Gazing eyes and ardent pen
Of the lover, blind and vain,--
Take a countless sum of these,
And the last is ever first;
Whoso hath in love surpassed,
As the first loved, e'en at last
Is by her disdain accursed.
How much fairer would we deem
Our Silena's beauteous grace,
If her wisdom and her ways
Did her fairness but beseem!
She discretion hath at will,
But a halter 'tis to slay
The presumption of her way,
For she useth it so ill.
I speak not with shameless tongue,
For it were but passion wild,
But I speak as one beguiled,
Who hath suffered grievous wrong;
Passion doth no more me blind,
Nor desire that she should wrong
Suffer, for always my tongue
Was in reason's bonds confined.
Her caprices manifold,
And her moods that ever change,
From her every hour estrange
Those who were her friends of old;
Since Silena foes hath made
In the many ways we see,
Wholly good she cannot be,
Or they must be wholly bad.
Lauso ended his song, and though he thought that no one understood
him, through ignorance of Silena's disguised name, more than three of
those who were there knew her, and even marvelled that Lauso's modest
behaviour should have gone so far as to attack anyone, especially the
disguised shepherdess with whom they had seen him so much in love.
But in the opinion of his friend Damon he was fully excused, for he
was acquainted with Silena's conduct, and knew how she had conducted
herself towards Lauso, and wondered at what he left unsaid. Lauso
finished, as has been said; and as Galatea had heard of the charm of
Nisida's voice, she wished to sing first, so as to constrain her to do
the same. And for this reason, before any other shepherd could begin,
beckoning to Arsindo to continue sounding his flute, to its sound with
her exquisite voice she sang in this wise:
GALATEA.
E'en as Love ever seeks the soul to entame,
Tempting it by the semblance of delight,
E'en so she from Love's deadly pangs in flight
Turneth, who knows its name bestowed by fame.
The breast that doth oppose his amorous flame,
The breast with honourable resistance armed,
By Love's unkindness is but little harmed,
Little his fire and rigour doth inflame.
Secure is she who never was beloved,
Nor could love, from that tongue which in dispraise
Of her honour, with subtle glow doth gleam.
But if to love and not to love have proved
Fruitful in harm, how shall she spend her days
Who honour dearer e'en than life doth deem?
It could easily be seen in Galatea's song that she was replying
to Lauso's malicious one, and that she was not against unfettered
wills, but against the malicious tongues and wronged souls which, in
not gaining what they desire, change the love they once showed to
a malicious and detestable hatred, as she fancied in Lauso's case;
but perhaps she would have escaped from this error, if she had known
Lauso's good disposition, and had not been ignorant of Silena's
evil one. As soon as Galatea ceased to sing, she begged Nisida
with courteous words to do the same. She, as she was as courteous
as beautiful, without letting herself be pressed, to the sound of
Florisa's pipe sang in this fashion:
NISIDA.
Bravely I took my courage as defence
In the dread conflict and onslaught of Love,
My boldness bravely raised to Heaven above
Against the rigour of the clear offence.
But yet so overwhelming and intense
The battery, and withal so weak my power
That, though Love seized me not, in one short hour
Love brought me to confess his power immense.
O'er worth, o'er honour, o'er a mind discreet,
Shy modesty, a bosom of disdain,
Love doth with ease achieve the victory;
Wherefore, in order to escape defeat,
Strength from no words of wisdom can we gain,
Unto this truth an eye-witness am I.
When Nisida ceased to sing and to fill with admiration Galatea and
those who had been listening to her, they were already quite near the
spot where they had determined to pass the noon-tide hour. But in that
short time Belisa had time to fulfil Silveria's request, which was
that she should sing something; and she, accompanied by the sound of
Arsindo's flute, sang what follows:
BELISA.
Fancy, that is fancy-free,
Listen to the reason why
Our fame groweth steadily,
Pass the vain affection by,
Mother of all injury;
For whene'er the soul doth load
Itself with some loving load,
Bane that takes the life away,
Mixed with juice of bitter bay,
Is to it but pleasing food.
But our precious liberty
Should not bartered be nor sold
For the greatest quantity
Of the best refinèd gold,
Best in worth and quality;
Shall we bring ourselves to bear
Such a loss and heed the prayer
Of a lover whom we scorn,
If all blessings ever born
Do not with such bliss compare?
If the grief we cannot bear
When the body, free from love,
Is confined in prison drear,
Shall the pain not greater prove,
When the very soul is there?
Pain 'twill be of such a kind
That no remedy we find
For such ill in patience, time,
Worth, or learning in its prime,
Naught save death alone is kind.
Wherefore let my healthy mood
From this madness flee away,
Leave behind so false a good,
Let my free will ever sway
Every fancy as it would;
Let my tender neck and free
Never yield itself to be
Placed beneath the loving yoke,
Whereby peace is, at a stroke,
Slain, and banished liberty.
The shepherdess's verses of freedom reached the soul of the hapless
Marsilio, by reason of the little hope her words held out that her
deeds would grow better; but as the faith with which he loved her was
so firm, the noteworthy proofs of freedom he had heard uttered, could
not but keep him as much without it as he had been before. At this
point the road leading to the stream of palms ended, and though they
had not had the intention of spending the noon-tide heat there, when
they reached it and saw the comfort of the beautiful spot, it would
have of itself compelled them not to go further. When they had come
to it then, straightway the venerable Aurelio commanded all to seat
themselves beside the clear and glassy stream, which was flowing in
amongst the short grass, and had its birth at the foot of a very tall
and ancient palm (for there being on all the banks of the Tagus only
that one, and another which was beside it, that place and stream was
called "of the palms"), and after sitting down, they were served by
Aurelio's shepherds with more good-will and simplicity than costly
victuals, satisfying their thirst with the clear cool waters that the
pure stream offered them. And on ending the short and pleasant repast,
some of the shepherds separated and departed to seek some shady place
apart, where they might make up for the unslept hours of the past
night; and there remained alone only those of Aurelio's company and
village with Timbrio, Silerio, Nisida and Blanca, Thyrsis and Damon,
to whom it appeared to be better to enjoy the fair converse that was
expected there, than any other enjoyment that sleep could offer them.
Aurelio then, guessing and almost knowing this their purpose, said to
them:
'It will be well, sirs, that we, who are here, since we have not wished
to yield ourselves to sweet sleep, should not fail to make use of this
time we steal from it in something that may be more to our pleasure,
and what, it seems to me, will not fail to give it us, is that each, as
best he can, should here show the sharpness of his wits, propounding
some question, or riddle, to whom the companion who may be at his side
may be forced to reply; since with this pastime two things will be
gained--one to spend with less tedium the hours we shall be here, the
other, not to weary our ears so much with always hearing lamentations
of love, and love-sick dirges.'
All straightway fell in with Aurelio's wish, and without any of them
leaving the place where they were, the first who began to question was
Aurelio himself, speaking in this wise:
AURELIO.
Who is he, that mighty one,
That from East to farthest West
Winneth fame and high renown?
Sometimes strong and self-possessed,
Sometimes weak with courage gone;
Health he gives and takes away,
Strength on many every day
He bestows or doth withhold,
Stronger he when he is old
Than when youth is bright and gay.
Changing where he changeth not
By a strange preëminence,
Strong men tremble, by him caught,
He hath rarest eloquence
Unto sullen dumbness brought;
He his being and his name
Measureth in different ways,
From a thousand lands of praise
He is wont to take his fame.
He unarmed hath conquerèd
Armèd men, as needs he must,
Who hath dealt with him is sped,
Who would bring him to the dust,
To the dust is brought instead;
'Tis a thing that doth astound
That a champion should be found,
In the field and in the town,
'Gainst a chief of such renown,
Though he soon shall bite the ground.
The answering of this question fell to the old shepherd Arsindo, who
was beside Aurelio; and having for a little while considered what it
could denote, at last he said to him:
'It seems to me, Aurelio, that our age compels us to be more enamoured
of that which your question denotes than of the most graceful
shepherdess that might present herself to us, for, if I am not
mistaken, the mighty and renowned one you mention is wine, and all the
attributes you have given him tally with it.'
'You speak truth, Arsindo,' replied Aurelio, 'and I am inclined to say
that I am sorry to have propounded a question which has been solved
with much ease; but do you tell yours, for at your side you have one
who will be able to unravel it for you, however knotty it may be.'
'I agree,' said Arsindo; and straightway he propounded the following:
ARSINDO.
Who is he that loseth hue
Where he most is wont to thrive,
In a moment doth revive
And his colour takes anew?
In the birth hour he is grey,
Afterwards black as a crow,
Last, so ruddy is his glow
That it maketh all men gay.
Laws nor charters doth he keep,
To the flames a faithful friend,
Oftentimes he doth attend
E'en where lords and princes sleep;
Dead he manhood doth assume,
Living takes a woman's name,
He at heart is lurid flame
But in semblance deepest gloom.
It was Damon who was at Arsindo's side, and scarcely had the latter
finished his question, when he said to him:
'It seems to me, Arsindo, that your query is not so dark as the thing
it denotes, for if I am not wrong in it, it is charcoal of which you
say that when dead it is called masculine, and when glowing and alive
_brasa_,[219] which is a feminine noun, and all the other parts suit
it in every respect, as this does; and if you are in the same plight
as Aurelio, by reason of the ease with which your question has been
understood, I am going to keep you company in it, since Thyrsis, to
whom it falls to answer me, will make us equal.'
And straightway he spoke his:
DAMON.
Who is she of courtly grace,
Well-adorned, a dainty dame,
Timorous, yet bold of face,
Modest she, yet lacking shame,
Pleasant, yet she doth displease?
When in numbers, to astound,
Masculine their name doth sound,
And it is a certain thing
That amongst them is the king,
And with all men they are found.
'Verily, friend Damon,' said Thyrsis forthwith, 'your challenge comes
true, and you pay the forfeit that Aurelio and Arsindo pay, if any
there be; for I tell you I know that what your riddle conceals is a
letter,[220] and a pack of cards.'
Damon admitted that Thyrsis was right. And straightway Thyrsis
propounded his riddle thus:
THYRSIS.
Who is she that is all eyes,
All eyes she from head to foot,
And, although she seeks it not,
Sometimes causeth lovers' sighs?
Quarrels too she doth appease,
Though indeed she knows not why,
And although she is all eye,
Very few the things she sees.
She doth call herself a grief
Counted mortal, good and dire
Evil worketh, and doth fire
Love, and to love brings relief.
Thyrsis's riddle puzzled Elicio, for it was his turn to answer it, and
he was on the point of 'giving up,' as the saying is; but in a little
while he managed to say that it was jealousy, and, Thyrsis admitting
it, Elicio straightway propounded the following:
ELICIO.
'Tis obscure, and yet 'tis clear,
Thousand opposites containing,
Truth to us at last explaining,
Which it hides from far and near;
Born at times from beauty rare
Or from lofty fantasies,
Unto strife it giveth rise,
Though it deals with things of air.
Unto all its name is known,
From the children to the old,
'Tis in numbers manifold,
Divers are the lords they own;
Every beldame doth possess
One of them to make her gay,
Things of pleasure for a day,
Full of joy or weariness.
And to rob them of their sense
Men of wisdom keep awake,
Whatsoe'er the pains they take,
Some are doomed to impotence;
Sometimes foolish, sometimes witty;
Easy, or with tangles fraught,
Whether naught it be or not,
Say, what is this thing so pretty?
Timbrio could not hit upon the thing which Elicio's question denoted,
and he almost began to be ashamed at seeing that he delayed longer in
answering than any one else, but not even this consideration made him
come to a better perception of it; and he delayed so long that Galatea,
who was after Nisida, said:
'If it is allowed to break the order which is given, and the one who
should first know may reply, I say for my part that I know what the
riddle propounded denotes, and I am ready to solve it, if señor Timbrio
gives me leave.'
'Certainly, fair Galatea,' replied Timbrio, 'for I know that just
as I lack, so you have a superabundance of, wit, to solve greater
difficulties; but nevertheless I wish you to be patient until Elicio
repeats it, and if this time I do not hit it, the opinion I have of my
wit and yours, will be confirmed with more truth.'
