Miquel Costa i Llobera
Miquel Costa i Llobera was born in Pollença on March 10, 1854. He was the son of a family of Mallorcan landowners, who spent their summers on a farm in Formentor, whose landscapes would become the source of inspiration for some poems such as El pino de Formentor. Orphaned at the age of eleven, he was influenced by his maternal uncle, Miquel Llobera, who introduced him to the Latin classics such as the poetry of Horace.
He studied high school at the Balearic Institute of Palma (1866-1871), where he was taught by Pons i Gallarza and close friends by Joan Rosselló de Son Forteza and Joan Lluís Estelrich.
Against the tide, paternal pressures led him to study law, first in Palma and then in 1872, at the University of Barcelona where he became involved with the Circles of Literary Catalanism and the Renaissance led, among others, by Marià Juncosa, Picó i Campanar, Rubió i Lluch and Jacint Verdaguer. From this period emerged the first compositions in the Catalan language. He continued his studies in Madrid (1875-77). They were a few years of an intense social life marked by several moods.
During those years he became closely acquainted with the philosophy of Kraussism that upset the foundations of his religious faith. In 1878 he travelled to Paris and discovered several French and Italian authors such as Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Carducci... Carducci's Odi barbare impressed him by the style, but he refused their pagan content.
It was then that in Pollença he discovered his authentic priestly vocation. This new vocation led him to reject his early compositions and translations as a translation he had made of Ovid.
Finally, in 1885 he traveled to Rome and began his studies in Theology. That same year his first compilation came to light: Poesías. A compilation characterized by the influence of Romanticism, but a Romanticism with a serene, contained, dreamy tone. Compositions marked by religious sentiment and by the feeling towards the landscape of his island. In 1888 he was ordained a priest and in 1889 he received a doctorate in Theology in Rome. In 1897 a new volume of his poems appeared, entitled Del agrio de la Tierra. A volume characterised by the recreation of Mallorcan customs and traditions.
He opted for the use of popular meters such as romance and gloss.
In 1899 he sporadically abandoned the poetic cultivation in the Catalan language and published a collection of poetry in the Spanish language under the name of Líricas, inspired by the ancient city of Rome.
In 1902 he was awarded the Englantina of the Floral Games of Barcelona with the narrative poem of La deja del genio and that same year he was named Master in Gay Knowledge and was appointed corresponding member of the RAE. The year before, he had been proposed as an illustrious son of Pollença.
In 1903 he again edited a new volume of poetry under the title of Traditions and Fantasies.
This compilation followed the philosophy of the previous one, published in Catalan, and brought together compositions written lyrical-narrative inspired by Mallorcan legends.
In 1904 he presided over the Flora Games of Mallorca and gained prestige as a speaker as a result of the conference entitled "The poetic form" at the Ateneo Barcelonès.
From then on, it definitely evolved into totally classic models. From this evolution a new compilation was born: Horacianas. This compilation was a resounding success in Catalonia and consecrated him as a poet.
From that moment on, a period began in which he devoted himself totally to his priestly life. In the spring of 1907 he began a pilgrimage journey through the east that culminated in the Holy Land and that he did accompanied by a group of Mallorcans including the author Maria Antònia Salvà. As a result of this experience, the compilation Visions of Palestine (1908) was born.
In 1909 he was appointed canon of the Seu de Mallorca. That year, the events of the Tragic Week, left him well off and perhaps that is why his poetic and literary production diminished completely. From then on he published some volumes of religious content: two volumes of exercises Stations of the Cross (1907-1908) and the Panegyric Sermons (1916). Between 1907 and 1911 he translated several works by Reynés Monlau from French into Spanish and between 1912 and 1922 he translated the Hymns of Prudencio.
He also translated some compositions by Virgil, Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Miquel Àngel, Victor Hugo and Lamartine.
On October 16, 1922, while preaching, Costa y Llobera fell from the high chair and died.
The following year his Complete Works (1923-24) were published in the Catalan Illustration and many years later some of the author's letters were made public.
Costa i Llobera surpassed the Renaissance and the poetry of the Floral Games. He always moved between two currents: Romanticism and Classicism and became a reference for future generations, including some of the authors of the so-called Mallorcan School.
Association of Writers in the Catalan Language. (AELC)
Mon cor estima un arbre! més vell que l’olivera,
més poderós que el roure, més verd que el taronger,
conserva de ses fulles l’eterna primavera,
i lluita amb les ventades que atupen la ribera,
com un gegant guerrer.
No guaita per ses fulles la flor enamorada;
no va la fontanella ses ombres a besar;
mes Déu ungí d’aroma sa testa consagrada
i li donà per terra l’esquerpa serralada,
per font la immensa mar.
Quan lluny, damunt les ones, renaix la llum divina,
no canta per ses branques l’aucell que encativam;
el crit sublim escolta de l’àguila marina,
o del voltor qui puja sent l’ala gegantina
remoure son fullam.
Del llim d’aquesta terra sa vida no sustenta;
revincla per les roques sa poderosa rel,
té pluges i rosades i vents i llum ardenta,
i, com un vell profeta, rep vida i s’alimenta
de les amors del cel.
Arbre sublim! Del geni n’és ell la viva imatge:
domina les muntanyes i aguaita l’infinit;
per ell la terra és dura, mes besa son ramatge
el cel qui l’enamora, i té el llamp i l’oratge
per glòria i per delit.
Oh! sí: que quan a lloure bramulen les ventades
i sembla entre l’escuma que tombi el seu penyal,
llavors ell riu i canta més fort que les onades,
i vencedor espolsa damunt les nuvolades
sa cabellera real.
Arbre, mon cor t’enveja. Sobre la terra impura,
com a penyora santa duré jo el teu record.
Lluitar constant i vèncer, reinar sobre l’altura
i alimentar-se i viure de cel i de llum pura…
oh vida! oh noble sort!
Amunt, ànima forta! Traspassa la boirada
i arrela dins l’altura com l’arbre dels penyals.
Veuràs caure a tes plantes la mar del món irada,
i tes cançons tranquil·les ‘niran per la ventada
com l’au dels temporals.
Miquel Costa i Llovera
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