[866] Sedano, Parnaso Español, Tom. V. p. xxxi. Lope de Vega praises Ledesma more than once, unreasonably. His “Conceptos,” in the first edition, Madrid, 1600, is a small volume of 258 leaves, but I believe the subsequent editions contain more poems. His “Juegos de la Noche Buena,” Barcelona, 1611, which I have never seen, is strictly forbidden by the Index Expurgatorius of 1667, p. 64.
[867] Moro Expósito, Paris, 1834, 8vo, Tom. I. p. xvii.
[868] It is a striking and important fact, to be taken in this connection, that Lope de Vega, though opposed to the new school upon principle, was a correspondent and admirer of Marini, to whom he sent his portrait and dedicated a play; and of whom, in the extravagance of his flattery, he said that Tasso was but as a dawn to the full glory of Marini. Through this channel, therefore, and through many others, traces of which may be found in the collection of Italian eulogies on Lope de Vega, we can at once see how Marini may easily have exercised an influence over the poets of Spain contemporary with him. See Lope’s “Jardin,” (Obras, Tom. I. p. 486), first printed in 1622, and his Dedication to “Virtud, Pobreza y Mujer” (Comedias, Tom. XX., Madrid, 1629, f. 203).
Of the influence of classical antiquity in corrupting the proper Castilian style, I know of no instance earlier than that of Vasco Diaz de Frexenal, who published as early as 1547. His object seems to have been to introduce Latin words and constructions, just as the Pleiades did in France, at the same time and a little later. This can be seen in his “Veinte Triunfos,” chiefly devoted to a poetical account of events in the life of Charles V.; such as his marriage, the birth of his son Philip II., his coronation at Bologna, etc.,—all written in the old measures, and published without notice of the place or year, but, necessarily, after 1530, since that was the date of the Emperor’s coronation. Thus, in the “Prohemio,” where he speaks of dedicating his “Twenty Triumphs” to the twenty Spanish Dukes, Frexenal says, “Baste que la ferventisima afeccion, y la observantisima veneracion, que á vuestras dignisimas y felicisimas Señorias devo, á la dedicacion de mis veinte triunphos me han convidado. Como quiera que mas coronas ducales segun mi noticia en la indomita España no hay, verdaderamente el presente es de poco precio, y las obras del de menos valor, y el autor dellas de menos estima. Pero su apetitosa observancia, su afeccionada fidelidad, y su optativa servidumbre, por las nobilisimas bondades, y prestantisimas virtudes de vuestras excelentes y dignisimas Señorias en algun precio estimadas ser merecen.”
He Latinizes less in the poems that follow, because it is more difficult to do it in verse, but not because he desires it less, as the following lines from the “Triumpho Nuptial Vandalico” (f. ix.) prove plainly:—
Al tiempo que el fulminado
Apolo muy radial
Entrava en el primer grado,
Do nasció el vello dorado
En el equinocial;