l authors and parts of the Old
Testament. In gentleness of character and in the purity
in which he wrote his native tongue, he resembles the
Frenchman Pascal. His poems are in vol. 37 of the _Bibl.
de Aut. Esp._ Cf. Ticknor, Period II, Cap. IX, and
_Introduction_, p. xxii. =La vida retirada= is written in
imitation of Horace's _Beatus ille_.

=9=.--17 to =10=.--3. In these lines there is much poetic
inversion of word-order. The logical order would be: _Que_
('for') _el estado de los soberbios grandes no le enturbia
el pecho, ni se admira del dorado techo, en jaspes
sustentado, fabricado del sabio moro_.

5. =pregonera=, as its gender indicates, modifies =voz=.

=12=.--10. In the sixteenth century great fortunes were
made by Spaniards who exploited the mines of their
American colonies across the seas.

II. Note, this unusual _enjambement_; but the _mente_ of
adverbs still has largely the force of a separate word.

=Soneto: A Cristo Crucificado=. This famous sonnet has
been ascribed to Saint Theresa and to various other
writers, but without sufficient proof. Cf. Fouche-Delbosc
in _Revue Hispanique_, II, 120-145; and _ibid._, VI,
56-57. The poem was translated by J.Y. Gibson (_The Cid
Ballads_, etc., 1887, II, 144), and there is also a
version attributed to Dryden.
page 260
=13=.--Lope Felix de Vega Carpio (1562-1635) was the most
fertile playwright ever known to the world. Alone he
created the Spanish drama almost out of nothing. Born
at Madrid, where he spent most of his life, Lope was an
infant prodigy who fulfilled the promise of his youth. His
first play was written at the age of thirteen. He fought
against the Portuguese in the expedition of 1583 and took
part in the disastrous Armada of 1588. His life was marked
by unending literary success, numerous love-affairs and
occasional punishments therefor. In 1614 he was ordained
priest. For the last twenty years of his life he was the
acknowledged dictator of Spanish letters.

Lope's writings include some 2000 plays, of which perhaps
500 are extant, epics, pastorals, parodies, short stories
and minor poems beyond telling. He undertook to write
in every genre attempted by another and seldom scored
a complete failure. His _Obras completas_ are being
published by the Spanish Academy (1890-); vol. 1 contains
his life by Barrera. Most of his non-dramatic poems are in
vol. 38 of the _Bibl. de Aut. Esp.