MANUEL JOSÉ QUINTANA. A TyrtÆan poet whose lyrics, together with those of his friend Gallego (cf. p. 244), voice the sentiments of a party sprung up to combat the French invader. As patriots, both Quintana and Gallego were bitterly opposed to French domination; as poets they meekly submitted to the French classic rules and carried on the traditions of LuzÁn and MelÉndez ValdÉs. The heroic odes of Quintana are the best that he has given us. Plastic in form and full of patriotic ardor, they reveal him at the same time as the advocate of liberalism, and of political and social advancement. His other odes (Á la mar, Á la imprenta, Á la hermosura, etc.), are admirable, too, but somewhat artificial in tone. Quintana’s dramatic attempts were infelicitous; as an historian (Vidas de los espaÑoles cÉlebres) he attained a moderate success. Cf. his PoesÍas in vol. 19 of the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles; and see MenÉndez y Pelayo, D. Manuel JosÉ Quintana, La poesÍa lÍrica al principiar el siglo XIX, Madrid, 1887; E. PiÑeyro, M. J. Quintana, 381 Chartres, 1892; Blanco-GarcÍa, La literatura espaÑola, etc., I, 1 ff.; Ticknor, III, 332 ff.
Page 235.—l. 1. In March, 1808, a rising of the people and the guards swept away the intriguing minister Godoy, and forced the inept Carlos IV. to abdicate in favor of his son Fernando VII., then an adversary of the French.
Page 238.—l. 2. Desenterrad, etc.: the most powerful passage of the poem.—Tirteo: TyrtÆus, a Greek lyric poet of the seventh century B.C., who is said to have roused the LacedÆmonians to heroic fury in battle by his songs.
l. 5. FuenfrÍa: a pass in the Guadarrama mountains in the province of Segovia.
l. 13. Atila: the Hunnish leader († 453).
l. 15. Tercer Fernando: Ferdinand III. of Castile (St. Ferdinand) rapidly drove the Moors southward († 1252).
l. 17. Gonzalo: Gonzalo de CÓrdova (1453-1515), known as El Gran CapitÁn, played a prominent part in the Moorish war of 1481-92.
l. 18. el Cid: cf. note to p. 117, l. 22.
l. 20. hijo de Jimena: i.e., Bernardo del Carpio, according to the legend, the son of Jimena, sister of Alfonso el Casto; cf. note to p. 114, l. 10.
l. 22. torbo, i.e., torvo.
Page 239.—l. 25. An ode in praise of Alonso PÉrez de GuzmÁn (1258-1320), known as GuzmÁn el Bueno. He was in charge of the fortress of Tarifa, as lieutenant of Sancho IV. of Castile, when the place was attacked by Don Juan, the King’s rebellious brother. Unless the fortress were delivered over to him, Don Juan threatened to slay GuzmÁn’s son, then in his power, before the eyes of the father. Honor and fealty prevailed in GuzmÁn and he witnessed the murder of his son rather than surrender his trust.
Page 240.—l. 6. Mavorte, i.e., Mavors: a fuller form of Mars.
l. 15. vÍas, i.e., veÍas: a poetical form. Cf. vÍa, p. 241, l. 24.
l. 17. Alfonsos: Alfonso VI. of Castile and his successors.
l. 18. Rodrigo: i.e., Rodrigo de Bivar, the Cid.
l. 31. Agar: Hagar, regarded as ancestress of the Saracens.
Page 241.—l. 7. Tarifa: on the Strait of Gibraltar. Here the Arabs landed in 711 (cf. note to p. 100, l. 26), and, according to the legend, the place was betrayed into their hands by Count Julian.
l. 16. pueblo numantino: a reference to Numantia in Hispania Citerior, taken by Scipio Africanus, after a bloody siege, in 133 B.C.
382 JUAN NICASIO GALLEGO. A cleric who spent much time at Madrid and was a close friend of Quintana. Like the latter, he is renowned for his heroic odes. The bulk of his verse is small. It is marked throughout by excellence of style and sincerity of feeling. In particular, his elegy on The death of the Duchess of FrÍas,—an event which called forth much verse—shows how capable he was of real emotion. Cf. the ed. of his poems by the Academia de la Lengua, Madrid, 1854; and vol. III of the Poetas lÍricos del siglo XVIII in the Biblioteca; see also Blanco-GarcÍa, Historia, 2ª ed., I, 13 ff.
