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 *
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE 
 
 LITERATURE. 
 
 BY 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 Craitslatetr from tfte Original 
 BY THOMASINA ROSS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 BOOSEY AND SONS, BROAD STREET. 
 18237
 
 F. Justins, Printer, 41, Brick Lane, Spitalnelds.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF <V '^ 
 SANTA BARBAR 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE growing interest of Spanish and Portu- 
 guese Literature would, perhaps, be thought 
 a sufficient reason for laying the following 
 translation before the public, were the merits 
 of the original work even less conspicu- 
 ous, and the deficiency it appears fitted to 
 supply in our language less sensibly felt. It 
 is, indeed, extraordinary, that no similar work 
 has hitherto appeared in a country, where the 
 subject of which this history treats, has, in the 
 instances in which it has been partially ex- 
 plored, always been found a rich source of 
 pleasure and instruction. But the information 
 thus collected from the literary stores of Spain 
 and Portugal, however satisfactory on parti- 
 cular points, is, from its nature, detached and 
 incomplete, and seems calculated to increase 
 
 A
 
 6 PREFACE. 
 
 rather than to diminish the desire for such a 
 connected and comprehensive view of the 
 whole subject as M. Bouterwek has exhibited 
 in his General History of Modern Literature. 
 
 The following volumes on the literature of 
 Spain and Portugal are extracted from a work, 
 entitled, Geschichte der Poesie und Beredsam- 
 keit seit dem Ende der dreizehnten Jahrhun- 
 derts, (History of Poetry and Eloquence from 
 the close of the thirteenth Century,) in which 
 M. Bouterwek has taken an historical and 
 critical survey of the literature of the principal 
 nations of Europe. The work consists of twelve 
 volumes, published at different periods at Got- 
 tingen ; the first volume having appeared in 
 1805, and the last, which contains an index to 
 the whole, in 1819.* The two volumes now 
 translated are the third and fourth of the 
 German original. 
 
 * This, in its turn, is only a small part of a very extensive 
 work, the general title of which is, Geschichte der Kunst und 
 Wissenschaften seit der Wiederherstellung derselben bis an das 
 Ende des achtzenten Jahrfiunderts, von einer Gesellschaft 
 gelehrter manner ausgearbeitet. (History of Arts and Learning 
 from their restoration to the end of the eighteenth century, by 
 a society of learned men.) Different authors have each taken a 
 part in this great literary enterprize, which may be said to form 
 an Encyclopedia, though not on the usual plan of a dictionary.
 
 PREFACE. 7 
 
 If it be admitted that there remains in 
 English literature a vacant place which ought 
 to be occupied by a work of this kind, it is 
 not apprehended that the means now resorted 
 to for filling up the chasm will be disapproved ; 
 at least the translator is not aware that any 
 better source could have been found for sup- 
 plying the deficiency. In vain, she is per- 
 suaded, would any substitute be sought for in 
 French, much as that language abounds in 
 works of criticism. Sismondi in his Litte- 
 rature du Midi de VEurope, implicitly adopts 
 the judgments passed by Bouterwek on Spa- 
 nish and Portuguese literature; and indeed 
 with respect to that part of his subject he 
 says very little of importance that is not 
 directly borrowed from the German critic.* 
 The Essai sur la Litterature Espagnole, pub- 
 lished in Paris in 1810, and which appears 
 to have been well received by the French 
 public, is a gross plagiarism. It is, with some 
 
 * There is also a French translation of Bouterwek's volume 
 on Spanish literature, which, as far as it goes, is correct and well 
 executed in point of style ; but notwithstanding that the translator 
 appears to have been capable of doing justice to the work, it is 
 greatly mutilated. The Portuguese volume, which is in some 
 respects the more valuable of the two, is not touched by the French 
 translator.
 
 8 PREFACE. 
 
 slight additions, merely the translation of an 
 anonym ou* English work, entitled, Letters 
 from an English Traveller in Spain, the 
 epistolary form being dropped, and the mate-- 
 rials transposed for the purpose of concealing 
 the theft.* The work of M. Bouterwek be- 
 longs, however, to a superior class. To say that 
 M. Bouterwek has treated his subject with 
 great perspicuity and precision, would be to 
 express only a small portion of his merits. Ex- 
 tensive and laborious as his enquiries have evi- 
 dently been, his judgment in the management 
 of his materials is still more remarkable than 
 the indefatigable research with which they 
 must have been obtained. He has not confined 
 himself to a mere narrative of the progress 
 and an exemplification of the beauties and 
 deformities of the literature of which he is 
 the historian. The philosophic spirit which 
 pervades his criticism was not to be circum- 
 scribed within such narrow bounds. He seeks 
 in the structure of society, the habits of the 
 people, and the influence of events, for the 
 causes of the intellectual phenomena he has 
 
 * Letters from an English Traveller in Spain, in 1778, on 
 the Origin and Progress of Poetry in that kingdom, .London 1781. 
 This book was written by Mr. Dillon, author of " Travels through 
 Spain," " History of Peter the Cruel," &c.
 
 PREFACE. 9 
 
 to describe ; and he examines with great can- 
 dour and impartiality the effects of mis-govern- 
 ment and arbitrary institutions on poetic genius 
 and literary taste. Impressed with this favour- 
 able opinion of the work, the translator has 
 endeavoured to give a true representation of 
 its contents. In undertaking the translation, 
 her wish was to preserve the character of 
 the original, as far as possible, under an 
 English dress. She began the task with an 
 anticipation of its difficulty, and she ends it 
 with a consciousness of the indulgence of 
 which her labours stand in need; but at the 
 same time with the hope that she will not be 
 found to have altogether failed in the object 
 she had in view. 
 
 The first of the following volumes is devoted 
 to the history of Spanish, and the second to the 
 history of Portuguese Literature. The sub- 
 divisions of the work correspond with periods 
 marked out by certain revolutions in taste, 
 produced by the rise of eminent writers, or by 
 other influential circumstances. These epochs 
 in literary cultivation form convenient resting 
 places for the student, and contribute to 
 exhibit in a clear point of view the cir- 
 cumstances by which the advancement of 
 polite learning has been accelerated or re-
 
 10 PREFACE. 
 
 tarded. The specimens, which are numerous, 
 and a great portion of which are selected 
 from very scarce works, cannot fail to prove 
 highly acceptable to the lovers of the lite- 
 rature of Spain and Portugal. For a general 
 and comprehensive knowledge of that lite- 
 rature they will be found amply sufficient, 
 and to those who wish to pursue its study more 
 in detail, they will afford most useful assistance. 
 In such a course of study, great advantage may 
 also be derived from the numerous bibliogra- 
 phical notes which the author has introduced, 
 and which are therefore scrupulously retained 
 in the translation. 
 
 The translator at first intended to give lite- 
 ral versions of all the specimens extracted from 
 Spanish -and Portuguese authors; but had she 
 persisted in this plan, the translation could not 
 have been completed without augmenting the 
 price of the publication much beyond the rate 
 to which the publishers were of opinion it 
 ought to be limited. To have omitted a part 
 of the extracts in order to give translations of 
 the rest would have been still more improper, 
 for the extracts quoted in the notes are all 
 necessary to the illustration of the text; and 
 besides such a mutilation would have deprived 
 the work of a merit which has just been
 
 PREFACE. II 
 
 pointed out, namely, that of supplying suf- 
 ficient materials for a comprehensive study 
 of the literature of Spain and Portugal. The 
 translator has it, however, in contemplation, to 
 prepare for the press a volume containing 
 translations of the specimens given by M. 
 Bouterwek, and of some other pieces from 
 the Spanish and Portuguese languages. This 
 volume will not form a mere appendix to the 
 volumes now published; an endeavour will 
 be made to render it useful and entertaining as 
 a separate work. 
 
 It is necessary to observe, that the History 
 of Italian Literature, which is sometimes re- 
 ferred to in the notes, is a part of M. 
 Bouterwek's General History of Poetry and 
 Eloquence. It forms the two first volumes of 
 the German work ; some other parts of which 
 the translator will be prepared to send to 
 the press, should the merits of the original 
 procure from the public a favourable reception 
 for these volumes on Spanish and Portuguese 
 Literature. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the translator had 
 considerable assistance in reading and revising 
 the proofs, she regrets to find that still further 
 correction would have been desirable. For- 
 tunately, however, there are few errors in the
 
 J2 PREFACE. 
 
 Spanish and Portuguese extracts; and those 
 which do occur in the English text, will be 
 found to be in general of a literal or obvious 
 nature, altogether incapable of misleading the 
 intelligent reader. Of the mistakes of the press 
 which have been observed, tables of errata are 
 made. If there are others, the translator is 
 confident, that the persons who are the best 
 able to correct such faults, will be the most 
 ready to pardon them.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ORIGIN OF ROMANTIC POETRY AND 
 ELOQUENCE IN THE KINGDOMS OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 
 
 Page 
 
 Recollection of the general State of Spain and Portugal, about 
 
 the middle of the thirteenth century 1 
 
 View of the principal idioms of the romance spoken in the 
 
 Pyrenean Peninsula 5 
 
 Original separation of the Cataloaian and Limosin poetry from 
 
 the Castilian and Portuguese 15 
 
 National metres and rhymes common to the Spaniards and 
 
 Portuguese 20 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 FROM THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH TO THE COMMENCE- 
 MENT OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Probable period of the first romances 27 
 
 Poema del Cid 28 
 
 Poema de Alexandio Magno 30
 
 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Gonzalo Berceo 31 
 
 Alpbonso X. ; his literary merits. Nicolas and Antonio de los 
 
 romances, &c 32 
 
 Alphonso XI 35 
 
 Early cultivation of Oastilian prose. Don Juan Manuel ; his 
 
 Conde Lucanor; his romances 36 
 
 Satirical poem of Juan Ruyz, arch-priest of Hita 44 
 
 More precise account of the origin of the Spanish poetic 
 romances and songs. Probable rise of the romances of 
 chivalry in prose. Original relationship of the poetic and 
 
 prose romances 47 
 
 The different kinds of poetic romance 53 
 
 Castilian poetry in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries .... 72 
 
 Poetical court of John II 76 
 
 The Marquis of Villena 78 
 
 The Marquis of Santillana his poetical works his historical 
 
 and critical letter 82 
 
 Juan de Mena 90 
 
 Perez de Guzman, Rodriguez de Padron, and other Spanish 
 
 lyric poets of the age of John II 100 
 
 Of the Cancionero General, and the different kinds of ancient 
 
 Spanish songs 102 
 
 Of the Romancero General 121 
 
 First traces of the origin of Spanish dramatic poetry in the 
 Mingo Rebulgo. Juan del Enzina. Calistus and Meli- 
 
 boea, a dramatic tale 128 
 
 Further account of Spanish prose. Rise of the historical art. 
 
 Early progress of the epistolary style 137 
 
 Juan de la Enzina's Art of Castilian poetry 145
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 15 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH TO THE LATTEK, 
 
 HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Poge~~\ 
 
 INTRODUCTION. General view of the state of poetical and 
 
 rhetorical cultivation in Spain during the above period . . 148 
 FIRST SECTION. History of Spanish poetry and eloquence 
 from the introduction of the Italian style to the age of 
 
 Cervantes and Lope de Vega. 161 
 
 Occasion of the introduction of the Italian style ibicf 
 
 Boscan 162 
 
 Garcilaso de la Vega 176 
 
 Diego de Mendoza 186 
 
 Mendoza's account of the rebellion of Granada, the first 
 
 classical history in Spanish literature 205 
 
 Saa de Miranda (Commencement of elevated pastoral poetry 
 
 in Spanish literature) 210 
 
 Montemayor his Diana the first Spanish pastoral romance 217 
 Herrera; first developement of the ode style in Spanish poetry 228 
 
 Luis de Leon 240 
 
 Minor Spanish poets during the period of this section, viz. 
 
 Acuna Cetina Padilla Gil Polo 254 
 
 Obstacles to the imitation of the romantic epopee in Spain 
 Unsuccessful essays in serious epopee translations of 
 classical epic poetry 262 
 
 Progress of the romantic poetry. Castillejo ; his contest with 
 
 the partizans of the Italian style 267 
 
 History of Spanish dramatic poetry during the first half and 
 
 ten succeeding years of the sixteenth century 277
 
 16 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Erudite party .................................... 279 
 
 The party of the moralists .............................. 281 
 
 The first national party Torres Naharro ........ . ......... 282 
 
 The second national party Lope de Rueda ; collections of his 
 
 dramas by Juan Timoneda .......................... 286 
 
 Naharro of Toledo .................................... 289 
 
 Juan de la Cueva ; his art of poetry ................. .... 290 
 
 Probable rise of the spiritual drama in Spain ....... . ...... 293 
 
 Entremeses and Saynetes . ................ . ............ 294 
 
 Spanish tragedies, by Geronymo Bermudez ................ 296 
 
 History of Spanish prose during the first half and ten succeed- 
 
 ing years of the sixteenth century .................... 303 
 
 Prose romances of chivalry .............................. 304 
 
 Romances of knavery Lazarillo de Tormes ................ 305 
 
 Tales of Juan Timoneda. . . ............................. 306 
 
 Didactic prose Perez de Oliva Ambrosio de Morales Pedro 
 
 de Valles Francisco Cervantes de Salazar ............ 308 
 
 Historical prose Annals of Zurita ...................... 315 
 
 Oratorical prose Perez de Oliva ........................ 320 
 
 Epistolary prose ...................................... 321 
 
 Spanish criticism during the period of this section Alonzo 
 
 Lopez Pinciano .................................. 323 
 
 . History of Spanish poetry and eloquence 
 
 from the age of Cervantes and Lope de Vega to the 
 
 middle of the seventeenth century .................... 327 V 
 
 Cervantes ............................................ ibid 
 
 Bru'f character of Don Quixotte ....................... 333 
 
 The moral tales of Cervantes ............................ 340 
 
 The Galatea ........................ . ............... 342 * 
 
 The journey to Parnassus ........................ . ..... 346
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 17 
 
 Page 
 
 Dramatic works of Cervantes 350 ^ 
 
 The romance of Persiles and Sigismunda 357 
 
 Lope de Vega , 359 *^ 
 
 General characteristics of his poetry 363 ^ 
 
 Explanation of the idea of a Spanish comedy as it is ex- 
 emplified in the dramas of Lope de Vega 364 "^ 
 
 Various species of dramas by this poet 368 ' 
 
 Brief notice of his other poetic works 390 
 
 The Brothers Leonardo de Argensolo Classic cultivation of 
 
 the didactic satire and epistle in Spanish literature 392 
 
 Tragedies by the elder Argensola 394 
 
 Epistles, odes, &c. by the younger Argensola 400 
 
 Continuation of the history of Spanish poetry and eloquence, 
 
 during the age of Cervantes and Lope de Vega 406 ^ 
 
 Fresh failures in epic poetry Ercilla's Araucana 407 
 
 Lyric and bucolic poets of the classic school of the sixteenth 
 
 century 413 
 
 Vicente Espinel 414 
 
 Christoval de Mesa 4 15 
 
 Juan de Morales 416 
 
 Agustin de Texada, &c 417 
 
 Rise of a new irregular and fantastical style in Spanish poetry 428 
 Coiigora and his Estilo Culto the Cultoristus the Con- 
 
 ceptistos 431 
 
 Two dramatic poets of the age of Lope de Vega 441 "^ 
 
 Christoval de Virues 442 
 
 Perez de Montalvan 446 
 
 Novels in the age of Cervantes and Lope de Vega 450 
 
 Progressive, cultivation of the historical art Mariana 455
 
 18 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Fluctuation of Spanish taste from the classic to the corrupt 
 
 style 459 S 
 
 Quevedo 460 
 
 Character of his best works 465 
 
 Villegas 475 
 
 Continuation of the history of lyric, bucolic, epic, didactic and 
 satirical poetry, to the close of the period embraced by 
 
 this section 485 
 
 Jauregui 486 
 
 Borja y Esquillache 488 
 
 Other poets of this period the Sylvas or Poetic Forests 492 
 
 Rebolledo 493 
 
 Continuation of the history of the Spanish drama 499 
 
 Calderon 500 
 
 IX 
 
 Character of the different species of Calderon's dramas 503 
 
 History of the Spanish drama continued to the close of the 
 
 period of this section 521 
 
 A ntonio de Solis 524 
 
 Moreto 526 
 
 Juan de Hoz ' ibid 
 
 Tirso de Molina 527 
 
 Francisco de Roxas ibid 
 
 Agustin de Salazar y Torres ibid 
 
 Mira de Mescua - 528 
 
 Collections of Spanish dramas published in the seventeenth 
 
 century 529 
 
 Conclusion of the history of Spanish eloquence and criticism, 
 
 within the period of this section 530 
 
 Antonio de Solis considered as a historian , 531
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 19 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction of Gongorism into Spanish prose Balthazar 
 
 Gracian 533 > 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 History of Spanish literature from its decline in the latter half 
 
 of the seventeenth to the end of the eighteenth century , . 538 *" 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 General view of the state of poetical and rhetorical cultivation 
 
 in Spain during this period 540 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Decay of the old Spanish poetry and eloquence, and in- 
 troduction of the French style into Spanish literature. . . . 547 ^ 
 Candamo, Zainora and Cafiizares, dramatists in the old 
 
 national style .. . . . ibid 
 
 Dona Juana Inez de la Cruz 551 
 
 Gerardo Lobo 556 
 
 Diffusion of the French taste Luzan, his art of poetry, &c. . . . 557 ^ 
 
 Luzan's poetic compositions 568 
 
 Mayans y Siscar and Bias Nasarre 570 
 
 Montiano's tragedies in the French style 571 
 
 Velasquez < > 574 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 Concluding period of the history of Spanish poetry and 
 
 eloquence 575 
 
 La Huerta 576 
 
 His tragedies 580
 
 20 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 His Spanish theatre 584 
 
 Sedano 587 
 
 Yriarte 588 
 
 Leon de Arroyal 593 
 
 Juan Melendez Valdes 595 
 
 Brief notice of some of the more recent literary productions of 
 
 Spain 600 
 
 Conclusion 605 /
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ORIGIN OF ROMANTIC 
 POETRY AND ELOQUENCE, IN THE KING- 
 DOMS OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 
 
 WHEN modern refinement began, during the 
 thirteenth century, to emerge from the rude- 
 ness of the middle ages, that part of Europe 
 which geographers have called the Pyrenean 
 Peninsula, and which, according to its present 
 political division, forms Spain and Portugal, 
 contained four Christian kingdoms and some 
 Mahometan principalities, to which the title 
 of kingdom has also been given. More than 
 five hundred years had elapsed since the 
 battle of Xerez de la Frontera;* and the 
 Moors, who, by the result of that conflict, 
 obtained th dominion of the greater part of 
 Spain and Portugal, had, by the repeated 
 victories of the Christians, been, in their turn, 
 driven back to the southern extremity of the 
 country, and were obviously not destined to 
 
 * Fought in the year 712. 
 VOL, I. B
 
 2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 maintain themselves much longer even in that 
 quarter. 
 
 During these five centuries of almost unin- 
 terrupted warfare between the race of Moorish 
 Arabs and the Christians of ancient European 
 descent, both parties, notwithstanding that 
 their reciprocal hostility was influenced by 
 fanaticism, had unconsciously approximated 
 in mind and in manners. The intervals of 
 repose, which formed short links in the chain 
 of their sanguinary conflicts, afforded them 
 some opportunities for the interchange of the 
 arts of peace, and they were soon taught to 
 feel for each other that involuntary respect 
 which the brave can never withhold from 
 brave adversaries. Love adventures, in which 
 the Moorish knight and Christian lady, or 
 the Christian knight and Moorish lady, re- 
 spectively participated, could not be of rare 
 occurrence. The Arab, who, in his native 
 deserts, had not been accustomed to impose 
 on women half the despotic restraints to 
 which the sex is subject in the harems of 
 Mahometan cities, was soon disposed to imi- 
 tate the gallantry of the descendants of the 
 Goths; and still more readily did the imagi- 
 nation of the Christian knight, in a climate 
 which was far from being ungenial, even to 
 African invaders, acquire an oriental loftiness.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 Thus arose the spirit of Spanish knighthood, 
 which was, in reality, only a particular form 
 of the general chivalrous spirit then pre- 
 vailing in most of the countries of Europe, 
 but which, under that form, impressed in an 
 equal degree, on the old European Spaniard 
 an oriental, and on the Spanish Moor a 
 European character. 
 
 In the first period of this long contest 
 the Arabs carried learning and the arts to a 
 degree of cultivation far beyond any thing 
 known in the Christian parts of Spain. Those 
 wild enthusiasts learned, on the European 
 soil, to estimate the value of civilized life 
 with a rapidity as astonishing as that which 
 distinguished the social improvement of their 
 brethren, whom they had left behind in 
 Asia, under the government ol the Caliphs. 
 Before the era of Mahomet, their lan- 
 guage had been cultivated and adapted 
 to poetry and eloquence, according to the 
 laws of oriental taste. In Spain, it soon 
 acquired, even among the conquered Chris- 
 tians, the superiority over the barbarous 
 Romance, or dialect of the country, which 
 was then governed by no rule : for in the 
 eighth century, when the Moors penetrated 
 into Spain, the Visigoths, who had been 
 
 B 2
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 masters of the territory since the fifth cen- 
 tury, were not yet completely intermixed by 
 matrimonial alliances with the Provincials, 
 or descendants of the Roman subjects ; and 
 the new national language, which had grown 
 out of a corrupt latin, was still the sport of 
 accident. The conquered Christians, in the 
 provinces under Moorish dominion, soon for- 
 got their Romance. They became, indeed, 
 so habituated to the Arabic, that, accord- 
 ing to the testimony of a bishop of Cor- 
 dova, who lived in the ninth century, out of 
 a thousand Spanish Christians, scarcely one 
 was to be found capable of repeating the 
 latin forms of prayer, while many could ex- 
 press themselves in Arabic with rhetorical 
 elegance, and compose Arabic verses.* 
 
 But the Christians who had preserved their 
 independence, descending from the mountains 
 of the Asturias, began to repel the invaders, 
 
 * This remark, from the Indiculo luminoso of Bishop Alvaro 
 of Cordova, is noticed in the preface to Du Gauge's Glossary, and is 
 repeated by Velasquez in his History of Spanish Poetry, Dieze's 
 edition, page 33. See also Eichhorn's Allgemeine Geschichte 
 der Cultur und Litteratur, vol. i. p. 121. The details of the 
 history of Arabic poetry in Spain cannot be comprehended in a 
 history of Spanish and Portuguese poetry. The bibliographic eru- 
 dition on the subject of Arabic poetry, which Dieze has displayed 
 in his remarks on Velasquez, does not belong to the subject of this 
 work.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 and in proportion as they extended their 
 conquests, a wider field was opened for the 
 Spanish tongue. It remained, nevertheless, 
 long barren and rude, and was destined to 
 receive many additions from the rich and ele- 
 gant Arabic, before it attained the copiousness 
 requisite for the wants even of common life. 
 
 The circumstances, however, under which 
 the dialects of the several provinces existed, 
 did not present those facilities for an improved 
 national language, on the principle of the 
 Italian Volgare illustre, of the age of Dante, 
 which would have enabled a poet of Dante's 
 genius, had such then arisen in Spain, to form 
 out of them one general literary language for 
 all the Christian states of the Peninsula. It 
 happened, singularly enough, that about the 
 beginning of the thirteenth century, the three 
 principal idioms which were spoken from the 
 coast of the Atlantic to the Pyrenees, and 
 from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean, 
 were represented by three kingdoms perfectly 
 independent of each other. The Castilian 
 prevailed exclusively only in the Castiles and 
 Leon, the latter of which was permanently 
 united to the former in the year 1230. The 
 Portuguese was spoken both by the court and 
 the people of Portugal. In the kingdom of
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Arragon, the language in general use was the 
 Catalonian, a dialect nearly the same as the 
 Provencal or Limosin of the south of France, 
 but differing greatly both from the Castilian 
 and the Portuguese. This language also ex- 
 tended to the little kingdom of Navarre, but 
 it was there spoken only by the nobles, who 
 were of French or Hispano-Gothic origin. 
 The great body of the population in Navarre 
 spoke the ancient Cantabrian, called BASKIAN, 
 VASKIAN, or BISCAYAN, and which still exists 
 in the Pyrenees and in the Spanish province 
 of Biscay. 
 
 The trouble will be repaid if a glance be 
 now cast on the map, in order to distinguish, 
 with somewhat more precision than is usually 
 thought necessary, the respective domains of 
 the three principal dialects of the Spanish 
 tongue ; for it would be very difficult, if not 
 impossible, to form any opinion on the contest 
 maintained between the Spaniards and the 
 Portuguese relative to the value of their 
 respective languages, and the influence which 
 the merits or demerits of these languages have 
 had on the polite literature of both countries, 
 without a knowledge of the geographical 
 boundaries, which, previously to the political 
 divisions, separated the Portuguese from the
 
 INTRODUCTION^ 7 
 
 Castilians, and the latter from the Arragonese. 
 In these questions the Biscayan language is 
 of no consideration, as it has only an acci- 
 dental and unimportant connexion with the 
 other Spanish dialects, and, besides, bears not 
 the most remote resemblance to them.* 
 
 The mutilated latin spoken along the 
 Mediterranean on the Spanish shore, frorn 
 the Pyrenees as far as Murcia, appears to 
 have resolved itself, before the period of the 
 Arabian invasion, into the same language 
 which extended eastward from the Pyrenees 
 through the whole of the south of France to 
 the Italian frontiers, and which, according to 
 the most remarkable of its provincial forms, 
 was called the CATALONIAN, the VALENCIAN, 
 the LIMOSIN, and the PROVENAL. Of all y 
 the tongues spoken in modern Europe, this 
 language of the coasts was the first culti- 
 vated. In it the Troubadours sang, and their 
 lays had all the same character, whether 
 addressed to the Italians, the French, or the 
 Spaniards. From Catalonia it probably spread 
 
 *!,, 
 
 * Velasquez, Dieze, and other authors, furnish information on 
 the history of the Biscayan language and poetry. This language, 
 with the poetry to which it may have given birth, has had no in- 
 fluence on literature beyond its own territory, and appears to have 
 had very little even there.
 
 8 ^TRODUCTION. 
 
 itself along the chain of the Pyrenees. The 
 kingdom of Arragon became, after the resto- 
 ration of the Spanish romance in that quarter, 
 its second country; for there both it and the 
 poetry of the Troubadours were particularly 
 favoured by the princes and the nobles. But 
 at the very period of the decline of this 
 poetry, the kingdom of Arragon was united 
 to the Castilian dominions. Another kind 
 of poetry, in the Castilian language, then 
 obtained encouragement, and the seat of the 
 government of the united kingdoms was per- 
 manently fixed in Castffe. The energetic 
 development of literary talent among the 
 Castilians, the bold romantic character of that 
 people, and that ardent spirit of national pride 
 which prompted them to make the most of all 
 their advantages, soon banished the ancient 
 and in other respects highly esteemed dialect 
 of Arragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and Murcia, 
 from literature, law, and the conversation of 
 the superior classes of society. Finally, 
 towards the middle of the sixteenth century 
 the Castilian became, in the strictest sense of 
 the word, the reigning language of the whole 
 Spanish monarchy.* 
 
 * How sensibly the neglect of the Catalonian or Valencian 
 tongue, after the union of the kingdoms of Arragon and Castile,
 
 INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 The Castilian tongue f LenguaCastellana}, 
 now called, by way of distinction, the Spanish, 
 
 was felt in the provinces which belonged to the former, may be 
 seen from the passage quoted by Eichhorn, in his Allg. Gesch. 
 der Cul. u. Lilt. vol. i. page 129, from Scuolano's History 
 of Valencia. But the pleasing language of the Troubadours was 
 doubtless very defective. It would otherwise have been difficult 
 to have made the Catalonian poets so soon proselytes to the Castilian 
 dialect, especially as, besides the difference of language, the natural 
 jealousy between the Arragonian and Castilian provinces was 
 strong enough to manifest itself by political effects even in the 
 eighteenth century. The imperfection of the Troubadour phrase- 
 ology may have been partly owing to its fluctuations, and the 
 various forms it assumed, in. the several dialects. The difference of 
 the dialects appears particularly evident on comparing the real 
 PROVENSAL of the French Troubadours with the Valencian, called 
 LENGUA VALBENCIANA. The dialect of the Provensal Trouba- 
 dours may, without much difficulty, be translated by conjecture, if 
 the reader be acquainted with French and Italian; but the meaning 
 of the Valencian cannot be so easily guessed at, even with the addi- 
 tional knowledge of Castilian. As a proof of this, it will be sufficient 
 to peruse a passage of the Libre de los Dones, of Mosen, [that is, 
 Monsieur, instead of the Castilian Don] Jaume [James] Roig, 
 reprinted in Valencia, 1735, in 4to. The author is one of the last 
 poets who wrote in the Valencian dialect, and the whole didactic 
 poem, if so it may be called, is composed in short verses of the 
 following description : 
 
 Yo com absent 
 Del mon vivint, 
 A quell linquint 
 Aconortat, 
 Del apartat 
 Dant hi del peu, 
 Veil jubileu
 
 10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 doubtless had its origin before the Moorish 
 conquest, in the northern and midland parts 
 of the Peninsula. How far it had originally 
 spread towards the south., it would not now be 
 easy to determine ; but it came down from the 
 Asturian mountains with the warriors who 
 boldly undertook to recover the country of 
 their fathers. It first resumed its sway in the 
 kingdoms of Leon and old Castile, where it 
 is still spoken in the greatest purity.^ It 
 then followed step by step, the fortune of the 
 Castilian arms, until it finally became the 
 established language of the most southern 
 provinces, where its progress had been longest 
 withstood by the Arabic. More recently 
 cultivated than the Catalonian,, it cannot be 
 doubted that it owes to that dialect a part of 
 
 Moit civihnent, 
 Ja per la gent 
 Descouegut, 
 Per tots tengut 
 Con horn selvatge 
 Teniut ostatge, &c. &c. 
 
 Owing to the difference of the dialects, a foreigner might, by a 
 short residence in Madrid, learn to express himself in Castilian with 
 more fluency than it is spoken by a great part of the inhabitants of 
 the Arragonian provinces. 
 
 * At least such is the opinion of Gregorio Mayans y Zis- 
 car, given in his work, known under the title of Origcnes de la 
 Lcngua Espanola, part i. page 8.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 its improvement; but the elevated expression 
 of its long full-toned words, soon stamped on 
 it the character of quite a different kind of 
 romance. The abbreviation of the latin words 
 which gave the Catalonian language a striking 
 resemblance to the French, was not agreeable 
 to the genius of the Castilian, which, in con- 
 sequence of its clear sonorous vowels and the 
 beautiful articulation of its syllables, had, of 
 all the idioms of the Peninsula, the greatest 
 affinity to the Italian. Amidst the euphony 
 of the Castilian syllables, the ear is however 
 struck with the sound of the German and 
 Arabic guttural, which is rejected by all the 
 other nations that speak languages in which 
 the latin predominates.* 
 
 * An old prejudice attributes the forcible aspiration which the 
 Spanish shares in common with the German and Arabic, solely to 
 the mixture of the latter with the Castilian. This prejudice is 
 pardonable in the Spaniards, who are not aware of the influence 
 which the German guttural must have had over their language; 
 but the Germans, who know the nature of their mother tongue, 
 ought to recollect that the same Arabic words which are strongly 
 aspirated by the Spaniards, are pronounced by the Portuguese, 
 though equally naturalized among them, with a hissing sound. 
 Besides, how does it happen that the G before E and i, which is a 
 guttural with the Germans, has nearly the same sound with the 
 Castilians, though it is never so pronounced by any other people 
 whose language appears to have risen on the ruins of that of ancient 
 Rome? The Germanic pronunciation of the Visigoths, which was
 
 12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The romance, out of which the present 
 Portuguese language has grown, was pro- 
 bably spoken along the coast of the Atlantic 
 long before a kingdom of Portugal was 
 founded. Though far more nearly allied to 
 the Castilian dialect than to the Catalonian, 
 it resembles the latter in the remarkable 
 abbreviation of words, both in the gramma- 
 tical structure and in the pronunciation. At 
 the same time it is strikingly distinguished 
 from the Castilian by the total rejection of the 
 guttural, by the great abundance of its hissing 
 sounds, and by a nasal pronunciation common 
 to no people in Europe except the French 
 and the Portuguese. In the Spanish province 
 of Galicia, only politically separated from 
 Portugal, this dialect known under the name 
 of Lingoa Gallega is still as indigenous as in 
 Portugal itself, and was at an early period, so 
 highly esteemed, that Alphonso X. king of 
 Castile, surnamed the Wise, (El SabioJ 
 composed verses in it. But the Galician 
 modification of this dialect of the western 
 
 doubtless preserved in the mountains of Castile, would afterwards 
 be easily confounded with the Arabic. The Castilian conversion of 
 o into UE, also resembles the change which takes place in German of 
 o into OE. Let, for instance, the Spanish CUERPO and PUEBLO 
 be compared with the German KORPER and POBEL.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 shores of the Peninsula has sunk, like the 
 Catalonian romance of the opposite coast, 
 into a mere provincial idiom, in consequence 
 of the language of the Castilian court being 
 adopted by the higher classes in Galicia.* 
 Indeed the Portuguese language, which in 
 its present state of improvement must no 
 longer be confounded with the popular idiom 
 of Galicia, would have experienced great 
 difficulty in obtaining a literary cultivation, 
 had not Portugal, which, even in the twelfth 
 century, formed an independent kingdom, 
 constantly vied in arts and in arms with 
 
 * The Portuguese language would perhaps be less depreciated 
 by the Spaniards, if it did not remind them of the vulgar idiom 
 spoken by the Galiciau water-carriers in Madrid. On the contrary, 
 the Portuguese think the Castilian language inflated, and at the same 
 time rough and also affected. Both nations are as little disposed 
 to come to an agreement on ^ the merits of their respective 
 languages as the Danes and Swedes are regarding theirs; for the 
 Castilian and Portuguese are, like the Danish and Swedish, only 
 two conflicting dialects of the same tongue. The Swedes admit 
 that the Danish language exceeds their own in softness, though 
 they consider that softness disagreeable, and the harsher Swedish 
 more sonorous on account of the greater abundance and fulness of 
 its vowel sounds; thus, precisely in the same manner, do the 
 Spaniards condemn the softness of the Portuguese tongue. The 
 elision of the letter L in a great number of Portuguese words, as 
 in COR, PA9O, for color, palacio, and the remarkable change of L 
 into B, as in branco, brando, for bianco, blando, are peculiarities of 
 that language to which foreigners do not easily reconcile themselves.
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Castile, and during the sixty years of her 
 union with Spain, from 1580 to 1640, zealously 
 maintained her particular national character.* 
 
 * The first essay towards a history of the Portuguese language, 
 and an introduction to Portuguese orthography, were published 
 in Lisbon at the time when Portugal was a Spanish province. 
 Duarte Nunez de Liao, the author of both works, was a 
 statesman and magistrate. ( Desetnbargador da Camara da 
 Supplicaqao.j The former is entitled Origem da Lingoa Por- 
 tugneza, Lisb. 1606, in 8vo. It is dedicated to Philip III. king 
 of Spain, who is, however, on this occasion merely addressed as 
 Dom Phelipe II. de Portugal. In the preface the author states 
 his other, but older work, (Orthographia da Lingoa Por- 
 tugueza, Lisb. 1576, in 8vo.) to be the first of the kind. The 
 Portuguese have, however, for two centuries laboured with as 
 little success as the Germans, to introduce uniformity of ortho- 
 graphy into their language. The convertible M and AO appear to 
 have been so early selected to denote the French nasal tone which 
 occurs in numerous final syllables, that Nunez de Lia5 found it 
 necessary to acquiesce in the custom, according to which the same 
 word might be very differently written, as nacao or nayam, nao or 
 nam, pronounced nearly as nassaong and naong, with the French 
 sound of on, bon. But it surely could not have been very difficult 
 to dispossess the totally unnecessary and barbarous H in hum and 
 huma (from the latin unus and unaj of the place it had assumed, 
 as it is now banished from elegant Portuguese orthography. Trifles 
 of this kind present more materials for reflection than a first view 
 gives reason to expect. When the orthography of a country con- 
 tinues to be an object of reform, that nation is deficient in a 
 certain degree of refinement, the attainment of which has either 
 been missed, or the right pursuit of which is but just commenced. 
 Indeed what necessity is there for the French, Italians, Spaniards 
 and Portuguese, writing the same sound, occurring in the same 
 word, in four different ways, as for example, bataille, battaglia, 
 batalla, batalha?
 
 INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 After accurately distinguishing these three 
 principal idioms of the Romance, which formed 
 the early spoken and written language of the 
 Peninsula,* it will be more readily perceived 
 why the Catalonian and Limosin poetry could 
 not maintain itself in competition with the 
 Spanish and Portuguese, which were of more 
 recent growth, and why the poetry of Spain 
 and that of Portugal have, from their first 
 rise, preserved nearly the same character and 
 passed through the same periods of splendour 
 and decay. The Catalonian poetry was, from 
 its origin, inseparably united with the language 
 of the Troubadours, throughout its territories, 
 from the Italian to the Castilian frontiers. 
 While the Cours d' Amour, the festal meet- 
 ings, and various other gallant exhibitions 
 prevailed, in which the GAYA CIENCIA, or 
 Joyous Art, of these bards of love and chivalry 
 flourished, and in which the bards themselves 
 bore a brilliant part as masters of the cere- 
 monies, the language and the poetry gave 
 reciprocal importance to each other. When, 
 however, the romantic spirit had exhausted 
 
 * Nothing could be more improper than to follow Du Cange, 
 (Glossar. praef. 34, sq.) in dividing the vulgarc idioma of the 
 present inhabitants of the Pyrenean Peninsula into the Castet- 
 lanum, Limosinum, and Vasconicum.
 
 16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 itself in these modes, when another sort of 
 gallantry came into vogue, and finally, when 
 a more cultivated style of poetry, entirely new 
 to Spain, was introduced from Italy, and pro- 
 pagated with the Castilian language, the 
 poets of Catalonia, Arragon, and Valencia 
 began to write verses in the new manner, and 
 to disown their mother tongue in their com- 
 positions. This literary phenomenon, which 
 has its epoch only in the sixteenth century, 
 cannot be attributed to political dependence 
 alone; for hitherto the ancient national poetry 
 of the Castilians had continued foreign to 
 the inhabitants of the Arragonian provinces, 
 individual imitators excepted, even after these 
 provinces were united with the Castiles. But 
 when the Arragonese, in their zeal to vie with 
 the Castilians in the reform of their ancient 
 poetry, began to write verses in the Castilian 
 language, their success was facilitated by the 
 relationship which had long subsisted between 
 the old Provencal poetry, the sister of the 
 Limosin, and the Italian, which in the 
 sixteenth century became the model of the 
 Spanish and Portuguese.* 
 
 * A particular account of the Limosin poetry, even in its 
 last period, which is late enough to come into the division of time 
 Called the latter ages, does not belong to the history of modern
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 The ancient Castilian poetry was as closely 
 allied to the Portuguese and the Galician, as 
 it was distinctly separated from the Limosin. 
 The Troubadours had, it is true, chaunted 
 their lays at the courts of Castile and Por- 
 tugal, but the national taste in both king- 
 doms preferred different accents, other metrical 
 combinations, and was accustomed to quite 
 another kind of poetry of its own creation. 
 No Troubadours were needed in these countries ; 
 for the common national poetry, which was 
 unknown to the Arragonian provinces, formed 
 a connecting tie for the Castilians, Portuguese, 
 and Galicians, as it was the faithful mirror of 
 their genius and character. However much 
 the Castilians might dislike the Portuguese 
 tongue, and the Portuguese, in their turn, the 
 Castilian, their poetry continued essentially 
 the same ; and the languages of both countries 
 deviated, at all times, far more from the 
 Limosin romance, than ever they differed from 
 each other. Besides, the old Galician idiom, 
 which was scarcely distinguishable from the 
 
 poetry. It ought to be treated as the last part of the chivalrous 
 poetry of the middle ages. See the notices in Velasquez and 
 Dieze, p. 45, and the still more instructive sketch of the history of 
 Limosin poetry, in Eichhorn's Gesch. der Cult. u. Lift. vol. i. 
 p. 123. 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 old Portuguese,* was originally a favourite 
 with the Castilians; and when it ceased to be 
 a literary language, the political conflicts of 
 the Spaniards and the Portuguese did not 
 destroy the poetical harmony of the two 
 nations. The Castilians, indeed, constantly 
 maintained the opinion, that the Portuguese 
 language was incapable of giving appropriate 
 expression to heroic sentiments ; but the Por- 
 tuguese contradicted this assertion, not merely 
 by words, but by deeds, f 
 
 The old Castilian, Portuguese, and Galician 
 poetry was, under its own peculiar forms, still 
 more popular and strictly national than was 
 the Provencal, or than the Italian after it 
 has ever been. It was not destined to be 
 recited in courtly circles, before lords and 
 
 * That the Portuguese and the Galician were originally not to 
 be distinguished from each other, is expressly stated by that atten- 
 tive observer of the forms of his native language, Nunez de Liau, 
 who says, As quaes ambas, (namely, the Portuguese and the Gali- 
 cian tongues) erao antigamente quasi huma mesma nas palavras, 
 e diphthongos, e pronunciafao, que as outras partes de Hespanha 
 nad tern. ORIGEM DA LINGOA PORTUGUEZA, cap. VI. 
 
 f Velasquez, who felt this, thought fit when he read the 
 Lusiade de Camoes, to pay a particular compliment to the author, 
 at the expense of the Portuguese language; for, after delivering 
 the same opinion on that language, which is entertained by most 
 Spaniards, he very elegantly adds : ** the muses thought otherwise 
 when they spoke through the mouth of Camoens."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 ladies. It arose amidst the clang of arms, 
 and was fostered by constantly reiterated rela- 
 tions of warlike feats and love adventures, 
 transmitted from mouth to mouth; while almost 
 every one who either witnessed or participated 
 in those feats and adventures, wished to give 
 them traditional circulation in the vehicle of 
 easy verse. So common was the practice 
 among all ranks of composing verses, parti- 
 cularly in Portugal, that the historian, Manuel 
 de Faria y Sousa, thought himself, at a later 
 period, justified in calling every mountain in 
 that country a Parnassus, and every fountain 
 a Hippocrene.* The poems called Romances 
 took their name from the national language; 
 and it is probable that the same name was at 
 first given to all kinds of amatory and heroic 
 ballads, the taste for which, however rapidly 
 those productions increased and supplanted 
 each other, appears to have been insatiable. 
 To mark with critical precision the limits of 
 the different species of poetic composition, 
 
 * Cada fuenle de Portugal y cuda monte son Hippocrenes 
 y Parnassos, says Manuel de Faria y Sousa, in his Epitome de 
 las Historias Portugueses. Father Sarmiento, a Spanish author, 
 whom national prejudice does not prevent from doing justice to 
 the Portuguese, mentions this observation in his instructive Me- 
 morias para la Poesia Espanola. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was never contemplated by the authors of 
 the Romances, but they very carefully dis- 
 tinguished, in their national verse, several 
 kinds of measure and forms of rhyme, which 
 differed widely from the Provencal and 
 Limosin; and having touched on this subject, 
 it will, perhaps, be most convenient here to 
 introduce a brief description of the nature of 
 the verse common to the ancient Castilian, 
 Portuguese, and Galician poetry. 
 
 Of the metrical compositions common to 
 the ancient Castilians and Portuguese, the 
 most peculiarly national were the REDON- 
 DILLAS. All verses, consisting of four trochaic 
 feet, appear to have been originally compre- 
 hended under the name of redondillas^ 
 which, however, came at length to be, in 
 preference, usually applied to one particular 
 species of this description of verse. To a 
 people so romantic and chivalrous, and at the 
 
 * The word is used in this extensive sense by Sarmiento i& 
 his Memorias, or as the book is sometimes called, Obras post- 
 humas, parte i. p. 168. Authors are far from being agreed 
 respecting the origin of the term redondillas, (according to the 
 Portuguese orthography redondilhas.) But is not the word more 
 naturally derived from redondo (round), than from a small town 
 called Redondo? Instead of redondillas, these compositions are 
 sometimes named redondillos, the word versos being understood. 
 In German they might be called rijigelverse (circular verses.)
 
 INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 same time so fond of their national poetry, 
 as the Spaniards and Portuguese, nothing 
 could be more agreeable than verses of this 
 sort, which, in languages such as theirs, 
 could be composed on the spur of the occa- 
 sion, and which to the charm of simplicity 
 add the beauty of a sonorous harmony.* It 
 is difficult to suppose that the redondillas 
 have been formed in imitation of bisected 
 hexameters, as some Spanish authors have 
 imagined.t They may, with more proba- 
 bility, be considered a relic of the songs of 
 the Roman soldiers, which were doubtless 
 often heard in these countries, .and which 
 must have left recollections, the impressions 
 of which would be easily communicated by 
 the romanized natives to their conquerors, 
 the Visigoths.^ In such verses, every indi- 
 
 * Shall it be said that there is, in the German language, no 
 kind of verse which unites to so much grace, a character so truly 
 popular! Let Burger's Nachtfeier der Venus be considered, be- 
 fore this be determined. Even the Esthonian Serfs, on the coast 
 of the Baltic, chaunt their simple ballads in the same measure. 
 Proof of this may be seen on reference to Petri's Nachrichten von 
 den Esthen, vol. ii. p. 69. 
 
 f Among others, Sarmiento, who in support of this opinion, 
 quotes some verses from Virgil, for example: Inter viburna cu- 
 pressi Tondenti barba cadebat, &c. These verses have, it is 
 true, eight syllables, but not four trochaic feet. 
 
 J How does it happen that none of the Spanish authors have
 
 22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vidual could, without restraint, pour forth 
 the feelings which love and gallantry dictated, 
 accompanied by his guitar; as little atten- 
 tion was paid to correctness in the distinction 
 of long and short syllables as in the rhyme. 
 When one of the poetic narratives, distin- 
 guished by the name of Romances, was sung, 
 line followed line "without constraint, the 
 expression flowing with careless freedom, as 
 feeling gave it birth. When, however, ro- 
 mantic sentiments were to be clothed in a 
 popular lyric dress, to exhibit the playful 
 turns of the ideas under still more pleasing 
 forms, it was found advantageous to introduce 
 divisions and periods, which gave rise to re- 
 gular strophes (estancias and coplas). Lines 
 were, for the sake of variety, shortened by 
 halving them; and thus the tender and im- 
 pressive melody of the rhythm was some- 
 times considerably heightened. Seduced by 
 the example of the Arabs, something excellent 
 was supposed to be accomplished when a 
 single sonorous and unvarying rhyme was 
 
 taken notice of the ancient songs sung by the Roman soldiers, 
 though they are evidently redondillas? Suetonius has pre- 
 served some remarkable examples of these songs; and the same 
 measure occurs after the decline of latin poetry, particularly in 
 some pious verses of Prudentius, which are quoted by Sarmiento.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 rendered prominent throughout all the verses 
 of a long romance.* Through other ro- 
 mances, however, pairs of rhymeless verses 
 were allowed to glide amidst a variety of 
 rhymed ones. At length, at a later period, 
 it was observed, that in point of elegance, 
 the redondilla was improved, rather than 
 injured by the change which was produced ; 
 when, instead of perfect rhymes, imperfect 
 ones, or sounds echoing vowels but not con- 
 sonants, were heard in the terminating sylla- 
 bles. Hence arose the distinction between 
 
 * After examining Arabic verses, written in the European 
 manner, it cannot be difficult, even for persons unacquainted with 
 the language, to form a sufficient idea of the influence which the 
 inonotonic rhymes of the Moors had on the old Castilian romances. 
 See, for example, the following passage of the Koran : 
 
 Va sciamsi, va dhohaha, 
 Val Kamari eda talaha, 
 Van nahari, eda giallaha, 
 Val La'ili eda jagsciaha. 
 
 But the Spanish ear required some variety, and accordingly pre- 
 ferred a predominant to a single unchanging rhyme. Thus in the 
 romance : 
 
 Media noche era por hilo ; 
 
 Los gallos querian cantor 
 
 Donde Claros con amores 
 
 No podia reposar, 
 
 Quanto muy grandes sospiros 
 
 Que el amor se hazia dar, &c. &c.
 
 24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 consonant and assonant verses, which has 
 been cultivated into a rhythmical beauty un- 
 known to other nations.* Thus varied, and 
 yet ever simple, the redondilla has been still 
 more valuable to Spanish and Portuguese 
 versification, than the hexameter was to the 
 poetry of Greece and Rome. It has even 
 become the prevailing measure of dramatic 
 poetry. 
 
 The period of the invention of the re- 
 dondillas was also nearly that of the dactylic 
 stanzas, called versos de arte mayor, because 
 their composition was considered an art of 
 a superior order. They had their origin, 
 according to some authorities, in Galicia 
 and Portugal. f This metrical form is, how- 
 ever, found in several of the most ancient 
 Castilian poems. As the inventors of these 
 stanzas were ignorant of the true principles 
 of prosody, the attention paid to purity in 
 
 * Such rirnas asonantes as occur in the words noble and pone, 
 dolor and corazon, are easily recognized. But from some old 
 Spanish romances, it appears that the return of the same conso- 
 nants sometimes supplies the place of an assonant rhyme; for 
 example, when the words baxo, crucifixo, enojo, &c. follow each 
 other at short intervals. 
 
 f See what is stated by Sarmiento, p. 191, from an old 
 letter of the Marquis of Santillana, of which more particular 
 notice must soon be taken in this work.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 the rhythm of the dactyles was even less than 
 in the rhymes of the redondillas. They 
 contented themselves with dealing out eleven 
 or twelve syllables, and. left the dactylic mea- 
 sure to accident. This may account for these 
 verses falling into disuse, as the progressive 
 improvement of taste, which allowed the 
 redondillas to maintain their original con- 
 sideration, was not reconcilable with the half 
 dancing, half hobbling rhymed lines of the 
 versos de arte mayor. % 
 
 Besides the above national modes of 
 rhythm and rhyme, common to Castilians, 
 Galicians, and Portuguese, the form of the 
 sonnet was also known in the west of Spain 
 and Portugal long before the imitation of 
 Italian poetry was thought of in those parts 
 of the Peninsula. It had doubtless been 
 acquired through the intervention of Pro- 
 
 * The Spanish and Portuguese versos de arte mayor very 
 much resemble some of the English popular ballads, with regard 
 to their measure. There is, however, in the rudest of the Spanish 
 and Portuguese strophes of this kind, more real rhythmus, than 
 even in the modern popular songs of the English. An old political 
 song, by Juan de Mena, commences thus : 
 
 Como, el, que duerme con la pesada, 
 Que quiere y no puede jamas acordar, 
 Mas si lo puede a la fin desechar, 
 Queda la mente con el desvelada, &c.
 
 26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 venial and Limosin poets. But the character 
 of the sonnet was not sufficiently popular for 
 the old Spaniards and Portuguese, and they 
 were never fond of that kind of poetic com- 
 position. Not less adverse to the taste of 
 the country was the long protracted alexan- 
 drine. Monkish rhymesters, who forced their 
 imitations of latin doggrels on the nation, 
 introduced this kind of verse into the Spanish 
 language, in the thirteenth or perhaps even 
 in the twelfth century, but certainly at a 
 period anterior to its appearance in any other 
 modern tongue. It soon, however, sunk into 
 disesteem, and was neglected. 
 
 Thus, during the progress of their civili- 
 zation, the Spaniards and the Portuguese co- 
 operated in cultivating the same spirit and 
 form of poetry. What is, notwithstanding, 
 dissimilar in the polite literature of the two 
 countries, and what is peculiar to each, will, 
 with other subjects, become matter for con- 
 sideration in the following sheets.
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 SPANISH ILITIERATUIRIE. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 FROM THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH TO THE END 
 OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 PROBABLE PERIOD OF THE FIRST ROMANCES. 
 
 THE origin of Castilian poetry is lost in the obscu- 
 rity of the middle ages. The poetic spirit which then 
 awoke in the riorth of Spain, doubtless first mani- 
 fested itself in romances and popular songs. Rodrigo 
 Diaz de Vivar, called El Campeador, (the Cham- 
 pion), and still better known by the Arabic title of the 
 Cid, (the Lord or Leader), assisted in founding the 
 kingdom of Castile for his prince, Ferdinand I. about 
 the year 1036, and the name and the exploits of that 
 favorite hero of the nation were probably celebrated 
 during his own age in imperfect redondillas. That 
 some of the many romances which record anecdotes of 
 the life of the Cid may be the offspring of that period, is 
 a conjecture which, to say the least of it, has never been
 
 28 HISTORY OF 
 
 disproved; and indeed the whole character impressed 
 upon Spanish poetry from its rise, denotes that the era 
 which gave birth to the first songs of chivalry must be 
 very remote. In the form, however, in which these 
 romances now exist, it does not appear that even the 
 oldest can be referred to the twelfth, far less to the 
 eleventh century.* 
 
 POEMA DEL CID. 
 
 Some examples of Old Castilian verse, which are 
 held to be more ancient than any known romance 
 or ballad in that language, have been preserved.! 
 Of these the rhymed chronicle, Of the Exile and 
 Return of the Cid, (Poema det~Ci(T>el Campeador), 
 
 * Sarmiento has written at sufficient length on the origin of 
 the Castilian romances, but the information he gives is more 
 copious than satisfactory. It would require the most laborious 
 investigation, joined to the highest critical sagacity, to penetrate the 
 obscurity in which this part of the history of literature is involved. 
 How indeed can it be ascertained to what age a ballad belongs, the 
 author of which is unknown, and which, in the progressive im- 
 provement of the language and the national taste, has been, without 
 scruple, altered by the singers ? 
 
 f These monuments of old Castilian rhyme were little known 
 until rescued from oblivion in 1775 by the publication of D. Thomas 
 Antonio Sanchez's Coleccion de Poesias Castellanas Anteriores 
 al siglo XV. a work which in respect to philology is certainly very 
 meritorious. The collection, however, appears to terminate with 
 the third volume, (Madrid, 1782), which contains the Poema de 
 Alexandra Magno. The first volume contains the celebrated letter 
 of the Marquis de Santillana on the ancient Spanish poetry, which, 
 for the first time, is printed in that volume, with a commentary by 
 the publisher, full of philological learning.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 29 
 
 is considered the oldest. This chronicle can scarcely 
 be called a poem;* and that it could not have been 
 the result of a poetic essay made in the spirit of 
 the national taste, is evident, from the nature of the 
 verse, which is a kind of rude alexandrine. It is the 
 more difficult to speak with any certainty respecting its 
 age, as there also exists a very old prose account of the 
 Cid, which corresponds in all the principal facts with 
 this rhymed chronicle. Though it may be true that 
 the author lived about the middle of the twelfth cen- 
 tury, as his editor Sanchez supposes, still it is not with 
 this work that the history of Spanish poetry ought to 
 commence. As a philological curiosity, the rhymed 
 chronicle is highly valuable; but any thing like poetry 
 which it contains must be considered as a consequence 
 of the poetic character of the nation to which the ver- 
 sifier belonged, and of the internal interest of the sub- 
 ject. The events are narrated in the order in which 
 they succeed each other, and the whole work scarcely 
 exhibits a single mark of invention. The small portion 
 of poetical colouring with which the dryness of the 
 relation is occasionally relieved, is the result of the chi- 
 valrous cordiality of the writer's tone, and of a few 
 happy traits in the description of some of the situations.* 
 
 * For example, in the following passage which Sarmiento 
 has also quoted ; the language, too, differs less from the present 
 Spanish in this, than in many other parts of the work. 
 
 De los sus ojos tan fuertemente llorando, 
 Tornaba la cabe$a, e estavalos catando. 
 Vio puertas abiertas, e uzos sin canados, 
 Alcandaras vacias sin pieles e sin mantos
 
 30 HISTORY OF 
 
 l_ 
 
 POEMA DE ALEXANDRO MAGNO. 
 
 
 
 Still less of the character of poetry belongs to the 
 fabulous chronicle of Alexander the Great (Poema de 
 Alexandra Magno), respecting the origin and age of 
 which the Spanish critics are far from being agreed. 
 Whether it be, as some pretend, a Spanish original of 
 the twelfth or thirteenth century, or as others assert, 
 the translation of a French work of the same age, in 
 verse, or, what is still more probable, a versified trans- 
 lation of a latin legend, with the manufacture of which 
 some monk had occupied his solitary hours, are ques- 
 tions which a writer of the history of Spanish poetry 
 cannot, with propriety, stop to discuss, even though 
 alexandrine verse should, as some suppose, have taken 
 its name from this chronicle. Next to stringing together 
 his rhymes,* the chief object of the author probably was 
 to dress the biography of Alexander the Great in the 
 costume of chivalry. Accordingly he relates how the 
 Infante Alexander, whose birth was distinguished by 
 
 \ 
 
 E sin falcones, e sin azores, mudados. 
 
 Sospiro mio Zid; ca mucho avie grandes cuidados. 
 
 Fablo mio Zid bien, e tan mejprado : 
 
 Grado a ti, Senor Padre, que estas en alto. 
 
 Esto me ban envuelto mis enemigos malos, &c. 
 * He states at the beginnitfg of the work the importance he 
 placed on the labour of the rhyme, which he seems to have par- 
 ticularly valued, because he made four lines always rhyme together 
 in succession: 
 
 Mester trago fremoso, no es de juglaria, 
 
 Mester es sen pecado, ca es de clerecia. 
 
 Fablar curso rimado por la quaderna via 
 
 Per silabas cantadas, ca es grant maestria.
 
 SPANISH LITEEATURE. 31 
 
 numerous prodigies, seemed, while yet a youth a 
 Hercules; how he was taught to read in his seventh 
 year; how he then every day learned a lesson in the 
 seven liberal arts, and maintained a daily disputation 
 thereon; and many other wonders of this sort.* Alex- 
 ander's officers are counts and barons. The real history 
 only feebly glimmers through a grotesque compound of 
 puerile fictions and distorted facts. But perhaps this 
 mode of treating the materials is not to be laid to the 
 account of the versifier. 
 
 GONZALO BERCEO. 
 
 There are some prayers, monastic rules, and legends 
 in Castilian alexandrines, which are regarded as of very 
 ancient date, but they were probably composed by 
 Gonzalo Berceo, a benedictine, about the middle of 
 the thirteenth century. Spanish authors have made 
 the dates of the birth and death of this monk objects 
 of very minute research, and have exerted great in- 
 dustry in recovering his rude verses.f In this field, 
 
 * El padre a vii. auos metiole a leer, 
 
 Diole a maestros urnados de seso e de saber, 
 Los megores que pudo in Grecia escoger, 
 Que lo sopiessen en las vii. artes emponer 
 
 A [pi-mil de las vii. artes cada dia licion 
 De todas cada dia facia disputacion, &c. 
 
 f Sarmiento and Sanchez may be consulted respecting those 
 enquiries. Some notices on the same topics are also to be found 
 in Velasquez, Had Berceo composed verses on temporal subjects, 
 it is probable that the Spanish writers would not have disputed 
 with so much zeal on the merits of his life. It is curious, that the 
 pious author himself calls his verse prose. The passage runs thus :
 
 32 
 
 however, the poetical historian can find nothing worth 
 the gleaning, 
 
 ALPHONSO X. ; HIS LITERARY MERITS NICOLAS 
 
 AND ANTONIO DE LOS ROMANCES, &C. 
 
 The names of several early writers of rude Castilian 
 verse are recorded by different authors. A notice, 
 however, of the literary merits of Alphonso X. called 
 the Wise, by which is meant the learned, forms the 
 most suitable commencement for a history of Spanish 
 poetry. This sovereign, who was a very extraordi- 
 nary man, for the age in which he lived, was am- 
 bitious, among his other distinctions, of being a poet. 
 Scarcely any romance or song of true poetic feeling can 
 be attributed to him; but he loved to embody his science 
 and learning in verse. He disclosed his Alchymical 
 Secrets in the dactylic stanzas, called versos de arte 
 mayor. Alchymy was his favourite study; and if his 
 assertions in verse may be relied on, he several times 
 made gold, and in times of difficulty turned his power 
 of producing that precious metal to his own advantage. 
 His verses are, in some degree, harmonious, and inge- 
 niously constructed; but no trait of poetic description 
 enlivens the dry and uninteresting precepts he details.* 
 
 Quiero far una prosa in Roman paladino, 
 En qual suele el pueblo fablar a. su vecino, 
 Ca non so tan letrado a far otro latino. 
 Bien valdra, como ereo, un vaso de bon vino. 
 
 * Having staled that he learnt his art from an Egyptian, 
 whom he invited from Alexandria, Alphonso adds :
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 33 
 
 It is not, therefore, on account of his rhymes that 
 Alphonso the Wise deserves to be placed at the head of 
 the Castilian poets. His claim to occupy that station 
 can only be founded on the attention he devoted to 
 the cultivation of the Castilian language, an attention 
 which is easily recognized even in his unpoetic verses, 
 and which could not fail to prove a most powerful 
 incitement to emulation, since he who set the example 
 was the king of the country, and possessed a reputation 
 for learning which was flattering to the national pride. 
 The greater purity and precision which was thus intro- 
 duced into the dialect of Castile and Leon, enabled the 
 poetic genius of the nation to unfold itself with in- 
 creasing vigour and freedom. But the benefits which 
 Alphonso conferred on the Spanish language and litera- 
 ture, did not stop here. The bible was, by his corn- 
 La piedra que llaman philosophal 
 Sabia facer, e me la enseuo, 
 Fizimoslo juntos, despues solo yo; 
 Con que muchas veces creci6 mi caudal. 
 
 The chemical prescriptions have a very quaint effect, as deli- 
 vered in the dancing measure of these verses, viz. 
 Tomad el mercurio assi como sale 
 De minas de tierra con limpia pureza. 
 Purgadlo con cueros par la su maleza, 
 Porque mas limpiezaen esto mi cale. 
 E porque su peso tan solo se iguale, 
 Con doze onzas del dicho compuesto, 
 En vaso de vidro despues de ser puesto. 
 Otra materia en esto non vale. 
 
 This extract may also serve as an example of the rhythmical 
 facility displayed in the verses of Alphonso. 
 VOL I. D
 
 34 HISTORY OF 
 
 mand, rendered into Castilian; and a Paraphrase of 
 Scripture History accompanied the translation. A 
 General Chronicle of Spain, and a History of the 
 Conquest of the Holy Land, founded on the work of 
 William of Tyre, were also written by his order. 
 Finally, he introduced the use of the national language 
 into legal and judicial proceedings. No direct interest 
 was, however, taken by Alphonso in the improvement 
 of the popular Castilian poetry. He probably thought 
 it too destitute of art and learning to deserve much 
 consideration. It appears to have been on this account, 
 and not from vanity, that he favoured the Troubadours, 
 assembled at his court, in whose more elegant verse his 
 praises were unceasingly proclaimed.* His influence 
 had an extensive operation; but his death, which hap- 
 pened in the year 1284, was no loss to the national 
 bards of Castile, who still sxmg their Romances in 
 obscurity. 
 
 The history of Spanish poetry continues barren of 
 names until towards the end of the fourteenth century; 
 and yet, according to all literary probability, the greater 
 part of the ancient Castilian romances, which have, in 
 the progress of time, been collected, and have under- 
 gone more or less improvement, were composed at a 
 much earlier period. One Nicolas, and an abbot 
 named Antonio, are mentioned as celebrated writers 
 of romances in the thirteenth century, anterior to the 
 
 * Histoire generate des Troubadours, torn. ii. pag. 255, 
 torn. iii. pag. 329, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 35 
 
 reign of Alphonso X.* But until the period of the 
 invention of printing, no regard was paid by the 
 learned, or by those who wished to be considered 
 learned, to popular ballads; and when the attention of 
 men of letters began at last to be directed to the old 
 romances, the authors were either forgotten, or no 
 trouble was taken to preserve or recover their names. 
 With a view, therefore, to the convenience of historical 
 arrangement, a particular account of the ancient ro- 
 mance poetry of Castile may, with propriety, be 
 postponed until the period when the first instance of 
 literary publicity, which was given to it, must be 
 recorded. In the mean while, some little known, 
 though not unimportant memorials of the state of 
 poetical and rhetorical culture in the fourteenth 
 century, may here be brought to recollection. 
 
 ALPHONSO XI. 
 
 That the example of Alphonso X. operated power- 
 fully among the grandees of Castile, cannot be doubted; 
 and to its influence must, in a great measure, be 
 attributed the encouragement given to the cultivation 
 of knowledge by Alphonso XI. This prince, amidst 
 all the troubles of his busy reign, maintained the 
 character of a protector of learning, and endeavoured 
 to distinguish himself as a writer in his native tongue. 
 
 * Sarmiento refers the oldest Castilian romances to the thir- 
 teenth century, but only hypothetically, and with the explicit decla- 
 ration, that certainly none were to be found in the form in which 
 they then existed. Respecting the Nicolas and the Antonio de los 
 Romances, see the notes of Dieze on Velasquez, p. 140. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 HISTORY OF 
 
 In the accounts of his labours given by Spanish authors, 
 he is stated to have composed a General Chronicle 
 in Redondillas,* which is either lost, or still remains 
 buried in some of the old archives of Spain. How- 
 ever slight may be the merits of this work, in a 
 poetical point of view, it is rendered interesting by 
 the circumstance, that the king chose for the rythmic 
 structure of his narrative, the easy flowing verse of 
 the romances, instead of stiff monkish alexandrines, 
 and the ungraceful dactylic stanzas. This brought 
 the redondillas more into favour. Alphonso XI. also 
 caused books to be written in Castilian prose, among 
 which were a kind of Peerage, or Register of the 
 noble families of Castile, with an account of their 
 hereditary estates and possessions, and a Hunting 
 Book, (Libro de Monteria,) in the composition of 
 which several persons assisted. Though rhetorical art 
 might derive no advantage from these books, they 
 contributed to give consideration to the national 
 dialect, and to incite persons of rank to engage in 
 literary labour. 
 
 EARLY CULTIVATION OF CASTILIAN PROSE -DON 
 JUAN MANUEL ; HIS CONDE LUCANOR ; HIS 
 ROMANCES. 
 
 But the most valuable monument of the cultivation 
 of Spanish eloquence in the fourteenth century is El 
 Conde Lucanor, a book of moral and political maxims, 
 
 * See the Bibliotheca Hispana Vetus of Nicolas Antonio, 
 under the head of Alphonso XI. and Sarmiento, p. 305.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 37 
 
 written by Don Juan Manuel, a Castilian prince. This 
 Don Juan was one of the most dTstmguished men of his 
 age.* He was descended, in a collateral line with the 
 reigning family of Castile, from king Ferdinand III. 
 usually called the SAINT. He served his sovereign 
 Alphonso XI. with chivalrous fidelity, and by the judi- 
 cious policy of his conduct, retained the favour of that 
 prince, who certainly had reason to regard him with 
 jealousy. After distinguishing himself by a number of 
 honourable and gallant deeds, Alphonso appointed him 
 governor (adelentado mayor) of the country border- 
 ing on the Moorish kingdom of Grenada. In this station 
 he became the terror of the hereditary enemy of Castile. 
 He made an irruption into Grenada, and defeated the 
 Moorish king in a great battle. After this brilliant 
 victory, he always acted one of the first parts in the 
 internal troubles of Castile, and during twenty years 
 conducted the war against the Moors. He died in 
 1362, leaving behind him some of the ripest fruits of 
 his experience in his Count Lucanor. A Spanish book, 
 so full of sound practical good sense, of a character so 
 truly unostentatious, and clothed in a simple, homely, 
 but far from inanimate garb, could scarcely be expected 
 to belong to the fourteenth century. In estimating the 
 
 * A sensible and well digested biography of this prince, by 
 Gonzalo de Argote y Molina, a writer of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, is prefixed to El Conde Lucanor, the first edition of which 
 Argote superintended. The work is not easily procured even in 
 Spain. No es de los mas communes, says Sarmiento. In the 
 library of the university of Gottingen there is a copy of the edition : 
 Madrid, 1642, 4to. 

 
 38 HISTORY OF 
 
 merit of this work, it ought also to be recollected, that 
 at the period in which it appeared, the taste for the 
 wild tales of chivalry called romances had begun to 
 prevail. Amadis de Gaul, the prototype of all sub- 
 sequent knight-errantry romances, had then obtained 
 general circulation. There is, however, in the Count 
 Lucanor, no trace of romantic extravagance, none of 
 the dreaming flights of an irregular imagination; for 
 in every passage of the book the author shews himself 
 a man of the world and an observer of human nature. 
 In the course of his long experience he had formed 
 maxims for the conduct of life which he was desirous 
 of pursuing. He gave to many of these axioms 3, 
 laconic expression in verse; and, to impress them the 
 more forcibly, invented his Count Lucanor, a prince 
 conscious of too limited an understanding to trust to 
 his own judgment in cases of difficulty. He gives the 
 Count a minister (consejero), whose wisdom fortu- 
 nately supplies the deficiency of his master's intellect. 
 When the Count asks advice of his minister, the 
 latter relates a story, or sometimes a fable. The 
 application comes at the close, and the narrative is 
 the commentary of the verse or couplet with which it 
 terminates. In this manner forty-nine moral and 
 political tales are told. They are not of equal merit; 
 but though some are inferior to others, the difference 
 is not great, and they have all the same rhetorical 
 form. Sometimes it is the idea that gives the chief 
 interest, sometimes the execution. Among the versi- 
 fied maxims are the following. 

 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 39 
 
 " If you have done something good in little, do 
 it also in great, as the good will never die."* 
 
 " He who advises you to be reserved to your 
 friends, wishes to betray you without witnesses."! 
 
 " Hazard not your wealth on a poor man's advice."! 
 
 " He who has got a good seat should not leave it."$ 
 
 " He who praises you for what you have not, 
 wishes to take from you what you have."|| 
 
 This last axiom is deduced from the well-known 
 fable of the fox and the raven. It is curious to observe 
 the resemblance between the unconscious artless sim- 
 plicity with which Don Juan Manuel relates his fable, 
 and the finely -studied simplicity 'with which the 
 elegant La Fontaine tells the same story. Who would 
 expect to find in an old Spanish book of the fourteenth 
 century, the same knowledge of the world and man- 
 kind, as distinguished the refined age of Louis XIV5 
 
 * Si algun bien fizieres, que chico assaz fuere, 
 Fazio granado; que el bien nunca muere. 
 
 f Quien te conseja encobrir de tus amigos, 
 Enganar te quiere assaz, y sin testigos. 
 
 J No aventures mucho tu riqueza 
 For consejo de ome que ha pobreza. 
 
 Quien bien see, non se lieve. 
 
 || Quien te alabare con lo que non has en ti, 
 Sabe, que quiere relever lo que has de ti. 
 
 ^[ As this work is as scarce as it is curious, to extract the 
 whole of the first tale will perhaps be agreeable to the reader. 
 
 Fablava un dia el Conde Lucanor con Patronio su Consejero, 
 en esta manera. Patronio, vos sabedes que yo soy muy cac.ador, y 
 he fecho muchas cac,as nuevas, que nunca fizo otro ome, y aun he 
 fecho y anadido en los capillos y en las piguelas algunas cosas muy 
 aprovechosas, que nunca fueron fechas, y aora los que quieren dezir
 
 40 HISTORY OF 
 
 This work appears to have been preserved without 
 alteration, as it was originally written. It is only 
 
 mal de mi fablan en escarnio en alguna manera, y quando loan al 
 Cid Ruydias, o al Conde Ferrand Gonzalez, de quantas lides que 
 fizieron, o al santo y bienaventurado Rey don Ferrando, quantas 
 buenas conquistas fizo, loan a mi, diziendo que fiz muy buen fecho, 
 porque anadi aquello en los capillos y en las piguelas. Y porque 
 yo entiendo, que este alabamiento mas se me torna en denuesto, que 
 en alabamiento, ruego vos que me a consejedes en que manera fare, 
 porque no me escarnezcan por la buena obra que fiz. Seiior Conde, 
 dixo Patronio, para que vos sepades lo que vos cumple de fazer 
 en esjx), plazeme ya que sopiessedes lo que contescio a un moro, 
 que fue Rey de Cordova. El Conde la pregunto como fuera aquello ; 
 Patronio le dixo assi. 
 
 Huvo en Cordova un Rey Moro, que huvo nombre Alhaquime, 
 y como quier que mantenia bien assaz su Reyno, no se trabajo de 
 fazer otra cosa honrada, nin de gran fama, de las que suelen y deven 
 fazer los Reyes. Ca non tan solamente son los Reyes tenudos de 
 guardar sus Reynos, mas los que buenos quieren ser, conviene que 
 tales obras fagan, porque con derecho acrecienten sus Reynos, y 
 fagan en guisa, que en su vida sean muy mas loados de las geiites, 
 y despues de su muerte finqueen buenas fazaiias de las obras que 
 ellos ovieren fecho. E este Rey non se trabajava de esto, si non 
 de comer, y de folgar, y de estar en su casa vicioso ; y acaescio, que 
 estando un dia que tauian ante el un estormento de que se pagavan 
 mucho los moros, que ha nombre Albogon, e el Rey paro mieutes, 
 y entendio que non fazia tan buen son como era menester. y tomo 
 el Albogon, y anadio en el un forado a la parte de yuso, en derecho 
 de los otros forados, y dende en adelante fazia el Albogon muy 
 mejor son que fasta entonces fazia. E comoquiera que aquello 
 era bien fecho para en aquella cosa, pero que non era tan gran fecho 
 como convenia de fazer al Rey. E las gentes en manera de escarnio 
 comen9aron a loar aquel fecho, y dezian quando llamavan a alguno 
 en Arabigo, Vahedezut Alhaquime, que quiere dezir : este es el 
 anadimiento del Rey Alhaquime. Esta palabra fue sonada tanto 
 por la tierra, fasta que lo ovo de oir el Rey, y pregunto, porque 
 dezian las gentes aqueste palabra. E conaquier que ge lo quisieran
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 41 
 
 occasionally that the difference of the language in 
 single words,* betrays the officious industry of some 
 
 negar y encubrir, tanto los afinco, que ge lo ovieron a dezir. E 
 desque esto oyo tomo ende gran peqar, pero como era muy buen 
 Rey, non quiso fazer mal a los que dezian aquesta palabra, mas 
 puso en su coracon de facer otro anadimiento, de que por fuerza 
 oviessen las gentes a loar el su fecho. E entonce porque la su 
 mezquita de Cordova non era acabada, anadio en ella aquel Rey 
 toda la labor que hi menguava, y acabola. Y esto fue la mejor, y 
 mas complida, y mas noble mesquita que los moros avian en Espana. 
 E loado Dios es aora Iglesia, y llamanla Santa Maria de Cordova, 
 y ofresciola el santo Rey don Fernando a Santa Maria quando gano 
 a Cordova de los Moros. E desque aquel Rey ovo acabado la 
 mesquita, y fecho aquel tan buen anadimiento, dixo, que pues 
 fasta entonces lo avian a escarnio, retrayendole del anadimiento que 
 fiziera en el Albogon, que tenia que de alii adelante le avrian a 
 loar con razon del anadimiento que fiziera en la mezquita de Cor- 
 dova, y fue despues muy loado: y el loamiento que fasta entonces 
 le fazian escarnesciendole, fined despues por loa, y oy dia dizen los 
 Moros quando quieren loar algun buen hecho : Este es el anadi- 
 miento del Rey Alhaquime. E vos, Senor Conde, si tomades pesar, 
 o cuidades que vos loan por escarnescer del anadimiento, que 
 fezistes en los capillos, y en las piguelas, y en las otras cosas de 
 cac.a que vos fezistes, guisad de fazer algunos fechos granados e 
 nobles que les pertenesce de facer a los grandes omes. E por 
 fuerc,a las gentes avran de loar los vuestros buenos fechos, assi 
 como loan aora por escarnio en el anadimieuto que fezistes de la 
 caca. E el Conde tovo este por buen consejo y fizolo assi, e fallose 
 dello muy bien. E porque don Juan entendio que esta era buen 
 exemplo, fizolo escrivir en este libro, y fizo estos versos, que 
 dizeu assi : 
 
 Si algun bien fizieres, que chico asaz fuere, 
 
 Fazio granado, que el bien nunca muere. 
 * Thus in the first stories the old word ome stands for hom- 
 bre; but in those towards the end of the collection it is changed to 
 hombre.
 
 42 HISTORY OF 
 
 transcriber. In a short preface, the author gives a 
 candid explanation of the object of this collection of 
 tales. 
 
 Don Juan Manuel was also the author of a Chro- 
 nicle (Chronica de Esparia); the Book of the Sages, 
 (Libro de los Sabios); a Book of Chivalry, (Libra 
 del Caballero); and several other works in prose of a 
 similar nature.* It appears that these works are now 
 lost, though they were preserved in manuscript in the 
 sixteenth century. A collection of Don Juan Manuel's 
 poems also existed at that time, according to the 
 express testimony of Argote y Molina, who pub- 
 lished El Conde Lucanor in the sixteenth centuiy, 
 and intended to publish those poems likewise. He 
 calls them coplas; and they certainly were not alexan- 
 drines. After this testimony, it can scarcely be doubted 
 that some of the romances and songs, which are 
 attributed, in the Cancionero general, to a Don Juan 
 Manuel, have this prince for their author, f But if 
 such be the fact, then how many of the similar 
 
 * Argote y Molina enumerates the prose works of this prince in 
 the before-mentioned biography. He notices the poems in an 
 appendix to his edition of El Conde Lucanor, entitled Discurso 
 sobre la poesia Espanola. Though the appendix occupies only a 
 few pages, it contains many interesting observations. 
 
 f The following romance, which is inserted without inter- 
 punctuation, as it appears in the original, may serve for a specimen 
 of those to which the name of Don Juan Manuel is attached. It is 
 certainly not the worst of its kind ; and must have found its way by 
 some lucky accident into the Cancionero general, which contains 
 scarcely any narrative romances. It is also found in another
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 43 
 
 romances which are still preserved, may, consider- 
 ing the greater antiquity of their form, be yet more 
 ancient ! 
 
 Cancionero de Romances, under the title of Romance de Don 
 Juan de Manyel. 
 
 Gritando va el cavallero 
 
 publicando su gran raal 
 
 vestidas ropas de luto 
 
 aforrados en sayal 
 
 por los montes sin camino 
 
 con dolor y sospirar 
 
 llorando a pie desca^o 
 
 jurando de no tornar 
 
 adonde viesse nyigeres 
 
 por nunca se consolar 
 
 con otro nuevo cuydado 
 
 que le hiziesse olividar 
 
 la inemoria de sua amiga 
 
 que murio sin la gozar 
 
 va buscar las tierras solas 
 
 para en ellas habitar 
 
 en una montaua espesa 
 
 no cercana de lugar 
 
 hizo casa de tristura 
 
 qu'es dolor de la nombrar 
 
 (i'liiui madera auiarilla 
 
 que llaman desesperar 
 
 paredes de canto negro 
 
 y tambien negra la cal 
 
 las tejas puso leonadas 
 
 sobre tablas de besar 
 
 el suelo hizo de plomo 
 
 porque es pardillo metal 
 
 las puertas chapadas dello 
 
 por su trabajo mostrar
 
 44 HISTORY OF 
 
 SATIRICAL POEM OF JUAN RUYZ, ARCH-PRIEST OF 
 
 HITA. 
 
 Don Juan Manuel had for his contemporary the 
 author of an allegorical satire, written in Castilian 
 
 y sembro por cima el suelo 
 secas hojas deparral 
 cado no se esperan bienes 
 esperan9a no ha destar 
 en aquesta casa escura 
 que hizo para penar 
 haze mas estrecha vida 
 que los frayles del paular 
 que duermen sob*e sarmientos 
 y aquellos son su maniar 
 lo que llora es lo que beve 
 aquello torna a llorar 
 no mas d'una vez al dia 
 por mas se debilitar 
 del color de la madera 
 mando una pared pintar 
 un dosel de blanca seda 
 en alia mando parar 
 y de muy bianco alabastro 
 hizo labrar un altar 
 con canfora betumado 
 de raso bianco el frontal 
 puso el bulto de su amiga 
 en el para le adorar 
 el cuerpo de plata fina 
 el rostro era de cristal 
 un brial vestido bianco 
 de damasco singular 
 mongil de bianco brocado 
 forrado en bianco cendal
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 45 
 
 alexandrines, or in a kind of verse which may be called 
 doggrel. The result of the researches of the Spanish 
 critics ascribes this very singular work to Juan Ruiz, 
 
 serabrado de lunas llenas 
 senal de casta final 
 en la cabe<ja le puso 
 una corona real 
 guarriecida de castanas 
 cogidas del castaual 
 lo que dize la castana 
 es cosa muy de notar 
 las cinco letras primeras 
 el nombre de la sin par 
 murio de veynte y dos anos 
 por mas lastima dexar 
 la su gentil hermosura 
 quien quel sepa loar 
 qu'es mayor que la tristura 
 del que la mando pintar 
 en lo qu' el passa su vida 
 es en la siempre mirar 
 cerro la puerta al plazer 
 abrio la puerta al pesar 
 abrio la para quedarse 
 pero no para tornar. 
 
 All the songs attributed to Don Juan Manuel in the Cancioncra 
 have a form and structure, which render it probable that they belong 
 to the age in which El Conde Lucanor was written; one, for 
 example, begins thus : 
 
 Quien por bien servir alcanza 
 Vivir triste y desamado, 
 Este tal 
 
 Deve tener confianza, 
 Que le traera este cuydado 
 A mayor mal.
 
 46 HISTORY OF 
 
 arch-priest of Hita, in Castile.* This writer evidently 
 possessed a lively imagination; he has personified with 
 great drollery Lent, the Carnival, and Breakfast, under 
 the titles of Dona Quaresma, Don Carnal, and 
 Don Almuerzo ; and these and other personages 
 are placed in a very edifying connection with Don 
 Amor. The object of the satire is thus apparent, 
 but the execution is as unskilful as the language is 
 rude. Only a part of the work has been preserved. f 
 
 Another which belongs to the class, called Villancios pos- 
 sesses more poetical merit. It commences thus : 
 Muerto es ya, muerto, Senora, 
 El triste que en ley de Amor 
 Era vuestro servitor. 
 
 La muerte pudo matalle, 
 Pues le distes ocasion, 
 Pero no pudo quitalle 
 De teneros aficion. 
 O pena sin redemcion, 
 Que pena el triste amador 
 En los infiernos de Amor. 
 
 * Sarmiento only briefly notices this arch-priest, and Nicolas 
 Antonio has entirely overlooked him. But Velasquez pays parti- 
 cular attention to him, and gives a long extract from his work. 
 
 f As a specimen by which justice will be done the author, it 
 is sufficient to quote the following passage, which is printed by 
 Velasquez. Don Amor says : 
 
 Entrada de quaresma viume para Toledo; 
 
 Guide estar vicioso, plasentero e ledo. 
 
 Falle y gran santiadad, e fisome estar quedo. 
 
 Pocos me recibieron, nin me ficieron del dedo. 
 
 Estaba en un palacio pintado de Almagra. 
 
 Vino a me mucho Dueiia de mucho aguno magra 
 
 Cori rnuchos paternostres e con oracion agra, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 47 
 
 He, however, who has to record the developement 
 of true poetic genius, must hasten from this and other 
 examples of monastic humour and rugged versification, 
 in order to speak with something like historical pre- 
 cision of the romances and other lyric compositions 
 which form the real commencement of Spanish poetry. 
 
 MORE PRECISE ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE 
 SPANISH POETIC ROMANCES AND SONGS PRO- 
 BABLE RISE OF THE ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY IN 
 
 PROSE ORIGINAL RELATIONSHIP OF THE POETIC 
 
 AND THE PROSE ROMANCES. 
 
 The latter half of the fourteenth century is the 
 period when the history of the Spanish romances and 
 songs, the unknown authors of which yet live in their 
 verse, though still very defective, begins to acquire 
 some degree of certainty.* In the absence, however, 
 of that particular information which would be desi- 
 rable, it becomes necessary to take a view of the 
 manner of thinking of the Spaniards of that age, in 
 order to connect the general idea which ought to be 
 formed of their literary culture, with those scattered 
 notices which must supply the place of a more 
 systematic account. It will here be recollected that 
 the cultivation of Spanish literature received at its 
 
 * The celebrated letter of the Marquis de Santillana, which 
 must be more particularly noticed hereafter, contributes its part in 
 illustrating the history of this period. Much however is not to be 
 learned from the letter itself. The commentary on it by Sanchez, 
 in the first volume of the before-mentioned Coleccion, is far more 
 instructive.
 
 48 HISTORY OF 
 
 commencement a national poetic impulse. In constant 
 conflict with the Moors, and acquainted with oriental 
 manners and compositions, the Spaniards felt the pro- 
 per distinction between poetiy and prose, less readily 
 than that distinction was perceived by any other 
 people on the first attempt to give a determinate 
 form to their literature. Popular songs of every kind 
 were probably indigenous in the Peninsula. The 
 patriotic Spaniards, like many other ancient nations, 
 were fond of preserving the memory of remarkable 
 events in ballads. They also began, at a very early 
 period, to consider it of importance to record public 
 transactions in prose. The example of their learned 
 king Alphonso X. who caused a collection of old 
 national chronicles to be made, gave birth to many 
 similar compilations of the history of the country. 
 But historical criticism, and the historical art, were 
 then equally unknown. As the giving to an accre- 
 dited fact a poetical dress in a song fit to be sung to 
 a guitar, was not thought inconsistent with the spirit 
 of genuine national history, still less could the relating 
 of a fabricated story as a real event in history seem 
 hostile to the spirit of poetry. Thus the historical 
 romance in verse, and the chivalric romance in prose, 
 derived their origin from the confounding of the 
 limits of epic and historical composition. The history 
 of Spanish poetical romance is therefore intimately 
 interwoven with the history of the prose chivalric 
 romance. 
 
 Whoever may have been the author of Amadis 
 de Gaul, his genius lives in his invention; this
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 49 
 
 work soon obscured, even in France, all the other 
 histories of knights-errant written in latin or French, 
 by many of which it had been preceded. From the 
 very careful investigations of several Spanish and 
 Portuguese writers, it appears that the name of the 
 real author of the first or genuine Amadis was Vasco 
 Lobeira, or, according to the Spanish orthography 
 and pronunciation, Lobera, a native of Portugal, who 
 flourished about the end of the thirteenth century, and 
 lived to 1325. It is probable, however, that before the 
 period at which the work obtained its highest celebrity 
 both in Spain and France, it had passed through the 
 hands of several emendators, and it is therefore im- 
 possible to know how much of the book, as it now 
 exists, belongs to the original author, and how far it 
 is indebted to the labours of Spanish or French 
 editors.* From these circumstances too, it appears 
 that the work could scarcely be generally known in 
 Spain before the middle of the fourteenth century; 
 and its influence on the national literature must, on 
 that account, have been the greater; for it would be 
 operating with all the force of novelty, precisely at 
 the time when the poetic genius of the nation began 
 to display itself in youthful vigour. What other book 
 
 * Whoever wishes to become acquainted with the controversies 
 on the early literature of knight-errantry, should resort to Nicolas 
 Antonio, and compare what he says with Eichhorn's learned view 
 of the subject, including the necessary references, in his Allg. 
 Gesch. der Cult. u. Litt. Theil I. p. 13G, &c. Nunez de Liao, in 
 his Origan de Lingoa Portugucza, also mentions Lobeira as 
 the. author of Amadis de Gaul. 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 HISTORY OF 
 
 could have produced an effect so fascinating on the 
 minds of the Spanish nobles, as Amadis de Gaul? 
 The monstrous perversions of history and geography 
 in that work, did not disturb the illusion of readers 
 who knew little or nothing of either history or geo- 
 graphy. The prolixity of the narrative gave as little 
 offence as the stiff formality of the style. Indeed the 
 virtues of gothic chivalry appear more pure as they 
 shine through the formal stateliness of the narration. 
 The author has borrowed nothing from the Arabian 
 tale-tellers, except the attraction of fairy machinery. 
 This was, however, a powerful charm, and gave an 
 epic-colouring to the Amadis, which, joined to the 
 pathetic descriptions of romantic heroism, produced 
 an influence over the imagination and feelings of the 
 age which no former work had possessed. The moral 
 character of the plan and execution is strangely blended 
 with a peculiar kind of delicately veiled licence, which 
 appears to have very well accorded with the spirit of 
 Spanish chivalry. While the gentle knights, amidst 
 innumerable adventures of love and heroism, observe 
 as the chief law of chivalry, the most inviolable fidelity 
 in all situations towards females as well as males, they 
 and the ladies with whom they have pledged their 
 faith, by a secret betrothing, live together without 
 scruple before marriage, as husband and wife. But 
 a picture, so true and glowing, of the noblest heroic 
 feelings and the most unshaken fidelity, circum- 
 scribing with no anxious care the boundaries of love's 
 dominion, yet admitting no offensively indecorous or 
 immoral trait, displaying the enthusiastic flights of
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 51 
 
 an imagination often exalted beyond nature, but 
 redeemed by an ingenuous simplicity of description 
 with which even a refined taste must be delighted, 
 well deserved at the time of its appearance that 
 favour which it continued for ages to enjoy. It is 
 obvidus that more of Spanish than of French features 
 enter into the character of the chivalry exhibited in 
 this work. The romantic self-torment of Amadis on 
 the Pena pobre (barren rock) is one of the striking 
 Spanish traits. Even the name Beltenebros, given 
 on this occasion by a pious hermit to the disconsolate 
 knight, contributes to prove that the work is not of 
 French origin; for the French paraphrastic translation, 
 Le beaux tenebreux, is not only in itself very insipid, 
 but poor Amadis appears quite ridiculous when made 
 to pronounce it from his own mouth as his name.* 
 
 When the Atnadis, after being widely circulated, 
 became the object of numerous imitations, the parti- 
 cular account of which may be left to the explorers of 
 literary curiosities, it was no longer possible for the 
 
 * The merit of the Amadis was not overlooked by Cervantes. 
 In the judgment passed on Don Quixote's library, the Curate wishes 
 to condemn this work first of all to the flames, because, being the 
 parent of all the books of knight-errantry in Spain, it was there- 
 fore the great cause of Don Quixote's malady; but the Barber, or 
 rather Cervantes, speaking in that character, says, " No, friend; 
 for I have heard it remarked that the Amadis is the best book 
 of the kind ever written ; it ought therefore to be spared as a 
 peculiar specit/ien of art." Whoever may be desirous of making 
 the Amadis re-appear in a state capable of being relished in the 
 present times, must, above all things, take care to preserve the in- 
 genuous simplicity of the stile, or the work will be wholly disfigured. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 HISTORY OF 
 
 prose romance of knight-errantry and the ballad ro- 
 mance to disown their relationship. At this period the 
 romance poetry obtained a consideration which it had 
 not previously enjoyed. Songs which were formerly 
 disregarded were now carefully noted down. Those 
 poetic romances, the materials for which are taken from 
 histories of knights-errant, are among the oldest of the 
 Spanish ballads which have been preserved in the 
 ancient language and form. Some are imitations from 
 the Spanish Amadis, others are translations from the 
 French ; and it may here be observed, that the Spa- 
 niards and the French possessed at this period a body 
 of romantic literature, which was throughout its 
 whole extent nearly the same to both countries. 
 With the old poetic romances, derived from books of 
 chivalry, are closely connected the most ancient of 
 the historical ballads founded on the history of the 
 country. The latter, it may be presumed, soon trans- 
 ferred their national tone and character into the former. 
 But it was not until after they had given to each other 
 a reciprocal support, that the historical romance found 
 a place in Spanish literature. They also mutually 
 declined from the height of their common celebrity, 
 and at last sunk again into the obscurity attached to 
 pieces of mere popular recreation. In this way, how- 
 ever, they have retained an oral currency among the 
 common people down to the present age. The Spanish 
 critics notice them too briefly, as if they were afraid 
 to depreciate the dignity of their literature by dwelling 
 on the antiquated and homely effusions of the poetic 
 genius of their unlettered ancestors. But a people 
 free from this prejudice who can admire simple and
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 53 
 
 natural, as well as learned and artificial poetry, and 
 who set little or no value on the latter, when it en- 
 tirely separates itself from the former, will be disposed 
 to see justice more impartially distributed to the old 
 Spanish romances.* 
 
 THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF POETIC ROMANCE. 
 
 The romances composed on subjects derived from 
 the fictions of chivalry, which have been preserved in 
 the collections, are distinguished by the old forms of 
 the language, and the primitive mode of repeating a 
 single rhyme, which often becomes a mere assonance, 
 from the romances of a later date, though even these 
 have long since been called old. Amadis de Gaul appears 
 to have contributed very little to this kind of ballad. f 
 The great number and the longest of the romances are 
 
 * The titles of all the collections of romances need not be 
 given here. A considerable part of them may be found in Velas- 
 quez, with additions by Dieze, (p. 442, &c.) and Blankenburg's 
 Zusatzen zu Sulzer's Worterbuche. 1 have before me several 
 collections, which contain some of the oldest romances I am 
 acquainted with. The best of these collections is entitled : Can- 
 cionero de Romances, en que estan recopilados la mayor parte 
 de los Romances Castellanos, que hasta agora se han compuesto. 
 Nuevamento corregido y anadido en muchos paries. Anvers 
 1555, 8vo. In the well known Romancero general none of the 
 pieces which derive their materials from knight-errantry romances 
 are to be found. 
 
 f The following romance, derived from that work, gives an 
 artless description of the sufferings of Amadis on the barren rock. 
 
 En la selva esta Amadis 
 el leal enamorado
 
 54 HISTORY OF 
 
 taken from the fabulous adventures of Charlemagne and 
 his Paladins. In them we again meet with the twelve 
 peers of France, who figure in the poems of Boyardo 
 and Ariosto, with the addition of Don Gayferos, the 
 Moor Calaynos, and other poetic characters, lo 
 whom the Spanish public were the more readily dis- 
 posed to grant an historical existence, in consequence 
 
 tal vida estava haziendo 
 qual uunca hizo Christiano 
 cilicio trae vestido 
 a sus carnes apretado 
 con diciplinas destruye 
 su cuerpo muy delicado 
 Hag-ado de las heridas 
 y en su senora pensando 
 no ce canoce en su gesto 
 segun lo trae delgado 
 de ayunos y d' abstinencias 
 andava debilitado 
 la barva trae crecida 
 deste immdo se ha apartado 
 las rodillas tiene en tierra 
 y en su corason echado 
 --". con gran humildad os pide 
 perdon si avia errado 
 al alto dios poderoso 
 por testigo ha publicado 
 y acordado se le avia 
 del amor suyo passado 
 que assi le derribo 
 de su sentido y estado 
 con estas grandes pagsiones 
 amortecido ha quedado 
 el mas leal amador 
 que en el mundo fue hallado.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 55 
 
 of the chivalric history of Charlemagne's Paladins 
 (who are represented to have fought like the Spaniards 
 against the Moors,) being held in great respect as a 
 supplemental part of Spanish National History. In 
 progress of time, however, the romance of the Moor 
 Calaynos became the subject of a proverb, employed 
 to denote verses in an old exploded and vulgar style.* 
 The ballad of the Conde Alarcos, who with his own 
 hands strangled his lady in satisfaction to the honour, 
 and in obedience to the commands of his king, appears 
 to have had its origin in some romantic work of chi- 
 valry. This and two other romances which relate 
 how the youthful Don Gayferos avenged the death of 
 his father, are among the best to which knight-errantry 
 has given birth; though in the remaining specimens of 
 this kind of ballad, the poetic genius of the age occa- 
 sionally displays itself in all its energetic simplicity. 
 The authors of these romances paid little regard to 
 ingenuity of invention, and still less to correctness of 
 execution. When an impressive story of poetical 
 character was found, the subject and the interest be- 
 longing to it were seized with so much truth and 
 feeling, that the parts of the little piece, the brief 
 labour of untutored art, linked themselves together, 
 as it were, spontaneously; and the imagination of the 
 bard had no higher office than to give to the situations 
 
 * According to Sarmiento (p. 228,) it is usual to say, Este 
 no vale las coplas de Calainos. But it is not therefore to be 
 inferred, that the ancient romance of that name is the worst of 
 the kind.
 
 56 HISTORY OF 
 
 a suitable colouring and effect. This he performed 
 without study or effort, and painted them more or less 
 successfully according to the inspiration, good or bad, 
 of the moment. These antique, racy effusions of a 
 pregnant poetic imagination, scarcely conscious of its 
 own productive power, are nature's genuine offspring. 
 To recount their easily recognized defects and faults 
 is as superfluous, as it would be impossible by any 
 critical study to imitate a single trait of that noble 
 simplicity which constitutes their highest charm.* 
 
 * It will be sufficient to cite, in support of this opinion, the 
 romance of the Conde Alarcos, which is, besides, distinguished 
 from most of the other romances by greater richness of composi- 
 tion. It opens in a very simple manner with a description of the 
 sorrow of the Infante Solesa, who, after being secretly betrothed to 
 Count Alarcos, has been abandoned by him. 
 
 Retraida esta la Infanta 
 Bien assi corno salia, 
 Viviendo muy descontenta 
 De la vida que tenia, 
 Vienda ya que se pasava 
 Toda la flor de su vida. 
 
 The fair Infanta midst the court 
 A look of sorrow wears, 
 Told by an aching heart how she 
 Is doom'd to pass her years ; 
 For far from her is ever flown 
 The early bloom of life 
 
 At length, after Count Alarcos has been long married, the for- 
 saken princess discloses her seduction lo her father. This scene 
 is strongly painted, but not overcharged: the king is transported 
 by rage and indignation; his honour appears to him so wounded, 
 that nothing but the death of the Countess can be a sufficient satis-
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 57 
 
 The simplicity of the old historical romances is 
 still more remarkable. They form altogether a mere 
 
 faction. He has an interview with the Count, addresses him 
 courteously, represents the case to him with chivalrous dignity as a 
 point of justice and honour, and concludes by categorically demanding 
 the death of his lady. Thus the developement of the story com- 
 mences in a manner, which, though most singular, is perhaps not 
 unnatural, when the ideas of the age to which the composition be- 
 longs are considered. The Count conceives himself bound as a man 
 of honour to give the king the satisfaction he desires. He promises 
 to comply with his demand, and proceeds on his way home. There 
 is a touching simplicity in the picture which is here drawn. 
 
 Llorando se parte el Conde, 
 Llorando, sin alegria, 
 .$ Llorando a la Coudessa, 
 
 Que mas que a si la queria. 
 Lloraba tambien el Conde 
 Por tres hijos que tenia, 
 El una era de teta, 
 Que la Condessa lo cria, 
 Que no queria mamar 
 De tres amas, que tenia, 
 Sino era de su madre. 
 
 Weeping he homeward wends his way, 
 
 His grief nought can remove, 
 
 Because his tears are shed for her 
 
 He more than life doth love. 
 
 He weepeth too for his three sons, 
 
 In youth and beauty dear; 
 
 The youngest boy a suckling still, 
 
 The Countess' self doth rear. 
 
 For, save his mother, none he lov'd, 
 
 Though he had nurses three, 
 
 Nor by the milk of other breasts 
 
 Would alimented be.
 
 58 HISTORY OF 
 
 collection of anecdotes of Spanish history, from the 
 invasion of the Moors, to the period when the authors 
 
 The pathetic interest now rises gradually to the highest pitch 
 of tragic horror. The Countess, who receives her husband with 
 the wonted marks of affection, in vain enquires the cause of his 
 melancholy. He sits down to supper with his family, and again we 
 have a situation painted with genuine feeling, though with little art. 
 
 Sentose el Conde a la mesa, 
 No cenava, ni podia, 
 Con sus hijos al costado, 
 Que muy mucho los queria. 
 Echo se sobre los hombros, 
 Hizo, como se dormia, 
 De lagrimas de sus ojos 
 Toda la mesa cubria. 
 
 The board is laid, he takes his place, 
 
 Where viands tempt in vain, 
 
 For near him his lov'd children are, 
 
 Now lov'd, alas ! with pain. 
 
 In seeming sleep with head reclin'd, 
 
 He tries to hide his woe ; 
 
 But from his eyes the big tears roll, 
 
 And o'er the table flow. 
 
 The apparent fatigue of the Count induces the Countess to 
 accompany him to his apartment. When they enter, the Count 
 fastens the door, relates what has passed, and desires his lady to 
 prepare for death. 
 
 De morir aveis, Condessa, 
 Antes que amenesca el dia. 
 
 Countess, thou art doom'd to die, 
 Before the morning's dawn. 
 
 She begs him to spare her only for her children's sake. The 
 Count desires her to embrace for the last time the youngest, whom 
 she has brought with her into the room asleep in her arms.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 59 
 
 of the romances flourished. Neither the materials nor 
 the interest of the situations owe any thing to the 
 invention of these simple bards. They never ventured 
 to embellish with fictitious circumstances, stories which 
 were already in themselves interesting, lest they 
 should deprive their ballads of historical credit. In 
 
 Abrazad este chiquito, 
 Que aquesto es el que os perdia. 
 Peso me de vos, Condessa, 
 Quanta pesar me podia. 
 
 Give to that babe one parting kiss, 
 That babe for whom thou'rt lost; 
 Beshrew me but I pity thee 
 I who need pity most. 
 
 She submits to her hard fate, and only asks for time to say an 
 ave maria. The Count desires her to be quick. She falls on her 
 knees, and pours forth a brief but fervent prayer ; she then requests 
 a few moments more delay, that she may once more give suck to 
 her infant son. What modern poet would have thought of intro- 
 ducing so exquisite a touch of nature? The Count forbids her to 
 wake the child. The unfortunate lady forgives her husband, but 
 predicts that, within thirty days, the king and his daughter will be 
 summoned before the tribunal of the Almighty. The Count 
 strangles her. 
 
 Echole por la garganta 
 Una toca que tenia, 
 Apreto con los dos manos, 
 Con la fuerza que podia. 
 No le afloxo la garganta, 
 Mentre que vida tenia. 
 
 In the conclusion, the fulfilment of the unfortunate Countess's 
 prophecy is briefly related. On the twelfth day the princess died, 
 on the twentieth the king, and on the thirtieth the Count himself 
 expired.
 
 60 HISTORY OF 
 
 the historical romances the story displays none of 
 those entanglements and developements which distin- 
 guish some of the longer romances of chivalry. They 
 are simple pictures of single situations only. The 
 poetic representation of the details which give effect 
 to the situation is almost the only merit which can be 
 attributed to the narrators, and they employed no 
 critical study to obtain it. In this way were thousands 
 of these romances destined to be composed, and partly 
 preserved, partly forgotten, without one of their authors 
 acquiring the reputation of a great poet. It was 
 regarded rather as an instance of good fortune than 
 a proof of talent, when the author of a romance was 
 particularly successful in painting an interesting situa- 
 tion. In general their efforts did not carry them 
 beyond mediocrity, but mediocrity was not discouraged, 
 for it depended entirely on accident, or perhaps some 
 secondary causes, whether a romance became popular 
 or sunk into oblivion. It would require a separate 
 treatise to discuss in a satisfactory manner, the degree 
 of merit which belongs to these national ballads, the 
 immense number of which defies calculation. Many 
 little, and upon the whole very unimportant specimens 
 are still worthy of preservation, on account of some 
 one single trait which each exhibits. Others, on the 
 contrary, excite attention by the happy combination 
 of a number of traits in themselves minute and of 
 little value; again, a third class is distinguished by a 
 sonorous rhythm not to be found in the rest. Unfor- 
 tunately, no literary critic has yet taken the trouble to 
 arrange these pieces in anything like a chronological
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 61 
 
 order. Until this be done, it 'cannot be discovered 
 how the historical romance gradually advanced from its 
 original rudeness to the degree of relative beauty 
 which it at last attained, though it could not rise to 
 classic perfection, as that kind of composition never 
 acquired the rank or consideration of classic poetry 
 in Spain. 
 
 Among the most ancient historical romances are 
 several, the subjects of which have been taken from 
 the earliest periods of Spanish history, anterior to the 
 age of the Cid. Like the romances derived from the 
 prose works of chivalry, they have only a single rhyme 
 which interchanges with blank verse, and which is 
 frequently lost in a simple assonance.* The romances 
 of the did; of which more than a hundred still exist, 
 are either of a more recent date, or have, at least, been 
 in a great measure modernized.! In some a series of 
 regularly arranged assonances may be perceived, t 
 
 * Those in the Cancionero de Romances are of this kiiul. 
 (See the remark, p. 35.) 
 
 f Sarmiento counted one hundred and two romances relative 
 to the Cid, in one collection. Only some of them are inserted in 
 the Romancero general, interspersed among others. 
 
 J In the following romance, for instance, the assonance is very 
 skilfully managed. 
 
 Fizo hazer al Rey Alfonso 
 el Cid un solene juro, 
 delante de muchos Grandes, 
 que se hallaron en Burgos. 
 Mando que con el viniessen 
 doze cavalleros juntos, 0:1 - 
 para que con el jurassen,
 
 62 HISTORY OF 
 
 Others are divided into stanzas, with a burden repeated 
 
 cada qual uno por uno. 
 
 For la muerte de su Rey, 
 
 que le mataron seguro, 
 
 en el cerco de Zamora, 
 
 a traycion junto del inuro. 
 
 Y quando en el templo santo 
 
 estuvieron todos juntos 
 
 levantose de su escauo, 
 
 y el Cid aquesto propuso. 
 
 Por aquesta santa casa 
 
 donde estamos en de ay uso, 
 
 que fabledes la verdad, 
 
 de aquesto que aqui os pregunto. 
 
 Si fuystes vos Rey la causa, 
 
 o de los vuestros alguno, 
 
 en la muerte de don Sancho 
 
 tengays la muerto que tuvo ! 
 
 Todos responden Amen, 
 
 mas el Rey quedd confuso, 
 
 pero por cumplir el vote, 
 
 respondio, la mismo juro. 
 
 Y con la rodilla en tierra 
 
 por fazer su cortes u&o, 
 
 el Cid delante del Rey, 
 
 assi le fablo sanudo. 
 
 Si ayer no os besa la in a no, 
 
 sabed Rey que non me plugo, 
 
 y si aora os la besare 
 
 sera de mi grado, y gusto. 
 
 Aquesto que aqui he fablado 
 
 no ha fecho agravio a ninguno, 
 
 porque lo devo a don Sancho 
 
 como buen vassallo suyo. 
 
 Pero sino lo fiziera 
 
 que dara yo por injusto,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 63 
 
 at the close of each.* In the greater part, however, 
 the rhyme almost wholly disappears, and only an 
 
 y no por buen cavallero, 
 
 me tuvieran en el mundo. 
 
 Y si ha parecido mal 
 
 a los de vuesso consul to, 
 
 en el campo los aguardo, 
 
 con mi espada, y lanca en puno. 
 
 * Of this kind is the following romance, in which the Cid 
 takes leave of Ximena. It is obviously one of the more modern. 
 
 Al arma, al arma sonavan 
 los pifaros y atambores, 
 guerra, fuega, sangre dizen 
 sus espantosos clamores : 
 el Cid apresta su gente, 
 todos se ponen en orden 
 quaudo llorosa y humilde, 
 , le dize Ximena Gomez : 
 
 Rey de mi alma, y desta tierra Conde, 
 porque me dexas? donde vas, a donde r 
 
 Que si eres marte en la guerra, 
 eres Apolo en la Corte, 
 donde matas bellas damas, 
 como alia Moros feroces. 
 Ante tus ojos se post ran, 
 y de rodillas se ponen 
 los Reyes Moros, y hijas, 
 de Reyes Christianos nobles, 
 Rey de mi alma, &c. 
 
 Ya truecan todos los guerras, 
 
 por luzidos morriones, 
 
 por arneses de Milan, 
 
 los blandus pechos de Londres, 
 
 las calc.as por duras grevas,
 
 64 HISTORY OF 
 
 accidental assonance occasionally occurs. This form 
 also prevails in most of the romances founded on the 
 history of the Moors. Their number is very great, 
 perhaps greater than that of those derived from events 
 of Spanish history; and this abundance might well 
 excite as much astonishment in the critic as it has 
 given offence to some orthodox Spaniards.* But even 
 the Spaniards of old Castilian origin found a certain 
 poetic charm in the oriental manners of the Moors. 
 On the other hand, the European chivalry, in so far as 
 it was adopted by the Moors, became more imposing 
 from its union with oriental luxury, which favoured 
 the display of splendid armour, waving plumes, and 
 
 por mallas guantas de flores : 
 mas nos otros trocaremos 
 las almas y corac,ones. 
 Rey de mi alma, &c. 
 
 Viendo las duras querellas, 
 de su querida consorte, 
 no puede sufrir el Cid, 
 que no la consuele y llore. 
 Enxugad senora, dize, 
 los ojos hasta que tome : 
 ella mirando los suyos, 
 supena publica a vozes. 
 Rey de mi alma, &c. 
 
 * A zealous orthodox author speaks with much warmth on this 
 subject in a romance which commences, " Tanta Zayda, y Adalifa." 
 Among other things he says : 
 
 Renegaron a su ley 
 
 Los romancistes de Espana, 
 
 Y ofrecieron a Mahoma 
 
 Los primicios de sus gracias.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 65 
 
 emblematical ornaments of every kind. The, Moorish 
 principalities or kingdoms were even more agitated by 
 internal troubles, and acts of violence, than the Christian 
 states; and in the former, particularly, when different 
 races powerfully opposed each other, the li ves of cele- 
 brated warriors were more fertile in interesting anec- 
 dotes than in the latter. The Christian warriors, it 
 also appears, had sufficient generosity to allow justice 
 to be done, at least to the distinguished leaders of 
 their enemies, who are described in an old romance, as 
 gentlemen, though infidels* Besides, all these ro- 
 mances, whether of Moorish or Spanish history, whe- 
 ther more ancient or more modern, present nearly the 
 same unsophisticated character and the same artless style 
 of composition. The subject is generally founded on 
 a single fact. Thus, for example, Roderick, or Don 
 Rodrigo, the last king of the Goths in Spain, before 
 the Moorish invasion, takes flight after his total over- 
 throw, and bewails his own and his country's fate; 
 and this is sufficient for a romance.f The Cid 
 
 Cabelleros Granadinos, 
 Aunque moros, hijos d'algo. 
 
 j- Las huestes de don Rodrigo 
 desmayavan y buy an, 
 quando en la octava batalla 
 sus enemigos vencian, 
 Rodrigo dexa sus tierras 
 y del real se salia, 
 solo va el desventu ratio 
 que non lleva compauia 
 el cavallo de cansado 
 ya mudar no se podia, 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 HISTORY OF 
 
 returns victorious from his exile, alights from his 
 horse before a church, and delivers a short energetic 
 
 camina por donde quiere 
 que no le estorva la via 
 el rey va tan desmayado 
 que sentido no tenia, 
 muerto va de sed y hambre 
 que de vella era manzilla 
 yva tan tinto de sangre 
 que una brasa parecia 
 las annas lleva abolladas 
 que eran de gran pedreria-, 
 la espada lleva hecha sierra 
 de los golpos que tenia. 
 el almete de aboil ado 
 en la cabera se hundia 
 la cara llevava hinchada 
 del trabajo que sufria, 
 subiose encima de un cerro 
 al mas alto que veya, 
 dende alii raira su gente 
 como yva de vencida 
 d'alli mira sus vanderas 
 y estandartes que tenia, 
 como estan todos pisados 
 que la tierra los cubria, 
 mira por los capitanes 
 que ninguno parescia, 
 mira el campo tinto en sangre 
 la qual arroyos corria 
 el triste de ver aquesto 
 gran manzilla en si tenia 
 llorando de los sus ojos 
 desta manera dezia, 
 Ayer era Rey d'Espana 
 oy no lo soy de una villa,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 67 
 
 speech; this again forms the whole subject of a ro- 
 mance.* In others, with equal simplicity of story: 
 
 ayer villas y castillos 
 oy ninguno posseya, 
 ayer tenia criados 
 y gente que me servia 
 oy no tengo una almena 
 que pueda dezir que es mia, 
 desdichada fue la bora 
 desdichado fue aquel dia 
 en que naci y herede 
 la tan grande senoria 
 pues lo avia de perder 
 todo junto y eu un dia 
 o muerte porque no vienes 
 y llevas esta alma mia 
 de aqueste cuerpo mezquino 
 pues se te agradeceria ? 
 
 * This is one of the best pieces of the kind. 
 
 Vitorioso buelve el Cid 
 a san Pedro de Cardena, 
 de las guerras que ha tenido 
 con los Moros de Valencia. 
 Las trompetas van sonando, 
 por dar aviso que llega, 
 y entre todos se senalan 
 los relinchos de Babieca. 
 El Abad, y monjes salen 
 a recebirlo a la puerta, 
 dando alaban^as a Dios, 
 y al Cid mil enorabuenas. 
 Apeose del calvallo, 
 y antes de entrar en la Iglesia, 
 toiuo el pendon en sus inarms, 
 y dize desta manera. 
 F 2
 
 68 HISTORY OF 
 
 the king joins the hands of the Cid and Ximena, 
 invests him with fiefs of castles and territories, the 
 names of which are all recorded, and thus makes 
 preparation for the marriage of the lovers. The Cid 
 lays aside his armour and puts on his wedding 
 garments, which are minutely described from the hat 
 
 Sali de ti templo santo 
 desterrado de mi tierra, 
 mas ya buelvo a visitarte 
 acogido en las agenas. 
 Desterrome el Rey Alphonso, 
 porque alia en Santagadea 
 le tome el juramento 
 con mas rigor que el quisiera. 
 Las leyes eran del pueblo, 
 que no excedi un punto dellas, 
 pues como leal vassallo 
 saque a mi rey desospecha. 
 O embidiosos Castellanos, 
 quan mal pagays la defensa 
 que tuvistes en mi espada, 
 ensanchando vuestra cerca. 
 Veys aqui os traygo ganado 
 otro reyno, y mil fronteras, 
 que os quiero dar tierras mias 
 aunque me echeys de las vuestras. 
 Pudiera dezirlo a estranos, 
 mas para cos as tan feas 
 soy Rodrigo de Bivar 
 Castellano a las derechas. 
 
 The concluding line: Castellano a las derechas, (the Castilian 
 as he ought to be) is a description of the Cid, which was well 
 adapted to produce an impression on the hearts of the people to 
 whom it was addressed.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 69 
 
 to the boots. At a tournament the Moorish knight 
 Ganzul enters the lists on a fiery steed; the beautiful 
 Zayda, who has been unfaithful to him, once more 
 yields up her heart to her lover, and confesses to the 
 Moorish ladies who surround her the emotion she 
 experiences.* The Moorish hero Abenzulema, who 
 has filled the prisons with Christian knights,f being 
 
 * The following is the commencement of this romance: 
 
 De los trofeos the amor 
 ya coronadas sus sienes, 
 muy gallardo entra Ganzul 
 a jugar canas a Gelves, 
 en un hovero furioso, 
 , . * que al ayre en su curso excede, 
 y en su pujanca y rigor 
 un leve freno detiene. 
 La librea de los pajes . 
 es roxa, morada, y verde, 
 divisa cierta y colores 
 de la que. en su alma tien^: 
 todos con lan^as leonadas .. 
 
 en corredores ginetes, 
 adovnados de penachos, 
 y de costosos jaezes : 
 el niisino se trae la adarga, 
 en quien un fenix parece, 
 que en vivas llamas se abrasa, 
 y en ceniza se resuelve; 
 la letra si bien me acuerdo, 
 dize : Es inconveniente 
 poderse dissimular 
 el fuego que amor enciende, &c. 
 
 f El que poblo las masinorras 
 De Christianos Caballeros.
 
 70 HISTORY OF 
 
 exiled by his jealous prince, takes leave of his beloved 
 Balaja.* Such is the nature of a countless number 
 of these ballads. In general, the ornaments of the 
 armour, and the device of the knight, which must har- 
 monize with these ornaments, are minutely described. 
 Were an artist of genius to study these interesting 
 situations, he would open to himself a new field for 
 historical painting. 
 
 There is a kind of mythological romance in which 
 the heroes of Greece appear in Spanish costume, which 
 may be regarded as an imitation of the species already 
 described. The history of the siege of Troy, having 
 
 * The subjoined passage forms the latter part of this romance. 
 
 La hermosissima Balaja, 
 que llorosa en su aposento 
 las sinrazones del Rey 
 le pagavau sus cabellos 
 como tanto estruendo oyo 
 a un valcon salio corriendo, 
 y enmudecida le dixo, 
 dando vozes con silencio : 
 Vete en paz, que no vas solo, 
 y en mi ausencia ten consuelo, 
 que quien te echo de Xerez, 
 no te echara de mi pecho : 
 El con la vista responde, 
 yo me voy, y no te dexo. 
 De las agravios de Rey 
 para tu firmeza a pelo, 
 Con esto passo la calle, 
 los ojos atras bolviendo 
 dosmilvezes: y de Andujar 
 toino el camino derecho.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 71 
 
 been clothed in the garb of a chivalric romance, it 
 followed, as a matter of course, that the Grecian 
 heroes should be exhibited as knights-errant in the 
 poetic romances. It is obvious, on examination, that 
 most of these mythological romances are very old.* 
 Even Christianity is made to contribute to this kind of 
 composition, and anecdotes from the bible are related 
 in the favourite romance form ; as, for example, the 
 lamentation of king David on the death of his son 
 Absalom.f 
 
 * Such, for example, is the following ludicrous description 
 of Hector's funeral. 
 
