1. The Portuguese Language.--2. Early Literature of Portugal.--3. Poets of
the Fifteenth Century; Macias, Ribeyro.--4. Introduction of the Italian
Style; San de Miranda, Montemayor, Ferreira.--5. Epic Poetry; Camoëns; The
Lusiad.--6. Dramatic Poetry; Gil Vicente.--7. Prose Writing; Rodriguez
Lobo, Barros, Brito, Veira.--8. Portuguese Literature in the Seventeenth,
Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries; Antonio José, Manuel do Nascimento,
Manuel de Bocage.
1. THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE.--Portugal was long considered only as an
integral part of Spain; its inhabitants called themselves Spaniards, and
conferred on their neighbors the distinctive appellation of Castilians.
Their language was originally the same as the Galician; and had Portugal
remained a province of Spain, its peculiar dialect would probably, like
that of Aragon, have been driven from the fields of literature by the
Castilian. But at the close of the eleventh century, Alphonso VI.,
celebrated in Spanish history for his triumphs over the Moors, gave
Portugal as a dowry to his daughter on her marriage with Henry of
Burgundy, with permission to call his own whatever accessions to it the
young prince might be able to conquer from the Moorish territory. Alphonso
Henriquez, the son of this pair, was saluted King of Portugal by his
soldiers on the battle-field of Castro-Verd, in the year 1139, his kingdom
comprising all the provinces we now call Portugal, except the province of
Algarve. Thenceforward the Portuguese became a separate nation from the
Spaniards, and their language asserted for itself an independent
existence. Still, however, the Castilian was long considered the proper
vehicle for literature; and while few Portuguese writers wholly disused
it, there were many who employed no other.
Although the Portuguese language, founded on the Galician dialect, bears
much similarity to the Spanish in its roots and structure, it differs
widely from it in its grammatical combinations and derivations, so that it
constitutes a language by itself. It has far more French, and fewer Basque
and Arabic elements than the Spanish; it is softer, but it has, at the
same time, a truncated and incomplete sound, compared with the sonorous
beauty of the Castilian, and a predominance of nasal sounds stronger than
those of the French. It is graceful and easy in its construction, but it
is the least energetic of all the Romance tongues.
2. EARLY LITERATURE OF PORTUGAL.--The people, as well as the language, of
Portugal possess a distinctive character. Early in the history of the
country the extensive and fertile plains were abandoned to pasturage, and
the number of shepherds in proportion to the rest of the population was so
great, that the idea of rural life among them was always associated with
the care of flocks. At the same time, their long extent of coast invited
to the pursuits of commerce and navigation; and the nation, thus divided
into hardy navigators, soldiers, and shepherds, was better calculated for
the display of energy, valor, and enterprise than for laborious and
persevering industry. Accustomed to active intercourse with society,
rather than to the seclusion of castles, they were far less haughty and
fanatical than the Castilians; and the greater number of Moçárabians that
were incorporated among them, diffused over their feelings and manners a
much stronger influence of orientalism. The passion of love seemed to
occupy a larger share of their existence, and their poetry was more
enthusiastic than that of any other people of Europe.
Although the literature of Portugal, like the character of its people, is
marked by excessive softness, elegiac sentimentality, and an undefined
melancholy, it affords little originality in the general tone of its
productions. Henry of Burgundy and his knights early introduced Provençal
poetry, and the native genius was nurtured in the succeeding age by
Spanish and Italian taste, and afterwards modified by the influence of
French and English civilization. National songs were not wanting in the
early history of the country, yet no relics of them have been preserved.
The earliest monuments of Portuguese literature relate to the age of the
French knights who founded the political independence of the country, and
must be sought in the "Cancioneros," containing courtly ballads composed
in the Galician dialect, after the Provençal fashion, and sung by
wandering minstrels. The Cancionero of King Dionysius (1279-1325) is the
most ancient of those collections, the king himself being considered by
the Portuguese as the earliest poet. In fact, Galician poetry, modeled
after the Provençal, was cultivated at that time all along the western
portion of the Pyrenean peninsula. Alfonso the Wise, King of Castile, used
this dialect in his poems; and as a poet and patron of the Spanish
troubadours, he may be considered as belonging both to the Spanish and
Portuguese literatures.