Elicio repeated his question, and straightway Timbrio solved its
meaning, saying:
'With the very thing by which I thought your query was obscured,
Elicio, it appears to me to be solved, for the last line says, that
they are to say what is this thing so pretty. And so I answer you in
what you ask me, and say that your question means that which we mean
by a pretty thing;[221] and do not be surprised that I have been long
in answering, for, if I had answered sooner, I would have been more
surprised at my wit; which will show what it is in the small skill of
my question, which is this:
TIMBRIO.
Who is he who to his pain
Placeth his feet in the eyes,
And although no hurt arise,
Makes them sing with might and main?
And to pull them out is pleasure,
Though at times, who doeth so,
Doth by no means ease his woe,
But achieveth more displeasure.'
It fell to Nisida to reply to Timbrio's question, but neither she nor
Galatea who followed her were able to guess it. And Orompo, seeing that
the shepherdesses were wearying themselves in thinking what it denoted,
said to them:
'Do not tire yourselves, ladies, nor weary your minds in solving this
riddle, for it might well be that neither of you in all her life has
seen the figure that the question conceals, and so it is no wonder
that you should not hit upon it; for if it had been of a different
kind, we were quite sure, as regards your minds, that in a shorter time
you would have solved others more difficult. And therefore, with your
leave, I am going to reply to Timbrio, and tell him that his query
denotes a man in fetters, since when he draws his feet from those eyes
he speaks of, it is either to set him free or to take him to execution;
so that you may see, shepherdesses, if I was right in thinking that
perhaps neither of you had seen in all her life jails or prisons.'
'I for my part can say,' said Galatea, 'that never have I seen any one
imprisoned.'
Nisida and Blanca said the same. And straightway Nisida propounded her
question in this form:
NISIDA.
Fire it biteth, and its bite
To its victim harm and good
Bringeth; but it doth no blood
Lose, although the blade doth smite;
But if deep should be the wound,
From a hand that is not sure,
Death comes to the victim poor,
In such death its life is found.
Galatea delayed little in answering Nisida, for straightway she said to
her:
'I am quite sure that I am not mistaken, fair Nisida, if I say that
your riddle can in no way be better applied than to candle-snuffers and
to the taper or candle they snuff; and if this is true, as it is, and
you are satisfied with my reply, listen now to mine, which I hope will
be solved by your sister with no less ease than I have done yours.'
And straightway she spoke it, and it ran thus:
GALATEA.
Children three, who love inspire,
And the children of one mother,
One was grandson of his brother,
And another was his sire;
These three children did distress
And o'erwhelm her with such woes,
That they gave her countless blows,
Showing thus their skilfulness.
Blanca was considering what Galatea's riddle could denote, when they
saw two gallant shepherds crossing at a run near the place where they
were, showing by the fury with which they were running that something
important constrained them to move their steps with such speed, and
straightway at the same moment they heard some mournful cries, as of
persons seeking help; and on this alarm all arose and followed the
direction whence the cries sounded; and in a few steps they issued
from that delightful spot and came out on the bank of the cool Tagus,
which, close at hand, was flowing gently by. And scarcely did they see
the river, when the strangest thing they could imagine was presented to
their gaze; for they saw two shepherdesses seemingly of noble grace,
who were holding a shepherd fast by the lappets of his coat with all
the strength in their power, in order that the poor fellow might not
drown himself, for he already had half his body in the river, and his
head below the water, struggling with his feet to release himself from
the shepherdesses, who were hindering his desperate purpose. They were
already almost on the point of letting him go, being unable to overcome
his obstinate determination with their feeble strength. But at this
point the two shepherds approached, who had been coming at a run, and
seizing the desperate man, drew him out of the water just as all the
others were already approaching, astounded at the strange sight, and
they were more so, when they learned that the shepherd who wished to
drown himself was Artidoro's brother, Galercio, while the shepherdesses
were his sister Maurisa and the fair Teolinda; and when these saw
Galatea and Florisa, Teolinda ran with tears in her eyes to embrace
Galatea, saying:
'Ah, Galatea, sweet friend and lady mine, how has this luckless wretch
fulfilled the word she gave you to return to see you and tell you the
news of her happiness!'
'I shall be as glad for you to have it, Teolinda,' replied Galatea, 'as
you are assured by the good-will you know I have to serve you; but it
seems to me that your eyes do not bear out your words, nor indeed do
these satisfy me so as to make me imagine a successful issue to your
desires.'
Whilst Galatea was thus occupied with Teolinda, Elicio and Artidoro
with the other shepherds had stripped Galercio, and as they loosened
his coat, which with all his clothes had been wetted, a paper fell from
his bosom, which Thyrsis picked up, and, opening it, saw that it was
verse; and not being able to read it because it was wet, he placed it
on a lofty branch in the sun's ray so that it might dry. On Galercio
they placed a cloak of Arsindo's, and the luckless youth was as it were
astounded and amazed, without saying a word, though Elicio asked him
what was the cause that had brought him to so strange a pass. But his
sister Maurisa answered for him, saying:
'Raise your eyes, shepherds, and you will see who is the cause that has
set my unfortunate wretch of a brother in so strange and desperate a
plight.'
The shepherds raised their eyes at what Maurisa said, and saw a
graceful and comely shepherdess on a beetling rock that overhung the
river, seated on the same crag, and watching with smiling countenance
all that the shepherds were doing. She was straightway recognised by
all as the cruel Gelasia.
'That loveless, that thankless girl, sirs,' went on Maurisa, 'is the
mortal enemy of this my unhappy brother, who, as all these banks
already know and you are not unaware, loves her, worships her and
adores her; and in return for the ceaseless services he has always done
her, and for the tears that he has shed for her, she this morning,
with the most scornful and loveless disdain that could ever be found
in cruelty, bade him go from her presence, and never return to her
now or henceforth. And my brother wished to obey her so earnestly,
that he sought to take away his life, to avoid the occasion of ever
transgressing her bidding; and if these shepherds had not by chance
come so quickly, the end of my happiness, and the end of my hapless
brother's days would by now have come.'
What Maurisa said set all those who listened to her in amazement, and
they were more amazed when they saw that the cruel Gelasia, without
moving from the spot where she was, and without taking account of all
that company who had their eyes set on her, with a strange grace and
spirited disdain, drew a small rebeck from her wallet, and stopping
to tune it very leisurely, after a little while with a voice of great
beauty began to sing in this wise:
GELASIA.
The pleasing herbs of the green shady mead,
The cooling fountains, who will e'er forsake,
And strive no more the fleet hare to o'ertake
Or bristling wild-boar, following on with speed?
Who will no more the friendly warblings heed
Of the dear, simple birds within the brake?
Who in the glowing noon-tide hour will make
No more his couch within the woods at need,
That he the fires may follow, and the fears,
Jealousies, angers, rages, deaths, and pains,
Of traitorous Love, that doth the world torment?
Upon the fields are set my loving cares
And have been, rose and jessamine my chains,
Free was I born, on freedom am I bent.
Gelasia was singing, and showing in the motion and expression of her
face her loveless disposition; but scarcely had she come to the last
verse of her song, when she rose with a strange swiftness, and, as if
she were fleeing from some terrible thing, she began to hurry down by
the crag, leaving the shepherds amazed at her disposition and astounded
at her swift course. But straightway they saw what was the cause of it,
on seeing the enamoured Lenio, who with dragging step was ascending
the same crag, with the intention of coming to where Gelasia was; but
she was not willing to wait for him, so as not to fail in a single
instance to act in accordance with the cruelty of her purpose. The
wearied Lenio came to the summit of the crag, when Gelasia was already
at its foot, and seeing that she did not check her steps, but directed
them with more haste through the spacious plain, with spent breath and
tired spirit he sat down in the same spot where Gelasia had been, and
there began with desperate words to curse his fortune, and the hour
in which he raised his eyes to gaze on the cruel shepherdess Gelasia,
and in that same moment, repenting as it were of what he was saying,
he turned to bless his eyes, and to extol the cause that placed him
in such a pass. And straightway goaded and urged by a fit of frenzy,
he flung his crook far from him, and, stripping off his coat, cast it
into the waters of the clear Tagus, which followed close by the foot
of the crag. And when the shepherds who were watching him saw this,
they believed without a doubt that the violence of his love-passion
was depriving him of reason; and so Elicio and Erastro began to ascend
the crag to prevent him from doing any other mad act, that might
cost him more dear. And though Lenio saw them ascending, he made no
other movement save to draw his rebeck from a wallet, and with a new
and strange calm sat down again; and turning his face to where his
shepherdess heard, he began with a voice mellow and accompanied with
tears to sing in this fashion:
LENIO.
Who drives thee on, who leadeth thee aside,
Who makes thee leave all loving thought behind,
Who on thy feet hath rapid pinions tied,
Wherewith thou runnest swifter than the wind?
Wherefore dost thou my lofty thought deride
And think but little of my loyal mind?
Why fleest thou from me, why leavest me?
Harder than marble to my agony!
Am I perchance so lowly in estate
That I may not behold thy eyes so fair,
Or poor or niggard? Have I proved ingrate
Or false since I beheld their beauty rare?
I am in naught changed from my former state,
Does not my soul hang ever from thy hair?
Then wherefore dost thou go so far from me?
Harder than marble to my agony!
Let thy o'erweening pride a warning take,
When it beholds my will, once free, subdued,
My ancient daring, see, I now forsake,
To loving purpose changed my former mood;
Behold, the forest life, that doth not make
A care of aught, 'gainst Love is nowise good,
Now stay thy steps, why wearied should they be?
Harder than marble to my agony!
Once I was as thou art, now I behold
That I can ne'er be what I was before,
The force of my desire doth wax so bold,
So great my love, I love myself no more;
Love can me now within his prison hold;
This is thy palm, thy trophy in the war,
Victorious o'er me, dost complain of me?
Harder than marble to my agony!
While the hapless shepherd was intoning his piteous plaints, the other
shepherds were reproving Galercio for his evil design, condemning the
wicked purpose he had displayed. But the despairing youth replied to
nothing, whereat Maurisa was not a little distressed, believing that,
if left alone, he must carry out his evil thought. In the meantime
Galatea and Florisa, going aside with Teolinda, asked her what was the
cause of her return, and if by chance she had already heard of her
Artidoro. To which she replied weeping:
'I know not what to say to you, friends and ladies mine, save that
Heaven wished that I should find Artidoro, to lose him utterly; for you
must know that that same unconsiderate and traitorous sister of mine,
who was the beginning of my misfortune, has been the cause of the end
and termination of my happiness. For learning, as we came with Galercio
and Maurisa to their village, that Artidoro was on a mountain not
far from there with his flock, she went away to look for him without
telling me anything. She found him, and, pretending that she was I
(since for this wrong alone Heaven ordained that we should be alike),
with little difficulty gave him to understand that the shepherdess
who had disdained him in our village was a sister of hers, who was
exceedingly like her; in a word, she recounted to him, as though they
were hers, all the actions I have done for his sake, and the extremes
of grief I have suffered. And as the heart of the shepherd was so
tender and loving, with far less than the traitress told him would she
have been believed by him, as indeed he did believe her, so much to
my hurt, that without waiting for fortune to mingle any new obstacle
with his pleasure, straightway at the very moment he gave his hand
to Leonarda, to be her lawful husband, believing he was giving it to
Teolinda. Here you see, shepherdesses, where the fruit of my tears and
sighs has ended; here you see all my hope already torn up by the root;
and what I feel most is that it has been by the hand that was most
bound to sustain it. Leonarda enjoys Artidoro by means of the false
deception I have told you, and although he already knows it, though he
must have perceived the trick, he has kept it to himself like a wise
man. The tidings of his marriage came straightway to the village, and
with them those of the end of my happiness; the stratagem of my sister
was also known, who gave as excuse that she saw Galercio, whom she
loved so much, going to ruin through the shepherdess Gelasia, and that
therefore it seemed to her easier to bring to her will the loving will
of Artidoro than Galercio's despairing one, and that since the two were
but one as regards outward appearance and nobility, she counted herself
happy and fortunate, indeed, with Artidoro's companionship. With this
the enemy of my bliss excuses herself, as I have said; and so I, not
to see her enjoy that which was rightly due to me, left the village
and Artidoro's presence, and accompanied by the saddest fancies that
can be fancied, came to give you the news of my misery in the company
of Maurisa, who likewise comes with the intention of telling you what
Grisaldo has done since he learnt Rosaura's abduction. And this morning
at sunrise we fell in with Galercio, who with tender and loving words
was urging Gelasia to love him well; but she with the strongest disdain
and scorn that can be told, bade him leave her presence, nor dare
ever to speak to her. And the hapless shepherd, crushed by so harsh a
bidding, and by cruelty so strange, wished to fulfil it, doing what you
have seen. All this is what has happened to me, my friends, since I
went from your presence. Think now whether I have more to weep for than
before, and whether the cause has grown for you to busy yourselves in
consoling me, if perchance my woe might admit of consolation.'
