Some unpublished works by don Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Edward Meryon Wilson

Emmanuel College, Cambridge

There are a number of poems attributed to Calderón in various manuscripts in the Biblioteca Nacional at Madrid. In 1960 I attempted to list such of these items as occur in his printed works or in the printed works of others¹. The list was not, however, complete. On folio 71r of MS/ 17883 is a poem that is entitled: «Retrato, de Calderón»; this is in fact an extract from Darlo todo y no dar nada («Condición y retrato / teman de Irene...»). There is also a relación from La vida es sueño in MS/ 3787. The poems printed below are taken from several manuscripts from the same library. I cannot prove that they are Calderón's, but on stylistic grounds the attributions seem possible. As far as concerns those addressed to ladies named Fenisa (no. VI), Clarinda (no. V) and Florela (no. VII), we may note that these names do not occur in the lists of the dramatis personae of his authentic plays. There are also two poems (nos. II and III) addressed to a lady called Li(s)si; and there is a lady with that name in La fiera, el rayo y la piedra. But neither of the Lisi poems is printed in the text of that play. The poems, then, have not been printed among Calderón's extant comedias. The sonnet (no. VIII), in which a lady addresses three gallants at once and leads each of them to assume that he is favoured and the other two rejected, seems at first sight also to be a dramatic excerpt. The persons addressed are Carlos, Enrique and the Duke. These names and the title occur in the dramatis personae of El galán fantasma and of De una causa dos efetos; but the sonnet is not printed in either play. Nor, if one reads it carefully, could it have been. For the trick of the poem can be seen by the eye but not heard by the ear. The different meanings depend on how the poem is punctuated. No one could read the sonnet aloud so that it could be taken to apply to himself by each of the three men addressed. The only way out is to leave the poem unpunctuated. The reader can then put in the stops as he thinks fit according to the suitor whom he prefers.

These poems cannot rival in merit the finest lirical passages in the plays, whether they are comedias or autos. Nor can we find in them the quality that distinguishes the Romance a la penitencia que hizo San Ignacio en Manresa, or Psalle et sile. These eight poems are trifles; one may well doubt whether Clarinda, Lisi, Florela and Fenisa ever earned more than compliments from the poet. But superficial as they are, they are agreeably and intelligently phrased. One can see the superb craftsman at work, especially in nos. I, II, III, V and VIII. They are poems written to amuse, but any one of them might have been effective enough in an appropriate dramatic setting (except, of course, no. VIII). Only occasionally (as in no. IV, lines 19-20) does the poet fail to make his meaning clear.

No. I was written specifically for a literary academy held in the Duque de Villahermosa's palace. Nos. II and VIII have similar titles to other poems by writers whom Calderón knew; we can safely assume that they were written for other academies. The remainder (III - VII inclusive) may also have been written under similar circumstances. It is easy to sneer at occasional poetry, and many academy poems of the Spanish seventeenth century are worthless; but poems are not necessarily bad because the poet was given a subject by some one else. I think that there is some poetic interest to be found in nos. I, II and V, whereas no. VIII is extraordinarily ingenious.

In my transcriptions I have regularised the use of capital letters and of accents. Professor J. E. Varey of Westfield College, London, helped me to decipher some crabbed enigmas, and Don Josep Roca Pons gave me some valuable help in the task of putting in the right stops. I heartily thank these two scholars for the invaluable help they so freely gave me.

The octava is taken from B. N. M., MS/2244, fol. 61v. The other poems in this competition are perhaps curious enough to justify transcription:

[c] De Don Pedro Calderon. See the poem printed in the text.

It seems probable that Calderón was awarded the second prize for his octava.

These décimas are taken from B. N. M., MS/3773, fol. 13r. The poem is clearly one of a number for a competition in an academy. After it we find: «Dezimas. A vna dama q[ue] desdeñaba y queria, De El Dr. Francisco de Quintana» and «Dezimas A Vna dama que Desdeñaua lo que desdeñaba y queria de el Dr. Iuan Perez de montaluan». (fols. 13v - 14r). As Montalbán died in 1638 and was insane for some time before, this poem must have been written before 1637 or in that year. I have followed the corrections made in a different hand in this poem. The original readings are given below:

The text of this poem is taken from B. N. M., MS/ 3773, fols. 17v - 18r. 35. «falssa» -from falsar- «hacer traición o faltar a su deber».

The text is taken from B. N. M., MS/ 3773, fol. 101r.

This romance is taken from B. N. M., MS/ 3773, fol. 104r. 26-27. Adaptation of the semi-traditional estribillo, glossed by Pedro de Padilla and by St John of the Cross. The former is the probable source:

Text taken from B. N. M., MS/ 3773, fol. 114r.

Text taken from B. N. M., MS/ 3773, fols. 125v-126r.

Text taken from B. N. M., MS/ 9636, fols. 238v-239r. See also MS/ 4096 and 3919 for similar poems, including another version of this sonnet.