In the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth century, Portuguese
poetry preserved its Provençal character. The poets rallied around the
court, and the kings and princes of the age sang to the Provençal lyre
both in the Castilian and the Galician dialects; but only a few fragments
of the poetry of the fourteenth century are extant.
3. POETS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.--Early in the fifteenth century, the
same chivalrous spirit which had achieved the conquest of the country from
the Moors, led the Portuguese to cross the Straits of Gibraltar, and plant
their banner on the walls of Ceuta. Many other cities of Africa were
afterwards taken; and in 1487, Bartolomeo Diaz doubled the Cape of Good
Hope, and Vasco da Gama pointed out to Europe the hitherto unknown track
to India. Within fifteen years after, a Portuguese kingdom was founded in
Hindostan, and the treasures of the East flowed into Portugal. The
enthusiasm of the people was thus awakened, and high views of national
importance, and high hopes of national glory, arose in the public mind.
The time was peculiarly favorable to the development of genius, and
especially to the spirit of poetry. Indeed, the last part of the fifteenth
century, and the beginning of the sixteenth, the age of King John (1481-
1495), and of Emanuel (1495-1521), may be called the golden age of the
Portuguese poetry.
At the head of the poetical school of the fifteenth century, stands
Macias, surnamed the Enamored (fl. 1420). He was distinguished as a hero
in the wars against the Moors of Granada, and as a poet in the retinue of
the Marquis of Villena. He became attached to a lady of the same princely
household, who was forced to marry another. Macias continuing to express
his love, though prohibited by the marquis from doing so, was thrown into
prison; but even there, he still poured forth his songs on his ill-fated
love, regarding the hardships of captivity as light, in comparison with
the pangs of absence from his mistress. The husband of the lady, stung
with jealousy, recognizing Macias through the bars of his prison, took
deadly aim at him with his javelin, and killed him on the spot. The weapon
was suspended over the poet's tomb, in the Church of St. Catherine, with
the inscription, "Here lies Macias the Enamored."
The death of Macias produced such a sensation as could only belong to an
imaginative age. All those who desired to be thought cultivated mourned
his fate. His few poems of moderate merit became generally known and
admired, and his melancholy history continued to be the theme of songs and
ballads, until, in the poetry of Lope de Vega and Calderon, the name of
Macias passed into a proverb, and became synonymous with the highest and
tenderest love.
Ribeyro (1495-1521), one of the earliest and best poets of Portugal, was
attached to the court of King Emanuel. Here he indulged a passion for one
of the ladies of the court, which gave rise to some of his most exquisite
effusions. It is supposed that the lady, whose name he studiously
conceals, was the Infanta Beatrice, the king's own daughter. He was so
wholly devoted to the object of his love, that he is said to have passed
whole nights wandering in the woods, or beside the banks of a solitary
stream, pouring forth the tale of his woes in strains of mingled
tenderness and despair. The most celebrated productions of Ribeyro are
eclogues. The scene is invariably laid in his own country; his shepherds
are all Portuguese, and his peasant girls have Christian names. But under
the disguise of fictitious characters, he evidently sought to place before
the eyes of his beloved mistress the feelings of his own breast; and the
wretchedness of an impassioned lover is always his favorite theme.
The bucolic poets of Portugal may be regarded as the earliest in Europe,
and their favorite creed, that pastoral life was the poetical model of
human life, and the ideal point from which every sentiment and passion
ought to be viewed, was first represented by Ribeyro. This idea threw an
air of romantic sweetness and elegance over the poetry of the sixteenth
century, but at the same time it gave to it a monotonous tone and an air
of tedious affectation.
4. INTRODUCTION OF THE ITALIAN STYLE.--The poet who first introduced the
Italian style into Portuguese poetry was so successful in seizing the
delicate tone by which the blending of the two was to be effected that the
innovation was accomplished without a struggle. Saa de Miranda (1495-1558)
was one of the most pleasing and accomplished men of his age. He traveled
extensively, and on his return was attached to the court of Lisbon. It is
related of him that he would often sit silent and abstracted in company,
and that tears, of which no one knew the cause, would flow from his eyes,
while he seemed unconscious of the circumstance, and indifferent to the
observation he was thus attracting. These emotions were of course
attributed to poetic thought and romantic attachments. He insisted on
marrying a lady who was neither young nor handsome, and whom he had never
seen, having been captivated by her reputation for amiability and
discretion. He became so attached to her, that when she died he renounced
all his previous pursuits and purposes in life, remained inconsolable, and
soon followed her to the grave. Miranda is chiefly celebrated for his
lyric and pastoral poetry.
