l. 18. Rodrigo: i.e., Rodrigo de Bivar, the Cid.
l. 31. Agar: Hagar, regarded as ancestress of the Saracens.
[Page 241].—l. 7. Tarifa: on the Strait of Gibraltar. Here the Arabs landed in 711 (cf. [note to p. 100, l. 26]), and, according to the legend, the place was betrayed into their hands by Count Julian.
l. 16. pueblo numantino: a reference to Numantia in Hispania Citerior, taken by Scipio Africanus, after a bloody siege, in 133 B.C.
[JUAN NICASIO GALLEGO]. A cleric who spent much time at Madrid and was a close friend of Quintana. Like the latter, he is renowned for his heroic odes. The bulk of his verse is small. It is marked throughout by excellence of style and sincerity of feeling. In particular, his elegy on The death of the Duchess of Frías,—an event which called forth much verse—shows how capable he was of real emotion. Cf. the ed. of his poems by the Academia de la Lengua, Madrid, 1854; and vol. III of the Poetas líricos del siglo XVIII in the Biblioteca; see also Blanco-García, Historia, 2ª ed., I, 13 ff.
[Page 244].—l. 1. On May 2, 1808, occurred the first rising of the Spaniards against the arms of the French invader. This date marks the beginning of the Guerra de la Independencia, known in English as the Peninsular War.
l. 29. Mantua: the Italian town of this name was taken by Napoleon in 1797, after a famous siege.
[Page 246].—l. 19. Daoiz, Velarde: leaders in the rising of May 2, 1808; slain by the French.
[Page 247].—l. 5. gonces, i.e., goznes.
[Page 248].—l. 7. hijos de Pelayo, i.e., the Spaniards: cf. [note to p. 164, l. 22].