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Spanish dramatic literature is the _Don Álvaro_ of Angel de Saavedra,
better known as the Duque de Rivas; in this play are to be found all the
above-mentioned characteristics, even those that have to do more
naturally with lyric poetry, subjectivity and love of nature. Not only
does it present Romanticism in its most effective form; it also shows
the pitfalls of exaggeration and improbability that even the greatest
Romanticists failed to avoid when the check of common sense was removed
and free rein was given to the imagination. But since we are here
concerned mainly with _Los Amantes de Teruel_, a play that demands for
its understanding and appreciation much less familiarity with the
Spanish language than that required by _Don Álvaro_, the extent to which
the masterpiece of Hartzenbusch is representative of Romanticism will
now be briefly noted.[5]
[Footnote 5: In order that the student may discover for himself the
essential differences between the two schools of drama, it is
recommended that he read a classical play such as Moratin's _El Sí de
las Niñas_ before reading _Los Amantes de Teruel_. In comparing the two
plays he should bear in mind that, for the reason that they are both
artistic masterpieces, they avoid the extremes of Classicism and
Romanticism, and that they do not illustrate entirely the opposite
characteristics of the less artistic examples of the two kinds of
drama.]
#VII. Romanticism in _Los Amantes de Teruel._# That the appeal is
mainly to the emotions and imagination is quite evident. The plot is
based on a legend that owes its chief interest to the unusual and even
improbable ending; and the exceptional and improbable, if they are to be
effectively treated in literature, must appeal to the imagination, must
so stir the sentiments of the reader or hearer that the reasoning
faculty may be kept from becoming too active. Not only is the
_dénouement_ itself improbable; the somewhat melodramatic figure of
Zulima and the important part she plays in keeping apart the lovers
until it is too late, would hardly be convincing if the main appeal of
the play were to the intellect. These improbabilities are willingly
ignored by the reader or spectator as he allows himself to be carried
along in the current of passion to the final scene of deep emotion and
intense pathos. Melodious verse and poetic imagery help to make
effective this emotional appeal.
The spiritual appeal of the play is apparent. To Marsilla and Isabel
love is so spiritualized that materialism can find in it no place. Their
love for each other is the "encarnación del cariño anticipado al nacer,"
life means for them "seguir con el cuerpo amando, como el espíritu amó."
Love is life itself; and when no longer permitted to love each other in
this life for the reason that Isabel, believing her lover to be dead and
wishing to sacrifice herself in order that her mother's good name may be
preserved, has become the wife of Rodrigo de Azagra, they willingly
return to the spiritual world from which together _they had come into
the world of materiality_.
The dramatization of a medieval legend is typical of the newly awakened
interest in the Middle Ages. Five years before the beginning of the
supposed action of the play, shortly after Marsilla had left home to
gain name and fortune in the wars against the infidels, was fought at
Navas de Tolosa one of the most decisive battles between Christianity
and Mohammedanism. The year after his departure from Teruel there
ascended the throne of Aragón the boy that was to be known to history as
_Jaime el Conquistador_ because of his reconquest of southeastern Spain
for Christianity. In the lull that preceded the approaching storm the
Christians and Moslems in the eastern part of the peninsula were at
peace, so that in the play they mingle freely, treating each other with
the chivalrous respect that was characteristic of the Middle Ages. The
numerous references to contemporary historic personages and events and
the careful attention to local color bring vividly before us the life of
that part of Aragón recently recovered from the Moors. The _dénouement_
is made less improbable by placing the action of the play in that age of
deep convictions, exalted idealism, chivalrous customs, and in that part
of Spain where tenacity of purpose has always been regarded as a
characteristic trait.
Picturesqueness, in its literary sense is not very apparent in the play
as we now have it. In the first version there were examples of striking
contrasts, a mingling of the tragic and comic, the noble and base, but
these were toned down or eliminated by the author in his revisions of
the play. For an example of exaggerated picturesqueness, with its
violent contrasts, mingling of the sublime and vulgar, the grotesque and
beautiful, the student is referred to _Don Álvaro_.
The classical conventionality that each kind of literature should have
its prescribed form and that the various literary genres should be kept
apart was disregarded by Hartzenbusch. In this play we see a mingling of
scenes in prose with those in verse, we find the versification varied
according to the nature of the scenes, a mingling of dramatic dialogue
and lyrical expression of sentiment and passion. The action of the play
in its first form was impeded by the excessive lyricism of some of the
scenes; although notably reduced, this lyric element is still quite
apparent in the scene between Marsilla and Zulima in the first act, for
example; or between Marsilla and Isabel in the last. In the first
version Mari-Gómez, later changed to Teresa with the suppression of most
of her garrulity, was made to serve as a _graciosa_ and thus relieve the
tenseness of the serious scenes.
