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JOURNEY 'ARMASSUS
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JOURNEY TO PARNASSUS.
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JOURNEY TO PARNASSUS COMPOSED BY
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH TERCETS WITH PREFACE AND ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES
BY
JAMES
Y.
GIBSON
TO WHICH ARE SUBJOINED THE ANTIQUE TEXT
AND TRANSLATION OF THE LETTER OF CERVANTES TO MATEO VAZQUEZ
LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH AND I
Paternoster Square 1883
CO.
Thou, who
The
art listening,
sweet recital of
Shalt hear
new
if
this
thou heed aright '
'
Journey
grand,
things of exquisite delight.
Ch.
viii,
p.
237.
TO MARGARITA. Across the gorse-clad common, sprent with gold, Through lanes of black-thorn, bright with blooms of snow,
sunny slopes, with daisies all aglow. walked, and talked of things both new and old.
Up
We In
memory of
those Spring-days, loved so well,
I send to thee this tiny,
modest gem,
Dropped from
a Spanish monarch's diadem. Or, shall I say, his cross of San Miguel.
Such wealth of jewels had that poet-king, This little straggling pearl forgotten lay,
And
connoisseurs,
Disdained to pick
To me And
it
who up,
it
on the
way, —passed the common thing!
seemed to gleam with light untold, so with mickle pains, and mickle fretting, I coaxed it into this plain English setting.
To
it
wile
its lustre
forth with English gold.
thou this pearl to wear. glance will then be kind If not, what matter ? Beauty's in the mind I'm pleased if thou be pleased to think it fair.
Thyself a
pearl, deign
Mayhap
the
critics'
J.
Tun bridge-Wells, April, i88z.
;
;
Y. G.
CONTENTS. Translator's Preface
Of the Portrait and
........ Pedigree
PAGE ix-lxv
.
Ixvii-lxxv
Author's Dedication, Prologue, and Sonnet
1-7
its
.
.
Journey to Parnassus, Spanish Text and English Version
Appendix
8-261
to the " Parnassus "
263-297
Letter of Cervantes to Mateo Vazquez during
his
Captivity
in
Algiers
Notes and Illustrative Pieces
b
.
.
299-327 329
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. "
Good wine
needs no bush," and a good poem
should need no prologue. Cervantes was evidently of this opinion, for the single enigmatical sentence
with which he introduces the piquant olive
this delightful satire, like
which ushers
in a good Spanish was intended to dinner, quicken the palates of simply his readers. We would gladly follow his example, and allow this Parnassus-Journey of his, tricked out in the choicest
English and the smoothest Tevz.a rima
at our command, to present itself to English readers are without the formality of an Introduction. the more tempted to do so, inasmuch as we find,
We
on perusing the admirable French version of the Voyage au Parnasse by
taking scholar thinks
it
M.
Guardia, that
this pains-
needful to preface
it
with a
learned and laborious Introduction of well-nio;h pages, and to supplement
dictionary of 135
200
with a long biographical pages, while the little poem it
X
Translator
of 125 pages, wedged
s
Preface.
between two such
in
We
treatises, has hardly breathing-space. confess that for such a task as this
and
ability
less
A
inclination.
bulky-
humbly
we have
little
satire that requires
much minute commentary is manifestly defunct, and may be regarded as a curious fossil, of interest
so
We
only to the antiquarian. such is not the case with
no such extraneous
It needs
There
is
enough of native
even to fascinate
all
make
bold to say that
poem of Cervantes. to make it intelligible.
this little
aid
vitality in
it
to interest and
readers of the right sort.
Though
one of the children of Cervantes' old age, produced in his sixty-seventh year, it has a sprightliness and vigour worthy of his prime.
humour which
peculiar
" overflows in his at times
it
It
is
instinct
with that
sparkles in his Novels,
and
Don
Quixote," and which, though to seems run riot, is redeemed from the
charge of utter extravagance by heartiness.
And
there
is
its
intensely
human
wisdom too combined with
M. Guardia truly says " The reader, who would make this Journey of Parnassus in the wit
;
for as
:
company with Cervantes, an unequalled guide,
him not only not allow him to sleep of the grand school, of
will find in
who will
by the way, but also a critic rare sagacity, of exquisite taste, unrivalled most
difficult
smile and of
art
— the
art
in
that
of teaching truth with a
making wisdom lovable."
