For an account of Teresa, see the Introduction. For Miguel de los Santos
Álvarez, see the note to "El Estudiante de Salamanca," Part IV.
=41.= The poet describes his three youthful passions: liberty, romantic
literature, and love.
=49. Catón=: Caius Porcius Cato (95-46 B.C.), commonly called Cato of
Utica, was a stalwart defender of Roman republicanism against Caesar
and his party. His suicide after the defeat of the republican cause at
Thapsus was regarded as an act of stoic heroism.
=50. Bruto=: it is not clear whether the poet refers to Lucius Junius
Brutus, who drove from power Tarquinius Superbus, founded the Roman
republic, and displayed his rigid justice by condemning to death his own
sons, or Marcus Junius Brutus, who assassinated Cæsar in the name of
liberty.
=51. Scévola=: a hero of early Rome who was captured by the enemy
and threatened with death by fire if he refused to give important
information. He replied by deliberately holding his hand in a flame.
=52. Sócrates= (469-400 B.C.): the celebrated Grecian philosopher. He
believed in the immortality of the soul.
=54. Del orador de Atenas=: Demosthenes (385-322 B.C.), especially
famous for his Philippics, a series of twelve orations directed against
Philip of Macedon, the _tirano macedonio_ here alluded to. All these
classical allusions seem to show that Espronceda, like most of the
leaders of the French Revolution, was influenced by Plutarch.
=57.= In this octave the poet voices his enthusiasm for the Middle Ages
and romantic literature in general. In his desire to embrace in his own
life the careers of knight and troubadour, Espronceda is harking back to
the "arms and letters" ideal of many of Spain's greatest writers.
=77. Soñaba al héroe=: =con= is the usual complement of =soñar= in
prose.
=89.= Espronceda's first meeting with Teresa took place in Portugal in
the beautiful region around Cintra.
=131. La sacra ninfa que bordando=, etc.: according to Menéndez y
Pelayo, these two verses are taken from the "Fábula de Genil" of
Pedro Espinosa, an author whom he says Espronceda knew by heart. (See
"Discursos leídos ante la Real Academia Española en la recepción del
excmo. señor D. Francisco Rodríguez Marín, el día 27 de octubre de
1907," Madrid, 1907, p. 86). The verses in question are:
Corta las aguas con los blancos brazos
La ninfa, que con otras ninfas mora
Debajo de las aguas cristalinas
En aposentos de esmeraldas finas.
And farther down,
El despreciado dios su dulce amante
Con las náyades vido estar bordando.
This in turn, it seems to me, may be reminiscent of Garcilaso de la
Vega's _Égloga Tercera_. Apparently P. Henríquez Ureña has made this
discovery independently. See _Revista de Filología Española_, IV, 3, p.
292.
=170.= The usual accent has been intentionally omitted from =aerea=.
=201.= "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning."
Isaiah xiv, 12.
=232.= The story of the man who spits upon himself while trying to spit
upon the sky is as old as Berceo in Spanish literature.
=238.= One has to supply a =se= with =convirtieron=. This may readily be
inferred from the preceding verse.
=352.= Foulché-Delbosc thinks that this last verse was suggested by
Hugo, "Les Feuilles d'automne, XXXV, Soleils couchants." See _Revue
hispanique_, XXI, p. 667.