As to the three dramatic unities so dear to the Classicists, those of
time and place are disregarded. The action shifts from Valencia to
Teruel; the time occupied covers the last six days of the _plazo_ given
Marsilla in which to gain name and fortune and return home to claim
Isabel for wife. The unity of action, the one essential unity in any
work of art, is carefully preserved. In the first version could be seen
something of the Romantic tendency to complicate the plot by the
introduction of an excessive number of characters and needless episodes,
but in its final form the plot is simple and nothing is permitted to
interfere with its dramatic development.
In the first version there was also some tendency to abuse the new
freedom from conventionality in language, a tendency to seek out unusual
words and phrases for the sake of their picturesqueness, rather than for
their artistic appropriateness. In the polishing and toning-down
process, such words and phrases were eliminated, so that the play in its
final form serves as a good illustration of the permanent enrichment of
the literary language by the Romanticists. Likewise, in its
versification, it offers a good example of the metrical variety found in
the Spanish dramatists of the Golden Age and revived by the
Romanticists.
#VIII. Versification.# Only the fundamental principles of Spanish
versification will be noted here. For a more adequate treatment the
student is referred to such works as Andrés Bello's _Ortología y
métrica_ (Vol. IV of _Obras completas_, Madrid, 1890), or the _Prosodia
castellana y versificación_ of E. Benot; or to the more easily
accessible notes on Spanish versification in Hills and Morley's _Modern
Spanish Lyrics_ or Ford's _Spanish Anthology_.
Some knowledge of two of the essential differences between Spanish and
English versification is needed for the appreciation of the poetry of
this play. Whereas in English poetry the number of feet to the line is
essential, in Spanish the basis of meter is the number of syllables;
moreover, in syllable-counting there are certain rules (too complicated
to be given here) regarding the treatment of contiguous vowels as one
syllable or more than one. Another difference that should be noted is
that in Spanish poetry there are two kinds of rime, consonantal rime and
assonance. Consonantal rime is the same as that used in English poetry,
identity of the last stressed vowel sound as well as all following vowel
or consonant sounds in two or more verses; as for example, in lines
127-130, Act I, _clemencia, Valencia: favor, mejor_. Assonance is
identity in a series of verses of the last stressed vowel and of a
following unstressed vowel, if there be one, but not of a consonant; in
other words, assonance is the correspondence of the vowels, but not of
the consonants, in the riming syllables. Thus, in the first 110 lines of
the play, all the even verses have the same vowel in the last stressed
syllables: _volver, administré, fiel, pie, Adel, partiré, el, rey_, etc.
Only the strong vowel in a diphthong is recognized, so that in these 110
lines the assonance of the alternate verses is in _e_. In the first 148
lines of Act IV all the even verses have one and the same vowel in the
last accented syllable and one and the same vowel in the unaccented
syllable: _pueblo, bandoleros, prenderlos, tiempo, vinieron, provecho_,
etc. The assonance is, therefore, _é-o_.
Of the many verse-forms, _i.e._, definite combinations of line and rime,
to be found in Spanish poetry, we find the following in this play:
_romance, romance heroico, redondilla, quintilla, décima, copla de arte
mayor_, and _silva_.
The _romance_, or ballad meter, is the most thoroughly national of all
Spanish meters and has always been very popular with the dramatists. It
has, regularly, eight syllables to the line, with a regular rhythmic
accent on the seventh, and has assonance in the alternate lines. The
seventh syllable may or may not be followed by one or two unstressed
syllables, but the line is called octosyllabic; one unstressed syllable
is counted whether it be present or not. The first 110 lines of Act I,
for example, are in _romance_. Note that the regular rhythmic stress of
each line is on the seventh syllable; that the odd lines have seven or
eight syllables; that all the even lines have seven metrical syllables
each, and have assonance in _e_. In the first 148 lines of Act IV, all
of the even lines have eight syllables each, for the reason that each
seventh syllable is followed by an unaccented syllable, the assonance
being _é-o._ This is the normal _romance_ line, eight-syllabled and in
assonance.
The _romance heroico_ or _real_ differs from the ordinary _romance_ in
that the lines are hendecasyllabic (eleven-syllabled). Lines 269-474,
Act IV, are in _romance heroico_, with assonance in _á-a_.
The _redondilla_ consists of four octosyllabic lines, with consonantal
rime, usually arranged thus: _abba_. In Act I, for example, lines
111-458 consist of 87 _redondillas_.
