PREFACE.

For much of the valuable information which the following History of Portuguese Literature contains, the author acknowledges himself to be indebted to the communications of a learned Portuguese, with whom he became acquainted after the materials he had previously collected were arranged for publication. M. Bouterwek originally intended to comprise what he had to say, on Portuguese literature, in a brief sketch, which was to form a supplement to the preceding volume; but the assistance of his literary friend enabled him to make the present volume a suitable companion to his history of the sister literature of the Peninsula. In England commercial interests may have induced many persons to make themselves acquainted with the language of Portugal, but the literature of that country has hitherto vi been studied by few. With the exception of Camoens, even the names of the principal Portuguese authors are scarcely known to us. The greater novelty of the subject is therefore an advantage which this second volume possesses over the first. vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS. VOL. II.

1

BOOK I. FROM THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

RISE OF PORTUGUESE POETRY.

That songs in the Portuguese language were sung on the banks of the Tagus, before any kingdom of Portugal existed cannot be doubted. Indeed even Spanish writers, who have considered the question with impartiality, do not deny that Portuguese poetry flourished at an earlier period than the Castilian; and all accounts of the first dawnings of modern civilization in Portugal denote an original poetic tendency in the national genius. That destiny, however, by which Portugal has been from an early period politically severed from the other parts of the Peninsula could alone have prevented the Portuguese poetry from being like the Galician, 2 completely absorbed and lost in the Castilian; for the Galician and Portuguese languages and poetry, were originally, and even after the separation of Portugal from the Castiles, scarcely distinguishable from each other.1

The foreigner, who is not prepossessed by any national partiality, in favour of either the Castilian or the Portuguese modifications of the Hispanic romance, might, perhaps, be induced to conclude that poetry would on the whole have sustained no essential loss, had the language of Portugal been rejected by literature, and reduced like the Galician dialect to the rank of a common popular idiom; for the Castilian poetry was from its origin, so closely allied to the Portuguese, that it is certain the former might easily have incorporated into itself the latter without producing the slightest inconsistency in any of its characteristic features. Still, however, to him who is capable of feeling the more delicate relations of the beautiful in nature and in art, it must be an increased pleasure to hear the same melody performed on two similar, yet differently constructed instruments. The historian of Portuguese literature ought, therefore, to direct his particular attention to those apparently unimportant, and yet in themselves very remarkable properties, whereby Portuguese

poetry has in the varied progress of its cultivation more or less deviated from the Castilian, or, as it is now usually styled, the Spanish;2 and also to the manner in which 3 the differences not only of the two sister languages, but of the two nations, whose respective characters are impressed on those languages, have constantly preserved the boundary which divides the polite literature of Portugal and Spain, and which must otherwise have soon been obliterated.

The harmonious softness of the Portuguese language, probably contributed no less to its early cultivation in general than to its applicability to poetry in particular. Even the characteristic nasal sound, which the pronunciation of this language has in common with the French, is in no way detrimental to the rhythm of the Portuguese syllables; for that rhythm, as in the Spanish and Italian languages, depends on a certain accentuation, which is a valuable remnant of the latin syllabic forms, and which is not, as in the French, annihilated by a new rule of orthoepy. That this ancient accentuation, and with it the groundwork of metrical perfectibility, should be preserved in the Portuguese language, is a circumstance rendered the more remarkable by that of a French prince having been the founder of the first dynasty of the kings of Portugal; for from this incidental occurrence, some critics and philologists have endeavoured to explain the similarity between the Portuguese and French pronunciation. The prince to whose influence this effect has been attributed is Henry

of Burgundy, who was, in the year 1094, appointed, 4 by his father-in-law, Alphonso VI. of Castile, governor of the country situated at the mouth of the Tagus, and who afterwards held that territory in sovereignty with the title of Count; but however numerous might be the noble families, brought by this prince from France to Portugal, neither he nor they could be able to produce an essential change in the national language among all classes of the people.3 Moreover the same dialect was and still is vernacular in Galicia, where no French prince ever ruled. It is however not a little extraordinary, that under the dominion and influence of French princes and nobles, Portuguese poetry should from its origin have preserved unimpaired those romantic national forms, in which it soon appeared perfectly to coincide with the Castilian poetry; for notwithstanding that most of the French nobles, who settled in Portugal, came from the south of France, whence they brought with them the genuine poetry of the Troubadours, still the introduction of that poetry did not

impede the developement of those poetic forms, which constituted a common source of pleasure for the Portuguese, the Galician, and the Castilian.4

