all his powers of description, not entirely without success, but still without avoiding those faults into which his factitious enthusiasm had previously involved him.* That such a poet as the Count da Ericeyra could, with all his praiseworthy endeavours, succeed in restoring the ancient glory of Portuguese poetry, or in giving a new *Lest it should appear that in this collection of examples justice had not been rendered to Ericeyra, three more stanzas, from the last canto of his poem, are here transcribed. The following passage is from the description of the last combat between Henry and Ali, his Morish enemy. Torrente de cristal, que arrebatada Ainda que com seus rapidos effeitos Recebem os escudos tao constantes E todos do valor pelos effeitos Virao tremer os braços, nao os peitos. direction to the poetic spirit of his nation, certainly was not to be expected. But in consequence of his labours it ceased to be taken for granted in Portugal, that the mines of the higher poetry were exhausted, and he contributed to encourage the idea of improvement in poetic cultivation. His name, therefore, deserves to be held in honourable recollection. What benefits he, as a theorist, sought to impart to the poetic art, shall be noticed in the next chapter. CONTINUANCE OF CORRUPT TASTE IN PORTUGUESE POETRY. BARROS PEREIRA-ALEXANDRE ANTONIO DE LIMA. The age of the Count da Ericeyra presents, at its close, a resting point in the history of Portuguese poetry, which, if the numerical division of the years be not too rigidly insisted on, may form a boundary between the first and the second halves of the eighteenth century. It was solely during the latter half that a favourable change became obvious in the poetic cultivation of the Portuguese. In the former half only a few Portuguese poets of celebrity laboured to maintain a suitable connection between the new and the old eras. Among those poets it is not meant to include Father Antonio de Lima Barros Pereira, who in the year 1720 published his spiritual and temporal works, under the title of Floresta Apollinea, (Apollinian Flower-garden). But this collection of miscellaneous poems ought to be mentioned, as it serves to prove that in the beginning of the eighteenth century the Spanish was the favourite dramatic language in Lisbon. Among the works of Barros Pereira, his loas, or allegorical preludes, are the most numerous, and are all written in Spanish. Barros Pereira also sought to distinguish himself by those poetic rhapsodies without plan or object, which were, both in Spain and Portugal, called Slyvas (Forests.) The Rasgos Metricos (Metrical Fragments) of a writer, named Alexandre Antonio de Lima, which were printed in 1740, are likewise about equally divided between the Portuguese and Spanish languages. The title-page bears a dedication to St. Ann; and in the same spirit which dictated that kind of address, the author, who seems to have been of a sprightly humour, has mingled spiritual and temporal productions together; and he has sometimes made even pieces of the most sacred character vehicles for jokes, which, however, are meant to be pious after their own way.* This singular The author introduces his plays of wit in a song to the miraculous image of Senhor Jesus de Pedra, (Lord Jesus of Stone), which was celebrated for its power of exciting in sinners a feeling of bitter repentance : Nessa Cruz (meu bom Jesus) Dar sinal de vós quereis, Quando eu cuido, que fareis De nós o sinal da Cruz. Para contrições lograr Essa Pedra Almas desperta : Mais rica Pedra naõ deo incongruity was still considered inoffensive by the Portuguese of that age. The miscellaneous poems of Antonio de Lima are chiefly of a comic character. But a foreigner who has never lived in Portugal will be unable to understand most of this writer's epigrammatic conceits, as they all refer to particular customs and local relations.* Some of Antonio de Lima's serious sonnets are by no means contemptible productions.† In satirical prose he attempted an imitation of Quevedo's visions. Tao unica, que só esta Se a compungir-se haõ de vir Sempre levao que sentir, &c. * Here are two of the most intelligible; the first is on a barber who has an evil tongue : Se a tua lingua trabalha Do credito, e honra em mingoa, Que corta mais que a navalha. The following is addressed to an old man who paints his eyebrows: Deixe, ó Licio, o teu cuidado Desse pincel o aparelho; Que a tua Dama por velho Nem te póde ver pintado. † His sonnet on a rose growing over the grave of a lady, deserves to be transcribed : Se essa Flor he padrao, que à formosura Erigio nesse jaspe a natureza; Mal recorda os triunfos da belleza, THE PORTUGUESE DRAMA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. SPURIOUS DRAMAS CALLED OPERAS. In the first half of the eighteenth century, a new, though not a happy turn, became perceptible in the dramatic poetry of the Portuguese. While the Spanish drama still supplied the place of a Portuguese national drama, the favour of the court of Lisbon was bestowed on the Italian opera. The general approbation which was soon extended to operatic performances of every description, led to the introduction on the Portuguese stage of a singular species of hybridous comedy. There was a wish to naturalize the Italian opera; but it is probable that few Portuguese singers were then capable of executing recitative; and it may also be presumed, that the Portuguese had heard of the little French operas, in which the characters speak and sing alternately. This, however, is certain, that the public of Lisbon had always a strong predilection for comic entertainments; and, it appears, that with the view of fully satisfying the popular taste, it was thought advisable to introduce the pomp of the serious Italian opera into the comic drama of Portugal. By what A mesma Rosa, a quem de flor se preza, Pois bem nos mostraõ (já a razaõ discorre) |