two sonnets about the loss of «la goleta» (quixote, i, 40 ......the two sonnets about the loss...

The Two Sonnets about the Loss of La Goleta (Don Quixote, 1, 40),

in the Context of the 'Tale of the Captive Captain'

Carlos Mata Induráin GRISO-University of Navarre

As is the common knowledge, during the Golden Age,

Cervantes' poetry was not published in its entirety, compiled in a

book, rather it was scattered to a great extent throughout his

narrative works. This is also the case with La Galatea, work which

by its generic definition pastoral novel combines two styles -

prose and poetry. This is also found in the Exemplary Novels, the

Persiles, and the Don Quixote in which the author finds a place for

his numerous lyrical compositions. AH the poems included in

Cervantes' narrative not only serve as a decorative rhetoric or for

aesthetic purpose, but they usually play an important structural role

within the narrative in which they are ínserted or within the global

unít of the work in question. An important example of this is the

sonnet about the Portuguese lover, Manuel de Sosa Coitiño, from

Book 1 of the Persiles, a sonnet in which Casalduero saw the

essence of the adventure novel, according to his allegorical

symbolic interpretation of it as a whole. The same could be said

about the sonnet that is dedicated to Preciosa from La gitanilla or

about Cardenio and Lotario's sonnets, in its respective contexts in

the Don Quixote. As we know the story of the crossed love of

Carlos Mata lnduráin

Cardenio, Luseinda, Dorotea and Don Fernando is inserted in the

novel, The Curious lmpertineni.

In tbis study I propose to analyse tbe two sonnets tbat are dedieated to tbe loss of La Goleta tbat appears at the beginning of the ehapter 1, 40 of Don Quixote 2 and are grounded within the narrative eontext of the tale about the eaptive. My study will not be about the inserted novel, whieh eonstitutes the narrative framework and is supported by abundant bibliograpby3. I will limit myself by

noting that Ruy Pérez de Viedma's plot provides the eontext for the sonnets from two perspeetives: one, it serves as a literary

framework (it is a plot which also forms part of a greater narrativein wbieh the poems are inserted) and, at the same time, it offers the historie eontext in whieh the aetions that are alluded to take place (the Mediterranean campaigns earried out by Felipe 11).

Within the novel's fietional level, the authorship of the

sonnets is attributed to Pedro de Aguilar, the fietitious Andalusian

alférez, and partner of tbe captive Ruy Pérez de Viedma. Therefore,

in the figure of this soldier-poet we once more find the debate

about the arms and letters (it should be noted that Don Quixote pronounced a speeeh on this theme in chapter 1, 38, and after this, a

symbolic embrace between the captain and his brother the lfidor

takes place showing the man of arms and the man of letters). The

1 See Mata 2004 and 2005.

2 AH quotes will be taken from Francisco Rico' s edition of the Instituto Cervantes. Translation of the quotes is taken from Don Quixote, transo by Peter Motteux, The Modem Library, New York, 1950.

3 See Avalle-Arce, 1975, Baquero Escudero, 2005; Camamis, 1977; Chevalier, 1983; García, 1973; González López, 1972; Márquez Villanueva, 1975; Meregalli, 1972; Morón Arroyo, 1983; Oliver Asín, 1947-1948; Parodi, 1991; Percas de Ponseti, 1975; Zimic, 1998, etc.

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The Two Sonnets about the Loss Goleta

two sonnets are each constructed as epitaphs dedicated to the

Spanish soldiers that died in 1574 inLa Goleta and its fort. The

background theme in both texts is the immortality that is achieved by those soldiers that have heroically fallen in defense of

Christianity: they have been defeated in combat, but at the end they

are victorious because it is their memory that will outlast them:

they have died, but they wi11 live etemally because they have

achieved glory in heaven. The heroic soldier, who was also Miguel

de Cervantes, could not stop from praising the exemplary worth of

those soldiers, his cornrades, fallen in defense of La Goleta.

Considering them from an aesthetíc point of view, more than from

its lyrical quality, these two sonnets are c10ser to the style known

as Mannerism4• They are emphasised by their artful character with

a formal articulatíon based on diverse oppositions: life/death;

body/soul; falll rise; earthl heaven, etc.

