Negative Water Imagery in the Rimas of Juan de Moncayo y Gurrea

Abstract

Juan de Moncayo y Gurrea’s (1614-1657) collection of poems, Rimas (1652), is replete with imagery, water being one of the most prevalent images. In the appearance of water throughout the poems, Moncayo consistently uses it as a conduit to convey a negative meaning, which, when one looks at the collection as a whole, establishes an overarching negative concept. This thesis investigates the multiple planes on which water imagery functions to communicate specific messages, which then form part of a greater, multi-faceted definition of negativity. On one level, each image of water maintains its autonomy and purpose within the specific poem where it appears. On another, the individual examples of water imagery throughout the text indicate a larger, interrelated web of meaning, into which each image is woven.