Nuevo análisis de la estructura de <i>El Contemplado</i>

Abstract

Critics have suggested that the structure of Pedro Salinas' El Contemplado consists either of a sequence, or of a process. Nevertheless, some analyses fail to provide textual evidence and others, more rigorous ones, neglect relevant structural evidence. This article proposes and foregrounds a new description of EI Contemplado. It suggests that the Tema and the fourteen variaciones which make up this work follow one another sequentially. To prove it, our analysis proceeds by revealing the textual evidence for the continuity of the poems. Such evidence shows that the order in which they follow one another responds to the development of a contemplation of the sea conceived as a process which gradually becomes realised and which advances by basing its perceptions on previous perceptions until it finds its essence.