rez Galdds. An investigation of this literary world will be made in order to ascertain how and to what extent Galan reflected it or reacted to it. The sequence of the elements has been arbitrarily determined so that I may bring out the points in the ascending order of their relationship to Gal&n's ideology discussed in Chapter 4 of this study. According to Cossio, "la ret6rica de poetas ... contemporaneos contribuye a su formaci6n, y este influjo es como el cuno de la 6poca que lleva gran 50 parte de la obra de Galan. " Since Campoamor's life spans almost all of the nineteenth century and encroaches by one year into the twentieth, his poetry could certainly be considered part of the impres sion of the epoch in which Galan wrote. Martin Alonso's antipathy to Campoamor is so great, however, that he states the impossibility of such an influence in the following words: No he de ser yo quien recorra todos los escritos de este poeta, [Campoamor] para trazar un paralelo con las poesias er6ticas de Gabriel y Gal&n. Eso seria enfangar demasiado la pluma. ... Lo que no quiero dejar en el tintero son los principales rasgos de su caracter y peculiar literatura, para que compulsadcts con la figura que venimos haciendo ... [de Gal&n], por la ley del contraste, - resalten con mas vigor, la pureza castiza y el ing6nito buen gusto del vate salmantino. A la vez serviran estas line as de protesta anticipada, por si alguien diera en la mania de poner la soxftbra del irreligioso Campoamor velando en torno de las composiciones 50. Cincuenta atios de poesia espatiola, II, pp. 1259rl260. 211 de Gabriel y Galan. ... Quien asi buscara la filiaci6n est£tica del vate charro, no hallaria reparo ninguno en poner a Pereda del brazo con Zola y al maestro Fray Luis con el volteriano e impudico Heine.®* Cossio does make a comparison between Campoamor and Galan in this disparaging statement: "Creo indudable que a Campoamor se debe un cierto prosaismo que en algunas descripciones especialmente puede notarse en nuestro poeta. En poesias de su juventud esto es 52 notorio, como en ... 'Mananas ytardes.He makes no reference to any one of Campoamor's poems and quotes only the following lines from "Mananas y tardes" (OC, pp. 713-727) to indicate the prosaic quality of some of Galan1s verses: Los alegres manzanos cuando florecen dan sombra a las verduras que abajo crecen. Si un aroma se aspira dulce y ligero, es el aroma dulce de algtin romero. Junto a la vieja tapia crece y vegeta el junco del pantano con la violeta, y unen abrazos tiernos y fraternales las verdes zarzamoras con los rosales. (OC, pp. 718-719) Pablo Pou Fernandez generalizes that a number of Galan's poems, for their irony or their "piano de la observaci6n doctrinal y 53 objetiva, " belong to Campoamor's school. He considers that "Del 51. El cantor de Castilla, p. 62. 52. Cincuenta alios de poesia espaflola, II, pp. 1259-1260. 53. "La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan," p. 75. 212 54 viejo, el consejo" (OC, pp. 93-95) is in the "estilo de Campoamor." This poem relates the advice of an old man to a young girl to come in doors at eventide. He warns her of the danger of giving way to her emotions when she talks to her young man in the garden after darki Deja la charla, Consuelo que una moza casadera no debe estar en la era si no esta el sol en el cielo. (OC, p. 93) 55 He finds the nalusi6n ir6nica de Campoamor" in "jTrisca, vaquerillo!11 (OC, pp. 147-148) which tells of the love of an eleven- year old boy for an older girl, she is not for him. Pues trisca tu, vaquerillo, y olvida a la cabrerilla del sotillo, porque tu eres un chiquillo y ella no es una chiquilla. (OC, p. 148) Pou also generalizes that "El barbecho" (OC, pp. 140-143), which draws the analogy between the plowing of the land and Teresa's loss 56 of her virginity, shows the "ascendencia de Campoamor. " Galan expresses it thus along with a moral in conclusion: Alia en aquella hondonada, hay una tierra ya arada que estaba ayer sin arar. (OC, p. 142) iQu6 es el barbecho, Teresa? Si amor no esta en 61, confiesa 54. Ibid., p. 42. 55. Ibid., p. 75. 56. Ibid., p. 70. 213 que barbecho es un erial; mas si algo dice en el pecho que anda amor por el barbecho ... jbarbecho es huerto edenial! (QC, p. 143) In none of the above instances is any poem by Campoamor cited for comparative purposes. Pou does find a similarity, however, in the gruesomeness of Gal&n's "^Qu^ tendra?" verses of which are quoted in the previous chapter, and Campoamor's "El gaitero de Gij6n." According to Pou, both poets point out "el contraste entre la alegria 57 del baile y el sentimiento de la muerte." The first three lines of "El gaitero de Gij6n" illustrate this resemblance: Ya se esta el baile arreglando. Y el gaitero, ^d6nde esta? gg "Esta a su madre enterrando, One other poem, Galan's "Denuncia, " may be cited to show the possibility of Campoamor's influence. Ram6n Esquer Torres offers the following opinion of "Denuncia" in his Obra in£dita y olvidada de Gabriel y Galan: "Nos parece includible la referenda a 'Como rezan 59 las solteras,' de Campoamor, que Galan debia de conocer." Both poems depict the distractions of a young lady attending Mass: in "Denuncia, " her mannerisms and attire distract the other parishioners; 57. Ibid., p. 77. 58. Ram6n de Campoamor, Obras poSticas completas (Mad rid, 1951), p. 215, 59. Footnote 44, p. 90. 214 in "C6mo rezan las solteras, " it is the young lady herself who is distracted by thoughts of her lover. The following stanzas of Gal&n's "Denuncia" illustrate his opinion of the vain sefiorita: Pues sefior ... por no ocurrirseme hablar de un asuntillo mejor, me atrever€ a denunciar, ya que es cosa que me irrita, fa manera singular de rezar que tiene usted, sefiorita. Cerca de usted, francamente, no oye misa ni el devoto mas ferviente, porque excita usted la risa al cristiano mas paciente. jQu€ meneos al rosario! jCual si fuera un incensario! jY qu6 modo de cerrar y abrir el devocionario sin leer y sin rezar! jQu£ sentarse y levantarse! |Qu£ cruces al persignarse! jQu€ caricias al sombrero! jQu^ modo de figurarse que la mira el mundo entero! The first stanza of Campoamor's "G6mo rezan las solteras11 intro duces the theme of the love-sick spinster. Voy a rezar sentada, porque creo que de no usar, bien edmoda, las sillas, se me ha formado un callo en las rodillas, que sera bueno y santo, pero es feo. Y asi despacio, porque estoy de prisa, ver€ si llega Pablo; 60. Obra in€dita, pp, 89-90. 215 y en esta posici6n, oyendo mis a, tendr6 un oido en Dios y otro en el diablo. In spite of the similarity of theme, the differences are greater than the resemblances. For Campoamor it is a matter of mildly cynical amusement--he is an urbane unbeliever. But for Galan it is cause for outrage, a profanation of the House of God, and a distraction of the worshippers. From the preceding illustrations, it appears that Galan's re semblance to Campoamor lies in general rather than specific qualities: a certain prosaicness of rhetoric, ironic allusions, and similarity of subject matter or theme. Beyond that, Campoamor's impression on Galan is evanescent. Galan's association with any Modernistic tendencies has been emphatically disavowed by a number of anti-Modernist critics as was pointed out in a previous chapter. In expressing their anti-Modernism, some of his contemporaries related the Modernist Movement to the following factors: Zeda called it "la influencia enfermiza de esa lit - eratura que han dado en llamar modernista, y que tiene su origen en 62 Las flores del mal de Baudelaire"; to G6mez, it was "la retorcida manera de expresar [los sentimientos] ..." and "... la desconcertada 61. Qbras po€ticas completas, p. 537. 62. Jos£ Maria Gabriel y Gal£n, Qbras completas (1905), I, p. ix. 216 63 manera de sentirlos, como va siendo uso en los modernistas"; Pardo Baz£n felt that "Galan no podia ... ser ... un parnasiano, un 64 * decadentista, un colorista ... . " During the period between Galan's 65 66 death and the commemorative studies, Bell and Martin Alonso consider that Galin is not a Modernist; Onis, on the other hand, speaking of Gal&n, says that "su mismo clasicismo de los principios 67 es modernista mas que reaccionario"; Henriquez Urena, in his chapter on the Modernist Silva points out that "la influencia del Noc- turno no se manifestd solamente en punto de forma: trascendid tambi£n a la ideologia po£tica. ... Galan ... en composiciones posteriores a 68 1900, trae reminiscencias de Silva. " Finally, in his memorial study Real de la Riva expresses the opinion that "si Galan no es clisico ni rom&ntico, atin menos es un modernista. Now that the movement known as Modernism is no longer cur rent nor so controversial, recent critics are not so concerned with 63. Revista de Extremadura, LXV.II (January, 1905), 32. 64. Obras completas, XXXII, p. 104. 65. Contemporary Spanish Literature, pp. 224-226. 66. El cantor de Castilla, p. 96. 67. Antologia de la poesia espaflola e hispanoamericana, p. 544. 68. Breve historia del modernismo, p. 137. 69. Vida y poesia, p. 77. 217 affirming or denying Galan's relationship to it. Today Modernism can be characterized from the perspective of time and within the context of the literature that embraced its tenets. It may be considered to in clude the following points of reference. According to Max Henriquez Urena, "el voc&blo modernismo fue empleado para sefialar, desde temprano, el movimiento de renovacion literaria en la America 70 espanola. " He adds: "El movimiento modernista . .. obedecio a diversas tendencias del periodo pos-romantico, similares a las que se habian manifestado en otras literaturas, especialmente en Francia, donde con el parnasismo se entronizo el culto de la forma y con el sim- bolismo se renovaron, ademas del idearium poetico, los modos de 71 expresion y la tecnica del verso. " He defines it as "un movimiento de reacci6n contra los excesos del romanticismo, ... y contra las 72 limitaciones y el criterio estrecho del retoricismo pseudoclasico." He also finds in the movement, "el eco de todas las tendencias lite- rarias que predominaron en Francia a lo largo del siglo XIX: el parnasismo, el simbolismo, el realismo, el naturalisiiio, el impre- 73 sionismo y, para completar el cuadro, tambi£n el romanticismo. " 70. Breve historia del modernismo, p.