Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/360

 PORTUGAL

310

PORTUGAL

de Erioeira, and endeavoured to nationalize the pseudo-classicism which obtained in France. In 1790 the "New Arcadia" came into being and had in Bocage a man who, under other conditions, might have been a great poet. His talent led him to react against the general mediocrity and though he achieved no sustained flights, his sonnets vie with those of Camoens. He was a master of short improvised lyrics as of satire, which he used to effect in the " Pena de Taliao" against Agostinho de Macedo.

This turbulent priest constituted himself a literary dictator and in "Os Burros" surpassed all other bards in invective, moreover he sought to supplant the Lusiads by a tasteless epic, "Oriente". He, how- ever, introduced the didactic poem, his odes reach a high level, and his letters and political pamphlets display learning and versatility, but his influence on letters was hurtful. The only other Arcadian worthy of mention is Curvo Semedo, but the "Dissidents", a name given to those poets who remained outside the Arcadias, include three men who show indepen- dence and a sense of reality, Jos6 Anastacio da Cunha, Nicolao Tolentino, and Francisco Manoel de Nas- ciniento, better known as Filinto Elysio. The first versified in a philosopliic and tender strain, the second sketched the custom and follies of the time in quin- tilhas of abundant wit and realism, the third spent a long life of exile in Paris in re\dving the cult of the sixteenth - century poets, purified the language of Gallicisms and enriched it by numerous works, original and translated. Though lacking imagina- tion, his conlos, or scenes of Portuguese life, strike a new note of reality, and his blank verse translation of the "Martyrs" of Chateaubriand is a high perform- ance. Shortl}' before his death he became a convert to the Romantic Movement, for whose triumph in the person of Almeida-Garrett he had prepared the way.

C. Brazilian Poetry. — During the eighteenth cen- tury the colony of Brazil began to contribute to Portuguese letters. Manoel da Costa wrote a num- ber of Petrarchian sonnets, Manoel Ignacio da Silva Alvarenga showed himself an ardent lyricist and cultiv'ator of form, Thomds Antonio Gonzaga became famous by the harmonious verses of his love poem "Marilia do Dirceu", while the "Poesias s.acras" of Sousa Caldas have a certain mystical charm though metrically hard. In epic poetry- the chief name is that of Basilio da Gama, whose "Uruguay" deals with the struggle between the Portuguese and the Paraguay Indians. It is WTitten in blank verse and has some notable episodes. The "Caramuru" of Santa Rita Durao begins with the discovery of Bahia and con- tains, in a succession of pictures, the history of Brazil. The passages descriptive of native customs are well written and these poems are superior to anything of the kind produced contemporaneously by the mother country.

D. Prose. — The prose writing of the century is mainly dedicated to scientific subjects, but the letters of Antonio da Costa, Antonio Ribeiro Sanches, and Alexandre de Gusmfio have literary value and those of the celebrated Cavalheiro d'Oliveira, if not so cor- rect, are even more informing.

E. Drama. — Though a Court returned to Lisbon in 1640, it preferred, for one hundred and fifty years, Italian opera and French plays to vernacular repre- sentations. Early in the eighteenth century several authors sprung from the people vainly attempted to found a national drama. Their pieces mostly belong to low comedy. The "Operas Portuguezas" of Antonio Jos6 da Silva, produced between 1733 and 1741, have a real comic strength and a certain original- ity, and, like those of Nicolau Luiz, exploit with wit tlie faults and foibles of the age. The latter divided his attention between heroic comedies and comedies de capa y espada and, though wanting in ideas and taste, they enjoyed a long [lopularity. At the same

time the Arcadia endeavoured to raise the standard of the stage, drawing inspiration from the contem- porary French drama, but its members lacked dramatic talent and achieved little. Gargiio wrote two bright comedies, Quita some stillborn tragedies, and Manuel de Figueredo compiled plaj-s in prose and verse on national subjects, which fill thirteen volumes, but he could not create characters.

IX. The Nineteenth Centurt. — A. Poetry. — The early nineteenth century witnessed a literary reformation which was commenced by Almeida-Gar- rett who had become acquainted with English and French Romanticism in exile and based his work on the national traditions. In the narrative poem "Camoes" (1825) he broke with the established rules of composition and followed it with "Flores sem Fructo ' ' and a collection of ardent love poems ' ' Folhaa Cahidas", while the clear elegant prose of this true artist is seen in a miscellany of romance and criticism, "Viagens na minha terra". The poetrj' of the austere Herculano has a religious or patriotic motive and is reminiscent of Lamennais. The movement initiated by Garrett and Herculano became ultra- Romantic with Castilho, a master of metre, who lacked ideas, and the verses of Joao de Lemos and the melancholy Soares de Passos record a limited range of personal emotions, while their imitiitors voice senti- ments which they have not felt deeply or at all. Thomas Ribeiro, author of the patriotic poem "D. Jayme", is sincere, but belongs to this same school which thought too much of form and melodj-. In 1865 some young poets led by .\nthero de Quental and Theophilo Braga rebelled against the domination over letters which Castilho had assumed, and, under foreign influences, proclaimed the alliance of philosophy with poetry. A fierce pamphlet war heralded the down- fall of Castilho and poetry gained in breadth and reality, though in many instances it became non- Christian and revolutionary. Quental produced finely wrought, pessimistic sonnets inspired by neo- Buddhistic and German agnostic ideas, while Brag.a, a Positivist, compiled an epic of hiunanity, the " Visao dos Tempos". Guerra Junqueiro is mainly ironical in the "^lorte de D. Joao", in "Patria" he evokea and scourges the Braganza kings in some powerful scenes, and in "Os Simples" interprets nature and rural life by the light of a pantheistic imagination. Gomes Leal is merely anti-Christian with touches of Baudelaire. Joao de Deus belonged to no school; an idealist, he drew inspiration from religion and women, and the earlier verses of the "Campo de Flores" are marked, now by tender feeling, now by sensuous mj'sticism, all very Portuguese. Other true poets are the sonneteer Joao Penha, the Parnassian Gon- galves Crespo, and the symbolist Eugenio de Castro. The reaction against the use of verse for the propa- ganda of radicalism in religion and politics has suc- ceeded and the most considered poets of to-day, Corrca de Oliveira and Lopes Vieira, are natural singers with no extraneous purpose to serve. They owe much to the "S6" of Antonio Nobre, a book of true race poetry.

B. Drama. — .\fter producing some classical trag- edies, the best of which is "Cato", Garrett undertook the reform of the stage on independent lines, though he learnt something from the .\nglo-German school. Anxious to found a national drama, he chose subjects from Portuguese history and, beginning with "An Auto of Gil Vicente", produced a series of prose plays which culminated in "Brother Luiz de Sousa", a masterpiece. His imitators, Mendes Leal and Pi- nheiro Chagas, fell victims to ultra-Romanticism, but Fernando Caldeira and Gervasio Lobato wrote life- like and witty comedies and recently the regional pieces of D. Joao da Camara have won success, even outside Portugal. At the present time, with the historical and social plays of Lopes de Mendonga,