La Goleta -a city in Tunis located nine kilometers east of

the capital, on the shore of the Gulf of Tunis- was the strongest marine town in the area, in vírtue of its impressionable fort that was known for being invincible, as noted by Cervantes in the tale

of the captive. La Goleta had been conquered by Carlos V in 1535. The arrny that acquired it during the assault was cornmanded by the Emperor himself5, and during that event Garcilaso de la Vega

was injured. After having been recovered it was made into a fortified town and arsenal with a provision of Spanish 'soldados

viejos' - the famed veterans -. The strategic 10catÍon of this North

African prison was very important during that time since the

4 Regarding Mannerism in Cervantes' poetry, see Caso González, 1983 and Ruiz Pérez, 1985.

5 See Kohler, 2000, pp. 257-58.

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Carlos Mata Induráin

OUoman Empire under Soliman the Magnificent -in alliance with

the berberisco bandit Barbarroja- was expanding throughout the

Western Mediterranean6•

After being recovered by the Turks some time later, La

Goleta was occupied once again in October 1573 and on this

occasion by Don Juan de Austria's troops. One can say that it was

one of the few rnilitary crops that were harvested after the victory

of Lepanto in 1571. This time the name of the fortified town would

be quite ephemeral, since ayear after, in 1574 it was to be taken

back by the Ottomans. As Fernández Álvarez remembers:

In 1573, Felipe II authorised Don Juan to occupy Tunisia,

which he carried out in a quick campaign the same year.

The only visible prize in líeu of the Lepanto victory:

regaining control of those places which were once in possession of Carlos V, particularly the famous La Goleta, and give the reign of the Tunisian kingdom in the hands of the principality - M uley

Hamet.

However, that did not last long. In 1547, with Don Juan of Austria who was out of tbis game in Milan, it was difficult for

Euldj - Ali to occupy once again the Tunisian territory and Don

Juan could hardly do anything to regain it.?

The two sonnets that 1 will comment on are placed at the beginning of chapter 1, 40, entitled, 'Donde se prosigue la historia del cautivo' (where the story of the captive continues), and they are inserted halfway into the plot lineo In fact, Ruy Pérez de Viedma

6 Fernández Álvarez, 2000, pp. 502-13. 7 Fernandez Alvarez, 2004, p. 478

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The Two Sonnets about the ÚJss Goleta

has narrated his participation in Lepamos, an event in which he 10st his freedom. Later, a reference was made to his presence in Navarin09 while being on a Turkish ship. After his eulogy of don Álvaro de Bazán, Marqués de Santa Cruz, he alludes to 'la presa de La Presa' and also recounts his transfer to Constantinople in 1573. Hence, it narra tes how don Juan de Austria, after having won Tunís, hands over the territory to his North-African ally, Muley Hamet. But the Great Turk, after signing the peace treaty with the Venetians, promptly began an enterprise to win over La Goleta and his fort:

The Year after, which was 1574, he attacked the Goletta, and the Fort which Don Juan had begun, but not aboye half finished, before Tunis. [ ... ] La Goletta and the Fort were both taken, after sorne Resistance; the Turkish Army consisting of 75000 Turks in Pay, and aboye 400000 Moors and Arabs out of all Africa near the Sea; with such Provisions of War of all kinds, and so many Pioneers, that they might have covered the Goletta and the Fort with Earth by Handfuls.(I,39)

It is, then, the captive himself who is going to provide us with the historical context of the events that are alluded to in the two sonnets that wilI later be introduced. Ruy makes it cIear in his story that the loss of the fort cannot in any way be attributed to its defenders. As we saw, after pondering over the eIevated number of attackers, he adds this complementary explanation:

8 With these words it evokes transcendente victory: 'aquel día, que fue para la cristiandad tan dichoso, porque en él se desengañó el mundo y todas las naciones del error en que estaban creyendo que los turcos eran invencibles por la mar' (p. 454).

9 Cervantes regrets fue fact that victory obtained in Lepanto was overlooked: 'Vi y noté la ocasión que allí se perdió de no coger en el puerto toda el armada turquesca' (p. 455).

