Ramón María de las Mercedes Pérez de Campoamor y Campoosorio (September 24, 1817 – February 11, 1901), known as Ramón de Campoamor, was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

realist

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Life

He was born at Navia (

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

) on September 24, 1817. Abandoning his first intention of entering the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

order, he studied medicine at

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, found an opening in politics as a supporter of the

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, and, after occupying several subordinate posts, became governor of

Castellón de la Plana Castellón de la Plana (in ), or simply Castellón (), is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea. Th ...

, of

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

and of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Campoamor identified with the moderate liberalism of his day, repudiating both revolution and reaction equally. His first appearance as a poet dated from 1840, when the Madrid Lyceum of Art and Literature published his ''Ternezas y flores'', a collection of idyllic verses, remarkable for their technical excellence. His ''Ayes del Alma'' (1842) and his ''Fábulas morales y politicas'' (1842) sustained his reputation, but showed no perceptible increase of power or skill. An epic poem in sixteen cantos, ''Colón'' (1853), is no more successful than modern epics usually are. Campoamor's theatrical pieces, such as ''El Palacio de la Verdad'' (1871), ''Dies Irae'' (1873), ''El Honor'' (1874) and ''Glorias Humanas'' (1885), are interesting experiments; but they are totally lacking in dramatic spirit. He always showed a keen interest in

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

and

philosophic Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

questions, and defined his position in ''La Filosofia de las leyes'' (1846), ''El personalismo, apuntes para una filosofía'' (1855), ''La metafísica limpia, fija y da esplendor al lenguaje'' (1862), ''Lo Absoluto'' (1865) and ''El Ideísmo'' (1883). These studies are chiefly valuable as embodying fragments of self-revelation, and as having led to the composition of those doloras, humoradas and pequenos poemas, which the poet's admirers consider as a new poetic species. The first collection of Doloras was printed in 1846, and from that date onwards new specimens were added to each succeeding edition. It is difficult to define a dolora. One critic has described it as a

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

, symbolic stanza which combines the lightness and grace of the epigram, the melancholy of the endecha, the concise narrative of the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, and the philosophic intention of the apologue. The poet himself declared that a dolora is a "dramatic humorada", and that a "pequeño poema" is a dolora on a larger scale. These definitions are unsatisfactory. The humoristic, philosophic epigram is an ancient poetic form to which Campoamor has given a new name; his invention goes no further. It cannot be denied that in the ''Doloras'' Campoamor's special gifts of irony, grace and pathos find their best expression. Taking a commonplace theme, he presents in four, eight or twelve lines a perfect miniature of condensed emotion. By his choice of a vehicle he has avoided the fatal facility and copiousness which have led many Spanish poets to destruction. It pleased him to affect a vein of melancholy, and this affectation has been reproduced by his followers. He died at

on February 12, 1901.

References

;Attribution *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campoamor y Campoosorio, Ramon de 19th-century Spanish poets 1817 births 1901 deaths People from Asturias Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Spanish male poets 19th-century Spanish male writers