IGNACIO DE LUZÁN. The founder of the so-called French school of writers of the eighteenth century, who by subordinating literary production in Spain to the rigid rules that obtained in French literature sought to correct the license that prevailed in Spanish letters of the time. LuzÁn declared the aims and tenets of the new school in his PoÉtica (1737). He was stronger as a critic than as a creative spirit. Cf. vol. I of the Poetas lÍricos del siglo XVIII in the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles; Ticknor III, 263 ff. 375 See, in general, on the eighteenth century, Cueto’s Bosquejo histÓrico-crÍtico de la poesÍa castellana en el siglo XVIII, prefixed to vol. 61 (tome I) of the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles.
Page 191.—l. 2. SÁrmata: the Sarmatian, regarded as the ancestor of the Russian and Pole.
l. 6. rifeos montes: the Rhyphean mountains, said to be to the north of Scythia and sometimes identified with the Carpathians.
l. 12. Ceto, i.e., the whale.
GARCÍA DE LA HUERTA. A fierce opponent of the French school inaugurated by LuzÁn. He published at Madrid in 1778, a volume of poems in the old Spanish manner, without obtaining any degree of success. Cf. vol. I of the Poetas lÍricos del siglo XVIII in the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles.
JORGE PITILLAS. A pseudonym for JosÉ Gerardo de HervÁs. The famous satire in which he attacked the bad writers of his time argues for the doctrines of the French law-giver Boileau, and in form strongly suggests Quevedo’s Epistle to Olivares (cf. p. 163). Attributed to Isla, it was published in the Rebusco de las obras literarias de J. F. de Isla, Madrid, 1790. Cf. E. Brinckmeier, Floresta de sÁtiras, etc., Leipzig, 1882; Fitzmaurice-Kelly, p. 348.
Page 193.—l. 13. Las piedras, etc.: cf. the idiom, Quien calla, piedras apaÑa, said of one who picks up remarks, intending to use them later.
Page 194.—l. 18. Marin, etc.: publishers.
l. 25. voces de pie y medio: cf. Horace’s sesquipedalia verba.
Page 195.—l. 11. Derelinques: cf. the Latin derelinquere, to abandon.
l. 16. boquilobo: cf. boca de lobo, dense darkness.
l. 17. Cienpozuelos: i.e., any plain individual.
l. 26. la irascible: supply lengua.
Page 196.—l. 1. Pero, etc.: i.e., the die is cast.
l. 8. cata y cala: cf. hacer cala y cata, to examine a thing to ascertain its quantity and quality.
NICOLÁS FERNÁNDEZ DE MORATÍN. A prominent member of the French school, MoratÍn the elder wrote a drama, Hormesinda, according to the French classic rules, and an epic poem, Las naves de CortÉs, celebrating the burning of his ships by the Conquistador. He is best remembered for his popular quintillas 376 on The Bullfight, conceived entirely according to the old Spanish manner. Cf. his poems published with the works of his son Leandro in vol. II of the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles.
Page 197.—l. 17. moraicel: a Moorish officer.
l. 27. alcadÍ: i.e., cadÍ with the Arabic article prefixed.
Page 198.—l. 9. Jarama: a river flowing into the Tagus near Aranjuez.
l. 34. zambrero: cf. zambra, a rout, a revel.
Page 199.—l. 17. entablerado, close to the tableros or barrier.
l. 23. emplazÁndose: cf. v. 31.
Page 200.—l. 1. alazano: the more usual form is alazÁn.
Page 202.—l. 17. Rodrigo de Bivar: cf. note p. 117, l. 22.
l. 25. Fernando: Ferdinand I. (1037-1067) king of Castile. In the stories about the Cid he is sometimes confounded with his son Alfonso.
Page 204.—l. 4. Se engalla, stands rigid and haughty.
JOSÉ DE CADALSO. An army officer and a man of catholic tastes, having lived and travelled much abroad. He was killed at the siege of Gibraltar. As a writer, he belonged to the French school, for his tragedy Don Sancho GarcÍa was composed according to the French rules. He made verse translations of portions of the Paradise Lost, and imitated Young’s Night Thoughts in his Noches lÚgubres. Cf. his Obras, Madrid, 1818; Ticknor, III, 302; vol. I of the Poetas lÍricos del siglo XVIII in the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles.