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Goletta was first taken, though always before reputed impregnable; and it was not lost by any Fault of its Defenders, who

did all that could be expected from them; but because it was found by experience, that it was practicable to make Trenches in that sandy Soil, which was thought to have Water under it within two Foot, but the Turks sunk aboye two Yards and found none; by

which Means fiUing Sacks with Sand, and laying them on one another, they raised them so high, that they over-top't and commanded the Fort, in which neme could be safe, nor show themselves upon the Walls. (1, 39)

He even refuses certain opinions that suggested that the following strategy had not been the right one:

It has be en the Opinion of most Men, that we did ill to shut our selves up in the Goletta; and that we ought to have been drawn

out to hinder their Landing; but they who say so, talk without Experience, and at Random, of such things; for if in aIl there were not aboye 7000 Men in the Goletta and the Fort, how could so small a Number, though never so brave, take the open Field against such Forces as those of the Enemies. (1, 39)

Be as it may, the captive foresees the 10ss of that fort because defending it meant painful bloodshed, an economic squander that was not compensated with the advantages of keeping

it under Christian domain:

But it seemed to many others, and that is also my Opinion,

that God Almighty favoured Spain most particularly, in suffering

that Sin of Iniquity and Misery, as well as that Sponge and perpetual Drain of Treasure to be destroyed. For infinite Sums of Money were spent there to no purpose, without any other Design, than to preserve the Memory of one of the Emperor's {Charles the

Fifth's) Conquests; as if it had been necessary to sUPPOrt the

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The Two SOfmets about the Loss Goleta

Eternity of his Glory (which will be perrnanent) that those Stones

should remain alive. (1, 39)

In the following excerpt the captive ends his tale by

informing his listeners of the loss of the fort. At the same time he

eulogizes the heroic defense of the Christians who fought there:

The Fort was likewise lost, but the Turks got it Foot by

Foot; for the Soldiers who defended it, sustained two and twenty

Assaults, and in them killed aboye 25 000 of those Barbarians; and

when it was taken, of 300 which were left alive, there was not one

Man unwounded; a certain sign of the Bravery of the Garrison, and

of their Skill in defending Places. (1, 39)

In the ensuing passage, he notes that one of the Spanish

combatants who lost his freedom in the fort was the alférez don

Pedro de Aguilar:

Amongst the Christians which were taken in the Fort, there

was one Don Pedro de Aguilar, of sorne Place in Andalusia, and who was an Ensign in the Place; a very brave, and a very ingenious

Man, and one who had arare Talent in Poetry. I mentÍon him, because it was his Fortune to be a Slave in the same Galley with

Me, and chained to the same Bench. Before he left the Port he made two Sonnets, by way of Epitaph for the Goletta and the Fort,

which I must beg leave to repeat here, having learned them by

heart, and I believe they will rather divert than tire the Company.

(1, 39)

Don Pedro de Aguilar, author of the two sonnets, is a

fictitious character 10 and he helps Cervantes in the ta"k of

10 It is not known if the soldier Pedro de Aguilar existed. Gaos reminds Clemencín in the Viaje del Parnaso that Cervantes mentions a poet

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entwining the historical part of the tale about the captive with the

fictional part. After adding sorne additional details about Aguilar's

good luck (after two years in captivity in Constantinople he was

able to escape by passing off as an Albanian by wearing an arnaute

disguíse), one of the knights that accompanied don Fernando in the

inn points out that Pedro de Aguilar is his brother and that he is

'bueno y rico, casado y con tres hijos' (good and rich, married with

three children). The knight also knows the sonnets in question, and

the captive encourages him to be the one to recite them, to which

he answers: 'Que me place [ ... ]; yel de la Goleta decía así' (lt is

my pleasure ( ... ); La Goleta one was like tbis). Chapter 1,39 ends

with these words, and the sonnets are postponed to start off the

ensuing chapter. Thus, the author transplant it to an elevated

position, at the beginning of the chapter, and this does not seem to

be unintentional. Within the captive's entire tale, the two sonnets separate the historical part (the description of the Mediterranean campaigns) from the fictional part (the tale about Ruy and Zoraida's love affair). This strategy, used as a unifier between the

two parts, has been put forth by Michele Moner:

