Enjambment in Quevedo's Poetry

I t is not infrequent these days to find in critical studies of Quevedo allusions made to a certain resemblance, especially in the moral, metaphysical and amorous poetry, to the of the twentieth century. Parallels such as these can be sweepingly unclear, in part because the term existentialism itself has become subject to abusea nametag to embrace a diversity of specific twentieth-century doctrines' -and in consequence its meaning has waned and become devalued. We may however accept the legitimacy of references to in the context of Quevedo if we take this to be meant in the broad sense that reality does not depend on essences. Be this as it may, there is indeed, I think, a likeness between the twentieth-century attitude of man toward his circumstance and that of Quevedo. It is a particular brand of redemptive displeasure with the soul and with the world, and one which engenders in Quevedo not abject passivity but active rebellion. In this he is indeed a phenomenon in his own century, an anomaly transcending all his contemporaries. It is precisely in this rebellious and energetic capacity that I find the most genuine ground for parallels with the of today. In this regard it strikes me as helpful to keep in mind the etymology of the philosophical term, for in the language of twentieth-century philosophy, the words exist and existence do not imply, as they do in daily speech, passive continuance in being. On the contrary, they have the sense of their Latin root ex: out and sistere, from stare: to stand. It is at this point that syntax and the usage of linguistic form throw light and come to bear upon the personal vision of the world that the name existentialism seeks to convey. I refer specifically in this study to the use of the poetic device of enjambment. Quevedo's extraordinarily ample and versatile use of enjambment corresponds perfectly in linguistic and formal mode to his personal stance of active protest in the world. It is the exact vehicle for one who seeks to call attention to himself and his cir

Art · Epistemology · Existentialism · Literature · Poetry · Early Modern Spanish Literature · Philosophy