jealousy are allied? receives three answers in three Reposta de Ardenio à pergunta primeyra. Quem ama sem esperana, Se ama mais perfeytamente? Ninguem ama sem querer, Se a era lhe falta à planta, Em cujo tronco se arrime, Esperança, que o sustente, De seu desejado objecto, Nao só falta Amor perfeyto, Mas falta de todo Amor. Reposta da pastora Dinarea à mesma pergunta. Amor, que a proprio respeyto Todo o dezejo offerece Só por seu gosto, ou proveyto, Amor he somente amar, Este he seu meyo, et seu fim, songs.* Rodriguez Lobo has not been surpassed by any que he verdadeyro amante Nao se funda na esperança, Só seu querer poem diante, Sem ventura he mais constante. Quando n'alma huma bellesa Mostra seu rayo invencivel, E he ja cousa averiguada, Que somente este rigor Nem quer, nem mereceo nada. *To these three competition songs a page or two must be devoted. Fanciful compositions of this kind, though now out of date, are curious; and ingenious simplicity in so elegant a form is seldom to be met with even in romantic literature. Reposta de Riseo à tercera pergunta. Que parentesco chegado Tem amor com o ciume. Amor como se presume Ouve por certa affey çao, Hum filho da ocasiao, A que chàmarao Ciume. He igual ao pay, et mór, Que amor com muyta grandeza, Que em fim he filho de Amor. Vè muyto aonde quer que vay, ancient or modern poet in the ingenious simplicity and elegance of these fanciful compositions. But had he Vive de enganos que faz, E anda nelles de contino, E como Amor he menino, Tambem o filho he rapaz. E assim naõ me maravilho, Reposta de Egerio à mesma pergunta. Estes irmaõs desiguaes, Ambos de Venus nascèrao, E tiranos se fizeraõ Do Imperio de seus pays. O Ciume, et logo entao E parecia acertado Que hum filho que tal parece Da fermosura nascesse, Ambos nascem juntamente, E vivem sempre em perigo, Mostre por prova melhor, been less successful in productions of this class, still the poetic truth, intensity, delicacy and graceful ease of his pastoral cantigas and cançoes would have entitled him to one of the highest places among the lyric poets of all nations. The reader readily pardons the tedious length of the Primavera, as it could not otherwise include so many lyric poems. Even the antiquated division into Florestas (flower-beds), will not displease, if the exquisite lyric effusions which are scattered through the work, be allowed to represent the flowers. That this romance is arranged in geographical divisions according to the rivers of the district in which the scene is laid, must also be excused, though such a plan may Reposta de Lereno à mesma pergunta. Nestes dous naõ ha liança, Nem pode haver amizade, Que hum he filho da vontade, Outro da confiança. Hum de nobre, inda que agora Degenere do em que estava, E claramente se apura Ser o outro escravo seu, Servio de guia, et da fè Mil vezes falsa, et errada, Da senhora, et do senhor Quem já conhece o costume, not, perhaps, appear quite congenial with the spirit of romantic poetry. The other two pastoral romances of Lobo are merely continuations of his Spring, which according to the plan on which it is written, might be protracted to infinity. The first continuation is entitled, O Pastor Peregrino, (the Wandering Shepherd). It is arranged in divisions, which, like the acts of the Spanish comedies, bear the name of jornadas. The second continuation, or the conclusion of the whole romance, is entitled, O Desenganado,* (the Disenchanted), and its divisions are called discursos (discourses). Here also a rich harvest of lyric flowers charm the reader, though the romance itself becomes even less interesting. Rodriguez Lobo has endeavoured to render this last portion of his romance in a peculiar way instructive. Towards the close, as the events become more romantic, he introduces a portion of his geographical, historical, and physical knowledge. Still sound judgment and a delicate spirit of observation are here manifest. But Rodriguez Lobo who found only within the boundary or in the vicinity of pastoral poetry the objects and impressions for the poetic representation of which he was destined by nature, was induced to take part with the Portuguese and Spanish poets of his age in the absurd competition for the prize of * The word desenganado (in Spanish desengañado) is not so happy an expression as the English disenchanted, or the German entzauberte. It is the word commonly used to designate one who is no longer enamoured. The Desengaño (the disenchantment in affairs of love) is also employed by the Spanish poets as an allegorical character. |