The _quintilla_ consists of five octosyllabic lines, with two
consonantal rimes, arranged so that no more than two may come together:
_ababa, abbab, abaab_, etc. In Act III lines 62-226 consist of 33
_quintillas_. The last one has a very unusual combination of rimes:
_abbba_.
The _décima_ consists of ten octosyllabic lines, with four consonantal
rimes usually arranged as in lines 761-770, or 771-780, Act II:
_abbaaccddc_. The _décima_ is not properly considered as two
_quintillas_, since there should be a pause at the end of the fourth
line of a _décima_.
The _copla_ (stanza) _de arte mayor_ contains eight lines with three
consonantal rimes arranged thus: _abbaacca_. Each line is divided into
two hemistitches, with rhythmic stress on the fifth syllable of each
hemistich. The sixth syllable of either hemistich or of both may be
lacking, so that there may be a total of 10, 11, or 12 syllables in a
line. Lines 179-282, Act II, are made up of thirteen _coplas de arte
mayor_. Most of the lines have 11 or 12 syllables; note that verses 187,
200, 215, etc., have only ten each.
The _silva_ is usually composed of eleven-syllabled lines, intermingled
with lines of seven syllables. There is consonantal rime, but without
regularity; and many lines are left unrimed. An example of the _silva_
may be found in lines 309-437, Act III.
SCHEME OF VERSIFICATION
Act I. 1-110 Romance (_e_)
111-458 Redondillas
Act II. 1-178 Romance (_a_)
179-282 Coplas de arte mayor
283-466 Redondillas
467-573 Prose
574-760 Romance _(é-a)_
761-780 Décimas
Act III. 1-61 Prose
62-226 Quintillas
227-308 Prose
309-437 Silva
Act IV. 1-148 Romance _(é-o)_
149-268 Redondillas
269-474 Romance heroico _(á-a)_
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The most important books and articles that treat of Hartzenbusch and the
legend of the _Amantes de Teruel_ have already been mentioned. In them
may be found many references and extensive bibliographical data. The
best of the writings of Hartzenbusch are contained in the five volumes
published in the well-known series _Colección de Escritores
Castellanos_. Three volumes contain his best plays: _Teatro_, Madrid,
1888-1892. The first volume, _Poesías_, 1887, contains a good study of
his life and writings by A. Fernández-Guerra. The Romantic movement in
Spain is treated at length in _El Romanticismo en España_, by Enrique
Pineyro, Paris, 1904; and in Vol. I, of _La Literatura Española en el
Siglo XIX_, by F. Blanco-García, 3d edition, 1909.
LOS AMANTES DE TERUEL,
DRAMA REFUNDIDO EN CUATRO ACTOS Y EN VERSO Y PROSA
Estrenado en Madrid en el teatro del Príncipe a 19 de enero de 1837
PERSONAS
JUAN DIEGO MARTÍNEZ GARCÉS DE MARSILLA, O MARSILLA.
ISABEL DE SEGURA.
DOÑA MARGARITA.
ZULIMA.
DON RODRIGO DE AZAGRA.
DON PEDRO DE SEGURA.
DON MARTÍN GARCÉS DE MARSILLA.
TERESA.
ADEL.
OSMÍN.
Soldados moros, cautivos, damas, caballeros, pajes, criados, criadas.
_El primer acto pasa en Valencia, y los demás en Teruel.
Año de 1217_.
LOS AMANTES DE TERUEL
ACTO PRIMERO
Dormitorio morisco en el alcázar de Valencia. A la derecha del
espectador una cama, junto al proscenio; a la izquierda, una
ventana con celosías y cortinajes. Puerta grande en el fondo,
y otras pequeñas a los lados.
ESCENA PRIMERA
ZULIMA, ADEL; JUAN DIEGO MARSILLA, adormecido en la cama:
sobre ella un lienzo con letras de sangre.
ZULIMA. No vuelve en sí.
ADEL. Todavía
tardará mucho en volver.
ZULIMA. Fuerte el narcótico ha sido.
ADEL. Poco ha se lo administré.--
Dígnate de oír, señora,
la voz de un súbdito fiel,
que orillas de un precipicio
te ve colocar el pie.
ZULIMA. Si disuadirme pretendes,
no te fatigues, Adel.
Partir de Valencia quiero,
y hoy, hoy mismo partiré.
ADEL. ¿Con ese cautivo?
ZULIMA. Tú
me has de acompañar con él.
ADEL. ¿Así al esposo abandonas? 15
¡Un Amir, señora, un Rey!
