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Bethany Deibler
Eric Vogt
Spanish 4105
El 17 de Marzo 2009
I. Intro
En el renacimiento, haba varias inspiraciones para los poetas. La inspiracin ms
famosa es el amor. Pero hay varios tipos de amor. Cuando piensas en lo que es ms
importante en la vida de un poeta, hay dos opciones, Dios o las mujeres. Dos de los
escritores del siglo de oro son Fray Luis de Len y Garcilaso de la Vega. Este ensayo es
una comparacin entre poesa escrito para Dios y poesa escrito para las mujeres y
tambin una comparacin entre los escritores Fray Luis de Len y Garcilaso de la Vega.
II. La vida de Fray Luis de Len
III. Las obras de Fray Luis
a. Estilo de escribir
b. Oda 8
IV. La vida de Garcilaso de la Vega
V. Las obras de Garcilaso
a. Estilo de escribir
b. Soneto XXIII
VI. Una comparacin
VII. Conclusin

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In the Renaissance, there were many inspirations for poets. The most famous inspiration
is love. However, there are several types of love. There is love for children, love for women, love
for spouses, love for God, love for creation, love for parents, and love of life. But when you
think about what is the most important part of a mans life, there are two options, love of God
and love for women. Two of the writers from the Golden Age in Spain were Fray Luis de Leon
and Garcilaso de la Vega. Both of them wrote about love, Fray Luis about the love of God and
Garcilaso about love for women. This essay will be a comparison of these two writers and these
two types of love.
In 1527, Fray Luis de Len was born in Belmont in the province of Cuenca. He was from
a Jewish heritage but his family was highly involved in the Catholic Church as they had switched
religions. Luis studied Theology and Hebrew in Madrid, Valladolid and Salamanca under
Melchor Cano and Domingo de Soto. In 1561, he became a chairman in Salamanca. He was a
great teacher, leader and an inspiration for everyone. In 1572, Luis de Leon was captured and
convicted by the Inquisition. He was put in jail for charges of translating the Bible into Hebrew
instead of using the Song of Songs and the Vulgate which were in Castilian. In that age anyone
who didnt follow the rules from the Catholic Church was considered suspicious. Anything that
was slightly out of the ordinary was condemned. Luis de Leon was also a very intelligent man
and that was also considered a threat by the Catholic Church. He was detained in jail for five
years. He didnt know who had condemned him and, for part of the time, he did not even know
what he has been confined for. During this time he wrote some of his most famous poems. When
he was finally freed, he continued his work with renewed energy and enthusiasm. One famous
quote from Fray Luis de Leon when he returned to teaching after 5 years in jail is, As I was
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saying yesterday
1
The only effect his time in jail had on him, if any, was a positive one. He
became a professor of Sacred Writing in 1580 and received his master of the arts. His purpose in
studying Hebrew was to be able to translate directly from Hebrew into Spanish or Castilian in
order to get the purest translation possible. Fray Luis de Len died in Madrigal de las Altas
Torres. During his life, he translated the Song of Songs, Job and several Psalms.
2

One can see that the life of Fray Luis de Leon was one of a religious man. His whole life
was dedicated to Christ and the Bible. This is also evident in his writings. All of them speak of
God, Christ, and our relationship with God. Luis poetry is very beautiful and full of imageries.
These images are of Christs crucifixion, the love of Christ for us and the imperfectness of
human beings. Although similar to many other Christian poets of the time, Luis de Leon was not
a mystic. He used his intelligence to reach God, not meditation or mystical experiences.
The eighth ode, Noche Serena, written by Fray Luis de Leon, is a masterpiece. He starts
with a contemplation of the heavens and the stars. Like most human beings Luis de Leon felt
very small and insignificant in the world. We all feel very humble when we see the great creation
of God. He then goes on to mourn the fact that we, as sinful humans must live here on this earth
separated from God and his divine being. In the last line of the third verse, he writes, la tiene en
esta crcel baja, escura? He mentions being in jail, which could either refer to him literally
being confined, or he could be referring to his body as a confinement similar to Plato.
3
He
bemoans the fact that ignorant humans here on earth die, not knowing what will happen to them,
and their lives seem useless and empty. He calls them to awake and see that there really is more
to life.