Page 244.—l. 1. On May 2, 1808, occurred the first rising of the Spaniards against the arms of the French invader. This date marks the beginning of the Guerra de la Independencia, known in English as the Peninsular War.
l. 29. Mantua: the Italian town of this name was taken by Napoleon in 1797, after a famous siege.
Page 246.—l. 19. Daoiz, Velarde: leaders in the rising of May 2, 1808; slain by the French.
Page 247.—l. 5. gonces, i.e., goznes.
Page 248.—l. 7. hijos de Pelayo, i.e., the Spaniards: cf. note to p. 164, l. 22.
l. 10. Moncayo: a mountain of Saragossa.
l. 12. Turia: the river Guadalaviar.
l. 15. PatrÓn: Santiago, i.e., St. James, the patron saint of Spain. In the heroic legends he often figures in the battlefields, fighting for the Spaniards.
JOSÉ MARÍA BLANCO. Blanco, known in English literature as Blanco White, was a member of the school of Seville, with Arjona and Lista. Assailed by religious doubts, he abandoned his ecclesiastical post in Seville and went to England, where he associated himself with nearly every religious communion in turn. In English literature his Mysterious light takes high rank as an exquisite sonnet. His verse in Spanish is equally beautiful. Cf. vol. III of the Poetas lÍricos del siglo XVIII; and see MenÉndez y Pelayo, Historia de los heterodoxos en EspaÑa, tom. III, lib. VII, cap. IV; W. E. Gladstone, Gleanings of past years, II, 1 ff.; Life of Rev. J. B. White written by himself, London, 1845.
Page 249.—l. 1. A mystic element in Blanco’s nature is made clear by this poem.
383 ALBERTO LISTA Y ARAGÓN. The leader of the Sevillan school. A poet of decided ability, he was still more remarkable as a teacher and critic. It is in his religious lyrics that he best shows his poetical powers. Deserving of mention is his Castilian version of Pope’s Dunciad. Cf. his PoesÍas, Paris, 1834; Wolf, Floresta de rimas, vol. II; LÍricos del siglo XVIII, vol. III; and see Blanco-GarcÍa, Historia, 2ª ed., I, 26 ff.
Page 251.—l. 3. SinÁ: cf. Exodus xix. 20 ff.
Page 252.—l. 21. On BailÉn, cf. note to p. 210, l. 18.
l. 28. Mariano monte: the range called the Cordillera Marianica, of which the Sierra Morena is part.
Page 253.—l. 6. Allusion to the campaigns of Napoleon along the Rhine and in Egypt.
l. 13. CastaÑos: the Spanish commander who won the victory over Dupont at BailÉn; later made Duque de BailÉn.
l. 21. MengÍbar: a town near BailÉn.
Page 254.—l. 14. Vandalia: a name sometimes given to Andalusia, through a supposed connection between that term and the name of the invading Vandals.
JUAN ARRIAZA Y SUPERIRELA. Most successful as a satirist, Arriaza also deserves some praise for his patriotic songs. These lack, however, the well-sustained inspiration of the odes of Quintana and Gallego. The song here published was written to revive the spirits of his countrymen after the reverses of 1809. Cf. vol. III of the Poetas lÍricos del siglo XVIII; Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 47.
Page 256.—l. 15. Fernando: Arriaza was an absolutist courtier and partisan of Ferdinand VII.
FRANCISCO MARTÍNEZ DE LA ROSA. The stateman and dramatist. As a dramatist he marks the transition from Frenchified classicism to romanticism in Spanish literature. He is of but minor rank as a lyric poet, yet the Epistle to the Duke of FrÍas on the death of his wife contains real pathos. A second edition of his PoesÍas lÍricas appeared at Paris, 1847. Cf. MenÉndez y Pelayo, Estudios de crÍtica literaria, Madrid, 1884, pp. 223 ff.; Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 120 ff.