Montemayor was a contemporary of Miranda, and a native of Portugal, but he
declined holding any literary position in his own country. The pastoral
romance of "Diana," written in the Castilian language, is his most
celebrated work. It was received with great favor, and extensively
imitated. With many faults, it possesses a high degree of poetic merit,
and is entitled to the esteem of all ages.
Ferreira (1528-1569) has been called the Horace of Portugal. His works are
correct and elegant, but they are wanting in those higher efforts of
genius which strike the imagination and fire the spirit. The glory,
advancement, and civilization of his country were his darling themes, and
it was this enthusiasm of patriotism that made him great. In his tragedy
of Inez de Castro, Ferreira raised himself far above his Italian
contemporaries. Many similar writers shed a lustre on this, the brightest
and indeed the only brilliant period of Portuguese literature; but they
are all more remarkable for taste and elegance than for richness of
invention.
5. EPIC POETRY.--The chief and only boast of his country, the sole poet
whose celebrity has extended beyond the peninsula, and whose name appears
in the list of those who have conferred honor upon Europe, is Luis de
Camoëns (1524-1579). He was descended from a noble, but by no means a
wealthy family. After having completed his studies at the university, he
conceived a passion for a lady of the court, so violent that for some time
he renounced all literary and worldly pursuits. He entered the military
service, and in an engagement before Ceuta, in which he greatly
distinguished himself, he lost an eye. Neglected and contemned by his
country, he embarked for the East Indies. After various vicissitudes
there, he wrote a bitter satire on the government, which occasioned his
banishment to the island of Macao, where he remained for five years, and
where he completed the great work which was to hand down his name to
posterity. There is still to be seen, on the most elevated point of the
isthmus which unites the town of Macao to the Chinese continent, a sort of
natural gallery formed out of the rocks, apparently almost suspended in
the air, and commanding a magnificent prospect over both seas, and the
lofty chain of mountains which rises above their shores. Here he is said
to have invoked the genius of the epic muse, and tradition has conferred
on this retreat the name of the Grotto of Camoëns.
On his return to Goa, Camoëns was shipwrecked, and of all his little
property, he succeeded only in saving the manuscript of the Lusiad, which
he bore in one hand above the water, while swimming to the shore. Soon
after reaching Goa, he was thrown into prison upon some unjust accusation,
and suffered for a long time to linger there. At length released, he took
passage for his native country, which he reached after an absence of
sixteen years. Portugal was at this time ravaged by the plague, and in the
universal sorrow and alarm, the poet and his great work were alike
neglected. The king at length consented to accept the dedication of this
poem, and made to the author the wretched return of a pension, amounting
to about twenty-five dollars. Camoëns was not unfrequently in actual want
of bread, for which he was in part indebted to a black servant who had
accompanied him from India, and who was in the habit of stealing out at
night to beg in the streets for what might support his master during the
following day. But more aggravated evils were in store for the unfortunate
poet. The young king perished in the disastrous expedition against
Morocco, and with him expired the royal house of Portugal. The
independence of the nation was lost, her glory eclipsed, and the future
pregnant with calamity and disgrace. Camoëns, who had so nobly supported
his own misfortunes, sank under those of his country. He was seized with a
violent fever, and expired in a public hospital without having a shroud to
cover his remains.
The poem on which the reputation of Camoëns depends, is entitled "Os
Lusiadas;" that is, the Lusitanians (or Portuguese), and its design is to
present a poetic and epic grouping of all the great and interesting events
in the annals of Portugal. The discovery of the passage to India, the most
brilliant point in Portuguese history, was selected as the groundwork of
the epic unity of the poem. But with this, and the Portuguese conquests in
India, the author combined all the illustrious actions performed by his
countrymen in other quarters of the world, and whatever of splendid and
heroic achievement history or tradition could supply. Vasco da Gama has
been represented as the hero of the work, and those portions not
immediately connected with his expedition, as episodes. But there is, in
truth, no other leading subject than the country, and no episodes except
such parts as are not immediately connected with her glory. Camoëns was
familiar with the works of his Italian contemporaries, but the
circumstance that essentially distinguishes him from them, and which forms
the everlasting monument of his own and his country's glory, is the
national love and pride breathing through the whole work. His patriotic
spirit, devoting a whole life to raise a monument worthy of his country,
seems never to have indulged a thought which was not true to the glory of
an ungrateful nation.