Teolinda said no more, for the countless tears that came to her
eyes, and the sighs she wrung from her soul, hindered her tongue in
its office; and though the tongues of Galatea and Florisa wished to
show themselves skilful and eloquent in consoling her, their toil
was of little avail. And while this converse was passing between the
shepherdesses, the paper which Thyrsis had taken from Galercio's bosom
became dry, and being anxious to read it he took it and saw that it ran
thus:
GALERCIO TO GELASIA.
Angel in the guise of maid,
Fury with a lady's face,
Cold, and yet a glowing blaze,
Wherein my soul is assayed;
Hearken to the bitter wrong,
By thy lack of passion wrought,
Which hath from my soul been brought
And set these sad lines among.
I write, not to move thine heart,
Since against thy breast of mail
Prayers nor cleverness avail,
Loyal service hath no part;
But that thou the wrong mayst see
Which thou dost inflict, I write,
And how ill thou dost requite
All the worth there is in thee.
Just it is that liberty
Thou shouldst praise, and thou art right,
Yet, behold, 'tis held upright
Only by thy cruelty;
Just it is not to ordain
That thou wouldst be free from strife,
And yet thine unfettered life
On so many deaths sustain.
That all men should love thee well
Do not fancy 'tis dishonour,
Do not fancy that thine honour
In the use of scorn doth dwell;
Nay, the cruelty restrain
Of the wrongs that thou dost do,
And be pleased with lovers few,
Thus a better name attain.
For thy rigour doth proclaim
That wild beasts did give thee birth,
That the mountains of the earth
Formed thee, harsh, whom none may tame.
For therein is thy delight,
In the moorland and the mead,
Where thou canst not find indeed
One to set thy wish alight.
Once I saw thee all alone,
Seated in a pleasant glade,
And, as I beheld, I said:
''Tis a statue of hard stone.'
Thou didst move and thus my view
Thou didst prove to be mistaken,
'Yet in mood,' I said, unshaken,
'She is more than statue, true.'
Would that thou a statue were,
Made of stone, for then I might
Hope that Heaven for my delight
Would thee change to woman fair!
For Pygmalion could not be
So devoted to his queen,
As I am and aye have been
And shall ever be to thee.
Thou repayest, as is due,
Good and ill, I murmur not,
Glory for the good I wrought,
Suffering for the ill I do.
And this truth is shown abroad
In the way thou treatest me,
Life it gives me thee to see,
Thou dost slay me by thy mood.
Of that breast which maketh bold
Love's encounters to despise,
May the fire that in my sighs
Gloweth, somewhat melt the cold,
May my tears this boon obtain,
Tears that never, never, rest,
That for one short hour thy breast
May be sweet and kind again.
Well I know thou wilt declare
That I am too long; 'tis true,
My desire make less, I too
Then will lesser make my prayer;
But according to the way
Thou dost deal with my requests,
Thee it little interests
Whether less or more I pray.
If I might in words essay
To reproach thy cruelty,
And that sign point out to thee
Which our weakness doth display,
I would say, when I did learn
What thou art, no longer blind:
'Thou art rock, bear this in mind,
And to rock thou must return.'
Whether rock or steel thou art,
Adamant or marble hard,
Steel, I am thy loving bard,
Rock, I love with all my heart;
Angel veiled, or fury, know
That the truth is all too plain,
I live, by the angel slain,
By the fury brought to woe.
Galercio's verses seemed better to Thyrsis than Gelasia's disposition,
and wishing to show them to Elicio, he saw him so changed in hue and
countenance that he seemed the image of death. He went up to him, and
when he wished to ask him if any grief were distressing him, there was
no need to await his reply in order to learn the cause of his pain, for
straightway he heard it announced amongst all those who were there. Now
the two shepherds who helped Galercio, were friends of the Lusitanian
shepherd to whom the venerable Aurelio had agreed to marry Galatea, and
they were coming to tell him how the fortunate shepherd would come in
three days' time to his village to conclude that most happy betrothal.
And straightway Thyrsis saw that this news must needs cause in Elicio's
soul newer and stranger symptoms than had been caused; but nevertheless
he went up to him and said to him:
'Now it is necessary, good friend, that you should know how to make use
of the discretion you have, since in the greatest peril hearts show
themselves courageous, and I assure you that there is something assures
me that this business must have a better end than you think. Dissemble
and be silent, for if Galatea's will takes no pleasure in conforming
wholly with her father's, you will satisfy yours, by availing yourself
of ours, and also of all the favour that can be offered you by all the
shepherds there are on the banks of this river, and on those of the
gentle Henares. And this favour I offer you, for I feel quite sure
that the desire all know I have to serve them, will constrain them to
act so that what I promise you here may not turn out vain.'
Elicio remained amazed, seeing the generous and true offer of Thyrsis,
and could not nor did he know how to reply to him save by embracing him
closely and saying to him:
'May Heaven reward you, discreet Thyrsis, for the consolation you have
given me, by which and by Galatea's will, which, as I think, will not
differ from ours, I understand without doubt that so notorious a wrong
as is being done to all these banks in banishing from them the rare
beauty of Galatea, shall not go further.'
And, as he turned to embrace him, the lost colour returned to his face.
But it did not return to Galatea's, to whom hearing of the shepherds'
embassy was as if she heard her death-sentence. Elicio noted it all,
and Erastro could not ignore it, nor yet the discreet Florisa, nor
indeed was the news pleasing to any of those who were there. At this
hour the sun was already descending by his wonted course, and therefore
for this reason, as well as because they saw that the love-sick Lenio
had followed Gelasia, and there was nothing else left to do there, all
that company, taking Galercio and Maurisa with them, bent their steps
towards the village, and on coming close to it, Elicio and Erastro
remained in their huts, and with them remained Thyrsis, Damon, Orompo,
Crisio, Marsilio, Arsindo and Orfenio, with some other shepherds. The
fortunate Timbrio, Silerio, Nisida, and Blanca took leave of them
all with courteous words and offers, telling them that on the morrow
they intended to set out for the city of Toledo, where the end of
their journey was to be; and embracing all who were remaining with
Elicio, they departed with Aurelio, with whom went Florisa, Teolinda
and Maurisa, and the sad Galatea, so heart-broken and thoughtful that
with all her discretion she could not fail to give tokens of strange
unhappiness. With Daranio departed his wife Silveria and the fair
Belisa. Thereon the night closed in, and it seemed to Elicio that all
the roads to his pleasure were closed with it, and had it not been for
welcoming with cheerful mien the guests he had in his hut that night,
he would have spent it so badly that he would have despaired of seeing
the day. The wretched Erastro was passing through the same trouble,
though with more relief, for, without regarding anyone, with loud cries
and piteous words he cursed his fortune and Aurelio's hasty resolve.
This being so, when the shepherds had satisfied their hunger with some
rustic victuals, and some of them had yielded themselves to the arms
of peaceful sleep, the fair Maurisa came to Elicio's hut, and finding
Elicio at the door of his hut, took him aside and gave him a paper,
telling him it was from Galatea, and that he should read it at once,
for, since she was bringing it at such an hour, he should understand
that what it must contain was important. The shepherd, wondering at
Maurisa's coming, and more at seeing in his hands a paper from his
shepherdess, could not rest for a moment until he read it, and entering
his hut, read it by the light of a splinter of resinous pine, and saw
that it read thus:
GALATEA TO ELICIO.
'In my father's hasty resolve lies the resolve I have taken to write
to you, and in the violence he uses towards me lies the violence I
have used towards myself to reach this extreme. You well know in
what an extreme pass I am, and I know well that I would gladly see
myself in a better, that I might reward you somewhat for the much
I know I owe you. But if Heaven wishes me to remain in this debt,
complain of it, and not of my will. My father's I would gladly change,
if it were possible, but I see that it is not, and so I do not try
it. If you think of any remedy in that quarter, so long as prayers
have no part in it, put it into effect with the consideration you
owe to your reputation and hold due to my honour. He whom they are
giving me as husband, he who shall give me burial, is coming the day
after to-morrow; little time remains for you to take counsel, though
sufficient remains to me for repentance. I say no more save that
Maurisa is faithful and I unhappy.'
The words of Galatea's letter set Elicio in strange confusion, as it
seemed to him a new thing both that she should write to him, since up
till then she had never done so, and that she should bid him seek a
remedy for the wrong that was being done her. But, passing over all
these things, he paused only to think how he should fulfil what was
bidden him, though he should hazard therein a thousand lives, if he
had so many. And as no other remedy offered itself to him save that
which he was awaiting from his friends, he made bold, trusting in them,
to reply to Galatea by a letter he gave to Maurisa, which ran in this
manner:
ELICIO TO GALATEA.
'If the violence of my strength came up to the desire I have to serve
you, fair Galatea, neither that which your father uses towards you,
nor the greatest in the world, would have power to injure you. But,
be that as it may, you will see now, if the wrong goes further, that
I do not lag behind in doing your bidding in the best way the case
may demand. Let the faithfulness you have known in me, assure you of
this, and show a good face to present fortune, trusting in coming
prosperity, for Heaven which has moved you to remember me and write to
me, will give me strength to show that I merit in part the favour you
have done me, for, if only it be obeying you, neither fear nor dread
will have power to prevent me putting into effect what befits your
happiness, and is of such import to mine. No more, for what more there
is to be in this, you will learn from Maurisa, to whom I have given
account of it; and if your opinion does not agree with mine, let me be
informed, in order that time may not pass by, and with it the season
of our happiness, which may Heaven give you as it can and as your
worth deserves.'
Having given this letter to Maurisa, as has been said, he told her also
how he was intending to assemble as many shepherds as he could, and
that all should go together to speak to Galatea's father, asking him
as a signal favour to be so kind as not to banish from those meadows
her peerless beauty; and, should this not suffice, he was intending
to place such obstacles and terrors before the Lusitanian shepherd
that he himself would say that he was not content with what had been
agreed; and, should prayers and stratagems be of no avail, he was
resolved to use violence and thereby set her at liberty, and that with
the consideration for her reputation which could be expected from one
who loved her so much. With this resolve Maurisa went away, and the
same was taken straightway by all the shepherds that were with Elicio,
for he gave to them account of his intentions, asking for favour and
counsel in so difficult a plight. Straightway Thyrsis and Damon offered
to be those who should speak to Galatea's father. Lauso, Arsindo, and
Erastro, with the four friends, Orompo, Marsilio, Crisio and Orfenio,
promised to look for their friends and assemble them for the following
day, and to carry out with them whatsoever should be bidden them by
Elicio. In discussing what was best suited to the case, and in taking
this resolve, the greater part of that night passed away. And, the
morning having come, all the shepherds departed to fulfil what they had
promised, save Thyrsis and Damon, who remained with Elicio. And that
same day Maurisa came again to tell Elicio how Galatea was resolved
to follow his opinion in everything; Elicio took leave of her with
new promises and confidences; and with joyous countenance and strange
gaiety he was awaiting the coming day to see the good or evil issue
fortune was bestowing on his work. With this night came on, and, Elicio
repairing with Damon and Thyrsis to his hut, they spent almost all of
it in testing and taking note of all the difficulties that could arise
in that affair, if perchance Aurelio was not moved by the arguments
Thyrsis intended to bring before him. But Elicio, in order to give the
shepherds opportunity for repose, went out of his hut, and ascended a
green hill that rose before it; and there, girt round with solitude, he
was revolving in his memory all that he had suffered for Galatea, and
what he feared he would suffer, if Heaven did not favour his plans.
And without leaving this train of thought, to the sound of a soft
breeze that was gently blowing, with a voice sweet and low he began to
sing in this wise:
ELICIO.
If 'midst this boiling sea and gulf profound
Of madness, 'midst the tempest's threatening strife,
I from so cruel a blow rescue my life,
And reach the haven, fortunate and sound,
Each hand uplifted to the air around,
With humble soul and will contented, I
Shall make Love know my thanks, and Heaven on high,
For the choice bliss wherewith my life is crowned.
