Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/347

* PORTtTGUESE LITERATURE. 293 PORTUGUESE LITERATURE. of eclogues and of the famous Suudades, a work which with its pastoral and sentimental tenden- cies furnished the foundation of all such later productions in the land; and Su de Miranda (1495-1558), who, although he utilizes still the older poetical forms, infuses them with a new spirit and appreciates fully, as did to a consider- able degree Falcao and Ribeiro, the value of the popular pastoral exemplified by the serranilha and similar compositions. In prose the most important original works are didactic or historical in their nature and there is some translation of the Latin moralists and historians. By direction of King Duarte there was composed a treatise on statecraft, en- titled leal conselheiro. and the Infante Dom Pedro gave expression to the experiences of an active and observant life in his Virtuosa hemfei- ioria. The founder of true history writing ap- pears in the person of Fernam Lojjes, who com- piled the Chronica de Dom Fernaldo, the Chro- nica (fe Dom Pedro, and especially the Chronica del Rey Dom Johann de hoa mcmoria. Further historical accounts were provided by Gomes Eannes de Azurara, who described the conquest in Africa, by Ruy de Pina. and by .Joam Alvares (Chronica do sancto Iffante Dom Fernando) . ( 3 and 4 ) The two periods that come next and embrace the long stretch between 1521 and 1700 may conveniently be regarded as forming one continuous jjeriod, an age of glory in its first part and one of decadence and stylistic exaggera- tion in its second. The path that Portuguese literature was now to take was indicated by Sa de Miranda, who returned in 1526 from his so- journ in Italy, imbued with a love for Italian humanism. Before the visit to Italy Miranda had given new life and enduring consistency to the pastoral ; now, along with the sonnet, the hendeeasyllable, the octave, the tersa rima, and other Italian lyric and narrative verse forms, he introduced elements of the highly refined Italian pastoral ; and, furthermore, under the influence of Bibbiena and Aristo. he produced two prose dramas, the Estranr/eiros and the Tilhatpandos, which necessarily, like their Italian originals, derive from the drama of Plautus and Terence. It cannot be said that the plays of Sa de Miranda had any widespread popularity : but they indicat- ed the way for his disciple .Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcellos, who chose a national subject, and in his Ines de Castro gave Portugal her first classic tragedy, just as in his play cioso he gave modern Europe one of its earliest character comedies. The Italian lyric measures imported by Sa de ^liranda were adopted by many disciples (the Quinhentistns), who modeled themselves on the singer of ^ladonna Laura. A thoroughly popular drama was that developed by Gil Vicente (C.1470-C.1540). He derived his inspiration from the Spanish playwright .Juan del Encina. but he sought his subjects on all sides, and developed them with great originality of treatment and in a wholly national spirit. A third figure of this period rendered illustrious by Sa de Miranda and Gil Vicente is the most famous of all Portuguese poets, Luiz de Caraoes (C.1524-T0). Like those two authois. he aspired to dramatic honors, and in three early comedies (Filodemo, Rei Seleuco, and Enfatrioes) he showed himself to he an in- genious playwright. His fame, nevertheless, rests rather upon his lyric and epic achievements. The fiery passion and sentiments of the man and lover find expression in his various lyrics. The IJcrsonal note rings out also in his glorious epic Os Lusiadas, filled with the spirit of national consciousness and patriotic fervor excited by a realization of the large part that Portugal had played in geographical discovery and in the con- quest of territory in the distant Indies. In the second part (1580-1700) of this long period the number of writers is legion, but the great majority of them lacked originality and force. Many Camonistas or disciples of Camoes essay the epic, e.g. Francisco de Andrade (Primei- ro cerco de Diu, 1589), Sa de Menezes (Malacca conquistada), Pereira Brandao (Elegiada, 1588, commemorating the disastrous campaign of Dom Sebastian), Quevedo e Castellobranco (Affonso Africano, 1611), Pereira de Castro (Ulyssea, 163G), hut none rise above mediocrity. The sad- ness and gloom resultant upon subordination to Spanish rule were not favorable to the composi- tion of eminent or stirring epics. The tightening of the political bonds to Spain superinduced an even larger degree of servility to Castilian liter- ary fashions and Gongorism with its formal excesses, its bombast, its studied obscurity of style, and its strained conceits, invaded Portugal. Among the lyric poets of the time are Rodrigues de Castro, Lobo Soropita, Frei Bernardo de Brito, the mm Violante do Ceo (1601-93), and Manoel de Faria e Sousa ; writers of pastoral poems and romances are Francisco Rodrigues Lobo (Prima- vera. Pastor peregrino, and desenganado), Al- vares do Oriente (Lusitania transformada), and Manoel da Veiga Tagarro. The taint of culter- anism is deplorably clear in the verse contained in the coUecyons entitled A fenix renascidJi and Ecos que o clarim da fama da. A natural note is struck in the unafi'ected lyrics of the historian Manoel de Mello. Spanish siglo de oro plays held full sway on the Portuguese stage; but ilanoel C'oelho Rebello did produce humorous interludes in the home speech. Composition in prose toward the middle of the sixteenth century was largely concerned with pastoral and chivalrous romances and with tales. The renowned chivalrous romance, Amadis de Gaula, so persistently claimed for Portugal by certain historians of her literature, was an ex- ceedingly popular book, and it led to the writing of continuations and imitations of it. as an ex- ample of which may be cited the Palmerim d'ln- gJaterra of Moraes { 1544) . The Celes^tina stor.v of Castile is somewhat less drastically copied by Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcellos in three tales, and a more native tradition appears in the tales of Fernandes Trancoso. L'nfortunately for Portu- gal, the best pastoral poem of the age, the Diana of the Portuguese Jorge de !Montemor, was writ- ten in Spanish. The sonorous and rhetorical qualities of Portuguese prose were excellently shown forth by Rodrigues Lobo in his Co'rte na aldeia e noites de inverno. The historians di- rect their attention particularly to the adven- tures of Portuguese heroes and arms in the Indies. The romantic side of the expeditions of exploration and conquest is made prominent in the collection termed Historia tragico-tnaritima. Other ambitious efforts are those of Barros in his Decadas and Albuquerque the Younger in his story of his father's deeds (Comtnentarios) ; per- sonal observation guided the records left us by Pinto, by Fernam Lopes de Castanheda. and by Correia. Several chronicles register the note-