RUBÉN M.

CAMPOS' "A RAFAEL LÓPEZ" AS A MODERNIST MANIFESTO

Author(s): Carole A. Holdsworth
Source: Romance Notes , Fall, 1978, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Fall, 1978), pp. 22-28
Published by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for its Department of
Romance Studies

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43801533

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 rv"VYYYYV~X"YVVYYYYYVVVYYYYYYY YYYVV

RUBÉN M. CAMPOS' "A RAFAEL LÓPEZ"

AS A MODERNIST MANIFESTO

Carole A. Holdsworth

Rubén M. Campos' poem "A Rafael López" constitutes an interesting

version of still another attempt to formulate a Modernist manifesto.
Campos was a staff-member of and frequent contributor to the Revis-
ta Moderna, a Mexican literary periodical which ranks with the Revista
Azul and the Revista de América as an outstanding porta-voz of
Modernism; "A Rafael López" appeared in the second issue of the
third volume (1900) of the journal. 1 This poem, which consists of
eighty-four Alexandrines arranged in rhymed couplets, is deserving
of some critical attention, as an example of an effort to "dar rumbo
y apoyo a los asediados defensores del Arte por el Arte." 2
Rubén M. Campos was born in Guanajuato in 1876 and died in
1945. Closely associated with the Revista Moderna in his youth, he
evolved from a regionalistic journalist to a Modernist poet, novelist,
cuentista, and critic to a researcher producing musical and folklore
studies. While perhaps his best-known works are El folklore y la
música mexicana (1928) and El folklore literario de Mexico (1929),
Campos was for years a dedicated Modernist. The author of only one
book of poetry (La flauta de Pan), he is usually classified as a Parnas-
sian (M. Henríquez-Ureõa also so considers Rafael López) 8 and, as
can be expected, has been differently evaluated by critics; for example,
Luis Urbina has praised Campos as "uno de los [poetas] más natural-

1 Rubén M. Campos, "A Rafael López," Revista Moderna. 3 (1900). 28-29.

* John Hnglekirk, "El periodismo literario en los albores del modernismo,"
in La literatura ibero-americana del siglo XIX (Tucson: The University of
Arizona Foundation, 1974), o. 91.
' Max Hennquez-Ureña, "Las influencias francesas en la poesía hispano-
americana," Revista Iberoamericana, 2 (1940), 411.

22

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 RUBÉN M. CAMPOS' "A RAFAEL LÓPEZ" 23

mente finos de México," 4 while Julio Torri has described him

as "poeta a sus ratos." 5 "A Rafael López" has significant h
value, in any case, being the condensation of the Modernist cr
"first-generation" Mexican Modernist, to utilize Spell's gener
divisions. 6 According to his colleague on the Revista Modern
rial staff, José Juan Tablada, Campos "sufrió en una rápida e
la imperiosa conquista del modernismo." 7 "A Rafael López" ap
precisely at the time in which Modernism was becoming firm
tablished as the reigning Latin American literary movement
newly-begun twentieth-century.
Campos' Modernist epistolary creed begins with a fourteen
introductory section, in which the melancholy tone of an "oto
lada" (line 14) is established. The Guanajuato-born Campos,
from the Mexican capital, acknowledges with nostalgia the re
a letter from López, still in Guanajuato:

En otoño, al abrigo de los hálitos yermos

abro una carta tuya que avaro de cariño

guardo de luengos días como cuando era niño. (lines 1, 3-4)

This opening section is, on the whole, restrainedly Romantic in tone,

its autumnal atmosphere calling to mind the great Spanish Baroque
epistolas, but with a definite touch of the Romantic poseur, as the
twenty-four year-old poet laments his "amarga vida" (line 6); in El
folklore literario de Mexico, the mature Campos described as "los
mejores años de mi vida" this "bitter" period of his life! 8 The
archaic form "luengos" and the precise chromatic phrase "crepúsculo
de lila y oro viejo" (line 7) are typical Modernist touches.

4 Luis G. Urbina, La vida literaria de Mexico (Madrid: Imprenta Sáez

Hermanos, 1917), p. 280.
6 Julio Torri, "La Revista Moderna de Mexico Las Letras Patrias , 1
(1954), 80.
6 Jefferson Rea Spell, "Mexican Literary Periodicals of the Twentieth
Century," PMLA, 54 (1939), 836.
7 José Juan Tablada, "Mascaras: Rubén M. Campos," Revista Moderna , 6
(1903), 225.
8 Ruben M. Campos, El folklore literario de Mexico (Mexico: Publicacio-
nes de la Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1929), p. 531.

