Lord Holland on the Life and Writings 



61S 



stowed upon liim in the course of the 

 work witliout the nssistance of an expla- 

 natory note. 



HIS SUPERSTITION. 



In 1598, on ihe ciinonization of St. 

 Isidore, a native of Madrid, he entered 

 the list with several authors, and over- 

 powered them all vvitli the number, if not 

 with the merit of his performances. 

 Prizes had been assi|;ned for every style 

 of pnetry, but above one could not be 

 obtained by tlie same person. Lope 

 succeeded in the hymns; but his fertile 

 muse, not content with producing a poem 

 of ten cniitosin short verse, as well as in. 

 numerable sonnets and ron^ances, and 

 two comedies on the subject, celebrated 

 by an act of supererogation both the saint 

 and the poetical competition of the day, 

 in a volume of sprightly poems under the 

 feigned name of Tome de Burguillos. 

 These were probably the best of Lope's 

 productions on the occasion; hut the 

 concurring testimonies of critics agree 

 tiiat most of his verses were appropriate 

 »nd easy, and that they far excelled those 

 of his numerous competitors. This suc- 

 cess raised him no doubt in the estinia- 

 lion of the public, to whom he was al- 

 ready tnown by the number and excel- 

 lence of his dramatic writings. Hence- 

 forward the licences prefi.xtd tohis books 

 do not confine themselves to their im- 

 mediate object, the simple permission to 

 publish, but contain long and laboured 

 encomiums upon the particular merit of 

 the woik, and the general character and 

 style of the author. This was probably 

 the most fortunate period of hi* life. He 

 had not, it is true, attained the summit 

 of his glory, but he was rising in literaiy 

 reputation every day; and, as hope is 

 often more delightful than possession, and 

 there is something more animating to our 

 exertions while we are panting to acquire 

 tlian when we are labouring to maintain 

 superiority, it was probably in this part 

 of his life that he derived most satist'ac- 

 lion from his pursuits. About this time 

 also we must fix the short date of his do- 

 mestic comforts, of ivhich, while he al- 

 ludes to the loss of then, he gives a short 

 but feeling description in his Eclogue to 

 Claudio: 

 Yo vi mi pobre mesa en testimonio, 



Cercada y lica de fragmtntys mius, 



Dukes y amargos rios. 

 Pel mar del matrimonio, 



y vi, pagando su fatal tribute, 



De tan alcgre bien tan triste luto. 



The expressions of the above are very 

 cliScult, it not impoksiblc, to tr^Uilate, as 



the metaphors are such ai none hut t!i« 

 Spanish language will admit. The fol- 

 lowing is rather a paraphrase tlian s 

 translation: 

 I saw a group my board surround. 



And sure to me, though poorly spread, 

 'Twas rich with such fair objects crown'd. 



Dear bitter presents of my bed ! 

 I saw them pay their tribute to tlie tomb, 

 And scenes so cheerful change to mourning 

 and to gloom. 



Of the three persons who formed 

 this family group, the son died at eight 

 years, and was soon followed by his 

 mother: the daughter alone survived our 

 poet. The spirit of Lope seems to have 

 sunk under such repeated losses. At a 

 more enterprising period of life, he had 

 endeavoured to drovyn his grief in the 

 noise and bustle of a military life; he 

 now resolved to sooth it in the exercise 

 of devotion. Accordingly, having been 

 secretary to the Inquisition, he shortly 

 afterwards became a priest, and in 1609 

 a sort of honorary member of the brother- 

 hood of St, Francis. But devotion it- 

 self could not break in upon his habits of 

 composition. lie had about this time 

 acquired sufficient reputation to attract 

 the envy of his fellow poets, and spared 

 no exertions to maintain his post, and 

 repel the criticisms of his enemies. 



SPANISU ROMANCES. 



The metre and character of such com« 

 positions are peculiar to the country in 

 which they were written. The verse it 

 trochaic, and never exceeds eight syl- 

 lables in length: the consonante, or full 

 rhyme, was originally used in them as in all 

 Castilian poetry. Tlie </son«n/e, or rhyma 

 in vowels only, became common at th» 

 end of the sixteenth century, and has 

 ever since been usually adopted in the 

 romances. It was about the satne period, 

 when Lope dc Vega had attained his 

 reputation, and Gongora was in the vigour 

 of life, that the first collectiims of these 

 little pieces were published under the 

 title of Romanceros. The approbation 

 with which they were received stimulated 

 those eminent writers to try their talent 

 in a species of production which, though 

 popular before them, had not liitherto 

 extended the fame of any author's name, 

 or attracted the notice of literary men. 



The peculiar and national character of 



the romances, or Spanish ballads, is thus 



, eloquenily described by Don Manuel 



Quintana, in ins preface to a selection of 



SpaMi^h poetry. 



" They were properly the lyric poetry 

 of our country. In them the accents of 



ouc 