Then fortunate shall I my sighings call,
My tears shall I account as full of pleasure,
The flame wherein I burn, refreshing cold.
Love's wounds, I shall declare, are to the soul
Sweet, to the body wholesome, that no measure
Can mete his bliss, which boundless I behold.
When Elicio ended his song, the cool dawn, with her fair cheeks of
many hues, was beginning to reveal herself by the Eastern gates,
gladdening the earth, sprinkling the grass with pearls, and painting
the meadows; whose longed-for approach the chattering birds straightway
began to greet with thousand kinds of harmonious songs. Thereon Elicio
arose and, stretching his eyes over the spacious plain, discovered
not far away two troops of shepherds, who, as it seemed to him, were
making their way towards his hut, as was the truth, for he straightway
recognised that they were his friends Lauso and Arsindo with others
whom they were bringing with them. And the others were Orompo,
Marsilio, Crisio and Orfenio, with as many of their friends as they
could assemble. Elicio then recognising them, descended from the hill
to go and welcome them; and when they came near to the hut, Thyrsis
and Damon, who were going to look for Elicio, were already outside it.
In the meantime all the shepherds came up and welcomed each other with
joyous countenance. And straightway Lauso, turning to Elicio, said to
him:
'In the company we bring, you can see, friend Elicio, whether we are
beginning to give tokens of our wish to fulfil the word we gave you;
all whom you see here, come with the desire to serve you, though they
should hazard their lives therein. What is wanting is that you should
not be wanting in what may be most essential.'
Elicio, with the best words he could, thanked Lauso and the others for
the favour they were doing him, and straightway told them all that it
had been agreed with Thyrsis and Damon to do in order to succeed in
that enterprise. What Elicio was saying seemed good to the shepherds;
and so, without more delay, they made their way towards the village,
Thyrsis and Damon going in front, and all the others following them,
who might be some twenty shepherds, the bravest and most graceful that
could be found on all the banks of the Tagus, and all were minded, if
the reasonings of Thyrsis did not move Aurelio to act reasonably in
what they asked him, to use force instead of reason, nor to consent
that Galatea should yield herself to the foreign shepherd; whereat
Erastro was as happy, as if a fair issue to that demand were to redound
to his happiness alone, for, rather than lose sight of Galatea, absent
and unhappy, he held it a good bargain that Elicio should win her, as
he thought he would, since Galatea must needs be so much indebted to
him.
The end of this loving tale and history, with what happened to
Galercio, Lenio and Gelasia, Arsindo, Maurisa, Grisaldo, Artandro and
Rosaura, Marsilio and Belisa, with other things which happened to the
shepherds mentioned hitherto, is promised in the Second Part of this
history. Which, if it sees this First received with favourable wishes,
will have the boldness shortly to come out in order to be seen and
judged by the eyes and understanding of mankind.
[The following brief notes, based on Barrera's commentary, and
corrected or supplemented in the light of subsequent research, have
been drawn up in the hope that they may be of use to the general
reader. In a certain number of cases it has, unfortunately, been
impossible to trace the writings of those mentioned in the text. I
should gratefully receive any information concerning the men or their
works. In dealing with famous authors like Lope de Vega or Góngora,
whose subsequent careers have fulfilled Cervantes's prophecies, it has
been thought unnecessary to give details which can be found in every
history of Spanish literature. It has occasionally happened that a
writer is made the subject of a longer note than his actual importance
might seem, at first sight, to deserve. The justification for this
lies in the fact that such minor authors are more or less intimately
associated with Cervantes, or that the mention of their names affords
a convenient opportunity for discussing some point of interest in
connexion with his life or writings.
For the sake of convenience in referring from one author to another,
the notes to the _Canto de Calíope_ have been numbered consecutively
throughout. J. F.-K.]
FOOTNOTES:
[117] As the _Canto de Calíope_ professes to deal solely with living
poets--_algunos señalados varones que en esta vuestra España viven,
y algunos en las apartadas Indias á ella sujetas_--the Diego Mendoza
mentioned in the twentyfifth stanza cannot refer to the celebrated
historian who died ten years before the _Galatea_ was published. But
the above lament for Meliso is unquestionably dedicated to his memory.
The phrase _el aprisco veneciano_ is an allusion to Diego Hurtado de
Mendoza's embassy in Venice (1539-1547). It is not generally known
that Mendoza visited England as special Plenipotentiary in 1537-1538
with the object of arranging two marriages: one between Mary Tudor
and Prince Luiz of Portugal, and one between Henry VIII. and Charles
V.'s handsome, witty niece, Dorothea of Denmark (afterwards Duchess of
Milan), who declined the honour on the ground that she had only one
head. Mendoza's mission was a diplomatic failure: nor does he seem
to have enjoyed his stay here. He was made much of, was banqueted
at Hampton Court, and confessed that life in England was pleasant
enough; but he sighed for Barcelona, and was glad to pass on to the
Low Countries and thence to Venice. See the _Calendar of State Papers
(Spain)_, vol. v. J. F.-K.
[118] Leiva's work would seem to have disappeared. In the _Casa de
Memoria_, which forms part of the _Diversas Rimas_ (1591), Espinel
refers to an Alonso de Leiva in much the same terms as Cervantes uses
here:--
El ánimo gentil, el dulce llanto,
El blando estilo, con que enternecido
Don Alonso de Leyva quando canta
A Venus enamora, á Marte espanta.
[119] Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga was born at Madrid in 1533. He
was page to Philip II at the latter's marriage with Mary Tudor in
Winchester Cathedral. He sailed for South America in 1555, served
against the Araucanos under García Hurtado de Mendoza, Marqués de
Cañete, quarrelled with a brother officer named Juan de Pineda, was
sentenced to death, reprieved at the last moment, and is said to have
been exiled to Callao. Ercilla returned to Spain in 1562, bringing
with him the First Part of his epic poem, _La Araucana_, which he had
composed during his campaigns. The original draft was scribbled on
stray pieces of paper and scraps of leather: "que no me costó después
poco trabajo juntarlos." This First Part was published at Madrid in
1569: the Second Part appeared in 1578, and the Third in 1590. The
author died, a disappointed man, in 1594. For a sound appreciation
of his talent see _L'Araucana, poème épique por D. Alonso de Ercilla
y Zúñiga. Morceaux choisis précedés d'une étude biographique et
littéraire, suivis de notes grammaticales, et de versification et de
deux lexiques_ (Paris, 1900) by M. Jean Ducamin. A critical edition
of _La Araucana_ by the eminent Chilean scholar, Sr. D. José Toribio
Medina, is in preparation.
Cervantes expresses the highest opinion of _La Araucana_ in _Don
Quixote_ (Part I., chap. vi.) where he brackets it with Rufo's
_Austriada_ and Virués's _Monserrate_:--"These three books," said the
curate, "are the best that have been written in Castilian in heroic
verse, and they may compare with the most famous of Italy; let them be
preserved as the richest treasures of poetry that Spain possesses."
[120] Barrera believed that the reference is to Juan de Silva, Conde de
Portalegre, afterwards Governor and Captain-General of the Kingdom of
Portugal. A collection of his letters is said to be in the Biblioteca
Nacional at Madrid: Silva is further stated to have revised the
manuscript of Hurtado de Mendoza's _Historia de la Guerra de Granada_,
first published (posthumously) by Luis de Tribaldos de Toledo at Lisbon
in 1627. He certainly wrote the introduction to Tribaldos de Toledo's
edition.
Juan de Silva, Conde de Portalegre, is said by Jacques-Charles Brunet
(_Manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres_, Paris, 1861-1880,
vol. ii., col. 217) to be the author of a work entitled _Dell' unione
del regno di Portogallo alla corona di Castiglia, istoria del Sig.
Ieronimo di Franchi Conestaggio, gentilhuomo genovese_ (Genova, 1585).
This volume was in Montaigne's library (see M. Paul Bonnefon's valuable
contribution--_La Bibliothèque de Montaigne_--in the _Revue d'Histoire
littéraire de la France_, Paris, 1895, vol. ii., pp. 344-345): so
also was the Spanish version of López de Castanheda's _Historia_ (M.
Paul Bonnefon, _op. cit._, p. 362). A trace of both these works is
observable in the 1595 edition of the _Essais_ (liv. ii., chap. 21,
_Contre la fainéantise_).
[121] The soldier, Diego Santisteban y Osorio, is known as the author
of a sequel to Ercilla's _Araucana_: his fourth and fifth parts were
published in 1597.
[122] Barrera conjectures that the allusion is to Francisco Lasso de
Mendoza who wrote a prefatory sonnet for Luis Gálvez de Montalvo's
_Pastor de Fílida_: see note 24.
[123] Barrera states that Diego de Sarmiento y Carvajal contributed
verses to the _Primera parte de la Miscelánea austral de don Diego
d'Avalós y Figueroa en varios coloquios_ (Lima, 1603). I have not seen
this work.
[124] Barrera fails to give any particulars of Gutierre Carvajal of
whom, also, I find no trace in recent bibliographies.
[125] Prefatory sonnets by the Toledan soldier, Luis de Vargas
Manrique, are found in Cervantes's _Galatea_ and in López Maldonado's
_Cancionero_, both published in 1585: see notes 23 and 34.
[126] Francisco Campuzano practised medicine at Alcalá de Henares,
Cervantes's birthplace. In 1585 he contributed to López Maldonado's
_Cancionero_ and to Padilla's _Jardín espiritual_: another copy of his
verses precedes Gracián Dantisco's _Galateo español_ (1594): see notes
23, 27, and 34.
[127] Francisco Suárez de Sosa, a native of Medina del Campo, practised
as a physician. Barrera states that Suárez de Sosa wrote _Del arte como
se ha de pelear contra los turcos_ (1549) and _De las ilustres mujeres
que en el mundo ha habido_; but I do not understand him to say that
either of these works was printed. Barrera conjectures that Suárez de
Sosa is introduced in the _Galatea_ under the name of Sasio.
[128] Nothing seems to be known of Doctor Baza.
[129] I have not succeeded in identifying the Licenciado Daza with
any of the Dazas mentioned by Bartolomé José Gallardo, _Ensayo de una
biblioteca española de libros raros y curiosos_ (Madrid, 1863-1889),
vol. ii., cols. 750-754.
[130] The Maestro Garay, praised as a _divino ingenio_ in Lope de
Vega's _Arcadia_, is represented by a _glosa_, a copy of _redondillas_,
and five sonnets in Manuel Rivadeneyra's _Biblioteca de autores
españoles_, vol. xlii., pp. 510-511.
[131] Cervantes's praise of the Maestro Córdoba is confirmed by Lope de
Vega in the _Laurel de Apolo_ (silva iv.):--
Hoy á las puertas de su templo llama
Una justa memoria,
Digna de honor y gloria,
Antes que pase el alto Guadarrama,
Que mi maestro Córdoba me ofrece,
Y las musas latinas me dan voces,
Pues con tan justa causa la merece.
[132] Francisco Díaz, lecturer on philosophy and medicine at the
University of Alcalá de Henares, published a _Compendio de Cirujia_
(Madrid, 1575). In 1588 Cervantes contributed a complimentary sonnet to
Díaz' treatise on kidney disease: _Tratado nuevamente impreso acerca de
las enfermedades de los riñones_. The occasion is certainly singular.
It does not seem that Díaz himself published any verse.
[133] No trace of Luján's writings has, to my knowledge, been
discovered. It seems unlikely that Cervantes can refer to the Pedro
de Luján whose _Coloquios matrimoniales_ were published at Seville as
early as 1550: see Gallardo, _op. cit._, vol. iii., col. 553.
[134] A prefatory sonnet by Juan de Vergara is found in López
Maldonado's _Cancionero_: see note 23.
[135] It may be to this writer that Agustín de Rojas Villandrando
alludes in the _Viaje entretenido_ (1603):--
De los farsantes que han hecho
farsas, loas, bayles, letras
son Alonso de Morales,
Grajales, Zorita Mesa, etc.
Two romances by an Alonso de Morales are given in Rivadeneyra, vol.
xvi., p. 248.
[136] This prophecy has not been fulfilled: Hernando Maldonado's
writings appear to be lost.
