Juan Boscan

Juan Boscan Poems

Juan Boscan Biography

Juan Boscán Almogáver, (1490–September 21, 1542), Spanish poet, was born about the close of the 15th century. Although he was a Catalan, he wrote exclusively in Spanish. His original Catalan name was Joan Boscà Almogàver. The exact date of birth for Boscán is unclear, but there is a consensus that he was born anywhere between 1487 and 1492. Boscán was born in Barcelona and was one of three children. His father, Joan Valentí Boscà, was a public official, and his mother was named Violant Almogàver. Boscán's father died in 1492. Around 1507, Boscán left to live in the court of Fernando and Isabel, where he was a student of Lucio Marineo Siculo from Vizzini, Italy[1], who taught him the skill of translating Italian love poetry, Latin, and Greek lyrics into Spanish. Marineo's teachings evidence the close cultural interactions that existed between Spain and Italy and helped to develop the talent of Boscán. By 1522, Juan Boscán was working as a tutor to Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba. In this same year, he participated with Garcilaso de la Vega in giving naval assistance to the Isle of Rhodes during a Turkish invasion. Boscán fought against the Turks again in 1532 with Alvarez de Toledo and Charles I in Vienna. During this period, Boscán had made serious progress in his mastery of verse in the Italian style. Boscán is most famous for the incorporation of hendecasyllable verses into Spanish. Although he was preceded by Iñigo López de Mendoza (also known as Marqués de Santillana), who wrote 42 sonnets in the Italian style, Boscán was one of the first people to use the present-day structures of the sonnet in Castilian. His originality and open-minded nature made him an innovator, and his use of hendecasyllabic verse gave his poetry a distinctly creative flare that allowed him to emphasize the emotions and significance of each poem. In the 1520s he came under the influence of Andrea Navagiero, the Venetian ambassador to Spain. It is because of Navagiero's persuasion that Boscán abandoned the traditional eight-syllable verses of Spanish poetry. Boscán was also influenced by another Italian ambassador (a friend of Navagiero) named Count Baldassare Castiglione. Boscán was urged by Castiglione and Garcilaso to translate the ambassador's "Il Cortegiano" into Spanish, which was published on April 2, 1534 to great success. With Boscán's fame came great controversy, because he constantly had to combat with those who preferred the old style of poetry over the new. In 1539, he married Ana Girón de Rebolledo of Valencia and fathered three daughters. Boscán died on September 21, 1542 after becoming ill in Perpignan, while he was preparing some of his poetry for publication.)

The Best Poem Of Juan Boscan

Sonnet Lxi

Sweet dream it was and also sweet affliction,
when I was dreaming that it was a dream;
a sweet delight I'd take in what deceived me,
if only that deception longer seemed;
a sweet not being in myself, I saw
every good thing I'd ever want to see;
a sweet pleasure it was, though so intense
that sometimes it would just awaken me:

oh sleep, how much more gentle and delightful
you'd be if you would come so heavily
that with more calm you'd set on me your weight!

For while I slept, in short, I was in bliss,
and it is right that one be blessed in lies
who's always been in truth unfortunate.

Juan Boscan Comments