It may be thought that too little attention has been paid to the Portuguese. I will not venture to assert that the criticism is ill founded. Still I shall plead by way of excuse that what the lesser Peninsular nation did in literature was hardly sufficiently original to deserve fuller notice in a general survey of a very fertile period. Sà de Miranda and his contemporaries, even Camoens and his follower Corte-Real, were after all little more than adapters of Italian forms. They were doing in kindred language what was also being done by the Spanish “learned poets.” In Camoens there was no doubt a decided superiority of accomplishment, but the others seem to me to have been inferior to Garcilaso, Luis de Leon, or Hernan de Herrera. And this “learned poetry” is in itself the least valuable part of the literature of the Peninsula. In what is original and important, the share of the Portuguese is dubious or null. They have a doubtful right to the Libros de Caballerías. They have a very insignificant share in the stage, and no part in the Novelas de Pícaros. Barros and the other historians were men of the same class as the Spaniards Oviedo or Gómara. For these reasons, I have thought it consistent with the scheme of the book to treat them as very subordinate.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| CHAPTER I. | |
| THE LATER RENAISSANCE IN SPAIN. | |
| The unity of Spanish literature—Limits of treatment—A prevailingcharacteristic—The division into native and imitative—Theinheritance from the fifteenth century—Spanish verse—TheCancioneros—The romances—The Romanceros—The qualityof this poetry—Spain and Italy—The Diálogo de la Lengua—Proseof the early sixteenth century—The influence of theInquisition | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| THE SPANISH LEARNED POETS. | |
| The starting-point of the classic school—The natural influence ofItaly—Prevalence of the classic school—Its aristocratic spirit—Whatwas imitated from the Italians—Its technique andmatter—Artificiality of the work of the school—Boscan—Garcilaso—Theirimmediate followers—The schools of Salamancaand Seville—Góngora and Góngorism—The epics—The Araucana—TheLusiads | [30] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| THE GROWTH AND DECADENCE OF THE SPANISH DRAMA. | |
| The national character of the Spanish drama—The first beginningsof the religious plays—The starting-point of the secular play—Bartoloméde Torres Naharro—Lope de Rueda—Lope deVega’s life—His influence on the drama—The conditions ofthe work—Contemporaries and followers of Lope—Calderon—Calderon’sschool | [60] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| FORMS OF THE SPANISH DRAMA. | |
| The prevailing quality of the Spanish drama—Typical examples—LaDama Melindrosa—El Tejedor de Segovia—El Condenadopor Desconfiado—The plays on “honour”—A Secreto AgravioSecreta Venganza—The Auto Sacramental—the loa—The VerdaderoDios Pan—Los Dos Habladores | [91] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| SPANISH PROSE ROMANCE. | |
| Pastorals and short stories—The original work of the Spaniard—TheLibros de Caballerías—The Amadis of Gaul—Followers ofAmadis of Gaul—Influence and character of these tales—Thereal cause of their decline—The character of the Novelas dePícaros—The Celestina—Lazarillo de Tormés—Guzman deAlfarache—The followers of Mateo Aleman—Quevedo—Cervantes—Hislife—His work—The minor things—Don Quixote | [124] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| SPAIN—HISTORIANS, MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS, AND THE MYSTICS. | |
| Spanish historians—Histories of particular events—Early historiansof the Indies—General historians of the Indies—Gómara,Oviedo, Las Casas, Herrera, the Inca Garcilaso—Mendoza,Moncada, and Melo—General histories—Ocampo, Zurita,Morales—Mariana—The decadence—Solis—Miscellaneouswriters—Gracian and the prevalence of Góngorism—Themystics—Spanish mysticism—The influence of the Inquisitionon Spanish religious literature—Malon de Chaide—Juan deÁvila—Luis de Granada—Luis de Leon—Santa Teresa—Juande la Cruz—Decadence of the mystic writers | [157] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| ELIZABETHAN POETRY. | |
| The starting-point—Italian influence—The opposition to rhyme—Excusesfor this—Its little effect—Poetry of first half of Elizabeth’sreign—Spenser—Order of his work—His metre—Characterof his poetry—Sir P. Sidney—The Apologie for Poetrie—Hissonnets and lyrics—Watson—The Sonneteers—Otherlyric poetry—The collections and song-books—The historicalpoems—Fitz-Geoffrey and Markham—Warner—Daniel—Drayton—Thesatiric poets—Lodge—Hall—Marston—Donne | [185] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| THE EARLIER DRAMATISTS. | |
| The first plays—Resistance to classic influence—Advantages ofthis—And the limitations—The dramatic quality—Classic,Spanish, and French drama—Unity in the English Plays—RalphRoister Doister—Gammer Gurton’s Needle—Gorboduc—Formationof the theatre—Lyly—Greene—Peele—Kyd—Marlowe—Characterof these writers—Shakespeare—Guesses abouthis life—Order of his work—Estimates of Shakespeare—Divisionsof his work—The Poems—The Dramas—The reality ofShakespeare’s characters | [223] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| THE ELIZABETHAN PROSE-WRITERS. | |
| Elizabethan prose—Two schools of writers—Roger Ascham—Hisbooks and style—Webbe and Puttenham—The sentence—Euphuism—TheArcadia—Sidney’s style—Short stories—Nash’sUnfortunate Traveller—Nash and the pamphleteers—MartinMarprelate—Origin of the Marprelate Tracts—The Diotrephes—Courseof the controversy—Its place in literary history—Hooker—TheEcclesiastical Polity | [259] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| FRANCE. POETRY OF THE LATER RENAISSANCE. | |
| The Pléiade—Ronsard—The lesser stars—The Défense et Illustrationde la Langue Française—The work of Ronsard—His place inpoetry—Joachim du Bellay—Remi Belleau—Baïf—Du Bartas—D’Aubigné—Thedramatic work of the Pléiade—Jodelle—Grevinand La Taille—Montchrestien—The comedy—La Reconnue—Causesof failure of early dramatic literature | [290] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| FRENCH PROSE-WRITERS OF THE LATER SIXTEENTH CENTURY. | |
| Abundance of later sixteenth-century prose—A distinction—Sully—Bodin—Thegreat memoir-writers—Carloix—La Noue—D’Aubigné—Monluc—Brantôme—TheSatyre Ménippée—Itsorigin—Its authors—Its form and spirit—Montaigne—HisEssays—The scepticism of Montaigne—His style—Charronand Du Vair | [326] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| THE LATER RENAISSANCE IN ITALY. | |
| The later Renaissance in Italy—Torquato Tasso—His work—TheGerusalemme Liberata—Giordano Bruno—Literary characterof his work—Giambattista Guarini | [352] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| CONCLUSION | [367] |
| INDEX | [379] |
THE LATER RENAISSANCE.
CHAPTER I.
THE LATER RENAISSANCE IN SPAIN.
THE UNITY OF SPANISH LITERATURE—LIMITS OF TREATMENT—A PREVAILING CHARACTERISTIC—THE DIVISION INTO NATIVE AND IMITATIVE—THE INHERITANCE FROM THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY—SPANISH VERSE—THE “CANCIONEROS”—THE ROMANCES—THE “ROMANCEROS”—THE QUALITY OF THIS POETRY—SPAIN AND ITALY—THE “DIÁLOGO DE LA LENGUA”—PROSE OF THE EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY—THE INFLUENCE OF THE INQUISITION.