Abstract
The topos of sentimental pilgrimage, widely spread in the European culture at the turn of the XXth century, is also present, at the same age, in Spanish poetry as Villaespesa’s Viaje sentimental (1909) demonstrates. This article investigates the relation of affinity and contrast with contemporary Italian experiments (such as Gozzano’s and Vallini’s), and identifies the specificity of Villaespesa’s representation of the return in the strong emphasis given to the elements of the topos taken from the the religious tradition, though in a completely secularized perspective.
