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Page 11
Evidently it was the poet's intention to make Adam go through a series
of adventures in various walks of life, everywhere experiencing
disillusionment. In spite of the elaborate prospectus quoted above,
we may agree with Pi�eyro that the poet started writing with only the
haziest outline planned beforehand. Espronceda frankly reveals to us his
methods of poetic composition:
�Oh c�mo cansa el orden! no hay locura
Igual a la del l�gico severo.
And again:
Terco escribo en mi loco desvar�o
Sin ton ni s�n, y para gusto m�o....
Sin regla ni comp�s canta mi lira:
S�lo mi ardiente coraz�n me inspira!
"El Diablo Mundo" is no mere imitation of Byron's "Don Juan" and
Goethe's "Faust," though the influence of each is marked. It has
numerous merits and originalities of its own. Inferior as Espronceda
is to Byron in wit and to Goethe in depth, he can vie with either as a
harmonious versifier.
The philosophy of "El Diablo Mundo" is the commonplace pessimism of
Romanticism. The following excerpt shows how the author's skepticism
leads him to doubt his very doubts; hence his return to a questioning
acceptance of Christianity:
Las creencias que abandonas,
Los templos, las religiones
Que pasaron, y que luego
Por mentira reconoces,
�Son quiz� menos mentira
Que las que ahora te forges?
�No ser�n tal vez verdades
Los que t� juzgas errores?
Canto II of "El Diablo Mundo" consists of the poem "A Teresa. Descansa
en Paz." This has not the slightest connection with the rest of the
poem, and can only be understood as a separate unity. It is included
in the present collection because it is the supreme expression of our
poet's subjective method. As such it stands in excellent contrast to "El
Estudiante de Salamanca," which is purely objective. No reader knows
Espronceda who has read merely his objective poems. For self-revelation
"A Jarifa en una Org�a" alone may be compared with "A Teresa." We may
agree with Escosura that Espronceda is here giving vent to his rancor
rather than to his grief, that it is the _menos hidalgo_ of all his
writings. But for once we may be sure that the poet is writing under the
stress of genuine emotion. For once he is free from posing.
"THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA"
"El Estudiante de Salamanca" represents the synthesis of two well-known
Spanish legends, the Don Juan Tenorio legend and the Miguel Ma�ara
legend. The first of these may be briefly stated as follows: Don Juan
Tenorio was a young aristocrat of Seville famous for his dissolute life,
a gambler, blasphemer, duelist, and seducer of women. Among numerous
other victims, he deceives Do�a Ana de Ulloa, daughter of the Comendador
de Ulloa. The latter challenges Don Juan to a duel, and falls. Later Don
Juan enters the church where the Commander lies buried and insults his
stone statue, after which he invites the statue to sup with him that
night. At midnight Don Juan and his friends are making merry when a
knock is heard at the door and the stone guest enters. Don Juan, who
does not lose his bravery even in the presence of the supernatural,
plays the host, maintaining his air of insulting banter. At the end of
the evening the guest departs, offering to repay the hospitality the
following night if Don Juan will visit his tomb at midnight. Though
friends try to dissuade him, Don Juan fearlessly accepts the invitation.
At the appointed hour he visits the tomb. Flames emerge from it, and Don
Juan pays the penalty of his misdeeds, dying without confession.
This is the outline of the story as told by Tirso de Molina in "El
Burlador de Sevilla o el Convidado de Piedra." The same theme has been
treated by Moli�re, Goldoni, Mozart, Byron, and Zorrilla, to mention but
a few of the hundreds of writers who have utilized it. In the hands of
non-Spanish writers the character of Don Juan loses the greater part of
its essential nobility. To them Don Juan is the type of libertine and
little more. He was a prime favorite with those Romanticists who, like
Gautier, felt "Il est ind�cent et mauvais ton d'�tre vertueux." But
as conceived in Spain Don Juan's libertinage is wholly subsidiary and
incidental. He is a superman whose soaring ambition mounts so high that
earth cannot satisfy it. The bravest may be permitted to falter in the
presence of the supernatural; but Don Juan fears neither heaven nor
hell. His bravery transcends all known standards, and this one virtue,
though it does not save him from hell, redeems him in popular esteem.
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