It's odd, that when we consider Great Western Literature we do not automatically
consider Spain, despite the fact that it produced the first--and still
the greatest--novel in Don Quijote (see Orrin's
review) and one of the world's best epic poems, El Cid.
All of us recognize the name El Cid, and I remember the pretty feeble movie
version with Charlton Heston (supposedly the restored version is much better
than the hacked up one they used to show), but has anyone ever read it?
This great translation by the poet W.S. Merwin isn't even in print anymore.
It should be; it's a great story.
The Cid was a historical figure, Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar (1043-99),
the greatest Christian knight of 12th Century Spain. This was a turbulent
time in Spain. The Moors had crossed over from Africa in 711 and
won extensive holdings in the South (Andalusia). By the Cid's day,
the badly divided northern Kingdom was uniting for a Reconquista, an attempt
to drive out the Moors. The Catholic Encyclopaedia describes
the actual events
of the Cid's life:
Ferdinand I, at his death (1065), had divided his
dominions between his three sons, Sancho,
Alfonso, and Garcia, and his two daughters, Elvira
and Urraca, exacting from them a promise that
they would respect his wishes and abide by the division.
But Sancho, to whose lot had fallen the
Kingdom of Castile, being the eldest, thought that
he should have inherited the entire dominions of
his father, and he resolved to repudiate his promise,
claiming that it had been forced from him.
Stronger, braver, and craftier than his brothers,
he cherished the idea of despoiling them and his
sisters of their possessions, and becoming the sole
successor of his father.
At this time, Rodrigo Diaz was quite young, and Sancho,
out of gratitude for the services of
Rodrigo's father to the State, had retained his
son at the court and looked after his education,
especially his military training. Rodrigo later
rendered such distinguished services in the war in
which Sancho became involved with Aragon that he
was made alferez (standard-bearer or
commander-in-chief) of the king's troops. After
ending this war with Aragon, Sancho turned his
attention to his plan of despoiling his brothers
and sisters (c. 1070). He succeeded in adding to his
dominion Leon and Galicia, the portions of his brothers,
but not until in each instance Rodrigo had
come to his rescue and turned apparent defeat into
victory. The city of Toro, the domain of his
sister Elvira, was taken without trouble. He then
laid siege to the city of Zamora, the portion of his
sister Urraca, and there met his fate, being treacherously
slain before the gates of the city by one of
Urraca's soldiers (1072). Learning this, Alfonso
who had been exiled to the Moorish city of Toledo,
set out in haste to claim the dominions of his brother,
and succeeded him on the throne as Alfonso
VI, though not without opposition, from his brother
Garcia, in Galicia, and especially in Castile, the
inhabitants of which objected to a Leonese king.
The story is told, though not on the best historical
authority, that the Castilians refused Alfonso their
allegiance until he had sworn that he had no hand
in his brother's death, and that, as none of the
nobles was willing to administer the oath for fear of
offending him, Rodrigo did so at Santa Gadea before
the assembled nobility. If this be true, it
would account in a great measure for the ill-will
Alfonso bore Rodrigo, and for his subsequent
treatment of him. He did not at first show his hatred,
but tried to conciliate Rodrigo and the
Castilians by bestowing upon him his niece Jimena
in marriage (1074). It was not long, however,
before he had an opportunity to satisfy his animosity.
Rodrigo having been sent by Alfonso to
collect tribute from the king of Seville, Alfonso's
vassal, he was accused on his return, by his
enemies of having retained a part of it. Whereupon,
Alfonso, giving free rein to his hatred, banished
him from his dominions (1076). Rodrigo then began
his career as a soldier of fortune, which has
furnished themes to Spanish poets of early modern
times, and which, idealized by tradition and
legend, has made of him the champion of Christian
Spain against her Moorish invaders. During this
period of his career, he offered his services and
those of his followers first to one petty ruler and
then another, and often fought on his own account,
warring indifferently against Christians and
Moors, always with distinguished success, and incidentally
rising to great power and influence. But
in time of necessity his assistance was sought by
Alfonso, and in the midst of career of conquest he
hastened to the latter's support when he was hard
pressed by Yusuf, the founder of Morocco.
Through some mistake or misunderstanding, however,
he failed to join the king, who listening to
the complaints and accusations of the Cid's enemies,
took from him all of his possessions,
imprisoned his wife and children, and again banished
him for his dominions. Disgraced and
plundered, the Cid resumed his military operations.
