[528] For example:—
Hasta el cordon vestido de ladrillo
de tierra solo el parapeto aprueba,
a quantos en su fábrica molestan
pagan con lo que duran lo que cuestan:
la linea de defensa
al tiro de mosquete no aventage,
ni excedan de noventa,
ni tengan menos de sesenta grados
los ángulos franqueados;
capaces los traveses,
y las golas no estrechas,
entre sí guarden proporciones tales,
que por perfecionar algunas cosas
no queden las demás defectuosas.
Selva militar y polit. Distincion,
(that is to say, Section,) vi. § 2.
[529] For example:—
La antigüedad llamó advertidamiente
los consejeros ojos,
son del cuerpo politico y humano
adalides forzosos,
que han de haber visto mucho,
verlo de lejos y de cerca todo,
y recibir especies diferentes,
y por los nervios opticos
comunicarlas al comun sentido,
representando fieles los obgetos,
sin ocultar virtudes ni defetos;
el Reyno que no admite compañia
anda a ciegas sin ellos,
la prudencia Real está librada
en saber escogellos,
y a cuidadoso examen obligada.
1. c. Distincion xxiii. § 2.
[530] The Duke of Veragua’s letter, together with Calderon’s answer, and the catalogue to which the correspondence bears reference, are printed in La Huerta’s Teatro Hespañol, vol. iii. part ii.
[531] Satisfactory accounts of the various collections and editions of the dramas, and other less important works of Calderon, are contained in Dieze’s Remarks on Velasquez, p. 242 and p. 341. The dramas of Calderon, which La Huerta has published in his Teatro Hespañol, afford but a partial idea of the poet’s talent; for those he has selected are all Comedias de Capa y Espada, two only excepted; and of these two, one, which is styled a Comedia heroyca, belongs to the mythological class.
[532] See the definition of the various classes of the Spanish comedy, p. 364, 5, 6, 7.
[533] According to the testimony of travellers, even the most unlettered Spaniard is so accustomed to follow without effort a complicated dramatic plot, that after witnessing the representation of a piece, he will describe all the minute details of the romantic story, while a well informed foreigner, familiar with the Spanish language, can with difficulty comprehend a few of the scenes.
[534] A very superficial criticism on Calderon’s dramatic works, written by Blas Nasarre, who was prepossessed in favour of French literature, is contained in the History of Spanish Poetry, by Velasquez. See Dieze’s edition, p. 341.