 En las obsequias de Hector 
 esta la reyna Troyana 
 con la linda Policeaa 
 y con otras muchas damas 
 tambien estavan las Griegos 
 sino Achiles que faltava 
 que fue a la postre de todos 
 y en el tempo se assentava 
 frontero la reyna Elena 
 que por Hector lamentava 
 mirando su hermosura 
 con gran cuydado pensava 
 si Menelao no fuera 
 rey Griego la conquistara 
 para casarse con ella 
 segun era muy loc.ana 
 y assi triste y pensativo 
 no podia echar la habla 
 quando miro a Policena 
 en la cora<;on le pesara, &c. 
 f Con ravia esta el rey David 
 rasgando su cordon
 
 72 HISTORY OF 
 
 CASTILIAN POETRY f IN THE THIRTEENTH AND 
 FOURTEENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 In ancient Spanish poetry the strictly lyric romances 
 do not form a different class from the narrative ro- 
 mances. On the contrary, these kinds are inseparably 
 confounded. In like manner, no essential distinction 
 between what was called a cancion (song), and a 
 lyric romance, was established either in theory or 
 in practice. A custom prevailed of classing, without 
 distinction, under the general name of romance, any 
 lyric expression of the feelings which ran on, in the 
 
 sabiendo que alii en la lid 
 
 le mataron a Absalon 
 
 cubriose la su cabega 
 
 y subiose a un mirador 
 
 con lagriinas de sus ojos 
 
 sus canas regadas son 
 
 hablando de la su boca 
 
 dize esta larnentacion 
 
 o fill mi fill mi 
 
 o fill mi Absalon 
 
 que es de la tu hermosura 
 
 tu estreinada perficion 
 
 los tus cabellos dorados 
 
 parecian rayos de sol 
 
 tus ojos lindos azules 
 
 que jacinta de Sion 
 
 o inanos que tal hizieron 
 
 enemigos de razon, &c. 
 
 Any person who in those times was capable of making redon- 
 dilla verses, must have found it very easy to produce such romances 
 as this.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 73 
 
 popular manner, in a string of redondillas, without 
 distinct strophes, and which, in that respect resem- 
 bled the greater part of the narrative romances. 
 When, however, the composition was divided into little 
 strophes, or coplas, it was usually called a cancion, 
 a ! term employed in nearly the same indeterminate 
 sense as the word song in English, or lied in German, 
 but which does not correspond with the Italian can- 
 zone. The same name, however, came afterwards to 
 be applied to lyric pieces of greater research and more 
 elevated character, if they were divided into strophes. 
 Compositions in coplas must have been common in 
 Spain about the middle of the fourteenth century; for 
 the traces of their origin lead back to the ancient 
 Spanish custom of accompanying such songs, in the 
 true style of national poetry, with dances. The 
 saraband is one of those old national dances, during 
 the performance of which coplas were sung. Hence 
 the Spanish proverb denoting antiquated and ijrivial 
 poetry, when it is said of verses that " they are not 
 worth as much as the coplas of the saraband," in 
 the same way as the romance of Calainos is quoted 
 proverbially.* But many lyric compositions which 
 are preserved in the collections of the most ancient 
 of the pieces known by the general name of romances, 
 are probably of an older date than those in coplas 
 
 * No vale las coplas de la, Sarabanda, is a proverb of precisely 
 the same signification as No vale las coplas de Calainos, 
 according to Sarmiento. See the remark, page 55. The two 
 proverbs have probably been confounded, for the romance of 
 Calainos is not in coplas.
 
 of this proof, their old language, which corresponds 
 so naturally with the ingenuous simplicity of their 
 manner, is sufficient to mark their antiquity.* 
 
 * The following is one of those pieces which may be regarded 
 as untranslatable. 
 
 Rosafresca Rosafresca 
 tan garrida y con amor 
 quando y'os tuve en mis brac.os 
 no os sabia servir no 
 y agora que os servira 
 no os puedo yo averno. 
 Vuestra fue la culpa amigo 
 , . vuestra fue que mia no 
 embiastes me nna carta 
 con un vuestro servidor 
 y en lugar de recaudar 
 el dixera otra razon 
 qu' erades casado amigo 
 alia en tierras de Leon 
 que teneys muger hermosa 
 y hijos co mo UN a flor. 
 Quien os lo dixo seuora 
 no os dixera verdad no 
 que yo nunca entre en Castilla 
 ni alia en tierras de Leon 
 si no quando era pequeno 
 que no sabio de amor, 
 
 A piece, which is a companion to the above, commences thus: 
 
 Frontefrida, Frontefrida, 
 Frontefrida, y con amor,
 
 of Santillana, who lived in the first half of the 
 fifteenth century, relates that his grandfather composed 
 very good songs, and among others some, the first lines 
 of which he quotes.* According to the statement 
 of the Marquis, a Spanish jew, named Rabbi Santo, 
 celebrated as the author of maxims in verse, flourished 
 about the same time. He also informs us, that during 
 the reign of John I. from 1379 to 1390, Alfonso 
 Gonzales de Castro, and some other poets, were 
 esteemed for their lyric compositions. But all these 
 names, so honoured in their own age, were forgotten 
 in the commencement of the fifteenth century, when 
 under the reign of John II. there arose a new race 
 of poets, who outshone all their predecessors. 
 
 Do todas las avecicas 
 Van tomar consolacion, &c. 
 
 The fiction on which this second song is founded must, not- 
 withstanding its native beauty, appear a very absurd fancy to the 
 naturalist, as it describes a nightingale wooing a turtle dove. 
 
 * " Fizo assaz buenas canciones," says the Marquis of Santil- 
 lana, in his antiquated Spanish, speaking of his grandfather. The 
 remaining notices which he gives of the origin of Spanish 
 poetry communicate nothing, in addition to what has been al- 
 ready mentioned, on those things respecting which it is most 
 desirable to be informed.
 
 76 HISTORY OF 
 
 POETICAL COURT OF JOlfN II. 
 
 The Spanish authors make the reign of John II. 
 the commencement of an epoch in their poetry. But 
 though some poetic essays of greater compass than had 
 previously been undertaken, were then produced, still 
 this period ought really to be regarded only as that in 
 which the ancient poetry received its last improvement, 
 and by no means as constituting a new era. The old 
 national muse of Castile continued the favourite of 
 many of the grandees of the kingdom who were 
 ambitious, in imitation of Alphonso X. of uniting the 
 reputation of learning to the fame of their poetry, but 
 who had more true poetic feeling than that monarch. 
 These noble authors thought they could acquire little 
 honour by devoting their attention to the composition 
 of romances, properly so called, but preferred dis- 
 tinguishing themselves by giving to lyric poetry a 
 higher degree of art in its forms, and more ingenuity 
 of invention. As a consequence of this taste, they 
 displayed a particular fondness for allegory, and 
 ingenious difficulties and subtilties of every kind 
 were the great objects of their labours. Their best 
 works are some compositions in which they seem 
 unconsciously to have allowed nature to speak, and 
 these specimens possess about the same value as the 
 anonymous romances. They brought the dactylic 
 stanzas (versos de arte mayor.,) again into vogue, 
 because such artificial strophes had a more learned 
 air than the easy flowing redondillas. Mythological 
 illusions and moral sentences were, with these authors,
 
 . 
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 77 
 
 the usual substitutes for true poetic dignity. But 
 barbarous as was their taste, nature, which they 
 wished to renounce, sometimes worked so powerfully 
 within them, that she triumphed over the pedantic 
 refinement to which they had surrendered their un- 
 derstandings; and the graceful facility of the popular 
 manner occasionally appeared in their writings. In 
 this way the ancient national poetry became amal- 
 gamated with works distinguished for laborious efforts 
 of art, and ultimately attained a higher degree of 
 consideration. There resulted, however, no revolution 
 in the literature of Spain; and it cannot be said, that 
 the authors of the age of John II. formed an epoch, 
 unless it be for having introduced, with more success 
 than Alphonso X. learning and philosophy into the 
 sphere of poetry; and for having, besides, by their 
 united endeavours, given to the ancient lyric forms of 
 their maternal language, that sort of improvement 
 which, consistently with the spirit of the age, they 
 were capable of receiving, and which finally brought 
 them to their highest state of perfection. 
 
 But this period of brilliant improvement in the 
 ancient national poetry of Spain is, in another respect, 
 more memorable than the writers on Spanish literature 
 appear to have regarded it. During the whole period 
 the Castilian monarchy was convulsed by internal 
 troubles. Even in the last ten years of the fourteenth 
 eentury, the powerful barons of the kingdom had 
 almost wrested the sceptre from the hands of John I. 
 and Henry III. Under John II. the celebrated patron 
 of poetry, who reigned from 1407 to 1454, the
 
 78 
 
 monarchy was jnore than once menaced with de- 
 struction. The grandees sported with the royal pre- 
 rogatives, and John II. had not sufficient firmness 
 of character to render his authority respected. In 
 the difficult situations in which he was involved, he 
 derived, in a certain measure, his security from his 
 love of literature, which yielded a valuable return for 
 the favours he had bestowed. It won and preserved 
 for him the attachment of many of the most con- 
 siderable noblemen of the country, who formed around 
 him a poetical court, which was not without influence 
 on public affairs. It would not be easy to find in the 
 history of states and of literature, another instance of 
 a similar court, with the members composing it, at 
 once poets, warriors, and statesmen, surrounding and 
 supporting a learned sovereign, in spite of his imbe- 
 cility, during a period of civil commotion. This 
 phenomenon proves the supremacy of the poetic spirit 
 at this time in Spain, since it was not to be subdued 
 even by the spirit of political faction, which is always 
 hostile to poetry, and which was, at this time, parti- 
 cularly powerful. 
 
 THE MARQUIS OF VILLENA. 
 
 Previously to this period, before the poets had 
 rendered the court of John II. the most brilliant 
 society of the age, an eminent nobleman, the Mar- 
 quis Enrique de Villena, was distinguished for his 
 literary efforts. He sought to adorn his erudition 
 with the lyric graces of the Limosin Troubadours,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 79 
 
 who had then attained their highest and final celebrity 
 at the court of Arragon; and, thus united, to adapt 
 both the learning and the poetry to the Castilian taste. 
 He seemed called by birth to the performance of this 
 task; for he was descended by the paternal side from 
 the kings of Arragon, and by the maternal from those 
 of Castile. His reputation for metaphysical and natural 
 knowledge was so great, that he came, at last, in that 
 ignorant age, to be regarded as a magician, and on that 
 account he and his .books were never mentioned but 
 with horror. His talent for poetic invention was, 
 however, an object of particular admiration with many 
 of the poets of the age of John II. and among others 
 of the Marquis de Santillana and Juan de Mena. 
 
 The Marquis of Villena was the author of an 
 allegorical drama, which was performed at the court of 
 Arragon in celebration of a marriage, and which may, 
 therefore, be supposed to have been written in the 
 Limosin rather than in the Castilian language. 
 Among the characters stated to have been introduced 
 into this drama, are Justice, Truth, Peace, and Cle- 
 mency.* Rhetorical and poetical competitions were 
 instituted at Toulouse, in the year 1324, under the 
 name of the Floral Games, to foster, by prizes and 
 gallant ceremonies, the Troubadour spirit. This insti- 
 tution, which was soon after imitated in Arragon, was 
 transplanted by the Marquis of Villena to Castile, but 
 the result of that enterprize was not successful.! The 
 
 * See Velasquez, according to Dieze, page 302. 
 f See Sarmiento, page 345.
 
 80 
 
 Marquis died at Madrid in 1434. A work supposed to 
 have been printed at Burgos in 1499, under the title of 
 Los trabajos de Hercules, (The Labours of Hercules), 
 used formerly to be quoted as one of his poems ; but 
 from more recent investigations, it appears that this 
 pretended poem was a mythological tale in prose.* A 
 translation of the ^Eneid by the Marquis, is besides 
 mentioned, but this work appears also to be lost. A 
 kind of art of poetry, which he wrote under the title 
 of La Gaya Ciencia, has been more fortunate; for it 
 has been partially preserved, and is still regarded with 
 respect as the oldest work of the kind in the Spanish 
 language.f This treatise, however, does not deserve 
 to be called an Art of Poetry, except in a very limited 
 sense. It must have been intended as a necessary 
 instruction, in the first place, for the Marquis of 
 Santillana, to whom it is directly addressed, and doubt- 
 less, in the next, for the other members of the Institute 
 of the Gay Science, (ElConsistorio de la gay a Ciencia), 
 which the Marquis of Villena had formed in Castile. 
 In conformity with this object, the author relates the 
 history of the Institute, endeavours to prove its utility, 
 takes that opportunity of expressing his opinion on the 
 object of poetry in general, and concludes with laying 
 down the principles of Castilian prosody. These principles 
 
 * See the observations of Sarmiento, page 352. 
 
 f An extract made from this treatise of the Marquis of Villena 
 by Gregorio Mayans, may be found in the Origines de la Icngua 
 Espanola, torn. it. pag. 321. The whole work probably exists iu 
 manuscript in Spanish libraries.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 81 
 
 appear to have been particularly useful with reference 
 to the conflict which then subsisted between the Cas- 
 tilian and Limosin tongues. Among his general 
 observations on poetry, he says " Great are the 
 benefits which this science confers on civil society, by 
 banishing indolence, and employing noble minds in 
 laudable speculations: other nations have, accordingly, 
 wished for and established among themselves, schools 
 of this science, by which it has been diffused over 
 different parts of the world."* It is obvious that this 
 active nobleman was full of zeal for the improvement 
 of the poetry of his country, and for the honour of 
 that art which was cultivated with method and dignity 
 in the Arragonian provinces, but which in Castile, 
 where it was left to itself, appeared to stand in need 
 of direction and encouragement. The difference 
 between science and art was not more clearly per- 
 ceived by the Marquis of Villena than by the other 
 poets and men of learning of his age; and to dis- 
 tinguish the Castilian forms of romantic poetry from 
 the Limosin, did not appear to him necessary. Thus, 
 while his labours contributed to heighten the respect 
 in which poetry and liberal pursuits were held, they 
 had only an indirect influence on the improvement of 
 Castilian poetry, 
 
 * Tanto es el provecho, que viene desta dotrina a la vida 
 civil, quitando ocio y ocupando los generosos ingenios en tan 
 honesta investigacion, que las otras naciones desearon y procuraron 
 haver entre si escuela desta dotrina, y por esso fue ampliada por 
 e\ mundo en diversas partes. The measure of this sonorous period 
 will not be overlooked. 
 
 VOL, I. G
 
 82 HISTORY OF 
 
 THE MARQUIS OF SANTILLANA ; HIS POETICAL 
 WORKS; HIS HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL LETTER. 
 
 After the death of the Marquis of Villena, his 
 pupil, Don Ifiigo Lopez de Mendoza, Marquis of 
 Santa Juliana, or Santillana, appears at the head of 
 the brilliant society of poets who adorned the court 
 of John II. Whenever a Marquis of Santillana is 
 mentioned in the history of Spanish literature, without 
 any more particular description, it is this nobleman 
 that is meant. He was born in the year 1398. His 
 elevated rank and great fortune, joined to the military 
 and political talents by which he was distinguished 
 from youth upwards, placed him in a situation in 
 which he was called upon to perform a principal 
 part among the nobles of Castile. His intellectual cul- 
 ture had for its basis the philosophy of Socrates ; and 
 his strict morality procured him no less celebrity than 
 his sound understanding and love of science.* This 
 uncommon union of rank, influence, character, talents, 
 and learning, could not fail to render the Marquis of 
 Santillana highly respected; and he was indeed re- 
 garded as so extraordinary a man, that foreigners are 
 said to have undertaken journies to Castile for the 
 sole purpose of seeing him. He was greatly esteemed 
 
 * Temporum iniquitate sublimi virtute superata, honorem 
 vilae ac bonum nomen fallacibus delinimeutis omnibus, quse magnam 
 quamque fortunam velut pedissequi comitantur, praeferebat, says, 
 in allusion to him, Nicolas Antonio, who at the same time refers to 
 the Chronicles, from which he had drawn his information respecting 
 the Marquis of Santillana.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 88 
 
 by king John, who, during the civil wars, constantly 
 received from him, in return, the homage which was 
 due to a protector of learning, though the Marquis 
 was not always of that prince's party. After the 
 death of John II. in the latter years of his life, this 
 eminent man assisted with his counsels Henry IV. 
 under whom the regal authority in Castile was sub- 
 sequently almost annihilated. He died in the year 
 1458. 
 
 The Marquis of Santillana possessed no uncommon 
 poetic talent. But he studied to give to the poetry of 
 his age a moral tendency, to extend its sphere by 
 allegorical invention, and to adorn poetic description 
 with the stores of learning. Two poems, in which he 
 has best succeeded in realizing these objects, are also 
 the most celebrated of his works. The first is an 
 elegy on the death of the Marquis of Villena;* a 
 lyric allegory in twenty-five dactylic stanzas, con- 
 structed according to the ancient form. The idea is 
 very simple, and the commencement of the piece 
 brings to recollection the hell of Dante, of which it 
 is probably an imitation.f The poet loses himself in 
 
 * This elegy is inserted along with other .poems by the 
 Marquis in all the editions of the Cancionero general, imme- 
 diately after the spiritual poems. No complete collection of the 
 works of this celebrated man has yet been printed. 
 
 f That the Marquis had read Dante can scarcely be doubted, 
 for he quotes him in this poeiu : 
 
 Assi conseguiinos de aqnella manera, 
 Hasta que llegamos en sumo del monte, 
 No menos cansados que Dante Acheronte. 
 G 2 '
 
 84 HISTORY OF 
 
 a desert, finds himself surrounded by wild and fright- 
 ful animals, advances forward, hears dismal tones of 
 lamentation, and finally discovers some nymphs in 
 mourning, who bewail the loss and chaunt the merits 
 of the deceased Marquis of Villena. On this poem, 
 which does not discover much ingenuity of invention, 
 the Marquis of Santillana probably expended all his 
 stock of learning. He cites as many deities and 
 ancient authors, as the nature of his work will permit 
 him to notice.* Such a display of erudition had 
 never before been seen in the Castilian language. No 
 genial poetic spirit is to be found except in the 
 descriptions and in some other scattered passages of 
 
 * Thus the two following stanzas are crowded with the 
 names of authors, ancient and modern, with the view of shewing 
 the loss which Spanish literature had sustained by the death of 
 Villena. 
 
 Perdimos a Homero que mucho honorana 
 
 este sacro monte do nos habitamos 
 
 perdimos a Ovidio el que coronanios 
 
 del arbol laureo que inuchos amava 
 
 Perdimos Horacio que nos invocava 
 
 en todos exordios de su poesia 
 
 assi disminuye la nuestra valia 
 
 que antiguos tiempos tanto prosperava. 
 Perdimos a Livio y a Mantuano 
 
 Macrobio, Valeria, Salustio, Magneo 
 
 pues no olvidemos al moral Agneo 
 
 de quien se loava el pueblo Romano 
 
 Perdimos a Julio y a Casaliano 
 
 Alano, Boecio, Petrarcha, Fulgencio 
 
 Perdimos a Dante, Gaufre, Terencio 
 
 Juvenal, Estacio, y Quintiliano.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 85 
 
 this lyric allegory;* but the verse is not destitute 
 of harmony. The other considerable poem of the 
 Marquis, consists of a series of moral reflections, 
 occasioned by the unfortunate fate of Don Alvaro de 
 Luna, the favourite of John II. ; the Marquis called 
 this work, El doctrinal de Privados, (the Manual of 
 Favourites.) It must be regarded as the earliest 
 didactic poem in the Spanish language, unless that 
 title be given to any series of moral maxims in verse. 
 The work which is divided into fifty-three stanzas 
 in redondillas, receives a poetic colouring from the 
 
 * Stanzas, like the following, deserve to be extracted from 
 this work, as they are calculated to shew what might have been 
 expected of the Marquis of Santillana, had he cultivated his talent 
 for poetry under more favourable circumstances. 
 
 Mas yo a ti sola me plaze llamar, 
 o cithara dulce, mas que la d' Orfeo ; 
 que tu sola ayuda, no dudo, mas creo 
 mi rustica inano podra ministrar. 
 O Biblioteca de mortal cantar, 
 fuente meliflua de magna eloquencia, 
 infunde tu grande y sacra prudencia 
 en mi, porque yo pueda tu planto esplicar. 
 
 A tiempo a la hora suso memorado, 
 assi coino nifio que sacan de cuna, 
 no se falsamente, o si por fortuna, 
 me vi todo solo al pie de un collado, 
 Salvatico espesso lexano a poblado 
 agreste desierto y tan espantable, 
 que temo verguenza, no siendo culpable, 
 quando por extenso lo aure recontado. 
 
 No vi la carrera de gentes cursada, 
 ni rastro exercido por do me guiasse,
 
 80 HISTORY OF 
 
 manner in which the shade of Don Alvaro is intro- 
 duced confessing his faults, and uttering those moral 
 truths, which the author wished to impress on the 
 hearts of the restless Castilians.* He was less suc- 
 
 ni persona alguna a quien deiuandasse 
 consejo a mi cuyta tan desmesurada ; 
 Mas sola una senda poco risitada 
 al medio de aquella tan gran espessura, 
 bien como adarmento subiente a 1'altura 
 de rayo Dianeo me fue deiuostrada. 
 
 * Don Alvaro de Luna begins to speak in the first stanzas: 
 
 Vi tesoros ayuntados 
 por gran dano de su dueno. 
 Assi como sombra o sueno 
 son nuestros dias contados : 
 Y si fueron prorogados 
 por sus lagrimas algunos 
 desto no vemos ningunos 
 por nuestros negros pecados. 
 
 Abrid abrid vuestros ojos, 
 gentios, niirad a mi, 
 quanto vistes, quanto vi, 
 fantasmas fueron y antojos. 
 Con trabajos con en ojos 
 usurpe tal seiioria, 
 que si fue no era mia 
 mas eudevidos despojos. 
 
 Casa, casa, guay de mi ! 
 campo a campo allegue 
 casa agena no dexe, 
 tanto quise quanto vi. 
 Agora pues ved aqui, 
 quanto valen mis riquezas 
 tierras villas fortalezas 
 tras quien mi tiempo perdi.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 87 
 
 cessful in his love songs composed in the Castilian 
 manner, to which he unfortunately thought a new 
 dignity would be given, by rendering them the 
 vehicles of learned allusions. He possessed, however, 
 the art of reconciling this pedantry with a pleasing 
 style of versification.* A kind of hymn, which he 
 composed, under the title of Los Gows de neustra 
 Seriora, (the Joys of our Lady) has been preserved, but 
 it possesses no poetic merit.f He also wrote a collec- 
 tion of proverbs and maxims in verse, for the use of 
 the Prince Royal of Castile, who afterwards ascended 
 
 * There is a singular pedantry, with a happy turn of versifica- 
 tion, in a song which commences thus: 
 
 Antes el rodante cielo 
 tornara manso y quieto, 
 y sera piadoso Aleto, 
 y pavoroso Metello. 
 Que yo jamas olvidasse 
 tu virtud, 
 
 vida mia y mi salud, 
 ni te dexasse. 
 
 Cesar afortunado 
 cessara de combatir, 
 y harian desdezir 
 al Priamides armado 
 Quando yo te dexare, 
 ydola mia, 
 ni la tu philosomia 
 olvidare; &c. 
 
 f It commences thus : 
 
 Gozate, gozosa, madre, 
 gozo de la humanidad, 
 templo de la Trinidad,
 
 88 HISTORY OF 
 
 a tottering throne under the title of Henry IV.* 
 However low a critical examination might reduce the 
 value of these works, still the Marquis of Santillana 
 deserves to retain the place assigned to him in the 
 history of Spanish literature by his contemporaries, 
 by whom he was generally admired, as the " repre- 
 sentative of the honour of poetry." 
 
 Among the literary remains of the Marquis of 
 Santillana, the critical and historical letter is particu- 
 larly remarkable. This letter, which is frequently 
 mentioned in the early accounts of Spanish poetry,f 
 
 elegida por dios padre, 
 
 Virgen que por el oydo 
 
 concebiste, 
 
 gaude, virgen, mater Christi, 
 
 y nuestro gozo infinido ! 
 
 Gozate, luz reverida, 
 segun el Evangelista 
 por la madre del Baptista 
 anunciado la venida, 
 de nuestro gozo Senora 
 que trayas 
 
 vaso de nuestro mexias 
 gozate pulchra y decora, &c. 
 
 In this way the Gozate is repeated through a series of stanzas. 
 
 * Dieze, in his remarks on Velasquez, erroneously refers to 
 the publication of Gregorio Mayans, for the proverbs in verse; 
 but only the original proverbs, without versification, (refranes que 
 dicen las viejas tras el huego) as collected by the Marquis, are 
 given in the second volume of that work, p. 179. The greater 
 part deserve to be better known, but many of them are unintelligible 
 to foreigners. 
 
 t See the note, page 24.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 89 
 
 is instructive in various respects. It affords the means 
 of accurately observing the infancy of Spanish criticism 
 in that age, for the Marquis has added to the letter 
 a collection of his ingenious maxims, (decires,) and 
 of his poems for Don Pedro, a Portuguese prince; 
 and from the embarrassment evinced by the Marquis 
 when he attempts to give the prince an account of 
 the rise of Castilian poetry, it is obvious, that with 
 respect to the real origin of that poetry, less was 
 understood at that time than is known at the present 
 day. Poetry, or the gay science, is, according to the 
 Marquis of Santillana, " an invention of useful things, 
 which being enveloped in a beautiful veil, are arranged, 
 exposed, and concealed according to a certain calcu- 
 lation, measurement, and weight."* Thus, allegory 
 appeared to him to belong to the essence of poetry. 
 He could scarcely have imbibed this opinion from 
 Dante. In Spain, as well as in Italy and France, it 
 seems to have issued forth from the monkish cells, 
 when endeavours were made to unite poetry with phi- 
 losophy, and to make the poetic ait the symbol of 
 knowledge, in order to ensure to it estimation among 
 the learned. The allegorical spirit which pervades the 
 half gothic poetry of that period, is therefore inse- 
 parably connected with the characteristic origin of 
 modern poetry. The Marquis of Santillana would 
 
 * E que cosa es la poesia, que en nuestra vulgar (there is 
 something equivocal here, for this term was not vernacular in the 
 Castilian language) llamamos gaya sciencia, sino un fingimiento de 
 cosas utiles, 6 veladas con muy fermosa cobertura, compuestas, dis- 
 tinguidas, escondidas, por certo cuento, peso, e medida.
 
 90 HISTORY OF 
 
 have come to a totally different conclusion, had he 
 taken an unprejudiced view of the genuine national 
 poetry of his country. But he imagined he was 
 laying down a principle which would ennoble it, when, 
 according to his theory, he held allegory to be indis- 
 pensable. Without scruple, therefore, he confounded the 
 Castilian and Limosin poetry together in one mass. 
 Respecting the origin of the former, he entered into 
 no investigation. He commences the history of poetry 
 with Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, and Job,* gives 
 a copious account of the changes which the art of the 
 Troubadours had undergone in the Arragonian pro- 
 vinces, and adds a notice of some of the earliest 
 Galician and Portuguese poets: among the Castilian 
 poets, he mentions king Alphonso and some others, 
 without saying a syllable on the subject of the ancient 
 romances. 
 
 JUAN DE MENA. 
 
 Juan de Mena, who is by some writers, styled 
 the Spanish Ennius, ranks, as a poet, in a somewhat 
 higher scale than the Marquis of Santillana, though 
 he was less favoured by fortune, and was not dis- 
 tinguished by so many various merits as the latter. 
 He was born in Cordova, about the year 1412. In 
 this southern district of Spain, which but a short 
 
 * He appeals to St. Isidore, whom he cites as a guarantee for 
 this origin of poetry : Isidro Cartagines, santo Arzobispo His- 
 palense, assi lo pruebra y testifica, e quiere, que el primero que fizo 
 rythmos y canto en metro hay sido Moysen, y despues Joshue, 
 David, Salomon, y Job.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 91 
 
 time before had been recovered from the Moors, the 
 Castilian genius was doubtless very rapidly naturalized. 
 Juan de Mena, though not descended from a family of 
 rank,* was not of mean origin, and at the early age 
 of three-and-twenty he was invested with a civil 
 appointment in his native city. His own inclination, 
 however, prompted him to devote himself to phi- 
 losophy, and particularly to the study of ancient 
 literature and history. From Cordova he went to the 
 University of Salamanca. But in order more nearly 
 to approach the source of ancient literature, he under- 
 took a journey to Rome, where he zealously prosecuted 
 his studies. Enriched with knowledge, he returned 
 to his native country, and immediately attracted the 
 notice of the Marquis of Santillana, and shortly after 
 of king John. Both received him into their literary 
 circles with distinguished approbation. The Marquis 
 of Santillana attached himself with more friendship to 
 Juan de Mena than to any other poet who enjoyed the 
 favour of the king, although their political opinions did 
 not always coincide. The king nominated him one of 
 the historiographers, who, according to the arrangement 
 which had subsisted since the time of Alphonso X. were 
 appointed to continue the national chronicles. Juan de 
 Mena lived in high favour at the court of John II. 
 and was a constant adherent of the king. He died 
 in 1456, at Guadalaxara, in New Castile, being then 
 about forty-five years of age. The Marquis of San- 
 tillana erected a monument to his memory. 
 
 * Honestte conditionis, says Nicolas Antonio, speaking of his 
 family.
 
 92 HISTORY OF 
 
 From the history of Juan de Mena's life, it might 
 be expected that his endeavours to extend the 
 boundaries of Castilian poetry would be made 
 under the influence of Italian taste, more or less of 
 which he may be presumed to have adopted, and on 
 his return introduced into his native country. But no 
 Italian poet, save Dante, appears to have produced 
 any remarkable impression on him. Indeed, with the 
 exception of Dante and Petrarch, there was, at that 
 period, no Italian poet of classic consideration; and in 
 the first hall' of the fifteenth century Italian poetry sud- 
 denly declined. Sonnets were still in favour throughout 
 the whole of Italy, but Juan de Mena continued faith- 
 ful to the old forms of the Castilian poetry, perhaps 
 from a feeling of national pride. He certainly did not 
 imitate the sonnet; and even from Dante himself, he 
 copied neither metrical form nor style. In allegory 
 alone he followed the footsteps of the Italian poet. 
 His most celebrated poem is, the Labyrinth, (el Laby- 
 rintho) or, the Three Hundred Stanzas (las trecientas,) 
 an allegorical historical didactic work, in old dactylic 
 verse (versos de arte mayor* ) Had the Labyrinth 
 proved what, according to the idea of the author, it 
 
 * Only the supplement to this poem is contained in the Can- 
 cionero general. The poem itself was probably too long to be 
 included in that collection. However, in the editions of the col- 
 lected works of Mena (for instance, that which I have now before 
 ine, intitled Todas las obras del famosissimo poeta Juan de 
 Mena, fyc. Anveres, 1552, 8) which Dieze notices, it fills the 
 greater portion of the volume, and is accompanied by a copious 
 commentary by Fenian Nunez.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 93 
 
 was intended to be, it would have been proper, merely 
 on account of that single work, to commence a new 
 epoch of Spanish poetry with the reign of John II. 
 But with all its merits, which have been highly extolled 
 by some authors, and which are certainly by no means 
 trivial, it can only be regarded as a mere specimen of 
 gothic art.* It belongs to the period which gave it 
 birth, and bears no traces of the superiority of a genius 
 which might have ruled the spirit of the age. Juan 
 de Mena formed the grand design of executing in this 
 work an allegorical picture of the whole course of 
 human life. His intention was, to embrace every age, 
 to immortalize great virtues, to stigmatize with oppro- 
 brium great vices, and to represent in striking colours 
 the irresistible power of destiny.f But the poetical 
 invention of Juan de Mena was subordinate to his 
 false learning. The three hundred stanzas, of which 
 the poem consists, are divided into seven orders, 
 (ordenes), in imitation of the seven planets, the in- 
 fluence of which, according to Juan de Mena's doctrine, 
 is wisely prescribed by Providence. To represent this 
 
 * The emphatic praise bestowed on this poem in Dieze's 
 observations on Velasquez, (page 168), according to which Juan 
 de Mena " maintains to his advantage a comparison with all the 
 poets of all ages," is sufficient to prove Dieze's deficiency in sound 
 criticism. 
 
 f The second stanza contains the theme, but it is very imper- 
 fectly expressed: 
 
 Tus casos fallaces, Fortuna, cantamos 
 Estados de gentes que giras y trocas, 
 Tus muchas mudanzas, tus firmezas pocas, 
 Y las que en tu rueda quexosos hallamos.
 
 94 HISTORY OF 
 
 influence figuratively, Mena resorted to a most insipid 
 and grotesque invention. After invoking Apollo and 
 Calliope, and earnestly apostrophising Fortune,* he 
 loses himself in imitation of Dante in an allegorical 
 world, where a female of astonishing beauty appears to 
 him, and becomes his guide. This female is Provi- 
 dence :f she conducts him to three wheels, two of 
 which are motionless, while the third is in a state of 
 continual movement. These wheels, it will readily be 
 conjectured, represent the past, the present, and the 
 future. Human beings drop down through this mill 
 of time. The centre wheel turns them round. Each 
 has his name and destiny inscribed on his forehead. 
 While the wheel of the present is revolving with all 
 the existing human race, it is controlled astrologically 
 in its motion by the seven orders or circles of the seven 
 planets under the influence of which men are born. 
 Whether or not these circles are perceptible on the wheel 
 itself, is not clearly stated. To this description succeeds, 
 
 * Mena, politely enough, solicits permission of Fortune to read 
 ]ter a lesson: 
 
 Dame licencia, mudable Fortuna, 
 Porque yo blasme de ti lo que devo. 
 
 Then, in well turned antitheses, he allows her a sort of regu- 
 larity which contradicts itself: 
 
 Que tu firmeza es, no ser constante, 
 Tu temperainento es destetnplanza, 
 Tu mas cierto orden es desordenanza, &c, 
 
 f Providence appears as a most beautiful young woman: 
 Una donzella tan mucho hermosa, 
 Que ante su gesto es loco quien osa 
 Otras beldades loar de mjiyores.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 95 
 
 in the order of the seven planets, along gallery of mytho- 
 logical and historical pictures, which presents abundant 
 fruits of the poet's extensive reading. This grotesque 
 composition is interspersed with individual passages of 
 great interest and beauty, though none of the traits 
 call to mind similar traits in Dante. The most glowing 
 passages of the lyric, didactic, and narrative class, are 
 those in which Juan de Mena gives utterance to the 
 language of Spanish patriotism.* He is particularly 
 successful in the description of the death of the Count de 
 Niebla, a Spanish naval hero, who attempted to recover 
 Gibraltar from the Moors; but through ignorance of the 
 return of the tide, fell a sacrifice to the waves, because 
 he preferred perishing with his men, to saving himself 
 singly.f But particular attention is bestowed on Don 
 
 * In the fourth stanza a patriotic flight seems to promise the 
 re<Mirrence of similar passages : 
 
 Como que creo, que fossen menores, 
 
 Que los Africanos, los hechos del Cid? 
 
 Ni que feroces menos en la lid 
 
 Entrassen los nuestros que los Agenores ? &c. 
 
 On another occasion the author addresses an invocation to his 
 native city Cordova : 
 
 O flor de saber y cabelleria, 
 Cordova madre, tu hijo perdona, 
 Si en los cantares, que agora pregona, 
 No divulgare tu sabiduria, &c. 
 
 f From the following stanzas the degree of talent possessed by 
 Juan de Mena for the poetical description of natural objects, with- 
 out allegory, may be fairly estimated. 
 
 Bien como medico mucho famoso 
 Que trae el estilo por mano seguido
 
 96 HISTORY OF 
 
 Alvaro de Luna,* the favourite of the king, who is 
 introduced in this poem with great pomp, under the 
 
 En cuerpo de golpes diversos herido 
 Luego socorre alo mas peligroso, 
 Assi aquel pueblo maldito sanoso 
 Sintiendo mas dafio de parte del Conde 
 Con todas sus fuerc.as juntando responde 
 Alii do el peligro mas era danoso. 
 
 Alii disparavan bombardas y truenos 
 Y los trabucos tiravan ya luego 
 Piedras y dardos y hachas de fuego 
 Con que los nuestros hazian ser menos. 
 Algunos de Moros tenidos por buenos 
 Lankan temblando las sus azagayas, 
 Passan las lindes palenques y rayas, 
 Doblan sus fuerc.as con miedos agenos. 
 
 Mientra morian y mientra matavan 
 De parte del agua ya crecen las ondas 
 Y cobran las mares sobervias y hondas 
 Los campos que ante los muros estavan, 
 Tanto que los que de alii peleavan 
 A los navios si se retrayan, 
 Las aguas crescidas les ya defendian 
 Tornar a las fustas que dentro dexavan. 
 
 * When the poet, in his ideal world, sees Don Alvaro, by a sin- 
 gular fancy he pretends not to know him, in order that he may 
 question his guide (Providence) respecting him, in imitation of a 
 similar passage in Homer: 
 
 Tu, Providencia, declara de nuevo, 
 
 Quien es aquel Caballero, que veo, 
 
 Que mucho en el cuerpo parece a Tydeo, 
 
 E en consejo a Nestor el longevo. 
 
 Among other things Providence replies : 
 Este cavalga sobre la Fortuna 
 Y doma su cuello con asperas riendas,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 97 
 
 constellation of Saturn. When Juan de Mena wrote 
 this poem, and thus proclaimed the glory of de Luna, 
 the latter had not yet fallen, and the energy of his 
 character seemed to promise, as the poet prophesied, 
 that he would ultimately triumph over all the Castilian 
 nobles who had excited the hostility of the country 
 against him. King John, as may naturally be sup- 
 posed, is in Juan de Mena's Labyrinth complimented 
 on every suitable occasion. A genealogy of the kings 
 of Spain forms the conclusion of the poem; and thus 
 were the Spaniards made to feel a kind of national 
 interest for the whole work, which in some measure 
 subsists, at least among their writers at the present day. 
 Even in Juan de Mena's time, the learned solecisms 
 with which he endeavoured to elevate his poetic 
 language were uncommon;* but other essential faults, 
 such, for instance, as Aristotelian definitions in verse, 
 were then esteemed great beauties ; and the gothic 
 and fantastic hyperboles in praise of king John, with 
 which the poem opens, as if intended to appal the 
 reader at the outset, were not at that period considered 
 unpoetic.f 
 
 Y aunque del tenga tan muchas deprendas, 
 Ella no le osa tocar de ninguna. 
 Miralo, miralo en platica alguna, 
 Con ojos humildes, no tanto feroces! 
 Como, indiscrete, y tu no conoces 
 Al Condestable Alvaro deLuna? 
 * For instance, the word longevo in the verses quoted above. 
 
 f The opening stanzas may be regarded as a poetic preface 
 or dedication; but they gain nothing by that. 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 HISTORY OF 
 
 But king John was not satisfied with the torrent 
 of praise which was poured upon him by Mena's La- 
 byrinth. The king, with critical gravity, signified his 
 wish that the poet should add sixty-five stanzas to the 
 three hundred which he had already written, so that 
 by making the number of stanzas correspond with the 
 number of days in the year, the beauty of the com- 
 position might be heightened. The sixty-five new 
 stanzas were also to have a political tendency, with the 
 view of recalling the rebellious nobles to their alle- 
 giance. Juan de Mena proceeded to the prescribed 
 task; but he could produce no more than twenty-four 
 additional stanzas (coplas afiadidas.) They are con- 
 tained in the Cancionero general. 
 
 Another work of Juan de Mena, very celebrated at 
 the period when the poet flourished, is his Ode for the 
 Poetical Coronation of the Marquis of Santillana.* 
 That Mecaenas sometimes vied with him in the com- 
 position of ingenious questions, or enigmas and their 
 
 Al muy prepotente Don Juan el Segundo, 
 Aquel, con quien Jupiter tuvo tal zelo, 
 Que tanta de parte le haze del mundo, 
 Quanta a si misme se haze en el cielo ; 
 Al gran d'Espana, al Cesar novelo, 
 Al que es con fortuna bien afortunado 
 Aquel, con quien cabe virtud y reynado, 
 A el las rodillas hincadas por suelo. 
 
 * This poem is not to be found in the Cancionero general, but 
 it is included in the Obras, mentioned in the note, page 92. Juan 
 de Mena gave it the absurd title of Calamicleos, compounded 
 from the latin calamitas and the Greek K\OS. It was afterwards 
 called, simply, La Coronacion,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 99 
 
 answers, which were versified by both in dactylic 
 stanzas.* His other poems are, for the most part, love 
 songs, in the style of the age, and according to the 
 perverted taste of the poet, loaded with mythological 
 learning. In the course of this work further notice 
 will be taken of these songs, together with other ama- 
 tory poems of the same period. During the last 
 year of his life, Juan de Mena was engaged in a moral 
 allegorical poem, which, however, he did not complete. 
 It was entitled a Treatise on Vices and Virtues, ( Trac- 
 tado de Victos y Virtudes.) The author intended in 
 an epic poem to represent the " more than civil war," 
 which the will, instigated by the passions, maintains 
 
 * Most of these questions were not very difficult to answer; 
 for instance, the following, which is preceded by three introductory 
 stanzas in a very courtly style: 
 
 Mostradme qual es aqiiel animal, 
 
 que luego' se muevo en los quatro pies, 
 
 despues de sostiene en solos los tres, 
 
 despues en los dos va muy mas ygual. 
 
 Sin ser del especie quadrupedal 
 
 el curso que hizo despues reytera 
 
 assi que en los quatro d'aquesta manera 
 
 fenece el que nace de su natural. 
 
 Del hombre se halla ser gran enemigo, 
 
 porque lo hiere do nunca sospecha, 
 
 y donde mas plaze menos aprovecha 
 
 tanta pon^ona derrama consigo. 
 
 Dad vos Senor pues un tal castigo, 
 
 o de virtudes tal arma que vista, 
 
 porque alomeoos punando resista 
 
 contra quien tiene tal guerra comigo. 
 H 2!
 
 100 HISTORY OF 
 
 with reason.* The will and reason are in the end 
 personified. 
 
 To collect biographical notices of the other poets 
 and writers of verse who enjoyed the favour of 
 king John II. and whose works are partly contained 
 in the Cancionero general, or to give an extensive 
 account of their productions, is a task which must be 
 resigned to the author who has made this department 
 of Spanish literature his particular study. As to poetic 
 value, the writings of all those authors are in the main 
 the same; and it may therefore be presumed that it 
 will prove more instructive to consider works so nearly 
 related to each other, under the comprehensive view 
 of general criticism. A few notices, however, of men 
 worthy of more particular remembrance, may precede 
 the critical comparison of their works.f 
 
 PEREZ DE GUZMAN, RODRIGUEZ DEL PADRON, AND 
 OTHER SPANISH LYRIC POETS OF THE AGE 
 OF JOHN II. 
 
 Fernan Perez de Guzman was held in no trifling 
 consideration at the court of John II. His family, 
 which was one of the most distinguished in Castile, 
 
 * The poem commences thus : 
 
 Canta tu, Christiana musa, 
 
 La mas que civil batalla, 
 
 Que entre voluntad se halla 
 
 Y Razon, que nos accusa. 
 
 f Nicolas Antonio, whom Diez follows in his remarks on 
 Velasquez, is the authority for these notices.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 101 
 
 was related to all the other great families in the country. 
 As a poet, he studied to combine the peculiar tone of 
 moral and spiritual poetry with that of the old ro- 
 mances. His Representation of the Four Cardinal 
 Virtues, dedicated to the Marquis of Santillana, which 
 consists of sixty-four strophes or couplets, is versified 
 in redondillas, as are also his Ave Maria, his Pater- 
 noster, and his other spiritual songs. 
 
 Rodriguez del Padron seems likewise to have been 
 held in some esteem at the court of John II. His 
 family name is not known, and as little are the dates 
 of his birth and death, but he is named after the place 
 of his nativity, the little town El Padron in Galicia. 
 It is remarkable that in his poetry he dropped his 
 Galician idiom and adopted the Castilian. Besides 
 the reputation he obtained by his poetic productions, 
 which are chiefly love songs, he is celebrated for his 
 friendship with the Galician poet Macias, who will be 
 further mentioned in the history of Portuguese poetry. 
 The tragical death of Macias, who fell a sacrifice to 
 his romantic susceptibility, made such an impression on 
 Rodriguez del Padron, that he shut himself up in a 
 dominican cloister, which he had erected at his own 
 expense. He became a monk, and terminated his life 
 in that convent. 
 
 Alonzo de Santa Maria, called also Alonzo de Car- 
 tagena, wrote love songs, probably in his youth, and 
 then devoted himself to spiritual affairs. He died 
 Archbishop of Burgos, in the year 1456. 
 
 Several other poets whose works fill the Cancionero 
 general, also lived in the reign, or rather under the
 
 102 HISTORY OF 
 
 anticipated domination of queen Isabella, who, in the 
 year 1465, vouchsafed to her almost dethroned brother, 
 Henry IV. the little authority, which, as a nominal 
 king he retained till his death in 1474. At this 
 troubled period Garci Sanchez de Badajoz sang his 
 passionate and glowing songs of love; and at the same 
 time flourished the two Manriques, Gomez Manrique 
 and Jorge Manrique; the latter was nephew to the 
 former. Both owed the consideration they enjoyed no 
 less to their poetical works than to their high and pure 
 Castilian descent. The Bachellor de la Torre, of whom 
 nothing further is known than what his own songs 
 express, lived at the same period. 
 
 OF THE CANCIONERO GENERAL, AND THE DIF- 
 FERENT KINDS OF ANCIENT SPANISH SONGS. 
 
 Between the works of the above poets, all of which 
 are to be found in the Cancionero general., and the 
 other poems contained in the same collection, whether 
 their authors lived in the first or the second half of the 
 fifteenth century, there is a very striking resemblance. 
 This collection, so remarkable in its kind, may therefore 
 be regarded as a single work, which, together with a 
 portion of the General Romance Book (Romancero 
 general), embraces nearly all the Castilian poetry of the 
 fifteenth century. No other remains of Spanish poetry, 
 belonging to the same age, are sufficiently important to 
 be brought into comparison with this national treasure. 
 It may not, then, be improper to introduce here, a few 
 particulars respecting the history of the Cancionero
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 103 
 
 general. Of the Romancero general some further ac- 
 count must hereafter be given. 
 
 The bibliographic notices towards the history of 
 the collections of Spanish poetry, to be found in the 
 works of various authors, readily explain why many 
 old Spanish poems and names of poets have been either 
 totally lost, or are still only preserved in manuscript in a 
 way which renders them foreign to literature. It appears 
 that having been withheld from the press, on the intro- 
 duction of printing into Spain,* they were forgotten as 
 soon as other collections were made known by means of 
 that art. In the reign of John II. Alphonso de Baena, 
 who himself wrote in verse, prepared a collection of 
 old lyric pieces, under the title of Cancionero de Poetas 
 Antiguos. This collection, though still preserved in 
 the library of the Escurial, was never printed;! but 
 a list of the poets whose works are contained in it, 
 has appeared, and includes names which do not 
 occur elsewhere. Alvarez de Villapandino is men- 
 tioned as a particularly excellent " master and patron 
 of the said art," namely, poetry. Sanchez Salavera, 
 Ruy Paez de Ribera, and others, of whom besides 
 
 * In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Spanish books 
 were printed in Seville by German printers. At the end of an 
 edition, probably the first, of the proverbs collected by the Marquis 
 of Santillana, (see page 88,) are the following words, which Mayans 
 y Siscar has reprinted: Aqui se acaben los refranes imprimidos 
 en la muy noble y leal civdad de Sevilla por Jacobo Comberger, 
 Aleman, ano 1508. 
 
 f On this subject Nicolas Antonio's Bib. Hisp. vet. lib. x. 
 cap. 6. may be compared with Velasquez and Dieze, page 165.
 
 104 HISTORY OF 
 
 their names, nothing else is known, are also cited. It 
 is not very probable that Alphonso de Baena's collec- 
 tion was the origin of that which subsequently appeared 
 under the title of the Cancionero general. Of this 
 celebrated collection it is merely known that it was 
 originally produced by Fernando del Castillo, at the 
 commencement of the sixteenth century, and within a 
 short period frequently augmented and reprinted. Fer- 
 nando del Castillo began his collection with the poets 
 of the age of John II. He did not, however, take the 
 trouble to carry on the series in chronological order 
 through the fifteenth century. He places the spiritual 
 poems before the rest. He then gives the works of 
 several poets of the reign of John II. mingled with 
 others of more recent date, but so arranged, that the 
 productions of each author seem to be kept distinct. 
 After, however, the works are thus apparently given, 
 other poems follow under particular heads, partly by 
 the same and partly by different authors, whose names 
 are sometimes mentioned and sometimes not: there are 
 also a few Italian sonnets, and some coplas in the 
 Valencian language. In proportion as the collection 
 extended, the additions were always inserted at the 
 end of the book. In the oldest editions the number of 
 poets mentioned amounts to one hundred and thirty- 
 six.* 
 
 * To this number they amount in the old folio edition, 
 printed with gothic characters, which forms one of the literary 
 curiosities of the library of Gottingen. Dieze, in his observations 
 on Velasquez, page 177, gives a particular account of this, as well 
 as of the succeeding editions of the Cancionero general.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 105 
 
 A nation which can enumerate one hundred and 
 thirty-six song writers in a single century, and which 
 also possesses a great number of songs by unknown 
 authors, produced within the same period, may well 
 boast of its lyric genius; and the literary historian, 
 before he proceeds to a closer review of this collection, 
 may reasonably expect to find in it a full and true 
 representation of the national character. Thus the old 
 Spanish Cancionero is even more interesting to the 
 philosophic observer of human nature than to the 
 critic. 
 
 The Spiritual Songs, (Obras de Devotion,) at the 
 head of the collection, probably will not fulfil the expec- 
 tations which may be formed respecting them. It is 
 natural to presume that in a nation so poetically in- 
 clined, and in an age when, for the most part, nature 
 was followed without reference to the rules of art, the 
 poets could not fail to view Christianity on its poetic 
 side. But the scholastic forms of the existing theology 
 crushed the genius of poetry; and the unpoetic side of 
 Christianity, because it was the most learned, was alone 
 deemed worthy the strains of the Spanish poets of the 
 fifteenth century. They likewise seldom ventured to 
 give scope to the fancy in devotional verses, because the 
 nation was accustomed to the most implicit faith in 
 every dogma of the church, and the recognition of the 
 sacredness of literal interpretation was identified with 
 orthodoxy, long before the terrors of the inquisition and 
 its burning piles were known. This rigid orthodoxy of 
 the Spanish Christians was a consequence of their war 
 of five hundred years duration with the Moors. Through- 
 out that long period the Spanish knight invariably fought
 
 106 HISTORY OF 
 
 for religion and his country; and from the constant hosti- 
 lity that prevailed between the Christian and Mahometan 
 faiths, the Spanish Christians were wont to make a parade 
 of their creed, as the Christians of the east are accus- 
 tomed to do at the present day. Hence the strictest for- 
 mality was observed in all matters connected with re- 
 ligion; and great as was the enthusiasm of the Spa- 
 niards in the fifteenth century, it produced few, if any, 
 lyric compositions, containing more poetry than a com- 
 mon hymn. Whether reference be made to the Twenty 
 Perfections of the Holy Virgin,* (Obraenloor de veinte 
 excellenciasdenuestra Sefiora), by Juan Tulante, who is 
 the author of most of the spiritual songs in the Cancionero 
 general; to the play on the five letters of the name Ma- 
 ria ,f by the Visconde de Altamira; or to Fernan Perez 
 de Guzman's versions of the Ave Maria and Pater- 
 noster^ which could not have been more dryly and for- 
 mally written in prose; we find in all the same monotony 
 without any poetic adaptation of the materials. 
 
 * With this spiritual composition, the Cancionero general 
 commences. The reader will have enough in the first stanza: 
 
 Enantes, que culpa fuesso cansada, 
 
 Tu, Virgen benign a, ya y ves delante, 
 
 Tan lexos del crimen y del semejante, 
 
 Que sola quedaste daquel libertada, &c. 
 
 f This silly conceit, which consists only of eight lines, com- 
 mences thus: 
 
 La M madre te muestra, 
 
 La A te manda adorar, &c. 
 J The Ave begins thus : 
 
 Ave, preciosa Maria, 
 
 Que se deve iriterpretar 
 
 Trasmontana de la mar, 
 
 Qne los raareantes guia.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 107 
 
 The moral poems of this collection do not weigh 
 heavier in the scale of poetic merit. The art which the 
 ancients possessed of introducing moral ideas into the 
 region of poetry, was not attainable by the pupils of 
 the monastic schools. They allegorized either virtues 
 or vices according to the catalogue and definitions of 
 the scholastic philosophy; or they made common place 
 observations on human Life, sometimes with declamatory 
 pomp, sometimes with real warmth of feeling, and occa- 
 sionally in agreeable verse, though destitute of any 
 poetic spirit. Gomez Manrique with commendable 
 frankness addressed a didactic poem on the Duties of 
 Sovereigns (Regimiento de Principes) in redondillas, to 
 Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand of Arragon; 
 but however valuable the truths which he wished to 
 impart to the royal pair, he could only express them in 
 versified prose.* The moral coplas of his nephew 
 Jorge Manrique present somewhat stronger claims to 
 poetic merit; they were subsequently glossed as a 
 National Book of Devotion, and were held in high 
 estimation up to a recent period.f In the moral as 
 
 * In the third strophe he thus addresses king Ferdinand: 
 Gran seSor, los, que creyeron 
 Estas-consejeros tales, 
 De sus culmines reales 
 En lo mas honde cayeron. 
 Si esto contradiran 
 Algunos con ambition, 
 Testigos se les daran. 
 Uno sera Roboan, 
 Hijo del rey Solomon. 
 
 f A new edition of Jorge Manrique's Coplas, with glosses or 
 poetic paraphrases by various authors, appeared at Madrid in 1779.
 
 108 HISTORY OF 
 
 well as in the spiritual songs the character of the nation 
 is manifest. With equal warmth of feeling, with the 
 same disposition for light and sportive gaiety, the 
 Spaniards were invariably distinguished from the Ita- 
 lians by moral gravity. Hence, they have in all times 
 set a high value on rules of conduct, sentences, and use- 
 ful proverbs, and have never regarded the principles 
 of genuine rectitude as less important than maxims of 
 worldly wisdom. 
 
 The following are the two first strophes, and the rhythmic structure 
 of the rest is not less beautiful. 
 
 Recuerde el alma dormida, 
 
 avive el seso y despierte 
 
 contemplando 
 
 come se pasa la vida, 
 
 come se viene la muerte 
 
 tan callaudo : 
 
 quan presto se va el placer, 
 
 como despues de acordado 
 
 da dolor, 
 
 como a nuestro parescer 
 
 qualquiera tiempo pasado 
 
 fue mejor. 
 
 Pues que vemos lo presents 
 
 quan en un punto se es ido 
 
 y acabado, 
 
 si juzgamos sabiamente, 
 
 daremos lo no venido 
 
 por pasado 
 
 No se engane nadie, no, 
 
 pensando que ha de durar 
 
 lo que espera, 
 
 mas que duro lo que vio 
 
 pues que todo ha de pasar 
 
 por tal manera.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 109 
 
 But love songs form by far the principal part of the 
 contents of the old Spanish Cancioneros. To read 
 them regularly through, would require a strong passion 
 for compositions of this class, for the monotony of the 
 authors is interminable. To extend and spin out a 
 theme as long as possible, though only to seize a new 
 modification of the old ideas or phrases, was, in their 
 opinion, essential to the truth and sincerity of their 
 poetic effusions of the heart. That loquacity which is 
 an hereditary fault of the Italian Canzone, must also 
 be endured in perusing the amatory flights of the Spa- 
 nish redondillas, while in them the Italian correctness 
 of expression would be looked for in vain. From the 
 desire perhaps of relieving their monotony, by some 
 sort of variety the authors have indulged in even more 
 witticisms and plays of words than the Italians, but 
 they also sought to infuse a more emphatic spirit into 
 their compositions than the latter.* The Spanish poems 
 of this class, exhibit, in general, all the poverty of the 
 
 * For instance, the following passage from a song by Juan de 
 Mena : 
 
 Ya dolor del dolor ido, 
 Que con olvido cuydado, 
 Pues que antes olvidado 
 Me veo, quefaltecido. 
 ^L&fallece mi sentido &c. 
 Or: 
 
 Cuydar me hace cuydado 
 Lo que cuydar no devria, 
 Y cuydando en lo passado 
 Por mi no passa alegria. 
 
 Such plays of words are to be found throughout the whole 
 Cancionero.
 
 110 HISTORY OF 
 
 compositions of the Troubadours, but blend with the 
 simplicity of these bards, the pomp of the Spanish na- 
 tional style in its utmost vigour. This resemblance to 
 the Troubadour songs was not however produced by 
 imitation; it arose out of the spirit of romantic love, 
 which at that period, and for several preceding cen- 
 turies, gave to the south of Europe the same feelings 
 and taste. Since the age of Petrarch, this spirit had 
 appeared in classical perfection in Italy. But the 
 Spanish amatory poets of the fifteenth century had not 
 reached an equal degree of cultivation; and the whole 
 turn of their ideas required rather a passionate than a 
 tender expression. The sighs of the languishing Ita- 
 lians became cries in Spain. Glowing passion, despair 
 and violent ecstacy, were the soul of the Spanish love 
 songs. The continually recurring picture of the contest 
 between reason and passion is a peculiar characteristic 
 of these songs. The Italian poets did not place so 
 \ much importance on the triumph of reason. The 
 rigidly moral Spaniard was, however, anxious to be 
 wise even in the midst of his folly. But this obtrusion 
 of wisdom in its improper place, frequently gives an 
 unpoetic harshness to the lyric poetry of Spain, in spite 
 of all the softness of its melody. It would be no un- 
 profitable or useless task to pursue this comparison still 
 further. But the limited extent of this work can 
 afford space for only a few notices and examples. 
 
 How successful the Spanish poets of the fifteenth 
 century were in gay and graceful love songs, when 
 guided only by their own feelings, is manifest from 
 some of the compositions of Juan de Mena; but the
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. HI 
 
 charm vanishes the instant the poet begins to display 
 his skill and erudition.* In a love song by Diego 
 Lopez de Haro, reason and the mind enter into a prolix 
 conversation on the value to be attached to affections 
 of the heart; and the thinking faculty admits reason at 
 the expense of poetry .t In the other songs of the 
 
 * The commencement of one of his songs, the two first 
 strophes of which are subjoined, is exceedingly beautiful; but in 
 the sequel the lyric spark is extinguished by pedantry. 
 Muy mas clara que la hum 
 
 sola una 
 
 en el mundo vos nacistes, 
 
 tan gentil, que no vecistes 
 
 ni tuvistes 
 
 competidora ninguna, 
 
 Desde ninez en la cuna 
 
 cobrastes fama, beldad, 
 
 con tanta graciosidad, 
 
 que vos doto la fortuna. 
 Que assi vos organize 
 
 y formo 
 
 la composition humana, 
 
 que vos soys la mas lo<jana, 
 
 soberana 
 
 que la natura crio. 
 
 Quien sino vos merecio 
 
 de virtudes ser monarcha ? 
 
 Quanto bien dixo Petrarcha, 
 
 por vos lo profetizo. 
 
 It would be absurd to attempt the translation of many of the 
 specimens which are necessary to the illustration of this work ; and 
 with respect to these lines the tender breathing of the poetry would 
 be entirely lost in a literal version. 
 
 f Reason, like a talkative person, commences the dialogue, and 
 has also the last word; she thus addresses her opponent:
 
 112 HISTORY OF 
 
 same author, in which the mind obeys only the heart, 
 he is poetic in all the simplicity of passion, though in 
 search of wit he sometimes involves himself in obscure 
 subtilties.* The fire of passion is excellently painted, 
 
 Pensamiento, pues mostrays 
 
 en vos misma claro el dano, 
 
 pregunt'os, que me digays 
 
 catnino de tanto engaiio, 
 
 do venis o donde vays 
 
 a tierra, que desconoce 
 
 muy presto la gente della 
 
 donde nace una querella, 
 
 y quien bien no le conoce 
 
 vive en ella. 
 
 Porque en ella ay una saerte, 
 
 d'una enganosa esparan^a 
 
 que el plazer nos da muerte, 
 
 por do el fin de su holgura 
 
 en trabajo se convierte. 
 
 Do sus glorias alcanc,adas, 
 
 puesto ya que sean seguras, 
 
 o con quantas amarguras 
 
 hallaras que son mezcladas 
 
 sus dulcuras ! 
 
 * He is particularly successful in expressing with old Spanish 
 plainness the emotions of passion; as for instance in the following 
 concluding strophes of a farewell song. 
 
 De vos me parto, quexando, 
 
 y de mi, muy descontento 
 
 de mi triste pensamiento. 
 
 Mi vivir lo va llorando 
 
 vuestro mal conocimiento. 
 
 Assi que por sola vos 
 
 yo de todos vo enemigo, 
 
 pues me parto, como digo,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 113 
 
 even amidst sports of wit,* in several songs by Alonzo 
 de Cartagena, afterwards archbishop of Burgos; and it 
 seems to rage incessantly in the love songs of Guivara, 
 
 mal con vos y mal con Dios, 
 
 y mal comigo. 
 
 Aunque desto en la verdad 
 
 poca culpa tengo yo, 
 
 que mi fe no se mudo, 
 
 vuesta mala voluntad 
 
 m'a traido en lo qu' est6. 
 
 Por do mis cuytas agora 
 
 vuestras seran desde aqui, 
 
 pues por vos a vos perdi, 
 
 y por vos a Dios, senora, 
 
 y mas a mi. 
 
 * What a picturesque storm of passion appears under the 
 antiquated garb of the following stanzas! and with what a fantastic 
 play of words are they interspersed! 
 
 La fuerc.a del fuego, que alumbra, que ciega 
 mi cuerpo, mi alma, mi muerte, mi vida, 
 do entrado hiere, do toca, do llega, 
 mata y no muere su llama encendida. 
 Pues que hare 1 , triste, que todo me ofende? 
 Lo bueno y lo malo me causan congoxa, 
 quemandome el fuego que mata, qu' enciende, 
 su fuerqa. que fuerc,a que ata, que prende, 
 que prende, que suelta, que tira, que afloxa. 
 
 Aso yre triste, que alegre me halle 
 pues tantos peligros me tienen en medio, 
 que llore, que ria, que grite, que calle, 
 ni tengo, ni quiero, ni espero remedio? 
 Ni quiero que quiera, ni quiero querer, 
 pues tanto me quiere tan raviosa plaga, 
 ni ser yo vencido, ni quiero veneer, 
 ni quiero pesar, ni quiero plazer, 
 ni se que me diga, ni se que me haga. 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 HISTORY OF 
 
 to one of which he has given the emphatic title of El 
 Injierno de Amores; or, The Hell of Love.* Sanchez 
 de Badajoz, when, like a despairing lover, he wrote his 
 will in poetry, thought he might avail himself of some 
 passages from the book of Job to express his suffering. 
 He divided this strange kind of will into nine lessons, 
 (leciones). The ideas are very extravagant, but the exe- 
 cution is vigorous, and in many parts not unpoetic.f It 
 
 * The following are the first and second strophes of this song. 
 Love is here a hell, in which the thoughts burn. 
 Que tu beldad fue querer ! 
 Mas a ti que a mi me quiero. 
 Tu beldad fue mensagero 
 de morir en tu poder. 
 Tu nubloso disfavor 
 me cerco sin fin eterno 
 d'unos fuegos qu'es amor 
 
 cuyo nombre es el infierno. 
 f 
 
 Qu'en su encendida casa 
 
 se queman mis pensamientos, 
 alii montan los tormentos 
 mis entranas hazen brasa. 
 Alii sospiro los dias, 
 que morir no puede luego 
 alii las lagrimas mi as 
 fortalezen mas en fuego. 
 
 f This curious composition begins like a testamentary arrange- 
 ment, and then immediately takes a poetic turn : 
 Pues Amor quiere que muera, 
 y de tan penada muerte, 
 en tal edad, 
 
 pues que yo en tiempo tan fuerte, 
 quiero ordenar mi postrera 
 voluntad.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 115 
 
 might be presumed that profane applications of the doc- 
 trines and language of the bible would have given offence 
 to the Spanish public, or at least alarmed the guardians 
 of catholic orthodoxy. But such was not the case. Rod- 
 riguez del Padron chose the Seven Joys of Love as the 
 subject of one of his songs, the title of which calls to 
 mind the Marquis of Santillana's Joys of the Holy 
 Virgin; he also versified Love's Ten Commandments, 
 (Los diez Madamientos de Amor.) 
 
 The other kinds of lyric poems,, for example, the 
 laudatory poems, which are dispersed through the Can- 
 clonero genercd, are not distinguished by any peculiar 
 features; but the poems under miscellaneous titles 
 in this collection deserve particular attention. They 
 exhibit the natural style, amalgamated with a conven- 
 tional, and thus form the model of a species of na- 
 tional poetry, which has descended to the present age. 
 
 brjs ;v-ri;->i:i; b v.nfmui'jg oin 
 
 Pero ya quc tal me siento, 
 ; H 
 
 que no lo podre hazer, 
 la que causa mi tormento 
 pues que tiene mi poder 
 ordene mi testamento. 
 
 Y pues mi ventura quiso 
 mis pensamientos tornar 
 ciegos, vanos, 
 no quiero otro paraiso, 
 sino mi alma dexar 
 en sus manos. 
 Pero que lleve de claro 
 la misma forma y tenor, 
 d'aqud que hizo d'amor 
 don Diego Lopez de Haro, 
 pues que yo muero araador. 
 I 2
 
 116 HISTORY OF 
 
 i 
 
 Certain short lyric poems, usually called songs, (can- 
 clones^) in the more strict sense of the term are 
 distinguished by a peculiar character and a decided 
 metrical form. They have always a sententious or an 
 epigramatic turn. The number of lines is generally 
 twelve, which are divided into two parts. The first 
 four lines comprehend the idea on which the song is 
 founded. And this idea is developed or applied in the 
 eight following lines. The Canclonero general contains 
 one hundred and fifty-six of these little songs, some of 
 which are the best poems in the whole book. For this 
 advantage they are probably indebted to their con- 
 ventional form, which confined the romantic verbosity 
 within narrow bounds. These little songs were to the 
 Spaniards of the fifteenth century, what the epigram 
 had been to the Greeks, and what the madrigal was 
 to the Italians and French. Like the latter, they 
 are generally devoted to some theme of gallantry; and 
 though they do not possess so high a polish, yet the 
 interest excited by the truth with which they paint the 
 character of the age, and their ingenious simplicity, 
 entitles them to be ranked among the sweetest blossoms 
 of the ancient spirit of romance.* 
 
 * The following is by a poet named Tapia. 
 
 Gran congoxa es esperar, 
 quando tarda el esperansa, 
 mas quien tiene confian^a 
 por tardar, 
 no deve desesperar. 
 
 Assi que vos, pensamiento, 
 que passays pena esperando, 
 galardou se va negando,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 117 
 
 The Villancicos bear an immediate affinity to these 
 little songs. The idea which forms the subject of the 
 Villancico, is sometimes contained in two, but more 
 commonly in three lines. The developement, or appli- 
 cation, may be completed in one short stanza, but often 
 extends to several similar stanzas. These stanzas always 
 include seven lines. It was, perhaps, by way of irony 
 that the name Villancico was originally applied to 
 productions of this kind; for the spiritual mottets, 
 which are sung during high mass on Christmas eve, 
 are also called Villancicos. At least no satisfactory 
 etymology has yet been found for the name. The 
 Cancionero general contains fifty-four Villancicos, and 
 among them are some which possess inimitable grace 
 and delicacy.* 
 
 bien lo siento, 
 
 mas tened vos sufriinituto. 
 
 Y quic.a podreys ganar 
 
 con firmeza sin dudanca 
 
 i , 
 lo cierto del esparansa 
 
 que el tardar 
 
 no lo puede desviar. 
 
 * The author of the following Villancico is named Escriva. 
 
 Que sentis, cora9on mio, 
 no dezis, 
 que mal es el que sentis. 
 
 Que sentistes aquel dia, 
 quando mi seuora vistes, 
 que perdistes alegria, 
 y descando despedistes, 
 como a mi nunca bolvistes. 
 no dezis, 
 donde estays que no venis.
 
 118 HISTORY OF 
 
 These remarkable compositions, whose origin ap- 
 pears to be lost in the early periods of the formation 
 of the Spanish language, doubtless gave rise to the 
 poetic gloss (glosa,) a kind of poem scarcely known, 
 even by name, on this side of the Pyrenees, but to 
 which the Spaniards and Portuguese of the fifteenth 
 century were particularly attached, and which subse- 
 quently even after the introduction of the Italian forms, 
 continued to be preserved as national poetry in Spain 
 and Portugal. 
 
 The poetic glosses may, in some measure, be com- 
 pared to musical variations. The musician selects as 
 his theme some well known melody, which he para- 
 phrases or modifies into variations; in like manner in 
 Spain and Portugal, well known songs arid romances 
 were paraphrased or modified into new productions, but 
 in such a manner that the original composition was, 
 without any alteration in the words, intertwined line 
 after line, at certain intervals into the new one. A 
 poem of this kind was called a gloss. By this operation 
 the connection of the glossed poem was broken, and the 
 comparison of the poetic glosses to musical variations is 
 therefore not in all respects exactly just. But the dis- 
 tinction between them arises out of the different nature 
 of the arts of music and poetry; and it is indeed more 
 
 Qu' es de vos, qu' en mi nos fallo, 
 corason , quien os agena ? 
 Qu' es de vos, que aunque callo, 
 vuestro mal tambien me pena ? 
 Quien os ato tal cadena. 
 no dezis, 
 que mal es el que sentis.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 119 
 
 surprising that these compositions have not flourished 
 beyond the boundaries of Spain and Portugal, than that 
 they should have been peculiar favourites in those two 
 countries. At first, the old romances were glossed;* 
 
 * These glosses, which certainly belong to the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, prove the still higher antiquity of the glossed romances. 
 As a proof of this, we may quote the commencement of a gloss of 
 the Rosa fresca, (see p, 74), though it is not one of the most suc- 
 cessful productions of this class. 
 
 LA GLOSA DE PINAR. 
 
 Quando y os quise querida, 
 si supiera conoceros, 
 n'os tuviera yo perdida 
 ni acuciara yo la vida 
 agora para quereros. 
 Y porqu' es bien que padezca 
 desta causa mi dolor, 
 llam'os yo sin qu' os merezca, 
 Rosafresca, rosafresca, 
 tan garrida y con amor. 
 
 Llam'os yo con voz planida, 
 llena de gran compassion, 
 con el alma entristecida 
 del angustia dolorida, 
 que ha sufrido el cora9on. 
 Que le haze mil pedac,os, 
 yo muero do quier que vo 
 pues que por mis embarac.os. 
 Quando y'os tuve en mis braqos 
 
 no vos supe servir, no. 
 
 No porque os uviesse errado, 
 
 con pensamiento de errar, 
 
 mas si me days por culpado, 
 
 pues publico mi pecado 
 
 deveys me de perdonar.
 
 120 HISTORY OF 
 
 then, as it appears, mottos, or sentiments, (motes,) in the 
 style of gallantry peculiar to the age,* and, at length, 
 every thing that was capable of being glossed. There 
 is a particular class of jeux (tespi'it, in the Cancionero 
 general, namely, versified questions and answers, and 
 versified interpretations of devices (letras,) which, 
 together with corresponding emblems, lords and ladies 
 drew by lot at festivals, tourneys, bull fights, &c. But 
 
 No porque quando os servia 
 uii querer os desirvio, 
 mas porque passo solia, 
 Y agora que os serviria, 
 no vos puedo yo aver, no. 
 
 * The device of an enamoured knight in the true Spanish 
 style: WITHOUT THEE i AM WITHOUT GOD, AND WITHOUT 
 MYSELF, was thus glossed. 
 
 Mote. 
 Sin vos, y sin Dios y mi. 
 
 GLOSA DE DON JORGE MANRIQUE. 
 
 Yo soy quien libre me vi, 
 yo quien pudiera olvidaros, 
 yo so el que por amaros 
 estoy desque os conoci 
 sin Dios y sin vos y mi. 
 
 Sin Dios, porque en vos adoro 
 sin vos, pues no me quereys, 
 pues sin mi ya esto decoro, 
 que vos soys quien me teneys. 
 Assi que triste naci, 
 pues que pudiera olvidaros, 
 yo soy el que por amaros 
 esto desque os conoci 
 sin Dios y sin vos y mi.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 121 
 
 these questions, answers, and devices, are in general 
 more whimsical than ingenious. 
 
 OF THE ROMANCERO GENERAL. 
 
 The latter half of the fifteenth century seems also 
 to have given birth to the greater portion of those 
 Spanish romances, which wrested the approbation of 
 criticism and public favour from the older productions 
 of the same class; and which, therefore, in the sequel, 
 formed the bulk of the Romancero general, or General 
 Romance Book. This Romancero of the Spaniards is so 
 closely related to their Cancionero general., that some 
 account of it may not be out of place here, though it 
 was not printed as a complete collection until the close 
 of the sixteenth century. With the exception of the 
 narrative romances, the Romancero may be considered 
 merely as a continuation of the Cancionero. The 
 poetry of the lyric pieces contained in it, which are 
 extremely numerous, is both in spirit and metrical form, 
 precisely the same as that which appears in the Can- 
 cionero, but more polished in manner and language. 
 The title of romance indicates no essential difference. 
 The narrative romances, which occupy the greater 
 portion of the Romancero, have, in some measure, been 
 characterized in this history in treating of the old 
 romances of the same class; for most of them, particu- 
 larly those of the historical kind, differ little from the 
 more ancient. But a considerable portion of compo- 
 sitions of every class have been contributed to the 
 Romancero by poets of the sixteenth century. The
 
 122 HISTORY OF 
 
 collectors have mingled these romances and the older 
 ones together, without any attention to critical arrange- 
 ment or chronological order; and in no instance is there 
 any mention or indication of an author. In a history 
 of literature, it therefore becomes necessary to speak of 
 the Romancero as a whole; and for this purpose, the 
 present is perhaps the most convenient opportunity; for, 
 even at the period when this collection was produced, 
 the poets who wrote romances in the old national style, 
 merely improved that style without essentially altering it. 
 Among the historical romances, contained in the 
 Romancero, those in which anecdotes of the Moorish 
 war, or the heroic and gallant adventures of Moorish 
 knights, are poetically treated, seem, for the most part, 
 to belong to the latter half of the fifteenth century. 
 All these romances relate to the civil wars of Granada, 
 the last Moorish principality in Spain. The civil dis- 
 sensions of Castile retarded for upwards of half a 
 century the conquest of Granada, which was at length 
 effected in the year 1492, by the united power of 
 Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Arragon. During 
 this last period of the conflict between the Christians 
 and the Mahometans of Spain, the former became 
 more intimately acquainted with the history of the 
 latter. As the last blow for the deliverance of the 
 Peninsula was now about to be struck, all that related 
 to the Moors was doubly interesting to the Castilians. 
 The two rival factions, the Zegris and the Abencer- 
 rages, whose mutual enmity accelerated the fall of 
 Granada, were, in a particular manner, the objects of 
 their adversaries attention. l '
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 123 
 
 About this period it seems to have become a fashion 
 among the Spanish romance writers, to select from the 
 events of Moorish history, materials for their songs; 
 and in these romances the heroes of the Zegri and 
 Abencerrage tribes sustain the principal characters. 
 Even after the conquest of Granada, the interest ex- 
 cited throughout Spain by that great national event, 
 still continued; and, doubtless, many romances, the 
 subjects of which are borrowed from Moorish history, 
 were produced in the sixteenth century.* 
 
 The first Spanish pastoral romances, were proba- 
 bly produced during the last ten years of the fifteenth 
 century. But no distinct traces exist of the rise of 
 
 * An accurate idea of all the romances of this class may be 
 derived from the Historia de los Vandos de los Zegris y Aben- 
 cerrages, Caballeros Moros de Granada, a work well known to 
 those who are acquainted with Spanish literature. It has been 
 several times printed. The edition which I have now before me 
 (Lisboa 1616,) seems to be one of the latest. On the title page 
 the author styles himself, Ginez Perez de Hita, and on that page 
 also appear the words, Aora nuevamente sacado de un libra 
 Arabigo. The German critic Blankenburgh, is of opinion, that there 
 is no more reason for supposing this work to be a translation from the 
 Arabic, than that Don Quixote was derived from a similar source. 
 But the word sacado on the title page, by no means indicates that 
 it is a translation. The author has evidently derived much of his 
 information, such for instance, as the genealogical register of the 
 families, from Moorish sources. He has probably availed himself 
 of an Arabic work to write a half true and half fabulous history of 
 Granada, and to intersperse it with favourite romances. There 
 is a counterfeit edition of this work, entitled, Historia de las 
 guerras civiles de Granada, Paris, 1660. From the French 
 words on the margin, it is obvious that the book must have been used 
 in Paris in the seventeenth century, for learning the Spanish language.
 
 124 HISTORY OF 
 
 this species of poetry in Spain. In the poetry of the 
 age of John II. neither pastoral names nor ideas appear, 
 except in the satyrical poem, entitled, Mingo Rebulgo, 
 which will be hereafter noticed. Pastoral dramas are, 
 however, to be found in the works of Juan de la Enzina, 
 who flourished towards the close of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, and of whom we shall also have occasion to speak 
 more at large. The Spanish pastoral poetry seems, 
 shortly after its rise, to have been blended with the 
 romantic poetry. Many of the most beautiful narrative 
 pieces in the Romancero general are properly pastoral 
 romances. It is quite impossible to ascertain correctly 
 to what age these bucolicks belong ; * and it has, 
 
 * It will be sufficient to transcribe here one of these pastoral 
 romances, which presents a fair specimen of the better part of the 
 rest. 
 
 Olvidada del sucesso, 
 del engaiiado Narciso, 
 iiiirumlo esta en una fuente 
 Filis su rostro divino, 
 el negro cabello suelto, 
 al ayre vano esparzido, 
 cenida la blanca frente 
 con un liston amarillo. 
 
 Mira los hermosos ojos, 
 y el labio en sangre tenido 
 de los cristalinos dientes 
 adornado y ofendido : 
 no se inira el bello rostro, 
 por presuncion que ha tenido, 
 mas porque le mueve a ello 
 el desprecio de su amigo. 
 
 Hala dexado el cruel, 
 sin averlo merecido,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 hitherto, proved equally impossible to obtain any posi- 
 tive information respecting the origin of the facetious 
 and satyrical romances and songs, dispersed through 
 the Romancero general* 
 
 por quien vale menos que ella, 
 y es della menos querido. 
 Pareciole que enturbiava 
 con las perlas que ha vertido 
 las corrientes amorosas, 
 y solloc.ando, les dixo : 
 
 Turbias van las aguas madre, 
 
 turbias van, 
 
 mas ellas se aclararan. 
 Si el agua de mi alegria 
 enturbiala demis ojos, 
 y le ofrecen mis despojos 
 al alma en mi fantasia, 
 sospechas son, que algun dia 
 tiempo y amor desharan. 
 
 Turbias van las aguas madre, 
 
 turbias van, 
 
 mas ellas se aclararan. 
 Si fatiga el pensamiento, 
 y se enturbiala memoria, 
 juntar la passada gloria 
 eon el presente tormento, 
 si esparzidos por el viento 
 mis tristes suspiros van. 
 
 Turbias van las aguas madre 
 
 turbias van, 
 
 mas ellas se aclararan. 
 
 * The following is written in a style which was, at a later 
 period, much admired in France, and frequently imitated in Germany 
 while Hagedorn and Gleim flourished:
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 Finally, the history of the Romancero general 
 itself still waits for bibliographic illustration; and in 
 order to throw any light on this subject., it would be 
 necessary to have the opportunity of examining the 
 Spanish libraries and old collections of manuscripts, 
 and to be able to bestow on them the most indefatigable 
 attention. Of all the collections, bearing the common 
 title of Romancero general., only two are quoted by 
 authors; one was edited by Miguel de Madrigal, in the 
 
 Que se case un don Pelote 
 con una dama sin dote, 
 
 Bien pede ser. 
 Mas que no de algunos dias 
 por un pan sus damerias, 
 
 No puede ser. 
 
 Que pida a un galan Minguilla 
 cinco puntos de servilla. 
 
 Bien puede ser. 
 Mas que calcando diez Menga, 
 quiera que justo la venga, 
 
 No puede ser. 
 Que la biuda en el sermon 
 de mil suspiros sin son, 
 
 Bien puede ser. 
 
 Mas que no los de a mi cuenta, 
 porque sepan do se assienta, 
 
 No puede ser. 
 Que ande la bella casada 
 
 bien vestida, y mal zelada, 
 
 Bien puede ser. 
 Mas que el bueno del marido 
 no sepa quien da el vestitlo, 
 No puede ser. &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 127 
 
 year 1604; and the other by Pedro de Flores in 1614.* 
 Another publication, however, under the same title, 
 which also appeared in 1604, and which contains up- 
 wards of a thousand romances and songs, professes to 
 be a new and augmented collection of this kind.f At 
 what time, then, was the first collection made or pub- 
 lished? 
 
 Those, however, who may think it unimportant to 
 enquire how many of these anonymous poems, which 
 have for ages delighted the Spanish public, were pro- 
 duced in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and who 
 may merely wish to see a selection of the best Spanish 
 poems in the old national style, have only to turn to 
 the Romancero general. Many of the narrative ro- 
 mances which it contains, vie, in romantic simplicity, 
 with those of apparently older date in other collections, 
 and exceed them in elegance; and still more do a num- 
 ber of the songs in the Romancero surpass those in the 
 Cancionero general. Thus the historian of literature 
 has additional cause to lament that through the absence 
 
 * See the notices of Nicolas Antonio, Sarmiento, Velasquez, 
 and others. 
 
 f It is entitled Romancero general, en que se contienen todos 
 los romances, que andan impresos, aora nuevamente anadido y en- 
 mendado, Madrid, 1604, a quarto volume, containing about seventy 
 sheets. The preface is subscribed by the bookseller, who seems to 
 have compiled this work himself. The todos on the title page 
 must not be literally understood. Not one of the romances con- 
 tained in the old Cancionero de Romances, (see note page 53) appear 
 in this Romancero general, which is, in other respects, extremely 
 copious. But the Spanish booksellers began at an early period to 
 give boasting titles to their publications.
 
 128 HISTORY OF 
 
 of all chronological and bibliographical notices, he is 
 deprived of even the slight satisfaction of paying a just 
 tribute to the memory of the authors of the best of 
 these romances and songs, which really deserve to be 
 immortal. The poets themselves, it is true, do not 
 seem to have attached much value to fame. If their 
 songs, accompanied by the guitar, interested the hearts 
 and charmed the ears of their auditors, they sought no 
 laurels in addition to that true reward of the poet. Yet, 
 for this very reason, in an age when the lowest degree 
 of poetic merit presumptuously claims literary distinc- 
 tion, the task would be the more pleasing to do honour 
 to those venerable authors, by raising the veil beneath 
 which their names have too long been concealed. 
 
 FIRST TRACES OF THE ORIGIN OF SPANISH DRA- 
 MATIC POETRY IN THE MINGO REBULGO JUAN 
 
 DEL ENZINA CALLISTUS AND MELIBCEA, A 
 
 DRAMATIC TALE. 
 
 All that now remains to be stated respecting the 
 poetic literature of the Spaniards during the fifteenth 
 century, must be comprehended in a notice of their 
 first essays in dramatic poetry. 
 
 In lieu of those poetic works which are styled dra- 
 matic in the true sense of the word, and which after- 
 wards formed the most brilliant portion of Spanish 
 poetry, the Spaniards of the fifteenth century possessed 
 merely spiritual or temporal farces, written in the style 
 which prevailed in the middle ages, and which can 
 scarcely be said to belong to literature. At Saragossa, 
 the residence of the Count of Arragon, attempts
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 129 
 
 towards the improvement of dramatic amusements were 
 earlier made than in the Castilian court. There, as 
 has already been observed, the Marquis de Villena 
 devoted his learning and inventive talents to the drama. 
 Allegorical dramas, indeed, do not seem to have been in 
 favour at the court of Castile, notwithstanding the 
 taste for allegory which distinguished the poets of the 
 reign of John II. A singular union of pastoral and 
 satirical poetry first gave birth to a species of dramatic 
 poem in the Castilian language. 
 
 In the reign of John II. an anonymous poet amused 
 himself by describing the court of that monarch in 
 satirical coplas. It is impossible to account for the 
 whim which induced him to throw his rhymes into the 
 form of a dialogue, and to select shepherds for his inter- 
 locutors. The work extends to thirty-two coplas, and 
 critics have sometimes classed it among the eclogues, 
 and sometimes among the first satirical productions of 
 the Spanish poets. Some make Rodrigo de Cota the 
 author of these coplas; and others, who ascribe them 
 to Juan de Mena, seem to forget that the latter was 
 zealously devoted to the court party. This singular 
 composition is usually mentioned under the title of 
 Mingo Rebulgo, from the names of the two shepherds 
 who carry on the dialogue. Supposing pastoral poetry 
 to have been in vogue at that period in Spain, and par- 
 ticularly at the court of John II. it would be easy to ex- 
 plain how a witty author might conceive the bold idea of 
 converting a pastoral dialogue into a satire; but in that 
 case the ideas of a poetic pastoral existence must have 
 been diffused through Spain, as they were through Italy. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 HISTORY OF 
 
 It is probable, however, that in both countries the re- 
 vived study of classical literature, and particularly of 
 Virgil's eclogues, gave rise to the practice of clothing 
 modern ideas in a garb imitated from the ancient bu- 
 colic poetry; and it seems the effect of mere accident 
 that a Spaniard should have been the first to devote a 
 work of this kind to the purposes of satire.* 
 
 Doubtless neither the eclogue of Mingo Rebulgo, 
 nor the colloquial stanzas in the Cancionero can pro- 
 perly be regarded as the commencement of dramatic 
 poetry in Spain. But all these preliminary essays in 
 dialogue, are in a literary point of view connected to- 
 gether; and about the close of the fifteenth century, 
 pastoral dialogues were converted into real dramas, 
 by a musical composer, named Juan de la Enzina, or 
 del Enzina, as he is styled in the old collections of 
 his works. This ingenious man who was born in Sala- 
 manca during the reign of Queen Isabella, though in 
 what year is not precisely known, was equally cele- 
 brated as a poet and musician. He travelled to Jeru- 
 salem in company with the Marquis de Tarifa, and 
 this journey could not fail to store his mind with many 
 new ideas. He lived for some time at Rome in the 
 quality of chapel-master, or musical director to Pope 
 Leo; who, it is well known, afforded great encourage- 
 ment to dramatic amusements. But at Rome, as well 
 as in Palestine, Juan de la Enzina still remained 
 a Spaniard. His poetry imbibed no tincture of the 
 
 * More copious information, together with bibliographic notices 
 respecting the pastoral dialogue of Mingo Rebulgo, are given by 
 Velasquez and Dieze, page 162.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 131 
 
 Italian taste, and he continued to write songs and lyric 
 romances in the old Castilian style. He also exercised 
 his fancy in making jests, consisting of ridiculous com- 
 binations or heterogeneous conceits, called disparates, 
 which he wrote in the form of romances. For instance, 
 he talks with an absurd but harmless humour of a 
 " cloud which at night, at day break in the afternoon 
 arrived from a pilgrimage, having in its train a domestic 
 utensil which appeared in pontificalibus? &c.* These 
 oddities rendered his name a proverb in Spain. He 
 converted Virgil's eclogues into romances, in which he 
 displayed singular simplicity, and applies to his patrons, 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, the duke and duchess of Alba, 
 and others, the compliments which Virgil addressed to 
 the emperor Augustus. Accident had introduced into 
 Spain a mixture of pastoral poetry with the drama, and 
 Juan de la Enzina wrote sacred and profane eclogues, 
 in the form of dialogues, which were represented before 
 distinguished audiences on Christmas eve, during the 
 carnival, and on other festivals. They are, however, 
 entirely lost to literature-! 
 
 * Sarmiento, page 235, quotes this specimen of Juan de la 
 Enzina' s Disparates . 
 
 Anoche do madrugada, 
 Ya despues de medio dia, 
 Vi venir en romeria 
 Una nube muy cargada &e. 
 No despues de mucko rato 
 Vi venir un orinal 
 Puesto de pontifical &c. 
 
 f Nicolas Antonio, Sarmiento, and Velasquez, give accounts of 
 Juan de la Enzina. Some of his romances and songs, which 
 
 K 2
 
 132 HISTORY OF 
 
 The dramatic romance of Callistus and Melibcea 
 is, however, more celebrated than Juan de la Enzina's 
 
 however, possess no remarkable merit, are also contained in the 
 Cancionero general and the Cancionero de romances* One of 
 his compositions, styled an echo, or a song, in which the rhyme is 
 repeated in the following word, with the effect of an echo, is 
 inserted in the Cancionero general, as being something peculiar. 
 The old collection, entitled, Cancionero de todas las obras de Juan 
 del Enzina, certainly contains poems far superior to any already 
 mentioned, though perhaps they do not rise above the poetry of his 
 age. Velasquez quotes an edition published in 1516, which Dieze 
 regards as a curiosity. Indeed one of the greatest literary curio- 
 sities in existence, is an old folio edition, (probably the first) of the 
 Cancionero of Juan de la Enzina, printed at Seville, in gothic 
 characters, in the year 1501, by two Germans named Pegnitzer and 
 Herbst, at the expense of two merchants. The copy to which I 
 have referred, which is probably the only one in Germany, is also 
 mentioned in Dieze's supplement to Velasquez ; it belongs to the 
 Ducal library at Wolfenbiittel. Notwithstanding the gothic cha- 
 racters, the print is so clear and neat, that in this respect alone it 
 is highly interesting to bibliographists. Juan de la Enzina's songs 
 occupy the greater part of the volume. One of them, namely 
 an Apology for Women, ( Contra los que dicen rnal de MugeresJ is 
 remarkable for poetic truth and pleasing versification. In this 
 Apology for the fair sex, the author, among other things, says: 
 
 Piadosas en dolerse 
 
 De todo ageno dolor, 
 
 Con muy sana fe y amor, 
 
 Sin su fama escurecerse, 
 
 Ellas nos hacen hacer 
 
 De nuestros bienes franquezas; 
 
 Ellas nos hacen poner 
 
 A procurar y querer 
 
 Las virtudes y noblezas. 
 
 Ellas nos dan ocasion,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 133 
 
 eclogues. It was probably commenced in the reign of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella; though some authors assign 
 this singular production of popular descriptive talent and 
 well meant plainness to the age of John II. The author 
 
 Que nos hagomas discretes, 
 Esmerados y perfetos, 
 Y de iiuicho presuncion. 
 Ellas nos hacen andar 
 Las vestiduras polidas, 
 Los pundonores guardar, 
 Y, por honra procurar, 
 Tener en poco las vidas. 
 
 His imitations of Virgil's eclogues have the same metrical 
 form as many of his other poems. The first eclogue commences 
 with the following graceful strophe : 
 Tityro, tu sin cuidado 
 Que te estas so aqueste haya, 
 Bien tendido y rellanado. 
 Yo triste y descarriado 
 Yo no se, por do me vaya. 
 Ay, carillo ! 
 TaSes tu tu caramillo, 
 No hay que en cordoja te trayga. 
 
 His sacred and profane pastoral dramas are merely eclogues in 
 a style similar to the above, only that they are written in the dialogue 
 form, and with remarkable lightness. The last, which is of the 
 profane class, commences thus : 
 
 Gil. Ha, Mingo, que das de atras? 
 Pasa, pasa, aca delante ! 
 A horas que no se espante, 
 Como tu, tu primo Bras. 
 Asmo, que tu pavor has. 
 Entra ! No estes revellado ! 
 Mingo. D6 me a Dios, que estoy asmado. 
 No me mantles entrar mas.
 
 134 HISTORY OF 
 
 is supposed to be Rodrigo de Cota, to whom the pas- 
 toral dialogue of Mingo Rebulgo is also attributed. 
 This dramatic romance Was continued &tid completed 
 at the commencement of the fifteenth century by Fer- 
 nando de Roxas, who has recorded his own name in 
 the initials of the introductory stanzas.* Fernando de 
 Roxas did not possess the forcible descriptive powers of 
 the unknown author, though he appears to have fully 
 entered into the plan traced out by the latter. Either 
 he or his precursor entitled the work a tragi-comedy. 
 It consists of twenty-one acts, and consequently its vast 
 length renders it unfit for theatrical representation. 
 This production may be regarded as original in a cer- 
 tain sense, for there existed no work of the same kind 
 which the author could have chosen as his model. 
 But in a higher and truly critical point of view, it 
 possesses as little originality as real poetic merit. Na- 
 tural description and moral precept seem to have formed 
 the great object of both authors. They both aimed 
 at exhibiting a series of dramatic lessons to warn youth 
 against the seductive arts of base agents employed to pro- 
 mote intrigues. In order to attain this moral end, the 
 authors deemed it necessary to paint in glowing colours 
 the disgusting picture of a brothel, and through a series 
 of scenes unconnected by the unities of time or place, 
 
 * In the edition of 1599, which I have consulted, the work is 
 entitled Celestina, tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea. The first 
 letter of each of the introductory stanzas, being put together, form 
 the following words : El bachiler Fernando de Rojas acabo la 
 coraedia de Calisto y Melibea, & fue nacido en la puebla de Mon- 
 talvan.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 135 
 
 to exhibit in the most striking point of view, the tra- 
 gical end of an intrigue conducted by a woman of infa- 
 mous character. Owing to its moral object, the book 
 has found admirers in all ages, though many have not 
 unreasonably conceived it more advisable to withdraw 
 such scenes of vice from the eye of youth, than to paint 
 them with the minuteness and vivid colouring of truth. 
 But, even allowing that an inconsiderate young person 
 may have occasionally been deterred from an intrigue 
 by the sad history of Callistus and Meliboea, yet the 
 whole dramatic tale, both in the subject and execution, 
 is nevertheless revolting to good taste. The story is 
 as follows: Callistus, a young man of noble family, 
 entertains a romantic passion for Meliboea. The young 
 lady is also attached to him; but her own prudence, as 
 well as the strict observation to which she is subject in 
 the house of her parents, prevents all communication 
 between the lovers. In this difficulty, Callistus applies 
 to an artful and abandoned woman, to whom the author 
 has given the elegant name of Celestina. She easily 
 devises a pretence for insinuating herself into the house 
 of Meliboea's parents, where she succeeds in bribing the 
 servants. The intrigue then proceeds in the most com- 
 mon manner, though the author thinks it necessary to 
 call in the aid of witchcraft and magic. Callistus at 
 length attains his object, and Meliboea's parents discover 
 the mischief when it is too late. Murder is committed 
 among the servants of Meliboea; Celestina's house like- 
 wise becomes the scene of bloodshed; the profligate 
 woman is herself murdered in the most horrible manner 
 imaginable; Callistus is assassinated, and Meliboea closes
 
 136 HISTORY OF 
 
 the tragedy by throwing herself from the top of a lofty 
 tower. Such is the ground-work of the twenty-one 
 acts of this tragi-comedy. It must be admitted, that 
 the authors appear to have wished to paint the scenes 
 in the house of Celestina in as decorous a manner as 
 the nature of the subject would permit. The profligate 
 personages, particularly Celestina, are drawn with great 
 truth ; and in the list of the characters their description 
 is unreservedly added to their names. The first act, 
 which is by the unknown author, is distinguished above 
 the rest for the easy flow of the dialogue.* Considered 
 in this point of view alone, the work is extremely inte- 
 
 * The following specimens may be cited. Callistus is dis- 
 coursing with his servant, concerning his passion for Meliboea. 
 
 Ca. Mayor es mi fuego, y menor la piedad de quien agora 
 digo. Sem. Nome enganoyo queloco estaaste mi anio. Ca. Que 
 estas murmurando Sempronio ? Setn. No digo nada. Ca. Di lo 
 que dizes : no tennis. Sem. Digo que como pueda ser mayor el 
 fuego que atormenta un bivo, que el que quemo tal ciudad y tanta 
 multitud de gente ? Ca. Como ? yo telo dire : mayor es la llama 
 que dura ochenta anos que la que en un dia passa ; y mayor la que 
 quema un anima, que la que quemo cien mil cuerpos. Como de la 
 aparencia a la existencia, como de lo vivo a lo pintado ; como de 
 la sombra a lo real : tanta differencia ay del fuego que dizes al que 
 me quema. Por cierto si el del purgatorio es tal, mas querria que 
 mi espiritu fuesse con los de los brutos ani males, que por medio de 
 aquel yr a la gloria de los santos. Sem. Algo es lo que digo, a 
 mas ha de yr este hecho: no basta loco, sino hereje. Ca. No te 
 digo que hables alto quando hablares ? Que dizes ? Sem. Digo que 
 nunca Dios quiera tal: que es especie de herejia lo que agora 
 dixiste. Ca. Porque ? Sem. Porque lo que dizes contradize la 
 Christiana religion. Ca. Que a mi ? Sem. Tu no eres Christiano ? 
 Ca. Yo Melibieo soy, e a Melibea adoro, e en Melibea creo, e a 
 Melibea amo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 137 
 
 resting. It affords a fair proof that the fluent and 
 natural style of conversation which the dramatic poets 
 of the north did not attain, until after much labour and 
 repeated failures, arose spontaneously in Spain, on the 
 first attempt made by a writer of talent to make dra- 
 matic characters speak in prose.* This tragi-comedy, 
 as it is styled, has, however, but little relation to poetry .f 
 
 FURTHER ACCOUNT OF SPANISH PROSE. 
 
 RISE OF THE HISTORICAL ART EARLY PROGRESS 
 OF THE EPISTOLARY STYLE. 
 
 In a history of Spanish prose of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, it would be improper to omit a brief notice of 
 the chronicles, which, in Spain, at this period, were 
 not written by monks, as in other parts of Europe, but 
 by knights, many of whom were at the same time 
 poets. The custom instituted by Alphonso X. of ap- 
 pointing historiographers to record the most remarkable 
 events of national history, was maintained by his suc- 
 cessors throughout the fourteenth century ; and, in addi- 
 
 * About the same period, the dramatic prose dialogue of Italy 
 was formed in a similar style, but with more histrionic refinement. 
 See vol. ii. of my history of Italian Literature. 
 
 f The dramatic romance of Callistus and Meliboea, has been 
 translated into several languages as a book of moral instruction. 
 There is an old German translation which appeared at Nurnberg in 
 1520, entitled the Hurenspiegel. The German philologist, Caspar 
 Barth, translated it into Latin under the title of Pornoboscodidas- 
 calus, and styles it, Liber plane divinus. It was published at 
 Frankfort on the Oder, in 1624.
 
 138 HISTORY OF 
 
 tion to those historians, who were regularly appointed 
 and paid, there arose others in the fifteenth century, 
 who wrote of their own accord from the love of fame, 
 or for the sake of doing honour to the parties to which 
 they were respectively attached. Historians were never 
 held in such high estimation in modern Europe as they 
 were at. this time in Castile. 
 
 But notwithstanding the fortunate circumstances 
 which combined to revive the taste for historical com- 
 position in Spain, the noble authors of the Spanish 
 chronicles in very few instances rose above the vulgar 
 chronicle style. They faithfully adhered to the language 
 of the historical books of the bible. In nothing is their 
 poetic talent disclosed, except in a better choice of ex- 
 pression, than is to be found in the common chronicles, 
 which were in general written by monks. Spirited and 
 adequate historical description was totally unknown to 
 them. They all wrote in nearly the same manner. Facts 
 were heaped on facts, in long monotonous sentences, 
 which uniformly commenced with the conjunction and. 
 Occasionally, indeed, the writers of these chronicles 
 seem to have made attempts to imitate the ancient 
 historians; for at every favourable opportunity little 
 speeches are put into the mouths of the characters they 
 record; but these speeches are given either in the lan- 
 guage of scripture or the law. Thus wrote the illus- 
 trious Perez de Guzman, who was celebrated among 
 the poets of his age; and thus wrote the grand 
 Chancellor of Castile, Pedro Lopez de Ayala, who is 
 better known than the former as an historian, in con- 
 sequence of having compiled from ancient chronicles
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 139 
 
 a connected history of the kings of Castile of the four- 
 teenth century.* 
 
 An agreeable surprise is, however, excited in dis- 
 covering among these chronicles some biographical 
 works, one of which was probably written in the last 
 years of the fourteenth century, and another, doubtless* 
 belongs to the fifteenth. These two productions de- 
 serve to be noticed, but in a rhetorical point of view 
 neither can be very highly estimated. The first is the 
 history of Count Pedro Nino de Buelna, one of the 
 bravest knights of the reign of Henry III. The author 
 is Gutierre Diez de Games, who was the Count's stand- 
 ard-bearer.f The gothic taste of the age, it must be 
 confessed, is sufficiently apparent in this history. The 
 chivalrous author begins by apostrophizing the Trinity 
 and the Holy Virgin. He then reasons methodically 
 on virtue and vice, according to the scholastic notions 
 of morality. It is, however, easy to perceive that the 
 author has taken great pains to avoid the dry chronicle 
 
 * One may become acquainted with these old Spanish chro- 
 nicles with more facility than formerly; for during the last thirty 
 years the greater part of them have been re-printed. A folio 
 edition of the copious chronicle of Peres de Guzman was printed 
 at Valencia, in the year 1779, with an elegance which proves the 
 patriotic zeal of the editors : the chronicle of Ayala was printed at 
 Madrid in the same year. Literature is indebted for this revival 
 of the fathers of Spanish History, to the efforts of the Historical 
 Academy of Madrid. 
 
 f It is not many years since this history was first published 
 from the manuscript. It is intitled, Cronica de Don Pedro 
 Nino Conde de Buelna, por Gutierre Diez de Games, su Aferes. 
 La publica D. Eugenio de Llaguno Amirola, &c. Madrid, 
 1782, in quarto.
 
 140 HISTORY OF 
 
 style. He evidently wished to give to the history of 
 his hero the interest of a romance. He did not, there- 
 fore, confine himself very scrupulously to historical truth, 
 and he has even blended fabulous stories in his narra- 
 tive. But on the other hand he paints real events with 
 a degree of spirit of which no example is to be found 
 in the chronicles; and some of his descriptions are so 
 remarkable for precision, and accuracy of expression, 
 that they might be mistaken for the production of a 
 modern writer, if the simplicity of the ideas did not 
 betray the age to which the chivalrous author belonged.* 
 The second of these biographical works is the his- 
 tory of Count Alvaro de Luna. The author, whose 
 name is not known, appears to have been in the Count's 
 service, and to have taken up the pen soon after the 
 execution of that extraordinary man, to raise a monu- 
 ment to his memory in defiance of his enemies.f The 
 
 * He gives the following description of the national character 
 of the French, which derives additional attraction from its antiquated 
 language : 
 
 Los Franceses son noble nacion de gente : son sabios e" muy 
 entendidos, discretes en todas las cosas que pertenescen a buena 
 crianza en cortesia 6 gentileza. Son muy gentiles en sus traeres, 
 e guarnidos ricamente : traense mucho a lo propio : son francos 
 dadivosos : aman facer placer a todas las gentes : honran mucho los 
 estrangeros : saben loar, e loan mucho los buenos fechos : non son 
 maliciosos: dan pasada a los enojos : non calonan a ome de voz nin 
 fecho, salvo si los va alii mucho de sus honras : son muy corleses e 
 graciosos en su fablar : son muy alegres, toman placer de buena 
 mente, buscanle. Asi ellos como ellas son muy enamorados, e" 
 precianso dello. 
 
 f That this biographical chronicle was written between the 
 years 1453 and 14GO, is proved in the preface to the latest edition,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 141 
 
 work is in fact an apology, in which the enthusiasm of 
 the anonymous author for his hero carries him beyond 
 the bounds of historical calmness and of impartiality. 
 But this very enthusiasm gives the work a degree of 
 rhetorical interest, which is wanting in the chronicles. 
 Alvaro de Luna is regarded by his apologist in his real 
 chpracter; namely, as the greatest, if not the most dis- 
 interested man of his age in Spain: and it was the 
 author's intention that the animated picture he drew 
 should mortify and shame the powerful party which 
 overthrew his hero. His zeal frequently betrays him 
 into declamatory pomp. But what other Spanish writer 
 of that age could declaim with so much eloquence.* 
 He is not, however, always declamatory. His intro- 
 duction, notwithstanding the high elevation of the ideas, 
 
 which is entitled, Cronica de Don Alvaro de Luna, Sfc. La pub- 
 lica con varios apendices Don Josef Miguel de Flores, Secretario 
 perpetuo de la real Academia de la Historia. Madrid, 1784, 4to. 
 
 * The following is one of his declamatory passages : it is 
 certainly more suited to a philippic than to a biographic work, but 
 it is sufficiently oratorical for the age in which it was produced: 
 
 Oh traycion ! oh traycion ! oh traycion ! Maldito sea el ser 
 tnyo : maldito sea el poder tuyo : e maldito el tu obrar, que a tanto 
 se estiende, e" tantas fuerzas alcanza. Oh enemiga de toda bondad, 
 e adversaria de toda virtud, e" contraria de todos bienes ! For tl 
 han seido destruidos Reynos : por ti han seido asoladas grandes e 
 nobles, 6 populosas cibdades : 6 por tl son cometidas en Einpera- 
 dores, Reyes, 6 Principes, e altos seuores, crueles, bravas e" mise- 
 rables muertes. Quien pudiera pensar? Quien pudiera creer ? O 
 qu'al juicio pudiera abastar a considerar, que un tanto sefior, de 
 tan alto ser, un tan grand, a tan familiar amigo de virtudes, como 
 era el inclito Maestre de Sanctiago 6 insigne Condestable de la gran 
 Castilla, viniesse al passo que agora aqui contaremos ?
 
 142 HISTORY OF 
 
 possesses real dignity of expression, combined with the 
 true harmony of prose.* His apostrophe to truth at the 
 close of this introduction, is a genuine overflowing of 
 the heart.f It is true that the narrative itself some- 
 what inclines to the manner of the chronicles; but the 
 spirit which pervades the whole work is perceptible even 
 in the style which, considered with reference to the 
 period in which it was written, is remarkable for pre- 
 cision and facility.! In short, this biographical chronicle, 
 estimated by its rhetorical merit, has, in spite of all its 
 gothic ornaments and declamatory excrescences, no pa- 
 rallel among the chronicles of the age to which it belongs. 
 
 * Entre los otros frutos abundosos que la Espana en otro 
 tiempo de si solia dar, fallo yo que el mas precioso de aquellos fu6 
 criar 6 nudrir en si varones muy virtuosos notables e* dispuestos 
 para ensenorear, sabios para regir, duros e fuertes para guerrear. 
 De los quales unos fuerou subidos a la cumbre imperial, otros a la 
 relumbrante catedra del saber. E muchos otros merescieron por 
 victoria corona del triunfo resplandesciente. 
 
 f E tentando entrar la presente obra donde pues tu, Verdad, 
 eres una de las principales virtudes que en aqueste nuestro muy 
 buen Maestre siempre fecistes morada, a ti solo llamo e invoco que 
 adiestres la mi mano, alumbres el mi ingenio, abundes la mi memo- 
 ria, porque yo pueda confirmar e" sellar la comenzada obra con el 
 tu precioso nombre. 
 
 J The author thus relates how in his youth Don Alvaro de 
 Luna, by the irresistible grace of his manners had gained the love 
 of the king, who was then also very young, and the favour of 
 the fair sex : 
 
 Ca si Rey salia a danzar, non queria que otro caballero nin- 
 guno, nin grande nin Rico ome danzase con el, salvo Don Alvaro 
 de Luna, nin queria con otro cantar, nin facer cosa, salvo con Don 
 Alvaro, nin se apartaba con otro a aver sus consejos fablas 
 secretas tanto como con 61. De la otra parte que todas las duenas
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 143 
 
 Los Claros Varones., the Celebrated Men, is a work 
 which claims particular attention. The author is Fer- 
 nando del Pulgar, who filled the office of historiographer 
 in the reign of Isabella and Ferdinand. This ingenious 
 man was ambitious to be thought the Plutarch of his 
 nation. In his twenty-six short biographical sketches, he 
 has, however, confined himself within limits too narrow 
 to effect all that he was capable of; but the precision 
 of his descriptions, and the purity of his style, are never- 
 theless remarkable for the age in which he flourished.* 
 
 Fernando del Pulgar is also the oldest Castilian author 
 in the epistolary style; and upon the whole he may be 
 regarded as the first, who, in the character of a statesman 
 and public functionary, formed his correspondence in a 
 modern language on the model of Cicero and Pliny .f 
 
 6 doncellas lo favorescian mucho. Don Alvaro era mas mirado 6 
 preciado entre todos aquellos que en las fiestas se ayuntaron. E 
 despues quando el Rey se retrala a su camara a burlar 6 aver placer, 
 Don Alvaro burlaba tan cortes graciosamente, que el Rey e 
 todos los otros que con el eran avian muy grand placer. E si 
 fablaban en fechos de caballeria, aunque Don Alvaro era mozo, 
 1 fablaba en ellos, assi bien atentaraente que todos se maravilla- 
 ban. E aquel fue desde nino su mayor estudio, entender en los 
 fechos de armas 6 de caballeria, k, darse a ellos, e saber en ellos 
 mas facer que decir. 
 
 * The library of the university of Gottingen contains a copy of 
 this scarce book, printed in gothic characters, but the title page is 
 wanting. It commences with the title of the table of contents : 
 Comienqa la tabla de los claros varones, ordenada por Fernando 
 del Pulgar, fyc. The biographical sketches are followed by a col- 
 lection of letters ; and the whole forms a volume with which every 
 author who writes on Spanish history ought to be acquainted. 
 
 f The following specimen is the commencement of a jocular 
 letter, in which Fernando del Pulgar begs of his physician to pre-
 
 144 HISTORY OF 
 
 Those who have time and opportunity to peruse 
 Spanish manuscripts of the fifteenth century, will doubt- 
 less find many more documents to prove the high degree 
 of cultivation which Spanish prose had attained at that 
 period. In spite of the lofty poetic flight which then 
 characterized the genius of Spain, and the powerful 
 charm of the poetic prose of the chivalrous romances, 
 the national gravity of the Spaniards, when their minds 
 were directed, not to sports of the imagination, but 
 to things, made them incline to what may be termed 
 
 scribe to him a remedy for the sciatica, as the consolation which 
 Cicero offers in his book de Senectute had no effect on him : 
 
 Senor dotor Francisco Nuiies fisico : yo Fernando de Pulgar 
 escrivano paresco ante vos : y digo que padesciendo grand dolor de 
 la yjada : y otros males que asoman con la vejez quise leer a Julio 
 de senetute para aver del para ellos algun remedio. Y no le de 
 dios mas salud al alma de lo que yo falle en el para mi yjada. 
 Verdad es que da muchas consolaciones : y cuenta muchos loores 
 de la vejez. Pero no provee de remedio para sus males. Quisiere 
 yo fallar un remedio solo, mas por cierto de Senor fisico que todos 
 sus consolaciones por que el conorte quando no quita dolor, no pone 
 consolacion. Quise ver essomismo el segundo libro que fizo de las 
 quistiones Tosculanas. Do quiere provar que el sabio no deve haver 
 dolor : y si lo hoviere lo puede desechar con virtud. E yo Senor 
 dotor como no soy sabio senti el dolor. Y como no soy virtuoso no 
 le puede desechar. Ni lo desechara el mismo Julio por virtuoso que 
 fuera: si sintiera el mal que yo sinti. Assi que para las enfer- 
 medades que vienen con la vejez fallo que es mejor yr al fisico 
 remediador: que al filosofo consolador. Por los Cipiones, por 
 los Metellos, y sabios, y por los Trasos, y por otros algunos romanos 
 que bivieron y murieron en honra quiere provar Julio que la vejez 
 es buena. Y por algunos que ovieron mala postremera provare yo 
 que es mala. E dare mayor numero de testigos para prueva de mi 
 intencion que el Seuor Julio pudo dar para en prueva de la suya 4j
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 145 
 
 the style of affairs, in the same degree as the genius of 
 the Italians, which attached itself exclusively to beau- 
 tiful forms, had been accustomed to manifest an in- 
 difference for true prose. The philosophic writings of 
 Aristotle were, in the same age, translated into Spanish 
 by a scholar, whose name, as well as his work, have 
 fallen into oblivion.* 
 
 JUAN DE LA ENZINA'S ART OF CASTILIAN POETRY. 
 
 The literature of this period possesses, however, not 
 the slightest trace of true criticism. Though the po- 
 etical and rhetorical rules of Aristotle were known to a 
 few scholars, they were of little utility to writers who 
 either applied them erroneously, or considered them 
 impracticable. Of the state of poetry in Spain, during 
 the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, a correct notion 
 may be formed from a Treatise on Castilian Poetry, 
 (Arte de Poesia Castellana,) by Juan de la Enzina. 
 In this work, addressed to the Prince Royal of Spain, 
 the author wished to prove that he thoroughly under- 
 stood the art on which he wrote, and that he was not 
 an unskilful Troubadour.f The commencement of the 
 treatise might teach the reader to expect some pro- 
 found investigation. Juan de la Enzina observes, " that 
 poetry is so excellent an art, that it merits the particular 
 favour of princes and nobles, who being reared " in the 
 
 * See the notice by Nicolas Antonio in the Bibl. Hisp. Vetus, 
 last edition, (Madrid, 1788,) vol. ii. p. 282. 
 
 f This treatise precedes the collection of Juan de la Enziiia's 
 poems. See note page 131. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 HISTORY OF 
 
 bosom of sweet philosophy,"* know how to unite the 
 virtues both of peace and war; it was therefore, he 
 continues, his intention to write a theory (arte) of 
 Castilian poetry, which might facilitate the distinction 
 between good and bad. He treats of the origin of 
 poetry among the ancients and among the Italians, and 
 marks the difference between a poet and a Troubadour. 
 The former, he says, is, with respect to the latter, 
 " what a composer or learned musician is to a singer 
 or musical performer, a geometrician to a mason, or 
 a captain to a private soldier."f After all these high 
 promises, Juan de la Enzina merely gives an Essay on 
 Castilian prosody in a few chapters. Such is his art 
 of poetry. 
 
 Thus did Castilian poetry and eloquence develope 
 itself in {he ancient national forms, during the first 
 centuries that succeeded its birth, without any superior 
 genius having either raised it to higher perfection, or 
 enlarged its boundaries. Like the Gaya Ciencia of 
 the Troubadours, it was a common property, protected 
 by a literary democracy, which allowed no despotic 
 genius to encroach upon its rights. It is difficult to 
 imagine what might have been the fate of Castilian 
 poetry, had not a new political connection formed 
 
 * Criados en el g-remio de la dulce filosofia. This he says in 
 particular reference to Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 f Quanta diferencia aya del Musico al Cantor, y del Geometra 
 al Pedrero, tanta debe haver entre Poeta Trobador. The third 
 comparison follows afterwards.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 147 
 
 between Spain and Italy, at the commencement of the 
 sixteenth century, suddenly brought the Spanish nation, 
 as it were in mass, in contact with the Italians. At 
 all events, the Spaniards must, in the progress of culti- 
 vation, have ceased to be satisfied with the poetry of 
 their old songs and romances, on their literary taste 
 becoming in any way more refined 
 
 , 2
 
 148 HISTORY OF 
 
 . 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH TO THE 
 LATTER HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE STATE OF POETICAL AND 
 RHETORICAL CULTIVATION IN SPAIN DURING 
 THE ABOVE PERIOD. 
 
 THE union of the kingdoms of Castile and Arragon, 
 in consequence of the marriage of Isabella, the heiress 
 of the Castilian throne, with Ferdinand king of Arragon, 
 forms an epoch in Spanish literature, as well as in 
 Spanish power. Hitherto Spain had been occupied only 
 with her own internal affairs. The monarchs contended 
 for their prerogatives with the powerful barons of their 
 respective states; and the two kingdoms waged war 
 against each other. The only object which they pursued 
 in common, was the overthrow of the Moorish princi- 
 pality of Granada, which was enabled to resist them, as 
 long as their political jealousy of each other counter- 
 balanced their mutual zeal for religion and conquest. 
 Spain, in her detached situation to the west of the 
 Pyrenees, never appeared so completely separated from 
 the rest of Europe as in the middle of the fifteenth 
 century. With Italy, Spain maintained no relations,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 149 
 
 except such as were purely ecclesiastical. A marked 
 change, however, took place on the union of the crowns 
 of Castile and Arragon, though the union of the two 
 monarchies was not properly consolidated until after 
 Ferdinand's death, which happened in 1516. Since the 
 year 1492, Granada had been a Castilian province. The 
 poets had no longer the feats of the Zegris and Aben- 
 cerrages to record; and the Spanish knights had no 
 infidels to vanquish, unless they travelled to Africa in 
 quest of them. If, however, they were successful in 
 that quarter of the world, their victories did not pre- 
 sent subjects of such interest to the Castilian muse as 
 former achievements had afforded. The love of in- 
 dustry and social order, which distinguished the people 
 of Arragon, at length extended to Castile; and the old 
 chivalrous spirit declined in proportion as the use of 
 gunpowder, which was at this period rapidly increasing, 
 became more general. The manners of the Spaniards 
 of both monarchies, had now approximated to those of 
 the Italians; and the analogy between the Castilian and 
 Italian languages, could not fail to be remarked, when- 
 ever opportunities for making that observation occurred. 
 Ferdinand soon afforded such an opportunity; his am- 
 bition induced him to take an active part in the trans- 
 actions of Italy, and his interference was attended 
 with success. The victorious Gonsalvo Fernandez de 
 Cordova, admired as the conqueror of Granada, and a 
 second Cid, and surnamed, by way of distinction, El 
 gran Capitan, presented the crown of Naples to his 
 sovereign in the year 1504. The political union which 
 then took place between Spain and Italy, and which
 
 150 HISTOHY OF 
 
 continued longer than a century, paved the way for 
 that influence of the Italian poetry on the Spanish, 
 which soon after became manifest. 
 
 About the same period that Ferdinand and Isabella 
 united their dominions, they also co-operated in the 
 establishment of that terrible tribunal which soon be- 
 came known throughout Europe by the name of the 
 Spanish Inquisition, and which to the disgrace of hu- 
 man reason exercised during two centuries and a half 
 its monstrous powers in their fullest extent. A crafty 
 policy contrived to render religion its instrument, in 
 subjugating to one common tyranny the reason and the 
 rights of mankind; for the establishment of regal des- 
 potism in both kingdoms was the great object of this 
 institution, and its whole organization corresponded 
 with the end for which it was destined. The pope, 
 who penetrated the design of the founders, viewed 
 their proceedings with much dissatisfaction ; but even 
 the pope was obliged to support the pretended interest 
 of the church, and to honour Ferdinand by bestowing 
 on him, as a peculiar distinction, the title of " Catholic 
 King." Thus the court of Rome contributed to annul 
 the privileges of the Cortes of Castile and Arragon, and 
 to invest the whole powers of government, without limi- 
 tation, in the hands of an absolute monarch: and thus 
 did political artifice triumph over the energy of one of 
 the noblest nations in the world, at the very moment 
 when the genius of that nation had begun to expand, 
 when the promising flower had burst forth from the 
 bud, and was about to unfold itself in full vigour and 
 beauty. A simultaneous and concordant cultivation of
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 151 
 
 the different powers of the human mind was now as 
 little to be hoped for in Spain as the improvement of 
 her political constitution. Under these circumstances 
 the literary genius of the country could not be expected 
 to reach that high maturity of taste which always pre- 
 supposes a certain degree of harmony in the moral and 
 intellectual faculties. Poetic freedom was circumscribed 
 by the same shackles which fettered moral liberty. 
 Thoughts which could not be expressed without fear of 
 the dungeon and the stake, were no longer materials for 
 the poet to work on. His imagination instead of im- 
 proving them into poetic ideas, and embodying them 
 in beautiful verse, had to be taught to reject them. But 
 the eloquence of prose was more completely bowed 
 down under the inquisitorial yoke than poetry, because 
 it was more closely allied to truth, which, of all things, 
 was the most dreaded. 
 