These two sonnets of eulogy and epitaph dedicated to the

defenders of La Goleta and the fort, the brief Mediterranean

chronic1e of captive's sufferings come to an end, and way is

cleared for the adventures of captivity. Wherein the historical and

autobiographical material get interrningled with the fictive and

poetic ones. Thus, these poems are more than just a decorations,

like the ones which used to be inserted in the narrative with a view

to enliven the story. By exalting the memory and sacrifice of the

from Valencia named Pedro de Aguilar (Gaos, in his edition of the Quijote, p. 775, note 209).

l30

TheTwo Goleta

soldiers of La Goleta and of the fort ( ... ) the Sonnets introduce a

serious note which continues to reverberate in the rest of the story. The ernelties of Azán Aga (Hasán Bajá) and the slippery figure of

that fellow called Saavedra, who later on slips inside the story, seem to emerge from this historical background all blood stained

after so many heroic deaths, as if wanting to perpetuate their

memory. At this pathetic moment one is reached to the point which

can be called a threatening confession: a gaged autobiography.

Even though, only for this reason it can not be said that the rest was literature. All on the contrary. JI.

Zimic has noted the fact that the only narrator in the

inserted tale is the captive, with the precise exception of the two

sonnets that have now been cited12• Avalle-Aree, on the other hand,

relates the interruption of the tale of the Capitán cautivo (Captive

Captain) to that of the Curioso (Impertinent Curious), motivated by don Quixote's fight with the wineskin:

Same as the novella of Anselmo, the story of Ruy Pérez de Viedma is also interrupted. While narrating the loss of La Goleta, he remembered two sonnets that sorne one named Don Pedro de Aguilar had written about it. One of the witness ean not hide and soon reveals that Don Pedro was his brother and immediately reeited the two sonnets. Thus, the interruption gets over and the captain continues the story. Moreover, it is important to note that

the parenthesis is for putting at a high relief the apodictie

cireumstantiality reality of the story. Thus, to show that it goes from "historie" to "more historie,,13.

II Moner, Quijote, ed. Rico, Volumen complementario, pp. 89-90.

12 Zimic, 1998, p. 163. 13 Avalle-Arce, 1975, p. 151.

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AIso, Alicia Parodi has written about the function of these

two sonnets, and mentions the Iyric as one of the codes that are

used by Cervantes in a transgressive manner by aiding the

allegorical construction of a poetic:

The sonnets are dealing with the death and resurrectíon.

The narratíon is suspended in order to join two times poet's time

with that of the country inn this happens thanks to the brother who

is revisiting it. After the recitatíon of the sonnets is over the

narrator relates about his own emotions; the moments of great

suffering as a slave and the hope for freedom. lt is important to

mentíon that the sonnets do not construct an artistic pIot of

different genres, but the thread of a narrated life. Thus if on one

hand the chronology of the chronicle is broken, however the lyrical

atemporality is filled with the events of life discourse.

They are filIed with episodes of an act of transition of

freedom which is achieved by others and the narration of freedom

itself is the captive' s death. (perhaps, this is the season why the

first sonnet focuses on the glory and the second on the valiant death)14

We don't have the necessary information in order to date

the sonnets, but I'm inclined to think that they are earIy, falling

closer to the date of the historical event that they narrate (they

would then be categorized with the poems based on events, which

is rather cornmon in Cervantine Iyric). Other details reinforce the

hypothesis of early composition. For example, Schevill brought to

light their relation to the poems that were written for the occasion

14 Parodi, 1991, p. 435.

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TheTwo Goleta

of Isabel de Valois's death in 1569; and we should also remember

that in 1577 Cervantes had written a pair of laudatory sonnets for

one of Bartholomeo Ruffino di Chambery's book about the loss of

La Goleta. Even though within the narrative framework the

authorship of the sonnets is attributed to Pedro de Aguilar, there is

no reason to doubt, like Rodríguez Marin, that they were written by Cervantes 15.

