Louvae nas alturas O Deos das alturas." Deep (Ye mountains adore the God of the heights, and ye green places. Adore, ye deserts and flowered hills, the God of secret ways, the Lord of life. streams, praise on the heights the God of living things. Praise him, ye trees of noble fruit, let the rocks say: God be praised. And let my flock praise in these green places the God of the heights.) Fascinating, too, is the cantiga de amigo in the Tragicomedia Pastoril da Serra da Estrella: "Hum amigo que eu havia Mançanas d'ouro m'envia. Hum amigo que eu amava (A friend I had sends me apples of gold. Fair is love. A friend I loved sends me apples of gold. Fair is love.) Some of Vicente's plays were published separately during his lifetime, and the collection of his works was evidently far advanced at his death. It was, however, not until over twenty years later on September 3, 1561-that his daughter Paula received licence to hold the copyright of the cancioneiro of Gil Vicente's complete works, to be sold at a price not exceeding one cruzado (=400 réis) per volume. But although other editions followed, his influence would seem to have been greater in Spain than in his own country, and it was only after the appearance of the edition of 1834,1 based upon a copy of the first edition in the library at Göttingen, that his works have been thoroughly studied in Portugal. Vicente had written his plays partly under Spanish influence, and his work was in turn imitated in Spain by Lope de Vega and Calderón among others. It is impossible not to connect the scene of the escudeiro coming in to "dine" "dine" on a crust of bread and a shrivelled turnip in Quem tem farelos? with Lazarillo's account of the poor Toledan hidalgo in Lazarillo de Tormes, whether the anonymous Spanish author copied from Gil Vicente, or Vicente copied from an earlier edition of Lazarillo than that of 1554. Perhaps, however, both copied from life, or from some earlier source.2 His master, says the Portuguese Lazarillo, Obras de Gil "Vem alta noite de andar, E eu não tenho que lhe dar Vicente. Correctas e emendadas pelo cuidado e diligencia de José Victorino Barreto Feio e J. G. Monteiro. 3 vols. Hamburg, 1834. 2 Possibly from the Archpriest of Hita, whose works were known in Portugal (see supra, p. 47). See J. Fitzmaurice-Kelly, Chapters on Spanish Literature (London: Constable, 1908) p. 48 ad fin. But however much Vicente may imitate or be imitated in the construction and characters of his plays, he nevertheless keeps his originality, and in his lyrical gift he remains inimitable. He is the only great Portuguese poet of unforced mirth and jollity: "Este he Maio, o Maio he este, Este he o Maio e florece." (May is here, for May is here, As a poet he ranks second only to Camões, and may perhaps without exaggeration be called the greatest original genius of Portugal. CHAPTER IV SÁ DE MIRANDA "THICK-SET, of medium height, with very white hands and face, smooth black hair, beard long and thick, eyes green, well shaded,' but almost excessively large,2 nose long and aquiline, grave and melancholy in appearance, but of easy and pleasant conversation, witty and refined, and less sparing of words than of laughter." Such is the picture of Francisco de Sá de Miranda, drawn by the anonymous biographer in the 1614 edition of his works.3 The description tallies with the portrait reproduced by Senhora Michaëlis de Vasconcellos as a frontispiece to 1 This refers not to the colour of the eyes, but more probably to the length and thickness of the eyelashes. 2 This is omitted in the quotation on p. cxxxiv of Senhora Michaëlis de Vasconcellos' preface. On the same page, however, there is a reference to his "large eyes." 44 3 As Obras do Doctor Francisco de Saa de Miranda. Agora de nouo impressas com a Relação de sua calidade & vida. Por Vicente Alvarez. Anno de 1614. [Lisbon]: Domingo Fernandez, liureiro. 'Foy homem grosso de corpo; de meaã estatura, muito aluo de mãos & rostro; com pouca còr nelle; o cabello preto & corredio; a barba muito pouoada & de seu natural crescida; os olhos verdes bem assombrados, mas com algua demasia grandes; a nariz comprida & com cauallo; graue na pessoa, melancholico na apparencia, mas facil & humano na conuersação, engraçado nella, com bom tom de falla, & menos parco em fallar que em rir." her edition.1 The anonymous author of the biography2 is generally considered to be Gonçalo Coutinho. Writing some fifty years after the poet's death, he derived his account from Diogo Bernardes and other personal friends of Sá de Miranda,3 and it remains the most important and trustworthy source of our information. According to this account, Francisco was the son of a canon of Coimbra Cathedral belonging to the ancient house of Sá, and was born in the year 1495 at Coimbra. The date presents some difficulties, especially since Senhor Braga has discovered and published a document legitimizing Francisco in the year 1490.5 1 Poesias de Francisco de Sá de Miranda. Edição feita sobre cinco manuscriptos ineditos e todas as edições impressas, acompanhada de um estudo sobre o poeta, variantes, notas, glossario e um retrato, por Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcellos. Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1885. 2. Vida do Dovtor Francisco de Sa de Miranda, collegida de pessoas fidedignas que o conhecerão & tratarão & dos liuros das gerações deste Reyno." This brief notice was translated into English in an abridged form by O. Crawfurd: Portugal, Old and New. London, 1880. Diogo Bernardes (a quem seguimos em muita parte disto)." 4 So, in a letter to Jorge de Montemaior, Miranda says: "Vezino á aquel tu monte do has nacido Tan clara i tan sabrosa agua he bevido." The author of the famous Diana was born at Montemôr o Velho in the valley of the Mondego. He early went to Spain, and on his return to Portugal was known as Montemayor. Cf. the first line of this letter: "Montemaior que á lo alto del Parnaso Subiste," and those of a letter addressed to him by Pedro de Andrade Caminha: "Monte Mayor cujo alto ingenho espanta Grandes ingenhos, e ditosamente A todo estilo e verso se levanta." 5 Sá de Miranda e a Eschola italiana. Por Theophilo Braga. Porto, 1896. |