Translator s Preface.
But
poem
its
to us to give this delectable
chief charm and value
revelation
the
which seems
that
offers
it
man who,
creative genius
of the inner
is
life
after Shakespeare,
of
xi
his age,
the curious
and
self-
aspirations of
was the foremost
and whose
life,
unlike that
of
his great contemporary, v/as chequered with numberless " moving accidents by flood and field." Shakespeare, in his Sonnets, gives us a certain measure
by which to
test the
that possessed him, is still
untouched.
nature and depth of the passion
though the heart of the mystery But Cervantes is much more un-
Whoever
reserved and communicative. spell
of
this
felt
the
Wizard of the South must knov/ how
his
is
personality
stamped,
has
like a hall-mark,
on every-
thing he wrote; how the romance of his life is interwoven with the romance of his writings, so that a peculiar loving interest in the matchless story-teller is
born, and increases with our love for his works.
All the world
with his
knows
that this
Don fixate.
is
In that
eminently the case tale of tales, and
behind the visor of the immortal knight, who seems born for no other reason than to banish "loathed "
Melancholy
from the world, and replace
"heart-easing
Mirth" and "Laughter holding both
his sides,"
we
are confronted with the face
whose eyes betray no spark of enthusiasm tempered with
it
with
of a man,
insanity, but a glowing
all
sorts
of humorous
'Translator s Preface.
xii
gleamings
;
whose mobile
lips
have always a winning
smile for his friends, and a light curl of irony for his foes
;
whose brow, furrowed with
care,
and sorrow,
and thought, bespeaks the man of vast experience, both of men and things, which gives him the right and
power
to speak
in fact,
on
all
one of those
matters that concern humanity rare heroic characters,
;
of gentle
manners, splendid gifts, and noble thoughts, whom know and to love is of itself a liberal education.
to
If such loving personal interest has
any of our
readers
grown up
in
by a thoughtful study of the
La Mancha,
adventures of the Knight of
it
Vk'ill
of the Journey certainly not be lessened by a perusal to Parnassus. For herein Cervantes openly takes up the role of his as simple,
to
as
Quixote, and with a faith undaunted, he sets himself
a task as hopeless as the
hero's. less
own Don
and a courage
most desperate of his is nothing more nor
This Herculean labour
than to banish
mediocrity from the realm of
Spanish poesy, and to sweep from
which had become
as foul as
its
sacred precincts,
an Augean
stable, all
shams, lies, hypocrisies, and vulgar baseness whatsoever. A Quixotic purpose truly in any age or country, but doubly Quixotic in a land which, in the time of Cervantes, was overrun with a perfect plague
of poetastry interest that
!
To
say the truth,
we take in the
it is
enterprise
but a mild sort of itself,
though the
Translator surroundings of
it,
s
and the period
place, are sufficiently fascinating.
reigns of the
xiii
Preface.
Second and Third
at
which
it
takes
For the combined
Philips,
during which
Cervantes lived, form undoubtedly the Augustan age It is adorned with a roll of literature.
of Spanish
names
as brilliant as
were ever concentrated
in
any any country. There is Herrera, with his sublime odes; Luis de Leon, with his heaven-inspired one age,
in
Gongora, with his clear, trenchant satires, ringing romances, and new, turgid, superfine,
lyrics
;
flow jargon ; Lope de Vega, with his eternal of comedies, like the sands on the sea-shore innumerable; Quevedo, with his wonderful visions that aesthetic
electrified
Europe, and
his political satires that
gave
him the fame of a Spanish Junius; and, lastly, there is Calderon de la Barca, who, born in the middle of this
wonderful age, winds
rable dramas,
which soar
it
up with
his
incompa-
to the utmost height that
If we Spanish dramatic genius has ever reached. the add to these some of the minor deities, Argensolas, Borjas,
Villegas',
Rebolledos, Riojas, Molinas, De we have an array of multi-
Castros, and Artiedas,
farious talent such as the
such close conjunction. In the midst of this
Cervantes occupies a affinity
world has seldom seen in
brilliant
peculiar
conclave of poets position.
with each, but stands apart from
He all.
has
As
xiv
Translator's Preface.
thoroughly Spanish as any in all that constitutes nationality {Castellano a las derechas), his genius, consciously or unconsciously, claims kinship with humanity. His works, firmly rooted in Spanish soil, are destined to bear transplanting to every region,
to be
in
reproductive
every climate, save
their
birth.