Upon his return from one of his campaigns,
hearing that the moors had driven the Christians
from Valencia and taken possession of the city, he
determined to recapture it from them and become
lord of that capital. This he did (1094) after a
terrible siege. He spent the remainder of his days
there. His two daughters were married to the
Infante of Navarre and the Count of Barcelona respectively.
His remains were transferred to the
monastery of San Pedro de Cardena near Burgos, where
they now rest.
The poem actually only covers the years from 1081, when the Cid is exiled
from the Court, until shortly before his death. It is concerned less
with warfare, though there are stirring battle scenes, than with his relationship
with Alfonzo. Essentially it details how the Cid, in seeking redress
of grievances including insult to his daughters, forces Alfonso to act
like a King. It culminates in a grand trial by combat, where The
Cid's men at arms vanquish his treacherous sons-in-law.
The story functions on a number of levels: stirring adventure, Christian
triumphalism and political instruction. It is particularly vital
to the Western tradition in so far as The Cid is born of middling rank,
but rises to preeminence on the strength of his own talents and for the
manner in which The Cid requires Alfonso to behave like a worthy leader.
Both of these have obvious implications for the rise of liberal democracy,
and to my mind, place The Cid in company with Robin Hood as early democratic
heroes. The translation by Merwin, if you can find it, is readily
accessible and vastly enjoyable. (if not, try this one The
Poem of the Cid : A Bilingual Edition With Parallel Text (Penguin Classics)
This is good stuff and we should know it better.
(Reviewed:06-May-00)
Grade: (A)
Websites:
See also:
(
4 books reviewed)
Classics
Poetry
Book-related and General Links:
-ENCYCLOPAEDIA
BRITANNICA: Your search: "w. s. merwin"
-Featured
Author: W. S. Merwin (NY Times Book Review Archives)
-POEMS,
ESSAYS & REVIEWS: W.S. Merwin: (NY Review of Books)
-ESSAY:
What is American About American Poetry? (W.S. Merwin, Poetry Society
of America)
-ESSAY:
First Loves (WS Merwin, American Poetry Society)
-REVIEW:
A Scattering of Salt by James Merrill (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of RIMBAUD By Pierre Petitfils. Translated by Alan Sheridan (W.S. Merwin,
NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of BURNING PATIENCE By Antonio Skarmeta. Translated by Katherine Silver
(W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of THE INVENTION OF SOLITUDE By Paul Auster (W.S. Merwin,
NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of CELESTINE Voices From a French Village. By Gillian Tindall
(W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of CHAMFORT A Biography. By Claude Arnaud. Translated by Deke Dusinberre
(W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of HYMNS AND FRAGMENTS By Friedrich Holderlin. Translated and Introduced
by Richard Sieburth (W.S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
W.S. Merwin: A Poet in Exile, NY Review of Books
Collected Poems by Edwin
Muir
-REVIEW:
W.S. Merwin: A Sight of the Bright Life, NY Review of Books
The Book of Counsel: The
Popol Vuh of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala by Munro S. Edmonson
-REVIEW:
W.S. Merwin: 'Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang', NY Review of Books
Birds in Literature by Leonard
Lutwack
-REVIEW:
W.S. Merwin: Footprints of a Shadow, NY Review of Books
Fernando Pessoa: A Centenary
Pessoa edited by Eugénio Lisboa and with L.C. Taylor
Poems of Fernando Pessoa
translated and edited by Edwin Honig and Susan M. Brown
Fernando Pessoa & Co.:Selected
Poems edited and translated by Richard Zenith
Always Astonished: Selected
Prose by Fernando Pessoa translated by Edwin Honig
The Keeper of Sheep by Fernando
Pessoa, translated by Edwin Honig, and Susan M. Brown
An Introduction to Fernando
Pessoa by Darlene J. Sadlier
The Presence of Pessoa by
George Monteiro
-AUDIO:
Poetry Readings by Merwin
W. S. Merwin, "Any Time"
W. S. Merwin, "Before the Flood"
W. S. Merwin, "Term"
-POEMS:
(from The Atlantic)
-POEM:
"FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY DEATH" by W.S. Merwin
-POEM:
Eight: The Stranger: After a Guarani legend recorded by Ernesto
Morales
-POEM:
Far Company (Poetry Magazine)
-POEM:
Separation (Lumea)
-POEM:
"Yesterday" (Fooling with Words, Bill Moyer, PBS)
-POEM:
Beggars and Kings
-POEM:
Twilight (Neue Sirene)
-POEMS:
links to poetry by W.S. Merwin
-ESSAY:
W.S. Merwin: PLANH FOR THE DEATH OF TED HUGHES, NY Review of Books
-ESSAY:
W.S. Merwin: Two Poems , NY Review of Books
-TRANSLATION:
W.S. Merwin translates Canto XXXI of Dante's Purgatorio (Cortland Review)
-TRANSLATIONS:
Poetry from EAST WINDOW: The Asian Translations by W.S. Merwin
(Tricycle)
-W.
