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Page 67
=1046. llegue=: I have emended =llegu�= (which I believe Espronceda
did not intend on account of the "obstructing syllable" which that
accentuation would give to the verse) to =llegue=. I take =llegue= to be
the subjunctive of emphatic asseveration. See Bello-Cuervo, "Gram�tica
Castellana," paragraph 463. Other editors are perhaps right in
interpreting the passage differently. They suppress the period after
=maravillas=, the exclamation point before =Que=, and write =llegu�=.
This makes equally good sense and is just as grammatical, but the verse
is less harmonious. This last point, however, is not a vital objection.
The two ways of editing this passage seem to me to offer little choice.
=1062.= Construe =en que= with =ha dado=, above.
=1112.= The quotation from Mark xiv, 38 applies especially to this
passage. Also to ll. 1626-1633.
=1121.= The three forms of address used by Don F�lix in addressing _el
enlutado_ indicate his change of manner from politeness to insolence. He
begins with the polite third person singular form. Then, enraged by the
answer, he is intentionally insulting in verse 1126, wishing to provoke
a duel. As the other puts up a brave front, he next addresses him as an
equal (verse 1127) by using the second person plural. This was the
usual form of address between gentlemen of equal standing during the
Renaissance period. But, again losing his temper, he relapses into the
insulting second person singular (verse 1133 and following).
=1133. haga=: an instance of the use of the subjunctive after oaths and
asseverations. See Bello-Cuervo, "Gram�tica Castellana," paragraph 463.
=1311. una=: goes with =grader�a= in the following verse.
=1385.= Beginning with this verse and ending with l. 1680, the poet
attempts to indicate the gathering and abating fury of the ghostly revel
by the successive lengthening and shortening of the verses. The final
verses also express Don F�lix's waning strength. This device is an
attempt to imitate the _crescendo_ and _diminuendo_ effect of music.
This whole passage is an obvious imitation of Victor Hugo's "Les
Djinns," a poem included in "Les Orientales." Nowhere has Espronceda
shown greater virtuosity in the handling of meter.
=1448.= The nouns and infinitives in this and the following lines are
objects of =siente=, l. 1456.
=1703. Y si, lector=, etc.: 'And if, reader, you say it is a
fabrication, I tell it to you as they told it to me.' Le�n Medina,
"Frases literarias afortunadas," _Revue hispanique_, Vol. XVIII, p. 226,
states that these two verses are a quotation from Juan de Castellanos,
an obscure poet of the sixteenth century, author of _Eleg�as de Varones
Ilustres de Indias_. (The first three parts of this work may be found
in Vol. IV of the _Biblioteca de Autores Espa�oles_; Part IV has been
edited by Paz y Melia for the _Colecci�n de Escritores Castellanos_,
Vols. XLIV and XLIX. The passage in question may be found in Canto II,
octave 8.) Churchman, "Byron and Espronceda," _Revue hispanique_, Vol.
XX, p. 210, adds the information that Espronceda probably took the lines
directly from Villalta, who had quoted them in his historical novel _El
Golpe en Vago_, Madrid, 1835. This is made probable by the fact that
whereas Castellanos had written correctly =os lo cuento=, Villalta wrote
=te lo cuento=, Espronceda following him in this grammatical error.
The form =dijerdes=, an old form for the second plural of the future
subjunctive (modern =dijereis=), represents the syncopation of a still
older =dij�redes=. Grammatically the pronoun =os= should have been used.
Evidently both Villalta and Espronceda considered =dijerdes= to be a
second singular form. A modern editor cannot undertake to correct a
mistake made by the author. In Old Spanish infinitives could be very
loosely used. It was not necessary that the subject of a dependent
infinitive should be the same as that of the verb on which it depended.
The word =comento= here has the meaning "fiction," "fabrication." I find
this meaning given in none of the dictionaries, but it can readily be
inferred from the word =comentador=, which had as one of its meanings
"an inventor of false reports." =Comento=, like Latin _commentum_, has
as one of its meanings "fiction," "fabrication."
The writers of =leyendas= were fond of stressing the traditional nature
of their poems. Thus Zorrilla concludes his "Capit�n Montoya":
El pueblo me lo cont�
Sin notas ni aclaraciones,
Con sus mismas espresiones
Se lo cuento al pueblo yo.
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