INFIERNO , MAL LUGAR : A RHYMING CONVENIENCE?
1970; Liverpool University Press; Volume: 47; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/1475382702000347193
ISSN1469-3550
Autores Tópico(s)Early Modern Spanish Literature
ResumoAbstract J. Derek Latham's thesis concerning the Arabic provenance of the term mal lugar, though plausible, may fall short of explaining the use of the term in mediaeval Spanish poetry to refer to Hell. Dr Latham suggests that mal lugar derives either directly or indirectly from the Koranic bi' sa l-masir, which he translates literally as 'bad is the place of arrival!', and freely as 'a bad place to end in', Hell being the place in question. He cites seven occurrences of this phrase in the Koran, as well as one case of a slightly different construction, sa' at masiran, which he says is used in exactly the same sense. It is reasonable, the author states, to seek an Arabic source for mal lugar because 'the expression has no antecedents in Latin or a Romance language' (177). I would like to adduce evidence in support of the hypothesis that the phrase mal lugar could have come into being in response to a simple metrical need: an easier word to rhyme than the standard denominator for Hell, infierno. To my knowledge the rhyme -erno (or -ierno) does not occur in a single stanza of mester de clerecía poetry, even though the number of different rhymes to appear in these works is quite large. BSS Subject Index: LIBRO DE ALEXANDRESPAIN — LANGUAGES — SPANISH LANGUAGE & ITS HISTORY — MEDIEVAL PERIODSPAIN — LITERATURE — MEDIEVAL PERIOD — POETRYVERSIFICATION Notes 1J. Derek Latham, 'Infierno, Mal Lugar: An Arabicism?', BHS, XLV (i968), i77–80. 2Giorgio Chiarini's table of the rhymes of Juan Ruiz's Libro de buen amor indicates the variety of consonantal rhymes available to the poets of the mester de clerecía. This work has 403 different regular rhymes, as well as 154 imperfect ones. See Chiarini's edition (Milan-Naples 1964), liv–lxviii. 3Ed. J. Corominas (Madrid 1967). 4Ed. A. G. Solalinde, 5th ed. (Madrid 1958). 5Ed. R. S. Willis (Princeton-Paris 1934). 6Ed. A. F. Kuersteiner (New York i920), I, MS N. MS E is essentially the same (lugar rather than logar). 7 Los graves logares, Milagros de Nuestra Señora 263; falso lugar, Rimado de Palacio 1508 (MS E). Maldito lugar occurs in stanza 488 of the anonymous Libro de miseria de homne; see Miguel Artigas, 'Un nuevo poema por la cuaderna vía', BBMP, I (1919), 31–37, 87–95, 153–61, 210–16, 328–38, and II (1920), 41–48, 91–98, 233–54. 8 Buen logar is in stanza 248 of Berceo's Sacrificio de la missa, ed. by A. G. Solalinde (Madrid 1913). In Milagros de Nuestra Señora are found seguro logar (stanza 581) and glorioso logar (stanza 600). Sabroso logar and. buen logar appear in stanzas 145 and 199. respectively, of Berceo's Vida de Santa Oria, ed. by F. Janer (Madrid 1864). In a non- cuaderna via work there is an instance of buen logar meaning Heaven in stanza 22h of Revelación de un hermitaño, ed. by F. Janer (Madrid 1864). 9Ed. R. Menéndez Pidal (Madrid 1931). 10It is true that e/o assonance is not a common rhyme in juglaresque poetry. The infrequent use of this rhyme may explain why the lugar phrases appear in Cantar de Mio Cid and the Roncesvalles fragment. 12The first verse quoted is in stanza 14 of Berceo's Estoria de San Millán, ed. by G. Koberstein (Munster 1964). Verses 6 and c are to be found in stanzas 47 and 286 of Milagros de Nuestra Señora, while verse d is in stanza 296 of Sacrificio de la missa. The last four verses occur in Libro de Alexandre, MS O, in stanzas 197, 302, 607 and 2253. 11 Sagrado logar and preçioso logar occur in stanzas 382 and 878 of Milagros de Nuestra Señora. Santo logar appears in stanza 2455 of Poema de Alfonso XI, ed. by Yo Ten Cate (Madrid 1956). 13Ian Michael, 'The Description of Hell in the Spanish Libro de Alexandre', in Medieval Miscellany Presented to Eugène Vinaver . . . (Manchester-New York 1965), 220–29. 14Ian Michael, 'Interpretation of the Libro de Alexandre: the author's attitude towards his hero's death', BHS, XXXVII (1960), 205–14. 15I refer to Raymond S. Willis and Maria Rosa Lida de Malkiel. See the former's ' "Mester de Clerecía". A definition of the Libro de Alexandre', RPh, X (1957), 212–24. Also María Rosa Lida, La idea de la fama en la edad media castellana (Mexico 1952), 196–97. 16Actually mal lugar of MS P appears to be erroneous; the preferable version is that of MS O: 'sabe a sus amigos poner en grant logar'. In any case, the scribal error in P is significant, in that it shows that mal lugar was an expression which came to mind when fortune was being treated. 17Ed. C. C. Marden (Baltimore-Paris 1917). 18Two brief excerpts from stanzas 1522 and 1525 can serve as illustrations from the diatribe, which appears in stanzas 1520–68 oí Libro de buen amor: non ay en ti [death] mesura, amor nin piadat, sinon dolor, tristeza, pena e grand crueldat. (i522cd) Dexas el cuerpo yermo a gusanos en fuessa. (i525a) Stanza i9 of the Proverbios reads: El omne quando es muerto, poco vale su fazienda Quel fizo tal aurá, según dize la leyenda Mortájanlo priado e métenlo so la tierra Caunque mucho lo tenga, nunca podrá darle emienda. I take the above text from MS T, edited by Charles Kany in 'Proverbios de Salamón—An Unedited Old Spanish Poem', Homenaje ofrecido a Menénde z Pidal, I (Madrid 1925), 269–85. Finally, stanza 435cd of Libro de miseria de homne, referring to man in general, reads: muerto cria los guianos con su mala podredura que lo rroen τ lo comen dentro en su sepultura.
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