S. Merwin (1927- )(Modern American Poetry)
-Academy
of American Poets: W. S. Merwin
-INTERVIEW:
A Poet of Their Own (DINITIA SMITH, NY Times)
-INTERVIEW:
"A Whole New Thing" W.S. Merwin on poetry, The Folding
Cliffs and Hawai`i (John Wythe White, Honolulu Weekly)
-PROFILE:
Swimming up into Poetry: The Atlantic's poetry editor reflects on the
career of W. S. Merwin, whose long association with the magazine spans
great distances of geography and art (Peter Davison, The Atlantic)
-AWARDS:
IN A WORLD OF RHYME, REASON, POETRY PAYS: W.S. MERWIN TAKES $75,000 LILLY
PRIZE (Jon Anderson, Chicago Tribune)
-ESSAY:
Forging a Unique Spanish Christian Identity: Santiago and El Cid in the
Reconquista (Laura Elizabeth Gibbs)
-ESSAY:
AFTER FREE VERSE: THE NEW NON-LINEAR POETRIES (MARJORIE PERLOFF)
-ESSAY:
Sex, Semantics, and Chauvinism (Ming Zhen Shakya)
-POEM:
ON READING W. S. MERWIN in the NEW YORKER (James DeFord,
James
DeFord's Poetry Corner)
-REVIEW
: of Purgatorio by Dante; Translated by W.S. Merwin (David R. Slavitt,
Philadelphia Inquirer)
-REVIEW:
G.S. Fraser: Three Poets, NY Review of Books
The Moving Target by W.S.
Merwin
Weather and Seasons by Michael
Hamburger
A Peopled Landscape by Charles
Tomlinson
-REVIEW:
Denis Donoghue: Objects Solitary and Terrible, NY Review of Books
Live or Die by Anne Sexton
The Lice by W.S. Merwin
Reasons for Moving by Mark
Strand
Love Letters from Asia by
Sandra Hochman
-REVIEW:
Denis Donoghue: Waiting for the End, NY Review of Books
The Gulf by Derek Walcott
The Carrier of Ladders by
W.S. Merwin
Darker by Mark Strand
The Country of a Thousand
Years of Peace by James Merrill
The Whispering Roots and
Other Poems by C. Day-Lewis
Collecting Evidence by Hugh
Seidman
Baby Breakdown by Anne Waldman
-REVIEW:
Stephen Spender: Can Poetry Be Reviewed?, NY Review of Books
Moly and My Sad Captains
by Thom Gunn
Writings to An Unfinished
Accompaniment by W.S. Merwin
Braving the Elements by
James Merrill
Wintering Out by Seamus
Heaney
The Crystal Lithium by James
Schuyler
They Feed They Lion by Philip
Levine
A Change of Hearts by Kenneth
Koch
-REVIEW:
Joseph Brodsky; Barry Rubin (translated by): Beyond Consolation, NY
Review of Books
Hope Abandoned by Nadezhda
Mandelstam and translated by Max Hayward
Osip Mandelstam: Selected
Poems translated by Clarence Brown and W.S. Merwin
Complete Poetry of Osip
Emilevich Mandelstam translated by Burton Raffel
Osip Mandel'shtam, Selected
Poems translated by David McDuff
-REVIEW:
Bernard Knox: A Four Handkerchief Tragedy, NY Review of Books
Euripides: Iphigeneia at
Aulis translated by W.S. Merwin and George E. Dimock, Jr.
