SOURCE: Radulescu, Domnica. “Eminescu and the Romantic Interpretation of Don Quijote.” Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America 11, no. 1 (spring 1991): 125-33.

In the following essay, Radulescu probes Eminescu's interpretation of Don Quijote de la Mancha.

The first translation of Don Quijote de la Mancha in Romanian appeared in 1840 from the French version of Jean Pierre Florian. Ten years later, in a small village in the valleys of northern Romania, one of the last Romantics of the world was born: Mihai Eminescu. In one of his lesser known poems, he recreated the story and character of the last knight-errant in the light of the symbolism and atmosphere of late Romanticism. The poem appeared in 1877. Its first title “Viziunea lui Don Quijote” (“The Vision of Don Quixote”) was later changed to “Diamantul Nordului” (“The Diamond of the North”). The poem was neglected by critics in Romania as well as...