Concerning CRISTÓVAL, who hath the name
Of DE VILLAROEL,[158] ye must believe
That he full well deserveth that his name
Ne'er should oblivion's gloomy waters cleave;
His wit let all admire, his worth acclaim
With awe, his wit and worth let all receive
As the most exquisite we can discover,
Where'er the sun doth shine, or earth doth cover.
The streams of eloquence which did of old
Flow from the breast of stately Cicero,
Which, gladdening the Athenian people bold,
Did honour on Demosthenes bestow,
The minds o'er whom Time hath already rolled—
Who bore themselves so proudly long ago—
Master FRANCISCO DE MEDINA,[159] now
Let them before thy lofty learning bow.
Rightly thou canst, renownèd Betis, now
With Mincio, Arno, and with Tiber vie,
Uplift in happiness thy hallowed brow,
And spread thee in new bosoms spaciously:
Since Heaven wished, that doth thy bliss allow,
Such fame to give thee, honour, dignity,
As he doth bring unto thy banks so fair,
BALTASAR DEL ALCÁZAR,[160] who dwells there.
Another ye will see, summed up in whom
Apollo's rarest learning will ye see,
Which doth the semblance of itself assume,
When spread through countless others it may be;
In him 'tis greater, in him it doth come
To such a height of excellence that he,
The Licentiate MOSQUERA[161] well can claim
To rival e'en Apollo's self in fame.
Behold! yon prudent man who doth adorn
And deck with sciences his limpid breast,
Shrinks not from gazing on the fountain born
In wisdom's waters from our mountain's crest;
In the clear peerless stream he doth not scorn
To quench his thirst, and thus thou flourishest,
DOMINGO DE BECERRA,[162] here on earth,
For all recount the mighty doctor's worth.
Words I might speak of famous ESPINEL[163]
That pass beyond the wit of human kind,
Concerning all the sciences that dwell,
Nurtured by Phoebus' breath, within his mind;
But since my tongue the least part cannot tell
Of the great things that in my soul I find,
I say no more save that he doth aspire
To Heaven, whether he take his pen or lyre.
If ruddy Phoebus ye would fain espy
With blood-red Mars in equal balance weighed,
On great CARRANZA[164] seek to cast an eye,
In whom each hath his constant dwelling made;
With such discretion, art, dexterity,
Hath he his power o'er pen and lance displayed
That the dexterity once cleft apart
He hath brought back to science and to art.
Of LÁZARO LUIS IRANZO,[165] lyre
Than mine must needs be tuned with better art,
To sing the good that Heaven doth inspire,
The worth that Heaven fosters in his heart:
By Mars' and Phoebus' path he doth inspire
To climb unto the lofty heights apart
Where human thought scarce reacheth, yet, despite
Fortune and fate, he will reach them aright.
BALTASAR DE ESCOBAR,[166] who doth adorn
The famèd shores of Tiber's stream to-day,
Whom the broad banks of hallowed Betis mourn,
Their beauty lost when he is far away,
A fertile wit, if he perchance return
To his beloved native land, I pay
Unto his youthful and his honoured brow
The laurel and the honour that I owe.