FROM THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
The third period of Portuguese poetry and eloquence arises so
imperceptibly out of the second, that no particular date, or remarkable
event in Portuguese literature can be said to form a dividing point
between them. The influence of the French taste on the Portuguese is
the characteristic mark of the commencement of this last period. But
even that influence never produced any thing like a revolution in the
state of polite learning in Portugal. French taste worked its way into
the language and the literature of the Portuguese, as tranquilly as
into their manners. It therefore neither forcibly supplanted the old
taste, nor caused any conflict of literary factions at all resembling
that warfare, which arose between the Gallicists and the adherents of
the old style in Spain. Thus the literature of Portugal, for the second
time, asserted its peaceful character. As in the sixteenth century no
Portuguese Boscan had to contend with an old romantic party, so in
the eighteenth century there arose no Portuguese Luzan to uphold the
French taste by methodical rules of art. There occurred, therefore,
no violent reaction of old patriotism against Gallicism, like that
experienced in Spanish literature. Under these circumstances an
opportunity was at last afforded for the English taste also to operate
quietly and imperceptibly on that of the Portuguese. The historian,
however, who finds it necessary to fix on some particular point for
the commencement of this last principal division of the history of
Portuguese poetry and eloquence, is constrained to take his departure
from the change of political relations, which has been the main cause
of Portuguese cultivation and literature becoming, in the struggle
between French and English tendencies, what they now are. Towards the
close of the seventeenth century, those conflicting tendencies which
have threatened the very existence of the kingdom of Portugal, first
began to manifest themselves.
CHAP. I.
GENERAL HISTORY OF POETICAL AND RHETORICAL CULTIVATION IN PORTUGAL
DURING THIS PERIOD.
_Total decay of Portuguese Literature towards the end of the
Seventeenth Century._
In the year 1668, when the Spanish government again recognized the
independence of the Portuguese monarchy, the difference between what
that monarchy had been, and what it then was, became palpable. It
appeared that even its new existence was not altogether assured by the
peace with Spain. The flame of patriotism no longer glowed with its
wonted ardour in Portuguese breasts; and the hope of re-conquering
those territories in India of which the Dutch had obtained possession
was extinguished. The gold and diamond mines, discovered in Brazil,
offered, it is true, a compensation for the lost sources of oriental
wealth. But the old spirit of national enterprise was no more, and the
people, as well as the government, wanted energy and talent for the
useful employment of treasures, from which the commercial policy of
England well knew how to derive advantage. A general lethargy seemed to
overspread the nation; and towards the close of the seventeenth century
the effects of that lethargy became no less manifest in the depression
of literature than in the decay of military and maritime power, of the
finances, and of all the branches of national industry. On the breaking
out of the war of the Spanish succession, the court of Lisbon inclined
sometimes to the French, and sometimes to the English party; but while
the government thus wavered, and was at a loss what to do, the nation
seemed perfectly disposed to adopt the manners introduced from France,
and French literature soon gained the same ascendancy in Portugal as
in the rest of Europe. But the Portuguese were not, at that period,
prepared to estimate the merits of French literature. Those who moved
in the polite world learned to speak and read French, and to mutilate
their mother tongue.[335] But only a few individuals of uncommon
acquirements took pleasure in cultivating their literary taste after
French models. The majority of the poets, or versifiers of Portugal
were, properly speaking, entirely destitute of taste.
In taking a comprehensive view of the state of poetry and eloquence in
Portugal, during the eighteenth century, it will be proper to follow
the thread of the national annals; for the general history of this
portion of Portuguese literature resolves into about as many sections
as the number of the reigns into which the political history of the
country is divided. The period was indeed now gone by in which the
nation formed itself, rather than suffered itself to be formed by the
government.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PORTUGUESE ACADEMY IN 1714.
During the forty-four years reign of John V. namely, from 1705 to 1750,
there was no want of institutions, calculated to raise the nation to
the point of elevation whence it had fallen. For the polite literature
of Portugal a new era seemed to have commenced, when, in the year 1714,
an _Academia Portugueza_, on the model of the French academy, was
established under the presidency of so accomplished a man as the Count
de Ericeyra. But we nowhere find an account of any advantage which the
language and literature of Portugal derived from the labours of this
academy; and the establishment was soon so completely neglected, that
it is difficult to conjecture how and when it sank into decay.[336]
Other academies on the Italian plan had their rise and decline without
producing any beneficial results; while several Portuguese poets were
satisfied with the honour of admission into the Italian academy of the
Arcadians. The academy of history, founded at Lisbon in 1720, also
promised to be useful to Portuguese eloquence, as well as to historical
science; but in the end little or nothing was effected even by this
institution. Besides, though the general character of the Portuguese,
which had always been less fanatical than that of the Spaniards,
appeared about this period to become somewhat more liberal in religious
and ecclesiastical matters, that favourable symptom was merely a
consequence of the friendly relations which Portugal was under the
necessity of maintaining with England; and these relations seemed to
place Portugal too much in a state of dependence, to be flattering to
the national feeling, or to reanimate it by the diffusion of knowledge.
The inquisition, too, continued to adopt the old precautions against
all attempts at free-thinking, after the manner of Voltaire. It was,
therefore, neither the spirit of the old nor of the new age, which,
in the reign of John V. sometimes maintained the ancient forms in
Portuguese poetry and eloquence, and sometimes endeavoured to introduce
new ones. This fluctuation was merely the result of a feeble wavering
between the old Portuguese, the French, and the Italian taste. The
better poetry was, however, still to be found in the works of the
authors, who remained faithful to the ancient manner.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARQUIS OF POMBAL.
The twenty-six years reign of Joseph Emanuel, from 1750 to 1777,
proved more salutary for the Portuguese nation. The rigid despotism
of the powerful Marquis de Pombal, who in the name of the king ruled
with unlimited sway, left unpleasant recollections in the minds of a
portion of the nation. Nevertheless the spirit of the higher nobility
and of the ecclesiastics was not wholly subdued by his measures. In
the dungeons which were filled with state prisoners, it is possible
that some men of talent languished. But Pombal’s iron arm roused the
slumbering nation. The despotic system of government adopted by this
state reformer, who was, perhaps, only cruel from necessity, was an
enlightening system, and his object was to restore the ancient glory
of the Portuguese name. To literature he attached but little immediate
importance. But he crippled the spiritual despotism, which held captive
the last remnant of Portuguese energy. Europe is mainly indebted
to him for the suppression of the order of the jesuits; and the
Portuguese, in particular, have to thank him for that revived feeling
of independence which soon penetrated into their literature. A taste
for the fine arts, for philosophy, and literary cultivation, became
fashionable in Portugal. The connexion with England proved, in some
respects, advantageous to the new progress of Portuguese genius, and
promoted literary improvement; for the Gallicists lost a considerable
portion of their political ascendancy, when English literature began to
be properly estimated in Portugal.
REVIVED SPIRIT OF LITERATURE--UTILITY OF THE PORTUGUESE ACADEMY OF
SCIENCES.
It was not until after the death of King Joseph Emanuel, that the
change which had taken place in Portugal became fully manifest.
Pombal’s institutions seemed indeed destined to be annihilated, when
his enemies triumphed. But even the new degree of favour which the
clergy enjoyed in the reign of the pious Queen Maria, had not the
effect of stifling the revived spirit of improvement in Portugal.
Young Portuguese travelled to several parts of Europe and carried back
to their native country the fruits of modern cultivation. The Prince
Regent loved and favoured literature. In the course of a few years the
Royal Academy of Sciences at Lisbon did much to rouse the nation to
new activity, and in particular to reconcile philosophic study with
enlightened views of national interest. Had that excellent institution,
especially as it existed under the judicious guidance of the Duke of
Lofoens, been left undisturbed in the pursuit of its glorious and
successful labours, the benefits produced to Portugal would have
been more extensive and direct than those which most of the European
academies have conferred on the countries to which they belong. The
cosmopolite observer will, doubtless, be less interested in what
the academy accomplished for polite literature, than in its zealous
exertions for the encouragement of science, the diffusion of just and
liberal ideas, and the consequent improvement of national industry
and public prosperity. This institution was, however, of important
service to polite literature. Prizes were offered for the best comedy
and the best tragedy, to be written in the Portuguese language. It
was endeavoured, through the influence of some of the academicians,
to restore to due consideration the Portuguese classic writers of
the sixteenth century, and also to re-introduce the language of that
better period into literature, and the business of common life. Some
volumes of academic transactions, which have in furtherance of this
object been published since the year 1792, contain, in imitation of
the French manner, essays purely literary, interspersed with articles
on national history. This was, however, only a harmless blending of
heterogeneous subjects; and the recollections of ancient times to which
it gave birth, contributed to recall to Portuguese poetry and eloquence
some portion of the old national spirit, from the revival of which the
general interests of the country had every thing to expect[337].
CHAP. II.
HISTORY OF PORTUGUESE POETRY DURING THIS PERIOD.
THE CONDE DA ERICEYRA.
The first Portuguese poet remarkable for paying homage to the
French taste, was the ingenious and meritorious Francisco Xavier de
Menezes, Conde da Ericeyra, born in 1673. The family rank of this
writer doubtless added to the celebrity of the talents by which he
distinguished himself at an early period of life. This will account for
the extraordinary circumstance, that while yet in the twentieth year
of his age he was elected president of one of the academies which were
founded in Lisbon, on the model of those of Italy. He is said to have
spoken the Latin, Spanish, Italian and French languages with facility.
He made, however, no progress in Greek. At an early age he translated
Boileau’s Art of Poetry into Portuguese octaves; and from that period
he maintained a friendly intercourse with the French critic. Literary
and more particularly poetical studies continued to occupy him even
during the Spanish war of succession, in which he made several
campaigns. He rose in the Portuguese army to the rank of _mestre do
campo_ (major general.) The consideration and influence which the Count
da Ericeyra enjoyed in Portuguese literature, were rapidly augmented by
the authority attached to the offices which he filled; for in the year
1714, he was appointed rector and secretary of the Portuguese academy
which was then founded; and in the year 1721, co-director of the new
academy of history. His literary reputation soon extended beyond the
narrow limits of Portugal; and during the latter half of his life, he
held a conspicuous place among the men of his age, whose talents had
given them a general celebrity. He maintained a correspondence with
learned foreigners both in the south and north of Europe. The Pope and
the King of France bestowed on him particular marks of their esteem;
and the transactions of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences were
formally transmitted to him by that learned body. In his old age this
diligent writer bestowed the greatest share of his attention on an
epic poem, entitled, the _Henriqueida_, in which he endeavoured, as
far as possible, to fulfil all the conditions of poetic art, according
to the principles of the most celebrated critics. It would appear that
he completed his task in the year 1738, and at the age of sixty-nine
he enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing his work printed. He died
two years afterwards. The number of his works, both in verse and
prose, is considerable; and it seems that many of them still remain
unprinted.[338]
The poetical works of the Count da Ericeyra, among which are several in
the Spanish language, are distinguished by a degree of polish in which
it is impossible not to recognise the disciple and admirer of Boileau.
But this nobleman was not destined to mark an epoch in Portuguese
poetry. To regard him as a mere Gallicist would be extremely unjust,
and to rank him among poets in the highest and strictest sense of the
term, would be to form an equally erroneous judgment of poetic art.
Ericeyra certainly was not a slavish imitator of the French style. He
endeavoured to form his talent by the study of all the works which he
conceived fitted to serve as models whatever might be the language in
which they were written; and this spirit of liberality in literary
cultivation was a peculiarly estimable trait in his character. In the
metrical structure, as well as in the style of his poems, he remained
faithful to the forms and spirit of the old Portuguese national poetry,
and to the school of the sixteenth century. But with all his plastic
capabilities, he was wanting in creative fancy; and with all his
endeavours to attain classic correctness, he did not avoid faults,
which are readily pardoned in the works of the older Portuguese poets,
in consideration of the poetic energy which is manifest in those
very faults. In that poetic energy all the writings of the Count da
Ericeyra are deficient. His imagination, which never of itself took a
lofty flight, was much more inclined to enlarge artificially upon any
pleasing subject, than to seize with inspiration and freely fashion
a subject of its own; and the rules of French criticism doubtless
contributed to allure him to the cultivated occasional style, as that
style may justly be denominated, which, whenever the opportunity
for an occasional poem offers, is always at the command of a writer
possessing no common share of descriptive talent. Accordingly not a few
occasional poems are to be found in the works of the Count da Ericeyra.
In compliance with the old Portuguese custom, he sometimes made choice
of the eclogue form, to record in a pleasing strain of verse, certain
events which occurred in the Royal family. In this form, for example,
he deplores, through the medium of shepherds and shepherdesses, the
death of the Infante Dom Miguel, which took place in the year 1724.