Other nations
their
Walter
Scotts,
since
Goethes, and
then
that
and of
have had
Victor Hugos,
heaven-inspired geniuses of the same type and earthly descent, sturdily national
Cervantes
is
childless
in
and intensely human, but Spain.
We
may
fitly
compare him to one of those ancient giant oaks in some ancestral park (shall we say Heme's Oak, with witchery and glamour of Elf-land around which stands alone in its majesty, carefully
the
all
it?)
guarded and palisaded, reverenced and idolized, but round which there is a treeless waste, without a sturdy sapling to show the vigour of the parent trunk. It
that
was perhaps this peculiarity of Cervantes' genius made him so solitary and unbefriended amongst
his contemporaries
him
so sensitive to
gave him such heart of things.
it
j
all
was certainly this that made that passed around him, and
a penetrating glance into the very
He
was, therefore, neither dazzled
nor blinded by the brilliancy of the period in which he lived. He neither envied it nor carped at it.
xv
'Translator's Preface.
though few of its outward honours descended upon He had within himself a standard sure and him. unerring by which to measure
With amid
its
worth and tendency.
a sort of prophetic instinct he could detect, splendid, unnatural exuberance, the sure
all its
symptoms of decay ; and in that fatal feverish thirst for immediate fame, regardless of high aims and pure which few of
taste,
his poetic
comrades were able to
he could descry the coming degradation and prostitution of that divine art which was dearer to resist,
him than
life.
But when he turns from the magnates of the
common
realm of Literature to the influenced and inspired,
herd
whom
what a curious
they
spectacle
him It seems to his vivid imagination as if Valencia and Saragossa, Madrid and Seville, all the centres of light and thought in the kingdom, had awaits
become
!
many huge factories for the spinning and of weaving rhymes. Throughout the length and breadth of the land he sees poetry converted into a trade,
so
and a very
men seem
vile
All sorts and conditions of
one.
pressing into
it
:
churchmen and
courtiers
and cobblers and piecers ; men of good education, of half-education, of no education ; puffed up with vanity and bristling with conceit, and
and
all
scholars, tailors
of them doing what may emphatically be
a roaring business.
called
Poets are here, there, every-
Translator
xvi
s
Preface.
spring from the dust like frogs ; they in the antechambers of the great, about go hopping in the theatres and market-places, other each jostling
where.
They
haunting the wine-shops and taverns and dens of pollution ; creating everywhere a very Babel of discordant sounds, and what
them over the that
is
worse, carrying with
land, into every village
peculiarly
horrible
pestilence
and hamlet, plague of
— the
poetastry.
As v/e
a typical instance of the truth of this description
may
from Suarez de
quote a curious passage
Figueroa's ^/P^^^^g-^ro, published in 1617, wherein says
of
" In a
:
late poetical tournament held in
Anthony of Padua, no
St.
honour
than 5,000 copies for competition ; and the
of verses were sent in
monks of
he
less
the monastery where
was
it
held, after
having adorned their cloisters and the body of the church with the better class of them, found that
enough remained over and above to cover 100 " The contemporary Annals of Seville, monasteries to light, tell us the same tale of hideous lately brought !
and inordinate production. that Cervantes,
who was
his poetic tastes, should ters
his
It
is
no wonder then
essentially
an aristocrat in
look on such a state of mat-
with supreme disgust, and should thunder forth displeasure in such sonorous threatenings as
these
:
—
Translator
O
s
xvii
Preface.
accursed, troubadouring race, would pass for poets wise and strong. Being the very scum of all that's base ; false,
That
fain
Between the
palate, tongue, and lips, your song forth in never-ending blast.