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 24 ROMANCE NOTES

The second section of the epistle e

deals in general with the theme of th
ya sea bueno ó malo/

and 17). Now that Modernism is no lo

it is perhaps this stress on unlimited a
ennobles its practitioners for our tim
Davidson's statement that "the aestheticism of the movement is a
great deal more than frivolous dilettantism or the decadent 'sport
of the elect'!" 9 In this section, Campos skillfully demonstrates Mod-
ernism's eclecticism, its thorough blending of Romantic, Parnassian,
Symbolist, and Decadent theories. In lines 17-30 we find an enu-
meration of some elements which constitute the beautiful for the
youthful poet. The technique is basically Romantic antithesis, "las
siniestras pasiones" being contrasted with "las rubias primaveras"
(line 18), the sensual contrasted with the formal ("los ojuelos dormi-
dos en gozado deliquio, / el godo alexandrino y el heleno pirriquio"
- lines 19-20), the Romantic Florinda la Cava (line 22) with the
glittering Parnassian "serpiente brava" (line 21), the passionately
human with the impassively decorative ("ama las breves cúpulas de
los pechos erectos, / ama los áureos élitros de vibrantes insectos"
- lines 23-24, the violent with the tranquil ("ama la garra fuerte
del ave de rapiña, / ama el sueño arcangélico de la dormida niña
- lines 27-28).
In the following third section of the poem, lines 31-54, Campos
passes from the beautiful to the more specifically artistic, mixing
definitions of Art with direct advice to the artist.* 10
Campos begins the third section with another typically Modernist
verse: "Nutre tu blanco espíritu en el azul espacio" (line 31). Given
the usual connotations of the adjectives "white" and "blue" in Mo-
dernist writings, this vague verse may simply signify that the artist's
pure spirit should be fully attuned to all cosmic vibrations. He then

9 Ned J. Davidson, The Concept of Modernism in Hispanic Criticism

(Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Press, 1966), p. 40.
* From the slightly patronizing tone of this section, one rather readily
agrees with Torri that the editorial staff of the Revista Moderna did indeed
reveal often enough a "divina jactancia, propia de la mocedad, y la concien-
cia de hallarse en la buena vía".
10 J. Torri, "La Revista Moderna de Mexico 75.

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 RUBÉN M. CAMPOS* "A RAFAEL LÓPEZ" 25

urges training in Latin, knowledge of pre-Renaissance (Gi

mentioned in line 80) and Renaissance Italian painting and scu
and study of French contemporary literature (lines 32-34). In
37-44 we encounter a series of "definitions" of Art. The first,
es ver florida una pàgina blanca!" (line 37), stresses the Ro
creative view of Art, while line 39 - "es domar lo indoma
una cebra en el anca!" - stresses the Parnassian concept o
forceful domination of material. The only two remaning lines
mingle Romantic dualism with the Classic idea of catharsi
pasión y el odio, es la virtud y el vicio / si purifica espíritus
gador suplicio!" (lines 39-40).
Going on to specific advice to the artist, lines 45-50 presen
important statement of another of Modernism's most valid and en
tenets, the unafraid expression of an artistic individuality bas
the intense perception of all aspects of life:

Tu percepción de la vida escudriñe oh! artista

y que no deje pliegue, ni detalle, ni arista,
ni símbolo, ni emblema, ni duda, ni misterio
que no viole cual nauta un viejo planisferio,
y descubre archipiélagos y nuevos continentes
á pesar de la cólera de las olas rugientes.

The last verse cited above probably refers to the still prevalen
geois opposition to the new ideas; Darío and Jaimes Freyre, in
1894 Revista de America article "Nuestros propósitos" - an
which can also be considered a Modernist manifesto, as En
has pointed out11 - in a similar manner urged young ar
"Luchar porque prevalezca el amor á la divina Belleza, tan com
hoy por invasorias tendencias utilitarias." 12 This portion of o
concludes with pronouncements on more technical matters; fo
ple, the artist should combine the "hexamétrica música de Vi
with the "regia paleta" of "Gautier el magnífico" (lines 51,
note here, again, is the typically Modernist fondness for esd

