Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-19

Portuguese literature traced to it's be-
ginning goes back only to 1125, when
Egaz Moniz
Beginning of coelo wrote
Portuguese Letters. IN ms the t,s' dialect pDle
of Galicia This dialect closely resembied
that Of Provence The Portuguese kings
received the bards Of Provence at their
court and showered favors upon them.
Under the dist inguished patronage of the
court the Provencal writers hourished so
that all contemporary literature. includ-
ing Portuguese, was discouraged Not un-
til King DiniZ. father OF learning as
well as plowman and patron OF agri-
culture. set about collecting Portuguese
poems for ublication did Portugal boast
a literature of It's own. Portuguese. Gan
clan and Provencal authors were repre-
scented in the first book compiled by
Farmer Dtniz. consisting chiefly Oh
1t was in the sixteenth century that the
epic poem and the chivalric romance
f1ourished Sa Da Miranda. Antonio Fer
reira. Luis de Camoens. Diega, Bernardes,
Andrade, Caminha and others made
fame for themselves as writer's. boasting
elegance and variety. Epistles, sonnets:
hymns, odes and elegies were produced
in considerable numbers. But "Os Lusi-
adas"-the Portuguese-was the one real
ly great production and is the only one
that remains prominent today IN ali
languages. Next to this in magnitude
came Cort Reals Siege of Diu' and the
"Shpwreck of Sepulveda
Romance was much written, but Portu-
guese libraries do not contain work
OF this character that approaches the
Importance of the epic of Camoens. Inc
drama began in the sixteenth century
with rude rustic dialogues presented at
Christmas and consisting of comedy. The
Portuguese dramatists soon began to
study PIautus and the Greek dramattsts
and tragedy made its bow on the Portu-
guese stage in the form of Ines de Cas-
well established. Luis de Camoens also
wrote several plays. among them AM
phitryon" and "Seleucus.''
While the fictionists, poets and drama
Portugal the chroniclers began to do
more digniied work and history bloom
ed forth. Barros wrote The Conquest
of India with all of the purity OF style
he had employed as writer of romance.
He has been called the Livy of Portu-
gal. The commentaries of Alphonso de
Albuquerque were written by nephew of
the explorer. The voyages of Pinto. who
explored China, Tartary and Arabia. and
The Voyages Of Magellan were writ
ten by vasco de Caminha.
In no country more strikingly than In
Portugal is the kinship Of the greatness
Of state and the, virility Of its lltera-
ture illustrated At the opening of the
was in bondage. many poets attempted
limitations Of the epics Of Camoens. A
pathetic feature Of these writings is
their lofty patriotism at time when
Spain had robbed Portugal of political
independence.
Among modern Portuguese poets who
have made their mark are Rogue Car
valho Moreira,
Modern Mouznho de- AL
1r,A buquerque, An
1oA'u6 "oSo "AA'SAS' tonic de Serpa
| and Joao de Lenos. ]. B. Gomez, Pimen-
ia de Aguiar. Mendes Leal and others
have recently revived the drama so
that it shows some of it's former vigor.
Vastillo Branco is a modern novelist OF
note. Joao de Deus is d lyric poet of
standing Theophile Braga, who was
called from his books to head the pro-
visionai government. is historian and
essayist who has won recognition in
Europe.
If the Portuguese establish a successful
republic the country will doubtless pro-
duce another company Of brilliant writ
ers, although none will have again the OPP
portunity to write Of such national ex-
plo is as fired the enthusiasm Of
CamoenS.