GASPAR MELCHOR DE JOVELLANOS (or JOVE LLANOS). A statesman and littÉrateur. For a while he was Minister of Justice at the court of Carlos IV. He was a bitter opponent of the French invader, yet in his drama El delincuente honrado he conformed to the French literary canons. The present song shows clearly his patriotic feelings. See his works in the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles, vols. 46 and 50; CeÁn BermÚdez, Memorias de Jovellanos, Madrid, 1814; Ticknor, III, 322 ff.; E. MÉrimÉe in the Revue hispanique I, 34 ff.
Page 208.—l. 21. el tirano: i.e., Napoleon.
l. 22. Pelayo: cf. note to p. 164, l. 22.
l. 24. Sella: this name and the others mentioned in this stanza are those of places and rivers in Asturias.
Page 209.—l. 5. Reference to the Roman campaigns in Spain 377 from the beginning of the Second Punic War down to the time of Octavian.
ll. 12-13. The barbarian invasion of 409 A.D.
l. 16. Leovigildo: king of the Visigoths († 589).
l. 18. Arvas (or Arbas): a village of Oviedo.
l. 21. Lete, i.e., Guadalete, a river flowing into the Bay of Cadiz, near which the Arabs defeated Roderick.—Piles: a river of Oviedo in Asturias.—Tarique: Tarik, commander of the invading Arabs.
l. 28. Auseva, Auseba, the mountain of Asturias containing the cave of Covadonga in which Pelayo and his followers took refuge from the Arabs.
l. 31. Ildefonso: San Ildefonso, bishop of Toledo († 667).
Page 210.—l. 18. BailÉn: a city of the province of JaÉn. Here, on July 19, 1808, the Spaniards defeated the French under General Dupont. Cf. GaldÓs’s story of BailÉn.
l. 20. Valencia: the French evacuated this city July 5, 1813.
l. 21. Zaragoza: allusion to the heroic defense of Saragossa against the French. It was taken by them, on February 26, 1809, only when most of the defenders had perished. Cf. GaldÓs’s Zaragoza.
l. 23. AlcaÑiz: a city of Teruel. The French General Suchet was defeated here, May 23, 1809.
l. 24. Alberche: river of Toledo, flowing into the Tagus.
l. 25. Tormes: a tributary of the Duero.
l. 26. Aranjuez: town of province of Madrid. The French were defeated there, August 5, 1809.
l. 27. Gerona: capital of province of Gerona. The town was captured by the French after a desperate siege of seven months.
l. 28. Llobregat: a river of the province of Barcelona.
l. 29. Gades: i.e., Cadiz. In 1812, the year after the death of Jovellanos, the Cortes met there and proclaimed the Constitution.
ll. 32-34. Lena, etc.: places in Oviedo.
JUAN MELÉNDEZ VALDÉS. Appointed a Professor at the University of Salamanca by Jovellanos, MelÉndez ValdÉs there became head of a school of writers—called the Salamancan school—who adopted French methods in the composition of Spanish lyric poetry. In politics, MelÉndez was also a French sympathizer, and as such he was made a counsellor and Minister of Public Education under Joseph Bonaparte. With the fall of the Napoleonic power he had to leave Spain in 1813, and in 1817 he died in France. 378 Melody, lucidity and plasticity are the chief characteristics of his verse, which is somewhat marred, however, by an excess of Gallicisms. Cf. his PoesÍas, Madrid, 1785 (and 1820); vol. II of Poetas lÍricos del siglo XVIII in the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles, vol. 63; the Life by Quintana in the edition of the PoesÍas, Madrid, 1820, and in vol. 19 of the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles; E. MÉrimÉe in the Revue hispanique, I, 217 ff.; Ticknor, III, 311 ff.
Page 211.—l. 20. Cf. this ode in arte menor with Lamartine’s poem, Au rossignol; Lamartine’s lyric strongly resembles this.
Page 214.—l. 19. Not infrequently, as here, MelÉndez adhered to the native Spanish measures.
FRAY DIEGO GONZÁLEZ. An Augustinian monk, and a member of the Salamancan school headed by MelÉndez. But his sympathies were divided between a respect for French methods and a fondness for the older Spanish manner, and to some degree he was a disciple of Luis de LeÓn, as may be seen by his translations of the Psalms. He was very successful in lighter verse, producing a genuine classic in his MurciÉlago alevoso. Cf. his PoesÍas, Madrid, 1812; Ticknor, III, 318 ff.
Page 218.—l. 7. Note that suave is generally trisyllabic.
JOSÉ IGLESIAS DE LA CASA. A cleric and a member of the Salamancan school. His verse is now in the lighter vein, and again satirical after the manner of Quevedo. Cf. his PoesÍas, Paris, 1821; vol. I of the LÍricos del siglo XVIII in the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles; Ticknor, III, 320.
