Temblor de Lima (1609) by Pedro Oña: Poetics of disaster and viceregal praise

Abstract

Temblor de Lima (1609) is one of the least studied works of Pedro de Oña. Critics have tended to repeat, without further relection, that in this work there is an “anti-poetic” and “contradictory” message, for the purpose of praising the viceroy of Peru, the Marqués de Montesclaros. In this article, I disprove these assertions and argue that Temblor de Lima is a coherent and uniied work, with remarkable articulations of inventio, dispositio and elocutio, which allow the poet to present, under the guise of eulogy, a vindication of Creole elite.