Menéndez Y Pelayo and America

Thirty-three years have passed since there was laid in the tomb, shrouded in humble Franciscan garb, one of the most glorious ornaments of Hispanic letters, and one of the greatest literary critics that Spain has had. His name, nevertheless, is glorious and is still revered in Hispanic countries along with those of Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Calderón. While still alive, he had been raised to the category of the classics. His watchful spirit still dwells in the halls of universal culture, for his simplicity and modesty as a tireless worker gave him, even in his lifetime, the crown of the immortals. Don Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo in a period of criticism and reflection produced a literary work which has been idolized. “The studies of Menéndez y Pelayo,” wrote Edmundo González Blanco, “on literature and history have not only been used extensively in themselves, but have been elaborated and developed; and if they are not so much read today, it is because they were entirely absorbed into the spirit of the times and penetrated into every vein of contemporary Spanish culture, and it may be justly stated that in the last thirty years not a single important line has been written on topics treated in his studies in which his influence is not recognized.”

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