The
Polifemo is composed of 63 stanzas, each of which are composed of 8 lines in total. In its entirety, the
Polifemo comprises 504 lines. Throughout the poem there is an abundance of poetic correspondences (i.e. organic or interior referencing), which contrast sharply with the abstruse quality of the
cultismos (i.e. highly idiosyncratic linguistic modifications, classical lexicon and scholarly references) themselves. Additionally, the ornamentality and detail of the work is further complicated by a profuse usage of classical symbolism and external referencing (i.e. relevant mythological accounts communicated through
metaphors and
anecdotes). A
cultismo, though often intuited as an umbrella term for a particular display of culteranismo, can be thought of as a poetic device that abandons the precision of ordinary language for the sake of artistic expression. Within the poem, parallelism, proportionality, dissonance and intricate array of
puns involving both
similitude and
antithesis also give the poem greater complexity than that of its classical predecessors.
Opening (dedication to the Patron of Niebla) – Stanzas 1–3 The elaborate summoning of the Sicilian Muse
Thalia celebrates antiquity and the pastoral genre. Furthermore, this introduction involving a Grecian
muse emphasizes
ingenio itself over that of a more rudimentary imitation delineated by regulations and set expectations.
Imitatio (the reverential imitation of the art of the ancients) was prevalent in Renaissance poetry as seen in the verse of the highly influential Spanish poet
Garcilaso de la Vega who in turn borrowed heavily from the Italian
Dolce Stil Novo poets, such as
Petrarch, who revolutionized the poetry of the 14th and 15th centuries.
The Cave and the World of Polifemo – Stanzas 4–12 Contrary to the tranquil and idealized settings typical of the
pastoral genre, Góngora maintains a fluctuating Background–Foreground dynamic throughout the
Polifemo, which makes itself apparent at the very beginning of the poem. Given his fondness for convoluted and self-fashioned metaphors in addition to his profuse use of
hiperbatón, the quality of the lyrical poetry defamiliarizes and reconfigures all aspects of the original narration (see
ostranenie). The presence of contrasts, of antithesis and dissimilitude reflects a veritable lack of aesthetic concentration as well as deficient narrative unity deemed necessary in traditional Aristotelean
aesthetics. Instead, Góngora juxtaposes conflicting images of beauty and ugliness, harmony and discord to hint at an underlying
dichotomy of
erotic love as both prolific and destructive. The interspersing of the unsavory and the melancholic with the
idyllic deviates from the Renaissance ideal, which differentiated forms by establishing boundaries, namely foregrounds and backgrounds where central objects or figures displaced the prominence of other things. Within the art of the Renaissance, there is a higher degree of
hermetic focus, concentration and stability of form. “In contrast to the classical delineation of boundaries”, which gives precedence to forms with greater density and texture, the Baroque style sought to dissolve the divisions between the ‘intended figure’ and ‘unintended background’ or apeirion “in favor of a vision characterized by ‘a mysterious interflow of form and light and colour.’”. In Góngora's description of the scenery and the characters of the Polifemo, the descriptions themselves become the focus and take on an existence of their own. No longer are properties subordinate to the objects from which they emanate. No longer is there the subjugation of form required in
Renaissance art. Instead, the
Baroque is often characterized by a breakdown in such distinctions and the deterioration of these established ideals. As with Baroque visual art, within the Polifemo, there is a genuine lack of easily recognizable forms. In turn, this new awareness and appreciation of form
in-itself became the chief artistic concern for
culteranists, a group of like-minded poets who furthermore celebrated and, at the same time, critiqued the Western
Humanist and
Hermeneutic traditions of this epoch. The figures of the
Polifemo themselves are often depersonalized by their metaphoric descriptions, by anecdote and by the portrayal of their circumstance or immediate environment in which they are blended. In the context of
Baroque aesthetics, depersonalization in this sense is not the complete abandonment or deterioration of the individual as a distinguishable entity, but emphasizes instead the justification of those characters as forms themselves. The objective individual exists as both a series of phenomena as well as an aspect of the overall representation. Conversely, it is the subject who is the ultimate arbiter of artistic experience though they also limited to merely reflect a bundle of individual perceptions and privately held associations. Using this understanding, the distinction between Polyphemus and his cave is no longer deemed relevant as an overarching sympathy exists between the two. All of these forms serve an aesthetic purpose of preeminent importance as both capture the melancholic sense of longing and neglect that Góngora attempts to develop and incorporate into the overall narration. Ultimately, it is the poet who goes beyond the mere resemblance and commonality of things as orchestrator of inter-subjectivity to both imagine and project a kindred
will. This issue of
similitude and the underlying perception of persistent sympathies that arise between two separate entities was an idea deeply rooted in the 16th century
épistémè, as
Michel Foucault exposes in his highly influential work
Les Mots et Les Choses.
Galatea described – Stanzas 13–17 Góngora portrays Galatea as both the inspiration whom the whole island of Sicily admires and adores. He goes on to deify her in the minds and rituals of the Sicilian locals. Her femininity remains the unparalleled source of inspiration for all of the inhabitants of the island as well as 'the good' (
summum bonum), the ultimate pursuit and the sole object of desire. The sanctification of feminine beauty and grace eventually leads to an emerging cult of Galatea.