The Greek mythology forms the epic machinery of the Lusiad. Vasco da Gama,
having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, is steering along the western coast
of Africa, when the gods assemble on Mount Olympus to deliberate on the
fate of India. Venus and Bacchus form two parties; the former in favor,
the latter opposed to the Portuguese. The poet thus gratified his national
pride, as Portugal was eminently the land of love, and moderation in the
use of wine was one of its highest virtues. Bacchus lays many snares to
entrap and ruin the adventurers, who are warned and protected by Venus. He
visits the palace of the gods of the sea, who consent to let loose the
Winds and Waves upon the daring adventurers, but she summons her nymphs,
and adorning themselves with garlands of the sweetest flowers, they subdue
the boisterous Winds, who, charmed by the blandishments of love, become
calm. Vasco is hospitably received by the African king of Melinda, to whom
he relates the most interesting parts of the history of his native
country. On the homeward voyage, Venus prepares a magic festival for the
adventurers, on an enchanted island, and the goddess Thetis becomes the
bride of the admiral. Here the poet finds the opportunity to complete the
narrative of his country's history, and a prophetic nymph is brought
forward to describe the future achievements of the nation from that period
to the time of Camoëns.
The Lusiad is one of the noblest monuments ever raised to the national
glory of any people, and it is difficult to conceive how so grand and
beautiful a whole could be formed on a plan so trivial and irregular. The
plan has been compared to a scaffolding surrounded and concealed by a
majestic building, serving to connect its parts, but having no share in
producing the unity of the effect. One of the most affecting and beautiful
of all the passages of the Lusiad, is the narrative of the tragical fate
of Iñez de Castro, who, after her death, was proclaimed queen of Portugal,
upon the accession of her lover to the throne.
In the poems of Camoëns we find examples of every species of composition
practiced in his age and country. Some of them bear the impress of his
personal character, and of his sad and agitated career. A wild tone of
sorrow runs through them, which strikes the ear like wailings heard
through the gloom of midnight and darkness. We know not by what calamity
they were called forth, but it is the voice of grief, and it awakens an
answering throb within the breast.
6. DRAMATIC POETRY.--The drama is quite a barren field in Portuguese
literature. The stage of Lisbon has been occupied almost exclusively by
the Italian opera and Spanish comedy. Only one poet of any name has
written in the Portuguese spirit. This was Gil Vicente (1490-1556). He
resided constantly at the court, and was employed in providing occasional
pieces for its civil and religious festivities. It is probable that he was
an actor, and it is certain that he educated for the stage his daughter,
Paula, who was equally celebrated as an actress, a poetess, and a
musician. The dramas of Vicente consist of autos, comedies, tragi-
comedies, and farces. The autos, or religious pieces, were written chiefly
to furnish entertainment for the court on Christmas night. The shepherds
had naturally an important part assigned to them, and the whole was
pervaded by the pastoral feeling which distinguishes them remarkably from
the Spanish autos. But the best productions of this author are his farces,
which approach much nearer to the style of true comedy than the plays
published under that name.
Saa de Miranda, desirous of conferring on his country a classical theatre,
produced two erudite comedies, but he was born a pastoral poet, and made
himself a dramatist only by imitation. Ferreira belonged to the same
school, and the favor bestowed by the court on the dramas of these two
poets, was one obstacle to the formation of a national drama. Another was,
the pertinacious attachment of the Portuguese to pastoral poetry, and
nothing could be more contrary to dramatic life than the languor,
sentimentality, and monotony peculiar to the eclogue.
7. PROSE WRITING.--After Camoëns, Saa de Miranda, and Ferreira, the
language and the literature of Portugal are indebted to no other writer so
much as to Rodriguez Lobo (b. 1558). The history of Portuguese eloquence
may be said to commence with him, for he laid so good a foundation for the
cultivation of a pure prose style that, in every effort to obtain classic
perfection, subsequent writers have merely followed in his steps. His
verse is nowise inferior to his prose. Among his poetic works appears a
whole series of historic romances, written by way of ridiculing that
species of composition.