The two texts are presented as epitaphs ('dos sonetos a

manera de epitafios' two sonnets as epitaph), according to the

captive. Indeed, they do not respond to the classical formulas of the

'Aquí yace, . .' or the 'Detén tus pasos, caminante .. .', which could

be used as inscriptions on a commemorative stone dedicated to the

fallen, especially the first one that constitutes an apostrophe to the

souls of the dead soldiers. These two poetic texts are not of an

exceptionalliterary quality, nor do they stand out by value of their

lyricism; but, they do stand out for their skillful construction and

15 Rodríguez Marín thinks that 'a la verdad, son endebles'. And Gaos points out: 'Tan endebles, que se inclina a creer que no son auténticos de Cervantes, conjetura en la que no podemos seguirle' (Gaos, Poesías completas 11, p. 255, note 14). And another excerpt: 'En realidad, son flojos, pero no tanto como se lo parecían a Clemencín. No hay por qué suponer, como Rodríguez Marín, que sean de Pedro de Aguilar [ ... ], Que son obra de Cervantes y que complacían a su autor parece demostrarlo, no tanto los elogios convencionales a los sonetos -'tenía particular gracia en lo que llaman poesía ... , antes causarán gusto que pesadumbre ... , No parecieron mal... como el hecho de que Cervantes los destaque en lugar visible del texto, abriendo con ellos capítulo. Schevill compara estos sonetos -y 'sus rimas gloria, victoria, y las ideas parecidas' - con las poesías sueltas de Cervantes, en especial con el soneto epitafio a la reina Isabel de Valois, las coplas reales a la muerte de la misma y la elegía al cardenal Espinosa' (Gaos, in his edition of the Quijote, pp. 779-80, note 35).

133


for their epíc style. In any case, it is worth noting that the poems do

not describe a warlike event, nor do they use a military lexícon that

is especially abundant. This is because, more than as an act of war,

the poet focuses on the importance of the dead soldiers and on the

reward that they are given due to their good conducto Finally, 1

should recall that the two sonnets were rated well by Gerardo

Diego in the study he dedícated to Cervantes' poetry:

In comparison to the sonnets inserted in the Curious

Impertinent, fonns those are more interesting and emotÍonal which

are inserted in between the ones attributed to the lien tenant Don

Pedro de Aguilar, whose reading interrupts captive's story: 'Blest

souls, discharg' d of life' s oppressive weight' and 'Amidst these

barren fíelds, and ruin' d Towers'. In between these Cervantes

allows to slip in a very revealing confession as to how mysterious

were for him the poetry while talking about Don Pedro de Aguilar

- soldier of great importance and rare rnind especially because he

had graceful poetry ... 16.

But let us focus on the texts' cornrnentary. The fírst of the

two sonnets reads as follows:

BIest Souls, discharg'd of Life's oppressive weight

Whose Virtue prov'd your Pass-port to the Skies:

You there procur'd a more propitious Fate,

When for your Faith you bravely feH to rise.

16 Diego, 1948, pp. 232-33. Regarding Clemencín's criticism, see Gaos, Poesías completas 11, pp. 254-56 and his notes. On the other hand, Gaspar Garrote Bernal talks about 'dos sonetos heroicos, a manera de epitafios por los defensores de La Goleta' (Garrote Bernat, 1996, p. 120).

134

The Sonnets about the Loss

When Pious Rage, diffus'd thro' ev'ry Vein, On this ungrateful Shore inflam'd your Blood;

Each Drop you lost, was bought with Crowds of Slain, Whose vital Purple swell'd the neighb'ring Flood.

Tho' crush'd by Ruins, and by Odds, you claim

That perfect Glory, that immortal Fame,

Which, like true Heroes, nobly you pursu'd;

. On these you seiz'd, even when of Life depriv'd,

For still your Courage even your Lives surviv'd;

And sure 'Us Conquest thus to be subdu'd.

Goleta

We stand before a well constructed sonnet that may be

identified as Mannerist due to its crafty and skillful nature and the

continuous use of pIayful opposites. The sonnet is conjured in its

entirety as an apostrophe to the souls of the dead soldiers, who

have risen from earth to heaven. The first verse, 'Blest souls ... ',

fonnulates a quiasmo as an antithesis that contrasts the body

(conjured under the metaphor 'oppressive weight') and 'BIest

Souls'. The same structure continues in verses 3 and 4 when the

poet contrasts the 'bravely fell to rise'.

