ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a critical overview of the works of Garcilaso de la Vega (ca.1499–1536), a great innovator of the lyrical tradition and a brilliant advocate for the new Spanish poetry. His poetry, rooted in the concept of imitatio, was born and developed as an outstanding ‘fusion of Classicism with Petrarchism’ (Lapesa). This chapter is organized in three sections, largely synthesizing some of the fundamental questions but without ignoring a close reading of the primary texts. The issues discussed include the creation of a new poetic language, the formation of a new generic system, the process of lyricization to which literary genres are subjected, and the identification of the various poetic traditions as well as the ideological issues that contribute to the formation of Garcilaso’s love canzoniere.