After what has already been said respecting other works of this kind,
to dwell longer on the eclogues of the Count da Ericeyra would be
a superfluous labour; but in the history of Portuguese poetry, the
Henriqueida claims a more particular notice.[339]
The Henriqueida may unquestionably be called an epic poem with far more
propriety than the _Condestabre de Portugal_ of Rodriguez Lobo.[340]
It is the work of an industrious talent, which occasionally seizes,
with happy effect, a poetic situation, and by poetic handling elevates
a series of historical events, somewhat above the sphere of prosaic
nature. But this tedious and laboured poem possesses no other merit.
Neither in the invention, highly as it has been esteemed, nor in the
execution, which is not wanting in incidental beauties, is there
displayed any thing like the captivating energy of the epic poetry
of Camoens; and even in correctness of ideas and images, Ericeyra’s
Henriqueida is very deficient. The subject is patriotically chosen.
Henry of Burgundy, the founder of the Portuguese monarchy, is the hero
of the poem. The action is not destitute of intrinsic interest, and the
epic unity belonging to it has been happily caught by Ericeyra. The
poem is divided into twelve cantos. Henry of Burgundy, the son-in-law
of Alphonso VI. King of Castile, receives the county of Portugal as a
fief, but on condition of first conquering that dowry, and afterwards
securing it by further conquests. At the commencement of the poem the
prince is waging war against the Moorish King Muley; but there appears
little probability of the conquest of Lisbon, which is still in the
hands of the Moors. Henry is informed that a Portuguese sybil lives
somewhere in the vicinity of the camp in a concealed cavern, which he
determines to explore, and for that purpose withdraws unnoticed from
his army. The rashness with which this purpose is executed, is more
characteristic of a fool-hardy adventurer than of a hero destined to be
the founder of a kingdom. After taking a desperate leap, he succeeds in
discovering the cavern and its inhabitant, who proves to be a christian
sybil. She reveals to him the secret of his destination, together
with some facts relative to the future greatness of the nation. While
he is engaged in collecting this prophetic information, his troops
suppose him to be lost. The Moors attack; the Christians are giving
way; but at the critical moment Henry arrives, and turns the tide of
victory. This first event, by which the interest of the epic action
becomes immediately attached to the hero of the poem, is succeeded
by a series of single combats, sieges, and victories, interspersed
with love adventures, and carried on until the taking of Lisbon, with
which exploit the poem concludes. The distribution of the parts is
managed with much art, so that the characters in which it is wished the
reader should take an interest, appear one after the other in their
proper lights. The situations, too, are for the most part well chosen.
Prophetic dreams, and a certain portion of fairyism still impart to
the tale the charm of the miraculous, even after the christian sybil
has divulged the general influence of the celestial powers. But the
Henriqueida is from the first to the last canto destitute of that
poetic warmth and spirit, the absence of which cannot be supplied by
the ablest descriptive talent, and without which poetic art degenerates
into mere exercises of style; for the industriously ingenious author
was deficient in energy and depth of natural feeling, as well as
in purity of ideal feeling. In his _advertencias preliminares_, or
theoretical introduction, Ericeyra declares that he has in a certain
measure endeavoured to imitate all epic poets, and to imbibe a portion
of the manner of each; but had he withheld this acknowledgment no
reader acquainted with other epic poems, could have failed to recognise
in the Henriqueida the styles of Homer, Virgil, Ariosto, Tasso, and
progressively of Lucan, Silius Italicus, and Statius, but without ever
discerning the animating spirit of genuine poetry. The tedious coldness
which pervades the whole poem destroys the effect of those incidental
beauties of style which it must be allowed to possess. The very first
stanzas give birth to an unfavourable presage;[341] and to invoke
the inspiration of the deity rather than the muses is but a frigid
conceit.[342] Even the descriptive passages, in which Ericeyra displays
most talent, are deteriorated by artificial traits which launch into
the region of Portuguese Marinism, and betray all the coldness of
study.[343] Sometimes these traits stand as abruptly forward as if
they had been interpolated by a sonnetist of the seventeenth century;
thus, in allusion to Henry of Burgundy’s descent into the sybil’s cave
amidst the fury of the conflicting elements, it is said, that “the
vivid flames of his heart dried up the waves, and set fire to the
winds.”[344] When the assembled princes sit down to hear Henry relate
what he has seen in the cave, it is said of the plumes of the military
heroes, that “they wafted glorious deeds to heaven, and inscribed
victories without the aid of letters.”[345] On another occasion,
the author describes the effect of a violent shout of the storming
troops, by saying, that “even the stones of the walls seemed touched
by the cry, and had nearly disclosed the medals which their celebrated
founders had buried beneath them.”[346] Among the poetic ornaments of
Ericeyra’s narrative style, the picturesque comparisons are for the
most part well conceived; but with all their truth they are deficient
in poetic energy;[347] and sometimes, contrary to all expectation,
they terminate quite in the Marinistic style.[348] The Henriqueida is
tolerably free of mythological decoration. Still, however, Ericeyra
could not altogether refrain from availing himself of an ornament which
he considered so essential. He has, therefore, contrary to all prosaic
probability, for the violation of which there is no adequate poetic
motive, introduced a Moorish princess in the character of a secret
adherent of the Greek mythology, and he has thus taken occasion to
describe a whole gallery of gods and goddesses. At the conclusion of
the poem, Ericeyra again summons all his powers of description, not
entirely without success, but still without avoiding those faults into
which his factitious enthusiasm had previously involved him.[349]
That such a poet as the Count da Ericeyra could, with all his
praiseworthy endeavours, succeed in restoring the ancient glory of
Portuguese poetry, or in giving a new direction to the poetic spirit
of his nation, certainly was not to be expected. But in consequence
of his labours it ceased to be taken for granted in Portugal, that
the mines of the higher poetry were exhausted, and he contributed to
encourage the idea of improvement in poetic cultivation. His name,
therefore, deserves to be held in honourable recollection. What
benefits he, as a theorist, sought to impart to the poetic art, shall
be noticed in the next chapter.
CONTINUANCE OF CORRUPT TASTE IN PORTUGUESE POETRY.
BARROS PEREIRA--ALEXANDRE ANTONIO DE LIMA.
The age of the Count da Ericeyra presents, at its close, a resting
point in the history of Portuguese poetry, which, if the numerical
division of the years be not too rigidly insisted on, may form a
boundary between the first and the second halves of the eighteenth
century. It was solely during the latter half that a favourable change
became obvious in the poetic cultivation of the Portuguese. In the
former half only a few Portuguese poets of celebrity laboured to
maintain a suitable connection between the new and the old eras.
Among those poets it is not meant to include Father Antonio de Lima
Barros Pereira, who in the year 1720 published his spiritual and
temporal works, under the title of _Floresta Apollinea_, (Apollinian
Flower-garden). But this collection of miscellaneous poems ought to
be mentioned, as it serves to prove that in the beginning of the
eighteenth century the Spanish was the favourite dramatic language in
Lisbon. Among the works of Barros Pereira, his _loas_, or allegorical
preludes, are the most numerous, and are all written in Spanish. Barros
Pereira also sought to distinguish himself by those poetic rhapsodies
without plan or object, which were, both in Spain and Portugal, called
_Sylvas_ (Forests.)
The _Rasgos Metricos_ (Metrical Fragments) of a writer, named Alexandre
Antonio de Lima, which were printed in 1740, are likewise about equally
divided between the Portuguese and Spanish languages. The title-page
bears a dedication to St. Ann; and in the same spirit which dictated
that kind of address, the author, who seems to have been of a sprightly
humour, has mingled spiritual and temporal productions together; and he
has sometimes made even pieces of the most sacred character vehicles
for jokes, which, however, are meant to be pious after their own
way.[350] This singular incongruity was still considered inoffensive
by the Portuguese of that age. The miscellaneous poems of Antonio de
Lima are chiefly of a comic character. But a foreigner who has never
lived in Portugal will be unable to understand most of this writer’s
epigrammatic conceits, as they all refer to particular customs and
local relations.[351] Some of Antonio de Lima’s serious sonnets are by
no means contemptible productions.[352] In satirical prose he attempted
an imitation of Quevedo’s visions.
THE PORTUGUESE DRAMA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
SPURIOUS DRAMAS CALLED OPERAS.
In the first half of the eighteenth century, a new, though not a happy
turn, became perceptible in the dramatic poetry of the Portuguese.
While the Spanish drama still supplied the place of a Portuguese
national drama, the favour of the court of Lisbon was bestowed on the
Italian opera. The general approbation which was soon extended to
operatic performances of every description, led to the introduction on
the Portuguese stage of a singular species of hybridous comedy. There
was a wish to naturalize the Italian opera; but it is probable that
few Portuguese singers were then capable of executing recitative; and
it may also be presumed, that the Portuguese had heard of the little
French operas, in which the characters speak and sing alternately.
This, however, is certain, that the public of Lisbon had always a
strong predilection for comic entertainments; and, it appears, that
with the view of fully satisfying the popular taste, it was thought
advisable to introduce the pomp of the serious Italian opera into
the comic drama of Portugal. By what practical head this idea was
suggested no Portuguese writer has thought fit to record. It seems not
improbable that it had its origin in the speculation of a theatrical
manager, who wished to venture on the experiment of amusing the
public in a new way; and who, for that purpose, availed himself of
the services of some obscure writer, who happened to have a talent
for dramatic poetry. The first essays of this theatrical novelty
were all anonymous. It is, however, likely, that the result greatly
exceeded the expectation of the speculator. The scenic decorations,
in which the new species of drama rivalled the Italian, the burlesque
humour of the pieces themselves, the effects of music, both vocal and
instrumental, captivated the great mass of the Lisbon public. The
higher ranks of society too, and even the court, took an interest in
these performances. New dramas in this spirit and style followed each
other in rapid succession, more particularly during the ten years
which elapsed between 1730 and 1740. But no poet, who had previously
acquired reputation, appears to have devoted himself to this kind of
composition; and the prolific dramatist, whose anonymous productions
were so fortunate as to obtain the chief favour of the public, had
probably at the time private reasons for wishing to remain unknown.
He was a Jew, whose name, even after it was disclosed, was seldom
mentioned, as the public, content with the antonomasia, still continued
to call him _O Judeo_, (the Jew).[353]
The popularity of the new dramas soon became so great, that manuscript
copies were eagerly procured for the purpose of private performance
or reading. From these copies collections were printed, the increase
of which fell still short of the public demand.[354] To none of the
dramas contained in these collections is the name of an author affixed.
In spirit and style they so closely resemble each other, that they
may all be considered as the production of one individual. If at this
period French taste had acquired any decided influence on Portuguese
literature, such dramas, though they might, for the sake of incident,
music, and decoration, have been tolerated on the stage, would never
have been sought for in print. It is impossible to imagine a more rude
combination of low jests, with romantic and miraculous events, partly
taken from real history, and partly from the Greek and Roman mythology.
Had this strange compound been the workmanship of cultivated as well
as of inventive talent, then, indeed, might the grotesque medley have
been rendered, by the ingenuity of composition, entertaining even to
readers of cultivated taste. But in these confused jumbles, called
comic operas, the composition is, in general, as inartificial as the
wit intended to enliven them is dull. The lowest buffoonery is blended
with singular adventures, tournaments, or ceremonies; and trivial airs
and songs are successively introduced. Some can lay no claim to any
merit of invention, either in arrangement of story or incidents, as
is exemplified in a spectacle of this class called Don Quixote, which
was represented in 1733. No fewer than thirty-six characters figure
in this compilation from the master work of Cervantes, whose spirit
is, however, banished from the composition. The _Esopaida ou Vida de
Esopo_, (Æsopeid, or Life of Æsop) is one of these pieces which seems
intended to be particularly comic. The first scene represents a fair
at Athens with all its appropriate accompaniments. The philosopher
Zeno appears with Æsop and two other slaves, all of whom he wishes
to sell. Æsop soon distinguishes himself by coarse jests and endless
quibbling.[355] Another philosopher, named Xanthus enters, accompanied
by his disciples Periander and Ennius. He puts Æsop’s wit to the test,
and purchases him.[356] The scene now changes. Filena, the daughter of
Xanthus, confides the secrets of her heart to an old and ugly female
slave, named Gerigonza. They are joined by Euripedes, the wife of the
philosopher, who reprimands her daughter, and sings a silly scolding
duet with her.[357] Æsop enters and again makes a display of his wit.
Then follows a tender scene between Filena and her lover; Gerigonza
becomes enamoured of Æsop; and the philosopher and his wife quarrel
together, singing a duet of the most vulgar character. By a succession
of scenes of this sort, the action is carried on through the first
act. In the second act King Crœsus of Lydia arrives with an army to
besiege Athens: and Themistocles appears on horse-back in the suite
of Crœsus. The scene is now alternately in Athens and in the camp
of Crœsus. Drums and fifes are kept in constant employment. Splendid
pleasure gardens adorned with statues add to the pomp of the spectacle.