 The yoke of this odious tribunal weighed, however, 
 far less heavily on the imagination than on the other 
 faculties of the mind; and it must be confessed that a 
 wide field still remained open for the range of fancy, 
 though the boundaries of religious doctrine were not 
 permitted to be overstepped. To suppose that the 
 Spanish inquisition could have entirely annihilated the 
 poetic genius of the nation, it must also be supposed, 
 that at the period of its establishment, there had ex- 
 isted a style of poetry altogether hostile to such an 
 institution, and that the spirit of the inquisition was 
 directly opposed to the spirit of the nation. But it 
 would be forming a false notion of the horrors of the 
 inquisition, to imagine that they were ever felt in Spain
 
 152 HISTORY OF 
 
 in the same manner as in other countries, and parti- 
 cularly in the Netherlands, where that tribunal was 
 introduced hand in hand with foreign despotism. When 
 the inquisition was established in Spain, it harmonized 
 to all appearance, that is to say, as far as orthodox 
 faith was concerned, with the prevailing opinions of the 
 Spanish Christians. It was ostensibly directed not so 
 much against heretics as against infidels, namely, Ma- 
 hometans and Jews. Its operations were accordingly 
 commenced by waging war against those infidels, for 
 no sect of Christian heretics existed at that period in 
 Spain, and the inquisition took care that none should 
 be afterwards formed. To maintain the purity of the 
 ancient faith was the avowed object of the inquisition; 
 and its wrath was poured out on the unfortunate Jews, 
 Moors, and Moriscos, (the descendants of the Moors), 
 with the view of removing every blemish from the 
 faith of a nation, which prided itself in its orthodoxy. 
 This bigotted pride was a consequence of the contest 
 maintained in Spain during four centuries and a half, 
 between Catholic Christianity and Mahometanism. The 
 Spanish Christians celebrated the conquest of Granada 
 as the triumph of the church ; and the inquisition, which 
 at first excited terror, soon became an object of vene- 
 ration with men in whose hearts religious enthusiasm 
 was inseparably blended with patriotism. 
 
 This view of the subject may serve to explain how 
 it happened in the sequel, and particularly during the 
 reign of Philip II. that while, throughout all the rest 
 of Europe men shuddered at the very name of the 
 Spanish inquisition, the Spaniards still lived under it
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 153 
 
 as happily and cheerfully as ever; and also how, from the 
 operation of the same cause, the ecclesiastical shackles 
 had not a more injurious effect on the developement of 
 the poetic genius of the nation. The conduct of the in- 
 quisition was no subject of alarm to those who were con- 
 fident that they never could have any personal concern 
 with it; for the suspicion of deficiency in Catholic or- 
 thodoxy, the ground on which that tribunal acted, was 
 more degrading in Spain than the most odious crimes 
 in other countries. Before the establishment of the 
 inquisition, fanaticism was so firmly rooted in the minds 
 of the Spaniards, that all scepticism in matters of reli- 
 gion was abhorred as a deadly sin. He, however, who 
 submitted with blind devotion to the decrees of the 
 church, was held to have a clear conscience, and in that 
 sort of clear conscience the Spaniards prided themselves. 
 The inquisition disturbed the good Catholic as little in 
 his social enjoyments, as criminal justice the citizen who 
 lived in conformity with the laws. The Spaniard was 
 cruel only to heretics and infidels, because he thought 
 it his duty to hate them; but in the orthodox bosom of 
 his native country, he was animated by a spirit of gaiety 
 of which the literature of Spain presents abundant 
 proofs. While the Duke of Alba in the Netherlands 
 ruled with the axe of the executioner, Cervantes, in 
 Spain, wrote his Don Quixote, and Lope de Vega, who 
 himself held a post connected with the inquisition, pro- 
 duced his admirable comedies. The dramatic litera- 
 ture of Spain flourished with most brilliancy during 
 the reigns of the three Philips, from 1556 to 1665, 
 and that is precisely the period when the Spanish
 
 154 HISTORY OF 
 
 inquisition exercised its power with the greatest rigour 
 and the most sanguinary cruelty. Many melancholy 
 traces of fanaticism are certainly observable in the lite- 
 rature of Spain during the reigns of the three Philips; 
 but those traces are so insulated, and the painful im- 
 pression which they naturally produce on liberal minds 
 is so far compensated, by the noblest traits of humanity, 
 that to him, who, from reading the works of the Spanisli 
 poets, should turn to the perusal of the political history 
 of the Spaniards during the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries, and particularly to the history of their trans- 
 actions in the Netherlands and America, it might well 
 appear that he had become acquainted with two distinct 
 nations. 
 
 Indeed, notwithstanding the generally prejudicial 
 effects of the restrictions imposed by the inquisition on 
 intellectual freedom, those restrictions could not fail, 
 under the circumstances which have been described, to 
 prove in one respect favourable to the polite literature of 
 Spain. The poetic genius which, at the period of the 
 establishment of this tribunal, was energetically develop- 
 ing itself throughout the Peninsula, was not now to be 
 annihilated. Its strength was even augmented by that 
 growing national pride, which the union of the Cas- 
 tilian and Arragonian monarchies fostered. During 
 the period marked by the reign of Charles I. better 
 known by his Germanic imperial title of Charles V. 
 which was nearly half a century, namely, from the year 
 1516 to the year 1555, the Austrian and Spanish mo- 
 narchies were also united, and Spain acquired rich pos- 
 sessions in a new quarter of the world. The Spanish
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 155 
 
 arms were not so victorious under the three Philips as 
 under Charles V. But, sacrificed as this gallant nation 
 was to fanaticism and the most despicable of govern- 
 ments, its spirit never sunk under disaster, and its 
 genius vented itself in the cultivation of poetry, because 
 it was excluded by religious despotism from every 
 graver study, except the scholastic philosophy of the 
 convent. It is also to be considered, that the influence 
 of the ever debasing despotism of the Spanish govern- 
 ment could operate only gradually in extinguishing the 
 energies of national genius. The bold manifestation of 
 the spirit of freedom in Castile and Arragon on the 
 accession of Charles V. was attended with discouraging 
 results, because the nobility and the third estate did not 
 unite in support of their common interests. Had that 
 union existed, Spain would probably have presented 
 the first model of a constitutional, and at the same time 
 a vigorous monarchy. That honour was withheld by 
 fate: but the genius of the Spanish people was not so 
 easily suppressed as their political and religious free- 
 dom. Kings might rule as they pleased ; they might 
 madly shed the blood of their subjects, or waste the 
 treasures drawn from America; but the people, who had 
 yielded to despotism only for the sake of religion, con- 
 tinued in their hearts to be what they had always 
 been, till the influence of time consummated their sub- 
 jugation. The Spanish patriot, who fought in the cause 
 of his king and country, was until then, in his own esti- 
 mation, still a free man. Kings received homage in 
 verse as well as in prose; but a court poetry, like that 
 which existed in France in the reign of Lewis XIV.
 
 156 HISTORY OF 
 
 was never known in Spain. The kings of Spain, too, 
 never bestowed any very b'beral encouragement on the 
 poetic literature of their country. Charles V. honoured 
 a few Spanish and Italian poets with some degree of 
 attention, according to the fashion of the princes of that 
 age; for in the sixteenth century a poet was accounted 
 an extremely useful man for business of every sort; 
 but that sovereign seems to have taken a more parti- 
 cular interest in Italian than in Spanish literature. 
 Philip II. from his joyless throne, occasionally cast a 
 glance of favour on a man of talent; but restless am- 
 bition and blind bigotry occupied his gloomy mind, and 
 deprived him of all susceptibility for the beautiful. His 
 son, Philip III. though of a more amiable character, was 
 too indolent to take a warm interest in any thing what- 
 ever. Philip IV. however, did more for Spanish literature 
 than any of his predecessors since the time of John II. 
 His taste for pomp and splendour, to which he thought- 
 lessly gave himself up, while decay and disorder preyed 
 upon the vitals of the state, disposed him to favour the 
 Spanish theatre. Calderon, whom he pensioned, was 
 indebted to him for that leisure which enabled him to 
 devote his life to dramatic poetry. But Calderon only 
 improved on the labours of predecessors, who, without 
 receiving the pay of kings, produced works which did 
 honour to the nation, and were approved and rewarded 
 by the public. Spanish literature owes nothing to kings, 
 and has to thank only the popular spirit for all its 
 brightest flowers. The drama, therefore, remained 
 wholly national, even after the imitation of Italian 
 forms had long prevailed in the lyric and epic poetry
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 157 
 
 of Spain. Writers for the stage must of necessity obey 
 the voice of a public possessing sufficient energy of cha- 
 racter to condemn every piece which does not pay 
 homage to the popular taste. The whole history of the 
 Spanish theatre exhibits this dominion of the public 
 over authors ; and the particular taste of the dramatists 
 being formed under the influence of the general poetic 
 genius of the nation, they very willingly, like Lope de 
 Vega, followed the stream, even though, like him, they 
 well knew what the true theory of their art required. 
 The cultivation of prose was more completely left to 
 the individual taste of the authors; but any instance of 
 encouragement from the throne was as uncommon with 
 respect to it as to poetry. Antonio de Solis, who re- 
 ceived a penson from Philip IV. as historiographer, for 
 writing the History of Spanish America, was indebted 
 for that honour in some measure to his reputation as a 
 poet, and his various acquirements, but by no means for 
 any particular esteem he had obtained on account of 
 his talent for prose composition. 
 
 During the whole of this period, however, intel- 
 lectual talents were never undervalued, either by the 
 kings, or the nobles of Spain. In that country, as well 
 as in Italy, the higher orders considered it a duty to seek 
 distinction through learning, and poetry was the soul 
 both of Spanish and Italian Literature. Most of the 
 Spanish poets of this period, if not of noble birth, 
 belonged, at least, to families of consideration. Heroes, 
 statesmen, ecclesiastics, all composed verses, and poetry 
 was most intimately interwoven with all the relations of 
 social life. No where did chivalrous gallantry so long
 
 158 HISTORY OF 
 
 survive the extinction of real chivalry as in Spain; 
 and poetry was the exhaustless language of that gal- 
 lantry, whether it displayed itself in secret love in- 
 trigues, or at public entertainments and festivals. Eveiy 
 characteristic national amusement, as for instance, a 
 bull fight, proved an incitement to the writing of 
 sonnets and romances. There are found in various 
 Spanish poems of this period many expressions and 
 allusions which have reference to popular amusements, 
 but the poetic sense of which is only intelligible to 
 readers who bear in their recollection the favourite 
 diversions of the nation. The romantic intrigues 
 which were common in high life, formed models for 
 the intricate plots of the Spanish comedies; but no 
 ordinary powers of invention were necessary to enable 
 the dramatic author to maintain on the stage a com- 
 petition with the scenes which actually occurred in 
 society. Throughout the whole country, singing and 
 dancing were essential ingredients in every amusement. 
 Learned musical composition had, at this time, little 
 attraction for the Spaniards; but wherever joy was, 
 musicians were not wanting, and every dance had its 
 song. 
 
 In the mean time the cultivation of the other fine 
 arts, afforded little aid to Spanish poetry, as the over- 
 whelming interest attached to it in its golden age 
 directed the intellectual energies of the nation almost 
 exclusively to that one object. All other liberal pur- 
 suits were consequently left far behind. 
 
 Spanish taste was, at this period, entirely left to 
 form itself, being abandoned to the influence of Italian
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 159 
 
 literature, and the authority of eminent national au- 
 thors. The Italian system of academies found little 
 favour in Spain. Perhaps the jealousy of the inquisi- 
 tion foreboded evil from meetings of men of letters. 
 Be this as it may, Spanish literature sustained little 
 loss by the want of those institutions. The Royal 
 Academy for the Spanish language and literature was 
 not established until the eighteenth century. 
 
 The intimate union, which, during the sixteenth 
 and seventeenth centuries, subsisted between the elo- 
 quence of prose and poetry in Spain, renders a separate 
 history of each unnecessary. A division may, however, 
 be advantageously made in the whole body of the 
 Spanish literature of this period, though the two sec- 
 tions cannot form two distinct epochs. From the 
 introduction of the Italian style into Spanish poetry, 
 until the decline of learning in the latter years of the 
 reign of Philip IV. no literary revolution was expe- 
 rienced in Spain. The corrupters of taste, as cer- 
 tain writers who appeared in the latter half of this 
 period are called by some of the Spanish critics, only 
 continued a movement, the impulse of which had 
 been given long before by various authors, and par- 
 ticularly by the dramatic poets. Several of these 
 writers were contemporaries with authors who placed 
 a high value on classical correctness, and yet they 
 exercised a much greater influence over the general 
 literature of Spain than the latter. To confound Cal- 
 deron, who perfected the Spanish comedy, according 
 to its true national character, with the corrupters of 
 taste, is an idea which could only have been entertained
 
 160 HISTORY OF 
 
 in the eighteenth century, when it became customary 
 in Spain, as every where else, to measure all productions 
 of genius by the rules of French criticism. But at 
 the same time, that Spanish poetry approximated as 
 closely to the Italian, as the necessary connection of 
 the former with the national style would permit, that 
 national style, with all its faults and beauties, still 
 maintained the pre-eminence; and the passion for Ita- 
 lian correctness again declined. This crisis in Spanish 
 literature, occasioned by the struggle between Italian 
 refinement and the bold eccentricity of the national 
 manners, occurred in the age of Cervantes. At that 
 time Lope de Vega shone with more brilliancy in the 
 eyes of his countrymen than Cervantes, and the party 
 of the former gained the victory and kept the field. 
 The taking of a distinct view of the progress of poetry 
 and eloquence in Spain, will therefore be facilitated, if 
 the period of the influence of Cervantes and Lope de 
 Vega be made an historical resting point. It is doubtless 
 very remarkable, that Cervantes, who created an epoch 
 in the general literature of Europe, should not have 
 produced sufficient effect on the Literature of his own 
 country, to justify the choosing him as the founder of 
 a new epoch in its literary history. An opportunity 
 will hereafter arise for reverting to this subject.* 
 
 * An unpardonable neglect of chronology has given rise to a 
 confusion of dates, by which this period of Spanish literature has 
 been made to include two distinct epochs. This confusion is parti- 
 cularly striking in the work of Velasquez. In his third age of 
 Castilian poetry, which he commences with the introduction of the 
 Italian style, but which ought really to be called the second, he
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 161 
 
 FIRST SECTION. 
 
 History of Spanish Poetry and Eloquence, from the 
 Introduction of the Italian Style to the Age of 
 Cervantes and Lope de Vega. 
 
 OCCASION OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE ITALIAN 
 
 STYLE. 
 
 After the complete consolidation of the monarchies 
 of Castile and Arragon by the accession of Charles of 
 Austria, the grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand, there 
 appears to have been, for a short time, a suspension of 
 all literary activity in Spain. The political convulsions 
 which then agitated the interior of the two united king- 
 doms, occupied the public mind too powerfully to allow 
 any interest to be felt in calmer and more agreeable 
 objects. But as soon as the civil contests were ter- 
 minated by the success of the Austrian party, and the 
 enterprising Charles, incited by Francis I. employed 
 the force of his Spanish states to win new dominions in 
 Italy, the poetic genius of Spain revived in all its pris- 
 tine vigour. In the meantime, the ancient dialect of 
 the Arragonian provinces began to be supplanted by 
 the Castilian, which became the language of the state 
 
 reckons all the Spanish poets, who appear lo have formed their 
 manner after Italian models down to the reign of Philip IV. ; and in 
 the following age, which he called the fourth, he places Virnes, Lope 
 de Vega, and others, who flourished half a century before. 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 HISTORY OF 
 
 and of public business throughout Spain. Castile was 
 then considered the heart of the whole -monarchy. Ma- 
 drid rose to the rank of the capital of Spain, and Sara- 
 gossa sunk into the condition of a provincial town. 
 It was therefore no very extraordinary event, that a 
 Catalonian, whose maternal language still possessed 
 a certain degree of poetic consideration, should, in con- 
 nection with a Castilian, produce a revolution in Cas- 
 tilian poetry. 
 
 BOSCAN. 
 
 Juan Boscan Almogaver, who, in concert with his 
 friend Garcilaso de la Vega, introduced the Italian style 
 into Castilian poetry, was born in Barcelona, towards 
 the close of the fifteenth century. He belonged to one 
 of the Patrician families of that city, of equal rank 
 with the nobility of the country. Though possessing a 
 liberal education, and sufficient fortune to enable him to 
 gratify his inclination for literary studies, without regard 
 to any secondary views, he embarked, notwithstanding, 
 on his first outset in life for a short period in the pro- 
 fession of arms. He afterwards travelled, but the coun- 
 tries he visited are not mentioned in the brief notices 
 which remain of him. If, however, it be supposed that 
 he went at this time to Italy, and rendered himself inti- 
 mately acquainted with the literature of that country, it 
 appears that he was still far from entertaining the idea 
 of transplanting the forms and manner of Italian poetry 
 into Spain; for the Castilian verses, which he wrote 
 in his youth, were all in the ancient lyric style, which, 
 since the time of Juan de Mena no one had thought it
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 163 
 
 necessary to try to improve. It was not until 1526, 
 when, after having flourished at the court of Charles V. 
 he had made a happy marriage, and was settled in his 
 native city, that a Venetian induced him to imitate the 
 Italian poetry in the Castilian language. The emperor 
 resided for some time in Granada; and, among the 
 foreign ministers who repaired to his court, was Andrea 
 Navagero, the envoy from Venice, a man of great literary 
 and historical knowledge, and, like every well-educated 
 Italian of that age, a writer of canzoni and sonnets. 
 Boscan, having formed an intimate friendship with this 
 minister, was taught by him to view the Italian poetry 
 and also the classical latin in quite a new light. The 
 Spanish lyric poetry, which with all its gothic excres- 
 cences was still pleasing to the nation, if not so bar- 
 barous in his eyes as in those of his Italian friend, 
 appeared to him, when compared with a sonnet of 
 Petrarch, at least, in the point of good taste greatly 
 inferior. He now readily perceived the nature and felt 
 the value of the precision and correctness of the great 
 works of antiquity. Animated by his new ideas, he fear- 
 lessly ventured to follow the counsel of Navagero, in 
 spite of the menacing clamour of the friends of the old 
 national forms. He took upon himself the character of 
 a reformer of the lyric poetry of his nation, and com- 
 menced his labours by writing sonnets in the manner of 
 Petrarch. 
 
 The metrical structure of the sonnet had long been 
 known in Spain;* but the genius of Castilian poetry 
 
 * See page 25. In the Cancionero general there are some 
 spiritual sonnets, but they are all equally aukwarcl and repulsive. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 HISTORY OP 
 
 was adverse to that form, and the Spaniards had mani- 
 fested very little predilection for any thing like the 
 elegant correctness of Petrarch. Boscan had therefore 
 elevated himself above the literature of his country, 
 when he perceived that it was necessary to infuse a 
 new spirit into Castilian poetry before it could be recon- 
 ciled to the Italian forms. His friend Garcilaso de la 
 Vega participated in this opinion. But thousands of 
 voices were raised against the reformers. Some insisted 
 that preference was to be given to the old Castilian verse 
 on the ground of euphony. Others went further, and 
 asserted that the ear could perceive no distinction be- 
 tween the new verse and prose. Finally, a third party 
 discovered that Italian poetry was effeminate, and was 
 fit only for Italians and women. Boscan relates that 
 this violent opposition made him reflect seriously on the 
 propriety of proceeding with his design; but as he was 
 soon convinced of the futility of the reasons urged 
 against him, he persisted in his undertaking. His party 
 rapidly increased and soon obtained the superiority, not 
 indeed throughout the whole mass of the public, but in 
 that portion of society which was most enlightened and 
 refined.* 
 
 The other circumstances of Boscan's life, in so far 
 as they are known, have little interest for the literary 
 historian. The mature part of his age was chiefly spent 
 in his native city Barcelona, or in the neighbouring 
 
 * The history of the opposition which Boscan's poetical re- 
 form experienced, is briefly related by himself in the dedication 
 to the Duchess of Soina, which precedes the second volume of his 
 poems.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 165 
 
 country. The urbanity of his manners and his talents 
 recommended him to the family of Alba, which was 
 then one of the most brilliant of the noble houses of 
 Castile, and to which the homage of the Spanish poets 
 was from that time constantly paid. Boscan was for 
 some time Ayo, or first governor of the young Don Fer- 
 nando de Alba, who was afterwards the terror of the 
 enemies of the Spanish monarchy. He appears, how- 
 ever, to have soon resigned this employment, in order to 
 divide his time between study and the society of lite- 
 rary friends. The year in which he died is not exactly 
 known; it is only ascertained that his death happened 
 before the year 1544.* He prepared for the press a 
 collection of his poems, to which he added those of his 
 friend Garcilaso; but the work was not published until 
 after his death. f 
 
 From the point at which Boscan found Castilian 
 poetry, to that in which it was necessary it should be 
 placed before he could open for himself a new path, the 
 distance was considerable, and the transition was to be ac- 
 complished by a single bound. That he succeeded in this 
 
 * The eighth volume of the Parnaso Espanol, by Sedano, con- 
 tains a supplement to the biographical notices which Nicolas Antonio 
 collected under the article Boscan, and Dieze adopted in his notes 
 on Velasquez. The Noticias Biographicas, which Sedano has added 
 to the Parnaso Espanol, deserve, from this epoch downward, to be 
 carefully consulted. 
 
 f The library of the university of Gottengen possesses a copy 
 of perhaps the oldest edition of the works of this author, viz. 
 Obras de Boscan, Lisboa 1543, in 4to., and another edition, 
 Anvers 1569, in 8vo.
 
 166 HISTORY OF 
 
 undertaking was owing not so much to his genius, as to 
 a natural susceptibility for the real beauties of Italian 
 and ancient poetry, accidentally excited at the favourable 
 moment, and to a talent for the imitation of classical 
 models, ,without altogether discarding that tone of feeling 
 which was properly his own. To estimate, however, the 
 full value of Boscan's talent, it is not only necessary to 
 examine the works by which he introduced a new style 
 into Spanish poetry, but to take a retrospective view of 
 the productions of the Castilian muse in the ancient 
 manner. It is only by this comparison that a just con- 
 ception can be formed of the surprise with which the 
 Spaniards must have regarded the bold attempt of 
 Boscan. He was the first among his countrymen who 
 had an idea of classical perfection in works of imagi- 
 nation; and though the greater part of his poems fall 
 below that standard, they all afford evidence of his 
 endeavours to reach it. An aspiration so entirely un- 
 affected and unembarrassed, had never been manifested 
 by any previous Spanish poet. Between the kind of 
 poetry which he introduced into his native land and 
 that which he abandoned, there was no visible passage. 
 But lest the merits of Boscan should be too highly 
 rated, it is proper to observe, that at this time a reform 
 of the Spanish poetry, precisely such as that to which 
 his efforts gave birth, was, notwithstanding the clamour 
 of his opponents, desired by the more cultivated part of 
 the Spanish public; though, perhaps, there no where 
 existed any distinct perception of the wished-for object. 
 Had it been otherwise, Boscan must have stood alone, 
 and the numerous poets of his nation, who have equalled
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 167 
 
 or surpassed him in the new style, never would have 
 followed his example. 
 
 The early productions of Boscan, which form the 
 first book of his works, are scarcely distinguishable by 
 any trace of superior delicacy or correctness from the 
 poems of the same descriptions contained in the Can- 
 cionero general. The very title of the longest of 
 these youthful essays, namely, Mar de Amor (the Sea 
 of Love) excites an anticipation of the fantastic flights 
 of the old Spanish muse; and it is impossible to read 
 the first strophe without being convinced that the author 
 still adhered to the original character of Castilian song.* 
 It was, however, only at the request of his friend Gar- 
 cilaso de la Vega, who said that he received from these 
 poems the same sort of pleasure as from pretty children, 
 that Boscan renounced his intention of entirely sup- 
 pressing them. 
 
 The second book of Boscan's poems, contains sonetos 
 and canciones, in the style of the Italian sonetti and 
 canzoni. They all betray, in a greater or less degree, 
 the disciple of the school of Petrarch; but the spirit 
 of Spanish poetry still displays itself throughout the 
 whole. The language, though it successfully imitates 
 the precision of Petrarch, seldom attains the sweetly 
 flowing melody of its model. In painting the feelings, 
 
 * The first strophe runs thus : 
 El sentir de mi sentido 
 Tan profundo ha navegado, 
 Que me tiene ya engolfado, 
 Donde vivo despedido 
 De salir ni a pie ni a nado; &c.
 
 168 HISTORY OF 
 
 the shadows are changed with stronger colours than the 
 Italian Petrarchists of the sixteenth century permitted 
 themselves to employ. Impetuous passion, which, with 
 higher pretensions, was, on account of its very violence, 
 less capable of commanding sympathy than a mild en- 
 thusiasm, strikingly distinguished Boscan's poetry from 
 that which was the object of his imitation. The con- 
 trast was farther increased by the constantly recur- 
 ring picture of a struggle between passion and reason. 
 But these were precisely the traits which disclosed the 
 true Spanish character. It was not individual feeling 
 that prevented Boscan from equalling the delicacy and 
 softness of the Italian sonetto and canzone, for as his 
 biography, and still more his other poems, shew he was 
 a man of a very mild disposition. But it was necessary 
 that the language of love, to appear natural and true 
 to a Spaniard, should burn and rage. At the same 
 time, to satisfy Spanish taste, reason was to be intro- 
 duced to deliver her precepts amidst the storm of passion, 
 to prove its force by her feebleness, and to give to lyric 
 composition a moral gravity which was not desired by 
 the Italians. In so far however as the Spanish character 
 permitted the experiment to go, the fascinating tone of 
 Petrarch was very happily seized by Boscan;* and in 
 
 * The spirit of Petrarch breathes in the following sonnet; 
 though it is accompanied in the latter verses with a portion of 
 romantic subtilty. 
 
 Solo y pensoso en prados y desiertos 
 mis passes doy cuydosos y cansados : 
 y entrambos ojos tray go levantados 
 a. ver no vea alguien mis desconciertos.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 169 
 
 the expression of tender passion he has even sometimes 
 surpassed the Italian poet.* 
 
 Mis tormentos alii vienen tan ciertos, 
 y van mis sentimentos tan cargados, 
 que aun los campos me suelen ser passados, 
 porque todos no estan secos y muertos. 
 
 Si oyo hablar a caso algun ganado, 
 y la voz d' el pastor da en mis oydos, 
 alii se me rebuelve mi cuydado. 
 
 Y quedan espantados mis sentidos, 
 como ha sido no aver desesperado, 
 despues de tantos llantos doloridos. 
 
 * Passages such as the following from the beautiful Claros y 
 frescos rios of Boscau, after Petrarch's canzone Chiare, dolci e 
 fresche acque, would be sought for in vain in the writings of 
 Petrarch himself. 
 
 Las horas estoy viendo 
 
 en ella y los momentos, 
 
 y cada cosa pongo en su sazon. 
 
 Comigo aca la entiendo, 
 
 pienso sus pensamientos, 
 
 por mi saco los suyos quales son : 
 
 dize m' el cora9on, 
 
 y pienso yo que acierta, 
 
 ya esta alegre, ya triste, 
 
 ya sale, ya se viste, 
 
 agora duerme, agora esta despierta : 
 
 el seso y el amor, 
 
 andan por quien la pintara mejor. 
 Viene me a la memoria 
 
 donde la vi primero, 
 
 y aquel lugar do comence de amalla, 
 
 y naceme tal gloria 
 
 de ver como la quiero, 
 
 que es ya mejor qu' el vella el contemplalla.
 
 170 HISTORY OF 
 
 The greater part of the third book of these 
 poems is occupied by a paraphrastic translation of 
 the Greek poem of Hero and Leander. Nothing of 
 the kind had been previously known in the Spanish 
 language. The metrical form which Boscan chose 
 for his translation, was that of rhymeless iambics, or 
 an imitation of the blank verse of the Italians. The 
 language is so pure and elegant, the versification so 
 natural, and the tone of the narrative so soft, and at 
 the same time so elevated, that it is impossible not to 
 be pleased even with the prolixity which the influence 
 of the taste for romantic poetry has introduced into 
 this free translation. To this translation succeeds a 
 poem in the Italian style, entitled a Capitulo, and some 
 epistles in tercets. The Capitulo, as it is called, is a 
 love elegy, abounding in pleasing ideas and images, but 
 on the whole too much spun out, like most Italian poems 
 of the same kind. It has also its full share of ge- 
 nuine Spanish hyperbole and amorous despair.* The 
 
 En el coiitemplar halla 
 mi alma un gozo estrano, 
 pienso estalla mirando, 
 despues en mi tornando, 
 pesame que dura poco el engauo : 
 no pido otra alegria, 
 sino enganar mi triste fantasia. 
 
 * The following passage may serve for an example: 
 No oso pensar el dia y hora quando 
 mis ojos comen^aron a mirarte, 
 su vista poco a poco desmandando : 
 Entonces comeDce" a considerarte, 
 
 con peusamientos que y van y venian, 
 y casi no era mas de imaginarte.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 171 
 
 best of his epistles is, " The Answer to Diego Mendoza," 
 who was himself the first epistolary poet among the 
 Spaniards, and whom it will soon be necessary to notice 
 more at length. After the new poetical career was 
 opened, these authors vied in imitating the epistles of 
 Horace; but it is plain that the elegiac tenderness of 
 Tibullus was constantly present to the mind of Boscan. 
 In his Answer to Mendoza, the descriptions of domestic 
 and rural life charm by their exquisite delicacy, and 
 possess a still more powerful interest than the moral 
 reflections, though these are unaffected and noble, and 
 conceived in the true spirit of didactic poetry.* 
 
 Los unos blandamente me dezian, 
 
 que con mi cora9on todo te amasse, 
 
 los otros se alterava y temian. 
 Fuer^a fue en fin, que poco a poco entrasse 
 
 a conocer mi triste entendimiento, 
 
 que era bien que tus cosas contemplasse. 
 Alii se levanto mi pensamiento 
 
 haziendo su discurso en mil ojetos, 
 
 y todos sobre un mismo fundamento. 
 
 * A certain horatian epicurean spirit is recognizable in the 
 view he takes of the philosophy of life. 
 
 En tierra do los vicios van tan llenos, 
 
 aquellos hombres que no son peores, 
 
 aquellos passaran luego por buenos. 
 Yo no ando ya siguiendo a los mejores, 
 
 bastame alguna vez dar fruto alguno, 
 
 en lo de mas contentome de flores. 
 No quiero en la virtud ser importune, 
 
 ni pretendo rigor en mis costumbres, 
 
 con el gloton no pienso estar ayuno. 
 La tierra estu cou llanos y con cumbres,
 
 172 HISTORY OF 
 
 Boscan's works conclude with a narrative poem in 
 the Italian style, which has no other title than that 
 which denotes the structure of the verse, namely, 
 octavo, rima. Some ideas and images are borrowed 
 from the Italian poets; but the whole invention and 
 the execution of the greater part of the details be- 
 long to Boscan. The merit of the fable, however, is 
 not great. A mythological allegory, describing the 
 empire of love, forms the introduction to a poetical 
 relation of a festal meeting of Venus, Cupid, and the 
 
 lo tolerable al tiempo acomodemos, 
 y a su sazon hagamonos dos lumbres. 
 
 Pictures of domestic happiness, partaking both of the manner 
 of Horace and Tibullus, form an agreeable addition to Boscan's 
 moral reflections, viz. 
 
 Comigo y mi muger sabrosamente 
 
 estfi, y alguna vez me pida celos, 
 
 con tal que me los pida blandamente. 
 Comamos y bevamos sin recelos, 
 
 la mesa demuchachos rodeada; 
 
 mochachos que nos hagan ser aguelos. 
 Passeremos assi neustra Jornada, 
 
 agora en la ciudad ahora en la aldea, 
 
 porque la vida est mas descansada. 
 Quando pesada la ciudad nos sea, 
 
 yremos al lugar con la compana, 
 
 adonde el importuno no nos vea. 
 Alii se vivira con menos mafia, 
 
 y no aura el hombre tanto de guardarse 
 
 d' el malo, o d' el grossero que os engana. 
 Alii podra mejor philosopharse 
 
 con los bueyes, y cabras, y ovejas, 
 
 que con los que d' el vulgo han de tratarse.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 173 
 
 other inhabitants of that imaginary region. Little 
 Cupids are dispatched all over the world by Venus to 
 defend her against the reproaches of unreasonable men, 
 and to make known the real blessings of love. One of 
 those winged envoys directs his course towards Barce- 
 lona, the natal city of the poet, gives a particular account 
 of his mission to the fair ladies of that town, and takes 
 the opportunity of saying many gallant things to them. 
 As to the construction of the fable of this poem, Bos- 
 can certainly gave himself very little trouble. His object 
 appears merely to have been to compose a romantic 
 picture of greater extent than a sonnet or a cancion, 
 and to make his countrymen sensible of the charm of 
 descriptive poetry in the Italian manner. It is impos- 
 sible not to admire the grace and facility with which 
 Boscan has accomplished this purpose. The descriptions 
 are so animated,* and all the details so elegant and 
 
 * The description of Venus appearing, when the star which 
 has obtained her name rises, is thus given : 
 
 Mostrava ya su resplandor la estrella, 
 
 Que barre de la sombra neustra suelo, 
 Y al su venir toda otra cosa bella 
 Dexava su lugar alia en el cielo : 
 Quando Venus salio, y al salir d' ella 
 Saliu el amor, y junto salio el zelo, 
 El zelo que de amor nace en las cosas, 
 Y mas en las que nacen mas hermosas. 
 
 Salio con sus cabellos esprazidos, 
 
 Esta reyna de amor y de hermosura, 
 Su rostro bianco y blancos sus vestidos, 
 Con gravedad mezclada con dulcura : 
 Los ojos entre vivos y caidos,
 
 174 HISTORY OF 
 
 engaging, that the tediousness of some of the parts is 
 amply compensated by the happy execution of the 
 whole. Light plays of fancy embellish the lyric and 
 romantic passages; and, upon the whole, this is a work 
 which no other of the same kind by later Spanish poets 
 has excelled.* 
 
 If a comprehensive view be taken of the merits of 
 Boscan, it will be impossible, notwithstanding the 
 striking faults which appear in his works, and parti- 
 cularly in his sonnets, to withhold from him the title of 
 the first classical poet of Spain. Some of his expressions 
 
 Divino el ademan y la figura, 
 Como aquella que Zeuxis trasladu 
 De las cinco donzellas de Croto. 
 
 * Some stanzas in the speech which the missionary Cupids 
 address to the ladies of Barcelona, bring 1 to recollection a passage 
 in Tasso's Jerusalem, though that poem did not then exist. 
 N' os engane ni os trayga levantadas, 
 
 La rnocedad y verde loc.ania: 
 
 Que os hallareys despues peor burladas, 
 
 Con el tiempo que burla cada dia. 
 
 Y de suerte os vereys desenganadas, 
 
 Que enganaros querra la fantasia, 
 
 Y n' os valdra ni mafia ni consejo, 
 
 Ni miraros mil vezes al espejo. 
 Cuardad que mienlras el buen tiempo dura, 
 
 No se os pierda la fresca primavera: 
 
 Sali a gozar el campo y su verdura, 
 
 Antes que todo en el invierno muera: 
 
 Reposa y sossega en essa frescura, 
 
 ; Con el ayre que blandamente os hierra, 
 
 Y assi falsas podreys estar seiioras, 
 
 Sobre el correr d'el tiempo y de las horas.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 175 
 
 are now antiquated, but upon the whole his language 
 has continued a model for succeeding ages. Simpli- 
 city and dignity had never, in the same degree, and 
 under a form so correct, been united with poetic truth 
 and feeling by any previous Spanish author. The par- 
 tizans of the old national poetry reproached him with 
 being an imitator; but without the kind of imitation 
 by which he naturalized in his language a taste for the 
 literature of Italy and the ancient classics, it would 
 have been impossible for Spanish poetry to have gained 
 that field in which it afterwards competed with the 
 Italian. That he did not obtrude upon his countrymen 
 a kind of poetry irreconcilable with the genius of the 
 language and the national character, is evident from 
 the rapidity with which the new taste spread over the 
 whole of Spain, and extended into Portugal, and from 
 its duration in both kingdoms. The poetic innovators, 
 at whose head Boscan stood, were certainly blameable, 
 in so far as they wished to banish entirely the ancient 
 Spanish style, which was also, in its own manner, sus- 
 ceptible of classical improvement. But it is doubtful 
 whether the partizans of that style would have thought 
 of perfecting it after classical models, had not the dis- 
 ciples of the Italian school unexpectedly shewn the high 
 cultivation of which Spanish poetry was capable under 
 new forms. This Boscan first made manifest, not by 
 critical reasoning, but by example; and his modesty 
 contributed not a little to attract to his party the more 
 liberal minded of his countrymen. Had he com- 
 menced his reform by trying to beat down the old 
 style with theoretical argument, or egotistical decla-
 
 176 HISTORY OF 
 
 mation, he would only have rendered himself an object 
 of ridicule ; for the public he had to deal with was 
 not indisposed to improvement, but would not submit 
 to have lessons read to it magisterially. 
 
 After Boscan, his friends, who participated in the 
 fame of that reform to which he shewed the way, are 
 justly entitled to the next place in the history of Spanish 
 poetry. 
 
 ' . tf :>*. . .JTO& 
 
 GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. 
 
 The first Spanish poet who followed the example of 
 Boscan was Garcilaso de la Vega, a young Castilian, 
 descended from a family of consideration in Toledo, 
 and born, according to the statements of different 
 authors, either in 1500 or 1503. His poetic talent was 
 early developed, and he had written several lyric pieces 
 in the old Spanish style, when his acquaintance with 
 Boscan, which soon grew into friendship, commenced. 
 The character of the poetry of the ancients and of 
 Italy was then seen by him in a new light. He pro- 
 ceeded with ardour to the study of classical models, and 
 of Petrarch and Virgil in particular. The improvement 
 
 /of pastoral poetry in his native tongue, appears to have 
 been his first object. But it was his lot to follow the 
 restless profession of arms; and the wars of Charles V. 
 carried him abroad, and dragged him from country to 
 country. In the year 1529, he distinguished himself 
 in the Spanish corps, which was attached to the imperial 
 army opposed to the Turks. While in Vienna he was 
 involved in a romantic intrigue, between a near rela- 
 tion of his own and a lady of the court. The imperial
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 177 
 
 dignity, it appears, was conceived to be compromised 
 by this intrigue, and Garcilaso was punished for his in- 
 terference by imprisonment in an Island of the Danube. 
 There he composed one of his canciones, in which 
 lie bewails his destiny, but at the same time cele- 
 brates the Danube and the countries through which 
 it flows.* His imprisonment probably was not of long 
 duration. In the year 1535, he served in the adven- 
 turous expedition of Charles V. against Tunis, in which 
 he acquired both glory and wounds. In Naples and 
 Sicily, he devoted, as far as circumstances would permit, 
 his moments of relaxation to poetry. He execrated 
 war, and exerted all the powers of his imagination in 
 painting an Arcadian pastoral life, but still remained a 
 soldier.f It may be presumed, however, that his mili- 
 tary talents were not inconsiderable, for when the 
 imperial army in the year 1536, penetrated into the 
 South of France, Garcilaso de la Vega, who could then 
 be only thirty-three, or at most thirty-six years of age, 
 commanded eleven companies of infantry. That cam- 
 paign, which did not terminate so fortunately as it 
 commenced, was the last to Garcilaso, and tore him 
 from the world in the bloom of life. The emperor in 
 person ordered him to take by assault, a fort, the 
 garrison of which harrassed the army in its retreat. 
 
 * Danubio, rio divino 
 Que por fieras naciones 
 Vas con tus claras ondas discurrieado, &c. 
 f In his elegy on Roseau he thus apostrophizes Mars: 
 O crudo, o riguroso, o duro Marte, 
 De tunica cubierto de diamante, 
 Y endurecido siempre en toda parte, fyc. 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 HISTORY OF 
 
 Garcilaso executed this command with more gallantry 
 than prudence. He wished to be the first to scale the 
 walis. He attained his object, but was struck with a 
 stone on the head, and thrown down from the ramparts. 
 Being mortally wounded, he was removed to Nice, 
 where, a few weeks after, he died. 
 
 It would be difficult to discover from the works of 
 Garcilaso, that the author had spent a considerable 
 portion of his short life in camps, and had died in the 
 bed of military honour, the victim of his courage; for 
 he approaches even more closely than Boscan to the 
 tenderness of Petrarch. The general tone of his poetry 
 is so soft and melancholy, that it is only by occasional 
 characteristic traits, that the Spaniard is recognized; 
 but it must be confessed that when such passages do 
 occur, the exaggeration is striking enough.* In his 
 sonnets, which are not numerous, the imitation of 
 Petrarch is obvious; but he sometimes betrays that 
 affectation of wit, which was still in Spain regarded as 
 an ingenious manner of expressing vehement and pro- 
 found passion.f One however exhibits throughout a 
 
 * The edition of the Obras de Garcilaso de la Vega, Madrid, 
 1765, Svo. published by an anonymous editor, contains impartial 
 and correct remarks on the beauties and the defects of the author's 
 poetry. The preface which is written with a spirit of patriotic 
 frankness is also worthy of perusal. 
 
 f In the following sonnet the dull and affected close forms a 
 disagreeable contrast to the fine commencement. 
 La mar en inedio y tierras he dexado 
 De quanto bien, cuitado, yo tenia: 
 Y yendome alejando cada dia, 
 Gentes, costumbres, lenguas he pasado.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 179 
 
 delicacy of style and sweetness of manner, equalled by 
 few pieces of the same kind, in the Spanish language.* 
 He was not equally successful in seizing the character 
 of the Italian canzone, of which he, as well as Boscan, 
 was an imitator; and his reputation rests chiefly on his 
 pastoral poems, which therefore deserve to be more 
 particularly noticed. 
 
 Ya de volver estoy desconfiado ; 
 
 Pienso remedies en mi fantasia : 
 
 Y el que mas cierto espero, es aquel dia 
 
 Que acabara la vida y el cuidado. 
 Do qualquier mal pudiera socorrerme 
 
 Con veros yo, senora, 6 esperallo, .v ; : 
 
 Si esperallo pudiera sin perdello. 
 Mas de no veros ya para valerme, 
 
 Si no es morir, ningun remedio hallo : 
 
 Y si este lo es, tampoco podre habello. 
 
 * It is as follows : 
 
 O dulces prendas, por mi mal halladas, 
 
 Dulces y alegres, quando Dios queria! 
 Juntas estays en la memoria mia, 
 Y con ella en mi muerte conjuradas. 
 Quieu me dixera, quando las passadas 
 Horas en tanto bien por vos me via, 
 Que me haviais de ser el algun dia 
 Con tan grave dolor representadas ! 
 Pues en un hora junto me llevastes, 
 
 Todo el bien, que por terminos me distes, 
 Llevadme junto el mal, que me dexastes. 
 Si no, sospechare, que me pusistes 
 
 En tantos bienes, porque deseastes 
 Verme morlr entre memorias tristes. 
 
 When stripped, however, of the pleasing versification, the ideas in 
 the last lines appear somewhat studied and .far-fetched. 
 
 N 2
 
 180 HISTORY OF 
 
 Since the rude dramatic eclogues of Juan de la 
 Enzina pastoral poetry had made no progress in Spain. 
 But Garcilaso de la Vega imitated Virgil and Sanazzar, 
 and so happily united the romantic character with the 
 correctness of the ancients, that his ecologues, though 
 only one of them can be regarded as a masterpiece, 
 surpass all Italian poems of the kind, those in the 
 Arcadia of Sanazzar alone excepted. The fine Neapo- 
 litan sky appears to have had the same influence on 
 Garcilaso as on Virgil and Sanazzar; and he seems to 
 have regarded Naples as his poetical country. The 
 first of his eclogues is by. far the most beautiful, and 
 marks an epoch in Spanish pastoral poetry. The whole 
 composition has the metrical form of an Italian can- 
 zone. The invention is very simple. In the four 
 introductory strophes, in which is interwoven a dedi- 
 cation to the Viceroy of Naples, Don Pedro de Toledo, 
 Marquis of Villafranca, the author describes, with all 
 the simplicity which belongs to true pastoral poetry, 
 the meeting of two shepherds, Salicio and Nemoroso, 
 who alternately give vent to their feelings in melancholy 
 strains. These elegiac songs reply to each other without 
 interruption, and the relation subsisting between them 
 gives to the whole lyric composition a proper consistence 
 and unity. This is all the plan of the eclogue. But 
 the glow of enthusiastic feeling, the happy choice of 
 expression, and the harmony of versification so com- 
 pletely satisfactory to the ear, to be found in almost 
 every line of these songs of sorrow, cannot fail to give 
 delight to every mind susceptible of elegiac and beauty. 
 Accordingly the Spanish critics are nearly unanimous in
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 181 
 
 pronouncing this eclogue one of the finest works in 
 their language. The subject of the first song is the 
 infidelity of the second, the death of a mistress; and 
 the latter complaint appears to be founded in fact. But 
 Garcilaso would have better secured the sympathy of the 
 more scrupulous Spanish reader, had he entirely passed 
 over the cause of the lamented fair one's decease. The 
 lady whom he describes as a pastoral nymph, lost her 
 life it seems in childbed; for an apostrophe of the com- 
 plaining shepherd to Lucina, indicates plainly enough 
 the nature of her death. But is the affected delicacy 
 which takes offence at a trait so truly natural and 
 pathetic, worthy of the attention of an author? In the 
 first strain in which the shepherd Salicio deplores the 
 infidelity of his mistress, the interest appears to be raised 
 as far as it is possible to carry it.* Passion is here 
 
 * The following two strophes are from the lament of Salicio. 
 For ti el silencio de la selva umbrosa, 
 Por ti la esquividad y apartamiento 
 Del solitario monte me agradaba: 
 Por ti la verde hierba, el fresco viento, 
 El bianco lirio y colorada rosa, 
 Y dulce primavera deseaba. 
 Ay ! quanto me enganaba, 
 Ay ! quan diferente era, 
 Y quan de otra manera 
 Lo que en tu falso pecho se escondia ! 
 Bien claro con su voz me lo decia 
 La siniestra corneja repitiendo 
 La desventura mia. 
 Salid sin duelo lagrimas corriendo. 
 Quantas veces durmiendo en la floresta 
 (Reputandolo yo por desvario)
 
 182 HISTORY OF 
 
 elevated to the highest pitch, and then lost in a most 
 affecting self sacrifice.* But the song in which Nemo- 
 roso laments the death of his mistress, even surpasses 
 the former in elegiac force, perhaps because it possesses 
 greater softness. In retracing his recollections the 
 mourner draws a series of melancholy pictures which 
 have an indescribable charm. The beauty of the poem 
 rises with the description of the beauty of the departed 
 
 Vi mi mal entre suenos, desdichado ! 
 SOD aba que en el tiempo del estio 
 Llevaba, por pasar alii la siesta, 
 ' A beber en el Tajo mi ganado : 
 Y despues de llegado, 
 Sin saber de qual arte, 
 Por desusada parte, 
 Y por nuevo camino el agua se iba : 
 Ardiendo yo con la calor estiva, 
 1 curso enajouado iba siguiendo 
 Del agua fugitiva. 
 Salid sin duelo lagrimas corriendo. 
 
 * Mas ya que a socorrerme aqui no vienes, 
 No dexes el lugar que tanto amaste; 
 Que bien podras venir de mi segura. 
 Yo dexar el lugar do me dexaste : 
 Yen, si por solo esto te detienes. 
 Yes aqui un prado lleno de verdura, 
 Yes aqui una espesura, 
 Yes aqui una agua clara, 
 En otro tiempo cara, 
 A quien de ti con lagrimas me quexo. 
 Quiza aqui hallaras, pues yo me alejo, 
 Al que todo mi bien quitarme puede ; 
 Que pues el bien le dexo, 
 No es mucho que el lugar tambien le puede.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 183 
 
 shepherdess.* The passage in which Nemoroso relates 
 how he carries in his bosom a lock of his Eliza's hair, 
 from which he is never separated how when alone he 
 spreads it out, weeps over it, dries it with his sighs, and 
 then examines and counts every single hair is un- 
 exampled either in ancient or modern literature.f 
 
 * Do estan agora aquellos claros ojos, 
 Que llevaban tras si como colgada 
 Mi anima do quier que se volvian? 
 Do esta la blanca inauo delicada 
 Llena de vencimientos y despojos, 
 Que de mi mis sentidos le ofrecian ? 
 Los cabellos que vian 
 Con gran desprecio al oro 
 Como a menor tesoro, 
 Adonde estan ? Adonde el bianco pecho ? 
 Do la coluna que el dorado techo, 
 Con presuncion graciosa sostenia ? 
 Aquesto todo agora ya se encierra, 
 Por desventura mia, 
 En la fria, desierta y dura tierra. 
 
 f* Una parte guard6 de tus cabellos, 
 Eliza, envueltos en un bianco pano, 
 Que uunca de mi seno se me apartan : 
 Descojolos, y de un dolor tamano 
 Enternecerme siento, que sobre ellos 
 Nunca mis ojos de llorar se hartan, 
 Sin que de alii se partan, 
 Con suspiros calientes, 
 Mas que la llama ardientes, 
 Los enxugo del llanto, y de consuno 
 Casi los paso y cuento uno a uno : 
 Juntandolos con un cordon los ato : 
 Tras esto el iinportuno 
 Dolor me dexa descansar un rato.
 
 184 HISTORY OF 
 
 Occasional imitations of Virgil have been pointed out, 
 but they harmonize so completely with the romantic 
 spirit of the poem, that were it not for the particular 
 references which critics have made, they would in general 
 escape the notice of even the most erudite. The poem, 
 as a whole, is evidently the genuine offspring of the 
 author's soul. Materials of an affecting but prosaic na- 
 ture are, by his art, converted into the most graceful 
 and impressive poetry. 
 
 As Garcilaso only imitated the ancients by the 
 introduction of certain ideas and images, and not in 
 the structure of his eclogues, he considered himself at 
 liberty to vary their form at pleasure. But here his 
 good taste abandoned him. The second and longest of 
 his eclogues is an unnatural mixture of heterogeneous 
 styles. An unfortunate shepherd deplores his unsuc- 
 cessful love. Another shepherd joins him, and their 
 conversation proceeds unconstrained in a romantic pas- 
 toral tone; but it is impossible to discover any reason 
 for the changes which take place in the verse. Tercets 
 are succeeded by rhymeless iambics, after which the 
 tercets re-appear and are followed by the syllabic mea- 
 sure of a canzone. The simple dialogue suddenly be- 
 comes dramatic. The fair huntress, whose indifference is 
 the subject of the first shepherd's lament, appears upon 
 the scene. The lover seizes and refuses to let her go, until 
 she swears to listen to his addresses. She makes the re- 
 quired vow, and when at liberty flies. The despair of 
 the shepherd then becomes frenzy; and a third shepherd, 
 who has in the mean time arrived, enters into conversa- 
 tion with the one who first joined the unhappy lover,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 185 
 
 on the means of restoring him to reason. The author 
 seizes this opportunity to convert his eclogue into a 
 most unseasonable eulogium on the house of Alba. 
 One of the shepherds proposes that medical assistance 
 should be obtained, and mentions a physician named 
 Severo; but this name is assigned to a learned friend of 
 Garcilaso and the Alba family. Nothing more is neces- 
 sary, according to the critical conception of the author, 
 to warrant the making a poetical digression from his 
 account of the merits of the physician, whose miracu- 
 lous skill is to recover the frantic shepherd, to the 
 history of the house of Alba, which he details in iambic 
 blank verse. 
 
 In the third and last of Garcilaso's eclogues, the 
 genuine pastoral character is resumed. The lyric dia- 
 logue in octaves, or Italian stanzas, pleasingly harmon- 
 izes with the soft description of amatory sorrows given 
 in this poem. 
 
 Garcilaso made essays in other kinds of poetry, but 
 with less success. An elegy written to console the 
 Duke of Alba for the death of his brother, is an imi- 
 tation, or rather a translation of an Italian poem by 
 Frascatoro, and is at once cold and verbose. More of 
 interest belongs to another elegy which is addressed to 
 Boscan, and which the author wrote at the foot of 
 Mount Etna. Mythological recollections excited by 
 that classic ground, melancholy complaints of the 
 miseries of war, and tender anxieties for a loved ob- 
 ject in the poet's native land, diffuse a charm over 
 the whole of this elegant poem, which is besides
 
 186 HISTORY OF 
 
 remarkable for comparisons and images full of novelty 
 and truth.* 
 
 Garcilaso is also the author of a small epistle in which 
 he has endeavoured to seize the true horatian tone. It 
 is not sufficiently important to deserve particular notice, 
 but it is easy to recognize in it the fine tact of this 
 author, to whom the critic, however severely he may 
 judge his faults, cannot deny the title of the second 
 classic poet of Spain. 
 
 DIEGO DE MENDOZA. 
 
 The third classic poet, and at the same time the 
 first classic prose writer of Spain, is Don Diego Hurtado 
 
 * Como acontece al misero doliente, 
 
 Quo del an cabo el cierto amigo y sano 
 
 Le muestra el duro mal de su acidente, 
 Y le amonesta que del cuerpo humano 
 
 Comience a levantar d mejor parte 
 
 El alma suelta con volar liviano ; 
 Mas la tierna muger, de la otra parte, 
 
 No se puede entregar al desengano, 
 
 Y encubrele del mal la mayor parte : 
 El, abrazado con su dulce engauo, 
 
 Vuelve los ojos a la vvoz piadosa, 
 
 Y ale"grase muriendo con su dauo : 
 Asi los quito yo de toda cosa, 
 
 Y pongolos en solo el pensamiento 
 
 De la esperanza cierta 6 lastimosa. 
 En este dulce error muero contento ; 
 
 Porque ver claro, y conocer mi estado 
 
 No puede ya curar el mal que siento ; 
 
 I
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 187 
 
 de Mendoza,* a native of Granada, where he was born 
 in the beginning of the sixteenth century, but in what 
 year is not known. Descended from one of the first 
 familes of the country, he had before him the pros- 
 pect of high honours, which, as he was one of five 
 children, his parents destined him to reach through the 
 church. Being educated for the clerical profession, he 
 received what was then considered a learned education. 
 Besides the classical languages of antiquity, he acquired 
 the Hebrew and Arabic. At the university of Sala- 
 manca, he studied scholastic philosophy, theology, and 
 ecclesiastical law. While yet a student he was the 
 inventor of the comic romance or novel, for it was at 
 Salamanca that he wrote his celebrated work, the Life 
 of Lazarillo de Tormes. Having become as conspi- 
 cuous for a vigorous and sound understanding as for his 
 wit and learning, the Emperor Charles V. who per- 
 ceived that his talents might be employed with advan- 
 tage in public business, drew him from his studies. He 
 had not long left the university when he was appointed 
 imperial envoy to Venice. He availed himself of the 
 opportunities which this situation afforded to cultivate 
 an intercourse with learned Italians, and to obtain an 
 
 Y acabo como aquel que en un templado 
 Baiio metido sin sentido muere, 
 Las venas dnlcemente desatado. 
 
 * In the title of the edition which I have perused of his Obras, 
 (Madrid, 1610, in 4to.) the word " Hurtado" is omitted, and he is 
 called simply Diego de Mendoza; but the Mendozas are so nume- 
 rous in Spanish literature, that it is necessary to pay attention to all 
 the distinctions in their names.
 
 188 HISTORY OF 
 
 intimate knowledge of the spirit of Italian literature. 
 Before his departure for Italy, he appears to have 
 formed an acquaintance with Boscan; but he was 
 patriot enough not to despise the old Spanish poetry. 
 Though he loved the Italian poets, he preferred the 
 ancients, and in particular Horace, who, like himself a 
 man of the world, might occasionally assist him in his 
 journey through the slippery path of political life; and 
 certainly few poets could have divided themselves be- 
 tween literature and politics with as much dexterity as 
 Mendoza. He was, however, far from being a cringing 
 courtier. His low opinion of diplomatic dignity is 
 stated frankly, and even somewhat coarsely, in one of 
 his epistles, in which he exclaims: " O these ambas- 
 sadors, the perfect ninnies! when kings wish to cheat 
 they begin with us. Our best business is to take care 
 that we do no harm, and indeed never to do or say any 
 thing that we may not run the risk of making our- 
 selves understood."* The ambassador of a prince of 
 such deep dissimulation as Charles V. might naturally 
 enough form an unfavourable opinion of his office ; but 
 he who could speak his mind in this manner, even 
 when at his post, must have retained some of the spirit 
 of old Spanish freedom. 
 
 * embaxadores, puros majaderos, 
 
 Que si los reyes quieren enganar, 
 Comien^an por nosotros los primeros. 
 Nuestro mayor negocio es, no danar, 
 Y jamas hacer cosa, ni dezilla, 
 Que no corramos riesgo de ensenar. 
 The passage is in the epistle commencing: 
 
 Que hace el gran senor de los Romanes.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 189 
 
 The emperor made no mistake in the choice of his 
 ambassador, of whose turn of thinking he doubtless 
 was not ignorant, but on the exercise of whose talents 
 he knew he could rely. He considered him the fittest 
 person that could be selected to go to the council of 
 Trent, and recommend, by an elegant manner, the truths 
 he wished to be told. to the assembled fathers in the 
 name of the Spanish nation. This commission Men- 
 doza executed to the satisfaction of the emperor. The 
 speech which he delivered before the council in 1545 
 was highly admired, and Charles was convinced that it 
 was impossible to confide the affairs of Italy to better 
 hands. In the year 1547, Mendoza appeared at the 
 papal court, then the centre of all political intrigues, as 
 imperial ambassador, and invested with powers which 
 rendered him the terror of the French party in Italy. 
 The emperor at the same time appointed him captain- 
 general and governor of Sienna, and other strong places 
 in Tuscany. He was ordered to humble the pope, 
 Paul III. even in his own court; and to repress, by 
 force, the movements of the restless Florentines, who 
 still hoped, under the protection of France, to shake 
 off the yoke of the Medicis. A man of less firmness 
 of character would have been totally unfit for such a 
 task; but the terrible energy with which Mendoza per- 
 formed it, exasperated in the highest degree the oppo- 
 site party, and more particularly the Florentines. The 
 repeated insurrections in Tuscany could not be sup- 
 pressed without measures of great severity, and Men- 
 doza was consequently detested as a tyrant by all Ita- 
 lians who were not reconciled to the introduction of
 
 190 HISTORY OF 
 
 Spanish garrisons. In Sienna he was constantly ex- 
 posed to assassination; and on one occasion, a musket 
 ball directed against him killed the horse on which he 
 rode. His intrepidity, however, was not to be shaken, 
 and he continued to administer his difficult government 
 until Paul III. died, and was succeeded by Julius III. 
 a pope inclined to the Spanish party. The new pope 
 wishing to bestow on Mendoza a particular mark of 
 respect, appointed him Gonfalonier, or Standard-bearer 
 to the church. In this character, Mendoza marched 
 against the rebels in the ecclesiastical territories, and 
 made them submit to the pope. 
 
 Thus did a Spanish poet, alike feared and admired, 
 govern Italy for the space of six years. During this 
 stormy period of his life, Mendoza composed verses, 
 visited the Italian universities, purchased Greek manu- 
 scripts, and collected a large library. Since the days of 
 Petrarch no friend of literature had shewn so much 
 zeal for the acquisition of Greek manuscripts. He 
 spared no pains nor expense to procure them even from 
 Greece, and sent special messengers for that purpose to 
 the convent of Mount Athos. He availed himself of a 
 service he had rendered to the Ottoman sultan, to ob- 
 tain supplies of corn for the empty granaries of Venice, 
 and of manuscripts for his own library. Many a Greek 
 work came first to the press from his valuable collection. 
 Whoever wished to promote the study of ancient litera- 
 ture, found in him a friend and protector; and to him 
 the learned bookseller, Paulus Manutius, dedicated his 
 edition of the philosophic writings of Cicero, to the 
 study of which Mendoza was particularly attached,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 191 
 
 and for the correct publication of which he even made 
 critical observations on the manuscripts. 
 
 Literature and politics, it appears, did not afford 
 sufficient occupation for this extraordinary man. He 
 chose also to engage in affairs of gallantry ; and, accord- 
 ing to the manners of the age, gave to such pursuits, at 
 least in verse, the character of romantic passion. His 
 looks, however, were not calculated to recommend him 
 to the fair sex; for his biographers state that he was 
 far from handsome, and that the glance of his fiery eye 
 was more repulsive than inviting. But Mendoza was 
 active, accomplished, and in the possession of power; 
 and the favour which these advantages obtained for 
 him with some Roman ladies, was numbered among 
 the offences with which his enemies loudly reproached 
 him. The repeated charges brought against him made 
 at last an impression on the emperor; and that mo- 
 narch, who had begun to contemplate the resignation 
 of his crown, and who was now desirous of establishing 
 tranquillity in his states, thought fit, in the year 1554, 
 to recal this too rigid governor to Spain. 
 
 The latter part of the history of Mendoza's life is 
 not uniformly related by his biographers. According 
 to some he retired to the country, devoted himself to 
 poetry and philosophy, and appeared very seldom at 
 the court of Philip II. Others assert that, though he 
 no longer retained his former influence, he continued a 
 member of the council of state under Philip II. and 
 was present with that monarch at the great battle of 
 St. Quintin, fought in the year 1557. This much is 
 certain, that he was soon after engaged in an adventure
 
 192 HISTORY OF 
 
 at the court, which, for a man of his age and know- 
 ledge of the world, was of a very singular nature. An 
 altercation arose in the palace between him and a cour- 
 tier, who, according to Mendoza's own declaration, was 
 his rival in the affections of a lady. This man, whose 
 name is not mentioned, in a fit of violent exasperation, 
 drew a dagger; upon which Mendoza seized him, and 
 threw him from a balcony into the street. What after- 
 wards became of his antagonist is not recorded; but the 
 transaction was the subject of serious observation, and 
 the grave Philip regarded it as a high offence against the 
 dignity of his person and his court. He was, however, 
 content to inflict a moderate punishment, and merely 
 condemned Mendoza to a short imprisonment. The 
 old statesman occupied the period of his imprisonment 
 in the ancient Spanish style, namely, in composing lamen- 
 tations on the unkindness of his mistress:* and these 
 romantic effusions do not appear to have been consi- 
 dered by his contemporaries as absurd and ridiculous at 
 his time of life. But the sorrows expressed in his ama- 
 tory ditties did not drive the venerable lover to despair; 
 for when he was soon after set at liberty, though still 
 exiled from court, he observed with the eye of a poli- 
 tician the insurrection of the Moriscoes, or converted 
 Arabs of Granada; and when the insurrection broke 
 out into a formal war, he noted down all the remarkable 
 events, and afterwards detailed them in an historical 
 
 * They are to be found among his poems with these titles : 
 *' Carta en redondillas, estando preso." " Redondillas, estando 
 preso por una pendencia que tuvo en palacio."
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 193 
 
 work, which has obtained for him the name of the 
 Spanish Sallust. He profited of this opportunity to 
 collect a great number of Arabic manuscripts. Observa- 
 tions on the works of Aristotle, a translation of the Me- 
 chanics of that philosopher, and some political treatises, 
 were, it appears, the last of his literary labours. He 
 was thus actively and usefully employed until his death, 
 which happened when he was upwards of seventy, at 
 Valladolid, in the year 1575. He bequeathed his col- 
 lection of books and manuscripts to the king, and it 
 still forms one of the most, valuable portions of the 
 library of the Escurial.* 
 
 A detailed account of the life of this distinguished 
 man, cannot be regarded as a biographical excrescence 
 in a history of Spanish Literature; for in no other 
 poet's life and works is the real Castilian spirit of the 
 age of Charles V. so clearly displayed as in those of 
 Diego Mendoza. The universality of his literary talent 
 will be best understood, when it is known with what 
 energy, precision, and facility he accommodated him- 
 self to, and controuled the circumstances in which he 
 happened to be placed in all the practical relations of life. 
 That trait too in the portrait of his mind, which is most 
 worthy of observation, namely, the constancy with 
 which, instead of abandoning one species of mental 
 activity for another, he continued throughout the 
 different periods of his life, from youth to extreme 
 old age, always to unite in his person the poet, the 
 
 * The best life of Mendoza is that which precedes his Guerra 
 de Granada, Valencia, 1776, in quarto. The notices in the fourth 
 volume of the Parnaso Espanol are also copious and useful. 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 HISTORY OF 
 
 man of letters, and the statesman, gives reason to 
 expect that liis works, however differing in kind, will 
 be found to possess a certain common character. 
 
 Diego de Mendoza did more for the poetic literature 
 of his country than his countrymen seem to have ac- 
 knowledged. Spanish writers, it is true, place him 
 next in rank to Boscan and Garcilaso de la Vega, 
 among the poets who introduced the Italian style into 
 Castilian poetry. But they cannot pardon the harsh- 
 ness of his versification in those poems in which he 
 adopted the metrical forms of Italy. Rendered fas- 
 tidious by the rhythmical harmony which a Castilian 
 ear can never dispense with, the Spaniards have held in 
 very trifling estimation the epistles of Mendoza; though 
 those compositions, in a striking manner, extended 
 the boundaries of Castilian poetry. As an epistolary 
 poet, he might justly be styled the Spanish Horace, if 
 his tercets flowed as smoothly as the hexameters of the 
 latin poet. Making allowance, however, for the want of 
 that pure harmony and that didactic delicacy in which 
 Horace is inimitable, Mendoza's epistles may rank 
 among the best productions of the kind in modern 
 literature. With the exception of Boscan and Garcilaso 
 de la Vega, no Spanish poet had evinced any traces 
 of that horatian spirit with which this author was 
 endowed. In the collection of Mendoza's poems, these 
 epistles are merely called cartas (letters.) Some of 
 them are of a romantic cast, and overloaded with 
 tedious love complaints. But the rest, like Horace's 
 epistles, are didactic, full of agreeable but sound phi- 
 losophy, precise and yet unconstrained in expression,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 195 
 
 and rescued from the monotonous effect of moral in- 
 struction, by a happy interchange of precepts, images, 
 and characters. A masculine understanding, which 
 clearly penetrates all social relations, and a noble spirit, 
 which estimates the blessings of life according to their 
 real value, diffuse over these epistles a charm at once 
 serene and attractive. Some of the most beautiful, 
 for example, that addressed to Boscan, which is best 
 known, and which on account of the answer is printed 
 among Boscan's poems, were composed in Italy during 
 the more early part of the author's life. But in esti- 
 mating the poetical works of Mendoza, chronological 
 arrangement is of little importance, for as a poet he 
 preserved equality from the commencement to the close 
 of his career. His epistle to Boscan is in part an imi- 
 tation of that of Horace to Numicius.* The latter 
 half, however, belongs exclusively to Mendoza. In this 
 portion of the epistle he presents to his friend the out- 
 line of the charming picture of domestic happiness, to 
 which Boscan himself, in the answer already mentioned, 
 has given a higher finish; and the taste which can 
 overlook the beauty of this picture on account of want 
 of smoothness in the versification, must be depraved by 
 the affectation of refinement.! Another epistle, addressed 
 
 * It commences thus : 
 
 El no maravillarse hombre de nada 
 Me parece, Boscan, ser una cosa, 
 Que basta a darnos vida descansada; &c, 
 f The commencement relates to Boscan's wife: 
 Tu la veras Boscaa, y yo la veo, 
 
 Que los que aniamos, vemos mas temprano, 
 Hela, en cubello negro, y bianco arreo. 
 O 2
 
 196 HISTORY OF 
 
 to Don Luis de Zufiiga, contains an ingenious and 
 striking comparison of the character of two hetero- 
 geneous and equally foolish classes of men. The one 
 wholly attached to the vulgar pleasures of the moment, 
 and stupidly indifferent to the affairs of the world;* 
 
 Ella te cogera con blanda mano 
 
 Las raras ubas, y la fruta cana, 
 
 Dulces, y frescos dones del verano. 
 Mira que diligencia, con que gana 
 
 Viene al nuevo servicio, que pomposa 
 
 Esta con el trabajo, y quan ufana. 
 En blanca leche colorada rosa 
 
 Nunca para su amigo vi al pastor 
 
 Mezclar s que pareciesse tan hermosa. 
 El verde arrayoii tuerce en derredor, 
 
 De tu sagrada frente, con las flores, 
 
 Mezclando oro immortal a la labor. 
 For cima van, y vienen los amores, 
 
 Con las alas en vino remojadas, 
 
 Suenan en el carcax los passadores. 
 Remedie quien quisiere las pissadas 
 
 De los grandes, que el mundo governaron, 
 
 Cuyas obras, quiza estan olvidadas. 
 Desuelese en lo que ellos no alcancaron, 
 
 Duerma descolorido sobre el oro, 
 
 Que no les quedara mas que llevaron. 
 Yo Boscan, no procure otro tesoro, 
 
 Sino poder vivir medianamente, 
 
 Ni escondo la riqueza, ni la adoro. * 
 Si aqui hallas algun inconveniente, 
 
 Como discrete, y no como yo soy, 
 Me desengana luego incontinente, 
 
 Y sino ven conmigo adonde voy. 
 * Qu antes ay don Luys, que sobre nada 
 
 Haziendo sumtuoso fundamento, 
 
 Tienen la buena suerte por llegada.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 197 
 
 while the other, on the contrary, is cheated by restless 
 cares and anxieties out of the enjoyment of the pre- 
 sent.* In these epistles, Mendoza unfolded the result 
 
 Cansanse con un vano pensamiento, 
 
 Hechan sus conjeturas, y razones, 
 
 Hazen torres vazias en el viento. 
 Ensanchan al pensar los corasones, 
 
 Creen tener en puno la fortuna, 
 
 Y toman por el pie las ocasiones. 
 Como los simples ninos que en la cuna, 
 
 No saben conocer otro cuydado, 
 
 Sino contar las vigas, una a una, 
 Ansi passan la vida en descuydado, 
 
 Y ternan por el mismo, sin mas duda, 
 
 El tiempo por venir con el passado : 
 Mas si el viento delante se les inuda, 
 
 Y arranca las arenas del profundo, 
 
 No por esso ha ran vida sessuda. 
 No les podra quitar hombre del mundo 
 
 El comer el dormir, el passear, 
 
 El tenerse por solos sin segundo. 
 * Otros ay que rebuelven en el seno, 
 
 El tiempo que es passado, y el que tienen, 
 
 Consideran lo suyo por lo ageno. 
 Toman las ocasiones que les vienen, 
 
 Y las que no les vienen, van buscando, 
 
 Y con qualquier tiempo se entre tienen. 
 El mundo punto a punto van passando 
 
 Los hombres por de dentro, y por defuera 
 
 Como en anatomia examinando. 
 Ponen la diligencia en delantera, 
 
 El seso, y la razon por el guarismo, 
 
 Quieren que todo venga a su manera. 
 No tienen otra ley, ni otro bautismo, 
 
 Sino lo que les cumple, y por solo esto 
 
 Yran hasta el profundo del abismo.
 
 198 HISTORY OF 
 
 of his experience, as the Infante Juan Manuel did 
 a century and a half earlier, in his Count Lucanor, 
 though in a totally different manner. Mendoza's style 
 is that of an accomplished man of the world, formed 
 in the school of the latin poets. 
 
 Mendoza's sonnets possess neither the grace nor 
 the harmony essential to that species of composition. 
 They owe their existence to the amatory spirit of the 
 age rather than to the poetic inspiration of the author. 
 Though he composed in the Italian manner with less 
 facility than Boscan and Garcilaso, he felt more cor- 
 rectly than they or any other of his countrymen, the 
 difference between the Spanish and Italian languages, 
 with respect to their capabilities for versification. The 
 Spanish admits of none of those pleasing elisions, which, 
 particularly when terminating vowels are omitted, ren- 
 der the mechanism of Italian versification so easy, and 
 enable the poet to augment or diminish the number of 
 syllables according to his pleasure; and this difference 
 in the two languages renders the composition of a 
 Spanish sonnet a difficult task. Still more does the 
 Spanish language seem hostile to the soft termination 
 of a succession of feminine rhymes, for the Spanish 
 
 Agudos en el cuerpo, y en el gesto, 
 
 Mai cenidos, las capas arrastradas, 
 
 El ojo abierto, y el caminar presto. 
 Si les suceden cosas desastradas, 
 
 Escogen, y proveen.lo peor, 
 
 Nadie puede topar con sus pisadas. 
 No toman el camino, que es mejor, 
 
 Llano, y trillado, antes al reves, 
 
 Engananse en el arte, y la labor.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 199 
 
 poet, who adopts this rule of the Italian sonnet, is 
 compelled to banish from his rhymes, all infinitives of 
 verbs, together with a whole host of sonorous substan- 
 tives and adjectives.* Mendoza, therefore, availed 
 himself of the use of masculine rhymes in his sonnets; 
 but this metrical license was strongly censured by all 
 partizans of the Italian style. Nevertheless had he 
 given to his sonnets more of the tenderness of Petrarch, 
 it is probable that they would have found imitators. 
 Some of them, indeed, may be considered as successful 
 productions, and throughout all the language is correct 
 and noble.t 
 
 * Words on which elisions are permitted in Italian, as for 
 example, dar, legger, amor, peggior, instead of dare, leggere, 
 amore, peggiore, are in Spanish, by an invariable rule of the lan- 
 guage, written dar, leer, amor, peor; and, on the other hand, no 
 poet can presume to omit the terminating vowels in Spanish words. 
 A succession of pure feminine rhymes is, therefore, as unnatural in 
 the Spanish language as in the German. In the Spanish, however, 
 the unnatural effect is easily concealed ; while in the German, the 
 incessant recurrence of the semi-mute e, in feminine rhymes, is 
 intolerable. 
 
 f The following is characteristic, since it presents in a picture 
 of the poet's mode of life, the mingled features of Italian refine- 
 ment and the Spanish tone of thinking. 
 
 Aora en la dalce ciencia ennbevecido, 
 Ora en el uso de la ardiente espada, 
 Aora con la mano, y el sentido 
 Puesto en seguir la plac.ii levautada, 
 Ora el pesado cuerpo est dormido, 
 Aora el alma atenta, y desvelada, 
 Siempre en el cora9on tendre esculpido 
 " Tu ser, y hermosura entretallada.
 
 200 HISTORY OF 
 
 Mendoza's canciones have nearly the same character 
 as his sonnets, except that they more obviously mark the 
 influence of the horatian ode on the lyric fancy of the 
 author. The versification, which is sonorous, though 
 deficient in harmony, is occasionally united with a de- 
 gree of obscurity from which the other productions of 
 Mendoza are totally exempt.* The least successful of 
 his poems in the Italian style is a mythological tale 
 in octave verse, founded on the history of Adonis, but 
 along with which the author has interwoven the history 
 
 Entre gentes estraiias, do se encierra 
 
 El Sol fuera del imindn, y se desvia, 
 
 Durare, y permanecere deste arte. 
 En el mar, en el cielo, so la tierra, 
 
 Contemplate la gloria de aquel dia, 
 
 Que tu vista figura eii toda parte. 
 
 * One of those canciones commences in a sententious way in the 
 horatian manner, but it soon degenerates into an obscurity, very un- 
 like Horace. 
 
 Tiempo bien empleado, 
 
 Y vida descansada, 
 
 Bien que a pocos, y tarde se consiente 
 
 Olvidar lo passado, 
 
 Holgar con lo presente, 
 
 Y de lo por venir, no curar nada, 
 
 Hora falta, y menguada 
 
 La del que nunca olvida 
 
 Un cuydado que siempre le da pena. 
 
 Cortado a su medida 
 
 Tan importuna, y llena, 
 
 Que ni otro halla entrada, ni el salida, 
 
 Mas tiene por testigo 
 
 Su pensamieuto, y este es su euemigo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 201 
 
 of Atalanta. The story is, however, related in a very 
 pleasing manner. 
 
 The Spaniards give the preference, not to this first 
 class of the poetic works of Mendoza, but to the second, 
 which consists of lyric poems in the old national style, 
 the origin of which it is, however, easy to perceive 
 must be referred to a more highly cultivated age. The 
 similarity between these poems and others of the same 
 sort in the Romancero general, clearly proves that 
 many of the poets of the age of Charles V. had tacitly 
 agreed to improve the old national poetry, without, like 
 the impetuous Castillejo, (of whom further mention will 
 soon be made) waging open war against the reformers 
 of the school of Boscan. Many of Mendoza's lyric 
 pieces are inserted in the Romancero general without 
 the author's name. In these compositions the syllabic 
 measure seems to have been the chief object of im- 
 provement. But this improvement, however successful, 
 was at the same time necessarily limited; and the beau- 
 tiful forms of the Italian canzone possessed too striking 
 a superiority over the most cultivated forms of rhyme 
 in the old redondillas, to yield to the latter in any 
 collision. All Mendoza's lyric compositions are in 
 stanzas of four lines; and the pieces of this descrip- 
 tion now obtained, by way of distinction, the name of 
 redondillas, which seems originally to have been applied 
 to all trochaic verses in lines of four feet.* But songs 
 in stanzas of five lines, though in other respects simi- 
 lar to those just mentioned, are called in Mendoza's 
 
 * See the Introduction, page 20.
 
 202 HISTORY OF 
 
 collection quintets or quintillas. The trochaic stanza in 
 four lines of three feet,* of which the Romancero gene- 
 ral also contains several specimens, was found to be most 
 suitable to endechas, or funeral songs, in the old na- 
 tional style, and to compositions of that class Mendoza 
 applied it. He wrote many romantic epistles in the 
 redondilla stanza of four lines; and did not neglect 
 the other old lyric forms, such as the Villancicos, 
 &c. The improvement of style, which is an essential 
 feature of all these poems, was limited by Mendoza 
 to accuracy of expression, and to softening the quaint- 
 ness of the old subtilties: to these, however, he him- 
 self sometimes resorted; and he seems to have been of 
 opinion, that the character of this kind of poetry ren- 
 dered their occasional introduction indispensable. In 
 compositions of a tender and melancholy character,! 
 
 * For example: 
 
 Hagame lugar 
 1 placer UH dia ! 
 Dexame con tar 
 Esta pena mia ! 
 
 f The following are the first stanzas of a song, which he 
 composed in prison, after his extraordinary adventure in the court 
 of Madrid : 
 
 Triste, y aspera fortuna 
 
 Un preso tiene afligido, 
 Mas no por esso vencido 
 Con la fuerca de niuguna. 
 Entre sus cuydados vive, 
 
 Ellos mismos le atormentan, 
 Mil inuertes le representan, 
 Y las mas dellos recibe.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 203 
 
 he is less successful than in those of a comic 
 cast.* 
 
 Considering Mendoza's wit and knowledge of man- 
 kind, it may naturally be presumed that his satyrical 
 poems, which however exist only in manuscript, mark 
 a great advancement in this species of poetry in Spain. 
 These poems are mentioned by all Mendoza's biogra- 
 phers ; one is called LaPulga (the Flea,) another La Cafia 
 
 Y aunque no se rinde al peso 
 
 De tantas penas, y enojos, 
 
 Rinde a Fills los despojos 
 
 De sus entranas, y seso. 
 Tristezas, y soledades, 
 
 Y quexas muy apretadas, 
 
 Que sino son declaradas, 
 
 A lo menos son verdades. 
 
 * In a half comic song, he describes jealousy (in Spanish los 
 zelos, jealous thoughts), in a series oJ" very odd, negative compari- 
 sons ; for example : 
 
 No es padre, suegro, ni yerno, 
 Ni es hijo, hermano, ni tio, 
 Ni es mar, arroyo, ni rio, 
 Ni es verano, ni es invierno, 
 Ni es otoiio, ni es estio. 
 No es ave, ni es animal, 
 
 Ni es Luna, sombra ni Sol, 
 Vequadrado, ni vemol, 
 Piedra, planta, ni metal, 
 Ni pece, ni caracol. 
 Tampoco es noche, ni dia, 
 Ni hora, ni mes, ni ano, 
 Ni es lienc.0, seda, ni pauo, 
 Ni es Latin, ni Algaravia, 
 Ni es ogano, ni fue antano
 
 204 HISTORY OF 
 
 (the Reed), and a third bears the comical title of Elogoio 
 de la Zanahoria (Eulogy on the Parsnip.) None, how- 
 ever, have yet passed the ordeal of the inquisition. 
 Their titles seem to indicate a kind of coarse humour in 
 the style of the burlesque satyres of the Italians. 
 
 Some of Mendoza's prose compositions have, how- 
 ever, obtained greater celebrity than his poems; and 
 they unquestionably form an epoch in the history of 
 Spanish % prose. The comic romance of Lazarillo de 
 Tormes, which Mendoza wrote while he was a student 
 at Salamanca, is either the very first production of its 
 kind, or at least the first that obtained any thing like 
 literary consideration. Soon after its publication it was 
 translated into Italian, and subsequently into French, 
 and by the means of this French translation it has 
 been read throughout all Europe. Relations of in- 
 teresting tricks of roguery, probably formed at a more 
 early period a favourite amusement with the Spaniards; 
 for that adroit feats of cunning and deception have had 
 for them a charm of a peculiar kind, the whole history 
 of their comic literature sufficiently proves. Mendoza, 
 therefore, gave to his humorous fancy a direction con- 
 formable to the spirit of his country, when he chose, as 
 the subject of his work, the Adventures of a Beggar Lad, 
 who makes a kind of fortune by dint of cheating and 
 roguery; and the comic interest of the production was 
 enhanced by its contrast with the pompous romances 
 of chivalry. In the perusal of such a tale, the Spanish 
 reader willingly descended from the romantic ideal 
 world to the sphere of common life. The skill with 
 which Mendoza has sketched the vices of avarice
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 205 
 
 and selfishness in the persons into whose service 
 Lazarillo enters, is no less remarkable than the bold 
 regard for truth which led him to include priests in the 
 number of his odious characters. The inquisition of 
 course could not expect that the Spaniards should 
 regard the ecclesiastic profession as a security against 
 every vice; and Lazarillo de Tormes sufficiently proves 
 that in Mendoza's time the priesthood was not guaran- 
 teed against public satire in Spain. Under the reign of 
 Philip II. however, satires of this kind became subject to 
 a certain degree of restraint; and since that period Men- 
 doza's romance has only been suffered to escape because 
 its free circulation was once permitted by the inquisi- 
 tion. No critic has hitherto called in question the truth 
 and accuracy of the pictures of vulgar life in Lazarillo 
 de Tormes; but an author named de Luna, who styles 
 himself an interpreter of the Castilian language, pub- 
 lished a new edition of the romance with the view of 
 correcting the diction. De Luna likewise added a 
 second part to the story, for Mendoza in his maturer 
 years never felt inclined to finish the comic work which 
 he had commenced in his youth.* 
 
 A very different spirit animates the historical work 
 in which Mendoza traces the history of the rebellion 
 of Granada.f Mendoza formed his style, as a historian, 
 
 * The only editions of the vida de Lazarillo de Tormes now 
 in circulation, are printed after that published at Saragossa, in the 
 year 1652, with de Luna's corrections and continuation. 
 
 f A new edition of this work, which is entitled: Guerra de 
 Granada, quc hizo el rey don Felipe II. c. Escriviola D. Diego 
 Hurtado de Mendoza, has been mentioned in the note, p. 193. It
 
 206 HISTORY OF 
 
 principally on that of Sallust, and only occasionally 
 imitated Tacitus for the sake of variety. Were it not 
 that he sometimes oversteps the bounds of true ele- 
 gance and falls into an overstudied and artificial manner, 
 this work might be ranked, without reserve, among the 
 best historical models; and notwithstanding the affec- 
 tation with which it is here and there disfigured,* it 
 is, unquestionably, after the works of Maehiavell and 
 Guicciardini, the first production of modern literature 
 that deserves to be compared with the classic histories 
 of antiquity. 
 
 However carefully Mendoza polished the rhetorical 
 form of his history, still the importance of the mate- 
 rials and a true philosophic spirit are every where pro- 
 is in fact the first correct edition, for in it the original text is 
 restored by collation with the genuine MS. 
 
 * This affectation of style is particularly observable in the 
 Prooemium; and therefore that part of the work does not create a 
 very favourable prepossession towards the author, in the mind of the 
 impartial critic: 
 
 Bien se que muchas cosas de las que escriviere pareceran a 
 tilgunos liviauas, i menudas para Historia, coinparadas a las grandes, 
 que de Espaila se hallan escritas; Guerras largas de varies sucesos, 
 tomas i desolaciones de Ciudades populosas, Reyes vencidos i presos, 
 disiordias entre padres i hijos, hermauos i hermanas, suegros i 
 hiernos, desposeidos, restituidos, i otra vez desposeidos, muertos a 
 hierro, acabados linages, mudadas successiones de Reinos; libre i 
 estendido campo, i ancha salida para los Escritores. Yo escogi 
 cainino mas estrecho, trabajoso, esteril, i sin gloria ; pero prove- 
 <^hoso, i de fruto para los que adelante vinieren ; comienzos bajos, 
 rebelion de salteadores, junta de esclavos, tumulto de villanos, com- 
 petencies, odios, ambiciones, i pretensiones ; dilacion de provisiones, 
 falta de dinero, inconvenientes o no rreidos, o tenidos en poco.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 207 
 
 minent throughout his representation of facts. Being 
 himself a native of Granada, his power of rightly 
 viewing the events, and the impression he received 
 from them, must have been much the same as if he 
 had been an eye witness of all that passed. Besides, 
 he derived his information from the most authentic 
 sources; for at the period in question he was residing 
 on his estate in the vicinity of the theatre of the war. 
 His nephew, the Marquis de Mondejar, was for some 
 time commander in chief of the army against the 
 rebels; and Mendoza himself had long been so inti- 
 mately connected with the government at Madrid, that 
 no individual in Spain had better opportunities of 
 obtaining that knowledge of the secret as well as of 
 the ostensible springs of transactions which is necessary 
 for a just historical representation of events. The 
 atrocious measures adopted by Phillip II. to suppress 
 the insurrection in Granada, were, however, no less 
 opposed to the sound political views of Mendoza, than 
 the fanatic cruelty and glaring injustice by which the 
 unhappy Moriscos had been driven into rebellion ap- 
 pear, however good a catholic he may have been, to 
 have revolted his feelings. But neither his opinion nor 
 his compassion could be openly avowed. He therefore 
 availed himself of all the subtle windings of the histo- 
 rical art, to render his representation of events easily 
 intelligible to those who thought as he did, and at the 
 same time to secure himself against any literal interpre- 
 tation which spiritual or temporal despotism might have 
 employed to his disadvantage. Wherever undeniable 
 facts, which the government according to its own
 
 208 HISTORY OF 
 
 maxims could not venture to conceal, clearly expose 
 the folly and inhumanity by which the Moors were 
 reduced to despair, Mendoza apparently refrains from 
 pronouncing any judgment, while the poignant manner 
 in which he relates the facts, is in itself a sufficient 
 condemnation.* 
 
 When the fault rests rather with the agents of 
 the government than with the government itself, he 
 seems to attack only the former. In order that the 
 just cause of the Moriscos might be, for once, power- 
 fully vindicated, he puts, after the manner of the 
 ancients, a speech into the mouth of one of the chiefs 
 of the conspirators.f This is the only speech in the 
 
 * For example : 
 
 Porque la Inquisicion los comenzo a apretar mas de lo ordi- 
 nario. El Rei les mando dejar la habla Morisca, i con ella el 
 comercio i comunicacion entre si; quitoseles el servicio de los 
 Esclavos negros a quienes criavan con esperanzas de hijos, el habito 
 Morisco en que teuian empleado gran caudal ; obligaronlos a vestir 
 Castellano con mucha costa, que las mugeres trugesen los rostros 
 descubiertos, que las casas acostumbradas a estar cerradas estu- 
 viesen abiertas: lo uno i lo otro tan grave de sufrir entre gente 
 celosa. Huvo fama que les mandavan tomar los hijos, i pasallos a 
 Castilla. Vedaronles el uso de los bafios, que eran su limpieza i 
 entrenimiento; priinero les havian prohibido la Musica, c&ntares, 
 fiestas, bodas, conforme a su costumbre, i qualesquier juntas de 
 pasatiempo. Salio todo esto junto sin guardia, ni provision de 
 gente ; sin reforzar presidios viejos, o firmar otras nuevos. 
 
 f This speech is forcibly written, and the style is no where 
 disfigured by rhetorical ornament. The following is one of its most 
 powerful passages: 
 
 Quien quita que el hombre de Lengua Caslellana no pueda 
 tener la lei del Profeta ? i el de la lengua Morisca la lei de Jesus ?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 209 
 
 work which seems sufficient to shew that at least it 
 was not inserted from a spirit of servile imitation; but 
 he occasionally ventures, contrary to the practice of 
 modern languages, to approximate his narrative style 
 to that of the writers of antiquity; as for example, 
 where he employs a succession of verbs in the infinitive 
 mood.* The Spaniards, however, seem to have regarded 
 the grammatical freedom used by Mendoza as perfectly 
 conformable to the genius of their language. During 
 the gloomy and suspicious government of Philip II. 
 this excellent work was only to be read in manuscript. 
 It was first published at Madrid, in the year 1610, five- 
 and-thirty years after the death of the author, and was 
 reprinted at Lisbon in 1617; but both editions were 
 
 llaman a nuestros hijos a sus Congregaciones i casas de letras, 
 ensenanles artes que nuestros mayores prohibieron aprenderse ; 
 porque no se confundiese la puridad, i se hiciese litigiosa la verdad 
 de la lei. Cada hora nos amenazan quitarlos de los brazos de sus 
 madres, i de la crianza de sus padres, i pasarlos a tierras agenas ; 
 donde olviden nuestra manera de vida, i aprendan a ser enemigos de 
 los padres que los engendramos, i de las madres que los parieron. 
 Mandannos dejar nuestro habito, vestir el Castellano. Vistense 
 entre ellos los Tudescos de uua manera, los Franceses de otra, los 
 Griegos de otra, los Frailes de otra, los mozos de otra, i de otra los 
 viejos ; cada Nacion, cada profesion i cada estado usa su manera de 
 vestido, i todos son Christianos ; i nosotros Moros, porque vestimos a 
 la Morisca; como si truxesemos la lei en el vestido, i no en el corazon. 
 
 * Demas desto proveerse de vitualla, eligir lugar en la mon- 
 tana donde guardalla, fabricar arinas, reparar las que de mucho 
 tiempo tenian escondidas, comprar nuevas, i avisar de nuevo a los 
 Reyes de Argel, Fez, Senor de Tituan desta resolucion i prepara- 
 dones. 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 HISTORY OF 
 
 purposely mutilated.* The text was at last given com- 
 plete in the edition of the work, which appeared in 
 1776. 
 
 SAA DE MIRANDA. 
 
 The fame of the great reform of the Castilian 
 poetry having penetrated into Portugal, a similar re- 
 form took place in the poetry of that nation. At this 
 time the Castilian language was held in such high con- 
 sideration in Portugal, that even Portuguese poets, 
 without undervaluing their national tongue, thought 
 themselves bound occasionally to write verses in Cas- 
 tilian, to entitle them to be regarded as perfect masters 
 of the poetic art. In the first half of the sixteenth 
 century, two of the most celebrated of these Portuguese 
 poets laboured with such success to extend the do- 
 minion of Castilian pastoral poetry, that the thread of 
 the history of Spanish literature would be broken, were 
 a notice of the poetic merits of these two celebrated 
 men confined solely to the history of the literature of 
 Portugal. One of them, Francisco de Saa de Miranda, 
 who was born in 1494, and died in 1558, belongs, how- 
 ever, in so eminent a degree, to his own nation, and the 
 circumstances of his life are so closely connected with 
 the history of Portuguese poetry, that it would be an 
 
 * In the year 1737, that excellent critic Mayans, in allusion 
 to Diego de Mendoza's Guerra de Granada, observes : Deve 
 leerse, coino el la escrivio. Quiere Dios que algun dia la publique 
 yo ! (Orig. de la Lingua Espanola, vol. i. p. 205). Thus even at 
 that period a genuine edition, such as Mayans wished to superin- 
 tend, could not be published.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 211 
 
 injustice to Portuguese literature to rank him exclu- 
 sively among the poets of Spain. Besides, most of his 
 poetic works, with the exception of his pastoral poems, 
 are written in the Portuguese language.* The other 
 Portuguese poet, who claims attention in the history of 
 Spanish poetry, is Jorge de Montemayor. He, through 
 his residence in Spain, became wholly a Spaniard: the 
 work to which he chiefly owes his celebrity is written 
 in Spanish; and he had so decided an influence on 
 Spanish literature, that this would be the proper place 
 for introducing an account of his short life and of his 
 poetry, did not Saa de Miranda's Castilian pastorals, 
 which are of older date, demand a previous notice.f 
 
 The bucolic effusions of Saa de Miranda exhibit 
 in their general tone more traits of resemblance to 
 Theocritus, than are to be found in the writings of 
 Garcilaso de la Vega. Garcilaso's pastoral style, with 
 all its simplicity, was not sufficiently rural for Saa de 
 Miranda. Like Theocritus his feelings seem to have 
 
 * Dieze, it is true, alledges the contrary, in his notes on Velas- 
 quez ; but it appears that he was acquainted only with the pastoral 
 poems, and not with the other works of Saa de Miranda. 
 
 f These Spanish pastoral poems are mingled indiscriminately 
 with the Portuguese poems of the same author, in the neatly printed 
 edition of the Obras do Doctor Francisco de Sd de Miranda, 
 Lisboa, 1784, in 2 vols. 8vo. No attention has been paid to the 
 correction of the Spanish poems in this collection, and Portuguese 
 words continually occur in them ; for example, as for las, pensa- 
 mentos for pensamientos, outro for otro, &c. The orthography of 
 the title-page is uncommon; for in other cases the Portuguese 
 spelling is not doctor, but doutor, and Sd is a modern substitution 
 for Saa. 
 
 P 2
 
 212 HISTORY OF 
 
 dictated to him pure rural ideas; and he transferred 
 this characteristic of his Portuguese eclogues to those 
 which he wrote in Spanish, which are the most nume- 
 rous. Nevertheless, even in his rural poems he did not 
 wish to renounce the attributes of the loftier style of 
 poetry. He was, however, heedless of all critical dis- 
 tinction of the different kinds of poetry, and would, with- 
 out scruple, commence a poem, in the metre of an Italian 
 canzone, as an ode, proceed with it in epic metaphors,* 
 and conclude it in the simplest idyllic style. With equal 
 indifference he chose sometimes octave verse, sometimes 
 tercets for his pastoral poems, which thus alternately 
 assume a lyric and a dramatic tone. This capricious 
 mixture of poetic genera and styles deteriorates in no 
 slight degree the quality of Saa de Miranda's poetry. 
 The elevated tone of the ode forms a singular contrast 
 when introduced in the same composition along with 
 
 * The following stanza may certainly claim a place in the best 
 epic poem. 
 
 Como el pino en el monte combalido 
 
 Del impetuoso viento en la tormenta, 
 
 A quantos que lo ven pone en recelo, 
 
 Los truenos amenazan, arrebienta 
 
 El fuego por las nuves, exlo erguido, 
 
 Exlo coruo que va cayendo al suelo, 
 
 Hasta tanlo que el Cielo 
 
 Se abre en llama ardiendo, 
 
 Entre viendo, y no viendo, 
 
 El bravo rayo en bueltas mil desciende, 
 
 Aquel prostrero mal quien se defiende ? 
 
 Queda un tronco quemado, y cuento breve, 
 
 A quien passa porende, 
 
 O busca alii quic.a que a casa lleve.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 213 
 
 the easy familiar style, which, in the opinion of Saa 
 de Miranda, the pure pastoral character of his poetry 
 required. But no modern poet has succeeded so well 
 in the union of simplicity and grace; and in this re- 
 spect the eclogues of Saa de Miranda are unequalled. 
 When he describes the gambols of the nymphs, with 
 whom his fancy animates his native woodland scenes;* 
 when he sketches impetuous storms of passion, softened 
 by the charm of his colouring, yet kept true to nature ;f 
 
 * For example : 
 
 Graciosamente estando, 
 
 Graciosamente andando, 
 
 Blando ayre respirava al prado ameno. 
 
 Ella cantava, y juntamente el seno 
 
 Inchiendose yva de diversas flores, 
 
 En que el prado era lleno 
 
 Sobre verde variado en mil colores, 
 f For instance, the following passage in the second eclogue : 
 
 A que parte se es yda esta alma mia ? 
 Quien me la ensenara ? yo que hago aqui ? 
 Sin alguno de dos, que antes tenia? 
 Que entr'ambas se ajuntaran contra mi? 
 Solo dexado me han, ciego, y sin guia. 
 Pareceos esto amor? dexarme ansi ? 
 Consigo no quisieran alia llevarme 
 Ni buelto me han a ver, ni a consolarme. 
 
 Como una llama por el monte ardiente, 
 Que presto en alto buela, y no parece, 
 De vista se nos pierde en continente, 
 Y el humo turbio solo remanece, 
 Otra tal claridad resplandeciente, 
 
 Mientras mirando estava, eis se escurece 
 
 i 
 
 Ansi tan presto? triste a donde yre ? 
 Sin ti y alld sin ti, triste que har ?
 
 214 HISTORY OF 
 
 when he introduces nymphs discoursing;* or, when he 
 abandons himself to a tone of elegiac melancholy;! one 
 
 * Can any thing be more charming than the following passage 
 from the seventh eclogue ? A nymph gazes on a sleeping shepherd. 
 Duerme el hermoso donzel, 
 No zagal, no pastor, no, 
 Mientras al suefio se dio, 
 Mi alma diosele a el. 
 El Sol es alto, y con el 
 Del dia, es ido un buen trecho 
 No s6 que de mi se ha hecho, 
 Sera lo que fuere del. 
 Loca de mi, que a mirar 
 
 Me puse, y dixe tal vieado, 
 Quien tanto aplaze dormiendo, 
 Despierto, que es de pensar? 
 Quiseme luego apartar, 
 No se quien me buelve aqui. 
 Ah quan tarde que entendi, 
 Que peligro es comenc.ar. 
 
 f For example, the apostrophe to the dead Diego, in the first 
 eclogue. 
 
 Vete buen Diego en paz, que en esta tierra 
 1 plazer de oy no dura hasta manana, 
 Y dura mucho quanto desaplaze. 
 Alia aora no ves la vision vana, 
 Que aca viviendo te hizo tanta guerra, 
 Ardiendo el cuerpo que ora frio yaze, 
 Lo que alia satisfaze 
 A tus ya claros ojos, 
 No son vanos antojos 
 De que ay por estos cerros muchedumbre: 
 Mas siempre una paz buena en clara 1 timbre : 
 Contentamiento cierto te acompana, 
 No tanta pesadumbre, 
 Como aca va por esta tierra es'trana.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 215 
 
 knows not whether most to admire, the delicate truth 
 and penetrating depths of his ideas, or the artless pre- 
 cision and facility of his expression. In such cases he 
 often abandons the natural style of Theocritus for a 
 more lofty or ideal manner. When, in some of his 
 other eclogues, his shepherds converse on their occu- 
 pations or superstitions,* he likewise departs from the 
 prosaic nature of real pastoral life, such as he had the 
 opportunity of observing in his native country, and 
 gradually elevates it to romantic ideality. It happened, 
 however, that he ocasionally found the prosaic truth of 
 his pictures sufficiently interesting, and then to be truly 
 natural he avoided all embellishment.f 
 
 * For example, in the second eclogue : 
 Aur. Que quiere (6 mi Mauricio) dezir tal 
 
 Huviar de perros como a la porfia ? 
 
 N% se que scan cierto, es algun gran mal : 
 
 Aves nocturnas buelvan entre dia ; 
 
 Lobos tan bravos de su natural, 
 
 Buscan a la Aldea de la Serrania. 
 
 No vees el mal gusano, y que pesares 
 
 Se ha hecho de las viiias, y pomares ? 
 Una mula ha parido en nuestra Aldea, 
 
 Y las vacas no paren ; ayer cayo 
 
 Del Cielo un breve que no ay quien lojiea 
 
 Son crego, o frayle, que ya Missa canto, 
 
 Con dos cabec,as (cosa estrana, y fea) 
 
 Un potro, y con seispies (diz) que nascio. 
 
 Como Gallos nos cantan las Gallinas, 
 
 Y no se vieran ogano Golondrinas. 
 f As for example, in the fifth eclogue: 
 Dime pastor de cabras alquilado, 
 
 (Y no te enojes con la tal demanda, 
 
 Que me echas un mal ojo atravessado)
 
 216 HISTORY OF 
 
 Some of Saa de Miranda's popular songs, called Canti- 
 gas, a term which in Portuguese corresponds with Villan- 
 cicos in Spanish, are inimitable for grace and simplicity.* 
 
 A quien embio Toribia la guirlanda 
 Que ella traya sobre sus cabellos? 
 Cantando, con que boz, clara, y quan blanda ? 
 Y a quien embiava juntamente aquellos 
 Sus ojos que d'Amor son corredores, 
 Que se y va el inismo Amor embuelto en ellos ? 
 Maiiana de San Juan, quando a las fiores 
 Y al agua todos salen, quien tal gala 
 Vi6 nunca, y tal donayre entre pastores ? 
 Ora que parecia alii Pascuala? 
 
 Y Mengaque? Costan9a, y la Perona? 
 Aquellas, que a su ver quien las yguala? 
 Que gracia, que blandura, y que persona, 
 Que color de una Rosa a la maiiana, 
 Que al despuntar del Sol s'abre y corona? 
 * The following is a specimen : 
 Sola me dexaste 
 
 En aquel hiermo, 
 Villano malo Gallego. 
 Voyme a do te fuyste, 
 
 Voyme no s6 a donde. 
 El valle responde, 
 Tu no respondiste. 
 Mo9a sola ay triste, 
 Que llorando ciego 
 Tu passaslo en juego. 
 For hiermos agenos 
 
 Lloro, y grito en vano. 
 Gallego, y villano, 
 Que esperava yo menos ? 
 Ojos de agua llenos, 
 Vos pecho de fuego 
 Quando avreis sossiego?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 217 
 
 MONTEMAYOR. 
 
 The poet who is celebrated in Spanish literature by 
 the name of Jorge de Montemayor, was born in the 
 year 1520, at Montemor, a little town of Portugal, 
 not far from Coimbra. He took for his name that of 
 his native city, spelt and pronounced in the Spanish 
 way, probably because his own family name was not 
 deemed sufficiently sonorous; and thus the latter has 
 been entirely lost. The talent of this young Portu- 
 guese developed itself without the aid of a previous 
 literary cultivation. At an early period of life he 
 served in the Portuguese army, and, as there is rea- 
 son to believe, in the rank of a common soldier. His 
 taste for music, and the reputation he had acquired as 
 a singer, induced him to visit Spain, where the Infant 
 Don Philip, afterwards Philip II. had formed a com- 
 pany of court musicians, who were to accompany him 
 on his travels through Italy, Germany, and the Nether- 
 lands. Jorge de Montemayor, being admitted as a vocal 
 member of this travelling musical company, gained an 
 opportunity of seeing the world, and at the same'time 
 making himself master of the Castilian language, which 
 became to him a second mother tongue. He was, how- 
 ever, attached to Spain by a still closer link, namely, 
 his love for a beautiful Castilian lady, whom he occa- 
 sionally introduces in his poems under the name of 
 Marfida. This Marfida became he deity of his poetry; 
 ^Jnrtwhen, on his return to Spain, he found her wedded 
 to another, he endeavoured to divert his sorrow by 
 poetic effusions, in which he represented the faithless
 
 218 HISTORY OF 
 
 beauty as a romantic shepherdess; and, uniting these 
 with several of his other compositions, he formed the 
 whole into a romance. This romance, which he entitled 
 Diana, was received by the Spanish public with a 
 degree of favour never before extended to any Spanish 
 book, Amadis de Gaul excepted; and it speedily formed 
 no fewer imitators than Amadis itself. The Queen of 
 Portugal was desirous that the celebrated author of 
 Diana should return to his native country. She re- 
 called him, and he obeyed the honourable mandate. 
 No further particulars of his history are known. He 
 died by some violent means, either in 1561 or 1562. 
 He was upwards of forty at the period of his death, 
 which, according to some accounts, took place in Por- 
 tugal, and according to others in Italy.* 
 
 The Diana of Montemayor is one of the few 
 romantic works which belong entirely to the soul of 
 the inventor, which are embued throughout with in- 
 dividual interest, and which on that very account 
 exercise the more influence over unsophisticated minds, 
 because the author possessed sufficient poetic genius 
 successfully to convey the joys and sorrows of his own 
 heart under the forms of a general interest. But this 
 romance can never be to any other cultivated people 
 what it was to the Spaniards of the sixteenth century. 
 Still less can it be regarded as a classical fragment, 
 even though judged according to the lenient rules by 
 which every fragment is estimated; unless, indeed, 
 
 * The biographical notices of Jorge de Montemayor, prefixed 
 to the ninth volume of the Parnaso Espanol, do not exactly cor- 
 respond with those by Nicolas Antouio.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 219 
 
 after the manner of some modern critics, new rules of 
 art be deduced from defective examples, for the sake 
 of admiring as incomparable the grossest absurdities, 
 under the title of romantic complexity. But with all 
 its faults, this unfinished pastoral romance (for it was 
 not brought to a conclusion by Montemayor) possesses 
 a poetic merit, which entitles it to the esteem of all 
 ages. 
 
 The design of the work, so far as Montemayor's 
 ideas render his intention obvious, sometimes charms 
 by its graceful simplicity, and at others becomes gro- 
 tesque, through an illegitimate romantic combination of 
 heterogeneous species of composition. The shepherd 
 Sireno, who represents the poet himself, on his return 
 to his native country, visits the scene of the innocent 
 joys which the inconstant shepherdess Diana once 
 shared along with him. Overwhelmed with grief, he 
 draws out first a lock of hair belonging to his mistress; 
 and then one of her letters, which he reads. While he 
 is thus communing with himself, he is joined by another 
 romantic adorer of the beautiful Diana. This shepherd, 
 whose love had always been unrequited, now joins his 
 lamentations to those of the once happy Sireno, and 
 each vies with the other in claiming to himself the 
 heaviest load of misery. They are joined by a shep- 
 herdess, named Selvagia, who has been no less unfor- 
 tunate in love than themselves. She relates her history 
 very circumstantially, and thus terminates the first book. 
 In the second, the conversation of these lovers is con- 
 tinued, until three nymphs appear, one of whom relates 
 Sireno's history in a song of some length. Up to the
 
 220 HISTORY OF 
 
 conclusion of this song, the pastoral simplicity of the 
 story is preserved uninterrupted by any incident ap- 
 proximating to the terrible; but suddenly a party 
 of savage robbers completely armed appears. The 
 nymphs are about to fly, but are detained by the 
 robbers. A battle then ensues between the robbers 
 and the shepherds, the latter attacking the former with 
 stones. The robbers are on the point of overcoming 
 their rustic antagonists, when a heroine, habited as a 
 / huntress, rushes from a wood, and bending her bow, 
 pierces the robbers with her arrows, and liberates the 
 nymphs. The fair huntress then joins the party of 
 nymphs and shepherds, and in her turn also relates 
 her history. This narrative, together with the con- 
 versations and songs to which it gives rise, concludes 
 the second book. In the third book the story assumes 
 the character of a fairy tale. The nymphs lead their 
 protectress, together with the rest of the party, through 
 a thick forest to the castle of the wise Felicia, who is 
 represented as a kind of priestess to the goddess Diana. 
 The description of the wonders and magnificence of 
 the castle occupies a great portion of the third book. 
 The wise Felicia conducts the party to a superb hall 
 of state, where they behold a numerous collection of 
 majestic statues, representing Roman emperors, Cas- 
 tilian knights, and Castilian ladies. Even a place is 
 found for the statue of a Moorish knight, of whose 
 conflicts with the Christians a long history is related 
 in this sanctuary of the goddess Diana. By means 
 of enchantment Felicia cures Sireno of the torments 
 of love. At length, in the sixth book, the poet
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 221 
 
 releases his shepherds and shepherdesses from Felicia's 
 palace, and the reader for the first time becomes 
 acquainted with the shepherdess Diana. She attaches 
 the blame of her infidelity to her parents, by whom, 
 during the absence of Sireno, she was forced to give 
 her hand to another. In the following scenes, to the 
 conclusion of the seventh book, where Montemayor's 
 labour terminates, the history of the principal cha- 
 racters makes no further progress. Some of the other 
 lovers in the romance are, however, united according to 
 their wishes. 
 
 This composition, in which it is easy to recognize 
 the uncultivated genius of a poet, who, to give vent to 
 the emotions of his soul, deemed it necessary to wander 
 through the whole region of romance, can only be 
 regarded by the unprejudiced critic as a fantastical 
 frame-work, serving to display pictures of the feelings 
 and a philosophy of the heart, which constitute the 
 prominent features of the whole poem. To paint ro- 
 mantic fidelity under the most fascinating and various 
 forms, and at the same time to exhibit in a poetic 
 point of view the theory of that fidelity, which even 
 in a poem could only be verified by facts, was the idea 
 which guided Montemayor's inventive fancy, and the 
 execution of which bears the full impression of his 
 genius. The versified portion of the romance is the 
 soul of the whole composition. A series of lyric poems, 
 partly in the Italian and partly in the old Castilian 
 style, are introduced ; but these compositions are strik- 
 ingly distinguished from the eclogues of Saa de Mi- 
 randa by an epigrammatic poignancy, which frequently
 
 222 HISTORY OF 
 
 degenerates into antiquated subtlety.* But this epi- 
 grammatic turn usually imparts a more pointed pre- 
 cision to the lyrical expression, and a degree of consis- 
 tency to the whole composition, which in no way injures 
 its pastoral simplicity ;f and when judged according to 
 
 * Passages of real delicacy are not, however, wanting ; for 
 example : 
 
 No me diste, o crudo amor, 
 
 El bien que tuve en presencia, 
 
 Sino porque el mal de ausencia 
 
 Me parezca muy mayor. 
 Das descanso, das reposo, 
 
 No por dar contentamiento, 
 
 Mas porque este el suffrimiento 
 
 Algun tiempo ocioso : 
 
 Ved que invenciones de Amor, 
 
 Darme contento en presencia, 
 
 Porque no tenga en ausencia 
 
 Reparo contra el dolor. 
 
 f The following song, with which the lyric gallery opens, may 
 be quoted as an instance : 
 
 Cabellos, quanta mudanra 
 He visto despues que os vi, 
 Y quan mal parece ay 
 Essa color de esperanza. 
 
 Bien pensava yo, cabellos, 
 (Aunque con algun temor) 
 Que no fuera otro pastor 
 Digno de verse cabe ellos. 
 
 Ay cabellos ! quantos dias 
 La mi Diana mirava, 
 Si os traya, o si os dexava, 
 Y otros cien mil nifierias ? 
 
 Y quantas vezes llorando 
 Ay lagrimas enganosas
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 223 
 
 the characteristic form of the popular songs, called 
 Villancicos, it by no means presents, to Spaniards in 
 particular, the idea of too much refinement or incon- 
 gruity with rustic nature.* In order to judge candidly 
 
 Pedia celos de cosas 
 
 De que yo estava burlando. 
 
 Los ojos que me mat a van, 
 Dezid, dorados cabellos, 
 Que culpa tuve en creellos 
 Pues ellos me asseguravan. 
 
 No ristes vos que algun dia 
 Mil lagrimas derramava 
 Hasta que yo le jurava 
 Que sus palabras creya ? 
 
 Quien vio tanta hermosura 
 En tan mudable sujeto ? 
 Y en amador tan perfeto 
 Quien vio tanta desventura ? 
 
 O cabellos no os correys ! 
 For venir de a do venistes, 
 Viendome como me vistes, 
 En vernie como me veys. 
 
 Sobre el arena sentada 
 De aquel rio la vi yo, 
 Do con el dedo escrivio 
 Antes muerta que mudada. 
 
 Mira el Amor que ordena 
 Que os viene hazer creer 
 Cosas dicbas por muger 
 Y escritas en el arena. 
 
 * For example, the following Villancico, which has been 
 frequently imitated : 
 
 Contentamientos de amor 
 Que tan cansados llegays, 
 Si venis, paraque os vays ?
 
 224 HISTORY OF 
 
 of the pastoral truth of these compositions, it is ne- 
 cessary to have the Spanish romantic ideas of nature 
 present to the mind. Montemayor is inexhaustible in 
 new turns and images for the expression of tender- 
 ness. In depth of feeling he vies with Saa de Mi- 
 randa; and, though his poetry is occasionally deficient 
 in rhythmical polish, it in general presents so exqui- 
 site a union of the grace of language, with a happy 
 concordance of ideas, that the reader must soon become 
 warmed by the spirit of the poet, even though he 
 should begin to peruse the work with indifference.* 
 
 Aun no acabays de venir 
 
 Despues de muy desseados, 
 
 Quando estays determinados 
 
 De madrugar y partir, 
 
 Si tan presto os aveys de yr, 
 
 Y tan triste me dexays, 
 
 Plazeres no me veays. 
 Los contentos huyo dellos, 
 
 Pues no me vienen a ver, 
 
 Mas que por darme a entender 
 
 Lo que se pierde en perdellos : 
 
 Y pues ya no quiero vellos, 
 
 Descontentos no os partays, 
 
 Pues bolveys despues que os vays. 
 
 * One of the most beautiful lyrical pieces that ever was com- 
 posed in any language, is a cancion by Montemayor, of which the 
 following are the three first stanzas. Diana is supposed to be 
 
 singing : 
 
 Ojos, que ya no veis quien os miraba 
 
 quando erades espejo en que se via, 
 qu6 cosa podeis ver que os de contento ? 
 Prado florido y verde, do algun dia 
 por el mi dulce amigo yo esperaba,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 225 
 
 Montemayor's style of romantic prose has been a 
 model for all writers of pastoral romances in the Spa- 
 nish language. How far he himself imitated the prose 
 
 llorad conmigo el grave mal que siento. 
 
 Aqui me declaro su pensaraiento, 
 
 oile yo cuitada 
 
 mas que serpiente ayrada, 
 
 llamandole mil veces atrevido : 
 
 y el triste alii rendido : 
 
 parece que es ahora, y que le veo, 
 
 y aun ese es mi deseo : 
 
 ay si ahora le viese ! ay tiempo bueno ! 
 
 Ribera umbrosa, qu6 es de mi Sireno ? 
 
 Aquella es la ribera, este es el prado, 
 de alii parece el soto y valle umbrose 
 que yo con mi rebano repastaba : 
 veis el arroyo dulce y sonoroso 
 do pacia la siesta mi ganado, 
 quando mi dulce amigo aqui moraba, 
 debajo aquella haya verde estaba ; 
 y veis alii el otero 
 a do le vi primero, 
 y do me vio, dichoso fue aquel dia, 
 si la desdicha mia 
 un tiempo tan dichoso no acabara. 
 O haya, o fuente clara! 
 todo esta aqui, mas no por quien yo peno. 
 Ribera umbrosa, que es de mi Sireno ? 
 
 Aqui tengo un retrato que me engana, 
 pues veo a mi pastor quando lo veo, 
 aunque en mi alma esta mejor sacado : 
 quando de velle llega el gran deseo, 
 de quien el tiempo luego desengaiia. 
 A aquella fuente voy que esta en el prado, 
 arrimomele al sauce, y a su lado 
 me siento, ay amor ciego ! 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 HISTORY OF 
 
 of Sanazzar, cannot easily be ascertained, as it is not 
 known whether or not Sanazzar's Arcadia* was the pro- 
 totype of his Diana. Though it is certain that Monte- 
 mayor carefully endeavoured to give precision and dig- 
 nity of expression, and to impart harmony to every line 
 of his composition, his language nevertheless appears 
 neither laboured nor affected. His taste seems to have 
 been in only a few instances seduced by the influence of 
 that ostentatious solemnity, which distinguished the com- 
 mon chivalrous romances, written in imitation of Amadis 
 de Gaul. In general he remained faithful to the digni- 
 fied simplicity, which the author of the Amadis appears 
 to have regarded as the genuine characteristic of 
 the lofty style of romantic prose. To this style his 
 protracted but rhythmically pleasing sentences may 
 justly be said to belong.f It is but seldom that a low 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 al agua miro luego, 
 
 y veo a 1 y a mi como le via 
 
 quando e*l aqui vivia : 
 
 esta invention un rato me sustenta, 
 
 despues caygo en la cuenta, 
 
 y dice el corazon de ansias lleno : 
 
 Ribera umbrosa, que es de mi Sireno ? &c. 
 
 * See vol. ii. of my History of Italian Poetry and Eloquence. 
 
 f For example: 
 
 Considerava que sus servicios eran sin esperan9a de galardon, 
 cosa que a quien tnviera menos firmeza pudiera facilmente atajar el 
 camino de sus amores. Mas era tanta su constancia, que puesta 
 en medio de todas las causas la que tenia de olvidar a quien no se 
 acordava del, salia tan a su salvo dellas, y tan sin prejuyzio del 
 amor que a su pastora tenia, que sin miedo alguno acotnetia qual- 
 quiera imagination que en dano de su fe le sobreviniesse. Pues
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 227 
 
 expression escapes him.* His descriptions are never 
 deficient in vividness and force.f It is only in the 
 didactic passages in which he propounds his philosophy 
 of love, that his language becomes tinged with the 
 scholastic formality, which at the period in which he, 
 wrote, was considered indispensable when any scholastic 
 ideas were to be expressed; for though Montemayor 
 had not received that kind of education, which in his 
 age was considered learned, he had picked up some 
 notions of the scholastic philosophy, which, when they 
 interested him, he was fond of introducing into the 
 romance of his heart. :}: 
 
 como vio a Sireno junto a la fuente quedo muy espantado de verle 
 assi tan triste : no porque el ignorasse la causa de su tristeza, mas 
 porque le parecio que si el huviera recebido el mas pequeno favor 
 que Sireno algun tiempo recibio de Diana, aquel contentamiento 
 bastara para toda la vida tenerle. 
 