[137] Lope de Vega also finds place in the _Laurel de Apolo_ (silva
iii.) for
Aquel ingenio, universal, profundo,
El docto Marco Antonio de la Vega,
Ilustre en verso y erudito en prosa.
[138] This can scarcely refer to the famous diplomatist who died
in 1575. Possibly Cervantes may have alluded here to Captain Diego
de Mendoza de Barros, two of whose sonnets are included in Pedro
Espinosa's collection entitled _Flores de poetas ilustres de España_
(1605). The sonnet on f. 65--
"Pedís, Reyna, un soneto, ya lo hago--"
may have served as Lope de Vega's model for the celebrated Sonnet on
a Sonnet in _La Niña de plata_. A still earlier example in this kind
was given by Baltasar del Alcázar: see note 43. For French imitations
of this sonnet, see M. Alfred Morel-Fatio's article in the _Revue
d'Histoire littéraire de la France_ (Paris, July 15, 1896), pp.
435-439. See also Father Matthew Russell's _Sonnets on the Sonnet_
(London, 1898), and a note in Sr. D. Adolfo Bonilla y San Martín's
Castilian version of my _History of Spanish Literature_ (Madrid, 1901),
p. 344.
[139] Diego Durán contributed a prefatory poem to López Maldonado's
_Cancionero_: see note 23. Casiano Pellicer conjectured that Durán
figures in the _Galatea_ as Daranio: see the _Introduction_ to the
present version, p. xlviii, _n._ 2.
[140] López Maldonado seems to have been on very friendly terms with
Lope de Vega and, more especially, with Cervantes. In _Don Quixote_
(Part I., chap. vi), the latter writes:--"es grande amigo mio." Lope
and Cervantes both contributed prefatory verses to López Maldonado's
_Cancionero_ (1586) of which the Priest expressed a favourable opinion
when examining Don Quixote's library:--"it gives rather too much of its
eclogues, but what is good was never yet plentiful: let it be kept with
those that have been set apart."
[141] Luis Gálvez de Montalvo is best remembered as the author of the
pastoral novel, _El Pastor de Fílida_ (1582); see the _Introduction_ to
the present version, pp. xxvi and xxxi.
[142] Pedro Liñán de Riaza's poems have been collected in the first
volume of the _Biblioteca de escritores aragoneses_ (Zaragoza, 1876).
Concerning some supplementary pieces, omitted in this edition, see
Professor Emilio Teza, _Der Cancionero von Neapel_, in _Romanische
Forschungen_ (Erlangen, 1893), vol. vii., pp. 138-144. Sr. D. Adolfo
Bonilla y San Martín conjectures that Liñán de Riaza may have had
some part in connection with Avellaneda's spurious continuation of
_Don Quixote_: see the elaborate note in his Castilian version of my
_History of Spanish Literature_ (Madrid, 1901), pp. 371-374.
[143] Alonso de Valdés wrote a prologue in praise of poetry to Vicente
Espinel's _Diversas rimas_: see note 46.
[144] Pedro de Padilla and Cervantes were on excellent terms: "es amigo
mio," says the latter in _Don Quixote_ (Part I., chap. vi). Cervantes
contributed complimentary verses to Padilla's _Romancero_ (1583), to
his _Jardín espiritual_ (1585), and to his posthumous _Grandezas y
Excelencias de la Virgen_ (1587). Padilla died in August 1585, shortly
after the publication of the _Galatea_: his _Romancero_ has been
reprinted (1880) by the Sociedad de Bibliófilos españoles.
[145] I have met with no other allusion to Gaspar Alfonso.
[146] The _heróicos versos_ of Cristóbal de Mesa are of no remarkable
merit. Besides translations of Virgil, and the tragedy _Pompeyo_
(1615), he published _Las Navas de Tolosa_ (1594), _La Restauración
de España_ (1607), the _Valle de lágrimas_ (1607), and _El Patrón de
España_ (1611).
[147] Many Riberas figure in the bibliographies, but apparently none of
them is named Pedro.
[148] Benito de Caldera's translation of Camões's _Lusiadas_ was issued
at Alcalá de Henares in 1580. Láinez, Garay, Gálvez de Montalvo, and
Vergara--all four eulogized in this _Canto de Calíope_--contributed
prefatory poems.
[149] Besides a well-known _glosa_ on Jorge Manrique's _Coplas_,
Francisco de Guzmán published the _Triumphos Morales_ and the _Decretos
de Sabios_ at Alcalá de Henares in 1565.
[150] This stanza is supposed by Barrera to refer to Juan de Salcedo
Villandrando who wrote a prefatory sonnet for Diego d'Avalós y
Figueroa's _Miscelánea austral_ (Lima, 1602).
[151] This Tomás Gracián Dantisco was the grandson of Diego García,
_camarero mayor_ at the court of the Catholic Kings, and son of Diego
Gracián de Alderete, Secretary of State and official Interpreter during
the reigns of Charles V. and Philip II. The latter studied at the
University of Louvain where his name was wrongly Latinized as Gratianus
(instead of Gracianus), and, on his return to Spain, he adopted the
form Gracián. He married a daughter of Johannes de Curiis, called (from
his birthplace) Dantiscus, successively Bishop of Culm (June, 1530) and
of West Ermeland (January, 1538), and Polish ambassador at the court of
Charles V.: see Leo Czaplicki, _De vita et carminibus Joannis de Curiis
Dantisci_ (Vratislaviae, 1855). Some of Diego Gracián de Alderete's
letters are included by Sr. D. Adolfo Bonilla y San Martín in his very
interesting collection entitled _Clarorum Hispaniensium epistolae
ineditae_ (Paris, 1901), printed in the _Revue Hispanique_ (Paris,
1901), vol. viii., pp. 181-308.
Tomás Gracián Dantisco succeeded his father as official Interpreter,
and published an _Arte de escribir cartas familiares_ (1589). His
brother, Lucás Gracián Dantisco, signed the _Aprobación_ to the
_Galatea_: see the _Introduction_ to the present version, p. x, _n._ 4.
Another brother, Antonio Gracián Dantisco, secretary to the King, was
a good Greek scholar. He translated a treatise by Hero of Alexandria
under the title _De los Pneumaticos, ó machuinas que se hazen por
atraccion de vacio_. The manuscript has apparently disappeared; but it
existed as late as the time of Nicolás Antonio (_Bibliotheca Hispana_,
Romae, 1672, vol. i., p. 98). See also Charles Graux' _Essai sur les
origines du fonds grec de l'Escurial_ (Paris, 1880), which forms the
46th _fascicule_ of the _Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Etudes_,
and an interesting note by M. Alfred Morel-Fatio in the _Bulletin
hispanique_ (Bordeaux, 1902), vol. iv., p. 282.
[152] In the _Dorotea_ (Act iv. sc. ii.) Lope de Vega speaks of
"Bautista de Vivar, monstruo de naturaleza en decir versos de improviso
con admirable impulso de las musas"; but Vivar's merits must be taken
on trust, for his writings have not been printed. A certain Vivar,
author of some verses _á lo divino_, is mentioned by Gallardo (_op.
cit._, vol. i., col. 1023), but no specimens are given from the
manuscript which was in existence as late as November 1, 1844.
The phrase--_monstruo de naturaleza_--applied by Lope to Vivar was
applied by Cervantes to Lope in the preface to his _Ocho Comedias
y ocho entremeses nuevos_ (Madrid, 1615). It occurs also in Lope's
_Hermosa Ester_, the autograph of which, dated April 5, 1610, is in
the British Museum Library, Egerton MSS. 547. Mr. Henry Edward Watts
(_Miguel de Cervantes, his life & works_, London, 1895, p. 109)
contends that Cervantes uses the expression "in bad part" (i.e. in a
sense derogatory to Lope), and cites as a parallel case the employment
of it in _Don Quixote_ (Part I. chap. xlvi) where Sancho Panza is
described as "monstruo de naturaleza, almario de embustes, silo de
bellaquerías, inventor de maldades, publicador de sandeces," and so
forth. The words _monstruo de naturaleza_ are, no doubt, open to two
interpretations. It is, however, inconceivable that Cervantes would
offer so gross an insult to his successful rival as is thus imputed
to him. In his bickerings with Lope, Cervantes may sometimes forget
himself, as will happen to the best of men at times; but such vulgarity
as this is absolutely unlike him. It may be as well to note that the
expression--_monstruo de naturaleza_--was current as a compliment long
before either Cervantes or Lope used it; it will be found in Pedro de
Cáceres y Espinosa's preliminary _Discurso_ to the poems of Gregorio
Silvestre published in 1582.
Students of Spanish literary history will remember that Vivar's name
was introduced by one of the witnesses who appeared against Lope de
Vega when the latter was prosecuted for criminal libel at the beginning
of 1588. Luis Vargas de Manrique (mentioned in note 8) was reported
by this witness as saying that, on the internal evidence, one of the
scandalous ballads which formed the basis of the charge might be
attributed to four or five different persons: "it may be by Liñán
(mentioned in note 25) who is not here, or by Cervantes, and he is not
here, and, since it is not mine, it may be by Vivar, or by Lope de
Vega, though Lope de Vega, if he had written it, would not so malign
himself." See the _Proceso de Lope de Vega por libelo contra unos
cómicos_ (Madrid, 1901) by the Sres. Tomillo and Pérez Pastor.
[153] Baltasar de Toledo's writings have not been traced.
[154] Lope Félix de Vega Carpio was born at Madrid on November 25,
1562, and died there on August 27, 1635. A soldier, a poet, a novelist,
a dramatist, and a priest, he ranks next to Cervantes in the history of
Spanish literature. It is impossible to give any notion of his powers
within the compass of a note. According to Pérez de Montalbán, Lope
was the author of 1800 plays and 400 _autos_: some 400 plays and some
50 _autos_ survive, apart from innumerable miscellaneous works. Lope's
_Obras completas_ are now being issued by the Royal Spanish Academy
under the editorship of Sr. D. Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo, and each
succeeding volume--thirteen quarto volumes have already been issued to
subscribers--goes to justify his immense reputation. A short summary of
his dramatic achievement is given in my lecture on _Lope de Vega and
the Spanish Drama_ (Glasgow and London, 1902); for fuller details of
this amazing genius and his work see Professor Hugo Albert Rennert's
admirable biography (Glasgow, 1903).
[155] Francisco Pacheco, uncle of the author of the _Arte de la
pintura_, was born in 1535 and died in 1599. Some specimens of his
skill in writing occasional Latin verses are extant in Seville
Cathedral--of which he was a canon. A Latin composition from the same
pen will be found in Herrera's edition of Garcilaso, for which see note
39.
[156] Fernando de Herrera, the chief of the Seville school of poets,
was born in 1534 and died in 1597. Herrera, who was a cleric but not a
priest, dedicated many of his poems (1582) to the Condesa de Gelves,
and there is interminable discussion as to whether these verses are to
be taken in a Platonic sense, or not. Besides being a distinguished
lyrical poet, Herrera proved himself an excellent critic in the
_Anotaciones_ in his edition of Garcilaso de la Vega (1580). This
commentary was the occasion of a clever, scurrilous attack, circulated
under the pseudonym of Prete Jacopín, by Juan Fernández de Velasco,
Conde de Haro, who resented the audacity of an Andaluz in presuming
to edit a Castilian poet. Haro evidently thought that invective was
an ornament of debate, for in _Observación XI._ he calls his opponent
_ydiotíssimo_, and in _Observación XXVII._ he calls Herrera an ass:
"sois Asno y no León."
Cervantes was a great admirer of Herrera whose death he commemorated
in a sonnet. Moreover, he wove into the short dedication of the First
Part of _Don Quixote_ (to the Duque de Béjar) phrases borrowed from
the dedication in Herrera's edition of Garcilaso: see vol. iii. of the
present edition (Glasgow, 1901), pp. 3-4.
[157] That _el culto Cangas_ had a high reputation appears from
the allusion in the _Restauración de España_ (lib. x. est. 108) of
Cristóbal de Mesa who also dedicated a sonnet to him in the _Rimas_
(Madrid, 1611), f. 230.
[158] Two sonnets by Cristóbal de Villaroel are given in Espinosa's
_Flores de poetas ilustres de España_ (1605). This extremely rare
work, together with the supplementary _Flores_ (1611) gathered by Juan
Antonio Calderón, has been edited with great skill by Sr. D. Francisco
Rodríguez Marín who, fortunately for students, undertook to finish the
work begun by Sr. D. Juan Quirós de los Ríos. Two additional sonnets by
Villaroel precede Enrique Garcés's rendering of Petrarch: see note 68.
