SPAIN 



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century. The latter in his to/logos brought hen- 

 decasyllables to perfection in Spanish, and left at 

 his early death a small collection of the most beau- 

 tiful poetry in the language. An imitator of, and 

 at times a translator from, Virgil and Petrarch, he 

 is not unworthy of his models ; the harmony of his 

 verse is unsurpassed, unless it be by the Coplas de 

 Manrique, probably one of the finest elegies extant. 



Lyric poetry reached its culmination in the 

 first half of the 16th century. Most of it is of 

 religious character. In sublimity of conception and 

 perfection of execution Hen-era's (see HERRERA) 

 odes and elegies are entitled to a very high place 

 in European literature. Whilst Herrera sang of 

 the victories and reverses of his time, Luis de 

 Leon drew his inspiration from nature, solitude, 

 and religious meditation. Sweetness of language 

 never deserts him, but his productions are uneven 

 in merit. The brothers Argensola (q.v.) owe their 

 fame rather to good taste than to poetic inspira- 

 tion. These writers come within the Spanish 

 golden age, during which prose reached its highest 

 development in the religious and mystic writings 

 of Luis de l.rc'iii, Luis de Granada, St Teresa, 

 and Juan de la Cruz, in the histories of Mariana 

 (q.v.) and Solfs, and in parts of the writings of 

 Cervantes (see CERVANTES). The Don Quixote, 

 with its quaint humour, rollicking fun, melan- 

 choly touches, and profound views of human nature, 

 is deservedly, lx>th at home and abroad, the best- 

 known and best-loved book in Spanish. Unique 

 amongst the works of its time, and far superior to 

 the other efforts of its author, it belongs to no 

 class, and has no successor in Spanish or any other 

 literature. Cervantes' other works, the Galatea, 

 Persiles y Segismitnda, Viage del Parnaso, dramatic 

 works and novels, are read chiefly on account of 

 the interest which must be felt for the author of 

 Don Quixote. 



Contemporary with Cervantes was Lope de 

 Vega (see VEGA), the idol of his time, the 

 ' prodigy of nature ' (monstruo de In naturaleza), 

 as he was called on account of the immense mass 

 and great variety of his writings. Almost every 

 branch of literature was familiar to him. Of 

 dramas alone he wrote over 2000, besides a great 

 body of lyric verse, epic and mock epic, novels 

 both pastoral and of adventures, and criticisms. It 

 ia by his dramas that he is )>est known, and 

 especially by those of cloak and sword (capa y 

 tmada). These within certain well-defined limits 

 afford considerable scope for variety. The scene 

 is invariably laid in some Spanish town. The 

 prinripal characters are two lovers, whose adven- 

 tures and somewhat stilted dialogue are parodied 

 and relieved by those of their servants, one of whom 

 is generally the gracioso or buffoon, whose homely 

 pleasantries sometimes jar disagreeably in the 

 midst of fine and solemn passages. The metre of 

 the Spanish drama is generally trie same as that of 

 the ballads ; some variety, however, Imth of group- 

 ing of rhymes and of metre is admitted. A dis- 

 tinctive feature is the exceeding intricacy of the 

 plots. This characteristic is so marked as to have 

 led several critics to believe that a Spanish drama 

 requires a Spanish audience to follow it intelli- 

 gently. The great amount of the productions of 

 Lope de Vega precluded all attempt at finish. His 

 verse, however, is always flowing, and he generally 

 attains success by thoroughly carrying out his own 

 maxim that the drama is a purely popular form of 

 literature, and that the only critics to be regarded 

 are the mass of those who pay their money at 

 the theatre-door. ('alder6n de la Barca (see 

 CALDERON) outlived the golden age of the drama 

 of his country. More philosophic, careful, and with 

 a higher ideal than Lope, he is generally incapable 

 of carrying out his gigantic enterprises, and is, 



broadly speaking, a poet of fine passages rather 

 than a dramatic author of high merit. In attempt- 

 ing sublimity he frequently becomes bombastic and 

 misty, and is deeply infected with the bad taste of 

 his time. He perfected the auto sacramental, a 

 religious play, or rather a dramatised theological 

 discussion, in which such characters as Conscience, 

 Free-will, Hope, and the cardinal virtues take part. 

 On these, to modern taste, somewhat dull com- 

 positions, in which Christian theology is frequently 

 tumbled up with pagan mythology, Calderon 

 lavished a great deal of his best verse, and to them 

 his reputation amongst his contemporaries was 

 largely due. Equal to Lope or Calderon as dra- 

 matists, though inferior as poets, are Tirso de 

 Molina (see TELLEZ) and Moreto. The former 

 handled to perfection his native language, and is, 

 more than any other, characteristically a Spaniard 

 of his time. His defects are the want of a high 

 ideal and the frequent coarseness of his language. 

 Outside his own country he is chiefly known as 

 the author who first dramatised the story of Don 

 Juan Tenorio, the Burlador de Sevilla, a theme 

 whose impressive nature he well knew how to 

 take advantage of. Moreto is the most correct of 

 Spanish dramatists, and his Desden con desden 

 merits special mention, even in an age which pro- 

 duced, besides the authors already mentioned, 

 Rojas and Alarcon (q.v.). The number of dramas 

 produced at this time is almost incredible, and 

 some, even of the anonymous ones, are such as in 

 a less fertile age would have sufficed to found a. 

 reputation. 



Spanish eloquence has always had a tend- 

 ency to become bombastic'; mannerisms and 

 affectation of the worst kind have been mistaken 

 for cultured style ; extravagance of metaphor was 

 rife even at the best period (see EUPHUISM) ; but 

 when literature began to decay all these defects 

 became more marked. The typical representative 

 of this culto school is Luis de Gdngora (see GON- 

 GORA), a poet who enjoyed great popularity in the 

 golden age, and whose example probably did much 

 to hasten a climax which had already become 

 inevitable. In his youth he wrote simply and 

 correctly short lyric pieces of great beauty. It is 

 difficult to believe that this is the same G6ngora 

 who, a few years later, produced the Soledades 

 and Polyfemo, poems so obscure, l)ombastic, and 

 crammed with concetti that before his death they 

 required lengthy commentaries. Amongst those 

 who protested against the tendency of the times, 

 whilst frequently allowing themselves to be carried 

 away by it, was Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas 

 (see QUEVEDO), the bitter satirist and writer 

 of trenchant verse. Extremely versatile, his writ- 

 ings include erotic verse, light lyrics, essays 

 on government, picaresque novels, and theological 

 discussions. In his merits and defects he closely 

 resembles Swift. The best known of his works 

 are his sttenos, or visions, in which the motives 

 and manners of his time are held up to ridicule 

 with a masterly and unsparing hand. 



At the end of the 17th century the sun of Span- 

 ish glory set, and with it the sun of Spanish litera- 

 ture, so suddenly and completely as not to leave 

 an afterglow behind it. Of the succeeding century 

 only a few names deserve mention. Padre Isla 

 (q.v.) in Fray Gerundio ridiculed the low ebb 

 of education, and particularly of pulpit oratory, 

 with wit and good sense worthy of a better age. 

 Samaniego and Yriarte wrote some clever fables 

 in the style of the inimitable Lafontaine. The 

 Academy, founded during the first half of the 18th 

 century, produced the magnificent dictionary which 

 is its chief claim to the gratitude of scholars. 

 When literature seemed at its lowest ebb, and 

 nothing found favour unless slavishly imitated from 



