Introduction to Spanish Poetry

This epic poem, or cantar de gesta ( gesta, deed), belongs to a type of poetry widely cultivated in Spain and other European countries during the first half of the twelfth century. It was composed by an unknown poet about 1140, some forty years after the Cids death and after the composition of the Chanson de Roland.

The Spanish poem is distingui hed by its historical character, with its author apparently interested in narrating real happenings, however much he may exaggerate to impress his audience. Thus he tells the story of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known as Mio Cid (Cid is lord in Arabic), a Castilian knight who was banished from Castile after having incurred the disfavor of his sovereign, Alphonse VI. The poems three parts, or cantares, relate the adventures of the Cid from the moment he leaves the city of Burgos through several years until, having won numerous battles against the Moors and taken the kingdom of Valencia, he is forgiven by his sovereign. Mio Cid died in Valencia in 1099.

Besides its intrinsic poetic interest, the poem is significant as the earliest-known major example of Spanish poetry. Written in groups of a variable number of lines, it includes 3,735 verses and employs assonantal rhyme. Interest exists on three levels: the narrative level, in which the poet relates historical facts; the dramatic level, in which dialogue reveals the psychological traits of the characters (a technique at which the author is quite successful); and the lyrical level, employing a sober, subdued lyricism appropriate for the Castilian landscape but with enough pathos to indicate the sensitivity of its warlike figures.

The poem is of further interest in revealing a different portrait of the Cid than is usually known. Other poems and ballads, or works like Corneilles later play (drawn from a play by the sixteenth-century writer Guilln de Castro), portray the warrior as a young man. The present poem, undiscovered until late in the eighteenth century, shows a more complete and credible figurethat of the mature man, husband and father, a noble and generous warrior, though ferocious enough when battling his enemies.

The human side of the Cid, together with his controlled violence, may be observed in the following excerpt from the first part of the poem, that relating to Don Rodrigos banishment from Castile. The nine-year-old girl who speaks to him is perhaps the first female character in Spanish literature. The juxtaposition of the small girl against the shapes of warriors, arms, and horses makes for an arresting contrast.