„ 11. 71. Ibid. 72. Ibid. 73. Ibid., p. 12. 218 Among the characteristics pertaining to Modernism given by Guiller- mo Diaz-Plaja is the use of colors and synesthesias as well as the descriptions of the five senses with the auditory amplified to include a 74 special reference to the musical. Along with these stylistic devices is found "el prop6sito de renovacidn de la expresi6n po£tica. ... Nue- vos moldes, nuevos metros, nuevas combinaciones de palabra y de 75 rima fueron, en poesia/ el fruto de ese empefio renovador." In order to understand more fully Galan1 s reaction to the move ment, further consideration must be made of Modernism as defined by Unamuno, whose opinions he echoed in his poetry. Metaphorically referring to foreign influences with the phrases, "manjar de allende" and "pan de terruno ajeno, " Galan says in "Brindis" (OC, pp. 111- 118): No abrais el avaro oido creyendo que raro y bueno ^ manjar de allende he traldo, que yo jamas me he nutrido con pan de terrufto ajeno. (OC, p. Ill) Pou says of this second stanza: Seftalamos estas expresiones por lo que tienen de significativo , en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan. Se trata aqui de un sentido ex- clusivista de patria, de una actitud opuesta a muchos hombres de la generaci6n del 98. Este sentimiento de patria chica esta 74. Guillermo Diaz-Plaja, Modernismo frente a noventa y ocho (Madrid, 1951), pp. 233-234. 75. Henrxquez Urefia, Breve historia del modernismo, pp. 13-14. 219 presentado por medio de alusiones con un sentido despectivo hacia todo lo que no sea espanol, hacia todo lo que no sea campesino, hacia todo lo que no sea familiar y aldeano 'con pan de terrutio ajeno. Nevertheless, the statement that "yo jamas me he nutrido con pan de terruno ajeno" has to be taken in context: the poem was written as a toast to Unamuno whose dislike of one aspect of Modernism is found in the following two quotations. The first is taken from Unamuno's pro logue to the definitive edition of Silva's Poesias: No s£ bien qu£ es eso de los modernistas y el modernismo, pues llaman asi a cosas tan diversas y hasta opuestas entre si, que no hay modo de reducirlas a una comun categoria. No s£ lo que es el modernismo literario, pero en muchos de los llamados modernistas, en los mas de ellos, encuentro cosas que encontr€ antes en Silva. S6lo que en Silva me d'eleitan y en ellos me hastian y enfadan. " It will be recalled that it was Unamuno who recommended that Galan read the poetry of Jose Asunci6n Silva. The second quotation from a letter that Unamuno wrote to Rub6n Dario on May 19, 1899, states: No acabo de comprender del todo esa atracci6n que sobre Uds. ejerce Paris. ... Yo, se lo confieso, no siento la menor atrac- ci6n hacia Paris. En el inmenso coro del universo hay sitio para todos, con tal de que cada cual de su nota nativa, la que le es propia. Lo malo es que el ruisefior pretenda rugir o gorjear el le6n. Y mi anhelo es comprender y sentir todas las voces o mas bien el supremo concierto. Lo que hay es que cuando oigo a solas a los poetas 76. "La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan, " p. 53. m 77. Jos6 Asunci6n Silva, Poesias. Definitive edition wii;h a prologue by Miguel de Unamuno (Paris-Buenos Aires [18-?]), pp. ix-x. • 220 franceses, me cans an, como me cansa el grillo enjaulado, siendo asi que su canto anima a la campiTia y la alegrxa. According to Rafael Ferreres, "Tanto los modernistas como los del 98, si exceptuamos a Unamuno, Benavente, Juan Ham6n Jimenez y Maeztu, el unico idioma que conocen es el francos. Y el estudio de esta lengua se produjo por el interns que despertaba 79 Francia y sus escritores en ellos.11 Thus even though "Guillermo Diaz-Plaja consider a a G6ngora como piedra de toque para diferenqiar, segun la apreciaci6n que muestran por el poeta cordobes, a los moder nistas y a los del 98, "... Ferreres believes that "lo que si puede servir de piedra de toque, y no precisamente de dispersi6n, sino de uni6n, es el culto sentido, paladinamente confesado por unos y por otros, exceptuando en parte a Unamuno, por el genial Paul Verlaine 80 y por su consecuencia en la literatura espafiola: Rub£n Dario. " "Rub£n ... nos trajo la poesia francesa: ... de 6ste [Verlaine] trae ... una intimidad psicol6gica desconocida antes y, con ella, una autentica sinceridad. Y ya sea por Verlaine, ya por su intermediario, Rub£n Dario, todos se sienten influidos de esta nueva manerfii de 78. Rub6n Dario, Obras completas, vol. XIII: Epistolario (Madrid, 1926), pp. 166-167. 79. Rafael Ferreres, Los ltmites del modernismo [y del 98 (Madrid,. 1964), p. 19. 80. Ibid., pp. 21-22. 221 81 sentir y de manifestar los sentimientos." Summing up his opinion that Verlaine's poetry did exercise a great deal of influence on the Spanish, Ferreres states: Verlaine, por si mismo, por la lectura que hicieron de sus obras los escritores espaTioles, o a traves de Rub6n, fue un estremecedor huracan portico que conmovi6--y conmueve--a todo el que se acerca a su poesia. Barri6 antiguas formas de expresi6n y enriqueci6 el sentimiento al darle sinceridad, y aun los poetas que se pronunciaban en contra de su est£tica y espiritu, algo le deben. Aun esos mismos poetas regionalistas apegados, creian ellos, a lo antiguo que no a lo tradicional espanol, como un Gabriel y Galan, por ejemplo. ^2 Ferreres does not say, however, how Galan1s credo resembled Verlaine's nor to what extent the former participated in this movement toward an internal and external renovation of Spanish poetry. Accord ing to M. Henriquez Urefia, not only was Eduardo Marquina's transla- 83 tion of Verlaine's "Art poetique" available in Spain in 1898 but also entire books of Baudelaire, Verlaine, and Heredia were translated in to Spanish shortly thereafter: La influencia de los parnasianos y de los simbolistas franceses estaba de manifiesto en la producci6n de algunos modernistas espanoles de aquella hora. No pocas traduc- ciones aparecian en las revistas literarias, empezando por la que Eduardo Marquina hizo del "Art poetique" de Verlaine en 1898. Despues fueron traducidos libros enteros de Baudelaire, Verlaine y Heredia.84 81. Ibid., pp. 25-26. 82. Ibid., p. 27. 83. Written in 1874, first published in 1882. 84. Breve historia del modernismo, p. 514. 222 George Neely Henning, editor of Representative French Lyrics of the Nineteenth Century, points out the importance of the following lines in Verlaine's "Art po£tique": Many lines, e.g. 1, 2, 7-8, 14, 21, 25-28, 36, have be come proverbial. The insistence on melody, on vagueness, on soft tints, the advocacy of odd-syllable lines, the dia tribes against rhyme, against "eloquence, " against "litera ture, " are all characteristic of the new school. For purposes of comparison with Galan's poetic theories, Verlaine's "Art poetique" is quoted below in its entirety: De la musique avant toute chose, Et pour cela pr£f£re l'Impair Plus vague et plus soluble dans l'air, Sans rien en lui qui pfese ou qui pose. II faut aussi que tu n'ailles point Choisir tes mots sans quelque m^prise: Rien de plus cher que la chanson grise Ou l'Indecis au Precis se joint. C'est des beaux yeux derrifere des voiles, C'est le grand jour tremblant de midi, C'est, par un ciel d'automne atti^di, Le bleu fouillis des claires Stoiles! Car nous voulons la Nuance encor, Pas la Couleur, rien que la nuance! Oh! la nuance seule fiance Le reve au r£ve et la flftte au cor! Fuis du plus loin la Pointe assassin?. L'Esprit cruel et le Rire impur, Qui font pleurer les yeux de l'Azur, Et tout cet ail de basse cuisine! 85. (Rev. ed.; Boston, 1935), p. 517. \ 223 Prends l'eloquence et tords-lui son cou! Tu feras bien, en train d'&iergie, De rendre un peu la Rime assagie. Si l'on n'y veille, elle ira jusqu'oii? O qui dira les torts de la Rime? Quel enfant sourd ou quel nfegre fou Nous a forg€ ce bijou d'un sou Qui sonne creux et faux sous la lime? De la musique encore et toujours! Que ton vers soit la chose envol€e Qu'on sent qui fuit d'une Sme en all£e Vers d'autres yeux k d'autres amours. Que ton vers soit la bonne aventure Eparse au vent crispe du matin Qui va fleurant la menthe et le thym ... Et toute le reste est literature. While Galan did not write an "Arte poetica" so-called, still several of his poems may be scrutinized with reference to the statements cited regarding Galan1 s debt to Verlaine and his association with the Modernist Movement. The proverbial first line "De la musique avant toute chose" immediately calls to mind not the traditionalist second stanza of Galan1s "Brindis" but a complete poem entitled "Mi musica" (OC, pp. 161-166), a rough draft of which is dated by Esquer Torres as having been written around the turn of the century: "Respecto a 'Mi musica,1 que Nuevas Castellanas acogen desde 1905, en nuestro cuaderno en- contramos, precisamente hacia el final del mismo, en lo que 86. Ibid., pp. 410-411. 224 podriamos fechar entre 1899 y 1900, una gran serie de estrofas que 87 constituyen los chispazos del moment© creador del poema." By this time Marquina's translation of the "Art poetique" was circulating in Spain and could have been available to Galan. Just as Verlaine re lates music to poetry so does Galan in his detailed list of the "natu- rales armonias" (OC, p. 161), their "... acento musical/no es engendro artificioso,11 (OC, p. 161). Verlaine had already expressed that idea much more succintly in the last stanza of his "Art poetique. " For Galan, music also involves the "bellas rimas del poeta" (OC, p. 165) who interprets all the sounds that he enumerates earlier in his poem and summarizes in the last three stanzas. Relevant stanzas from "Mi musica" are quoted below to illustrate these points: Naturales armonias, popylares canturias cuyo acento musical no es engendro artificioso, sino aliento vigoro so de la vida natural: vuestras notas, vuestros ruidos, vuestros ecos repetidos en retornelo hablador, son mis goces mas risuenos, son el arte de mis suenos json mi musica mejor! , (OC, p, 161) cuchicheos de las brisas, melodias indecisas del tranquilo atardecer, aletazos de paloma. 