But Æsop, whose puns and quibbles are inexhaustible, is always the hero
of the piece. At last, after bringing about a peace between Crœsus,
and the people of Athens, he is appointed governor of the city. Thus
ends the Æsopeid, which might with more propriety be entitled the
Buffooniad. Amidst this grotesque jumble, however, sparks of no common
fancy are occasionally elicited; but the anonymous author seems to
have been totally destitute of literary cultivation, and to have had
no higher aim than to give a humorous colouring to the rudeness of his
combinations. The rest of the Portuguese comic operas are, upon the
whole, still more rude than the Æsopeid, though some are richer in the
musical part of the composition, and possess grave or even pathetic
airs and duets in the style of the serious Italian opera.
It might, at first sight, be supposed, that a nation which could be
pleased by dramas of this kind, must be for ever excluded from the path
of higher cultivation. In Lisbon, the Italian opera-house continued to
be the real court theatre. But the Portuguese opera which stood like a
spurious child beside the Italian, maintained its ground in spite of
its parent. Had not the taste for this kind of dramatic entertainment
prevailed down to the second half of the eighteenth century, a new
edition of the Æsopeid, and other theatrical caricatures, would not
have been published in 1787. The restoration of a truly noble style in
Portuguese poetry, could not therefore be expected to derive its origin
from the drama.
RESUMPTION OF AN IMPROVED STYLE IN PORTUGUESE POETRY.
MANOEL DA COSTA.
To obtain this object, it was, however, only necessary that a poet
should arise, who, charmed by the renewed union of Portuguese and
Italian poetry, might be induced to place himself under the tutelage
of the early Italian poets. Thus would the Italian opera have rendered
compensation for the evils to which it had given birth. A Brazilian,
named Claudio Manoel da Costa, was one of the first writers who in
this way contributed to reintroduce an elevated style into Portuguese
poetry.[358] Born in the province of Minas Geraes, that part of Brazil
where the chief object is the working of mines, he seems not to have
been destined for the service of the muses. He indeed passed through
a course of academic studies in Europe; but he himself states that
during the five years which he spent at the university of Coimbra, no
kind of poetry was there held in esteem, save that which was composed
in the corrupt but fashionable style of the Portuguese Marinists.
That young Da Costa, while at the university of Coimbra, should have
applied himself to the study and imitation of the older Italian poets,
and of Metastasio, was a circumstance peculiarly favourable to his
improvement, while at the same time it afforded the first proof of
his being destined to arrive at a point of purer cultivation than
his contemporaries. He even ventured on the composition of Petrarchic
sonnets in the Italian language, and in this attempt he was not
unsuccessful. On his return to Brazil his poetic studies were continued
in the region of gold and diamond treasures, to which he seems to
have attached but little value; for he complains that amidst these
mountains, no Arcadian stream awakes by its sweet murmur harmonious
verse: and that the turbid waters of the brooks only serve to call to
recollection the rapacious perseverance of the miners by whose labour
they are discoloured. On his own poems he pronounces a remarkable
judgment. He observes that he was too late in learning the rules of
good taste from the Greeks, Italians and French; and that influenced
by bad example, he sinned against principles, the justice of which he
recognized. The perverted manner of the sonnetists of the seventeenth
century is certainly here and there perceptible in the writings of Da
Costa. But upon the whole, it may be said, that for nearly the space
of a century, no Portuguese writer had so well succeeded in that kind
of sonnet poetry, which most charmingly approximates to the style of
Petrarch; and that in the other compositions of this Brazilian poet,
the faults are counterbalanced by merits of the most pleasing kind.
The sonnets included in the collection of his poetic works, amount
to nearly a hundred; and among them are some in Italian, but none
in the Spanish language. The style of these sonnets, nearly all of
which have love for their subject, is, however, not altogether that
of Petrarch. They possess a certain tone of poignancy, which betrays
the spirit of modern times. Nevertheless, Da Costa’s style, alike
free from exaggeration and fantastic ornaments, exhibits the truth of
nature and of poetry so happily united with Petrarchic intensity of
feeling, and expressed in language so elegant and unostentatious, that
his sonnets may justly be numbered among the very best in Portuguese
literature.[359] While perusing them, the reader cannot fail sometimes
to fancy that he recognizes the simple tone of the old Portuguese lyric
poetry, reflected by an Italian echo.[360] Though the influence of
French taste was far less powerful than the Italian with Da Costa,
it still had some effect on his poetry. It appears to have guided
him in the choice of a metre for his _epicedios_, or elegies. These
poems, however, are not composed in Alexandrines, but in iambics of
five feet, without any complexity in the rhymes. This is a kind of
verse which is frequently used by English writers; and yet Da Costa
seems never to have turned his attention to English poetry. But though
such verse was quite uncommon, similar measures had long before been
known in Portugal, and perhaps Da Costa was not the first Portuguese
poet who in this way attempted to approximate to the French style, as
far as the diversity of the languages would, with propriety, permit
the experiment to be carried. This dull style of rhyming, appears,
however, always somewhat foreign and inharmonious in Portuguese poetry.
In other respects, these _epicedios_ possess the merit of noble,
inartificial, and pleasing expression; but they want the high charm of
the author’s sonnets, and some of his other poetic compositions.[361]
He himself appears to have attached most value to his twenty eclogues.
They are indeed written with peculiar care, and are not destitute of
beauty in some of their parts; but, like most Portuguese eclogues,
they are either occasional poems in a bucolic dress, or partly lyric
compositions, which, with the exception of pastoral names, exhibit no
trace of bucolic character. The extraordinary predilection of the more
ancient Portuguese for this species of pastoral poetry, had therefore
descended from one generation to another, down to these latter times.
One of Da Costa’s eclogues is dedicated to the prime minister, the
Marquis of Pombal, or as he was then still called, the Count of Oeyras,
with a warmth of feeling which seems to have been the genuine effusion
of the poet’s heart. From an emphatic eulogy pronounced on that
minister, it may be concluded that the Portuguese poets immediately
and sensibly felt the beneficial effects of his administration, for
the general encouragement of mental freedom was a part of Pombal’s
system. The poet says of the statesman, that he reconciled innocence
with genius, and recalled justice to the world.[362] Among Da Costa’s
other poems, the most remarkable are his masterly imitations of
canzonettas, cantatas, and other modern Italian poems for music, to
which the opera has given birth. Nothing finer in this style of poetry
is to be found even in the similar minor works of Metastasio. His
_A’ Lyra Desprezo_ (Farewell to Poetry), and the _Palinodia_, which
accompanies it, are alone sufficient to prove the perfect accordance
of the Italian and Portuguese language with respect to the laws of
musical poetry.[363] But still finer is another Farewell, entitled,
_Fileno ä Nize, despedida_, which was probably composed by Da Costa on
his return to America. Here the old romantic inexhaustibility in the
poetic amplification of a favourite idea, sustained by a constantly
recurring burthen, is united with all the magic of Metastasio’s
versification.[364] In some poems of the same class which Da Costa
composed in the Italian language, a certain degree of constraint is
observable. But his Portuguese cantatas, spiritual as well as temporal,
are not only free from that fault, but often bear the stamp of
excellence.
PROGRESS OF PORTUGUESE POETRY IN THE LATTER PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.[365]
To make a detailed report of Portuguese poetry during the last thirty
years of the eighteenth century, is a task which must be consigned
to other writers. In this general history it is sufficient briefly
to describe how the new spirit of Portuguese literature acquired,
even on its poetic side, a marked influence, though it did not unfold
itself with that energy which was necessary to reproduce the poetry
of the sixteenth century under somewhat varied features. This period
must not yet be extolled as the commencement of a second golden age
of Portuguese poetry; but the poetic talent of the Portuguese has
opened for itself a wider field; and fantastic rhyming no longer finds
admirers among the educated class of readers. The Portuguese zealously
endeavour to rival, in polite literature, as well as in science, those
nations who have, or who seem to have outstripped them. But this
rivalry is happily combined with a revived veneration for the poetry of
the sixteenth century. Thus have the old national forms of Portuguese
poetry been preserved for modern times; and the Portuguese drama alone
seems doomed to be governed by French laws.
TRANSLATIONS.
In the first half of the last thirty years of the eighteenth century,
the desire to cultivate a correct style in Portuguese poetry was
fostered by new translations of some of the latin classics. The Odes
of Horace were translated into Portuguese by Joaquim José da Costa
e Sa;[366] the Satyres of Sulpitia by Antonio Luis de Azavedo;[367]
Ovid’s Heroides by Miguel de Couto Guerreiro;[368] and the comedies
of Terence by Leonel da Costa.[369] But it would appear that the
Portuguese did not in their wish to become more intimately acquainted
with genuine poetry, so happily commence the translation of the Greek
poets. On the other hand, several French and English works obtained a
suitable Portuguese dress. Telemachus appeared in the year 1770; and
Young’s tragedies in 1788. A circumstance which cannot fail to excite
surprize, at least in Germany, is that in the year 1791 there appeared
a Portuguese translation of the Herman of Baron Shönaich, the most
indifferent of all German epic compositions;[370] but Gessner’s Death
of Abel also appeared in the Portuguese language in the year 1785.
TITLES OF SOME OF THE POEMS PRODUCED IN THIS PERIOD.
Among the best poems which appeared about this time in Portugal,
may be classed, The Rebuilding of Lisbon, an epic composition, by
Miguel Mauricio Ramalho;[371] Satires and Elegies, by Miguel do Couto
Guerreiro;[372] the Dream, a heroic poem, by Luis Rafael Soyé;[373] the
Triumph of Innocence, by José Anastasio da Costa e Sà;[374] Lusitania
transformed by Alvares do Oriente;[375] Gaticanea, or the War between
the Dogs and Cats, by Joaõ Jorge de Carvalho;[376] and some others.
GARÇAÕ.
More particular attention is due to the poetic works of Pedro Antonio
Correa Garçaõ, which were written at an earlier period, but which
were only first collected and published in the year 1778.[377] Since
Ferreira flourished, no other Portuguese poet had so decidedly formed
his taste by the imitation of Horace. Garçaõ, who for this reason
is called the second Portuguese Horace, did not content himself as
Ferreira had two hundred years before, with imitating in Portuguese
verse, the intellectual elegance and sprightly philosophy of Horace’s
odes, sermons and epistles; in the composition of his odes he
endeavoured to introduce into Portuguese poetry verse constructed on
the Horatian model. But, however distinctly the Portuguese language
may without prejudice to its abrupt pronunciation be accentuated, and
however readily it may, at first sight, seem to accommodate itself
to the ancient metres, it is in reality as little subject to their
laws as the Spanish and Italian; the reason plainly is, that the
Portuguese, like all modern languages, is totally destitute of fixed
syllabic quantity in monosyllabic words; and, that like the Spanish
and Italian languages, it is not sufficiently rich in dactylic words
to afford, in some degree, the means of concealing this deficiency. In
most of his imitations of ancient verse Garçaõ has therefore merely
strung together, in an unusual way, lines of long and short iambics.