1
D. Miguel Perez Rosado, Fray Luis de Len Spanish Literary Masters (Internet site at
www.spanisharts.com/books/masters/fray.htm) Retrieved 10 March 2009.
2
Biografa de: Fray Luis de Len Los-poetos.com (Internet site at http://www.los-poetas.com/f/biofrayluis.htm)
Retrieved 10 March 2009.
3
Francisco Garrote Prez, Poesas (Ediciones Almar, S. A. Salamanca) 88-91.
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Ay, levantad los ojos
aquesta celestial eterna esfera!
burlaris los antojos
de aquesa lisonjera
vida, con cuanto teme y cuanto espera.
Life doesnt have to be a loss, as humans can be redeemed if they would just turn their eyes to
God in order to escape this lisonjera vida. While lisonjera literally means pleasant, in Gods
eyes, mans pleasure is often seen as disgusting and immoral. Later in the poem he goes back to
the original awe of the planets and night sky. At the closing of the ode, he praises Gods creation
as it is pleasant, sweet and full of delight.
Garcilaso de la Vega was basically the poet of the Golden Age. He was born in Toledo
and lived a short life of only about 35 years. He was a large man thus making a great soldier. His
family was also important and rich. Because he was a soldier, he fought in many battles for his
king. In 1522, he was injured and returned to work for the king making several unsuccessful
expeditions against the moors and to France. In 1524, he became a knight and settled down in the
royal court. He married Elena de Zunniga and had three legitimate sons with her. He did,
however, also practice the custom of courtly love. Courtly love is defined as, a highly stylized
code of behavior popular chiefly from the 12th to the 14th century that prescribed the rules of
conduct between lovers, advocating idealized but illicit love, and which fostered an extensive
medieval literature based on this tradition.
4
He had more than four different women, some of
whom had illegitimate children with him. One of these women who probably inspired most of
his poems was Isabel Freyre from Granada. She got married to Antonio de Fonseca which he

4
"courtly love" Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Random House, Inc. (Internet site at
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/courtly%20love?qsrc=2888.) Retrieved 17 March 2009.
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mentions in one of his sonnets. He traveled to Italy many times and met with his friend Juan
Boscan who also wrote poetry. Garcilaso traveled many times between Spain, France and Italy,
fighting and making treaties as well as taking care of matters in the court between the countries
with and for the king. On one occasion, he protected and supported the love and actuated the
wedding of his nephew to a woman of a lower status who was not in the favor of the king.
Because of this, the emperor was insulted and banished him to an island in the Danube
5
.
However, he shortly returned into the good graces of the Emperor and continued to valiantly lead
the army. In 1534, Isabel Freyre died leaving Garcilaso devastated.
6
In response, he wrote his
25
th
sonnet. Garcilaso continued to do the Emperors biddings and traveled around to many
places fighting and working out treaties. In 1536, Garcilaso was fatally injured in a battle by a
rock to the head. He was then transported to Niza where he died about 20 days later
7
.
When we look at Garcilasos life, we see more of a worldly, chivalrous sort of lifestyle.
He lived to impress and please people. This is also reflected in his writings. He spent much of his
time chasing after lovers and this is also the topic of most of his poems. Courtly love was a
common practice in that day and age, so he could look at any woman he wanted to lustfully
without being improper or rude.
In Garcilasos thirty second sonnet, he describes the pain and frustration of chasing after
a woman who will have nothing to do with him. The poor man is weeping uncontrollably and
sighing profusely but cannot tell the woman that he loves her because of the state he is in.