Page 257.—l. 1. Like other liberals, MartÍnez de la Rosa was banished by the despotic Ferdinand VII. He spent much of his exile at Paris.
384 ÁNGEL DE SAAVEDRA, DUQUE DE RIVAS. Romanticism triumphed in Spain through the efforts of the Duke of Rivas, who won the day for its doctrines in the drama with his Don Álvaro, in narrative poetry with his Moro expÓsito, and in lyric poetry with his Faro de Malta. Exiled during the reign of Ferdinand, because of his liberal sentiments, he visited England, France and Italy, and came into direct contact with the Romantic movements in those countries. When allowed to return to Spain, he straightway extended the movement into that land. As an epico-lyric or narrative poet, he has revived many legends found in the romantic history of Spain. A well-known episode is related in the poem on p. 258. Cf. the Obras completas of Rivas, published by the Real Academia EspaÑola, Madrid, 1854-55; the unfinished edition in the ColecciÓn de escritores castellanos; Wolf, Floresta de rimas, vol. II; and see the essays by CaÑete and Pastor DÍaz prefixed to vol. I of the Obras completas; Blanco-GarcÍa, 2ª ed., I, 129 ff.
Page 259.—l. 10. duque de BorbÓn: Charles, duc de Bourbon and Constable of France, being ill treated by his monarch Francis I., renounced allegiance to him, and entered the Spanish service. He played a large part in the defeat of Francis by Charles V., at Pavia, in 1525.
Page 260.—ll. 17-18. Velasco, Constable of Spain, defeated Padilla at Villalar, April 23, 1521, thus ending the comunero troubles: cf. note to p. 230, l. 9.
Page 267.—l. 9. Desque, i.e., Desde que.
l. 33. Lacio, Latium, i.e., Italy. In 1825, Rivas left London for Italy, intending to settle in Rome; but the Italian government expelled him and he then sought refuge in Malta.
Page 268.—l. 18. CÓrdoba: Rivas was a native of Cordova.
JOSÉ DE ESPRONCEDA. Considered by many as the most illustrious lyric poet of Spain in the nineteenth century. In Espronceda, the author of the Estudiante de Salamanca, of the fragmentary lyrico-dramatic poem El diablo mundo, and of various short lyrics, are represented both that romantic element of revolt against social and literary conventions which in England is so strongly marked in Byron, and the element of Bohemianism which characterizes many of the French romanticists. Exiled by reason of his liberal opinions, he spent some time in England—where he became deeply imbued with Byronism—and eloped thence to Paris with Teresa, another man’s wife, and the subject of the pathetic and 385 wonderfully harmonious Canto Á Teresa. Scepticism, despair and the note of cloyed sensual satiety are everywhere present in the poetry of this ill-starred singer. Back in Spain again, he died at the early age of thirty-two years, after a short and stormy career in politics and journalism. For his poetical methods he owes much to Byron, but he is no servile imitator: his loudest note—that of revolt against the conventional—emanates from his own inner nature. Cf. his Obras poÉticas, etc., Madrid, 1884, with an essay by Escosura prefixed; and see E. RodrÍguez SolÍs, Espronceda, su tiempo, su vida y sus obras, Madrid, 1883; E. PiÑeyro, Un imitador espaÑol de Byron (in his Poetas famosos, etc., Madrid, 1883); Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 154 ff.
Page 270.—l. 27. This poem in octavas reales forms the second canto of the Diablo mundo.
Page 272.—l. 16. orador de Atenas: i.e., Demosthenes.
Page 273.—l. 29. florece: seems to be used here as an active verb, covers with flowers.
Page 275.—l. 13. por banda, on each side.
l. 28. Stambul: the Turkish name of Constantinople.
MANUEL DE CABANYES. A Catalonian who wrote in Spanish. A pupil of Horace, he disdained the modern verse forms (cf. p. 279, ll. 22-23) and sought to domesticate the classic metres in Spanish prosody. He was unaffected by the literary movement of his time, probably because he died young. Cf. the collection of his lyrics entitled Preludios de mi lira (1833); MenÉndez y Pelayo, Odas de Q. Horacio Flaco, traducidas É imitadas, etc., Barcelona, 1882, pp. 372 ff.; and see Torres Amat, Diccionario de escritores catalanes; Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 103 ff.
