ESPRONCEDA, JOSS DE (1808-1842), Spanish poet, was born at or near Almendralejo de los Barros. In his 14th year he joined a secret society and, sentenced to five years' seclusion in the Franciscan convent at Guadalajara, began an epic poem entitled El Pelayo. He escaped to Portugal and thence to England, where he found the famous Teresa whom he had met at Lisbon. In 183o he eloped with her to Paris, took part in the July revolution, and soon after joined the raid of Chapalangarra on Navarre. In at the amnesty, he obtained a commission in the queen's guards; but this he soon forfeited by a political song. Banished to Cuellar, he wrote a poor novel entitled Sancho Saldana d el Castellano de Cuellar (1834). He took an active part in the revolutionary ris ings of 1835 and 1836; in 184o he was appointed secretary of legation at The Hague; and in 1842 he was elected deputy for Almeria; but death cut short his parliamentary career. His poems (184o) at once gained for him a reputation which still continues undiminished. The influence of Byron pervades Espronceda's life and work. It is present in an ambitious variant on the Don Juan legend, El Estudiante de Salamanca, Elvira's letter being obviously modelled on Julia's letter in Don Juan; the Cancidn del Pirata is suggested by The Corsair; and the Byronic inspiration is not wanting even in the noble fragment entitled El Diablo Mundo, based on the story of Faust. But in El Mendigo, in El Reo de Muerte, in El V erdugo, and in the sombre vehement lines, A Jarifa en orgia, Espronceda proves himself one of the most potent and original lyrical poets produced by Spain during the 1 gth century.
See E. Rodriguez Solis, Espronceda; su tiempo, su vida, y sus obras (1883) ; J. Cascales Munoz, D. Jose de Espronceda (1914) .