LEON DE ARROYAL.
To give an account of all the other poets, who at the latter end of the eighteenth century contributed to restore the credit of Spanish poetry, is a task which must be consigned to other historians of literature, who may possess favourable opportunities for rendering themselves intimately acquainted with the more recent productions of Spanish genius. A considerable number of bibliographic notices which would contribute to the accomplishment of this object are extant.619
In taking a survey, however, of the latest period of the history of Spanish poetry, the odes of Leon de Arroyal must not be overlooked.620 Though these odes are inferior to the older Spanish productions of the same sort, yet some of them are distinguished, not indeed for bold, but for airy flights of fancy;621 and for harmonious versification.622 At the time of their appearance there were likewise published anonymously some anacreontic songs by a lady, who imitated Villegas with grace as well as with decorum.623
JUAN MELENDEZ VALDES.
But a poet of the graces, who has had but few equals even in the golden ages of Spanish poetry, and who excels in his particular sphere, remains to be noticed. This ornament of modern Spanish literature, is Juan Melendez Valdes, a doctor of law, and, perhaps, still professor of polite literature in Salamanca. A delicate fancy, ever lively, yet ever true to nature; an uncommon intensity of feeling; graceful turns of thought; a classic precision and elegance of language, and the most pleasing flow of versification, exist in so eminent a degree, and are so happily combined in this author’s works, that the critic is compelled to become a panegyrist, if he be not totally insensible to the charm which such a phenomenon presents in modern poetry.624 At an early period of life, Melendez began to retrace the footsteps of Horace, Tibullus, Anacreon, and Villegas; but, as he must have felt that the luxuriant graces of his Spanish model were not to be excelled, his imagination appears to have spontaneously applied itself to a more exquisite painting of amatory ideas and images, and to the dignifying of that kind of poetry by a certain moral delicacy to the observance of which Villegas attached too little importance. The joys, sorrows, and sports of rustic love, rural festivals and amusements, are the materials which confer a peculiar character on the anacreontic effusions of Melendez. Were it not that the picturesque descriptions sufficiently indicate the Spaniard,625 his verses might sometimes be mistaken for translations from an English or German poet. Nothing can surpass some of his descriptions in the graceful colouring of tender sentiment.626 It is only necessary to bestow a slight glance on the compositions of Melendez to feel the injustice of the reproach cast on Spanish poetry, by a French traveller, who observes “that the Spaniard is so completely a citizen, that not even in his poetry does he manifest a taste for rural life.” This reproach, which is probably only directed against the poetic writers of the present day, would be unworthy of notice were it intended to apply to the Spanish poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, whose numerous pastoral compositions abound in descriptions of rural scenery, which evince an intuitive perception of the poetic beauties of unsophisticated nature. Be this as it may, the Spanish academy thought proper, in the year 1780, to award a prize for the best poem in praise of rural life; and on this occasion Melendez gloriously competed with Yriarte.
Besides the anacreontic poems of Melendez, his lyric romances, his popular songs, in which the old national style is combined with modern elegance, his romantic odes, his elegies and his sonnets, must be numbered among the best productions in Spanish literature.627 How admirably he succeeded in the composition of poetic epistles is proved by the classical dedication of his poems to his friend Jovellanos.628 He has rendered service to the Spanish theatre by dramatizing the novel of the rich Camacho from Don Quixote. He is also the author of several treatises on moral and philosophical subjects.
BRIEF NOTICE OF SOME OF THE MORE RECENT LITERARY PRODUCTIONS OF SPAIN.
If the above information respecting some of the latest Spanish poets be connected with the general observations and bibliographic notices in the preceding part of this history, it will plainly appear that the revival of polite literature in Spain must have been on the one hand accelerated, and on the other retarded, by the progress which was made in the cultivation of modern science and philosophy, during the latter years of the eighteenth century. The period of the triumph of the Gallicists is doubtless past, however numerous the adherents of that party still may be. But in general the Spaniards of the educated and refined classes still blush for their ancient prejudices, and observe, with regret, that the Spanish literature is now only labouring to acquire what it long ago neglected. In order to raise the elegant literature of Spain to a level with that of other cultivated nations of modern Europe, it is deemed necessary to continue with persevering spirit to translate, adapt and imitate every foreign work which attains any degree of celebrity. In this concurrence of the spirit of foreign literature with the ancient national spirit, which is by no means suffered to perish, more than one decennial period of the present century will probably elapse ere Spanish poetry resume its original independence.
