Garcilaso de la Vega ( poet ) Garcilaso de la Vega ( c . 1501 – October 14 , 1536 ) was a Spanish soldier and poet . Although not the first or the only one to do so , he was the most influential poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms , poetic techniques and themes to Spain . Biography . Garcilaso was born in the Spanish city of Toledo . His exact birth date is unknown , but estimates put his year of birth between 1498 and 1503 ( it is at least known that it was before 1504 ) . His father , Pedro Suárez de Figueroa , was a nobleman in the royal court of the Catholic Monarchs . His mother ' s name was Sancha de Guzmán . Garcilaso was the second son which meant he did not receive the " mayorazgo " ( entitlement ) to his father ' s estate . However , he spent his younger years receiving an extensive education , mastered five languages ( Spanish , Greek , Latin , Italian and French ) , and learned how to play the zither , lute and the harp . When his father died in 1509 , Garcilaso received a sizeable inheritance from his father . After his schooling , he joined the military in hopes of joining the royal guard . He was named " contino " ( imperial guard ) of Charles V in 1520 , and he was made a member of the Order of Santiago in 1523 . There were a few women in the life of this poet . His first lover was Guiomar Carrillo with whom he had an illegitimate child . He had another suspected lover named Isabel Freire , who was a lady - in - waiting of Isabel of Portugal . In 1525 , Garcilaso married Elena de Zúñiga who served as a lady - in - waiting for the King ' s favorite sister , Leonor . Their marriage took place in Garcilaso ' s hometown of Toledo in one of the family ' s estates . He had six children : Lorenzo , an illegitimate child with Guiomar Carrillo , Garcilaso , Íñigo de Zúñiga , Pedro de Guzmán , Sancha , and Francisco . Garcilaso ' s military career meant that he took part in the numerous battles and campaigns conducted by Charles V across Europe . His duties took him to Italy , Germany , Tunisia and France . In 1532 for a short period he was exiled to a Danube island where he was the guest of the Count György Cseszneky , royal court judge of Győr . Later in France , he would fight his last battle . The King desired to take control of Marseille and eventually control of the Mediterranean Sea , but this goal was never realized . Garcilaso de la Vega died on October 14 , 1536 in Nice , after suffering 25 days from an injury sustained in a battle at Le Muy . His body was first buried in the Church of St . Dominic in Nice , but two years later his wife had his body moved to the Church of San Pedro Martir in Toledo . Works . Garcilaso de la Vega is best known for his tragic love poetry that contrasts the playful poetry of his predecessors . He seemed to progress through three distinct episodes of his life which are reflected in his works . During his Spanish period , he wrote the majority of his eight - syllable poems ; during his Italian or Petrarchan period , he wrote mostly sonnets and songs ; and during his Neapolitan or classicist period , he wrote his other more classical poems , including his elegies , letters , eclogues and odes . Influenced by many Italian Renaissance poets , Garcilaso adapted the eleven - syllable line to the Spanish language in his " sonetos " ( sonnets ) , mostly written in the 1520s , during his Petrarchan period . Increasing the number of syllables in the verse from eight to eleven allowed for greater flexibility . In addition to the " sonetos " , Garcilaso helped to introduce several other types of stanza s to the Spanish language . These include the " estancia " , formed by eleven - and seven - syllable lines ; the " lira " , formed by three seven - syllable and two eleven - syllable lines ; and " endecasílabos sueltos " , formed by unrhymed eleven - syllable lines . Throughout his life , Garcilaso de la Vega wrote various poems in each of these types . His works include : forty " Sonetos " ( Sonnets ) , 22 " Canciones " ( Songs ) , eight " Coplas " ( Couplets ) , three " Églogas " ( Eclogues ) , two " Elegías " ( Elegies ) , and the " Epístola a Bóscan " ( Letter to Bóscan ) . Allusions to classical myths and Greco - Latin figures , great musicality , alliteration , rhythm and an absence of religion characterize his poetry . It can be said that Spanish poetry was never the same after Garcilaso de la Vega . His works have influenced the majority of subsequent Spanish poets , including other major authors of the period like Jorge de Montemor , Luis de León , John of the Cross , Miguel de Cervantes , Lope de Vega , Luis de Góngora and Francisco Quevedo . For example : ( égloga Tercera ) : He was very good at transmitting the sense of life into writing , in many poems including his « " dolorido sentir " » : We see the shift in traditional belief of Heaven as influenced by the Renaissance , which is called " neo - Platonism , " which tried to lift love to a spiritual , idealistic plane , as compared to the traditional Catholic view of Heaven . ( " Égloga primera " ) : He has enjoyed a revival of influence among 21st century pastoral poets such as Seamus Heaney , Dennis Nurkse , and Giannina Braschi . Literary references . In the novel " Of Love and Other Demons " by Gabriel García Márquez , one of the main characters , Father Cayetano Delaura , is an admirer of Garcilaso de la Vega . In the novel , which takes place in 18th - century colonial Colombia , Delaura is forced to give up being a priest because of his tragic love affair . Spanish language poet Giannina Braschi wrote both a poetic treatise on Garcilaso de la Vega ' s Eclogues , as well as a book of poems in homage to the Spanish master , entitled " Empire of Dreams " . The title of Pedro Salinas ' s sequence of poems " La voz a ti debida " is taken from Garcilaso ' s third eclogue .