No earlier poem in the Spanish language, if we except, perhaps, some of the early ballads, is to be compared with the Coplas of Manrique for depth and truth of feeling; and few of any subsequent period have reached the beauty or power of its best portions. Its versification, too, is excellent; free and flowing, with occasionally an antique air and turn, that are true to the character of the age that produced it, and increase its picturesqueness and effect. But its great charm is to be sought in a beautiful simplicity, which, belonging to no age, is the seal of genius in all.
The Coplas, as might be anticipated, produced a strong impression from the first. They were printed in 1492, within sixteen years after they were written, and are found in several of the old collections a little later. Separate editions followed. One, with a very dull and moralizing prose commentary by Luis de Aranda, was published in 1552. Another, with a poetical gloss in the measure of the original, by Luis Perez, appeared in 1561; yet another, by Rodrigo de Valdepeñas, in 1588; and another, by Gregorio Silvestre, in 1589;—all of which have been reprinted more than once, and the first two many times. But in this way the modest Coplas themselves became so burdened and obscured, that they almost disappeared from general circulation, till the middle of the last century, since which time, however, they have been often reprinted, both in Spain and in other countries, until they seem at last to have taken that permanent place among the most admired portions of the elder Spanish literature, to which their merit unquestionably entitles them.[687]
The death of the younger Manrique was not unbecoming his ancestry and his life. In an insurrection which occurred in 1479, he served on the loyal side, and pushing a skirmish too adventurously, was wounded and fell. In his bosom were found some verses, still unfinished, on the uncertainty of all human hopes; and an old ballad records his fate and appropriately seals up, with its simple poetry, the chronicle of this portion, at least, of his time-honored race.[688]
Another family that flourished in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, and one that continued to be distinguished in that of Charles the Fifth, was marked with similar characteristics, serving in high places in the state and in the army, and honored for its success in letters. It was the family of the Urreas. The first of the name who rose to eminence was Lope, created Count of Aranda in 1488; the last was Gerónimo de Urrea, who must be noticed hereafter as the translator of Ariosto, and as the author of a treatise on Military Honor, which was published in 1566.
Both the sons of the first Count of Aranda, Miguel and Pedro, were lovers of letters; but Pedro only was imbued with a poetical spirit beyond that of his age, and emancipated from its affectations and follies. His poems, which he published in 1513, are dedicated to his widowed mother, and are partly religious and partly secular. Some of them show that he was acquainted with the Italian masters. Others are quite untouched by any but national influences; and among the latter is the following ballad, recording the first love of his youth, when a deep distrust of himself seemed to be too strong for a passion which was yet evidently one of great tenderness:—
In the soft and joyous summer-time,
When the days stretch out their span,
It was then my peace was ended all,
It was then my griefs began.
When the earth is clad with springing grass,