 * On one occasion, the beautiful Felismene calls love a devilish, 
 passion. Lo que siento desta endiablada passion, she says in the 
 second book. 
 
 f He thus describes the savage robbers by whom the nymphs 
 are attacked : 
 
 Venian armados de cosseletes, y celadas de cuero de tigre : 
 eran de tan fea catadura, que ponian espanto los cosseletes. Trayan 
 por bra<jaletes unas bocas de serpientes, por donde sacavan los 
 bra9os, que gruessos y vellosos parecian: y las celadas venian a 
 hazer encima de la frente unas espantables cabesas de leones. Lo 
 de mas trayan desnudo, cubierto de espesso y largo vello, unos 
 bastones herrados de muy agudas puntas de azero. Trayan al 
 cuello sus arcos y flechas: los escudos eran de unas conchas de 
 pescado muy fuerte. 
 
 For instance, the sage Felicia thus philosophizes on love 
 and virtue: 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 HISTORY OF 
 
 The other works of Montemayor, which are not so 
 celebrated as his Diana, are to be found in a collection 
 of his poems, which, according to the old custom, is 
 entitled a Cancionero.* 
 
 HERRERA. 
 
 Fernando de Hen-era, a poet very different in cha- 
 racter from Montemayor, must next be included among 
 the authors who chiefly contributed to reform Castilian 
 poetry, during the first half of the sixteenth century. 
 Of the history of his life but little is known. He was 
 a native of Seville, and was born, according to the 
 conjectures of his Spanish biographers, about the com- 
 mencement of the sixteenth century. Thus he flourished 
 at the same time as Diego de Mendoza, and afforded 
 another instance of the light of poetical improvement 
 being directed from the south of Spain. It appears that 
 he did not enter into the ecclesiastical state, to which he 
 finally devoted himself, until he attained a mature age; 
 but he must have received a literary education, as he 
 possessed no ordinary knowledge of the ancient and 
 modern languages, geography, mathematics, and scho- 
 
 En estos casos de amor tengo yo una regla, que siempre la he 
 hallado muy verdadera, y es que el animo generoso, y el entendi- 
 miento delicado, en esto del querer tien, lleva grandissima ventaja 
 al que no lo es. Porque como el amor sea virtud, y la virtud 
 siempre haga assiento en le mejor lugar, esta claro que las personas 
 de suerte seran muy mejor enamorades que aquellas a quien esta 
 falta, 
 
 * See the notices in Dieze's remarks on Velasquez, p. 91, in 
 which the different editions of the Diana are likewise mentioned.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 229 
 
 lastic philosophy. According to a portrait which has 
 been preserved of him, he appears to have been a hand- 
 some man; and some of the editors of his works al- 
 ledge that the lady whom he has celebrated in his 
 verses under various names, was not merely an ideal 
 object of the poet's tenderness. The admirers of his 
 poetry have applied to him, after the Italian manner, 
 the surname of the divine; and this epithet, rendered 
 so equivocal by its application to Pietro Aretino, was 
 never bestowed on any other Spanish poet. These few 
 particulars are all that are known relative to the life of 
 Fernando de Herrera. He died at an advanced age, 
 probably soon after the year 1578.* 
 
 Why Herrera should have obtained the title of 
 divine, in preference to all the other poets of his 
 nation, would appear almost incomprehensible, were it 
 not known that two opposite parties vied with each 
 other in exalting him; and, to avoid the appearance of 
 yielding on either side, considered themselves recipro- 
 cally bound to pronounce compositions sublime which 
 neither could regard as natural. Herrera was, not- 
 withstanding, a poet of powerful talent, and one who 
 evinced undaunted resolution in pursuing the new 
 path which he had struck out for himself. The novel 
 style, however, which he wished to introduce into 
 Spanish poetry, was not the result of a spontaneous essay, 
 flowing from immediate inspiration, but was theoreti- 
 
 * Even this slender notice of the life of Herrera, which is 
 partly extracted from Nicolas Antonio, and partly from the seventh 
 volume of the Parnaso Espanol, seems to be rather matter of 
 conjecture, than historically authentic.
 
 230 HISTORY OF 
 
 cally constructed on artificial principles. Thus, amidst 
 traits of real beauty, his poetry every where presents 
 marks of affectation. The great fault of his language is 
 too much singularity; and his expression, where it ought 
 to be elevated, is merely far-fetched. 
 
 Herrera fancied he had discovered that the diction 
 of the Spanish poets, even in their best works, was too 
 common, too nearly allied to the language of prose, and 
 consequently very far removed from the classical dig- 
 nity which distinguishes the Greek and Roman poetry. 
 This opinion induced him to form for himself a new 
 style. He classed words according to his fancy, into 
 elegant and inelegant, and was careful to employ in his 
 verse only those to which he attributed the former cha- 
 racter. He connected words, under significations which 
 they do not bear in common language; and in contra- 
 distinction to the spirit of prose, he regarded certain 
 repetitions, for example, the conjunction and as very 
 appropriate to poetry. He also introduced into his 
 verse, a free arrangement of words, after the model of 
 the latin construction. Finally, he thought he could 
 enrich the language of poetry by new words, which he 
 formed by analogy from existing Castilian words, or 
 adopted immediately from the latin.* This peculiarity 
 of style was regarded as the perfection of poetry, by 
 the party who idolized Fernando de Herrera.f 
 
 * He framed the new words, reluchar, ovoso, purpurar, ensa- 
 narse, from the Castilian >luchar, ova, purpura, and sana: and he 
 derived from the latiu the words beligero, Jlamigero, horrisono. 
 
 f Among the modern admirers of Herrera, Don Ramon Fer- 
 nandez, in the preface to the fifth volume of his collection of Spanish
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 231 
 
 Those, however, who have no inclination to con- 
 found pompous with poetic language, or diction with 
 the essence of poetry, must still allow to Herrera the 
 possession of poetic ideas and precision of manner, as 
 well as a true dignity of expression, and an elegant 
 harmony of versification. His language is not always 
 affected, and his thoughts and descriptions, though fre- 
 quently overstrained, are never trivial.* Notwithstand- 
 ing all the faults of his style, he must be accounted 
 the first classical ode writer in modern literature, for 
 the attempts of the Italian poet Chiabrera to emulate 
 
 poems, speaks with enthusiasm of the language of that poet. The 
 fifth and sixth volumes of the collection (Madrid 1786), contain the 
 Rimas de Fernando de Herrera. 
 
 * Occasionally his descriptions seem to be imitated from 
 Petrarch, though the imitation is, in some measure, concealed by 
 the Spanish style of expression ; for example, in the following 
 stanza : 
 
 Ya subo a pena, y nunca descansando, 
 
 Por yertos riscos, pasos despenados, 
 
 Ya en hondos valles baxo con presteza, 
 
 Lugares de las fieras no tratados, 
 
 El pensamiento en ellos variando. 
 
 Un frio horror y subita tristeza. 
 
 Roba el vigor, y engendra la flaqueza : 
 
 Qualquier soplo de viento, que resuena 
 
 Entre arboles desnudos quebrantado, 
 
 Aqueja la esperanza y el cuidado, 
 
 Que piensa ser la causa de su pena : 
 
 Pero luego enganado 
 
 Hallo el cuidado y la esperanza vana, 
 
 Que, como sombra, se me va liviana ; 
 
 Mas luego en la memoria Amor despierta, 
 
 Para cobrar su bien, la gloria muerta.
 
 232 HISTORY OF 
 
 Pindar, are of more recent date; and here it is worthy 
 of remark, that the Spanish odes of Herrera and the 
 Italian odes of Chiabrera resemble each other in a 
 mixture of the style of the Pindaric ode, with the style 
 of the canzone. Through the medium of that lyric 
 form only, was the spirit of Pindar felt by these 
 imitators; and both were the more easily deceived, as 
 the genius of the Spanish and Italian languages has a 
 relation to the metrical structure of the canzone, 
 somewhat similar to that which the genius of the 
 Greek language bears to Pindaric verse. But the 
 rapid and bold succession of thoughts and images, 
 which animates the odes of Pindar, could not be imi- 
 tated by poets, who, even in their boldest flights of 
 fancy were bound down by the laws of the Italian can- 
 zone, to the luxurious harmony of its protracted verbose 
 periods. Thus Herrera's odes, like those of Chiabrera, 
 bear only a remote resemblance to their prototypes. 
 Odes, however, they must be termed, though Herrera 
 himself has classed them, under the general title of 
 canciones, along with imitations of the Italian style, 
 purely romantic, but versified according to similar rules. 
 In his celebrated odes on the battle of Lepanto, in 
 which the Spaniards under Don John of Austria, the 
 natural son of Charles V. obtained a brilliant victory 
 over the Turks, the magnificence of the rhythm would 
 be sufficiently attractive, though the ideas conveyed in 
 the torrent of sonorous syllables possessed less poetic 
 beauty than really belong to them.* Occasionally, 
 
 * The following is the commencement of one of the odes on the 
 battle of Lepanto, imitated from Horace's Descende ctelo, Caliope.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 V 
 
 however, Herrera's ideas degenerate into fantastical 
 hyperboles; for instance, when boasting of his hero, he 
 says, that Don John of Austria, that glorious conqueror 
 of the infidels and the elements, combines within 
 himself " whatever of heavenly power animates terres- 
 
 Desciende de la cumbre de Parnaso, 
 Cantando dulcemente en noble lira, 
 O tu, de eterna juventud, Talia, 
 Y nuevo aliento al corazon me inspira 
 Aqui, donde el torcido y luengo paso 
 Betis al Hondo mar corrieute envia ; 
 Porque de la voz mia 
 Suene el canto, y florezca la memoria 
 Hasta el trmino roxo de oriente, 
 Y do al Numida ardiente 
 Abrasa Iperion; y en alta gloria 
 El nombre de la insigne Esperia planta ; 
 Que de Cordoba y Cerda se levanta, 
 Aquisle honor; y al zfiro templado 
 Ensalce este Lucero venerado. 
 
 Los despojos, y en arboles alzados 
 Los insignes trofeos, el sangriento 
 Conflicto del feroz dudoso Marte ; 
 Las ensenas, que mueve en torno el viento ; 
 Los presos, y los Reynos conquistados 
 Con segura prudencia, esfuerzo, y arte ; 
 Que dieron tanta parte 
 De la rota, y herida, y muerta Francia 
 Al que fue prez y honor del orbe Hispano ; 
 Que al sobervio Otomano 
 Quebro en las Jonias ondas la arrogancia, 
 Y en la Ausonia adquirio el heroyco nombre 
 Con mas valor, que cabe en mortal hoinbre ; 
 Con alas de vitoria al fin levautan 
 Las vitorias, que Europa y Asia cantan.
 
 234 HISTORY OF 
 
 trial bodies;" and that therefore " the fixed earth, the 
 extended waters, the circumambent air, and the ever 
 glowing flames depend on him, so that through the 
 secret control which he exercises over earth, water, air, 
 and fire, all these elements are his works.* But pas- 
 sages of real beauty occur in Herrera's odes, which 
 afford a sufficient compensation for this sort of bombast.f 
 
 * In the original, the extravagance of this pompous rodo- 
 montade is still more striking : 
 
 Todo quanto al terrestre el cuerpo alienta, 
 
 De la celeste fuerza deducido, 
 
 Se halla en vos casi en igual efeto. 
 
 De vos el fixo globo, y el tendido 
 
 Humor, y el vago cerca se sustenta, 
 
 Y el ardor de las llamas inquieto : 
 
 Que con vigor secreto 
 
 A tierra y agua, al ayre y puro fuego, 
 
 Qual eterea virtud, y las estrellas, 
 
 Son vuestras obras bellas 
 
 La tierra, la agua, el ayre, el puro fuego. 
 
 O glorioso cielo en nuestro suelo ! 
 
 O suelo glorioso con tal cielo ! 
 
 Quien podra celebrar vuestra nobleza ? 
 
 Quien osara alabar vuestra belleza ? 
 
 f In the following, from one of his odes on the battle of 
 Lepanto, the style of the Hebrew psalms is imitated with happy 
 effect. 
 
 El sobervio Tirano, confiado 
 
 En el grande aparato de sus naves, 
 
 Que de los nuestros la cerviz cautiva, 
 
 Y las in an os aviva 
 
 Al ministerio injusto de su estado, 
 
 Derribo con los brazos suyos graves 
 
 Los cedros mas excelsos de la cima ; 
 
 Y el arbol, que mas yerto se sublima,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 235 
 
 Among the odes for which Herrera has chosen a softer 
 theme, the prize of superiority has been justly awarded 
 to the Ode to Sleep. It is one of those compositions 
 which may be said to be single in their kind. The 
 graceful choice of language, the picturesque effect, the 
 delicate keeping in the composition, and the finish 
 given to all the details in strict conformity with the 
 true spirit of the theme, impart to this ode or cancion 
 a lyric beauty which must render it in all ages an ob- 
 ject of admiration, not only to the lover, but to the 
 critic of poetry.* 
 
 Bebiendo agenas aguas, y atrevido 
 Pisando el vando nuestro y defendido. 
 
 Temblaron los pequenos, confundidos 
 Del impio furor suyo, alzo la frente 
 Contra ti, Senor Dios; y con semblante 
 Y con pecho arrogante, 
 Y los armados brazos estendidos, 
 Movio el ayrado cuello aquel potente : 
 Cerc6 su corazon de ardiente sana 
 Contra las dos Esperias, qiie el mar bana ; 
 Porque en ti confiadas le resisten, 
 Y de armas de tu fe y auior se visten. 
 
 Dixo aquel insolente y desdenoso; 
 No conocen mis iras estas tierras, 
 Y de mis padres los ilustres hechos ? 
 O valieron sus pechos 
 Contra ellos con el Ungaro medroso, 
 Y de Dalmacia y Rodas en las guerras ? 
 Quie"n las pudo Hbrar? quien de sus manos 
 Pudo salvar los de Austria y los Germanos ? 
 Podra su Dios, podra por suerte ahora 
 Guardallas de mi diestra vencedora ? 
 
 * The whole ode may be transcribed here, as a specimen of 
 Herrera's lyric composition in the ode style:
 
 Sciave sueno, tu que en tarde buelo 
 Las alas perezosas blandamente 
 Bates, de adormideras coronado, 
 For el puro, adormido, y vago cielo ; 
 Ven a la ultima parte de ocideute, 
 Y de licor sagrado 
 Bana mis ojos tristes, que causado, 
 Y rendido al furor de mi tormento, 
 No aclmito algun sosiego, 
 Y el dolor desconorta al sufrimiento. 
 Ven a mi humilde ruego, 
 Ven a mi ruego humilde, 6 amor de aquella, 
 Que Juno te ofrecio, tu ninfa bella. 
 
 Divino sutno, gloria de mortales, 
 Regalo dulce al misero afligido, 
 Sueno amoroso, ven a quien espera 
 Cesar del exercicio de sus males, 
 Y al descanso volver todo el sentido. 
 Como sufres, que muera 
 Lejos de tu poder, quien tuyo era? 
 No es dureza olvidar un solo pecho 
 En veladora pena, 
 
 Que sin gozar del bien, que al mundo has hecho, 
 De tu vigor se agena? 
 Ven, sueno alegre, sueno ven dichoso, 
 Vuelve a mi alma ya, vuelve el reposo. 
 
 Sieuta yo en tal estrecha tu grandeza; 
 Baxa, y esparce liquido el rocio; 
 Huya la Alva, que en torno resplandece ; 
 Mira mi ardiente llanto y mi tristeza, 
 Y quanta fuerza tiene el pesar mio, 
 Y mi frente humedece, 
 Que ya de fuegos juntos el sol crece. 
 Torna, sabroso sueno, y tus hermosas 
 Alas suenen ahora;
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 237 
 
 numerous, require only a slight notice.* His best 
 sonnets, which are among the happiest imitations of Pe- 
 trarch in the Spanish language, are characterized by the 
 recurrence of some of the author's favourite images, as 
 for example, the comparison of his mistress to light, or 
 the evening star,f &c. He is frequently very successful 
 
 Y huya con sus alas presurosas 
 La desabrida Aurora: 
 Y lo que en mi falto la noche fria, 
 Termine la cercana luz del dia. 
 
 Una corona, 6 sueno, de tus flores 
 Ofrezio, tu produce el blando efeto 
 En los desiertos cercos de mis ojos ; 
 Que el ayre entretexido con olores 
 Halaga, y ledo mueve en dulce afeto ; 
 Y de estos mis enojos 
 Destierra, inanso sueno, los despojos, 
 Ven pues, amado sueno, ven liviano, 
 Que del rico oriente 
 Despunta el tierno Febo el rayo cano. 
 Ven ya, sueno clemente, 
 Y acabara el dolor, a si te vea 
 Eri brazos de tu cara Pasitea. 
 
 * I have perused two different editions of Herrera's poems : 
 1st. an old one, entitled, Versos de Fernando de Herrera, &c. 
 Sevilla, 1619, in quarto ; and 2nd. the more modern edition, al- 
 ready mentioned, published by Ramon Fernandez, which contains 
 some poems not before printed. 
 
 f A do tienes la luz, Espero mio, 
 La luz, gloria y honor del Ocidente ? 
 Estas puesto en el cielo reluciente 
 En importuno tiempo, y seio estio ? 
 
 Lleva tu resplandor al sacro rio, 
 Que tu belleza espera alegremente,
 
 238 
 
 in the management of these similes; but at other times 
 he falls into strange absurdities, such as making the 
 " curling waves of gold of his sweet light float in the 
 wind."* But extravagant tropes of this kind could 
 not be very offensive to Spanish taste, which had been 
 accustomed to indulge the orientalisms of the old 
 national style, and they were indeed not only tolerated 
 but esteemed. It might have been expected that a 
 writer possessing so much critical judgment as Herrera, 
 would, as an imitator of Petrarch, have endeavoured to 
 naturalize in his native tongue, the simplicity of the 
 Italian poet; but he was too much a Spaniard to be 
 pleased with such simplicity. His elegies, and other 
 lyric compositions in the Italian syllabic measure, have 
 all the same character. 
 
 Herrera endeavoured, by other means than poeti- 
 cal composition, to give to the national taste of the 
 Spaniards a direction conformable to his own principles. 
 He wrote a Critical Commentary on the Poems of 
 Garcilaso de la Vega."f This commentary has served 
 
 Y el zfiro te sea otro oriente, 
 Hecho lucero, y no Espero tardio. 
 
 Merezca Betis fertil tanta gloria, 
 Que solo el destas luces illustrado 
 A tierra y cielo lleva la vitoria. 
 
 Que tu belleza y resplandor sagrado 
 Hard perpetuo, de immortal memoria, 
 Mientras corriere al mar arrebatado. 
 
 * Yo vl a mi dulce Lumbre, quo esparcia 
 
 Sus crespas ondas de oro al manso viento. 
 f It is annexed to Herrera's edition of the Obras de Garcilaso 
 de la Vega. Sevif/a, 1580, 4/0.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 239 
 
 as a model for many similar works, which have been 
 the means of circulating various kinds of useful know- 
 ledge without having contributed in any remarkable 
 degree to the advancement of taste. Herrera, as a 
 theorist, failed to establish any fixed point or station 
 from which he might have taken a clear and consistent 
 view of the whole region of poetry. His criticism 
 everlastingly turns on detached ideas and words; and 
 whenever opportunties for displaying his learning occur, 
 he digresses into all the regions of philosophy and lite- 
 rature. Of the indistinctness of his notions, relative 
 to the different species of poetry, some idea may be 
 formed from his definition of the elegy. He says 
 " an elegy should be simple, soft, tender, amiable, 
 terse, clear, and if it may be so called, noble; affecting 
 to the feelings, and moving them in every way ; neither 
 very inflated nor very humble, nor obscured by affected 
 phrases or far-fetched fables."* 
 
 * The following is the original Spanish of the passage here 
 cited, with a part of the continuation, which is all in the same 
 style : 
 
 Conviene que la elegia sea Candida, blanda, tierna, suave, 
 delienda, tersa, clara i, si con esto se puede declarar, noble, con- 
 goxosa en los afetos, i que los mueva eu toda parte, ni mm 
 hinchada, ni mui umilde, no oscura con esquisitas sentencias i 
 fubulas mui buscadas; que tenga frequente comiseracion, quexas, 
 esclamaciones, apostrofos, prosopopeyas, escursos o parebases, el 
 ornato della a de ser mas limpio i reluziente, que peinado i com- 
 puesto curiosamente i porque los escritores de versos amorosos o 
 esperan, o desesperan, o deshazen sus pensamientos, i induzen otros 
 nuevos, i los mudan i pervierten, o ruegan, o se quexau, o alegran, 
 o alaban la hermosura de su dama, o esplican su propria vida, i
 
 240 HISTORY OF 
 
 LUIS DE LEON. 
 
 Luis Ponce de Leon, the next lyric poet to be 
 noticed, pursued a course very different from that of 
 Herrera, whose contemporary he was. He is usually 
 called, by abbreviation, merely Luis de Leon, and did 
 not obtain the surname of divine, to which, however, 
 he might have laid claim with infinitely more justice 
 than Herrera, if his pious humility would have per- 
 mitted him to entertain the idea of maintaining any 
 competition for earthly honours.* 
 
 This poet, who for classical purity of style and mo- 
 ral dignity of ideas, had never been surpassed in Spanish 
 literature, was, like Herrera and Mendoza, a native of the 
 south of Spain. He was born at Granada, in the year 
 1527, where the family of the Ponces de Leon, which was 
 connected with the most distinguished of the Spanish no- 
 bility, flourished. At an early period of life, Luis de 
 Leon felt a poetic inspiration, and cherished a love of 
 retirement, which rendered him indifferent to outward 
 show, and all the pleasures of the great world. He found 
 only in poetry and in the contemplation of a superior 
 existence that food for which his soul longed. His 
 
 V 
 
 cuentan sus fortunas con los demas sentimientos del animo, que ellos 
 declaran en varias ocasiones; conviniendo que este genero de poesia 
 seamisto, que aora habla el poeta, aoraintroduze otra persona. 
 
 * There is a life of Luis de Leon, prefixed to the latest edition 
 of his Obras propias y traducciones (Valencia, 1762, 8vo.) by 
 Mayans y Siscar ; it is, however, confusedly and carelessly written. 
 The biographical memoir prefixed to the sixth volume of the 
 Parnaso Espanol is better.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 241 
 
 tranquil and gentle mind exhibited none of the gloomy 
 features of monkish fanaticism, but was devoted to moral 
 and religious meditation. As soon as he had finished his 
 scholastic studies, he entered, of his own free choice, into 
 the ecclesiastical state. He was sixteen years of age 
 when he made his profession in the order of St. Augus- 
 tine at Salamanca. Theology now became his proper 
 occupation. In Spain, especially at that period, a man 
 of the character of Luis de Leon, even if he possessed 
 a mind capable of divesting itself of prejudice, could 
 scarcely be expected to doubt the dogmas of the catho- 
 lic faith; but his poetic imagination, which was not 
 to be satisfied with their dry and scholastic interpre- 
 tation, irresistibly impelled him to adorn them. Luis 
 transferred the mild enthusiasm of his pious feelings 
 into the theological studies, to which his vocation 
 devoted him. On religious subjects he was a learned 
 and diligent author; but his heart found, at least during 
 the first years of his monastic life, only in poetry, 
 the faithful interpreter of his love for that pure truth, 
 to the attainment of which all his arduous efforts were 
 directed. Though invested in his thirty-third year 
 with the dignity of doctor of theology, he maintained, 
 even within the cloister, his intimacy with the classic 
 writers of antiquity. The Hebrew poetry also worked 
 powerfully on his imagination; and on one occasion he 
 nearly fell a martyr to an attempt to translate and com- 
 ment on the Song of Solomon. He was very far from 
 wishing to give a too liberal interpretation of the 
 amatory language of the original. He explained the 
 sacred poem in perfect accordance with the sense 
 VOL. i. R
 
 242 HISTORY OF 
 
 attributed to it by the church. But the inquisition had, 
 at that time, strictly prohibited the translation of any 
 part of the bible into the vulgar tongue. Luis de Leon, 
 therefore, ventured to communicate his version in confi- 
 dence to one friend only; but that friend was not faithful 
 to his trust, and the translation found its way into the 
 hands of several individuals. It was soon denounced 
 to the inquisition, and the author was immediately 
 thrown into prison by that terrible tribunal. He himself 
 mentions, in one of his letters, that for the space of five 
 years he was deprived of all communication with man- 
 kind, and was not even permitted to see the light of 
 day.* Conscious of his innocence, he enjoyed during 
 his captivity, according to his own testimony, a 
 tranquillity and satisfaction of mind which he never 
 afterwards so fully experienced, when restored to 
 freedom, and the society of his friends.-j- At length 
 justice was done to him, he returned in triumph to his 
 monastery, and was reinstated in his ecclesiastical 
 dignities. From that period, he appears to have been 
 wholly devoted to the duties of his order and the study 
 of theology. He died in 1591, in the sixty-fourth 
 
 * This statement occurs in the dedication prefixed to his ex- 
 planation of the sixty-second Psalm, addressed to the Grand 
 Inquisitor, Cardinal Don Caspar de Quiroga. 
 
 f Apartado no solo de la conversacion y compania de los 
 hombres, sino tambien de la vista, por casi cinque anos estuve 
 cercado en una carcel y en tinieblas. Entonces gozava yo de tal 
 quietud y alegria de animo, que agora muchas vezes echo menos, 
 aviendo sido restituido a la luz, y gozando del trato de los hombres, 
 que me son amigos.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 243 
 
 year of his age, being at that time general and provincial 
 vicar of Salamanca. 
 
 The poems of this amiable enthusiast are, ac- 
 cording to his own testimony,* for the most part the 
 productions of his youth; but no other Spanish poet has 
 succeeded in expressing the intense feelings of the heart 
 under the control of so sound a judgment. It is only by 
 reference to the pious tranquillity of a cultivated mind 
 wrapt up in self communion, that the extraordinary cor- 
 rectness of this author's style can be explained, for Luis 
 de Leon is, without exception, the most correct of all 
 the Spanish poets, though he constantly regarded the 
 metrical clothing of his ideas as a very secondary object. 
 To use his own language, he wrote poetry rather in 
 fulfilment of his destiny, than purposely and by dint of 
 study. At an early age he became intimately acquainted 
 with the odes of Horace, and the elegance and purity of 
 style which distinguish those compositions made a deep 
 impression on his imagination. Classical simplicity and 
 dignity were the models constantly present to his cre- 
 ative fancy. He, however, appropriated to himself the 
 character of Horace's poetry, too naturally ever to incur 
 the danger of servile imitation. He discarded the pro- 
 lix style of the canzone, and imitated the brevity of the 
 strophes of Horace, in romantic syllabic measures and 
 rhymes. More just feeling for the imitation of the 
 ancients was never evinced by any modern poet. His 
 odes have, however, a character totally different from 
 those of Horace, though the sententious air which marks 
 
 * See the dedication of his poems to Don Pedro Portocarrero. 
 
 R 2
 
 244 HISTORY OF 
 
 the style of both authors, imparts to them a deceptive 
 resemblance. The religious austerity of Luis de Leon's 
 life was not to be reconciled with the epicurism of the 
 latin poet; but, notwithstanding this very different dis- 
 position of the mind, it is not surprising that they 
 should have adopted the same form of poetic expression, 
 for each possessed a fine imagination, subordinate to the 
 control of a sound understanding. Which of the two 
 is the superior poet, in the most extended sense of the 
 word, it would be difficult to determine, as each formed 
 his style by free imitation, and neither overstepped the 
 boundaries of a certain sphere of practical observation. 
 .Horace's odes exhibit a superior style of art, and from 
 the relationship between the thoughts and images, pos- 
 sess a degree of attraction which is wanting in those of 
 Luis de Leon; but on the other hand, the latter are the 
 more rich in that natural kind of poetry, which may be 
 regarded as the overflowing of a pure soul, elevated to 
 the loftiest regions of moral and religious idealism.* 
 
 Luis de Leon himself published a collection of his 
 poetic works, divided into three books. The first, 
 contains his original poems the second, translations 
 from some of the ancient classics and the third, me- 
 trical versions of several of the psalms, and some parts 
 of the book of Job. 
 
 The reader who peruses the poems of Luis de Leon, 
 which are all odes, in the spirit in which the author 
 
 * How highly Cervantes esteemed Luis de Leon, may be seen 
 from a passage in his Galatea, in which one of the characters says : 
 Fray Luis de Leon es quel que digo, 
 A quien yo reverencio, adoro, y sigo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 245 
 
 wrote them, will fancy himself transported to a better 
 world. No furious zeal disturbs the gentle piety that 
 pervades them; no extravagant metaphor destroys the 
 harmony of the ideas and expression; and no discordant 
 accent breaks the pleasing melody of the rhythm. The 
 idea of the perishableness of all earthly things,* is 
 united with smiling pictures of nature.f The imita- 
 
 * The first ode commences thus : 
 
 Que descansada vida 
 la del que huye el mundanal ruido, 
 y sigue la escondida 
 senda, por donde ban ido 
 los pocos sabios que en el mundo han sido. 
 
 Que no le enturbia el pecho 
 de los sobervios grandes el estado, 
 ni del dorado techo 
 se admira fabricado 
 del sabio Moro, en jaspes sustentado. 
 
 No cura si la fama 
 
 canta con voz su nombre pregonera, 
 ni cura si en c a ram a 
 la lengua lisonjera 
 lo que condena la verdad sincera. 
 
 f For example, in the following stanzas from the same ode: 
 
 Del monte en la ladera 
 por mi mano plantado tengo un huerto, 
 que con la Primavera 
 de bella flor cubierto 
 ya muestra en esperansa el fruto cierto. 
 
 Y como codiciosa, 
 por ver y acrecentar su hermosura, 
 desde la cumbre ayrosa 
 una fontana pura 
 hasta llegar corriendo se apresura.
 
 246 HISTORY OF 
 
 tions of Horace are only introduced to aid the poetic 
 light in which the poet views those objects which were 
 peculiarly interesting to his contemporaries.* One of 
 Luis de Leon's most celebrated odes is the Noche 
 Serena, but the concluding stanzas do not correspond 
 with the beauty of the commencement.! In the ode 
 to Felipe Ruiz, the ardent aspiration for heavenly truth 
 
 Y luego sossegada, 
 el passo entre los arboles torciendo, 
 el suelo de passada 
 de verdura vistiendo, 
 y con diversas flores va esparciendo. 
 * For example in the stanza : 
 En vano el mar fatiga 
 La vela Portuguesa, que ni el seno 
 De Persia, ni la amiga 
 Malacca da arbol bueno, 
 Que pueda hacer un animo sereno. 
 
 f The following is the best half: 
 
 Quando eontetnplo el cielo 
 de innumerables luces adornado, 
 y niiro hazia el suelo 
 de noche rodeado, 
 en sueno y en olvido sepultado; 
 
 1 amor y la pena 
 
 despiertan en mi pecho un ansia ardiente, 
 despide larga vena 
 los ojos hechos fuente, 
 Oloarte, y digo al fin con voz doliente : 
 
 Morada de grandeza, 
 templo de claridad y hermosura, 
 el alma que al tu alteza 
 nacio, que desventura 
 la tiene en esta carcel baxa escura ?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 is very picturesquely expressed.* But the exalted in- 
 spiration and tender enthusiasm in which Luis de Leon 
 so widely departs from Horace, are most prominently 
 evinced in his ode on Heavenly Life (De la Vida del 
 Cielo). Here his fancy is bold without launching into ex- 
 travagant metaphors. What an etherial effulgence glows 
 through his lyric picture of. " the soft bright region, 
 the meadow of holiness, never blighted by frost, nor 
 withered by the sun's rays; where the good shepherd, 
 
 Que mortal desatino 
 de la verdad alexa assi el sentido, 
 que de tu bien divino 
 olvidado, perdido 
 sigue la vana sombra, el bien fingido ? 
 
 * Quando sera que pueda 
 libre desta prision bolar al cielo, 
 Felipe, y en la rueda, 
 que huye mas del suelo, 
 contemplar la verdad pura sin duelo? 
 
 Alii a mi vida junto, 
 en luz resplandecieute convertido, 
 vere distinto y junto 
 lo que es, y lo que ha sido, 
 y su principio propio y ascondido. 
 
 Entonces ver como 
 la soberana inano echo el cimiento 
 tan a nivel y plomo, 
 do estable y firme assiento 
 possee el pesadissimo elemento. 
 
 Vere las inmortales 
 colunas, do la tierra esta fondada, 
 las lindes y senates 
 con que a la mar hinchada 
 la providencia tiene aprisionada.
 
 
 248 HISTORY OF 
 
 his head crowned with blossoms of purple and white, 
 without either sling or staff, leads his beloved flock to 
 the sweet pasture covered with everblooming roses; 
 where the shepherd, reclining in the shade at noon, 
 blows his heavenly pipe, whose feeblest tone, should it 
 descend on the ear of the poet, would transform his 
 whole soul to love."* The ode in which the genius of 
 
 i 
 
 * The whole ode, which breathes a spirit of tender piety ac- 
 cording to allegorical Christian ideas, well deserves to be once more 
 re-printed : 
 
 Alma region luciente, 
 prado de bien andanc.a, que ni al hielo, 
 ni con el rayo ardiente 
 fallece, fertil suelo, 
 producidor eterno de consuelo. 
 
 De purpura y de nieve 
 florida la cabec.a coronado, 
 a dulces pastos mueve 
 sin honda ni cayado 
 el buen pastor en ti su hato amado. 
 
 El va, y en pos dichosas 
 le siguen sus ovejas, do las pace 
 con inmortales rosas, 
 con flor que siempre nace, 
 y quanto mas se goza, mas renace. 
 
 Y dentro a la montafia 
 del alto bien las guia, ya en la vena 
 del gozo fiel las bana, 
 y les da mesa llena, 
 pastor y pasto el solo y suerte buena. 
 
 Y de su esfera quando 
 a cumbre toca altissimo subido 
 el Sol, el sesteando, 
 de su hato cenido, 
 con dulce son deleyta el santo oido.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 249 
 
 the Tagus prophecies to King Roderick the misfortunes 
 of Spain, is more in Horace's style, and possesses a very 
 happy uniformity of character. In some other imita- 
 tions of a similar kind, the fancy of the pious poet 
 willingly descends from the heavenly regions. The 
 poems contained in the first part of the collection are 
 few in number. Those which Luis de Leon himself 
 inserted, amount only to twenty-seven, and among them 
 is an indifferent elegy, and a cancion in the Italian 
 style of not much greater merit. Several other compo- 
 sitions, which he seems to have rejected, have been 
 recently printed from manuscripts.* 
 
 The greater portion of the poetic works of Luis 
 de Leon consists of translations; but these translations 
 
 Toca el rabel sonoro, 
 
 y el inmortal dulc.or al alma passa, 
 
 con que envilece el oro, 
 
 y ardiendo se traspassa, 
 
 y lane, a en aquel bien libre de tassa. 
 O son, 6 voz si quiera 
 
 pequeiia parte alguna decendiese 
 
 en mi sentido, y fuera 
 
 de si el alma pusiesse, 
 
 y toda en ti, 6 amor, la convirtiese. 
 Conoceria donde 
 
 sesteas dulce esposo, y desatada 
 
 desta prision adonde 
 
 padece, a tu manada 
 
 vivir junta, sin vagar errada. 
 
 * These poems, by Luis de Leon, which up to a late period 
 remained unknown, may be found in the fifth volume of the Parnaso 
 Espanol. They are all on religious subjects. The longest is en- 
 titled, Renunciation al mundo, y conversion de un pecador: and is 
 probably one of the earliest fruits of the youthful piety of the poet.
 
 250 HISTORY OF 
 
 form an epoch in the department of literature to which 
 they belong. Those in the second book of the col- 
 lection are the first classical specimens, in modern lite- 
 rature, of the art of renewing the ancient poetry in 
 modern forms. Luis de Leon has himself explained 
 the principles by which he was guided in bringing the 
 ancient poetry within the sphere of the romantic. He 
 endeavoured to make the ancient poets speak, " as they 
 would have expressed themselves, had they been born 
 in his own age in Castile, and had they written in Cas- 
 tjlian."* However bold this attempt may appear, and 
 whatever defects a translation of this kind may present 
 to the eye of the connoisseur who wishes for a faithful 
 resemblance of the original, and not a flowery imitation, 
 yet if the validity of the principle be once admitted, 
 Luis de Leon will be found to have fulfilled all that the 
 most rigid critic can desire. Besides, it must be con- 
 sidered that translations of a more literal character 
 would scarcely have found readers in Spain at that 
 period. Luis de Leon translated Virgil's eclogues, partly 
 in tercets, and partly in coplas;f a considerable series 
 
 * This observation occurs in the dedication to Pedro Porto- 
 carrero, already mentioned. 
 
 f For example, the first eclogue t 
 
 M, Tu Tityro a la sombra descansando 
 desta tendida haya, con la avena 
 el verso pastoril vas acordando. 
 Nosotros desterrados, tu sin pena 
 cantas de tu pastora alegre ocioso, 
 y tu pastora el valle y monte suena. 
 T. Pastor, este descanso tan dichoso
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 251 
 
 of Horace's odes in the same romantic syllabic measure 
 which he chose for his own odes;* and a portion of 
 Virgil's georgics in stanzas. But the easy flowing style 
 of his Spanish version of Pindar's first ode, excels all 
 the rest.f To these translations are also added two 
 
 Dios me le concedio, que reputado 
 sera de mi por Dios aquel piadoso, 
 Y banara con sangre su sagrado 
 altar muy muchas veces el cordero 
 tierno, de mis ganados degollado, 
 
 Que por su beneficio soy vaquero, 
 y canto como ves pastorilraente 
 lo que me da contento, y lo que quiero ; &c. 
 * The ode Integer vitee scelerisque purus commences as 
 follows in Luis de Leon's translation: 
 
 El hombre justo y bueno, 
 el que de culpa esta y mancilla puro, 
 las manos en el seno, 
 sin dardo, ni zagaya va seguro, 
 y sin llevar cargada 
 la aljava de saeta enervolada. 
 
 O vaya por la arena 
 ardiente de la Libia ponc.onosa, 
 6 vaya por do suena 
 de Hidaspes la corriente fabulosa, 
 6 por la tierra cruda 
 de nieve llena y de piedad desnnda. 
 
 De mi se que al encuentro, 
 mientras por la montafia vagueando 
 mas de lo justo entro 
 sin arraas, y de Lalage cantando, 
 me vido, y mas ligero 
 que rayo huyo un lobo carnicero. 
 f El agua es bien precioso, 
 y entre el rico tesoro, 
 "como el ardiente fuego en noche escura,
 
 252 HISTORY OF 
 
 imitations of Italian sonnets, which prove that he 
 succeeded very well in that species of composition, 
 
 ansi relumbra el oro. 
 
 Mas, alma, si es sabroso 
 
 cantar de las contiendas la ventura 
 
 ansi como en la altura 
 
 no ay rayo mas luciente 
 
 que el Sol, que Rey del dia 
 
 por todo el yermo cielo se demuestra : 
 
 ansi es mas excelente 
 
 la Olimpica porfia 
 
 de todas las que canta la vos nuestra, 
 
 materia abundante, 
 
 donde todo elegante 
 
 ingenio al$a la voz ora cantando 
 
 de Rea y de Saturno el engendrado, 
 
 y juntamente entrando 
 
 al techo de Hieron alto preciado. 
 
 Hieron el que mantiene 
 el cetro merecido 
 del abundoso cielo Siciliano, 
 y dentro en si cogido 
 lo bueno y la flor tiene 
 de quanto valor cabe en pecho humano : 
 y con maestra mano 
 discanta senalado 
 en la mas dulce parte 
 del canto, la que infunde mas contento, 
 y en el banquete amado 
 mayor dulcor reparte. 
 Mas toma ya el laud, si el sentimiento 
 con dulces fantasias 
 te colma y alegrias 
 
 la gracia de Phernico, el que en Alfeo 
 bolando sin espuela en la carrera, 
 y venciendo el deseo 
 del amo, le cobr6 la voz primera. &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 253 
 
 though among his own original poems there is not a 
 single sonnet. He translated the psalms of David, 
 according to the rule he had prescribed to him- 
 self. His translations speedily obtained the rank in 
 Spanish literature to which they were entitled; and 
 they have served as models for all succeeding versions 
 of Greek and Latin poetry in the Spanish language. 
 Luis de Leon may indeed be blamed for having 
 thwarted, by the style of translation which he intro- 
 duced, all the attempts made to form Spanish poetry 
 on the model of that of the ancients. But on the other 
 hand, to his example the Spaniards are indebted for 
 numerous translations of Greek and Latin poetry, which 
 have all the air of Spanish originals. 
 
 If Luis de Leon had not confined his prose writings 
 exclusively to spiritual subjects, he would doubtless have 
 also exercised a very decided influence on the rhetori- 
 cal cultivation of Spain. His sermons (oraciones) are, 
 however, invariably mentioned in terms of praise by 
 Spanish writers, whenever they allude to the theological 
 literature of their country.* Among his other works 
 intended for edification, The Woman as she should be, 
 or The Perfect Wife, (La Perfecta Casada), will per- 
 haps be found the most interesting to the untheological 
 class of readers; though it even constantly turns on the 
 positive morality of Catholicism, and therefore, like 
 
 * These sermons are highly eulogized by Mayans y Siscar in 
 the Oration en que se exhorta a seguir la verdadera idea de la 
 eloquencia Espanola ; if indeed Mayans really be the author of 
 that discourse. It is contained in the first volume of the Origenes 
 de la lengua Esp. p. 199.
 
 254 HISTORY OF 
 
 every mixed treatise of theology and morals, is no legi- 
 timate specimen of the developement of ideas in the 
 didactic style.* 
 
 Luis de Leon terminates the series of distinguished 
 Spanish authors, who during the first half of the six- 
 teenth century, composed after the model of the great 
 poets of Italy, or the ancient classics, and who, by the 
 superiority of their genius, mainly contributed to give 
 a new character to Spanish poetry. There are, how- 
 ever others, whose poetic works ought not to be passed 
 over in silence; but to follow the example of those 
 writers, who have hitherto related the history of Spa- 
 nish poetry, without separating subordinate from emi- 
 nent talent, would be to prolong an act of injustice. At 
 the same time to the continuation which must be made 
 of the history of the lyric and pastoral poetry of Spain, 
 during the first half of the sixteenth century, may be 
 very properly added some account of a few unsuc- 
 cessful efforts in epic composition, and a notice of the 
 further progress of the old national poetry during the 
 same period. 
 
 MINOR SPANISH POETS I&RING THE PERIOD OF 
 
 THIS SECTION, VIZ. ACUNA CETINA PADILLA 
 
 GIL POLO. 
 
 Fernando de Acuila, one of the first of the dis- 
 tinguished men who became the disciples of Boscan 
 
 * There is a copy of the second edition of Luis de Leon's 
 Perfecta Casada, printed at Salamanca in 158G, in quarto, in the 
 library of the university of Gottingen.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 255 
 
 and Garcilaso, was of Portuguese extraction, but born 
 in Madrid, probably about the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century.* He signalized himself in the campaigns of 
 Charles V. and was also a person of consideration at 
 the court of that monarch. He lived on terms of 
 intimate friendship with Garcilaso de la Vega, whom 
 he survived for a considerable period, for it appears 
 that his death did not take place until the year 1580. 
 He proved his taste for classical literature by transla- 
 tions and imitations. He paraphrased in iambic blank 
 verse, several passages from Ovid's Metamorphoses, 
 and among the rest, the dispute between Ajax and 
 Ulysses for the arms of Achilles, in very correct and 
 harmonious language. He likewise translated some 
 of the Heroides of the same author in tercets. In his 
 own sonnets, cancions, and elegies, which are replete 
 with sentiment and grace, it is easy to recognise a poet 
 who successfully laboured to attain classical elegance 
 of style.f He was also one of the first poets, who, by 
 
 * Velasquez passes him over in silence. The Parnaso Espa- 
 nol, torn. ii. contains some specimens of his poetry, together with 
 a notice of his life. 
 
 f The commencement of one of his elegies may serve as a 
 
 specimen. 
 
 A la sazon que se nos muestra llena 
 
 la tierra de cien mil varias colores, 
 y comienza su llanto Filomena : 
 
 Quando partido Amor en mil amores 
 produce en todo corazon humano 
 como en la tierra el tiempo nuevas flores: 
 
 Al pie de un moute, en un florido llano, 
 a sombra de uiia haya en la verdura, 
 cataba triste su dolor Silvano :
 
 256 HISTORY OF 
 
 composing in short strophes, endeavoured to form an 
 intermediate style between the Italian canzone and 
 the Spanish cancion.* 
 
 Gutierre de Cetina is less known, though there is 
 no doubt of his having lived about the same period, as 
 he is mentioned by Herrera in his Commentary on the 
 Works of Garcilaso. He was, like Herrera, a native of 
 Seville; and having removed to Madrid, was there 
 invested with an ecclesiastical dignity. Few of his 
 poems have been printed;f but from those few it is 
 
 Y asegundaba voz en su tristura 
 el agua que bajaba con sonido 
 de una fuente que nace en el altura: 
 
 Pastor en todo el valle conocido, 
 a quien la Musa pastoral ha dado 
 un estilo en cantar dulce y snbido. &c. 
 * For example : 
 
 Si Apolo tanta gracia 
 en mi rustica citara pusiese 
 como en la del de Tracia, 
 y quando se moviese, 
 desde el un Polo al otra el son se oyese, 
 
 Y a los desiertos frios 
 pudiese dar calor, y refrenase 
 el curso de los rios, 
 las piedras levantase, 
 y tras el dulce canto las llevase, 
 
 Jamas le ocuparia 
 
 en claros hechos de la antigua historia, 
 mas solo cantaria 
 para inmortal memoria 
 el tiempo de mi pena, y de mi gloria. &c. 
 
 f Some of Gutierre de Cetina's poems have been printed from 
 manuscript by Sedano, in his Parnaso JEspanol, vols. vii. viii. and 
 ix. together with a short biographical notice of the author.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 257 
 
 
 
 obvious that he had a fair chance of becoming the 
 Anacreon of Spain. That glory, however, was re- 
 served for Villegas. Still Gutierre de Cetina's imita- 
 tions of the anacreontic style are not without their 
 share of sweetness and grace; and they are moreover 
 remarkable as being the first productions in the class 
 to which they belong.* His madrigals also seem to 
 have had no prototype in Spanish literature.! In his 
 canciones, however, the romantic enthusiasm occasionally 
 degenerates into absurdity4 
 
 * The following is an anacreontic song by this author : 
 
 De tus rubios cabellos, 
 Dorida ingrata mia, 
 hizo el amor la cuerda 
 para el arco homicida. 
 
 A hora veras si burlas 
 
 de mi poder, decia : ^ 
 
 y tomando un flecha 
 quiso a mi dirigirla. 
 
 Yo le dije : muchacho 
 arco y harpon retira : 
 con esas nuevas armas, 
 qui6n hay que te resista ? 
 
 f The following is one of them : 
 
 Ojos claros serenos, 
 si de dulce mirar sois alabados, 
 por qu6 si me mirais, mirais ayrados? 
 Si quanto mas piadosos, 
 mas bellos pareceis a quien os inira, 
 por que a mi solo me mirais con ira ? 
 Ojos claros serenos, 
 ya que asi me mirais, miradme al menos. 
 
 J The following stanza is from a cancione on his mistress's 
 hair. The lady's tresses must have been of a very fiery red. 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 HISTORY OF 
 
 Pedro do Padilla, a knight of the spiritual order 
 of St. Jago, must be ranked in the same class with 
 Gutierre. He vied with Garcilaso in pastoral poetry; 
 and in order to conciliate the partizans of both the old 
 and the new styles, he introduced alternately in the same 
 eclogue the Italian and the ancient Spanish metres.* 
 His poetry is still esteemed in Spain. He followed the 
 old national custom by making the events connected 
 with the war in the Netherlands serve as subjects for 
 romances.f 
 
 But a poet still more celebrated, and in a great 
 degree indebted for his fame to the immoderate enco- 
 mium bestowed upon him by the pen of Cervantes, is 
 Gaspar Gil Polo, a native of Valencia, who continued and 
 concluded Montemayor's Diana under the title of La 
 
 En la esfera delfuego 
 
 de su calor mas fuerte 
 
 de tus cabellos fue el colo sacado, 
 
 cuya calidad luego 
 
 dib nuevas de mi muerte 
 
 al yelo que en tu pecho esta encerrado ; 
 
 a si sera forzado, 
 
 entre contraries pnesto 
 
 que mi vivir se acabe, 
 
 porque en razon no cabe 
 
 sufrir tanta crue.dad quien vio tu gesto, 
 
 si hayfuego y hielo entre ellos, 
 
 qui6n se guardara de ellos ? 
 
 * The fourth volume of the Parnaso Espanol contains a long 
 eclogue by Pedro de Padilla. 
 
 f Bibliographic notices of the works of Padilla, may be found 
 in Dieze's Remarks on Velasquez, p. 194.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 259 
 
 Diana enamorada* A continuation of this pastoral 
 romance had previously been undertaken by a writer 
 named Perez; but without success. Gil Polo in one re- 
 spect effected more than did Montemayor himself; but 
 in point of invention he is inferior, notwithstanding the 
 faults of the original plan. After Sireno has been cured 
 of his love by the sage Felicia, Gil Polo makes the passion 
 of Diana revive, and renders her more unhappy for Si- 
 reno's sake, than he had previously been for her's. Thus 
 the romantic story is reversed; but the new relations 
 under which it now appears are few. In the sequel the 
 aid of the sage Felicia is again obtained, and she finally 
 unites the long separated lovers. The narrative style 
 in the prose portion of the romance presents a very 
 correct imitation of Montemayor; but neither the merit 
 of this imitation, nor the continuation of the meta- 
 physical reflections on love, with which the romance is 
 interspersed, would have gained for Gil Polo the appro- 
 bation of the critic. What must have raised him 
 higher than Montemayor in the estimation of such a 
 judge as Cervantes, is the precision and clearness of 
 the ideas, and the perfect polish of style in the poetic 
 part of the romance. Montemayor has often indulged 
 in too subtle or sophistical plays of wit. Gil Polo in 
 painting the feelings has exercised a sounder judgment, 
 without, however, descending to the coldness of prose. 
 His sonnets may be regarded as models; for he has 
 
 * Cervantes in the condemnation of the library of Don Quixote, 
 exempts Gil Polo's Diana enamorada, adding, that the book ought 
 to be as much respected, " as though Apollo himself had written it." 
 
 S 2
 
 260 HISTORY OF 
 
 succeeded in combining the unity of ideas, which ought 
 to distinguish that species of composition, with the most 
 elegant rounding and regularity of structure.* In his 
 canciones he has occasionally, for the sake of variety, 
 imitated the Provencal rhymes (rimas Provenmles) 
 with such happy dexterity, that the reader might fancy 
 himself perusing some of the best opera songs, though no 
 such thing as an opera then existed.f In like manner, 
 
 * For instance, in the following: 
 No es ciego Amor, mas yo lo soy, que guio 
 
 mi voluntad camino del tormento : 
 
 no es nino Amor : mas yo que en un momento 
 
 espero y tengo miedo, lloro y rio. 
 Nombrar llamas de Amor es desvario, 
 
 su fuego es el ardiente y vivo intento, 
 
 sus alas son mi altivo pensamiento, 
 
 y la esperanza vana en que mi fio. 
 No tiene Amor cadenas, ni sae'tas, 
 
 para prender y hezir libres y sanos, 
 
 que en 1 no hay mas poder del que le damns. 
 Porque es Amor mentira de poetas, 
 
 suefio de locos, idolo de vanos : 
 
 inirad qu6 negro Dios el que adoramos. 
 
 f The following stanzas will afford an adequate idea of the 
 colloquial song to which they belong, and which presents equal 
 beauty throughout: 
 Alcida. 
 
 Mientras el Sol sus rayos muy ardientes 
 con tal furia y rigor al mundo envia, 
 que de Nymphas la casta compania 
 por los sombrios mora, y por las fuentes : 
 Y la cigarra el canto replicando, 
 se esta quejando, 
 pastora canta, 

 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 261 
 
 he endeavoured to naturalize the metrical structure of 
 French verse (rimas Franceses) in the Spanish lan- 
 guage, upon which the burthen of alexandrines had 
 already been inflicted.* In compliment to the old 
 Spanish taste, he bedecked his romance with a pro- 
 fusion of versified riddles (preguntas,) which are, for 
 
 con gracia tanta, 
 
 que enternescido 
 
 de haverte ofdo, 
 
 al poderoso cielo de su grado 
 
 fresco liquor envie al seco prado. 
 
 Diana. 
 Mientras esta el mayor de los planetas 
 
 en medio del oriente y del ocaso, 
 
 y al labrador en descubierto raso 
 
 inas rigurosas tira sus saetas : 
 Al dulce murmurar de la corriente 
 
 de aquesta fuente 
 
 mueve tal canto, 
 
 que cause espanto, 
 
 y de contentos 
 
 los bravos vientos 
 
 el impetu furioso refrenando, 
 
 vengan con manso espiritu soplando. 
 
 * The following is a specimen of rimas Franceses by Gil 
 Polo: 
 
 De flores matizadas se vista el verde prado, 
 
 retumbe el hueco bosque de voces deleytosas, 
 
 olor tengau mas fino las coloradas rosas, 
 
 floridos ramos mueva el viento sossegado. 
 El rio apressurado 
 
 sus aguas acresciente, 
 
 y pues tan libre queda la fatigada gente 
 
 del congojoso Han to, 
 
 moved, hermosas Nymphas, regocijado canto.
 
 262 HISTORY OF 
 
 the most part, so exceedingly dull, that it is difficult to 
 conceive how they could be endured by a man of Gil 
 Polo's talent.* In honour of Valencia, his native city, 
 he composed a poem, in which the genius of the little 
 river Turia is made to sing the praises of the celebrated 
 men to whom Valencia had given birth. This song of 
 Turia (Canto de Turia) has found patriotic commen- 
 tators, without whose laborious explanations it would 
 have been unintelligible to foreign readers.! 
 
 OBSTACLES TO THE IMITATION OF THE ROMAN- 
 TIC EPOPEE IN SPAIN UNSUCCESSFUL ESSAYS 
 IN SERIOUS EPOPEE TRANSLATIONS OF CLAS- 
 SICAL EPIC POETRY. 
 
 Though Spanish literature was in the manner just 
 recorded, enriched during hah a century by numerous 
 lyric and pastoral compositions, which deserve to be 
 
 * The following is by no means the worst of these enigmas. 
 Vide un soto levantado 
 
 sobre. los aynes un dia, 
 
 el qual con sangre regado, 
 
 con gran ansia cultivado, 
 
 Muchas hierbas producia. 
 De alii un manojo arrancando, 
 
 y solo con el tocando 
 
 una sabia y cuerda gente, 
 
 la dej cabe una puente 
 
 sin dolores lamentando. 
 "Who \vould guess that the object alluded to is a horse's tail? 
 
 f A new and elegant edition of Caspar Gil Polo's Diana ena- 
 morada, enriched with a copious Commentary on the Canto de Turia, 
 appeared at Madrid in 1778.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 263 
 
 handed down with honour to posterity, yet within the 
 same interval epic poetry made but little advancement 
 in Spain. 
 
 Early in this period the absurd name of idyls 
 (idyllios) appears to have been applied to such narra- 
 tive poems as were not romances, and to have marked 
 out a particular field for a kind of poetic tales, which 
 were in some measure imitations from the ancients, and 
 yet were executed in the romantic style. Such, for 
 example, was Boscan's free translation of the story of 
 Hero and Leander from Musaeus, which the Spaniards 
 call their first idyl. Thus the term idyls in Spanish, 
 convey no idea of pastoral poems, which are always 
 called eclogues (eglogas.)* Castillejo, of whom further 
 mention will shortly be made, imitated in old Castilian 
 verse, stories from Ovid, and gave to them the name 
 of idyls. The spurious heroic style which the authors 
 of these tales introduced, proved, without doubt, one 
 of the obstacles to the cultivation of chivalrous epic 
 poetry in Spain; but it is also to be recollected, that 
 the luzuriant mixture of the comic with the serious, 
 which is the very soul of the romantic epopee of the 
 Italians, was by no means congenial to Spanish taste. 
 In Spain the works of Boyardo and Ariosto were 
 known only through the medium of bad translations, 
 and were read merely with the interest attached to all 
 books of chivalry. Finally, the spirit of the old ro- 
 mance poetry was also hostile to the chivalric epopee. 
 
 * See Dieze's edition of Velasquez, p. 419. The chapter on 
 the idyl is totally distinct from that which treats of the eclogues 
 of the Spaniards.
 
 264 HISTORY OF 
 
 To descend from the cordial gravity of the national nar- 
 rative romances, to the careless levity with which the 
 venerable heroes of chivalry were treated by the Italian 
 writers, was a transition repugnant to the patriotic 
 feelings of the Spaniards; who, in their wars with the 
 Italians, were the more disposed to be proud of the 
 preservation of their national spirit of chivalry, when 
 they found that it facilitated their victories over men who 
 were better fitted for intrigue than for defending their 
 freedom sword in hand. Thus, to the chivalrous epopee 
 of the Italians, the Spaniards remained as completely 
 strangers, as if they had been excluded from all oppor- 
 tunity of becoming acquainted with that kind of com- 
 position; and yet the period when the Spaniards and 
 Italians maintained the closest political and literary 
 relations, precisely corresponds with that of Ariosto's 
 first celebrity, and of the numerous imitations of the 
 Orlando Furioso, which appeared in the Italian lan- 
 guage.* 
 
 On the contrary, several Spanish poets, during the 
 first half of the sixteenth century, zealously competed 
 for the palm in the serious epopee; but obstacles again 
 arose, which all the force of Spanish genius was not 
 sufficient to surmount. Torquato Tasso had not yet 
 shewn what the serious epic was capable of becoming, 
 and what it must be, in order to be reconciled to the 
 taste of modern times. The Spaniards were so little 
 prepared for the new poetry with which they had 
 suddenly been made acquainted on the first imitation 
 
 * See my History of Italian Literature, vol. ii.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 265 
 
 of the Italian style, that they could not be expected to 
 enter without a guide into the true spirit of the modern 
 epopee. The men, who at this time boldly attempted 
 to become the Homers of their country, appear to 
 have felt that they could not select from ancient 
 history the materials for an epic poem. But on the 
 other hand, their patriotic feelings prepossessed them 
 too much in favour of events of recent occurrence. 
 The age in which they themselves lived was, in their 
 eyes, the most illustrious and the most worthy of epic 
 glory; a Spanish Homer could record no achievements 
 save those of the Spaniards under Charles V.; and the 
 hero, who in their poems eclipsed all others, was their 
 favourite Charles, the never conquered, (el nunca ven- 
 cido,) as he was styled by all the Spanish writers of 
 the sixteenth century. Thus arose the Caroliads, or 
 heroic poems, in praise of Charles V. all of which 
 speedily sunk into oblivion. Among them were the 
 Carlos Fanioso, by Luis de Zapata; the Carlos Victo- 
 rioso, by Geronymo de Urrea; La Carolea, by the Va- 
 lencian poet, Geronymo Samper, &c. Alonzo Lopez, 
 surnamed Pinciano, who flourished at the commence- 
 ment of the sixteenth century, was more happy in his 
 choice of an epic subject. The hero of his story is 
 Pelayo, the brave descendant of the visi-gothic kings, 
 who, in his turn, was the first to subdue the Arabs. 
 But Pinciano's poem, which he entitled El Pelayo, 
 had no better fate than the Caroliads.* 
 
 
 * Dieze in his Remarks on Velasquez, p. 381, gives biblio- 
 graphic notices of these, and of other epic productions of the Spa- 
 niards,
 
 266 HISTORY OF 
 
 The present seems a fit opportunity for mentioning 
 Lafuente de Alcover, a narrative poem, which though 
 of humbler pretensions than the Caroliads, experienced 
 considerable success. The author, Felipe Mey, who was 
 of Flemish extraction, was a bookseller in Valencia. 
 Encouraged by his patron, Antonio Agustin, bishop of 
 Tarragona, he chose a few stanzas, written by that in- 
 genious prelate, as the ground work of a mythological 
 poem. The idea originated in the name given to 
 a plant (capillus veneris), through which the water 
 trickling drop by drop, at length forms a little foun- 
 tain. This pretty poem makes, along with some others 
 by Felipe Mey, an appendix to his unfinished transla- 
 tion of Ovid's Metamorphoses in octave verse. It de- 
 serves also to be mentioned, that this translation reads 
 like a modern poem; both language and versification 
 are excellent.* 
 
 Some other translations of the ancient classic poets 
 which appeared, during this period, remain to be noticed. 
 Gonzalo Perez, a native of Arragon, is the author of a 
 poetic translation of Homer's Odyssey, in the Castilian 
 language. The first edition was printed in 1552, and 
 the second in 1562; so that it seems the Spanish public 
 felt an interest in this extension of their poetic lite- 
 rature. Gregorio Fernandez translated the ^Eneid and 
 several of Virgil's eclogues in verse; and in the like 
 manner Juan de Guzman executed a complete version 
 of the georgics. All these translations, however, like 
 
 * The title is rather curious : Del Metamorphoseos de Ovidio, 
 otava rima, traducido por Felipe Mey, fyc. Con otras cosas del 
 mesmo. Tarragona, 1580, in 8vo. 

 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 26? 
 
 those of Luis de Leon, must be regarded as re-casts of 
 ancient materials into modern moulds, rather than 
 translations, in the strict sense of the term. But, in 
 an age and country, in which both the people and the 
 language were imbued with the spirit of the romantic 
 poetry, to have attempted to introduce the classic poets 
 of Greece or Rome in any other way than in a romantic 
 dress, would have been to do violence to the genius of 
 the language and the nation.* 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE ROMANTIC POETRY CASTILLEJO : 
 
 HIS CONTEST WITH THE PARTIZANS OF THE 
 ITALIAN STYLE. 
 
 The rapid success of the imitators of the Italian 
 and classic styles, did not, however, deprive the old 
 romance poetry of its rank, either in literature or in 
 public estimation. The first half of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, was doubtless the period when most of the old 
 romances, then first brought together in collections, 
 received the form which they have retained down to 
 the present day; and, in all probability, not less than 
 half the romances and canciones collected in the Roman- 
 ceros generates., particularly the mythological, anacre- 
 ontic, and comic kinds, had no existence previous to 
 that period. 
 
 But no poet of that age defended the cause of the 
 old Castilian poetry, in all its various forms, with so 
 much talent and zeal as Christoval de Castillejo, the 
 most illustrious of the literary opponents of the Ita- 
 
 * Further particulars relative to the history of these translations, 
 way be found in Dieze's Remarks on Velasquez, p. 198, &c.
 
 268 HISTORY OF 
 
 lian style. Castillejo obtained the post of secretary in 
 the service of the Emperor Ferdinand I. an appoint- 
 ment which was a consequence of the relations still sub- 
 sisting between the courts of Madrid and Vienna, after 
 the death of Charles V. notwithstanding that the Ger- 
 man empire was then separated from the Spanish mo- 
 narchy. The greater part of Castillejo's poems were 
 written in Vienna; and are full of allusions to the gay 
 sphere of life in which he moved at ^he imperial court. 
 A young German lady, named Schomburg, of whom he 
 seems to have been an ardent admirer, figures in his 
 poems, under the name of Xomburg, because nothing like 
 the hissing sound of the German sck, could be expressed 
 by the same characters in the Castilian language. Ad- 
 vanced in life, and tired of gallantry and the gay world, 
 he returned to Spain, became a Cistercian monk, and died 
 in a convent in 1596. The admirers of Castillejo* as- 
 sign to him the first rank among Spanish poets; but the 
 unprejudiced critic cannot, in justice, elevate him to so 
 high a station. His poetic horizon was very limited. 
 He was determined to be nothing but an old Castilian 
 in poetic taste, as in every thing else. He ridiculed 
 Boscan, Garcilaso, and all the Spanish poets of the new 
 party, with more wit than judgment. f He asserted, 
 
 * Among others Velasquez, 
 f For example : 
 
 Pues la santa Inquisicion 
 
 suele ser tan diligente, 
 
 en castigar con razon 
 
 qualquier secta y opinion 
 
 levantada nuevamente ; 
 
 Resucitese luzero,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 269 
 
 though without foundation, that the old Castilian metres 
 and forms of rhyme were alone suited to the Castilian 
 language; and for want of better arguments to urge 
 against the amatory poetry of Italy, he asserted that 
 all poetry of love was to be regarded as mere raillery, 
 without reflecting, that in supporting this opinion he 
 cast more reproach on the old Spaniards than on the 
 Italians.* The structure of Italian verse appeared 
 
 a castigar en Espana 
 una muy nueva y estrana, 
 como aquella de Lutero 
 en las partes de Alemana. 
 Bien se pueden castigar 
 
 a cuenta de Anabaptistas, 
 
 pues por ley particular 
 
 se tornan a baptizar, 
 
 y se Hainan Petrarquistas . 
 
 Han renegade la fe 
 
 de las trobas Castellanas, 
 
 y tras las Italianas 
 
 se pierden, diziendo, que 
 
 son mas ricas y galanas. 
 
 On this subject he says : 
 Coplas dulces plazenteras, 
 no pecan en liviandad, 
 pero pierde autoridad, 
 quien las escrive de veras. 
 Y entremete, 
 el seso por aclahuete, 
 en los mysteries de amor 
 quanto mas si el trobador, 
 passa ya del cavallete. 
 Y algunos ay, yo lo se, 
 
 que hazen obras fundadas
 
 270 HISTORY OF - 
 
 constrained to a poet, who confounded rapidity with 
 facility of style. The IOOF j rhythm of the redondillas, 
 was with him an exclusive beauty of the syllabic struc- 
 ture of his mother tongue, for he had no taste for a 
 more regular style of poetry; and some of his happiest 
 productions are limited merely to graceful plays of the 
 imagination. His fertility in these sports of fancy, 
 could not fail to obtain for him the esteem of his coun- 
 trymen, who were ever too ready to tolerate, and even 
 to admire, the subtle twisting of quaint and fanciful 
 conceits; but of all other poetic faults, most reluctant 
 to pardon heaviness of manner, particularly in versifi- 
 cation. 
 
 Some of Castillejo's canciones are, however, so ex- 
 quisite, that it is scarcely possible to resist the tempta- 
 tion of placing their author in the very foremost rank 
 of poets.* But in spite of his captivating fluency of style 
 
 de coplas enamoradas, 
 
 sin tener causa porque. 
 
 Y esto esta 
 
 en costumbre tanto ya, 
 
 que muchos escriven penas, 
 
 por remedas las agenas, 
 
 sin saber quien se las da. 
 
 * The following, which is one of his most successful produc- 
 tions, must be transcribed at length, since the beauty of any 
 detached passage would suffer from want of connection. 
 Por unas huertas hermosas, 
 
 vagando muy linda Lida 
 
 texio de lyrios y rosas 
 
 blancas, frescas, y olorosas, 
 
 una guirnalda florida. 
 
 Y andando en esta labor,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 271 
 
 and power of expression, most of his works bear traces 
 of a mental boundary which every great poet oversteps. 
 
 viendo a deshora al Amor 
 
 en las rosas escondido, 
 
 con las que ella avia texido, 
 
 le prendio como a traydor. 
 El muchacho 110 doraado 
 
 que nunca penso prenderse, 
 
 viendose preso y atado, 
 
 al principio muy ayrado, 
 
 pugraava por defenderse. 
 
 Y en sus alas estrivando 
 
 forcejava peleando, 
 
 y tentava (aunqne desnudo,) 
 
 de desatarse del fuulo 
 
 para valerse bolando. 
 Pero viendo la blancura 
 
 que sus tetas descubrian, 
 
 como leche fresca y pura, 
 
 que a su madre en hermosura 
 
 ventaja no conocian, 
 
 y su rostro, que encender 
 
 era bastante, y mover 
 
 (con su mucha loc.ania) 
 
 los mismos Dioses ; pedia 
 
 para dexarse veneer. 
 Buelto a Venus, a la bora 
 
 hablandole desde alii, 
 
 dixo, madre, Emperadora, 
 
 desde oy mas, busca senora 
 
 un nuevo Amor para ti. 
 
 Y esta nueva, con oylla, 
 
 no te mueva, o de manzilla, 
 
 que aviendo yo de reynar, 
 
 este es el proprio lugar, 
 en que se ponga mi silla.
 
 272 HISTORY OF 
 
 A sort of affected verbosity often usurps the place of 
 real wit, particularly in his longer poems; and it not 
 unfrequently happens that whole pages of Castillejo's 
 flowing verse are to the reader nothing more than 
 lively prose. The strong inclination to levity, which 
 he cannot resist, even when he wishes to be serious, is 
 a distinguishing feature in all the poetic essays of this 
 ingenious author, who has thus sometimes given to his 
 works more of a French than a Spanish character. 
 
 Castillejo arranged his lyric works in three books, 
 and they are so printed under the title of Obras 
 Liricas. Only a small portion of these poems, however, 
 properly belong to the lyric class;* and the author 
 doubtless collected them together, under this general 
 title, for the purpose of distinguishing them from his 
 comedies, which are but little known. The first book 
 contains amatory poems, (Obras amatorias), songs, 
 jests, epistles, glosses after the old fashion, and in con- 
 clusion, a piece which he styled a (Capitulo) on love. 
 The songs, for the most part, commence in a serious 
 tone,f but speedily assume a comic turn, with which 
 
 * I have before me the same copy of which Dieze in his 
 Remarks on Velasquez, p. 197, gives a bibliographic description. 
 This copy, which did not pass the censorship of the Inquisition, 
 is remarkable for a trick of the bookseller, who has affixed to it a 
 title-page without a date, and at the end two leaves with a false 
 privilege. 
 
 f For instance, one to Dona Ana de Xomburg begins thus : 
 Vuestros lindos ojos Ana 
 
 quien me dexasse gozallos, 
 y tantas vezes besallos 
 quantas me pide la gana, 

 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 273 
 
 they usually conclude.* Some are burlesque parodies 
 on the affected ecstasies and extravagant metaphors of 
 
 con que vivo de mirallos ; 
 
 Darles la 
 
 cien mil besos cada dia, 
 
 y aunque fuessen un millon, 
 
 mi penado cora^on 
 
 nunca harto se veria. 
 
 
 
 O quan bien aventurado 
 
 es aquel que puede estar, 
 
 do os pueda ver y hablar 
 
 sin perderse de turbado, 
 
 como yo suelo quedar. 
 
 Ay de mi, 
 
 que ante vos despues que os vf, 
 
 y quede de vos herido, 
 
 no ay en mi ningun sentido 
 
 que sepa parte de si. 
 
 * The song addressed to Ana de Xornburg, quoted above, ends 
 with a burlesque joke : 
 
 Si segun lo que padezco 
 
 pudiendolo yo dezir, 
 
 merced os he de pedir, 
 
 mucho mayor la merezo, 
 
 que la puedo recebir. 
 
 Mas no pido 
 
 pago tan descomedido, 
 
 que es demandar gollorias, 
 
 porque no dire en mis dias 
 
 lo que esta noche he sufrido. 
 No quiero que hagays nada, 
 
 sino que solo querays ; 
 
 11 
 que si vos aqui llegays, 
 
 yo doy fin a la Jornada 
 donde vos la comen^ays. 
 Y os espero, 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274? HISTORY OF 
 
 the Spanish sonnet writers. Such, for example, is the 
 " Tower of Lamentation," or the " Wind Tower," 
 (Torre de Viento,) which is supposed to be built en- 
 tirely of lovers' sighs. Some shorter poems, in the 
 madrigal style, are among the best in this first book.* 
 There is also an " Exclamatory Epistle," (Epistola Ex- 
 clamatoria,) the spirit and style of which are sufficiently 
 indicated by the title. Among the popular verses which 
 the playful humour of Castillejo prompted him to gloss 
 in the form of Villancicos., is one which merely says, 
 " If you tend my cows, my love, I will give you a kiss; 
 but give me a kiss and I will tend your's."f Productions 
 
 porque llegando primero 
 de vos aveys de llegar, 
 vamos despues a la par, 
 que es trabajo plazectero. 
 
 * The following is on the indisposition of a mistress : 
 Ese mal que da tormento 
 a vuessa merced seuora 
 en vos tiene el aposento, 
 mas yo soy el que lo siento, 
 y mi alnia quien lo llora. 
 Y de pura compassion 
 de veros sin alegria, 
 se me'quiebra el cora9on, 
 vos sends vuestra passion, 
 mas yo la vuestra y la mia. 
 
 f In the original this Spanish Ranz de Vache is uncommonly 
 simple and pretty: 
 
 Guardame las vacas, 
 Carillejo, y besarte he ; 
 Sino, besame tu a mi, 
 Que yo te las guardare.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 275 
 
 of this description found favour with the readers for 
 whom they were intended. His humorous poems, 
 which are all more or less disguised under an air of 
 seriousness, contain a tale (historia) imitated from 
 Ovid, which may be called an idyl according to the 
 literary terminology of the Spaniards. The second book 
 contains conversational and diverting pieces, (obras de 
 conversation y de pasatiempo.) At the commence- 
 ment appear the railleries of Castillejo against the 
 Petrarchists. The longest poem in this book is a 
 Dialogue on Women, (Dialogo de la Condition de las 
 Mugeres,) which is here and there enlivened by ad- 
 mirable sallies of wit;* but upon the whole it is nothing 
 
 * A predisposition to yield to temptation, is thus attributed 
 to Eve: 
 
 Allc. Ella fue consentidora, 
 y cobro subitamente 
 mal siniestro, 
 para mal y dauo nuestro : 
 y pues fraude entre ellos uvo, 
 que se espera de quien tuvo 
 al diablo por maestro. 
 
 Fil. Si el callara 
 
 ella nunca le buscara. 
 
 Alle. Puede ser, mas si el no viera 
 primero quien ella era, 
 por dicha no la tentara 
 para mal. 
 
 Y pues era el principal 
 Adam en aquel vergel, 
 porque no le tento a el? 
 sino por verle leal 
 y constante. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 HISTORY OF 
 
 more than burlesque prose ideas dressed in easy verse.* 
 The third book, which contains moral works, (obras 
 morales,) is most prolix of all. The satires contained in 
 this third book have certaintly a moral tendency, though 
 that object is in a great measure defeated by Castillejo's 
 sportive style. The moral is lost in a torrent of words, 
 while the serious thoughts of which the verse is the ve- 
 hicle, are for the most part trivial.f Notwithstanding the 
 
 * The following lines afford a fair specimen of the style of the 
 whole dialogue. 
 
 Fil. Quando Dios lo crio todo, 
 
 y formo el hombre primero, 
 ya veys que como a grossero 
 lo hizo de puro lodo. 
 Mas a Eva, 
 
 para testimonio y prueva, 
 que devemos preferilla, 
 sacola de la costilla 
 por obra sutil y nueva. 
 Y mando 
 
 que el hombre que assi crio, 
 padre y madre dexasse, 
 y a la muger se juntasse, 
 que por consorte le dio 
 singular, 
 
 mandandosela guardar 
 como a su propria persona, 
 por espejo y por corona 
 en que se deve mirar. 
 
 f The following passage from a satire on Court Life, is tole- 
 rably characteristic of Castillejo's whole course of thought in works 
 of this kind: 
 
 La quarta gente granada 
 
 que navegan con buen norte,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 277 
 
 moral design of this third book, the Spanish inquisition 
 was for some time undecided with respect to its fate. 
 The publication of all the poems of Castillejo was 
 prohibited; but after some further deliberation the 
 inquisition permitted the sale of an edition, after it 
 had undergone a rigid revisal by the censor. 
 
 HISTORY OF SPANISH DRAMATIC POETRY, DURING 
 THE FIRST HALF AND TEN SUCCEEDING YEARS 
 OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 In the reign of Charles V. amidst a throng of 
 diversified talent, and during the conflict between the 
 old and new poetic styles, the Spanish drama began to 
 flourish. Considered in a literary point of view, it can 
 scarcely be said to have existed before that period; but 
 
 a quien es licencia dada 
 
 de la vivienda en la Corte. 
 
 Son aquellos 
 
 que la raandan, y en pos de ellos 
 
 se va la gente goloca, 
 
 y algunos por los cabellos, 
 
 aunque muestran otra cosa. 
 
 Estos son, 
 
 los que en la governacion 
 
 tienen poder, y con ello 
 
 harto cuydado y passion, 
 
 pero al fin, con padecello 
 
 se enriquecen: 
 
 estos son los que parecen 
 
 al mundo cosa divina, 
 
 y les sirven y obedecen, 
 
 con diligencia contina, 
 
 muy crecida.
 
 278 HISTORY OF 
 
 it arose under happier auspices than those which about 
 the same period accompanied the birth of the Italian 
 drama, to which the struggle between the learned and 
 the popular burlesque styles afforded less hope of suc- 
 cess. The sacred and profane pastoral dialogues of Juan 
 de la Enzina were, at the commencement of the six- 
 teenth century, still the only dramatic compositions in 
 the Spanish language, to which any degree of literary 
 respect was attached, and they were, by especial fa- 
 vour, allowed to be performed at court.* With the 
 exception of mysteries, spiritual moralities, and bur- 
 lesque representations of religious ceremonies, the 
 Spanish nation, at this time, knew nothing of dramatic 
 entertainments. No poet of reputation had hitherto 
 devoted his attention to this species of composition; but 
 the nation evinced by its attachment to those rude 
 exhibitions, that tenacity which is a great feature in its 
 character, and which even in matters of taste permits 
 no reform to take place which does not perfectly ac- 
 cord with the inclination of the public. This constancy 
 of the national character must never for a moment be 
 lost sight of, while tracing the history of the Spanish 
 drama; but even with this peculiar circumstance care- 
 fully kept in view, it is still impossible to give a very 
 satisfactory account of the early progress of dramatic 
 poetry among the Spaniards; for the notices which must 
 be resorted to for that purpose, are both defective and 
 confused.f 
 
 * See page 131. 
 
 f The only unadulterated source from which all authors have 
 hitherto derived their information relative to the earliest history of
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 279 
 
 It is above all things necessary to begin by distin- 
 guishing the three or four parties, which on totally 
 different principles endeavoured to cultivate dramatic 
 poetry in Spain, and which appear to have been 
 hitherto overlooked by the writers on Spanish lite- 
 rature, merely because each of those parties pursued 
 its object, without openly declaring war against the 
 others. Critical cultivation was not yet so far advanced 
 in Spain as to open a field for literary warfare. But 
 the heterogeneous nature of the Spanish dramas of the 
 first half and ten following years of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, renders it evident, on a very slight examination, 
 that the authors who composed them must have been 
 influenced by different views.* 
 
 The party called the erudite, was the first which 
 at that period laboured to introduce into Spain a style 
 of dramatic literature, worthy to be called national. 
 
 the Spanish drama, is Cervantes's well known preface to his Ocho 
 Comedias y Entremeses, an edition of which was published in 
 two vols. quarto, by Bias Nasarre, at Madrid, in 1749. To this 
 may be added the preface of the editor, Bias Nasarre, though it is 
 but of secondary value, and has given occasion to singular mistakes. 
 The article Comodje, in Blankenburg's appendix to Sulzer's diction- 
 ary, though rather obscure, communicates some useful facts. 
 
 * Velasquez, in his History of Spanish Poetry, alludes but 
 very distantly to the heterogeneous nature of the Spanish dramas ; 
 and Dieze is not more satisfactory in his Remarks. What is con- 
 tained in Flogel's History of Comic Literature, vol. iv. respecting 
 the origin of the Spanish drama, is copied from Velasquez and other 
 modern writers. Signorelli has more novelty of information in 
 his Storia Critica de Teatri, vol. iv. but he confounds the notices 
 one with another, and reasons on the Spanish drama merely as a 
 moral critic.
 
 280 HISTORY OF 
 
 This party consisted of men of information and taste, 
 though possessing but little knowledge of the true art 
 of dramatic poetry, and still less of imagination. These 
 men, like a similar party in Italy, endeavoured to form 
 the modern drama on the model of the antique. As, 
 however, the most zealous among them did not possess 
 sufficient talent to imitate the ancient models, they 
 began to translate them, and performed their task in 
 prose. A Spanish translation of the Amphitryon of 
 Plautus, by Villalobos, physician to Charles V. was 
 printed in 1515. Shortly afterwards there appeared 
 a new translation of the same drama, by Perez de 
 Oliva, a prose writer of considerable merit, who will 
 be further noticed in the course of this history. Perez 
 de Oliva even ventured to make a prose version of the 
 Electra of Sophocles. This unfortunate attempt ap- 
 peared under the title of La Venganxa de Agamem- 
 non.* He also translated the Hecuba of Euripides. At 
 a somewhat later period the Portuguese comedies of 
 Vasconcellos, written in the manner of Plautus, were 
 published in the Castilian language. Translations of 
 several comedies of Plautus subsequently appeared, and 
 at length Pedro Simon de Abril published a complete 
 translation of Terence, which is still much esteemed by 
 the Spaniards.! Thus it was not the fault of the eru- 
 dite party that the Spanish drama did not resemble the 
 
 * This translation, which is only remarkable on account of the 
 reputation of its author, may be found in the Obras del Maestro 
 Perez de Oliva, Cordova, 1586, in 4to. 
 
 f Velasquez and Dieze, p, 315, give further notices of these 
 translations.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 281 
 
 ancient. But to introduce in Spain the tragic style of 
 the classic drama, in all its poetic purity, or even the 
 style of the ancient comedies in iambic verse, was 
 an idea whicli could only have originated with scholars 
 who did not understand the character of the Spanish 
 public. The translators, therefore, even those who 
 endeavoured to conciliate the public taste by prose ver- 
 sions, formed, with their learned friends, a solitary party. 
 No first rate poet arose in Spain, like Ariosto in Italy, 
 to amuse and instruct the public by original dramatic 
 compositions on the classic model. It is possible that 
 essays in the ancient manner may have been performed 
 on some Spanish stage, particularly at Seville, but they 
 are now totally lost; and no attempt seems ever to 
 have been made to represent Spanish translations of 
 Greek and Latin plays. 
 
 The party of the dramatic moralists approximated 
 the closest to that which has just been described. The 
 interlocutory romance of Coelestina,* or Calistus and 
 Melibcea, poor in invention, but possessing in its natural 
 descriptions of common life, an attraction for many 
 readers, was, on account of its moral tendency, admired 
 as a master-piece of dramatic art. As this dramatic 
 romance was called a comedy or tragi-comedy, some 
 of its admirers conceived themselves bound to write 
 comedies and tragi-comedies in the same style for 
 the moral benefit of society. Whether these pro- 
 ductions were, or were not, calculated for represen- 
 tation, seems never to have been a subject of con- 
 
 * See page 132
 
 282 HISTORY OF 
 
 sideration with their authors. They were content if 
 the scenes which they strung together exhibited in na- 
 tural language the lowest pictures of common life, and 
 forcibly marked the dangers attendant on vice. To do 
 this requires only an ordinary share of talent, and 
 accordingly Coalestina was followed by a torrent of 
 similar " Mirrors of Sin" in the Castilian language. 
 The greater number appeared during the first half of 
 the sixteenth century, or shortly afterwards; and among 
 them were Policiana, entitled a tragedy;* Perseus and 
 Tibaldea, a comedy; De la hechicera (of the Witch), 
 a comedy; Florinea^ comedy, &c. The author of a 
 work of this kind, entitled La Doleria del Sueno del 
 Mundo, (the Anguish of the Sleep of the World,) 
 mentions in his title-page, that it is a comedy in the 
 style of philosophic morality, (Comedia tratada por via 
 de philosophia moral.) All these insipid moral lessons 
 were read and admired in their day; but their extreme 
 length prevented them from getting possession of the 
 stage.f 
 
 Equally removed from the moral and the erudite 
 party, was Bartholomew Torres Naharro, a man doubtless 
 of extraordinary talent. He was the founder of a third 
 party, which uniting with a fourth, that had for a short 
 interval preceded it, ultimately triumphed as the only 
 
 * Tragedia Policiana, en que se tratan los amores executadas 
 por la industria de la diabolica Vieja Claudina, Sfc. The title 
 is a sufficient specimen of the work. See Velasquez and Dieze, 
 p. 312. 
 
 f Dieze in his Remarks on Velasquez, gives a further account 
 of these works. He also notices a second Coelestina, (Segunda 
 Comedia de Ctlestina.J
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 283 
 
 national party, and obtained exclusive control over the 
 Spanish drama. It is a singular circumstance, and yet 
 one to which the historians of Spanish literature have 
 not called the attention of their readers, that Cervantes 
 in his comic sketch of the early History of the Spanish 
 Drama, mentions not a syllable respecting Torres Na- 
 harro, while the editor of Cervantes's comedies, who 
 has prefixed to them that sketch, declares, in his preface, 
 Torres Naharro to be the real inventor of the forms of 
 the Spanish comedy. Torres Naharro was born in the 
 little town of Torre, on the Portuguese frontiers, and 
 flourished in the beginning of the sixteenth centuiy. 
 Of the history of his life but little is known. All 
 accounts, however, agree in describing him to have 
 been an ecclesiastic and a man of learning. After a 
 shipwreck which involved him in various adventures, he 
 arrived at Rome during the pontificate of Leo X. In 
 that friend of genius he found a distinguished patron. 
 It is, however, extremely improbable, that his comedies 
 were performed before the pope at Rome, though such 
 an assertion has been made by Spanish writers, and 
 has given offence to some Italians. It is certainly by no 
 means likely, that an occurrence so unusual, should 
 have escaped the notice of all Italian authors ; and 
 Pope Leo can scarcely be supposed to have had any 
 strong inducement to study the Spanish language which 
 is not agreeable to Italian ears. It is more probable 
 that Naharro's comedies were represented in Naples, 
 for there a Spanish audience was to be found ; and 
 Naharro himself proceeded to Naples when the diffi-
 
 S84 HISTORY OP 
 
 culties into which his satirical writings involved him, 
 obliged him to quit Rome. 
 
 The above are the only particulars that can be 
 obtained respecting the life of this extraordinary man; 
 and it is not certain how far they can be relied on, as 
 they are gathered from writers who do not mention the 
 sources from whence they derived their information.* 
 It is not improbable that Naharro's comedies were 
 performed only in Naples, and not in Spain, where 
 there was no theatre suited to their representation ; for 
 according to the account of Cervantes, who speaks as 
 an eye-witness, the whole apparatus of a Spanish 
 theatre, about the middle of the sixteenth century, 
 consisted of a few boards and benches, and a wardrobe, 
 and decorations, which were contained in a sack. 
 
 But whatever may have been the fate of the co- 
 medies of Naharro, with respect to the stage in Spain, 
 they were certainly printed along with the other poetic 
 works of the author, in the year 1521, or at latest in 
 1533, under the learned title of Propaladia, intended 
 to signify exercises in the school of Pallas.f Judging 
 
 * These writers are Nicolas Antonio, and Bias Nasarre, the 
 editor of the comedies of Cervantes. 
 
 t This collection of the plays and other poems of Naharro is 
 mentioned by Nicolas Antonio, and also by Dieze. I have never 
 seen it : and in the numerous collections of Spanish dramas by 
 various authors, with which I am acquainted, I have sought in vain 
 for the productions of Naharro. Blankenburg speaks of them as 
 if he had read them ; and Signorelli expressly says, that he has 
 perused them all. Among the passages quoted by the latter, in 
 order to justify the contemptuous tone in which he criticises the
 
 (SPANISH LITERATURE. 285 
 
 from the accounts given of these dramas by various 
 writers, there is very little doubt that Torres Naharro 
 was the real inventor of the Spanish comedy. He not 
 only wrote his eight comedies in redondillas in the ro- 
 mance style, but he also endeavoured to establish the 
 dramatic interest solely on an ingenious combination of 
 intrigues, without attaching much importance to the 
 developement of character, or the moral tendency of 
 the story. It is besides probable, that he was the first 
 who divided plays into three acts, which being regarded 
 as three days labour in the dramatic field, were called 
 jornadas* It must, therefore, be unreservedly ad- 
 mitted, that these dramas, considered both with respect 
 to their spirit and their form, deserve to be ranked as 
 the first in the history of the Spanish national drama; 
 for in the same path which Torres Naharro first trod, 
 the dramatic genius of Spain advanced to the point at- 
 tained by Calderon, and the nation tolerated no dramas 
 except those which belonged to the style which had 
 thus been created. 
 
 writings of Naharro, is a line of corrupt Portuguese. May not 
 this be Galician ? The modern comic writers of Spain occasionally 
 make their clowns converse in the Galician dialect. 
 
 * Cervantes attributes to himself the invention of dividing 
 a drama into three jornadas. How happens this? Cervantes was 
 a vain man, but not an empty boaster. He seems to have been 
 totally unacquainted with the dramas of Naharro, but he might 
 have heard of the division of plays into three jornadas, without 
 retaining a distinct recollection of the fact. In this way hjs memory 
 may have deceived him, when he supposed that the division origi- 
 nated with himself. And yet it is singular enough that in his 
 Galathea, he mentions, among other poets, the artificioso Torres 
 Naharro.
 
 286 HISTORY OF 
 
 It would appear, however, that there was something 
 in the plays of Naharro which did not precisely har- 
 monize with the taste of the Spanish public, for they 
 were banished from literature and thrown into oblivion 
 by the prose dramas which Cervantes saw represented 
 in his youth. The author of these pieces, in which 
 songs are sometimes episodically introduced, was Lope 
 de Rueda, a native of Seville. This man, who was a 
 gold-beater by trade, and who had received no literary 
 education, was notwithstanding endowed with a strong 
 genius for the dramatic art. Cervantes styles him the 
 great Lope de Rueda. He did not compose his plays 
 in the character of an author. He was at the head of 
 a little company of players of whom he was himself 
 the ablest ; and his own taste and that of the public 
 required only such pieces as could be easily represented 
 on his wretched stage which consisted merely of a few 
 planks of wood. The most prominent characters in 
 Lope de Rueda's dramatic compositions, were those 
 which the author himself performed, and which, ac- 
 cording to the testimony of Cervantes, he delineated 
 in a highly natural style. In fools, roguish servants, 
 biscayan boors, and such like characters, he particularly 
 excelled. He did not neglect to avail himself of the 
 accidental union of the Spanish drama with pastoral 
 poetry, and he wrote some pastoral dialogues (coloquios 
 pastoriles) in prose. On this account his theatrical 
 wardrobe, of which Cervantes gives a humorous descrip- 
 tion, contained four shepherds dresses of white fur, 
 trimmed with gold, an equal number of wigs and 
 shepherds crooks, and likewise four beards. The
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 287 
 
 beards, it would appear were indispensable in comedies 
 of every kind; and the public became so accustomed to 
 call an old man's part in comedy the beard, that the 
 theatrical term barba was retained even after the 
 custom of wearing beards had long been exploded 
 from the stage. 
 
 Juan Timoneda has made careful collections of the 
 comedies and pastoral dramas of Lope de Rueda, by 
 which we are enabled to judge of the literary merit of 
 these works, divested of the advantage which they must 
 have derived from the living representation of their 
 author. Timoneda, who was a bookseller in Valencia, 
 was the friend and enthusiastic admirer of Lope de 
 Rueda; but in regard to literary acquirements he 
 ranked somewhat higher than that actor. He was 
 indeed a man of genius and talent, as is evident from 
 his novels, which are little known, and which have yet 
 to be more particularly noticed in this work. He 
 printed in small collections, the pastoral dialogues and 
 plays of Lope de Rueda, making such alterations as 
 were necessary both in the language and style.* These 
 productions equally indicate the experienced master in 
 the developement of character, and the untutored pupil 
 
 * Concerning these collections, see Dieze's Remarks on Velas- 
 quez, p. 316. I am acquainted with only two: one is entitled, 
 Los Coloquios Pastoriles de muy agraziada y apacible prosa, fyc. 
 por el excellcnte poeta, y gracioso representante Lope de Rueda, 
 sacados a luz por Juan Timoneda; Sevilla 1576, in small octavo, 
 printed in gothic characters. The other is entitled: Las segundas 
 dos Comedias de Rueda, without date, but printed in the same 
 type and form as the first mentioned collection.
 
 288 HISTORY OF 
 
 of nature following his own caprice. Lope de Rueda's 
 pastoral dialogues possess more dignity, if the term 
 may be used, than his plays, and they are moreover 
 imbued with a certain poetic character which har- 
 monizes admirably with the songs occasionally in- 
 troduced. With regard to invention and style, however, 
 there is but little difference between the dialogues and 
 the plays, but the pastoral costume of the dramatis 
 personae produces a certain heterogeneous effect; for 
 the half Arcadian, and half Spanish shepherds, are 
 brought in contact with negresses, barbers, and other 
 characters of common life and modern stamp. Lope 
 de Rueda was not inattentive to general character, as 
 is proved by his delineation of old men, clowns, &c. in 
 which he was particularly successful. But his principal 
 aim was to interweave in his dramas, a succession of 
 intrigues; and, as he seems to have been a stranger to 
 the art of producing stage effect by striking situations, 
 he made complication the great object of his plots. 
 Thus mistakes, arising from personal resemblances, 
 exchanges of children, and such like common place 
 subjects of intrigue, form the ground work of his 
 stories, none of which are remarkable for ingenuity of 
 invention. There is usually a multitude of characters 
 in his dramas, and jests and witticisms are freely 
 introduced, but these in general consist of burlesque 
 disputes in which some clown is engaged.* 
 
 * The following specimen of the dialogue of these comedies is 
 from a scene in which a clown quarrels with his wife: 
 
 Gine. Aun teneis lengua para hablar, anima de cantaro ?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 289 
 
 It would appear that many comedies in Rueda's 
 style were at one time acted, though they are now 
 lost to literature. Cervantes, for instance, praises the 
 perfection to which that style of comic drama had 
 been brought by a player, named Naharro of Toledo, 
 who must not be confounded with .Torres Naharro. 
 Cervantes informs us, that this Naharro augmented the 
 theatrical wardrobe so considerably, that it could no 
 longer be contained in a bag, but was packed up in 
 boxes and chests. He exploded the custom of dressing 
 the old characters in beards, and removed the orchestra, 
 which had previously been stationed behind the scenes, 
 to the front of the stage. He moreover exhibited 
 imitations of clouds, of thunder and lightning, made 
 other great improvements in the scenic machinery, 
 (tramoyas), and even introduced single combats and 
 battles on the stage. His name certainly deserves to 
 be preserved from oblivion; and it is unfortunate that 
 Cervantes has neglected to mention what kind of poetry 
 or prose was spoken by the actors in these new dramatic 
 spectacles. 
 
 Pablo. Dote al diabro muger, no teruas uu poco de mira- 
 miento. Si quiera por las barbas de la nierced que esta delante. 
 
 Gine. He callad anima de campana. 
 
 Pal). Que es anima de campana, muger ? 
 
 Gine. Que ? badajo coino vos. 
 
 Pab. Badajo a vuestro marido ? deme essegar rote vuessa 
 merced. 
 
 Gine. Assi, garrote para mi, al fin no seriades vos liijo de 
 Guarnic.o el enxalmador, cura bestias. 
 
 Pab. Y parescete a ti mal, porque sea hijo de bemlicion. 
 
 Camilo. Ay amarga, y como bijo de bendicion ? &c. 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 HISTORY OF 
 
 A Spanish author of learning and merit, named 
 Juan de la Cueva, who lived about this period, seems 
 to have been the first to perceive that the Spanish 
 drama could never succeed, if men of literary acquire- 
 ments, endowed with genius for dramatic composition, 
 continued opposed to the popular party. This meri- 
 torious author was a native of Seville, which at that 
 time appears to have been the cradle of every kind of 
 talent. The history of his life is enveloped in obscurity, 
 and his various writings, in every class of poetry, not- 
 withstanding the praises which critics have bestowed on 
 them, are, though not totally sunk into oblivion, very 
 little known.* His copious Art of Poetryin tercets, which 
 was lately, for the first time, published from manuscript, 
 contains some important information relative to the his- 
 tory of Spanish poetry. It is, however, merely written 
 in good versified prose, and pure language, but is in no 
 respect poeticaLt This Art of Poetry, if so it must 
 be called, shews, among other things, how numerous 
 was the party which at that time endeavoured to give 
 to the Spanish drama the form of the antique. An 
 author, named Malara, a native of Seville, who was 
 called the Betisian Menander, in allusion to the Betis 
 or Gaudalquivir, and six other poets of that city, 
 
 * The emphatic praises of the publisher of the Parnaso 
 Espanol, represent Juan de la Cueva as a poet of the first rank. 
 See the literary notices prefixed to the eighth volume of that collec- 
 tion. The works of Cueva are there mentioned with the dates of 
 their various editions, See also Dieze's Remarks on Velasquez, 
 p. 202. 
 
 f It may be found in the eighth vol. of the Parnaso Espanol 
 as it was first printed.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 among whom is Gutierre de Cetina, the celebrated 
 author of several Spanish comedies in the ancient 
 style, are honourably mentioned by Juan de la Cueva. 
 But this judicious writer maintained that there were 
 peculiarities in the ancient drama, which, though excel- 
 lent in themselves, would not accord with the spirit of 
 the moderns. The dramatic laws of the ancients had, 
 in his opinion, ceased to be obligatory; and he conceived 
 it to be reasonable that dramatic fictions should be 
 accommodated to the taste of the age and to the 
 circumstances in which they are written.* The Spanish 
 public had already manifested a strong predilection for 
 plays in the modern style, and an aversion equally 
 decided from all the imitations of the dramatic works 
 of the ancients. It was therefore designedly and with a 
 persevering industry that the Spaniards had struck out 
 for themselves a new course in dramatic literature. In 
 genius and taste they could only have vied with the 
 Greeks and Romans, without surpassing them; but in- 
 vention, grace, ingenious arrangement, and a certain 
 art of involving and unravelling the plot, which fo- 
 reigners could not imitate, were the qualities on which 
 the glory of the Spanish drama was destined to be 
 founded.! Juan de la Cueva proceeds to state, that on 
 
 * He thus expresses himself relative to the changes which the 
 drama has undergone : 
 
 Este mudanza fue de hombres prudentes 
 Aplicando a las nuevas coudiciones 
 Nuevas cosas, que son las conveiiientes. 
 f Mas la invention, la gratia y traza es propia 
 A la ingeniosafabula de Espana t 
 No qual dicen sas einulos im propia. 
 U 2
 
 292 HISTORY OF 
 
 these principles he had no scruple in contributing to 
 overthrow the ancient boundary between tragedy and 
 comedy; and to introduce on the stage, for the sake of 
 variety, characters clad in the rustic peasant's garb, 
 along with others attired in the robes of royalty. 
 Thus far he trod in the footsteps of Torres Naharro. 
 And yet he appears to have had no distinct knowledge 
 of the writings of that author; for he never mentions 
 them; while, on the other hand, speaking of his own 
 works, he observes that he had abandoned the old 
 custom of dividing dramatic pieces into five acts, and 
 chose in preference the new method, then in vogue, of 
 arranging them in jornadas.* Cervantes must of 
 course have been ignorant of the decided testimony 
 thus given by Juan de la Cueva, since he imagines that 
 he was himself the first to introduce the three divisions 
 of the Spanish drama. The approbation bestowed on 
 Cueva's dramatic works, in the new style, seems, how- 
 ever, to have been but feeble and transitory ; and this 
 explains how the editor of Cervantes's comedies, in his 
 account of the early history of the Spanish drama, has 
 omitted to mention the name of Cueva. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be proper to defer entering more 
 fully into the investigation of the peculiar spirit of the 
 
 Scenas y actos suple la marana 
 Tan intricada, y la soltera de ella, 
 Inimitable de ningun estrana. 
 
 * A mi me culpan 
 
 Que el un acto de cinco le he quitado, 
 
 Que reduci los actos en jornadas, 
 
 Qual vemos que fs en nvestro tiempo usado.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 293 
 
 Spanish national drama, until the writings of Lope de 
 Vega come under consideration; for during the brilliant 
 career of that author, the new form of the drama took 
 complete possession of the Spanish theatre, and the 
 older pieces, which did not fall in with the popular 
 taste, were speedily forgotten by the public, as the 
 notices of Cervantes clearly shew. But it may be 
 proper here once for all to remind the reader of a truth 
 now historically demonstrated, namely, that it was by 
 no means ignorance, or want of intimacy with the 
 dramatic works of the ancients, which facilitated the 
 triumph of the modern Spanish drama. 
 
 No sufficiently authenticated particulars enable the 
 literary historian to furnish any thing like positive 
 information respecting the history of the spiritual 
 dramas of the Spaniards at the period now under re- 
 view. Considered generally their origin is sufficiently 
 known; for dramas of this kind, intended either for 
 amusement or instruction, were, in the middle ages, 
 performed throughout the whole of the south of Eu- 
 rope. In Spain, pilgrims assiduously devoted them- 
 selves to the dramatic representation of sacred histories, 
 when they wished to find an edifying and agreeable 
 relaxation from their severer duties of praying and 
 journeying from place to place. In these sacred dra- 
 mas, the authors often interwove the adventures, whether 
 serious or comic, in which they had been engaged, or 
 described what they had seen and learnt in their holy 
 pilgrimages; and the whole was usually seasoned with 
 a sufficient quantity of jests in the popular style. To 
 manifest in as palpable a way as possible the power of
 
 294 HISTORY OF 
 
 the sacrament, and the miraculous effects of faith,~were 
 the great objects of the pilgrims; and there seems to be 
 no doubt that their rude efforts formed the origin of that 
 class of spiritual plays, which, at a subsequent period, 
 were performed on the festival of Corpus Christi, and 
 on other solemn occasions ; and which, from their allu- 
 sion to the mystery of the sacrament, were styled Autos 
 Sacramentales. But at what particular period examples 
 of these spiritual exhibitions were first committed to 
 writing, and formed a portion of literature, cannot now 
 be ascertained. They have sometimes been confounded 
 with the lives of the saints (vidas de santos*}, which 
 were originally dramatized in monasteries, and per- 
 formed by the pupils of the monks, but which are 
 in fact quite a distinct class of representations. Up 
 to the middle of the eighteenth century the practice 
 of acting these biographical dramas was continued in 
 monasteries in different parts of Spain, particularly in 
 Galicia;t and perhaps in that province they yet afford 
 a source of amusement and edification on festival days, 
 to the pilgrims who visit the shrine of St. lago de 
 Compostela. 
 
 The burlesque interludes, called Entremeses and 
 Saynetes, which were subsequently divided into various 
 kinds, and were performed between the preludes (loas) 
 and the play, properly so called, appear also to have 
 had their origin in the first half of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. Cervantes could refer to no entremeses of an 
 
 * See the preface of Bias Nasarre, the latest editor of the 
 plays of Cervantes. 
 
 f This at least is stated by Nasarre.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 295 
 
 older date, when he contributed to give to this class of 
 dramatic compositions a literary form and character. 
 
 What has been stated sufficiently proves the powerful 
 control which the public exercised over the stage. The 
 popular taste demanded an agreeable amusement, cre- 
 ated by the boldest and most varied mixture of the 
 serious and the comic, of intrigues, sallies of the imagina- 
 tion and ingenious thoughts, of surprises and animated 
 situations; but it was not required that either a comic 
 or a tragic scene should tend to produce any moral 
 impression on the heart, except indeed in so far as that 
 object may be attributed to the spiritual pieces. But 
 how did it happen that a people in whom moral gravity 
 has ever been a national characteristic, should thus 
 shew themselves indifferent to the moral effects of their 
 dramatic entertainments. The history of the formation 
 of the Spanish character appears to disclose the cause 
 of this incongruity so clearly, that it might be said, 
 nature would have contradicted herself, had not such 
 been the consequence resulting from that cause. When 
 the treasures of America came to be dispersed through 
 Spain, luxury and extravagance superseded the old 
 Spanish simplicity. The age of chivalry was past; 
 and the ecclesiastical fetters imposed upon opinion and 
 conscience, afforded so little freedom to the mind, that 
 it was not possible the public could endure, still less 
 enjoy, moral reflection on the stage. The Spaniard, as 
 a catholic Christian, devoutly and implicitly submitted 
 his understanding to the doctrines and mandates of the 
 church; but as a man he ardently longed for amuse- 
 ments, in which he might allow his heart freely to
 
 296 HISTORY OF 
 
 participate. Moral reflection then could not be pleasing 
 in any place where he sought to be gratified by the 
 unconstrained exercise of his feelings; for every moral 
 thought tended to revive the recollection of the inqui- 
 sition. Meanwhile the progress of luxury and the 
 love of pleasure stimulated the imagination, and in- 
 creased the appetite for sports of wit and fancy, which 
 were pushed to the most extravagant excess. A people 
 of an ardent and enthusiastic temperament, which a 
 genial climate fostered, were always eager to partake 
 of pleasures which no king or grand inquisitor threat- 
 ened to disturb. With a taste thus formed, and with 
 such claims on dramatic entertainment, the Spaniards 
 were not to be satisfied with the most ingenious come- 
 dies or tragedies, unless the wildest revels of the ima- 
 gination and a succession of joyous and luxuriant forms 
 agitated and interested the mind, and freed it from all 
 the fetters of maxims and rules of art. To see a va- 
 riegated ideal world, a diversified picture of romantic 
 existence, was the object for which the Spaniard visited 
 the theatre, where he could endure no sort of regu- 
 larity, not even that which the nature of the subject 
 seemed most to require. 
 
 This portion of the history of Spanish dramatic 
 poetry must not be terminated without a particular 
 notice of two tragedies by Geronymo Bermudez, a 
 Dominican monk of Galicia, who, at the period when 
 he wrote them, was probably the inmate of a cloister.* 
 He did not think proper to acknowledge himself the 
 
 * See the account prefixed to the sixth vol. of the Parnaso 
 Espanol, and Dieze's Remarks on Velasquez, p. 200.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 297 
 
 author of these dramas, and he published them under 
 the assumed name of Antonio de Silva.* Among his 
 other poetical works, some Spanish writers mention in 
 terms of respect, a dull encomium on the Duke of Alba, 
 of whom this ecclesiastic was an enthusiastic admirer.f 
 He lived until the year 1589. His two tragedies are 
 imitations of the ancient drama, but they must not be 
 confounded with the essays of the same kind, which 
 have already been mentioned. Bermudez conceived 
 the happy idea of selecting a subject from the history 
 of Spain and Portugal, and dramatizing it according to 
 the rules of the Greek tragedy, without destroying the 
 modern character of his materials. The well known 
 story of the unfortunate Ines de Castro, seemed parti- 
 cularly suited to the object he had in view. Being a 
 Galician, he had, through his native language, a national 
 relationship to Portugal, and he consequently took more 
 personal interest in the tragical fate of his heroine, than 
 was felt by Spaniards in general. He did not com- 
 
 * Primeras tragedias Espanoles, de Antonio de Silva, is the 
 title of the edition which I have now before me, published at 
 Madrid, in 1577, in Svo. 
 
 f This piece of silly adulation, is entitled Hesperodia; that is 
 to say, evening song or morning song. The former, however, 
 appears to be the more appropriate title, since the author doubtless 
 wrote it in his old age. It has been drawn from the obscurity in 
 which it ought to have remained, and printed in the eighth vol. of 
 the Parnaso Espanol. Bermudez, in an affected strain of language, 
 and with true Dominican fanaticism, extols the monstrous barbarity 
 with which the great Duke of Alba persecuted the heretics of the 
 Netherlands, and made " the cold northern waters flow the more 
 fiercely from the infusion of warm blood."
 
 298 HISTORY OF 
 
 mence his task without apprehension of its success; 
 for, as a Spaniard, he wished to write in Castilian, and 
 he was, therefore, in some measure, under the necessity 
 of studying a foreign language. This difficulty he 
 mentions in his preface. But with all its faults, his 
 attempt proved so fortunate, that his two tragedies 
 may justly be styled the first in their kind. Though 
 they are intimately connected, yet each forms in itself a 
 complete tragic drama. Their titles are whimsical and 
 affected: the first is denominated, Nise Lastimosa, (the 
 Lamentable Nise); and the second, Nise Laureada, 
 (Nise Crowned with Glory).* The characters pre- 
 serve their historical names. The first of these tra- 
 gedies sufficiently proves what may be effected by a 
 poet, even of moderate talent, when thoroughly pene- 
 trated with a poetic subject, and at the same time 
 possessing the power of expression. The Nise Las- 
 timosa, it is true, is far from approaching the ideal of 
 tragic perfection; but some of the scenes fulfil all that 
 the theory of the dramatic art can require; and energy 
 and dignity of expression are not wanting even in those 
 passages where the action is tedious and the incidents 
 ill-connected. The plot is simple, and towards the con- 
 clusion its interest declines. But Bermudez has intro- 
 duced, with alternate instances of remarkable dexterity 
 and clumsiness, a chorus composed of Coimbran women, 
 which is sometimes interwoven with the action of the 
 drama, and sometimes quite independent of it. The 
 
 * Under these titles they are reprinted in the Parnaso 
 Espanol, vol. vi.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 299 
 
 unities of time and place the author has totally dis- 
 regarded. The first act opens with a soliloquy by the 
 Prince Don Pedro, which is beautiful, though some- 
 what too long. In it the prince deplores his separation 
 from his beloved wife.* This soliloquy is succeeded 
 by a long conversation between the prince and his 
 secretary, in which the latter, with all due courtesy, 
 hints that the attachment of the prince for a lady, not 
 of royal birth, is incompatible with the welfare of the 
 state.t The scene then changes, and the chorus of 
 
 * It commences in the following manner: 
 
 Otro cielo, otro sol, me parece este, 
 
 del que gozava yo sereno, y claro, 
 
 alia de donde vengo, ay triste cielo, 
 
 corno en ti veo el tranze de mis hados. 
 
 Ay que donde no veo aqnellos ojos, 
 
 que alumbran estos mios, quanto veo 
 
 me pone horror, y grima, y se me antoja, 
 
 Mas triste que la noche, y mas escuro, 
 
 alia (ay dolor) los dexo alia en Coymbra 
 
 tierra donde paro la hedad dorada, 
 
 6 que no es tierra aquella, parayso 
 
 la llamo de deleytes y frescuras. 
 
 Alii tan claro es todo que aun la noche 
 
 mas dia me paresce" que de dia, 
 
 alii es esmalte del florido suelo, 
 
 mas que estrellado cielo representa; 
 
 alii el concento de las avezillas, 
 
 es un reclame dulze de las almas. 
 
 f A few lines of this scene will serve to shew how Bennudez 
 has imitated the dialogic antitheses of the Greek tragedy. 
 
 In. Adonde huyre porque me dexen ? 
 
 Se. Huyr auras de ti por tu remedio. 
 
 In. Ya no me vale hazer lo que no puedo. 
 
 Se. Tu mismo te pusiste en tal flaqueza.
 
 300 HISTORY OF 
 
 Coimbran women is very absurdly introduced to mo- 
 ralize on love. Thus closes the first act. In the second, 
 the scene changes to the court, and exhibits the king 
 amidst his assembled council; the advice of the mi- 
 nisters prevails over the good disposition of the mo- 
 narch, and he consents to the death of Ines de Castro. 
 A soliloquy by the king follows, in which he offers up 
 his prayers. The scene again changes, and the fair 
 Coimbrans once more appear to moralize on human 
 happiness. In the third act, however, a new spirit is 
 infused into the piece, and the chorus partakes in the 
 action. Ines de Castro appears. The women of the 
 chorus form her attendants, and offer her consolation 
 and advice. Ines is informed of the reports that are 
 circulated respecting her fate;* but throughout this act, 
 the progress of the story is nearly suspended. The fourth 
 act may, however, be accounted almost a masterpiece. 
 Ines attended by her children and the chorus, appears 
 
 In. No puedo, ni querria arrepentirme. 
 Sc. Con essa voluntad el yerro cresce. 
 In. Si es yerro como dizes, otros uvo. 
 Se. Uno, uias toda via fueron yerros. 
 
 * Here the chorus, like the other characters of the play, speaks 
 in iambics; for example : 
 
 Dona Ines. Que dizes ? Habla ! 
 Cho. No puedo; lloro. Do. Deque lloras? 
 Cho. Veo, esse rostro, y sos ojos, esa. D. trista: 
 triste de mi que inal, que mal tamano, 
 es ese que me traes. Cho. Mal de muerte : 
 D. Mal grande. C. todo tuyo. D. que me dizes 
 
 es muerto mi Senor, infante mio ? 
 Cho. Los dos morireys presto. D. 6 nuevas tristes ! 
 Como, porque razon, que me le niatan ? &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 301 
 
 before the king to receive her sentence. Nothing can 
 be more impressive than the dignity with which she 
 demands justice, or more affecting than the tender- 
 ness towards her children, which continually breaks 
 forth in her discourse; at length she pictures to her- 
 self in vivid colours, the sorrows that await her hus- 
 band, till exhausted by the vehemence of her feelings, 
 and gradually losing the use of her faculties, she 
 begins for the first time to think of her own situa- 
 tion, anticipates the horrors of death, and swoons, 
 exclaiming Jesus Maria! This scene exhibits a pic- 
 ture so replete with real pathos, that it may be truly 
 said, modern tragic art has seldom attained so high 
 a point of perfection.* The fifth act is merely a 
 
 * Only the latter part of this scene can conveniently be tran- 
 scribed here. Ines speaks: 
 Tapiceria triste, 
 yrase donde yo me paseava, 
 no me vera, no me hallara en el campo, 
 no en el jardin, ni camara; hele muerto. 
 Ay veote morir ini bien por mi, 
 mi bien ya que yo muero vive tu, 
 esto te pido y ruego, vive, vive, 
 ampara estos tus hijos tan queridos, 
 y esta mi muerte pague los desastres 
 que a ellos esperavan. Rey senor, 
 pues puedes socorrer a males tantcs 
 socorreme, perdoname. No puedo, 
 no puedo mas dezirte : 
 Senor por que me matas? 
 en que te lo merezco ? 
 ay, no me mates, ay ! 
 Jesus, Maria!
 
 302 HISTORY Of 
 
 tedious supplement. The prince is made acquainted 
 with the death of his wife, and he vents his sorrow in 
 long lamentations. 
 
 The tragedy of Nise Laureada is far inferior to 
 that just described. The story is below criticism; and 
 towards the end becomes revolting to feelings, which 
 are not blunted by inquisitorial horrors, or sunk to the 
 level of brutality. The Prince Don Pedro who has 
 now ascended the throne, orders the remains of his 
 judicially murdered wife to be taken from the tomb; 
 he then, with great solemnity, invests the corpse with 
 the dignity of queen, and the ceremony of the coro- 
 nation is succeeded by a marriage. Two of the coun- 
 sellors, whose perverted and inhuman patriotism had 
 urged them to sacrifice the unhappy Ines, receive sen- 
 tence of death and are executed. This is the whole 
 plot, if so it may be called; and among the acting and 
 speaking characters the executioners play a prominent 
 part. The first act contains many beautiful passages; 
 but when the last judicial ceremonies commence, horror 
 and disgust fill the mind of the reader. The hearts of 
 both culprits are extracted from their bodies, the one 
 through the breast, and the other through the back. 
 The most brutal exclamations accompany the execution 
 of the royal sentence, and the chorus utters shouts of 
 joy, while the executioner discharges his barbarous task. 
 That these horrors might be regarded as pathetic inci- 
 dents by the Spaniards of that age, accustomed as they 
 were from early childhood to stifle every sentiment of 
 humanity, and to allow fanatical exultation to over- 
 come the natural emotions of the heart, whenever a
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 303 
 
 brutal sentence was pronounced by ecclesiastical, or 
 royal authority, is unfortunately but too probable. Had 
 it not been for this perversion of feeling, a people, 
 otherwise so noble-minded, could not have attended 
 the cruel festivals of their church, and witnessed the 
 burning of Jews and heretics with as much pleasure 
 as the exhibition of a bull fight. 
 
 In order to form a just estimate of the talent of 
 Bermudez, it must be recollected that he was the first 
 who conceived the idea of giving a poetic colouring to 
 the history of Ines de Castro. Camoens had not, at 
 that time, written his Lusiade, in which the same story 
 forms the subject of a celebrated episode. It may also 
 be observed, that the labour which Bermudez bestowed 
 on his versification, and particularly on the varied me- 
 tres of the chorusses of his dramas, ought to have 
 served as an example to his successors in tragic com- 
 position. 
 
 HISTORY OF SPANISH PROSE DURING THE FIRST 
 HALF AND TEN SUCCEEDING YEARS OF THE 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Among the works of the poets which come within 
 the period allotted to the first section of this book, it 
 has already been necessary to notice some writings in 
 prose. The connexion then subsisting between Spanish 
 poetry and prose, has thus been rendered more ap- 
 parent, and the different works of the same author 
 have been kept together in examining them. But the 
 poetic talent of some authors of that age, for example,
 
 304 HISTORY OF 
 
 Perez de Oliva, will not bear a comparison with their 
 merits as prose writers; and many others who have ob- 
 tained reputation for prose composition, must be totally 
 excluded from the rank of poets. In general the good 
 sense of the Spanish writers has constantly impelled 
 them to mark a distinct boundary between poetry and 
 prose; and this separation was never more rigorously 
 maintained than during the first half of the sixteenth 
 century, when the torrent of romances of chivalry 
 which then inundated Spain, threatened the common 
 annihilation of genuine poetry and eloquent prose. As 
 very little has hitherto been done in this department 
 of literature, advantage cannot fail to be derived 
 from the labour which may be employed in endea- 
 vouring to obtain something like an accurate introduc- 
 tion to the knowledge of several good Spanish prose 
 writers, whose names have hitherto scarcely appeared 
 in the history of modern literature. 
 