ZULIMA. Ese Rey, al ser mi esposo,
me prometió no tener
otra consorte que yo.
¿Lo ha cumplido? Ya lo ves. 20
A traerme una rival
marchó de Valencia ayer.
Libre a la nueva sultana
mi puesto le dejaré.
ADEL. Considera....
ZULIMA. Está resuelto. 25
El renegado Zaén,
el que aterra la comarca
de Albarracín y Teruel,
llamado por mí ha venido,
y tiene ya en su poder 30
casi todo lo que yo
de mis padres heredé,
que es demás para vivir
con opulencia los tres.
De la alcazaba saldremos 35
a poco de anochecer.
ADEL. Y ese cautivo, señora,
¿te ama? ¿Sabes tú quién es?
ZULIMA. Es noble, es valiente, en una
mazmorra iba a perecer 40
de enfermedad y de pena,
de frío, de hambre y de sed:
yo le doy la libertad,
riquezas, mi mano: ¿quién
rehusa estos dones? ¡Oh! 45
Si ofendiera mi altivez
con una repulsa, caro
le costara su desdén
conmigo. Tiempo hace ya
que este acero emponzoñé, 50
furiosa contra mi aleve
consorte Zeit Abenzeit:
quien es capaz de vengarse
en el Príncipe, también
escarmentara al esclavo, 55
como fuera menester.
ADEL. ¿Qué habrá escrito en ese lienzo
con su sangre? Yo no sé
leer en su idioma; pero
puedo llamar a cualquier 60
cautivo....
ZULIMA. Él nos lo dirá,
yo se lo preguntaré.
ADEL. ¿No fuera mejor hablarle
yo primero, tú después?
ZULIMA. Le voy a ocultar mi nombre: 65
ser Zoraida fingiré,
hija de Merván.
ADEL. ¡Merván!
¿Sabes que ese hombre sin ley
conspira contra el Amir?
ZULIMA. A él le toca defender 70
su trono, en vez de ocuparse,
contra la jurada fe,
en devaneos que un día
lugar a su ruina den.
Mas Ramiro no recobra 75
los sentidos: buscaré
un espíritu a propósito.... (_Vase_.)
ESCENA II
OSMÍN, por una puerta lateral.--ADEL, MARSILLA
OSMÍN. ¿Se fué Zulima?
ADEL. Se fué.
Tú nos habrás acechado.
OSMÍN. He cumplido mi deber. 80
Al ausentarse el Amir,
con este encargo quedé.
Es más cauto nuestro dueño
que esa liviana mujer.--
El lienzo escrito con sangre, 85
¿dónde está?
ADEL. Allí. (_Señalando la cama_.)
OSMÍN. Venga.
ADEL. Ten.
(_Le da el lienzo, y Osmín lee_.)
Mira si es que dice, ya
que tú lo sabes leer,
dónde lo pudo escribir;
porque en el encierro aquel 90
apenas penetra nunca
rayo de luz: verdad es
que rotas esta mañana
puerta y cadenas hallé:
debió, después de romperlas, 95
el subterráneo correr,
y hallando el lienzo....
OSMÍN (_asombrado de lo que ha leído_.) ¡Es posible!
ADEL. ¿Qué cosa?
OSMÍN. ¡Oh, vasallo infiel!
Avisar al Rey es fuerza,
y al pérfido sorprender. 100
ADEL. ¿Es éste el pérfido? (_Señalando a Marsilla_.)
OSMÍN. No;
ese noble aragonés
hoy el salvador será
de Valencia y de su Rey.
ADEL. Zulima viene.
OSMÍN. Silencio 105
con ella, y al punto ve
a buscarme. (_Vase_.)
ADEL. Norabuena.
Así me harás la merced
de explicarme lo que pasa.
ESCENA III
ZULIMA.--ADEL, MARSILLA
ZULIMA. Déjame sola.
ADEL. Está bien. (_Vase_.) 110
ESCENA IV
ZULIMA, MARSILLA
ZULIMA. Su pecho empieza a latir
más fuerte; así que perciba....
(_Aplícale un pomito a la nariz_.)
MARSILLA. ¡Ah!
ZULIMA. Volvió.
MARSILLA (_incorporándose_.) ¡Qué luz tan viva!
no la puedo resistir.
ZULIMA (_corriendo las cortinas de la ventana_).
De aquella horrible mansión 115
está a las tinieblas hecho.
MARSILLA. No es esto piedra, es un lecho.
¿Qué ha sido de mi prisión?
