The Image of Death in Carlos Augusto Salaverry´s «Mysteries of the Grave»

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the image of death in the poem «Mysteries of the Grave» (Misterios de la tumba) by Carlos Augusto Salaverry, one of the most famous representatives of Peruvian Romanticism. The relevance of the topic is determined by the insufficient study of Peruvian literature of the XIX century and the fundamental importance of the mortal problem for the culture and mentality of this country. To achieve the goal, the author solves the following tasks: analyzes the main plot elements of the poem, determines the main features of the image of death, as well as the positioning of this image in the general system of Peruvian Romanticism. The plot of the poem is built around the premature death of a young girl Rose, the suffering of her father and an unexpected awakening from a lethargic sleep. At the same time, the author’s philosophical arguments on the topic of death, immortality and social inequality are no less important than the plot itself so as to better understand the poem. Structurally, the poem is divided into three parts: «In the temple» (En el templo), «In the cemetery» (En el panteón), «In the coffin» (En el féretro). The poem allows the author to distinguish the following components of the image of death. Firstly, its duality (physical death and mental death in the form of oblivion). Secondly, the atheistic vision of death (lack of faith in posthumous existence). Thirdly, the importance of the social aspect of death (cemetery as a city of the dead that reflects social inequality). Fourthly, the absence of apparent national elements, i.e., the universality of the image of death. Thus, the text of the poem allows us to come to a conclusion about the complexity of the image of death in Salaverry´s work.