 Every one who has read Don Quixote must be 
 aware of the enthusiasm with which romances of chi- 
 vary were admired by the Spaniards, at the end of the 
 sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
 
 'tury. In the reign of Charles V. this passion became 
 epidemic; for then the art of printing gave general 
 circulation to the old romances, and new imitations 
 were not wanting. But the particular account of this 
 portion of Spanish literature, 'does not belong to the 
 present subject, and ought to form the conclusion of 
 the history of the romantic literature of the middle 
 ages. Besides, the influence of the chivalrous romances 
 of the sixteenth century, operated on the public only
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 305 
 
 in a peculiar sense of the term, for every poet and 
 prose writer, of cultivated talent, laboured to oppose 
 the contagion. There were, however, many literary 
 partizans, who did not scruple to flatter the public taste 
 by the grossest absurdities. A writer, named Geronymo 
 de Sanpedro, with the most devout piety, selected stories 
 from the bible, and clothed them, as he expresses himself, 
 in the allegoric costume of romance. He entitled his fan- 
 tastical work, " The Book of Celestial Chivalry from 
 the Foot of the Fragrant Rose-bush.*" God the 
 Father is introduced in this edifying production as 
 emperor, and Christ as the knight of the Lion, (Cabal- 
 lero del Leon). In the meantime an opponent of the 
 zealots of chivalry, named Doctor Alexio de Venegas, 
 anathematized all romances, which he styled, " Devil's 
 Sermon Books," (Sermonarios de Satanas).\ In this 
 manner parties contended one with another in Spain, 
 until at length the romantic literature disappeared like 
 a stream lost amidst sand. 
 
 At this period there appears to have existed no 
 novels or romances in the modern style, except the 
 Lazarillo de Tonnes of Diego de Mendoza. The well 
 known imitations of this first romance of knavery (del 
 gusto picaresco) did not come into circulation before 
 the end of the sixteenth century. Little stories in the 
 
 * Libro de caballeria celestial del pie de la rosafragranle, 
 fyc. par D. Geronymo de Sanpedro. Anvers, 1554. in 8vo. The 
 Gottingen university possesses a copy of this book. 
 
 f This phrase occurs iu a preface which Venegas wrote to a 
 moral allegorical novel by Luis Mexia, which will hereafter be 
 noticed. 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 HISTORY OF 
 
 style of the Italian novels were, it is true, written 
 at an earlier period; but their author, the bookseller 
 Timoneda, the same individual who collected the co- 
 medies and pastoral dramas of Lope de Rueda, did not 
 venture to prefix to them the title of Novelas. He 
 was aware that he could better recommend his works 
 to the Spanish public, by giving them the old denomi- 
 nation of Pair anas (Tales).* Timoneda evidently imi- 
 tated the Italian novelists, though he by no means 
 equalled them. Still, however, these antiquated tales 
 may be perused with pleasure, particularly by those who 
 have a taste for complicated intrigue. The author, 
 it would appear, endeavoured to surpass the Italian 
 writers in romantic adventures and unexpected inci- 
 dents; at least in his preface he expressly promises this 
 kind of entertainment to his readers. 
 
 But it was not merely with romances and novels 
 that genuine prose literature had to contend in Spain. 
 Several men of distinguished talent, however far they 
 carried their notions of patriotism in other respects, 
 were of opinion that the Spanish language was inca- 
 pable of expressing grave and noble ideas in prose. 
 Some would write only in Latin, and others only in 
 Italian. Alphonso de Ulloa, who was an assiduous 
 historical and political author, wrote chiefly in Italian.f 
 He was, it is true, born in Italy; but he was of a Spa- 
 nish family, and the Spanish language was perfectly 
 familiar to him. The want of confidence thus shewn 
 
 * I have seen only the Primera parte de las Patranas de Juan 
 Timoneda, Sevilla, 1583, in 8vo. 
 
 f See Nicolas Antonio, article Alfonso de Ulloa.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 307 
 
 by Spanish writers in the force and precision of their 
 own language seems inexplicable, when it is recollected 
 at how early a period Spanish prose began to be culti- 
 vated. Their intercourse with the Italians had, however, 
 made the Spaniards perceive a want of elegance both 
 in their colloquial phraseology and literary style; but 
 that grace which their poets soon began to imitate from, 
 the Italians, is but feebly indicated in the works of the 
 early Spanish prose writers, whatever other rhetorical 
 merits they might possess, and a frank simplicity of 
 expression appears still to have constituted the main 
 character of Spanish prose. Besides, the Italian prose, 
 which with the exception of the writings of Ma- 
 chiavell and Guicciardini is distinguished by a playful 
 and too often superficial elegance, could not be very 
 congenial to the Spanish taste, which required a grave 
 and energetic style. To imitate the ancient classics 
 was the only means whereby the prose literature of 
 Spain could have been cultivated in a manner answer- 
 able to the demands of enlightened men in the sixteenth 
 century. Unfortunately the ecclesiastical and political 
 despotism of this period left no free scope for the exer- 
 cise of the mental powers of those Spaniards who were 
 Desirous of constructing a national prose style on the 
 ancient models. Neither the didactic nor the historical 
 styles could be freely developed; and for the formation 
 of the oratorical style, circumstances were, if possible, 
 still more unfavourable. Impeded by such obstacles, 
 and permitted only to copy in the strictest sense the 
 rhetorical forms of the ancients, without their energy 
 and solidity of thought, and their force of expression, 
 
 x 2
 
 308 HISTORY OF 
 
 the Spanish prose writers certainly could not be ex- 
 pected to produce works worthy to be ranked on a 
 level with the classic examples they would have wished 
 to emulate; but their efforts to open the career of 
 genuine eloquence to their national literature, deserves, 
 notwithstanding, to be honourably recorded. 
 
 1. DIDACTIC PROSE is, in the Spanish language, 
 indebted for its first formation to Fenian Perez de Oliva 
 of Cordova. At the commencement of the sixteenth 
 century this learned man travelled through Italy and 
 France, and during three years which he spent in Paris 
 delivered public lectures on philosophy and ancient lite- 
 rature. On his return to Spain he settled at Salamanca, 
 where he became professor (cathedratico) of theology, 
 and delivered lectures on the Aristotelian philosophy. 
 He died in 1533, before he had completed his thirty- 
 sixth year.* His philosophic and theological studies, 
 and his intimacy with Grecian and Roman literature, 
 did not withhold him from the cultivation of his native 
 language; and he even endeavoured, by his translations 
 which have already been mentioned, f to naturalize the 
 Greek tragedy in Spain. He also wrote several poems, 
 which in honour of his memory, are still preserved. 
 But Perez de Oliva was no poet; and to judge from 
 his translations he appears to have had scarcely any 
 true poetic feeling, though he possessed a correct and 
 delicate taste for the rhetorical beauty of prose. His 
 
 * Nicolas Antonio does not mention the date of either his 
 birth or death. More precise information respecting him may be 
 found in the sixth vol. of the Parnaso Espanol. 
 
 f See p. 280.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 309 
 
 / 
 
 most celebrated work is his Dialogue on the Dignity of 
 Man (Dialogo de la Dignidad del Hombre) in the 
 manner of Cicero.* It would be vain to seek in this 
 didactic dialogue for ideas which present the merit of 
 novelty in the present age; and it can by no means be 
 regarded as a model of dialogue style any more than 
 the similar works of Cicero. But it was the first 
 specimen in Spanish literature, of clear and connected 
 discussion, maintained in correct dignified and elegant 
 language. The colloquial form serves to connect, though 
 somewhat loosely, the two portions into which the work 
 is divided. Two philosophic friends meet, and their 
 conversation turns on solitude: they endeavour to 
 explain the causes which induce mankind to seek 
 retirement, and which render him dissatisfied with the 
 society of his fellow creatures. One of the friends 
 inveighs against human society, while the other extols 
 its advantages. In the mean while they are joined by 
 a third philosopher who becomes the arbiter. Before 
 this judge each disputant propounds his opinions in an 
 uninterrupted discourse. Thus the oratorical style is 
 now mingled with the didactic, which had before 
 superseded the colloquial style. This blending of the 
 didactic and oratorical styles, must doubtless be a 
 subject of critical censure to many readers; but with 
 the exception of the oratorical passages, the dialogue 
 of Perez de Oliva is written, in a natural and easy 
 
 * This dialogue, with the continuation by Ambrosio de Morales, 
 and other works of a similar kind, have been elegantly printed 
 under the general title of Obras, que Cervantes de Salazar ha 
 hecho, glosado y traducido, &c. Madrid, 1772, in 4to.
 
 310 HISTORY OF 
 
 manner.* The ideas are for the most part clearly and 
 accurately developed,! and the oratorical language, 
 particularly where it is appropriately introduced, is 
 powerful and picturesque.i: 
 
 * For example : 
 
 Aur. Bien veo, Antonio, que ai essos provechos que dices de 
 lasoledad: pero yo tengo creido, que otra causa mayor ai. Ant. 
 Que causa puede aver mayor ? Aur. El aborrecimento, que cada 
 hombre tiene al genero humano, por el qual somos inclinados a 
 apartarnos unos de otros. Ant. Tan aborrecibles te parecen los 
 hombres, que aun ellos mesmos por huir de si, busquen la soledad ? 
 Aur. Fareceme tanto, que cada vez que me acuerdo, que soi hom- 
 bre, querria, o no arer sido, o no tener sentimiento dello. Ant. 
 Maravillome, Aurelio, que los autores excelentes, que acostumbras 
 a leer, i los sabios hombres, que convevsas, no te ayan quitado de 
 esse error. 
 
 f As for instance in the annexed passage : 
 
 Assi que todos estos i los demas estados de los hombres no 
 sou sino diversos modos de penar, do ningun descanso tienen, ni 
 seguridad en alguno dellos : porque la fortuna todos los confunde, i 
 los revuelve con vanas esperanzas i vanos semblantes de honras i 
 riquezas, en las quales cosas mostrando quan facil es i quan incierta, 
 a todos mete en desseos de valer, tan desordenados, que no ai lugar 
 tan alto, do los queramos dejar. Con estos escarnios de fortuna 
 cada uno aborrece su estado con codicia de los otros ; do si llega, no 
 halla aquel reposo que pensaba. Porque todos los bienes de fortuna 
 al dessear parecen hermosos, i al gozar llenos de pena. 
 
 For example the conclusion of the discourse of Aurelio, who, 
 it is true, describes rather than censures the dark side of human 
 society. 
 
 Todo esto se va en liumo, hasta que tornan los hombres a estar 
 en tanto olvido, como antes que naciessen : i la misma vanidad se 
 sigue despues, que primero avia. Hasta aqui, Dinarco, me ha 
 parecido decir del hombre : agora yo lo dejo a 1 i su fama enterra- 
 dos en olvido perdurable : i no se con que razones tu, Antonio,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 311 
 
 Perez de Oliva had a successful pupil in his nephew 
 Ambrosio de Morales, who .was also a native of Cor- 
 dova. This learned writer was born in the year 
 1513; after having finished his academic studies at the 
 university of Alcala de Henares, he delivered public 
 lectures on philosophy and ancient literature, by which 
 he soon acquired an honourable reputation. Charles V. 
 appointed him classical tutor to his natural son Don 
 John of Austria, who afterwards became so celebrated. 
 On the death of Charles V. Ambrosio de Morales was 
 installed by King Philip II. in the vacant post of 
 historiographer or chronicler (coronista) of Castile. 
 From the period when he entered upon this office he 
 appears to have devoted himself exclusively to his- 
 torical studies. He died at an advanced age. His 
 didactic works consist of treatises (discursos) on various 
 subjects of practical philosophy and literature. In one 
 of these treatises, he expressly and urgently recommends 
 the rhetorical cultivation of the Spanish language, which 
 the writers of that age so unjustly disowned and neg- 
 lected to the great prejudice of literature and even 
 of philosophy.* The other dissertations of this meri- 
 torious writer, which are not so much known, relate to 
 the importance of rhetorical studies; the distinction 
 between Plato's and Aristotle's methods of instruction; 
 
 podras resucitarlo. Dale vida, si pudieres, i consuelo contra tantos 
 males, coino has oido: que si tu assi lo hicieres, yo sere vencido de 
 buena gana, pues tu vitoria sera gloria para mi, que me ver6 con- 
 stituido en mas excelente estado, que pensava. 
 
 * Only this treatise of Morales Sobre la lengua Castellana, 
 is reprinted in the collection mentioned in note, page 309.
 
 312 HISTORY OF 
 
 the duty of man to exert himself to the utmost when 
 he wishes for the assistance of the Almighty; the 
 difference between a great and a good understanding; 
 the value of wealth, independent of personal merit in 
 the possessor; and such like objects of general utility. 
 He only occasionally casts a side glance on the region 
 of speculative philosophy, so that among Germans he 
 might with propriety be called the Spanish Garve. 
 Like that author his views were clear rather than 
 . profound; and like him also his object was to write 
 pure didactic prose. His style, though not energetic 
 nor impressive, is natural, clear, and precise, and not un- 
 frequently adorned with pleasing images.* The pedantic 
 
 * The following passage from the treatise on the Spanish 
 language, forms an edition to the history of rhetorical cultivation 
 of prose rhetoric among the Spaniards in the age of Morales : 
 
 Para que pues era este cuidado ? de que servia esta diligencia 
 entre geute tan prudente i de tanto miramiento, si naturaleza lo 
 suplia, i avia ella de hazerlo mejor ? Veian sin duda, como sin tales 
 exemplos no se podia perfeccionar el uso della lengua en aquella 
 parte, i que a faltar lo que proveian, faltaria el bien que deseavan : 
 i lo mismo es en las fonnas i maneras particulares de hablar, que 
 llaman phrasis, i en todas las otras partes del lenguage, donde 
 ayudada naturaleza con el mejor uso, saca mas ventaja i perfeccion. 
 Pues qu6 los otros, que todo lo tienen en Castellano por afectado ? 
 estos quieren condenar nuestra lengua a un estrano abatimiento, i 
 como enterrarla viva, donde miserablemente se corrompa i pierda 
 todo su lustre, su lindeza i hermosura : o descontian, que no es para 
 parecer, i esta es ignorancia; o no la quieren adornar como deven, 
 i esta es maldad. Yo no digo que af cites nuestra lengua Castel- 
 lana, sino que le laves la cara. No le pintes el rostro, mas quitale 
 la suciedad : no la vistas de bordados, recamos, mas no le niegues 
 un buen atavio de vestido, que aderece con gravedad.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 313 
 
 allusions to the scriptures and to classical literature 
 must be attributed to the age and country to which 
 Morales belonged.* 
 
 Pedro de Valles, another native of Cordova, followed 
 the example of Perez de Oliva, in cultivating prose; 
 but he inclined to the pomp and antitheses of Seneca, 
 which he was perhaps induced to imitate from respect 
 for his countryman; for the learned of Cordova have 
 always prided themselves in being natives of a city 
 which had produced an ancient author of so much 
 celebrity. Morales, in his collection of his own and 
 his uncle's works, has inserted a treatise by Valles on 
 the Fear of Death.t 
 
 Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, who lived about 
 the same period, likewise followed the tract which had 
 been marked out by Perez de Oliva. Respecting the 
 life of this writer but few particulars are known; and 
 the resemblance of his name to that of the celebrated 
 Cervantes Saavedra, does not appear to be a sufficient 
 reason for concluding that he was related to that dis- 
 tinguished author. Cervantes de Salazar wrote a con- 
 tinuation of Oliva's Dialogue on the Dignity of Man; 
 for he regarded it as unfinished, because Oliva allows 
 the friend and the enemy of human nature to deliver 
 their opinions, while the third party, who is appointed 
 the philosophic arbiter, draws no inference from the 
 arguments he hears. Through the medium of this 
 
 * Fourteen of the discourses of Morales, form an appendix to 
 his edition of the Obras de Perez de Oliva, already mentioned. 
 
 f This treatise also forms an appendix to the collection be fore - 
 mentioned.
 
 314 HISTORY OF 
 
 third character, Salazar circumstantially recapitulates 
 the whole theme, and arrives at a decided conclusion. 
 Salazar is a more contemplative writer than Oliva, who, 
 in other respects appears to have been his model. He 
 translated from the Greek the Tabla of Cebes, and from 
 the Latin the Introductio ad sapientiam of Luis Vives, 
 one of the learned Spaniards who did not choose to 
 write in their native tongue. He published his con- 
 tinuations and translations along, with the original 
 works.* 
 
 Among the various works which Cervantes de 
 Salazar published and elucidated, is an allegorical 
 romance, entitled " Labricio, or the fable (Apologo) of 
 Idleness and Industry." This romance may be placed 
 if not among, at least beside didactic works, for the 
 allegorical form serves merely to clothe the ideas, 
 which are very methodically developed. The author, 
 Luis Mexia, or Messia, was a learned theologian and 
 jurist. His object was to draw an interesting and ani- 
 mated picture of the dangers of idleness, the pleasures 
 of occupation, and the value of well directed industry. 
 Notwithstanding the faults inseparable from the class 
 of writing to which this work belongs, it presents the 
 charm of an animated picture conveyed in language, 
 which, though occasionally declamatory, is, upon the 
 whole, pure and elegant.f 
 
 * Hence the title : Obras que Francisco Cervantes de Salazar 
 ha hecko, glosado, y traducido. See note, p. 309. 
 
 J- As a useful moral book, this romance is, perhaps, worthy 
 of being translated or new modelled. Tasteless morality is, to be 
 sure, no more commendable in literature than tasteful immorality;
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 315 
 
 2. HISTORICAL PROSE was, during this period, cul- 
 tivated by no author in so high a degree as by Diego 
 de Mendoza, whose history of the wars of Granada, 
 has already been particularly mentioned; all the other 
 Spanish historians were inferior to Mendoza in every 
 thing that constitutes the historical art. But they had 
 begun to study that art, in which they would no doubt 
 have distinguished themselves, had they not on the one 
 hand been intimidated by the despotism of the govern- 
 ment, and on the other, influenced by a spirit of con- 
 tradiction, which induced them to banish from genuine 
 history every trace of imaginative colouring, lest they 
 should be confounded with the romance writers of the 
 age. 
 
 The historical institution, established by Alphonso 
 the Wise, still subsisted; for the Spanish government 
 was afraid to incur the shame of allowing it to perish. 
 National historiographers or chroniclers were accordingly 
 appointed, and paid in the same manner as formerly; 
 but after the accession of Charles V. those chroniclers 
 could not venture to write with freedom, even in favour 
 of the court party. Charles V. thought it prudent to 
 obliterate as far as possible the recollection of the 
 powerful opposition he had experienced on his succes- 
 sion to the Spanish crown. His chronicler, Florian de 
 Ocampo, was a man of talent and information; and 
 these qualifications soon enabled him to perceive the 
 
 and any attempt to revive the fashion of moral allegories would 
 deserve condemnation. But a work like the allegorical romance of 
 Mexia, might probably possess more value than many of our modern 
 tales for youth.
 
 316 HISTORY OF 
 
 necessity of protracting as much as possible the duty 
 assigned to the old Spanish chroniclers of writing the 
 history of their own age. Fortunately for him there 
 existed at that period no ancient history of Spain; and 
 this was a subject on which he could enter, without 
 fear or constraint, while, at the same time, it afforded 
 scope for a singular display of erudition. Ocampo 
 accordingly wrote his five books of a General Chronicle 
 of Spain. By the selection of this deceiving title, 
 Ocampo appeared to be fulfilling the duties of his office; 
 but the five books of his General Chronicle contain 
 nothing more than the history of ancient Hispania, 
 from the deluge to the second punic war.* The work 
 is not badly written, though it presents nothing parti- 
 cularly attractive either in the style or in the handling 
 of the subject. Ocampo selected his materials chiefly 
 from the ancient authors, with whom he must have 
 been intimately acquainted; but as far as relates to 
 historical art he avoided imitating his classical models, 
 because, as he says, he was afraid to substitute for 
 truth " the rhetorical flourishes and vanities, which 
 appear in other books of the present time."f Like 
 some German historians, he seems to have prided 
 himself in his dulness. 
 
 * Los cinco libro primeros de la Coronica General de Espana, 
 recopilava el Maestro Florian de Ocampo, &c. Alcald, 1578, in 
 folio. This is the first, and, perhaps, the only edition of the work. 
 
 f Mi principal intencion, he says, ha seido, contar la verdad 
 entera y sencilla, sin que en ella aya engano ni cosa que le adorne 
 sin envolver en ella las rhetoricas y vanidades, que por otros libros 
 deste nuestro tiempo se ponen.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 317 
 
 Those truths which dared not be publicly told in 
 the reign of Charles V. still remained secrets under the 
 government of Philip II. But even the latter monarch 
 did not suffer the office of national chronicler to be dis- 
 continued; and he nominated a particular historiographer 
 for the provinces of Castile, and another for those of 
 Arragon. The learned Ambrosio de Morales, who took 
 so lively an interest in the advancement of the rhetorical 
 art, was, as has already been mentioned, appointed 
 chronicler for the Castilian provinces. But with all his 
 talent and information, Morales was not the man pre- 
 cisely calculated to occupy this situation, had he wished 
 strictly to discharge its duties. He had little taste for 
 politics, and modern history was not the branch of lite- 
 rature in the cultivation of which he was likely to find 
 the employment best suited to his talents. He therefore 
 could do nothing which better accorded with his own in- 
 clination, and the circumstances in which he was placed, 
 than to follow the footsteps of Ocampo, and to con- 
 tinue the ancient history of Spain from the second punic 
 war to the establishment of Christianity.* He vied 
 with his predecessor in research and erudition; while, 
 at the same time, he devoted far more attention to com- 
 position and style. In his preface, he states that he 
 availed himself of this opportunity of proving the 
 dignity and majesty of the Spanish language; and in 
 that respect he rose far superior to the usual chronicle 
 style. In point of elegance, however, he did not equal 
 cardinal Bembo, while he really had no more idea than 
 
 * This is the Coronica General de Espafia por Don Ambrosio 
 de Morales; Alcala de Henares, 1574, in folio.
 
 318 HISTORY OF 
 
 that author, of the soul of the historical art, of which 
 elegance is merely an accessary.* Towards the close 
 of his work, when he came to the Christian ages, his zeal 
 induced him to insert the lives of the saints of Spanish 
 origin; and certainly no writer before his time ever 
 gave to that description of biography so much elegance 
 and historical dignity. Indeed the simplicity to which 
 Morales was always faithful, is a remarkable feature in 
 the works of an author who was so ambitious of dis- 
 tinguishing himself by his style. 
 
 There appeared, however, at this time, another 
 author, who might have become, if not the Livy, at 
 least the Machiavell of Spain, had he been placed in 
 more favourable circumstances, and been disposed to 
 devote himself to the rhetorical cultivation of his talent 
 for historical composition. He was a native of Arragon, 
 and his name was Geronymo Zurita, Surita or Curita, 
 for it is written in these different ways. Philip II. 
 appointed him historiographer of the Arragonian pro- 
 vinces, an office which he was well qualified to fill. 
 Like all educated Arragonese, he wrote Castilian with 
 as much facility as his mother tongue. As a politician, 
 however, he entertained views respecting the practical 
 application of history, which though clear and well 
 founded, were not likely to be very acceptable to a 
 despotic sovereign. Zurita undertook, not merely the 
 tedious task of exploring the old chronicles and records, 
 to which he had access, in order to produce a complete 
 history of the kingdom of Arragon, from the Moorish 
 
 * See my History of Italian Literature, vol. ii.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 319 
 
 invasion to the reign of Charles V. he was moreover 
 desirous that his historical labour should exhibit a 
 faithful view of the rise and formation of the national 
 constitution of Arragon. The modern historian, who 
 may wish to investigate this particular point, ought to 
 resort to the pages of Zurita, for it will be difficult for 
 him to find a more instructive author. Zurita gave to 
 his historical work the title of Annals,* which he con- 
 ceived to be more appropriate than that of chronicle. 
 But he felt the difficulty of the task he had undertaken, 
 when he attempted to develope the republican prin- 
 ciples of the Arragonian provinces, and at the same 
 time to do homage to the caprice of an absolute 
 monarch. He must necessarily have written this part of 
 his work in the total absence of inspiration, for the only 
 practical conclusion he draws from his researches is the 
 trite maxim, " that subjects ought to be content if peace 
 and tranquillity prevail in the country in which they 
 live;"f and it must be confessed that for peace and 
 
 * Anales de la corona de Aragon Caragoqa, 1616, six vols. 
 small folio. This work was not printed till after the death of Philip 
 II. The two last volumes contain the history of foreign affairs in 
 the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 f He says : 
 
 Esta fue muy acatada entre tod as gentes, porque siempre con- 
 vino tener presente lo passado, y considerar con quanta constancia 
 se deve fundar una perpetua paz y concordia civil, pues no se puede 
 qfrecer mayor peligro, que la mudanga de los estadoi en la decli- 
 nacion de los tiempos. Teniendo cuenta con esto, siendo todos 
 los sucesos tan inciertos a todos, y sabiendo quan pequenas oca- 
 siones sueleu ser causa de grandes mudancas, el conocimiento de 
 Jos coses passadus nos ensenara, que tengamos por mas dichoso y 
 bienaventurado el estado presente: y que estemos siempre con 
 recelo del que esta por veuir.
 
 320 HISTORY OF 
 
 tranquillity, in a certain sense, Philip II. with the help 
 of the Duke of Alba and the inquisition, had sufficiently 
 provided. But in order to judge how Zurita would 
 have written, had he been permitted to write freely, 
 the grounds of the decision must be collected only from 
 detached passages of his work. His execution indeed 
 is not so inviting as to excite a strong desire for the 
 perusal of the whole. He seems during his laborious 
 researches unconsciously to have imbibed the formal 
 style of the chroniclers, their constantly recurring and 
 not excepted; while he did not allow himself time to 
 separate the important from the unimportant, and by a 
 judicious distribution of his materials to compose a 
 pleasing historical picture. In a literary contest, which 
 arose respecting the merits and defects of these Annals 
 of Arragon, their value, in a rhetorical point of view, 
 was never taken into consideration. 
 
 3. ORATORICAL PROSE. To other classes of 
 prose writing, the Spaniards at this time devoted but 
 little attention; but two printed discourses by Perez de 
 Oliva well deserve to be more generally known. The 
 one was deli vered at the request of a society of patriotic 
 citizens of Cordova, and it relates to the advantages to 
 be derived from the navigation of the Guadalquivir. 
 In the first part of this discourse, the learned orator 
 certainly wanders far from his subject, for he speaks of 
 the Greeks and Romans, and even of the Trojan war; 
 but the second part contains a view of the business in 
 hand, which is vigorously unfolded, full of sound sense, 
 and divested of all affectation and pedantry. The 
 second discourse promises but little, for it is merely
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 321 
 
 described as an academic occasional and defensive 
 address; but it contains a very good explanation of the 
 literary duties of a professor of moral philosophy, toge- 
 ther with some particulars respecting the literary life 
 of the author, which are related in an excellent orato- 
 rical style.* 
 
 4. Of the EPISTOLARY PROSE of this age but 
 few printed specimens exist; and it may be presumed 
 that the Spaniards could not experience much pleasure 
 in written correspondence, after their epistolary style 
 had, like that of their social conversation, become 
 subject to the restraint of the ceremonial forms with 
 which the Italians and the Germans were about the 
 same time infected. With whatever ease vuessa merced 
 (your grace or your worship) especially when contracted 
 in conversation into uste, might glide, as a mere form 
 of courtesy through Spanish lips, its frequent occurrence 
 could not fail to have a very embarrassing effect in the 
 periods of familiar letters. This formula which every 
 
 * The following observations, concerning the conduct of 
 professors of moral philosophy, may serve as a specimen of Pedro 
 de Oliva's eloquence: 
 
 Yo en contrario dello no dire de mi lastimas ningunas, por- 
 que no lo acostumbro en tales casos. Pero si la cathedra de philo- 
 sophia moral supiesse hablar, que lastimas piensan vuestras mercedes 
 que diria ? Ella por si diria, que miren quan olvidada ha estado, 
 y quan escureceda, inuchas vezes por passiones de los que la han 
 proveydo, y que miren, que agora la demandan unos llorando, y 
 otros no se en que confiando; y que unos la quieren, para cumplir 
 sus necessidades, y otros para cumplir las agenas : no sieudo aquesto 
 lo que ella ha menester. Porque ella demanda hombre, que en las 
 adversidades no gima, ni en los casos de justicia solicite. 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 HISTORY OF 
 
 man of education employed in addressing his equals, 
 exhibits a striking contrast to the higher ceremonial 
 style, which the king himself observed in corresponding 
 with his relatives. Among the Spanish epistolary 
 documents of the sixteenth century, there has been 
 preserved a letter from Philip II. to his natural brother, 
 Don John of Austria. This letter appears to be a 
 kind of supplement, written by the king himself, to 
 the commission by which Don John was appointed high 
 admiral of the Spanish fleets (capitan general de la 
 mar). The king with old Spanish cordiality calls Don 
 John, "brother," (hermano), without any other title; 
 and when he addresses him in the course of the letter, he 
 uses the pronoun you, after the old fashion. In re- 
 minding his natural brother of his duties, he recommends 
 to him integrity, as next in importance to religion.* 
 
 There is also preserved a letter from the Duke of 
 Alba, of odious celebrity, to Don John of Austria. It 
 contains military instructions expressed with precision 
 and dignified simplicity; but the style is encumbered by 
 
 * As Philip II. is but little known in the character of a letter 
 writer, it may not be improper to quote a passage which reflects 
 honour on him as a man : 
 
 La verdad, i cumplimieuto de lo que" se dice, i prornete, es el 
 fundamento del credito, i estimacion de los hombres, i sobre que 
 estriva, i se funda el trato comun 4 i confianza. Esto se requiere, 
 i es mucho mas necessario en los mui principales, i que tienen 
 grandes, i publicos cargos; porque de su verdad, i cumplimiento 
 depende la Fe, i seguridad publica. Encargoos mucho, que tengais 
 en esto gran cuenta, i cuidado ; i se entienda, i conozca en Vos en 
 todas partes, i ocasiones, el credito, que pueden, i deven tener de 
 lo que digeredes : que demas de lo que toca a las cosas publicas, i
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 323 
 
 the repetition of titles. Both letters are contained in a 
 collection published by the diligent Gregorio Mayans 
 y Siscar.* 
 
 SPANISH CRITICISM DURING THE PERIOD OF THIS 
 
 SECTION. 
 
 It would scarcely be worth while to say any thing 
 relative to Spanish criticism during the period this sec- 
 tion embraces, were it not that among the books of 
 instruction on poetry and rhetoric which then appeared, 
 there was one, which besides being extraordinary for 
 the age in which it was produced, may be regarded as 
 the first of its kind in modern literature. It is entitled, 
 the Philosophy of the Ancient Style of Poetry, which 
 in Spanish is somewhat fantastically expressed, Philo- 
 sophia Antigua Poetica. This work is the production 
 of Alonzo Lopez Pinciano, physician to Charles V. who 
 as has been mentioned, was likewise the author of an 
 unsuccessful heroic poem.f Though Pinciano possessed 
 
 de vuestro cargo, importa esto inucho a vuestro particular honor i 
 estimacion. 
 
 * This collection is entitled : Cartas morales, militarcs, civiles 
 y literarias de varios autores Espanoles, recogidos, tyc. por D. 
 Gregorio Mayans y Siscar, 1734, in 8vo. Most of these letters 
 are productions of the sixteenth century. 
 
 f See page 265. The title-page of this book, which runs as 
 follows Philosophia Antigna Poetica, del Doctor Alonzo Lopei 
 Pinciano, Medico Cesarco, dirigida al Conde Joannes Kevenliiler 
 (Khevenhuller),&c. also contains a full detail of the titles of the 
 Count to whom it is dedicated. It was printed at Madrid, 1596, 
 in quarto. 
 
 y 2
 
 324 HISTORY OF 
 
 few qualifications for a poet, he had nevertheless con- 
 ceived the idea of writing an Art of Poetry, which should 
 be something more than a mere introduction to versi- 
 fication and instructions relative to correct and figurative 
 expression. Speculations on the elements of poetry con- 
 stituted his chief occupation, when relieved from the 
 duties of his profession. He had so carefully studied 
 Aristotle's Art of Poetry, and so attentively compared it ' 
 with the other writings of the same author, that of all 
 the admirers of that work, he was probably the first 
 who discovered its imperfection. He says " what is 
 called Aristotle's Art of Poetry cannot, if rightly un- 
 derstood, be regarded in any other light than as a frag- 
 ment; for Aristotle, in various passages of his other works, 
 refers to a second part of this Art of Poetry, which is lost." 
 Pinciano's conjectures respecting the contents of the lost 
 part, and its connection with the fragment now exist- 
 ing, have, it is true, been contradicted by more modern 
 critics; but this physician was nevertheless the first to ob- 
 serve that imperfection which had escaped the notice of 
 all previous philologists and commentators on Aristotle. 
 He remarks, that the philologists and commentators 
 have written very learned works; which, however, are 
 as imperfect as the text which they elucidate. With 
 the view of restoring poetry to its ancient dignity, and 
 establishing and developing its true spirit, Lopez 
 Pinciano commences with an Analysis of the Wants 
 of Human Nature. He treats minutely of the senses, 
 of the affections, the faculties of the soul, wisdom, and 
 the pleasures peculiar to cultivated minds, but always 
 with reference to the works of Aristotle, whom, like
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 325 
 
 other writers of that age, he merely designates by the 
 title of the philosopher. Like Aristotle, he makes 
 imitation the essence of poetry; but with a particular 
 and more precise definition of what in his opinion 
 constitutes poetic imitation. He then enters upon 
 reflections concerning poetic language, and gives a 
 detailed theory of the several kinds of poetry. The 
 present, however; is not the proper place to present an 
 explanation of this theory. Whenever Lopez Pinciano 
 abandons Aristotle, his notions respecting the different 
 poetic styles are as confused as those of his contempo- 
 raries; and only a few of his notions and distinctions 
 can be deemed of importance at the present day. 
 But his name is deserving of honourable remembrance, 
 for he was the first writer of modern times who en- 
 deavoured to establish a philosophic art of poetry; and 
 with all his veneration for Aristotle, he was the first 
 scholar who ventured to think for himself, and to go 
 somewhat further than his master. He also evinced a 
 laudable perseverance in the execution of his task. 
 Pinciano's learned and ingenious work was not quite so 
 useful as it might have been, owing in a great measure 
 to its artificial and formal manner of composition, 
 which, however, the author considered singularly easy 
 and natural. This Art of Poetry is written in the form 
 of letters, (which was in itself a novelty at that age), 
 and in these letters, conversations are occasionally in- 
 troduced. The friend who answers, invariably gives an 
 abstract of the letter he has last received, as a proof 
 that he understands its contents and its object. Lopez
 
 326 HISTORY OF 
 
 Pinciano, however, cannot be regarded as a model in 
 epistolary and conversational prose any more than in 
 poetry. 
 
 The authors of the other arts of poetry which 
 appeared about this time in the Spanish language, 
 merely confined themselves to the explanation of me- 
 trical forms and the establishment of subordinate 
 principles. Among these authors were Sanchez de 
 Viena, Geronymo de Mondragon, and Juan Diaz.* An 
 Art^of Poetry of the same description in verse, by Juan 
 de la Cueva, has already been mentioned. From a phi- 
 losophic treatise of this kind, Spanish poetry could de- 
 rive no advantage, unless its origin had been totally 
 different from what it really was. Theories, even the 
 most popular, can contribute only in a very slight degree 
 to the formation of the poetic genius, either of nations 
 or individuals. 
 
 Several works on the art of rhetoric, in which the 
 principles of Aristotle were followed, appeared about 
 this time in Spain; but they produced nothing valuable 
 with respect to theory, and exercised no remarkable 
 influence on the improvement of Spanish prose. 
 
 * Velasquez and Dieze, p. 505, furnish bibliographic notices 
 of the works of these authors. See also Blankenburgh on the 
 same subject.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 327 
 
 SECOND SECTION. 
 
 History of Spanish Poetry and Eloquence, from the 
 Age of Cervantes and Lope tie Vega to the 
 Middle of the Seventeenth Century. 
 
 Spanish literature had now assumed a new cha- 
 racter. Classical poets wrote in theCastilian language; 
 and elegant prose was cultivated with equal rapidity 
 and success on the model of the ancients. No great 
 advantage could henceforth be derived from the imi- 
 tation of the Italian poets, for the genius of the Spanish 
 nation had well nigh decided how far and under what 
 limitations the Italian poetry could be naturalized in 
 Spain. But laurels were yet to be gathered on the 
 new Parnassus; and the conflict between the ancient 
 and modern styles, had, through the disputes of the 
 different parties, who sought to rule the Spanish drama, 
 at length arrived at a crisis. Under these circumstances, 
 Cervantes and Lope de Vega entered upon the career 
 which their predecessors had opened for them. 
 
 CERVANTES. 
 
 The life of this extraordinary man, whom, for the 
 space of two centuries, civilized Europe has admired 
 above every other Spanish writer, has been so frequently 
 related, that a brief abstract of his biography, derived 
 from the most authentic sources, will be sufficient for 
 the purpose of this history.* 
 
 * Cervantes spent that portion of his life, during which his 
 name is particularly conspicuous, among Spanish poets, so remote
 
 HISTOllY OF 
 
 It is a singular fact, that the contemporaries of this 
 celebrated man, whom every town, not merely in 
 Spain, but throughout the world, would be proud to 
 have produced, should have neglected to record his 
 native place. After long investigations and warm dis- 
 putes, which call to mind the contests of the seven 
 Greek towns, for the honour of having given birth to 
 Homer, it is at length agreed that the greatest share 
 of probability belongs to the conjecture, according to 
 which Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born at Alcala 
 de Henares in the year 1547. His parents, who were 
 not rich, were merely enabled to give him a moderate, 
 but at the same time a literary education. They sent 
 
 4 
 
 him to the schools of Madrid, where he acquired some 
 knowledge of classical learning. At Madrid he had 
 an opportunity of witnessing the dramas which the in- 
 genious Lope de Rueda represented on his wretched 
 stage. Juan Lopez, the tutor of Cervantes, was an 
 indefatigable writer of poetry, particularly of romances, 
 and he sought every means of cherishing his pupils' 
 taste for poetic composition. Some verses by Cervantes 
 were introduced in a description of the funeral of a 
 Spanish princess, which Lopez published in 1569. 
 
 from literary society, that at his death sufficient notices did not 
 exist to form a complete narrative of his life. The well known 
 biography by Mayans y Siscar, which was not written till the 
 eighteenth century, deserved to be valued only for want of a better. 
 It is prefixed to many editions of Don Quixote. The preference, 
 however, must be given to the more recent life of Cervantes, by 
 Don Vicente de los Rios, which is prefixed to the splendid edition 
 of Don Quixote, published at Madrid, 1781, in royal quarto.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 329 
 
 But young Cervantes, who had now attained his 
 twenty-second year, seems to have had no certain means 
 of gaining a subsistence. He wrote numerous romances 
 and sonnets; and it was probably about this period that 
 he composed a pastoral romance, entitled Filena, which, 
 if we may give credit to his own testimony, was very 
 generally read.* It appears that he thought he could 
 better his condition by travelling; and he resolved to 
 proceed to Italy. Here commences the period of his 
 adventures. In Rome, cardinal Acquaviva for a short 
 time became his patron and protector. But impelled 
 either by necessity or choice, he entered into the mili- 
 tary profession. He enlisted under the banners of his 
 sovereign, to serve in the wars against the Turks and 
 African corsairs, who at that time disturbed the tran- 
 quillity of Spain and Italy. During the war he proved 
 himself to be wholly devoted to his new profession; but 
 being engaged in the great battle of Lepanto, in 1572, 
 he received a wound which deprived him of his left 
 hand together with a part of the arm. This honourable 
 mutilation, to which he proudly alludes in his latter 
 writings, obliged him to return to Spain. The ship, 
 however, in which he had embarked, was captured by 
 an Algerine corsair, and Cervantes was conveyed to 
 Algiers and sold for a slave. His captivity which lasted 
 
 * In his Viage al Parnaso, chap. iv. he says: 
 Yo he compuesto Romances infinitos 
 Y el de los Zelos es aquel que estiino 
 Enlre otros, que los tengo par mat ditos. 
 
 ******** 
 Mi Filena ****** 
 Resono por lat selvas, &c.
 
 330 HISTORY OF 
 
 for nearly eight years, must have been of the most ro- 
 mantic description, if the fact be, as has frequently been 
 conjectured, that Cervantes described his own adventures 
 in the novel of the Captive.* He was at length ransomed, 
 and in the year 1581 he returned to his native country. 
 The third period of the life of Cervantes was ex- 
 clusively devoted to literature. He had now attained his 
 thirty-second year, and with a matured understanding, 
 joined to considerable practical knowledge of the world, 
 and an ardent passion for literature, he resolved to 
 withdraw from the busy scene of life. In his retirement 
 he wrote his second pastoral romance, entitled Galatea, 
 which has so eclipsed Fileiia, that the latter is quite 
 neglected and forgotten. He shortly afterwards married, 
 and in all probability lived for some time on his wife's 
 dowry. At length he began to write for the stage; but 
 the dramas which he composed at this period of his life, 
 though about thirty in number, are nearly all lost.f 
 About this time arose the rivalry between Cer- 
 vantes and Lope de Vega, whose dramas were so much 
 admired that they bore away the palm of public favour. 
 Mortified, as it would appear, by the ill success of his 
 dramatic efforts, Cervantes laid aside his pen for a con- 
 siderable period. It is conjectured, that in the mean- 
 
 * Don Vicente de los Rios entertains so little doubt of the 
 reality of the romantic events, recorded in the Captive, that he has 
 interwoven them in his account of the life of Cervantes. 
 
 f These dramas must not be confounded with the eight well 
 known comedies which Cervantes subsequently wrote. His tragedy 
 of Numantia, and his comedy of Life in Algiers, (Trato de Argclj 
 appear to have been written at an earlier period.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 331 
 
 while he obtained a post in Seville, the emoluments of 
 which enabled him to subsist. He did not again appear 
 in the literary world until the death of Philip II. in the 
 year 1598. 
 
 It can scarcely be doubted, though no Spanish writer 
 has made the conjecture, that the death of Philip II. 
 had a favourable influence on the genius of Cervantes. 
 After the accession of the indolent Philip III. every 
 man in Spain felt that he might then have more 
 freedom than he dared to take during the gloomy 
 intolerance of the preceding reign. The Spaniards 
 now ventured to sport with the chains which they had 
 not the power to break, and delicate satire was soon 
 freely employed. Cervantes quickly found a subject 
 for ridicule, in an outrageous contest which arose in 
 Seville between the spiritual and municipal authorities, 
 concerning the funeral obsequies of the deceased 
 monarch. There is reason to believe that he com- 
 posed, about the same period, some of the Instructive 
 Novels (Novelas Exemplares), which he subsequently 
 published. What accident gave rise to the idea of his 
 Don Quixote is unknown; for his having, while travel- 
 ling through the province of la Mancha, become engaged 
 in disputes with some of the inhabitants, and his being 
 on that account for a short time imprisoned, can at 
 most be only supposed to have suggested the idea of 
 making that province the scene of the first part of his 
 romance. Some fortunate circumstance, which cannot 
 now be traced, seems to have impressed Cervantes, 
 who was then in his fiftieth year, with the conscious- 
 ness of the true bent of his genius. The commence-
 
 332 HISTORY OF 
 
 ment of Don Quixote was first published at Madrid, in 
 1606; but the enthusiastic reception which this original 
 romance experienced from the Spanish public, produced 
 very little change in the author's fortune; for the folly 
 which felt itself disturbed in its security united with 
 envy in seeking to discover the most offensive allusions 
 in the work. Cervantes accordingly continued poor, and 
 had now to contend with exasperated enemies, who 
 imagined they had completely defeated him, when an 
 unknown writer of their own -party, under the name 
 of Avellaneda, published a continuation of Don Quixote, 
 full of invective against the original author. Precisely 
 at the period when this continuation appeared, Cer- 
 vantes published the sequel of his Instructive Novels, 
 which he dedicated to the Count of Lemos. In that 
 nobleman he found a protector who never withdrew 
 his favour, and who, as it appears, afforded him support 
 in various ways. Pecuniary necessity seems, however, 
 to have urged him, as a last resource, to write for the 
 stage. 
 
 The latest works of Cervantes, were the genuine 
 continuation and completion of Don Quixote, the 
 Journey to Parnassus, which was first published in 
 1614, and finally the romance of Persiles and Sigis- 
 munda, for which, a few days previous to his death, he 
 wrote a dedication to the Count of Lemos. From va- 
 rious passages in the prefaces and introductions to these 
 last works, it is obvious how highly Cervantes prized 
 that celebrity which, after many abortive efforts, he had 
 at length obtained in his old age. But even where 
 his vanity is not disguised, it is easy, from the candid
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 333 
 
 tone in which he speaks of himself, to recognize the 
 man of firm and upright spirit, the declared enemy of 
 every sort of affectation, and the honest and liberal 
 judge of himself and others. He died in poverty, 
 though not in extreme want, at Madrid, in 1616, in 
 the sixty-ninth year of his age. He was buried 
 privately, without any kind of distinction, and not 
 even a common tomb-stone marks the spot where the 
 ashes of Cervantes repose. 
 
 Were we to arrange the works of Cervantes ac- 
 cording to their merits, the first place must be assigned 
 to Don Quixote, which is moreover entitled to the 
 supremacy, inasmuch as it is single in its kind. 
 
 To enter into a description of the contents of this 
 universally known master-piece, or to give a circum- 
 stantial analysis of its plan, would be equally super- 
 fluous. A few words, however, on the happy and 
 original idea which forms the foundation of the whole 
 work may here be introduced. It has often been said, 
 though the opinion has, perhaps, not been fully weighed, 
 nor even expressed with sufficient precision, that the 
 venerable knight of La Mancha is the immortal repre- 
 sentative of all men of exalted imagination, who cany 
 the noblest enthusiasm to a pitch of folly; because with 
 understandings in other respects sound, they are unable 
 to resist the fascinating power of a self-deception,, by 
 which they are induced to regard themselves as beings 
 of a superior order. None but an experienced observer 
 of mankind, endowed with profound judgment, and a 
 genius to the penetrating glance of which one of the most 
 interesting recesses of the human heart had been newly
 
 334 HISTORY OF 
 
 disclosed, could have seized the idea of such a romance 
 with energetic decision. None but a poet and a man 
 of wit could have thrown so much poetic interest into 
 the execution of that idea; and none but an author who 
 had at his disposal all the richness and variety of one of 
 the finest languages in the world, could have diffused 
 over such a work that classical perfection of expression, 
 which gives the stamp of excellence to the whole. 
 The originality of the idea of Don Quixote is not only 
 historically demonstrated, by no romance of a similar 
 kind having previously existed for pictures of ingenious 
 roguery in the style of Lazarillo de Tormes, belong to 
 a totally different species of comic romance but it is 
 also physiologically certain, that a creative fancy, which 
 was only capable of continuing to invent where another 
 had stopt, could not, with the boldness of Cervantes, 
 have combined traits, apparently heterogeneous, in order 
 thereby to exhaust to the utmost the idea by which he 
 was inspired. Those who are acquainted with Don 
 Quixote only through the medium of the common 
 translations, will not certainly be inclined to regard 
 it as a work of inspiration, in the highest sense of the 
 word. But it is impossible to form a more mistaken 
 notion of this work, than to consider it merely as a 
 satire, intended by the author to ridicule the absurd 
 passion for reading old romances of chivalry. Doubt- 
 less this is one of the objects which Cervantes had in 
 view; for among the romances which the Spanish public 
 indefatigably perused, few were tolerable, and only one 
 or two possessed first-rate merit. We must not, how- 
 ever, attribute to him the absurd conceit of wishing to
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 335 
 
 prove the prejudicial influence, which the reading of 
 bad romances produced on the taste of the Spanish 
 nation, by exhibiting the individual folly of an enthu- 
 siast, who would have been just as likely to have lost 
 his senses by the study of Plato or Aristotle, as by the 
 reading of romances of chivalry. The merit and the 
 richness of the idea of a man of elevated character, 
 excited by heroic and enthusiastic feelings to the extra- 
 vagant pitch of wishing to restore the age of chivalry, 
 must be regarded as the seed of inspiration whence the 
 whole work originated. As a poet, Cervantes was 
 aware of the resources which this idea furnished; and 
 he must also have been satisfied with his power to pro- 
 secute it, . as he has proved in the execution what he 
 was capable of accomplishing. In the invention of a 
 series of comic situations in the most burlesque style, 
 he found fuU scope for the exercise of his fancy. The 
 painting of these situations afforded opportunities for 
 the free and energetic developement of his poetic ta- 
 lent. Finally, he knew how to combine the knowledge 
 of human nature, which he had acquired during a life 
 of fifty years, with the most delicate satire, so as to ren- 
 der his comic romance also a book of moral instruction, 
 to which no parallel existed. These brief remarks on 
 the idea which forms the foundation of the romance of 
 Don Quixote, must be allowed to supply the place of a 
 detailed analysis of the manner in which that cele- 
 brated work is composed. Other critics have sufficiently 
 proved that the composition is by no means faultless. 
 In the preface to the second part, Cervantes has him- 
 self pointed out some inadvertences which produce
 
 336 HISTORY OF 
 
 incongruities in the history, but he disdained to correct 
 them, because he conceived that they had been too se- 
 verely condemned. 
 
 The character of the execution of this comic ro- 
 mance, is no less original .than the invention. Cha- 
 racter in the strictest sense of the term is here meant. 
 The superficial sketches of a sportive fancy, for which 
 the Spaniards in the age of Cervantes entertained so high 
 a predilection, had not sufficient interest for him. He 
 felt a passion for the vivid painting of character, as all 
 his successful works prove. Under the influence of this 
 feeling, he not only drew the natural and striking por- 
 trait of his heroic Don Quixote, so truly noble-minded, 
 and so enthusiastic an admirer of every thing good and 
 great, yet having all those fine qualities, accidentally 
 blended with a relative kind of madness ; but he like- 
 wise pourtrayed, with no less fidelity, the opposite cha- 
 racter of Sancho Panza, a compound of grossness and 
 simplicity, whose low selfishness leads him to place 
 blind confidence in all the extravagant hopes and pro- 
 mises of his master. . The subordinate characters of the 
 great picture exhibit equal truth and decision : but the 
 characteristic tone of the whole is still more remark- 
 able. A translator cannot commit a more serious injury 
 to Don Quixote, than to dress that work in a light 
 anecdotical style. A style perfectly unostentatious and 
 free from affectation, but at the same time solemn, and 
 penetrated, as it were, with the character of the hero, 
 diffuses over this comic romance an imposing air, 
 which, were it not so appropriate, would seem to belong 
 exclusively to serious works, and which is certainly
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 337 
 
 difficult to be seized in a translation. But it is precisely 
 this solemnity of language, which imparts a characteris- 
 tic relief to the comic scenes. It is the genuine style 
 of the old romances of chivalry, improved and applied in 
 a totally original way; and only where the dialogue style 
 occurs is each person found to speak, as he might be 
 expected to do, and in his own peculiar manner. But 
 wherever Don Quixote himself harangues, the language 
 re-assumes the venerable tone of the romance style;* 
 and various uncommon expressions of which the hero 
 avails himself, serve to complete the delusion of his 
 covetous squire, to whom they are only half intelligible.f 
 This characteristic tone diffuses over the whole a poetic 
 colouring, which distinguishes Don Quixote from all 
 comic romances in the ordinary style; and that poetic 
 colouring is moreover heightened by the judicious choice 
 of episodes. The essential connection of these episodes 
 with the whole has sometimes escaped the observation 
 of critics, who have regarded, as merely parenthetical, 
 those parts in which Cervantes has most decidedly 
 manifested the poetic spirit of his work. The novel 
 of El Curioso Impertinente, cannot indeed be ranked 
 
 * For example, when Don Quixote speaks of the achieve- 
 ments of the old knights, he always uses the antiquated expres- 
 sion: Las fazaiias que han fecho, instead of hazanas que han 
 hecho. 
 
 f In the original Spanish, the term insula is uniformly 
 employed instead of the common word isla. Sancho probably 
 understood what an isla signified; but an insula was a word which 
 conveyed to his mind the idea of something magical and extra- 
 ordinary. He accordingly takes a great pleasure in emphatically 
 repeating it. 
 
 VOL. I. Z
 
 338 
 
 among the number of these essential episodes; but the 
 charming story of the shepherdess Marcella, the history 
 of Dorothea, and the history of the rich Camacho and 
 the poor Basilio, are unquestionably connected with the 
 interest of the whole. These serious romantic parts, 
 which are not, it is true, essential to the historical con- 
 nection, but strictly belong to the characteristic dignity 
 of the whole picture, also prove how far Cervantes was 
 from the idea usually attributed to him of writing a 
 book merely to excite laughter. The passages which 
 common readers feel inclined to pass over, are, in general, 
 precisely those in which Cervantes has shewn himself 
 more a poet, and for which he has manifested an evident 
 predilection. On such occasions he also introduces 
 among his prose, episodical verses, which are for the most 
 part excellent in their kind, and which no translator can 
 omit without doing violence to the spirit of the original. 
 Were it not for the happy art with which Cer- 
 vantes has contrived to preserve an intermediate tone 
 between pure poetry and prose, Don Quixote would 
 not deserve to be cited as the first classic model of the 
 modern romance or novel. It is, however, fully en- 
 titled to that distinction. Cervantes was the first 
 writer who formed the genuine romance of modern 
 times on the model of the original chivalrous romance, 
 that equivocal creation of the genius and the barbarous 
 taste of the middle ages. The result has proved that 
 modern taste, however readily it may in other respects 
 conform to the rules of the antique, nevertheless re- 
 quires in the narration of fictitious events, a certain 
 union of poetry with prose which was unknown to the
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 339 
 
 Greeks and Romans in their best literary ages. It was 
 only necessary to seize on the right tone, but that was 
 a point of delicacy which the inventors of romances 
 of chivalry were not able to comprehend. Diego de 
 Mendoza, in his Lazarillo de Tonnes, departed too far 
 from poetry. Cervantes, in his Don Quixote, restored 
 to the poetic art the place it was entitled to hold in 
 this class of writing: and he must not be blamed if 
 cultivated nations have subsequently mistaken the true 
 spirit of his work, because their own novelists had led 
 them to regard common prose as the style peculiarly 
 suited to romance composition. Don Quixote is more- 
 over the undoubted prototype of the comic novel. The 
 humorous situations are, it is true, almost all bur- 
 lesque, which was certainly not necessary, but the 
 satire is frequently so delicate, that it escapes rather 
 than obtrudes on unpractised attention ; as for example 
 in the whole picture of the administration of Sancho 
 Panza in his imaginary island. Besides, the language 
 even in the description of the most burlesque situ- 
 ations, never degenerates into vulgarity. Throughout 
 the whole work it is in general noble, correct, and so 
 highly polished, that it would not disgrace even an 
 ancient classic of the first rank.* This explanation 
 
 * As one specimen out of many, it will be sufficient to quote 
 the speech of the shepherdess Marcella. It is in the true prose 
 style of Cicero, and it is altogether a composition which has seldom 
 been equalled in any modern language: 
 
 Hizome el Cielo, segim vosotros dezis, hermosa, y de tal manera, 
 que sin ser poderosos a otra cosa, a que me ameys os mueve mi 
 hermosura. Y por al amor que me mostrays, dezis, y aun quereys 
 
 z 2
 
 340 HISTORY OF 
 
 of a part of the merits of a work, which has been so 
 often wrongly judged, may, perhaps, seem to belong 
 rather to the eulogist than the calm and impartial 
 historian. Let those who may be inclined to form 
 this opinion, study Don Quixote in the original lan- 
 guage, and study it rightly, for it is not a book to be 
 judged by a superficial perusal. But care must be 
 taken that the intervention of many subordinate traits, 
 which were intended to have only a transient national 
 interest, does not produce an error in the estimate of 
 the whole. 
 
 It would be scarcely possible to arrange the other 
 works of Cervantes according to a critical judgment 
 of their importance; for the merits of some consist in 
 the admirable finish of the whole, while others exhibit 
 the impress of genius in the invention, or some other 
 individual feature. A distinguished place must, how- 
 ever, be assigned to the Novelets Exemplar es (Moral 
 
 que este yo obligada a amaros. Yo conozco con el natural entendi- 
 uiiento, que Dios me ha dado, que todo lo hermoso es amable, mas 
 no alcan9o, que por razon de ser amado, este obligado lo que es 
 amado por hermoso, a amar a quien le ama. Y mas que podria 
 acontecer, que el ainador de lo Ijermoso fuesse feo; y siendo lo feo 
 digno de ser aborrecido, ode muy mal el dezir: Quierote por her- 
 mosa, hasme de amar, aunque sea feo. Pero puesto caso que corran 
 igualmente las hermosuras, no por esso han de correr iguales los 
 desseos ; que no todas las hermosiiras enamoran, que algunas alegran 
 la vista, y no riuden la voluntad: que si todas las bellezas enamo- 
 rassen, y rindiessen : seria un andar las voluntades confusas, y 
 descaminadas, sin saber en qual avian de parar; porque siendo 
 infinites los Sujetos hermosos, infinites avian de ser los desseos: y 
 segun yo he oydo dezir, el verdadero Amor no se divide, y ha de ser 
 voluntario, y no
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 341 
 
 or Instructive Tales.) They are unequal in merit as 
 well as in character. Cervantes, doubtless, intended 
 that they should be to the Spaniards nearly what the 
 novels of Boccacio were to the Italians: some are 
 mere anecdotes, some are romances in miniature, some 
 are serious, some comic, and all are written in a light, 
 smooth, conversational style. With regard to the 
 practical knowledge which these novels are intended 
 to convey to the reader, Cervantes has effected more 
 than Boccacio; and at all events he extended the 
 literature of his country by their publication, for 
 no similar compositions had previously existed in the 
 Spanish language. In them Cervantes has again 
 proved himself the experienced judge of mankind, 
 and has given, with admirable success, truly genuine 
 and judicious representations of nature, in the va- 
 rious situations of real life. The reader must natu- 
 rally feel inclined to pardon the want of plan which 
 this little collection of novels occasionally exhibits, 
 when he finds that the author through the medium 
 of his characters relates and describes all that he had 
 himself seen and experienced under similar circum- 
 stances, particularly during his abode in Italy and 
 Africa. The history of the Licenciado Vidriera, (the 
 Glass Licentiate) which is the fifth in the collection, 
 is totally destitute of plan, and is related in simple 
 prose like a common anecdote. But the novel of La 
 Gitanilla, (the Gipsey Girl) is ingeniously conceived 
 and poetically coloured; and the same may be said 
 of some others. The story of Rinconete y Cortadilla, 
 or the Lurker and the Cutter, as the names with refer-
 
 342 HISTORY OF 
 
 ence to their etymology may be translated,* is a comic 
 romance in miniature. 
 
 Galatea, the pastoral romance which Cervantes 
 wrote in his youth, is a happy imitation of the Diana 
 of Montemayor, but exhibiting a still closer resem- 
 blance to Gil Polo's continuation of that poem.f 
 Next to Don Quixote and the Novelas Exemplares, 
 this pastoral romance is particularly worthy of atten- 
 tion, as it manifests in a striking way the poetic 
 direction in which the genius of Cervantes moved even 
 at an early period of life, and from which he never 
 entirely departed in his subsequent writings. As, 
 however, the Galatea possesses but little originality, it 
 constantly excites the recollection of its models, and 
 particularly of the Diana of Gil Polo. Of the invention 
 of the fable likewise, but little can be said, for though 
 the story is continued through six books, it is still 
 incomplete. In composing this pastoral romance, Cer- 
 vantes seems to have had no other object than to 
 clothe in the popular garb of a tale, a rich collection 
 of poems in the old Spanish and Italian styles, which 
 he could not have presented to the public under a more 
 agreeable form. The story is merely the thread which 
 holds the beautiful garland together; for the poems are 
 
 * From rincon (a corner), and cortar (to shorten or cut). They 
 are merely two humorous names for pick-pockets or purse-cutters. 
 To those who wish to become acquainted with the Novelas Exetn- 
 plares, I would recommend the edition published at Madrid in 
 1783, by Anton io Sancha,- which as far as I know is the latest. 
 
 f A new and elegant edition of the Galatea was printed at 
 Madrid in 1784, by Antonio Sancha.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 343 
 
 the portion of the work most particularly deserving 
 attention. They are as numerous as they are various: 
 and should the title of Cervantes to rank, with respect 
 to verse as well as to prose, among the most eminent 
 poets, or his originality in versified composition, be 
 called in question, an attentive perusal of the romance 
 of Galatea must banish every doubt on these points. 
 It was remarked by the contemporaries of Cervantes 
 that he was incapable of writing poetry, and that he 
 could compose only beautiful prose; but that obser- 
 vation had reference solely to his dramatic works. 
 Every critic, sufficiently acquainted with his lyrical 
 compositions, has rendered justice to their merits. 
 From the romance of Galatea it is obvious that Cer- 
 vantes composed in all the various kinds of syllabic 
 measure which were used in his time. He even oc- 
 casionally adopted the old dactylic stanza.* He 
 appears to have experienced some difficulty in the 
 metrical form of the sonnet, and his essays in that 
 style are by no means numerous;! but his poems in 
 
 * The following is a specimen of Cervantes's Versos de Arte 
 Mayor : 
 
 Salid de lo hondo pecho cuitado 
 Palabras sangrientas con muerte mezcladas, 
 Y si los suspiros os tienen atadas, 
 Abrid y romped el siniestro costado: 
 El aire os empide que esta ya inflamado 
 Del fiero veneno de vuestros acentos, 
 Salid, y si quiera os lleven los vientos, 
 Que todo mi bien tambien ban llevado. 
 
 f The subjoined extract will shew that Cervantes endeavoured to 
 combine in his sonnets the old Spanish style with that of Petrarch.
 
 344 HISTORY OF 
 
 Italian octaves display the utmost facility; and among 
 the number, the song of Calliope in the last book 
 of the Galatea is remarkable for the graceful ease of 
 the versification.* In the same manner as Gil Polo 
 
 Ligeras horas del ligero tiempo 
 Para mi perezosas y cansadas, 
 Si no estais en mi dafio conjuradas, 
 Parezcaos ya que es de acabarme tiempo. 
 
 Si agora me acabais, hareislo a tiempo 
 Que estan mis desventuras mas colmadas, 
 Mirad que menguaran, si sois pesadas, 
 Que el mal se acaba, si da tiempo al tiempo. 
 
 No os pido que vengais dulces sabrosas, 
 Pues no hallareis camino, senda, 6 paso 
 De reducerme al ser que ya he perdido. 
 
 Horas a qualquier otro venturosas, 
 Aquella dulce del mortal traspaso, 
 Aquella de mi muerte sola os pido. 
 
 * It commences with the following sonorous stanzas :- 
 
 Al dulce son de mi templada lira 
 Prestad, pastores, el oido atento. 
 Oireis como en mi voz y en el respira 
 De mis hermanas el sagrado aliento : 
 Vereis como os suspende y os admira, 
 Y colma vuestras almas de contento, 
 Quando os de relacion aqui en el suelo 
 De los ingenios que ya son del cielo. 
 
 Pienso canta de aquellos solamente 
 Aquien la parca el hilo aun no ha cortado. 
 De aquellos que son dignos justamente 
 De en tal lugar tenerle senalado : 
 Donde a pesar del tiempo diligente, 
 Por el laudable oficio acustumbrado 
 Vuestro vivan mil siglos sus renombres, 
 Sus claras obras, sus famosos nombres.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 345 
 
 in his Diana makes the river Turia pronounce the 
 praises of the celebrated Valencians, the poetic fancy 
 of Cervantes summoned the muse Calliope before the 
 shepherds and sheperdesses, to render solemn homage 
 to those contemporaries whom he esteemed worthy of 
 distinction as poets. But the critic can scarcely ven- 
 ture to place reliance on praises which are dealt out 
 with such profuse liberality. The most beautiful poems 
 in the Galatea are a few in the cancion style, some 
 of which are in iambics,* and some in trochaic or old 
 Spanish verse.f Cervantes has here and there in- 
 
 * For examples 
 
 O alma venturosa, 
 Que del humano velo 
 Libre al alta region viva volaste, 
 Dexando en tenebrosa 
 Carcel de desconsuelo 
 Mi vida, aunque contigo la llevaste ! 
 Sin ti, escura dcxaste 
 La luz clara del dia, 
 Por tierra derribada 
 La esperanza fundada 
 En al mas firme asiento de alegria: 
 En fin con tu partida t 
 
 Quedo vivo el dolor, muerta la vida. 
 
 f Agora que calla el viento, 
 Y el soseogar esta en calma, 
 No se calle mi tormento, 
 Saiga con la voz el alma 
 Para mayor sentimiento ; 
 Que para contar mis males, 
 Mostrando en parte que son 
 Por fuerza, ban de dar senates 
 El alma, y el corazon 
 De vivas ansias mortales.
 
 346 HISTORY OF 
 
 dulged in those antiquated and fantastic plays of wit, 
 which at a subsequent period he himself ridiculed.* 
 The prose of the Galatea, which is in other respects 
 so beautiful, is also occasionally overloaded with a sort 
 of epithetical ostentation.f 
 
 Cervantes displays a totally different kind of poetic 
 talent in the Vlage al Parnaso, (Journey to Parnas- 
 sus) a work which cannot properly be ranked in any 
 particular class of literary composition, but which, next 
 to Don Quixote, is the most exquisite production of its 
 extraordinary author. The chief object of the poem is 
 to satirize the false pretenders to the honours of the 
 Spanish Parnassus, who lived in the age of the author. 
 But this satire is of a peculiar character: it is a most 
 happy effusion of sportive humour, and it yet remains a 
 matter of doubt whether Cervantes intended to praise 
 or to ridicule the individuals whom he points out as 
 being particularly worthy of the favour of Apollo. He 
 himself says " Those whose names do not appear in 
 this list, may be just as well pleased as those who are 
 mentioned in it." To characterize true poetry accord- 
 ing to his own poetic feelings; to manifest in a decided 
 way his enthusiasm for the art even in his old age; and 
 
 * For example: 
 
 Con tantas^rwtas afirmas 
 
 El amor que esta en tu pecho, &c. 
 
 And these antiquated expressions are sometimes combined with 
 fantastical ideas. 
 
 f For example : Mastines fieles, guardadores de las simples 
 ovejuelas, que debaxo de su amparo estan seguras de los carniceros 
 dientes de los hambrientos lobos.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 34? 
 
 to hold up a mirror for the conviction of those who 
 were only capable of making rhymes and inventing 
 extravagances, seem to have been the objects which 
 Cervantes had principally in view when he composed 
 this satirical poem. Concealed satire, open jesting, and 
 ardent enthusiasm for the beautiful, are the boldly 
 combined elements of this noble work. It is divided 
 into eight chapters, and the versification is in tercets. 
 The composition is half comic and half serious. After 
 many humorous incidents, Mercury appears to Cervantes, 
 who is represented as travelling to Parnassus in the 
 most miserable condition; and the god salutes him 
 with the title of the " Adam of poets."* Mercury 
 after addressing to him many flattering compliments, 
 conducts him to a ship entirely built of different kinds 
 of verse, and which is intended to convey a cargo of 
 Spanish poets to the kingdom of Apollo. The de- 
 scription of the ship is an admirable comic allegory.f 
 
 * Mercury thus accosts him : 
 
 O Adan de poetas, o Cervantes ! 
 Que alforjas y que trage es este, o amigo ? 
 f De la quilla a la gavia, 6 estrafia cosa ! 
 
 Toda de versos era fabricada, 
 
 Sin que se entremetiesa alguna prosa* 
 Las ballesteras eran de ensalada 
 
 De glosas, todas hechas a la boda 
 
 De la que se llatno Malmaridada. 
 Era la chusma de romances toda, 
 
 Gente atrevida, empero necesaria, 
 
 Pues d todas acciones se acomoda. 
 La popa de materia extraordinaria, 
 
 Bastarda, y de legitimos sonetos, 
 
 De labor peregrina en todo y varia.
 
 348 HISTORY OF 
 
 Mercury shews him a list of the poets with whom 
 Apollo wishes to become acquainted; and this list, 
 owing to the problematic nature of its half ironical and 
 half serious praises, has proved a stumbling block to 
 commentators. In the midst of the reading Cervantes 
 suddenly drops the list. The poets are now described 
 as crowding on board the ship in numbers as countless as 
 drops of rain in a shower, or grains of sand on the sea 
 coast; and such a tumult ensues, that to save the ship 
 from sinking by their pressure, the sirens raise a furious 
 storm. The flights of imagination become more wild 
 as the story advances. The storm subsides, and is suc- 
 ceeded by a shower of poets, that is to say, poets fall 
 from the clouds. One of the first who descends on 
 the ship is Lope de Vega, on whom Cervantes seizes 
 this opportunity of pronouncing a pompous eulogium. 
 The remainder of the poem, a complete analysis of 
 which would occupy too much space, proceeds in the 
 same spirit. One of the most beautiful pieces of verse 
 ever written by Cervantes, is his description of the 
 goddess Poesy, whom he sees in all her glory in the 
 kingdom of Apollo.* To this fine picture the portrait 
 
 Eran dos valentisimos tercetos 
 
 Los espaldares de la izquierda y diestra, 
 Para dar boga larga muy perfetos. 
 
 Hecha ser la crugia se me muestra 
 
 De una luenga y tristisima elegia, 
 Que no en cantar, sino en llorar es diestra. 
 * A portion of this masterly description may be quoted here. 
 
 Bien asi semejaba, que se ofrece 
 
 Eutre liquidas perlas y entre rosas 
 La aurora que despunta y amanece.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 349 
 
 of the goddess Vain-Glory, who afterwards appears to 
 the author in a dream, forms an excellent companion.* 
 Among the passages which for burlesque humour vie 
 
 La rica vestidura, las preciosas 
 
 Joyyas que la adornaban, competian 
 
 Con las que suelen ser mirabillosas. 
 Las ninfas que al querer suyo asistian 
 
 En el gallardo brio y bello aspecto, 
 
 Las artes liberales parecian. 
 Todas con amoroso y tierno afecto, 
 
 Con las ciencias mas claras y escogidas, 
 
 Le guardaban santisimo respeto. 
 Mostraban que en servirla eran servidas, 
 
 Y que por su ocasion de todas gentes 
 
 En mas veneracion eran tenidas. 
 Su influjo y su reflujo las corrientes 
 
 Del mar y su profundo le mostraban, 
 
 Y el ser padre de rios y de fuentes. 
 Las yerbas su virtud la presentaban, 
 
 Los arboles sus frutos y sus flores, 
 
 Las piedras el valor que en si encerraban. 
 
 * The following is a passage from the description of Vana- 
 gloria. 
 
 En un trono del suelo levantado, 
 
 (Do el arte a la materia se adelanta 
 Puesto que de oro y de marfil labrado) 
 
 Una doncella vl desde la planta 
 
 Del pie hasta la cabeza asi adornada, 
 Que el verla admira, y el oirla encanta. 
 
 Estaba en el con magestad sentada, 
 Giganta al parecer en la estatura, 
 Pero aunque giande, bien proporcionada. 
 
 Parecia mayor su hermosura 
 
 Mirada desde lejos, y no tanto 
 
 Si de cerca se ve su compostura, &c.
 
 350 HISTORY OF 
 
 with Don Quixote is the description of a second storm, 
 in which Neptune vainly endeavours to plunge the 
 poetasters to the bottom of the deep. Venus prevents 
 them from sinking, by changing them into empty 
 gourds and leather bottles.* At length a formal battle 
 is fought between the real poets and some of the 
 poetasters. The poem is throughout interspersed with 
 singularly witty and beautiful ideas; and only a very 
 few passages can be charged with feebleness or langour. 
 It has never been equalled, far less surpassed by any 
 similar work, and it had no prototype. The language 
 is classical throughout; and it is only to be regretted, 
 that Cervantes has added to the poem a comic supple- 
 ment in prose, in which he indulges a little too freely 
 in self-praise. 
 
 The dramatic compositions of Cervantes, were they 
 all extant, would be the most voluminous, though, cer- 
 tainly, not the best portion of his works. Perhaps 
 
 * Turbose en esto el liquido elemento, 
 De nuevo renovose la tormenta, 
 Soplo mas vivo y mas apriesa el viento. 
 
 La hambrienta mesnada, y no sedienta, 
 Se rinde al uracan recien venido, 
 Y por mas no penar muere contenta. 
 
 O raro caso y por jamas oido, 
 
 Ni visto! 6 nuevas y admirables trazas 
 De la gran reina obedecida en Guido ! 
 
 En un instante el mar de calabazas 
 
 Se vio quajado, algunas tan potentes, 
 Que pasaban de dos, y aun de tres brazas. 
 
 Tambien hinchados odres y valientes, 
 
 Sin deshacer del mar la blanca espuma, 
 Nadaban de mil talles diferentes, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 351 
 
 those which are now lost may yet be recovered; for a 
 fortunate accident brought to light two dramas, which 
 had remained concealed in manuscript till near the end 
 of the eighteenth century.* Cervantes includes some 
 of his dramas among those productions with which he 
 was himself most satisfied; and he seems to have 
 regarded them with the greater self-complacency in 
 proportion as they experienced the neglect of the 
 public.f This conduct has sometimes been attributed 
 to a spirit of contradiction, and sometimes to vanity. 
 The editor of the eight plays (chiefly heroic) and eight 
 interludes, which were the last dramatic productions of 
 Cervantes, has adopted the absurd notion, that Cer- 
 vantes in writing these pieces, intended to parody and 
 ridicule the style of Lope de Vega;:}: which is merely 
 saying that he attacked the whole literary public of 
 
 /;-i.i! .X.I "jiri* .iL-i:^ -J-i.-,' i--V 
 
 * These two dramas, the tragedy of Nunaancia and the comedy 
 of El Trato de Argel, were first printed in an appendix to the 
 new edition of the Viage al Pamaso, published at Madrid by Don 
 Antonio Sancha, in the year 1784. 
 
 f In the supplement to the Viage al Parnaso, Cervantes par- 
 ticularly mentions his nine dramas in terms of the most decided 
 self-satisfaction. *' If they were not my own, (he says) I should 
 declare that they merit all the praise they have obtained," He 
 alludes with particular complacency to his comedy, entitled, La 
 Confusa, which he styles a good one among the best. But La 
 Confusa, as well as the others which Cervantes praises, is lost. 
 Among the eight which are known, La Gran Sultana seems to be 
 that which Cervantes mentions under the title of La Gran Tur- 
 quesca. 
 
 J See the first preface to the Comedias y Entremeses de 
 Miguel de Cervantes, published by Bias Nasarre, Madrid, 1749, 
 2 vols. 4to.
 
 352! HISTORY OF 
 
 Spain in the most discourteous way. No traces of 
 parody appear in any of those dramas. They are, 
 however, with the exception of a few successful scenes, 
 so dull and tedious, that one might be inclined to re- 
 gard them as counterfeit productions by another author, 
 were it not that their authenticity seems to be suffi- 
 ciently proved. The little interludes alone exhibit bur- 
 lesque humour and dramatic spirit. That the pene- 
 trating and profound Cervantes should have so mistaken 
 the limits of his dramatic talent, would not be suffi- 
 ciently accounted for even by his vanity, had he not 
 unquestionably proved by his tragedy of Numantia how 
 pardonable was the self-deception of which he could 
 not divest himself. Cervantes was entitled to consider 
 himself endowed with a genius for dramatic poetry. 
 But he could not preserve his independence in the con- 
 flict he had to maintain with the conditions required 
 by the Spanish public in dramatic composition; and 
 when he sacrificed his independence, and submitted to 
 rules imposed by others, his invention and language 
 were reduced to the level of a poet of inferior talent. 
 The intrigues, adventures, and surprises which in that 
 age characterized the Spanish drama, were ill suited to 
 the genius of Cervantes. His natural style was too 
 profound and precise to be reconciled to fantastical 
 ideas, expressed in irregular verse. But he was Spa- 
 niard enough to be gratified with dramas, which, as a 
 poet, he could not imitate; and he imagined himself 
 capable of imitating them, because he would have shone 
 in another species of dramatic composition, had the 
 public taste accommodated itself to his genius.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 353 
 
 With all its imperfections and faults, Cervantes's 
 tragedy of Numantia is a noble production, and, like 
 Don Quixote, it is unparalleled in the class of literature 
 to which it belongs. It proves that under different 
 circumstances the author of Don Quixote might have 
 been the ^Eschylus of Spain. The conception is in 
 the style of the boldest pathos, and the execution, at 
 least taken as a whole, is vigorous and dignified. The 
 ancient Roman History from which Cervantes selected 
 the story of the destruction of Numantia, afforded but 
 few positive facts of which he could avail himself in 
 his heroic tragedy. He therefore invented along with 
 the subject of his piece a peculiar style of tragic com- 
 position, in doing which he did not pay much regard 
 to the theory of Aristotle. His object was to produce 
 a piece full of tragic situations, combined with the 
 charm of the marvellous. The tragedy is written in 
 conformity with no rules save those which Cervantes 
 prescribed to himself; for he felt no inclination to imi- 
 tate the Greek forms. The play is divided into four 
 acts (jornadas), and no chorus is introduced. The 
 dialogue is sometimes in tercets, and sometimes in re- 
 dondillas, and for the most part in octaves, without any 
 regard to rule. The diction does not maintain equal 
 dignity throughout; but it is in no instance affected or 
 bombastic. Cervantes has evinced admirable skill in 
 gradually heightening the tragic interest to the close of 
 the piece. The commencement is, however, somewhat 
 cold and tedious. Scipio appears with his generals in 
 the Roman camp before Numantia. In a speech which 
 might have been improved by abridgment, he repri- 
 VOL. i. 2 A
 
 354 HISTORY OF 
 
 mands his troops, whose spirit has begun to give way 
 to effeminacy. The soldiers are re-inspired with cou- 
 rage. Numantian ambassadors enter with proposals 
 for peace, which are rejected. It is here that the 
 tragedy properly begins. Spain appears as an alle- 
 gorical character, and she summons the river Duero, 
 or Durius, on whose banks Numantia stands. The old 
 river god appears, attended by a retinue of the deities 
 of the smaller rivers of the surrounding country. 
 These ideal characters consult the book of fate, and 
 discover that Numantia cannot be saved. Whatever 
 may be said against the bold idea of endeavouring to 
 augment the tragic pathos by means of allegorical 
 characters, it must be acknowledged that in this case 
 the result of the experiment is not altogether unsuc- 
 cessful, and Cervantes justly prides himself in the 
 novelty of the idea. The scene is now transferred to 
 Numantia. The senate is assembled to deliberate on 
 the affairs of the city, and among the members the 
 character of Theagenes shines with conspicuous lustre. 
 Bold resolutions are adopted by the senate. The tran- 
 sition into light redondillas, for the purpose of inter- 
 weaving with the serious business of the fable, the 
 loves of a young Numantian named Morandro, and his 
 mistress, is certainly a fault in the composition of the 
 tragedy. But to this fault we are indebted for some of 
 the finest scenes in the following act. A solemn sacri- 
 fice is prepared; but amidst the ceremony an evil spirit 
 appears, seizes the victim, and extinguishes the fire. 
 The confusion in the town increases. A dead man is 
 resuscitated by magic, and the scene in which this
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 355 
 
 incident occurs has a most imposing effect.* All hope 
 has now vanished. . After the return of a second 
 unsuccessful embassy, the Numantians, by the ad- 
 vice of Theagenes, resolve to burn all their valuable 
 property, then to put their wives and children to 
 death, and lastly to throw themselves in the flames, 
 lest any of the inhabitants of the town should be- 
 come the slaves of the Romans. Scenes of the most 
 heart-rending domestic misery, and the noblest traits 
 of patriotism then ensue.t Famine rages in Numan- 
 
 * The departed spirit which is conjured back to the dead body, 
 delivers the following terrific address. 
 
 Cese la furia del rigor violento, 
 
 Tuyo, Marquino, baste, triste, baste 
 
 La que yo paso en la region escura, 
 
 Sin que tu crezcas mas mi desventura. 
 
 Enganaste, si piensas que recibo 
 
 Contento de volver a esta penosa, 
 
 Misera y corta vida, que aora vivo, 
 
 Que yo me va faltando presurosa; 
 
 Antes me causas un dolor esquivo, 
 
 Pues otra vez la muerte rigurosa 
 
 Triunfara de mi vida y de mi alma, 
 
 Mi enemigo tendra doblada palma; &c. 
 
 f One of the Numantian women, for example, addresses the 
 following speech to the senators : 
 
 Basta que la hambre insana 
 
 Os acabe con dolor, 
 
 Sin esperar el rigor 
 
 De la aspereza Romana. 
 
 Decildes que os engendraron 
 
 Libres, y libres nacistes, 
 
 Y que vuestras madres tristes 
 
 Tambien libres os criaron. 
 2 A 2
 
 356 HISTORY OF 
 
 tia.* Morandro, accompanied by one of his friends, ven- 
 tures to enter the roman camp. He returns with a piece 
 of bread smeared with blood, and, presenting it to his 
 famished mistress, falls at her feet mortally wounded.t 
 
 Decildes que pues la suerte 
 Nuestra va tan de caida, 
 Que como os dieron la vida, 
 Ansi inismo os den la muerte. 
 O muros desta ciudad, 
 Si podeis hablad, decid, 
 Y mil veces repetid : 
 Numantinos, libertad ! 
 
 * A mother enters with her two starving children. She carries 
 one at the breast, and the other whom she leads by the hand, thus 
 addresses her: 
 
 Hijo. Madre, por ventura habria 
 
 Quien nos diese pan por esto ? 
 Madre. Pan, hijo, ni ami otra cosa 
 
 Que semeje de comer! 
 Hijo. Pues tengo de parecer 
 
 De dura hambre rabiosa? 
 Con poco pan que me deis, 
 Madre, no os pedir6 mas. 
 Madre. Hijo, que penas me das! 
 Hijo. Pues que, madre, no quereis? &c. 
 t Morandro. Ves aqui, Lira, cumplida 
 Mi palabra y mis porfias 
 De que tu no moririas 
 Mientras yo tuviese vida. 
 Y aun podr mejor decir 
 Que presto vendras a ver 
 Que a ti sobrara el comer, 
 Y a mi faltara el vivir. 
 Lira. Que" dices, Morandro amado ? 
 
 Morandro. Lira, que acortes la hambre, 
 Entretanto que la estambre
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 357 
 
 The action proceeds with unabated interest to the end. 
 An allegorical character of Fame enters at the close of 
 the piece, and announces the future glory of Spain. 
 
 Allegorical characters, for instance, Necessity and 
 Opportunity, likewise appear in Cervantes's comedy, 
 El Trato de Argel (Life in Algiers, or Manners in 
 Algiers). But their introduction amidst scenes of com- 
 mon life injures the story, which is besides by no means 
 ingenious, and imparts a cold and whimsical character 
 to the piece. This comedy, however, which is divided 
 into five acts, is not destitute of interest and spirit. 
 
 The romance of Persiles and Sigismunda, which 
 Cervantes finished shortly before his death, must be 
 regarded as an interesting appendix to his other works.* 
 The language and the whole composition of the story, 
 exhibit the purest simplicity, combined with singular 
 precision and polish. The idea of this romance was 
 not new, and scarcely deserved to be reproduced in a 
 new manner. But it appears that Cervantes at the 
 close of his glorious career took a fancy to imitate 
 Heliodorus. He has maintained the interest of the 
 situations, but the whole work is merely a roman- 
 tic description of travels, rich enough in frightful 
 
 De mi vida corta el hado. 
 
 Pero mi sangre vertida 
 
 Y con este pan mezclada, 
 
 Te ha de dar, mi dulce amada, 
 
 Triste y amarga comida. 
 
 * A new and elegant edition of the Trabajos de Persiles y 
 Sigismunda, was published at Madrid in 1781, by Don Antonio de 
 Sancha, in 2 vols.
 
 358 HISTORY OF 
 
 adventures, both by sea and land. Real and fabulous 
 geography and history are mixed together in an absurd 
 and monstrous manner; and the second half of the ro- 
 mance, in which the scene is transferred to Spain and 
 Italy, does not exactly harmonize with the spirit of the 
 first half. 
 
 If we cast a glance on the collected works of Cer- 
 vantes, in order to ascertain what their author was 
 entitled to claim as his original property, independently 
 of his contemporaries and predecessors, we shall find that 
 the genius of that poet, who is in general only partially 
 estimated, shines with the brighter lustre the longer it 
 is contemplated. That kind of criticism which is to be 
 learnt, contributed but little to the developement and 
 formation of his genius. A critical tact, which is a 
 truer guide than any rule, but which abandons genius 
 when it forgets itself, secured the fancy of Cervantes 
 against the aberrations of common minds, and his 
 sportive wit was always subject to the control of solid 
 judgment. The vanity which occasionally made him 
 mistake the true bent of his talent, must be confessed 
 to have been pardonable, considering how little he was 
 known to his contemporaries. He did not even know 
 himself, though he felt the consciousness of his genius. 
 From the mental height to which he had raised himself, 
 he might, without too highly rating his own abilities, 
 look down on all the writers of his age. More than one 
 poet of great, of immortal genius, might be placed beside 
 him in his own country; but of all the Spanish poets 
 Cervantes alone belongs to the whole world.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 359 
 
 LOPE DE VEGA. 
 
 Lope Felix de Vega Carpio, the rival and con- 
 queror of Cervantes in the conflict of dramatic art, 
 was born at Madrid, in the year 1562. He was con- 
 sequently fifteen years younger than Cervantes. Mar- 
 vellous stories are related respecting the early develope- 
 ment of his poetic genius and his talent for composing 
 verses. Though his parents were not rich, yet he 
 received a literary education; and he is also said to 
 have distinguished himself in corporeal exercises. He 
 lost his parents before he was old enough to attend 
 the university; but through the assistance of Don 
 Geronymo Manrique, the grand inquisitor, and Bishop of 
 Avila, who was much attached to him, he was enabled 
 to complete a course of philosophy at Alcala. After 
 obtaining his degree at that university, he returned to 
 Madrid, where he became secretary to the Duke of Alba. 
 He shortly afterwards married; and from this period, 
 which seemed to promise a career of tranquil happiness, 
 the stormy vicissitudes of his life commenced. He 
 became engaged in a quarrel, fought a duel, wounded 
 his antagonist dangerously, and was obliged to fly. 
 For several years he lived an exile from Madrid; and 
 on his return his wife unfortunately died. Harrassed 
 by this series of calamities, and being as warm a patriot 
 as he was a sincere catholic, he entered into one of the 
 military corps which were embarked on board the invin- 
 cible armada for the invasion of England. Though he 
 himself returned in safety to Madrid, yet he was deeply 
 grieved at the ill success of the armada. His vigorous
 
 360 HISTORY OF 
 
 constitution, however, enabled him to keep up his spi- 
 rits; he again became a secretary, once more entered into 
 the married state, and passed some time in uninterrupted 
 domestic happiness. On the death of his second wife, 
 who survived her marriage only a few years, he resolved 
 to forego the pleasures of the world, and for that pur- 
 pose took holy orders. He did not, however, retire to a 
 convent; but he devoted himself wholly to the study of 
 poetry, to that study, which from childhood upwards, 
 had principally engrossed his mind, and in the active 
 prosecution of which he produced so extraordinary a 
 result, that it is difficult to conceive how any man could 
 even during the most protracted existence, write as 
 much as Lope de Vega: and yet he spent a part of his 
 life in civil business, and in the discharge of military 
 duties. He composed in aU the various kinds of verse 
 which were in use in his time; and he succeeded in all. 
 But his dramas in particular were received with an 
 enthusiasm which the labours of no other Spanish 
 poet had ever excited. He so precisely struck the 
 chord which harmonized with the taste of the Spanish 
 public, that he has been worshipped as the inventor of 
 the national comedy, though he only pursued the tract 
 which Torres Naharro originally opened. 
 
 Lope de Vega's fertility of invention is as un- 
 paralleled in the history of poetry, as the talent which 
 enabled him to compose regular and well constructed 
 verses with as much facility as if he had been writing 
 prose. Cervantes styles him el monstruo de naturaleza, 
 (the prodigy of nature) and this name was not given 
 him merely in levity. He was constrained by no rules
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 3()I 
 
 of criticism; not that he was ignorant of the theory 
 of the ancient poetry, but he took delight in letting 
 his verses flow freely from his pen, confident in the 
 success of whatever he might produce. The public, 
 he observed, paid for the drama, and he thought it but 
 fair that those who paid should be served with that 
 which suited their taste. Lope de Vega required no 
 more than four-and-twenty hours to write a versified 
 drama of three acts in redondillas, interspersed with 
 sonnets, tercets and octaves, and from beginning to 
 end abounding in intrigues, prodigies, or interesting 
 situations. This astonishing facility enabled him to 
 supply the Spanish theatre with upwards of two 
 thousand original dramas, of which not more than 
 three hundred have been preserved by printing. In 
 general the theatrical manager carried away what he 
 wrote before he had even time to revise it; and im- 
 mediately a fresh applicant would arrive to prevail on 
 him to commence a new piece. He sometimes wrote 
 a play in the short space of three or four hours. The 
 profits which the theatrical managers derived from the 
 writings of Lope de Vega, enabled them to bestow 
 such liberal payment on the author, that at one time 
 he is supposed to have been possessed of upwards of a 
 hundred thousand ducats. But he did not long pre- 
 serve his fortune, though from the commencement of 
 his celebrity he always possessed enough to enable him 
 to live with comfort. His purse was ever open to the 
 poor of Madrid. 
 
 But Lope de Vega's poetic talent procured him 
 even more glory than gain. No Spanish poet was ever
 
 362 HISTORY OF 
 
 so much honoured during his life. The nobility and 
 the public vied in expressing then 1 admiration of him. 
 He was chosen president (capettan mayor) of the 
 spiritual college of Madrid, of which he had previ- 
 ously been admitted as a member. Pope Urban VIII. 
 sent him the cross of Malta, and the degree of doctor 
 of theology, accompanied by a flattering letter. The 
 pope also appointed him fiscal of the apostolic chamber. 
 For these distinctions Lope de Vega was not indebted 
 merely to his poetic talents. No Spanish poet of cele- 
 brity had hitherto manifested in his writings such 
 enthusiastic interest for the triumph of the catholic 
 religion. He was accordingly appointed familiar to the 
 inquisition, a post which was at that period regarded 
 as singularly honourable. But the Spanish public 
 adopted another mode of expressing their admiration 
 of their favourite dramatist. Whenever Lope de Vega 
 appeared in the streets, he was surrounded by crowds 
 of people, all eager to gain a sight of the prodigy of 
 nature. The boys ran shouting after him, and those 
 who could not keep pace with the rest, stood and gazed 
 on him with wonder as he passed. He died in 1631, 
 in the sixty-third year of his age. His funeral was 
 conducted with princely magnificence. The ceremony 
 was directed by his patron, the Duke of Susa, whom he 
 appointed executor of his will. The music of the high 
 mass which was celebrated at his funeral, was executed 
 by the performers of the chapel royal. During the 
 exequies, which lasted three days, three bishops offi- 
 ciated in their pontifical robes. The memory of the 
 " Spanish Phenix," as he was usually styled by the
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 publishers of his plays, was celebrated with no less 
 pomp in all the theatres of Spain. Arithmetical cal- 
 culations have been employed, in order to arrive at a 
 just estimate of Lope de Vega's facility in poetic com- 
 position. According to his own testimony, he wrote 
 on an average five sheets per day; it has therefore been 
 computed that the number of sheets which he com- 
 posed during his life, must have amounted to one hun- 
 dred and thirty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty- 
 five, and that allowing for the deduction of a small portion 
 of prose, Lope de Vega must have written upwards of 
 twenty-one millions, three hundred thousand verses.* 
 
 Nature would have overstepped her bounds and 
 have produced the miraculous, had Lope de Vega, along 
 with this rapidity of invention and composition, attained 
 perfection in any department of literature. Nature, 
 however, did her utmost for Lope de Vega; for even 
 the rudest, most incorrect, and verbose of his works, 
 are imbued with a poetic spirit which no methodi- 
 cal art can create. This poetic spirit is, at the 
 same time so national and so completely Spanish, that 
 without an intimate acquaintance with the works 
 of other Spanish poets, and particularly those who 
 flourished at an early period, it is impossible to perceive 
 
 * The biographer who wishes to compile in a perfect and 
 authentic way, the life of Lope de Vega, already so often related, 
 must not neglect the collection of elegies and epitaphs, which have 
 been lately printed, along with the hitherto scattered works of the 
 great Spanish dramatist, (Obras Sueltas de Lope de Vega; 
 Madrid, 1776, &c. 21 vols. 4to.) Even Nicolas Antonio, whose 
 manner is so jejune, and who usually dismisses poets with very 
 little ceremony, bestows a long eulogium on Lope de Vega.
 
 364 HISTOHY OF 
 
 Lope de Vega's merits and defects, or to understand their 
 connection with each other. On this account, however, 
 he was in a peculiar manner the poet of the Spanish pub- 
 lic, the favourite of all ranks; and on this account have 
 his writings always been partially or erroneously judged. 
 
 Lope de Vega was born for dramatic poetry. In 
 every other class of composition, he was merely an 
 accurate imitator, or if he struck out a new course, it 
 was in so imperfect a way, that his example was in- 
 jurious to the cause of literature. But as a dramatic 
 poet, if he did not create the Spanish comedy, properly 
 so called, his inexhaustible fancy and the fascinating 
 ease of his animated composition confirmed to it that 
 character which has since distinguished it. All sub- 
 sequent Spanish dramatic poets trod in the footsteps 
 of Lope de Vega, until genius was banished from the 
 sphere it occupied by the introduction of the French 
 taste in Spain. The successors of Lope de Vega 
 merely improved on the models which he had created. 
 He fixed for a century and a half the spirit and the 
 style of nearly all the different kinds of dramatic en- 
 tertainment in Spain. It may therefore be proper to 
 unite with a notice of the dramatic works of Lope 
 de Vega, a sketch of the characteristics of the various 
 species of plays then performed in Span ; and this sketch 
 will at the same time serve as a key to all the pecu- 
 liarities of the Spanish drama. 
 
 Since the age of Lope de Vega, the word comedy 
 (comedia) has had in the dramatic language of Spain 
 a totally different signification from that which was 
 attached to it by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 365 
 
 which it retains in most countries of modem Europe. 
 It is the generic name of several species of drama, 
 some of which, according to our established notions, 
 are neither comedies nor tragedies ; but all of which 
 approximate to one common spirit of invention and 
 execution. The critic will inevitably form an erroneous 
 judgment of these works, if he be guided by notions 
 deduced from the Greek and Roman drama, and which, 
 with certain limitations, are applicable to all dramatic 
 compositions except the Spanish comedy. The spirit of 
 the Spanish comedy must not be sought for in that 
 popular satire, which constitutes the very essence of 
 the ancient and modern comedy, properly so called. 
 The compositions in which it is to be found are of 
 a totally different nature. In them stories of country 
 and city life are clothed in romantic poetic colours, and 
 blended with the interesting inventions of a bold and 
 irregular fancy, without any distinction between the 
 gay and the serious, or the comic and the tragic. In a 
 word, a Spanish comedy is in its principle a dramatic 
 novel; and as there are tragic, comic, historical, and 
 purely imaginative novels, so, in like manner, the 
 Spanish comedy readily adopts those various modes of 
 exciting interest on the stage. In Spanish comedies as 
 in novels, princes and potentates are no more out of 
 place than jockeys and fops; and these dissimilar cha- 
 racters may all be introduced on the stage at once, 
 should the progress of the intrigue require so hetero- 
 geneous an approximation. Satire is therefore merely 
 an agreeable accessary in the Spanish comedy, of whicli 
 the poet may avail himself at his pleasure. In these
 
 366 HISTORY OF 
 
 comedies the powerful delineation of character is no 
 more essential than in novels. Even a motley combi- 
 nation of burlesque and serious, vulgar and pathetic 
 scenes, is not hostile to the spirit of a Spanish comedy, 
 the object of which is not to maintain the interest in a 
 particular direction. The subject of the piece may 
 be a moving or a horrific story; still the picture pre- 
 sented is entertaining, but entertaining in a manner 
 totally different from that kind of comedy which ex- 
 hibits the follies of life in a satirical point of view. A 
 continuance of the pathetic or the horrific would be as 
 little congenial to the spirit of those dramatic novels 
 which the Spaniards call comedies, as a continuance of 
 the ludicrous. In this is manifested the first of the 
 peculiar conditions required by the Spanish public, of 
 which notice has already been taken in treating of the 
 origin of the Spanish comedy. With any other people 
 than the Spaniards these dramatic novels would have 
 assumed a somewhat different character, without, how- 
 ever, departing from their original spirit. But this 
 class of dramatic composition, which admits of the 
 most singular mixture of the pompous and the ludi- 
 crous, was particularly suited to the Spaniards of the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as by it they were 
 relieved from any long duration of serious impressions. 
 With this first requisite of a changeable dramatic form, 
 which Lope de Vega completely satisfied, was associated 
 a second. A complicated plot was indispensable in every 
 drama, the subject of which was drawn from the sphere 
 of common life. As a substitute for that sort of plot 
 in historical comedies, extraordinary and striking adven-
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 367 
 
 tures were introduced, and in spiritual comedies, mira- 
 cles. According to the universally received notion of 
 a Spanish comedy, in Lope de Vega's time, no dis- 
 tinction was made between the sacred and the profane 
 styles; for a legend was dramatized as a spiritual novel. 
 Whether a nation which was satisfied with such 
 comedies did or did not beguile itself of the purest 
 and most perfect developement of dramatic genius, is 
 a question for separate discussion. But the Spanish 
 comedy considered in all its modifications, as a par- 
 ticular species of drama, may stand the test of sound 
 criticism ; and Lope de Vega in a great measure con- 
 tributed to fix the national taste in these modifications. 
 In his time the classification was first made of sacred 
 and profane dramas, or as the Spaniards called them, 
 comedias Divinas y Humanas. The profane comedies 
 were again divided into comedias Her oy cos, (Heroic 
 comedies); and comedias de Capa y Espada, (comedies 
 of the Cloak and Sword.) The heroic comedies were 
 originally the same as the historical, but the title was 
 subsequently extended to mythological and allegorical 
 dramas. The comedies of the Capa y Espada, were 
 founded on subjects selected from the sphere of fashion- 
 able life, and exhibited the manners of the age; they were 
 likewise performed in the costume of the times. At 
 a later period a subdivision of these comedias de Capa 
 y Espada was formed under the name of comedias dc 
 Figuron, because the principal character was either 
 a needy adventurer representing himself as a rich 
 nobleman, or a lady of the same class. In Lope de 
 Vega's time also, the sacred comedies began to be
 
 368 HISTORY OP 
 
 divided into dramatized Vidas de Santos and Autos 
 Sacramentales. Both classes were founded on the 
 model of the dramas, which used to be represented in 
 the cloisters. The Autos Sacramentales, which had 
 all a reference to the administration of the sacrament, 
 according to catholic notions, seem to have had their 
 origin in the age of Lope de Vega; at least in the pre- 
 lude to one of his Autos (the word literally signifies 
 acts) a countrywoman questions her husband respecting 
 the nature of these dramas.* Finally, to the different 
 kinds of Spanish comedy existing in Lope de Vega's 
 age, must be added the little preludes or recommenda- 
 tory pieces, called has, and the interludes, or entre- 
 meses,' introduced between the prelude and the prin- 
 cipal comedy, and which when interspersed with music 
 and dancing, are denominated saynetes. 
 
 Heroic and historical comedies form a considerable 
 portion of the dramatic works of Lope de Vega, in so 
 far as they have been preserved. The tragic scenes in 
 many of these comedies, so well harmonized with the 
 national taste of the Spaniards, that they readily dis- 
 pensed with genuine tragedy; and as vivid a recollection 
 of the old national history was maintained by these 
 
 * In the prelude to the Auto El Nombre de Jesus (the Name 
 of Jesus). See the Obras Sueltas de Lope de Vega, vol. xviii. 
 The countrywoman asks: 
 
 Y que son Autos ? 
 And the husband replies: 
 
 Comedias a gloria y honor del pan 
 Que tan devota celebra 
 Esla coronada villa.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 369 
 
 theatrical representations as by the old romances. But 
 few of Lope's historical comedies relate, like his Gran 
 Duque de Moscovia, to foreign subjects. In point of 
 composition, his dramas do not materially differ one 
 from the other. Even in his historical pieces, he uses 
 such freedoms with respect to the unity of action, that 
 only a slight similitude connects the acts and scenes 
 together; and he totally disregards the unities of time 
 and place. The execution of these dramas is no less 
 irregular than their composition. According to the 
 humour in which the author happened to be when 
 engaged in his literary labour, his descriptions and 
 language are vigorous or feeble, noble or mean, un- 
 polished or highly refined. A description of Las 
 Almenas de Toro (the Battlements of Toro), one of 
 the best productions in the class to which it belongs, 
 will afford a tolerably correct idea of Lope de Vega's 
 historical comedies. The subject of this piece is the 
 murder of King Don Sancho, by Bellido Dolfos, a knight 
 whom the king had offended by a violation of his pro- 
 mise, a story which has likewise furnished materials for 
 several old romances. The Cid Ruy Diaz is a principal 
 character in this comedy, which, like all others of the 
 same kind, is divided into three acts.* The scene opens 
 with a view of the country before the strongly fortified 
 town of Toro in Leon. The King Don Sancho, the Cid, 
 and a Count Anzures enter. The king explains to the 
 two knights, that state reasons prevent him from ful- 
 
 * Lope de Vega, in his dramas, employs the terms uctos and 
 jornadas indiscriminately. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 B
 
 370 HISTORY OF 
 
 filling his father's will, and that he cannot leave his two 
 sisters, the infantas Elvira and Urraca, in possession of 
 the strong fortresses of Toro and Zamora.* The Cid 
 with noble sincerity avows his opinion of the king's 
 injustice towards his sisters, and offers himself as a 
 mediator in the dispute. The king and Count Anzures 
 retire. The Cid advances to the walls, and meets a 
 knight named Ordonez, who has just come out of the 
 fortress to execute some enterprize in favour of the 
 
 * From the very commencement of the scene, it is obvious 
 how well Lope de Vega understood the art of composing spirited 
 dialogue. 
 
 D. San. A mi me cierra la puerta ? 
 Anqu. Tiene muy justo temor. 
 Cid. Con ser muger se concierta. 
 An. De que te espantas seuor 
 
 que no te la tenga abierta ? 
 
 Dizen que en el Dios que adoro 
 
 juraste quitar agora 
 
 sin guardarles el decoro 
 
 a dona Urraca a Zamora, 
 
 y a Elvira su hermana a Toro. 
 
 Pues si muerto el Rey Fernando, 
 
 el primero de Castilla 
 
 que esta en el cielo reynando 
 
 por eterno cetro y silla, 
 
 la silla mortal dexando, 
 
 eres quien has de amparallas, 
 
 pues otro padre no tienen, 
 
 y quieres desheredallas. 
 
 Que mucho si se previenen 
 
 a defender sus mural his ? 
 D. San. Conde Anzures, si jure, 
 
 gusto de mi padre fue, 
 
 guarde respeto a su muerte, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 371 
 
 infanta Elvira. Both knights are about to draw; but 
 they recognize each other, and embrace. The Cid is 
 pourtrayed in all the greatness of his character.* The 
 infanta appears on the walls, and states to the Cid her 
 reasons for not opening the gates to her brother. The 
 king re-appears, and orders preparations for storming 
 the garrison. The scene changes Don Vela, an old 
 knight who has withdrawn from the tumult of public 
 life, appears in front of his country residence. He 
 communes with himself in a speech full of dignity 
 and beauty, but in some passages too poetical for the 
 drama.f His daughter enters singing, and surrounded 
 
 * Ordonez is exhibited in rather a ludicrous light: 
 Cid. No os prevengais que no quiero 
 
 renir con vos. D. Bic. Porque no ? 
 Cid. Porque nunca en quien temio 
 
 manche mi gallardo azero. 
 D. B. A quien yo he temido, es hombre 
 
 que a vos os hara temblar. 
 Cid. Si es el Invierno, en lugar 
 
 frio temblar hazer a nn hombre. 
 D. B. No es sino el Cid. 
 Cid. Pues si vos 
 
 teineyssolo al Cid, oyd, 
 
 que a mi me terneys, 
 
 que el Cid soy. D. B. El Cid vos? 
 Cid. Si por Dios. 
 D. B. Ya que os he dicho en la cara, 
 
 invicto Cid, mi temor, 
 
 sabed, que yo soy senor, 
 
 don Diego Ordonez de Lara. 
 
 f He thus apostrophizes his rural retreat in the idyl style: 
 Vel. Montes que el Duero vana, 
 
 y en cadenas de yelo 
 2 B 2
 
 372 HISTORY OF 
 
 by a rustic group. This scene introduces a romantic 
 episode which is interwoven with the main action, and 
 the hero of which is a prince of Burgundy, disguised 
 as a peasant, who is enamoured of the daughter of Don 
 Vela. The scene again changes to the neighbourhood 
 of Toro. The infanta Elvira appears on the battle- 
 ments, and negotiations are once more set on foot. 
 The king himself holds a conversation with his sister, 
 which, however, produces no conciliatory result. This 
 brief, pointed, and not very courteous dialogue, is 
 
 os tiene por los verdes pies atados 
 
 desde que nuestra Espana 
 
 Pelayo (o fuesse el cielo) 
 
 os restauru del barbaro habitados; 
 
 de mis nobles passados, 
 
 vega de Toro hermosa, 
 
 que hazes competencia, 
 
 no solo con Plasencia, 
 
 y a la orilla del Betis generosa, 
 
 de fertiles trofeos, 
 
 mas a los campos celebres Hibleos. 
 
 Aqui donde esta casa 
 
 solar de mis abnelos 
 
 las jambas cubre de despojos Moros, 
 
 por donde alegre passa 
 
 Duero que quiebra yelos, 
 
 y cuyas Ninfas van cantando a coros, 
 
 haziendo que los poros 
 
 de la hermosa ribera, 
 
 broten las altas canas, 
 
 anchas como espadanas, 
 
 de trigo fertil la man ran a y pera ; 
 
 y el razimo pessado 
 
 con verdes hilos al sarmiento atado.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 373 
 
 interspersed with plays of wit on the word Toro, the 
 name of the fortress, which in Spanish signifies a bull.* 
 The king instantly commands scaling ladders to be 
 brought, and the storming of the fortress commences, 
 but the besiegers are repulsed. Thus the first act con- 
 cludes. With the commencement of the second act the 
 rural episode becomes more nearly allied to the main 
 action. A sonnet in which the disguised prince of 
 Burgundy, and his mistress Sancha, express their senti- 
 
 * What might not this scene have been rendered by a poet of 
 a more regular imagination ! There is, however, a certain degree of 
 dignity in the commencement, with which the close forms a contrast 
 the more discordant : 
 
 D. S. Dexa las armas Elvira, 
 
 inira hermana que me corro 
 
 de sacarlas contra ti. 
 Elv. Pues vete hermano piadoso, 
 
 y dexame en mis almenas. 
 D. S. Si al assalto me dispongo, 
 
 como no vees, que este muro 
 
 quedara de sangre rojo ? 
 Elv. Si quedara, mas sera 
 
 de la vuestra. D. .S'. Pues yo rompo 
 
 la obligacion de sangre. 
 Elv. Y yo la defensa tomo, 
 
 que si fueras el Gigante 
 
 que tuvo el cielo en los ombros, 
 
 no pusieras pie en el muro. 
 D. S. Mira hermana que eres monstruo 
 
 porque con tanta hermosura 
 
 tienes pensamientos locos. 
 Elv. El loco, el monstruo, eres tu, 
 
 pues que tu, hermano alevoso, 
 
 me quieres quitar la herencia.
 
 374 HISTORY OF 
 
 ments of mutual attachment, affords an instance of that 
 protracted kind of metaphor, which Lope de Vega 
 employed on such occasions, and which, a hundred 
 years afterwards, Metastasio likewise adopted in his 
 opera songs, as the poetic language of passion.* Don 
 Bellido Dolfos prevails on the king to promise him the 
 hand of the infanta Elvira, on condition of his taking 
 the fortress. By dint of the vilest perfidy Bellido Dolfos 
 succeeds; but the king, who is of opinion that a traitor 
 should be rewarded with treachery, refuses to abide by 
 his promise. Bellido Dolfos meditates revenge. Mean- 
 while Elvira escapes in the disguise of a peasant, and 
 takes refuge in the house of Don Vela. With this 
 combination of heroic and tender, domestic and rural 
 situations, the action proceeds, until Bellido Dolfos 
 murders the king; an incident, however, which does 
 not take place oh the stage. The infanta Elvira returns 
 to Toro, where she receives the homage of her people, 
 
 * The following metaphorical sonnet is declaimed by Sancha : 
 
 El agua que corrio de clara fuente 
 
 por cristalino surco al verdo prado, 
 detiene al labrador, porque al sembrado 
 acuda con mas prospera corriente. 
 
 No sale el agua, que los muros siente 
 del cesped, que por uno, y otro lado 
 cercan su arroyo, que en la presa atado 
 hazen, que a ser estan que el curso aumente. 
 
 Ansi sucede amor en sus antojos, 
 
 quando el honor del resistirse vale, 
 callando penas, y sufriendo enojos. 
 
 Dexale el al almo, que la presa yguale, 
 y brota por los cercos de los ojos, 
 6 rompe la pared, y junto sale.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 375 
 
 and the prince of Burgundy avowing his real character, 
 is united to his beloved Sancha. 
 
 Lope de Vega's Comedias de Capa y Espada, or 
 those which may properly be denominated his dramas of 
 intrigue, though wanting in the delineation of character, 
 are romantic pictures of manners, drawn from real life. 
 They present, in their peculiar style, no less interest with 
 respect to situations than his heroic comedies; and the 
 same irregularity in the composition of the scenes. The 
 language, too, is alternately elegant and vulgar, some- 
 times highly poetic, and sometimes, though versified, 
 reduced to the level of the dullest prose. Lope de 
 Vega seems scarcely to have bestowed a thought on 
 maintaining probability in the succession of the dif- 
 ferent scenes; ingenious comph' cation is with him the 
 essential point in the interest of his situations. In- 
 trigues are twisted and entwined together, until the 
 poet, in order to bring his piece to a conclusion, with- 
 out ceremony cuts the knots he cannot untie; and then 
 he usually brings as many couples together as he can 
 by any possible contrivance match. He has scattered 
 through his pieces occasional reflections and maxims of 
 prudence, but any genuine morality which might be 
 conveyed through the stage, is wanting, for its intro- 
 duction would have been inconsistent with that poetic 
 freedom on which the dramatic interest of the Spanish 
 comedy is founded. His aim was to paint what he 
 observed, not what he would have approved, in the 
 manners of the fashionable world of his age; but he 
 leaves it to the spectator to draw his own inferences. 
 In this indirect way only, could the Spanish public
 
 376 HISTORY OF 
 
 tolerate useful applications in the drama; for the Spa- 
 niard always considered the morality with which he 
 was occupied in church sufficient. An exuberant gal- 
 lantry, which may or may not be veiled by decorum, 
 and which is at all times only slightly restrained by 
 notions of honour, but never by a sense of moral duty, 
 constitutes the very essence of these dramas, de Capa 
 y Espada. Where the passion is vehement, it ad- 
 vances with true Spanish ardour to the attainment of 
 its object; where it is tender and sentimental, the ro- 
 mantic tirades and far-fetched plays of wit are inex- 
 haustible. That love excuses every thing., was at this 
 time the darling maxim of the gay world in Madrid; 
 and in conformity with its spirit, Lope de Vega's young 
 heroes and heroines plunge headlong into intrigue. 
 Free scope is given to the basest artifice and perfidy; 
 the man of fashion draws his sword on the slightest 
 provocation; and whether he desperately wounds, or 
 even kills his adversary, is a matter of indifference. 
 Disguises, too, abound in these dramas. One of the 
 most interesting of Lope's comedies in this class, is La 
 Villana de Xetafe, (the Peasant Girl of Xetafe, a 
 village in the vicinity of Madrid). It exhibits a series 
 of the boldest and most dexterous impostures, by means 
 of which the interesting heroine succeeds in entrapping 
 her lover, who is U man of condition, into the bonds of 
 matrimony. The confessors must have found some 
 difficulty in counteracting the ill effects which could 
 not fail to be occasionally produced by such examples, 
 though they were by no means set up as models. The 
 fascinating natural painting of these intrigues, which at
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 377 
 
 the same time always possess a certain poetic elevation, 
 constitutes the chief charm of Lope de Vega's come- 
 dies. The deviation from nature in expression, which 
 has frequently been a subject of reproach to this prolific 
 writer, is in most instances merely attributable to neg- 
 ligence or rapidity of composition. He faithfully em- 
 bodies the general forms of character, which, to be sure, 
 are all alike in the class of Spanish comedies now under 
 consideration. The vejete (old man), the galan (lover), 
 the dama (young lady), together with a suitable number 
 of servants and waiting women, are the standing cha- 
 racters which are constantly introduced with no variety, 
 except in the situations; but at the same time, they are 
 drawn in such animated colours, that the perusal of one 
 or two of these dramas of intrigue is sufficient to render 
 the reader familiar with the whole world which the poet 
 describes. In Lope's comedies, as in real life, the (gra- 
 cioso) buffoon and the fool are occasionally the same 
 character. They have also superfluous parts; personages 
 totally unconnected with the business of the drama are 
 sometimes introduced. 
 
 In order to afford an idea of the composition of this 
 portion of the dramatic works of Lope de Vega, we may 
 select, as a specimen, the comedy entitled, La Viuda de 
 Valencia (the Widow of Valencia). It is one of the 
 pieces of this master in the art of intrigue in which the 
 complication is best contrived, and it is besides remark- 
 able in the class to which it belongs for the unity which 
 is preserved in the action. The scene is laid in Valencia 
 in the time of the carnival. Leonarda, a young rich 
 and handsome widow, li ving according to her own fancy,
 
 378 HISTORY OF 
 
 has resolved never to re-marry. She enters with a book 
 in her hand; for she reads works of all sorts, sacred and 
 profane, not from piety or love of literature, but merely 
 to amuse herself, while she never deigns to bestow a 
 thought on the suitors by whom she is surrounded. On 
 the subject of her reading she discourses very reasonably 
 with her waiting woman.* Her arch attendant turns 
 the conversation in such a way, that the young widow, 
 with all her pretended wisdom, is induced to view her- 
 self in a looking glass, and in the very act of doing so, 
 she is surprised by a visit from her uncle. The old 
 gentleman assures his fair niece, who is highly vexed at 
 
 * Among other things she says : 
 
 Como he dado en no casarme, 
 
 leo por entretenerme, 
 
 no por Bachillera hazerme 
 
 y de aguda graduarme. 
 
 Que a quien su buena opinion 
 
 encierra en silencio tal, 
 
 no halla en los libros mal, 
 
 gustosa conversacion. 
 
 Es qualquier libro discreto 
 
 que si causa de hablar dexa, 
 
 es ami go que aconseja 
 
 y reprehende eu secreto. 
 
 Al fin despues que los leo 
 
 y trato de devocion 
 
 de alguna imaginacion 
 
 voy castigando el desseo. 
 Ju. Y en que materia leias ? 
 Leo. De oracion. Ju. Quien no se goza 
 
 de ver que tan bella mo^a 
 
 tan santas custiimbres crias.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 379 
 
 the surprise, that she does well to convince herself of 
 the power of her charms by such indisputable testi- 
 mony.* When, however, he begins to talk of marriage, 
 the lady contemptuously sketches a burlesque portrait 
 of a Madrid beau,t and describes, though in a less 
 
 * Leo. Juzgaras a liviandad 
 
 hallarme con el espejo, 
 Que suele ser conocida 
 la mucha de una muger 
 en yrse, y venirse a ver 
 despues de una vez vestida. 
 Y yo conforme a mi estado 
 hago en esso mas delito. 
 Lu. A enojo siempre me incito 
 con tu melindre estremado. 
 Es mucho que una muger 
 que ha de estar un dia compuesta, 
 vaya a ver si esta bien puesta 
 la toca o el alfiler ? 
 Quien se lo dira mejor 
 si esta bien, o si esta mal 
 que esso palmo de cristal ? 
 Leo. Como disculpas mi error. 
 
 f This sketch is well worth transcribing : 
 No sino venga un mancebo 
 destos de aora de alcorc.a 
 con el sombrerito a horza, 
 pluma corta, cordon nuevo, 
 cuello abierto muy parejo, 
 punos a lo Veneciano, 
 lo de fuera limpio, y sano, 
 lo de dentro suzio y viejo, 
 botas justas sin podellas 
 descalc.ar en todo un mes, 
 las calsas hasta los pies,
 
 380 HISTORY OF 
 
 happy style the unfortunate consequences of an im- 
 prudent match. The old uncle takes his leave, and 
 the scene changes, or rather it is transferred to the 
 other division of the stage. The three admirers of 
 the beautiful Leonarda meet each other in front of her 
 house. They express their wishes and hopes in sonnets, 
 the subjects of which are long-winded metaphors. As 
 none of the party can boast of his mistress's favour, 
 they mutually acknowledge their ill success, and each 
 describes a burlesque adventure, which has occurred to 
 him during the night, in front of Leonarda's house. 
 One relates, that under the supposition that he was 
 stabbing a rival, he thrust his poignard into a skin of 
 stolen wine.* Meanwhile Leonarda hastily returns 
 
 el vigote a las estrellas ; 
 xabonzillos, y copete, 
 cadena falsa que assombre 
 guantes de ambar, y grande hombre 
 de un soneto, y un villete ; 
 y con sus raanos lavadas 
 los tres mil de renta pesque 
 con que un poco se refresque 
 entre savanas delgadas : 
 y passados ocho dias 
 se vaya a ver forasteras, 
 o en amistades primeras, 
 buelva a deshazer las ID ins. 
 * This whimsical adventure is thus described : 
 Yo que estava en un esquina 
 mirandolo desde lexos, 
 apresure luego el passo. 
 llevandome el ayre en peso. 
 Llegando a la ainada puerta 
 vi un bulto a mis ojos negro,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 381 
 
 from church, where she has seen a young gentleman 
 with whom she has fallen deeply in love. She im- 
 mediately forms a plan to induce this gentleman, 
 whose name is Camillo, to visit her, without either 
 knowing who she is or whither he is conducted. The 
 whole intrigue is managed by Leonarda's coachman 
 Urbano, who is at the same time the gracioso, or 
 buffoon of the piece.* While Urbano is gone out in 
 quest of Camillo, the three suitors, without any pre- 
 vious arrangement with each other, arrive disguised as 
 dealers in books and copper-plate prints. They obtain 
 
 con su capa, y con su espada, 
 
 mirando, y hablando a dentro. 
 