Iphigenia a film directed
by Michael Cacoyannis
-REVIEW:
Michael Wood: The Insulted and the Injured, NY Review of Books
César Vallejo: The
Dialectics of Poetry and Silence by Jean Franco
Poesía completa by
César Vallejo
Vertical Poetry by Roberto
Juarroz and translated by W. S. Merwin
"Harsh World" and Other
Poems by Angel González and translated by Donald D. Walsh
Muestra by Angel González
-REVIEW:
Roger Shattuck: In the Magic Circle, NY Review of Books
The Lost Upland: Stories
of Southwest France by W.S. Merwin
-REVIEW:
John Bayley: Living Ghosts, NY Review of Books
Lament for the Makers by
W.S. Merwin
The Vixen by W.S. Merwin
Flight Among the Tombs by
Anthony Hecht
The Bounty by Derek Walcott
-REVIEW:
of The River Sound by W.S. Merwin (Jerry Bass, Richmond Review)
-REVIEW:
of The Vixen by W. S. Merwin (Richard Howard, Boston Review)
-REVIEW:
of Poems in W.S. Merwin's `The Vixen' reveal the uncanny, kinetic power
of the written word (Arlice Davenport, Knight-Ridder Newspapers)
-REVIEW:
of Folding Cliffs: Hawaiian Epic Poet W. S. Merwin crystallizes
the history and humanity of the islands in his new masterwork. (Gretel
Ehrich, Island Magazine)
-REVIEW:
of Folding Cliffs: Pulitzer poet pays homage to isles with `Folding
Cliffs' (Suzanne Tswei, Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
-REVIEW:
John Bayley: Green and Secretive Islands, NY Review of Books
The Folding Cliffs: A Narrative
by W.S. Merwin
The River Sound by W.S.
Merwin
EL CID:
-ENCYCLOPÆDIA
BRITANNICA: Cid, the
b. c. 1043,, Vivar, near Burgos, Castile
[Spain]
d. July 10, 1099, Valencia
-Bio:
El Cid (Rodrigo, or Ruy, Diaz, Count of Bivar) (Catholic Encyclopaedia)
-BATTLES
OF RODRIGO DIAZ DE VIVAR "EL CID"
-Legends
- Paladins and Princes - The Cid
-SUMMARY
& COMMENT: The Song of El Cid
-Discussion
Questions: POEM OF THE CID (SPAN-HUM 2744 / Dr. Folkart )
-ESSAY:
WEAPONS FROM THE SONG OF ROLAND AND THE CID By Magistra Rosemounde
of Mercia
-ESSAY:
Multiculturalism Gone Wrong: Spain in the Rennaissance ( adapted from
a guest lecture given for the European Civilization course)
(Alix Ingber, Professor of Spanish)
-ESSAY:
THE LIBRARY OF IBERIAN RESOURCES ONLINE: ISLAMIC AND CHRISTIAN
SPAIN IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES by Thomas F. Glick
-EXCERPT:
Chapter One of The SPANISH INQUISITION: A HISTORICAL REVISION By Henry
Kamen (Denver Post Books Online)
-ENCYCLOPÆDIA
BRITANNICA: Spain, history of: The rise of Castile and Aragon
-ETEXT:
THE CHRONICLE OF THE CID
-ETEXT:
The Lay of the Cid (Translation: R.Selden Rose & L. Bacon)
-ETEXT:
Robert Southey: The Chronicle of the Cid, 1637
-Harold
Bloom's Western Canon
-Philip
Ward's "500 Greatest Books": From Philip Ward's 1984 book A Lifetime's
Reading: 500 Great Books to Be Enjoyed over 50 Years.
-ARTICLE:
Medieval Riches of El Cid's City (GERRY DAWES, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of THE QUEST FOR EL CID By Richard Fletcher (Ian Gibson, NY Times Book
Review)
-REVIEW:
MEDIEVAL COWBOYS Deirdre Headon (D.J.R. Bruckner, NY Times
Book Review)
FILM:
-BUY IT: El Cid (Amazon.com)
-INFO: El Cid (Internet Movie DataBase)
GENERAL:
-Outline
of the Literature of the Middle Ages By Roger Blackwell Bailey, Ph.
D. (San Antonio College Lit Web)
-The
Internet Medieval Sourcebook now part of ORB, the Online Reference
Book for Medieval Studies
-ETEXT:
Song and Legend From the Middle Ages by William D. McClintock and Porter
Lander McClintock
