l. 16. naricismo, nosiness.
l. 18. Anás: cf. St. Luke iii. 2, etc.
[Page 163].—l. 1. This epistle was addressed to Olivares († 1645), the favorite and minister of Philip IV.
[Page 164].—l. 21. mal hablada, rude-tongued.
l. 22. This sonnet contains a prophecy which recent events have consummated. Un godo: Pelayo, who, after the defeat of Roderick the Goth, gathered about him in the cave of Covadonga in Asturias the remnants of the Spanish army, and began the work of reconquest.
l. 24. Betis: the Guadalquivir.—Genil: a river of the province of Granada.
[Page 165].—l. 1. Navarra: Navarre was annexed by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1512.
l. 2. casamiento: i.e., the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon with Isabella of Castile and Leon. Sicily belonged to the crown of Aragon at the time of the marriage; Naples was formally annexed to it in 1504; Milan was acquired during the struggle between France and Spain in northern Italy.
l. 5. Muerte infeliz: upon the death of Dom Sebastian, king of Portugal, who was slain in Morocco in 1578, the Portuguese crown was assumed by his uncle Enrique. The latter died without an heir in 1580, and Philip II. annexed Portugal to Spain.
l. 6. Godos: i.e., the Spaniards as descendants of the Visigoths.