87. Obra inSdita, p. 138. 225 balbuceos del idioma que empieza el nino a aprender; jugueteos musicales que modula entre zarzales el callado manantial cuyo hilillo intermitente da la nota transparente de una lira de cristal; melanc6licos murmullos, sabroslsimos arrullos, vibraciones del sentir, que la madre en su cariTio le dedica al tierno nifio invitandole a dormir; (OC, p. 162) suspiro de muda pena que no vibra, que no suena, pero se siente sonar; sollozos del pensamiento que s6lo del sentimiento quieren dejarse escuchar; vuelo sereno de ave, ritmo de aliento suave, beso que arranca el querer, nombre de madre adorada, voz de la mujer amada, llanto de nilio al nacer; tonadilla peregrina que modula en la colina la gaitilla del zagal, la que vierte blancas notas (OC, p. 163) que de miel parecen gotas desprendidas del panal; dulces coros de oraciones, suspiros de devociones, sollozos de pecador, voz del 6rgano suave (OC, p. 164) que llora con ritmo grave la elegia del dolor; 226 bellas rimas del poeta cuya musica interpreta los arrullos del amor. Los estruendos de la orgia, la calmante poesia que hay disuelta en el dolor. Las injurias de la suerte, los horrores de la muerte, los misterios del sentir y el secreto religioso (OC, p. 165) del encanto doloroso de la pena de vivir ... Yo os lo dije: vuestros ruidos, vuestros ecos repetidos en retornelo hablador, son el pan de mi deseo, son el arte en que yo creo, j son mi musica mejor! (OC, p. 166) "Mi musica," however, is not the only example of the impor tance Galan attached to the music of nature and the songs of the coun tryfolk. Another such instance is seen in the following lines from "El poema del gatian" (OC, pp. 80-88). Asi canto el labriego con musica de intensa melodia que en el sentido derram6 ambrosia y en la conciencia derram6 sosiego. y las pardas alondras del camino se quedaban extaticas bebiendo las dulzuras del ritmo peregrino que del manso cantar iban fluyendo. (OC, p. 84) The sound of music is also stressed in "Los pastores de mi abuelo" (OC, pp. 464-469) as Galan describes it: Una musica tan virgen como el aura de mis montes, tan serena como el cielo de sus amplios horizontes, 227 tan ingenua como el alma del artista montaraz, tan sonora como el viento de las tardes abrilenas, tan sviave conio el paso de las aguas riberenas, tan tranquila como el curso de las horas de la paz. (PC, p. 466) Not only did Galan advocate musicality of sound but he also ex perimented with rhyme schemes and verse forms. Of the three poems just cited, "Mi musica" is an example of the sextina in arte menor (aabccb), while the strophes of "Los pastores de mi abuelo,11 like Ruben Dario's "Sonatina,11 are sextinas of the arte mayor (AABCCB). Interestingly enough, Galan's "Pastores" have sixteen syllables to a \ line; Dario's "Sonatina, " fourteen. "El poema del gatian, " on the other hand, is a silva, freely combining lines of eleven and seven syllables. Some of the stylistic techniques of the Modernists, that Hen- riquez UreTia and Diaz-Plaja mention, are evident in "Mi musica"; there are the synaesthesias of the following lines: cuyo hilillo intermitente de-la nota transparente de una lira de cristal; sabrosisimos arrullos (OC, p. 162) la gaitilla del zagal, la que vierte blancas notas (OC, p. 163) There is an example of a paradox in: suspiro de muda pena que no vibra, que no suena, pero se siente sonar; (OC, p. 163) 228 Pou is of the opinion that "El poema del gafian" is reminiscent of the sensorial feeling evoked by Ruben Dario's Modernism: Algo del sentido sensorial de Galan tiene contactos con la escuela modernista de Ruben Dario. No pretendemos es- tablecer influencias, sino demostrar que Galan no es solamente un poeta "popular" que permaneci6 al margen de toda in- novaci6n literaria, que no paso de "un maestro de escuela" rimador de coplas. ° He refers in particular to these verses: El aire se dormia, extatica la mente se quedaba, el ojo distraido ver creia que el suelo palpitaba a impulsos de la vida que lo henchia, y absorto en la visi6n, le parecia que la inmensa llanura respiraba. (OC, p. 81) 89 He also points out the appeal to the gustative sense in the following lines: pur a luz, tibio sol, dulce galbana ... Vinieron otra vez los esplendentes serenos mediodias, las tardes impregnadas de dolientes dulces melancolias, (OC, p. 80) The other poem of this group "Los pastores de mi abuelo" contains fewer such rhetorical devices, although Pou does point out one out standing example: "Vemos aqui un desplazamiento calificativo ('de silencios transparentes, mas sabrosos que la miel' [OC, p. 466]). El 88. La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan. Extract of the Doctoral Dissertation, p. 7. 89. "La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan, " p. 34. 229 adjectivo 'transparentos' no ocupa su lugar l6gico y constituye, junto con el sustantivo al que acompafia una sinestesia (sensaciones auditi- vas y visuales). The musical creed expressed and the stylistic techniques em ployed in "Mi mtisica," "El poema del ga!i&n,11 and "Los pastores de mi abuelo" are not the only indications of Galan's contact with Mod ernism. Modernistic characteristics can be found in other poems. "Lo inagotable" (OC, pp. 50-52), cited previously as an example of thematic inspiration from Espronceda, not only demonstrates Gal&n's use of Modernistic figures but also his experimentation with verse form. Here, "una tarde otonal" (OC, p. 50) is the symbol of death and the anguish of the living mother is the theme. Colors are used sparingly but do produce an impression: "un sol amarillento que se muere de frio y de tristeza" (OC, p. 50). All the five senses are called upon in the description: "el aroma de muerte" (OC, p. 50), "Una alondra ... se pos6 ... para beber el rayo agonizante del frlo sol dorado,/y cant6 una canci6n opaca y frla" (OC, p. 51). The synaesthesias are immediately apparent. "Lo inagotable" is written in stanzas of four lines; the first three lines of each stanza are hende- casyllabic; the last line, heptasyllabic. The rhyme is not consonant but assonant, with the vowels in assonance varying from stanza to stanza. i 90. La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan. Extract, p. 24. 230 : "Castellana" (OC, pp. 45-49) is a symbolic description of Castile and the silent, loyal love the peasant feels for her. The appeal to the senses is again stressed as this one stanza will indicate: O vamos a mis sembrados y alii ver&s emulados de tus labios los carmines, que parecen amasados con petalos de alvergines. (OC, p. 47) The lack of restraint in the descriptions of "El Cristo de Velazquez" (OC, pp. 389-391) strongly suggests its inclusion in the romantic school of poetry, but the choice of subject, a painting, and the sensuousness of the descriptions demonstrate its Modernistic characteristics. Such phrases as "la miel de lo bello" (OC, p. 389) and "el artista empapaba de sombras" are two examples of the type of synaesthesias found in the poem while the following line, "y de luces de sombras el lienzo ..." (OC, p. 391) is an example of an oxymoron. The antithetical combination of an incantation with the descent of the angels to earth so that plumes of their wings could be made into paint brushes suggests a Modernist renovation of Baroque hyperbole: Y al conjuro bajaron los angeles, y al artista inspirado asistieron, su paleta cargaron de sombras y luces del cielo, alzaron el tripode, tendieron el lienzo, y arrancandose plumas de raso de las alas, pinceles le hicieron. (OC, p. 390) 231 Structurally innovational, the poem consists of lines of ten and six syllables irregularly placed in stanzas of varying lengths. The rhyme scheme throughout is in assonance, e-o. While critics have named no specific Modernist poets or poems as a source of inspiration for the poetry just discussed, several do agree that the "Nocturno" of the Colombian Modernist Jos£ Asunci6n Silva did exert an influence on Jos£ Maria Gabriel y Galan. Cossio makes the general statement that Galan "... conoci6 y gusto de los modernistas al colombiano Jose Asuncion Silva, del que imit6 la metrica de su nocturno en composiciones muy de sus ultimos dias, 91 pisando vacilantemente las lindes del modernismo. " Romano Colangeli admits this influence and mentions four of Galan's poems in which the effect of Silva's "Nocturnos" can be seen: "Inoltre qualche critico ha rilevato un certo influsso dei Nocturnos di J. Asunci6n Silva, ... in Nocturno montanes, Sortilegio, Confidencia e Las can- ciones de la noche, specie per quanto riguarda la versificazione ed i 92 toni melanconici. " For purposes of comparison with these poems, Silva's "Nocturno tercero" is quoted below in its entirety: Una noche, • una noche toda llena de murmullos, de perfumes y de musicas de alas; una noche 91. Cincuenta afios de poesia espafiola, II, p. 126i. " 92. La poesia di Gabriel y Galan, p. 218. 232 en que ardian en la sombra nupcialyhumeda las luciernagas fantasticas, a mi lsido lentamente, contra mi cenida toda, muda y palida, como si un presentimiento de amarguras. infinitas hasta el mas secreto fondo de las fibras te agitara, por la senda florecida que atraviesa la llanura, caminabas; y la luna llena por los cielos azulosos, infinitos y profundos esparcia su luz blanca; y tu sombra, fina y languida, y mi sombra, por los rayos de la luna proyectadas, sobre las arenas tristes de la senda se juntaban, y eran una, y eran una, y eran una sola sombra larga, y eran una sola sombra larga, y eran una sola sombra larga ... Esta noche, solo, el alma llena de las infinitas amarguras y agonias de tu muerte, separado de ti misma por el tiempo, por la tumba y la distancia, por el infinito negro donde nuestra voz no alcanza, mudo y solo por la senda caminaba ... Y se oian los ladridos de los perros a la luna, a la luna palida, y el chirrido de las ranas ... Senti frio. Era el frio que tenian en tu alcoba tus mejillas y tus sienes y tus manos adoradas, entre las blancuras niveas de las mortuorias sabanas. Era el frio del sepulcro, era el hielo de la muerte, era el frio de la nada. Y mi sombra, por los rayos de la luna proyectada, iba sola, iba sola, iba sola por la estepa solitaria; y tu sombra esbelta y agil, fina y languida. 