Yet in the following stanza he calls himself "Soldado de una guerra." In these verses, and in many others indeed in which he speaks of himself, his expressions are so obscure, and the whole stanza so ill worded, that it is scarcely possible to guess even at what he means. The translation of these verses seems to be:—"Nor did my fortune change on seeing me in the third lustre of my tender age, with a drawn sword among the brave Portuguese at Tercera, nor afterwards in the English ports and waves on board a Spanish fleet."
[78]Quarterly Review, vol XVIII.
[79]Quarterly Review, vol. XVIII.
[80]In this and other quotations the reader must not expect sense. Even while reprehending Gongora for obscurity, from carelessness or from a notion of fine writing, Lope's meaning can very often only be guessed at. This may partly be attributed to misprints; in his best poems he is, for a Spaniard, singularly perspicuous.
[81]Lord Holland calls Lope's antagonist, a gentleman of considerable rank and importance—Montalvan's expressions denote the contrary: "un hidalgo entre dos luces, de poca hacienda, &c."
[82]Lord Holland's Life of Lope de Vega. Were these MSS. examined, we might discover the real history of Lope's life at this period.
[83]Vide Sonnets 46, 66, 82, 92, &c. of Rimas Humanas, parte 1.
"Crióme don Geronimo Manrique:
estudié en Alcalá, bachilleréme,
y aun estuve de ser clerigo á pique:
cegóme una muger, aficionéme,
perdoneselo Dios, ya soy casado,
quien tiene tanto mal, ninguno teme."
Epistola undecima.