In his sapphic odes, as he calls them, the sapphic verse is not more
obviously perceptible than in many older compositions of the same kind,
into which rhyme is admitted.[378] Garçaõ endeavoured to make an
approximation to alcaic verse by the employment of dactylic words.[379]
But whatever objections may be urged against the metrical form of
Garçaõ’s odes, they must be allowed to exhibit in their spirit and
style proofs of a bold endeavour to soar above the eternal sameness
of the sonnet and the eclogue. Of the spirit of Horatian philosophy,
they present no deeper traces than the odes of Ferreira;[380] but they
were well calculated to recall the Portuguese to the exercise of a
sound and vigorous judgment in poetry. Garçaõ’s diction is worthy of
a poet of the sixteenth century. Among the lyric works of this poet
are a Pindaric ode with strophes, antistrophes and epodes;[381] and a
dythirambic, the character of which is certainly somewhat frigid.[382]
Had Garçaõ been a pedant, he would not have devoted so much labour on
sonnets, and on canções and glosses in the old national forms. He was,
however, by his turn of mind and cultivation better fitted to succeed
in didactic satire and epistles in the manner of Horace; and in this
respect he again resembles Ferreira. But his satires and epistles,
which are among the best in modern literature, possess more of Horatian
gaiety and airyness than the kindred works of Ferreira;[383] there is
in their moral tendency occasionally something more social.[384]
Garçaõ also endeavoured to give a new direction to the dramatic poetry
of Portugal. He did not possess sufficient dramatic invention to
satisfy a public accustomed to all the extravagance of operatic and
theatric pomp. But he exerted his utmost efforts to counteract the
influence of that pomp, and of the general bad taste which seemed
to have obtained a complete dominion over the national theatre. His
theory, which will be further noticed in the next chapter, could only
be promulgated within a narrow circle. As a dramatic poet, he first
declared war against the rude opera taste, by writing a little comedy
in the style of Terence, the title of which is:--_Theatro Novo, drama_,
(The New Theatre, a drama). It is a mere dramatic trifle, with a very
simple plot. An adventurer of fallen fortune conceives the idea of
establishing a new theatre, in which speculation he is to be assisted
by his two fair daughters and a rich Englishman, _Arthur Bigodes_,
(a name formed from the English oath, “by God.”) He engages several
other individuals in his scheme. Two love affairs, the one sincere
and the other compulsory, impart comic interest and dramatic unity
to the piece. The principal scene, to which the others merely serve
as auxiliaries, is that in which each member of the dramatis personæ
delivers a critical opinion respecting the kind of pieces which ought
to be represented at the new theatre. But judicious and patriotic as
the result of the deliberation might be, it was nevertheless very
liable to be interpreted by the public of Lisbon to the prejudice
of a reformer, who consigned the execution of his plan to a ruined
adventurer. This was, however, the first step towards raising the
dignity of Portuguese comedy, and restoring it to its former rank as
a national drama. The Portuguese public was susceptible of patriotic
sentiments, and Garçaõ understood how to touch the national feeling
without having recourse to pedantry. Accordingly, he makes the manager
of the new theatre, in a comic situation, say, that his beloved native
country is not a little indebted to him for the trouble he has taken
to rescue her from the abyss of ignorance in which she lay, miserable
and infatuated, amidst wretched dramas.[385] He observes, that genuine
comedy must again become the school of manners, as it had been to the
ancients. In conclusion, he solemnly invokes the shades of Gil Vicente,
Ferreira, and Saa de Miranda.[386] This little comedy is written in
light and agreeable iambic verse, and is not destitute of dramatic
spirit.
Another comedy by Garçaõ appears to have been intended as an example of
the kind of character drama which the author wished to introduce on the
Portuguese stage. It is called _Assemblea ou Partida_, (the Assembly
or the Party).[387] This modern Gallo-Portuguese title denotes that
the author intended it to be an elegant conversational piece, affording
a picture of fashionable manners. It is called merely a drama, and is
attributed to no particular species, because it consists of only one
act, which indeed is a tolerably long one. Thus it is not entirely
faithful to the plan of a regular comedy in the style of Terence. The
satire of the piece is directed against that sort of ostentatious
boasting, to realize which the finances of the fashionable braggadocio
are not always adequate. The characters are well drawn. To accommodate
the national taste in every way, Garçaõ has introduced into the piece
some well written sonnets, and a half-comic cantata, which is set to
music and performed at the party of a lady. This comedy exhibits no
trace of any particular imitation of the French style. Garçaõ wished to
reform the Portuguese drama on classic principles, but, as he himself
on another occasion observes, he wished to effect the reformation with
a due regard to modern times and manners, and consequently without any
rigorous adoption of the ancient dramatic laws in their full extent.
THE ABBOT PAULINO.
The ingenious prelate, Paulino Cabral de Vasconcellos, Abbot of
Jazente, who is commonly called merely the Abbot Paulino, deserves to
be honourably distinguished among those Portuguese poets, who at the
latter end of the eighteenth century reclaimed the national taste, and
brought it under the rules of classic cultivation.[388] The collection
of his poems, printed in the year 1786, consists of sonnets only; but
without having read them, it is scarcely possible to conceive that this
species of poetic composition should have acquired so many new charms
towards the close of the eighteenth century. In this collection of
two hundred and forty-five sonnets, which are probably selected from
a still greater number of compositions of the same kind by the Abbot
Paulino, there is scarcely one that can be pronounced dull or heavy;
most of them display a peculiar union of clearness, lightness and
elegance, with a tone of Horatian philosophy and irony. The study of
French literature seems to have contributed to the singular cultivation
of the Abbot Paulino. But the spirit of his poetry is by no means
French. In one poetic glance he comprehended the various situations of
real life, viewing them sometimes on the romantic, sometimes on the
rural, and sometimes on the comic side; and the pictures of sentiment
and reflection which he thus calls up, are compressed into the sonnet
form in the most pleasing and natural manner. The best of Paulino’s
sonnets are those which are conceived in a tone of elegant satire;[389]
and some which, though apparently frivolous, occasionally remind the
reader of Propertius.[390] The satire of this Portuguese poet, however,
very seldom degenerates into grossness.
DONA CATHARINA DE SOUSA--HER TRAGEDY OF OSMIA.
But dramatic poetry in Portugal required some particular excitement
to make it keep pace with the new cultivation of the nation; and an
impulse of this kind was given when the Lisbon academy of sciences,
which, during the last twenty years of the eighteenth century, was
constantly embracing new objects, turned its attention to polite
literature. The academy offered a prize for the best tragedy in the
Portuguese language. Competitors came eagerly forward. But none of
the tragedies which have been crowned by the academy, obtained so
much popularity as the _Osmîa_ of Dona Catharina de Sousa.[391] It is
probable that no other female writer who has acquired celebrity in the
eighteenth century, could have produced such a work, though, perhaps,
in other respects she might rank higher as a poetess than Catharina de
Sousa. The fable of the tragedy, according to the conditions required
by the academy, in the year 1785, is selected from the Portuguese
national history. Three tragedies were produced within the space of
three years. In the year 1788 the academy awarded the prize to _Osmîa_;
and on opening the sealed note, in which the author’s name was supposed
to be inscribed, it was found to contain only a reference to a prize
question respecting improvements in the cultivation of the olive in
Portugal, with a request that the academy would apply to that object
the prize which was renounced for the tragedy of Osmia. But the equally
generous and ingenious authoress soon became known. The tragedy was
first printed without her name; but a second edition was published in
the year 1795. It owes its celebrity not merely from the circumstance
of its being the production of a female pen. In several scenes of
this drama, tragic pathos is, in the happiest way, combined with an
elegance which from the sex of the writer was more to be expected
than the former quality. The subject is chosen from the history of
the ancient inhabitants of Portugal, rather than of the Portuguese. A
story from the age of romance would have better fulfilled the idea of a
national tragedy; but Dona Catharina de Sousa, in the spirit of modern
cosmopolite education, in a great measure formed by French reading,
followed the Gallic taste even in a predilection for the Roman age
in tragic drama. Osmia, the heroine of the tragedy, is a Lusitanian
Princess of the race of the Turdetani, who in the second century of the
Christian era, sought to emancipate themselves from the Roman yoke.
She is, contrary to her inclination, united to Prince Rindacus, who
heads the Turdetani in their insurrection against the Romans. Osmia
combats like a heroine. The Turdetani are, however, defeated; Rindacus
disappears, and Osmia is made prisoner by the Romans. The Roman Prætor
Lælius becomes deeply enamoured of the fair captive, and she in her
turn is not indifferent to his passion. With the principal persons
thus situated the developement of the dramatic action commences. The
composition would doubtless have been much more rich and brilliant
if the authoress had not so rigorously confined herself within the
rules of French tragedy. The Roman characters appear modernized in
the French style. In this very absurd way the Prætor Lælius is drawn.
On several occasions he complains of his “poor heart” in as doleful
a strain as a hapless lover of modern times. But in the delicate
representation of the relationship of Osmia with the Prætor, and with
her rude barbarian husband, the sentiments of a noble-minded woman are
painted in such a manner as none but a woman could paint them. The
tragic grandeur of the composition rests on the character of Osmia,
who will not on any consideration render herself unworthy of her
noble descent. The loftiest pride of patriotism contends in her bosom
with love for the Roman Prætor, whom she wishes to hate, but whose
tender generosity she feels less and less power to resist.[392] The
feminine heroism of her character thus acquires a pensive gentleness,
which renders her, as a woman, more and more interesting in every
scene. The character of Osmia is forcibly relieved by contrast. A
Turdetanian prophetess, who is also among the number of the captives,
burns with national pride and hatred of the Romans; and her energetic
but unfeminine patriotism is the means of constantly producing tragic
concussions in the train of the events, until the husband of Osmia
unexpectedly re-appears. The authoress has been eminently successful
in the gradual heightening of the tragic interest.[393] She did not
venture to shed blood on the stage. The death of Osmia is related; but
at the end her husband enters wounded and dying. Notwithstanding the
simplicity of the composition, the tragedy comprises a considerable
share of action. The rapid flow of the dialogue in some of the scenes,
approximates more nearly to the tragic style of Voltaire, than to that
of Corneille and Racine. The language is dignified throughout; though
in some scenes it is deficient in poetic keeping. But according to the
rule which the authoress herself was accustomed to consider as the only
correct one in the estimation of dramatic perfection, she could not
avoid faults which she theoretically regarded as beauties. The present
is not the proper place for analysing the individual fine passages of
this tragedy. The feminine character of the whole composition, however,
well merits a minute analysis in a theory of poetry.
FAILURE OF OSMIA ON THE STAGE--PREVALENCE OF DRAMATIC IMITATIONS AND
TRANSLATIONS.
The great difference between such a tragedy as Osmia and the dramatic
entertainments to which the Portuguese public were accustomed,
must have impeded the good effect which under other circumstances
might have been produced by the prizes which the academy of Lisbon
continued to offer. Osmia was performed; but it did not obtain a
favourable reception from the public, and some similar tragedies
by which it was succeeded experienced nearly the same fate. The
Italian opera maintained its consideration in Lisbon; and the dramas
which have since been produced on the Portuguese stage, are for the
most part, either imitations of foreign pieces or translations. No
modern Portuguese poet seems to have attempted to pursue the path of
dramatic composition in the style of the Spanish comedy, and to carry
it forward from the point at which Gil Vicente had stopped. Of the
modern Portuguese comedies in the French style those from the pen of
Guita have the highest reputation. But the Portuguese appear still to
cherish as a favourite dramatic entertainment, the burlesque and truly
national _entremeses_ (interludes) which have either risen out of the
Spanish compositions of the same class, or have with them one common
origin.[394]
RECENT PORTUGUESE POETS:--IN PARTICULAR TOLENTINO DA ALMEIDA.
Among the latest Portuguese poets of eminence, may be numbered Manoel
de Barbosa du Boccage, Francisco Bias Gomez, Francisco Cardoso, Alvarez
de Nobrega, Xavier de Matos, Valladares, and Nicolao Tolentino de
Almeida. The last mentioned writer seems to be greatly admired for his
poignant satires, which have for their subject various local relations
in Lisbon.[395] The wit of this poet, whose writings betray much
dissatisfaction with his lot in life, is not always intelligible to
a foreigner; but he evinces a decidedly national spirit, which when
combined with the representation of modern manners, becomes peculiarly
interesting.[396] In the works of Tolentino are revived most of the
ancient national metres of the Portuguese in redondilhas.[397]
ARAUJO DE AZAVEDO--HIS TRANSLATIONS OF ENGLISH POEMS.
It would be unjust to close this History of Portuguese Poetry, without
recording the name of Araujo de Azavedo, minister for foreign affairs
in Lisbon, a writer of talent and learning, and a statesman to whom his
country and its government is much indebted. His excellent translations
of Dryden’s Alexander’s Feast, some of Gray’s Odes, and the Elegy in a
Country Church-yard, are truly valuable acquisitions to the national
literature of Portugal. His object in making these translations was to
direct the attention of his poetical contemporaries to the hitherto
unexplored side of the Portuguese Parnassus; and it may be expected
that genius will readily follow the tract of such a guide.[398]
CHAP. III.
HISTORY OF PORTUGUESE ELOQUENCE, CRITICISM, AND RHETORIC, DURING THIS
PERIOD.
_Further Decline of Portuguese Eloquence._
Before it was possible for any thing like true eloquence to find a
place in Portuguese literature, public spirit had to revive from
that state of feebleness and apathy into which it had been plunged
by the rapid decline of Portugal from the pinnacle of national
glory. It was indispensable that a time should return in which the
human mind might move with somewhat more freedom in the trammels of
ecclesiastical tyranny. The nation had to become once more capable of
contemplating great objects. The national taste was to be reclaimed
from the affectation of pompous phraseology, and it was necessary
that the spirit of philosophy should be allowed to make suitable
approaches towards the spirit of poetry. But these, and all the other
conditions requisite for the revival of polite prose in Portugal, were
never more decidedly wanting than precisely at the period when the
introduction of French manners seemed likely to infuse a French taste
into the national literature. But reckoning from the latter end of the
seventeenth century, the imitation of French taste had operated for
a considerable time, and yet had influenced only the forms of social
life. Its presence in Portuguese literature, was scarcely perceptible.
