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Page 13
Of all Espronceda's poems "El Estudiante de Salamanca" is the most
popular. It has a unity and completeness lacking in both the "Pelayo"
and "El Diablo Mundo." Every poet of the time was busy composing
_leyendas_. Espronceda attempted this literary form but once, yet of
all the numerous "legends" written in Spain this is the most fitted
to survive. Nowhere else has the poet shown equal virtuosity in the
handling of unusual meters. Nowhere among his works is there greater
variety or harmony of verse. Though not the most serious, this is the
most pleasing of his poems. Espronceda follows the Horatian precept
of starting his story "in the middle of things." In the first part he
creates the atmosphere of the uncanny, introduces the more important
characters, and presents a striking situation. Part Second, the most
admired, is elegiac in nature. It pleases by its simple melancholy. This
part and the dramatic tableau of Part Three explain the cause of the
duel with which Part One begins. Part Four resumes the thread of the
narration where it was broken off in Part One, and ends with the Dance
of Death which forms the climax of the whole. The character of Don F�lix
de Montemar is vigorously drawn. Originality cannot be claimed for it,
as it is the conventional Don Juan Tenorio type. The character of Do�a
Elvira hardly merits the high praise of Spanish critics. She is
a composite portrait of Ophelia, Marguerite, and two of Byron's
characters, Do�a Julia and Haid�e, a shadowy, unreal creation, as
ghostly in life as in death. "The Student of Salamanca" tells a story
vigorously and sweetly. It does not abound in quotable passages like the
"Diablo Mundo." It is neither philosophic nor introspective. It teaches
no lesson. Its merit is its perfection of form.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The best biography of Espronceda is that of Jos� Cascales y Mu�oz, "D.
Jos� de Espronceda, su �poca, su vida y sus obras," Madrid, 1914. This
is an expansion of the same author's "Apuntes y Materiales para la
Biograf�a de Espronceda," _Revue hispanique_, Vol. XXIII, pp. 5-108. See
also a shorter article by the same author in _La Espa�a Moderna_, Vol.
CCXXXIV, pp. 27-48. Less critical, but useful, is Antonio Cort�n,
"Espronceda," Madrid, 1906. The very uncritical book by E. Rodr�guez
Sol�s, "Espronceda: su tiempo, su vida y sus obras," Madrid, 1883, is
chiefly valuable now as the best source for Espronceda's parliamentary
speeches. J. Fitzmaurice-Kelly's "Espronceda," _The Modern Language
Review_, Vol. IV, pp, 20-39, is admirable as a biography and a
criticism, though partially superseded by later works containing the
results of new discoveries. P.H. Churchman, "Byron and Espronceda,"
_Revue hispanique_, Vol. XX, pp. 5-210, gives a short biography, though
the study is in the main a penetrating investigation of Espronceda's
sources. E. Pi�eyro has written two articles on Espronceda: "Poetas
Famosos del Siglo XIX," Madrid, 1883, and "El Romanticismo en Espa�a,"
Paris, 1904. This last was first printed in the _Bulletin hispanique_
for 1903. The older biography of D.A. Ferrer del R�o, "Galer�a de la
Literatura," Madrid, 1846, still has a certain value; but the most
important source for Espronceda's youthful adventures is "El Discurso
del Excmo. Se�or D. Patricio de la Escosura, individuo de n�mero de la
Academia Espa�ola, le�do ante esta corporaci�n en la sesi�n p�blica
inaugural de 1870," Madrid, 1870. This matter is expanded in five
very important articles which appeared in "La Ilustraci�n Espa�ola y
Americana" for 1876 (February 8, February 22, June 22, July 8, September
22), partially reproduced in the book of Cascales y Mu�oz. See also
L�pez N��ez, "Jos� de Espronceda, Biograf�a Anecd�tica," Madrid, 1917
and A. Donoso, "La Juventud de Espronceda," _Revista Chilena_, July,
1917. The best study of Espronceda's philosophy is Bonilla y San
Mart�n's, "El Pensamiento de Espronceda," _La Espa�a Moderna_, Vol.
CCXXXIV. For a recent short article see Cejador y Frauca, "Historia de
la Lengua y Literatura Castellana," VII, Madrid, 1917, PP. 177-185.
The best bibliography of Espronceda's writings is that of Churchman, "An
Espronceda Bibliography," _Revue hispanique_, XVII, pp. 741-777. This
should be supplemented by reference to Georges Le Gentil, "Les Revues
litt�raires de l'Espagne pendant la premi�re moiti� du XIXe si�cle,"
Paris, 1909. The least bad edition of Espronceda's poems is "Obras
Po�ticas y Escritos en Prosa," Madrid, 1884. (The second volume, which
was to contain the prose writings, never appeared.) See also the "Obras
Po�ticas de Espronceda," Valladolid, 1900, and "Espronceda," Barcelona,
1906. Also "P�ginas Olvidadas de Espronceda," Madrid, 1873. There has
been a recent reprint of "Sancho Salda�a," Madrid, 1914, Repull�s.
Churchman has published "Blanca de Borb�n," _Revue hispanique_, Vol.
XVII, and also "More Inedita" in the same volume. There is said to be
an English translation of "The Student of Salamanca," London, 1847. An
excellent French version is that of R. Foulch�-Delbosc, "L'�tudiant de
Salamanque," Paris, 1893. Mary J. Serrano has made splendid translations
of "The Pirate" and "To Spain: An Elegy," Warner's Library of the
World's Best Literature, Vol. XIV.
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