Polimetría y lo lúdico en la Academia devota (1740)

Abstract

This paper introduces the Academia devota, poético sagrado certamen, a poetic panegyric hagiography of St. Peter of Verona, also known as St. Peter Martyr. Composed in Mexico in 1715 and 1739 but not published until 1740 in Manila, it is the work of Pedro Núñez de Villavicencio and his nephew Nuño. Because this collection is unknown, this paper examines the circumstances of its composition and publication in order to place it in its appropriate context. The paper explores the Academia devota’s use of multiple meters as a narrative and poetic technique to increase devotion to St. Peter’s cult and as a way for the authors to exhibit their poetic skill. It discusses the term “ludic” as used by Johan Huizinga as a more fitting theoretical approach to late Baroque poetry, especially the so-called poetry of ingenio.