Cervantine Poetry

Even during his own lifetime, Cervantes was labelled a bad poet, but renewed scholarly interest in his verse over the years has revealed a sophisticated poet writing in a competitive milieu. Throughout his prose works he refers consistently to the function, the value, and the qualities that this ‘sweet art’ should possess, returning somewhat obsessively to the topic, and produced his great mock epic, Viaje del Parnaso, towards the end of his life. This chapter addresses the lack of critical attention to his poetry and studies the context in which Cervantes composed them.