The second quartet focuses on the image of the abundant blood that was shed, from both by the Christian combatants and the enemies, which is expressed through a violent transposition in verse 7: 'on this ungratefuI shore inflam'd your Blood,l7. The souls of the soIdiers that have burned 'When Pious Rage, deffus'd thro'

l7 For this transposition, see Gaos, p. 778, note lOb: 'El hipérbaton es intencionado, como 10 es el del soneto siguiente, que Rodríguez Marín pasa sin comentario: 'en los pasados siglos y presentes".

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Carlos Mata Im/urdín

ev'ry Vein,18 (v. 5), are the ones that have sustained their bodies by

providing them with the vital breath and physical strength, which is

the necessary energy needed for combato The quartet ends in a crafty manner with another quiasmo: 'Whose Vital Purple swell'd the neighb'ring Flood' (v. 8).

In the first set of three verses the idea that is emphasized is that the soldiers' lack life and not courage. They fought until death and in a way the defeat may be attributed to their cowardice or to their lack of warlike ardor (the captive's words cited aboye should be remembered). It should be noted that under a metonymy it is made known that the 'tired arms' die (this is a part of the body that can be related to the soldiers themselves), but this particular detail is included even though they have been defeated, they have achieved a greater glory (that which corresponds to the sou1. to the

spirit). Such is the paradox that is fonnulated in verse 11: Which, like Reroes, nobly you pursu'd'. This idea about moral victory is reinforced and explained at the same time in the second set of three verses: those arms -the Christian soldiers- suffered a 'perfect glory irnmortal fame' in the reduced space in wruch the battle took place ('crushed by ruins and by odds), but they won two things: in the world, fame, the remembrance of their heroic behavior; and in heaven, glory, eternal life: 'For still your Courage even your Lives

depriv'd,And sure 'Us Conquest thus to be subdu'd' (vv.13-14), again a lovely way to end it with a quiasmo.

We find that in the construction of the sonnet words wíth a greater lexicon meaning are grouped in several antithetic semantic

groups:

18 With regards to the arder en ira, Gaos writes: 'aunque expresión usual, creo que procede de fray Luis de León y es uno de los rasgos de su influjo sobre la poesía de Cervantes' (p. 778, note 8).

136


-"""

DEATH: LIFE: discharged life, dying, rage, honourable jealousy,

mortal exercised force FALL: RISE: sadfall you have risen, high and

above DEFAUT: VICTORY:

beirt8 defecte4 triumehant BODIES: SOlJLS:

discharged life, bodies, blest souls, free fair, blood, lired hands valour

EARTH: HEAVEN: low land, world sky, sky, glorv

In addition to these, opposites of the opposites articulate to a great extent, the structure of the sonnet, this sonnet presents -as 1 have noted above- several constructions that are quiasmatíc: to the quiasm from verse l,there are two others that are added: v. 8 ('whose vital purple swell'd the neighboring fiood') and verse 14 ('the perfect glory the immortal fame'). On a different subject, the rhymes should be noted due to their poor quality, several of them are formed from verbal tenses and gerunds: obrastes (worked) /

levantastes (elevated) / ejercitastes (exercised) / colorastes (coloured); muriendo (dying)/ adquiriendo ( acquiring).

Finally, the sonnet talks about the physical defeat of a few soldiers who have otherwise obtained a moral victory: their fame 19

will remain for ever transcending all times and space, beyond

19 1 think that the sonnet is better understood given the renaissance idea about fame, already noted in 'Coplas a la muerte de su padre' by Jorge Manrique: men had three Uves: mortal life, fue life of fame, and the life of glory. See Lefebvre, 1962 and Lida de Malkiel, 1983.

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eternallife - life with such notions as - heroic life, eulogized in the sonnet and used in defense of God's ideals and the monarchy -such alife of fame awaits them. Thus more importantly it is alife of fame, an eternallife of glory, of fortune and of eternal salvation.

Let us continue with the second sonnet, which is

positioned immediately after. In fact, after a brief comment made

by the captive that authorizes the text: '1 k:now it just as you repeat

it' (p. 336), the k:night annotates: ' ... the one which was made

upon the fort, if 1 can remember it'. The text reads as follows:

Amidst these barren Fields, and ruin'd Towers, The Bed of Honour of the falling Brave,

Three thousand Champions of the Christian Pow'rs Found a new Life, and Triumph in the Grave.