Comes surging
Affronting virtue with unmeasured wrong;
Ye
poets, in deception unsurpassed. for now the awful threatened day, That seals your final doom, has come at last
Beware,
Cervantes would, despot in the
if
!
he could, have been a very
No
realm of poesy.
countenance to
vulgarity and common-place, no truce with pretentious ignorance, no quarter to baseness and obscenity !
As he himself tells us, through the mouth of Canon of Toledo, he would have every comedy,
the be-
fore acted, pass the scrutiny of a jury of experts,
and be thoroughly purged of all uncleanness, moral and artistic. And as for the fledgling poets, let them dare to plant one foot on
himself It
is
from
passport
special
Parnassus-hill
Apollo,
without
countersigned
by
!
in this
half-serious
humour,
and half-comic, to Parnassus
that he sets himself to write the Journey
and organize a new crusade against poetic But,
as
we
have already
that concerns us
subjects of for
most
this serio-comic
modern sympathy.
at best that
said, this
in the book.
we
It
can take
is
in
is
infidels.
not the matter
The
scene and
warfare are too remote
but a lukewarm interest
most of the
characters,
'Translator s Preface.
xviii
whose
Cervantes
merits
sentence, or
touch of
whose
his
he
blots
satiric
foil
;
epitomizes
in
a
single
with a single playful and even the wholesale hits
massacre of the godless and profane, righteous retribution though it be, excites in us no very lively Not even the breath of Cervantes' wit emotion.
can
make
the dead bones of these defunct poets live
and take shape before
us,
nor have
we any
great
Herrera and Gongora, Lope de Vega and Ouevedo, with some others, are still
desire
they should.
we
meet with them again. Arbolanche, and Lo Frasso, and the author of La
living,
and
are glad to
Plcara "Jmtina have suffered a kind of resurrection,
and we get to have such tender affection for them as Izaak Walton had for the worm that wriggled on his " come like so hook. At for the rest
shadows, they have further wish to depart." knowledge of them it had better be as dried specimens in the hortus If
siccus
we
of Spanish bibliography. But we do desire to about the noblest of them all
—
know something
Cervantes himself j and to learn the various elements that
make up
his
wonderful character.
ledge in part he gives us here
;
and, if
Such know-
we
read the
such knowledge he means to give poem aright, us from the very outset. All the rest is but the init is
genious setting which enshrines this engaging chapter
of his self-biography.
xix
'Translator s Preface.
There
more charming writer
confessedly no
is
than Cervantes
when he
takes us into his confidence,
and speaks of himself and to
Don fixate,
of
all
His prologues
his doings.
the Novels, the Comedies, and best
most chatty and delect-
to the Persiks, are the
of self-revelation ever penned, worth halfHe who can read the a-dozen ponderous memoirs.
able bits
last
of them without laughter ending
in a sob
Of all these
have a curious temperament.
must
the "Journey
is the true complement. Stitch them a little running thread of connection, with together and we need little more to tell us how he looked,
to
Parnassus
how
he
lived,
almost say,
on
valuable
revealing,
his
this
it
asserting.
and what he
how
he died. account,
lived
The for
for
;
"Journey
it
is
we might is
specially
not only
self-
intensely and often amusingly selfthrows light on two things especially ;
is
It
poverty and his genius. already in a rough way, just as did the
We know
people of Seville and Madrid
among whom he
what were the externals of the man, who,
in
life
of
this
lived,
remarkable
an age of splendid geniuses, sets himand reformer in matters
self forth as a chief authority
poetic
;
that he
and they are not very alluring.
came of a poor but noble
We
know
that he had
family but a scanty education was, in fact, in Spanish phrase, an injenio lego not entitled, as we would say, to put
—
—
;
XX
Translator
s
Preface.
B, A. after his name, in an age ;
soldier for seven years
of
captive for five
;
when
graduates were
that he served as a private
plentiful as blackberries
his life,
and suffered
was
that for fifteen years he
as a
a sort
of commissary's agent to collect corn and wine and oil for the army and navy, notably for the great
Armada this
J
that for ten years more,
down
to the date of
yourney, he had picked up a precarious living as
a private notary, or scrivener, or whatever the Spanish escribano
may denote
;
that during
all this
time he
had received no mark of royal acknowledgment, save on one occasion, in 1605, he was commissioned
that
(seemingly as a reward of merit for his Don Quixote) " to " chronicle the small beer of courtly festivity at the baptism of that most high and mighty princeling, Felipe Domenico Victor, afterwards Philip IV ; and
while he was penning this Satire, he was a poor pensioner on the bounty of the Count de finally that,
Lemos, and In
fact, to
conspicuous
No
his all
Grace the Archbishop of Toledo. outward appearance his life was a
failure.
one could be more conscious of
Cervantes himself.