 Llegueme a el, y metime 
 
 hasta la harba el sombrero, 
 
 y dixele : a gentilhombre ! 
 
 terciando el corto herreruelo. 
 
 Como no me respondia, 
 
 saco la daga de presto, 
 
 y por el pecho a mi gusto 
 
 hasta la cruz se la meto. 
 
 Diome la sangre en el mio. 
 
 y bueto mi casa huyendo 
 
 miro a una luz la ropilla, 
 
 y olia como un incienso. 
 
 Tomo una linterna, y parto, 
 
 y quando a mirar le buelvo, 
 
 hallo derramado el vino, 
 
 y el cuero midiendo el suelo. 
 
 * Those who are unacquainted with the Spanish language, must 
 not suppose that the term gracioso, as applied to this kind of cha- 
 racter, is an extraordinary instance of that figure of speech called 
 euphenism. In Spanish, gracioso more frequently signifies comic 
 and ludicrous, than graceful,
 
 382 HISTORY OF 
 
 an interview with Leonarda, and make avowals of their 
 passion; but she receives them very unfavourably, and 
 they are all obliged to make a rapid retreat to avoid 
 being roughly handled by the servants. This scene is 
 highly amusing. In the second act Camillo appears, 
 and after long hesitation, he consents to engage in the 
 romantic adventure. Urbano dresses him in a doctor's 
 cloak, and drawing the hood (capirote) over his eyes, 
 he conducts him blindfold, with comic effect, through a 
 variety of windings, to the house of Leonarda. The 
 lady receives him in the dark. Lights are afterwards 
 brought in, but Leonarda remains masked. A sumptuous 
 collation is prepared, of which the young gentleman's 
 doubt and embarrassment will not permit him to taste 
 a morsel. He compares himself to Alexander, when 
 he took the suspected goblet from the hand of his 
 physician.* A tender dialogue ensues, after which the 
 
 * Ju. La colacion viene. C. En vano, 
 
 viene, a fe de gentilhombre 
 
 que no tengo de comer. 
 Leo. A lo manos el provar 
 
 no lo podeys escusar, 
 
 que soy honrada muger. 
 Cam. Es lo del veneno ? Leo. Si, 
 
 por mi vida que proveys. 
 Cam. Si ese juramento hazeys 
 
 aya mil muertes aqui. 
 
 Quiero tomar el veneno 
 
 que Alexandro del Doctor, 
 
 que donde la fe es mayor, 
 
 no le haze el dafio ageno. 
 Urb, lo que sabe de historia. 
 Ju. En verdad que es muy leydo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 383 
 
 hood is again drawn over the eyes of Camillo, and he is 
 conducted from Leonarda's house. In this manner the 
 intrigue proceeds ; but between many of the scenes, 
 whole days, and even weeks are supposed to intervene. 
 Leonarda and her lover become more and more intimate, 
 though he neither knows who she is, nor where she 
 resides. All his endeavours to discover these secrets 
 are unavailing; and at length he begins to suspect that 
 his unknown mistress is an old cousin of Leonarda. In 
 the mean time the three rejected suitors, who still mix 
 in the plot, become jealous of the coachman Urbano; 
 and one spirited scene succeeds another until an affray 
 occurs in which an honourable suitor of Leonarda is 
 wounded. This accident produces the denouement. 
 Camillo recognizes in his unknown mistress the beau- 
 tiful widow with whom he was previously acquainted, 
 and whose hand he joyfully accepts. Thus the piece 
 is a comedy from beginning to end. 
 
 Lope de Vega's spiritual comedies, afford a picture of 
 the religious notions of the Spaniards in the age in which 
 he lived, not less faithfully pourtrayed than that by which 
 his dramas of intrigue represent the manners of Spanish 
 society. Pure piety, according to catholic ideas, wildly 
 blended with the most contradictory chimeras, and 
 these chimeras again ennobled by the boldest flights of 
 imagination, form altogether a monstrous and extrava- 
 gant patch-work; but this heterogeneous variety is, 
 nevertheless, united by the ramifications of a poetic 
 
 Urb. No lo tomeys tan polido, 
 
 que en verdad que es ^anahoria 
 Entro, y la bevida saco.
 
 384 HISTORY OF 
 
 spirit, into a whole, to which no European imagination 
 could now be expected to produce a resemblance. But 
 Lope de Vega seems not to have come to a positive 
 determination respecting what ought to have been the 
 true spirit of these dramatic pictures of religious faith. 
 The mixture of poetic and unpoetic elements is very 
 unequal in his different spiritual comedies. His Lives 
 of the Saints possess far more dramatic spirit than his 
 Autos Sacramentales; while on the other hand, allegory 
 imparts a higher dignity to the religious mysticism of 
 the latter. Both, however, have in common a kind 
 of operatic style, combined with the display of theatrical 
 machinery and decoration, calculated to captivate the 
 senses. Of all the dramatic works of Lope de Vega, the 
 Lives of the Saints are in every respect the most irregu- 
 lar. Allegorical characters, buffoons, saints, peasants, stu- 
 dents, kings, God, the infant Jesus, the devil, and all 
 the most heterogeneous beings that the wildest imagi- 
 nation could bring together, are introduced. Music 
 seems always to have been an indispensable accessary. 
 Lope de Vega's spiritual comedy, entitled the Life of 
 Saint Nicolas de Tolentino,* commences with a con- 
 versation maintained by a party of students, who 
 make a display of their wit and scholastic learning. 
 Among them is the future saint, whose piety shines 
 with the brighter lustre when contrasted with the dis- 
 orderly gaiety of those by whom he is surrounded. 
 The devil disguised by a mask joins the party. A 
 skeleton appears in the air; the sky opens, and the 
 
 * St. Nicolas de Tolentino is a saint of modern creation.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 385 
 
 Almighty is discovered sitting in judgment attended 
 by Justice and Mercy, who alternately influence his 
 decisions. Next succeeds a love intrigue between a 
 lady named Rosalia, and a gentleman named Feniso. 
 The future saint then re-enters attired in canonicals, 
 and delivers a sermon in redondillas. The parents 
 of the saint congratulate themselves on possessing 
 such a son; and this scene forms the conclusion of 
 the first act. At the opening of the second a party 
 of soldiers are discovered; the saint enters accom- 
 panied by several monks, and offers up a prayer in 
 the form of a sonnet. Brother Peregrino relates the 
 romantic history of his conversion. Subtle theological 
 fooleries ensue, and numerous anecdotes of the lives of 
 the saints are related. St. Nicolas prays again through 
 the medium of a sonnet. He then rises in the air, 
 either by the power of faith, or the help of the theatri- 
 cal machinery; and the Holy Virgin and St. Augustin 
 descend from heaven to meet him.* In the third act 
 
 * The sonnet by which St. Nicolas performs this miracle, is 
 the most beautiful in this sacred farce. 
 
 Virgen, Paloina Candida, que al suelo 
 Traxo la verde paz ; arco divino, 
 Que con las tres colores a dar vino 
 Fe del concierto entre la tierra, y cielo ; 
 Dad me remedio, pues sabeys mi zelo ! 
 No coma came yo, porque imagino, 
 Que solo he de coiner, pueslo que indigno 
 La de mi dulce amor en bianco velo. 
 No me dexeys, Christifera Maria, 
 
 Y vos mi Padre amado, Agustin Santo, 
 Y mas si llega de mi muerte el dia. 
 VOL. I. 2 C
 
 386 HISTORY OF 
 
 the scene is transferred to Rome, where two cardinals 
 exhibit the holy sere cloth to the people by torch light. 
 Music performed on clarionets adds to the solemnity 
 of this ceremony, during which pious discourses are 
 delivered. St. Nicolas is next discovered embroidering 
 the habit of his order; and the pious observations which 
 he makes, while engaged in this occupation, are accom- 
 panied by the chaunting of invisible angels. The music 
 attracts the devil, who endeavours to tempt St. Nicolas. 
 The next scene exhibits souls in the torments of pur- 
 gatory. The devil again appears attended by a retinue 
 of lions, serpents, and other hideous animals; but in a 
 scene, which is intended for burlesque, (graciosamente) 
 a monk armed with a great broom drives off the devil 
 and his suite.* At the conclusion of the piece the saint 
 
 Dadrae los dos favor, pues podeys tanto, 
 Si mereciere la esperanca mia, 
 Que del Sol que pisays pase mi llanto. 
 
 * The following is the edifying scene. Dem. is a contrac- 
 tion for Demouio, the devil. Rup. stands for Ruperto, the monk, 
 who attacks and subdues him with the broom. Pri. signifies 
 prior. 
 
 Rup. Aqui Padres aqui, mueran los perros. 
 Pri. Que visiones estrauas ? Rup. Sombras vauas, 
 Ruperto soy : figuras Antonianas, 
 dexad mi Santo. Dem. Infame tu te pones 
 con nosotros a manos, y razones ? 
 Rup. Fuera digo, bellacos. Dem. Pues infame 
 concorrion assi te atreves ? Rup. Bestia, 
 sal de la celda. Dem. O vil espuma ollas. 
 Rup. Hago muy bien, vos espumays calderas. 
 
 Llegue Padre Prior. Pri. Aqui a este lado 
 digo los exorcismos de la Jglesia. 
 Dem. O perro motilon. Rup. A fuera. Dem. pesia.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 387 
 
 whose beatification is now complete, descends from 
 heaven in a garment bespangled with stars. As soon 
 as he touches the earth, the souls of his father and 
 mother are released from purgatory and rise through 
 a rock; the saint then returns hand-in-hand with his 
 parents to heaven, music playing as they ascend. 
 
 The Autos Sacramentales of Lope de Vega must 
 have been far less attractive than his Lives of the Saints. 
 Compared with the latter, their construction appears 
 very simple, and they are executed in a style of theo- 
 logical refinement which could not have been perfectly 
 intelligible to the multitude. But the allegorical cha- 
 racters, which are the most prominent in these pieces, 
 produce an imposing effect. The dramas themselves 
 are in general short. In one which represents the fall, 
 Man disputes with Sin and the Devil, and Earth and 
 Time take part in the dialogue. Next are discovered 
 Justice and Mercy seated beneath a canopy, and at a 
 table furnished with writing materials. Man is interro- 
 gated before this tribunal. The Prince of heaven, or 
 Saviour, enters. Reflection, or Care, (Cuidado) kneels 
 and delivers a letter to him. The Saviour, who takes 
 his station behind a grating, makes Man undergo 
 another judicial examination, and pardons him.* But 
 
 * Care announces Man. 
 
 Cuidad. El Hombre esta aqui. 
 Homb. Dame essos pies. Principe. Ya te doy 
 el corazon. Homb. Luz mas pura 
 que el sol, imagen divina 
 de tu Padre; que dire* 
 de tu piedad ? que dare" 
 a tu amor ! Principe. La vista inclina 
 2 C 2
 
 388 HISTORY OF 
 
 the devil re-appears and protests against the pardon.* 
 Man has next to contend with Vanity and Folly, who 
 are introduced as allegorical characters. Christ again 
 appears with the crown of thorns. In conclusion, the 
 heavens open and Christ ascends to his celestial throne, 
 with the usual accompaniment of music. Direct allu- 
 sions to the sacrament of the altar were seldom neces- 
 sary in the Autos, as the whole tendency of the allego- 
 rical action was directed to that object. 
 
 Lope de Vega's Loos, and more particularly his 
 Entremeses and Saynetes, seem to have been intended 
 
 al supremo tribunal: 
 sabe conniigo y haremos 
 esta escritura. Homb. Que extremes 
 de amor, piedad celestial! 
 Principe. Sube tu como deudor 
 a los estrados que ves, 
 amigo, que yo despues 
 bajar6 como fiador. 
 
 * Reflection disputes with the devil on this point. 
 
 Demon. Mienten, que un hora segura 
 
 aun no logre mr ventura, 
 
 pues de qu logrero soy, 
 
 si ha tantos anos que estoy 
 
 sin Dios en carcel tan dura ? 
 
 Qu6 eslo que estan escribiendo? 
 Cuidad. La fianza. Demon. Quien le fia ? 
 Cuidad. Dios, que Dios solo podia. 
 Demon. Dios fia? Cuidad. Ya estan leyendo. 
 Justic. Oid. Princ. Ya estoy oyendo. 
 Justic. Que os obligais, gran SeSor, 
 
 como principal deudor 
 
 a padecerlo y servir. 
 Demon. Ha se visto tanto amor !
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 389 
 
 to indemnify the audience for the theological allegory 
 of the sacramental dramas; for it is only in connec- 
 tion with the Autos that these preludes and interludes 
 are to be found. The Loas are not always comic, 
 and are sometimes only spirited monologues. The 
 interludes, or Entremeses and Saynetes, may also be 
 called preludes, for though they were performed after 
 the Loa, which was properly the prologue, yet they 
 preceded the Auto: these interludes are burlesque 
 from beginning to end, and form a preparation for the 
 devotion of the Auto, quite in the Spanish taste. 
 Farces of this kind, pourtraying the incidents of com- 
 mon life, never destitute of genuine comic spirit, and 
 written for the most part in verse, soon became indis- 
 pensable to the Spaniards, and even to this day are 
 never omitted in their dramatic perfomances. The 
 interludes of Lope de Vega and Cervantes seem to 
 have been the models of all that succeeded them. 
 
 The dramatic genius of Lope de Vega has rendered 
 him immortal. In the seventeenth century his plays were 
 universally read and performed throughout Spain. In 
 general they were first published singly, and for the most 
 part with the bookseller's epithet Comedia Famosa, 
 (the Celebrated Comedy), which subsequently became a 
 universal device, affixed to all comedies printed in Spain. 
 In this manner Lope de Vega's most popular comedies 
 were, partly during the life of the author, and partly 
 after his death, collected in five-and-twenty volumes;* 
 
 * A list of the dramas contained in these twenty-five volumes 
 is given by Nicolas Antonio, who likewise communicates informa- 
 tion concerning Lope's other works. A gleaning of some pieces
 
 390 HISTORY OF 
 
 exclusively of the Autos, preludes, and interludes, which 
 afterwards formed a separate publication.* Among 
 Lope's scattered dramas which have been printed at a 
 later period, are some which are expressly denominated 
 tragedies.t 
 
 The other poetic works of this prolific writer, must 
 be very briefly noticed; for to give any thing like a 
 particular account of them would require the space of 
 a considerable volume.^ In epic poetry he maintained 
 an unsuccessful contest with Tasso. His Jerusalem Con- 
 quistada^ consists indeed of twenty cantos in octaves, 
 and contains some beautiful passages, but it will in no 
 respect bear a comparison with the Italian poem. Lope 
 de Vega also augmented the number of the continuers 
 of Ariosto's Orlando, by the publication of La Hermo- 
 sura de Angelica,^ (the Beauty of Angelica), which is 
 also a narrative poem in twenty cantos, though shorter 
 
 may be found in the Obras Sueltas ; see note, p. 363. I have 
 never yet seen all the twenty-five volumes together. Even in Spain 
 a complete collection is but rarely to be met with. Single dramas 
 by Lope are to be found in most of the numerous collections of 
 Spanish comedies by various authors. La Huerta in his collection 
 has not included a single play of Lope de Vega, doubtless for 
 reasons which will hereafter be noticed. 
 
 * The twelve collected by Ortiz de Villena, together with the 
 Loas and Entremeses belonging to them, are newly printed in the 
 Obras Sueltas, vol. xviii. 
 
 f For example, El Castigo sin Venganza, (The Punishment 
 without Revenge) in the Obras Sueltas, vol. viii. 
 
 J The Obras Sueltas contain abundant materials for such a 
 work. 
 
 See the Obras Sueltas, vols. xv. and xvi. || Vol. ii.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE* 391 
 
 than those of the Jerusalem. His other attempts at 
 epic composition are La Corona Tragica* (the Tragic 
 Crown), or the history of the unfortunate Mary Stuart, 
 Queen of Scotland; and the Circe and Dragontea.^ 
 The Corona Tragica is full of furious invective against 
 the protestants and against Queen Elizabeth in par- 
 ticular.^: The hero of the Dragontea is Admiral Drake, 
 who is introduced in this poem as the tool of satan, in 
 order that he may finally serve as an example of poetic 
 justice. To compete with Sanazzar, Lope wrote a second 
 Arcadia,^ in the style of the Italian. He likewise wrote 
 several poems, which may be called eclogues in the proper 
 sense of the term. His Arte Nueva deHazer Comedias, 
 (New Art of Writing Comedies), is a humorous satire on 
 his opponents under the appearance of ridiculing him- 
 self. || He anonymously supplied the Romancero General 
 with thirty-six romances.^ His spiritual poems are to be 
 found in great profusion; and the number of his sonnets, 
 some of which possess first-rate merit, is considerable. 
 His Laurel de Apolo, a Eulogy on various Spanish 
 Poets, which has been frequently quoted, is but an 
 indifferent production.** His epistles are sufficiently 
 numerous. Among his miscellaneous poems, those of 
 the comic kind have most originality, as for example: 
 La Gatomachia, (the Battle of Cats),ff and the whole 
 collection of miscellaneous poems which he published 
 under the assumed name of the Licentiate Tome de 
 
 * See the Obras Sueltas, vol iv. f Vol. iii. J Vol. vi. 
 Vol. iv. || Vol. xvii. *fi Vol. i. and the succeeding volumes. 
 ** Vol. i. ft Vol. xix. and likewise in the Purnaso Espunol.
 
 392 HISTORY OF 
 
 Burguillos.* Among his most celebrated prose works, 
 are ElPeregrino en su Patria, (the Stranger in his own 
 Country), a tolerably long novel.f Dorothea, a dramatic 
 story, or as it is called, Action en Prosa;\ and a Collec- 
 tion of Novels. 
 
 THE BROTHERS LEONARDO DE ARGENSOLA. 
 
 Among the poets who flourished during the period 
 now under consideration, the place next in rank to 
 Cervantes and Lope de Vega, must be assigned to two 
 brothers, whom their countrymen have surnamed the 
 Horaces of Spain. Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola 
 born in 1565, and Bartholeme Leonardo de Argensola, 
 born in 1566, belonged to a respectable family, of Italian 
 origin, but settled in Arragon. Lupercio, who pursued 
 his academic studies in Saragossa, had the satisfaction 
 to witness the successful performance of three tragedies, 
 which he wrote in the twentieth year of his age, and 
 which are honourably mentioned by Cervantes in his 
 Don Quixote. His taste, however, led him to cultivate 
 another style of poetry, in which he could imitate 
 Horace, of whom he was an enthusiastic admirer. His 
 family connection facilitated his introduction toTpersons 
 of rank; and he became secretary to the Empress Maria 
 of Austria, who at that time resided in Spain. He was 
 soon after appointed chamberlain to the ArChduke 
 Albert of Austria. King Philip III. nominated him 
 
 * See the Obras Sueltas, vol. xix. f Vols. v. & vi. J Vol. vii. 
 
 Vol. viii. It is presumed that these bibliographic notices 
 will not be unacceptable to those who wish to become acquainted 
 with individual works of Lope de Vega.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 393 
 
 one of the chroniclers or historiographers of Arragon, 
 and directed him to continue the annals of Zurita ; and 
 the states of Arragon, which already possessed their 
 own particular chronicler, seized some plausible excuse 
 for dismissing him, in order that Lupercio Leonardo de 
 Argensola might also be appointed historiographer for 
 them. He then determined to devote himself exclu- 
 sively to the duties of his office ; but he was induced 
 to go to Italy in company with the Count de Lemos, 
 the celebrated patron of Cervantes, who was at that 
 time viceroy of Naples. Lupercio was appointed se- 
 cretary of state and of war for Naples; but amidst the 
 varied and laborious duties attached to such a situation, 
 he actively pursued his poetic studies, and did not even 
 discontinue his Arragonese annals. He was the prin- 
 cipal founder of the academy at Naples. While pro- 
 secuting this honourable career he died in 1613, in the 
 fortieth year of his age. Like Virgil, when he felt the 
 approach of death, he burnt a considerable portion of 
 his poems. 
 
 Bartholeme, the younger Leonardo de Argensola, 
 entered the ecclesiastical state. During the first half 
 of his life, his success in the world was inseparably 
 connected with th3 fortunes of his brother. He was 
 chaplain to the Empress Maria of Austria, then a 
 canon inSaragossa; and afterwards proceeded to Naples 
 in company with his brother and the Count de Lemos. 
 He quitted Italy on the death of his brother, and was 
 appointed to complete the continuation of the annals of 
 Arragon which Lupercio had left in an imperfect state; 
 a task which he executed in a way that gave universal
 
 394 HISTORY OF 
 
 satisfaction. While the Count de Lemos was president 
 of the council of the Indies, Bartholeme Leonardo de 
 Argensola wrote a history of the conquest of the Mo- 
 lucca islands. He was indefatigable in the pursuit of 
 his historical and poetic studies; and after passing a 
 tranquil and honourable life, he died at Saragossa in 
 1631, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.* 
 
 The poetry of these two brothers, who, in a critical 
 point of view, may both be regarded as one individual, 
 is not characterized by originality, or by depth of ge- 
 nius, in the extended sense of the word. It is, how- 
 ever, remarkable for a fine poetic feeling distinct from 
 enthusiasm, a vigorous and aspiring spirit, a happy 
 talent for description, poignant wit, classic dignity 
 of style, and above all, singular correctness of taste. 
 Both pursued the same course with equal ardour and 
 adroitness; but Bartholeme had the better opportu- 
 nity of cultivating his talent, because he lived longest. 
 Next to Luis de Leon, they are the most correct of all 
 Spanish poets. 
 
 The tragedies with which Lupercio commenced his 
 poetic career, considered as youthful essays, are worthy 
 to be remembered, though they do not merit the un- 
 bounded praise which Cervantes bestowed on them in 
 a fit of panegyrical enthusiasm. It appears that they 
 did not long maintain their place on the stage. Two of 
 the three mentioned by Cervantes were, at no very 
 
 
 
 * An account of the life of these brothers is prefixed to their 
 works in the Parnaso Espanol, vols. iii. and vi. ; and also to the 
 new edition of their Rimas, by Don Rauion Fernandez, Madrid, 
 1786, 3 volumes 8vo.
 
 SPANISH LITE11ATURE. 395 
 
 remote period, rescued from oblivion, and the third still 
 remains undiscovered.* The two which have been re- 
 covered, and which are entitled, the one Isabella, and 
 the other Alexandra, afford excellent specimens of lan- 
 guage and versification. The Alexandra contains scenes, 
 particularly in the second and third acts, which the 
 greatest tragic writer might advantageously adopt and 
 interweave into a better constructed piece.t The Isa- 
 
 * They are printed in the sixth volume of the Parnaso 
 Espanol. 
 
 f The king shews to his faithless consort, Alexandra, the body 
 of her murdered lover. 
 
 Como, Alejandra, no miras 
 este noble corazon, 
 do se forjo la traycion, 
 cubierto de mil mentiras ? 
 Y pues el tuyo, cruel, 
 te bolvio conmigo dura, 
 miralo, que por ventura 
 esta tu retrato en el. 
 Esos son aquellos brazos, 
 por los quales me aborreces, 
 que ciueron tantas veces 
 tu cuello con torpes lazos. 
 Estos son contra mi honra 
 aquellos brazos valientes, 
 y estos los pies diligentes 
 en procurar mi deshonra. 
 Mira tambien la cabeza, 
 la boca, los claros ojos : 
 huelga con tales despojos : 
 miralos pieza por pieza ; 
 que por quererlos tu tanto, 
 los he mandado guardar.
 
 396 HISTORY OF 
 
 bella is a trivial web of love intrigues, and terminates 
 in a manner sufficiently awful; but the piece is totally 
 destitute of tragic dignity, notwithstanding that it ex- 
 hibits the languishing and raging of two Moorish kings, 
 with all the pomp of oriental accessaries. Alexandra 
 presents more numerous and correct traits of resem- 
 blance to the ancient drama; and yet towards the close 
 the action becomes most extravagant, and is marked by 
 all the tumult of a modern theatrical spectacle. 
 
 But the poetic fame of Lupercio Leonardo de Ar- 
 gensola, does not rest on his tragedies. His lyric poems, 
 epistles, and satires in the manner of Horace, have 
 transmitted his name, without the aid of any recom- 
 mendation to posterity. Lupercio formed his style 
 
 Piensasle resuscitar 
 aora con ese llanto ? 
 
 After a pause of horror and grief, Alexandra breaks forth in 
 the following monologue : 
 
 No puedo triste vengarme. 
 
 O vosotros, soberranos ! 
 
 ya que me faltan las manos, 
 
 dadme voz para quejarme. 
 
 Cielos, justicia venganza ! 
 
 No os atapeis los oidos 
 
 dioses sordos adormidos, 
 
 si algo con ruegos se alcanza. 
 
 Y pues que los celestiales 
 
 niegan tambien su favor, 
 
 salid del eterno horror, 
 
 negros dioses infernales. 
 
 Por que" no temblaste, suelo ? 
 
 por que las piedras no saltan ? 
 
 Que es esto, que todos faltan, 
 
 y no llueve sangre el cielo ?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 397 
 
 after that of Horace, with no less assiduity than Luis 
 de Leon; but he did not possess the soft enthusiasm 
 of that pious poet, who in the religious spirit of his 
 poetry is so totally unlike Horace. An understanding 
 at once solid and ingenious, subject to no extravagant 
 illusion, yet full of true poetic feeling, and an imagina- 
 tion more plastic than creative, impart a more perfect 
 horatian colouring to the odes, as well as to the can- 
 ciones and sonnets of Lupercio. He closely imitated 
 Horace in his didactic satires, a style of composition in 
 which no Spanish poet had preceded him. But he 
 never succeeded in attaining the bold combination of 
 ideas which characterizes the ode style of Horace; and 
 his conceptions have therefore seldom any thing like 
 the horatian energy. On the other hand, all his poems 
 express no less precision of language, than the models 
 after which he formed his style. His odes, in par- 
 ticular, are characterized by a picturesque tone of ex- 
 pression, which he seems to have imbibed from Virgil 
 rather than from Horace.* The extravagant metaphors 
 
 * For example, the following : 
 
 Bramando el mar hinchado 
 Con las nubes procura 
 Mezclar sus olas, y apagar la lumbre 
 Del concavo estrellado, 
 Y de la horrible hondura 
 Trasladar sus arenas a la cumbre; 
 Pero con la costumbre 
 De estos trabajos graves, 
 El hi jo de Laertes 
 Rompe con brazos fuertes, 
 I,o que ape"nas pudieran altas naves
 
 398 HISTORY OF 
 
 by which some of Herrera's odes are deformed, were 
 uniformly avoided by Lupercio. His best sonnets are 
 those of a sententious cast, which have some moral 
 idea for their subject.* He was likewise successful in 
 the composition of popular songs in redondillas. His 
 
 Con las proas ferradas, 
 For otro Palinuro gobernadas. 
 Mas Ino, inmortal Diosa, 
 Viendo al prudente Griego 
 En tan grande peligro de la vida, 
 Benigna y amorosa 
 JBusco remedio luego 
 Para facilitalle la salida; 
 Y de piedad movida 
 Le dio el divino velo, 
 Con que cubrir solia 
 El cabello, que hacia 
 Escurecer al Dios nacido en Delo ; 
 Y en virtud de esta toca 
 El mar se allana, y el la tierra toca. 
 
 * As in the following : 
 
 Iraageu espantosa de la rnuerte, 
 Suefio cruel, no turbes mas mi pecho, 
 Mostrandome cortado el nudo estrecho, 
 Consuelo solo de mi adversa suerte. 
 
 Busca de algun tirano el muro fuerte, 
 De jaspe paredes, de oro el techo; 
 O el rico avara en el angosto lecho 
 Haz que temblando con sudor despierte, 
 
 El uno vea el popular tumulto 
 Romper con furia las herredas puertas, 
 O al sobornado siervo el hierro oculto. 
 
 El otro sus riquezas descubiertas 
 Con Have falsa, o con violento insulto; 
 Y dexale al amor sus glorias ciertas.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 399 
 
 epistles in tercets present, in their kind, about the same 
 degree of resemblance to the epistles of Horace, as is 
 observable between his odes and those of his classic 
 model. The ideas are expressed in a clear, precise, 
 and pleasing style; and these compositions are not des- 
 titute of poetic and didactic interest. Still, however, 
 the vigour of Horace is wanting.* Lupercio did not 
 enter, with sufficient decision, into the true spirit of 
 horatian satire. He consigned to his brother the task 
 of cultivating that class of composition, in which poetry 
 is scarcely distinguishable from spirited prose. Among 
 his writings, which escaped the flames, there is only one 
 
 * The following satirical passage occurs in his longest epistle, 
 which is addressed to a friend, and in which he has developed his 
 whole turn of temper and thought : 
 
 Aunque el pintado pabo y la gallina 
 De 1'Africa jamas como a los Grandes, 
 Ni un Mase Jaques honre mi cocina: 
 
 Ni lo traiga pagado desde Flandes, 
 Porque sabe a la hambre hacer cosquillas, 
 Y entretenerla todo lo que mandes. 
 
 Ni me alegren los ojos las boxillas, 
 Que lo menos que tengan sea el ser oro, 
 Tanto el Arte estremo sus maravillas. 
 
 Que si en mi casa, como digo, moro, 
 No trocare mi vida con sosiego 
 Por el Romano, ni el Imperio Moro. 
 
 Ni Mercuric jamas oira mi ruego 
 Un Cielo mas arriba de la Luna, 
 Ni en su Altar por mis manos vera fuego. 
 
 Ni yo dir6 mas mal de la fortuna 
 Que de una viuda sanla y recogida, 
 (Si santa y recogida se halla alguna).
 
 400 HISTORY OF 
 
 piece of satirical raillery, in the form of an epistle to a 
 coquette.* 
 
 The poetic works of Bartholeme, the younger 
 Leonardo de Argensola, which have been preserved, 
 are twice as numerous as those of Lupercio. The style 
 of the two brothers is so similar, that in some cases 
 it is difficult, and in others totally impossible to distin- 
 guish the one from the other. This extraordinary 
 conformity of character, talent and taste, appears at 
 first sight no less singular a phenomenon than the in- 
 exhaustible fertility of Lope de Vega. But it will 
 be recollected, that these brothers, who were nearly of 
 an age, and almost inseparable companions, and who 
 were constantly occupied in the study and imitation of 
 the same models, could not fail, by the cultivation 
 of similar, and in neither original talents, closely to 
 
 * The irony might be more delicate; but it is, nevertheless, well 
 expressed : 
 
 Escribate pues satiras quien quiera, 
 Que yo al banzas solas quiero darte, 
 Hasta que tu te canses, 6 yo muera. 
 
 Ya, ya me tienes, Flora, de tu parte, 
 Que, como tus costumbres amo tanto, 
 Mudable soy tambien por imitarte. 
 
 Quiero dexar la pluma, que me espanto 
 De ver ese furor tras ordinario, 
 Y dar de contricion serial con llanto. 
 
 Pero tengo conmigo un tu contrario, 
 Que tiene prometido defendenne 
 Contra el poder de Xerxes, y de Dario : 
 
 Y no me da lugar de recogerme, 
 Antes con amenazas me provoca: 
 Dios sabe si ofenderte es ofenderme.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 401 
 
 approximate. Still, however, traces of difference are dis- 
 coverable in their works. Bartholeme, by his numerous 
 epistles and satires, performed greater services to Spanish 
 poetry than his brother Lupercio. He was the first Spa- 
 nish writer who introduced concentrated satire in sonnets, 
 which he probably did after he became acquainted with 
 the Italian poems of that class, but he has imitated 
 them with the spirit of Horace, and has avoided every 
 thing like Italian flippancy. His spiritual canciones, 
 which are not equalled by any in the poetic works of 
 Lupercio, are among the best in the style to which they 
 belong. His most esteemed works bear the impress 
 of a more cultivated talent than is discernable in the 
 writings of his brother. His longer and properly didac- 
 tic satires are characterized by more causticity than 
 gaiety in the ridicule of general and particular follies.* 
 But the enthusiasm of the moralist never leads him into 
 declamation in the manner of Juvenal; and these satires 
 
 * For example : 
 
 Ni a Italia has de pasar por Beneficios, 
 Para darles asalto con la capa 
 De que son subrepticios, 6 obrepticios. 
 
 Para engaiiarlo no veras al Papa, 
 Aunque te llame el golfo de Narbona 
 Tan pacifico en si, como en el inapa : 
 
 Que si Micer Pandolfo trae corona, 
 Y prebendado ha vuelto ya, Dios sabe 
 Qual Simon le ayudo, Mago, 6 Barjona. 
 
 Ya ni en si mismo, ni en su Patria cabe, 
 Ni de su loba prodiga las baras 
 De gorgaran en su espaciosa nave. 
 
 Si tu por estos terminos medriiras, 
 Que* bascas, que" visages y figuras 
 De puro escrupoloso nos mostraras ! 
 VOL. I. 2 D
 
 402 HISTORY OF 
 
 are equally replete with traits of mild philanthropy 
 and sound judgment. His epistles on human felicity 
 and human weakness have nearly the same character, 
 but they are for the most part serious and devoid of 
 irony.* His satirical sonnets present unequal degrees 
 of merit ; but in the best, the pupil of Horace is more 
 obviously recognisable.f That Bartholeme should have 
 
 * The following passage occurs in an epistle to a friend who 
 wished to send his son to court while very young, in order that he 
 might become early acquainted with the great world : 
 
 Mirando estoy, que te santiguas desto, 
 Y que enojado quedas, 6 risueno, 
 Llamandome Filosofo molesto. 
 
 Pues enfrena la risa, 6 templa el ceuo, 
 Y en mi defensa escuchame entretanto, 
 Que estas proposiciones desempeno. 
 
 Si esta en verdad, que no nos mueve tanto 
 Docta declamacion, Griega, 6 Latina, 
 Como el exemplo vivo, 6 torpe, 6 santo : 
 Del padre, que a sus hijas disciplina 
 Con mal exemplo, quien dira que es prueba 
 De la aguila, que al sol los examina ? 
 
 Pues dar rienda a la edad ferviente y nueva, 
 No es culpa de indiscrete amor paterno, 
 Que in manifiesta perdicion la lleva ? 
 
 El diestro agricultor al arbol tierno, 
 De recientes raices, no lo expone 
 Luego a las inclemencias del inbierno. 
 
 f The following sonnet, addressed to an old coquette, may serve 
 as an example : 
 
 Pon, Lice, tus cabellos con legias 
 De venerables, si no rubios, rojos, 
 Que el tiempo vengador busca despojos, 
 Y no para volver huyen los dias. 
 
 Ya las mexillas, que avultar porfias, 
 Cierra en perfiles l^nguidos, y flojos :
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 403 
 
 succeeded in spiritual canciones, may at first sight be 
 deemed a psychological enigma. But it was precisely 
 his critical and reflective turn of mind which proved 
 most essentially serviceable in guiding him through the 
 gloomy regions of catholic mysticism. Being an en- 
 thusiastic catholic, he wanted no extraordinary inspira- 
 tion to furnish him with religious ideas; and the faculties 
 of a language eminently picturesque, supplied him with 
 new views and images which he alternately developed 
 in majestic descriptions,* and pleasing comparisons.-}- 
 
 Su hermosa atrocidad nobo a los ojos, 
 Y apriesa te desarma las encias. 
 
 Pero tu acude por socorro al arte, 
 Que, aim con sus fraudes, quiero que defiendas 
 Al desengano descorte"s la entrada. 
 
 Con pacto (y por tu bien) que no pretendas 
 Reducida a ruin as, ser amada, 
 Sino es de ti, si puedes enganarte. 
 
 * For example, the first stanzas of an ode on the immaculate 
 conception of the holy virgin : 
 
 A todos los espiritus amantes, 
 Que en circulo de luz inaccesible 
 Forman amphiteatros celestiales, 
 Dixo el Padre comun, ya no terrible 
 Bibrando rayos vengativos, antes 
 Con inanso aspecto, grato a los mortales : 
 Ya es tiempo de admitir a los umbrales 
 Del Reyno eterno los del baxo mundo, 
 Que su gemiclo, y su miseria vence. 
 Y porque la gran obra se comience, 
 Muestre la idea del saber profundo 
 Su concepto fecuudo, 
 La preservada esposa : que en saliendo, 
 El pacifico cetro de oro estiendo. 
 
 f On one occasion Argensola thus apostrophizes Mary 
 Magdalen:. 2 D 2
 
 404 HISTORY OF 
 
 The praises lavished on the Argensolas by all 
 parties, would afford sufficient ground for the con- 
 jecture that their poetic works had produced some 
 influence on their contemporaries. But that influence 
 is chiefly obvious from the poetic style of the men of 
 talent with whom they lived on terms of intimacy, of 
 one of whom, named Alonzo Esquerro, there is extant 
 a short but excellent epistle, published along with the 
 answer of Bartholeme de Argensola. 
 
 The historical works of the younger Argensola, are 
 also deserving of honourable mention in an account of 
 the polite literature of Spain. Few narratives of Indian 
 affairs are written with so much judgment and elegance 
 
 tu siempre dichosa pecadora, 
 La que fuiste por tal con grande espanto 
 Del vulgo con el dedo seualada ! 
 Tus lagrimas con Christo pueden tanto, 
 Que la inenor lo enciende y enamora, 
 Y a la culpa mayor dexa anegada. 
 Tu quedas en Apostol transformada, 
 Y de ignoraote y mala, santa y sabia. 
 No es mucho que la zarza en flor se mude, 
 Y que el alamo sude 
 En competencia de la mirra Arabia; 
 Y que quando de yerba al campo priva, 
 La mies en abundancia se recoja. 
 Venid a ver de rosas y azucenas 
 Las montanas este"riles mas llenas, 
 Y un arbol seco revestido de hoja. 
 La planta antes inutil Dios cultiva : 
 Regada en su jardin con agua viva, 
 Es fructlfera ya, y sus ramas bellas 
 Tocan continuamente en las estrellas.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 405 
 
 as his History of the Conquest of the Molucca Islands;* 
 and his continuation of the Annals of Zurita,f exceeds 
 in rhetorical merit the work of the original historio- 
 grapher. The circumstances connected with the ac- 
 cession of Charles V. and the Castilian rebellion, subjects 
 to which no Spanish writer had previously ventured to 
 allude, are related by Argensola with no less freedom 
 and fidelity than other events; though of course without 
 his attempting to urge any apology for the rebels. In 
 the reign of Philip III. but little danger was to be 
 apprehended from such freedom; and when, in the year 
 1621, Philip IV. ascended the throne in the seventeenth 
 year of his age, Argensola did not hesitate to dedicate 
 his Arragonian Annals to the Duke of Olivarez, who in 
 the name of the young king was invested with unlimited 
 sovereign authority. The Duke of Oh' varez on receiving 
 this dedication little imagined that the recollection of the 
 ancient privileges of the Arragonian states, which had 
 been solemnly ratified by Charles V. and which were so 
 much expatiated on in these annals, would, at no very 
 remote period, be the means of rousing the people of 
 Arragon to take up arms in defence of their constitution, 
 on which the duke wished to encroach, in order to 
 recruit the exhausted strength of Castile. 
 
 * Conquista de las Islas Molucas, al Rey Felipe III. Bfc. 
 (written at an earlier period than the Annals of Arragon), por el 
 Licenciado Bartkoleme Leonardo de Argensola. Madrid, 1609, in 
 folio. The library of the University of Gottingen contains this 
 work, and also that next noticed. 
 
 f Primer a parte, (a second part was intended to follow), de los 
 Anales de Aragon que prosigue los de G. Zurita, &c. por el Dr. 
 Barth. Leon, de Argensola. Zaragoza, 1C30, one vol. thick fol.
 
 406 HISTORY OF 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF SPANISH POE- 
 TRY AND ELOQUENCE DURING THE AGE OF 
 CERVANTES AND LOPE DE VEGA. 
 
 A very accurate idea of the general spirit of ele- 
 gant literature in Spain, during the age of Cervantes 
 and Lope de Vega, will be obtained, if, to an exami- 
 nation of the works of those eminent men and the two 
 Argensolas, be added a recollection of the labours of 
 their immediate predecessors; for the other Spanish 
 poets of this period followed in the beaten path as far 
 as they were able to go, and if any one ventured oh a 
 new course he only wandered into insipidity. These 
 authors, though deficient in originality, are not without 
 merit; but so great is their number, that it would be 
 impossible to find room for even a very brief notice of 
 all their works in a general history of literature. There 
 was at this time a sort of poetical ferment in Spain, 
 which can only be compared with that which prevailed 
 in Italy during the sixteenth century. The blending 
 of the Italian style with the old Spanish, had excited a 
 new enthusiasm throughout the whole nation; and in 
 proportion as the Spaniards were excluded from philo- 
 sophic thinking, their passion for works of fancy was 
 augmented. Under these circumstances eloquence could 
 only follow in the train of poetry.* 
 
 * The poetical registers in Lope de Vega's Laurel de Apolo, 
 in Cervantes's Viage al Parnaso, and in other laudatory or ironical 
 poems, are in no way available either for the historian or the critic. 
 Accident and caprice has introduced many obscure names into these 
 poems, and many of poetic merit are not mentioned.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 407 
 
 FRESH FAILURES IN EPIC POETRY ERCILLA'S 
 ARAUCANA. 
 
 Success in epic poetry was still denied to the Spanish 
 muse. The confounding of epic poetry with relations 
 of actual events embellished with poetic language, seems 
 to have perverted the talent for true epopee. The 
 Spanish poets who attempted this style, studied after 
 the deceitful model of Lucan, and, according to an old 
 critical phrase, endeavoured to be more Lucanists than 
 Lucan himself. The imagination which possessed un- 
 bounded dominion over the stage, seems to have ob- 
 tained in narrative poetry only the scanty privilege of 
 inventing a few ornaments. 
 
 Among the unsuccessful attempts at epopee, parti- 
 cular distinction is due to the Araucana of the heroic 
 and amiable Alonzo de Ercilla y Zuniga, a poem which 
 has the accidental advantage of being better known on 
 this side of the Pyrenees than many other Spanish 
 works of far superior merit. Ercilla has recorded the 
 most remarkable events of his own biography in the 
 Araucana, and the remainder of the poem also reflects 
 an interest on the author. He was born at Madrid in 
 1540, or according to some in 1533, and became page 
 to the prince of Asturias, Don Philip, with whom he 
 travelled to Italy, the Netherlands, and England. At 
 the age of twenty-two, he embarked as an officer for 
 America, along with a newly appointed viceroy of Peru. 
 He distinguished himself in the war against the Arau- 
 cans, the bravest of the South American tribes. In 
 the midst of his exploits, he conceived with a youthful
 
 408 HISTORY OF 
 
 ambition the plan of writing a narrative of the conquest 
 of Arauco in an epic form, but with the strictest regard 
 to historical truth. He executed his project in spite of 
 the dangers which surrounded him, and the fatigues he 
 had to undergo. In a wilderness inhabited by savages, 
 in the midst of enemies, and under no other cover than 
 that of heaven, he composed at night the verses which 
 were to be the memorials of the events of the day. In 
 prosecution of his purpose, he was obliged to use scraps 
 of waste paper, which often could not contain more than 
 six lines, or to make pieces of leather supply the total 
 want of paper. In this way he completed the first part 
 of his poem, consisting of fifteen cantos. Before he was 
 thirty years of age he returned to Spain, full of hope, 
 both as a soldier and a poet; but the gloomy Philip, to 
 whom he enthusiastically dedicated the Araucana, took 
 little notice of him, and less of his work. Ercilla deeply 
 felt this neglect; but nothing could damp his romantic 
 attachment to his cold-hearted sovereign, whom he still 
 persisted in celebrating in the sequel of his poem. He re- 
 ceived no mark of favour except from the Emperor Maxi- 
 milian JI. who appointed him one of his chamberlains. 
 Dissatisfied with his fate, Ercilla travelled from place to 
 place; but his journies did not prevent him from pro- 
 ceeding with his poem until he completed it by the 
 addition of a third part. When he died is not known, 
 but it was after he had attained his fiftieth year. . 
 
 The Araucana 9 so called from the country Arauco, 
 is really no poem. It is, however, impossible to read 
 the work without becoming attached to the author, and 
 being delighted by his talent for lively description, and
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 409 
 
 for painting situations, his possession of which no just 
 critic can call in question. But notwithstanding that 
 talent, Ercilla is merely a versifying historian, capable of 
 clothing his subject in a poetic garb, but not of elevating 
 it to the sphere of true poetry. His diction is natural 
 and correct; and to this the Araucana is in a great mea- 
 sure indebted for its celebrity. Its descriptive beauties, 
 and some scenes in the style of romantic love, certainly 
 make the composition approximate to poetry; but the 
 heroic spirit which pervades the whole work, is by no 
 means a poetic spirit. The principal events follow each 
 other in chronological order. The combats are described 
 in succession, as they actually arose, without any regard 
 to poetic interest. Ercilla, indeed, prided himself on this 
 historical precision, and he challenged any of his coun- 
 trymen who were acquainted with the war in Arauco, 
 to detect a single inaccuracy in his narrative. The 
 historical succession of events imparts, however, a sort 
 of epic unity to the work. The Spaniards in Arauco 
 are surrounded by dangers, which gradually augment 
 until they reach a crisis; when a reinforcement arrives 
 from Peru, and the Spaniards experience a favourable 
 change of fortune. The capture of Caupolican, the 
 Araucan commander, who is put to death in a way re- 
 pugnant to humanity, closes the narrative, though it 
 does not terminate the war; but the barbarous and 
 unjust execution of this brave chief being decreed by 
 a Spanish council of war, is not censured by Ercilla. 
 From the manner in which the poem concludes, it must 
 be regarded as incomplete, considered as an historical 
 narrative. Even the moral interest of the events
 
 410 HISTORY OF 
 
 operates in a way contrary to the intention of the 
 author; for the feelings of the unprejudiced reader are, 
 from the commencement excited in favour of the brave 
 savages, who half-naked, and destitute of fire arms, 
 contend for their natural freedom against enemies so 
 superior in the art of war. The style of historical 
 truth in which the principal events are narrated, forms 
 a disagreeable contrast with the fiction in the details, 
 which is intended to diffuse a poetic character over the 
 whole work; for Ercilla at length found it necessary to 
 depart from his plan in order to escape from the mo- 
 notony into which he had fallen. In the first fifteen 
 cantos the poetic colouring is merely confined to the 
 descriptions; but in the two following parts,* the author 
 has interwoven a number of fabulous accessaries. He 
 has introduced, for example, a poetic account of the 
 magician Fiton's wonderful skill and garden of para- 
 dise,! an( l a ^ so the story of the fair savage Glaura, 
 who recounts the incidents of her life in the style of a 
 
 * The poetic narrative exteuds to thirty-seven cantos. 
 
 f This description of the garden and palace of a magician in 
 the wilds of America, oversteps the bounds of consistency as well 
 as probability. The description of the magic palace deserves, 
 however, to be quoted: 
 
 Tenia el suelo por orden ladrillado 
 
 de cristalinas losas trasparentes, 
 
 que el color coutrapuesto y variado 
 
 hacia labor y visos diferentes : 
 
 el cielo alto diafano estrellado 
 
 de inumerables piedras relucientes, 
 
 que toda la gran camara alegraba 
 
 la varia luz que dellas revocaba.
 
 SPANISH LITERATUHE. 411 
 
 Spanish romance.* Ercilla likewise relates the death 
 of Dido after Virgil, and in honour of his king he gives 
 
 Sobre colunas de oro sustentadas 
 cien figuras de bulto entorno estaban, 
 por arte tan al vivo trasladadas, 
 que un sordo bien pensara que hablaban : 
 y deltas las hazanas figuradas 
 por las anchas paredes se mostraban, 
 donde se via el extreme y excelencia 
 de armas, letras, virtud, y continencia. 
 
 En medio desta cainara espaciosa, 
 que media milla en quadro contenia, 
 estaba una gran ponia milagrosa, 
 que una luciente esfera la cenia, 
 que por arte y labor maravillosa 
 en el ayre por si se sostenia 
 que el gran circulo y maquina de dentro 
 parece que estrivaban en su centro. 
 
 * Glaura thus speaks of the dangers to which her virtue was 
 exposed through the ardour of her lover's tenderness : 
 
 Visto yo que por muestras y rodeo 
 muchas veces su pena descubria, 
 conoc6 que su intento y mal deseo 
 de los honestos limites salia : 
 mas ay ! que en lo que yo padezco veo 
 lo que el misero entonces padecia, 
 que a trmino he llegado al pie del palo, 
 que aun no puedo decir mal de lo malo. 
 
 Hallabale mil veces suspirando 
 en mi los enganados ojos puestos, 
 otros andaba timido tentando 
 entrada a sus osados presupuestos : 
 yo la ocasion danosa desviando, 
 con gravedad y t6rminos honestos 
 (que es lo que mas refrena la osadia) 
 sus erradas quimeras deshacia.
 
 412 HISTORY OF 
 
 a detailed account of the battle of Lepanto. In addi- 
 tion to the descriptions, some of the speeches, particu- 
 larly that delivered by the Cacique Colocolo in the 
 second canto,* may be referred to as the best parts of 
 this unpoetic poem. 
 
 Meanwhile the passion for epic poetry, which took 
 possession of so many Spanish writers in the age of 
 Cervantes and Lope de Vega, gave birth to a torrent of 
 
 Estando sola en ini aposento un dia 
 
 temerosa de algun atrevimiento, 
 
 ante mi de rodillas se ponia 
 
 con grande turbacion, y desatiento : 
 
 diciendotne temblando : o Glaura mi a, 
 
 ya no basta razon, ni sufrimiento, 
 
 ni de fuerza una minima me queda, 
 
 que a la del fuerte amor resistir pueda. &c. 
 * Even Voltaire bears testimony to the excellence of this 
 speech; and Voltaire was certainly a judge of rhetorical excellence, 
 though not of poetical. The address commences thus : 
 Caciques del Estado defendores, 
 
 codicia del mandar no me convida 
 
 a pesarme de versos pretensores 
 
 de cosa que a mi tanto era debida ; 
 
 porque segun mi edad, ya veis, senores, 
 
 que estoy al otro mundo de partida ; 
 
 mas el amor que siempre os he mostrado, 
 
 a bien aconsejaros me ha incitado. 
 
 Por qu6 cargos honrosos pretendemos, 
 
 Y ser en opinion grande tenidos, 
 
 pues que negar al mundo no podemos 
 
 haber sido sujetos y vencidos ? 
 
 y en esto averiguarnos no queremos 
 
 estando aun de Espanoles oprimidos : 
 
 mejor fuera esta furia egecutalla 
 
 contra el fiero enemigo en la batalla, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 413 
 
 heroic poems. To the Caroliads, which have already 
 been noticed, there succeeded La Restauracion de 
 Espaha, (the Restoration of Spain), by Christoval de 
 Mesa; Las Navas de Tolosa, (the Plains of Toulouse), 
 by the same author; La Numantina, by Francisco de 
 Mesquera; La Invention de la Cruz, (the Invention 
 of the Cross), by Lopez Zarate ; Maltea, by Hyppolyto 
 Sanz; El Leon de Espana, (the Spanish Lion), by 
 Pedro de Vezilla; Saguntina, by Lorenzo de Zamora; 
 Mexicanafcy Gabriel Laso de Vega; Austriada, by Rufo 
 Guttieraz; &c. None but men who make this branch of 
 literature their particular study, now think of perusing 
 these and similar patriotic effusions, which were at the 
 period of their publication regarded as epic poems,* but 
 which only serve to prove, with the greater certainty, that 
 Spain is incapable of producing a Homer. A genuine 
 subject for epopee was scarcely to be found in the national 
 history of Spain, even during the ages of chivalry; and 
 modern history was not then more susceptible than 
 now of receiving a truly epic form. 
 
 LYRIC AND BUCOLIC POETS OF THE CLASSIC 
 SCHOOL OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Lyric and bucolic poetry and also elegant satire, 
 after the two Argensolas had given the tone to that 
 species of composition, continued to be cultivated by 
 various pupils of the classic school of the sixteenth 
 century. This school which was then on the decline 
 in Italy, still maintained its ground in Spain, and 
 
 * Velasquez and Dieze, p. 383, give numerous bibliographical 
 notices of these works.
 
 414 HISTORY OF 
 
 preserved its reputation in spite of the opposition made 
 by the different parties who contended for their respec- 
 tive styles, particularly by that of Lope de Vega, and by 
 one of a still more dangerous kind, which will soon be 
 more distinctly noticed. The disciples of this classic 
 school, together with those writers who, since the time 
 of Boscan and Garcilaso de la Vega, had formed their 
 style on the model of the ancients and the most 
 esteemed poets of Italy, may be called the Spanish 
 Cinquecentisti, in a favourable sense of the term, though 
 some of them wrote in the seventeenth century. The 
 most distinguished among them really flourished in the 
 sixteenth century ; and the rest, whose number is in- 
 calculable, possessed, at least,'the merit of endeavouring, 
 like the Italian Cinquecentisti, to express sensible ideas 
 in correct language. 
 
 To this classic school belongs Vicente E spinel, an 
 ecclesiastic of the province of Granada. He was like- 
 wise celebrated as a musician, and he perfected the 
 Spanish guitar by the addition of the fifth string. He 
 died in poverty, in the ninetieth year of his age, at 
 Madrid in 1634. His canciones, idyls, and elegies, though 
 destitute of originality, are distinguished by a spirited 
 and inartificial character, and they abound in beauti- 
 ful images and descriptions. Espinel's poetic style is 
 extremely melodious. In his idyls he has very suc- 
 cessfully imitated the pleasing syllabic measure which 
 Gil Polo introduced into Spanish literature under the 
 name of Rimas Provenwles ;* and he was one of those 
 
 * For example, in the following description of rural tran- 
 quillity ;
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 415 
 
 writers who most contributed to bestow a metrical polish 
 on the redondilla stanzas of ten lines, (decimas). He 
 translated Horace's Art of Poetry, in iambic blank 
 verse, and several of Horace's Odes after the manner 
 of Luis de Leon. Some of this author's prose works 
 will hereafter be noticed.* 
 
 Christoval de Mesa, an ecclesiastic of Estremadura, 
 
 Ay apacible y sosegada vida, 
 de vulgar sujecion libre y esenta, 
 do el alma se sustenta 
 con blanda soledad entretenida ; 
 
 do nunca tuvo la malicia eutrada, 
 
 7 
 
 ni desagrada 
 mansa pobreza: 
 todo es llaneza 
 sinceVa y pura 
 do nunca dura 
 
 el fingido doblez qu6 al alma gasta ; 
 ni al humilde espiritu contrasta! 
 
 Aqui sustenta el misero villano, 
 sin artificio 6 caulelosa nianana, 
 la bellota 6 castana, 
 apedreada de la simple mano. 
 Dale del agua pura y trasparcnte 
 la clara fuente 
 no le molesta 
 calor de siesta ; 
 y si le ofende 
 luego se tiende 
 
 bajo de uu estendido sauce 6 robre, 
 contento, sin mirar si es rico 6 pobre, &c. 
 * Several of Espinel's prose works are inserted in the third 
 volume of the Parnaso Espanol; and the translation of the Epistle 
 to the Pisones, forms the commencement of the first volume of that 
 collection.
 
 416 HISTORY OF 
 
 was contemporary with Tarquato Tasso, with whom 
 he maintained the most friendly intercourse. He made, 
 however, very little improvement in epic art through 
 his intimacy with that celebrated man. Of three 
 compositions, which Christoval de Mesa intended for 
 epic poems, not one has been preserved from oblivion. 
 His tragedy of Pompey is likewise forgotten. He was 
 nevertheless a good translator; and his translations of 
 the Mueid and the Iliad are esteemed even at the 
 present day. He also published a Spanish version of 
 Virgil's Georgics. 
 
 Juan de Morales obtained a similar reputation 
 through his translation of Horace's Odes and Virgil's 
 Georgics. The particulars of his life are not known. 
 He wrote some good sonnets.* This writer must not 
 be confounded with his namesake, Ambrosio de Morales, 
 the historian. 
 
 * For example, the following. The prevailing idea is not 
 new; but it is followed up in the genuine spirit of sonnet, compo- 
 sition. 
 
 Jamas el cielo vio llegar Piloto 
 
 Al desseado puerto tan contento 
 
 De las furiosas olas y del viento 
 
 La nave sin timon, y el arbol roto, 
 Y tomando la tierra tan devoto 
 
 Correr al templo con piadoso intento, 
 
 Y en el por verse puesto en salvamento 
 
 Colgar las ropas, y cumplir el voto : 
 Qual yo escape del mar del llanto mio, 
 
 Passada la borrasca de mi pena, 
 
 Y en el puerto surgi del desengaiio, 
 Cuyo templo adorne de mi navio, 
 
 Colge mis esperan9as y cadena, 
 
 Por ser mi bien el fruto de mi daiio,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 417 
 
 Agustin de Texada, or Tejada, who was born in the 
 year 1635, is distinguished as a writer of spiritual odes 
 and canciones. His poems in this class vie with those 
 of the younger Argensola in poetic dignity of com- 
 position and genuine lyric diction.* He has, however, 
 committed the error of introducing mythological images 
 in his Christian poetry. But in this respect he merely 
 conformed with the bad taste of his age, which in Spain 
 and Portugal favoured the most absurd misapplication 
 of the Greek mythology; for, to humour the prejudices 
 of the church, it was necessary that the heathen deities 
 should appear only as allegorical characters in catholic 
 poetry. 
 
 Andres Rey de Artieda, a brave Arragonian officer, 
 was a very learned scholar and a particular friend of 
 the Argensolas. Among other works, he wrote poetic 
 
 * The following is the first stanza of his caucion on the ascen- 
 sion of the Holy Virgin : 
 
 Angelicas esquadras que en las salas 
 Llenas de olor de gloria, con inmenso 
 Gozo, de que llenays el claro Cielo, 
 Andays batiendo las doradas alas, 
 Y al eterno Regente days encienso, 
 Que olor espira de imnortal consuelo, 
 Torced el blando buelo, 
 Y recebid en vuestras bellas plumas 
 A la que encierra en si las gracias sumas, 
 Pues que rompiendo la fulgente massa 
 Del Cielo cristalina 
 Que a la tierra e sirve de cortina, 
 Veys que el uu firmamento y otro passa 
 Hasta llegar al trono do reside 
 El que del Cielo el movimieuto mide. 
 VOL. I. 2 E
 
 418 HISTORY OF 
 
 epistles which are full of good sense and natural feeling.* 
 His sonnets are remarkable for their novel and poignant 
 style.t 
 
 * His epistles in the satirical style are, however, so full of 
 allusions to particular circumstances which occurred during the life 
 of the author, that they are not easily understood. The following 
 passage is from an epistle on the Spanish comedy. 
 
 Si quando Rey, coino Sefior se sienta 
 si cobra quando Cid tantos aceros, 
 que al parecer emprenderd a cinquenta, 
 
 Es a dicha Morales, o Cisneros ? 
 o es la triste Belerma Mariflores, 
 quando a llanto y pasion puede moreros? 
 
 Claro es que no son ellos pues, Senores, 
 que iraporta a la Comedia que sean malos, 
 si para recitar son los mejores? 
 
 Los palos, que se dan alii son palos 
 a los que como simples los reciben. 
 El entrems fingido afrentaralos ? 
 
 A dicha los que mueren no reviven ? 
 y si es que lo requiere la maraiiia, 
 los que lo fingen paren, o conciben ? 
 
 Sola la vista y opinion se engaiia, 
 y asi el vicio y virtud de ellos no ofende, 
 ni a la Comedia en un cabello dafia. 
 
 f The following colloquial sonnet may serve as an example: 
 A. Quin vive aqui ? C. Un pobre peregrine. 
 A. Pues peregrine con hogar y casa? 
 C. No la veis toda ya desierta y rasa, 
 
 que solo este sobrado quedo en pino ? 
 A. Quien os retrajo a tal lugar? C. Mi sino. 
 A. Quie'n sois ? C. Soy viento que no vuelve, y pasa : 
 tuve favor del mundo, fui del asa ; 
 pas6 el buen tiempo, y el adverse vino. 
 A. Que haceis aqui? C. Un cesto, una canasta, 
 tal vez de mimbre, tal de seco esparto,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 419 
 
 Gregorio Morillo imitated Juvenal in his didactic 
 satires, and vented his spleen in well-turned verses.* 
 
 Luis Barahona de Soto is, in preference to many of 
 his contemporaries, entitled to an honourable place among 
 Spanish poets. He was born in the province of Granada, 
 and was a physician by profession. His eclogues resemble 
 those of Garcilaso de la Vega; and his canciones abound 
 in romantic grace.f His satires, which were lately 
 
 con que gano el sustento que me basta. 
 Y no me vi (os prometo) jamas harto 
 de pretensiones militates hasta 
 que el desengauo me alquilo este cuarto. 
 
 * For example : 
 
 Quie'n se fuera a la Zono inhabitable 
 por no perder del todo la paciencia, 
 que quieren que lo sufra, y que no liable! 
 Tubieron Persio y Juvenal licencia 
 
 de corregir las faltas del Imperio ; 
 y no he de hacer yo escriipulo y conciencia, 
 Vieodo en una ventana una Glicerio, 
 una segunda Venus, que la ocupa, 
 donde pensaste que era un Monasterio, 
 Y que a la mar se arroje la chalupa, 
 coma la galeaza, y tiendavelas, 
 y tanto aquesta, como aquella chupa ? 
 Mas quin no ha de calzarsa las espuelas, 
 por no ver afeitada, como guinda, 
 la que ha perdido en navegar las muelas? 
 f One of these compositions commences in the following 
 way : 
 
 Qual llena de rocio 
 suele salir, los campos alegrando, 
 la clara Aurora con el rostro helado, 
 sutil aura soplando, 
 
 2 E 2
 
 420 HISTORY OF 
 
 republished, have the spirit of Juvenal, but want the 
 delicacy of Horace; they are, however, written in a 
 clear and energetic style. This writer moreover gained 
 celebrity by a continuation of the Orlando Furioso, 
 which was highly esteemed by Cervantes, and which 
 is entitled, Las Lagrimas de Angelica, (the Tears of 
 Angelica).* 
 
 Pedro Soto de Rojas, who was a particular favourite 
 of Lope de Vega, endeavoured to introduce the academic 
 systems of Italy, which had never been successfully 
 
 tal por el verde prado 
 
 salio mi pastorcilla al llanto mio, 
 
 dejando alegre el suelo, 
 
 y de sus gracias einbidioso el cielo. 
 
 Esparcese sin arte 
 sobre la nieve del marmoreo cuello, 
 tirada en hebras larga vena de oro ; 
 y para euriquecello 
 en dos madejas varias se reparte, 
 con bien mayor tesoro, 
 descubriendo la cara 
 mas que la luna y las estrellas clara. 
 
 La tierna yerva crece, 
 donde la planta sienta, y eria olores, 
 y el arbol que desgaja con su mano 
 pimpollos brota y flores, 
 y el ayre fresco y vano, 
 hablando con olores lo enriquece, 
 y lleno de alegria 
 promete al mundo venturoso dia. 
 
 * The curate in Don Quixote, during the examination of the 
 knight's library, says, that if these Tears had been doomed to be 
 burnt, he himself should have shed tears. I have not seen the 
 book in any collection.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 421 
 
 imitated in Spain. A literary society established at 
 Madrid, after the Italian fashion, received the ludicrous 
 title of Academia Selvaje, (Academy of Savages;) and 
 in this society Soto de Rojas was distinguished by the 
 surname of I'Ardiente. His eclogues have the usual 
 character of Spanish poems of that class, clothed in 
 elegant and harmonious language.* 
 
 Luis Martin, or Martinez de la Plaza, an ecclesiastic 
 of Granada, a province fertile in literary talent, was 
 particularly celebrated for the grace of his madrigals, 
 and other small poems of a similar kind.f 
 
 * For example: 
 
 Ya en sus troncos natives 
 temerosa la sombra se recoge, 
 y deja la floresta 
 por bieu pasar la fatigada siesta : 
 ya el zefiro ligero, que despliega 
 sus alas al nacer del Sol dorado, 
 con arrullos lascivos 
 al vendor de los hojas las entrega, 
 y al bianco lirio en el sediento prado 
 sobre los hombros de la flor vecina 
 el cuello enfermo del calor inclina: 
 Marcelo, al Olmo erguido, si te place, 
 los pasos encamina, 
 que al bano de las Nayades cortina 
 entretegido con la yedra hace : 
 sonant tu zampoiia dulcemente, 
 suave tu zampona, 
 
 con quien las duras sierpes su ponzona, 
 los vientos su braveza, 
 y las fieras suspenden su aspereza. 
 
 J- One of Martin's most charming madrigals may be tran- 
 scribed here:
 
 422 HISTORY OF 
 
 Balthazar del Alcazar, who appears to have been a 
 native of Andalusia, sought to distinguish himself as a 
 writer of epigrammatic madrigals. In his comic madri- 
 gals,* he was, however, less successful than in those of 
 gallantry.t He also appears to have been one of the 
 
 Iba cogiendo flores, 
 
 y guardando en la falda 
 
 mi Ninfa, para hacer una guirlanda; 
 
 mas primero las toca 
 
 a las rosados labio de su boca, 
 
 y les dd de su alien to los olores; 
 
 y estaba (por su bien) en (re una rosa 
 
 una abeja scondida, 
 
 su dulce humor hurtando; 
 
 y como en la hermosa 
 
 flor de los labios se hallo, atrevida, 
 
 la pic6, sac6 mi el, fuese volando. 
 
 * The following seems to have been vastly admired by some 
 critics, since it has found its way into various collections : 
 Revelome ayer Luysa 
 
 Un caso bien de reyr, 
 
 Quierotelo, Ines, dezir, 
 
 Porque de caygas de risa. 
 Has de saber que su tia, 
 
 No puedo de visa, Ynes 
 
 Quiero reyrme, y despues 
 
 Lo dire quando no ria. 
 f For example, the following trifle: 
 Madalena me pico 
 
 Con un alfiler el dedo, 
 
 Dixele: Picado quedo, 
 
 Pero ya lo estava yo. 
 Riose, y con su cordura 
 
 Acudio al remedio presto, 
 
 Chupome el dedo, y con esto 
 
 Sane de la picadura.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 423 
 
 first Spanish poets who wrote odes in sapphic feet, in 
 so far as the Spanish language would permit the em- 
 ployment of that measure.* 
 
 Gonzalo de Argote y Molina, one of those brave 
 men, who, in the reign of Philip II. combated with 
 enthusiasm for the honour of their country and their 
 king, but whose valour remained unrequited, was more 
 distinguished as an historian than as a poet. To his 
 literary patriotism the Spaniards were indebted for 
 the publication of the Infante Don Manuel's Conde 
 Lucanor.^ His poems are, however, worthy of ho- 
 nourable notice. An ardent love of country is the 
 soul of his canciones and other lyric compositions.^ 
 
 * For example : 
 
 Suelta la venda, sucio y asqueroso : 
 laba los ojos llenos de leganas : 
 cubre las carnes y lugares feos, 
 
 hijo de Venus. 
 
 Deja las alas, las doradas flechas, 
 arco, y aljaba, y el ardiente fuego, 
 para queen falta tuya lo gobierne 
 
 hombre de seso. 
 f See page 37. 
 
 J One of his canciones addressed to his country, commences 
 in the following manner: 
 
 Levante noble Espana 
 tu coronoda frente, 
 y a!6grate de verre renascida 
 por todo quanto baiia 
 en torno la corriente 
 del uno y otro mar con mejor vida, 
 qual Fenix encendida 
 en gloriosa llama
 
 424 HISTORY OF 
 
 Francisco de Figueroa spent a portion of his life in 
 Italy, in the twofold capacity of an officer and a states- 
 man. During his residence among the Italians, he en- 
 joyed a degree of public esteem which was extended 
 to few of his countrymen. He wrote poems in Italian 
 as well as in Spanish. Among his friends and admirers 
 he was called the divine, and he was ranked among 
 the most eminent Petrarchists of his age. His amatory 
 sonnets are written in a pleasing and natural style, and 
 abound in the softest touches of romantic melancholy.* 
 
 de ingenio soberano 
 
 muy alto y muy humano, 
 
 que a ti y a si dio vida y inmortal lama, 
 
 que durara en el suelo 
 
 quanto la inmortal obra de Marcelo. 
 
 Dejaron muy escura 
 las importunas guerras 
 de Vandalos y Godos generosos 
 la antigua hermosura 
 de tus felices tierras 
 y sitios de tus pueblos glonosos : 
 y al fin mas invidiosos 
 d6 tu belleza ilustre 
 los fieros Africanos 
 con muy profanas manos 
 estragaron del todo el sacro lustre 
 del terreno mas Undo 
 que hay desde el mar Atlantico hasta el Indo. 
 
 * For instance, the following sonnet : 
 
 Yace tendido en la desierta arena, 
 Que quasi siempre el mar bana y esconde, 
 De Tirsi el cuerpo; el alma alverga donde 
 Sembro Amor la simiente de su pena :
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 425 
 
 The admirers of Francisco de Figueroa likewise con- 
 ferred on him the surname of the Spanish Pindar; but 
 that was a mere whim.* 
 
 Christoval Suarez de Figueroa, who was an imitator 
 of Montemayor, wrote a pastoral romance, entitled 
 Amarittis, which was very generally read at the time 
 of its publication. He also made a translation of Gua- 
 rini's Pastor Fido, and cultivated with some degree of 
 success the Italian lyric forms of pastoral romance. 
 Some of the poems of the latter class contained in the 
 Romancero General, appear to be written by this 
 author. His Endeclias, or Elegiac Songs in the popular 
 style, though not particularly rich in ideas, are neverthe- 
 less pleasing with respect to language and versification.f 
 
 Alii mientras su llanto amargo suena 
 Entre las penas, Eco le responde : 
 Tirsi cuitado, donde estas ? Por donde 
 Saldras a ver tu luz pura e serena ? 
 
 Aqui el cielo nubloso, el viento ayrado 
 Mantienen con el mar perpetua guerra, 
 Y 61 con estas inontanas que rodea. 
 
 Ay de ti, Tirsi, de dolor cercado, 
 Mas que de mar, quando sera que lea 
 Fili en tu frente lo que el pecho encierra. 
 A new edition of the best poems of Francisco de Figueroa 
 was published by Ramon Fernandez at Madrid, in 1785, in 8vo. 
 f One of his Endechas commences thus : 
 
 Bella Zagleja 
 del color moreno, 
 bianco milagroso 
 de mi pensamieuto : 
 
 Gallarda triguena, 
 de belleza extreme, 
 ardor de las almas, 
 y de amor trofe"o :
 
 426 HISTORY OF 
 
 Another poet of this name, Bartholome Cayrasco 
 de Figueroa, is the author of a long series of spiritual 
 canciones and tales called cantos, which were much 
 esteemed on account of the edification attributed to 
 their contents. In these poems he explains the mysticism 
 of the Christian religion, according to the catholic 
 dogmas and the scholastic ideas of Christian virtue, in 
 a manner more pedantic than poetic; but yet in pure 
 and elegant language. He was likewise one of the 
 Spanish imitators of the Italian verse with dactyllic 
 terminations, called versos esdrujolos, from the Italian 
 versi sdruccioli.* 
 
 Suave Sirena, 
 que con tus acentos 
 detienes el curso 
 de los pasageros : 
 
 Desde que te vi 
 tal estoy que siento 
 preso el alvedrio, 
 y abrasado el pecho. 
 
 * For example : 
 
 De las Damas fantasticas, 
 mas que la caii a moviles, 
 presos de amor en esta red amplifica, 
 seglares y monasticas 
 de baja suerte ignobiles, 
 de muy oscura faraa y muy clarifica, 
 que lengua tan manifica 
 dira los echos frivolos, 
 vanidades gentilicas, 
 pues templos y Basilicas 
 pretenden como dioses estos idolos, 
 Lucrecias y Cleopatras, 
 que hacen a los necios ser idolatras ?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 427 
 
 Juan de Arguijo, a native of Seville, seems to have 
 enjoyed high reputation among the poets of his time. 
 Lope de Vega formally dedicated several of his works 
 to him. Some well written sonnets and "other small 
 poems are the only productions of this author now 
 extant.* 
 
 Pedro Espinosa, an ecclesiastic who possessed some 
 poetic talent, and who wrote on various subjects, com- 
 piled a lyric anthology of the works of the above and 
 other Spanish poets, who adhered more or less rigidly to 
 the principles of the old school, but whose fancy some- 
 times roamed unrestrained with Lope de Vega, or 
 sometimes degenerated into affectation with Gongora.t 
 
 * The following is one of his sonnets : 
 Si pudo de Anfion el dulce canto 
 
 Juntar las piedras del Troyano muro, 
 Si con suave lira, oso seguro 
 Baxar el Tracio al Reyno del espanto ; 
 Si la voz regalada pudo tanto, 
 
 Que abrio las puertas de diamante duro, 
 Y un rato suspendio de aquel escuro 
 Lugar la pena y miserable llanto; 
 Y si del canto la admirable fuer9a 
 Domestica los fieros animales, 
 Y enfrena la corriente de los rios. 
 Que nueva pena en mi pesar se esfuerza, 
 Pues con lo que descrecen otros males, 
 Se van acrecentando mas los mios. 
 
 f The collection is entitled Flares dc Poetas ilustrcs dc 
 Espaiia, fyc. ordenada por Pedro Espinosq. Valladolid, 1005, 
 in quarto. From this anthology has been partly selected the 
 specimens of the works of those poets who have just been noticed. 
 The rest of the examples are scattered through the Parnaso 
 E spa no I.
 
 428 HISTORY OF 
 
 RISE OF A NEW IRREGULAR AND FANTASTICAL 
 STYLE IN SPANISH POETRY. 
 
 It is impossible to draw a rigid line of separation 
 between the disciples of the classic school, and the par- 
 tizans of lyric irregularity, who indulged in no less 
 freedom than Lope de Vega, while at the same time 
 they endeavoured to exceed him in forced conceits. 
 Even the disciples of the classic school are not totally 
 exempt from extravagant ideas and unnatural meta- 
 phors; and they occasionally pour forth a torrent of 
 words, which though sometimes big with brilliant 
 ideas, more frequently wastes itself in mere froth and 
 foam. It cannot be doubted that the Italian school of 
 the Marinists exercised an influence on these Spanish 
 poets. But Marino, being a Neapolitan by birth, was 
 a Spanish subject, and educated among Spaniards. 
 It is therefore more natural to regard his style as ori- 
 ginally Spanish, than to trace to Italy the source of 
 those aberrations of fancy, which, in the age of Cer- 
 vantes and Lope de Vega, again found admirers in 
 Spain. Marino's was the old Spanish national style, 
 with all its faults, divested of its ancient energy and 
 purity, polished after a new fashion, stripped of its 
 simplicity, tortured into the most absurd affectation of 
 refinement, and that affectation displayed in a boundless 
 prolixity. 
 
 One of the most zealous adherents of this party was 
 Manuel Faria y Sousa, a Portuguese by birth. Some 
 cause of discontent had induced him to quit his native 
 country and to fix his residence in Spain; and in com-
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 429 
 
 posing both poetry and prose, he in general preferred 
 the Castilian to his vernacular tongue.* It can scarcely 
 be supposed that he introduced this perverted taste from 
 Portugal; though his Portuguese poems exhibit no less 
 affectation of style than those which he composed in 
 Castilian, and in which a judicious direction of the 
 fancy is seldom observable. His ideas are, for the 
 most part, intolerably fantastic. One of his Castilian 
 songs, for example, is composed in honour of his mis- 
 tress's eyes, " in whose beauty, (he says) love has in- 
 scribed the poet's fate, and which are as large as his 
 pain, and as black as his destiny, &c."f He displays 
 
 * His Castilian and Portuguese poems are published under the 
 title : Fuente de Aganippe, o Rimas varias de Manuel de Faria 
 y Sousa, &c. Madrid 1656, 4 vols. octavo. They are also included 
 in his Divinas y Humanas Flores, Madrid 1624, in octavo, 
 f This absurdity occurs in a gloss on an old couplet. 
 
 Ojos, en cuya hermosura 
 cifro mi suerte el Amor, 
 grandes como mi dolor, 
 negros como mi ventura. 
 
 En una hermosura de ojos 
 dixo Amor que me daria 
 a padecer sus enojos, 
 donde el Alma dexaria, 
 de su incendio, por despojos. 
 
 Pues si en la belleza pura 
 de ojos, mi muerte procura; 
 si en vos mis ojos no fue, 
 que soys de Albania, no se, 
 ojos, en cuya hermosura. 
 
 Quiso amor mostrarme ardiente 
 mi suerte en cifras algunas, 
 y vio de negro luziente
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 similar extravagance in most of his Castilian sonnets: 
 in one, for instance, he relates " how ten lucid arrows of 
 chrystal, were darted at him from the eyes of his Al- 
 bania, which produced a rubious effect on his pain, 
 though the cause was chrystaline," &c.* In this absurd 
 style he composed hundreds of sonnets. Faria y Sousa, 
 however, wrote several good works on history and sta- 
 tistics;! and it must be recollected that in his poetry he 
 merely followed the party which he most admired, and 
 
 rayadas dos medias lunas 
 en el papelde la f rente: 
 Y abaxo visto el valor, 
 ojos, de vuestro esplendor, 
 por ceros vino a teneros, 
 que en dos animados zeros 
 cifro mi suerte el Amor. 
 
 * In the original this odd conceit runs in the following way: 
 
 Flechando de sus manos peregrinas, 
 de cristal diez luzientes passadores, 
 de rubi fue el efeto en mis dolores, 
 si de Albania las causas cristalinas. 
 
 Mas ya que, humanas, quando no divinas, 
 n sangrienta ofension forman amores, 
 de tantos deificados esplendores 
 desmentidos en nieve, y clavellinas. 
 
 Amor en mis heridas reparando, 
 deflechas con dulcissimo decoro, 
 a mi noble aficion la va inclinando. 
 
 Yo de nuevo, aunque herido, me enamoro 
 de verle hermosamente estar flechando 
 en blancos de diamante cmpleos deoro. 
 
 f His Europa Portuguesa, (a bombastic title for Portugal 
 EuropeanoJ is a work which contains considerable information on 
 the statistics of Portugal.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 431 
 
 which indeed had its precursors in Portugal as well as 
 in Spain. 
 
 This party which soon became powerful, imitated 
 the negligence of Lope de Vega. But Lope de Vega 
 was not a pedant; and when he failed in producing 
 real beauties, he did not coin false ones. His pretended 
 imitators, however, used the alloy of pedantry most 
 unsparingly, and thereby carried the affectation of in- 
 genious thoughts, in the style of the Italian Marinists, 
 to an incredible height. 
 
 GONGORA AND HIS ESTILO CULTO .THE CULTO- 
 RISTOS THE CONCEPTISTOS. 
 
 Luis de Gongora de Argote was the founder and the 
 idol of the fantastical sect, which at this period led the 
 fashion in literature, and attempted to create a new 
 epoch in Spanish poetry by dint of exquisite cultivation 
 and refinement. Gongora was a man of shrewd and 
 powerful mind; but his natural faculties were perverted 
 by a systematic prosecution of absurd critical reveries. 
 Through life he had to maintain a constant struggle 
 with the frowns of fortune. He was born in Cordova, 
 in the year 1561; and after completing his studies in 
 his native city found himself without any provision for 
 the future. He took holy orders, and after eleven years 
 of solicitation at the court of Madrid, obtained a scanty 
 benefice. The dissatisfied turn of mind, occasioned by 
 his adverse fortune, contributed to develope that caustic 
 wit, for which he was particularly distinguished. He 
 wrote satirical sonnets, which for bitterness of spirit
 
 432 HISTORY OF 
 
 can scarcely be exceeded;* and he was still more suc- 
 cessful in romances and songs in the burlesque satirical 
 style. Works of this kind, did not, it is true, possess 
 the merit of novelty in Spanish literature; butGongora's 
 satirical poems are vastly superior to those of Castillejo. 
 It would be scarcely possible to preserve, in a transla- 
 tion, the caustic spirit of Gongora's romances and songs. 
 To give full effect to these compositions, the genuine 
 national spirit of the serious romances and canciones 
 must never be lost sight of. In Gongora's satirical 
 works the language and versification are correct and 
 elegant, and the piquant simplicity of the whole 
 style would never lead to the supposition that the 
 ambition of marking an epoch in literature could 
 have betrayed the author into the most intolerable 
 affectation.f He was less successful in seizing the 
 
 * The following, which is a description of Life in Madrid, may 
 serve as a specimen of these satirical sonnets : 
 
 Una vida bestial de encantamiento, 
 Harpias contra bolsas conjuradas, 
 Mil vanas pretensiones enganadas, 
 Por hablar un oidor, mover el viento; 
 Carrozas y lacayos, pages ciento, 
 Habitos mil con virgenes espadas, 
 Damas parleras, cambios, embaxadas, 
 Caras posadas, trato fraudulento ; 
 
 Mentiras arbitreras, Abogados, 
 Clerigos sobre mulas, como mulos, 
 Etnbustes, calles sucias, lodo eterno ; 
 
 Hombres de guerra medio estropeados, 
 Titulos y lisonjas, disimulos, 
 Esto es Madrid, mejor dixera Infierno. 
 
 f The. following Letrilla may be taken as a specimen of Gon- 
 gora's artificial style :
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 433 
 
 cordial tone of the old narrative romances. But his can- 
 ciones in the ancient Spanish style are in general mas- 
 terly compositions, full of true natural and poetic feeling.* 
 
 Da bienes fortuna 
 Que no estan eecritos, 
 Quando pitos flautas, 
 Quando flautas pitos. 
 
 Quan diversas sendas 
 Se suelen seguir 
 En el repartir 
 Las honras y haciendas. 
 
 A unos da encomiendas, 
 A otros sambenitos, 
 Quando pitos: &c. 
 
 A veces despoja 
 De choza y apero 
 Al mayor cabrero, 
 Y a quien se le antoja, 
 La cabra mas coja 
 Pario dos cabritos, 
 Quando pitos, &c. 
 
 Porque en una aldea 
 Un pobre mancebo 
 Hurto solo un huebo, 
 A sol bambonea, 
 Y otro se pasea 
 Con cieii mil delitos, 
 Quando, &c. 
 
 A charming little song by Gongora commences in the fol- 
 lowing manner : 
 
 Las flores del romero, 
 Nina Isabel, 
 Hoy son flores azules, 
 Mamma seran miel. 
 
 Zelosa estas la nifia, 
 Zelosa estas de aquel, 
 VOL. I. 2 F
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 It was doubtless in one of his moments of ill-humour 
 that Gongora conceived the idea of creating for serious 
 poetry a peculiar phraseology, which he called the estilo 
 culto, meaning thereby the highly cultivated or po- 
 lished style. In fulfilment of this object, he formed for 
 himself, with the most laborious assiduity, a style as 
 uncommon as affected, and opposed to all the ordinary 
 rules of the Spanish language,' either in prose or verse. 
 He particularly endeavoured to introduce into his native 
 tongue the intricate constructions of the greek and 
 latin, though such an arrangement of words had never 
 before been attempted in Spanish composition. He 
 consequently found it necessary to invent a particular 
 system of punctuation, in order to render the sense of 
 his verses intelligible. Not satisfied with this patchwork 
 kind of phraseology he affected to attach an extraordi- 
 nary depth of meaning to each word, and to diffuse an air 
 of superior dignity over his whole style. In Gongora's 
 poetry the most common words received a totally new 
 signification; and in order to impart perfection to his 
 estilo culto, he summoned all his mythological learning 
 
 Dichoso pues lo buscas, 
 Ciego, pues no te ve. 
 
 Ingrato pues te enoja, 
 Y confiado, pues 
 No se disculpa hoy 
 De lo que hizo ayer. 
 
 Enjugen esperanzas 
 Lo que lloras por el, 
 Que zelos entre aquellos 
 Que se ban querido bien, 
 Hoy son flores azules, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 435 
 
 to his aid. Such was Gongora's New Art. In this stvle 
 he wrote his Soledades, his Polyphemus, and several 
 other works. Even the choice of the title Soledades^ 
 (Solitudes), was an instance of Gongora's affectation; for 
 he did not intend to express by that term the significa- 
 tion attached to a similar Portuguese word, (Saudade), 
 which is the title of a work relating to the thoughts 
 and aspirations of a recluse. Gongora wished by his 
 fantastic title to convey an idea of solitary forests, 
 because he had divided his poem into sylvas, (forests), 
 according to a particular meaning which the word bears 
 in latin. This work, like all Gongora's productions in 
 the same style, is merely an insipid fiction, full of pom- 
 pous mythological images, described in a strain of the 
 most fantastic bombast.* The Duke of Bejar, to 
 whom the work is inscribed, must, if he only read 
 the dedicatory lines, have imagined himself transported 
 
 * The poem commences as follows: 
 
 Era del Afio la Estacion florida, 
 En que el mentido Robador de Europa 
 (Media Luna las Armas de su Frente, 
 Y el Sol todos los Rayos de su Pelo) 
 Luciente honor del Cielo 
 En campos de Zafiro pace Estrellas 
 Quaudo el que ministrar podia la Copa 
 A Jupiter mejor, que el Garc,on de Ida 
 Naufrago, y desdenado sobre ausente, 
 Lagrimosas de Amor, dulzes Querellas 
 Da al Mar, que condolido 
 Fue a las Hondas, que al Viento 
 El misero Gemido, 
 
 Segundo, de Arion, dulze Instrumento, &c. 
 The above is only about the half of the first period. 
 
 2 F 2
 
 436 HISTORY OF 
 
 to some foreign region, in which the Spanish language 
 was tortured without mercy.* Gongora appears to 
 have been peculiarly anxious to develope the spirit of 
 his New Art, both at the commencement and the close 
 of his whimsical compositions.! 
 
 * The singularity of the language must be perceptible even to 
 those who possess only a slight knowledge of Spanish. The dedi- 
 cation commences as follows: 
 
 Passos de un Peregrino, son, errante, 
 
 Quantos me dicto Versos, dulze Musa, 
 
 En Soledad confusa, 
 
 Perdidos unos y otros Inspirados, 
 
 O tu, que de venablos impedido, 
 
 Muros de Abeto, Almenas de Diamante, 
 
 Bates los Montes, que de Nieve armados 
 
 Gigantes de Cristal los teme el Cielo, 
 
 Donde el Cuerno del Eco repetido, 
 
 Fieras te expone, que al tenido Suelo 
 
 Muertas pidiendo Terminos disformes; 
 
 Espumoso Coral le dan al Tormes. 
 
 f The two concluding stanzas of Gongora's Polyphemus are 
 worthy to be transcribed as literary curiosities : 
 
 Con Violencia desgajo infinita 
 La maior Punta de la excelsa Roca, 
 Que al Joven, sobre quien la precipita, 
 Urna es inucho, Piramide no poca: 
 Con lagrimas la Ninfa solicita 
 Las Diedades del Mar, que Acis invoca, 
 Concurren todas, y el Penasco duro, 
 La Sangre que exprimio Cristal fue puro. 
 
 Sus Miembros lastimosamente opresos, 
 Del Escollo fatal fueron apenas, 
 Que los Pies de los Arboles mas gruessos 
 Cal$6 el liquido Aljofar de sus Venas :
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 437 
 
 Gongora's innovations did not, however, tend to bet- 
 ter his fortune; for when he died in 1627, he held merely 
 the post of titular chaplain to the king. But his works 
 were universally read in Spain; and in proportion as 
 men of sound judgment emphatically protested against 
 the absurd innovations of the Gongorists, the more 
 vehemently did these assert their pretensions.* Thus 
 Gongora in some measure attained his object. His 
 arduous exertions to establish his style did not, it is 
 true, promote him to a lucrative post ; but they were 
 rewarded with the unlimited admiration of a nume- 
 rous party, composed of men of half-formed taste, who 
 found it easy in the crisis of the conflict between the 
 Spanish national style and the Italian, to raise them- 
 selves into importance. Proud of their half cultivation, 
 they regarded every writer who did not admire and 
 imitate the style of their master, as a man of limited 
 talent, incapable of appreciating the beauties of their 
 estilo culto.\ But none of Gongora's partizans possessed 
 
 Corrieute Plata al fin sus blancos Huesos, 
 
 Lamiendo Flores, y argentando Arenas, 
 
 A Doris Hega, que con Llanto pio 
 
 Yerno lo saludo lo aclamo Rio. 
 
 * Notices concerning the various editions of the works of 
 Gongora, may be found in Dieze's Remarks on Velasquez, p. 251. 
 A selection from the works of this unsuccessful genius, whose real 
 merit some critics have attempted to deny, was published by Don 
 Ramon Fernandez, under the title of Poesias de D. Luis Gongora, 
 Madrid 1787. The selection forms a small octavo volume. 
 
 f Dieze calls the estilo culto the Spanish ornamental style; 
 but this term is incorrect when employed to designate the particular 
 style of Gongora's school.
 
 438 HISTORY OF 
 
 the talent of their leader, and their affectation became 
 on that account still more insupportable. They soon 
 separated into two similar yet distinct schools, one of 
 which represented the pedantry of its founder, while 
 the other, in order to render the art of versifying the 
 easier, even dispensed with that precision of style which 
 Gongora, in his wildest flights, still sought to preserve. 
 The disciples of the first school were proud to be the 
 commentators of their master; and in their voluminous 
 illustrations of Gongora's unintelligible works, they did 
 not neglect to pour forth all the stores of their erudi- 
 tion.* These were called the Cultoristos, a name which 
 was applied to them in derision. The second school 
 of the Gongorists more nearly resembled that of the 
 Marinists; and its disciples were distinguished by the 
 name of Conceptistos, in imitation of the Italian term 
 Concettisti, which was applied to the followers of Marino. 
 The Conceptistos revelled in the wildest regions of 
 fancy, without the least regard to propriety or precision, 
 and were only desirous of expressing preposterous and 
 extravagant ideas (concetti) in the unnatural language of 
 Gongora. Some individuals of this party were, however, 
 inclined to imitate the careless style of Lope de Vega. 
 Alonzo de Ladesma, who died a few years before 
 Gongora, obtained admirers for his poems, chiefly spi- 
 ritual, which he wrote in the obscure phraseology of the 
 
 * Among these illustrative works, are Salcedo Coronel's diffuse 
 Commentaries on Gongora's Polyphemus y Soledades, printed in 
 1029 and 1636; and also the Lecciones solennes a las Obras de 
 Luis de Gongora, by Joseph Pellicer de Salas, which appeared in 
 1630. See also Dieze's Notes.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 439 
 
 cstilo culto.* For example, in paraphrazing the mysteries 
 of the catholic faith in lyric romances, he thus speaks 
 of the birth of the Saviour: " The star of the east rose 
 at the time ordained by God, so that the enemy of day 
 might lose the prey he had seized, and with it the hope 
 of his false pretensions, as God assumed human flesh in 
 order that man might enjoy him," &c.f To men imbued 
 with superstition, and denied all reasoning in matters of 
 faith, ravings of this kind were well calculated to turn 
 their heads, and involve them in a vortex of romantic 
 mysticism. 
 
 Felix de Arteaga was likewise a zealous cultivator 
 of this distorted style, both in sacred and profane poetry. 
 
 * The fifth volume of the Parnaso Espanol is disfigured by a 
 considerable number of Lades ma's poems. 
 
 f How pompously this poem commences in the original ! 
 And yet how much in the romance style! 
 
 Sale la estrella de Oriente 
 al tiempo que Dios dispone 
 que el enemigo del dia 
 pierda la presa que coge, 
 
 Y con ella la esperanza 
 de sus falsas pretensiones, 
 tomando Dios came humana, 
 para que el hombre le goce: 
 
 For donde Santa Maria 
 recibe el famoso nombre 
 de ser Madre, siendo virgen, 
 de quien siendo Dios, es hombre. 
 
 Muy pobremente catnina 
 con ser tan rico y tan noble, 
 que amores tie cierta Dama 
 le traen en habito de pobre; &c.
 
 440 HISTORY OF 
 
 In 1618, he held the post of court chaplain at Madrid, 
 and he lived until the year 1633. The chief portion 
 of his songs, romances, and sonnets, are of the pastoral 
 kind. He extols " the miracles of the fair Amarilh's, 
 that angel of the superior class, to whom truth and pas- 
 sion have given the name of Phoenix. She once espied 
 before her door a peasant, who, though not worthy to 
 adore her, was yet worthy to languish for her sake. 
 This happened one evening, which was a morning, since 
 Aurora smiled, and shewed white pearls between rows 
 of glowing carmine. The angel was amused by burning 
 those she had illumined, and this beautiful angel fell from 
 the heaven of her ownself," &c.* This author also wrote, 
 after the manner of Lope de Vega, a comedy, called 
 Gridonia, which he styles a royal invention, (invention 
 real}, because potentates, princes, and princesses are 
 
 * This rhapsody cannot be read without exciting astonishment. 
 Los milagros de Amarilis, 
 
 aquel Angel superior, 
 
 a quien dan nombre de Fenix, 
 
 la verdad, y la passion. 
 Mirava a su puerta un dia, 
 
 en la Corte un labrador, 
 
 que si adorar no merece, 
 
 padecer si, merecib. 
 Una tarde, que es manana, 
 
 pues el Alva se rid, 
 
 y entre carmin encendido, 
 
 Candidas perlas mostro. 
 Divirtiose en abrasar 
 
 a los misraos que alumbro, 
 
 y del cielo de si misma 
 
 el Angel hello cayo, fyc.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 441 
 
 brought together from the most distant parts of the 
 earth, and introduced with vast scenic pomp.* 
 
 Some of the adherents of this party, who were 
 distinguished for natural genius and ability, will be 
 hereafter noticed. We must not, however, neglect to 
 mention that the estilo culto likewise gained a footing 
 in Spanish America; and that various works in that 
 style by Alonzo de Castillo Solorzano, were very neatly 
 printed at Mexico in the year I625.f 
 
 TWO DRAMATIC POETS OF THE AGE OF LOPE DE 
 
 VEGA. 
 
 Lope de Vega had now become the model of the 
 Spanish dramatic poets, who soon appeared as numerous, 
 and laboured as assiduously as if they had been bound to 
 supply all the theatres in the universe with new pieces. 
 But most of these dramatists, who may altogether be con- 
 sidered as forming one great school, were contemporary 
 with Lope de Vega only during their younger years. 
 The elegant Calderon, who was born in the year 1600, 
 may also have influenced the exercise of their talents. 
 In the history of the Spanish theatre, it will therefore 
 be proper to range together those dramatists on whom 
 it is probable the example of Calderon may have 
 
 * The Gridonia is included in the Obras Posthumas Divinas 
 y Humanas de Don Felix de Arteaga, Madrid 1641, 1 vol. octavo. 
 
 f The collection which 1 have now before me, and which is 
 entitled Varios y Honestos Entretenimientos, by Castillo Solorzano, 
 (Mexico, 1625, in octavo), was, apparently, not the only publication 
 of the kind which appeared in Mexico.
 
 442 HISTORY OF 
 
 operated.* This, however, is the proper place for 
 noticing two contemporaries of Lope de Vega. 
 
 The first of these writers, whose talents entitle 
 them to an honourable rank in literature, is Christoval 
 de Virues, a native of Valencia. He fought in the 
 battle of Lepante, and is usually distinguished by his 
 military title of captain. The period of his death is 
 not known. Both Cervantes and Lope de Vega men- 
 tion him in terms of commendation. Virues was not 
 the pupil of Lope. Though older, as it would appear, 
 than that distinguished man, he was, like him, inspired 
 with enthusiasm for dramatic poetry; and they entered 
 upon the same career at nearly the same time. Virues 
 did not adhere more attentively than Lope to the strict 
 rules of the ancient drama. But he wanted the fertile 
 imagination of his rival, and he conceived it necessary 
 that the modern drama should approximate in a slight 
 degree to the antique, at least in some of its forms. He 
 was one of the Spanish dramatists by whom the last 
 attempts were made to separate tragedy from comedy; 
 and his efforts in this way are deserving of more praise 
 than has hitherto been conceded to them. Virues was 
 a poet born for tragic art; but his. genius wanted culti- 
 vation. Pure poetic spirit, and a bold and energetic 
 style, are the distinguishing features of all his works. 
 But, like Lope de Vega, he was every inch a Spaniard. 
 f 
 
 * Velasquez has occasioned no small degree of confusion in 
 this portion of the history of Spanish poetry. He first, according 
 to the principles of French criticism, confounds all the dramatic 
 writers of Spain in one class, and afterwards draws wide distinctions 
 between them.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 443 
 
 He obeyed the influence of the national taste, and he 
 could not restrain his own genius within the bounds 
 which he had himself prescribed. Among his five tra- 
 gedies are some which might more properly be termed 
 comedies, according to the Spanish acceptation of the 
 term.* It is obvious that Virues endeavoured to create 
 a sphere of his own, and that in proportion as he wrote 
 he made advances in his art. His Semiramis, the first 
 tragedy he wrote, which is chiefly in octaves, inter- 
 spersed here and there with redondillas, is crude both 
 in conception and execution; but the language even of 
 this imperfect drama, makes energetic approaches to 
 that genuine expression of tragic pathos, which Cer- 
 vantes and the elder Argensola in some measure 
 attained.! His tragedy, entitled La Cruel Casandra, 
 
 Obras Tragicas y Lyricas del Capitan Christoval de Virues, 
 Madrid 1609, in octavo. It does not appear that they have ever 
 been re-printed. 
 
 f The following monologue, in which Semiramis wavers between 
 the conflicting passions of love and ambition, will afford a specimen 
 of the tragic style of Virues : 
 
 Pero mis pensamientos amorosos 
 dexadme aora en paz, mientras la guerra 
 di mis altos desseos valerosos 
 hace temblar y estremecer la tierra. 
 Los filos azerados rigurosos 
 que en la baina mil afios a que encierra 
 mi cora^on, dexad que aora corten, 
 que tiempo avra despues que se reporten. 
 
 Tiempo despues avra para gozarme 
 no con un Nino torpe i asqueroso, 
 tiempo tendre despues para emplearme 
 en un Zopiro dulce i amoroso,
 
 444 HISTORY OF 
 
 which is richer in dramatic spirit, and more finished 
 and systematic in its execution, might in the hands of a 
 writer of genius be easily rendered a tragic master-piece. 
 Virues selected from the history of the kingdom of Leon, 
 the subject of this tragedy, in which he intended to 
 unite the ancient and modern styles.* That a drama 
 of intrigue, like the Casandra, should not have obtained 
 greater popularity in Spain would be inexplicable, were 
 it not for the dislike which the Spanish public mani- 
 
 tiempo tendre para desencerrarme 
 de un cautiverio infarae i afrentoso 
 que a ya diez i seis anos que en mi Reina 
 con titulo de Reina sin ser Reina. 
 
 Aora lo sere, no ai duda en ello, 
 aunque la tierra se rebuelva i hunda, 
 avra sacare del yugo el cuello 
 aunque Amon con sus rayos me confunda, 
 avra a mis desseos pondre el sello, 
 destas trac.as mi gozo i bien redunda, 
 de aqui sucedera, i sino sucede 
 cosa no avra que no intentada quede. 
 
 * He says in his prologue : 
 
 Yo creo que el mas alto i cierto amparo 
 que en todo el suelo tiene, esta sin duda 
 aqui donde oi se aguarda la Tragedia 
 de la cruel Casandra, ya famosa 
 la cual tambien cortada a la medida 
 de exemplos de virtud (aunque mostrados 
 tal vez por su contrario el vicio) viene 
 acompanada con el dulce gusto, 
 siguiendo en esto la mayor Jineza 
 del arte antigo i del moderno uso, 
 que jamas en Teatros Espanoles 
 visto se ay a, sin que a nadie agravie.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 445 
 
 fested towards all dramas in which the tragic character 
 was exhibited without the intervention of comic scenes. 
 Cultivated taste will, however, perceive many faults in 
 this tragedy. The uninterrupted delirium of passion, 
 which prevails from the beginning to the end of the piece, 
 renders the whole more astounding than impressive. 
 The stormy movement of the action has, notwithstanding, 
 in most of the scenes, a very captivating effect; and that 
 passionate vehemence, in the painting of which Virues 
 was eminently successful, is, in this drama, character- 
 istically Spanish. The horrible deaths with which the 
 piece closes, and which, according to the nature of the 
 catastrophe were by no means necessary, are likewise 
 in unison with the spirit of a Spanish national tragedy. 
 The spring of action is the wicked spirit of a revengeful 
 woman whom jealousy betrays into a series of the most 
 treacherous intrigues. The dialogue is occasionally 
 somewhat declamatory; but in its best parts it is 
 energetic and unconstrained.* Of all the dramas of 
 
 * For example in the following scene. The prince is surprised 
 by his beloved Fulgencia, against whom he has been prepossessed 
 by the treacherous hypocrisy of Casandra: 
 
 Fulgenc. La que sin ti Sefior no quiere vida, 
 
 no es mucha que no huya de la inuerte 
 
 que tu sana le tieue prometida 
 
 osando, como ves, bolver a verte. 
 
 Aqui me tienes a tus pies rendida. 
 
 Si verme en tu presencia es ofenderte 
 
 tanto que en mi executes lo jurado 
 
 6 aqui mi cuello al hierro aparejado. 
 Princip. Es ilusion, es sueiio lo que veo 
 
 i lo que oyo ? que dezis Fulgencia ?
 
 446 HISTORY OF 
 
 Virues, Tiis Marcella in which princes, princesses, rob- 
 bers, peasants, and servants, are jumbled together in 
 irregular confusion, was doubtless most in unison with 
 the Spanish taste. 
 
 The other Spanish dramatist who remains to be 
 noticed among the poetic writers of the age of Lope 
 de Vega, is Juan Perez de Montalvan, whom Lope 
 himself regarded as his first pupil, and who obtained, 
 probably through the interest of his patron, the post of 
 notary to the inquisition. He was a young man of 
 distinguished talent, and even in his seventeenth year 
 he wrote plays in the style of Lope de Vega. He first 
 entered the lists in competition with his master, after 
 whose death he pursued his literary occupations with 
 such assiduity, that when he died in 1639, though aged 
 only thirty-five, the number of his comedies and autos 
 amounted to nearly one hundred. He was also the 
 author of several novels, which will be particularly 
 noticed in another place. He put together in a single 
 volume, some of his dramas and novels, and his moral 
 reflections, full of formal erudition; and this singular 
 compilation was published under the no less singular 
 
 que novedad es esta a devaneo ? 
 tentaisme por ventura de paciencia? 
 de vuestra muerte tengo yo desseo ? 
 CasantL i a mi me a de ofender vuestra presencia ? 
 i yo e jurado cosa en vuestro dafio ? 
 venis dezi con algun nuevo engano ? 
 
 Basta pues el passado con que el Conde 
 quisistes poner mal comigo tanto, 
 la verdad es un Sol que no de esconde. 
 De vuestro aviso y discrecion me espanto, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 447 
 
 title of Book for All.* His comedies are neither more 
 finished nor more systematic than those of his master, 
 but they prove how easily a Spanish writer of imagi- 
 nation might, in that age, be roused to venture into 
 competition with the inexhaustible Lope de Vega, and 
 also how far a poet of talent, with a certain degree of 
 practice, was capable of succeeding in dramatic intrigue. 
 Montalvan's comedies possess, however, a more particu- 
 lar interest, inasmuch as they exhibit traces of genius, 
 which under other circumstances would have consti- 
 tuted a painter of dramatic character. In two of his 
 historical comedies, he has introduced Henry IV. of 
 France, and Philip II. of Spain. A kind of moral 
 dignity, almost approaching to sanctity, is falsely attri- 
 buted to the latter; but the prominent features of his 
 character are truly seized and strikingly delineated.f 
 
 * Para Todos, Excmplos morales, humanos y divinos, en 
 que se tratan diversas Ciencias, fyc. por el Doctor Juan Perez 
 de Montalvan, in quarto. In the copy which I have seen, the date 
 of the year on the title-page is obliterated. 
 
 f The historical drama, in which Montalvan has drawn the 
 character of Philip II. bears the affected title of El segundo Seneca 
 de Espana. The second Seneca, here alluded to, is no other than 
 Philip himself. Montalvan has, on the contrary, described the 
 Infant Don Carlos as a noisy blusterer. Philip summons Carlos to 
 his presence in order to correct him: 
 Rey. Yo tengo pocas razones, 
 
 pero tengo muchos iminos, 
 
 y al passo que se quereros 
 
 sabre tambien castigaros. 
 
 Vuestras locas travesuras 
 
 me secaron de mi passo, 
 
 que aim una cuerda torcida,
 
 448 HISTORY OF 
 
 The amiable Henry IV. is, however, pourtrayed to the 
 life.* In his Autos Sacramentales, Montalvan even 
 
 si la tiran mucho al arco, 
 
 parece que se querella, 
 
 y se buelve contra el bra^o. 
 
 Entendeisme? Pr. Si Senor. 
 R. Pues procurad de enmendaros, 
 
 que os pesara de no hazerlo, 
 
 si, por la vida de entrambos. 
 (Levantasefurioso, y quierese ir.J 
 Pr. Fuego por los ojos echa. 
 
 Vive Dios que le he temblado, 
 
 pero no importa. Senor! 
 Rey. Que quereis? 
 Pr. A no enojaros 
 
 el escucharme, yo os diera 
 
 por mi parte tal descargo, 
 
 que con vos quedara bien, 
 
 puesto que estais enojado. 
 R. Antes me hareis un gran gusto, 
 
 por disculparme en amaros. 
 
 Philip then continues to admonish Don Carlos in a pompous 
 tone of suppressed ill humour. 
 
 * The comedy in which the character of Henry IV. appears, is 
 entitled El Mariscalo de Viron. Henry and Marshal de Biron are 
 rivals in a love affair. The Marshal, with the frankness of a soldier, 
 confesses his attachment for the lady, and Henry relinquishes his 
 suit. "And did this give you so much concern?" says Henry to 
 Marshal. 
 
 Marisc. Esta es mi confusion. 
 Rey. Y esso os tenia afligido? 
 Mar. Claro esta porque naci 
 inferior y vos aqui 
 
 sois mi Rey. Rey. Vos los aveis sido 
 para mi en mi voluntad,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 449 
 
 ventured to differ from Lope de Vega, in order to give to 
 these dramas the popular character which Lope had sacri- 
 ficed in his allegorical moralities. He composed an auto 
 on the romantic conversion of Skanderbeg, in which 
 drums, trumpets, clarionets, explosions of squibs and 
 rockets, and all the pomp of spectacle is introduced. But 
 the most extravagant creation of Montalvan's fancy, is his 
 auto of Polyphemus, in which the cyclops of that name 
 appears as the allegorical representative of Judaism; and 
 the rest of the cyclops, together with the nymph Gala- 
 thaea, and other mythological beings, are introduced for 
 
 como aora lo vereis: 
 ya, Blanca, dueno teneis. 
 Blan. De que manera ? Rey. Escuchad 
 Carlos, quanto a lo primero 
 os aviso, que no es ley, 
 que un vasallo cou su Rey 
 hable nuiica tan entero. 
 Porque se deve aclvertir, 
 que el Rey se puede enojar, 
 y enojada, hazer baxar 
 al mismo que hizo subir. 
 Vos aqui me aveis hablado 
 con algunasequedad: 
 pero mi gran voluntad 
 el yerro os ha perdonado. 
 Que nunca para consigo 
 anrigo se ha de dezir 
 al que no sabe sufrir 
 alguna falta a su ainigo : 
 yo lo soy vuesi.ro, y ansi 
 (aunque a Blanca anumdo estoy) 
 licencia de amarla os doy, 
 y servirla desde aqui. 
 VOL. I. 2 G
 
 450 HISTORY OF 
 
 the allegorical personation of faith and infidelity, ac- 
 cording to Christian notions. To these characters are 
 added, Appetite as a peasant, Joy as a lady, and finally 
 the Infant Christ. Drum and trumpet accompaniments 
 are not forgotten in this auto. The cyclops too per- 
 form on the guitar; and an island sinks amidst a tre- 
 mendous explosion of fire works.* 
 
 NOVELS IN THE AGE OF CERVANTES AND LOPE 
 DE VEGA. 
 
 Notwithstanding that poetry, sometimes under hete- 
 rogeneous, sometimes under harmonizing forms, was, 
 next to religion, the object which principally interested 
 the Spanish public in the age of Cervantes and Lope 
 de Vega, yet elegant prose was not consigned to such 
 obscurity as to engage only the attention of the learned. 
 The old Spanish soundness of understanding which 
 particularly displayed itself in Cervantes ^and the two 
 Argensolas, still, in some measure maintained its in- 
 fluence. But upon the whole that rhetorical cultiva- 
 tion which had been so early developed in Spain was 
 obviously on the decline. 
 
 Novels and romances, either decidedly bad or very 
 indifferent, were as widely circulated as rapidly pro- 
 duced, and so great was their number that they counter- 
 acted the good effects which the master-piece of Cer- 
 vantes must necessarily have produced under more 
 favourable circumstances. If few new romances of 
 chivalry were now written, the old ones were read with 
 the greater avidity. After the Galatea of Cervantes, 
 
 * But these autos are included in the Para Todos. See note, 
 page 447.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 451 
 
 any very successful production in pastoral romance 
 was scarcely to be expected. Romances, depicting the 
 manners of modern society, were, however, proportion- 
 ally the more numerous. Among the best of the 
 serious, but yet spirited productions of this class, is the 
 Life of Marcos de Obregon;* by the poet and mu- 
 sician Vicente Espinel.t The object of the author was, 
 in his old age, to transmit useful instruction to the rising 
 generation in the form of a novel. The Spanish title 
 in which the hero of the story is styled an Escudero, 
 would seem to indicate a romance of chivalry, but the 
 whole character of the work is modern. The Escudero 
 is a sort of gentleman or squire by courtesy, and by no 
 means a shield-bearer. The book is intended as a 
 moral warning for young men without fortune, who 
 hope to get honourably through the world by attaching 
 themselves to persons of distinction. The story, though 
 entertaining, presents nothing particularly attractive; 
 the narration is rather prolix, but still natural; and the 
 diction plainly denotes the classic pupil of the sixteenth 
 century, though E spinel, as he states in his preface, 
 consigned his romance to the correction of Lope de 
 Vega, whom he styles the " divine genius," after having 
 himself revised the verses which Lope composed in his 
 youth. The insipid jokes which occur in Marcos de 
 Obregon, for example those in derision of the Portu- 
 gueze and their language, must be considered as tie- 
 longing to the natural local colouring of the work. 
 
 * Relaciones de la vida del cscudero Marcos de Obregon, 
 fyc. por el Maestro Vicente Espincl; Barcelona, 1018, in octavo. 
 f See page 414. 
 
 2 G 21
 
 452 HISTORY OF 
 
 Among the romances of knavery, (del gusto pica- 
 resco), the celebrated Don Guzman de Alfarache may 
 claim a distinguished place next to Lazarillo de Tormes.* 
 It was published in the year 1599, and consequently 
 before Don Quixote appeared. Like Lazarillo de Tormes 
 it was speedily translated into Italian and French, and 
 was subsequently published in various other languages, 
 not excepting the latin. Mattheo Aleman, the author 
 of Guzman de Alfarache, who had withdrawn from the 
 court of Philip III. and lived in retirement, was not 
 induced by the success of his comic romance, to devote 
 himself to a second production of the same class. The 
 knowledge of the world which he had acquired at court, 
 as well as in the sphere of common life, is doubtless 
 abundantly unfolded in his Guzman de Alfarache. The 
 manners of the lower classes of Spanish society, in 
 particular, seem to be pourtrayed with admirable accu- 
 racy. In spite of the vulgarity of the subject, and the 
 burlesque style in which it is treated, no ordinary share 
 of judgment is perceptible throughout the whole of this 
 comic novel; and in his humorous language the author 
 has preserved a certain degree of natural elegance even 
 in describing the lowest scenes. 
 
 That the Spaniards were by no means sparing 
 of approbation to works of this class, is obvious from 
 the attention bestowed on the mannered continuation of 
 Aleman's romance, by a writer styling himself Mattheo 
 
 * Primera parte de la vida del Picaro Guzman de Alfarache, 
 compuesta por Mattheo Aleman. Brussel. 1604, in 8vo. is the title 
 of the oldest edition that I have seen. The words Primera parte 
 have reference to the Continuation, which is the production of 
 another author.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 453 
 
 Luzan, and still more by the favour lavished upon La 
 Picara Justina., a silly and pedantic pendant to Guz- 
 man de Alfarache, by a writer named Ubeda. In Cer- 
 vantes's Journey to Parnassus, no literary production of 
 the age is so categorically condemned as this Picara 
 Justina. And yet it was oftener printed, and probably 
 more read than even the Journey to Parnassus. 
 
 Little anecdotal stories of a sprightly character, like- 
 wise made their appearance in Spanish literature at this 
 period. A collection of these productions, connected 
 together by means of dialogues, was published in 1610, 
 under the title of Pleasant Dialogues for the Carnival 
 time, (Dialogos de Apacible Entretenimiento), by 
 Gaspar Lucas Hidalgo. 
 
 The political romance of Argenis, was pompously 
 arranged to suit the taste of the Spaniards of that age, 
 by the Gongorist Pellicer de Salas. 
 
 Among the novels which possessed more of an ima- 
 ginative character, the best then produced were those 
 of Perez de Montalvan, the dramatic poet.* 
 
 The present is not the proper place to introduce a 
 complete or copious list of all the works in the class 
 above alluded to. Other writers have already enu- 
 merated them with sufficient accuracy .f Unfortunately 
 
 * Besides those which are included in his Para todas, a 
 separate collection was published under the title of Succesos y 
 prodigios de Amor, en oclio novelas exemplarcs, por el Doctor 
 Juan Perez de Montalvan. The sixth edition (that with which I am 
 acquainted), was published at Seville in 1633, in 4to. 
 
 f Those who wish to find a catalogue of Spanish novels and 
 romances of middling and inferior merit, must turn to Blankenburg, 
 who, in his appendix to Sulzer's article Erzahlung, enumerates them
 
 454 HISTORY OF 
 
 even the very best of these novels and narratives pre- 
 sent no traces of the advancement of taste and literary 
 cultivation. 
 
 The novels of a Spanish lady, named Dona Mariana 
 de Caravajal y Saavedra, must not be passed over with- 
 out a particular notice. Respecting this authoress, who 
 was a native of the city of Granada, but little is said 
 by the writers on Spanish literature. Her ten novels 
 have been frequently reprinted, and were apparently 
 very well received by the public.* Dona Mariana states 
 in her preface, that her novels are intended to afford 
 amusement in " the lazy nights of chill winter;"f and 
 they may, even now, be recommended to those who 
 stand in need of such amusement; for they are by no 
 means devoid of fancy though they are written in a 
 style of affected verbosity. The verses with which the 
 tales are interspersed, exhibit no traces of poetic talent. 
 In her preface, the authoress promises to present to the 
 Spanish public, twelve comedies "from her ill-made pen," 
 as a proof of the " kindness of her intention."t Spain 
 
 at considerable length. The list might be augmented by an exami- 
 nation of the collection of novels and romances in the library of the 
 University of Gottingen. 
 
 * A new edition of the ^fovelas entretenidas, compuestas por 
 Dona Mariana de Caravajal y Saavedra, was published at Madrid 
 so late as the year 1728. 
 
 f In Spanish this phrase has a comical effect: Entreteni- 
 mientos en que divertas las perezosas noches del erizado invierno. 
 
 J She says: Admitas mi voluntad, perdonando los defectos de 
 una tan mal cortada pluma, en la qual hallaras mayores deseos de 
 servirte con doze comedias, en que conoscas lo affectitoso de mi 
 dcseo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 455 
 
 could indeed scarcely be expected to give birth to a 
 poetess in the true sense of the term. The terribje 
 yoke imposed on the conscience and the understanding, 
 against which even masculine genius could only contend 
 by boldly plunging into the wilds of romantic invention, 
 weighed still more heavily on the female mind, which 
 without a certain spirit of freedom can seldom range 
 beyond the boundaries established by custom, and the 
 routine of ordinary thinking. Writers on Spanish 
 literature, however, mention in terms of approbation, 
 several female writers of verses, and also women of 
 erudition, like Aloysia Sigea, distinguished for their 
 knowledge of languages. 
 
 PROGRESSIVE CULTIVATION OF THE HISTORICAL 
 ART MARIANA. 
 
 At this period of Spanish eloquence, history was 
 the only kind of composition which maintained its old 
 precision and dignity, while of the perfect cultivation 
 of the other branches of prose literature there remained 
 little hope. 
 
 The General History of Spain, by the Jesuit Juan 
 de Mariana, though not a model of historical art in the 
 most extended sense of the term, is, in point of style, 
 unquestionably a classic production. Mariana, who 
 may be said to have transferred the genuine spirit 
 of the eloquence of the sixteenth century into the 
 seventeenth,* was not one of the pensioned historiogra- 
 phers or chroniclers who have already been frequently 
 mentioned, and who, it must be confessed, honourably 
 
 * Mariana wrote as early as the reign of Charles V. and he 
 died in the year 1623, in the -ninetieth year of his age.
 
 456 HISTORY OF 
 
 discharged their duties. He obtained reputation both 
 in France and Italy as a professor of scholastic philo- 
 sophy and theology; but his love of literary retirement 
 induced him to return to Spain. Of his own free 
 choice he undertook to compose a new general History 
 of Spain from the earliest period to the death of 
 Ferdinand the catholic. His predecessors had been 
 sufficiently numerous, and he did not find it necessary to 
 collect the materials for his history by laborious com- 
 pilations from the old authors and chroniclers of the 
 middle ages. He was thus at liberty to prescribe to 
 himself a more pleasing task, namely, that of judi- 
 ciously combining the most interesting events, and 
 describing them with rhetorical precision in elegant 
 language. With the view of acquiring a prose style, 
 formed in the spirit of the classic historians of antiquity, 
 Mariana composed his work originally in latin,* a 
 method which Cardinal Bembo had adopted in writing 
 his History of Venice. After he had completed this first 
 labour, and dedicated the thirty books of his history in 
 latin to Philip II. he followed the example of Bembo in 
 translating it himself, and he in fact recomposed it in 
 Spanish.t This work he also dedicated to the king. 
 
