Resumen de Spain Through Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: reality or romance?
This paper examines two of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's most important works based on Spanish material in an attempt to determinie the poet's knowledge and understanding of Spanish culture. The first work, Outre-Mer, is a prose account of Longfellow's nine months residence in Spain based on his journal and the letters written to his family. A comparison of the edited Outre-Mer with the journal and letters reveals Longfellows dependence upon his earlier reading and literature in general to interpret his experience in Spain. The second work, "Coplas de Manrique", is a translation of the 15th century Spanish poem "Coplas a la Muerte del Maestre Don Rodrigo" by Gorge Manrique. A parallel reading of the two poems again reveals the poet's inability to capture the essence of the Spanish "Coplas". We find Longfellow's Spain to be the result of his romantic imagination.