Long did their Arms their haughty Foes repel, Yet strew'd the Fields with slaughter'd Heaps in vain;

O'ercome by Toils, the pious Heroes fell, Or but surviv'd more nobly to be slain.

This dismal Soil, so fam'd in Ills of old, In ev'ry Age was fatal to the Bold,

The Seat of Horror, and the Warrior's Tomb! Yet hence to Heav'n more Worth was ne'er resign'dr

than those display'd; nor has the Earth combin'd, Resum'd more noble Bodies in her Womb. (p. 338)

The second sonnet is also an eulogy to those soldiers who died defending their king and God, but with the difference that the number of victims is given here: 'three thousand soldiers' (v. 3),

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Sonnets about the Loss Goleta

which is a rather exaggerated number. The word 'pocos' or a 'few' from verse 7 should then be understood in a relative term: a few in comparison to the growing number of opposites. The idea under which the sonnet is structured is very similar to the one we saw in the previous sonnet: the eulogy to the heroic courage that was exhibited in battle by the Christians and the verification tbat, even though on a physical level the end result was defeat and death, those dead soldiers obtained a greater victory: that of martyrs who won eternal salvation. And, in fact, from the first quartet the image of wall linens scattered on the ground of the fort ('Amidst these barren Fields, and ruin'd Towers) v. 120; 'and ruin'd Towers21

), is a symbol of defeat and of the elevation of the spirits (the 'almas santas' that have risen 'vivas' to the 'mejor morada' which is heaven).

As we can see, the underlying idea is practically the same in both sonnets. There are even sorne textual parallelisms. Therefore, in the second quartet 'Long did their Arms their haughty Foes repel' (v. 6) is considered, while in the previous quartet 'cansados brazos' (tired arms) is mentioned (the same metonymy is used in order to allude to the soldiers). It is specified here that they died due to the 'filo de la espada'(nobly to be slain) (v. 8), and in the first sonnet we learnt that they had fallen 'entre el muro y el hierro' (for still your Courage even your lives survived) (v. 13). Furthermore, the motive of heroic courage is reiterated: in the previous sonnet, 'primero que el valor faltó la vida' (on these you seiz'd, even your lives depriv'd) (v. 9), and in the latter,

20 Oaos mentions a sonnet by Francisco de Figueroa that starts off as follows: 'En esta tierra estéril y desierta I y entre estas rocas ásperas y heladas .. .' (p. 779, note 21).

21 Regarding the amendment of the 3fd edition, torreones, see Ooas, p. 779, note 22.

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'cuerpos tan valientes' (Resum'd more noble Bodies in her Womb) (v. 14). As in the first sonnet, this second one is also constructed based on that same idea of defeated bodies laying on the ground (muerte, caída ... ) vs. the victory of souls on heaven (vida,

elevación ... ), and great part of the groups of words and verbs underline precisely that idea of vertical movement, an ascending one, from earth to the material realm all the way to heaven and the

spiritual realm22:

BODIES, EARTH: sterile earth, fallen

lands, thrown on the ground ground

hard chest gave away the lije

force and strained arms few and tired

hard chest noble bodies

SOULS, HEA VEN: saint souls

risen to glory better dwelling

clear sky souls risen high just and valiants

Here it points out to roins as a theme, a repeated topie within moral poetry: 'tierra ... derribada' (lands thrown on grounds) but in this case the roins are not the end result of time' s destructive power, but the outcome of war' s contemporary new tactics and fire weapons that are part of the artillery in general. The captive makes

reference to those same roins by contrasting the weakness of the Moors from the Port with that of the old walls:

The Turks ordered the dismantling of the Goletta, the Port being razed to their Hand by the Siege; and yet the Mines they

22 It is worth noting the established contrast between earth's sterility ('tierra estéril', 'duro seno') and eternallífe in heaven.

140

The Two Sonnets about the wss Goleta

made could not blow up the old Walls, which nevertheless were always thought the weakest Part of the Place; but the new

Fortifícations, made by the Engineer Fratin, carne easily down. ( p.