11 J. Englekirk, "El periodismo literario," p. 91.

12 Facsimile of the Revista de America , 1 (1894), 1, in Specialia, 2
(1970), 63.

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26 ROMANCE NOTES

The concluding section of the poem

principal themes: a mundonovismo cen
his native Guanajuato and the Divinity
lines 55-68, is introduced with Sym
"Que Rodenbach 13 te enseñe á amar
a Cipango [archaic name for Japan] Gu
56). Campos urges that López utilize th
of the wealthy mining city for the n
which "hoy ocultan avaros los gnomos
of patriotic pride, Campos writes as f

Sé buzo en nuestras minas que dan ter

sé águila en nuestras sierras de verdo
Canta la ciudad digna de Rómulo y de

digna por sus riquezas y esplendores y

de la leyenda de oro de Ofir de los de

This mundonovista tendency is perhaps

aspect of Campos' Modernism; his R
often attack with a genuine fervor "l
tantes para todo lo nuestro." 14
The final lines, 69-84, urge López to
at the national capital. Campos presen
Art and of her priests the artists, with

ven, escogido artista, á beber nuestro

á partir el pan blanco del Cordero div
del nuevo Arte eucaristico en torno á
tejen danzas simbólicas las desnudas A
mientras que Vishnú y Shiwa combate
y triunfan los empíreos de los torvos

13 Georges Rodenbach (1855-1898), Belgia

evoked Bruges-la-morte in perhaps his best-k
14 Rubén M. Campos, "Felipe Villanueva
176.
* This "mixed-bag" of religious allusions
work of Campos' most famous Revista Mod

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 RUBÉN M. CAMPOS' "A RAFAEL LÓPEZ" Tl

The final verses urge López' "numen" to soar to the highest r

Art - the "region excelsa" where dwell "Beatriz, Ofelia,
that he may participate in the deification of the artist through t
transcendent products of his creative imagination, "las divin
turas que aclaman creador / al hombre, por la magia del gen
amor!" (lines 83-84). These concluding lines seem to indicate
basically ethical concept of art, a concept which brings to m
pos' praise of Othón's Poemas rústicos : "en tu poesía no
ningún espasmo de lujuria, el mal del moderno arte." 15 Whil
was very likely sincere in his exhortation "Ama todo lo
sea bueno ó malo," his own temperament estranged him fro
impassivity and pronounced Decadentism. *
To summarize, the value of "A Rafael López" is essentia
torical. While Campos had considerable talent as a Modern
tista, 16 his more solid successes were to be achieved later,
klorist. Campos as a Modernist poet basically was able to syn
the outstanding currents developed by more talented art
poet, he lacked the primary Modernist quality of individ
quality which he himself praised as follows in reference to t
of the Indian composer Felipe Villanueva G.: "La predominan
sación al oír la música de Villanueva es la de él. ... Y esto que
tan sencillo, este don de personalidad, ¡cuántos quisieran
lo . . !" 17

What in my opinion is most noteworthy in Campos' vers

a Modernist "manifesto" is its basal seriousness, its intellige
ticism, its stress on the ideal blending of form and con
- above all - the awareness that all types of artistic exce
worthy, as long as the artist feels a sense of "mission"; in h
of the Argentine Manuel Ugarte's Paisajes parisienses, Ca

16 R. M. Campos, "'Poemas Rústicos,"' Revista Moderna , 5 (1902),

* In El folklore literario de Mexico there are several censorious com
upon the "Bohemian" excesses of the Revista Moderna group, although it
appears that Campos participated in these excesses to some extent at the
time.
1# My article "Characterization in the Stories of Rubén M. Campos" (His-
pania , 51 [1968], 825-29), treats this aspect of Campos' Revista Moderna con-
tributions.
17 Rubén M. Campos, "Felipe Villanueva G.," 176.

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 28 ROMANCE NOTES

eluded the following comment: "Man

romano, ni neogriego, ni satánico, n
es pasionario y generoso para senti
lado

In a modest way, Campos' "A Rafael L

explanation for the enduring validity of ma
the best of which reveal "el entusiasmo ard
for beauty in all its myriad forms. While t
Symbolists, and Decadents were considera
theoretical contributions, the Modernists we
and most appealing of all aspects of the
bello!"

Loyola University, Chicago

38 R. M. Campos, "'Paisajes parisienses,'" Revista Moderna , 4, (1901), 299.

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