The favourable situation of Portugal could not fail to contribute in a considerable degree to the early developement of the Portuguese tongue. While the Castilians descending from their mountains, obtained no increase of wealth until they wrested it sword in 5 hand from the Arabs, the Portuguese, particularly after they recovered possession of Lisbon, enriched themselves by the peaceful pursuits of trade and navigation. Lisbon soon became a flourishing commercial city; and the nation learned to unite civic industry with warlike achievements. The Portuguese, generally speaking, acquired a degree of practical dexterity which even to this day seems to distinguish them from the Spaniards, and which indeed is not sufficiently valued by the enemies of the Portuguese name, amongst whom must be more particularly included their Castilian neighbours. The benefits of civil industry, which were widely diffused from Lisbon, fortified in the Portuguese that feeling of self-esteem, which was necessary for the maintenance of their independence on so small a

territory. In the reign of Alphonso I. the son of Henry of Burgundy, the Portuguese dominions acquired nearly their present extent by conquests made from the Moors, as far as the Algarvas. The romance dialect of Portugal now advanced southward into the conquered districts, and thus acquired the dignity of a prevailing national language, the formation of which proceeded from a great capital.

GONZALO HERMIGUEZ AND EGAZ MONIZ.

These circumstances may serve to explain how two Portuguese poets came to be celebrated at so early a period as the reign of Alphonso I. in the twelfth century. One of these poets is Gonzalo Hermiguez, and the other Egaz Moniz; two knights descended from the most distinguished families of the country. The 6 verses of these ancient bards which have been preserved, are not wholly intelligible even to natives of Portugal.5 But though their meaning can only be partially conjectured, they nevertheless merit attention; for no Spanish cancion of that age, by any known author, now exists; and in these oldest records of Portuguese poetry, the germ of the common character and metrical form of the national songs of Spain and Portugal is plainly discernible. Gonzalo Hermiguez and Egaz Moniz wrote no rhymed chronicles or legends. They did not even compose in the Provençal metres. Their lyric effusions, which are popular songs in the proper sense of the term, are composed in short trochaic verses, precisely in the style of the well-known Spanish and

Portuguese ballads of the fifteenth centuries. In the verses of Hermiguez scarcely any regular measure is discernible.6 But Egaz Moniz exhibits precisely that 7 metrical form, for which, during some succeeding centuries the Portuguese and the Spaniards manifested a particular predilection.7

These oldest relics of lyric composition in the Portuguese language seem to confirm the opinion, that the prevailing tone of romantic love, which characterised the poetry of the Spaniards and Portuguese, until the imitation of the Italian style was generally adopted, originated in Portugal. To paint romantic despair, and all the storms of passion, combined with the deepest resignation, existing not only in fancy, but in real life, appears to have formed the poetic costume of chivalry in Portugal even earlier than in Spain. Thus, the susceptible Egaz Moniz is said to have survived only a short time the poetic expression of the 8 anguish occasioned by the infidelity of his beloved Violante.

EARLY ESSAY IN EPIC POETRY.

In all literary probability, the Portuguese also preceded the Spaniards in essays in epic, or rather in historical poetry. An old Portuguese narrative in dactylic stanzas (versos de arte mayor), whose unknown author related, as well as he was able, the history of the conquest of Spain by the Moors, may not be so old as it is supposed to be by Manuel de Faria y Sousa, who would refer the origin of these verses to the very period of the Arabic invasion. They are, however, written in such antiquated language, that they may be regarded as of a date anterior to the Cantigas of Hermiguez and Moniz; and that they are the surreptitious fabrication of a later writer can scarcely be supposed, since no one could have hoped to acquire the least fame or reward by producing a counterfeit of so little value. No opinion could be formed of the merits of the whole narrative from the few stanzas, which are now extant, even though the language were more intelligible than it is.8 9

KING DINIZ.