It
was
a standing
this
than
wonder
to
him, that, despite of his commanding abilities, he could not get on in the world. In the economy of the universe, at least in the Spanish portion of it, there seemed no place reserved to him, in which to
Translator
s
xxl
Preface,
own and
plan and toil and be prosperous, for his
common and the this
to
It
good.
results
He
book.
account
much pondering he presents in seems to have three different theories the strange
for
them
just as the
The first he a class
the
to philosophize,
of his
presents each of
way,
gave him cause
phenomenon, and he
in turn in a jesting or serious
humour
seizes him.
gives after this fashion.
of human beings, of
most unpractical.
all classes
He belongs
to
notoriously the
Poverty has ever been, and must be,
the badge of all the tuneful tribe, for they are essentially a generation of dreamers. When called on to attend to sublunary affairs they are
the spheres.
winging
their v/ay
above
The world goes quickly past them while
they are limning the feats of Mars, or piping, in rosy While in the bowers, of Venus and her loves. solitude
of
their
musings they are weaving a web of
beautiful fancies, or adoring their are contracting a sublime
common Nature
things.
It
it
they
and eternal ignorance of
is little
forces them, as
own creations,
wonder then
that,
when
forces ordinary mortals, to
descend into the every-day world, they should find that everything has gone wrong, and instead of discovering a house of their own to live in and be happy, they should be fond of lingering at a neighbour's hearth [amigo del In such merry vein does Cerhogar de ajena casd).
vantes jest about his poverty in the
first
chapter.
He
Translator's Preface.
xxii
a poet of the
is
same
and must bear the
order,
lot. No doubt he had full proof of this in of commissary and scrivener, wherein, we can
common his life
well imagine, he was
more engaged
in studying the
humours of the men he met, and weaving stories
out of their
That
business. flight
lives,
than
was well
for
take
should
dreams, could be no
his
him
little
attending to their
business and clients
and leave him alone to It
in
that he could console
mystery. himself with an aphorism, worthy of his countryman
Seneca: *'With for
much
little
I'm content, although
I
long
" !
His second theory is one special to himself, and he There seems a gives it with a very serious face. fatality in all that
he does.
when
Good-fortune,
she
comes, comes with a timid, hesitating air, but flies from his embrace as if from a spectre's. These are the words he puts into Apollo's
mouth
:
—
Thyself hast fickle Fortune wooed and won. Oft have I seen thee with her days agone, But from the imprudent she is fain to run.
Biographers have vainly vexed their brains to find " "
out in what it
this
imprudence
consisted
life,
may
so far as
and determined
some
single
His
we know, was eminently
be quite sure that,
if
whether
his after-life.
refers to his general character, or to
act that coloured
;
pure, and we he had ever been guilty of
Translator s Preface.
xxili
any grave moral offence, his enemies would have found it out. The same idea he repeats in a more poetical form, as addressed to himself
by Apollo
:
—
Men's
evil fortunes swell up from behind, Bringing their current with them from afar, And so are feared, but cannot be declined.
The
notion of fatality
There
is
is
here more precisely uttered.
some back-current, taking
rise in
its
his
very nature, or in bygone events springing directly
out of
it,
bright for
Things may look a time, but suddenly comes this baleful that affects his
current with
its
thing before
it.
life.
accumulated
force,
and sweeps everyand his life ;
This idea haunts him
seems to give warrant for
it.
When
he was twenty-
eight years of age, and had done with fighting the
Turks, and was returning home to well-earned
rest,
commanders
that
with glowing testimonials from
his
promised him certain advancement, he
is
arrested in mid-ocean, and, as he grimly puts
drags him by the hair"
suddenly it,
"Fate
into five years' sore captivity.
