783 
POE 
The next work of De Vega’s was his “ Jerufalem,” an 
attempt at the epic ftyle, in which he completely failed. 
It has neither beginning, middle, nor end. Its parts are 
perfeCly unconneCed; and, when read through, you 
have learnt nothing. Critics aver, however, that there 
is much elegant imagination in this poem, and a tiflue 
of brilliant expreflions. The fubjeC is the crufade of 
which the lion-hearted Richard was the hero, a fubjeC, 
one would fuppofe, that might infpire almoft any poet. 
The corpfe of one Ifidro being carried in procelfion to 
king Philip III. his majefty therefore recovered, and there¬ 
fore was Ifidro canonized. Lope took up the fubjeC, and 
wrote in a long poem a perfeC hiftory of all Ifidro’s 
miracles, among which he did not forget the humble one 
of making his oxen work without driving, and the more 
portentous hiftory of drawing from the mouth of his 
kettle all the food he chofe to give in alms. In this, as 
in all his other works, the fame running after bright 
thoughts and images, to the negledt of the main ftory, is 
apparent. But certainly his vanity muft compensate 
fome readers for his prolixity. 
The^/atmcaZpoems of Lope are poignant, and fometimes 
refined. He pourtrays with a delicate but pure touch 
the abfurdityof an overweening anxiety for ornamented 
language, which fome of his contemporaries betrayed j 
and there is one fault in poets, which the moderns muft 
plead guilty of, that he laflies fo well, that we muft tranf- 
cribe the paffage : 
Down to a valley from the mountain’s height 
Precipitate the melted ices flow. 
There, between fhores where fragile fern-tufts grow, 
And elms and woodland vines, a fylvan fight, 
The cryftal waters fleep ; the nymphs delight, 
Defporting there, to bathe their breafts of fnow ; 
Sweet (hips of love, that plough a narrower main 
Than the tall bark that leaves the fliores of Spain. 
A valley like a vaflal lies below, 
Which, to fupply with fap the floral brood, 
Draws from its icy breaft at every vein, 
Infatiateftill, the hoary mountain’s flood. 
And on this mount, and by thisfpring fo fair, 
There happen’d to me— nothing I declare. 
How many poems would this ftanza introduce in fober 
earneft! 
His “ Dorothea” is a fpecimen of the accion in profa, 
a very long ftory told in dialogue, of which there are 
feveral fpecimens in the Spanilh and Portuguefe languages. 
This was his laft and favourite work; but it does not 
appear to derive any preference over his other long poems. 
It is teflelated, like them, with brilliants; but all order 
or artifice is entirely omitted. 
Of Lope’s dramatic works it is fuflicient to remark, 
that they are held in very high eftimation in Spain, but 
that they have the ufual faults of unfinifhed authors: they 
abound in excellent remarks, and linking images and 
fituations ; but they want the lucidus ordo which fliould 
ever attend the conduC of a plot, and the development 
of charaCers. 
Calderoni, originally a foldier, then a prieft, takes the 
firft rank amongft the dramatifts of Spain. Powerful in 
imagination, of a lively and elegant fancy, a perfect 
mailer of thofe minute touches which infenfibly captivate 
the heart, choice in his language, noble in his fentiments, 
the champion of honour, the perpetual lauder of virtue, 
Calderoni forms a grand and rare inftance of exquifite 
dramatic talents exerted in the caufe of morals and piety. 
No author Ihows more clearly the origin of that grand 
diftinCion we have expounded between the amative 
poetry of the ancients and the refined language of love 
which has fhone amonglt Chriftian bards. But it is not 
the loves and the virtues of chivalry alone that he cele¬ 
brates : he is equally the bard of humble life: yet no 
low intrigues nor vulgar wit deform his page. Calderoni 
is always the painter of the excellent: he culls from the 
TRY. 
verieft drofs the pureft ore. He compofed 120 plays, and 
about an hundred autos facramentates, a confiderable 
number; but fo inferior to the labours of Lope de Vega, 
that fome critics afiert the greater correCnefs of Calde¬ 
roni and his finifhed ftyle of his compofitions to the 
paucity of his labours. 