It has already been shewn that during the first half of the eighteenth
century, Portuguese poetry, even in the hands of the few poets who were
not unwilling to learn elegance from the French, continued subject
to the style of the Gongorists and Marinists. Of course still less
was it to be expected that Portuguese writers should be capable of
imitating the polite prose of the French, since such an imitation would
pre-suppose a cultivation of the understanding which at that time was
not practicable in Portugal. The French taste in so far as it really
found admission into Portugal, doubtless contributed at first, as about
the same time its adoption did in Germany, to repress the loftier style
of eloquence, for the language became so corrupted by foreign words and
phrases, that it was difficult for the prose writer to know what tract
it was proper to follow. The poet might, if he pleased, still adhere to
the style of the sixteenth century; for his language was not like that
of prose composition, subject to the laws of fashion. But no author
could attempt classic prose, in the language of the sixteenth century,
without encountering the risk of being regarded as a pedant by his
contemporaries; and if he wished to follow the fashion, he was obliged
to disfigure the language in which he wrote.
A few works of research which were written during the first half of
the eighteenth century, are, with the exception of books of devotion,
almost the only compositions which still preserved a kind of national
prose style in Portuguese literature. Barbosa Machado’s great national
Dictionary of Learned Men, is not written without rhetorical care.
The author wished to express himself with correctness and elegance,
particularly where he uses the language of panegyric, but even then
he could not avoid frigid and pompous phraseology; and some phrases,
which he seems to have admired, are constantly recurring in the work;
as for example when he calls a poet “one of the most melodious swans
of the Portuguese Parnassus,” without considering that Parnassus is
neither a river nor a pond. A few affected metaphors were the only
recognized beauties of prose composition at this period in Portugal.
Didactic prose could no longer exist when the philosophic and
scientific cultivation of the Portuguese became daily more abridged,
and was almost limited to the small remnant which was taught in the
cloisters and the colleges of the Jesuits. The lectures which under
these circumstances were delivered in the academies, were considered
to have sufficiently fulfilled their objects if they did not lull the
auditors to sleep. The art of historical composition was now completely
extinguished in Portugal.
NEW CULTIVATION OF ELOQUENCE--CLASSICAL PROSE AUTHORS STILL WANTING IN
MODERN PORTUGUESE LITERATURE.
In the second half, and more especially during the last thirty years
of the eighteenth century, the spirit of improvement was awakened, and
began to diffuse itself into every department of Portuguese eloquence.
The admirable clearness, precision and facility of the French prose,
has at length exercised an advantageous influence on the Portuguese.
Without enforcing with pedantic rigour the restoration of all the
old forms of the sixteenth century, the best Portuguese authors now
endeavour to write their mother tongue with purity, and at the same
time to satisfy the new wants created by the progress of time and the
spirit of the age. The praiseworthy diligence which the Portuguese
now manifest in collecting scientific knowledge of every kind, and
in republishing the works of their early authors, appears, however,
to have operated indirectly to the prejudice of eloquence, for among
the men of talent, to whom Portugal is indebted for her regeneration,
none have yet distinguished themselves in prose composition. But
the Portuguese have had so many things to retrieve, that they have
scarcely had time to devote particular attention to the rhetorical
form of didactic works. An effort to avoid the bad taste of the
preceding age, and upon the whole to cultivate a clear and dignified
form of expression, is perceptible in most of the modern treatises
of the Portuguese. Empty bombast has given place to the language of
reason. The Portuguese nation have now to wish for a modern historian
qualified to tread in the footsteps of Barros, Brito and Andrada. Such
a writer might succeed in still more firmly rivetting the connecting
link between the promising present and glorious past in the hearts of
Portuguese patriots.
ROMANTIC PROSE--TRANSLATIONS.
A new era of romantic prose might also have been commenced in Portugal,
had the poetic spirit of the old Portuguese pastoral romances been
modified, instead of being enfeebled by the introduction of the
cultivated forms of modern prose. Translations of foreign novels
seem to have too readily satisfied that portion of the Portuguese
public, whose cultivation was, through this species of reading,
gradually approximating to the taste of the other nations of Europe. A
translation from the French of Le Sage’s popular Gil Blas was supplied
by the poet Barbosa Du Boccage, who is probably descended from a French
family. This was soon followed by translations of the Moral Tales of
D’Arnaud, and of various works of a similar description.
PORTUGUESE CRITICISM OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
The progress of genuine prose in Portuguese literature during the
eighteenth century, may, upon the whole, be estimated by the style of
Portuguese criticism in the same period. It may be presumed that the
authors of critical treatises on literary subjects, endeavoured by
their own prose to shew the relationship, which, according to their
opinion, ought to exist between poetry and eloquence; and it is certain
that the principles on which they wrote precisely corresponded with the
rhetorical cultivation of the age, within the boundaries of Portuguese
taste. These theoretical labours, in their relation to Portuguese
poetry and eloquence, deserve to be particularly noticed.
ERICEYRA’S INTRODUCTION TO HIS HENRIQUEIDA.
A new epoch in Portuguese criticism seems to commence with the critical
treatises of the Count da Ericeyra; for this writer studiously availed
himself of the principles of French criticism, and his authority gave
full effect to the example he set. But there was more of semblance
than reality in Ericeyra’s appropriation of French criticism. He had
too little feeling for the essence of poetry to be able to modify
the idea of beauty according to French principles of correctness,
without losing sight of the true foundation of that idea. With all
his critical rules, therefore, he never rose above what may be termed
the external apparatus of poetry. Within that apparatus his taste
was altogether circumscribed. His general opinions on poetry are
developed with sufficient clearness in the copious introduction to
his _Henriqueida_,[399] and in the explanatory notes which he has
attached to that epic composition. The introductory dissertation is
written in good prose; but the observations which the author makes on
the subject of epic poetry, partake more of prosaic than of poetic
views. The subject with which the Count da Ericeyra’s critical essay
commences is imitation; but, composing in the spirit of his own system,
he first speaks of the celebrated poets whose works he had imitated,
and afterwards of the imitation of nature. He speaks of Homer with
emphasis; and yet at the same time acknowledges that he was acquainted
with that poet only through Madame Dacier’s prose translation. Under
these circumstances he reasonably enough speaks with still greater
emphasis of Virgil, whose works he could read in the original. Of all
human works, Virgil’s Æneid, in the opinion of Ericeyra, approaches
nearest to perfection.[400] On the other hand, he says, that Ariosto’s
Orlando Furioso, belongs more properly to the class of romantic tales
of chivalry, than to epic poetry; but that it is nevertheless worthy
of imitation on account of its pleasing narrative style and the
“fertility of poetic genius,” which the Count acknowledges Ariosto
to possess. Voltaire’s Henriade, however, which was then the newest
epic production, is pronounced to be particularly distinguished for
its “elevated and natural poetry.” Ericeyra takes this opportunity of
more accurately defining his theory of perfection in epic poetry. It
belongs, in his opinion, to a perfect epic action, that the hero of
the poem should as much as possible be kept present in the scene of
action. On epic machinery Ericeyra pronounces nearly the same judgment
as Boileau, namely, that when a modern introduces into his poetry the
Christian system of the ancient mythology, the pleasure to be derived
from epic composition is destroyed. Even the Jerusalem Delivered, would
be a tedious work, had not Tasso enlivened the “pious melancholy of the
subject” by the introduction of magic and by other means. The example
set by Camoens, who introduced into modern poetry all the mythological
deities as allegorical characters, is recommended as highly worthy
of imitation; but nevertheless Tasso’s plan is not to be altogether
condemned. Ericeyra makes some very judicious observations on the epic
treatment of real history. Lucan, he says, was the first who disfigured
epic poetry by writing merely as a poetic historian; and he attributes
the ill success of the Spaniards in epic poetry to their having always
preferred Lucan to every other model. His remarks on the epic character
are no less correct; and his opinions on language and style are such as
might be expected from a man of sound and cultivated understanding. He
praises the dramatic style of Corneille, Racine and Moliere. From these
authors, he observes, a writer may learn how to express naturally the
heroic and tender passions in their full force, and without the false
glare which disfigures the works of many modern and also some ancient
poets. Thus the Count da Ericeyra endeavoured to vindicate his own poem
before the tribunal of the public. The most remarkable circumstance
with respect to the whole treatise is the little value which the
author attaches to poetic allegory. When it is recollected in what
esteem allegory was held by the early Portuguese critics, Ericeyra’s
treatise, though in other respects unimportant, and only interesting
in its connection with the whole of Portuguese literature, will be
recognised as at least a step gained in literary criticism.
GARÇAÕ’S LECTURES.
Among the treatises of criticism by which it was hoped, about the
middle of the eighteenth century to reform the taste of the Portuguese,
some consideration is due to those written by Garçaõ, the imitator of
Horace.[401] They are in the form of lectures, and were delivered in
an assembly called the academy of the Portuguese Arcadians. On this
account they are also entitled to rank among works of oratory. In two
of these lectures, Garçaõ zealously defends the Aristotelian theory of
tragedy in its application to the modern drama. He insists on obedience
to the rule of not shedding blood on the stage. Accordingly he commends
the French drama; and notices Addison’s Cato with approbation. His
opinion, on this point, he conceives is sufficiently supported by these
two remarks--1st. That to fulfil the object of tragic art it is not
necessary to shed blood on the stage--and 2dly. That it is improper,
because at an intellectual entertainment disgusting objects should not
be presented to the eye. Garçaõ appears also to have understood in the
usual way the condition of Aristotle, that tragedy should refine the
passions of the spectator. He expatiates much on the moral utility of
a perfect tragedy, through which the theatre might, in his opinion, be
easily converted into an excellent school of morals. To this effect the
opinions of the French critics Le Bossu and Dacier, are industriously
cited in concert with those of Aristotle. Both lectures were given
in the year 1757. The main object of a third lecture which Garçaõ
delivered to the same society in the same year, is to demonstrate that
the imitation of the classic poets of antiquity is one of the most
essential requisites of modern poetry. He observes that the judicious
and the servile imitator must not be confounded together, for that the
latter is in fact merely a plagiarist. Garçaõ himself seems, however,
to have been somewhat puzzled to make out this distinction; for he
asserts that Camoens has in his pastoral poems imitated Virgil in the
same manner as Virgil has Theocritus. A skilful imitator, he says,
may excel the poet whom he imitates, as Horace has in many passages
excelled Pindar. At the same time it must be allowed, that these and
the following lectures of Garçaõ possess the merit of pure, natural,
and dignified language; and that in several passages they display
true eloquence.[402] Garçaõ, who felt a patriotic interest in the
improvement of the polite literature of his country, expected that the
academy of the Portuguese Arcadians would by its exertions revive the
good taste of the sixteenth century. Only such a society, zealously
competing for the welfare and honour of the country, can, he says,
become “the Alexander who will cut this gordian knot of bad taste,
the Achilles who will conquer this Troy.”[403] But it appears that he
appealed to his Arcadians in vain. Their literary patriotism was of a
very passive character; and the advantages which Garçaõ hoped this
society would procure, were destined to be obtained through another.
PHILOLOGICAL AND CRITICAL TREATISES OF THE ACADEMICIANS JOAQUIM DE
FOYOS--FRANCISCO DIAS--ANTONIO DAS NAVES, &C.
Among the literary treatises (_Memorias de Litteratura_) published
by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Lisbon,[404] are to be found the
latest contributions to Portuguese criticism and eloquence; and that
society may justly boast of the well directed efforts of its members to
promote the literary cultivation of the nation. At the head of these
literary treatises, there appeared in the year 1792 a remarkable essay
on Portuguese pastoral poetry by Joaquim de Foyos.[405] This treatise
served at once to record the unconquerable predilection with which the
Portuguese adhered to their pastoral poetry, and the new freedom of
opinion which ventured to shew itself in opposition to the oracles of
French criticism. Joaquim de Foyos asserts, that pastoral poetry must
be the oldest, and consequently the most natural and original style of
poetry. In the history of human nature, he observes, the shepherd’s
life is in the natural course of the transition from barbarism to
social cultivation. It is, he adds, precisely in this stage of the
developement of human wants and energies, that the mind is particularly
awakened to poetic activity: and as in pastoral life man is surrounded
by the sweetest tranquillity of nature, so must pastoral poetry
be the true poetry of nature. Joaquim de Foyos has indeed related
consistently with his own notions, the history of mankind and poetry in
a way which is well calculated to set forth the particular merits of
bucolic composition: otherwise history might soon have convinced him
that pastoral life has scarcely ever been the passage from the savage
state to civilization: that the kind of pastoral state which favours
the ground work of bucolic poetry, has only arisen under particular
circumstances in a few places; and has, even there been of little
advantage to poetry: that Greek poetry no more originated in Arcadia,
than German in Switzerland: that the oldest Greek poetry exhibits no
trace of the pastoral character: that Theocritus first devoted himself
to this style of composition at the voluptuous court of the Ptolemies
in Alexandria: and that its revival in the romantic age, like its birth
in Alexandria, presupposes a degree of social cultivation, whence the
human mind longingly reverts to a more natural existence, on which it
at last bestows ideal beauties. Joaquim de Foyos judges of the French
critics by more just principles. He observes, that these critics, of
whom Le Bossu may be placed at the head, deduce numerous chimerical
rules from what they term the morality of a poem. Dacier, he says, has
also misunderstood Aristotle in wishing to render the story of a poem a
sort of Æsopic fable. The ingenious and elegant Marmontel has fallen
into the same error.