In Algiers he has glorious schemes for the release of are on the eve of
himself and comrades, which success,
when
lo
!
midst of them he
in the
is
con-
fronted by a villain, in the form of that ecclesiastic
Blanco de Paz,
who
ruins everything.
He
had done
person no offence, except the offence which any loyal and virtuous man naturally gives to a traitor this
c
xxiv
Translator's Preface.
and miscreant, and yet the shadow of that Dominican falls across his life, and rests there. He returns to Spain, and presents to Philip II. a in that paradise
Spanish America
;
or
thing
his
somebody
intervenes,
His commissary's His books will not balance,
him
in the lurch, the
into their heads to
on
he
is
same
tale.
his sureties vanish
and
tells
the
monks of Ecija
excommunicate him
their sacred lands,
petition
and the demand
life
fruitless.
leave
humble
of the desperate, hopes are bright, but some-
for a petty post
take
it
for trespass
finds himself in prison
once
and again ; and yet his character is unstained, he has done nothing but what might safely be put to the " And now, just at the score of imprudence." his period of this satire, when great patron. Count de Lemos, goes as Viceroy to Naples, and founds there a noble Academy, and many brilliant promises are
made
honour,
to him,
it
may
and a door
at last
be to affluence, a
seems opened to
little
false
rumour,
a Httle backbiting whisper takes place, and the door shut. in
It
is
well for
him
such consolation as Apollo gravely offers him
The man who
is
again that he can take refuge :
—
merits luck, which Fate denies
Without good reason, and in mood severe. Is honoured more than if he won the prize.
His
last
most of
theory,
all.
which
Cruel
is
no theory,
fate, or his
own
affects
him
outspoken.
xxv
'Translaicrs Preface.
his
but impetuous nature, may be against him worst enemies are those who ought to have been
his
warmest
careless,
;
He
world. his
words
friends, viz., his
comrades
are very bitter
:
—
Envy and ignorance do dog my
And The
and foresaw
with
immediate
its
It circulated
land. it
track,
envied thus, and put to direst stress. good I hope for I must ever lack.
had written the work of the age. He knew its fame. Nor had he fault to find
He it,
in the literary
takes up this parable against them, and
his
countrymen. classes
a sort of nine-days' wonder.
unknown
value was
;
it
to keep the wolf
blindest of
were those
all
To
from
his door.
who ought
it
;
real
its
was soon forgotten, and
All the profits he reaped from
to nothing. sufficed
amongst
through the length and breadth of the
was read and laughed over by all But
It
was
effect
it
led
hardly
But the
to have been
seems unutterably nowadays that an of wits should have failed strange, great age to recognize the worth of Don ^ixote, and to shrewdest.
us
it
acknowledge that the man who wrote it was the It was envied greatest of them all. by some for the stir it
created
others
;
it
;
it
was carped
at
and deprecated by
was understood by none.
And
so
it
an age after, until the chorus of praise that rang through Christendom came echoing slowly remained
for
xxvi
'Translator s Preface.
back to the land of
what a
Spaniards It
was with
own day
its
birth,
and revealed to the
treasure they possessed.
priceless
that Cervantes in his perfect right, then,
puts these words into Mercury's
Thy works, through all Which Rozinante on Are known, and
mouth
:
—
the world in every part. his
crupper bears, the envious heart.
stir to strife
records of the period are so scanty and void of detail, that we can hardly appreciate the full truth of this. There is one little sentence, however, in a
The
letter
of Lope de Vega's
lately
brought to
which, though a small straw, may show " There are thus:
wind blew.
many
It reads
the
poets
but none so bad as
in labour for the
coming year ; Cervantes, or so stupid as to praise If the
light,
how
man who was
glorified
Don ^ixotef
as the
"Phoenix of
exSpanish wits," and Commander-in-chief, par can we could of cellence, of the army poets, say this, It subalterns would play. imagine what part the was certainly one of Lope's clique, whether the
Dominican Aliaga
or
some
other,
who
at this very
time played the scurviest part of all ; who, under the name of Avellaneda, had the effrontery to produce a
second
Don fixate, and
withal, the ineffable
ness to gloat over the idea, that he
mean-
was thereby de-
he might surely count priving Cervantes of the profit
on from
his
second part.
