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5 - Love and death

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2011

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Summary

Death is one of Quevedo's major themes. In his prose it is often considered with a stoic and Christian conscience, by which death is regarded not as a destructive force, but as a vital transition. Characteristically, the most frequently repeated aspect of this theme is the interchangeability of life and death; life is a living death, ‘vivir muriendo,’ and death is a passage to a better life, ‘mejor vida’ (Epistolario, p. 257):

es … la vida un dolor en que se empieza el de la muerte, que dura mientras dura ella. Considéralo como el plazo que ponen al jornalero, que no tiene descanso desde que empieza, sino es cuando acaba … Todo lo haces al revés, hombre: al cuerpo, sombra de muerte, tratas como a imagen de vida; y al alma eterna dejas como sombra de muerte … y cuando llega la hora postrera … hallas que el cuerpo te deja, y que tu mejor parte es el alma … Empieza, pues, hombre, con este conocimiento, y ten de ti firmemente tales opiniones: que naciste para morir y que vives muriendo, que traes el alma enterrada en el cuerpo, que cuando muere, en cierta forma resucita; que tu negocio es el logro de tu alma

(La cunay la sepultura, Prosa, pp. 1193–5).
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1983

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  • Love and death
  • Julian Olivares
  • Book: The Love Poetry of Francisco de Quevedo
  • Online publication: 05 November 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511897986.006
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  • Love and death
  • Julian Olivares
  • Book: The Love Poetry of Francisco de Quevedo
  • Online publication: 05 November 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511897986.006
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Love and death
  • Julian Olivares
  • Book: The Love Poetry of Francisco de Quevedo
  • Online publication: 05 November 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511897986.006
Available formats
×