In his comedies, which areof three forts, viz. deTeatro, 
Heroicas, and de Capa y Efpada, “ he introduced,” fays 
Luzan, “repartees, ready wit, fuddenattachments, night- 
rounds, clandeftine entrances, ftriCnefs of honour, duel¬ 
ling, ladies that are haughty, yet at the fame time of eafy 
approach, and always ready to cheat their fathers and 
brothers ; in Ihort, an exaggerated piCure of the gallantry 
of the times. They contain,” adds the fame author, 
“the chief art of all, which is that of interefting the 
fpeCator or reader, and hurrying him on from fcene to 
fcene, not merely without wearinefs, but with an eager 
defire to witnefs the cataftrophe ; a moft eflential quality, 
which not many of the poets of other nations, who have 
been great obfervers of rules, can boaft of pofiefiing. 
That cenfure is not ill founded,” continues Luzan, 
“ which attributes to him a want of variety in his fub- 
jeCs and charaCers 5 but, in a writer who poflefies the 
fuperior qualifications of Calderoni, and the fafcination 
of his ftyle, many faults may be excufed, and may be even 
noticed as evidences of (kill, till another (hall come, who, 
emulating his beauties, is free from his defeCs, As this 
has not yet been beheld amongft us, Calderoni retains 
almoft all his original fame; he has ferved and Hill ferves 
as a model of excellence, and his comedies are the moft 
available treafures of our theatres.” Luzan, la Poetica, 
lib. iii. ch. 1. 
The Portuguese Poetry is worthy of note only in 
the ftrains of Camoens. Many beautiful ballads and fongs 
have been produced in that country; but imitation of 
the Spaniards and cultivation of Italian poetry occupy 
the place of original coinpofition in more important works. 
Of the various poetical compofitions written by Ca¬ 
moens, the epic poem, entitled “ Lufiad,” is the only one 
which makes him known in modern times. The fubjeC 
of this poem is the difcovery of the Eaft Indies by the 
Portuguefe, under Vafco de Gama ; and the fleet is con¬ 
duced by the poet round the coaft of Africa to Calicut, 
on the Malabar coaft. In the courfe of the voyage the 
author introduces a great variety of defcriptions, which 
his knowledge of the parts of the world to which they 
relate renders noble and interefting. Some of his poetical 
fiCions are conceived with true genius; and the giant 
Adamaftor, the guardian of the Cape of Tempefts, (iince 
called the Cape of Good Hope,) is a creature of fancy as 
fublime as the imagination of a poet has produced. 
“ On the whole,” fays Dr. Aikin, (Gen. Biog.) “ the want 
of a well-conneCed plan, the negleC of proper decorum, 
the monftrous mixture of the Heathen with the Chriftian 
mythology, and the general baldnefs and want of elevation 
in the ftyle, place this work far beneath the principal epics 
of ancient and modern times.” The whole work, fays 
Dr. Blair, (LeCures on Rhetoric, &c. vol. iii.) “ is con¬ 
duced according to the epic plan. Both the fubjeC and 
the incidents are magnificent; and, joined with fome 
wildnefs and irregularity, there appear in the execution 
much poetic fpirit, ftrong fancy, and bold defcription. 
There is no attempt towards painting charaCers in the 
poem; Vafco is the hero, and the only perfonage indeed 
that makes any figure. The machinery of the Lufiad is 
perfeCly extravagant; not only is it formed of a fingular 
mixture of Chriftian ideas and Pagan mythology, but it 
is fo conduCed, that the Pagan gods appear to be the 
true Deities, and Chrift and the Blefled Virgin to be 
fubordinate agents. One great fcope of the Portuguefe 
expedition, our author informs us, is to propagate the 
Chriftian faith, and to extirpate Mahometanifm. In this 
religious undertaking, the great proteCor of the Portu- 
guele is Venus, and their great adverfary is Bacchus, 
whofe difpleafure is excited, by Vafco’s attempting to 
rival 