Page 280.—l. 1. cisne de Ofanto: Horace. Cisne is a term regularly applied to poets in Spanish.
l. 3. opresor: Augustus.
JOSÉ ZORRILLA. A dramatist and poet who takes rank with the most eminent literary figures of the Spanish nineteenth century. He is less remarkable for pure lyrism than for his epico-lyric or narrative strains. Like Rivas, he has done much to revive the ancient legends of Spain, giving them a modern poetical garb. His romantic dramas, and especially the Don Juan Tenorio, are among the most successful of the period. Cf. his Obras dramÁticas y lÍricas, Madrid, 1895; the edition of his PoesÍas escogidas, published by the 386 Academia de la lengua, Madrid, 1894; and see the essay on him by FlÓrez in Novo y ColsÓn’s Autores dramÁticos contemporÁneos, Madrid, 1881, I, 169 ff.; Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 197 ff.
Page 284.—l. 9. Lines recited by the poet over the grave of Larra (FÍgaro), the essayist, at the burial of that unfortunate genius (1837).
JUAN EUGENIO HARTZENBUSCH. A romantic dramatist—author of the sentimental Amantes de Teruel—-and a lyric poet of modest pretensions. His PoesÍas form vol. I of his Obras in the ColecciÓn de escritores castellanos (Madrid, 1887): cf. Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 233 ff.
Page 287.—l. 21. Sombra, etc.: an allusion to CalderÓn’s drama, La vida es sueÑo.
Page 288.—l. 1. patrio Manzanares: CalderÓn was born in Madrid, through which flows the river Manzanares.
MANUEL BRETÓN DE LOS HERREROS. The most eminent dramatist of the period following that of Romanticism. He was very prolific, producing over one hundred and seventy-five plays. The satiric element is the prevailing one in his lyrics, the earlier of which imitate the manner of Iglesias and MelÉndez ValdÉs. Cf. his PoesÍas, etc., in vol. V of the edition of his works, Madrid, 1883-84; and see the MarquÉs de Molins’ BretÓn de los Herreros, recuerdos de su vida y de sus obras, Madrid, 1883; Blanco-GarcÍa I, 272 ff.
Page 288.—l. 9. FÁbula al canto, i.e., Here’s a fable at hand (to prove the point).
Page 289.—l. 21. Fraile mostense: or fraile premonstratense, i.e., a member of an order of canons founded by St. Norbert in France in 1120.
JOSÉ MARÍA HEREDIA. The Cuban patriot and poet. Exiled from his beloved island, he spent several years in the United States and then went to Mexico, where he occupied several important judicial offices. His masterpiece is the beautiful ode on Niagara, visited by the poet during his residence in the United States. Cf. the edition of his Obras, New York, 1875: and see MenÉndez y Pelayo, AntologÍa de poetas hispano-americanos, vol. II, pp. 15 ff. (poems), pp. xiv ff. (an excellent essay on Heredia), and a biography by A. Bello, London, 1857.
387 PLÁCIDO (GABRIEL DE LA CONCEPCIÓN VALDÉS). ValdÉs, best known by his pseudonym of PlÁcido, was a Cuban mulatto of little training, but of true poetic instinct. He was tried and executed on a charge of conspiracy against the Spanish government of which he was entirely innocent. He is said to have composed in prison and recited on the way to his execution the mournful, resigned Prayer here published. Cf. the edition of his PoesÍas, Palma de Mallorca, 1847: and see MenÉndez y Pelayo, Poetas hispano-americanos, II, xxxiii ff. and 69 ff.
Page 294.—l. 15. tu: note the combination of the possessive pronoun, second person singular, with verbs of the second person plural, a not infrequent combination in the spoken Spanish of America.—Heliaca estrella, the heliacal star, which rises and sets with the sun.
CAROLINA CORONADO. A poetess, recently residing in Portugal, whose verse revives the mystic strains of Luis de LeÓn and St. Theresa. Cf. her PoesÍas, Madrid, 1843 and 1852; and see Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 193 ff.; E. Castelar, Étude biographique (French translation), Lisbon, 1887.