[159] Francisco de Medina was born at Seville about 1550 and died there
in 1615. This pleasing poet was of great assistance to Herrera in the
work of editing Garcilaso. Herrera's edition, which includes examples
of Medina's verse, also contains a preface by Medina which was utilized
by Cervantes in the dedication of the _First Part of Don Quixote_: see
note 39 and vol. iii. of the present edition (Glasgow, 1901), pp. 3-4.
[160] Baltasar del Alcázar was born in 1540 and died in 1606. His
graceful, witty poems were reissued in 1878 by the Sociedad de
Bibliófilos Andaluces. Alcázar's Sonnet on a Sonnet (see note 21) lacks
a line in the version printed by Gallardo, _op. cit._, vol. i., col. 75.
[161] Cristóbal Mosquera de Figueroa was born in 1553 and died in 1610.
He is best known as the author of a _Comentario en breve compendio
de disciplina militar_ (Madrid, 1596) for which Cervantes wrote a
sonnet on the famous Marqués de Santa Cruz. Specimens of Mosquera de
Figueroa's verse are to be found in Herrera's edition of Garcilaso.
[162] The Sevillian priest, Domingo de Becerra, as appears from
Fernández de Navarrete's _Vida de Cervantes Saavedra_ (Madrid, 1819,
pp. 386-387), was a prisoner in Algiers with Cervantes, and was
ransomed at the same time as the latter. Becerra was then (1580)
forty-five years of age. He translated Giovanni Della Casa's _Il
Galateo_, and published his version at Venice in 1585.
[163] Vicente Espinel was born in 1550 and is conjectured to have died
between 1624 and 1634. He is said to have added a fifth string to the
guitar, and to have introduced _espinelas_: "perdónesele Dios," is
Lope's comment in the _Dorotea_ (act. i. sc. vii.). Espinel's _Diversas
rimas_ (1591) are now only known to students; but his picaresque
novel, _Marcos de Obregón_ (Madrid, 1618), still finds, and deserves
to find, many readers. In the 1775 edition of the _Siècle de Louis
XIV._ Voltaire alleged that _Gil Blas_ was "entièrement pris du roman
espagnol _La Vidad de lo Escudiero Dom Marcos d'Obrego_." It will be
observed that, in transcribing the title, Voltaire makes almost as many
mistakes as the number of words allows. His statement is a grotesque
exaggeration, but it had the merit of suggesting a successful practical
joke to José Francisco de Isla. This sly wag translated _Gil Blas_ into
Spanish, mischievously pretending that the book was thus "restored to
its country and native language by a jealous Spaniard who will not
allow his nation to be made fun of." Unluckily, the naughty Jesuit did
not live to see the squabbles of the learned critics who fell into the
trap that he had baited for them. It is, by the way, a curious and
disputed point whether the Comte de Neufchâteau's celebrated _Examen
de la question de savoir si Lesage est l'auteur de Gil Blas ou s'il
l'a pris de l'espagnol_ (1818) was, or was not, taken word for word
from a juvenile essay by Victor Hugo: see _Victor Hugo raconté par
un témoin de sa vie_ (Bruxelles and Leipzig, 1863), vol. i., p. 396.
In the _Adjunta al Parnaso_ Cervantes calls Espinel "uno de los más
antiguos y verdaderos amigos que yo tengo." In his _Rimas_ Espinel
had been most complimentary to Cervantes. But Pellicer and Fernández
de Navarrete have spoken harshly of him for being (as they imagined)
jealous of the success of _Don Quixote_; and Mr. Henry Edward Watts
(_op. cit._, p. 157, _n._ 1) asserts that Espinel "took occasion
after Cervantes' death to speak of his own _Marcos de Obregón_ ...
as superior to _Don Quixote_." This is not so. There may be authors
who suppose that their immortal masterpieces are superior to the
ephemeral writings of everybody else: but they seldom say this--at
least, in print. Nor did Espinel. It must suffice, for the moment,
to note that the above-mentioned fable is mainly based on the fact
that the Gongoresque poet and preacher, Hortensio Félix Paravicino y
Arteaga, wrote as follows in his _Aprobación to Marcos de Obregón_: "El
Libro del Escudero, que escriuio el Maestro Espinel, y V. M. me manda
censurar, he visto, y no hallo en el cosa que se oponga à nuestra santa
Fè Catolica Romana, ni ofenda à la piedad de las buenas costumbres
della, antes de los libros deste género, que parece de entretenimiento
comun, es el que con más razón deue ser impreso, por tener el prouecho
tan cerca del deleyte, que sin perjudicar enseña, y sin diuertir
entretiene: el estilo, la inuencion, el gusto de las cosas, y la
moralidad, que deduze dellas, arguyen bien la pluma que la ha escrito,
tan justamente celebrada en todas naciones. A mi alomenos de los libros
deste argumento me parece la mejor cosa que nuestra lengua tendrà, y
que V.m. deue darle vna aprouacion muy honrada. Guarde nuestro Señor à
V. M."
It is Paravicino, not Espinel, who speaks: and the eulogistic phrases
which he uses do not exceed the limits of the recognized convention on
such occasions.
[164] Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza was introduced to England by Ben
Jonson as an authority on honour and arms. Bobadil, in _Every Man in
his humour_ (Act 1, sc. 4) says:--"By the foot of Pharaoh, an' 'twere
my case now I should send him a chartel presently. The bastinado,
a most proper and sufficient dependence, warranted by the great
Carranza." Carranza wrote the _Philosophia y destreza de las armas_
(Sanlúcar de Barrameda, 1582); a later treatise, the _Libro de las
grandezas de la espada_ (Madrid, 1600) was issued by the counter-expert
of the next generation, Luis Pacheco de Narváez. I need scarcely remind
most readers that Pacheco de Narváez, the famous fencing-master, was
ignominiously disarmed by Quevedo--an incomparable hand with the foil,
despite his lameness and short sight. Pacheco naturally smarted under
the disgrace, and seems to have shown his resentment in an unpleasant
fashion whenever he had an opportunity. The respective merits of
Carranza and Pacheco divided Madrid into two camps. Literary men were
prominent in the fray. Suárez de Figueroa, Vélez de Guevara, and Ruiz
de Alarcón declared for Pacheco. Among Carranza's partisans were Luis
Mendoza de Carmona and, as might be expected, Quevedo who mentions the
_Libro de las grandezas de la espada_ in his _Historia de la vida del
Buscón_ (lib. i. cap. viii.).
[165] Two sonnets by Lázaro Luis Iranzo are given in Rivadeneyra, _op.
cit._, vol. iv., pp. 180, 364.
[166] Baltasar de Escobar is represented in Espinosa's _Flores de
poetas ilustres_: a complimentary letter addressed by Escobar to
Cristóbal de Virués is printed in Rivadeneyra, _op. cit._, vol. lxii.,
p. 37.
[167] A sonnet on the sack of Cádiz by Juan Sanz de Zumeta is given in
Juan Antonio Pellicer's edition of _Don Quixote_ (Madrid, 1797-1798),
vol. i., p. lxxxvi.
[168] The correct, full form of this writer's name seems to be Juan
de la Cueva de Garoza. He is conjectured to have been born in 1550
and to have died in 1609. This interesting dramatist was among the
most distinguished of Lope de Vega's immediate predecessors, and in
such plays as _El Cerco de Zamora_ he comes near anticipating Lope's
methods. In his _Exemplar poético_ (1609) Cueva declares that he
was the first to bring kings upon the stage, an innovation that was
censured at the time:--
A mi me culpan de que fuí el primero
que Reyes y Deydades di al teatro
de las Comedias traspasando el fuero.
Evidently Cueva did not know that Torres Naharro introduces a king in
his _Aquilana_. A reprint of Cueva's plays is urgently needed: his
purely poetic work is of slight value. An edition of _El Viage de
Sannio_, with an admirable Introduction by Professor Fredrik Amadeus
Wulff will be found in the _Acta Universitatis Lundensis_ (Lund,
1887-1888), (Philosophi, Språkvetenskap och Historia), vol. xxiii.
[169] Nothing by Adán Vivaldo has survived, apparently. Cervantes
assigns this surname to a minor character in _Don Quixote_ (Part I.,
chap. xiii.).
[170] It would be interesting to know how far this panegyric on Juan
Aguayo was justified. I have failed to find any information concerning
him or his works.
[171] The dates of the birth and death of the Cordoban poet, Juan Rufo
Gutiérrez, are given conjecturally as 1530 and 1600. Cervantes esteemed
Rufo's _Austriada_ inordinately: see note 2. In truth the _Austriada_
is a tedious performance, being merely a poor rhythmical arrangement
of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza's _Guerra de Granada_. Mendoza's history
was not published till 1627, long after the author's death (1575). It
was issued at Lisbon by Luis Tribaldos de Toledo who, in the previous
year, had brought out a posthumous edition of the poems of Francisco de
Figueroa--the Tirsi of the _Galatea_. Evidently, then, Rufo read the
_Guerra de Granada_ in manuscript: see M. Foulché-Delbosc's article in
the _Revue hispanique_ (Paris, 1894), vol. i., pp. 137-138, _n._
[172] Luis de Góngora y Argote was born in 1561 and died in 1627.
His father, Francisco de Argote, was Corregidor of Córdoba, and it
has been generally stated that the poet assumed his mother's maiden
name. However, the Sra. Doña Blanca de los Ríos y de Lampérez alleges
that Góngora's real name was Luis de Argote y Argote: see an article
entitled _De vuelta de Salamanca in La España moderna_ (Madrid, June
1897). I do not know precisely upon what ground this statement is
made. Despite the perverse affectations into which his _culteranismo_
led him, Góngora is one of the most eminent Spanish poets, and
unquestionably among the greatest artists in Spanish literature. A
passage in the _Viaje del Parnaso_ (cap. vii.) seems to imply that
Cervantes admired Góngora's very obscure work, the _Polifemo_:--
De llano no le déis, dadle de corte,
Estancias Polifemas, al poeta
Que no os tuviere por su guía y norte.
Inimitables sois, y á la discreta
Gala que descubrís en lo escondido
Toda elegancia puede estar sujeta.
M. Foulché-Delbosc has in preparation a complete edition of Góngora's
works.
[173] Barrera conjectures that this Gonzalo Cervantes Saavedra may be
the author of a novel entitled _Los Pastores del Betis_, published at
Trani in 1633-4. I do not know this work, which may have been issued
posthumously. It seems unlikely that Gonzalo Cervantes Saavedra began
novel-writing when over seventy years old: for we may take it that he
was over twenty when his namesake praised him, as above, in 1585.
[174] Gonzalo Gómez de Luque wrote the _Libro primero de los famosos
hechos del príncipe Don Celidon de Iberia_ (Alcalá de Henares, 1583);
but the only works of his with which I am acquainted are the verses in
Padilla's _Jardín espiritual_ and López Maldonado's _Cancionero_: see
notes 27 and 23.
[175] Two sonnets by Gonzalo Mateo de Berrío are included in Espinosa's
_Flores de poetas ilustres_. Espinel refers to him in the preface
to _Marcos de Obregón_: Lope mentions him in the _Laurel de Apolo_
(silva ii.) and in the _Dorotea_ (Act iv., sc. ii.) Berrío signed the
_Aprobación_ to Cairasco de Figueroa's _Templo militante_: see note 73.
[176] Luis Barahona de Soto was born in 1548 at Lucena (Lucena de
Córdoba and not Lucena del Puerto, as Barrera supposed). After some
wanderings he settled at Archidona where he practised medicine. He is
said to have died _ab intestato_ on November 6, 1595. A complimentary
sonnet by him appears in Cristóbal de Mesa's _Restauración de España_
(Madrid, 1607): it would seem, therefore, that Mesa's _Restauración_
must have been in preparation for at least a dozen years. Some
verses by Barahona de Soto are given in Espinosa's _Flores de poetas
ilustres_: four of his satires, and his _Fábula de Acteón_ are printed
in Juan José López de Sedano's _Parnaso Español_ (Madrid, 1768-1778),
vol. ix., pp. 53-123. Barahona de Soto's best known work is _La primera
parte de la Angélica_ (Granada, 1586) which, in the colophon, has the
alternative title of _Las lágrimas de Angélica_. There is a famous
allusion to this work in _Don Quixote_ (Part I., chap. vi.):--"I should
have shed tears myself," said the curate when he heard the title, "had
I ordered that book to be burned, for its author was one of the famous
poets of the world, not to say of Spain, and was very happy in the
translation of some of Ovid's fables." As Mr. Ormsby observed:--"The
anti-climax here almost equals Waller's:--
'Under the tropic is our language spoke,
And part of Flanders hath received our yoke'."