Lobo stood alone, in the sixteenth century, in his efforts to improve the
prose of his country. Gongorism had, meanwhile, introduced bombast and
metaphorical obscurity, and no writer of eminence arose to attempt a more
natural style, till the end of the seventeenth century.
Foremost among those who undertook to relate the history of their country,
especially of her oriental discoveries, and who communicated to their
records an ardent patriotic feeling, is Barros (1496-1571); he took Livy
for his model, and his labors are worthy of honorable notice. India was
the favorite topic of Portuguese historians; and several similar works,
but inferior to that of Barros, appeared in the same age. Bernardo de
Brito (d. 1617) undertook the task of compiling a history of Portugal. His
narration begins with the creation of the world, and breaks off where the
history of modern Portugal commences. It is eminently distinguished for
style and descriptive talent. The biography of Juan de Castro, written by
Jacinto de Andrade, is considered as a masterpiece of the Portuguese
prose.
The conquered Indians found an eloquent defender in Veira (1608-1697), a
Catholic missionary, who spent a great part of his life in the deserts of
South America, and wrote catechisms in different languages for the use of
the natives. Having returned to the court of John IV., he undertook to
defend the natural rights of Indians against the rapacity of the
conquerors. He undertook also the defense of the Jews in his native
country, and showed so much interest in their cause that he was twice
brought before the Inquisition. His sermons and letters are models of
prose writings, full of the inspiration which springs from the boldness of
his subjects.
8. PORTUGUESE LITERATURE IN THE SEVENTEENTH, EIGHTEENTH, AND NINETEENTH
CENTURIES.--Portuguese literature during the seventeenth century would
present an utter blank, but for the few literary productions to which we
have alluded. Previous to that time, patriotic valor and romantic
enterprise expanded the national genius; but before it could mature, the
despotism of the monarchy, the horrors of the Inquisition, and the
influence of wealth and luxury, had done their work of destruction, and
the prostrate nation had in the seventeenth century reaped the bitter
fruits. The most brilliant period of Portuguese poetry had passed away,
and no new era commenced. The flame of patriotism was extinct, Brazil was
the only colony that remained, the spirit of national enterprise was no
more, and a general lethargy overspread the nation. Labor was reckoned a
disgrace, commerce a degradation, and agriculture too fatiguing for even
the lowest classes of the community. Both Spain and Portugal felt the
paralyzing influence of their humbled position in the scale of nations,
and civil and religious despotism had overthrown, in both countries, the
intellectual power which had so long withstood its degrading influence.
Thousands of sonnets, chiefly of an amorous nature, filled up the
seventeenth century in Portugal, while Spain was exhausting its expiring
energies in dramas. Souza, the most eminent of the sonneteers, alone
produced six hundred. In the first, he announces that the collection is
designed to celebrate "the penetrating shafts of love, which were shot
from a pair of heavenly eyes, and which, after inflicting immortal wounds,
issued triumphant from the poet's breast."
In the eighteenth century, the influence of French taste crept quietly
into the literature as well as the manners of the Portuguese nation. Royal
academies of history and language were founded, and an academy of
sciences, which, since 1792, has exercised an influence over literary
taste, and given birth to many excellent treatises on philosophy and
criticism.
About the year 1735, the nation seemed on the eve of possessing a drama of
its own. Antonio José, an obscure Jew, composed a number of comic operas,
in the vernacular tongue, which had long been banished from the theatre of
Lisbon. In spite of much coarseness, their genuine humor and familiar
gayety excited the greatest enthusiasm, and for ten years the theatre was
crowded with delighted audiences. But the Jew was seized and burnt, by
order of the Inquisition, at the last _auto da fé_, which took place in
1745, and the theatre was closed.
Although French literature continued to exert its influence in the
beginning of the nineteenth century, masterpieces of English literature at
that time found their way into Portugal, and excited much admiration and
imitation. Manuel do Nascimento (1734-1819) is the representative of the
classic style, and his works, both in poetry and prose, are distinguished
by purity of language. Manuel de Bocage (1766-1805) is one of the most
celebrated modern poets, and though his poems are not examples of refined
taste or elegance of style, they evince enthusiasm and poetical fire.
Among the poets of the present day, there are some who have emancipated
themselves from the imitation of foreign models, and have attempted to
combine the earliest national elements of their literature with the
characteristic tendencies of the present age.