Among their modern dramas, the Spaniards particularly esteem the regular tragedies of Nicolas Fernandez de Moratin, and the comedies of Ramon de la Cruz, who, previous to the year 1784, was computed to have written upwards of two hundred interludes in the old style. Spanish translations of the tragedies of Corneille and Voltaire, of the plays of Moliere, and other French comic writers, and of the sentimental dramas of Mercier, have also been received with approbation. Don Leandro Fernandez de Moratin, who must not be confounded with his namesake, travelled at the expense of the Spanish government to study the dramatic literature of the different nations of Europe; and since his return to Spain, a considerable pension has been granted to him as a reward for one of his dramatic productions. He has rendered the tragedy of Hamlet into Spanish, and is expected to give to his countrymen a complete translation of Shakespeare. Don Luciano Francisco Comella, who is mentioned in literary journals as one of the rivals of Leandro de Moratin in comic poetry, appears to be a very prolific writer, and inclined to the old national style. Don Theodoro de la Calla has attempted to give Shakespeare’s Othello in Spanish, from a French translation. Comella has also dramatized several recent historical events, among which are some points in the history of Peter the Great, and Catharine II. of Russia.
The Count de Noroña has particularly distinguished himself as a writer of lyric poetry, and he has also translated Dryden’s Alexander’s Feast into Spanish verse.
Joseph Vasquez Cadalso, and the younger Moratin, may be ranked among the most successful writers of satirical poetry which Spain has recently produced.
Diana, or the Hunt, by the elder Moratin; the Happy Man, by Almeida; and the Happy Woman, by Morino, are the latest productions in didactic poetry. A Spanish translation of How to be always Merry, from the German of Uz, also occurs in the notices of new Spanish poems.
The old ambition of the Spaniards to distinguish themselves by some production in epic art has again revived. A work of this class, entitled, Mexico Conquistada, by Don Juan de Escoiquiz, has excited some attention.
Spanish pastorals in the old national style are associated with translations from the German of Gessner.
The collision of the natural and foreign styles is strikingly exemplified in the Spanish romance literature of the present period. The old romance of Cassandra has lately been re-printed; and a new one in the old style, entitled, Leandra, has also made its appearance. All the English and French novels which obtain any celebrity, are now translated into Spanish.
Elegant prose, which was earlier cultivated in Spain than in any other country in Europe, seems at length to have emancipated itself from the Gongorism which threatened its destruction. The prevailing study of French prose in Spain, has no doubt proved favourable to the revival of the pure eloquence of the writers of the sixteenth century. None, indeed, of the more recent works in Spanish prose is eminently distinguished for rhetorical composition. But on the other hand, among these publications it would be difficult to mention a single book of science, whether original or translated, which is not written with a certain degree of purity and elegance. An historical work in the Spanish language has been for some time announced, and is probably now before the public. It is a History of America, by D. Juan Bautista Muñoz, professor of philosophy at Valencia. The intention of the author is to exhibit the conduct of the Spaniards in America in a point of view different from that taken by Robertson; and the work is said to be remarkable for beauty of style.