233 como en esa noche tibia de la muerte primavera, como en esa noche 11ena de murmullos, de perfumes y de musicas de alas, se acerco y march6 con ella, se acercd y march6 con ella, se acerco y march6 con ella ... jOh, las sombras enlazadas! jOh, las sombras de los cuerpos que se juntan con las sombras de las almas! jOh, las sombras que se buscan en.las noches de tristezas y de lagrimas!. ... ^ Writing of "Confidencias" (OC, pp. 520-523), Esquer Torres states that "El influjo de los 'Nocturnos' de Jos6 Asunci6n Silva, en especial del III, es bien patente, ya que es una imitacion formal y 94 ritmica, no tematica, ..." He adds in a footnote to this same page, "Es curiosa por lo temprana, ya que los 'Nocturnos' 'publicados en 1894, no debieron de llegar a Espana hasta 1898 o 1899. Fij£monos que 'Confidencias' esta escrito en el primer tercio de 1900 ... . " The first stanza of "Confidencias" given below verifies Esquer Torres' statement that the resemblance lies in the imitation of the form and the rhythm--not the theme--of "Nocturno." Both poems have a flexibility of form as far as the length of the lines and of the stanzas is concerned in addition to assonant rhyme in a-a. Un secreto, vida mia; pero quiero que no llores si te digo que la adoro con el alma, si te digo que del todo no soy tuyo, 93. Federico de Onis, Antologia de la poesia espaflola e hispanoamericana (New York, 1961), pp. 85-87. 94. Obra in6dita, p. 141. 234 si te digo que me ama una sombra peregrina de mujer irrealizable que mi espiritu ha creado porque nunca pudo hallarla en la vasta muchedumbre de adorable s criaturas por los Smbitos del mundo derramadas. Tii no sabes que en mis dias de mortales desalientos pavorosos y en las horas tan vacias de mis noches solitarias, cuando el mundo me abandona, cuando duermen los que aman, cuando s6lo tengo enfrente los asaltos del hastlo, cuando el alma, cuando el alma combate afligida con el ansia de todas las ansias, con el peso de todas las dudas, con las sales de todas las lagrimas, con el fuego de todas las fiebres, con el hipo de todas las n&useas, (OC, p. 520) la impalpable vaga sombra femenina misteriosa, como nuncio de consuelos que los cielos me enviaran, viene a verme con las alas extendidas, viene a verme cual paloma enamorada, y disipa en mi cerebro la pesada calentura con el roce de las puntas de sus alas ..., 2 con el roce de las puntas de sus alas nacaradas! (OC, p. 521) Max Henriquez Urefia, in the statement quoted in Chapter 3 of this study, also acknowledges Gal&n's debt to Silva and cites selections ; from three of Galan's poems: "Nocturno montafi^s" (OC, pp. 489- 492), "Sortilegio" (OC, pp. 493-495), and "Las canciones de la noche" (OC, pp. 496-500), in which he sees a resemblance to Silva's "Noc turno. " The: reminiscencias of Silva to which Henriquez Urefia refers in general terms appear specifically to consist of the following points: all four poems sensually depict a night scene, three (excepting 235 "Nocturno montafies") show a preoccupation with the theme of death, all show variant lengths of line as well as of stanza, and all have an assonant rhyme in a-a. Furthermore, in the "Nocturno montafies" Galan has adopted some of the imagery used by Silva--the "cielos infinitos" and the "luci£rnagas fantasticas"--shown in the following verses: una noche de opulencias enervantes y de misticas ternuras abismaticas, una noche de lujurias en la tierra por alientos de los cielos depuradas, una noche de deleites del sentido depurado por los 6sculos del alma ... (OC, p. 489) Con regio andar solemne la noche se adelanta, y en el lienzo de los cielos infinitos, y en las selvas de las tierras perfumadas, van surgiendo las estrellas titilantes, van surgiendo las luciernagas fantasticas. (OC, p. 490) Galan's "Sortilegio" carries over the weird atmosphere: Una noche de sibilas y de brujos y de gnomos y de trasgos y de magas; una noche de sortilegas diabolicas; una noche de perversas quiromanticas, y de todos los espasmos, y. de todas las eclampsias y de horribles hechiceras epil£pticas, - y de infames agoreras enigmaticas; (OC, p. 493) In "Las canciones de la noche" Galan seems to be concerned with re producing the same sensations of a murmurous, perfumed night in which he, like Silva, walks alone: Una noche rumorosa y palpitante de humedades aromaticas cargadas; 236 una noche mas hermosa que aquel dia que naci6 con un crepusculo de nacar, y medi6 con un. incendio del espacio y expir6 con un ocaso de oro y grana ... Una tibia clara noche melodiosa, impregnada de dulzuras eleglacas que caian mansamente de los cielos en. los rayos de la dulce luna blanca, por el seno de los montes triste y solo yo vagaba con el alma m£s vacia que el abismo de la nada. (OC, p. 496) These, then are some of the Modernist characteristics to be found in Gal&n's poetry: the music, advocated by Verlaine, not only of the sounds of nature but also of the poet's verses; Galon's use of various rhetorical devices such as synaesthesias and sensuous terms, associated with Modernism, as well as his experimentation withverse forms; and an apparent imitation of Silva's "Nocturno III.11 The selec tions quoted indicate that Galan was aware of and receptive to some of the poetic innovations of the movement. " Another Modernist poet with whom Galan has been, associated is Vicente Medina. Federico de Onis considers that "la poesia de Medina ... pertenece ... a uno de los modos de renovacidn del arte y 95 la sensibilidad que caracterizaron a la literatura modernista. " Ac cording to Real de la Riva: De todos modos, hay un poeta que aunque sea pasajeramente no se puede olvidar cuando se habla de influjos literarios en torno a Gabriel y Galan: es Vicente Medina. Sus "Aires 95. Antologia de la poesia espaflola e hispanoamericana, pp. 533-534. 237 murcianos" se publicaron en 1898 y no dudo de que fueron leidos con entusiasmo por Galan, al menos "Cansera;'1 poesia hermana de "El embargo;" .. . . Cierto que esta composici6 n no es la representativa de Galan. Cierto que los demds poemas de Medina divergen aun mas de la poesia de nuestro autor por su colorido fuerte, por su dramatismo bronco, por su artificio popu- larista y su apasionado naturalismo. Cierto que el dialectalismo de Gabriel y Galan surge espontaneamente, segun hemos explicado y que el habla murciana de Medina es de signo vulgarista y no debi6 significar sino un precedente literario para Galan. Cierto por ultimo que el asunto de "El embargo" es totalmente distinto al de "Can^ sera;" Pero no obstante hay que reconocer que el arranque y el sentido de ambas piezas son los mismos.^® Verses of Galan's "El embargo" were quoted in the chapter on Spiri tual Naturalism; comparative selections of Medina's "Cansera" are given below: --Pa qu6 quies que vaya? Pa ver cuatro espigas arroyas y pegas a la tierra, pa ver los sarmientos ruines y mustios y esnuas las cepas, sin urj..grano d'uva, ni tampoco, siquxa, sombra de ella ^ Por esa sendica se march6 aquel hijo que muri6 en la guerra ... Por esa sendica se fu£ la alegria ... j por esa sendica vinieron las penas! ... No te canses, que no me remuevo; anda tu, si quieres, y 6jame que duerma, j a ver si es pa siempre! ... jSi no me espertara! ... j Tengo una cansera! ... ^ 96. Vida y poesia, pp. 80-81. 97. Onis, Antologia de la poesia espafiola e hispanoamericana, p. 542. 238 Thus it can be seen that the parallelism lies. in. the point of departure and the sentiment expressed. Both poems portray the desolation of a man who has just lost all that he holds dear--in "El embargo, " the man's wife has died and he is about to be dispossessed; in "Cansera, " the man has lo§t his son in the war and his crops have failed. Other than this and the popularizing of a dialectal type of poetry, there is little similarity in the work of the two poets. Concurrent with the literary reaction of Modernism.in Spain was the development of a new critical attitude toward the Spanish prob lem of national survival, as expounded by the various members of the Generation of 1898. Valbuena Prat characterizes the turn of the cen tury thus: Paralelamente al sentido cosmopolita del "modernismo" ... en lo esencial espanol del final del siglo XIX se perfila una nueva actitud ante las cosas. Frente a una posici6n afirmativa ant eel .pas ado y presente espanoles, ... seafina una sensibilidad del pequeno detalle, del intimo recogimiento, y una postura critica ante el problema espafiol. Se prepara el ambiente de lo que sera la generaci6n del 98. According to Pedro Lain Entralgo, one thing that the members of this generation had.in common was their arrival at maturity around the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. "Son 98. Historia de la literatura espafiola, II, p. 833. 