In general all these remains of the most ancient Portuguese poetry must be considered only as first attempts. Throughout the whole of the thirteenth century, the poetic art in Portugal appears to have remained stationary in that degree of advancement to which it had arrived in the twelfth century. The language, however, became gradually more fixed and regular. In the latter half of the thirteenth century, king Diniz (Dionysius) of Portugal, promoted Portuguese literature in the same manner as his contemporary Alphonso the Wise, by his influence and example, improved the poetry of Castile. Diniz, like Alphonso, was himself a poet and a prose writer. His poetic compositions were, according to the fashion of the age, collected in Cancioneiros (song books), which bore the name of the author. But from the testimony of Portuguese writers, it appears that the poems of king Diniz are to be found only in old manuscripts. They cannot, however, be very few in number, for two Cancioneiros are named, one containing the spiritual, and the other the temporal works of the king. The first of 10

these collections bears the singular title of Cancioneiro de Nossa Senhora (Our Lady’s Song book).9 King Diniz, in whose reign trade, and with it the third estate particularly, flourished in Lisbon, founded in the year 1290 the national university. This institution was first established in the capital, but it was soon transferred to Coimbra, where it is still maintained, in a great measure, according to its original forms. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe. No accounts have been preserved of any other Portuguese writers, who, following the example of their king, may have more or less distinguished themselves in the cultivation of the national poetry; though at this period celebrated names might the more naturally be expected, as two poets had flourished in the twelfth century. But the Portuguese bards, who, in the thirteenth century delighted their contemporaries by their poetic compositions, shared no better fate than the writers of the oldest Spanish canciones and romances.

POETS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

The fourteenth century is not much richer than the thirteenth in names, which shed a lustre on the history of Portuguese poetry. Scarcely any writers of verse are recorded, except those who were members of the royal family, as if they were considered the representatives of all the contemporary poets of their nation. Alphonso IV. who reigned from 1325 to 1357, pursued with regard to poetry the same course as his father, King 11 Diniz. Affonso Sanchez, a natural son of Diniz, appears to have been gifted with a similar poetic talent.10 But the writings of Affonso Sanchez are not now to be found even in manuscript; and those of King Alphonso IV. have never been printed. Pedro I., who was the son of this last mentioned sovereign, and whose unfortunate connection with the beautiful Inez de Castro, has given him a romantic celebrity, seems to have found the Castilian language, which then vied with the Portuguese in cultivation, as well adapted as his native tongue to the poetic expression of his feelings. A Castilian poem by Pedro I., which begins in short verses, like

a cancion, and proceeds in the measure of the Italian canzone, has been preserved, in addition to some compositions in Portuguese, which are also attributed to that monarch.11 If Dom12 Pedro’s poem be authentic, it proves that the Italian poetry had an influence on the Portuguese, even at a period when the Castilian had not yet fully developed itself in the old national forms. But this early influence of Italian poetry is also proved 12 by some Portuguese sonnets of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. An old sonnet, in praise of Vasco de Lobeira, the author of Amadis de Gaul,13 is by some writers ascribed to Alphonso IV., King of Portugal, and by others to the Infante Dom Pedro, the son of John I., who was born in the year 1392.14 It is scarcely worth while to enter into minute investigation merely for the purpose of settling this dispute. Admitting the problematic sonnet to be really the production of the Infante Dom Pedro, and therefore written, at the earliest in the commencement of the fifteenth century, it is certain that at that period no imitation of the Italian

