Poems of Gongora

Many students of Spanish literature will have encountered some of Gongora’s poems. No Spanish poet is grater or more rewarding, but few are as difficult for the beginner. His style is a habit of mind: radically metaphorical, elliptical, witty, highly sensuous, transmuting the world of the sense into a world of the spirit. To read him, one has to learn these characteristic habits and perform athletic mental feats as one goes along. It would be too easy to say that Professor Jones has made Gongora ‘easy’; but he has certainly made him more accessible. A long introduction briefly deals with Gongora’s life, and then gives solid critical guidance to the poems. It includes passages of sustained and detailed analysis which explain how characteristic poems ‘work’ and it incorporates original insights and research. The notes are full and are designed to help the reader through the difficulties by offering critical comment.