239 todos ellos hombres cuya concieneia personal espariola despierta y 99 madura entre 1890 y 1905." With regard to the Generation of 1898 itself, Valbuena Prat makes the following generalizations and considers their discovery and appreciation of the Castilian countryside the great aesthetic attainment of the group: A la vez que los autores del 98 plantean el problema nacional, se percibe una nueva sensibilidad para apreciar el paisaje castellano. Los escritores de esta generaci6n son grandes yiajeros de Espana; se dan cuenta de sus miserias politicosociales, pero a la vez meditan ante las bellezas ignoradas, descubren remansos de honda emoci6n, rincones olvidados. Su reivindicaci6n de la aldea castellana, del paisaje castellano es una nota tipica. ... El descubrimiento del paisaje castellano es la gran adquisi- ci6n est£tica del 98. ... *00 Pedro Lain Entralgo defines the countryside discovered by the Genera tion of 1898 as follows: Tal es el paisaje, tal la emoci6n con que nos conmueve. Un trozo de naturaleza se ha hecho paisaje por la virtud de una mirada humana, la nuestra, que le da orden, figura y sentido. Sin ojos contemplativos no hay paisaje. Mira el hombre a la tierra, y lo que era muda geologia, adici6n espacial de piedras, agua y verdura, hScese de golpe marco de su existencia: marco escenogr&fico, como en los paisajes que pintan o describen los artistas del Renacimiento, o marco sentimental, como en todos los paisajes que con una secreta sed de reposo y evasi6n, vamos viendo los hombres posteriores al siglo XVIII. Este fugitive y leve momento en que la naturaleza se transmuta en orla de la vida humana-- 99. Pedro Lain Entralgo, La generaci6n del noVenta y ocho (5th ed., Madrid, .1963), p. 29. 100. Historia de la literatura espatiola, II, pp. 836-837. 240 intimidad e historia--es el decisivo en el nacimiento del paisaje. Aunque el hombre, por torpeza ingenita o por falta de recursos expresivos, no acierte a manifestar articuladamente su personal modo de vivir la parcela c6smica que le circunda y soporta. If we thus consider the Generation of 1898 as an historical and literary entity, then it is necessary to determine whether the charac teristics considered common to the members of this group also pertain to Gabriel y Galan. Chronologically, he is most representative of this epoch--in 1890 he was 20 years of age and he died in 1905. Two recent critics assert that Galan1 s interest in the countryside along with the technique he uses in his realistic descriptions entitles him, from a literary point of view, to be considered one of the Generation of 1898. Pou comes to this conclusion in the following manner: "Lo que nos da la medida de un poeta es su senti- miento del paisaje"--dice Azorin. Los poetas del 98 sienten el paisaje y lo describen sensorialmente, con pinceladas impresionistas. Galan siente hondamente el paisaje y lo presenta con un predominio absoluto de sensaciones, principal- mente visuales y auditivas. La tecnica de enumeraciones descriptivas es car acteristic a. Galan es un poeta de descripciones, que siente la naturaleza, el paisaje y el campo. Romano Colangeli expresses a similar opinion: 101. La generaci6n del noventa y ocho, p. 18. 102. La metafora en la poesia de Gabriel y Galan. Extracto p. 26. 241 Infine, come gli uomini del *98 descrivono el paesaggio con pennellate realistiche, parimenti Galan riesce a darci dell'ambiente esterno una rappresentazione efficacemente colorita, awalendosi di una tecnica letteraria tutta propria anche se in parte condivisa dai poeti della sua generazione. Intendiamo riferirci alle sensazioni visuali, alle ambivalenze, ai simboli, alle antitesi, ai contrasti, alle opposizioni tematiche, ai parallelismi ideologici, e ad altre figure retoriche e particolaritl. stilistiche che il poeta lascia cogliere nelle sue liriche tra una dovizia di metafore e di immagini.. ..10"? Among the men that Lain Entralgo lists as members of the Generation of 1898, Unamuno and Antonio Machado are linked with Gabriel y Galan by Real de la Riva and Salcedo. Unamuno1 s role as Galan1 s friend, sponsor, and mentor was noted earlier in this study along with the consequent influence of the former on the latter. Real de la Riva also finds a reciprocal influence which will be examined. Both Real de la Riva and Salcedo see antecedents of Machado's poetry in Galan's. This will likewise be investigated. Lain Entralgo says of Unamuno that: El m£todo de que se vale Unamuno para descender a la intimidad genuina de Espana consiste en estudiar amorosa y poeticamente los tres elementos de nuestra verdadera peculiaridad: el paisaje, el paisanaje y las creaciones no intelectuales de nuestro espxritu. La vivencia del paisaje espafiol se convierte asi en un im perative patriotico. ... Del paisanaje estudia la costumbre y, sobre todo, el lenguaje vivo. ... Tercera via de acceso a nuestra intimidad genuina es el estudio interpretativo y portico ... de las creaciones no intelec tuales de nuestro espxritu. Las intelectuales no sirven, porque la inteligencia razonadora es cosa externa, 103. La poesia di Gabriel y Galan, p. 230. 242 formal, de superficie, y sus productos moneda intercam- biable entre todos los hombres. Galdn, a countryman himself, was a part of that intrahistoria of the pueblo whose study was so advocated by Unamuno in the belief that the history and traditions of Spain are transmitted through the common people. The following lines from Galan's "Patria" (OC, pp. 657-663) reflect precisely the Unamunian concept of intrahistoria; Vieja Espana, gloriosa madre santa, ipara qu£ requerir tu hermosa historia, si hasta el hijo mas rudo que hoy te canta la conserva esculpida en su memoria? (OC, p. 657) "Los pastores de mi abuelo" (OC, pp. 464-469), discussed previously, is a concrete application of the method attributed to Unamuno by Lain Entralgo. In itself, the poem is a study of the countryside, the shep herds of yesteryear, as well as of their ballads. The association of Gabriel y Galan with Unamuno, however, is more than that of the former's participation in the latter1 s theory of intrahistoria. Real de la Riva believes that Galan's poetry left a last ing impression on Unamuno, an impression that will be apparent if a careful study is made of the poetry of the two men: La poesia de Galan dej6 indudable y soterrafia huella en la poesia de Unamuno. Es uno de los poetas que hay que tener en cuenta al estudiar la lirica unamunesca, mas que por influencias externas por impulsos internos, mas que por semejanzas de estilo por analogia de actitud seria y honda ante el hecho poetico. Ambos anhelaban por encima de todo 104. La generacion del noventa y ocho, pp. 186-187. 243 la sinceridad del yo personal, la fuerte verdad, ambos ponian el alma, mds que la inteligencia, o la fantasia, o la sensibilidad, o la belleza del decir, en lo que decian en verso. Y sin embargo, espiritual y temperamentalmente eran tan distintos como su poesia respectiva: atormentada conciencia intelectual en Unamuno, resignado y pujante sentimiento vital en Gabriel y Galin. He makes no such study, however, but limits himself to general ob servations. One example of this type of generality is concerned with the two poems entitled "El Cristo de Vel&zquez." Here he stresses the fact that Galan's poem was written first, mentions the duplication of title and subject matter, yet admits that Unamuno's reaction to and treatment of the theme are different from Galan's. En 1920 publica Unamuno su magno poema "El Cristo de Velazquez" .... Muchos son los t^rminos de referen- cia en relacion con esta obra, ... pero no se puede olvidar que Gabriel y Galan tiene antes, otro "Cristo de Velazquez, " muy diferentemente sentido y tratado, es verdad, pero de donde pudo, sin embargo, surgir la idea primera unamuniana y supervivir algun eco aislado. In a similar manner he compares Unamuno4 s ''En un cementerio de lugar castellano" with Galan's "Lo inagotable" (OC, pp. 50-52) and the last part of "La vela" (OC, pp. 423-426). "Y algo parecido po- dHamos decir del bello poema unamunesco 'En un cementerio de lugar castellano' que sin concomitancias directas, hace pensar en 'Lo 107 inagotable' y en la parte final de 'La vela' de Galan. " Although 105. Vida y poesia, p. 84. 106. Ibid., p. 85. 107. Ibid. 244 Real de la Riva does not specify why the first poem makes him think of the other two, some points of resemblance do stand out. All three poems depict a walled cemetery in a rural setting: ""la pared del campo santo" (OC, p. 51), "aquel ganan llegaba ... del campo santo 108 a la tapia" (OC, p. 425), "Corral de muertos, entre pobres tapias." All place the activities of the living in contrast to the silence of the dead: "Y de la plaza del lugar veman/ sones de tamboril ..." (OC, p. 51), "... araba el muchacho en tierras/ al cementerio rayanas" 109 (OC, p. 425), "Cerca de ti el camino de los vivos"; and the lark, mentioned by Unamuno as a symbol of Galan's poetic muse, appears in the three poems: "Una alondra .., cant6" (OC, p. 51), "aquel ganan ... con las alondras te canta" (OC, p. 424), "y canta sobre ti la alondra ... . Real de la Riva indicates a similarity of "la metafora unamuniana de sentir el campo castellano como un templo, como un ara gigante"*'1* to Galan's expression in "La castellana" (OC, pp. 45-49), "No es mi patria un cementerio, / pero un templo si lo es" (OC, p. 46). In the poem that begins "Tu me levantas, tierra 108. Miguel de Unamuno, Antologia poetica (Buenos Aires, 1952), p. 73. 109. Ibid., p. 74. 110. Ibid., p. 73. 111. Vida y poesia, p. 85. 245 de Castilla, " Unamuno phrases it as "| Ara gigante, tierra casr . 112 tellana." The description of Castile's fields of grain as "mares 113 ondulantes de trigo" by Unamuno also reminds Real de la Riva of Gal&n. In "La castellana" Galan had said: Veras mecerse, aireadas, del mar de la mies las olas, (OC, p. 47) Unamuno uses the same imagery of the sea in "En un cementerio de lugar castellano": Como un islote en junio "X te citie el mar dorado de las espigas que a la brisa ondean, Just as Real de la Riva has found a correspondence of phrase ology between Gal&n's and Unamuno's descriptions of the countryside, so have he and Salcedo found echoes of Galan's expressions in Antonio Machado's poetry. Real de la Riva does not compare specific pas sages but sums up his opinion "as follows: "Y resonancias de Gabriel y Galan hay en la poesia de Antonio Machado aunque sus Campos de Castilla ... son campos de muerte y sueno y los de Gal&n son de 115 vida. " On the other hand, Salcedo makes some specific compari sons which he describes as follows: 112. Antologia poetica, p. 24. 113. Vida y poesia, p. 85. 114. Antologia poetica, p. 73. 115. Vida y poesia, p. 85. 