VEGA CARPIO, Lope Felix de, a celebrated Spanish poet, was the son of Felix de Vega and Francisea Fernandez, who were both descended from honourable families, and lived in the neighbourhood of Madrid. In that metropolis he was born on the 25th November 1562. He was, according to his own expression, a poet from his cradle; and beginning to make verses before he had learned to write, he used to bribe his elder school-fellows with part of his breakfast, to commit to paper the lines which he had composed. Having lost his father while he was yet still a child, he engaged in a frolic very natural to a lively boy, and wandered with another lad to various parts of Spain, till, having spent their money, and being conducted before a magistrate at Segovia for offering to sell a few trinkets, they were sent home again to Madrid. Soon after this adventure, the young poet was taken under the protection of Geronimo Manrique, bishop of Avila, and began to distinguish himself by his dramatic compositions, which were received with great applause by the public, though their author had not yet completed his education; for, after this period, he became a member of the university of Alcala, where he devoted himself for four years to the study of philosophy. He was then engaged as secretary to the duke of Alva, and wrote his Arcadia in compliment to that patron, who is frequently mentioned in his occasional poems. He quitted that employment on his marriage with Isabel de Urbina, a lady (says his friend and biographer Perez de Montalvan) beautiful without artifice, and virtuous without affectation. His domestic happiness was soon interrupted by a painful incident. Having written some lively verses in ridicule of a person who had taken some injurious freedom with his character, he received a challenge in consequence of his wit; and happening, in the duel which ensued, to give his adversary a dangerous wound, he was obliged to fly from his family, and shelter himself in Valencia. There he resided a considerable time; but connubial affection recalled him to Madrid. His wife died in the year of his return. His affliction at this event led him to relinquish his favourite studies, and embark on board the Armada which was then preparing for the invasion of England. He had a brother who served in that fleet as a lieutenant; and being shot in an engagement with some Dutch vessels, his virtues were celebrated by the afflicted poet, whose heart was peculiarly alive to every generous affection. After the ill success of the Armada, the disconsolate Lope de Vega returned to Madrid, and became secretary to the marquis of Malpica, to whom he has addressed a grateful sonnet. From the service of this patron he passed into the household of the count of Lemos, whom he celebrates as an inimitable poet. He was once more induced to quit his attendance on the great, for the more inviting comforts of a married life. His second choice was Juana de Guardio, of noble birth and singular beauty. By this lady he had two children, a son who died in his infancy, and a daughter named Feliciana, who survived her father. The death of his little boy is said to have hastened that of his wife, whom he had the misfortune to lose in about seven years after his marriage. Having now experienced the precariousness of all human enjoyments, he devoted himself to a religious life, still continuing to produce an astonishing variety of poetical compositions. He undertook the very unpoetical employment of secretary to the Inquisition, and shortly afterwards entered into holy orders. In 1609 he became a kind of honorary member of the brotherhood of St. Francis. His talents procured him many unsolicited honours. Pope Urban VIII. sent him the cross of Malta, with a diploma of Doctor in Divinity, and appointed him to a place of profit in the Apostolic Chamber. He had dedicated his Corona Tragica (a long poem on the fate of Mary queen of Scots) to that learned pontiff. In his seventy-third year he felt the approaches of death, and prepared himself for it with the utmost composure and devotion. His last hours were attended by many of his intimate friends, and particularly his chief patron the duke of Sessa, whom he had made his executor; leaving him the care of his daughter Feliciana, and of his various manuscripts. The manner in which he took leave of those he loved was most tender and affecting. He remarked to his friend Montalvan, that true fame consisted in being good; and that he would willingly exchange all the applauses he had received to add a single deed of virtue to the actions of his life. Having given his dying benediction to his daughter, and performed the last ceremonies of his religion, he expired on the 26th August 1635. The number of his works is immense, but there is no complete and uniform edition. Fr. Cerda Ricosuperintended a “Collecion de las Obras sueltas, assi en prosa como en verso.” Madrid, 1776-9, 21 tom. 4to. This collection does not include his comedies, which would occupy a much larger number of volumes.^[1. See the elegant and tasteful work of Lord Holland, Some Account of the Lives and Writings of Lope Felix de Vega Carpio and Guillen de Castro. Lond. 1817, 2 vols. 8vo. This Life of Lope de Vega was separately published in the year 1806. ]