See vol. iii. of the present edition (Glasgow, 1901), p. 53, _n._ 3.
It has often been questioned whether Barahona de Soto ever wrote a
Second Part of the _Angélica_. Since the publication of the _Diálogos
de la Montería_ (Madrid, 1890) by the Sociedad de Bibliófilos
Españoles, under the editorship of Sr. D. Francisco R. de Uhagón,
it seems practically certain that he at all events began the Second
Part, if he did not finish it. The _Diálogos de la Montéria_ contain
numerous passages quoted from the Second Part; and in a biographical,
bibliographical and critical study, which Sr. D. Francisco Rodríguez
Marín is now correcting for the press, it will be shown that Barahona
de Soto was, in all probability, himself the author of these _Diálogos_.
[177] A sonnet by Francisco de Terrazas figures in Pedro Espinosa's
_Floresta de poetas ilustres de España_: three more sonnets by Terrazas
will be found in Gallardo, vol. i., _op. cit._, cols. 1003-1007.
[178] Barrera does not help us to discover anything of Martínez de
Ribera, who may have published in the Indies.
[179] Barrera vaguely infers from the text that Alonso Picado was a
native of Peru.
[180] Alonso de Estrada is conjectured by Barrera to have been born in
the Indies.
[181] Nothing seems to be known of Avalos y de Ribera.
[182] I have never met with any of Sancho de Ribera's writings: a
sonnet to him is found among Garcés's translations from Petrarch: see
note 68.
[183] A sonnet by Pedro de Montesdoca, _El Indiano_, is prefixed to
Vicente Espinel's _Diversas rimas_ (1591).
[184] A sonnet by Diego de Aguilar precedes Garcés's translation of
Camões's _Lusiadas_: see note 68. I presume him to be the author of
another prefatory sonnet in López Maldonado's _Cancionero_.
[185] No information is forthcoming as to Gonzalo Fernández de
Sotomayor or his works.
[186] Henrique Garcés published _Los sonetos y canciones del Poeta
Francisco Petrarcha_ (Madrid, 1591), and _Los Lusiadas de Luys de
Camoes_ (Madrid, 1591).
[187] The _vena inmortal_ of Rodrigo Fernández de Pineda does not seem
to have expressed itself in print.
[188] The name of Juan de Mestanza recurs in the _Viaje del Parnaso_
(cap. vii.).
[189] An American, so Barrera thinks: there is no trace of his writings.
[190] Another American, according to Barrera; there is no trace of his
writings either.
[191] Bartolomé Cairasco de Figueroa was born at the Canaries in 1540,
became Prior of the Cathedral there, and died in 1610. His _Templo
militante, flos santorum, y triumphos de sus virtudes_ was issued in
four parts: (Valladolid, 1602), (Valladolid, 1603), (Madrid, 1609), and
(Lisbon, 1614). Selections are given in Juan José López de Sedano's
_Parnaso español_ (Madrid, 1768-1778), vol. v., pp. 332-363, and
vol. vi., pp. 191-216. Cairasco de Figueroa wrote a prefatory poem
to Carranza's _Libro de las grandezas de la espada_: see note 47.
According to the Spanish annotators of Ticknor's _History_, Cairasco
left behind him a version (unpublished) of Ariosto's _Gerusalemme_.
[192] Barrera states that a sonnet by Damián de Vega is prefixed
to Juan Bautista de Loyola's _Viaje y naufragios del Macedonio_
(Salamanca, 1587). I do not know this work.
[193] The celebrated scholar, Francisco Sánchez, usually called _El
Brocense_ from his native place, was born at Las Brozas (Extremadura)
in 1523, became professor of Greek and Rhetoric at Salamanca, and
died in 1601. He edited Garcilaso (Salamanca, 1581), Juan de Mena
(Salamanca, 1582), Horace (Salamanca, 1591), Virgil (Salamanca, 1591),
Politian's _Silvae_ (Salamanca, 1596), Ovid (Salamanca, 1598), Persius
(Salamanca, 1599). To these should be added the _Paradoxa_ (Antwerp,
1582), and a posthumous commentary on Epictetus (Pamplona, 1612).
_A Practical Grammar of the Latin Tongue_, based on Sánchez, was
published in London as recently as 1729. _El Brocense_ was prosecuted
by the Inquisition in 1584, and again in 1588. The latter suit was
still dragging on when Sánchez died. See the _Colección de documentos
inéditos para la historia de España_ (Madrid, 1842, etc.), vol. ii.,
pp. 5-170.
[194] The lawyer Francisco de la Cueva y Silva was born at Medina
del Campo about 1550. His verses appear in Pedro Espinosa's _Flores
de poetas ilustres de España_; he wrote a prefatory poem for Escobar
Cabeza de Vaca's _Luzero de la tierra sancta_, and is said to be the
author of a play entitled _El bello Adonis_. Lope de Vega's _Mal
Casada_ is dedicated to Cueva whose high professional reputation may be
inferred from the closing lines of a well-known sonnet by Quevedo:--
Todas las leyes, con discurso fuerte
Venció; y ansí parece cosa nueva,
Que le vinciese, siendo ley, la muerte.
Cueva is mentioned, together with Berrío (see note 58), in the
_Dorotea_ (Act. iv. sc. ii.): "Don Francisco de la Cueva, y Berrío,
jurisconsultos gravísimos, de quien pudiéramos decir lo que de Dino y
Alciato, interpretes consultísimos de las leyes y poetas dulcísimos,
escribieron comedias que se representaron con general aplauso."
[195] The famous mystic writer and poet Luis Ponce de León was born
at Belmonte (Cuenca) in 1527, joined the Augustinian Order in 1544,
and was appointed professor of theology at Salamanca in 1561. He
became involved in an academic squabble and was absurdly suspected
of conspiring with the professors of Hebrew, Martín Martínez de
Cantalapiedra and Juan Grajal, to interpret the Scriptures in a
rabbinical sense. A plot seems to have been organized against him by
Bartolomé de Medina, and, perhaps, by León de Castro, the professor
of Greek at Salamanca. Luis de León was likewise accused of having
translated the _Song of Songs_ in the vernacular, and it has hitherto
been thought that this charge told most heavily against him in the
eyes of the Holy Office. It now appears that the really damaging
accusation in the indictment referred to the supposed heterodoxy of
Fray Luis's views as to the authority of the Vulgate: see a learned
series of chapters entitled _Fray Luis de León; estudio biográfico y
crítico_ published by the Rev. Father Francisco Blanco García (himself
an Augustinian monk) in _La Ciudad de Dios_ (from January 20, 1897
onwards, at somewhat irregular intervals). Luis de León was arrested in
March 1572 and imprisoned till December 1576, when he was discharged as
innocent. In 1579 he was appointed to the chair of Biblical History at
Salamanca, his chief competitor being Fray Domingo de Guzmán, son of
the great poet Garcilaso de la Vega. In 1582 Fray Luis was once more
prosecuted before the Inquisition because of his supposed heterodoxy
concerning the question _de auxiliis_: see the _Segundo proceso
instruído por la Inquisición de Valladolid contra Fray Luis de León_
(Madrid, 1896), annotated by the Rev. Father Francisco Blanco García.
In 1591 Fray Luis was elected Provincial of the Augustinian Order:
he died ten days later. While in jail he wrote what is, perhaps, the
noblest mystic work in the Spanish language, _Los Nombres de Cristo_,
the first two books of which were published in 1583--the complete work
(including a third book) being issued in 1585. In 1583 also appeared
his _Perfecta casada_. Fray Luis, in a fortunate hour for mankind,
edited the writings of Santa Teresa, rescuing from the rash tamperings
of blunderers works which he instantly recognized as masterpieces. His
verses were published by Quevedo in 1631: they at once gave Fray Luis
rank as one of the great Spanish poets, though he himself seems to have
looked upon them as mere trifles.
[196] Matías de Zúñiga, whose genius Cervantes here declares to have
been divine, does not appear to have published anything.
[197] Certain poems ascribed to Damasio de Frías are given by Juan José
López de Sedano in _El Parnaso Español_ (Madrid, 1768-1778), vols. ii.
and vii.
[198] Barrera merely states that Andrés Sanz del Portillo resided in
Castilla la Vieja: his writings have not reached us.
[199] Possibly this writer may be identical with the Pedro de Soria who
contributed a sonnet to Jerónimo de Lomas Cantoral's _Obras_: see note
83.
[200] The _Obras_ of Jerónimo de Lomas Cantoral appeared at Madrid in
1578. They include translations of three _canzoni_ by Luigi Tansillo.
[201] Jerónimo Vaca y de Quiñones contributed a sonnet to Pedro de
Escobar Cabeza de Vaca's _Luzero de la tierra sancta, y grandezas de
Egypto, y monte Sinay_ (Valladolid, 1587): see note 77.
[202] Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola was born in 1559, and died in
1613 at Naples, whither he had accompanied the Conde de Lemos three
years earlier. His admirable poems, and those of his brother, were
issued posthumously in 1634: see note 86. His _Isabela_, _Fílis_ and
_Alejandra_ are praised in _Don Quixote_ as "three tragedies acted in
Spain, written by a famous poet of these kingdoms, which were such that
they filled all who heard them with admiration, delight, and interest,
the ignorant as well as the wise, the masses as well as the higher
orders, and brought in more money to the performers, these three alone,
than thirty of the best that have since been produced": see vol. iv. of
the present edition (Glasgow, 1901), p. 214. The _Fílis_ seems to be
lost. The _Isabela_ and _Alejandra_, neither of them very interesting,
were first published in 1772 by Juan José López de Sedano in _El
Parnaso Español_ (Madrid, 1768-1778), vol. vi., pp. 312-524. There may
be a touch of friendly exaggeration in Cervantes's account of their
success on the boards. At all events, the author of these pieces soon
abandoned the stage, and, when the theatres were closed on the death
of the Queen of Piedmont, he was prominent among those who petitioned
that the closure might be made permanent. A Royal decree in that sense
was issued on May 2, 1598. In the following year Lupercio Leonardo
de Argensola was appointed chief chronicler of Aragón. The _Isabela_
and _Alejandra_ are reprinted in the first volume of the Conde de la
Viñaza's edition of the Argensolas' _Poesías sueltas_ (Madrid, 1889).
[203] Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola was born in 1562 and died in
1631. He took orders, became Rector of Villahermosa, and succeeded his
brother as official chronicler of Aragón. He published the _Conquista
de las Islas Malacas_ (Madrid, 1609), and the _Anales de Aragón_
(Zaragoza, 1631)--the latter being a continuation of Jerónimo de
Zurita's _Anales de la Corona de Aragón_ (1562-1580). The poems of both
brothers were issued by Lupercio's son, Gabriel Leonardo de Albión, in
a volume entitled _Las Rimas que se han podido recoger_ _de Lupercio,
y del Doctor Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola_ (Zaragoza, 1634). Lope
de Vega had a great esteem for the Argensolas whose polished diction,
rare in men of Aragonese birth, he regarded as an antidote to the
extravagances--the _frases horribles_, as he says--of _culteranismo_.
The very considerable merits of the Argensolas were likewise
appreciated by Cervantes who, however, seems to have cooled somewhat
towards the brothers when the Conde de Lemos, on his appointment as
Viceroy of Naples, attached them to his household. It is said that
Cervantes himself hoped to form part of Lemos's suite, and that he was
annoyed with the Argensolas for not pushing his claims as vigorously as
he expected of them. At this distance of time, it is impossible for us
to know what really happened; but a passage in the _Viaje del Parnaso_
(cap. iii.) does appear to imply that Cervantes had a grievance of some
kind against the Argensolas:--
Que no sé quien me dice, y quien me exhorta,
Que tienen para mi, á lo que imagino,
La voluntad, como la vista corta.