246 Gal&n ... siente sobre los campos la presencia de un Dios adusto y fuerte, como el Dios: ibero del poema de Antonio Machado incluido en Campos de Castilla. En Gabriel y Galan conviven dos for mas de divinidad, concebidas por su doble personalidad de labriego y escritor. 1 El hombre de campo de nuestras tierras concibe a Dios de un ihodo biblico, beligerante, que decide la suerte de la cosechas y la salud del ganado. Si el Gabriel y Galan campesino con cibe asi al Dios de los campos, inmediatamente queda contrarrestada esta idea de la divinidad beligerante por su religiosidad culta y ortodoxa que le lleva al Dios amor, al Dios justo y misericordioso. Antonio Machado se situa ante el campo de Castilla como un espectador desinteresado--lo que ya no podia ser Galan--y, lo mis mo que niega las bondades del campesino ... acepta la personalidad de ese Dios ibero, Dios del Sinai, tal y como lo siente y teme la gente del campo. El conocimiento que Machado tiene de Gal&n me parece indudable. Su gran personalidad poetica no toma del salmantino una poesia para reelaborarla en otra prqpia. No. Capta, como en un vuelo de aguila, la seguridad de las cimas mas altas sin preocuparse de valles y barrancos que no existen para la potencia de sus alas. Y asi, en "El Dios ibero, " su poesia mas cercana a Gabriel y Gal&n, los ecos que encontramos son ecos dispersos, acertadamente conjuntados en la recia voz del poeta. Creo que se trata de algo mas que de una curiosidad. Hay un tono de voz y hasta un verso bastante semejantes: una coincidencia de conceptos, literal, s61o se da en la primera estrofa transcrita. The echoes found in A. Machado's "El Dios ibero" originate from Galan's "Canci6n" (OC, pp. 96-99), "Presagios" (OC, pp. 89-92), "Canto al trabajo" (OC, pp. 156-160), "Las sequias" (OC, pp. 345- 347), quoted in the order named. The lines that correspond, as indicated by Salcedo, are underlined. 116. "El Dios ib6rico de Machado y Gal&n," Lriteratura salmantina del siglo XX (Salamanca, 1960), pp. 75-76. 247 Riega el labriego laferaz besana con sudor de su frente, que rubio trigo le ha de dar manana para nutrir su gente. (QC, p. 97) Porque el que puso en el cielo un sol que calcina el llano, pone una sombra en el suelo, como en el dolor humano pone de la fe el consuelo. (OC, p. 90) |Senor! si abandonado dejas al mundo a su primer pecado y la sabia sentencia no fulminas, hubi^ranse asentado tumbas y cunas sobre muertas ruinas. Mas tu voz iracunda fulmin6 la sentencia tremebunda, y por tocar en tus divinos labios, torn6Se en ley fecunda el rayo vengador de tus agravios. (OC, p. 157) Y esta oracidn insensata mis labios al cielo alzaron, (OC, p. 345) "jSenor que riges el mundo (OC, p. 345) Y dentroLjge mi conciencia que oy6 mj clamor impio ..; (QC, p. 346) Salcedo quotes the verses 6-8, 15-18, 31-36, 23-24, and 37-40.from "El Dios ibero.11 ... y un "gloria a ti" para el Sefior que grana centenos y trigales que el pan bendito te dar an maliana. jOh dueflo de la nube del estio que la campiRa arrasa, del seco ototio, del helar tardio y del bochorno que la mies abrasa. iSetior, Sefior: en la voltaria rueda del afio he visto mi simiente echada, 248 corriendo igual albur que la moneda del jugador en el azar sernbrada! i Setter hoy paternal, ayer cruento con doble faz de amor y de venganza ... tu soplo el fuego del hogar aviva tu lumbre da zaz6n al rubio grano a ti, en un dado de tahur al yiento va mi oraci6n, blasfemia y alabanza!" Este que insulta a Dios en los altares no mas atento al celio del destino ... < He goes on to point out "otro hecho muy curioso en el que tambi€n coinciden: Antonio Machado escribe Campos de Castilla, m£s exactamente una buena parte del libro, en Soria y Gabriel y Galan vive en Guijo de Granadilla y no siempre pinta el paisaje salmantino-- leon^s y no castellano--sino que, como Machado, pone el nombre de 118 Castilla a lo que es Extremadura." Salcedo completes his evalua tion of the similarities with a statement of the essential differences between the two poets: "Les diferenciara siempre la s61ida formaci6n humanistica y el gran aliento poetico de Machado, sobre la no muy intensa cultura literaria de Gabriel y Galan y el tono menor de su poesia; la religiosidad de ^ste ultimo sobre el escepticismo del pri- 117. Ibid. 118. Ibid., p. 77. 119. Ibid. 249 Besides discovering and expressing their appreciation of-the Castilian countryside, the Generation of 1898 was also concerned with the "problem" of Spain. Galdn's poetry shows that he too is fully aware of the decadence of Spain and her resultant problem. The poet mourns the passing of his country's glories as was illustrated by the examples given in the "Ubi ierunt" section of the chapter analysing. Galan's ideology. In fact, the following lines.from Antonio Machado's # "A orillas del Duero" describe Castile in terms very similar to those found in Galan's "Patria." Castilla miserable, ayer dominadora, envuelta en sus harapos desprecia cuanto ignora. ^^0 Galan says of Spain: la naci6n que tuviera del mundo en el rinc6n mas apartado sobre cada ciudad una bander a; la que a la Historia hiciera grabar en cada pagina una hazafta, la que ayer soberana y grande era, la que ahora esta calda ... , jesa es Espafta! (OC, p. 658) From the foregoing comparisons, the conclusion can be drawn that Galan does share many of the characteristics of the Generation of 1898. Chronologically, he falls within the period; artistically and thematically, he describes the countryside and its inhabitants realisti cally; historically, he is aware of the decadence of Spain. Where he 120. "A orillas del Duero, " Nineteenth- Century Spanish Verse, ed. by Jos€ S&nchez, p. 324. 250 differs from the group is in his very personal involvement--with a correspondingly limited historical perspective--in the affairs and past of the inhabitants of the countryside that he describes. Unlike the other members of the Generation of 1898, Galin reiterates his faith in the regenerative power of work, religion, and brotherhood, all characteristics of the Spiritual Naturalism of his poetry discussed earlier. Valbuena Prat classifies him as a naive optimist because of 121 his sublime confidence in the practical redemption of Spain. For Galan does not leave us with a Spain in ruins but, in a later stanza of "Patria,11 suggests a solution to the problem that he has recognized earlier in the same poem. Tu puedes, ciudadano, prestarle nueva vigorosa vida, si esas miseras lagrimas que viertes en gotas de sudor, cual yo, conviertes por la doliente Patria empobrecida. (OC, p. 659) Among the other writers of the late nineteenth and early twen tieth centuries with whom the name of Galan has been linked.is Jos6 Maria de Pereda. Possibly the first instance of this association is # found in the statement by Martin Alonso, "si la muerte no nos lo hubiera arrebatado tan temprano, quizas hubiera sido Galan el Pereda 122 de Salamanca.11 Valbuena Prat utilizes this same comparison when 121. Historia de la literatura espafiola, II, p. 808. 122. El cantor de Castilla, p. 23. 251 123 he calls Gal£n "el Pereda de la poesia llrica." He bases his re marks on that small collection of Galan's poems--the Extremeiias-- as follows: Este caso de sus "Extremenas" coincide con los propdsitos de la novela realista de amoldar el lenguaje de sus personajes incluso a las incorrecciones de l€xico. Las "Extremenas que tuvieron gran £xito e imitadores—suponen algo an&logo a la novela regional de Pereda, en el campo Urico, con la sustituci6n de la Montana por las tierras de Salamanca y Extremadura. 124 However, to be valid, a comparison of Pereda and Gal£n (which to my knowledge has not yet been made) would have to take into account more than Galan's Extremenas, more than just the fact that both Galan and Pereda describe the locale and people they know best. I have shown earlier in this study that Galan's interest in nature transcends the outward appearances and that the philosophy he expresses in. the majority of the Extremenas is the same as in his other poems--Spiri tual Naturalism. Neither Eoff in The Modern Spanish Novel nor Pattison in El naturalismo espafiol attributes any quality of Spiritual Naturalism to the work of Pereda. Therefore, just as Galan's Spiritual Naturalism sets him apart from Pereda, so does it bring him close to the philosophy of Benito P6rez Galdos. As I pointed out in Chapter 4, both Eoff and Pattison 123. Historia de la literatura espaflola, II, p. 808. 124. Ibid., p. 806. 252 consider Gald6s to be the foremost exponent of the Spanish Spiritual Naturalism of the nineteenth century. Also, in that same chapter, their definitions of the movement are a basis for. the criteria used in evaluating Galan's ideology. Hence I shall make what may seem to be a strange comparison: an analogy between the poetry of a country school teacher turned farmer and the novels of an islander turned madrileno. That both were aware of the problems of their times is not strange, but that two men of such different background and talents should share much of the same kind of philosophical idealism and ex press, it in realistic terms is unusual. Three of Galdos' novels will be used to demonstrate the simir larities that exist between his way of thinking and Galan's: Marianela (1878), El amigo Manso (1882), and Fortunata y Jacinta (1886-1887), the last of which amplifies many of the ideas contained in the first two mentioned. "Vivir es relacionarse, gozar y padecer, desear, abor- 125 recer y amar, " says Juanito Santa Cruz, husband of Jacinta and lover of Fortunata. This is echoed in Galan's "La romeria del amor" as * ^De qu€ le servir£n al visionario los suenos de la loca fantasia si al tornar de la alegre romeria nadie mas que-61 camina solitario, mendigo del amor y la alegria? (OC, p. 419) 125. Benito P6rez Gald6s, Fortunata y Jacinta (Madrid, 1958), I, Ch. L 253 and in "Canci6n": jQuiero yivir! Las dulzuras de los gozados placeres, con hieles de padeceres se tornan del todo pur as. (OC, p. 215) Typical of Gald6s' humanitarian