Description
Sonnets
Book Summary
This edition gathers the forty-two Sonnets written in the Italian mode by the Marquis of Santillana, a pioneering work that introduced the sonnet into the Spanish language. The reader will find a collection of poems that move between courtly love, political reflection, and religious devotion, all written with the mastery of an author who knew how to adapt Italian forms to the sensibility of 15th-century Spain. An essential volume for understanding the origins of Renaissance poetry in Spanish.
What is it about?
Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana (1398–1458), was the first poet to adapt the sonnet to the Spanish language, following the model of the Italian dolce stil novo. His sonnets present a characteristic formal structure: alternating rhyme in the quatrains (ABAB-ABAB) and varied schemes in the tercets (CDC-CDC or CDE-CDE). The themes are diverse and include courtly love, political criticism, religious meditation, and moral reflection. Beyond their formal value, these poems represent a bridge between the medieval tradition and Renaissance humanism, showing how the author knew how to assimilate Italian metrical innovations to express the feelings and concerns of his time in Spain.
Main themes
- Courtly love and Petrarchan lyric
- Political and moral reflection on power
- Religious devotion and medieval spirituality
- Metrical innovation: adaptation of the Italian sonnet to Spanish
- Transition between medieval poetry and the Renaissance
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at students and scholars of Spanish literature, especially those interested in Pre-Renaissance poetry and the evolution of metrical forms. It will also be of great interest to readers of classical poetry who wish to know the origins of the sonnet in the Spanish language, as well as anyone who wants to delve into the work of one of the most influential poets of the 15th century.
What this book offers
- Direct access to the foundational work of the sonnet in Spanish, with all forty-two poems complete.
- Understanding of the poetic transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Spain.
- Knowledge of the formal and metrical structure that marked the beginning of a poetic tradition.
- A vision of the thematic diversity addressed by 15th-century cultured poetry.
Technical specifications
- Author: de Santillana, Marquis
- Publisher: Linkgua Ediciones
- Language: Spanish
- Topic: CLASSICAL TEXTS
- Collection: POETRY
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: May 2025
- Number of pages: 98
- Weight: 170 g
Editorial assessment
This edition of the Sonnets by the Marquis of Santillana is of great interest for its historical and literary value. As it is the first adaptation of the sonnet into Spanish, the work offers a unique opportunity to study the process of assimilation of Italian poetic forms in 15th-century Spain. The thematic diversity of the poems allows one to appreciate the breadth of the author's interests, from love lyrics to political and religious reflection. For the specialized reader, it is a fundamental text; for the curious reader, a gateway to Spanish Renaissance poetry.