The evening times., 1898-05-27
LITERATURE OF SPAIN.


things save cruelty finds luminous
example in the practically total abb
sence Of Spanish names from the litera-
ture Of the world. Who but a special
list can mention more than one world
famous Spanish author? Who are
Spain's epic. dramatic, narrative and
lyric poets? Who are her historians.
her critics, her novelists? Who are heI
scientific authors Qeaving out the
Arabs). her philosophers. her essayists.
In the sixteenth century. out Of the
thin soil of neutrality-suspicious. In
authors which neither gods nor men
can tolerate-sprang the immortal Ger.
vantes, the only writer that Spain has
produced who can be at all compared
with the literary geniuses of other peo-
pies. Don Quixote' was the pearl Of
genuinely worthy and ambitious in
tellect, from the literary trash the besl
wits OF Spain could manufacture up tC
that time. This satire Of the common
place chivalric novel then in vogue, has
never been even approached in its style
by any Spaniard, ancient or modern. II
has its high place up in the temple OF
fame, appealing to all hearts and all
heads; admired and loved by learned
and unlearned alike-in a word, the ele-
ments of all that is good in letters.
But aside from Cervantes Spain has
no place in literature comparable with
that Of any of the great nations OF the
Aryan or Semitic races. "Amadis de
Gaul," generally accredited to Spain.
and standing out as a true original
the first and one of the best romances
80 avfl f,f <., n Iy-ty
was not written by a Spaniard, but
by Vasco de Lobeira, a Portuguese. 1t
was translated into Spanish in the be-
ginning Of the sixteenth century. This
work cannot, by the widest stretch of
generosity. be given to Spain. 1t Is
Portuguese, and probably lives in its
Spanish dress because the original is
lost. Had Spain produced "Amadis de
Gaur' and THE Lusiad," these, with
Don Quixote." had saved her. But
Camoens was Portuguese and Luistania
is not Spanish. There is. 1t is true,
THE Poem of the Cid" one Of the
Homeric narrative-epics Of the middle
ages, and If Spain has an epic it is
that. But measured with the perform
ances of other nations this narrative
represents the beginning Of literature
without its development. THE Poem Of
the CID is strongly national. and de-
served better than a single manuscript
to preserve 1t. Take from Spain this
ancient and simple piece and the Don
Quixote" of Cervantes and what has
she left so far as the world at large is
concerned?
A glance at Spain's best writer's
poets, prose writers and dramatists-
will bring forward names that are
His 70 70
toned to the great names Of England.
France, Germany, Italy and even Rus
sia. Her best lyric poets are Fernando
de Herrera and Fray Luis de Leon,
both of whom were dead before the be-
ginning of the seventeenth century.
Herrera is of interest only to the deep
student of letters and their growth.
Luis de Leon is a religious poet, and is
accounted the most masterful OF the
Spanish lyrists. The other lyric poets
OF Spain-very few in number as COM
pared with those of almost any other
nation of Importance in Europe-are
entirely third or fourth rate. The first
Spanish historian was Geronimo Zurita,
a Cervantes in his way. who came as
relief from the supersdtious and child
ish crudities of the chroniclers.
Following Cervantes arose the nrst
of the dramatists Spain produced he
was Lope de Vega, to whom Is given
the sole credit for lifting the Spanish
drama into a position of dignity in any
manner worthy the word He defined
the drama in Spain and gave II It's
mode. He was contemporaneous with
the Elizabethan dramatists. 1t had
been marvellous, indeed. II Spain had
escaped the great movement that re-
formed the literature of France, Eng
land and Germany at that time, but
Lope de Vegas works are sorry as COM
pared with those of the Elizabethans,
with the fruit of the renaissance. with
the strong pulses of thought that STIR
red the Europe of his time
I,op ede Vega wrote, ii is said, 1.soO
plays and 400 other works. or these
several were epics now wholly forgot
ten. His dramas lacked finish quite.
The unities were unknown to him. The
entire mass Of his work, gauged by
standards of criticism other than Span
ish. was weak, even coarse. This poet
was the very crest of long wave OF
poetry that rolled over Spain. long but
not deep; and even Lope de Vega, the
only one that can now be recalled. Is re-
membered only by the historian. The
hordes of poets that lived with him rose
no higher than the pun or the vulgar
metaphor. The best they could do was
to call their enemies-the English. as
now the Americans-pigs. At that time
the poets of Spain turned out epics oy
the thousand. Ercilla Zuniga at
tempted the epic in his "Araucana,"
and proved that he had not yet under
stood the very essentials of epic poetry.
Cristoval de Virues was Spanish
dramatist who might have lived as a
writer of tragedies had the Spanish
people been English or German. And
critics have il that his Semiramis'
and "Cassandra" are truly noble TRACE
dies Late in the age came Calderon de
la Barca, who marked the limit oi
Spain's best effort in the drama. He
brought Spanish literature to the be-
ginning of the eighteenth century.
For 200 years Spain has wallowed in
the barbarism of a nation without a
book il can call its own. With the dawn
of the eighteenth century French, 1tal-
ian and English ideas overran the pen
insula, with the result that the healthy
growth of national expression ana Or
isination was killed The names of
modern Spanish writers are unknown
to English readers. In this time, when
HUNGARIAN, Polish and Russian writers
find a liberal and appreciative public
in England and America: when Per-
sian, Arabic and Hindu poets lack no
translators; when Norwegian authors
have enthusiastic admirers in English
and American cities, Spain has not
single writer whose thoughts appeal to
the English-speaking world. SPANS S
literary glory is like her military glory
chiefly spangles. Her failure in let
ters has been brought about by the
same organic cause that has wrought
her failure in all things besides. She
is unreformed and unrevolutionized.