f/85%, 5/ .I/* * 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 r THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. **%f .+ J "