 * The title is: Joannis Mariante Historite, de rebus Hispa- 
 nice, libri triginta. It has been frequently printed ; and there is 
 one very elegant edition in large folio, Hague Comitum 1731. The 
 Spanish names of persons and places are, however, latinized in a 
 manner so artificial, as to render them no less unintelligible than the 
 names in Cardinal Bembo's History. 
 
 f There is a beautiful edition of this historical work, published 
 by patriotic subscription, in a series of small folio volumes, under 
 the following title: Historia general de Espana, que escribio el 
 P. Juan de Mariana, fyc. Valencia, 1785.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 457 
 
 Though this twofold dedication might have served to 
 prove that the author was far from being liable to the 
 imputation of cherishing views dangerous to the state, yet 
 a party, with whose designs several passages of this his- 
 tory did not accord, found it easy under the government 
 of the ever jealous Philip, to cast on Mariana the suspi- 
 cion of favouring wicked and rebellious principles. He 
 was formally brought before the inquisition, and it was 
 with difficulty he escaped destruction. Had he devoted 
 more attention to the philosophy of history, he could not 
 so easily have repelled the charge of impartiality, to aim 
 at which was then considered an unwarrantable assump- 
 tion not to be tolerated in any Spanish writer. But it 
 is only in his style that Mariana was impartial. To 
 exhibit facts as they stood in their natural connection, 
 was sufficient to give umbrage to the court and the 
 inquisition; and solely to such an exposition was it 
 owing, that the historian's intentions became a subject 
 of suspicion. Elegant composition was his grand ob- 
 ject; and in this respect he far excels Bembo, because 
 he is not, like him, mannered. His diction is perfectly 
 faultless, his descriptions picturesque without poetic orna- 
 ment; and his narrative style may, on the whole, be ac- 
 counted a model. He has been very successful in avoid- 
 ing protracted and artificially constructed sentences.* 
 
 * The subjoined extract, which affords a specimen of Mariana's 
 historical style, is the commencement of his description of the 
 battle, which was lost by King Roderick in conflict with the Arabs, 
 and which was followed by the overthrow of the gothic monarchy : 
 
 El movido del peligro y dano, y encendido en deseo de tomar 
 emienda de lo pasado y de vengarse, apellido todo el reyno. Mando
 
 458 HISTORY OF 
 
 Mariana could not, however, resist the temptation of 
 putting speeches into the mouths of his historical 
 characters, after the manner of the ancient historians. 
 In fine, comparing this history with other works of a 
 similar kind, which previously existed in Spanish litera- 
 ture, it will be found that, though justly entitled to a high 
 share of esteem, it cannot be regarded as forming an 
 epoch either in a philosophic or literary point of view. 
 Having described the rise and progress of the his- 
 torical art in Spain, it cannot be necessary to give a 
 minute notice of historical works, which for the most 
 part possess only the negative merit of not being ill 
 written. The age of Cervantes and Lope de Vega was, 
 moreover, the period at which the historical literature 
 of the Spaniards began to form itself into that perfect 
 whole for which it is so peculiarly remarkable. At 
 
 que todos los que fuesen de edad, acudiesen a las banderas. Ame- 
 nazo con graves castigos a los que lo contrario hiciesen. Juntose a 
 este llamamiento gran numero de gente : los que menos cuentan, dicen 
 fueron pasados de cien mil corabatientes. Pero con la larga paz, 
 como acontece, mostrabanse ellos alegres y bravos, blasonaban y 
 aun renegaban; mas eran cobardes a maravilla, sin esfuerzo y aun 
 sin fuerzas para sufrir los trabajos y incomodidades de la guerra. 
 La mayor parte iban desarmados, con hondas solamente^ bastones. 
 Este fue el exe"rcito con que el Rey marcho la vuella del Audalucia. 
 Llego por sus jornadas cerca de Xerez, donde el enemigo estaba 
 alojado. Asento sus reales y fortificolos en un llano por la parte 
 que pasa el rio Guadalete. Los unos y los otros deseaban grande- 
 mente venir a las manos; los Moros orgullosos con la victoria; los 
 Godos por vengarse, por su patria, hijos, mugeres y libertad no 
 dudaban poner a riesgo las vidas, sin embargo que gran parte 
 dellos sentian en sus corazones una tristeza extraordinaria, y un 
 silencio qual suele caer a las veces como presagio del mal que ha 
 de venir sobre algunos. Lib. vi. cap. 23.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 459 
 
 that time the old chronicles were committed to the 
 press one after another: and the continuation and cor- 
 rection of the national history was the only literary 
 occupation which could be pursued with any hope of 
 success by men of talent, who felt no impulse to poetry; 
 unless, indeed, they preferred to distinguish themselves 
 in scholastic theology, or in writing books of pious 
 edification, in which it was, above all things, necessary 
 to take care to say nothing new. 
 
 It is still less necessary to enter upon a detailed 
 examination of various works in the didactic depart- 
 ment of Spanish literature, which are upon the whole 
 not badly written, but not one of which exceeds in 
 rhetorical merit the works of Perez de Oliva, Ambrosio 
 de Morales, and other authors, who have already been 
 mentioned. The writings of Balthasar, or Lorenzo 
 Gracian, who endeavoured to introduce a kind of 
 gongorism into Spanish prose, will be more fully 
 noticed at the close of the present book. 
 
 FLUCTUATION OF SPANISH TASTE FROM THE CLAS- 
 SIC TO THE CORRUPT STYLE. 
 
 In order to mark, by sensible gradations, the tran- 
 sition from the golden age of Spanish poetry and 
 eloquence, to those sad times, when the energy of the 
 national genius was, after a long conflict with opposing 
 circumstances, destined to be overcome, it will be proper 
 first to notice some poets and prose authors, who during 
 the latter half of the period embraced by the present 
 section, assumed atone peculiar to themselves; and also, 
 another set of writers who were their immediate sue-
 
 460 HISTORY OF 
 
 cessors. Quevedo may with propriety be placed at their 
 head. During a part of his life he was contemporary 
 with Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and the Argensolas, and 
 was, moreover, an opposer of the New Art of Gongora. 
 But both in poetry and prose he deviates so strikingly 
 from the classic, and so obviously approaches the orna- 
 mented and artificial style, that by commencing with him 
 the retrograde course which Spanish literature began to 
 take even in the period of its highest cultivation, will 
 be most distinctly perceived. 
 
 QUEVEDO. 
 
 The circumstances of the life of Francisco de Que- 
 vedo Villegas,* a man who has almost invariably been 
 praised or censured with partiality, had a most important 
 influence on the developement and employment of his 
 talents. He began even in childhood to breathe the air 
 of courts. He was born, in 1580, at Madrid, of a 
 noble family, and was educated at the court under the 
 care of his widowed mother who was one of the ladies 
 of the royal household. An eager curiosity was the 
 first indication of his active and restless mind; and the 
 impressions which he received in his infancy, induced 
 him to make the scholastic theology of Catholicism his 
 first study in preference to every other kind of know- 
 ledge. He was sent to the university of Alcala, where 
 he received the degree of doctor in theology in his 
 
 * The surname Villegas has given rise to many blunders re- 
 specting Quevedo and the celebrated Esteban Manuel de Villegas. 
 A good abstract of the various biographical notices of Quevedo is 
 prefixed to the fourth volume of the Parnaso Espanol.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 461 
 
 fifteenth year, a fact which appears almost incredible. 
 Grown weary of theology, he directed his attention to 
 law, philology, natural philosophy, medicine, and elegant 
 literature; and he pursued all these studies without 
 any regular order. It is probable that at this period 
 he injured his sight by indefatigable reading; for in the 
 prime of life he was incapable of distinguishing any 
 object at the distance of three paces, without the aid of 
 glasses. But neither this infirmity nor the crooked legs 
 which he had received from nature, deterred him from 
 mingling in fashionable society. His figure, which was 
 in other respects strong and well proportioned, joined to 
 his prepossessing countenance, contributed in no slight 
 degree to the early developement of his self-esteem. 
 
 Quevedo returned to the court of Madrid, with a 
 mind stored with all kinds of academic knowledge. 
 But he soon became engaged in a dispute, fought a 
 duel in which he wounded his antagonist, and was 
 compelled to fly. He proceeded to Italy, where the 
 Spanish Viceroy of Naples, Don Pedro Giron, Duke of 
 Ossuna, interested himself for the accomplished fugitive. 
 He procured his pardon at Madrid, and retained him in 
 his service at Naples. Quevedo now became a statesman 
 and a man of business. He played the most prominent 
 part at the court of the Vice-king, executed important 
 commissions, visited the papal court, in quality of am- 
 bassador, was rewarded witli titles and pensions, and 
 seemed to be the favourite of fortune. But he was 
 suddenly cast down by the fall of his patron, the Duke 
 of Ossuna. Quevedo was connected with that powerful 
 grandee in all his transactions, and thus became involved
 
 462 HISTORY OF 
 
 in his fate. In 1620, in the fortieth year of his age, 
 he was arrested and removed to his country seat, La 
 Torre de Juan Abad, where he was, by the order of 
 the government, confined during three years, notwith- 
 standing his delicate state of health, which this restraint 
 rendered daily worse. So rigidly was this kind of im- 
 prisonment enforced, that it was with great difficulty 
 he could obtain leave to go to a neighbouring town to 
 commit himself to the care of a physician in whom he 
 could confide. 
 
 At length Quevedo's papers being strictly examined, 
 his innocence became unquestionable, and he was set at 
 liberty. He now demanded indemnification and the pay- 
 ment of the arrears of his pension. Instead, however, of 
 obtaining attention to his claims, he was threatened with 
 a new exile, and received an order to quit the court. 
 This sentence he found means to evade, and even court 
 intrigue seemed at last inclined to favour him; but in 
 the conflict between vanity and reason, Quevedo in due 
 time proved himself a philosopher. He willingly forsook 
 the court, retired to his estate of La Torre, and devoted 
 himself wholly to literary pursuits. It is probable that 
 at this period he wrote the poems which on their first 
 appearance were published as the works of the Bachelor 
 de la Torre, an old poet of the fifteenth century. The 
 name of his country residence apparently suggested to 
 Quevedo the disguise of the above title. There is also 
 reason to suppose that at this period he wrote the 
 greater portion of his works both in prose and verse. 
 But these writings, which overflow with wit and satire, 
 and display that firmness of judgment and character,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 463 
 
 which is always so unwelcome at courts, tended to keep 
 alive the attention of those who conceived themselves 
 to be attacked. As the crisis of his varied fate ap- 
 proached, Quevedo seems to have totally forgotten the 
 intrigues of which he had been the victim. He had 
 already passed several years in literary tranquillity, and 
 was upwards of fifty years of age when he married. 
 But his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached, did 
 not live long. Quevedo's evil star once more induced 
 him to visit Madrid, where in 1641, he was arrested, at 
 midnight in the house of a friend with whom he resided. 
 The charge preferred against him, was that of being a 
 libeller, who spared neither the government nor public 
 morals; he was thrown into a small and unwholesome 
 prison, and treated with the most rigid severity, not 
 even experiencing the humanity usually extended to 
 the vilest criminals. In the meanwhile his property 
 was sequestrated, and though not convicted of any 
 crime, he was compelled to subsist on charity. He was 
 again seized with a severe fit of illness. His body broke 
 out in ulcers, in consequence of the insalubrity of his 
 prison, but he was even then denied the aid of a surgeon. 
 In this situation Quevedo appealed for justice to the 
 Duke of Olivares, the all-powerful prime minister of 
 Spain, in a letter which has become celebrated. His 
 case was now, for the first time, strictly investigated; 
 and it was ascertained that he had merely been supposed 
 to be the author of a libel, which was subsequently disco- 
 vered to have been written in a monastery. Quevedo 
 once more regained his freedom, but with the loss of a 
 considerable portion of his fortune, of which indeed he
 
 464 HISTORY OF 
 
 retained so scanty a remnant, that he was unable to 
 continue long enough in Madrid to solicit the indemnifi- 
 cation which was so justly due to him, and without which 
 he could not subsist with respectability. A prey to 
 sickness, and deprived of the hope of ever obtaining 
 justice, he retired to his country seat, and there died in 
 the year 1645. 
 
 A man who, like Quevedo, reaped the bitterest 
 fruits from political justice, cannot be very heavily 
 reproached for seizing in his satires every opportunity 
 of more severely chastising and ridiculing the ministers 
 of that justice, than any other enemies of truth and 
 equity. But Quevedo was not a mere satirist. He may, 
 without hesitation, be pronounced the most ingenious 
 of all Spanish writers, next to Cervantes; and his mind 
 was, moreover, endowed with a degree of practical judg- 
 ment, which is seldom found combined with that versati- 
 lity for which he was distinguished. Could Quevedo have 
 ruled the taste and genius of his nation and his age in 
 the same degree in which that taste and genius in- 
 fluenced him, his versatility, joined to his talent for 
 composing verses with no less rapidity than Lope de 
 Vega, might have rendered him, if not a poet of the 
 first rank in the loftier region of art, at least a classic 
 writer of almost unrivalled merit. But this scholar 
 and man of the world was too early wedded to con- 
 ventional forms of every kind. It may indeed be sfdd 
 that he was steeped in all the colours of his age. A 
 true feeling of the independence of genius never ani- 
 mated him, lofty as his spirit in other respects was. 
 His taste imbibed some portion of all the conflicting
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 465 
 
 tastes which at that period existed in Spain. His style 
 never acquired originality, and his mind was only half 
 cultivated. 
 
 Quevedo's writings, taken altogether in verse and in 
 prose, resemble a massy ornament of jewellery, in which 
 the setting of some parts is exquisitely skilful, of others 
 extremely rude, and in which the number of false stones 
 and of gems of inestimable value are nearly equal. His 
 most numerous, and unquestionably his best produc- 
 tions, are those of the satirical and comic kind. Though 
 Quevedo did not strike into a totally new course, yet 
 by a union peculiar to himself of sports of fancy, with 
 the maxims of reason and morality, he evidently en- 
 larged the sphere of satirical and comic poetry in 
 Spanish literature. He occasionally approached, though 
 he never equalled, the delicacy and correctness of Cer- 
 vantes. His wit is sufficiently caustic; but it is ac- 
 companied by a coarseness which would be surprising, 
 considering his situation in life, were it not that Que- 
 vedo, as an author, sought to indemnify himself for the 
 constraint to which, as a man of the world he was com- 
 pelled to submit. For this reason, perhaps, he bestowed 
 but little pains on the correction of his satires. His 
 ideas are striking; and are thrown together sometimes 
 with absolute carelessness, sometimes with refined pre- 
 cision; but for the most part in a distorted and man- 
 nered strain of language. This mixed character of 
 cultivation and rudeness peculiarly characterizes his 
 satirical and comic works in verse, in which, as he him- 
 self says, he has exhibited " truth in her smock, but 
 
 VOL. i. 2 H
 
 466 HISTORY OP 
 
 not quite naked."* He appears as the rival of Gon- 
 gora in numerous comic canciones and romances in the 
 old national style.f In these compositions he hu- 
 morously parodied the extravagant images of the 
 Marinists,^: and the affected singularity of the Gongo- 
 
 * Verdades dir6 en camisa, 
 Poco menos que desnudas. 
 
 j- These canciones and romances are contained in the great 
 collection of the poems of Quevedo, published by the Gongorist 
 Gonzales de Salas, under the Gongoristic title of El Parnaso 
 Espanol, Monte en dos cumbres dividido, (that is to say, in two 
 volumes.) A new, but very far from elegant, edition of this collec- 
 tion of Quevedo's poems appeared at Madrid, in 1729, in quarto. It 
 is divided into books, each of which bears the name of one of the 
 muses. 
 
 J For example, in the following song to a linnet, which is 
 described as a singing and flying flower : 
 Flor que cantas, flor que buelas 
 
 Y tienes iporfacistol 
 
 El laurel, para que al Sol, 
 
 Con tan sonoras cautelas, 
 
 Le madrugas, y desuelas, 
 
 Digas me, 
 
 Dulce Gilguero, por que ? 
 Dime, Cantor Ramillete, 
 
 Lyra de pluma volante, 
 
 Silvo alado, y elegante, 
 
 Que en el rizado copete 
 
 Luces flor, suenas falsete, 
 
 Porque cantas con porfia 
 
 Embidias, que llora el dia, 
 
 Con lagrimas de la Aurora 
 
 Si en la risa de Lidora 
 
 Su amanecer desconsuelas, 
 
 Flor que cantas, flor que buelas, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 467 
 
 lists.* Quevedo wrote no inconsiderable number of his 
 comic and satirical poems in the jargon of the Spanish 
 gypsies; and it is therefore probable that they are not in- 
 telligible to many readers on this side of the Pyrenees.t 
 
 * For example, in the following song, which passes from one 
 style to another: 
 
 Pero sienclo tu en la Villa 
 Dama, de demanda, y trote, 
 Bien puede ser que del mote, 
 No ayas visto la cartilla. 
 Va de el estilo que brilla 
 En la'Culterana Prosa, 
 Grecizante, y Latinosa: 
 Mucho sera si me entiendes, 
 Yo vacio pyras, y asciendes, 
 Culto va Senora hermosa. 
 Si bien el pdlor ligustre 
 Desfallece los candores, 
 Quando muchos esplendores 
 Conduce a poco palustre, 
 Construye al aroma ilustre 
 Victima de tanto culto, 
 Presentiendo de tu vulto, 
 Que rayos fulmina horreudo ; 
 Ni me entiendes, ni te entiendo, 
 Pues catate, que soy culto. 
 
 f A specimen of this gypsey gibberish may be curious to those 
 who are not acquainted with it : 
 
 Ya esta guardando en la trena 
 Tu querido Escarraman, 
 Que unos alfileres vivos, 
 Me prendieron sin pensar, 
 Andaba d caza de gangas, 
 Y grillos vine a cazar, 
 2 H 2
 
 468 HISTORY OF 
 
 These romances and canciones, which were distinguished 
 by the name of Xacaras, were rendered so extremely po- 
 pular by Quevedo, that even down to the present day 
 the Spaniards continue to admire them.* His Bayles, 
 or comic dancing songs, are, on account of their nume- 
 rous allusions to national peculiarities, no less obscure 
 to foreigners than the Xacaras. 
 
 Of all the Spanish poets, Quevedo has been the 
 most successful writer of burlesque sonnets in the 
 Italian manner. Some of these sonnets he shortened 
 by depriving them of the three last of their legitimate 
 number of lines, while the Italians on the contrary, 
 attached to their's the comic sequel which they called 
 the Coda.i Quevedo's productions in this class are, 
 
 Que en mi cantan como enhaza, 
 Las noches de por San Juan. 
 ,Entrandome en la bayuca, 
 Llegandome .a remojar 
 Cierta pendencia mosquito, 
 Que se ahogo en vino, y pan. 
 
 * A new collection of this kind of gypsey romances, was 
 published at Madrid in 1779, in octavo, under the title of Romances 
 de Germania. Germania is the Spanish name for the gypsey race. 
 
 f For example, one in which a young married man, on the 
 third day after his nuptials, asks his spouse, how many years a man 
 daily grows older in the matrimonial state ? 
 
 Antiyer DOS casamos, oy querria, 
 
 Dona Perez, saber ciertas verdades ; 
 Decidme, quanto numero de edades 
 Enfunda el naatrimonio en solo un dia?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 469 
 
 for the most part, like their Italian models, full of 
 allusions which cannot be understood without the 
 assistance of a commentary. Some have a piquant 
 sententious turn. But that licentious humour which 
 distinguishes this species of composition in Italian 
 literature Quevedo renounced, either voluntary or from 
 fear of the inquisition, Besides his burlesque sonnets, 
 he wrote canciones and madrigals in the same style. 
 
 Quevedo's satires in the manner of Juvenal, natu- 
 rally connect themselves with his burlesque poems. 
 Like his model he has infused into them nearly as 
 much poetry as the satirical style is capable of receiv- 
 ing.* These compositions display the noblest enthu-, 
 siasm for truth and justice,! and the most patriotic 
 
 Un antiyer soltero ser solia, 
 
 Y oy casado un sin fin de Navidades 
 
 Han puesto dos marchitas voluntaries 
 
 Y mas de mil antanos en la mia. 
 Esto de ser marido un ano arreo, 
 
 Aun a los azacanes empalaga; 
 
 Todo lo cotidiano es mucho, y feo. 
 
 * See the collection of Salas, Musa II. &c. 
 
 f This appears in the commencement of the following extract. 
 No he de callar, por mas que con el dedo, 
 
 Yd tocando la boca, 6 y a la frente, 
 
 Silencio, avises, o amenaces miedo. 
 No ha de aver un espiritu valiente? 
 
 Siempre se ha de sentir, lo que se dice? 
 
 Nunca se ha de decir, lo que se siente ? 
 Oy sin miedo, que libre escandalice, 
 
 Puede hablar al ingenio, assegurado 
 
 De que mayor pocler le atemorice.
 
 470 HISTORY OF 
 
 zeal for the honour of Spain,* forcibly and clearly 
 expressed. 
 
 Quevedo's satires in verse and his poems of humour, 
 are not so well known out of Spain as his prose writings 
 of the same description, of which the most remarkable 
 
 En otros siglos pudo ser pecado 
 
 Severe estudio, y la verdad desnuda, 
 Y romper el silencio el bien hablado. 
 
 Pues sepa quien lo niega, y quien lo duda, 
 Que es lengua la Verdad de Dios severo, 
 Y la lengua de Dios nunca fue muda. 
 
 Son la verdad, y Dios, Dios verdadero. 
 Ni eternidad divina los separa, 
 Ni de los dos alguno fue primero. 
 
 Si Dios a la verdad se adelantara, 
 
 Siendo verdad, implicacion huviera 
 En ser, y en que verdad de ser dexara. 
 
 * He earnestly condemns the Spanish imitation of the Arabian 
 tournaments with pointed canes. 
 
 Quexosa es ver un Infazon de Espana, 
 
 Abreviado en la silla a la gineta, 
 
 Y gastar un cavallo en una caiia ? 
 Que la niiiez al gollo le acometa 
 
 Con semejante municion, apruebo; 
 
 Mas no la edad madura, la perfeta. 
 Exercite sus fuercas el mancebo 
 
 Enfrentes de esquadrones; no en la frente 
 
 De el util bruto el hasta de el acebo. 
 El trompete le llama diligente, 
 
 Dando fuerza de ley el viento vano, 
 
 Y al son est el exercito obediente. 
 Con quanta magestad llena la mano 
 
 La pica, y el mosquete carga el ombro, 
 
 De el que se atreve a ser buen Castellano.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 471 
 
 are his Visions or Dreams, and his novel of the Great 
 Tacafio, or the Captain of Thieves, called Don Pablos. 
 (Vida del Buscop, llamado D. Pablos), which certainly 
 may be regarded as the most burlesque of the knavery 
 romances.* Lucian furnished him with the original 
 idea of satirical visions; but Quevedo's were the first 
 of their kind in modern literature. Owing to frequent 
 imitations, their faults are now no longer disguised by 
 the charm of novelty, and even their merits have ceased 
 to interest. Still, however, they must be regarded as 
 ingenious productions abounding in practical truths. 
 They are not, it is true, remarkable either for delicate 
 satire or pure philosophy. But Quevedo's object was 
 to scourge human folly and vice in the mass; and the 
 severe lashes which he deals out in his Visions, are in 
 excellent unison with the popular nature of the idea 
 and the poignant style of its execution. He has made 
 perverted Justice, with all her servants and satellites, and 
 particularly the Alguazils, figure in the fore ground of 
 his picture; but the melancholy fate of the author may 
 well excuse, though even in the visionary world, these 
 monotonous features in his satirical work. Among the 
 passages for which no just excuse can be found, are some 
 disgusting descriptions of the consequences of physical 
 excess. The reader is occasionally surprised by the 
 
 * Quevedo's Suenos, or Visiones, which are now translated 
 into almost every cultivated language in Europe, were shortly after 
 their appearance, introduced into German literature by Moscherosch 
 von Wilstedt, under the title of Gesichte Philanders von Sittewahl. 
 The romance of the Great Tacaiio has also been translated into 
 various languages.
 
 472 HISTORY OF 
 
 humorous sallies with which Quevedo breaks forth in 
 these Visions; for example, in that of the Last Judg- 
 ment, in which he describes " some merchants who 
 had placed their souls across their bodies, so that their 
 five senses got into the finger nails of their right 
 hand.*" 
 
 For the serious works of Quevedo, we must refer 
 to his poems, as his serious compositions in prose 
 are in general of a theological and ascetic character. 
 The sonnets, canciones, odes and pastoral poems, which 
 he published under the name of the Bachelor de la 
 Torre, are even at the present day highly extolled by 
 critics;f and these poems have certainly more correct- 
 ness than most of Quevedo's other works. But they 
 chiefly consist of imitations of the Spanish Petrarchist 
 style, which was always foreign to Quevedo; and notwith- 
 standing the great elegance of language and versification 
 which distinguish them, they are surcharged with anti- 
 quated phrases of affected gallantry. The snows which 
 inflame the poet, and similar tropes in which the beauty 
 of a mistress is brilliantly set forth, occasionally call to 
 
 . * Pero lo que mas me espanto, fue de ver los cuerpos de dos o 
 tres mercadores, que se havian vestido las almas de reves, y tenian 
 todos los cinco sentidos en las ufias de la mana derecha. Sueno 
 del Juiziojinal, o de las Calaveras. 
 
 f An elegant edition of these poems was published by Luis 
 Joseph Velasquez, the author of the History of Spanish Poetry, 
 under the title of Poesias que publico Dr. Francisco de Quevedo 
 Villegas con el nombre de Bachiller Franc, de la Torre, &c. Madrid, 
 1753, in quarto. Velasquez has proved Quevedo to be the author of 
 these compositions.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 473 
 
 mind the style of the Italian Marmists. Nevertheless 
 some of these sonnets well deserve the favour which 
 has been extended t to them.* Quevedo's Endechas, or 
 Laments, have a pleasing national character.! The 
 pastoral poems contained in this collection, approxi- 
 mate to the good specimens of the sixteenth century. 
 
 * For example : 
 
 Bella es mi Ninfa, si los lazos de oro 
 al apacible viento desordena : 
 bella si de sus ojos enagena 
 el altivo desden que siempre lloro. 
 
 Bella, si con la luz que sola adoro 
 la tempestad del viento, y mar serena : 
 bella, si a la dureza de mi pena 
 buelve las gracias del celeste Coro. 
 
 Bella, si mansa, bella si terrible, 
 bella si cruda, bella esquiva, y .bella 
 si buelve grave aquella luz del Cielo. 
 
 Cuya beldad humana, y apacible, 
 ni se puede saber lo que es sin vella, 
 ni vista entendera la que es el suelo. 
 
 t The commencement of one of these Endechas may be 
 transcribed as a specimen : 
 
 Corona del Cielo, 
 Ariadna bella, 
 conocida estrella 
 del nocturno velo, 
 Tu sola del coro 
 de las lumbres bellas, 
 oye mis querellas, 
 pues tus. males lloro. 
 Tu fuiste querida, 
 y olvidada fuiste, 
 yo querido, ytriste, 
 quien me am 6, me olvida.
 
 474 HISTORY OF 
 
 Quevedo evidently wished to prove what he was capable 
 of producing in this style of composition. 
 
 The serious poems of which Quevedo has avowed 
 himself the author, are very unequal in character.* 
 His didactic and sententious sonnets are energetic, but 
 deficient in delicacy .t Some of the best assume a 
 
 * The style of the following appears unobjectionable: 
 Esta por ser, 6 Lisi, la primera 
 
 Flor, que ha ossado fiar de los calores, 
 
 Recien naci'das joyas, y colores, 
 
 Aventurando el precio a la ribera : 
 Esta, que estudio fue a la Primavera, 
 
 Y en quien se anticiparon esplendores. 
 
 De el Sol, sera primicia de las flores, 
 
 Y culto, con que la alma te venera. 
 A corta vida nace destinada, 
 
 Sus edades sou horas : en un dia 
 
 Su parto, y muerte el Cielo rie, y llora. 
 Logrese en tu cabello respetada 
 
 De el ano, no malogre lo que cria, 
 
 Aqueta en largavida, eterna Aurora. 
 J- The following is on modern Rome : 
 Buscas en Roma a Roma, 6 Peregrino, 
 
 Y en Roma misma a Roma no la hallas. 
 
 Cadaver son, las que ostentu murallas, 
 
 Y Tumba de si proprio el Aventino. 
 Yaze donde reynaba el Palatino, 
 
 Y limadas del tiempo las medallas, 
 
 Mas se muestran destrozo a las batallas 
 
 De las edades, que Blason Latino. 
 Solo el Tiber quedo, cuya corriente, 
 
 Si ciudad la rego, ya sepoltura 
 
 La llora con funesto son doliente. 
 Roma, en tu grandeza, en tu hermosura 
 
 Huyo lo que era firme,. y solamente 
 
 Lo fugitive permanece, y dura.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 475 
 
 satirical turn.* His odes in the Pindaric style are, 
 however, stiff and formal. He wrote a piece of moral 
 declamation in verse, called Sermon Estoyco, (Estoical 
 Sermon), which is in truth precisely what the title 
 denotes. 
 
 That Quevedo entertained very vague notions re- 
 specting poetry, is particularly evident from the whim 
 which induced him to translate in rhymed verse, the 
 stoical Enchiridion, or Manual of Epictetus. The trans- 
 lation is, however, much esteemed by the Spaniards.! 
 
 VILLEGAS. 
 
 An Anacreon was still wanting to Spanish literature, 
 though various attempts in the Anacreontic style had 
 been made. That a poet penetrated at once with the 
 classic spirit of Anacreon, Horace and Catullus, should 
 
 * For example, the following, which is addressed to Astrsea: 
 Arroja las balanzas, sacra Astrea, 
 
 Pues que tienen tu mano embarazada ; 
 
 Y si se mueven, tierablan de tu espada, 
 
 Que el peso, y la igualdad no las menea. 
 No estas justificada, sino fea ; 
 
 Y en vez de estar igual, estas armada ; 
 
 Feroz te ve la gente, no ajustada; 
 
 Quieres que el tribunal batalla sea ? 
 Ya militan las Leyes, y el Derecho, 
 
 Y te sirven de textos las heridas, 
 
 Que escrive nuestra sangre en nuc&tro pecho. 
 La parca eres fatal para las vidas, 
 
 Pues lo que hilaron otras, has deshecho, 
 
 Y has buelto las balauzas homicidas. 
 
 f This may probably account for its insertion in the second 
 volume of the Parnaso Espanol.
 
 476 HISTORY OF 
 
 now arise, and become the favourite of the Spanish 
 public, was a thing scarcely to be expected; for all the 
 resources of amatory poetry in the only style which 
 had hitherto been found agreeable to Spanish taste, 
 seemed to be exhausted. The poetry of Villegas, 
 however, produced precisely for this reason the more 
 powerful impression on a public which ardently longed 
 for entertainment. 
 
 Estevan Manuel de Villegas, was born in the year 
 1595, at Nagera, or Naxera, a little town in Old Castile. 
 The history of his life is simple. His parents who 
 were noble, though not rich, sent him to study at 
 Madrid and Salamanca. His taste for poetry was 
 developed at a very early period. Even in his fifteenth 
 year he translated Anacreon, and several of the odes 
 of Horace in verse; and likewise imitated those poets 
 in original compositions. In his twentieth year he gave 
 the finishing touch to his youthful effusions, and added 
 to the collection of his translated and original poems, a 
 second part, which has since been published conjointly 
 with them.* He soon after printed the whole collection 
 at his own expence at Naxera, under the title of Ama- 
 torlasi but in the interior of the book, the poems are 
 
 * The third book of the first division of these poems, is dedi- 
 cated to Fernandez de Velasco, the constable of Castile. In the 
 dedicatory verses Villegas says: 
 
 Mis dulces cantilenas, 
 
 Mis suaves delicias, 
 
 A los mente limadas, 
 
 A los cotorce escritas, fyc.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 477 
 
 styled Eroticas* Villegas ventured to dedicate these 
 poems, together with the part added to them, to which a 
 particular title might more properly have been assigned, 
 to Philip III. though individual parts of the collection 
 had previously been addressed to other patrons. That 
 so indolent a monarch as Philip III. should have ac- 
 cepted the dedication of such a collection, may not be 
 surprising, and the freedom was pardonable in a young 
 author of three-and-twenty. But this dedication is, in 
 another respect, remarkable in the history of Spanish 
 literature; for the Eroticas of Villegas contain some 
 passages, which though not wanting in delicacy of ex- 
 pression, are nevertheless so extremely free, that it is 
 wonderful how they happened to escape the censure of 
 the inquisition. The dedication was, however, productive 
 of neither good nor evil to the poet. For several years 
 he vainly solicited a lucrative office; and was at last 
 obliged to content himself with the scanty emolument 
 arising from an insignificant post in Naxera, his native 
 town. From that time he devoted his leisure to the 
 composition of philological works in the latin language; 
 and though he produced nothing new for Spanish poetry, 
 he made a prose translation of five books of Boethins. 
 He lived till the year 1669. 
 
 The graceful luxuriance of the poetry of Villegas 
 has no parallel in modem literature; and, generally 
 
 * The edition which I have seen, is entitled, Amatorias 
 de D. Esleban Manuel de Villegas. It is printed at Naxera, 
 and on the title-page bears the date of 1620, and on the final 
 pa<r<; 1017.
 
 478 HISTORY OF 
 
 speaking, no modern writer has so well succeeded in 
 blending the spirit of ancient poetry with the modern. 
 But constantly to observe that correctness of ideas, 
 which distinguished the classical compositions of anti- 
 quity, was by Villegas, as by most Spanish poets, consi- 
 dered too rigid a requisition, and an unnecessary restraint 
 on genius. He accordingly sometimes degenerates into 
 conceits and images, the monstrous absurdity of which 
 are characteristic of the author's nation and age. For 
 instance, in one of his odes in which he entreats Lyda 
 to suffer her tresses to flow, he says, that " when agi- 
 tated by Zephyr, her locks would occasion a thousand 
 deaths, and subdue a thousand lives;"* and then he 
 adds, in a strain of extravagance, surpassing that of 
 the Marinists, " that the sun himself would cease to 
 give light, if he did not snatch beams from her radiant 
 countenance to illumine the east."f But faults of this 
 glaring kind, are by no means frequent in the poetry of 
 Villegas; and the fascinating grace with which he 
 emulates his models, operates with so powerful a charm, 
 that the occasional occurrence of some little affectations, 
 from which he could scarcely be expected entirely to 
 abstain, is easily overlooked by the reader. 
 
 The order in which the poetic works of Villegas 
 are arranged, is by no means the best; but as it was 
 
 * Assi las hebras, que en el alma adoro, 
 
 Del Zefiro movidas, 
 
 Daran mil muertes, venceran mil vidas. 
 f Ni el mismo Sol resplandecer pudiera, 
 
 Si de tu roja frente 
 
 No hurtara rayos, para darle al Oriente.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 479 
 
 chosen by the author, it is proper that it should be 
 observed in pursuing a notice of the poems themselves. 
 The first book of the first part commences with thirty- 
 six odes in the style of some of the odes of Horace. 
 The Dedicatory Ode addressed to the king, announces, 
 in language truly charming, the spirit of the whole 
 collection.* Then follow in a similar strain, the most 
 delightful plays of fancy, abounding in classical allu- 
 sions, without the least trace of pedantry. The style of 
 Villegas even imparts a charm of novelty to descrip- 
 tions of the oftenest described things.f In these odes, 
 
 * In this ode Villegas says : 
 
 No aspiro a mas laureles que a mi llama : 
 que offende a sus deseos, quien bien ama : 
 siga el joven valiente 
 en polverosa meta carro ardiente, 
 i el, de todos servido, 
 feliz privado, a rei agradecido ; 
 siga de noche, i dia 
 por la campaiia umbria 
 el ca^ador ligero 
 al xavali cerdoso, 
 ya siendo monteado, ya montero. 
 Siga por mar i lierra el belicoso 
 varon, la dura guerra, 
 i en mar sea delfin, i tigre en tierra. 
 
 Que yo, de alagos tievnos persuadido, 
 seguir tengo las llamas de Cupido, 
 seguir tengo los fuegos, 
 adestrado de locos, i de ciegos. 
 f For example, the following stanzas : 
 
 O quan dulce, i suave 
 es ver al campo, quando mas recrea: 
 en el se quexa el ave,
 
 480 HISTORY OF 
 
 romantic levity assumes freedoms, which if not always 
 of the most excusable, are invariably of the most grace- 
 ful description;* and the soft and melodious expression of 
 
 el viento el spira, agua lisongea, 
 
 i las pintadas flores 
 
 crian mil visos, paren mil olores. 
 
 El alamo, i el pino 
 sirven de estorbos a la luz de Febo. 
 Brinda el baso contino 
 del claro arroyo con aljofar nuevo, 
 i la tendida grama 
 mesa a la gula es, i al sue no cam a. 
 
 Tu solamente bella 
 nos haces falta, Tyndarias graciosa, 
 i si tu blanca hicella 
 no te nos presta como el alva hermosa, 
 lo dulce i lo suave 
 quan amargo sera, quan duro, i grave, &c. 
 
 * One of these odes commences in the following comic style : 
 
 Entanto pues, hermosa casadilla, 
 que los dos al pavon i tortolilla 
 imitamos fielmente, 
 tu con belleca, i yo con voz doliente : 
 mi voz de tu belleca 
 cante, qual cisne en su mayor triste9a : 
 pues por ti mi deseo 
 es musico suave mas que Orfeo. 
 
 Cante el heroico al son de la trompeta 
 el subito rumor de la escopeta, 
 i el tragico celebre 
 
 calc.ado de Cothurno, accion funebre : 
 que yo de ti, casada, 
 lyrico siendo, en cythara templada 
 cantare solamente 
 tu voca, i ojos, tu mexilla, i frente. &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 481 
 
 tender passion, which in more than one instance occurs, 
 has never been surpassed.* 
 
 The second book of the first division of the poems of 
 Villegas, consists of odes, which are free translations of 
 the first book of Horace. It ought not, therefore, to have 
 been ranked under the same title with the other poems in 
 the collection. There is something pedantic in the gene- 
 rical titles by which he distinguishes the different odes; 
 for example Memptica, Enetica, Paranetica, &zc. 
 
 With the third book of the first division commence 
 the Anacreontic songs, or as they are styled in the 
 collection, the Delicias of the poet. Their measure is 
 chiefly anacreontic, sometimes in blank verse, and at 
 other times presenting the most pleasing alternation of 
 rhymes and assonances. Light pleasing images and soft 
 luxuriant ideas float through these songs even more 
 
 * For example in the song (for an ode it is not) in which the 
 concluding line of each stanza is repeated as a burthen. 
 
 Juro, que me seria 
 en amarme tan firme como roca, 
 
 como robre essento : 
 
 1 que atras volveria 
 
 este arroyuelo, que estas hayas tora, 
 antes que el juramento: 
 pero ya la perjura 
 cortar el arbol de mi fe procura. 
 Este eliran los vientos, 
 que dieron a su jura las orejas : 
 esto diran los rios, 
 que por estar atentos 
 el susurro enfrenaron a sus quexas : 
 pero los llantos mios 
 diran, que la perjura 
 cortar el arbol de mi fA procura. 
 VOL. I. 2 I
 
 482 HISTORY OF 
 
 gracefully than in the odes attributed to Anacreon.* 
 Nothing can exceed the beauty of those in which a 
 certain delicate moral feeling is combined with a 
 pathetic simplicity.t Only a few can be said to be 
 absolutely copied from the greek or latin originals. 
 
 The fourth book of the first part, contains the com- 
 plete translation of the greek odes ascribed to Anacreon. 
 
 * One commences thus: 
 
 Luego que por oriente 
 muestra su blanca frenle 
 el alba, que aporfia 
 sano nos muestra el dia, 
 i a la tarde doliente: 
 veras salir las aves, 
 ya ligeras, ya graves, 
 i ya libres del sueiio 
 esclavas a su dueuo 
 dar canticos suaves: 
 las Auras distraidas, 
 que soplan esparcidas 
 por selvas no plantadas, 
 o se mueven paradas, 
 o se paran movidas, &c. 
 
 f The following contains an exquisite picture of the grief of a 
 bird for the loss of her young: 
 
 Yo vi sobre un tomillo 
 quexarse un paxarillo 
 viendo su nido amado, 
 de quien era caudillo, 
 de un labrador robado. 
 Vile tan congojado 
 por tal atrevimiento 
 dar mil quexas al viento 
 para que al cielo santo 
 lleve su tierno llanto, 
 Here su triste acento,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 483 
 
 The second division is chiefly occupied with elegies and 
 idyls, or eidillios, as Villegas, in hellenizing the term, 
 chooses to call them. The elegies which might with 
 greater propriety be denominated epistles, do not belong 
 to the best of the kind in Spanish literature; in the 
 idyls, or mythological tales, as they ought to be called, 
 Villegas appears as one of the Cultoristos, or disciples 
 of the school of Gongora.* 
 
 ya con triste harmonia 
 
 esforc.ando al intento 
 
 mil quexas repitia: 
 
 ya cansando callava : 
 
 y al nuevo sentimiento 
 
 ya sonoro volvia. 
 
 Ya circular volaba : 
 
 ya rastrero corria : 
 
 ya pues de rain a en rama 
 
 al rustico seguia, 
 
 i saltando en la grama, 
 
 parece que decia : 
 
 dame, rustico fiero, 
 
 mi dulce compania ! 
 
 Yoi que" respondia 
 
 el rustico: No quiero. 
 
 * The subjoined passage presents a specimen of the affectation 
 of the Estilo Culto : 
 
 Los ciento, que dio passes, bella dama, 
 los mil, que dio suspires, tierne rio, 
 siendo ella esquiva, mas que al Sol su rama, 
 i el, mas que el Sol, amante a su desvio : 
 yo cantare, que amor mi pecho iuflama, 
 i no de Marte el plomo, cuyo brio 
 en el vaciado bronce, resonante 
 vengancn PS ya de Jupiter innante. 
 2 I 2
 
 484 HISTORY OF 
 
 The collection concludes with several imitations 
 of greek and latin verse, which may be regarded as 
 the first compositions of the kind in Spanish, that 
 were not complete failures. Doubtless the Spanish 
 language adapts itself somewhat more readily to the 
 ancient metres than the Italian; for final syllables 
 sounded in pronunciation, but subject to elision in 
 scanning, do not occur so frequently in Spanish as in 
 Italian. This difference is, however, in reality but of 
 trivial importance; and Spanish verses in the ancient 
 syllabic measures do not flow much more naturally than 
 the Italian compositions of the same kind; because 
 many words derived from the latin, have received 
 in Spanish, as well as in Italian, a modern quan- 
 tity,* which is generally confounded with the ancient 
 quantity by the imitators of the greek and latin 
 metres. The Spanish hexameters of Villegas, it is 
 true, approach in point of facility to the hexameters 
 of antiquity.! But the pentameters defied his imitative 
 
 * See the first volume of the History of Italian Poetry and 
 Eloquence, p. 50. 
 
 f Villegas has thus translated one of Virgil's idyls into Spanish 
 hexameters : 
 
 Lycidas, Corydon, i Corydon el amante de Philis, 
 Pastor el uno de cabras, el otro de blancas ovejas, 
 ambos a dos tiernos, moc,os ambos, Arcades ambos, 
 viendo que los rayos del sol fatigaban el orbe, 
 i que bibrando fuego feroz la canicula ladra, 
 al puro christal, que cria la fuente sonora, 
 llevados del son alegre de su blando susurro, 
 las plantas veloces mueven, los passes animan, 
 i al tronce de un verde enebro se sientan amigos, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 485 
 
 talent.* In his sapphic verse the measure resolves 
 into iambics: one of these sapphic odes is, however, 
 exquisitely beautiful.f 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF LYRIC, BUCO- 
 LIC, EPIC, DIDACTIC, AND SATIRICAL POETRY, TO 
 THE CLOSE OF THE PERIOD EMBRACED BY THIS 
 SECTION. 
 
 After Quevedo and Villegas, and before entering 
 upon the notice of a series of dramatic poets, whose 
 works must form a subject of separate consideration, it 
 will be necessary to mention several ingenious writers, 
 who, though endowed with eminent talents, were never- 
 theless unable to retard the fast approaching close of 
 the golden era of Spanish poesy. 
 
 * The following are intended for hexameters and penta- 
 meters : 
 
 Como el inonte sigues a Diana, dixo Cytherea, 
 
 Dictyna hermosa, siendo la ca^a fea ? 
 No me la desprecias Cyprida, responde Diana, 
 
 Tu tambien fuiste 0393, la red lo diga. 
 f It is an ode to Zephyr: 
 
 Dulce vecino de la verde selva, 
 huesped eterno del Abril florido, 
 vital aliento de la madre Venus, 
 
 Zephyro blando, 
 
 Si de mis ansias el amor supiste, 
 tii, que las quejas de mi voz llevaste, 
 oye, no temas, i a mi Nympha dile, 
 
 dile que muero. 
 
 Philis un tiempo mi dolor sabia, 
 Philis un tiempo mi dolor lloraba, 
 . quisome un tiempo, mas agora temo, 
 if in-) sus iras ; &c.
 
 486 HISTORY OF 
 
 JAUREGUI. 
 
 If pure diction, joined to a descriptive style of the 
 most perfect kind, might form a sufficient claim to the 
 title of poet of the first rank, the right of Juan de Jaure- 
 gui, or Xauregui, to that distinction, among the Spanish 
 poets of the first half of the seventeenth century, could 
 not be disputed. Jauregui, who was of Biscayen origin, 
 but educated in the interior of Spain, first developed his 
 talents in Italy. In that country he prosecuted his poetic 
 studies, and at the same time thought it no degradation 
 to practise painting as a profession, though he was a no- 
 bleman and a knight of the order of Calatrava. He is 
 said to have excelled in painting even more than in poe- 
 try. While in Italy he made a Spanish translation of 
 Tasso's Amynta, in which he was so successful, that the 
 translation is still regarded by the educated portion of 
 his countrymen as possessing the characteristics of the 
 happiest original composition. Jauregui was a decided 
 opponent of the Gongorists; but his taste did not 
 coincide with that of Quevedo. He devoted much 
 talent and industry to a free translation of Lucan's 
 Pharsalia in octaves. He died in 1610; and his poetic 
 remains, exclusive of his translations, are by no means 
 numerous. The translation of Lucan was not published 
 till long after the death of Jauregui; but ever since its 
 appearance, the Spaniards have admired it as a classic 
 composition; and it unquestionably possesses all the merit 
 that the translation of such a work can possibly present. 
 But from a man who could be induced to apply so much 
 labour and time to a translation of Lucan, no very extra-
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 487 
 
 ordinary proofs of poetic talent were to be expected; 
 and it must be confessed that Jauregui, in none of his 
 compositions has risen above what may be called the 
 poetry of style. He might have carried this kind of 
 merit still farther, had not his Lucan led him into a 
 kind of mannered affectation. Among his original works, 
 his Orfeo, a mythological tale, in five cantos, deserves to 
 be distinguished.* But his lyric poems, and particularly 
 his sonnets, bear evident traces of the man of genius 
 and of cultivated mind.f Jauregui's dramatic compo- 
 
 * The stanzas, in which the arrival of Orpheus at the Acheron 
 is related, may serve as a specimen of Jauregui's talent for poetic 
 description : 
 
 Llega a Aqueronte, y en su orilla espera, 
 Las cuerdas requiriendo y consultando : 
 Ve la grosera barca, a la ribera 
 Opuesta conducir copioso bando : 
 Del instrumento, y de la voz esmera 
 De nuevo entonces el acento blaudo ; 
 Gime la cuerda al rebatir del arco, 
 Y su gemido es remora del barco. 
 
 Resono en la ribera tiempo escaso 
 El canto que humanar'las piedras suele ; 
 Quando atras vuelve, y obedece el vaso 
 Mas a. la voz, que al remo que le impele ; 
 La conducida turba, al nuevo caso, 
 Se admira, se regala, se conduele, 
 Y las reprobas almas, con aliento, 
 Se juzgan revocadas del tormento. Orfeo, Cant. II. 
 f The following is a sonnet of Jauregui addressed to the vising 
 sun : 
 
 Rubio Planeta, cuya lumbre pura 
 
 del tiempo mide cada punto, i ora, 
 si el bello objeto, que mi pecho adora
 
 488 HISTORY OF 
 
 sitions, which were written with the view of reforming 
 the national taste, are now lost to literature, and were 
 at the time of their production indignantly banished 
 from the stage. He is the author of some small works 
 in prose, one of which is a treatise on painting.* 
 
 BORJA Y ESQUILLACHE. 
 
 Prince Francisco de Borja y Esquillache, a knight 
 of the Golden Fleece, and for some time viceroy of 
 Peru, was the most distinguished, in point of birth, of 
 all the Spanish poets of his age.t With regard to 
 cultivation, he may be placed on a level with Jauregui; 
 
 solo le gozo entre la noche oscura ; 
 For que ya se adelanta, i se apresura 
 tu luz injusta, i el Oriente dora ? 
 las sonbras alexando de la Aurora, 
 i con las soubras mi feliz ventura? 
 Diras que el dulce espacio defraudado 
 ya de la noche, me daras el dia, 
 tal que de vida un punto no me devas. 
 Si deves (causa del ausencia mia) 
 
 que es vida solo el tiempo que me llevas ; 
 i el que me ofreces un mortal cuidado. 
 
 * Jauregui's translation of Lucau was published, together 
 with his Orfeo, under the title of Pharsalia de D. Juan de 
 Jauregui, por D. Ramon Fernandez, Madrid, 1789, in 2 vols. 
 8vo. The other poetic works of thus author, including his trans- 
 lation of the Amynta, are collected in the Rimas de D. Juan de 
 Jauregui, Sevilla, 1618, in quarto. 
 
 f The name of this poet is of Italian origin. He was descended 
 from a branch of the Italian house of Borgia, and married the 
 heiress of the principality of Squillace in Naples. Both names 
 were, according to Spanish custom, hispanized, first in the pro- 
 nunciation, and subsequently in the orthography.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 489 
 
 but he deserves to rank higher in poetic invention. 
 Throughout his long life, which when he died in 1658, 
 had extended to nearly eighty years, he seems constantly 
 to have devoted a portion of his time to the study of 
 poetry; and though he was not entitled to the praises 
 lavished on him by his flatterers, who styled him the 
 Prince of Spanish Poets, he may be regarded as the 
 last representative of the classic style of the sixteenth 
 century. The collection of his sonnets, epistles, tales, 
 romances, and canciones, forms a large quarto volume, 
 the last half of which is printed in double columns.* 
 Prince Francisco de Borja, was likewise the author of an 
 unsuccessful epic poem, entitled, Napoles Conquistada, 
 and various works on sacred subjects. Though he did not 
 contribute to the advancement of Spanish poetry, yet 
 in all his writings, he decidedly opposed that subtlety and 
 affectation which in the time of Gongora usurped the 
 place of real genius. The intimate friendship he had 
 contracted in his youth with the younger Argensola, had 
 no doubt a favourable influence on the early develope- 
 ment of his talent. In the preface to his poems, which 
 is in verse, he explains the principles of his taste with 
 so much accuracy, modesty and elegance, that the 
 reader cannot fail to be prepossessed in his favour, 
 before entering on an attentive perusal of his works.f 
 
 * I have seen only the second edition of the Obras in verso de 
 D. Francisco de Borja, Principe de Esquillache, Amberes, 1654, 
 C92 pages, quarto. Some of his poems are contained in the Parnaso 
 Espanol. 
 
 f He thus addresses his poems: 
 
 A manos de muchos vais, 
 Versos mios, sin defensa,
 
 490 HISTORY OF 
 
 He was particularly averse to all kinds of affectation 
 and extravagance.* Most of his sonnets bear traces of 
 mature reflection.! His long tale of Jacob and Rachel, 
 (Cantos de Jacob y Raquel), in octaves, has indeed no 
 
 Y sujetos a la ofensa 
 
 De quien menos la esperais. 
 
 Y si en tal peligro estais, 
 
 Injustamente me animan 
 
 Los que piden que os impriman; 
 
 Pues quando luzir pretenden. 
 
 Si oscuros son, no se enticnden, 
 
 Ysi claros, no se estiman. 
 
 El que sabe, estimara, 
 
 Si algun estudio teneis : 
 
 A mas gloria no aspireis; 
 
 Ni mas el tiempo os dara. 
 
 Quien defenderos podrd, 
 
 Sera quando mas, alguno; 
 
 Y si es Platon, bffsta el uno. 
 
 Que en las frases y en los modos 
 
 Querer contentar a todos, 
 
 Es no agradar a ninguno. 
 
 * He characterizes his own style as follows : 
 Sigo un medio en fa Jornada, 
 Y de mis versos despido, 
 O palabras de ruido, 
 O llaneza demasiada ; 
 Y oscuridad afectada. 
 Es camino de atajar 
 No saberse declarar ; 
 Ya quien se deve admitir, 
 Estudie para escrivir, 
 No escrive para estudiar. 
 
 f For example, the following, which may be styled the Dis- 
 enchantment, (Descngano.J
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 491 
 
 other merit than that of elegant diction.* His lyric 
 romances, however, of which he wrote upwards of two 
 hundred and fifty, present at once the richest and most 
 
 Dichosa soledad, mudo silencio, 
 
 Secretes passes de dormidas fuentes, 
 
 Que por el verde prado sus corrientes, 
 
 Jamas, si van 6 vienen diferencio : 
 Vuestra quietud estimo, y reverencio 
 
 Con ojos, y deseos diferentes; 
 
 Pues ya, ni el ciego aplauso de las gentes 
 
 Con ambiciosa pluma diligencio. 
 Desde la luz, que viste la manana, 
 
 Los passos cuento al trabajado clia, 
 
 Hasta que pisa el Sol la espuma cana. 
 De quanto fue mi engaiio, y compania, 
 
 De quanto ame, con ignorancia vana, 
 
 En vuestra soledad perdi la mia. 
 
 * Even the commencement of this poem, except in so far as 
 regards the diction, encourages no favourable expectation : 
 Canto a Jacob, y de su Esposa canto 
 
 La peregrina angelica hermosura : 
 
 Siete anos de fineza, amor y llanto, 
 
 Sin premio, sin verdad, y sin ventura : 
 
 El enganoso Suegro, que entretanto 
 
 Con fingida esperanza le assegura, 
 
 Y al burlado pastor, que le servia, 
 
 Promesas de Raquel cumple con Lia. 
 Tu, Musa celestial, que en las estrellas 
 
 Segura pones invisibles plantas, 
 
 Y en dulce paz de sus legiones bellas, 
 
 Sobre las altas fuentes te lebautas : 
 
 Si es tuyo el mando, si obedecen ellas 
 
 De essas puras esquadras sacrosantas, 
 
 Presto descienda de su rayo ardiente 
 
 Fuego, que el pecho y su tenior aliente.
 
 492 HISTORY OF 
 
 beautiful gleanings in that species of poetic com- 
 position.* 
 
 OTHER POETS OF THIS PERIOD THE SYLVAS, OR 
 
 POETIC FORESTS. 
 
 To enter into a detailed description of the works of 
 some other Spanish poets, with whom the old national 
 poetry and the Italian style equally perished, would be 
 the more unnecessary here, as these poets, though not 
 without genius, wanted proper cultivation, and merely 
 
 * Part of one of these poems may be transcribed here : 
 
 Llamavan los pajarillos 
 Con dulces voces al Sol, 
 Que por aver quien le llama, 
 Mai dormido record6. 
 
 Escuchava entre las aves 
 De un arroyuelo la voz, 
 Que agradecido a su lumbre, 
 La bien venida le dio. 
 
 Entre las ramas de un olmo 
 Le acompana un ruiseuor, 
 Enamorado testigo 
 De quantas vezes salio, 
 
 Yo sola triste al son 
 De todos lloro soledad, y amor. 
 
 En el valle de mi aldea 
 Zelosa aguardando estoy, 
 Que saiga un Sol a mis ojos, 
 Que en otros brakes dormio. 
 
 Montes dezidle, que siento 
 De los males el mayor, 
 Si corno al padra del dia 
 Le veis primero que yo; &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 493 
 
 followed in the general stream. Besides, there is no want 
 of literary notices which furnish abundant information 
 respecting Luis de Ulloa, Francisco de Rioja, Gravina, 
 Manuel de Mela, Juan de Tarsis, Count of Villamediana, 
 and others.* It is, however, worthy of remark, that at 
 this period, as in the preceding ages, Spanish noblemen 
 and men of rank were particularly distinguished among 
 the candidates for poetic fame. The Poetic Forests, 
 (Sylvas), as they were styled, according to Gongora's 
 nomenclature, but which were afterwards designated by 
 the common Spanish word Selvas, doubtless contributed 
 in no slight degree to hasten the decline of genuine poetry 
 in Spain. In these Forests rhymed prose could flow on 
 without obstruction, and every conceit was in its proper 
 place; for no fixed metre, and no unity of ideas or events 
 restrained the poet or versifier. The works of Count 
 Rebolledo, which are deserving of a particular notice, 
 will afford a sufficient idea of the direction thus given 
 to the lyric, didactic, narrative, and bucolic poetry of 
 Spain, in a general combination of all these styles. 
 
 REBOLLEDO. 
 
 
 
 Bernardino, Count of Rebolledo, was one of the 
 heroes of the latter period of the thirty years war in 
 Germany. After having distinguished himself in the 
 military service both of Spain and Austria, he resided 
 for a considerable time in the quality of Spanish 
 ambassador at Copenhagen, where he watched over 
 the interests of his sovereign with reference to the 
 
 * It is only necessary to refer to Velasquez and Dieze.
 
 494 HISTORY OF 
 
 designs of the king of Sweden. His taste for military 
 and political affairs did not preclude the exercise of his 
 talent for poetry. But it was not until his mission to 
 Copenhagen, when he had attained the age of maturity, 
 that he found leisure to prosecute his poetic studies with 
 assiduity. Thus, for the first time, and perhaps for the 
 last, was Spanish poetry in the middle of the seventeenth 
 century, transplanted to Scandanavia. Count Rebolledo 
 was much pleased with his residence in Copenhagen; 
 and he rendered signal service to his Danish majesty, 
 when Charles Gustavus, King of Sweden, marched 
 across the frozen Belt, and bombarded the Danish 
 capital. Though a zealous catholic, he felt for the 
 royal house of Denmark a kind of personal devotion, 
 which he seized every opportunity of manifesting, both 
 in verse and prose. He took particular interest in the 
 study of the history and geography of Denmark, with 
 the view of describing them in Spanish verse. Having 
 returned to his native country, where he was appointed 
 minister of war, he died in 1676, in the eightieth year 
 of his age. His poems were, during his life, collected 
 and published under various titles.* One of these collec- 
 tions, entitled Ocios, (Leisure Hours), proves that Count 
 Rebolledo, though he only travelled in a long beaten 
 
 * It is not now necessary to refer to the old and desultory 
 collections of the works of Count Rebolledo. They may be found 
 collected altogether under their respective titles in the edition of the 
 Obras Poeticas de Conde Bernardino de Rebolledo, Madrid, 1778, 
 in 4 vols. octavo. In this collection the interesting letter in prose, 
 (Part I. in the Ocios p. 261), in which Rebolledo gives a detailed 
 account of his residence in Copenhagen, is deserving of particular 
 attention.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 495 
 
 tract, and even in that tract did not shine above his 
 contemporaries, possessed, nevertheless, a degree of 
 poetic cultivation, which was probably unparalleled in 
 Copenhagen in the age in which he lived. He was 
 particularly successful as a writer of elegant madri- 
 gals;* and he is the author of a play, entitled, Amor 
 
 * The three following afford fair specimens of his talent in 
 this species of composition : 
 
 I. 
 
 Dichoso quien te mira 
 y mas dichoso quien por ti suspira, 
 y en extreme dichoso, 
 quien un suspiro te debio amoroso. 
 
 11. 
 
 Lisi, yo te vi en sueuos tan piadosa, 
 como despierta el alma le desea, 
 pero menos hermosa, 
 Quien habra que tal crea ? 
 dos imposibles me fingio la idea, 
 y con ser su ilusion tan engaliosa 
 la temo misteriosa, 
 y que inmortal en mi el tormento sea, 
 si no has de ser piadosa hasta ser fea. 
 
 III. 
 
 Lisis, este diamante 
 
 de mi firmeza simbolo brillante 
 
 en que quiso incluir naturaleza 
 
 un rayo de la luz de tu belleza, 
 
 bien constante, y helado, 
 
 a nuestros corazones retratado, 
 
 mas puede la experiencia persuadirme, 
 
 que es el tuyo mas duro, el mio mas firme.
 
 496 HISTORY OF 
 
 Despreciando Riesgos* (Love Dreads no Danger), 
 which possesses considerable interest. But Rebolledo's 
 name has been rendered still more remarkable in the 
 history of Spanish literature by his dull F6rests, for which 
 he himself claimed the title of poetic, though they ex- 
 hibit only the last traces of Spanish poetry. Other 
 writers had already done their utmost to give importance 
 to the rhymed prose of these Forests. But Rebolledo so 
 completely mistook the essence of poetry, that he really 
 conceived he was executing works of high poetic merit, 
 when he put into verse a compendium of the History 
 and Geography of Denmark, entitled, Selvas Danicas, 
 and a treatise on the Art of War and State Policy, 
 entitled, Selva Militar y Politico,. Whoever attempts 
 to travel through Rebolledo's Danish Forests, will soon 
 find, especially if he have any recollection of genuine 
 Spanish poetry, that he has undertaken a very dis- 
 agreeable task. In the first half of the work, not a 
 single poetic or even ingenious trait enlivens the dry 
 enumeration of facts. What the author intended for a 
 narrative poem, is found to be merely an account of 
 the History of Denmark, related in the lowest style of 
 common place prose; and the multitude of northern 
 names, which partly retain their original spelling, and 
 are partly hispanized, have a peculiarly grotesque 
 effect.t The geography of Denmark, which constitutes 
 
 * See vol. 2. of the Obras. 
 f For example: 
 
 Los Estados, de aquel vinculo libres, 
 
 eligieron Concordes a Christiano, 
 
 liijo de Teodorico
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 497 
 
 the second part of the work, presents a few poetic pas- 
 sages.* But the Military and Political Forest, which 
 
 de Oldemburg y Delinenhorste Conde 
 
 (progenio del famoso Witekindo, 
 
 sucesor de los Reyes de Saxonia, 
 
 con titulo de Duque) 
 
 caso con Dorotea, 
 
 viuda de Christoval, 
 
 y coronose luego en Copenhaguen. 
 
 En tanto los Suecos eligieron 
 
 a Carlos, y tuvieron 
 
 los dos dudosa guerra; 
 
 pero siendo vencido y desterrado, 
 
 y Christiano en Suecia coronado, 
 
 llevo a Dania el lesoro de aquel Reyno: 
 
 a que afiadiu la herencia 
 
 de Sleswic y de Holsacia, 
 
 por la muerte de Adolfo, 
 
 su director y tio. Selvas Danicas 1. cap. ii. 
 
 * The commencement, for instance: 
 
 La selva mas pomposa, 
 que a su deidad consagra Dinamarca, 
 tiene por centro un christalino lago, 
 que de un ameno isleo, 
 que visten flores y coronan plantas, 
 es fragrante y lucida competencia, 
 es hundosa tambien circumferencia : 
 y 61 a las bellas Ninfas, 
 de la deidad al culto dedicadas, 
 apacible teatro, 
 donde lazos y redes 
 suelen tender en las estivas calmas, 
 a los peces, las fieras y las almas. 
 Aqui yo fatigado 
 de un infinito numero de penas, 
 de procelosas iras agitado, 
 VOL. I. 2t K
 
 498 HISTORY OF 
 
 is intended for a didactic poem, is rhymed prose from 
 beginning to end. It is difficult to say whether the 
 principles of tactics,* or the instructions in the art of 
 government,! appear most ridiculous in the versified 
 
 del destine arrastrando las cadenas, 
 
 cierto de sus injurias, 
 
 y del progreso de mi vida incierto, 
 
 no esperado tome traquilo puerto ; 
 
 y entre sus verdes y floridas grefias 
 
 de la deidad reverencie las senas. 
 * For example : 
 
 Hasta el cordon vestido de ladrillo 
 
 de tierra solo el parapeto aprueba, 
 
 a quantos en su fabrica molestan 
 
 pagan con lo que duran lo que cuestan : 
 
 la linea de defensa 
 
 al tiro de mosquete no aventage, 
 
 ni excedau de uoventa, 
 
 ni tengan inenos de sesenta grades 
 
 los dngulos franqueados ; 
 
 capaces los traveses, 
 
 y las golas no estrechas, 
 
 ehtre si guarden proporciones tales, 
 
 que por perfecionar algunas cosas 
 
 no queden las demas defectuosas. 
 
 Selva militar y polit. Distincion, 
 
 (that is to say, Section,) vi. 2. 
 t For example : 
 
 La antigiiedad llamo advertidamiente 
 
 los consejeros ojos, 
 
 son del cuerpo politico y huniano 
 
 adalides forzosos, 
 
 que ban de haber visto mucho, 
 
 verlo de lejos y de cerca todo, 
 
 y recibir especies diferentes,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 499 
 
 garb in which Rebolledo has clothed them. The worthy 
 author might with more propriety have applied the 
 title of poems to his Selvas Sagradas, (Sacred Forests), 
 which are translations of the psalms in the loose forms 
 of tl^e Forests. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE SPANISH 
 
 DRAMA. 
 
 The feeling of regret with which the decay of 
 Spanish poetry in the age of Rebolledo is beheld, 
 yields to the agreeable surprize which arises on taking 
 a retrospective view of the Spanish drama, the history 
 of which must now be continued to the close of the 
 present period. The history of the Spanish drama 
 should properly be studied as a whole; but that com- 
 bined mode of viewing the subject was not compatible 
 with a synchronous account of all the remarkable pro- 
 ductions of the polite literature of Spain. Having, 
 however, in connexion with Lope de Vega, spoken of 
 Virues, Montalvan, and others, it will, at least, be con- 
 venient not to separate the series of dramatic poets, 
 who emulated or imitated Calderon. 
 
 y por los nervios opticos 
 
 comunicarlas al comun sentido, 
 
 representando fieles los obgetos, 
 
 sin ocultar virtudes ni defetos ; 
 
 el Reyno que no adtnite compania 
 
 anda a ciegas sin ellos, 
 
 la prudencia Real esta librada 
 
 ea saber escogellos, 
 
 y a cuidadoso examen obligada. 
 
 1. c. Distincion xxiii. . 2. 
 
 2 K 2
 
 500 HISTORY OF 
 
 CALDERON. 
 
 Again, in the history of Spanish poetry a writer 
 occurs, whose name deserves to be transmitted to the 
 latest posterity, and who flourished along with others 
 who are also worthy of honourable remembrance. 
 
 Pedro Calderon de la Barca, descended of a noble 
 family, was born in the year 1600. He is said to have 
 written his first dramatic work before he had completed 
 his fourteenth year. Having finished his collegial studies 
 at an early age, he, according to the custom of the times, 
 attached himself to some patrons whom he found among 
 the nobility at the court of Madrid. Not satisfied, how- 
 ever, with this means of introducing himself to the great 
 world, he became a soldier, and served in several cam- 
 paigns in Italy and the Netherlands. Meanwhile the fame 
 of his talents as a dramatic poet was widely spread; and 
 it was foretold that he would equal, if not exceed, Lope 
 de Vega. King Philip IV. who afforded more liberal 
 encouragement to the drama than any of his pre- 
 decessors, and who was himself the author of several 
 plays, was gratified by the idea that he had in Calderon 
 a man capable of giving splendour to the court theatre. 
 He called him to Madrid in the year 1636, and shortly 
 after invested him with the order of St. lago. From 
 this period Calderon became permanently fixed at court, 
 and his young sovereign, whose chief attention was 
 devoted to amusements and festivities, kept him in 
 constant activity. No expence was spared in bestowing
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 501 
 
 pomp and brilliancy on the pieces which Calderon pro- 
 duced for the entertainment of the court; but on the 
 other hand, it was expected of him to accommodate his 
 genius to the conditions required by a courtly audience. 
 Nevertheless his taste was consulted in the arrangement 
 of all public festivities, and the triumphal arch through 
 which the Queen Maria of Austria made her public 
 entrance into Spain, was erected in conformity with his 
 suggestions. 
 
 In his fifty-second year Calderon took holy orders, 
 but did not on that account totally relinquish his 
 previous occupations. From that time, however, he 
 applied himself with more particular assiduity to the 
 composition of his Autos Sacramentales, which soon 
 superseded throughout the whole of Spain all the older 
 dramas of this class. Calderon lived to an advanced 
 age, admired by his countrymen, and amply rewarded 
 by ecclesiastical dignities, pensions and presents, from 
 his sovereign. In the estimation of the public, his 
 dramas surpassed those of every preceding and con- 
 temporary writer. But in his old age, he himself 
 attached but little importance to his temporal pro- 
 ductions. The Duke of Veragua addressed to him a 
 flattering letter, requesting to be furnished with a 
 complete list of his dramas, because the booksellers 
 were in the habit of selling the works of other writers 
 under his name. In reply, Calderon, who was then in 
 his eightieth year, supplied the duke only with the list 
 of his Autos Sacramentales. He added in a letter, that 
 with regard to his temporal dramas, he felt offended, 
 that in addition to his own faulty works, those of
 
 502 HISTORY OF 
 
 other authors should be circulated in his name; and 
 besides that, his writings were so altered that he himself 
 could not recognize even their titles. He also expressed 
 his determination to follow the example of the book- 
 sellers, and to pay as little regard to his plays as they 
 did; but he observed, that on religious grounds he at- 
 tached more importance to his Autos.* 
 
 Calderon died in 1687, in the eighty-seventh year 
 of his age. Several collections of his dramas appeared 
 during his life, and among the rest one published by his 
 brother, Joseph Calderon, in 1640, but none were edited 
 by the author himself. In the great edition of the col- 
 lected comedies of Calderon, which his friend Juan de 
 Vera Tassis y Villaroel began to superintend in 1685, 
 the poet, who was then eighty-five years of age, can 
 scarcely be expected to have indirectly participated even 
 so far as was necessary to certify the authenticity of the 
 component parts. It is therefore questionable whether 
 the hundred and twenty-seven plays, published in Cal- 
 deron's name, be all genuine. This doubt may indeed 
 be hazarded with the greater probability, as Juan de 
 Vera Tassis, who undertook to publish the complete 
 collection of Calderon's dramas, estimates the number 
 of his Autos at ninety-five; while Calderon himself, 
 in his conscientious list furnished to the Duke of 
 Veragua, states their number to be only sixty-eight, in- 
 cluding those not printed. It can scarcely be believed 
 
 * The Duke of Veragua's letter, together with Calderon's 
 answer, and the catalogue to which the correspondence bears re- 
 ference, are printed in La Huerta's Tealro Hespanol, vol. iii. 
 part ii.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 503 
 
 that Calderon wrote twenty-seven Autos after he had 
 attained the age of eighty.* 
 
 On a comparison of the dramas of Calderon and 
 Lope de Vega, it requires no extraordinary critical 
 penetration to discover the essential services which the 
 former rendered to the dramatic literature of Spain. 
 Which of these writers possessed the greater share of 
 inventive talent, is a question which it would be diffi- 
 cult to determine, for Lope de Vega was not the in- 
 ventor of that species of dramatic composition which 
 was common to both, and Calderon was not behind 
 him in the invention of new combinations of intrigue, 
 ingenious complexities of plot, and interesting situa- 
 tions. In general the invention of Lope may be the 
 bolder, but it is also the more rude of the two; and with 
 regard to whatever may be called refinement, whether 
 in conception or execution, but more particularly in 
 style, Calderon formed for himself an entirely new 
 sphere. The delicate art with which he gave the last 
 polish to the Spanish drama, without changing its 
 nature, carries with it an ennobling dignity in some 
 of his historical, or, as they are styled, heroic comedies. 
 In his comedies of intrigue this delicacy is conspicuous 
 in the execution of the general forms of character, 
 
 * Satisfactory accounts of the various collections and editions 
 of the dramas, and other less important works of Calderon, are 
 contained in Dieze's Remarks on Velasquez, p. 242 and p. 341. 
 The dramas of Calderon, which La Huerta has published in his 
 Teatro Hespanol, afford but a partial idea of the poet's talent; for 
 those he has selected are all Comedias de Capa y Espada, two only 
 excepted ; and of these two, one, which is styled a Comedia heroyca, 
 belongs to the mythological class.
 
 504 HISTORY OF 
 
 which had now become naturalized on the Spanish 
 stage, and which usurped the place of individuality. 
 Calderon's comedies are necessarily as little pieces of 
 character as those of Lope de Vega, for with the 
 delineation of particular character they would have 
 ceased to be pure dramas of intrigue. But they abound 
 in characteristic traits, in those traits which develope, 
 as it were, out of the souls of the dramatic personages, 
 the natural course of the gay intrigue in all its various 
 modifications. As an acute observer of the female 
 mind and manners Calderon was infinitely superior, to 
 Lope de Vega. This delicacy of observation accords 
 admirably with the almost incredible subtlety of his 
 combinations of intrigue; and the elegance of his lan- 
 guage and versification complete the ingenious harmony 
 of these apparently irregular dramas, which though 
 not sufficiently perfect to be regarded as models, are 
 nevertheless true to the rules which the author pre- 
 scribed to himself. The other merits which belong to 
 his dramas, such as the seductive gracefulness and fa- 
 cility of the dialogue, Calderon shares in common with 
 all the good dramatic writers of Spain. The faults 
 with which he may be reproached, and which in some 
 measure belong to the species of drama he adopted, 
 are more numerous in some of his pieces than in others. 
 It must also be observed, that in some of his heroic 
 comedies, he sinks so completely beneath his own 
 standard that it is difficult to recognize him. 
 
 In Calderon's Comedias de Capa y Espada,* the 
 plots are usually of so complicated a nature, that no 
 
 * See the definition of the various classes of the Spanish 
 comedy, p. 364, 5, (>, 7.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 505 
 
 reader except a Spaniard, habituated to this sort of 
 mental exercise,* can on a first perusal seize and follow 
 the various threads of the intrigue, by the artful en- 
 tanglement of which the principal characters of the 
 piece are repeatedly plunged from one unexpected 
 embarrassment into another. Calderon particularly 
 excelled in the accumulation of surprises, in connecting 
 one difficult situation with another, and in maintaining 
 undiminished the strongly excited interest to the close 
 of the piece. But in order to render this task the 
 easier, he paid still less attention than Lope de Vega 
 to probability in the succession of the scenes; and 
 his characters make their entries and their exits just 
 as it happens to suit the convenience of the poet. The 
 Spanish public was, however, disposed to pardon every 
 improbability of this kind, which gave rise to some 
 new situation full of dramatic truth. Calderon appears 
 to have estimated the merits of his dramas of intrigue, 
 in proportion to the effect produced by the situations; 
 and in this respect he was the more an inventor in 
 proportion as he introduced the less variety into his 
 characters. In all Calderon's comedies of intrigue, 
 the dramatis personae are the same individuals under 
 various names. Two or three ladies of fashion, two or 
 three lovers, an old man, a few waiting maids, a few 
 
 * According to the testimony of travellers, even the most 
 unlettered Spaniard is so accustomed to follow without effort a 
 complicated dramatic plot, that after witnessing the representation 
 of a piece, he will describe all the minute details of the romantic 
 story, while a well informed foreigner, familiar with the Spanish 
 language, can with difficulty comprehend a few of the scenes.
 
 506 HISTOEY OF 
 
 male servants, and among these last, one who acts as 
 the gracioso, or buffoon; such are the standing cha- 
 racters with which Calderon usually contented himself 
 in his sphere of dramatic composition. The motives 
 on which the plot turns are a licentious gallantry, in 
 which no moral interest is permitted to mix, and a 
 point of honour which gives rise to incessant contests. 
 On the slightest cause of offence swords are drawn, and 
 when passion rages, even daggers are employed. Ro- 
 mantic accessaries are found in wounds, and murders, 
 though the latter, it is true, are not quite so frequent as 
 the former. Among the other passions the fury of 
 jealousy is conspicuous; and in order to bring this pas- 
 sion into play, the author avails himself of disguises, 
 concealments, mistakes of persons, houses or letters, and 
 occasionally some particular local circumstance, such 
 for instance, as the secret door, which appears to be a 
 cupboard, in the lively drama of La Dama Duende, 
 (The Fairy Lady.) There is also no want of night 
 scenes in Calderon's pieces of intrigue. But however 
 astonishing may be the variety of the situations which 
 he has created out of this uniformity of plan, yet they 
 cannot long satisfy a cultivated taste which requires a 
 nobler kind of variety. 
 
 How far Calderon in his Comedias de Capa y 
 Espada has correctly represented the fashionable world 
 of Madrid, as it existed in the reigns of Philip III. and 
 Philip IV. is a question which cannot now be satisfac- 
 torily determined. Modern Spanish writers have con- 
 ceived they were pronouncing a judicious critical censure, 
 when they cast on Calderon's dramas the reproach of
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 507 
 
 insulting the whole Spanish nation, by representing it 
 as composed almost solely of romantic coxcombs and 
 intriguing coquettes. These attacks on Calderon, are 
 the consequence of inconsiderate zeal for the principles 
 of the French drama, by which the dramatic literature 
 of Spain must never be judged.* It is scarcely neces- 
 sary to observe, that a representation of one class of 
 men, who were particularly conspicuous in Madrid, 
 could not be intended as a representation of the whole 
 Spanish nation. But attempts have been made to 
 depreciate, by still more plausible sophisms, the merits 
 of Calderon's sketches of manners. It has been re- 
 marked, that he has totally violated nature, by putting 
 into the mouths of valets and waiting women poetic 
 language, which would be extraordinary even if deli- 
 vered by their masters and mistresses. The Spanish 
 servants of the present day are, doubtless, less likely 
 than those of the seventeenth century, to converse in 
 the poetical style in which the servants in Calderon's 
 plays, on particular occasions, express themselves. But 
 the spirit of these particular occasions must not be 
 misunderstood. The servants in Calderon's comedies 
 always imitate the language of their masters. In most 
 cases they express themselves like the latter, in the 
 natural language of real life, and often divested of that 
 colouring of the ideas, without which a dramatic work 
 ceases to be a poem. But whenever romantic gallantry 
 
 * A very superficial criticism on Calderon's dramatic works, 
 written by Bias Nasarre, who was prepossessed in favour of French 
 literature, is contained in the History of Spanish Poetry, by Velas- 
 quez. See Dieze's edition, p. 341.
 
 508 HISTORY OF 
 
 speaks in the language of tenderness, admiration, or 
 flattery, then, according to Spanish custom, every idea 
 becomes a metaphor; and Calderon, who was a thorough 
 Spaniard, seized these opportunities to give the reins 
 to his fancy, and to suffer it to take a bold lyric flight 
 beyond the boundaries of nature. On such occasions the 
 most extravagant metaphoric language, in the style of 
 the Italian Marinists, did not appear unnatural to a Spa- 
 nish audience ; and even Calderon himself had for that 
 style a particular fondness, to the gratification of which 
 he sacrificed a chaster taste. It was his ambition to be- 
 come a more refined Lope de Vega, or a Spanish Marino. 
 Thus in his play, entitled, Bien vengas Mai., si vengas 
 Solo, (Misfortune conies Well, if it comes Alone), a wait- 
 ing maid, addressing her young mistress who has risen 
 in a gay humour, says " Aurora would not have done 
 wrong had she slumbered that morning in her snowy 
 chrystal, for that the light of her mistress's charms 
 would suffice to draw aside the curtains from the couch 
 of Sol." She adds that, using a Spanish idea, " it might 
 then indeed be said that the sun had risen in her lady's 
 eyes,"* &c. Valets, on the like occasion, speak in the 
 
 * Ines. Qu6 ayrosa te has levantado ? 
 Esta vez sola, senora, 
 no hiciera falta la aurora, 
 quando en su cristal nevado 
 dormida hubiera quedado ; 
 pues tu luz correr pudiera 
 la cortina lisonjera 
 al sol, siendo sumiller 
 de uno y otro rosicleV, 
 deydad de una y otra esfera.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 509 
 
 same style; and when lovers address compliments to 
 their mistresses, and these reply in the same strain, the 
 play of far-fetched metaphors is aggravated by anti- 
 theses to a degree which is intolerable to any but a 
 Spanish formed taste.* But it must not be forgotten 
 
 Bien el concepto Hespanol 
 dixera, vieudote ahora. . . . 
 D. Ana. Que ? 
 
 Ines. Que en tus ojos, senora, 
 
 madrugaba el claro sol : 
 dixera, al ver tu arreb61 
 quien a tu rigor sa ofrece, 
 quien sus desdenas padece, 
 Don Luis. . . . 
 
 Bien vengas Mai si vengas Solo. Jorn. i. 
 * For example, in a tender conversation which occurs in the 
 comedy, entitled, " A House with two Doors is ill to Watch." 
 Lisardo. Dificilmente pudiera 
 
 conseguir, seuora, el Sol, 
 
 que la flor de girasol 
 
 su resplandor seguiera. 
 
 Dificilmente quisiera 
 
 el Norte, fixa luz clara, 
 
 que el Iman no le mirara; 
 
 y el Iman deficilmente 
 
 intentara, que obediente 
 
 el acero le dexara. 
 
 Si Sol es vuestro explendor, 
 
 girasol la dicha mia: 
 
 si Norte vuestra porfia, 
 
 piedra Iman es mi dolor : 
 
 si es Iman vuestro rigor, 
 
 acero mi ardor severe ; 
 
 pues como quedarme espero; 
 
 quando veo, que se van,
 
 510 HISTORY OF 
 
 that this language of gallantry was in Calderon's time 
 spoken by the fashionable world, and that it was a 
 vernacular property of the ancient national poetry. 
 
 Faults of a less pardonable nature in Calderon's 
 dramas, are the stale jests and meaningless plays on 
 words uttered by servants,* and the burlesque situations 
 to which the disgusting accidents, occasioned by certain 
 nocturnal showers from windows give rise. But ac- 
 cording to the testimony of travellers, such accidents 
 are very common at night in the streets of Madrid and 
 Lisbon; and it must be recollected that in Calderon's 
 time the jests of servants were considered as indispen- 
 sable in a Spanish drama of intrigue, as the presence 
 of the gracioso himself, who is, for the most part, one 
 of the valets.f 
 
 mi Sol, mi Norte, y mi Iman, 
 siendo flor, piedra y acero ? 
 
 Casa con dos Puertas, mala 
 es de Guardar. Jorn. i. 
 
 The lady replies to this compliment in a similar strain. 
 * In the Casa con dos Puertas, Sfc. the valet thus jokes with 
 the lady's maid, who is on the stage with her mistress, but both 
 veiled: 
 
 Calabazas. Mui malditisimas caras 
 debeis de tener las dos. 
 Silvia. Mucho mejores, que vos. 
 
 Calabaz. Y esta bien encarecido ; 
 
 porque yo soy un Cupido. 
 Silvia. Cupido somos yo y tu. 
 
 Calabaz. Como ? 
 
 Silvia. Yo el pido, y tu el CM. 
 
 Calabaz. No me esta bien el partido. 
 
 f An incident of this occurs in the first scene of the piece, en- 
 titled, Dar Tiempo al Tifmpo, (Give Time to Time).
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 511 
 
 But the violations of cultivated taste which occur in 
 Calderon's comedies of intrigue, are so amply redeemed, 
 that the critic cannot long hesitate to decide whether 
 faults or beauties are most abundant. Some of these 
 dramas are particularly remarkable for those descriptive 
 narratives, by the introduction of which nearly all the 
 Spanish comedies of the same class bring to recollec- 
 tion their original relationship with novels.* Though 
 
 Voz. Aguava! 
 
 Chacon. Mientas, picaiia; 
 
 que esto no es agua. 
 D. Juan. Que ha sido? 
 
 Chacon, Que ha de ser, pese oi mi alma ; 
 
 cosas de Madrid precisas, 
 
 que antes fueron necessarias. 
 
 Vive Christo...... 
 
 D. Juan. No des voces. 
 
 Chacon. Como no ! Puerca, berganta, 
 
 si eres hombre, sal aqui. 
 D. Juan. No el barrio alborotes : calla. 
 Chacon. Calle uu limpio. 
 
 Dar Tiempo al Tiempo. Jorn. i. 
 
 * These stories are sometimes related in the most elegant 
 octaves ; for example, in the play, entitled, Con quien Vengo, Vengo, 
 (I Come with whom I Come), there is one which commences in the 
 following way : 
 
 Yo vi en Milan una mujer tan bella. 
 
 No digo bien mujer. Yo vl una Diosa, 
 
 en los cielos de Abril fragante estrella, 
 
 en los campos del sol luciente rosa 
 
 tan entendida, tan sagaz, que en ella, 
 
 como demas estaba, el ser hermosa, 
 
 que parece formo naturaleza 
 
 entre la discrecion tanta belleza.
 
 512 HISTORY OF 
 
 individual character is wanting, yet sometimes in the 
 course of the intrigue, beautiful characteristic traits 
 unexpectedly occur.* The delicacy of the point of 
 honour, which in all these dramas supplies the place of 
 morality, is frequently exhibited by Calderon in its 
 
 Tal fue, que habiendo, a mi desvelo dado 
 mas de alguna ocasion, y habiendo sido 
 agradecido iman de mi cuidado 
 y no ingrata prision de mi sentido : 
 habiendo pues a mi temor librado 
 necios favores, que borro el olbido, 
 con nueva voluntad, con nuevo empeno, 
 mudable me dexo por otro dueno. 
 
 Con quien Vengo, Vengo. Jurn. ii. 
 
 * For example, in the play, entitled, Bien vengas Mai, si 
 vengas Solo, (Misfortune comes Well, if it comes Alone), a lady 
 resolutely refuses to betray a secret, which her lover endeavours to 
 extort from her. 
 
 D.Diego. Mujereres: poco importa, 
 
 que descubras un secreto. 
 
 No aspires, Dona Ana, a ser 
 
 el prodigio de estos tiempos. 
 D. Ana. Quien fue prodigio de amor, 
 
 sabra, serlo del silencio. 
 D. Diego. No quiere, la que a su amante 
 
 no descubre todo el pecho. 
 D. Ana, No es noble, quien le descubre, 
 
 quando va una vida en ello. 
 D. Diego. En fin no lo has de decir? 
 D. Ana. No. 
 
 D. Diego. Pues en nada te creo. 
 D. Ana, Valgate Dios pov retrato, 
 
 en que 1 confusion me has puesto. 
 
 Bien vengas Mai, si vengas Solo. Jorn. i.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 513 
 
 most brilliant point of view;* and he sometimes with 
 much formality oversteps the Spanish rule, by which 
 moralizing was excluded from this species of drama.f 
 The application which may be made of the plot 
 
 * In Los Etnpenos de un Acaso, (the Consequences of an 
 Accident), a lover resolves, for his mistress's sake, to assist his 
 rival in a case of difficulty : 
 
 Qu noble, honrado y valiente, 
 
 viendo humilue a su enemigo, 
 
 no le ampara y favorece? 
 
 No solo pues la licencia 
 
 que me pide, le concede 
 
 mi valor ; mas la palabra, 
 
 de ayudarle, y de valeric, 
 
 hasta que a su dama libre. 
 
 El caso, Don Diego, es este. 
 
 Mirad, como faltar puedo 
 
 a su amparo, quando tiene 
 
 privelegios de enemigo, 
 
 y de amigo en ml Don Felix? 
 
 Los Empenos de un Acaso. Jorn. iii. 
 
 f Thus, a father points out the levity of another lady, as an 
 example for his daughter to avoid: 
 Ya ves, hija, lo que pasa, 
 a quien da necios oidos 
 a pensamientos perdidos. 
 Mira fuera de su casa 
 una mujer, que ha venido 
 buscandonos por sagrado. 
 Mira un amante empeuado, 
 mira un hermano ofendido, 
 y mirala a ella en efecto 
 a riesgo, por un error, 
 de perder vida y honor. 
 
 Dar Tiempo al Tiempo. Jorn. i. 
 
 VOI. T. 2 L
 
 514 HISTORY OF 
 
 is frequently denoted by the title of the piece, and is still 
 more distinctly developed at the conclusion.* Calderon 
 deserves praise for having but seldom introduced sonnets 
 in his comedies of intrigue, though he has amply availed 
 himself of other freedoms, in order to maintain the pri- 
 vilege of poetry in pourtraying the scenes of common 
 life.f 
 
 Calderon's heroic comedies are much diversified in 
 their kind, and very unequal in their merits. Some are 
 distinguished from the dramas of intrigue only by the 
 rank of the characters. Of this kind is the well known 
 piece, entitled, ElSecreto a Voces, (thePublishedSecret), 
 imitations of which have appeared in the Italian, French, 
 and German languages. The Spaniards number it among 
 
 * The piece, entitled, Tambien hay dueJo en las Damas, (La- 
 dies also have their Troubles), terminates in the following manner : 
 
 Con cuyo raro suceso, 
 sac an do lamoraleja, 
 quede al mundo por exernplo, 
 que liubo una vez eu el mundo 
 mujer, amor y secreto, 
 porque hubo duelo en las damas. 
 Perdonad sus muchos yerros. 
 
 f For example, the double soliloquies, which run in concert, 
 and of which the following is a specimen: 
 D. Diego. Habra hombre mas infeliz ! 
 D. Pedro. Habra hombre mas desdichado ! 
 D. Diego. Que no haya una ingrata hallado ! 
 D. Pedro. Que no haya hallado a Beatriz ! 
 D. Diego. Sin duda que la siguio, 
 
 el que su vida guardaba. 
 D. Pedro. Sin duda en la calla estaba, 
 el que a su rexa 11am 6. 
 
 Dar Tiempo al Tiempo. Jorn. ii.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 515 
 
 their heroic comedies, merely because an Italian prince 
 and princess are introduced in it. Other plays by Cal- 
 deron, which, according to the Spanish nomenclature, are 
 ranked in the heroic class, are in fact romantic pastoral 
 dramas; as for example, the pleasing piece, entitled, Eco 
 y Narciso. Others again are romantic, mythological 
 festival pieces, accompanied by transformations and 
 melo-dramatic splendour; of this kind is El mayor 
 encanto Amor, (Love is the greatest Enchantment). 
 Finally, among Calderon's heroic comedies are in- 
 cluded his historical dramas, several of which may 
 properly be called tragedies. Some of these historical 
 dramas are among the best, while others are the most 
 trivial of Calderon's productions. All are melo-dramatic 
 spectacles, in which armies defile, battles are fought, and 
 sumptuous banquets are given. The scene is, by turns, 
 a palace, a vast landscape, a cavern, or a pleasure 
 garden, while drums and trumpets flourish, and cannon 
 thunder at every opportunity. 
 
 In all that regards scenic splendour in the com- 
 position of historical plays, even Lope de Vega must 
 yield to Calderon, for the dramas of the latter were 
 represented at the expence of the royal treasury. But 
 in the historical style of dramatic composition Calderon 
 only succeeded when he selected his materials from the 
 events of his own country. Where he has adapted 
 to the Spanish stage, subjects from the Greek and 
 Roman history, as in his Alexander the Great,* and in 
 
 * The Spanish title which Calderon has given to this comedy, 
 is, Darlo todo, y no dar Nada, (To give all, and give Nothing). 
 
 2 L 2
 
 516 HISTORY OF 
 
 his Coriolanus,* the absurd change of costume is almost 
 forgotten amidst the extravagant confusion of the events, 
 by which romantic situations are brought about one after 
 another, but which, on the whole, produce only a mean 
 effect. The great poet seems occasionally to have been 
 forsaken by his good genius, particularly when he makes 
 a display of his erudition in the very same scenes in 
 which he completely perverts ancient history. But Cal- 
 deron's historical dramas of this class are very inferior 
 to those of which the story was invented by himself, 
 and the scene arbitrarily laid in ancient Greece. 
 Among the latter is a piece, entitled, Finezas contra 
 Finezas, (Generosity for Generosity), a beautiful poem, 
 full of tenderness and mythological piety. But this 
 drama, though, perhaps, single in its kind, must never- 
 theless yield to the Christian drama, of which the 
 history of Portugal furnishes the hero. The tragedy 
 of Don Fernando, entitled, El Principe Constante, 
 displays all the lustre of Calderon's genius. The unities 
 of time and place are lost sight of in the unity of the 
 heroic action, into which Calderon has infused the spirit 
 of the purest pathos, without departing from the Spanish 
 national style of heroic comedy. This tragedy might 
 not improperly be named the Portuguese Regulus. Don 
 Fernando, a Portuguese prince, lands at the head of an 
 army, accompanied by his brother Don Enrique, on 
 the coast of Barbary in Morocco. He is victorious in 
 his first battle, and he makes prisoner the African hero, 
 Muley, who relates to him his history. The prince, 
 
 * Called by Calderon, Las Armas de la Hermosura, (The Arms 
 of Beauty.)
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 517 
 
 moved by generosity, liberates his captive. No sooner 
 has Muley expressed his surprise and gratitude, than the 
 Moors return with a reinforcement, and the Portuguese 
 prince is himself made prisoner. At this point com- 
 mence the tragic scenes which are prepared by pathetic 
 situations of another kind. The king of Fez and 
 Morocco immediately offers liberty to his royal prisoner, 
 on condition of the surrender of the garrison of Ceuta 
 on the coast of Morocco, which is in possession of the 
 Portuguese. The prince declares that he would rather 
 die in the most degrading captivity, than consent to 
 obtain his freedom by delivering a Christian town into 
 the power of the infidels. The moorish king, however, 
 relies so confidently on the acquisition of Ceuta, that 
 he treats the prince with every mark of respect until 
 the return of the envoy from Portugal. The answer 
 of the Portuguese government proves to be, as the king 
 of Fez expected, a compliance with his proposal; but 
 the prince firmly refuses to be ransomed on the required 
 condition. He now receives the most rigorous treatment, 
 which he bears with pious heroism and without com- 
 plaint, until his bodily strength is exhausted and he 
 expires. The sufferings and fortitude of Fernando; 
 the conflict between gratitude and religious prejudice 
 in the mind of Muley, who exerts his utmost endeavours 
 to deliver the captive prince; and, on the other hand, 
 Muley's romantic passion for the king's daughter, who is 
 destined to be the bride of another; and the still more 
 romantic tenderness of the princess, form altogether a 
 picture so noble and so truly poetic, that it would be 
 unfair in this brief sketch of the piece, to notice the
 
 518 HISTORY OT 
 
 numerous errors which it unquestionably presents. The 
 action seems to terminate with the death of Fernando; 
 but a fresh army arrives from Portugal, and the ghost 
 of the prince, with a torch in his hand, appears at the 
 head of the troops and leads them on to victory. The 
 impression produced by this apparition gives the finishing 
 touch to the romantic pathos of the foregoing scenes.* 
 The beautiful flights of fancy which occur at the com- 
 mencement of the piece are worthy of particular 
 attention. There Calderon has painted his favourite 
 images in his comparison of waves with flowers.t On 
 
 * The effect cannot be conceived without the necessary con- 
 nection ; but the words spoken by the ghost of the prince, when 
 about to head the array, may be quoted here : 
 
 Alf: Pues a embestir Enrique, que no hay duda 
 que el cielo nos ayuda. F. Si os ayuda 
 
 Sale Don Fernando. 
 porqtie obligando al cielo, 
 que vio tu Fe, tu Religion, tu zelo, 
 oy tu causa defiende, 
 librarme a mi esclavitud pretende, 
 porque por raro exemplo 
 
 por tantos Templos, Dios me ofrece un Templo, 
 autorcha desafida del Oriente, 
 tu exercito arrogante 
 alumbrando he de ir siempre delante; 
 para que oy en trofeos, 
 iguales, gran Alfonso, en tu deseos, 
 llegues a Fez, no a coronarte agora 
 sino a librar mi Ocaso en el Aurora. Jornada iii. 
 f Comparisons of heaven with the earth, and of water with 
 the earth, through the idea of a flower, were dwelt on with a par- 
 ticular fondness by other Spanish poets of Calderon's age. The 
 following is a conversation between the Moorish Princess Phoenix,
 
 SPANISli LITERATURE. 519 
 
 another occasion of a similar kind a comparison of stars 
 with flowers, and of flowers with stars, is introduced 
 in two concerted sonnets.* The heroic character of 
 Don Fernando is decidedly evinced in his first speech 
 
 (Fenix was formerly a name for women in Spain), and her female 
 slaves in a garden on the sea shore : 
 
 Zar. Pues puedente divertir 
 tu tristeza estos jardines, 
 qual la primavera hermosa 
 labra en estatuas de rosa 
 sobre temples de jazmines, 
 hazle al mar, un barco sea 
 dorado carro del Sol. 
 Ros. Y quando tanto arrebol 
 errar por sus onclas vea, 
 con grande melancolia 
 el jardin al mar dira : 
 ya el Sol en su centro esta, 
 muy breve ha sido este dia. 
 Fen. Pues no me puedo alegrar, 
 formando sombras y lexos 
 la emulation que en reflexes 
 tienen la tierra, y el mar, 
 quando con grandezas sumas 
 compiten entre esplandores 
 las espumas a las (lores, 
 las flores a las espumas. 
 
 * With all their faults these two sonnets are so beautiful and so 
 perfectly in Calderon's style, that they may properly be included in 
 the collection of examples quoted here. Prince Fernando brings 
 flowers to the Princess Phcenix. After all sorts of handsome things 
 have been uttered, Fernando says : 
 
 Estas que fueron pompa, y alegria, 
 
 despertando al Albor de la maiiana, 
 a la tarde seran lastima vana, 
 dunniendo en bra$os de la noche fria.
 
 520 HISTORY OF 
 
 to his companions in arms; and his noble spirit is still 
 more distinctly developed when he restores Muley to 
 freedom.* But a more minute detail of the beauties 
 
 Este matiz, que al cielo desafia, 
 
 Iris listado de oro, nieve y grana, 
 
 sera escarmiento de la vida humana, 
 
 tanto se emprende en termino de uu dia. 
 A florecer las rosas madrugaron, 
 
 y para envejecerse florecieron, 
 
 cuna, y sepulcro en uu boton hallaron. 
 Tales los hombres sus fortunas vieron, 
 
 en un dia nacieron, y espiraron, 
 
 que passados los siglos horas fueron. 
 
 To this Phenix replies in a strain somewhat over poetic even 
 for a Moorish Princess : 
 Fen, Essos rasgos de luz, essas centellas, 
 
 que cobran con amagos superiores 
 
 alimentos del Sol en resplandores, 
 
 aquello viven que se duelen dellas. 
 FJores nocturnas son, aunque tan bellas, 
 
 e fun eras padecen sus ardores; 
 
 pues si un dia es el siglo de las flores, 
 
 una noche es la edad de las estrellas. 
 De essa pues Primavera fngitiva, 
 
 ya nuestro mal, ya nuestro bien se infiere, 
 
 registro es nuestro, 6 muera el Sol, 6 viva. 
 Que duracion avra qne el hombre espere, 
 
 6 que mudanc.a avra. que no reciba 
 
 de Astro, que cada noche nace, y muere ? 
 * Fer. Valiente Moro, y galan, 
 
 si adoras como refieres, 
 
 si idolatras como dizes, 
 
 si a in as como encareces, 
 
 si zelas como suspiras, 
 
 si como rezelas temes, 
 
 y si como sientes amas,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 521 
 
 of this tragedy would carry us beyond the limits of 
 this work. 
 
 Calderon's Autos Sacramentales may be noticed in 
 a few words. In this class of dramatic composition, 
 Calderon pursued the path which had been previously 
 trodden by Perez de Montalvan, but he left his model 
 far behind him. Some of his autos, of which that 
 entitled, La Devotion de la Cruz, (the Miracles of the 
 Cross, or literally the Devotion of the Cross), may be 
 cited as an example, are the grandest and most ingeni- 
 ous productions of the kind in the Spanish language. But 
 in these spiritual dramas, reason and moral feeling are 
 so perverted by extravagant and fantastic notions of 
 religious faith, that it is impossible to forbear congratu- 
 lating those nations whose better fate has excluded 
 them from amusements of this kind. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SPANISH DRAMA CONTINUED TO 
 THE CLOSE OF THE PERIOD OF THIS SECTION. 
 
 Never, perhaps, was any dramatic poet accompanied 
 in so long a career by such a number of rivals, friends, 
 
 dichosamente padeces, 
 no quiero por tu rescate 
 mas precio, de que le acetes. 
 Buelvete, y dile a tu damn, 
 que por su esclavo te ofrece 
 un Portugues Cavallero, 
 i si obligada pretendo 
 pagarme el precio por ti ; 
 yo de doy lo que me deves, 
 cobra la deuda en amor, 
 y logra tus interesses.
 
 522 HISTORY OF 
 
 and imitators, as Calderon. It was precisely the half 
 century during which he indefatigably laboured for the 
 Spanish theatre that gave birth to the greater part 
 of those dramas, the number of which is better known 
 than the merits. In consequence of the popularity 
 of Lope de Vega and Calderon, the passion for dramatic 
 composition became as epidemic in Spain as that of 
 sonnet writing had formerly been. The encouragement 
 which Philip IV. gave to the drama, doubtless contri- 
 buted not a little to excite this poetic emulation. But the 
 multitude of writers who entered into the competition 
 were ambitious of rivalling Lope de Vega and Calderon 
 in proofs of fertility of invention. The fecundity of 
 Perez de Montalvan, who, notwithstanding his life was 
 short, wrote nearly one hundred plays in the style of 
 Lope de Vega, was not allowed to remain a solitary 
 example. The impression produced by successive 
 comedias famosas on a public whose greatest mental 
 enjoyment was found in the theatre, was also felt by 
 those who were desirous of producing similar works. 
 Thus every piece which was applauded sowed the 
 seeds of new comedies. No author thought it neces- 
 sary to reform the principles on which Spanish comedy 
 was composed, or attempted to distinguish himself by 
 any particular originality. At the same time the spirit 
 which governed this emulation was equally remote from 
 an intentional imitation of the more celebrated dramatic 
 poets. He who was ambitious of adding one more to 
 the numberless dramas in the possession of the stage, 
 followed in the general stream under the influence of 
 impressions previously received. To wit and fancy free
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 523 
 
 scope was allowed; but any original traits which the 
 new production might contain, were more or less over- 
 shadowed by the general character of this class of com- 
 position. The whole of those dramatists, whose works 
 so closely resemble each other, form therefore only one 
 school. Were not the critic assisted by names the 
 most extensive, knowledge of this department of Spa- 
 nish literature would in most cases be insufficient to 
 enable him to distinguish the labours of different 
 authors. It often happened that several writers formed 
 a co-partnership of their talents for the production of 
 one piece. Hence arose the practice of printing on the 
 titles of some dramas, the words, " by two wits," or 
 " by three wits," (de dos ingenios, or de tres ingenios.) 
 Of the numerous aspirants in this conflict of efforts 
 and of talents, proportionally few succeeded in obtain- 
 ing a celebrity which entitles them to be placed near 
 Lope de Vega and Calderon. These few, however, 
 whose number, compared with the approved dramatists 
 of other nations, the French comic authors excepted, 
 is still very considerable, vied in ingenuity and delicacy 
 of composition with Calderon, and endeavoured to sur- 
 pass him in regularity. 
 
 Several authors have with much labour endeavoured 
 to discover the number of the Spanish dramas, as if 
 the knowledge of their amount even correctly ascer- 
 tained, could be worth the pains necessary to acquire it. 
 Of the three thousand eight hundred and fifty-two 
 dramatic works which La Huerta has enumerated,* 
 
 * The list is given in the appendix to his Theatro Hespanol, 
 under the title: Catalogo Alphaletico de las Comedias Tragcdias, 
 &c. Madrid, 1785.
 
 524 HISTORY OF 
 
 the greater part belongs to the age of Calderon. Those 
 which Calderon himself wrote, appear in the list; and 
 it also includes a considerable number of short inter- 
 ludes, some of which, perhaps, did not cost their authors 
 more than a few hours labour. But this list contains 
 only the printed dramas known to literary collectors. 
 That the number of pieces remaining in manuscript is 
 much greater, may from analogy be presumed ; for of 
 the dramatic compositions of the idolized Lope de 
 Vega, which are estimated at more than two thousand, 
 not many more than three hundred have been printed. 
 
 It would not be uninteresting to analize, for the 
 purpose of comparison with the works of Calderon, 
 some of the best of the other dramas of this age; but 
 such details do not fall within the province of this Ge- 
 neral History of Spanish Poetry and Eloquence. Some 
 of the contemporaries of Calderon, however, vied with 
 him in so distinguished a manner, that an express but 
 brief notice of their merits becomes indispensable. 
 
 ANTONIO DE SOLIS MORETO JUAN DE HOZ 
 
 TIRSO DE MOLINA FRANCISCO DE ROXAS 
 
 AUGUSTIN DE SALAZAR M1RA DE MESCUA, &C. 
 
 An honourable station, beside Calderon, belongs to 
 Antonio de Solis, one of the most eminent authors of 
 his age. He was ten years younger than Calderon, 
 whom he survived a few years. His literary activity 
 was not limited to the study of poetry; for morals, 
 politics, and history, also occupied his attention, parti- 
 cularly in his maturer years. He wrote the preludes, 
 (loas), to some of Calderon's dramas, and appears to 
 have been connected by the ties of friendship with that
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 525 
 
 great poet. The fame of his political and historical 
 knowledge obtained for him a place in the administra- 
 tion under Philip IV. and after the death of that 
 monarch he was appointed to the lucrative post of 
 Coronista de las Indias, or historiographer of the trans- 
 actions of the Spaniards in both Indies. While he 
 held this office, he wrote his celebrated History of the 
 Conquest of Mexico, which will be more particularly 
 noticed at the close of the present book. Finally, he 
 entered into holy orders, and devoted himself almost 
 exclusively to exercises of devotion; he died in 1686. 
 His plays do not display so much boldness of imagina- 
 tion as Calderon's; but they are ingeniously composed 
 in the Spanish national style of intrigue, and exhibit an 
 elegant vivacity of diction. With regard to pleasantries 
 put into the mouths of servants, he does not exactly 
 correspond with other Spanish dramatists. His dramatic 
 compositions are more regular than Calderon's, because 
 he was less liable to be seduced by the force of his 
 imagination. Among his comedies attributed to the 
 heroic class, El Alcazar del Secreto, (the Castle of 
 Mystery), is justly much valued. In his dramas of 
 intrigue he has endeavoured to vary the characters 
 more than his great contemporary. Thus gipseys figure 
 in his piece, called, La Gitanilla de Madrid, which is 
 partly founded on Cervantes's novel of the same title.* 
 
 * The Alcazar del Secreto, and the Gitanilla de Madrid, 
 and several other pieces of merit, by Antonio de Solis, may be found 
 in La Huerta's Theatro Hespanol. Accounts of the editions of the 
 dramas and other works of this ingenious writer, are given by Dieze 
 in his edition of Velasquez.
 
 526 HISTORY OF 
 
 Augustin Moreto possessed a higher degree of comic 
 talent than Calderon. This able and industrious writer 
 was also favoured by Philip IV. but he became an eccle- 
 siastic and renounced writing for the theatre. Some of 
 his pieces are comic from beginning to end, and are also 
 comedies of character, though the form of the Spanish 
 drama of intrigue is still preserved. In his piece, en- 
 titled, De fuera vendra, quien de casa nos eschar a* 
 (He will come from without, Who will turn us out), he 
 has introduced an old coquette, a military coxcomb, and a 
 doctor of laws, who besides being cowardly and pedantic, 
 is also amorous. These characters are drawn with a 
 comic force which has seldom been surpassed, though 
 it must be confessed that they partake too much of 
 the caricature style. In general Moreto approximates 
 more than Calderon to Terence, whose comedies became, 
 in the sequel, models for the Spanish dramatists when 
 the principles of the French drama were adopted. But 
 his gracioso, who is always the fool of the piece in the 
 character of a servant, repeats too often the same sort 
 of wretched jests. 
 
 Juan de Hoz likewise approached to the comic style 
 of the regular dramas representing character. Of this 
 author nothing further is known, except that he wrote 
 an excellent comedy, entitled, El castigo de la Miseria, 
 (Avarice Punished,) which presents a considerable re- 
 semblance to one of Cervantes's novels, t 
 
 * This piece is printed with several others by Moreto, in the 
 Theatro Hespanol. 
 
 f It belongs to the class of comedias de Jlguron. (See p. 
 367.) La Huerta places this comedy at the commencement of his 
 Theatro Hespanol .
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 527 
 
 Tirso de Molina, or Gabriel Sellez, (as his real 
 name is said to have been) was one of the most pro- 
 lific dramatic writers among the contemporaries of 
 Calderon. He is the reputed author of upwards of 
 seventy plays still extant. He vied with Lope de 
 Vega and Calderon in the merit of ingenious and bold 
 invention, which is particularly manifested in his histo- 
 rical and spiritual dramas.* 
 
 The dramas of intrigue by Francisco de Rojas, or 
 Roxas, a knight of the order of Santiago, were, about 
 the middle of the sixteenth century, as much esteemed 
 as those of Calderon; for the art of ingenious complexity 
 which they exhibited, rendered them particularly pleas- 
 ing to the Spanish taste. A play by this author, en- 
 titled, Entre Bobos anda el Juegoh, (When Fools play 
 the Game goes well), is even at the present day a dis- 
 tinguished favourite on the Spanish stage. He was not 
 so successful as a writer of heroic comedies. His 
 Casarse para Vengarse, (Marriage of Vengeance), 
 which is a sort of tragedy, is disgustingly surcharged 
 with bombastic phrases. 
 
 Agustin de Salazar y Torres, was educated in 
 Mexico, and after his return to Spain, lived at the 
 court of Philip IV. He was an admirer of Gongora, 
 
 Blankenburg, in his literary appendix to Sulzer's Dictionary, 
 expresses a doubt whether there ever was a particular collection of 
 the comedies of Maestro Tirso de Molina. I can at least state that I 
 have seen a fifth volume of his comedies, (Madrid, 1636, in quarto), 
 which contains eleven dramas, chiefly historical and spiritual. 
 
 f This is the only drama by Rojas given in La Huerta's 
 Theatre ; and in the older collections the works of Rojas seldom 
 appear.
 
 528 HISTORY OF 
 
 and as many of his poems prove, also a faithful disciple; 
 but though an inveterate Gongorist, he was one of the 
 cleverest writers of that school of affectation. His 
 dramatic works are distinguished for ingenuity of in- 
 vention, and a style which shews that he knew how 
 to elevate himself above the common level, without 
 running into bombast.* His heroic comedy, entitled, 
 Elegir al Enemigo, (How to choose an Enemy), is 
 full of genuine poetry. 
 
 Antonio Mira de Mescua, or Amescua, who lived 
 as an ecclesiastic at the court of Philip IV. must not 
 be omitted in the list of the Spanish dramatic poets of 
 the period now under consideration. He was regarded 
 by many of his contemporaries as a second Lope de 
 Vega;t and he doubtless more nearly approached the 
 rude brilliancy of Lope than the elegant manner of 
 Calderon. He remained, however, far behind his model; 
 yet his historical and spiritual dramas are distinguished 
 for conceptions, which, though extravagant, are not 
 devoid of interest, and which were moreover perfectly in 
 unison with the prevailing Spanish taste. In El Cabal- 
 lero sin Nombre, (The Knight without a Name), he has 
 even ventured to introduce a wild bear on the stage. 
 
 * Many of his dramas may be found in various collections. 
 They are included along with his other poems in the Cithara de 
 Apolo by D. A gust, de Salazar y Torres, Madrid , 1692, in two 
 volumes, published by one of the author's friends, who on his part 
 was a perfect Gongorist, as the title of the collection sufficiently 
 proves. 
 
 f Nicolas Antonio, a very incompetent judge in matters of taste, 
 lauds Antonio de Mescua to the skies. But he is seldom mentioned 
 by other authors.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 529 
 
 To the historian who makes the dramatic literature 
 of Spain his particular object, must be consigned the 
 task of collecting the necessary information respecting 
 the works of Antonio de Mendoza, Luis Velez de 
 Guevara, Alvaro Cubillo, Luis Coello, Felipe Godinez, 
 Juan Matos Fragoso, and other dramatists, who in the 
 age in which they lived, were frequently placed on a 
 level with Calderon. The writer who devotes his 
 attention to this department of Spanish literature, must 
 likewise take into consideration the older dramatic 
 works which appeared during the latter years of Lope 
 de Vega's career, as, for example, the comedies of Juan 
 Ruiz de Alarcon, Guillen de Castro, &c.* Neither 
 must he neglect to furnish bibliographic accounts of 
 the various collections of Spanish dramas published by 
 different editors. In the present work - it is only 
 necessary to observe, that these collections, the greater 
 part of which appeared in the seventeenth century, 
 were all speculations of the booksellers. Most of them 
 present abundant traces of haste and negligence, and but 
 few are distinguished for critical discrimination in the 
 selection. The historian of the Spanish national taste 
 will, however, consult those collections with the view 
 of ascertaining what dramas were, at a certain period, 
 the greatest favourites in Spain; for the booksellers 
 published their collections in conformity with the 
 humour of the public. Thus every drama which was 
 
 * A historical comedy by Guillen de Castro, entitled, Lus 
 Moccdadcs del Cid, furnished Corneille with the idea of his tragedy 
 of the Cid. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 M
 
 530 HISTORY OF 
 
 printed, was styled a Comedia jamosa, so that about 
 the middle of the seventeenth century, the epithet 
 Jumosa, had, by frequent repetition, lost all value. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE HISTORY OF SPANISH ELO- 
 QUENCE AND CRITICISM WITHIN THE PERIOD 
 OF THIS SECTION. 
 
 The works belonging to the department of elegant 
 prose, which appeared during the period of the ascen- 
 dency of dramatic poetry in Spanish literature, may be 
 noticed in few words. The authors who still adhered 
 to the spirit of genuine eloquence, gave no new direc- 
 tion to rhetorical cultivation; they merely continued, 
 with laudable perseverance, the task begun by their 
 predecessors, namely, that of opposing the party who 
 methodically endeavoured to introduce into prose com- 
 position a new tone of ingenious absurdity. 
 
 Romantic prose no longer maintained a conflict 
 with true eloquence, but proceeded in a separate 
 course. The reading portion of the Spanish public 
 continued to be supplied with romances and novels, 
 most of which, however, were the production of ob- 
 scure writers. Several Spanish ladies contributed their 
 share in this kind of authorship. 
 
 The necessary distinction between historical and 
 romantic narrative was now made by the historio- 
 graphers or chroniclers, whose numbers had been 
 augmented since the extension of the Spanish posses- 
 sions in India and America. But among all these 
 writers, Antonio de Solis, who has already been noticed
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 531 
 
 as a dramatic poet, is the only one who produced a 
 work deserving to be ranked among the models of 
 historical composition. His history, which he wrote in 
 the quality of historiographer of the Indies, is the last 
 classic relic of the kind of which Spanish literature can 
 boast. It contains an account of the Conquest of 
 Mexico, in a genuine historical form, notwithstanding 
 that the subject was calculated to seduce a poetic author 
 into the romantic narrative style.* Those who are 
 unacquainted with the fact of Antonio de Solis being 
 a celebrated poet, will never conjecture it from the 
 general tone of this work. No writer could possibly 
 mark with more solidity of taste the distinction between 
 poetry and prose. Antonio de Solis had, however, 
 attained the age of maturity when he laid down the 
 principles by which he was guided in the discharge of 
 his functions as a historian. He states in his preface 
 that in history all ornaments of eloquence are merely 
 accessaries; and that the accuracy of the relation is 
 true historical elegance. He says, that truth must be 
 of all things the most important to the historian, and 
 that in historical composition what is truly stated, is well 
 stated.f According to these principles the very worst 
 
 * An elegant edition of the Historia de la Conquista de 
 Mexico, por D. Antonio de Solis, in 2 vols. quarto, was published 
 at Madrid in 1776. 
 
 f The following are the historiographic rules of Antonio de 
 Solis, in his own words : 
 
 Los Adornos de la Eloquencia son accidentes en la Historia, 
 cuya substancia es la Verdad, que dicha comofue, se dize bien : 
 siendo la puntualidad de la noticia la mejor elegancia de la 
 
 2 >J 2
 
 532 HISTORY OF 
 
 style possible would be tolerable in a faithful historical 
 narrative. But it would appear that Antonio de Solis, 
 through a distrust of his own poetic imagination, 
 exaggerated to himself the necessity of self-denial as 
 an homage due to historical fidelity; and this exaggera- 
 tion, which in reality was only theoretical, proved of 
 essential service to him in the execution of his work. His 
 talent for description, and his cultivated taste, naturally 
 elevated him above the dryness and dulness of the 
 common chronicle style. Though he seems scarcely to 
 have reflected on the more essential requisites of the 
 historical art, yet his work has not suffered by their 
 neglect; for as a dramatic poet he had been accustomed 
 to an arrangement of events which concentrated them 
 in a single point of view ; and profound political know- 
 ledge was not required for the just exposition of 
 transactions occurring in the expedition of a small party 
 of Spanish adventurers, led on by the daring Hernando 
 Cortes, to the conquest of the kingdom of Mexico. 
 Nothing more was necessary than a simple and unaf- 
 fected narration, to cause the interest naturally belong- 
 ing to the subject to be strongly felt. 
 
 Narration. Con este conocimiento he puesto en la certidumbre de 
 lo que refiero, mi principal cuydado. Examen, que algunas vezes 
 me bolvio a la tarea de los Libros, y Papeles : porque hallando en 
 los Sucessos, [6 en sus circunstancias, discordantes, con notable 
 oposicion, a nuestros mismos Escritores, me ha sido necessario 
 buscar la Verdad con poca luz, o congeturarla de lo mas verisimil ; 
 pero digo entonces mi reparo: y si llego a formar opinion, conozco 
 la flaqueza de mi dictatnen, y dexo, lo que afirmo, al arbitrio de la 
 razon. Prolo^o.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 533 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF GONGORISM INTO SPANISH 
 PROSE BALTHASAR GRACIAN. 
 