Page 295.—l. 5. GÉvora: a river flowing through Portugal and through the province of Badajoz in Spain.
GERTRUDIS GÓMEZ DE AVELLANEDA. A Cuban who spent the greater part of her life in Spain in the society of the most eminent writers of the time, Avellaneda was the most distinguished Spanish poetess of the nineteenth century. In her earlier poems she is manifestly under the influence of the French romanticists (Hugo, Lamartine, Chateaubriand); in her later verse she is dominated rather by Quintana. Some of the mystic elevation of the poets of the sixteenth century is seen in her religious lyrics (Á la Cruz, Á la AscensiÓn, etc.). As a novelist and dramatist, Avellaneda likewise holds a high place in Spanish literature. Cf. her Obras literarias, Madrid, 1869; MenÉndez y Pelayo, Poetas hispano-americanos, II, 87 ff., xxxix ff.; Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 190 ff.
ADELARDO LÓPEZ DE AYALA. A writer of the post-Romantic period, most noted for his psychological dramas. Though few in number, his lyrics, particularly his sonnets, are of high poetic worth. The sonnet here printed has been set to music and is sung every year at Madrid during the services in commemoration of the 388 poet’s death. Cf. his Obras completas, Madrid, 1885 (poems in vol. VII); Blanco-GarcÍa, Historia, II, 175 ff.
JOSÉ SELGAS Y CARRASCO. Poet, novelist and journalist, the author of La primavera and El estÍo, two collections of verse pervaded by a gentle melancholy and innocuous pessimism. Cf. his PoesÍas, Madrid, 1882-83; Blanco-GarcÍa, II, cap. II.
GUSTAVO ADOLFO BÉCQUER. Imbued with the spirit of Hoffmann in his prose legends and with that of Heine in his Rimas, but withal highly original, BÉcquer is one of the most attractive figures in modern Spanish literature. To avoid bombast and verbosity, he discarded consonantal rhyme entirely, and made use of the simplest imagery possible. His strains have the mournful sentiment of the North and are more concerned with the inner workings of the poet’s own spirit than with concrete objects of the outer world. His tone is seldom gay or lively and never naturally so; in general the note of sadness sounds through the Rimas. Cf. his Obras, 5ª ed., Madrid, 1898 (with PrÓlogo by Correa; Rimas in vol. II); Blanco-GarcÍa, II, 79 ff., 275 ff.
ANTONIO DE TRUEBA. A writer of charming novelettes of manners and a poet of the people, particularly of the people of his own Basque region. Unduly lauded and depreciated, he remains a pleasing poet of minor rank. Cf. his verse in the collections which he entitled Libro de los cantares (Madrid, 1852) and Libro de las montaÑas; Blanco-GarcÍa, II, 26 ff.
Page 309.—l. 16. Higuer: a cape of the province of GuipÚzcoa, running into the Cantabrian sea.
VENTURA DE LA VEGA. Dramatist and poet; born in the Argentine Republic, he was trained in Spain, where he passed the greater part of his life, becoming private secretary to Isabel II. His imitations of the Hebrew poetry of the Bible are praiseworthy. In most of his verse he displays an eclectic tendency, a desire to combine the best in romanticism with the best in classicism. Cf. his Obras poÉticas, Paris, 1866; MenÉndez y Pelayo, Poetas hispano-americanos, IV, 105 ff. (poems), cxlv. ff. (essay on Vega): J. Valera, Personajes ilustres:—Ventura de la Vega, etc., Madrid, 1891; Blanco-GarcÍa, I, 315 ff.
389 ANDRÉS BELLO. A Venezuelan by birth, the most important author that South America has yet produced, being remarkable as a poet, grammarian, jurist and patriot. Cf. his Obras completas, Santiago de Chile, 1881-85; his poems in the ColecciÓn de escritores castellanos (1881), and in MenÉndez y Pelayo, Poetas hispano-americanos, II, 285 ff.: and see ibid., p. cxvii ff.; M. L. AmunÁtegui, Santiago de Chile, 1882.