sentiments are the remarks directed by Teodoro Golfin to his sister-in-law: --Estoy pensando, querida Sofia, que ese animal te inquieta demasiado. Verdad que un perro que cuesta doscientos duros no es un perro como otro cualquiera. Yo me pregunto por qu€ has empleado el tiempo y el dinero en hacerle un gaban a ese senorito canino, y no se te ha ocurrido comprarle unos zapatos a la Nela. *^6 Jacinta's first visit to the slums of Madrid brought forth a similar reaction: "jQue desigualidades] "--decia, desflorando sin saberlo el problema social--. Unos tanto y otros tan poco. Falta equilibrio, y el mundo parece que se cae. Todo se arreglaria si los que tienen mucho dieran lo que les sobra a los que no poseen nada. ... Galan's conclusion to his sonnet "A un rico" (OC, p. 563) repeats the idea of sharing; Yo he visto a un lobo que, de carne ahito, dej6 comer los restos de un cabrito a un perro ruin que presencio su robo. Deja, jOh rico!, comer lo que te sobre, porque algo mas que un perro sera un pobre, y tu no querras ser menos que un lobo. 126. Marianela (Buenos Aires, 1962), Ch. IX. 127. Fortunata y Jacinta, I, Ch. VII. 254 In "Los sedientos" (OC, pp. 134-137) and "La jurdana" (OC, pp. 486- 488), both of which were quoted in Chapter 4, Galan expresses the need of the poor not only for food to eat but also for education for their minds. Galdos recognizes the disadvantages of a lack of education in the words of Guillerma, "La falta de educaci6n es para el pobre una 128 desventaja mayor que la pobreza. " One of the sententious pronouncements that Galdds puts into the mouth of Maximiliano Rubin is that "el trabajo es el fundamento de la 129 virtud. " This practical approach is one of the attitudes that differ entiates Galdos from the Generation of 1898 according to Lain Entralgo: '^En que consiste el suefio de Gald6s? ... No es Utopia de sofiador, sino providencia domestica: Gald6s se limitara a prescribir • con cierto calor oratorio los quehaceres que antes habian aconsejado 130 los arbitristas de la regeneracion. " Galan's faith in the regenera tive power of work as a solution for the problems of Spain also differ entiates his ideology from that attributed to the Generation of 1898. His appreciation of the value of productive activity appears in these lines from "Dos paisajes" (OC, pp. 481-485). j La vision de los campos incultos que ricos se tornan 128. Ibid. 129. Ibid., II, Ch. II. 130. La generacion del noventa y ocho, p. 183. 255 si los bafta del sol del trabajo la luz creador! (OC, p. 484) It also is seen in poems such as "Canci6n" (OC, pp. 96-99), "Canto al trabajo" (OC, pp. 156-160),"El arrullo del Atlantico" (OC, pp. ISO- IBS), "Ana Maria" (OC, pp. 190-204), and "El poema del garian" (OC, pp. 80-88), discussed under the heading of Spiritual Naturalism, To cite other examples, in "La tregua" (OC, pp. 220-224) Galan realis tically acknowledges that, "... sujetos estamos del trabajo a la cadena" (OC, p. 224); in "Ara y canta" (OC, pp. 430-434) he exhorts the worker, "jAray canta, labrador!" (OC, p. 434); in "Acu£rdate de mi" (OC, pp. 524-526) he calls himself "otro hijo del trabajo" (OC, p. 525). The ideal woman for both Galan and Galdos includes among her virtues the ability to perform practical tasks, as is seen especially in "El ama" (OC, pp. 33-44) and "Mi montaraza" (OC, pp. 74-79). Gald6s' similar view is manifest in the following typical appreciation: La Irene que yo habia visto desde la cumbre de mis generalizaciones; aquel tipo que partla de una infancia consagrada a los estudios graves y terminaba en la mujer esencialmente practica y educadora; aquella Minerva coetanea en que todo era comedimiento, aplomo, verdad, rectitud, raz6n, orden, higiene ... . 31 From the ideal woman, it is a natural progression to the theme of love, and to another philosophical utterance from Maxilniliano 131. El amigo Manso (Buenos Aires, 1954), Ch. XLII. 256 132 "--"Rubin: "el amor es la ley de las leyes; el amor gobierna el mundo." To the poet, love is all-embracing also, whether it is the love of God, the love of one's fellow-man, or the love of a woman. We find a very close liaison between these ideas in the poetry, for example, when Galan states:in "Amor" (OC, pp. 450-454): m ... el amor era la cosa mas bella de la vida; (OC, p. 454) Sacred love combined with the idea of brotherly love is found in "Mensaje" (OC, pp. 379-386) and "Acu€rdate de mi" (OC, pp. 524- 526); brotherly love constitutes one of the main themes of "El arrullo del Atlantico" (OC, pp. 180-185) and "La jurdana" (OC, pp. 486-487). "Padecer, amar y pecar ..., ve ahi los tres infinitivos del 133 verbo de la existencia, says Maximiliano Rubin when he confronts his wife with' his knowledge of her pregnancy by another man. Galan recognizes the suffering and love of the Mother of Christ for a sinning humanity in "Soledad" (OC, pp. 333-337): Lo di6 por la pecadora, loca y ciega Humanidad ... El Martir ha muerto ahora ... jla Madre de Cristo llora, sin Cristo, su soledad! Si siempre ha sido el amor la medida del dolor, di, pecador, ^d6nde has visto 132. Fortunata y Jacinta, II, Ch. II. 133. Ibid., IV, Ch. III. 257 duelp de madre mayor que el de la Madre de Cristo? (OC, p. 336) Nature as a force and Nature as embodied in the symbolism of the countryside are two concepts that Gald6s and Galan shared. Pro ceeding chronologically with Gald6s' three novels under consideration, in Marianela Gald6s shows the surroundings as a reflection of the emo tions of the protagonists. Pablo and Marianela enjoy many happy times together before he recovers his sight, and the blind boy tells Nela his idea of the difference between day and night: "Es de dia, cuando esta- 134 mos juntos tu y yo; es de noche, cuando nos separamos. " The day is beautiful; the young couple pauses in a flowery nook and Marianela explains what the forces of nature mean to her. "El sol, las hierbas, la luna y el cielo grande y azul, lleno siempre de estrellas ..., todo, todo lo tenemos dentro; quiero decir que, ademas de las cosas di- 135 vinas que hay fuera, nosotros Uevamos otras dentro." Later on when Gald6s wishes to forecast sadness, he does so on a cloudy day, "estaba encapotado el cielo y soplaba un airecillo molesto que amenazaba convertirse en vendaval, ... and changesthe sur roundings to La Trascava where Marianela's mother had committed suicide some time before. "jLa Trascava! ...; esta hablando. Y 134. Marianela, Ch. VI. 135. Ibid. 136. Ibid., Ch. VIII. 258 la Trascava--observ6 la Nela, palideciendo--es un murmullo, un si, si, si ... A ratos oigo la voz de mi madre, que dice clarito: 'Hija ^ 137 mia, ;qu£ bien se esti aqui!Maximo Manso of El amigo Manso repeats Mar.ianela's concept of the meaning of nature: El hombre es un microcosmos. Su naturaleza contiene en admirable compendio todo el organismo del universo en • sus variados 6rdenes ... Y no s61o en el desarrollo total de la vida demuestra el hombre ser como una reducci6n del universo, sino que a veces se ve palpablemente esto en un acto solo, en uno de esos actos.que ocurren diariamente y que por su aparente insignificancia apenas merecen atenci6n. In Fortunata y Jacinta, Maximiliano Rubin also acknowledges the \ power of nature, .. La Naturaleza es la verdadera luz de las almas, el Verbo, el legitimo Mesias, no el que ha de venir, sino el que estd 139 siempre viniendo. ... Contra la Naturaleza no se puede pror testar. Many examples of Galan's corresponding concepts regarding Naturaleza have been pointed out in the chapter on Spiritual Natura lism; see, for example, the poem "Ana Maria" (OC, pp. 190-204). The relationship of moods to weather and occurrences to surroundings is just as close a one in Galan's poetry as it is in Gald6s' novels. 137. Ibid. 138. El amigo Manso, Ch. XXXIX. 139. Ill, Ch. I. 140. IV, Ch. VI. 259 Poems such as "Lo inagotable" (OC, pp. 50-52), "Dos paisajes" (OC, pp. 481-485), and "El poema del ganan" (OC, pp. 80-88), all dis cussed previously, come to mind in this connection. From the foregoing discussion of the points of resemblance be tween the three novels by Gald6s and selected examples of Gal&n's poetry, it is evident then that both writers stress the individual's in volvement with the people and environment around him and depict, as Eoff terms it in reference to Gald6s, "the relationship between, individ- 141 ual personality and its social environment." Part of this relation ship is seen, in the humanitarian sentiments expressed by both men. Both recognize the need of the poor, not only of food for their bodies but also of education for their minds. They agree that the cure of Spain's ills can be brought about through work. This concept is am plified by Galan to include work as a life force as well as a duty. Thus the ideal woman to both men is one skilled in womanly arts and crafts who does not procrastinate in the performance of her tasks. Love, in all its manifestations, is another theme of mutual importance. Both Galan and Galdos express the belief that man. is born to suffer, to love and to sin. Natural forces and their symbolism, especially when they are used to define a mood, form another characteristic common to the two writers. Thus the emphasis is on action and 141. The Modern Spanish Novel, p. 121. 260 reaction, or, as Gald6s sums it up in the words of Maximo Manso: "El hombre de pensamiento descubre la verdad; pero quien goza de ella y utiliza sus celestiales dones es el hombre de acci6n, el hombre de mundo, que vive en las particularidades, en las contingencias y en el ajetreo de los hechos comunes."