A philological treatise in the form of a dictionary, by Antonio Pereita
do Figueiredo, on the genius of the Portuguese language, according
to the Decades of Barros,[406] though not immediately connected with
poetry and rhetoric, is nevertheless worthy of honourable notice,
since it is calculated to direct Portuguese writers to the study of
Barros, and the spirit of their mother tongue. Another treatise by the
same writer, has for its object to recommend Barros as a model for
Portuguese eloquence.[407]
The analysis of the poetic language and style of Saa de Miranda,
Ferreira, Bernardes, Caminha and Camoens, by Francisco Dias, is more
useful than most of the treatises of the same kind previously written
in Portuguese.[408] The investigations of this intelligent writer are
philological rather than critical; but the critical observations which
he introduces are dictated by a clear judgment and just feeling. The
improvements which Saa de Miranda effected in the poetic language
of the Portuguese are here exhibited in their true light. Even the
latinisms of Ferreira are placed in an advantageous point of view by
the author. He speaks of Camoens in terms of enthusiasm; but in the
encomiums which have lately been bestowed on Caminha, Dias does not
concur.[409] The treatise is, upon the whole, very well written.[410]
An Essay by Antonio das Naves Pereira on the proper use of the language
of the Portuguese writers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
abounds in judicious critical remarks.[411] It is written expressly
to condemn the gallicizing (_a Francezia_) of modern Portuguese. This
learned philologist and critic is likewise the author of a comparative
view of the language and manner of the principal Portuguese poets with
particular reference to the peculiarities of each style of poetry.[412]
The want of a work which might in the strict sense of the term be
called a complete theory of criticism, does not appear to have yet
been felt by the Portuguese. A compendium of rhetorick by Antonio
Teixeira de Magalhaens was published in the year 1782;[413] and a few
years after a French art of rhetorick by Gisbert, as translated into
Portuguese.[414]
CONCLUSION.
COMPARISON OF PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH LITERATURE.
On a general comparison of the treasures of the polite learning of
Spain with the poetry and eloquence of Portugal, there will appear
on the Spanish side a balance of literary riches, but not of genius
and cultivation. The heroic romances, the satire of Cervantes, and
the dramatic poetry of the Spaniards, still preponderate, though the
epic poem of Camoens, and all the beautiful and singular productions
of Portuguese pastoral poetry be weighed in the opposite scale. The
greater number of the old Portuguese lyric poets, does not, as to
intrinsic value, raise the Portuguese lyric poetry above the Spanish.
The dramatic works of Gil Vicente, which are completely thrown into
shade by those of Lope de Vega and Calderon, would still be eclipsed,
did they even possess the riper cultivation of the few dramas of Saa
da Miranda, Ferreira, and Vasconcellos; which, however, is again more
than counterbalanced by the dramatic energy and lofty poetry of the
works of Moreto, Antonio de Solis, and other Spanish authors. But
in a general view of the poetic genius of both nations, it would be
wrong to overlook the different extent of the territories to which
the two languages belong, or to forget that in the style of romantic
pastoral poetry, which shines so brilliantly in Spanish literature,
the Portuguese instructed the Spaniards, and never were excelled by
them. Generally speaking it may be said, that in no earnest literary
competition between the Portuguese and the Spaniards, have the former
ever suffered themselves to be outdone by the latter. Accidental
circumstances, not want of energy, prevented the Portuguese from
keeping pace with the Spaniards in dramatic poetry; and under these
circumstances no serious competition could arise. In the cultivation of
modern eloquence both nations have at last advanced to nearly the same
degree of improvement.
Portuguese poetry is no less national than the Spanish. The tendency
to orientalism, with which the Spaniards have been so frequently
reproached, was, in like manner, a characteristic of the poetic genius
of the Portuguese, until the general influence of French taste produced
a remarkable change in manners and in literature. To form a just
estimate of the works of Saa de Miranda, Camoens, Rodriguez Lobo, and
the other principal Portuguese poets, it is not the Greek or Latin,
and by no means the French rule of criticism, which ought to be made
the measure of poetic excellence. From a right understanding of what
really constitutes natural and ideal poetry, is derived the only true
principle whereby the judgment ought here to be guided in forming
its decision. Keeping this principle in view, attention must be paid
to local circumstances, which, whenever ancient or modern poetry has
arisen out of the poetic perception of nature and human life, rather
than out of reading, or philosophic and critical abstractions, give to
the poetic creations of the mind the true impress of reality;--and,
amidst realities, the poets of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
lived. These poets sufficiently satisfied their contemporaries and
their age, but they had no wish to recommend themselves to posterity by
a theoretically cultivated and universal style of poetry. Their poetic
world is, accordingly, something more than a mere imaginary world; and
what they only wrote to please themselves and their contemporaries,
must increase in value with every succeeding century; because the
circumstances under which such a style of poetry could arise, are
gradually becoming more and more rare.
END OF VOL. II.
AND OF THE HISTORY OF PORTUGUESE LITERATURE.
E. Justins, Printer, 41, Brick Lane, Whitechapel.
ERRATA VOLUME II.
Page 103, l. 2 from the top, for _farcas_ read _farças_.
110, l. 3 from the top, for _rareshow_ read _rareeshow_.
115, l. 3 from the top, for _prediliction_ read _predilection_.
120, l. 1 first note, for _a ode_ read _an ode_.
134, l. 7 from the top, for _opening Ferreira’s tragedy_, read _opening of
Ferreira’s tragedy_.
164, l. 2 of the note, for _hrone_ read _throne_.
165, l. 7 from the top, for _the poetic survey_ read _this poetic survey_.
199, l. 11 from the top, for _redondillas_ read _redondilhas_.
211, l. 7 from the top, for _espistles_ read _epistles_.
233, l. 10 from the top, for _exercisesd_ read _exercised_.
252, l. 6 from the top, for _remaind_ read _remained_.
302, l. 14 from the top, for _stile_ read _style_.
313, l. 2 from the bottom of the second note, for _he_ read _the_.
318, l. 6 from the bottom, for _a more natural dignified_ read _a more natural
and dignified_.
324, l. 10 from the bottom, for _antithesis_ read _antitheses_.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] See the History of Spanish Literature, p. 12 and 17.
[2] The Portuguese of former times never resigned the common
denomination of Spaniards to the inhabitants of the Castilian monarchy.
They invariably styled the Spaniards _Castelhanos_. Even in the late
edition of the poems of Camões, that writer, who composed only a few
trifles in Castilian verse, is distinguished by the title of _Principe
dos Poetas de Hespanha_, (Prince of Spanish poets).
[3] Detailed information concerning the settling of French knights
in Portugal, under Henry of Burgundy, may be found in Manuel Faria y
Sousa’s well known work:--_Europa Portuguesa_, v. i. p. 448.
[4] See the History of Spanish Literature, p. 17.
[5] Further information on this subject is contained in Manuel de Faria
y Sousa’s _Europa Portuguesa_, vol. iii. p. 378, whence all these
particulars are derived.
[6] It is difficult to collect any sense from the words. Those who
understand Portuguese may try their skill on the following specimen:--
Tinhe rabos nom tinhe rabos
Tal a tal ca monta?
Tinheradesme, nom tinheradesme,
De là vinherasdes, de cà filharedes,
Ca amabia tudo em soma.
Per mil goyvos trebalhando
Oy oy vos lombrego
Algorem se cada folgança
Asmey cu: porque do terrenho
Nom ha hi tal perchego.
The above fragment is contained in the _Europa Portuguesa_, vol. iii.
p. 379.--Dieze has also printed it in his Remarks on Velasquez.
[7] Two complete songs by Egaz Moniz are given in the work of Manuel
de Faria y Sousa already mentioned, vol. iii. p. 380. One commences as
follows:--
Bem satisfeita ficades
Corpo doyro
Alegrade a quem amardes,
Que ei jà moyro.
Ei bos rogo bos lembredes
Ca bos quije
A que dolos nom abedes
Que bos fije.
Cambastes a Pertigal
Por Castilla
A amade o mei mal
Que dor me filha.
[8] There is no poetry in the specimens quoted by Faria y Sousa. For
example the following:--
A Juliam et Horpas a saa grei daminhos,
Que em sembra cò os netos de Agar fornezinhos
Huna atimarom prasmada fazanha,
Ca Muza, et Zariph com basta campanha
De juso da sina do Miramolino
Com falsa infançom et Prestes maligno
De Cepta aduxerom ao Solar Espanha.
Et porque era força, adarve, et foçado
Da Betica Almina, et o seu Casteval
O Conde por Encha, et pro comunal
Em tarra os encreos poyarom a Saagrado,
El Gibaraltar, maguer que adordado,
Et co compridouro per saa defensaõ,
Pello susodeto sem algo de afaõ
Presto foy delles entrado et filhado.
[9] See Barbosa Machado, article _Dionis_.
[10] The changes which the name Alphonso undergoes in Spanish and
Portuguese may mislead persons who are not intimate with those
languages. In Spanish it is indiscriminately either _Alfonso_ or
_Alonzo_; the latter form, however, is chiefly used in common life.
In Portuguese, from the natural tendency of that language to omit the
letter _l_, the name is invariably pronounced and written _Affonso_.
[11] This poem is given by Barbosa Machado, under the head _D. Pedro
I._--As it is written in the Castilian language, it would be out of
place in a collection of specimens of Portuguese poetry. The Portuguese
songs of Pedro I. are included in Garcia de Resende’s _Cancioneiro_.
[12] The Spanish _Don_ becomes _Dom_ in Portuguese.
[13] See the History of Spanish Literature, p. 49.
[14] Manuel de Faria y Sousa has printed it in his _Discurso de los
Sonetos_, prefixed to his _Fuente Aganippe_, that is to say, his poems,
vol. i. The language and style of this sonnet are sufficiently ancient.
Bom Vasco de Lobeyra, e de gram sem,
de pram que vos av des hem contado,
o feito de Armadis, o namorado,
sem quedar ende por contarhi rem.
E tanto vos aprougue, e a tambem,
que vos seredes sempre ende loado,
eu entre os homes hos por bo mentado,
que vos eram adeante, e que hora hem.
Maes porque vos fizestes a fremosa
Breoranja amarendoudo hu nom amarom
esto, combade, e contra sà vontade.
Ca eu hey gram dò de a ver queixosa,
por sa gram fremosura, e sa bondade,
e ber porque o sim amor nom lho pagarom.
[15] One of these sonnets is printed, as a specimen, in the
before-mentioned _Discurso de los Sonetos_. There is in the antiquated
diction a degree of precision which approximates to the style of the
original:--
Vinha Amor por o campo trebelhando
com sà fremosa Madre, e sàs donzellas;
el rindo, e cheo de lédice entre ellas,
ja de arco, e de sas setas nom curando.
Brioranja hi a sazom sia pensando
na gram coita que ella ha, e vendo aquellas
setas de Amor, filha em sa mano huna dellas,
e metea no arco, e vayse andando.
Des hi volveo o rosto hu Amor sia.
Her, disse: ay traidor que me has falido;
en prenderey de ti crua vendita.
Largou a mano, quedou Amor ferido:
e catando a sa sestra endoa do grita,
hay merce, a Brioranja que fogia.
[16] See Sarmiento’s _Obras Posthumas_, p. 323.
[17] The _Cronica do Condestabre de Portugal Nun Alvarez Pereyra_,
printed in gothic letters at Lisbon 1526, in folio, may serve for
an example. That this chronicle was composed about the end of the
fourteenth century is a fact which admits of no doubt. Though written
quite in the dry style of the chronicles, yet the author seems to have
had a vague idea of historical arrangement; and he sometimes aims at
a certain degree of skill and eloquence in antithesis. Thus in the
preface, which commences in the following manner:--
Antigamente foy costume fazerem memoria das cousas que se faziam, assi
erradas, como dos valentes e nobres feitos; dos erros, porque dellos
soubessem guardar, e dos valentes e nobres feitos, aos boõs fizessem
cobiça a ver peras cousas semelhantes fazerem.
With this artificial commencement, the simplicity of the following
passage forms a remarkable contrast:--
E por nom fazer longo prollego (_prologo_), farei aqui começo em este
virtuoso Senhor, do qual veo o valente y muy virtuoso conde estabre Dom
Nunalvaréz Pereyra. E assi dehi em diante siguiremos nossa historia.
[18] See the preceding vol. p. 74.
