Figuring Vittoria Colonna’s Desirous Widow in Francisco de Aldana’s ‘Pues cabe tanto en vos del bien del cielo’

Abstract

The sonnet ‘Pues cabe tanto en vos del bien del cielo’ by Spanish-Neapolitan poet Francisco de Aldana (1537-78) challenges interpretation through its genre-defying mix of consolatory, philosophic, and amatory elements; in particular, its inclusion of an enigmatic statement by a ventriloquized female figure alien to contemporary Hispanic courtly poetry. In this study, I offer an interpretation through a comparative study with the Rime amorose (1538) of Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547), in which she popularized the Petrarchan voice of the desiring widow in Italian poetry. After establishing a link between the Aldana and Colonna families by virtue of the fragment ‘Aunque a la alta región del alegría’, which addresses the death of Colonna’s niece, I explain how the yearning contained within Colonna’s lyric, noted to possess an erotic potential, may have led Aldana to incorporate this voice in his own poetic exploration of a combinatory spiritual and physical philosophy of love. Additionally, given the absence of the Colonnaesque tradition in Spain, I consider how expressions of desire by female voices in the arte menor and pastoral traditions potentially could have led to a similar interpretation for Hispanic readers.