 The elegant simplicity of the historical style adopted 
 by Antonio de Solis, forms, with the Gongorism which 
 about this time crept into Spanish prose composition 
 from the poetic school of Gongora, a rhetorical contrast, 
 which is the last remarkable phenomenon in the history 
 of Spanish eloquence. The pedantic commentators of 
 the unintelligible Gongora had long been accustomed to 
 write a strange fantastic prose style; but this prosaic 
 Gongorism had not infected any man of distinguished 
 talent, until Lorenzo, or Balthasar Gracian, became a 
 popular author. Writers on literature mention but few 
 particulars respecting the life of this distinguished man, 
 who is supposed to have died in the year 1652. It is pro- 
 bable that he himself concealed his literary existence; 
 for it is conjectured that the works which on their title- 
 pages bear the name of Lorenzo Gracian, were really 
 written by Balthasar Gracian, who was a Jesuit, and the 
 brother of Lorenzo. Respecting Lorenzo nothing further 
 is known than that he is understood to have lent his name 
 to the productions of his brother; but, be this as it may, 
 the writings which have conferred celebrity on that name, 
 are, in some measure, sufficiently Jesuitical.* They re- 
 late, in general, to the morality of the great world, to 
 theological morality, and to poetry and rhetoric. The 
 most voluminous of these works bears the affected title 
 
 * They are all collected under the title of Obras dc Lorenzo 
 Gracian, fyc. Amberes, 1725, in 2 vols. quarto.
 
 534 HISTORY OF 
 
 of El Criticon. It is an allegorical picture of the whole 
 course of human life divided into Crisis., that is to say, 
 sections according to fixed points of view, and clothed 
 in the formal garb of a pompous romance. It is scarcely 
 possible to open any page of this book without recog- 
 nizing in the author a man, who is in many respects 
 far from common, but who from the ambition of being 
 entirely uncommon in thinking and writing studiously 
 and ingeniously, avoids nature and good sense. A 
 profusion of the most ambiguous subtleties, expressed 
 in ostentatious language, are scattered throughout the 
 work;* and those affected conceits are the more offen- 
 sive, in consequence of their union with the really 
 grand view of the essential relationship of man to 
 nature and his Creator, which forms the subject of the 
 treatise. Gracian would have been an excellent writer 
 had he not so anxiously wished to be an extraordinary 
 one. His shorter productions, in which he developes 
 his theory of the intellectual faculties, and the conduct 
 of life, are still more disfigured by affected ornament 
 
 * Of this the following fragment of a conversation between 
 Fortune and a dissatisfied person, affords a specimen : 
 
 Tampoco serl el llamarte hijo de tu madre. Menos, antes me 
 glorio yo de esso, que ni yo sin ella, ni ella sin mi : ni Venus sin 
 Cupido, ni Cupido sin Venus. Ya se lo que es, dixo la Fortuna. 
 Que? Que sientes mucho el hazerte heredero de tu abuelo el mar, 
 en la inconstancia, y enganos ? No por cierto, que essas son nifierias ; 
 pues si estas son burlas, que seran las veras ? Lo que a mi me irrita, 
 es, que me levanten testimonies. Aguarda, que ya te entiendo, sin 
 duda es aquello que dizen, que trocaste el arco con la muerte, y que 
 desde entonces no te llaman ya amor de amar, sino de morir, amor 
 a muerte; de modo, que amor, y muerte todo es uno. C'risi iv.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 535 
 
 than the tedious Criticon;* they, however, occasionally 
 contain striking observations intelligibly expressed-! 
 His Oraculo Manual has been more read than any 
 other of his works. It is intended to be a collection of 
 maxims of general utility, but it exhibits good and bad 
 precepts, sound judgments, and refined sophisms, all 
 confounded together. In this work Gracian has not 
 forgotten to inculcate the practical principle of Jesuitism 
 " to be all things to all men," (hacerse a todos), nor to 
 recommend his own favourite maxim, " to be common 
 in nothing," (en nada vulgar), which in order to be 
 valid would require a totally different interpretation 
 from that which he has given it. 
 
 * He reduces all mental talents and faculties to two kinds, Genio 
 and Ingenio. But the distinctions he draws between them, are as dif- 
 ficult to translate as the different applications of the French word 
 Esprit. On this subject he says, among other things : 
 
 Estos dos son los dos Exes del lucimiento discrete, la natura- 
 leza los alterna, y el arte los rea^a. Es el hombre aquel celebre 
 Microcosmos, y el Alma su firmamento. Hermanados el Genio, y 
 el Ingenio, en verificacion de Athlante, y de Alcides ; asseguran el 
 brillar, por lo dichoso, y lo lucido, a todo el resto de prendas. 
 
 El uno sin el otro, fue en muchos felicidad a medias, acusando 
 la embidia, 6 el descuido de la suerte. 
 
 El discreto, Opp. T. i. p. 389. 
 
 f For example, in the treatise last quoted, he says: 
 Ay hombres tan desiguales en las materias, tan diferentes de si 
 mismos en las ocasiones, que desmienten su propio credito, y des- 
 lumbran nuestro concepto; en unos puntos discurren, que buelan, en 
 otros, ni perciben, ni se mueven. Oy todo les sale bien, manana 
 todo mal, que aun el entendimiento, y la ventura tieuen desiguales. 
 Donde no ay disculpa, es en la voluntad, que es crimen del alvedrio, 
 y su variar no esta lexos del desvariar. Lo que oy ponen sobre su 
 cabec,a, inanana lo llevan entre pies, por no tener pies, ni cabec,a.
 
 536 HISTORY OF 
 
 Gracian's uncommon prose was formed according to 
 certain principles. His book on the Art of Ingeniously 
 Thinking and Writing,* is no inconsiderable contribution 
 to criticism in Spanish literature. He refines to an 
 incredible degree on subtle distinctions and antitheses, 
 with the view of systematically bringing the style of 
 his countrymen to the level of his own. His illustra- 
 tive examples are selected from Italian and Spanish 
 poets, particularly from Marino, Gongora and Quevedo. 
 Throughout the whole work, ingenious thoughts (con- 
 ceptos,) are constantly the subject of consideration. A 
 man of genius, he says, may receive these ideas from 
 nature; but art enables him to create them at pleasure. 
 " As he who comprehends such ideas is an eagle, so he 
 who is capable of producing them must be ranked 
 among angels; for it is an employment of cherubims 
 and an elevation of man which raises him to sublime 
 hierarchy."! He then proceeds to describe those con- 
 ceptos, which he pronounces to be undefinable, because 
 " they are to the understanding what beauty is to the 
 eye, and harmony to the ear.":}: Next follows an 
 
 * The Spanish title of this work is, Agudeza y Arte de 
 Ingenio. 
 
 f Si el percibir la agudeza acredita de Aguila, el produzirla 
 empenara en Angel : empleo de Cherubines y elevacion de hombres, 
 que nos remonta a extravagante Gerarquia. 
 
 J Es este ser uno de aquellos, que son mas conocidos a bulto 
 y menos a precision: dexase percibir, no definir, y en tan remoto 
 assunto estimese qtialquiera descripcion, lo que es para los ojos la 
 herinosura, y para los oidos la consonancia, esso es para el entendi- 
 iniento el concepto. 
 
 Agudeza y Arte de Ingenio. Discurso ii.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 537 
 
 enumeration and explanation of the numerous combi- 
 nations by which the various classes of these ideas, for 
 example, the proverbial, the pathetic, the heroic, &c. 
 may be produced. Poetic figures are examined in 
 rotation; and the style of true eloquence is defined 
 according to the same principles. Thus throughout 
 the whole book good sense and good taste are most 
 ingeniously abused. 
 
 This art of poetry and rhetoric by Gracian was, in 
 the seventeenth century, the only work of the kind 
 which produced any influence on the taste of writers 
 and the public. 
 
 Gongorism peeps forth even in the published letters 
 of the eminent men of this period, which exhibit a 
 strained formality and an affected elegance. The 
 letters of Quevedo form in this respect no exception. 
 Even in those of Antonio de Solis the facility of the 
 true epistolatory style is wanting.* 
 
 * These letters arg contained in the collection of Mayans y 
 Siscar.
 
 538 HISTOKY OF 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 HISTORY OF SPANISH LITERATURE FROM ITS DE- 
 CLINE IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE SEVEN- 
 TEENTH TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH 
 CENTURY. 
 
 THIS book is intended to be only a compendious 
 supplement to the two preceding books of the History 
 of Spanish Poetry and Eloquence. Were it even an 
 agreeable task to describe in detail through what gra- 
 dations a nation rich in intellect, which unfortunately 
 descended from the most brilliant height of literary 
 independence, to the servile imitation of foreign forms, 
 passed in this lamentable decline, until the depressed 
 national spirit began with patriotic feeling again to arise, 
 and slowly to re-animate the native literature it still 
 would be proper to leave that office to the writer whose 
 object it may be to give an account of every production 
 which appears within the circle of polite learning. From 
 him, however, who has rather chosen to take a general 
 historical view of the developement and progress of lite- 
 rary genius and taste in modern Europe, it would be 
 unreasonable to expect specific notices of inferior works, 
 published during the period of an expiring and slowly 
 reviving literature. In the eighteenth century, no poet 
 arose in Spain to form an epoch such as that finally 
 marked in Italian literature by Metastasio; and what- 
 ever was then accomplished in Spanish prose, was a 
 consequence of the imitation of French models.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 539 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to observe, that according 
 to the laws of nature and the human mind, no distinct 
 line of separation can exist between this period and 
 that which precedes it. When lights are gradually and 
 imperceptibly extinguished, it is impossible to name the 
 moment when obscurity commenced. It would be no 
 less difficult to fix precisely the epoch of the revival of 
 Spanish literature, for it is marked by no particular 
 phenomenon. The necessary division in the history 
 of the progressive and retrogressive state of Spanish 
 literature must therefore be referred, without any pre- 
 cise determination, to the reign of Charles II. from 
 1665 to 1700. Some dramatic authors who maintained 
 the respectability of the Spanish national theatre, to 
 the beginning of the eighteenth century, will conse- 
 quently be included in this last book. Thus the account 
 of the new dawn of national genius, promising better 
 times, will be given in connexion with the immediately 
 preceding literary transactions. 
 
 This book may be conveniently divided into three 
 chapters. The first will contain the history of the 
 complete decay of the Spanish national spirit in respect 
 to literature. In the second will be given a brief account 
 of whatever literary events appear to deserve considera- 
 tion from the reign of Charles II. to the commence- 
 ment of the reign of Charles III. The third chapter 
 will be devoted to a summary notice of the more recent 
 occurrences, which particularly in the last ten years of 
 the eighteenth century appear to have given a new di- 
 rection to Spanish literature.
 
 540 HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE STATE OF POETICAL AND 
 RHETORICAL CULTIVATION IN SPAIN DURING 
 THIS PERIOD. 
 
 Within the century composed of the reigns of the 
 three Philips, from 1556 to 1665, that is to say, the 
 golden age of Spanish literature, the national spirit, 
 which the vicious system of the government was cal- 
 culated to repress, became at last like the national 
 resources, completely exhausted. Under Charles II. the 
 wounds of the body politic which had long profusely bled, 
 began to exhibit frightful gangrenes. In every quarter 
 of the world Spanish valour had done its uttermost for 
 the support of the perverse measures of a despotic go- 
 vernment, and the state at length seemed on the verge 
 of dissolution. The enormous treasures which poured 
 into Spain from the mines of America, were imme- 
 diately consigned to foreign nations. Thus the richest 
 country in the world was overwhelmed with debt. 
 Agriculture and industry languished particularly in 
 the interior of the monarchy, where a near view of 
 the splendour of an ostentatious court still served to 
 gratify Castilian vanity, but where every blow levelled 
 against the whole state was most directly felt. The 
 occupation of one half of America carried off men from 
 the mother country by thousands at a time ; and in 
 addition to this drain, the population had been sud- 
 denly diminished to the extent of nearly hah a million, 
 by the tyrannical expulsion of the Moriscos, or baptized 
 Arabs. Spain was also engaged in uninterrupted war-
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 541 
 
 fare during the whole of the century in which the three 
 Philips reigned. Continual levies of troops, combined 
 with oppressive taxation, at length so reduced the 
 nation, that the government lost the instrument it had 
 abused; and every sacrifice made to meet cases of im- 
 perious urgency, served only to produce a new humilia- 
 tion. The little kingdom of Portugal, by a fortunate 
 effort threw off the Spanish yoke, 1 and became once more 
 an independent state. Torrents of Spanish blood were 
 shed in the Netherlands, with the view of suppressing, 
 at any price, the freedom of the United Provinces; yet 
 those provinces flourished in full vigour, while Spain 
 was reduced to the last stage of political inanition. 
 Still, however, Spanish genius appeared to soar superior 
 to all the evils that assailed the state, as long, at least, 
 as the semblance of the ancient national greatness 
 remained. But with the death of Philip IV. even that 
 semblance vanished. The widowed queen, who was ap- 
 pointed guardian of the young king, then only five years 
 of age, acting under the influence of father Neidhart, a 
 German Jesuit, offered the last insult to the feelings of the 
 nobility and the people. No sooner was father Neid- 
 hart driven away by the party of Don John of Austria, 
 the natural son of Philip IV. than France obtained 
 possession of a considerable portion of the provinces 
 which Spain still held in the Netherlands. In the 
 West Indies a republic of pirates was established. This 
 new enemy grew out of the remarkable association of 
 the Flibustiers, or Buccaneers, men who regarded 
 Spanish America as a booty on which they were en- 
 titled to prey. This state of things was not improved
 
 542 HISTORY OF 
 
 when the full powers of government were placed in 
 the hands of the weak Charles II. the period of whose 
 reign is the most melancholy in Spanish history. 
 
 The circumstance of a French prince being called 
 to the Spanish throne, in obedience to that will of 
 Charles II. which has been so much censured, was by 
 no means unfortunate for Spain, either in a literary or 
 political point of view. The war, which was partly a 
 civil contest, and which was maintained for twelve 
 years before the new Philip, the fifth of that name, 
 was tranquilly seated on his throne, seemed, however, 
 to threaten the annihilation of the last remnant of 
 Spanish national vigour. The mild and rigidly pious 
 Philip V. was, by his personal character and mode of 
 thinking, previously related to the nation to which he 
 now belonged. He manifested no desire to transplant 
 into Spain the literature of France, which at that time 
 began to exercise an influence over the whole of Eu- 
 rope. The foreigners whose promotion to important 
 posts during the reign of the first Bourbon in Spain, 
 rendered them the objects of much patriotic jealousy, 
 were Italians and Irishmen, but in no instance French- 
 men. The French influence operated in Spain, only 
 on the wavering politics of the cabinet of Madrid; the 
 change of the reigning dynasty produced therefore little 
 or no influence on Spanish literature. All that Philip 
 V. did to promote the advancement of learning on the 
 French model, was wholly confined to the celebrated 
 institution of royal academies, among which the 
 academy of history, and still more, the academy of
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 543 
 
 the Spanish language and polite literature,* may be 
 regarded as having operated influentially on the lite- 
 rature of Spain. But this last-mentioned academy, 
 which was established in the year 1714, was never 
 intended for the annihilation of the spirit and peculiar 
 forms of Spanish poetry and eloquence. The cultiva- 
 tion of the Spanish language was its especial care, and 
 its labours for the accomplishment of that object were 
 crowned by the production of its excellent dictionary. 
 The efforts made by some members of this academy 
 to form the taste of their countrymen on the model of 
 that of France, must be attributed to themselves indi- 
 vidually. They merely followed the new current of 
 French taste, in common with almost every person in 
 Europe, who had then any pretensions to polite educa- 
 tion. If these innovators must be called a literary 
 court party, the term can only be employed in the 
 sense in which it would, with equal propriety, apply to 
 the same sort of party existing in other countries, 
 where the French style became the fashionable style 
 of courts, and was, with courtier-like complaisance, 
 generally adopted by authors both in verse and in 
 prose. 
 
 The French taste spontaneously penetrated into 
 Spanish literature when the age of Louis XIV. began 
 to exercise an imposing influence over the whole world. 
 But the French taste would have operated on the lite- 
 rature of Spain, which had already been carried so far 
 beyond that of France, in a very different manner, had 
 
 * The Real Academia Espanola, founded on the plan of the 
 Academic Fran$aise.
 
 544 HISTORY OF 
 
 not the old national energy been crippled in every direc- 
 tion. Had it not been for this unfortunate circumstance 
 crowds of servile imitators and psuedo critics would never 
 have obtained a footing in Spain. Men of rightly cul- 
 tivated understanding would have reconciled their purer 
 taste to the yet unexhausted national genius, in order 
 to enhance the advantages of Spanish literature in its 
 competition with the literature of France, and to learn 
 true elegance from the French, without, like them, 
 sacrificing to mere elegance beauties of a higher order. 
 But the age of vigour was past; and yet feeble pride 
 would in no respect renounce its pretensions. Two 
 parties now arose in the polite literature of Spain. The 
 leading and would-be elegant party, included persons 
 of rank and fashion, who had begun to be ashamed of 
 the ancient national literature, and who yet wished to 
 prove that that national literature, even when estimated 
 according to the rules of French criticism, possessed 
 many beauties. That the French might no longer boast 
 of superior taste, this party sought to improve Spanish 
 poetry, and particularly the Spanish drama, by transla- 
 tions of French works and imitations of the French 
 style. To this party of fashionable innovators was 
 opposed the old national party, composed of persons 
 distinguished for their obstinate attachment to the 
 ancient taste, and even to the ancient rudeness. This 
 party continued, as heretofore, to be that of the Spanish 
 public; but it remained for a time without any literary 
 representative. Thus was it reduced to the necessity 
 of seeing writers, who laid claim to the title of Spanish 
 patriots, publicly attack its old favourites, particularly 
 I
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 545 
 
 Lope de Vega and Calderon, while no zealous pen took 
 up their public defence. Nevertheless this party con- 
 tinued unshaken in its opinions. Even during the 
 extreme crisis of the conflict between the French and 
 the national taste, about the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, the Spanish theatre preserved its own peculiar 
 forms. It assumed, however, a character no less varied 
 than the German theatre at present exhibits. Plays in 
 the national style were performed on the Spanish stage 
 alternately with translations and imitations of French 
 and even of English dramas; and if this heterogeneous 
 variety did not degenerate into the monstrous, as it now 
 does on the German stage, where a national style never 
 prevailed, yet nothing could be more inconsistent than the 
 contrast formed by plays in the French and English taste 
 with the old Spanish comedies. But these comedies, 
 and in general all the old national poetry, once more 
 obtained spirited defenders among Spanish critics and 
 authors, after the shock of the last crisis had been 
 withstood by the ancient taste in its conflict with the 
 modern. Thus another literary triumph was gained by 
 the tenacity of the Spanish public, to which, in matters 
 of taste, monarchs otherwise despotic, readily granted 
 perfect freedom. 
 
 The mixture of national and foreign* taste in the 
 modern literature of Spain, was promoted in no slight 
 degree by the introduction of French manners, which 
 had at this period spread over Europe, but which were 
 in Spain less encouraged by court example than in 
 other countries. At the court of Madrid, old Spanish 
 formality was still preserved ; and among the nobility, as 
 VOL. i. 2 N
 
 546 HISTORY OF 
 
 well as the people, the national costume was only 
 gradually superseded by the French style of dress. 
 Bull fights continued to be the favourite amusements 
 of the Spaniards from the highest to the lowest ranks. 
 But the solemn Autos de Fe* in which the inquisi- 
 tion appeared in all the splendour of its power, and in 
 which heretics were burnt amidst the approving shouts 
 of the spectators, no longer insulted humanity. The 
 last of these horrible festivals of fanaticism was per- 
 formed with extraordinary pomp at Madrid in the 
 year 1680, in compliance with the pious wish of King 
 Charles II. The Bourbons who succeeded to the Spa- 
 nish throne, whatever might be the ardour of their catho- 
 lic zeal, appeared to regard such barbarous spectacles 
 with disgust, and thus set an example of refinement 
 which honourably marked their relationship to the 
 French royal family. At this period, too, when the 
 storm of the reformation had subsided, religion as well 
 as manners assumed a milder character throughout all 
 Europe. The Spaniards, however, could not be induced 
 to renounce their sacred comedies, until in the year 
 1765 they were formally prohibited by a royal decree, 
 because they excited the derision of foreigners. 
 
 Finally, in the second half of the eighteenth century, 
 scientific learning gained an ascendancy over polite lite- 
 rature in Spain, as in every other part of Europe. A 
 philosophy in the sense of the French encyclopaedists 
 inflicted wounds equally mortal on fanaticism and poetic 
 enthusiasm. The spirit of experiment which sought by 
 
 * It is singular that over all Europe, the Portuguese phrase, Auto 
 da Fe, has become current in preference to the Spanish Auto de Fe.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 547 
 
 an accumulation of facts to scan the furthest depths of 
 human knowledge and the principles of all science, and 
 styled that accumulation sound philosophy, had, since 
 the time of the French encyclopaedists, found favour in 
 Spain, as in every part of Europe, Germany excepted. 
 True poetry, to which this spirit of experiment is the 
 most dangerous of all enemies, could not easily revive 
 in its former magnificence. But a wider field of general 
 utility was, under certain restrictions, opened to elegant 
 prose; and criticism at least obtained the negative 
 advantage of being able to impede any new encroach- 
 ments of ingenious extravagance. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 DECAY OF THE OLD SPANISH POETRY AND ELO- 
 QUENCE, AND INTRODUCTION OF, THE FRENCH 
 STYLE INTO SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 The last branch of Spanish national poetry still 
 flourished in the reign of Charles II. The French 
 drama, which then appeared in the first dawn of its 
 celebrity, had as yet no influence on the drama of 
 Spain. Several assiduous writers continued to enrich 
 Spanish literature with new pieces in the manner of 
 Calderon; and these writers have here the first claim to 
 consideration. 
 
 CANDAMO, ZAMORA, AND CANIZARES, DRAMATISTS 
 IN THE OLD NATIONAL STYLE. 
 
 Towards the close of the. seventeenth century, the 
 dramas of Francisco Bancas Candamo, were particularly 
 
 2 N 2
 
 548 HISTORY OF 
 
 esteemed. Candamo, who was an Asturian of noble 
 extraction, received, during a certain period, a pension 
 from Charles II. for writing for the court theatre at 
 Madrid. He, however, died in indigence in the year 
 1709. His historical play, entitled, El Esclavo en 
 Grillos de Oro, (the Slave in Golden Fetters), is still 
 spoken of in terms of approbation in Spain.* It is 
 a romantic anecdote taken from the history of the 
 Emperor Trajan. The singular combination of the 
 ancient and the romantic costume which this play 
 presents, is a fault with which the author must not be 
 reproached; for since Lope de Vega's time the spirit of 
 the Spanish drama required that the events of ancient 
 history should be arrayed only in the garb of romance. 
 But Candamo has put into the mouth of the Emperor 
 Trajan, a superabundance of phrases which are ex- 
 ceedingly dull, though conveyed in light and harmo- 
 nious verse. The purely romantic scenes in which ladies 
 and young knights appear, are the best in this drama, 
 which, according to the Spanish classification is a heroic 
 comedy. 
 
 Antonio de Zamora, a gentleman belonging to the 
 court of Madrid, was particularly distinguished as, a 
 writer of comic dramas. The comedy, entitled, El 
 Hechizado por Fuerza, (the Bewitched by Force),f is 
 
 * La Huerta includes this play among the four Comedias 
 Heroycas of his Theatro Hespanol, probably for the sake of its 
 elegant language; for in other respects it would not have been 
 difficult to have selected a better drama in the class to which it 
 belongs. 
 
 f This comedy, which may be found in many collections, is also 
 included in La Huerta's Theatro HespanoL
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 549 
 
 one of the most humorous and regular in the Spanish 
 language. It may also be numbered among the dramas 
 of character; at least the two principal parts, though a 
 little overcharged, are nevertheless boldly conceived and 
 consistently maintained. One is a fantastic old man, 
 who continually expresses himself in a tone of sarcastic 
 comic humour: he makes a parade of his odd fancies, 
 as if they were so many proofs of real wisdom; and he 
 is induced to consent to a marriage under the idea that 
 he is bewitched. The other comic character is an 
 enamoured physician, who is prevailed on to take a 
 part in the pretended bewitching, and who on his part is 
 also outwitted by the sprightly girls whom he has 
 assisted in playing off their trick on the old man. 
 
 Joseph de Canizares, who likewise lived at the 
 court of Madrid, produced a considerable number of 
 Spanish comedies. He particularly devoted his attention 
 to that class of dramas of intrigue, called comedias 
 de jlgurbn, in which the principal character is a pre- 
 tender or braggadocio, either male or female, who by 
 dint of impudence and artifice, obtains a certain degree 
 of credit. Among the dramas of Canizares, the Spa- 
 niards particularly esteem his comedy, entitled, El 
 Domine Lucas;* it is a drama of character, comic 
 throughout, and of the most regular description, though 
 it by no means departs from the Spanish national style. 
 The title may be translated " The Pedant Squire;" for 
 Domine Lucas, the hero of the piece, is a young country 
 gentleman, a student of Salamanca, extremely dull and 
 affected, and withal proud of his noble birth. With this 
 
 * This piece is also contained in the Theutro Hcspanol.
 
 550 HISTORY OF 
 
 character is very happily combined the uncle of Lucas, 
 a brave, amiable, and sensible old gentleman; though, 
 like his nephew, he interlards his discourse with scraps 
 of latin from the Corpus Juris. An old domestic, who 
 likewise has resource to latin whenever his wit fails 
 him, is well grouped with his master's. An excellent 
 female pendant to the doltish hero is exhibited in the 
 character of one of the daughters of the old uncle, 
 who in the end is united to Lucas, while her sprightly 
 sister, to whom the Domine was betrothed, elopes with 
 a more agreeable lover. The traits of character in the 
 whole of this comic picture, though by no means de- 
 licately sketched, are, nevertheless, full of dramatic 
 spirit. 
 
 These, and other plays, by writers whose names 
 are not in any other respect distinguished, complete 
 the national treasure of the Spanish drama. The 
 striking regularity which distinguishes some pieces, 
 must by no means be attributed to the influence of 
 French taste. It is possible that a vague idea of the 
 regularity of the French comedy may at this time have 
 penetrated into Spain; but among the older Spanish 
 dramas, particularly those of Solis and Moreto, some 
 are no less regular than the comedies of character 
 written by Zamora and Canizares; who, besides, did 
 not always, any more than their predecessors, confine 
 themselves rigidly within the bounds of regularity. 
 In the works of these latter poets, the theatrical per- 
 sonages are precisely of the same cast as in the writings 
 of the older dramatists. Young officers, who are usually 
 represented as giddy lovers, boast of their adventures
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 551 
 
 in Flanders, and sing romances to the accompaniment 
 of the guitar. This part is the prototype of that which 
 on the Fr?nch stage was subsequently called the Che- 
 valier. No trace of the imitation of French manners 
 is perceptible; and, if here and there a French word 
 is introduced, it is always with a comic signification.* 
 
 DONA JUANA INEZ DE LA CRUZ. 
 
 Nothing poetical was at this period produced, or at 
 least nothing sung and written in the lyric or other styles 
 of poetry in Spain, obtained literary celebrity. It would, 
 however, be unjust to pass over in silence some works 
 which made their appearance about this time, and 
 which are interesting, inasmuch as they afford instances 
 of the continuation of the taste for old Spanish poetry. 
 Among these, the most remarkable are the numerous 
 productions of a Spanish American poetess, named 
 Doiia Juana Inez de la Cruz, who was much celebrated 
 in Mexico about the latter end of the seventeenth 
 century. On the title-page of her works, which, how- 
 ever, she did not publish herself, this distinguished 
 woman is styled the tenth muse.t Respecting the 
 history of her life, nothing is known, save what is men- 
 
 * For example, the word Madamisela from the French Made- 
 moiselle. In like manner Cervantes introduced the word Madama, 
 but it is employed only in a comic sense. 
 
 f I have seen the third edition of the poetic wiitings of this 
 lady. The following is the title: PoemaS de la unica poetisa 
 Americana, Musa decima, Soror Juana Inez de la Cruz, fyc. 
 Sacolas a luz D. Juan Camacho Gayna, Cavallero del orden de 
 Santiago, $c. Barcelona 1691, in quarto. It certainly would not 
 be fair to pass by unnoticed a book of this kind which went through 
 three editions.
 
 552 HISTORY OF 
 
 tioned in her poems. She was a nun in a Mexican 
 convent; and she complains of her weak state of health 
 in the verses which form the preface to her po$ms. Her 
 writings sufficiently prove that she lived on terms of in- 
 timacy with the viceroy and the other Spanish grandees 
 in Mexico, and that frequent demands were made upon 
 her talent for the celebration of festivals, both spiritual 
 and temporal. Much as Inez de la Cruz was deficient 
 in real cultivation, her productions are eminently su- 
 perior to the ordinary standard of female poetry. Of 
 all the Spanish ladies who have turned their attention 
 to poetry, she deserves to rank the highest; though, per- 
 haps, this station may not be deemed very honourable, 
 as Spanish women have so little distinguished them- 
 selves in poetry. But for this very reason it seems 
 the more worthy of recollection, that under the sky 
 of America, flowers of genius were permitted to bloom, 
 which in Spain would in all probability have been 
 blighted in the bud. The poems of Inez de la Cruz, 
 moreover, breathe a sort of masculine spirit. This in- 
 genious nun possessed more fancy and wit than senti- 
 mental enthusiasm; and whenever she began to invent, 
 her creations were on a bold and great scale. Her 
 poems are of very unequal merit ; and are all deficient 
 in critical cultivation. But in facility of invention 
 and versification, Inez de la Cruz was not inferior to 
 Lope de Vega; and yet she by no means courted lite- 
 rary fame. The complete collection of her poems, 
 which seems to have been first printed by order of 
 the Vice-Queen of Mexico, occupies a volume, consist- 
 ing of twenty-five sheets in octavo. Of some of her
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 553 
 
 sonnets the subjects are ingenious plays of romantic 
 wit;* of others, serious poetic reflections.! She also 
 
 * The following is one of three sonnets, in which the au- 
 thoress rings changes on the theme, " whether it is better to be 
 beloved without loving, or to love without being beloved." 
 
 Feliciano me adora, y le aborrezco; 
 
 Lisardo me aborrece, y le adoro ; 
 
 por quien no me apetece ingrato, lloro; 
 
 y al que me llora tierno, no apetezco : 
 A quien rnas me desdora, el alma ofrezco, 
 
 a. quien me ofrece victimas, desdoro; 
 
 desprecio al que enrriqueze mi decoro; 
 
 y al que le haze desprecios, enrriquezco : 
 Si con mi ofensa al uno reconvengo, 
 
 me reconviene el otro a mi ofendido 
 
 y a padecer de todos modos vengo ; 
 Pues ambos atormentan mi sentido ; 
 
 aqueste con pedir lo que no tengo, 
 
 y aqueste con no tener lo que le pido. 
 
 f For example, the following, in which, however, the play of the 
 Antitheses becomes at last frigid. 
 
 En persiguirme, Mundo, que interessas? 
 
 en que te ofendo ? quando solo intento 
 
 poner bellezas en mi entendimiento, 
 
 y no mi entendimiento en las bellezas ? 
 Yo no estimo thesoros, ni riquezas; 
 
 y assi, siempre me causa mas contento, 
 
 poner riqueza< en mi entendimiento; 
 
 que no mi entendimiento en las riquezas. 
 Y no estimo hermosura, que vencida, 
 
 es despojo civil de las Edades; 
 
 ni riqueza me agrada fernentida : 
 Teniendo por inejor en mis Verdades, 
 
 consumir vanidades de la Vida, 
 
 que consumir la Vida en vanidades.
 
 554 HISTORY OF 
 
 wrote burlesque sonnets on rhymed endings, which, 
 though sometimes deficient in delicacy, have all the 
 freedom and sprightliness that can be required in that 
 species of composition. A kind of poetic self-deception, 
 which assumes the tone of philosophic reasoning, is dis- 
 closed in several of the lyric romances of Inez de la Cruz. 
 She evidently took considerable pains to persuade her- 
 self that she was happy.* A great portion of her 
 poems in the romance style, relate to circumstances 
 of temporary interest. In her dramatic works, the 
 vigour of her imagination is particularly conspicuous. 
 The collection of her poems contains no comedies, 
 properly so called, but it comprises a series of boldly 
 conceived preludes, (loas), full of allegorical invention ; 
 and it concludes with a long allegorical auto, which is 
 superior to any of the similar productions of Lope de 
 
 * One of these lyric romances begins in the following manner: 
 Finjamos, que soy feliz, 
 
 iriste pensamiento, un rato; 
 
 quiza podreis persuadirme, 
 
 aunque yo se lo contrario. 
 Que, pues solo en la aprehension 
 
 dizen, que estrivan los danos; 
 
 si os imaginais dichoso, 
 
 no sereis tan desdichado. 
 Sirvame el entendimiento * 
 
 alguna vez de descanso; 
 
 y no siempre este el ingenio 
 
 con el provecho encontrado. 
 Todo el mundo es opiniones, 
 
 de pareceres tan varios ; 
 
 que lo que el uno, que es negro, 
 
 el otro prueba, que es bianco.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 555 
 
 / 
 
 Vega. It is entitled, El Divino Narciso, a name by 
 which the authoress designates the heavenly Bride- 
 groom. The Spanish public had never before wit- 
 nessed so bold a travesty of the ideas of catholic Chris- 
 tianity, under the garb of the Greek mythology. It 
 would be impossible to give a brief, and at the same 
 time intelligible sketch of this extraordinary drama. 
 With regard to composition it is quite monstrous; in 
 some respects offending by its bad taste, and in others 
 charming by its boldness. Many of the scenes are so 
 beautifully and romantically constructed, that the reader 
 is compelled to render homage to the genius of the 
 poetess; while at the same time he cannot but re- 
 gret the pitch of extravagance to which ideas really 
 poetic are carried. There is one peculiarly fine 
 scene in which human nature, in the shape of a 
 nymph, seeks her beloved, the real Narcissus, or the 
 Christian Saviour. The imagination of the authoress 
 had, doubtless, been influenced by impressions received 
 from the Song of Solomon.* Next to this grand 
 
 * It commences thus: 
 
 Nar. De buscar a Narciso fatigada, 
 sin permitir sossiego a mi pie errante, 
 rii a mi planta cansada, 
 que tantos ha ya dias, que vagante 
 examina las brefias 
 sin poder encontrar mas que las sefias : 
 
 A este Bosque he llegado, donde espero 
 tener noticias tie mi Bien perdido, 
 que si sefias confiero, 
 diziendo esta del Prado lo florido, 
 que producir amenidades tantas, 
 cs por aver besado ya sus Plantas.
 
 556 HISTORY OF 
 
 Auto, the spiritual canciones in the old Spanish style, 
 and some cantatas deserve to be distinguished among 
 the works of Inez de la Cruz. They abound in sen- 
 timental fancies, which, though generally extravagant, 
 often possess beauties which render them highly in- 
 teresting; and according to the notices in the collection, 
 they were all sung in the churches of Mexico. Some 
 latin compositions of the same class are inserted, which 
 seem also to have been written by Inez herself. The 
 writer who may undertake a history of the poetic deve- 
 lopement of the catholic faith, will find his advantage 
 in rendering himself intimately acquainted with these 
 poems. 
 
 GERARDO LOBO. 
 
 In order to be satisfied that Spanish poetry inclined 
 very little to the French, in the early part of the eight- 
 eenth century, it is only necessary to advert to the 
 continued influence of Gongorism at that period, as 
 exemplified in poetic productions, which are in other 
 respects too unimportant to claim any notice. Men 
 of rank in particular, who, following the honourable 
 example of their forefathers, continued to cultivate the 
 arts and sciences, seem to have regarded Gongorism as 
 the only style that was truly gentlemanly and worthy 
 
 quantos dias ha, que he exaininado 
 la Selva flor a flor, y planta a planta 
 gastando congoxado 
 mi triste corac.on en pena tauta, 
 y mi pie fatigando vagamundo 
 liempo, que siglos son, selva, que es Mundo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 557 
 
 of their adoption. Accordingly Eugenio Gerardo Lobo, 
 who was a captain in the Spanish guards, and com- 
 mandant of the town and fortress of Barcelona, com- 
 posed in his leisure hours, many spiritual and temporal 
 poems in the manner of the Gongorists, which, since the 
 author's decease, have been reprinted.* A new edition 
 of these poems, which appeared in 1758, is inscribed by 
 the publisher to a miraculous image of the virgin, with 
 all the usual formality of a dedicatory epistle. In this 
 dedication the holy virgin, in quality of queen of hea- 
 ven, is addressed by the title of "Your Majesty." Thus 
 in the middle of the eighteenth century, when an elegant 
 and learned party had long rendered homage to French 
 literature, the taste of the Spanish public could still 
 endure absurdities of this kind. 
 
 DIFFUSION OF THE FRENCH TASTE LUZAN, HIS 
 
 ART OF POETRY, &C. 
 
 It was, however, in the commencement of the eight- 
 eenth century that the French taste found its way into 
 the Spanish academy; and this circumstance, which 
 was not the eifect of accident, serves to mark a kind 
 of epoch in the history of Spanish poetry. 
 
 Ignacio de Luzan, who has become the authority to 
 whom most Spanish critics refer, must be regarded as 
 the founder of the French school in Spanish literature. 
 
 * The new edition which I have now before me, entitled, Qbras 
 poeticasdel Excellmo. SenorDon Eugenio Gerardo Lobo, Madrid, 
 1758, in 2 vols. quarto, is printed in a style of elegance by no means 
 common in Spanish books of that period.
 
 558 HISTORY OF 
 
 He was a member of the royal Spanish academy, a 
 member of the academy of history, an honorary mem- 
 ber of the academy of painting, sculpture, and architec- 
 ture; and at the same time counsellor of state and 
 minister of commerce. In addition to these dignities, 
 he was distinguished for extraordinary learning; and 
 he was in particular very deeply versed in ancient 
 literature. He studied with great assiduity Aristotle's 
 Art of Poetry and Rhetoric, and also the rhetorical 
 works of Cicero. He was a lover of poetry, and com- 
 posed very elegant verses in his native tongue. Being, 
 as his writings sufficiently prove, a man of candid 
 and enlightened mind, national pride did not deter 
 him from making himself intimately acquainted with 
 French literature; and comparing it without prejudice, 
 under its best point of view, with the literature of his 
 own country. This was certainly a course altogether 
 new for a Spanish author. 
 
 In order to form a just estimate of the spirit of Lu- 
 zan's labours, it is necessary to bear in mind that the the- 
 oretical literature of Spain furnished him with scarcely 
 a single trace of sound criticism; that even those Spanish 
 poets who possessed the justest feeling for poetic beauty, 
 propounded, in their theoretic explanations, the most 
 erroneous notions on the value and the essence of poe- 
 try; that only a critical tact, and an instinctive imitation 
 of good models, had preserved the most correct among the 
 Spanish poets from wanderings of the imagination and 
 perversions of judgment; and that in the age of Luzan, 
 the only art of criticism which was theoretically taught 
 in Spain, had issued from the school of Gongora, and was
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 559 
 
 consequently only calculated to assist the systematic 
 propagation of absurdity and affectation. Moreover, the 
 elegant correctness of the French poets was, in that 
 age, calculated to dazzle by the charm of novelty. 
 Finally, the delicate subtleties whereby the principles 
 of French criticism and of French poetry, since the age 
 of Moliere and Corneille, were derived from the classic 
 school of antiquity, and the moral syllogisms with which 
 those principles were entrenched behind Aristotle's Art 
 of Poetry, as their last bulwark, were well calculated 
 to seduce a man of Luzan's erudition. His par- 
 tiality for the French school, and his efforts to reform 
 the Spanish taste according to the principles of that 
 school, are therefore no proofs of narrowness of mind, 
 though genuine poetic feeling certainly was not within 
 the sphere of his talent. He possessed a delicate sense 
 for elegance and the dress of poetry, but not for the en- 
 ergy and loftiness of poetic genius. It is thus easy to 
 account for his having, with the best intentions, theore- 
 tically misunderstood the essence and design of poetry; 
 and for his also having, in conformity with the spirit of 
 French criticism, confounded the objects of the poet 
 with the duties of the orator and the moralist. 
 
 It was then with the view of fundamentally 
 reforming the literary taste of his countrymen, that 
 Luzan wrote his celebrated Art of Poetry. It was 
 first published at Saragossa in the year 1737, in a 
 folio volume containing five hundred and three pages;* 
 
 * The title is : La Poetica, 6 Reglas de la pocsia en general, 
 y de sus principales especies, por I). Ignaciode Luzan Claramunt 
 de Suelves, y Gurrca, Zaragoza, 1737.
 
 560 HISTORY OP 
 
 and it has ever since been the code to which Spanish 
 critics and authors have referred for the decision of all 
 cases of doubt. Sound judgment and classic erudition 
 are the chief characteristics of the work. The diction 
 too is simple and elegant, and prolixity is avoided, 
 though in order to attain that degree of perspicuity 
 which was necessary for subduing Spanish prejudice, 
 much detail was indispensable. Newly discovered 
 truths must not be looked for in Luzari's Art of Poetry. 
 He even claims credit for the doctrines he developes 
 on account of their venerable antiquity. His theory is 
 declared by himself to be in the main no other than that 
 of Aristotle, the greatest of philosophers. To the neglect 
 of that theory he attributes the multitude of monstrous 
 excrescences by which Spanish literature is disfigured. 
 He therefore conceived he was rendering, though at 
 the risk of being reproached with pedantary,* an im- 
 portant service to the literature of his country, by the 
 restoration and just application of those ancient and 
 only true principles which had long been acknowledged 
 and valued by the critics of foreign nations. In support 
 of his doctrines, Luzan regards the critical observations 
 of various French writers, particularly Rapin, Cor- 
 neille, Crousaz, Lamy, and Madame Dacier, as next 
 in authority to the works of Aristotle. He also availed 
 himself of the Italian works of Gravina and Muratori. 
 These, and other foreign authors, are quoted by name. 
 Spanish readers must, doubtless, have been not a little 
 
 * He says : Yo s, que estas cosas, donde la critica tiene 
 alguna parte, se suelen bautizar de algtinos con el nonibre de 
 biicltillerias.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 561 
 
 surprised to find among the quotations passages from 
 French authors, given in the French language, under 
 the Spanish text. This was an unexampled pheno- 
 menon in Spanish literature; and though a trifling cir- 
 cumstance it serves to prove the increasing influence 
 of the French language in Spain. 
 
 The want of novelty in the principles of Luzan's 
 Art of Poetry, is compensated by the new application 
 of those principles to Spanish literature. The arrange- 
 ment of the theory, which was introduced, also belongs, 
 at least in part, to himself; and in the developement 
 of that theory it is easy to recognize the man of judg- 
 ment, and the perfect master of his subject, though he 
 only improved what had been previously produced. 
 The work is divided into four parts or books. The 
 first developes, according to the notions of the author, 
 the origin, progress, and essence of poetry, (el wigen, 
 progresses y essencia de la poesla.) The second book 
 explains the usefulness and pleasure of poetry, (utili- 
 dad y deleyte de la poesia.) The third book treats, 
 at ample length, of tragedy, comedy, and other kinds 
 of dramatic composition; and the fourth of epic poetry. 
 These chief divisions present, indeed, only the outline 
 of Aristotle's Art of Poetry; and Luzan's work, can 
 no more than its prototype, be regarded as a complete 
 theory of the poetic art. In this respect Luzan went 
 no further than his predecessor, Lopez Pinciano, who 
 had long before equally clearly perceived that the work, 
 called Aristotle's Art of Poetry, was, in fact, merely a 
 fragment.* It is singular enough that Luzan takes 
 
 * See page 323. 
 VOL. i. 2 o
 
 562 HISTORY OF 
 
 no notice of Pinciano's remarkable work ; but whether 
 he was unacquainted with it, or whether he was inten- 
 tionally silent, cannot now be known. Within the boun- 
 daries of his four unsystematic divisions, Luzan pur- 
 sues his own course; but the present is not the proper 
 occasion for accompanying him step by step. As, 
 however, the publication of Luzan's book has been 
 attended by important consequences, it will be proper 
 to explain the manner in which this critic understood 
 the principles of Aristotle, and how he applied them to 
 Spanish literature. 
 
 Luzan in his exposition and application of Aris- 
 totle's theory, takes his departure from the same false 
 principle which misled all the French critics in the 
 age of Louis XIV. He views poetry closely and 
 directly on its moral side; but not in that comprehen- 
 sive manner in which every thing, when contemplated 
 on its moral side, ought to be examined; he regards 
 it merely as an art destined to aid morality, properly 
 so called; and that aid appears to him the more easily 
 given, because he adopts the maxim that the object 
 of poetry is to be at once useful and agreeable.* 
 
 * Thus, he says, Homer intended his Iliad, as a book of moral 
 and political instruction, suited to the most vulgar understanding : 
 
 Con este intento escribio Homero sus Poemas, explicando en 
 ellos d los entendimientos mas bassos las vei'dades de la Moral, de 
 la Politico, y tambien (como muchos sientanj de la Philosophia 
 natural, y de la Theologia. Pues en la Iliada debaxo de la Imagen 
 de la Guerra Troyana, y de las disensiones de los Capitanes Griegos, 
 propuso a la Grecia entonces dividida en vandos un exemplo en que 
 aprendiesse a apaciguar sus discordias, conociendo quan graves 
 danos causaban al publico, y quan necessaria para el sucesso en las 
 empressas era la union, y concordia de los Gefes de un Exercito. 
 Book I.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 563 
 
 Deceived by this gothic idea, which seems to have been 
 founded on the misunderstanding of a verse of Horace, 
 and which is certainly as old as modern literature, it 
 became impossible for him either to attain a just notion 
 of the poetic workings of the imagination, in relation to 
 the beautiful, or to discover the truth of the proposition 
 that such employment of the imagination possesses in 
 itself, under the proper restrictions, a moral value, and 
 ennobles human existence. Having fallen into the com- 
 mon error, Luzan, like the French poets and critics, was 
 capable of taking only a very contracted view of poetic 
 beauty. Genuine simplicity and elegance, and in both a 
 delicate infusion of wit, formed with Luzan, as with the 
 French poets and critics, the summary of all poetic ex- 
 cellence. According to these principles, the imagination 
 was regarded as merely the handmaid of the recreative 
 wit and the moralizing judgment. Genius was to be tied 
 down by rules in conformity with these narrow ideas 
 of the spirit and object of poetry. To satisfy the taste, 
 in the exercise of wit and judgment, was regarded as 
 the highest object of the poet's efforts. The bold flight 
 to a freer and fairer world, whence the true poet derives 
 the spirit of his imaginings, in the imitation of nature, 
 was deemed merely an agreeable accessary. In a word, 
 the genuine essence of poetry was held to be an adven- 
 titious ornament, while its station was usurped by mere 
 natural sentiment, and elegant or ingenious simplicity. 
 
 The useful and the agreeable, in the trivial signifi- 
 cation of the terms, are therefore the verbal pivots 
 around which Luzan's whole poetic theory turns. It 
 is easy to conceive what degree of excellence and truth
 
 564 HISTORY OF 
 
 was to be derived from such principles in their appli- 
 cation to Spanish literature. Luzan zealously supported 
 the cause of good taste against the absurdities of the 
 Gongorists.* He exposed, without reserve, the weak 
 side of Lope de Vega's poetry; and the examples he 
 selects from the works of that poet, in order to shew 
 how far they are at Variance with nature and reason, 
 prove precisely what they are intended to prove. But 
 to admire genius in its wanderings, and even in many 
 cases to prize those wanderings more than a frigid 
 elegance, required a view of the subject which Luzan's 
 mind did not embrace. He was precisely the man to 
 detect and enumerate the errors of the favourite poetry 
 of his country; but he wanted the critical eye which 
 would have enabled him to do justice to its beauties. 
 After denning poetry to be an " imitation of nature, 
 either general or particular, made in verse, for utility 
 or amusement, or for both together,"! he goes on to 
 say, that little plays of wit, such as sonnets, madrigals, 
 
 * The following passage will afford a specimen of Luzan's 
 didactic style: 
 
 Y estos con el vano, inutil aparato de agudezas, y conceptos 
 qfectados, de metaphoras extravaganles, de exprcssiones hinchadas, 
 y de terminos cultos, y nuevos, embelesaron el Vulgo, y aplaudidos 
 de la ignorancia comun, se usurparon la gloria debida a los buenos 
 Poetas. Fue creciendo este desorden sin que nadie intentasse oponer 
 sele. Los ignorantes, no teniendo quien les abriesse los ojos, seguian 
 aciegas la voceria de los aplausos populares, y alababan lo que no 
 entendian, sin mas razon que la de el exemplo ajeno. Book I. 
 
 f He says : Digo, que se podra definir la Poesia, imitacion de 
 la naturaleza o en lo universal, o eu lo particular, hecha en versos, o 
 para utilidad, o para deleite de los hombres, o para uno y otro jun- 
 tamente. Lib. I. cap. 5.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 565 
 
 and songs, may sometimes have no other object than 
 agreeable amusement; but that in poetry of a more 
 important kind, such as comedies, tragedies, and 
 epopee, the useful and the agreeable must necessarily 
 be combined together, that is to say, the work must at 
 once instruct and entertain. Accordingly, when he 
 comes to treat more particularly of dramatic poetiy, 
 he says, " tragedy is such an imitation of an action as 
 is calculated to correct fear, pity, or other passions; 
 but a comedy must be an action so represented as to 
 inspire love of some virtue, or hatred and abhorrence 
 of some .vice or fault."* It is not necessary to parti- 
 cularize the judgments which a critic, armed with 
 these opinions, must have pronounced on the Spanish 
 drama. Luzan not only blamed the Spanish drama- 
 tists for the violation of the Aristotelian unities, on the 
 ground that such violation was contrary to nature; but 
 he even condemned as not moral, or at least not suffi- 
 ciently moral, the genuine nature which he could not 
 avoid recognizing in their works. He, however says, 
 that what is first to be esteemed in the Spanish dra- 
 matists, " is in general their ingenious invention, their 
 
 * The following are his own words: 
 
 Estos dos diversos assuntos, y fines hacen tambien diversa la 
 Fabula Tragica de la Comica, y a entrambas de la Fabula en general : 
 a todas tres es coraun el ser un discurso inventado, 6 una^ccj'on de 
 un hecho: pero con esta diferencia, que la Fabula Tragica ha de ser 
 imitacion de un hecho en modo apto para corregir el temor, y fa 
 compassion, y olras passiones : y la Fabula Comica ha de ser imi- 
 tacion, 6 fiction de un hecho en modo apto para inspirar el amor de 
 afguna virtud, 6 el desprecio, y aborrecimiento de algun vicio, u 
 defecto.Lib. III.
 
 566 HISTORY OF 
 
 extraordinary wit and judgment, admirable and essential 
 qualities in great poets. Lope de Vega merits parti- 
 cular praise for the natural facility of his style, and 
 the adroit way in which he has in many of his come- 
 dies painted the customs and the character of certain 
 persons. I admire in Calderon the dignity of his lan- 
 guage, which without ever being obscure or affected is 
 always elegant."* He proceeds to eulogize the art of 
 ingenious developement displayed in Calderon's dramas 
 of intrigue; and attributes a similar merit to some of 
 the comedies of Antonio de Solis and Moretto. Under 
 the same point of view he judges the writings of the 
 later Spanish dramatists, on which he confers particular 
 commendation on account of their superior regularity .f 
 Next follows a list of the faults, which, according to 
 the above principles, he imputes to the Spanish drama 
 
 * He says : 
 
 Y en fe de que en mi no falta tan debida equidad no pudiendo 
 referir aqui distintamente, y por inenudo los muclios aciertos de 
 nuestros Comicos, porque para esso seria menester escribir un gran 
 volumen a parte; me contentare con decir por mayor, y en general, 
 que en todos comunmente hallo rara ingeniosidad, singular agudeza, 
 y discrecion, prendas mui essenciales para formar grandes poetas, y 
 dignas de admiracion; y auado que en particular alabare siempre 
 en Lope de Vega la natural facilidad de su estylo, y la suma des- 
 treza, con que en muchas de sus Comedias se ven pintadas las cos- 
 tumbres, y el character de algunas personas: en Calderon admiro 
 la nobleza de su locucion, que sin ser jamas obscura, ni afectada, es 
 siempre elegante; &c. Lib. III. 
 
 f Velasquez, under the conviction that nothing could be more 
 correct and striking than Luzau's judgment on the Spanish drama, 
 has quoted his opinions at length, and incorporated them in his 
 History of Spanish Poetry.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 567 
 
 in general, and to the favourite dramatic poets of the 
 Spanish public in particular; and on this subject he 
 makes many just observations. He had good reasons 
 for not venturing to attack the Spanish Autos. He 
 accordingly dismisses them very briefly, pronouncing no 
 literary judgment on them, and merely observes that 
 they are allegorical representations in honour of " the 
 most holy sacrament of the altar." 
 
 Thus did a critic, whose voice a century earlier 
 would scarcely have been heard, systematically under- 
 take to reform Spanish taste. It appears from Luzan's 
 introductory observations that he was either not suffi- 
 ciently acquainted with the history of the poetry of his 
 nation, or had forgotten most essential facts, otherwise he 
 never could have adopted the notion that Spanish taste 
 had degenerated for want of learned critics to open the 
 eyes of the public. The Spaniards of Luzan's age paid 
 no more attention to his Art of Poetry, than their 
 ancestors had bestowed on Lopez Pinciano's, which in- 
 culcated the same principles two hundred years earlier, 
 when the Spanish drama was in its infancy. But the 
 members of the Spanish academy regarded Luzan's 
 book with as much veneration, as if through it the light 
 of pure taste had first been disclosed to Spain; and 
 thus was the academy at length placed in conflict with 
 the public it sought to improve. Whether all the mem- 
 bers of that literary institution concurred in Luzan's 
 plans of critical reformation cannot now be known. This, 
 however, is certain, that nothing was written in defence 
 of the national style, either by an academician or by any 
 other critic or amateur; and all the writers, who, since
 
 568 HISTORY OF 
 
 that period, have by means of critical treatises and new 
 dramas, zealously laboured to improve the dramatic 
 literature of Spain, according to French principles, have 
 been members of the Spanish academy. 
 
 Luzan himself did his utmost to support his theory 
 by some original poetic productions and translations 
 from the French. He translated one of Lachausee's 
 comedies; but with what success it was represented on 
 the Spanish stage is not mentioned. It was, however, 
 followed by various translations of French dramas by 
 other writers. 
 
 Luzan's poetic compositions are certainly honourably 
 distinguished by correctness, facility and elegance, and 
 by what may be termed the poetry of language, from 
 the works of the Gongorists which at that time were 
 not entirely exploded in Spain. They consist of occa- 
 sional poems and poetic trifles, such as might have been 
 written without the aid of genius by any man of culti- 
 vated mind, possessing a certain degree of descriptive 
 talent. Zealous Gallicist as Luzan was, he had too much 
 solidity of taste to attempt an imitation of the structure 
 of French verse in the Spanish language ; and accordingly 
 his contributions to the poetic literature of his country 
 are in the usual national metres. A poem in octaves, 
 which he read on the opening of the academy of 
 painting, sculpture and architecture, in 1752, fifteen 
 years before the publication of his Art of Poetry, re- 
 ceived particular approbation. He read poetic compo- 
 sitions of the same kind on several occasions. Some of 
 his odes and canciones were not published till after his de- 
 cease; among the number are two on the re-taking of the
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 569 
 
 Fortress of Oran;* an occasional poem, entitled, the Judg- 
 ment of Paris, which is prettily conceived, and elegantly 
 
 * The two opening stanzas of this poem, will afford a sufficient 
 specimen of the poetic diction of the ingenious author: 
 
 Ahora es tiempo, Euterpe, que templemos 
 el arco y cuerdas, y de nuestro canto 
 se oyga la voz por todo el emisferio. 
 Las vencedoras sienes coronemos 
 del sagrado laurel al que es espanto 
 del infiel Mauritano al Marte Ibero. 
 Ya para quando quiero 
 los himnos de alegria y las canciones, 
 premio no vil que el coro de las nueve 
 a las fatigas debe, 
 y al valor de esforzados corazones ? 
 Para quando estara, Musas, guardado 
 aquel furor que bebe 
 con las hondas suavisimas mezclando 
 de la Castalia fuente al labio solo 
 de quien tuvo al nacer propicio A polo? 
 
 Una selva de pinos y de abetes 
 cubri6 la mar, angusta a tanta quilla: 
 para henchir tanta vela falto el viento. 
 De flamulas el ayre y gallardetes 
 poblado diviso desde la orilla 
 pdlido el Africano y sin aliento : 
 del humedo elemento 
 dividiendo los liquidos cristales, 
 y blandiendo Neptuno el gran Tridente, 
 alzo ayrado la frente, . 
 de ovas coronado y de corales. 
 Quieu me agovia con tanta pesadumbre 
 la espalda? Hay quin intente 
 poner tal vez en nueva servidumbre 
 mi libre imperio ? o por ventura alguno 
 me la quiere usurpar ? No soy Neptuno ?
 
 570 HISTORY OF 
 
 executed;* and some poems imitated from the Greek of 
 Anacreon and Sappho.t Luzan died in the year 1754. 
 
 .MAYANS Y SISCAR BLAS NASSARE. 
 
 Among the contemporaries of Luzan, the royal 
 librarian, Gregorio Mayans y Siscar, is entitled to praise, 
 
 * The following' three stanzas from this poem will serve to shew 
 the manner in which Luzan combined his poetic subject with the 
 peculiarities requisite in a poem written on a particular occasion : 
 
 Qual fabulosa antiguedad pintaba 
 al padre libre, 6 al Dardano Xanto, 
 quando sobre las ondas se asomaba 
 a oir de algun mortal queja 6 quebranto ; 
 6 como al dios Neptuno figuraba 
 Musa gentil en su fingido canto, 
 quando iba por el mar con Deyopea, 
 Cimodqce, Nerine, y Galatea. 
 
 Tal Manzanares a mi vista ofrece 
 espectaculo nuevo y agradable ; 
 crece mi suspension, mi pasmo crece 
 al ver que aquel anciano venerable 
 conmigo desde el agua a hablar empieze 
 con apacible voz y rostro afable : 
 fielmente su discurso no prolijo 
 couserva la memoria; asi me dijo : 
 
 Estrangero pastor, que en mi ribera 
 buscas tranquilidad a tus fatigas, 
 v6te otra vez, no es este la primera, 
 y se tu nombre ya, sin que lo digas : 
 las bellas Ninfas de esta undosa esfera 
 Ulricas son de tu zainpona amigas : 
 zampona y voz antes de ahora oyeron ; 
 antes tambien a entrambas aplaudieron. 
 
 f These, and the other inedita of Luzan, are included in the 
 second and fourth volumes of the Parnaso Espanol.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 571 
 
 for having, in biographical, literary and rhetorical 
 works, furnished many hints and notices which throw 
 light on the history of Spanish poetry and eloquence. 
 His collection of detached writings on the History of the 
 Spanish Language, (Origenes de laLengua Espanola)., 
 embraces more than the title promises; and among other 
 things contains a well written discourse exhorting authors 
 to pursue the true idea of Spanish eloquence.* But his 
 diffuse Art of Rhetoric,! which he published twenty 
 years later than the work last mentioned, is merely a 
 formal compilation of the ideas and criticisms of Aris- 
 totle and modern writers. It might with equal pro- 
 priety be entitled an art of poetry. The examples 
 given from the poets are long and numerous. 
 
 Bias Antonio Nassare, prelate and academician, la- 
 boured to attain the same kind of merit. He was, 
 however, so blinded by his predilection for French lite- 
 rature, that he considered the eight comedies of Cer- 
 vantes, which he first restored to light, as parodies on 
 the style of Lope de Vega4 
 
 MONTIANO'S TRAGEDIES IN THE FRENCH STYLE. 
 
 Agustin de Montiano y Luyando, who was coun- 
 sellor of state, director of the academy of history, 
 and a member of the Spanish academy, undertook to 
 
 * Oracion en que se exhorta a seguir la verdadera idea de la 
 eloquencia Espanola. It is contained in the first volume of the 
 ten quoted Origenes of this meritorious author. 
 
 f Rhetorica de Don Gregorio Mayans y Siscar. Valencia, 
 1757, 2 volumes, 8vo. 
 
 $ See page 351 .
 
 572 HISTORY OF 
 
 introduce regular tragedy on the Spanish stage accord- 
 ing to Luzan's principles. With this view he wrote 
 two tragedies, the one entitled Virginia, and the other 
 Ataulpho, in which, with the exception of the rhyme- 
 less iambics, which he substituted for the French 
 Alexandrines, he has most anxiously endeavoured to 
 fulfil all the conditions required by French criticism.* 
 Both these tragedies are remarkable for pure and cor- 
 rect language ; for the cautious avoidance of false meta- 
 phor; and for a certain natural style of expression, which 
 is sometimes wanting even in the dramas of Corneille 
 and Racine. They are, however, formed on the French 
 model with such scrupulous nicety that they might 
 be mistaken for translations.t It is scarcely necessary 
 
 * See Dieze on Velasquez p. 265. Lessing has made the 
 Germans acquainted with Montiano's Virginia. Though Lessing 
 knew little of Spanish dramatic literature, even at second hand, he 
 at that time took an interest in every tragic Virginia, because he 
 was engaged in a Virginia of his own, which he ultimately converted 
 into his Emilia Galotti. 
 
 f In the fifth act, when the catastrophe is near its developement, 
 Virginia discourses in the following manner with Icilius, her betrothed 
 bridegroom: 
 
 Virg. Casi, Senor, mi gratitud quisiera 
 
 no haberte ya elegido por mi dueiio; 
 
 porque fina lo hiciesse el alma ahora. 
 
 Tode el honor, la libertad me vale, 
 
 que aun es mas beneficio que la vida. 
 
 Por tu esfuerzo lo gozo, y volnntaria 
 
 de tu dominio la declare sierva : 
 
 sera la possession con que te brindo 
 
 legitima, Senor, si la acetares. 
 Icil. Que corazon, Senora, habra tan duro, 
 
 que a ser feliz con tigo se resista ?
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 573 
 
 to mention, that in these tragedies the Aristotelian 
 unities are rigidly observed, and that in the Virginia 
 the father does not stab his daughter on the stage. 
 
 To the play of Virginia which was published in 
 1750, some years before Ataulpho, Montiano annexed 
 a historical critical treatise on Spanish tragedy.* 
 Patriotism had certainly some share in this treatise; 
 for in the first place, Montiano wished historically to 
 defend his countrymen against the reproach that no 
 Spanish tragedy had ever been written; and secondly, 
 he wished in his Virginia to furnish the first experiment 
 of a Spanish tragedy, without violation of dramatic 
 rules, though he did not pretend to set up that specimen 
 as a model. He states, with all due modesty, that his 
 work cost him much labour, and expresses a hope that 
 his countrymen will be induced to imitate his example, 
 to disregard the approbation of the ignorant multitude, 
 and to strive to do better than he had done.f In a 
 
 Assi huhiesse logrado mi fortuna, 
 con la ruina total de tu enemigo, 
 librarte de una vez del triste ahogo. 
 Pero ui puede unir a. mis parciales, 
 sino es a los que vs que me acompanan. 
 Ni de Valerio s, ni se de Horacio, 
 tal vez por ignorar nuestro conflicto, 
 6 por la angustia, y brevedad del tiempo. 
 
 * Discurso sobre las trage.dias Espaiiolas, de D. Agustin de 
 Montiano y Luyando, Sfc. Madrid 1750, in 8vo. published along 
 with Virginia. 
 
 f The following are his own words : 
 
 Por mi ofrezco al publico La Virginia; Tragedia que he pro- 
 curatlo trabajar con algun estudio, y desuelo : y si logro que no se
 
 574 HISTORY OF 
 
 preface to his tragedy of Ataulpho he enlarges on the 
 same theme. 
 
 VELASQUEZ. 
 
 Among the number of the Spanish Gallicists must 
 likewise be included that intelligent writer Luis Joseph 
 de Velasquez. His History of Spanish Poetry, (Ori- 
 genes de la Poesia Espanola)., which was published in 
 1754, proves that the Spaniards had then, in a great 
 measure, forgotten their national literature. Velasquez 
 unquestionably took considerable pains to collect, with 
 critical spirit, those facts which were probably better 
 known to him than to any of his contemporaries; and 
 yet he has, upon the whole, obscured rather than 
 elucidated the history of Spanish poetry. His criticism 
 is quite in the French style, with a slight tincture of 
 Spanish patriotism. Velasquez was a member of the 
 French academy of inscriptions and belles lettres. 
 
 Not a single Spanish poet of distinguished merit 
 flourished during the first half of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury. That such a barrenness should have succeeded 
 so great a fertility of talent, is a circumstance which the 
 exhaustion of the national spirit does not sufficiently 
 explain. It is also necessary to take into the account 
 the conflict maintained between favour shewn to the 
 
 desprecie, sera quanta ventaja puedo proponerme, y esperar por 
 galardon de mifatiga: mas el inducir a mis compalriotas, a que 
 imiten este rumbo, y a que le mejoren (como le sera mas facil que a 
 mi a qualquiera regular ingenioj cabe unicamente en las facultades 
 de la providencia, segun la obstinacion de los muchos que perma- 
 necen alistados en las centurias del ignorante vulgo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 575 
 
 French style and the demands of the Spanish public. 
 Supported by national approbation, the Spanish poetry 
 had gloriously flourished; but it perished when new 
 arbiters of taste, who judged according to foreign prin- 
 ciples, could with impunity treat the Spanish public 
 as an ignorant multitude.* In this collision Spanish 
 eloquence sustained no immediate injury. The in- 
 fluence of the French style, could indeed at that time 
 do it no injury, for at the commencement of the eight- 
 eenth century, French prose was fitted to serve as a 
 model for clearness, precision, facility and elegance. 
 But no aspiring spirit now animated Spanish authors. 
 Books written in correct prose were produced in suffi- 
 cient numbers; and yet no work appeared which de- 
 served particular distinction for rhetorical merit, or 
 which contributed in any degree to invigorate the 
 literature of Spain. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONCLUDING PERIOD OF THE HISTORY OF SPANISH 
 POETRY AND ELOQUENCE. 
 
 The Spanish writers who lived about the middle of 
 the eighteenth century, began to be ashamed of the 
 unworthy bondage which had severed them from all 
 common feeling with the public taste. It is doubtful 
 whether at this particular period, the nation in general 
 
 * El ignorante vulgo, is the favourite expression of all the 
 Spanish Gallicists, whenever they speak of the Spanish public.
 
 576 HISTORY OF 
 
 began once more to be roused to a sense of its own 
 importance; but this is certain, that a literary patriotism 
 imperceptibly revived within the narrow circle of Spa- 
 nish authorship. Even several members of the Spanish 
 academy proved that they were no longer to be satis- 
 fied with mere French elegance. The works of the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were again received 
 into favour. Men of superior talents arose, who en- 
 deavoured to combine Spanish genius with French 
 elegance; and the literature of Spain began to acquire 
 a new life. 
 
 LA HUERTA. 
 
 One of the first who openly attacked the party 
 of the Gallicists, was the patriotic Vicente Garcia de 
 la Huerta, a member of the Spanish academy, and 
 librarian to the king. None but a man whose lite- 
 rary judgments were accredited by the same honour- 
 able posts which gave peculiar weight to those of the 
 Gallicists, could at that time hope to oppose with success 
 the fashionable opinion concerning Spanish literature. 
 La Huerta, however, undertook a dangerous task, for 
 with every talent and right feeling for genuine poetry, 
 he was by no means a skilful critic. In systematic 
 coolness of judgment he was incompetent to enter the 
 lists with men of Luzan's critical ability. The true 
 principles on which Spanish poetry was to be defended 
 against French criticism, were at that period not at all 
 understood; and La Huerta was not the man to dis- 
 cover them. But his feeling acted in the place of his 
 judgment. It groped on when abandoned by theory,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 577 
 
 and rejected every theory to which it could not be re- 
 conciled. Conscious of his deficiency, La Huerta was 
 extremely diffident whenever his opinions came into 
 collision with those of Luzan and other academicians. 
 But when his task was to reply to the observations of 
 French critics, his patriotic enthusiasm knew no bounds. 
 In exercising the law of retaliation, he attacked the 
 admired Coryphaei of the French Parnassus with a 
 grossness which would cast a stigma on his reputation 
 for taste, did not his other works sufficiently prove 
 him to have been unjust, only through the excess of a 
 just indignation. Fortunately for La Huerta, it was 
 not until his works had obtained decided credit that he 
 openly avowed his hostility to the Gallicists. Among 
 the poems which first conferred celebrity on his name, 
 is a piscatory eclogue, which he read at a distribution 
 of academic prizes in the year 1760. This purely 
 occasional effusion is written in the national lyric style 
 of the eclogues of the best period of Spanish poetry, 
 and is free from orientalisms.* Three years afterwards, 
 
 * The beautiful commencement of this Egloga piscatoria may 
 be transcribed hefe : 
 
 Bramaba el ronco viento, 
 y de nubes el sol obscurecido 
 horror al mar indomito anadia : 
 el liquido elemento 
 de ray os y relampagos herido 
 contra su proprio natural ardia. 
 Huye la luz del dia 
 que el fuego interrumpido sostituye. 
 De sus cabanas huye 
 el Pescador al monte mas vecino ; 
 VOL. T. 2 P
 
 578 HISTORY OF 
 
 on a similar occasion, he read a mythological poem 
 in stanzas. These were succeeded by other poems, 
 also of occasional origin, by which La Huerta dis- 
 armed the critics, who might have been disposed to 
 assert that he was destitute of the necessary feeling for 
 French elegance. The romances by which he sought to 
 give to that style of national poetry a new existence 
 in the elegant world, seem to have been written at 
 various periods of his life. Besides lyric romances, 
 which had not entirely lost their ancient consideration, 
 he composed narrative romances in the old style. In one 
 of the latter compositions his success is remarkable.* 
 
 y solo en tan violento torbellino 
 rotas quedan del mar en las orillas 
 jarcias, entenas, arboles y quillas. 
 
 Objeto son funesto 
 y embarazo tambien de las arenas 
 naufragos lenos y humedo velamen ; 
 y en elemento opuesto 
 truecan los hombres aguas de horror llenas, 
 y las Focas la seca arena hum n. 
 Con pavoroso examen 
 advierte, destrozado su barquilla 
 en la tragica orilla 
 
 ALCION ; y en el monte, aun mal seguro 
 recela GLAUCO ; porque el golfo duro 
 abandonar su antiguo seno quiere, 
 y huir del Cielo, que le azota y hiere. (_ 
 
 * The commencement of this romance calls to mind the com- 
 positions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries : 
 
 El Africano alarido 
 y el ronco son de las armas 
 en los valles de Gumiel 
 era saludos del Alba :
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 579 
 
 He likewise revived the Spanish custom of composing 
 poetic glosses; and some of his sonnets deserve the 
 highest praise. That he was well acquainted with latin 
 and French poetry is evident from his metrical trans- 
 lations of some of Horace's odes, and of several frag- 
 ments from the works of the French poets.* 
 
 But he had greater difficulties to overcome in his 
 endeavours to restore the Spanish drama to its former 
 lustre. He was not so great a poet as to be able to 
 advance, accompanied by French elegance, in the same 
 course in which Calderon had stopped. Calderon's 
 dramas were, however, still performed with approba- 
 tion, in spite of all that was said by the critics, and La 
 
 Que a ser testigo salia 
 
 )fi tod ..;:;: . 8 -. .- c 
 
 (It; las victorias, que alcanzan 
 
 contra los infieles lunas 
 las cuchillas Castellanas : 
 
 Quando el valeroso Hizan 
 sobre una fogosa alfana, 
 regalo de Hacn, Alcaide 
 de Font-Hacen y la Adrada : 
 
 Desnudo el nervioso brazo, 
 y el albornoz a la espalda, 
 esgrime lo muerte.en una 
 Tunecina cimitarra. 
 
 Crece la sangrienta lid, 
 y el suelo de sangre empapan 
 las azagayas Moriscag 
 y las Espaiiolas lanzas. 
 
 * These and the other poems extant by La Huerta, are in- 
 cluded in the Obras poeticas de D. Vicente Garcia de la Huerta, 
 &c. Madrid, 1779, in 2 volumes octavo. 
 
 2 P 21
 
 580 HISTORY OF 
 
 Huerta wrote for one of these pieces a prologue (loa) 
 in the old style. At length when he thought he could 
 rely on the favour of a certain portion of the public, he 
 came forward with his first essay in tragic art. His 
 Raquel, (Rachel), a tragedy, which was intended to 
 combine the old Spanish forms with the dignity of the 
 French tragic style, without being subject to the French 
 rules of dramatic art, was first performed at the court 
 theatre of Madrid in 1778. For upwards of half a 
 century no new drama had been received with such 
 enthusiasm by the Spanish public. It was represented 
 at every theatre in Spain; and even before it was 
 printed upwards of two thousand copies were taken, 
 and many sent as far as America.* The Gallicists in 
 Spain now rose in opposition to La Huerta; but he 
 replied to them in a tone of contemptuous haughtiness, 
 while he always observed the strictest modesty in ad- 
 dressing the public. 
 
 La Huerta's Rachel is not a master-piece; but it is 
 a noble testimony of the poetic national feeling of an 
 ingenious writer, who exerted his utmost endeavours to 
 restore the credit of the Spanish drama. The subject 
 is taken from the old history of Castile. King Al- 
 phonso VIII. who has resigned his heart and his royal 
 dignity to the fair Jewess Rachel, is implored by the peo- 
 ple and the nobility to shake off the dishonourable yoke. 
 He hesitates between love and duty, until the spirit of 
 discontent, which has been with difficulty repressed, 
 breaks forth in rebellion. While the king is out hunting, 
 
 * See the preface to the before-mentioned Obras.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 581 
 
 Rachel is surprised in the palace, and her base coun- 
 sellor, Ruben, murders her to save his own life ; which 
 he only preserves until the arrival of the king, by 
 whom he is killed in return. The tragedy is di- 
 vided, according to the old practice, into three jor- 
 nadasi but, in other respects, it is obvious that the 
 author took considerable pains to conform, under certain 
 limitations, to the French rules of dramatic art. The 
 dialogue proceeds uniformly in iambic blank verse, 
 without the introduction of sonnets, or any other kind 
 of metre. All irregular theatrical pageantry is avoided. 
 The language, upon the whole, preserves a dignified 
 character; and in several scenes the tragic pathos is 
 complete.* But the composition fails in the distri- 
 
 * tor example, in the following speech of Rachel. The king 
 has left her ; and she meditates on the probable consequences of his. 
 absence: 
 
 El cieTo os guarde. 
 
 Quanto, ay de mi, que os ausenteis, ine pesa! 
 
 Que es esto, congojado pecho mio ? 
 
 Corazon, que temor te desalienta ? 
 
 Q.ue" sustos te atribulan ? Ya Castilla, 
 
 a mi arbitrio no rinde la obediencia? 
 
 Pues, corazon, qu graves sobresaltos 
 
 son los que te combaten, y te aquejan ? 
 
 Sin duda debe ser, que corao el cielo 
 
 no te crio para tan alta esfera, 
 
 como es el Solio regio, mal se halla 
 
 tu natural humilde en su grandeza. 
 
 Tomen exemplo en mi los ambiciosos, 
 
 y en mis temores el sobervio advierta, 
 
 que quien se eleva sobre su fortuua, 
 
 por su desdicha, y por su raal se eleva.
 
 582 HISTOBY OF 
 
 bution of the characters. Only a feeble light is thrown 
 on Rachel, the heroine of the tragedy. Her counseUor, 
 Ruben, is a stupid contemptible Jew, whose lamenta- 
 tions in the moment of danger border closely on the 
 ludicrous;* and the weak character of the king, who 
 changes his resolutions on every new impression, fre- 
 quently approaches caricature. The author has, how- 
 ever, succeeded admirably in exhibiting a striking con- 
 trast in the characters of two Spanish grandees: the 
 one is a base courtier, named Manrique; while the other, 
 Garcia de Castro, in all his sentiments and actions is a 
 correct representative of the spirit of ancient Spanish 
 chivalry in its purest dignity. In the patriotic por- 
 traiture of this character, La Huerta's whole soul is 
 developed ;t and the national spirit which pervades the 
 
 Mas como asi me agravio ueciamente ? 
 
 Mi valor, mi hermosura, las estrellas, 
 
 el cielo inismo, que dotu mi ahutt 
 
 de tan noble ambicion, y la fomenta, 
 
 no confirman mi merito ? &c. 
 
 * He utters the following exclamations, while, at the same 
 time, he endeavours to escape from the perils by which he is 
 surrounded: 
 
 O horror! o muerte! o tierra! 
 
 como a este desdichado no sepultas ? 
 
 Tus profundas entranas manifiesta, 
 
 y esconde en ellas mi cansada vida: 
 
 librame de los riesgos, que me cercan. 
 
 Que susto! que pesar! Nadie se duele 
 
 de mi ? 
 
 f In one of the first scenes, Garcia de Castro avows his 
 sentiments to the king with the spirit of a true knight and the 
 fidelity of a subject:
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 583 
 
 tragedy, doubtless contributed in no small degree to 
 ensure its celebrity. 
 
 La Huerta's tragedy of Agamemnon Vengado, is a 
 work of trivial importance compared with Rachel. It 
 is founded on the prose translation of the Electra of 
 Sophocles, which Perez de Oh' va produced two hundred 
 years earlier;* but it is a remarkable, and by no means 
 unsuccessful attempt to unite the romantic and the 
 classic forms, according to the conditions required by a 
 modern audience. La Huerta wrote his Agamemnon 
 in compliance with the wishes of some ladies of Madrid, 
 who were desirous of seeing a tragedy in the Grecian 
 costume. The place of the chorus is, after the French 
 manner, supplied by a female confidante. Part of the 
 scenes are entirely taken from Sophocles, others are those 
 of the original remoulded, and some are new. From 
 
 Esa voz, que de escandalo y desorden 
 el viento puebla, o noble Alfonso Octavo, 
 Monarca de Caslilla, quien por siglos 
 cuente el tiempo feliz de tu Reynado : 
 esa voz, que en el Templo originada 
 profano del lugar los fueros santos, 
 y de la Magestad los privilegios 
 tan injuriosamente ha vulnerado; 
 si el fin, si los intentos se examinan, 
 y el zelo que la anima contemplamos, 
 aliento es del amor mas encendido, 
 voz del afecto mas acrisolado. 
 Voz es de tus Vasallos, que de serlo 
 testimonio jamas dieron mas claro, 
 que quaudo mas traydores te parecen, 
 que quanto los estas mas infamando, &c. 
 * See page 308.
 
 584 HISTORY OF 
 
 the beginning to the end of the tragedy, the poetic 
 language is admirably preserved; and the alternation 
 of the rhymeless iambics with octaves and lyric metres, 
 completes the beauty of the whole.* 
 
 Finally, La Huerta adapted Voltaire's Zaire to the 
 Spanish stage. After he had unquestionably acquired 
 the right of pronouncing a decided opinion on the lite- 
 rature of his country, he published his Theatro Hes- 
 pafiol; and in his prefaces to some of the volumes of that 
 collection, he launched forth his invectives against the 
 French drama.f La Huerta's Theatro Hespanol is a 
 
 * The narrative passages in octaves are excellent. For 
 example: 
 
 Los jovenes de Crisa valerosos, 
 
 con la paz de la Grecia mal contentos, 
 
 pues Troya ya rendida, a sus fogosos 
 
 espiritus faltaban los fomentos, 
 
 para ejercer sus brios generosos, 
 
 y noble alarde hacer de sus alien tos, 
 
 disponen una fiesta, en que se encierra 
 
 retrato vivo de mentida guerra. 
 Previenense caballos y libreas, 
 
 ajustanse divisas y colores : 
 
 a aquel adornan joyas y preseas, 
 
 este copia al escudo sus amores, 
 
 Quanto oro dan las minas Europeas, 
 
 y quantos brotan en Oriente olores, 
 
 eran a la lucida compania 
 
 adorno, gusto, brillo y bizarria, &c. 
 
 f This collection which has been so frequently alluded to in 
 the course of the present work, is entitled: Theatro Hespanol, 
 por Don Vicente Garcia de la Huerta, Madrid, 1785, sq. in 16 
 volumes, small octavo. The 16th volume, which contains some cri- 
 tical notices in the form of an appendix, was published very lately.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 585 
 
 classic selection from the incalculable store of Spanish 
 dramas ; and the selection is certainly well made con- 
 sistently with the plan which he had adopted. With 
 the view of marking his hostility towards the Gallicists, 
 he selected only those Spanish comedies which are par- 
 ticularly distinguished for elegant ingenuity in point of 
 invention and execution. Thus upwards of three- 
 fourths of the whole collection consists of comedias de 
 capa y espada, chiefly from the pen of Calderon. But 
 for this very reason the work does not properly fulfil its 
 title, as it exhibits the Spanish theatre only under one 
 point of view. La Huerta has not even selected a single 
 piece from Lope de Vega, because the plays of that great 
 dramatist were not sufficiently elegant for his purpose : 
 neither has he granted a place to the most beautiful 
 of Calderon's heroic comedies, being deterred from in- 
 serting them by their irregularity; and in conformity 
 with the plan he had laid down, he could with still less 
 propriety admit an Auto into his collection. By this 
 work he, however, attained the objects he had in view, 
 which were to restore the Spanish national comedy to 
 its honourable place in literature, and to vent his feelings 
 of indignation against the Gallicists. He treats the 
 Italian authors, who had openly avowed their disapproval 
 
 The 15th volume, which bears the title of Suplemento, comprises 
 the tragic dramas of La Huerta himself; and the 14th volume presents 
 a choice selection of burlesque interludes. The work also contains 
 an alphabetic list of most of the dramas in the Spanish language, 
 which is extremely useful. The title is characteristic from the 
 substitution of the word Hespanol for Espanol, according to its 
 derivation from Hispanus.
 
 586 HISTORY OF 
 
 of the Spanish drama, with no less severity than he had 
 evinced towards the French critics. Quadrio, Tira- 
 boschi, Bettinelli, and other writers " of the same breed," 
 (de la misma raza), are denounced by La Huerta as 
 malignant and envious critics. He accuses Signorelli, 
 of " notorious falsehood." " Childish egotism," he says, 
 is the soul of French criticism. The icy coldness of 
 French tragedy was with him more offensive than the 
 neglect of rules in the Spanish drama. Racine, the 
 favourite tragic writer of the French schoool, owed his 
 fame solely to the " tedious scrupulosity," which he 
 observed in composing his tragedies, but not to the 
 " masculine vigour of genius, or the fire and spirit of 
 fancy." The " natural sublimity" of Spanish genius 
 could not be restrained by the fetters of the French 
 school. Luzan, though in many respects a very esti- 
 mable author, was imbued with prejudices. Velasquez, 
 with all his delicacy and erudition had fallen into the 
 errors and misconceptions of Luzan. In general, Spa- 
 nish poetry had, like the Spanish nation, a certain 
 oriental character, which it was fit it should preserve. 
 French imitations of Spanish dramas of intrigue are 
 declared perfectly insupportable; and, in particular, the 
 Marriage of Figaro, " a comedy altogether contemp- 
 tible," (despreciada en todas sus partes*) 
 
 La Huerta remained a debtor to the public for the 
 critical grounds of these denunciations, which called 
 forth the bitterest answers from the adverse party, and 
 
 * These expressions are collected from the prefaces to some 
 of the volumes of La Huerta's Thcatro Hespanol. It is not neces- 
 sary to give precise references to passages.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 587 
 
 also for a reply to his opponents. He asserted briefly 
 and bluntly that those opponents were merely " a lu- 
 dicrous pack of cynical and drivelling critics, the ve- 
 hicles of envy, ignorance, and imbecility." What might 
 not this patriotic author have effected had he been as 
 energetic in his reasoning as in his abuse! He never- 
 theless appears to have contributed more than any of 
 his contemporaries to produce a re-action in Spanish 
 literature, which was indispensable to give to that 
 literature the opportunity of again acquiring a poetic 
 elevation. 
 
 SEDANO. 
 
 The publication of the choice Spanish poems, col- 
 lected by Don Juan Joseph Lopez de Sedano, was a 
 circumstance very favourable to the restoration of the 
 poetry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to its 
 proper place in Spanish literature. This work appeared 
 in the year 1768, under the title of the Parnaso Es- 
 pafiol; but there certainly would have been little diffi- 
 culty in producing a better collection. The notions 
 which Sedano entertained respecting religion and mo- 
 rality have induced him to mingle not a few bad and 
 indifferent productions with poems of superior merit; 
 and it was by no means a happy idea to reprint long 
 translations, such, for example, as the whole of Tasso's 
 Amynta, when so much of the rich fruit of the original 
 Spanish stock remained ungathered. But the under- 
 taking was praiseworthy ; and the biographical and lite- 
 rary notices annexed to the work rendered the Spanish
 
 588 HISTORY OF 
 
 public once more acquainted with estimable authors 
 whom it ought never to have forgotten. 
 
 .<<'/- ".v,u;-,v 
 
 YRIARTE. 
 
 . 
 
 Tomas de Yriarte, general archivist to the high coun- 
 cil of war, and translator to one of the ministerial de- 
 partments of state in Madrid, combined French elegance 
 with the ancient forms of Spanish poetry in a manner very 
 different from that of La Huerta. After he had acquired 
 a certain degree of reputation by several translations of 
 French dramas, by original poems in the latin language, 
 and various other literary labours, he obtained more 
 decidedly the favour of the elegant portion of the Spa- 
 nish public by his Fabulas Liter arias., (Literary Fa- 
 bles), which were first printed in the year 1782.* 
 Yriarte conceived the novel idea of rendering literary 
 truths, many of which may at the same time be re- 
 garded as moral truths, themes for fables in the style 
 of jEsop; and. of composing these fables in every variety 
 of verse which was in any way applicable to them. No 
 classical fabulist had hitherto appeared in Spanish litera- 
 ture. Yriarte's fables are, however, not only remarkable 
 for their classic language and excellent versification, but 
 they possess a peculiar charm of style which may be mis- 
 taken for a happy imitation of the manner of Lafontaine, 
 though it is to be traced to a different source. Like Lafon- 
 taine, Yriarte had a true feeling for that delicate harmony 
 
 * They are included in the first volume of the Coleccion de 
 Obras en verso y prosa de D. Tomas de Yriarte, Madrid, 1787, 
 8vo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 589 
 
 which is so indispensable to the fabulist, and for that 
 spirited infantine style, which, in a graceful prattling, 
 playfully unfolds the truth as it were intuitively, and, 
 as it ought always to be disclosed, in apologue, without 
 the slightest trace of didactic design. He had no need 
 to turn to the writings of foreigners in quest of the lite- 
 rary elements of such a style. It was only necessary to 
 combine the exquisite simplicity of many old Spanish ro- 
 mances and songs, with the true spirit of jfEsopian fable, 
 and his narrative style could not fail to assume the tone 
 in which it so successfully rivalled the manner of La- 
 fontaine. Accordingly among Yriarte's sixty-seven lite- 
 rary fables, those which are composed in redondillas and 
 other kinds of Spanish national measures, possess the su- 
 periority in point of graceful execution. Some are not 
 remarkable for their didactic merits. But even when 
 the idea, or what is styled the moral, presents no parti- 
 cular interest, Yriarte's fables please by the graceful hand- 
 ling of the subject: an example of this may be seen in 
 the fable of the Ass, which finding a flute in a meadow, 
 accidentally breathes into the lip-hole with his nose, and 
 on hearing the tone of the instrument, persuades him- 
 self that nature has qualified him for a musician.* 
 
 * Fables cannot be judged of from fragments; therefore the 
 subjoined, which is in the popular song form, is transcribed at length. 
 
 Este fabulilla, 
 Saiga bien, 6 mal, 
 Me ha occurrido ahora 
 Por casualidad. 
 
 Cerca de unos prados 
 Que hai en mi Lugar
 
 590 HISTORY OF 
 
 Whether Yriarte wholly invented these fables, is a ques- 
 tion which can only be decided by laborious investiga- 
 tion. One of the number, in so far as regards the lesson 
 or moral, precisely resembles Gellert's fable of the 
 Painter in Athens.* Yet this circumstance by no 
 means warrants the inference that it is borrowed. 
 
 Pasaba un Borrico 
 For casualidad. 
 
 Una flauta en ellos 
 Hall6, que un Zagal, 
 Se dexo olvidada 
 For casualidad. 
 
 Acercose a olerla 
 1 dicho animal; 
 Y dio un resoplido 
 For casualidad. 
 
 En la flauta el aire 
 Sehubo de colar; 
 Y sono la flauta 
 For casualidad. 
 
 Oh! dixo el Borrico : 
 Qu6 bien se tocar! 
 Y diran que es mala 
 La im'isica asnal. 
 
 Sin reglas del arte 
 Borriquitos hai 
 Que una vez aciertan 
 For casualidad. 
 
 * This fable may likewise be inserted here. It is particularly 
 remarkable for the happy- employment of the redondillas. 
 
 Un oso con que la vida 
 Ganaba un Piamontes 
 La no mui bien aprendida 
 Danza ensayaba en dos pies.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 591 
 
 Considerable praise has been bestowed on a di- 
 dactic poem by Yriarte, entitled Music;* but with all 
 the merits which this production may in other respects 
 possess, it is no less deficient in the true characteristics 
 of a didactic poem, than are the earlier essays of the 
 Spaniards in the same class. It is judiciously conceived, 
 executed with the requisite elegance of language, and 
 
 Queriendo hacer de persona, 
 Dixo a. una Mona : Que tal ? 
 Era perita la Mona, 
 Y respond! ole: Mui mal. 
 
 Yo creo, replied el Oso, 
 Que me haces poco favor. 
 Pues que? mi aire no es garboso? 
 No hago el paso con primor? 
 
 Estaba el Cerdo presente, 
 Y dixo: Bravo! bienva! 
 Bailarin mas excelente 
 No se ha visto, ni vera. 
 
 Echo el Oso, al oir esto, 
 Sus cuentas alia entre si, 
 Y con ademan modesto 
 Hubo de exclamar asi : 
 
 Quando me desaprobaba 
 La Mona, Hegu a dudar: 
 Mas ya que el Cerdo me alaba, 
 Mui mal debo de bailar. 
 
 Guarde para su regalo 
 Esta sentencia un Autor : 
 Si el sabio no aprueba, malo ! 
 Si el necio aplaude, peor ! 
 
 * La musica, poema. It has been several times printed. In 
 the Obras de D. Tomas Yriarte it occupies one half of the first 
 volume.
 
 592 HISTORY OF 
 
 contains many passages which are by no means destitute 
 of poetic beauty.* But the systematic form is not dis- 
 guised by poetic composition. Instead of diffusing a 
 poetic interest over the truths which were to be incul- 
 cated, and presenting even the instruction as a picture 
 of the imagination, according to the proper though sel- 
 dom realized idea of a didactic poem, Yriarte, like most 
 didactic poets, regarded instruction as the main object, 
 and the creations of poetic fancy merely as accessory 
 embellishments: thus three-fourths of his work consist 
 only of elegantly versified prose.f 
 
 * For example, Ihe following lines, which occur at the com- 
 mencement of the second canto of the poem, and which relates to 
 the invention and progress of Music. 
 
 En la mas deliciosa 
 Y mas poblada aldea 
 De la feliz Arcadia residia 
 La Zagala Crisea, 
 Que asi como de hermosa 
 Se llevaba entre mil la primacia, 
 Tambien por desdenosa 
 Gano justa opinion y nombradia. 
 Con tal delicadeza 
 De vido la crio Naturaleza, 
 Y alma la dio tan docil, e" inclinada 
 A sentir de la Musica el encanto, 
 Que en toda aquella rustica morada 
 Solo algunos Pastores 
 Diestros en el tanido y en el canto 
 Osaban aspirar a sus favores, &c. 
 
 + The following passage, which is mere prose, immediately 
 succeeds the invocation to Nature at the commencement of the poem. 
 
 Las varias sensaciones corporales, 
 Del corazon hutnano los afectos,
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 593 
 
 LEON DE ARROYAL. 
 
 To give an account of all the other poets, who at 
 the latter end of the eighteenth century contributed to 
 restore the credit of Spanish poetry, is a task which 
 must be consigned to other historians of literature, who 
 may possess favourable opportunities for rendering them- 
 selves intimately acquainted with the more recent pro- 
 ductions of Spanish genius. A considerable number of 
 bibliographic notices which would contribute to the 
 accomplishment of this object are extant.* 
 
 In taking a survey, however, of the latest period of 
 the history of Spanish poetry, the odes of Leon de Arroyal 
 must not be overlooked.! Though these odes are inferior 
 
 Y aim las mismas nociones ideales, 
 
 En diversos dialectos 
 
 Se expresan porlos organos vocales, 
 
 Pero si, estando ^ei aniaio tranquilo, 
 
 Inspira simples y uni formes sones ; 
 
 Quando se halla agitado de pasiones, 
 
 Nueva inflexion de acentos da al eslilo: 
 
 El tono de la voz, alza y sostiene; 
 
 Tan pronto le retarda, 6 le acelera ; 
 
 Tan pronto le suaviza, 6 le exaspera ; 
 
 Con energicas pausas le detiene ; 
 
 Le da cornpas y. afinacion sonora, 
 
 Y a su arbitrio le aumenta, 6 le minora. 
 
 * The Bibliotheca Espanola de los mejores escritores del 
 rcynado de Carlos III; por D. Juan Sempcre y Guarinos, $c. 
 Madrid 1789, in C volumes, 8vo. may be consulted with advantage. 
 Useful particulars respecting the latest Spanish productions in 
 polite literature may also be found in the publications of some recent 
 travellers. 
 
 t Las Odas de D. Leon de Arroyal. Madrid 1784, in 8vo. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 Q
 
 594 HISTORY OF 
 
 to the older Spanish productions of the same sort, yet 
 some of them are distinguished, not indeed for bold, but 
 for airy flights of fancy;* and for harmonious versifica- 
 tion.t At the time of their appearance there were like- 
 
 * For example, the commencement of the ode to Field Marshal 
 Navahermosa. 
 
 Precioso es el diamante, 
 y esmeralda de Oriente, 
 y el oro mas que todo apetecido, 
 y cada qual bastante 
 a saciar de la gente 
 vulgar el vil espiritu abatido, 
 que nunca ha conocido 
 el precio que se encierra 
 en los claros honores de la guerra. 
 
 Una verde corona 
 de laurel, 11 de oliva, 
 a un espiritu humilde es despreciable ; 
 pero no al que a Belona 
 sigue, para que viva 
 su nombre entre los hombres admirable. 
 Nada hay tan codiciable 
 como la heroyca fama 
 al que de si lo mas precioso ama. 
 
 f Particularly in the verse which the Spaniards call Rimas 
 Provenzales, viz : 
 
 Ay, verde bosque ! ay, soledad amada ! 
 ay del manso arroyuelo amena orilla, 
 do la simple avecilla 
 con trinos al Pastor humilde agrada ! 
 do la blanca y pintada mariposa 
 besa la rosa, 
 y el gilguerillo 
 en el palillo
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 595 
 
 wise published anonymously some anacreontic songs 
 by a lady, who imitated Villegas with grace as well 
 as with decorum.* 
 
 JUAN MELENDEZ VALDES. 
 
 But a poet of the graces, who has had but few equals 
 even in the golden ages of Spanish poetry, and who excels 
 in his particular sphere, remains to be noticed. This or- 
 nament of modern Spanish literature, is Juan Melendez 
 Valdes, a doctor of law, and, perhaps, still professor of po- 
 lite literature in Salamanca. A delicate fancy, ever lively, 
 
 de la alt a encina 
 amante trina, 
 
 mientras favonio y cfiro soplando, 
 el prado van de flores esmaltando. 
 
 * The following song will afford a specimen of the poetic 
 talent of this unknown authoress : 
 
 For Endimion la Luna 
 desde los cielos baxa, 
 dexando el bianco carro 
 por una cueba parda. 
 
 For Adonis Citeres 
 a pie corre y descalza, 
 colorando las rosas 
 con sangre de sus plantas. 
 
 Pues si hasta las Deidades 
 sienten de amor la llama, 
 y por amar descienden 
 de divinas a humanas : 
 
 Que har yo estando herida 
 de la amorosa llaga, 
 si no darle a mi dueno 
 corazon, vida y alma ? 
 2 Q 2
 
 596 HISTORY OF 
 
 yet ever true to nature; an uncommon intensity of feel- 
 ing; graceful turns of thought; a classic precision and 
 elegance of language, and the most pleasing flow of 
 versification, exist in so eminent a degree, and are 
 so happily combined in this author's works, that the 
 critic is compelled to become a panegyrist, if he be 
 not totally insensible to the charm which such a pheno- 
 menon presents in modern poetry.* At an early period 
 of life, Melendez began to retrace the footsteps of Ho- 
 race, Tibullus, Anacreon, and Villegas; but, as he must 
 have felt that the luxuriant graces of his Spanish model 
 were not to be excelled, his imagination appears to 
 have spontaneously applied itself to a more exquisite 
 painting of amatory ideas and images, and to the digni- 
 fying of that kind of poetry by a certain moral delicacy 
 to the observance of which Villegas attached too little 
 importance. The joys, sorrows, and sports of rustic love, 
 rural festivals and amusements, are the materials which 
 confer a peculiar character on the anacreontic effusions 
 of Melendez. Were it not that the picturesque descrip- 
 tions sufficiently indicate the Spaniard,-)- his verses might 
 
 * I have seen only the first volume of the Poesias de I). 
 Juan Melendez Valdes, Madrid, 1785, in 8vo. The contents of 
 the second volume are specified in a preliminary notice to the 
 Bibliotheca Espanola of Don Juan Sempere. See note p. 593. 
 
 f This will be obvious even from a fragment; as, for instance, 
 the following passage, which occurs in the description of a rustic 
 
 dance : 
 
 Ay ! que volaptuosos 
 
 Sus pasos ! oonio animan 
 Al mas cobarde amante, 
 Y al mas helado irritan ! 
 Al premio, al dulce premio
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 597 
 
 sometimes be mistaken for translations from an English 
 or German poet. Nothing can surpass some of his de- 
 scriptions in the graceful colouring of tender sentiment.* 
 
 Parece que le brindau 
 De amor, quando le ostentan 
 Un seno que palpita. 
 Quan docil es su planta ! 
 Que acorde a la medida 
 Va del compas ! las Gracias 
 Parece que la guian. 
 Y ella de frescas rosas 
 La blauca sien cenida 
 Su ropa libra al viento, 
 Que un manso soplo agita, 
 Con timidez donosa 
 De Cloe simplecilla 
 Por los floridos labios 
 Vaga una afable risa. 
 A su zagal incauta 
 Con blandas carrerillas 
 Se llega, y vergonzosa 
 Al punto se retira; &c. 
 
 * For example, the following short idyl, as it may properly be 
 denominated : 
 
 Siendo yo nino tierno 
 Con la niua Dorila 
 Me andaba por la selva 
 Cogiendo florecillas, 
 De que alegres guirnaldas 
 Con gracia peregrina, 
 
 Para ambos coronarnos, 
 Su mano disponia. 
 Asi en nineces tales 
 De juegas y delicias 
 Pasabamos felices
 
 598 HISTORY OF 
 
 It is only necessary to bestow a slight glance on the com- 
 positions of Melendez to feel the injustice of the reproach 
 cast on Spanish poetry, by a French traveller, who ob- 
 serves " that the Spaniard is so completely a citizen, that 
 not even in his poetry does he manifest a taste for rural 
 life." This reproach, which is probably only directed 
 against the poetic writers of the present day, would be 
 unworthy of notice were it intended to apply to the Spa- 
 nish poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
 
 Las horas y los dias. 
 Con ellos poco a poco 
 La edad corrio de prisa, 
 Y fu6 de la inocencia 
 Saltando la malicia. 
 Yo no s6 : mas al verme 
 Dorila se reia, 
 Y a mi de solo hablarla 
 Tambien me daba risa. 
 Luego al darle las floras 
 El pecho me latia, 
 Y al ella coronarme 
 Quedabase embebida, 
 Una tarde tras esto 
 Vimos dos tortolillas, 
 Que con tremulos picos 
 Se halagaban amigas. 
 Alentonos su exemplo, 
 Y entre honestas caricias 
 Nos contamos turbados 
 Nuestras dulces fatiffas. 
 
 B 
 
 Y en un punto, qual sonibra 
 Volo de nuestra vista 
 La ninez ; mas en torno 
 Nos dio el Amor sus dichas.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 599 
 
 whose numerous pastoral compositions abound in descrip- 
 tions of rural scenery, which evince an intuitive percep- 
 tion of the poetic beauties of unsophisticated nature. 
 Be this as it may, the Spanish academy thought proper, 
 in the year 1780, to award a prize for the best poem in 
 praise of rural life; and on this occasion Melendez 
 gloriously competed with Yriarte. 
 
 Besides the anacreontic poems of Melendez, his 
 lyric romances, his popular songs, in which the old 
 national style is combined with modern elegance, his 
 romantic odes, his elegies and his sonnets, must be num- 
 bered among the best productions in Spanish literature.* 
 How admirably he succeeded in the composition of 
 poetic epistles is proved by the classical dedication of his 
 
 * As a specimen of the Spanish sonnets of this latter period, 
 one from the pen of Melendez may with propriety be chosen in 
 preference to many others : 
 
 Qual suele abeja inquieta revolando 
 For florido pensil entre mil rosas 
 Hasta venir a hallar las mas hermosas 
 Andar con dulce trompa susurrando. 
 
 Mas luego que las ve con vuelo blando 
 Baxa y bate las alas vagarosas, 
 Y en UK din de sus venas olorosas 
 El delicado aroma esta gozando. 
 
 Asi, mi bien, el pensamieuto inio 
 Con dichosa zozobra por hallarte 
 Vagaba de amor libre por elsuelo: 
 
 Pero te vi, rendime, y mi albedrio 
 Abrasado en tu luz goza al'mirarte 
 Gracias que envidia de tu rostro el cielo.
 
 600 HISTORY OF 
 
 poems to his friend Jovellanos.* He has rendered ser- 
 vice to the Spanish theatre by dramatizing the novel of 
 the rich Camacho from Don Quizote. He is also the 
 author of several treatises on moral and philosophical 
 subjects. 
 
 BRIEF NOTICE OF SOME OF THE MORE RECENT 
 LITERARY PRODUCTIONS OF SPAIN. 
 
 If the above information respecting some of the 
 latest Spanish poets be connected with the general 
 observations and bibliographic notices in the preced- 
 ing part of this history, it will plainly appear that 
 
 * The numerous collection of specimens in this volume, shall 
 close with a fragment of this epistle, which deserves to rank among 
 the productions that reflect honour on Spanish literature : 
 
 Oh que de veces 
 
 Mi blando corazon has encendido, 
 Jovino, con 41, y en lagrimas de gozo 
 Nuestras platicas dulces fenecieron ! 
 Que de veces tambien en el retiro 
 Pacifico las horas del silencio 
 A Minerva ofrecimos, y la Diosa 
 Nuestra vos escuch6! Las fugitivas 
 Horas se deslizaban, y embebidos 
 El Alba con el libro aun nos hallaba. 
 Pues que, si huyendo del bullicio insano 
 En el real jardin. . . . Adonde, adonde 
 Habeis ido mementos deliciosos ! 
 Disputas agradables, do habeis ido ! 
 Tu me llevaste de Minerva al templo : 
 Tu me llevaste, y mi pensar, mis luces, 
 Mi entusiasrao, mi lira, todo es tuyo.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 601 
 
 the revival of polite literature in Spain must have been 
 on the one hand accelerated, and on the other retarded, 
 by the progress which was made in the cultivation of 
 modern science and philosophy, during the latter years 
 of the eighteenth century. The period of the triumph 
 of the Gallicists is doubtless past, however numerous the 
 adherents of that party still may be. But in general 
 the Spaniards of the educated and refined classes still 
 blush for their ancient prejudices, and observe, with 
 regret, that the Spanish literature is now only labouring 
 to acquire what it long ago neglected. In order to raise 
 the elegant literature of Spain to a level with that of 
 other cultivated nations of modern Europe, it is deemed 
 necessary to continue with persevering spirit to trans- 
 late, adapt and imitate every foreign work which attains 
 any degree of celebrity. In this concurrence of the spirit 
 of foreign literature with the ancient national spirit, 
 which is by no means suffered to perish, more than one 
 decennial period of the present century will probably 
 elapse ere Spanish poetry resume its original indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 Among their modern dramas, the Spaniards parti- 
 cularly esteem the regular tragedies of Nicolas Fer- 
 nandez de Moratin, and the comedies of Ramon de la 
 Cruz, who, previous to the year 1784, was computed to 
 have written upwards of two hundred interludes in the 
 old style. Spanish translations of the tragedies of Cor- 
 neille and Voltaire, of the plays of Moliere, and other 
 French comic writers, and of the sentimental dramas 
 of Mercier, have also been received with approbation. 
 Don Leandro Fernandez de Moratin, who must not be
 
 602 HISTOEY OF 
 
 confounded with his namesake, travelled at the expense 
 of the Spanish government to study the dramatic lite- 
 rature of the different nations of Europe; and since his 
 return to Spain, a considerable pension has been granted 
 to him as a reward for one of his dramatic productions. 
 He has rendered the tragedy of Hamlet into Spanish, 
 and is expected to give to his countrymen a complete 
 translation of Shakespeare. Don Luciano Francisco 
 Cornelia, who is mentioned in literary journals as one 
 of the rivals of Leandro de Moratin in comic poetry, 
 appears to be a very prolific writer, and inclined to the 
 old national style. Don Theodoro de la Calla has at- 
 tempted to give Shakespeare's Othello in Spanish, from 
 a French translation. Cornelia has also dramatized se- 
 veral recent historical events, among which are some 
 points in the history of Peter the Great, and Catharine 
 II. of Russia. 
 
 The Count de Norofia has particularly distinguished 
 himself as a writer of lyric poetry, and he has also trans- 
 lated Dryden's Alexander's Feast into Spanish verse. 
 
 Joseph Vasquez Cadalso, and the younger Moratin, 
 may be ranked among the most successful writers of 
 satirical poetry which Spain has recently produced. 
 
 Diana, or the Hunt, by the elder Moratin; the 
 Happy Man, by Aljneida; and the Happy Woman, 
 by Morino, are the latest productions in didactic poetry. 
 A Spanish translation of How to be always Merry, 
 from the German of Uz, also occurs in the notices of 
 new Spanish poems. 
 
 The old ambition of the Spaniards to distinguish 
 themselves by some production in epic ait has again
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 603 
 
 revived. A work of this class, entitled, Mexico Con- 
 quistada, by Don Juan de Escoiquiz, has excited some 
 attention. 
 
 Spanish pastorals in the old national style are asso- 
 ciated with translations from the German of Gessner. 
 
 The collision of the natural and foreign styles is 
 strikingly exemplified in the Spanish romance literature 
 of the present period. The old romance of Cassandra 
 has lately been re-printed.; and a new one in the old 
 style, entitled, Leandra, has also made its appearance. 
 All the English and French novels which obtain any 
 celebrity, are now translated into Spanish. 
 
 Elegant prose, which was earlier cultivated in Spain 
 than in any other country in Europe, seems at length 
 to have emancipated itself from the Gongorism which 
 threatened its destruction. The prevailing study of 
 French prose in Spain, has no doubt proved favour- 
 able to the revival of the pure eloquence of the 
 writers of the sixteenth century. None, indeed, of 
 the more recent works in Spanish prose is eminently 
 distinguished for rhetorical composition. But on the 
 other hand, among these publications it would be 
 difficult to mention a single book of science, whether 
 original or translated, which is not written with a 
 certain degree of purity and elegance. An historical 
 work in the Spanish language has been for some time 
 announced, and is probably now before the public. It 
 is a History of America, by D. Juan Bautista Mufioz, 
 professor of philosophy at Valencia. The intention of 
 the author is to exhibit the conduct of the Spaniards 
 in America in a point of view different from that taken
 
 604 HISTORY OF 
 
 by Robertson; and the work is said to be remarkable 
 for beauty of style. 
 
 The Art of Rhetoric,* by Don Antonio de Cap- 
 many, a member of the Spanish Academy of History, 
 affords a new proof of the importance which the Spa- 
 niards attach to the cultivation of elegant prose. The 
 preface to this work is particularly instructive. The 
 book itself contains no new truths, but it presents the 
 old ones well arranged and judiciously selected. Cap- 
 many's work, and particularly the preface, clearly shews 
 that Spanish eloquence is still, in some measure, in a 
 divided state. The classic prose of the sixteenth century 
 is again esteemed. But in any endeavour to restore 
 this prose unchanged, it must be difficult to avoid the 
 appearance of affectation; for since the prevalence of 
 the French taste, many Spanish words and phrases, 
 which were formerly classical, have now become anti- 
 quated, while on the other hand, old words and phrases 
 have been introduced from the French. The party of 
 the purists, as the adherents of the old style are deno- 
 minated, have the prevailing language of the polite 
 world against them; while the polite world and the 
 partizans of the French style, can adduce no good 
 reasons for rejecting the old style, which is acknow- 
 ledged to be pure Castilian. Capmany is decidedly 
 favourable to the new style.f However, this conflict 
 
 * Filosofia de la Eloquencia, por Don Antonio de Cap- 
 many, Madrid 1777, in 8vo. 
 
 f He employs, without hesitation, the words detalle (from the 
 French detail,} and intercsante in the sense of the French inte- 
 ressunt, &c.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 605 
 
 will not prove injurious to Spanish eloquence, if each 
 party be willing to make concessions, in order that the 
 old style may be fundamentally preserved, and yet be so 
 modified as to conform, without affectation, to the new 
 ideas and forms of language which modern science has 
 introduced. 
 
 All these facts considered in their connexion as a 
 whole, leave no room to doubt that the polite literature 
 of the Spaniards may again rise to its former glory, if 
 favoured by the ancient national spirit, to the genial 
 influence of which it owes its existence. The two 
 academies of polite literature, (de buenas letras), at 
 Barcelona and Seville, may likewise contribute to the 
 fulfilment of this object, if they seriously devote their 
 attention to it. The talent of the Spanish improvisator!, 
 who are said to be in no way inferior to those of Italy, 
 may also be directed to the revival of the ancient 
 popular poetry. Since the works of the poets and 
 elegant prose writers of the golden age of Spanish 
 literature have lately been republished in elegant edi- 
 tions, and universally circulated, and since the new 
 demands of reason and science have promoted the de- 
 velopement of the mental faculty in Spain, the best 
 results may be expected from the union of elegant and 
 
 scientific learning. 
 
 t ., 1 1 -..** 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 It is only after having duly studied the polite lite- 
 rature of Spain in all its parts, with the interest 
 attached to literary investigation, that it is possible to
 
 606 HISTORY OF 
 
 characterize it as a whole, and to obtain possession of 
 the results which such a characteristic judgment ought 
 to present. 
 
 I. Spanish poetry is more decidedly national than 
 any other branch of modern poetry in Europe. Even 
 the Italians have only transferred their spirit and cha- 
 racter into forms; which, though ennobled by a genial 
 classic refinement of style, were originally derived from 
 the Provencals. But the Spanish, or to speak with 
 more precision, the Castilian poetry, which arose in the 
 neighbourhood of the Provencal, is a peculiar stream 
 from the romantic Parnassus. When the Spaniards 
 admitted the Italian forms into their poetry, they did 
 not transfer the old Spanish character to these na- 
 tionalized forms, in the same manner as the Italians, 
 by classic improvement of style, and enlargement of 
 the boundaries of romantic composition, converted the 
 provenal poetry into pure Italian poetry. The Spanish 
 poets made the classic purity, and polish of the Italian 
 forms, subservient in a new manner to the orientalism 
 of their ancient national literature. A tendency to the 
 old orientalism is indeed plainly perceptible even in the 
 works of the few Spanish poets, who were the most 
 disposed, like Luis de Leon, Cervantes, and the two 
 Argensolas, to adopt the opinions of the ancients and 
 the Italians with regard to the correctness of ideas and 
 images. This orientalism of the Spanish character and 
 poetry which has long been disapproved, is now deci- 
 dedly pronounced bad taste, because the general idea of 
 poetry, which is the same for all ages and all nations, is 
 superseded by Greek, Italian, or French national ideas;
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 607 
 
 and thus that beauty which is general is made subject 
 to particular and subordinate laws. But as long as the 
 ideal creations of the imagination are not entirely at 
 variance with reason and nature, they may far overstep 
 the boundaries of the Greek and other national forms, 
 without violating the supreme laws of the beautiful. A 
 true theory of taste should therefore induce us to look 
 beyond all factitious limits of the creative and plastic 
 powers of imagination for a critical point of view, which 
 has only nature and reason for its basis. Considered 
 from such a point of view, that orientalism, which is 
 ridiculous and absurd, becomes at once distinguishable 
 from that which belongs to the truly sublime and 
 beautiful. Spanish poets, it is true, have often failed 
 to observe this distinction. But owing to the usual 
 mode of estimating Spanish literature in the mass, 
 justice has not been done to that genuine beauty which 
 it so conspicuously discloses even in the midst of 
 absurdity. 
 
 II. This unjust system of criticism appears to account 
 for the very slight attention which has been paid to the 
 high elegance and classic purity of a considerable portion 
 of the polite literature of Spain. In this respect Cer- 
 vantes alone outweighs a whole host of the correct 
 Gallicists, whose highest merit is to have written in- 
 teresting prose in well constructed verse. Metrical 
 elegance is indeed a distinguishing property in many 
 of the most irregular productions of the Spanish poets; 
 this is evident in their comedies, and more particularly 
 in the comedies of Calderon, which present the highest 
 charm of rhythmical harmony. On this occasion the
 
 608 HISTORY OP 
 
 classic prose of the golden age of Spanish literature 
 ought also to be brought to recollection. In the number 
 of prose works distinguished for elegance of style and 
 intellectual energy of composition, the literature of Spain 
 far surpasses that of Italy. 
 
 III. The deficiency of one kind of riches in Spanish 
 literature, is amply compensated by the abundance of 
 another kind, which is in a great measure peculiar to 
 that literature, and which has manifested itself in an 
 inconceivable number of works. The portion of lyric 
 poetry in which the Spaniards have imitated the Italian 
 forms, tolerably counterbalances the amount of Italian 
 poetry in the same style. But if to that portion be added 
 the whole store of lyric romances and songs in the old 
 popular style, a multitude appears which sets calculation 
 at defiance. Nothing, however, could be more absurd, 
 than to estimate the poetic fertility of a nation ac- 
 cording to the number of works called poems, which it 
 may possess. It is from the sum of genuine poetry actu- 
 ally existing in any considerable number of such works, 
 though it should be visible only in the seed or in the 
 bud which has withered in the opening, that the balance 
 must be struck when the poetic riches of nations is the 
 subject of comparison. If the mere number of pro- 
 ductions were to decide, Italy would be as rich in dra- 
 matic literature as Spain. But in Italy, it unfortunately 
 happened that scarcely any writers except those of mid- 
 dling and even inferior talent laboured to increase the 
 stock of Italian dramas to infinity. In Spanish dramatic 
 literature, on the contrary, the most fertile writers shew 
 themselves to be great poets even amidst their faults.
 
 SPANISH LITERATURE. 609 
 
 According to the same principle the multitude of 
 nominal epic poems, which have appeared in Spain, 
 and in which scarcely a feeble spark of true epopee is 
 discernible, must not be taken into account in esti- 
 mating the poetic treasures of Spanish literature. A 
 single canto of Ariosto or Tasso, is worth all the Spanish 
 epic poetry that ever was w r ritten. 
 
 IV. Of all the poets of modern times, the Spanish 
 can alone be regarded as the inventors of the poetry 
 of catholic mysticism, which they have employed in a 
 very ingenious, though, it must be confessed, not in an 
 exemplary manner. He must indeed be completely 
 dazzled by the brilliant side of Spanish poetry, who 
 refuses to acknowledge that the character of the sacred 
 comedy is monstrous, even as it appears in- the Autos of 
 the estimable Calderon. But, on the other hand, the 
 affectation of philosophic criticism must have 'deadened 
 all susceptibility for that bold style of spiritual poetry 
 in him who denies to the Spanish Autos the possession 
 of beauties, which deserve to be admired. What might 
 not this poetry have become, had reason extended her 
 influence over it in a more powerful degree, not, indeed, 
 to reduce it to the level of prose, but to divest it of the 
 mask of caricature, while soaring in the lofty regions 
 of mystic invention! 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 AND OF THE HISTOEY OF SPANISH LITERATURE. 
 
 K. Jvitins, Printer, 41, Brick Lane, \Vhitechaptl.
 
 ERRATA FOR VOL I. 
 
 Page 29, title of Book I. for end of the sixteenth, read commencement of the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 43, . 4 from the top, for Don Juan de Manuel, read Don Juan Manuel. 
 
 51, .14 from the top, for beaux tenebreux read beau tenebreux. * 
 
 100, . 1 of the second note, for Diez read Dieze. 
 102, . 11 from the top, for Huchellor read Bachelor. 
 128, ast line, for Count of Arragon read Court of Arragon. 
 131, . 12 from the top, for applies read applied. 
 161, ast line but one of the note, for called read calls. 
 165, . 3. of the second note, for Gottengen read Goltingen. 
 168, . 1, for changed read charged. 
 180, . 5 from the top, for ecologues read eclogues. 
 193, . 18 from the top, for Diego Mendoza read Diego de Mendoza. 
 215, . 2 from top, for depths read depth. 
 218, . 6 from the top, for formed read found. 
 
 253, . 7 from the bottom, for though it even constantly read though 
 
 it constantly. 
 
 254, . 7 from the bottom, for Acuna read Aciuia. 
 272, . 13 from the top, for belong lead belongs. 
 303, . 12, from the top, for Lusiade read Lusind. 
 309, . 14 from the top, for mankind read Man. 
 312, . 2 of the note, for edition read addition. 
 364, 7 from the bottom, for Span read Spain. 
 
 435, . 7 from the top, for title of a work read title for a tcorfc. 
 448, . 8 from the bottom of the note, for to Marshal read to the Marshal. 
 469, . 6 from the top, for voluntary read voluntarily. 
 524, . 12 from the top, for analize read analyze. 
 
 551, . 18 from the top, for Nothing poetical was at this period produced, 
 read Nothing poetical produced at this period.
 
 $1213 
 
 V.I 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
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 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW.
 
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