5
Garcilaso de la Vega Spanish Literary Masters (Internet site at
http://www.spanisharts.com/books/masters/garcilaso.htm) Retrieved 12 March 2009.
6
Marino Calvo, Biografa La Pagina de Garcilaso en Internet (Internet site at
http://www.garcilaso.org/biografia.htm) Retrieved 12 March 2009.
7
Biografa de Garcilaso de la Vega Los-poetos.com (Internet site at http://www.los-poetas.com/c/garcibio.htm)
Retrieved 11 March 2009.
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However, he has followed the woman too far and cannot turn back because he is dismayed by
what he has left behind him to follow her,
Si me quiero tornar para huiros,
desmayo viendo atrs lo que he dejado;
For some reason this man is unable to pursue the woman any longer and is torturing himself
about it. He is also frightened as he watched other men fall in their attempt of the perilous
journey to this womans good pleasure. At this point in his journey, he becomes discouraged as
he has lost the fearlessness and brilliant light that he started out with.
Y sobre todo, fltame la lumbre
de la esperanza, con que andar sola
por la escura regin de vuestro olvido.
He is left in the shadow without his braveness. She leaves him in the dust without a second
thought and he is heartbroken.
While it is easy to see the different between these two poets lives, it can sometimes be
difficult to see the difference between their poems. Before one delves into the deeper meaning of
Fray Luiss poetry, it may seem like he is addressing a woman. The following phrase from his
eighth ode could easily be referring to a woman,
el amor y la pena
despiertan en mi pecho un ansia ardiente;
despiden larga vena
los ojos hechos fuente;
This could easily be describing a woman who left the man and all he could do about it was weep
from the loss of love. However, with the knowledge of the background of Fray Luis de Leons
Bethany Deibler - 7

life, we can see that he is instead longing for God to reconcile him and to be accepted as one of
his angels to live in heaven with them. He agonizes over the fact that he, as a sinful human, has
to live here on this earth separated from the Divine realm of life.
Garcilasos poem could be mistaken for a man chasing after God without success.
Following God can seem like an endless treadmill that never stops. Garcilasos poem could
possibly be explaining how a man is being discouraged because he cant catch up with God and
be perfect. While he is trying to follow the narrow path that is Gods way, he is frightened by all
the people he has seen fall attempting this route before. It could be that he is feeling abandoned
by God or in a situation similar to Job, that God is not watching out for him or caring for him and
he is left in the shadows. This poem could potentially be mistaken for a cry to God for
recognition or love in order to feel like he is not alone or abandoned in life.
Knowing the background of these two poets helps distinguish the differences between
which kind of love they are really talking about, but it is fascinating how love can be portrayed
so similarly for different people, even different kinds of beings. Love is a powerful thing and is
often considered to be the one thing that does not die. Humans cannot understand it, but when
they feel loved, by man or God, life is always better.










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Works Cited
Biografa de: Fray Luis de Len Los-poetos.com (Internet site at http://www.los-
poetas.com/f/biofrayluis.htm) Retrieved 10 March 2009.
Biografa de Garcilaso de la Vega Los-poetos.com (Internet site at http://www.los-
poetas.com/c/garcibio.htm) Retrieved 11 March 2009.
Calvo, Marino Biografa La Pagina de Garcilaso en Internet (Internet site at
http://www.garcilaso.org/biografia.htm) Retrieved 12 March 2009.
courtly love" Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Random House, Inc. (Internet site at
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/courtly%20love?qsrc=2888.) Retrieved 9 March
2009.
Prez, Francisco Garrote Poesas (Ediciones Almar, S. A. Salamanca) 88-91.
Rosado, D. Miguel Prez Fray Luis de Len Spanish Literary Masters (Internet site at
www.spanisharts.com/books/masters/fray.htm) Retrieved 10 March 2009.
Rosado, D. Miguel Prez Garcilaso de la Vega Spanish Literary Masters (Internet site at
http://www.spanisharts.com/books/masters/garcilaso.htm) Retrieved 12 March 2009.