The Art of Rhetoric,629 by Don Antonio de Capmany, a member of the Spanish Academy of History, affords a new proof of the importance which the Spaniards attach to the cultivation of elegant prose. The preface to this work is particularly instructive. The book itself contains no new truths, but it presents the old ones well arranged and judiciously selected. Capmany’s work, and particularly the preface, clearly shews that Spanish eloquence is still, in some measure, in a divided state. The classic prose of the sixteenth century is again esteemed. But in any endeavour to restore this prose unchanged, it must be difficult to avoid the appearance of affectation; for since the prevalence of the French taste, many Spanish words and phrases, which were formerly classical, have now become antiquated, while on the other hand, old words and phrases have been introduced from the French. The party of the purists, as the adherents of the old style are denominated, have the prevailing language of the polite world against them; while the polite world and the partizans of the French style, can adduce no good reasons for rejecting the old style, which is acknowledged to be pure Castilian. Capmany is decidedly favourable to the new style.630 However, this conflict will not prove injurious to Spanish eloquence, if each party be willing to make concessions, in order that the old style may be fundamentally preserved, and yet be so modified as to conform, without affectation, to the new ideas and forms of language which modern science has introduced.
All these facts considered in their connexion as a whole, leave no room to doubt that the polite literature of the Spaniards may again rise to its former glory, if favoured by the ancient national spirit, to the genial influence of which it owes its existence. The two academies of polite literature, (de buenas letras), at Barcelona and Seville, may likewise contribute to the fulfilment of this object, if they seriously devote their attention to it. The talent of the Spanish improvisatori, who are said to be in no way inferior to those of Italy, may also be directed to the revival of the ancient popular poetry. Since the works of the poets and elegant prose writers of the golden age of Spanish literature have lately been republished in elegant editions, and universally circulated, and since the new demands of reason and science have promoted the developement of the mental faculty in Spain, the best results may be expected from the union of elegant and scientific learning.
CONCLUSION.
It is only after having duly studied the polite literature of Spain in all its parts, with the interest attached to literary investigation, that it is possible to characterize it as a whole, and to obtain possession of the results which such a characteristic judgment ought to present.
I. Spanish poetry is more decidedly national than any other branch of modern poetry in Europe. Even the Italians have only transferred their spirit and character into forms; which, though ennobled by a genial classic refinement of style, were originally derived from the Provençals. But the Spanish, or to speak with more precision, the Castilian poetry, which arose in the neighbourhood of the Provençal, is a peculiar stream from the romantic Parnassus. When the Spaniards admitted the Italian forms into their poetry, they did not transfer the old Spanish character to these nationalized forms, in the same manner as the Italians, by classic improvement of style, and enlargement of the boundaries of romantic composition, converted the Provençal poetry into pure Italian poetry. The Spanish poets made the classic purity, and polish of the Italian forms, subservient in a new manner to the orientalism of their ancient national literature. A tendency to the old orientalism is indeed plainly perceptible even in the works of the few Spanish poets, who were the most disposed, like Luis de Leon, Cervantes, and the two Argensolas, to adopt the opinions of the ancients and the Italians with regard to the correctness of ideas and images. This orientalism of the Spanish character and poetry which has long been disapproved, is now decidedly pronounced bad taste, because the general idea of poetry, which is the same for all ages and all nations, is superseded by Greek, Italian, or French national ideas; and thus that beauty which is general is made subject to particular and subordinate laws. But as long as the ideal creations of the imagination are not entirely at variance with reason and nature, they may far overstep the boundaries of the Greek and other national forms, without violating the supreme laws of the beautiful. A true theory of taste should therefore induce us to look beyond all factitious limits of the creative and plastic powers of imagination for a critical point of view, which has only nature and reason for its basis. Considered from such a point of view, that orientalism, which is ridiculous and absurd, becomes at once distinguishable from that which belongs to the truly sublime and beautiful. Spanish poets, it is true, have often failed to observe this distinction. But owing to the usual mode of estimating Spanish literature in the mass, justice has not been done to that genuine beauty which it so conspicuously discloses even in the midst of absurdity.
II. This unjust system of criticism appears to account for the very slight attention which has been paid to the high elegance and classic purity of a considerable portion of the polite literature of Spain. In this respect Cervantes alone outweighs a whole host of the correct Gallicists, whose highest merit is to have written interesting prose in well constructed verse. Metrical elegance is indeed a distinguishing property in many of the most irregular productions of the Spanish poets; this is evident in their comedies, and more particularly in the comedies of Calderon, which present the highest charm of rhythmical harmony. On this occasion the classic prose of the golden age of Spanish literature ought also to be brought to recollection. In the number of prose works distinguished for elegance of style and intellectual energy of composition, the literature of Spain far surpasses that of Italy.
