Staging lost love in the eclogues of Lope’s Rimas (1609)

Abstract

This article analyzes the poetics of theatricalization present in the three eclogues of Lope de Vega’s Rimas (1609), exploring parallels between the poems’ dramatic aesthetics and the principles Lope espouses in El arte nuevo de hacer comedias. The article not only provides insight into Lope’s creation of affective intensity and powerful sensory appeal in his poetry as a whole, but also offers a representative, analytical model for comparing Lope’s work, and that of his contemporary poets in Spain, with other European verse identified with Baroque aesthetics.