*^ 142. El amigo Manso, Ch. XXXIX. CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS An examination of the poetry of Jos€ Maria Gabriel y Gal&n and of the attendant criticism has shown the poet to be a product of the literary and social times in which he lived and the majority of the critics to be more regionally biased in their criticism than Galan was in the expression of his poetry. Chronologically the poet's productive period began at the turn of the nineteenth century and was ended by his untimely death early in the twentieth century. Geographically his poetry stems from the contiguous areas of Leon, Castile, and Extremadura. The conjunc tion of time and location is found in the poetry that he wrote for specific occasions. Underlying the obvious motifs are the thoughts of a man whose homely philosophy transcended the manifest. Criticism of his poetry has also evolved in accordance with the background and sensibilities of the individual critic and his times. In its totality, later criticism of his poems is often little more than a compendium of that written previously,together with such slight additions as his torical perspective can bring. 261 262 Early criticism shows a preponderance of eulogies that em phasize the importance of the poet's descriptions of the exteriority of nature and its relationship with regionalism. Of the prologuists who were also critics--Zeda, Pardo Baz&n, and Maragall--the last is the one who first identified the dialect used in Extremeftas as Extrema- duran and compared Galan's poetry with Medina's. Pardo Baz&n, for lack of a better classification, established a place apart from his con temporaries for the poet, a place so apart that Juan Valera ignored him and Azorln dismissed his poetic value as imitative. The antipathy of some of the critics to Modernism is revealed in their' 'criticism. Studies and criticism written.in the interval between the poet's death, 1905, and the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of that occurrence, repeat earlier evaluations and add a few new opinions. As the literary atmosphere changed, so did the standards of criticism. This period also marks the beginning of a more detailed breakdown of themes, with that of the externals of nature still predominant. Re gionalism is stressed especially with regard to Galan's ideals of love, womankind, home, and family. Rincon Lazcano observes what he believes to be Galan's disparagement of city life. The Extremeftas are still accepted as being in the Extremaduran dialect and are con sidered by Valbuena Prat to have a documental value for their costumbrista spirit. This critic also categorically denies any resem blance between the poetry of Fray Luis de Le6n and that of Galan; 263 rather he prefers to link the latter's poetry with the regionalism of Pereda. Onis and Henrlquez Urefia find Modernistic qualities in Galon's poetry, while Bell, Northup, and Hurtado y Palencia disclaim the existence of such attributes. Valbuena Prat also states that Gal&n's visual feeling for the countryside coincides with that of the Generation of 1898 even though the poet does not share their pessimistic attitude. The year 1955 signaled a revival of concern, especially among his compatriots, for the work of Gabriel y Gal4n; and the areas of Salamanca, Caceres, and Badajoz vied for the distinction of the most flowery homena.je. Previous praise was recapitulated with the theme of nature still taking precedence. Two of the studies are noteworthy , for their impartiality and thoughtful analyses: the biography and critical study by C6sar Real de la Riva and Emilio Salcedo's articles. Modern criticism, is particularly noted for its eclecticism and repetition of previous evaluations. Gal&n's relationship with the Generation of 1898 is placed in focus: both Pou and Colangeli point out ) his similarities to the movement. This review of criticism made of the poet has demonstrated that much of what was written about Gabriel y Galan lacks validity for the following reasons: there was a general eulogistic tendency very apparent among the critics born in. the same area as the poet; later critics plagiarized earlier ones, repeating opinions without • - 264 documentation; and, in general, critics approved what was. correlative with their sensibilities and disapproved what was not. An analysis of the representative poems of Gabriel y Galan has indicated, in accordance with previous criticism, that nature in all its manifestations is an important theme of his poetry. The underlying meaning of Galan1 s interest in nature has been explored and interpret ed as nature's organic constitution visualized from a socio-psychologi cal point of view. Thus, instead of treating Galdn's religiosity, his feeling for mankind, his belief in the regenerative power of work, etc. as entities separate from his descriptions of nature, it has been de monstrated that all combine into what is called a Spiritual Naturalism. The telluric force of the countryside reacting on the inhabitants is in juxtaposition with the reaction of the people to their environment. In his descriptions, the atmosphere created by the poet is often an exten sion of the characters themselves. Even in his attitude toward solitude, death, the past, and his own environment may be discerned many of the aspects of Spiritual Naturalism--especially the relation ship of one man to another, of man to his environment, and of man to the Divine Mind. While Gal&n recognizes that Spain had a glorious past, that her present is inglorious, he has a sublime faith in the future and calls for the regeneration of the fatherland through belief in God, education, and just plain hard work. His criticism of the city has also been explained as the result of the natural suspicion of a 265 countryman to an environment to which he does not fully relate unless he has a special city of his own area in mind, and then he has nothing but praise. The fallacy of the dialectal myth has also been demonstrated. The name, Extremetlas, designates the collection of poems having to do with a certain area and does not refer to the local speech used by the inhabitants. The use of campesino speech patterris adds to the realism of his poetry, but the dialectal forms used by^ In the analysis of the composition of Galan's literary world, the opinions of previous critics have been kept in mind. It cannot be denied that the poet belonged toi a Salamancan poetic tradition initiated / by Juan del Encina, but Galan himself disavows any such source of inspiration. A much more obvious and ascertainable influence is the Bible, from which the poet drew not only themes but also poetic phraseology. Relationships between the book of Genesis and "El ( arrullo del Atlantico" (OC, pp. 180-185) as well as between the Psalms and other poems have been established. The folklore of the region, particularly where it relates to the cult of the Virgin, forms an integral part of his background. Galan's identification of his suf ferings with those of Christ is noteworthy. Fleeting, impressions of 266 Fray Luis de Le6n have been pointed out in Galon's poetry. Whether La perfecta casada is the source for Galan1 s "El ama" or Proverbios 31 from which La perfecta casada was derived is an unresolved ques tion. Other pregalanian sources and influences: include the post- bucolic phase of Mel&idez Vald6s~as well as limited echoes of Espron- ceda. Gal&n's relationship to his generation is a much more complex one than was originally supposed. His moralizing, didactic, and prosaic verses bear a slight resemblance to Campoamor's, but he lacks the epigrammatic ability and cynicism of the latter. The pros and cons of his involvement with the Modernist Movement have been much discussed by previous critics; the opinions arrived at in the majority of cases reflect the personal bias of the critics. It is true that Galan was too ensimismado to open wide his literary windows to foreign influences, but he did adopt a number of the stylistic and met rical devices of Modernism. In the specific instances mentioned, he clearly patterned some of his poetry after that of Jos€ Asunci6n Silva. His relationship to Vicente Medina is a superficial one--the use of a dialect that purported to be of their respective areas. Since the Generation of 1898 "discovered" the Castilian country side, which was also described by Gabriel y Galan in his poetry, many critics use that as the sole criterion and automatically admit the poet into the group. While the poet does share many of the characteristics 267 of the Generation of 1898, he lacks their pessimism and projects a positive solution--embodied in the tenets of his Spiritual Naturalism-- for the problem of national survival confronting Spain. His. ideology- embraces not only the Unamunian concept of intrahistoria but also the Galdosian belief in regenerative action. Galan's poems, regardless of whether they are categorized as Castellanas, Nuevas castellanas, Extremeftas, Religiosas, or Cam- pesinas, have as their vital theme, the place of God and man: in Nature. This theme is carried over in his analysis of the ills of Spain, sugges tions for the methods of alleviating those ills, and concern for the future of his fatherland. In the expression of his ideology Galan shows himself receptive to the various literary influences of his period. Thus he can be said not to have been apart from his generation as de signated by Pardo Bazan but rather to have participated in the ideas and modes of expression of his time. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY El Adelanto. Nvimero extraordinario, March 26, 1905. Aguirre Ibanez, Rufine, ed. Salamanca en las letras contemporaneas. Salamanca: Publicacipnes de la Diputacion Provincial, 1954. Alcantara. X (July-September, 1954). Alcantara. XI (April-June, 1955). Alonso, Amado. Materia y forma en poesia. 3rd ed. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, S. A., 1965. Alonso, D&maso. Poesia espafiola. Ensayo de m^todos y limites estilxsticos. 4th ed. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, S. A., 1962. . Poetas espafioles contemporaneos. 3rd ed. enlarged. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, S. A., 1965. Alonso, Martin. El cantor de Castilla. Buenos Aires: Amorrortu, 1930. Alvar, Manuel. "Los dialectalismos en la poesia espanola del siglo XX. " Revista de fjlologia esparlola. XLIII (January-June, 1960), 57-79. , ed. 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