Note 172 — BOOK VI.
Herman Oelsner translation
Luis de Góngora y Argote was born in 1561 and died in 1627. His father, Francisco de Argote, was Corregidor of Córdoba, and it has been generally stated that the poet assumed his mother's maiden name. However, the Sra. Doña Blanca de los Ríos y de Lampérez alleges that Góngora's real name was Luis de Argote y Argote: see an article entitled De vuelta de Salamanca in La España moderna (Madrid, June 1897). I do not know precisely upon what ground this statement is made. Despite the perverse affectations into which his culteranismo led him, Góngora is one of the most eminent Spanish poets, and unquestionably among the greatest artists in Spanish literature. A passage in the Viaje del Parnaso (cap. vii.) seems to imply that Cervantes admired Góngora's very obscure work, the Polifemo:—
De llano no le déis, dadle de corte, Estancias Polifemas, al poeta Que no os tuviere por su guía y norte. Inimitables sois, y á la discreta Gala que descubrís en lo escondido Toda elegancia puede estar sujeta.
M. Foulché-Delbosc has in preparation a complete edition of Góngora's works.