There was a noble spirit of martial enthusiasm in the ancient poem of the Cid, in the old romances, and in the warlike poems of the Marquis of Santillana; in short, the same inspiration appeared wherever the national honour was concerned. The Grand Master of Calatrava, Don Manuel Ponce de Leon, who in all the Moorish festivals appeared upon the Vega, or plain of Grenada, accompanied by a hundred knights, and after a courteous salutation to the king, offered to contend in single combat with the noblest and bravest of the Saracens, that he might thus contribute by a feat of arms to the pleasures of the day, upheld in these combats the honour of the Castilians; and, indeed, his poetical bravery was a fit subject for romance. In a war which was really national, the rivalry in glory was sufficient to keep alive the ardour of the combatants, while reciprocal esteem was the consequence of the length of the contest. But Garcilaso de la Vega, Mendoza, and their compeers were perfect strangers to the French, the Italians, and the Germans, against whom they marched. The army, of which they formed a part, had already begun to delight in blood, in order that they might supply, by the excitement of ferocity, the absence of national interest. When, therefore, they left the field of battle, they attempted to forget the fierce and cruel feelings which they blushed to acknowledge, and

they cautiously abstained from introducing them into their poems.

The effeminate languor and the luxurious enjoyment of life and love, which peculiarly characterise the Spanish poetry of this age, are discoverable in an equal degree in the Latin and Greek poets who wrote after the extinction of their national liberties. Propertius and Tibullus, as well as Theocritus, sometimes indulge in a degree of languor and tenderness, which often approaches to insipidity. They appear proud of exhibiting their effeminacy, as if for the purpose of demonstrating that they have voluntarily adopted it, and that they have not yielded to it from the influence of fear. The enervated poetry of the Spanish classics was, perhaps, suggested to them by similar motives, and by their desire to preserve the dignity of their character; but for this very reason the Castilian poetry of the reign of Charles V. was of a transitory nature, and at the highest pitch of its reputation the symptoms of its approaching decay might be distinctly seen.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Spanish Literature of the Sixteenth Century continued.-Ilerrera; Ponce de Leon; Cervantes; his Don Quixote.

WHEN We consider to what extent genius and talent are individual qualities, and how such qualities are modified by difference of opinion, of character, and of circumstances, we feel surprised at the uniformity in the progress of the human mind, whether we compare with one another the distinguished individuals of the same period, and remark how they all partake of the spirit of the age; or whether we observe the progressive advance of literature and taste in different nations, and the successive epochs when epic, and lyric, and dramatic poetry have flourished. The reign of Charles V., to which we devoted the last chapter, and with which our attention will be occupied during a portion of the present, was the age of lyric poetry in Castile. That inventive

spirit, that love of the marvellous, and that active curiosity which had, in the preceding century, produced so many romances to celebrate the heroes of Spain, and so many chivalrous tales in imitation of the Amadis to astonish the imagina

tion by super-human exploits, suddenly deserted all the Spanish authors. The art of conceiving new characters, of endowing them with sentiments, of placing them immediately before our eyes, and of giving reality to imaginary incidents, was not yet discovered, for the drama had not yet been introduced. The reign of Charles V. was rich in great poets, but a sameness is observable in them all. Their object was merely to express, in harmonious numbers, the most noble and delicate feelings of the soul. The taste for pastoral poetry, which was adopted by all of them, added still more to this uniformity; for not only did it induce them to confine the action of their poems within stricter bounds, and to indulge only in sentiment, but it even made them reject all sentiment not conformable to the pastoral character. The poets of Spain, during the reign of Charles V., are therefore very indistinctly known, even to those who are best acquainted with the literature of that country. They leave an impression on the mind of an harmonious kind of musing, of an extreme delicacy of sentiment, and of a languid and intoxicating softness; but the thoughts to which they give rise speedily fade from the memory, like the strains of sweet music, which leave no traces on the ear. When once the sounds have ceased and the charm is fled, we in vain attempt to recall them. would be a difficult task to convey an idea of these

It

lyric poets in a few desultory translations; and, indeed, I am myself but imperfectly acquainted with them. I have searched for many of them in vain, in the libraries to which I have had access; and were they before me, there would still remain the impossibility of adequately translating them.

It is therefore to historical notices, to a few rapid analyses, and to criticisms, for the most part original, but occasionally borrowed, that we must confine ourselves upon the present occasion, as we have hitherto been compelled to do, until we arrive at the noblest ornaments of Spain, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Calderon, whose fame belongs to all nations, and whose genius has pierced into every language.

Amongst the lyrical poets of the age of Charles V. there still remain two to be mentioned, whom the people of Castile regard as classical, Herrera and Ponce de Leon. Upon these writers we must not consume much time. Ferdinand de Herrera, who received the surname of the Divine, and who has been placed at the head of the lyric poets of Spain more from party-spirit, than from any just appreciation of his merits, passed his life in obscurity. All that is known of him is, that he was born at Seville about the year 1500, and that after having very fully experienced the power of love, he entered into the church at an advanced age, and died about 1578. Herrera was a poet of vigorous talents, and full of ardour