339)

In this sonnet we find the idea about fame, it is immortal

religious fame through the adjective just from verse 12, the

righteous, in the religious sense of the word, are those who live

according to the law of God, and these souls must be directed

towards heaven; the meaning is reinforced by the words saínt souls (we should recall the 'B1est Souls' from the fírst verse of the fírst

sonnet), Hence, this second sonnet is perhaps weaker than the fírst

since it is not as lyricaIly intense. The rhymes are also poor and are

conjured up with the use of participles: fallen I exercised; thrown I forced I t¡red; being I elevated.

After both sonnets are recited by the knight, the narrator

introduces a comment that encapsulates the reaction that the

listeners manifested: 'The sonnets were applauded, and the Captive

was pleased to hear such good news of his friend and companion,23

(p. 339). Ruy Pérez de Viedma continues to narrate the dismantling

of La Goleta by the Turks and the triumphant and victorious return

of their fleet to Constantinople. The tale about his love affair with

Zoraida the Moor will follow. I will not stop to recall the

autobiographical character of the Captive' s tale whose main

incidents are a copy of those of Cervantes'Lepanto, Navarino,

Tunís, captivity in AIgiers24, Unlike the captive, Cervantes was not

23 These 'autoelogios' are frequent in Cervantes.

24 Only one Spanish Soldier knew how to deal with him, his Name was Saavcdra; who tho' he had done many things which will not easily be forgotten by the Turks, yet all to gain his Liberty, his Master never gave him a Blow, nor us'd him ill either in Word or Deed; and yet we were

141


in Constantinople, but we know that he was going to be transferred

there. On the other hand, within a fictional realm, the author can

show successful escape. This is very different from the

biographical reality, where he failed in four attempts. Once more,

life and literature, reality and fiction go hand in hand in this

inserted novel. But this is a matter that deviates from my objective

here, which is limited to commenting on the sonnets.

We know that Cervantes mocks many things or almost

everything. Sorne scholars even consider that he may be laughing

at his own character. But there is one thing that Cervantes never

mocks and that is heroic courage: the bloodshed in combato It

could not have be en any other way with regards to the exemplary

soldier who fought in Lepanto, and is clearly identified with the

ideals of Imperial Spain, although at the end those ideals were

deceived by the reality of history (the failure of the Armada against

England, the looting of Cádiz by the English ... ).

The two sonnets that have been commented on constitute

an eulogy to the heroic courage of those who fought and died

defending La Goleta and its Fort. I do not think that the fact that

both texts bring to light the destruction and the high number of

casualties among Christian troops should be understood as a

criticism against war. In fact, in these texts the events that took

place during the war are not properly described (the military

lexicon that is used is limited, and the combat scenes are not

always afraid that the least of bis Pranks would make him be impal'd; nay. he himself sometimes was afraid of it too; and if it were not for taking up too much of your Time, 1 could tell such Passages of him. as would divert ihe Company much better than the Relation of My Adventures, and cause more Wonder in them.

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directly presented), but what is positively valued is the strength

that was exhibited in the war25• The two sonnets clearly contrast

two spheres, a physical and the spiritual one. On the physicallevel,

the soldiers have been defeated and have died. Heaven encouraged

their brave bodies while they were alive. Once their bodies were

dead, the spirit' s immortal life is left for them; the eternal tife of

some 'living souls' that are already enjoying God's company.

With regards to Íts literary quality, 1 have already mentioned that these sonnets are not of extraordinary value, but

they are well written, especially the first one. There is no place in the world of lyrics for them, but we do sen se the epic breath, the heroic chant to some brave soldiers which Cervantes puts forth

through the poetic fictional character, the alférez Aguilar. Overall, these two poems are known for their artistic construction. If poetry, in the case of Cervantes, was 'a gift which God did not want to give me', it is also true that for many years he worked hard to perfect his poems with patience and skiIl26

•

25 We ean relate these poems to others that Cervantes has written about war topies, for example the songs dedieated to the Armada against England.

26 See Mata, in press.

143


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two sonnets about the loss of «la goleta» (quixote, i, 40 ......the two sonnets about the loss...

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