Page 222.—l. 28. Londra, i.e., alondra.
NICASIO ÁLVAREZ DE CIENFUEGOS. Among the members of the Salamancan coterie, the most important disciple of MelÉndez. His poems show much real sentiment, but are not entirely free from affectation. He was a stout patriot and quite free from the French political sympathies of his master. Cf. his Obras poÉticas, Madrid, 1816; vol. III of the LÍricos del siglo XVIII; Ticknor, III, 320 f.
Page 223.—l. 18. el favonio coro, the Zephyr chorus.
l. 25. la piramidal: a kind of campanula or bell-flower.
Page 224.—l. 15. EvohÉ! the cry of the Bacchantes when acclaiming Bacchus.
l. 17. vacante, empty, hollow.
379 FÉLIX MARÍA DE SAMANIEGO. One of the two great fabulists of modern Spanish literature. Mainly French in his tendencies, he imitated La Fontaine with much success, deriving inspiration also from Gay, the Æsopic fables, PhÆdrus and the Eastern apologues. Cf. his FÁbulas, Madrid, 1832; vol. 61 of the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles; F. Wolf, Floresta de rimas, I; Ticknor, III, 307 ff.
TOMÁS DE IRIARTE. The peer, and perhaps even the superior, of Samaniego as a fabulist. He won commendation for his didactic poem La mÚsica, but secured no lasting renown by his dramatic attempts. His fame is based upon his FÁbulas literarias, remarkable for their artistic finish and ingenuity of thought. Cf. his Obras, Madrid, 1805; the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles, vol. 63; E. Cotarelo y Mori, Iriarte y su Época (1897); Ticknor, III, 304 ff.
Page 227.—l. 13. EchÓ ... Sus cuentas, etc.: Communed with himself.
l. 25. Cf. the whimsical sonnet of Lope de Vega on p. 153.
l. 29. Hay tal porfÍa! Did you ever see such obstinacy!
LEANDRO FERNÁNDEZ DE MORATÍN. Son of NicolÁs FernÁndez de MoratÍn (cf. p. 196). With his dramas, the most important since the days of the great masters of the siglo de oro, he won complete success for the French school started by LuzÁn. His lyrics, of far less merit than his plays, are nevertheless pleasing in form and upon occasion sprightly in tone. Cf. his Obras, Madrid, 1830-31; the edition of his own and his father’s works in vol. II of the Biblioteca de autores espaÑoles; Ticknor, III, 330 ff.
MANUEL MARÍA DE ARJONA. A figure partly of the eighteenth and partly of the nineteenth century, Arjona was a member of the so-called School of Seville (Academia de letras humanas, founded at Seville in 1793), a body of writers who still advocated the application of French classic rules, while they also harked back to the lyric traditions of Seville in the sixteenth century. In this latter respect Herrera was their model, but Luis de LeÓn also commanded their respect. Both tendencies of the school are illustrated in Arjona. In his religious and pastoral verse, he is a conventional writer of the time, adhering chiefly to the doctrines of LuzÁn and the Salamancan school. As a poet of patriotic and republican sentiments he is much more virile and successful, 380 displaying these sentiments in his two best productions, the ode EspaÑa restaurada en CÁdiz (celebrating the proclamation of the Constitution of 1812, cf. note to p. 210, l. 29), and the longer poem Las ruinas de Roma. From now on, the struggle with the French brought forth much patriotic verse. Cf. vol. II of the LÍricos del siglo XVIII; F. Wolf, Floresta de rimas, etc. (Paris, 1837), vol. II; Blanco-GarcÍa, La literatura espaÑola en el siglo XIX, 2ª ediciÓn, Madrid, 1899, I, 20 ff.
Page 230.—l. 9. Padilla: Juan de Padilla, leader of a party of Comuneros, who, rising against the exactions of Charles V., were successful for a while. Their fortunes declined, however, and Padilla was finally captured and executed (1522).
Page 231.—l. 9. Columnas de HÉrcules: i.e., the promontories of Calpe and Ábila at the Strait of Gibraltar.
l. 15. Mucio: Mucius ScÆvola; captured after his attempt to kill Lars Porsena, the enemy of Rome, he plunged his hand into the fire to show his contempt for pain: cf. p. 232, l. 4.
Page 232.—l. 5. Allusion to the invasion of Rome by the Gallic chief Brennus in 390 B.C. The Romans bought peace with 1,000 pounds of gold.
l. 7. Camilo: after the capture of Rome by Brennus, Camillus was appointed dictator, and is said to have defeated the Gauls.