[19] Dieze, in his Remarks on Velasquez p. 105, has printed a
commencing stanza of one of these songs, which presents no great merit,
together with a translated passage from Argote de Molina’s _Nobleza de
Andalusìa_.
[20] Even Cervantes in his Journey to Parnassus, makes Mercury assign
to _Lusitania_ the supplying of _Amores_, in order to collect together
the ingredients of romantic poetry.
[21] What is stated by Barbosa Machado shews how highly Garcia de
Resende was esteemed by his contemporaries.
[22] Barbosa Machado likewise gives an account of this collection under
the head _D. Pedro I._ p. 540, a place in which such a notice would
scarcely be looked for.
[23] This is expressly mentioned by the Spanish writer Sarmiento, who
says:--El cancionero Portuguez contiene _muchissimos mas_ poetas que el
Castellano. Este contiene solos los del siglo xv. pero aquel contiene
_algunos_ del Siglo xiv.--_Obras posth._ p. 323.
[24] It will soon be necessary to make this author the subject of a
particular notice.
[25] I have met with no notice of a _Romanceiro_ distinguished from the
Portuguese _Cancioneiro_ by any remarkable number of narrative romances.
[26] Dieze, in his Remarks on Velasquez, p. 76, has collected notices
of the lives of those Portuguese who in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries distinguished themselves by the composition of latin verse.
[27] According to the testimony of Barbosa Machado, Lopes wrote
several chronicles; only one was however printed, a damaged copy of
which I have now before me. It is entitled: _Chronica d’El Rey D.
Joaõ I. de boa memoria &c. composta por Fernam Lopes. Lisboa 1644_.
With Zurrara’s continuation it forms one thick folio volume. It is
singular enough that in these old Portuguese chronicles, the word _Rey_
(King) is always preceded by the Castilian article _El_, instead of
the Portuguese _O_. Thus _El Rey_, united as if forming one word, has
become in the official stile of Portugal the substitute for _O Rey_.
[28] The following speech, which is short, and is not badly conceived,
may be transcribed here entire as an interesting specimen of Portuguese
prose of the fifteenth century. Nuno Alvarez, who commands the
Portuguese army against the Castilians, whom his brothers have joined,
thus addresses his companions in arms:--
Amigos, eu nam sey mais que diga do que vos jà tenho dito, però ainda
vos quero responder a ìsso, que me dissestes. Quanto he o que dizeis:
que os Castellanos sam muytos, et vem grandes Capitanes, et senhores
com elles, tanto vos serà mayor honra, et louvor de serem por vós
vencidos, ca jà muytas vezes aconteceo os poucos vencerem muytos,
porque todo o vencimento he em Deos, et nam nos homens. Na outra cousa,
em que duvidaes, segundo parece, que he a vinda de meus Irmaõs em sua
companhia, a ìsso nam temais por nenhuma guisa, nem Deos quizesse tal,
que nenhum por mim fosse enganado. Ca eu naõ os hey por meus Irmanos
nesta parte, pois que vem por desviar a terra, que os gérou. E nam digo
contra meus Irmaõs, mas em verdade vos juro, que ainda que ahi viesse
meu Padre, eu seria contra elle, por serviço do Mestre meu senhor. E
pera vós verdes que he assim, se a voz praz de em esta obra sermos
todos companheiros; eu vos juro, et prometo, que eu seja o dianteiro
ante a minha bandeira, et o primeiro que comece a pelejar, et assi
podeis ver a vontade, que eu tenho contra meus Irmaõs neste feito. Mas,
naõ embargo da vossa tençaõ ser todavia qual me dissestes, aquelles,
que se quizerem hir pera suas casas, et lugares, vaõse com Deos, ea
eis, et esses poucos de boõs Portugueses, que comigo vem, lhe entendo
poer a praça.
[29] Barbosa Machado’s article under the head “Bernardim Ribeyro,” is
too short and unsatisfactory for a name so celebrated.
[30] For example in the following stanzas:--
O dia que ally chegou
Com seu gado et com seu fato,
Com tudo se agasalhou
Em huma bicada de hum mato,
E levandoo a pascer,
O outro dia à ribeira
Joana acertou de hi ver,
Que andava pela ribeira
Do Tejo a flores colher.
Vestido branco trazia,
Hum pouco a frontada andava,
Fermosa bem parecia
Aos olhos de quem na olhava.
Jano em vendoa foy pasmado,
Mas por ver que ella fazia
Escondeose entre hum prado.
Joana flores colhia,
Jano colhia cuidado.
Despois que ella tene as flores
Jà colhidas, et escolhidas
As desvariadas cores
Com rosas entremetidas,
Fez dellas huma capella.
E soltou os seus cabellos
Que eram tam longos como ella,
E de cada hum a Jano em vellos
Lhe nacia huma querella.--Eglogo II.
[31] For example:--
Triste de mi, que serà?
O coitado que farei,
Que nam sei onde me và,
Com quem me consolarei?
Ou quem me consolarà?
Ao longo das ribeiras,
Ao som das suas agoas,
Chorarei muitas canceitas,
_Minhas magoas derradeiras_,
_Minhas derradeiras magoas_.
Todos fogem jà de mim,
Todos me desemporaram,
Meus males sòs me ficaram
Pera me darem a fim
Com que nunca se acabaram.
De todo bem desespero
Pois me desespera quem
Me quer mal que lhe nam quero,
Nam lhe quero senam bem,
Bem que nunca della espero.
_O meus desditosos dias_,
_O meus dias desditosos_,
Como vos his saudosos,
Saudosos de alegrias,
D’alegrias desejosos:
Deixaime jà descançar,
Pois que eu vos faço tristes,
Tristes porque meu pesar
Me deu os males que vistes,
E muitos mais por pasar.--Egl. III.
[32] The Spaniards cannot easily enter into the spirit of these verbal
allusions in the Portuguese language; for the word which in Portuguese
signifies a _river_, is in Spanish by the usual change in the penult
syllable _Ribera_, and signifies a _bank_. The Portuguese _Ribeira_, or
_Ribeiro_, is probably derived from _Rivus_; and the Spanish _Ribera_
from _Ripa_.
[33] For example:--
Ribeira de meu cuidado,
O cuidado da ribeira,
Ribeira do bem passado.
Pois de ti vivo apartado
Comigo vive canseira:
Audo com a fantesia,
Trago huma tristeza tal,
Que mouro con alegria,
Tam contente sou com o mal,
Que sempre mal ter queria.--Egl. V.
This fifth eclogue is, however, attributed to Ribeyro only by
conjecture.
[34] These eclogues form an appendix to the old as well as the new
edition of the prose romance of _Menina e Moça_, which will soon be
further noticed.
[35] See the preceding vol. p. 113.
[36] This very plain dealing effusion is as follows. It is without
punctuation:--
Nam sam casado senhora
que ainda que dei a maõ
nam casei ho coraçaõ
Antes que vos conheçese
sem errar contra vos nada
huma soo maõ fiz casada
sem que mais nisso metesse
doulhe que ella se perdesse
solteiros e vossos sam
hos olhos e ho coraçam
Dizem que ho bom casamento
se a de fazer de vontade
eu a vos a liberdade
vos dei e o pensamento
nisto soo me achei contento
que se a outrem dei a maõ
dei a vos ho coraçaõ
Como senhora vos vi
sem palauras de presente
na alma vos reçebi
onde estareis para sempre
nam de palaura somente
nem fiz mais que dar a maõ
guardandovos o coraçaõ
Caseime com meu cuidado
e com vosso dessejar
senhora nam sam casado
nam mo queiras acuitar
que servirvos e amar
me nasçeo do coraçaõ
que tendes em vossa maõ
Ho casar nam fez mudança
em meu antiguo cuidado
nem me negou esperança
do galardam esperado
nam me engeiteis por casado
que se a outro dei a maõ
a vos dei ho coraçaõ.
[37] They may be found in the appendix to the old and scarce edition of
the tale _Menina e Moça_, (Lisboa, 1559, in 8.)
[38] In the _Cancionero de Romances, Amberes_ 1555, in 8vo. It is also
to be found in the new as well as in the old edition of the _Menina e
Moça_.
[39] It commences thus:--
Ao longo de huma Ribeira,
Que vai pello pe da serra,
Onde me a mi fez a guerra
Muito tempo o grande amor,
Me levou a minha dor.
Jà era tarde do dia
E a agua della corria
Por antre hum alto arvoredo,
Onde ás vezes hia quedo
O Rio, e ás vezes nam.
Entrada era do veram,
Quando começam as aves
Com seus cantares suaves
Facer tudo graciozo.
Ao rogido saudozo
Das aguas cantavam ellas;
Toda las minhas querellas
Se me pozeram diante; &c.
[40] The new edition of the _Menina e Moça, ou Saudades de Bernardim
Ribeyro_, published by one of the descendants of the poet, _Lisboa_
1785, in 8vo. is easier to read than the old edition, on account of
the more regular punctuation. But the old and scarce edition, which,
however, bears on the title page, the words _de novo estampada, Lisboa_
1559, in 8vo. contains, in an appendix, Ribeyro’s eclogues, and also a
collection of old Portuguese poems by other authors.
[41] She says:--
Escolhi para meu contentamento (se entre tristezas et saudades ha
algum) virme viver a este monte, onde o lugar et mingoa da conversação
da gente te fosse, como para meu cuidado cumpria: porque grande erro
fora depois de tantos nojos, quantos eu com estes meus olhos, vi
aventurarme ainda esperar do mundo o descanço, que elle nunca dè a
ninguem. Estando eu aqui ló, taõ longe dè toda a outra gente, et de mim
ainda mais longe; donde nam vejo senaõ serras de hum cabo, que se naõ
mudaõ nunca, et do outro aguas do mar, que nunca estam quedas, onde
cuidava eu jà que esquecia a desaventura, porque ella, et depois eu a
todo poder que ambas pudemos naõ leixamos em mi nada em que pudesse
nova magoa ter lugar; &c.
[42] The following is the passage:--
Nam tardou muito que estando eu assi cuidando, sobre hum verde ramo
que por sima da agua se estendia, se veyo pousar hum Rousinol, começou
a cantar tam docemente que de todo me levou a pos si o meu sentido
d’ouvir; et elle cada vez crecia mais em seus queixumes, que parecia
que como cansada queria acabar, senaõ quando tornava como que começava.
Entam (triste da avezinha) que estandose assi queixando nam sey como
se cahio morte sobre aquella agua, cahindo por entre as ramas, muitas
folhas cahiram tambem com ella; pareceo aquello sinal de pezar naquelle
arvoredo de caso tam desestrado. Levava a pos si a agua, et as folhas a
pos ella, et quizeraa eu hir tomar: mas polla corrente que alli fazia,
et pelo mato que dali para baxo acerca do rio logo estava, prestasmente
se alongou da vista; o coraçaõ me doco tanto entaõ em ver taõ asinha
morto quem dantes taõ pouco havia que vira estar cantando, que naõ pude
ter as lagrimas.
[43] This passage may be regarded as a specimen of romantic didactic
prose:--
Coitadas das mulheres que porque vem que as namoram os homens com obras
cuidam que assi se devem elles tambem de namorar: et he muito pelo
contrario, que aos homens namoramnos desdeis et presunçoens, apos huma
brandura de olhos, asperesa muita de obras. Isto de seu natural lhes
deve vir, porque sam rijos, que parece nam terem em muito senam o que
trabalham muito. Nos outras boandas de nosso nacimento fazemos outra
cousa: porem se elles com nosco entrassem a juizo, que razam mostrariam
per si? Ca o amor que he senam vontade? Ella nam se dà, nem se toma por
força, mas como quer que seja, ou pela desventura das mulheres, ou pela
ventura dos homens.
[44] The publisher of the new edition of the _Menina e Moça_ (see note
p. 33.) expressly states in his preface, that by recalling public
attention to that work, he proposes to refute the censures which have
been pronounced on the Portuguese language.
[45] _Egloga de Christovam Falcam, chamado Crisfal_, annexed to the old
edition of the _Menina e Moça_. See note page 33.
[46]
Depois de me visto ter
e ja que me conheçia,
lagrimas lhe vi correr
dos olhos que nam movia:
de mim sem nada dizer.
Eu lhe disse: meu dessejo,
vendoa tal com asaz dor,
dessejo do meu amor
crerei eu ao que vejo,
ou crerei ao meu temor,
A ysto bem sem prazer
me tornou entam assi
com voz de pouco poder:
Crisfal que vez tu em mim
que nam seja pera crer?
Eu lhe respondi: perdervos
de vos ver por tanto anno
fazme assim temer meu dano
que vejo meus olhos vervos,
e temo que me engano.
[47]
E dizendo: O mezquinha,
como pude ser tam crua
Bem abraçado me tinha
a minha boca na sua
e a sua façe na minha.
