of Lope Feltx 



our music were heard at nighc in nur 

 streets and public places, to tlie sound of 

 che harp or the guitar. They were at 

 once the vehicles and incentives of Itive, 

 as well as tlie shafts of satire and revenge. 

 They painted the manners of our Mo- 

 riscoes and our shepherds, and preserved 

 in the memory of our people the exf)liiit3 

 of the Cid and other favourite cliainpions. 

 lu short, more flexible than all other 

 cOmpositioiis, tliey could be applied to 

 every object; and whether cloihtd in 

 rich and majestic language, or tinged 

 with the milder colours of sweetness and 

 sensibility, they always exhiliited that 

 characteristic ease, nature, and freshness, 

 which originality alone can produce with- 

 out exaggeration or research. 



" In them are to he found more beau- 

 tiful and spirited expressions, more deli' 

 cate and ingenious passages, than in the 

 whole range of Castilinn poetry. Tiie 

 Morisco ballads in particular are written 

 *itli a vigour and sprighiliness of style 

 ^hich enchant the reader. The union 

 6f courage and of love, the gallantry and 

 tehderness of the Moors, the sonorous 

 liariDony of the names, each and all, 

 contribute to give novelty aiwl poetry to 

 the coropositions in which they aie pur- 

 trayed. Our writei's afterwards becoming 

 Weary of Mogrish disguises, transferred 

 the ballads to pastoral subjects. Fields 

 and rivulets, flywers and ndiiies carved 

 ufiftn trees, th6n took the place of chal- 

 lenges, tournaments, aild devices : but, 

 whatever thfe ballads may ha<-e lost in 

 str<(i>gth, th6y gaitied by the chaiige in 

 4we6tne-6 and simplicity. 



" Iri hoth classes the invention wias 

 beautiful ; and it is Wonderfuf with how 

 little effort, and with What conciseness of 

 language', the scenery, the hero, and his 

 etndl'idhs, ar« delineated in such short 

 compositions. At one time it is the Al- 

 cayde of Molina, who, entering the town 

 at full su6ed, dlarnis tlie IMoors with the 

 I'tpoft of aCliristian incursion, which is 

 iitying <*nste their fields; at another it is 

 the ill-fated Aliatar borne with the me- 

 Ittitchbly pomp of a nnlitary funeral 

 through the very gate whence he liad 

 is^bed the da* before full of exultation 

 and Spirit. S xnecimes it is a simple 

 cinlntry girt, Who, having lost her ear- 

 rings, the keepsake of licr ^weethea'it, 

 dfeads the reproHches which await her: 

 and sometimes it is the solitary and 

 r6j«tted shepherd, who, indignant thiit 

 two doves should coo in ih« neighbouring 

 poplar, interrupts their loves, oiid Scare* 

 ttieni away with ^ stunt." 



Motttat.t MaV. No. 299* 



de Vega Carpio. Ci^ 



L0l*fe'3 DlSfirrE #ITH CEftTAHTES. 



The origin of the dispute between 

 Cervantes and Lope is unknown, and tllb 

 existeiice of any open warfare is in somb 

 measure problematical. La Iluerta, the 

 editor of a late collection of Spanish 

 plays, and himself no despicable draniatit: 

 writer, in a zealous defence of Lope, 

 accuses Cervantes very unjustly of de« 

 traction and malignity. Wherever Cer- 

 vantes has mentioned the poet in his 

 printed works, he has spoken of his genius 

 not only with respect but admiration. It 

 is true that he implies that his better 

 judgment occasionally yielded to the 

 temptation of immtdiate prutit, and that 

 he sometimes sacrificed his permanent 

 fame Co fleeting popularity with the come- 

 dians «nd the public. But, in saying this, 

 he says little more than Lope hiniaelf ha» 

 repeatedly acknowledged; and through- 

 out Ins woiks he speaks of him in {^ 

 manner winch, if Lope had possessecj 

 discernment enough to have perceived 

 the real superiority of Cervantes, would 

 have atforded him as much pleasure ai 

 the slight mixture of censure seems to 

 have given him concern. The admirers^ 

 or rather worshippers, of Lope, who hati 

 christened him the Piioinix of Spain, 

 laboured h^rd to crush the reputation of 

 Cervantes. With this view, they at one 

 time undervalued novels and romances 

 as compositions of an inferior order, antt 

 at another lavished most extravagant en- 

 comiums oil his rivals. Every invention 

 of the kind excited their applause, but 

 the one which really deserved it. If thg 

 sonnet published in the Life prefixed to 

 Don Quixote of Pellicer be genuine, 

 Cervantes was at length provoked to » 

 more direct attack on their idol. Iti 

 this sonnet, Which contains a sort of play 

 upon words, by the omission of the lasC 

 syllable of each, that onnnot be tran- 

 slated, the works of L'pe are somewhac 

 severely handled ; a sonnet co.npiied int 

 four languages from various authors \i 

 ridiculed, the expediency of a sponge is 

 suggested, and he is above all advised not 

 to pursue his JerUbalen Conquistada, it 

 woik upon which he was tiieii employed. 

 Lope, who parodied iht: sonnet of Cer- 

 vantes, rejected his advice, and published 

 that epic FiieiM, in tvhich his lailure is 

 generally acknowledged even by his most 

 fervent admirers. Mmni, ihc Iiahan 

 pott, muit however be excepted; Who, 

 as he does not lieMtate in his funeral 

 eulogiuin to prefer (he Angelica to tba 

 Orlando FuriosO, and the novels of Lopa 

 to those of Boccace, could not decently 

 ^Jteuipt Tas40 from this «ct ef g<^ieral 

 4ii. 