III. The deficiency of one kind of riches in Spanish literature, is amply compensated by the abundance of another kind, which is in a great measure peculiar to that literature, and which has manifested itself in an inconceivable number of works. The portion of lyric poetry in which the Spaniards have imitated the Italian forms, tolerably counterbalances the amount of Italian poetry in the same style. But if to that portion be added the whole store of lyric romances and songs in the old popular style, a multitude appears which sets calculation at defiance. Nothing, however, could be more absurd, than to estimate the poetic fertility of a nation according to the number of works called poems, which it may possess. It is from the sum of genuine poetry actually existing in any considerable number of such works, though it should be visible only in the seed or in the bud which has withered in the opening, that the balance must be struck when the poetic riches of nations is the subject of comparison. If the mere number of productions were to decide, Italy would be as rich in dramatic literature as Spain. But in Italy, it unfortunately happened that scarcely any writers except those of middling and even inferior talent laboured to increase the stock of Italian dramas to infinity. In Spanish dramatic literature, on the contrary, the most fertile writers shew themselves to be great poets even amidst their faults. According to the same principle the multitude of nominal epic poems, which have appeared in Spain, and in which scarcely a feeble spark of true epopee is discernible, must not be taken into account in estimating the poetic treasures of Spanish literature. A single canto of Ariosto or Tasso, is worth all the Spanish epic poetry that ever was written.
IV. Of all the poets of modern times, the Spanish can alone be regarded as the inventors of the poetry of catholic mysticism, which they have employed in a very ingenious, though, it must be confessed, not in an exemplary manner. He must indeed be completely dazzled by the brilliant side of Spanish poetry, who refuses to acknowledge that the character of the sacred comedy is monstrous, even as it appears in the Autos of the estimable Calderon. But, on the other hand, the affectation of philosophic criticism must have deadened all susceptibility for that bold style of spiritual poetry in him who denies to the Spanish Autos the possession of beauties, which deserve to be admired. What might not this poetry have become, had reason extended her influence over it in a more powerful degree, not, indeed, to reduce it to the level of prose, but to divest it of the mask of caricature, while soaring in the lofty regions of mystic invention!
END OF VOL. I.
AND OF THE HISTORY OF SPANISH LITERATURE.
E. Justins, Printer, 41, Brick Lane, Whitechapel.
ERRATA FOR VOL I.
Page 27, title of Book I. for end of the sixteenth, read commencement of the sixteenth century.
43, l. 4 from the top, for Don Juan de Manuel, read Don Juan Manuel.
51, l. 14 from the top, for beaux tenebreux read beau tenebreux.
100, l. 1 of the second note, for Diez read Dieze.
102, l. 11 from the top, for Bachellor read Bachelor.
128, last line, for Count of Arragon read Court of Arragon.
131, l. 12 from the top, for applies read applied.
161, last line but one of the note, for called read calls.
165, l. 1 of the second note, for Gottengen read Göttingen.
168, l. 1, for changed read charged.
180, l. 5 from the top, for ecologues read eclogues.
193, l. 18 from the top, for Diego Mendoza read Diego de Mendoza.
215, l. 2 from top, for depths read depth.
218, l. 6 from the top, for formed read found.
253, l. 7 from the bottom, for though it even constantly read though it constantly.
254, l. 7 from the bottom, for Acuna read Acuña.
272, l. 13 from the top, for belong read belongs.
303, l. 12 from the top, for Lusiade read Lusiad.
309, l. 14 from the top, for mankind read man.
312, l. 2 of the note, for edition read addition.
364, 7 from the bottom, for Span read Spain.
435, l. 7 from the top, for title of a work read title for a work.
448, l. 8 from the bottom of the note, for to Marshal read to the Marshal.
469, l. 6 from the top, for voluntary read voluntarily.
524, l. 12 from the top, for analize read analyze.
551, l. 8 from the top, for Nothing poetical was at this period produced, read Nothing poetical produced at this period.
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