Description of Sicily – 18–24 Sicily, the setting of the tale, resembles the classical archetype of
Arcadia. This contrasts sharply with the Darkness of Polyphemus’ cave. Contrasts or dissimilitude were often employed in Baroque art, more so than in the art of the Renaissance. As Enrica Cancelliere explains in her article "Dibujo y Color en la fabula de Polifemo y Galatea", the commonality of aesthetic interests existing between visual and poetic artists was often quite remarkable during the Baroque epoch: Being a work written during the Baroque Epoch, an epoch which favored the profuse use of contrasts in painting more so than any of the other period in Western History, the Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea takes upon itself this very theme concerning chromatic contrasts, the clash between darkness and radiance. The poem was written with a technique akin to the chiaroscuro style one would see in the visual arts. As Dámaso Alonso wrote: "On one side, there is this gloomy presence, that accompanies that which is monstrous, that which is foreboding, that which is surly, that which is grotesque; at the same time, there is the presence of the precious flower and the purest of silver, that which is immaculate, the crystalline, that which is sweet, immortal and beautiful. What we have, in sum, are the respective domains of Polyphemus and Galatea." This radical technique, which in Spain was dubbed tenebrismo, also applies on the allegorical level in form of the characters and symbols that are depicted: life-death, Cupid-Thanatos, grace-perdition, all of which reemerges in the theatre of Calderón where they assume an intelligible form, they bring harmony to the scene with games of light and shadow that pass from scene to verse y from verse to scene. If at the poles we find the limits of the chromatic scale -white and black-, in the interior, the painting explodes with specks of vivid color, dissolve to the oxymoronic that by means of the underlying symbolic meanings construct whole images, characters, settings, thoughts and emotions. '' by Caravaggio (c. 1610) This poetic trend entranced with antithesis is concurrent with the
Chiaroscuro style that matured in 17th century Western painting. The striking contrast of the poem rests in the juxtaposition of the dark, gloomy and burdened existence of Polifemo with the figure of Galatea, the paragon of light, beauty and contentedness. ;Description of Acis and the meeting of the lovers – Stanza 25 An interesting correlation of Góngora's poem to that of the classical source is the individual's appeal through his pedigree. The divine lineages of the two suitors, an issue of prevalence within classical works, is incorporated into the poem. ;Meeting of the two lovers and courtship – Stanzas 26–37 In these lines, Acis pursues Galatea with a different approach than his wistful cycloptic rival. John McCaw in “Turning a Blind Eye: Sexual Competition, Self-Nontraditional, and the Impotence of Pastoral in Góngora’s Fabula de Polifemo y Galatea” affirms that Acis's courtship stratagem engages the sensuality of Galatea and triumphs over the “contemplative love” of Polifemo. Acis expresses his desire through means of luxurious material offerings, hinting at the old pagan practice of the
Anathema, as well as unadulterated “erotic passion” that is not transcendent and thus,
anti-intellectual. ;The consummation of the lovers – Stanzas 38–42 In these stanzas, Galatea's inaccessible character as an ideal (see
Platonic idealism) is made tangible: “Following the initial shock, Galatea becomes somewhat friendlier and less inaccessible. She coaxes the lucky young man to his feet; sweet and smiling, she is now ready to give, not peace to sleep, but indeed allowing a truce to rest, i.e., not excluding it, but postponing it for later. A hollow rock forms a shady cover for a cool, inviting settee with ivy twines serving as green shutters, climbing around trunks and embracing rocks.” (English Prose Translation by Miroslav John Hanak)
Song of the Cyclops – Stanzas 43–58 Contrary to Acis, Polyphemus represents failed self-cultivation, convention as opposed to nature, and the fruitless application of the virtues of
neo-platonic thought, which stressed upward progression, refinement, beauty and universal harmony Unlike the usual
burlesque representations of Polyphemus and Galatea (as seen in Theocritus), the words of the Góngora's Cyclops are incongruous with his outward appearance and his essential
barbarism. The emphasis on the intellect, the
dialectical or, the ancient rationalism
Aristophanes satirically labelled as "thinkery" (
Phrontisterion - from
The Clouds) as well as the vigilance against moral and bodily corruption are central to neo-platonic understanding that finds its way into this
bucolic landscape through the most unlikely of characters. Throughout the poem the Cyclops's eye is identified with the sun, a traditional
Apollonian symbol for dispassionate truth or enlightenment. The Cyclops realizes his surrogate beauty in the form of discourse and song, which he contrasts with the tangible beauty of a lover. It is within the Song of the Cyclops where Polyphemus arises from his obscurity. His perpetual pain and incessant longing drive his lyrics. It is through his situation that his art emerges. As stated by Cancelliere in her investigation of the poem's visual dynamics, primordial darkness itself, embodied by the character of Polifemo, seems to be the recurring cradle and grave of all perception or advancement: The night, in its vacuity, welcomes the possibility for redefinition or regeneration and this is possible not merely by means of its concavity, its uterine topology which begs to be filled, but by means of the natural overturning occurring firstly on this very chromatic dimension, connoting the black, the absolute absence of color, an infinite receptive and regenerative possibility: realm of possibilities where one can await the recurrent birth of light, of life, of both profundity and form and, ultimately, the esoteric cavern of
Plato, of those ancient rites and of those long
forgotten mysteries.
Lovers discovered, death and transformation of Acis – Stanzas 59–63 In the versions of both Góngora and Ovid, the ending of the poem is one of violence and transformation. In both tales, after the Cyclops laments, the two lovers are eventually discovered, thus provoking the anger of Polyphemus who strikes the fleeing
Acis with a boulder that he rips from the landscape. In both the Latin and the Spanish poem, the youthful Acis is crushed and killed by Polyphemus's striking boulder. Only after violent death is the boy is subsequently transformed into a river. ==Background, the classical precursors of the
Polifemo and poetic innovation==