Lagrimas tinha choradas
que com a boca gostey,
mas com quanto certo sey
que as lagrimas sam salgadas,
aquellas doçes achey.
Soltei as minhas entam
com muitas palauras tristes,
e tomey por concruzam,
alma por que nam partistes
que bem tinheis de rezam.
Entam ella assi chorosa
de tam choroso me ver,
ja pera me socorrer
com huma voz piadosa
comezoume assi dizer:
Amor de minha vontade
ora non mais! Crisfal manço
bem sey tua lealdade.
Ay que grande descanço
he falar coma verdade.
Eu sey bem que nam me mentes,
que o menter he diferente,
nam fala dalma quem mente.
Crisfal nam te descontentes
se me quereo veer contente.
[48]
Isto que Crisfal dezia,
Assi, como o contava,
Huma Nymfa, o escrivia
N’ hum alamo que alli estava,
Que ainda entam crescia.
Dizem, que foi seu intento
De escrevelo en tal lugar,
Pera por tempo se alçar
Onde baixo pensamento
Lhe nam pudesse chegar.
[49] See the History of Spanish Literature, p. 210.
[50] These verses bear the following superscription:--_Carta do mesmo,
estando preso, que mandoa a huma Senhora con que era casado a furto
contra vontade de seus parentes_ &c.--This letter is also attached to
the old edition of the _Menina e Moça_.
[51] From the verb _Esparecer_, which is almost synonymous with the
French _Extravaguer_, the term _Esparça_ is probably derived.
[52]
Vi o cabo no começo,
Vejo o começo no cabo,
De feiçaõ que nam conheço,
Se começo, nem se acabo.
[53]
Senhora, pois, por vos ver,
Assi me desconheci,
Nam me quereis vos fazer
O que por vos fiz amim.
[54]
Comigo me desavim;
Vejo me em grande perigo,
Nam posso vivir comigo,
Nem posso fugir de mim.
[55] The following for example:--
Nam posso dormir as noites,
amor, nam as posso dormir.
Desque meus olhos olharom
em vos seu mal e seu bem,
se algum tempo repousarem
ja nenhum repouso tem.
Dias vam e noutes vem
sem vos ver nem vos ouvir.
Como as poderei dormir?
Meu pensamento ocupado
na causa de seu pensar
acorda sempre ho cuidado
para nunca descuidar.
As noites do repousar,
dias sam ao meu sentir,
noutes de meu nam dormir.
Todo ho bem he ja passado
e passado em mal presente;
o sentido desvelado,
ho coraçam descontente:
ho juizo que ysto sente
como se deve sentir,
pouco leixara dormir.
Como nam vi ho que vejo
cos olhos do coraçam,
nam me deito sem dessejo
nem me erguo sem paixam;
hos dias sem vos ver vam,
as noites sera vos ouvir,
eu as nam posso dormir.
[56] In illustration of this remark, the words _cor_, _paço_, _povo_,
_pay_, _may_, _por_, _ter_, may be compared with the Spanish words
_color_, _palacio_, _pueblo_, _padre_, _madre_, _poner_, _tener_,
and similar comparisons may be made of a multitude of others. Let
the reader also take into consideration the clipping pronunciation
of _o_ and _a_ when these vowels terminate words in the Portuguese
language. The Portuguese articles _o_ and _a_, abbreviated from _lo_
and _la_, together with the compounds formed from them, as _no_ and
_na_, instead of _en lo_ and _en la_, must necessarily be offensive to
the Spanish ear. It is singular, however, that the Portuguese language
has a tendency to lengthen those particular words in which the Spanish
cannot tolerate any further extension; for the Spanish _Universidad_,
_Magestad_, &c. become in Portuguese _Universidade_, _Magestade_, and
so forth.
[57] It deserves, however, to be noticed, that of all the sister
languages of Roman descent, the Portuguese alone has preserved, in
its grammatical structure, a remarkable fragment of the ancient latin
conjugation, namely, the pluperfect of the indicative, viz. _fora_,
_foras_, _fora_, from _fueram_, _fueras_, _fuerat_. But this pluperfect
has also the signification of a preterite of the subjunctive; and
through the ambiguity, which thus arises, the value of this grammatical
relic in the Portuguese language is in a great measure lost,
notwithstanding that the connection may easily mark the proper sense.
But how happens it that of all the languages claiming a Roman origin,
the Portuguese, though in other respects remarkable for a certain
simplicity of character, is, upon the whole, distinguished by the most
numerous and subtle tenses in the conjugations of its verbs?
[58] This trait of distinction between the Portuguese and Spanish
national character is still noticed by travellers. The Portuguese is a
bigot, like the Spaniard, but he is far less fanatical. The intercourse
of trade in Lisbon, requires an external appearance of tolerance.
If the English sailors refuse to take off their hats during the
catholic processions in Portugal, the populace content themselves with
exclaiming, “they are English heretics!” or uttering some other words
of reproach.
[59] See preceding vol. page 151.
[60] See the preceding vol. p. 210.
[61] All the notices extant respecting the life of this poet, are
collected in the biographical memoir prefixed to the new edition of his
_Obras Lisb._ 1784, 2 vols. 8vo. Dieze in his Remarks on Velasquez, has
merely selected the article “Saa de Miranda,” from the works of Nicolas
Antonio and Barbosa Machado.
[62] He says in his third sonnet:--
Ando cos meus papeis em differenças.
Sam preceitos de Horacio, me diram!
Em al nam posso, sigoo em apparenças.
Quem muito peleijou, como irá sam?
Tantos ledores, tantas as sentenças.
Cum vento vellas vem, et vellas vam.
[63] In one of the introductory stanzas of his first Portuguese
eclogue, he says, addressing the prince Dom Manoel:--
Parecia que andava a colher flores
Co as Musas, co as Graças, cos Amores.
[64] One of his sonnets commences at once with the description of this
conflict:--
Desarrezoado Amor dentro em meu peito
Tem guerra co a razon. Amor, que jaz
Hi ja de muito tempo, manda e faz
Tudo o que quer a torto ou a direito.
[65] For example in the following charming sonnet, which even derives a
peculiar air of simplicity from the recurrence of masculine rhymes:--
Nam sey que em vós mais vejo, naõ sey que
Mais ouço, et sinto ao vir vosso, et fallar,
Naõ sey que entendo mais té no callar,
Nem quando vos nam vejo alma que vee.
Que lhe aparece em qual parte que esté,
Olhe o Ceo, olhe a terra, ou olhe o mar,
E triste aquelle vosso sossurar,
Em que tanto mais vay, que direy que he?
Em verdade naõ sey que he isto que anda
Entre nós, ou se he ár como parece,
Ou fogo d’outra sorte, et d’outra ley,
Em que ando, de que vivo: et nunca abranda,
Por ventura que á vista resplandece.
Ora o que eu sey taõ mal como direy?
[66] What a beautiful elegiac didactic picture is presented by the
following sonnet on the setting sun:--
O sol he grande, caem com a calma as aves
Do tempo, em tal sazaõ que soe ser fria:
Esta agoa que d’alto cae acordarmehia,
Do sono naõ, mas de cuidados graves.
Ó cousas todas vãs, todas mudaveis,
Qual he o coraçaõ que em vós confia?
Passando hum dia vay, passa outra dia,
Incertos todos mais que ao vento as naves.
En vi ja por aqui sombras et flores,
Vi agoas, et vi fontes, vi verdura,
As aves vi cantar todas d’amores.
Mudo, et seco he já tudo, et de mistura,
Tambem fazendome eu fuy d’outras cores.
E tudo o mais renova, isto he sem cura.
[67]
Ora provemos ja a nova lingoagem,
E ao dar a vela ao vento boa viagem.
[68] The following passage with which this eclogue commences, affords
a fair specimen of Miranda’s style, while at the same time it presents
nothing very obscure to the foreign reader:--
_Gonç._ Quantas cousas Ines, madrinha, et tia,
Se me vaõ descobrindo de ora em ora,
Inda que eu faça corpo, gesto, et ria?
Polla alma de quem mais naõ pode, a fora
Outros respeitos, cumpre ter paciencia,
Té que seja da vida, ou da dór fora.
Aos erros he devida a penetencia
Por conta, por medida, por balança,
Seja juiz a propria consciencia.
Porem quando ao contrario de esperança
Em vez de galardaõ acode pena,
Quem terá sofrimento em abastança?
Amor que por antolhos tudo ordena
Bem pouco se lhe dá de que a fé sancta
Se quebre com graõ culpa on com piquena.
[69] The following elegant and simple stanzas form the commencement of
the first cantiga which is sung by the complaining shepherd Gonçalo:--
Onde me acolherey? tudo he tomado,
Nam parece esperança aqui nenhuma.
Sombras feas, et negras, mal peccado,
Estas si que apparecem, cousa alguma
Naõ ficou por fazer, como o passado,
Será o que he por vir, ouçame a Luma,
Delgada, que traspoem polo alto monte,
Seus trabalhos cos meus coteje, et conte.
Que se os velhos Solaos fallam verdade,
Bem sabe ella por prova, como Amor
Mata, et averá de mi piedade:
Endimiaõ tam fermoso, et tal pastor,
Entre as flores dormia em fresca idade,
Olhando ella do Ceo perdia a cór,
Té das flores ciosa, et d’agoa clara,
Que o seu fermoso Amor lhe adormentára.
[70] For example:--
Ves tu cousa, que esté queda?
Ora he noite, ora amanhece,
Ora corre huma moeda,
Ora outra, tudo envelhece,
Tudo tem no cabo a queda.
Nas Villas hum baylo dançam
Em que todos ao som andam,
Huns cá, outros lá se lançam,
Como o tanger naõ alcançam,
Mais pés, nem braços naõ mandam.
Do sangue, et leite empollado
O Bezerrinho viçoso
Corre, et salta pollo prado,
Depois lavra preguiçoso,
Tira o seu carro cansado,
Cos dias, et co trabalho
O brincar d’antes lhe esquece,
Nam he já, o que era ao malho,
Cortese, levese ao talho,
O boy velho, que enfraquece.
[71] For example:--
E por muito que os Reys olhem
Vaõ por fora mil inchaços,
Que ante vós Senhor se encolhem
D’uns Gigantes de cem braços
Com que daõ, e com que tolhem.
Quem graça ante el Rey alcança,
E hi falla o que naõ deve,
Mal grande da má privança,
Peçonha na fonte lança,
De que toda a terra beve.
Quem joga onde engano vay,
Em vaõ corre, e torna atrás,
Em vaõ sobre a face cay,
Mal ajaõ as manhas mas
Donde tanto dano say.
Homem de hum só parecer,
D’hum só rostro, huma só fé,
D’antes quebrar, que torcer,
Elle tudo pode ser,
Mas de corte homem naõ he.
[72] He says in his fifth epistle:--
Dizem dos nos sos passados
Que os mais naõ sabiam ler,
Eram bons, eram ousados.
Eu nam gabo o nam saber
Como alguns ás graças dados.
Gabo muito os seus custumes
Doeme se oje nam sam tais.
_Mas das letras, ou perfumes_
_De quais veo o dano mais?_
_Destes mimos Indianos_
_Ey gram medo_ a Portugal,
Que venhaõ a fazerlhe os danos.
Que Capua fez a Anibal
Vencedor de tantos annos.
A tempestade espantosa
De Trebia de Trasimeno,
De Canas, Capua viçosa
Venceo em tempo piqueno.
[73] The following are the two first stanzas of the _Cançaõ à Nossa
Senhora_.
Virgem fermosa, que achastes a graça
Perdida antes por Eva, onde nam chega
O fraco entendimento chegue a Fé.
Coytada desta nossa vista cega
Que anda apalpando polla nevoa baça,
E busea o que, ante si tendo, nam vé.
Sem saber atinar, como, ou porque,
Entrey pollos perigos
Rodeado de imigos.
Por piedade a vós venho, et por mercé,
Vós que nos destes claro a tanto escuro,
Remedio a tanto mingoa
Me dareis lingua, et coraçaõ seguro.
Virgem toda sem magoa, inteira, et pura,
Sem sombra, nem d’aquella culpa herdada,
Por todos nos, té o fim desdo começo:
Claridade do Sol, nunca turbada,
Sanctissima, et perfeita criatura,
Ante quem de mi fujo, et me aborreço,
Ey medo a quanto fiz, sey que mereço,
Dos meus erros me espanto,
Que me aprouveram tanto
Agora à só lembrança desfalleço.
Mas lembrame porem, que vòs fizestes
Paz entre Deos, et nós,
E a quem por vós chamou sempre a maõ destes.
[74]
O Ceo, que Eva perdera,
Ouem no lo abria, ficou fora de briga;
Foy he oje entregue a chave,
Foy o nome mudado _d’Eva_ em _Ave_.
[75] The following passage will afford a specimen of the style of this
elegy:--