ZULIMA. Mira este albergue despacio,
y abre el corazón al gozo. 120
MARSILLA. ¡Señora!.... (_Reparando en ella_.)
ZULIMA. Tu calabozo
se ha convertido en palacio.
MARSILLA. Di (porque yo no me explico
milagro tal), di, ¿qué es esto?
ZULIMA. Que eras esclavo, y que presto 125
vas a verte libre y rico.
MARSILLA. ¡Libre! ¡Oh divina clemencia!
Y ¿a quién debo tal favor?
ZULIMA. ¿Quién puede hacerle mejor
que la Reina de Valencia? 130
Zulima te proporciona
la sorpresa que te embarga
dulcemente: ella me encarga
que cuide de tu persona:
y desde hoy ningún afán 135
permitiré que te aflija.
MARSILLA. ¿Eres?....
ZULIMA. Dama suya, hija
del valeroso Merván.
MARSILLA. ¿De Merván? (_Aparte_. ¡Ah! ¡qué
recuerdo!) (_Busca y recoge el lienzo_.)
ZULIMA. ¿Qué buscas tan azorado? 140
¿Ese lienzo ensangrentado?
MARSILLA (_aparte_.) Si ésta lo sabe, me pierdo.
ZULIMA. ¿Que has escrito en él?
MARSILLA. No va
esto dirigido a ti;
es para el Rey.
ZULIMA. No está aquí. 145
MARSILLA. Para la Reina será.
Haz, pues, que a mi bienhechora
vea: por Dios te lo ruego.
ZULIMA. Conocerás aquí luego
a la Reina tu señora. 150
MARSILLA. ¡Oh!....
ZULIMA. No estés con inquietud.
Olvida todo pesar:
trata solo de cobrar
el sosiego y la salud.
MARSILLA. Defienda próvido el cielo 155
y premie con altos dones
los piadosos corazones
que dan al triste consuelo.
Tendrá Zulima, tendrás
tú siempre un cautivo en mí; 160
hermoso es el bien por sí,
pero en una hermosa, más.
Ayer, hoy mismo, ¿cuál era
mi suerte? Sumido en honda
cárcel, estrecha y hedionda, 165
sin luz, sin aire siquiera;
envuelto en infecta nube
que húmedo engendra el terreno;
paja corrompida, cieno
y piedras por cama tuve. 170
--Hoy ... si no es esto soñar,
torno a la luz, a la vida,
y espero ver la florida
margen del Guadalaviar,
allí donde alza Teruel, 175
señoreando la altura,
sus torres de piedra oscura,
que están mirándose en él.
No es lo más que me redima
la noble princesa mora: 180
el bien que me hace, lo ignora
aun la propia Zulima.
ZULIMA. Ella siempre algún misterio
supuso en ti, y así espera
que me des noticia entera 185
de tu vida y cautiverio.
Una vez que en tu retiro
las dos ocultas entramos,
te oímos ... y sospechamos
que no es tu nombre Ramiro. 190
MARSILLA. Mi nombre es Diego Marsilla,
y cuna Teruel me dió,
pueblo que ayer se fundó,
y es hoy poderosa villa,
cuyos muros, entre horrores 195
de lid atroz levantados,
fueron con sangre amasados
de sus fuertes pobladores.
Yo creo que al darme ser
quiso formar el Señor, 200
modelos de puro amor,
un hombre y una mujer,
y para hacer la igualdad
de sus afectos cumplida,
les dió un alma en dos partida, 205
y dijo: «Vivid y amad.»
Al son de la voz creadora,
Isabel y yo existimos,
y ambos los ojos abrimos
en un día y una hora. 210
Desde los años más tiernos
fuimos ya finos amantes;
desde que nos vimos ... antes
nos amábamos de vernos;
porque el amor principió 215
a enardecer nuestras almas
al contacto de las palmas
de Dios, cuando nos crió:
y así fué nuestro querer,
prodigioso en niña y niño, 220
encarnación del cariño
anticipado al nacer,
seguir Isabel y yo,
al triste mundo arribando,
seguir con el cuerpo amando, 225
como el espíritu amó.
ZULIMA. Inclinación tan igual
sólo dichas pronostica.
MARSILLA. Soy pobre, Isabel es rica.
ZULIMA (_aparte_). Respiro.
MARSILLA. Tuve un rival. 230
ZULIMA. ¿Sí?
MARSILLA. Y opulento.
ZULIMA. Y bien....
MARSILLA. Hizo
alarde de su riqueza....
ZULIMA. ¿Y qué? ¿rindió la firmeza
de Isabel?
MARSILLA. Es poco hechizo
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