style was thought of in Castile. In Portugal, however, the metrical form of the sonnet was not only known, as 13 it also was in Castile; but the Italian style was likewise imitated in sonnets. The Infante Dom Pedro translated some of Petrarch’s sonnets into Portuguese.15 It may therefore without hesitation be inferred that Dom Pedro, who has never been mentioned as having struck out a new path on the Portuguese Parnassus, merely followed the example of some of his countrymen who lived before him. It is probable, that the mercantile intercourse between Lisbon and the ports of Italy, made the Portuguese early acquainted with Italian literature. But at the period now under consideration, the imitation of the Italian style appears to have been very limited in Portugal; for the old lyric poetry in the national style, began about this time more particularly to unfold its characteristic beauties. According to the testimony of 14 a Spanish writer,16 the Portuguese Cancioneiro Geral contains some poems of the fourteenth century, with the names of the authors affixed to them.

CHRONICLES IN PROSE.

In the fourteenth century too, Portuguese prose improved in precision, after a certain degree of literary consideration had been given to it, in consequence of chronicles being written in the national language. From this period the Portuguese vied with the Castilians in the patriotic task of recording the memorable events of their national history. The style of the Portuguese chronicles of the fourteenth century is, however, completely in the chronicle manner.17 Indeed the Portuguese 15 literature of the fourteenth century presents no prose work, which in point of style equals those written during that period, in the Castilian language, by the Infante Juan Manuel.

INTIMATE CONNECTION OF THE PORTUGUESE AND GALICIAN POETRY—THE GALICIAN POET MACIAS.

In Portugal as in Spain the fifteenth century was the period during which the old national songs and romances flourished in the greatest luxuriance. Since that time Portuguese and Spanish poetry have in general occupied the same degrees of cultivation, and have lent to each other a mutual support, though neither stood in need of the other’s aid. The correspondence between the Castilian and the Portuguese poetry, was at that time particularly promoted by the Galician poets, who though faithful subjects of the Castilian monarchy, still remained true to their mother tongue. Galicia seems to have been the land of romantic sentiment whence the poetry of love exhibited in the lyric compositions of Spain and Portugal was transplanted. No Portuguese or Spaniard is so celebrated in poetic literature, for the influence of love on his fate, as the Galician poet and knight Macias, who lived in the first half of the fifteenth century, and of whose remarkable history a brief sketch may properly be introduced here. Macias, who obtained the surnames

of the enamoured and the great, distinguished himself as a brave warrior against the Moors of Granada, and as an accomplished writer in the literary retinue of the 16 Marquess of Villena.18 But though the marquess appreciated the merits and talents of Macias, he did not approve the romantic passion with which that enthusiast interwove his poetic fancies into the affairs of real life. The marquess strictly prohibited him from continuing a secret intrigue in which he had embarked with a lady, who, through the intervention of the marquess, had become the wife of another knight. But Macias conceived that he could not better prove his chivalrous constancy in love, than by boldly disobeying the commands of his patron. The marquess, however, availing himself of his power as grand master of the order of Calatrava, sent the refractory poet a prisoner to the kingdom of Jaen, on the frontiers of Granada. In his captivity Macias composed his songs of ill-fated love in the Galician language, which at the period of their production were highly esteemed, but which are now

lost with the exception of a few trifles.19 He contrived to forward copies of these songs to his mistress. On the discovery of the correspondence, the poetic boldness of Macias roused the husband of the lady to the most furious pitch of jealousy. Armed cap-a-pee, he set out with the intention of slaying the unfortunate poet. He proceeded to the town of Arjonilla, where Macias was confined, and espying the prisoner at a window, he threw a javelin at him, and killed him on the spot. 17 Some idea of the sensation which this affair produced may be formed from the contents of the old Spanish Cancionero, in which it is frequently mentioned. But the story has more properly its place in the history of Portuguese poetry. The Spanish amatory poets, however extravagant might be their extacies in verse, confined themselves, in real life, within certain boundaries, which were consistent with the habits of society. The Portuguese, on the contrary, and as it would appear, the Galicians likewise, when they indulged in the poetic expression of violent and enthusiastic