RAMÓN DE CAMPOAMOR. The humoristic poet par excellence of the Spanish nineteenth century, with a pseudo-philosophical tendency which is not to be taken too seriously. Under the name of doloras he published a number of short poems humorous in tone, full of feeling and ever pointing some moral. Although he is said to have invented the genre, he has really but given a new name to an old genre and developed it more than any one else had done. Cf. his Obras escogidas, Leipzig, 1885-86. There are many editions of his separate works. See also J. Valora: Obras poÉticas de Campoamor (in his Estudios crÍticos sobre literatura, etc., Seville, 1884, pp. 239 ff.); Peseux-Richard in the Revue hispanique, I, 236 ff.; Blanco-GarcÍa, II, cap. V.
Page 313.—l. 13. This delightful poetical dialogue is a favorite piece for recitation purposes in Spain.
Page 314.—l. 20. QuiÉn supiera escribir! If I only knew how to write!
Page 316.—l. 11. A sonnet on the Italian pessimistic poet, Leopardi, of the early nineteenth century.
JUAN VALERA Y ALCALÁ GALIANO. The most eminent Spanish man of letters now alive, justly famed as a novelist, poet and student of general culture. An extended diplomatic career has made him a most cosmopolitan spirit. Everywhere studying men and things, he has acquired an extreme catholicity of taste and has highly developed his powers of critical apperception. MenÉndez y Pelayo deems El fuego divino, selections from which are given here, to be Valera’s best poem. Cf. his Canciones, romances y poemas, with notes by MenÉndez y Pelayo, in the ColecciÓn de escritores castellanos, Madrid, 1885 (containing translations, also, of poems of Lowell, Whittier and other American and English writers); Blanco-GarcÍa, II, cap. XXVI.
Page 320.—l. 17. inclinada fuente: so says the edition of 1885. But SeÑor Valera states that inclinada is an error; he writes: “El 390 primer verso dice de la inclinada fuente, y debe decir de la increada fuente.”
GASPAR NÚÑEZ DE ARCE. A popular Spanish poet of our times, widely read in both Spain and America. His most important volume of poems is the Gritos del combate (8th ed. 1891), in which, with patriotic fervor, he cries out against the political evils rampant in Spain and inveighs against the agitators responsible for them. Longer poems than those contained in the Gritos del combate are the VÉrtigo (a great favorite for declamation purposes), the Última lamentaciÓn de Lord Byron, La selva oscura, etc. All have been reprinted in many editions. NÚÑez de Arce is also a dramatist of considerable power. Cf. MenÉndez y Pelayo’s essay on him, published in vol. II of Novo y ColsÓn’s Autores dramÁticos contemporÁneos (and in MenÉndez y Pelayo’s Estudios de critica literaria, 1884); Blanco-GarcÍa, II, 328 ff.
Page 324.—l. 1. This sonnet bears the date 6 de Enero de 1866. In his notes (8th ed. p. 328) the author says: “Escrita y publicada en circunstancias azarosas y difÍciles, cuando el sentimiento revolucionario estaba mÁs vivo en la opiniÓn.” All the poems here printed are from the Gritos del combate.
l. 15. el monasterio: i.e., the Escurial.
l. 25. viento del Guadarrama: a chill wind which sweeps over Madrid.
Page 326.—ll. 25-26. hijo ... rey devoto: Philip III. († 1621).
l. 29. Aquel, etc.: Philip IV. († 1665).
l. 33. el monarca enfermizo: Charles III. († 1700).
MARCELINO MENÉNDEZ Y PELAYO. One of the most illustrious literary critics of our age, a scholar of rare erudition, a poet whose verse is ever harmonious and graceful. Several of his critical works have been mentioned in these notes. His best poems may be found in the volume Odas, epÍstolas y tragedias, Madrid, 1883. The humanistic bent of the man prevails even in his lyrics. Cf. Blanco-GarcÍa, II, 601 ff.
Page 331.—l. 3. Clitumno: the Clitunno, an Umbrian river.
l. 22. Menandro: Menander, a Greek comic poet of the fourth century B.C.
Page 332.—l. 4. Amador ... nada: Leopardi, cf. note to p. 316, l. 11.