[204] The writings of Cosme Pariente are unknown to Barrera, and to
later bibliographers.
[205] Diego Murillo was born at Zaragoza about 1555, joined the
Franciscans, and became a popular preacher. He is the author of the
_Instruccion para enseñar la virtud á los principiantes_ (Zaragoza,
1598), the _Escala espiritual para la perfección evangélica_ (Zaragoza,
1598), the _Vida y excelencias de la Madre de Dios_ (Zaragoza, 1610),
and six volumes of _Discursos predicables_, published at Zaragoza and
Lisbon between 1602 and 1611. The most accessible of Murillo's works
are the _Fundación milagrosa de la capilla angélica y apostólica de
la Madre de Dios del Pilar_ (Barcelona, 1616), and a volume entitled
_Divina, dulce y provechosa poesía_ (Zaragoza, 1616). His verse (some
specimens of which are given in Böhl de Faber's _Floresta de rimas
antiguas castellanas_) is better than his prose, but in neither does he
fulfil the expectations raised by Cervantes's compliments.
[206] Juan Coloma, Conde de Elda, is responsible for a _Década de la
Pasión de Jesu Christo_ (Cádiz, 1575).
[207] Pedro Luis Garcerán de Borja is also introduced by Gil Polo
in the _Canto del Turia_: see note 94. He held the appointment of
Captain-General of Oran, where Cervantes may have met him: at the time
of his death in 1592 he was Captain-General of Catalonia.
[208] Alonso Girón y de Rebolledo is likewise introduced by Gil
Polo in the _Canto del Turia_: see note 94. His _Pasión de nuestro
Señor Jesu Christo según Sanct Joan_ (Valencia, 1563) met with
considerable success. It contains a complimentary sonnet by Gil Polo:
in the following year Girón y de Rebolledo repaid the attention by
contributing a sonnet to Gil Polo's _Diana enamorada_.
[209] Jaime Juan de Falcon, like Garcerán de Borja and Girón y de
Rebolledo, figures in Gil Polo's _Canto del Turia_: see note 94. He
was born in 1522 and died in 1594, having (as he believed) squared
the circle. Amongst other works he published the _Quadratura circuli_
(Valencia, 1587): his _Obras poéticas latinas_ (Madrid, 1600) appeared
posthumously.
[210] Andrés Rey de Artieda was born in 1549 and died in 1613. His
youth was one of rare promise. Though not yet fourteen years old when
Gil Polo wrote the _Diana enamorada_, he is introduced to us as a poet
in the _Canto del Turia_:--
y prometernos han sus tiernas flores
frutos entre los buenos los mejores.
This phrase may have been in Cervantes's mind when writing of his own
play, _La Confusa_: "la cual, con paz sea dicho de cuantas comedias de
capa y espada hasta hoy se han representado, bien puede tener lugar
señalado par buena entre las mejores" (see the _Adjunta al Parnaso_).
Artieda graduated in arts at the University of Valencia in 1563, and
studied later at Lérida and Tolosa, taking his degree as doctor of both
civil and canonical law at the age of twenty. This brilliant academic
success was received _con aplauso y pronósticos extraños_, and a great
future seemed to await him. However, he was something of a rolling
stone. He practised for a short while at the bar, but abandoned the
profession in disgust and entered the army. Here, again, he seemed
likely to carry all before him. In his first campaign he was promoted
at a bound to the rank of captain, but his luck was now run out. Like
Cervantes, he received three wounds at Lepanto. He was present at the
relief of Cyprus, and served under Parma in the Low Countries. His
intrepidity was proverbial, and he is said to have swum across the Ems
in midwinter, his sword gripped between his teeth, under the enemy's
fire. These heroic feats do not appear to have brought him advancement,
and, in the _Viaje del Parnaso_ (cap. iii.), Cervantes, who would seem
to have known him personally, speaks of Artieda grown old as--
Más rico de valor que de moneda.
Artieda is said to have written plays entitled _El Príncipe vicioso_,
_Amadís de Gaula_, and _Los Encantos de Merlín_: he is the author of
a mediocre tragedy, _Los Amantes_ (Valencia, 1581) which may have
been read by Tirso de Molina before he wrote _Los Amantes de Teruel_.
Artieda published an anthology of his verses under the pseudonym of
Artemidoro: _Discursos, epístolas y epigramas de Artemidoro_ (Zaragoza,
1605). Some passages in this collection express the writer's hostility
to the new drama, and betray a certain pique at the success of his
former friend, Lope de Vega. Lope, however, praises Artieda very
generously in the _Laurel de Apolo_ (silva ii.).
[211] Gaspar Gil Polo published the _Diana enamorada_ at Valencia in
1564. The Priest in _Don Quixote_ decided that it should "be preserved
as if it came from Apollo himself": see vol. iii. of the present
edition (Glasgow, 1901), p. 51. It is unquestionably a work of unusual
merit in its kind, but some deduction must be made from Cervantes's
hyperbolical praise: he evidently succumbed to the temptation of
playing on the words Polo and Apollo.
Gaspar Gil Polo is said by Ticknor to have been professor of Greek
at Valencia. There was a Gil Polo who held the Greek chair in the
University of that city between 1566 and 1574: but his name was not
Gaspar. Nicolás Antonio and others maintain that the author of the
_Diana enamorada_ was the celebrated lawyer, Gaspar Gil Polo, who
appeared to plead before the Cortes in 1626. This Gaspar Gil Polo
was a mere boy when the _Diana enamorada_ was issued sixty-two years
earlier. He was probably the son of the author: see Justo Pastor
Fuster, _Biblioteca Valenciana de las escritores que florecieron hasta
nuestros días_ (Valencia, 1827-1830), vol. i., pp. 150-155, and--more
especially--Professor Hugo Albert Rennert, _The Spanish Pastoral
Romances_ (Baltimore, 1892), p. 31.
As already stated in note 91, Gil Polo contributed a sonnet to Girón
y de Rebolledo's _Pasión_, which appeared a year before the _Diana
enamorada_. Another of his sonnets is found in Sempere's _Carolea_
(1560). In the _Serao de Amor_, Timoneda speaks of him as a celebrated
poet; but, as we see from the _Canto de Calíope_ itself, these
flourishes and compliments often mean next to nothing. It is somewhat
strange that Gil Polo, who is said to have died at Barcelona in 1591,
did not issue a sequel to his _Diana enamorada_ during the twenty-seven
years of life which remained to him after the publication of the First
Part in 1564. At the end of the _Diana enamorada_ he promised a Second
Part as clearly as Cervantes, after him, promised a Second Part of
the _Galatea_: "Las quales (fiestas) ... y otras cosas de gusto y de
provecho están tratadas en la otra parte deste libro, que antes de
muchos días, placiendo á Dios, será impresa." Gil Polo is believed
to have been absorbed by his official duties as Maestre Racional of
the Royal Court in the Kingdom of Valencia. His _Canto del Turia_,
inserted in the third book of the _Diana enamorada_, is one of the
models--perhaps the chief model--of the present _Canto de Calíope_.
Cervantes follows Gil Polo very closely.
[212] The dramatist, Cristóbal de Virués, was born in 1550 and died
in 1610. Like Cervantes and Artieda, he fought at Lepanto. His _Obras
trágicas y líricas_ (Madrid, 1609) are more interesting than his
somewhat repulsive _Historia del Monserrate_ (Madrid, 1587-1588) which
Cervantes praises beyond measure: see note 2.
[213] I have failed to find any example of Silvestre de Espinosa's work.
[214] García Romeo (the name is sometimes given as García Romero)
appears to have escaped all the bibliographers.
[215] _Romero_ in Spanish means _rosemary_. A. B. W.
[216] The Jeromite monk, Pedro de Huete, contributed a sonnet to the
_Versos espirituales_ (Cuenca, 1597) of the Dominican friar, Pedro de
Encinas.
[217] Pedro de Láinez joined with Cervantes in writing eulogistic
verses for Padilla's _Jardín espiritual_: see note 27. Examples of
his skill are given in Pedro Espinosa's _Flores de poetas ilustres de
España_ (1605). Fernández de Navarrete, in his biography of Cervantes,
states (p. 116) that Láinez died in 1605: he is warmly praised by Lope
de Vega in the _Laurel de Apolo_ (silva iv.).
His widow, Juana Gaitán, lived at Valladolid in the same house as
Cervantes and his family: she is mentioned, not greatly to her credit,
in the depositions of some of the witnesses examined with reference to
the death of Gaspar de Ezpeleta; but too much importance may easily
be given to this tittle-tattle. Luisa de Montoya, a very respectable
widow, corroborated the evidence of other witnesses who assert that the
neighbours gossiped concerning the visits paid to Láinez's widow by the
Duque de Pastrana and the Conde de Concentaina--"que venian a tratar de
un libro que había compuesto un fulano Laynez, su primer marido."
The contemptuous phrase--_un fulano Laynez_--would imply that Luisa
de Montoya was not a person of literary tastes: she was, however,
widow of the chronicler, Esteban de Garibay Zamalloa, author of the
_Ilustraciones genealogicas de los catholicos reyes de las Españas,
y de los christianissimos de Francia, y de los Emperadores de
Constantinopla, hasta el Catholico Rey nuestro Señor Don Philipe el
II y sus serenissimos hijos_ (Madrid, 1596). The words--_su primer
marido_--which are likewise used by another witness (Cervantes's niece,
Costanza de Ovando), might be taken, if construed literally, to mean
that Láinez's widow had married again shortly after her husband's
death: for the evidence was taken on June 29, 1605. But, apparently,
the inference would be wrong. When examined in jail, to which she was
committed with Cervantes and others, Juana Gaitán described herself
as over thirty-five years of age, and as the widow of the late Pedro
Láinez. She accounted for Pastrana's visits, which had given rise to
scandal, by saying that she intended to dedicate to him two books by
her late husband, and that Pastrana had merely called to thank her in
due form. A reference to Pastrana in the _Viaje del Parnaso_ (cap.
viii.) seems to suggest that Pastrana was a munificent patron:--
Desde allí, y no sé cómo, fuí traído
Adonde ví al gran Duque de Pastrana
Mil parabienes dar de bien venido;
Y que la fama en la verdad ufana
Contaba que agradó con su presencia,
Y con su cortesía sobrehumana:
Que fué nuevo Alejandro en la excelencia
Del dar, que satisfizo á todo cuanto
Puede mostrar real magnificencia.
It is a little unlucky that these works by Láinez, concerning the
publication of which the author's zealous widow consulted Pastrana,
should not after all have found their way into print. For details of
the evidence in the Ezpeleta case, see Dr. Pérez Pastor's _Documentos
Cervantinos hasta ahora inéditos_ (Madrid, 1902), vol. ii., pp. 455-527.
[218] Francisco de Figueroa, _el Divino_, was born at Alcalá de
Henares in 1536 and is conjectured to have died as late as 1620. Very
little is known of this distinguished poet. He is said to have served
as a soldier in Italy where his verses won him so high a reputation
that he was compared to Petrarch. He married Doña María de Vargas on
February 14, 1575, at Alcalá de Henares, and travelled with the Duque
de Terranova through the Low Countries in 1597. After this date he
disappears. He is stated to have died at Lisbon, and to have directed
that all his poems should be burned. Such of them as were saved were
published at Lisbon in 1626 by Luis Tribaldos de Toledo. As noted in
the _Introduction_ (p. xxxi. _n._ 2) to the present version, Figueroa
is the Tirsi of the _Galatea_. There is a strong family likeness
between the poems of Figueroa and those of the Bachiller Francisco
de la Torre, whose verses were issued by Quevedo in 1631. So marked
is this resemblance that, as M. Ernest Mérimée has written:--"Un
critique, que le paradoxe n'effraierait point, pourrait, sans trop de
peine, soutenir l'identité de Francisco de la Torre et de Francisco
de Figueroa." See his admirable _Essai sur la vie et les œuvres de
Francisco de Quevedo_ (Paris, 1886), p. 324.
[219] _Brasa_, f., means red-hot coal. The word for 'charcoal' is
_carbón_, m.
[220] The Spanish for 'letter' is _carta_, f.; for a 'pack of cards'
_pliego de cartas_, m.
[221] i.e. a riddle. The Spanish is _¿qué es cosa y cosa?_ a phrase
equivalent to our 'What may this pretty thing be?'
END OF GALATEA.
* * * * *
GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO.