<em>Segur se hizo de sus azucenas</em>, or the nymph in the stream: Revisiting Góngora (<em>Polifemo</em>, <p style="font-size: 12px;">xxviii</p>, 217-220)

Abstract

This paper proposes a new interpretation of Góngora’s verse in Polifemo, based on the internal logic of the story, the spatial configuration of the scene, the relationship between the verses, Góngora’s extraordinary expressive precision and his plastic intention. The recent critique has shown a preference for the variant seguir to the detriment of segur. However, this study aims to confirm the accuracy of the latter: a frightened Galatea is “a los verdes márgenes ingrata” [to the green banks ungrateful] because she hides in the stream, behind the most submerged myrtle, and in doing so she becomes segur [axe] of herself, of her white legs, her lilies, broken by the water line: a “painting” of great visual power that alludes to Titian’s Venus Anadyomene.