That such
a public affront
Translator's Preface.
xxvii
should be possible, in an enlightened Court, clearly shows in what esteem Cervantes and his works were held by the straits
of
elite
his
he was reduced.
countrymen, and to what dire It was reserved for a noble
Frenchman, who came
at this time to the
Madrid, to pay him the
that poor genius ever received
him
to write, please
God
he
remaining poor, he " world with his works It so
Court of
finest, subtlest
that,
!
compliment "If poverty constrains
:
may never have plenty, may enrich the whole is
the same sort of con-
solatory phrase that he himself puts into the
of Poesy, addressed to himself and condition
:
all
—
I give
you wealth
A guerdon
That
all
in
mouth
poets in like
hope, and not in hand ; with highest cheer
rich, replete
the realm of
Fancy can command.
But the poverty of Cervantes, whatever might be its He ever origin, was no hindrance to his gaiety. wore
it, as the Spanish gentleman wears his capa, with ease and grace and good humour. In what a merry, sprightly way does he make it the very frame-
work of eager
this
for
a
Satire
new
!
sally,
Like
a
we
see
new Don Ouixote, him (by a slight on his Journey,
stretch of the imagination) set forth astride the
haunches of Fate, the
the Universe, as
if it
common
hack of
were a second Rozinante,
its
belly-bands bursting with joy at the thought of fresh
Translator s Preface.
xxviii
adventure
while in actual fact he
;
is
trudging on foot
along the weary road to Carthagena, in shabby garments, with wallet on his back, whose only provender a small loaf and eisht maravedis' worth of cheese!
is
He
Madrid, that stonyhearted stepmother of the poets, at whose doors he He meets with declines to be found one day dead. sarcastic adieu to
waves a
a smile the
mocking
O Adam What
of the poets,
He
and
O
Cervantes
:
—
!
be these, my friend. plainly manifest thy wit but scant is ?
wallets
Which
of Mercury
raillery
attire
has a smart repartee ready for the grave irony of
Apollo,
who
him
tells
are bespoken, and
cloak
:
it
—
My lord, That
And
it
that
all
the laurel-shaded seats
behoves him to take seat on his
hath escaped you quite, I fear. no cloak
I possess
!
so throughout the whole tale.
would have a
If our readers
picture of Cervantes, the poor, light-
hearted son of genius,
we commend
to
them the
we have ventured to adorn this The common portraits, whose authenticity
portrait with which
book.
not established, represent him as a gallant of the period, arrayed in rich garments of rustling silk, and is
bestarched rufF, like a second Pancracio de Roncesvalles.
But
this
is
a veritable
half-sailor, half-landsman,
effigies
who
did
of the
good
V'lajero^
service to
xxix
'Translator's Preface.
the State both on sea and land.
homely jerkin show him working
The
And
dress.
as
His
the face withal
large, sparkling eyes, the
felt
he always was is
hat and
—
in his
a noble one.
well-proportioned nose,
slightly curved, the thin, sharply-cut lips,
with just a
shade of dreamy melancholy resting on them, which
seem ready
at
any moment to
flicker
with humour
or curl with irony, bring before us in a very real way at once the Cervantes as described by himself, and
the Cervantes of our
Without regard
fancy.
at
present to the genuineness of the portrait, but with
simple regard to propriety and the truth of things,
we
feel inclined to place
scription
beneath
it
part of the in-
which the poet himself attached
sketch in pen-and-ink:
"This
is
:
he
own
the portrait of him
who made xh^Joiirney of P arnassus in of Cesar Caporal of Perugia
to his
is
imitation of that
commonly
called
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedraj he was many years a soldier j and for five and a half a captive ; during which he learned to have patience in adversity " Such was Cervantes in his outward low estate, !
as revealed tell
by himself: but he has something also to which constituted the
us of his peculiar genius,
inner glory of his early
divine
life
life.
He
gives us to
know,
that in
were greeted by the sight of a so beautiful and unearthly that it
his eyes
vision,
haunted him ever afterwards.
It
was none other
XXX
Translator's Preface.
than the vision of that heavenly maid, True Poesy, vs^hom he describes with such rapturous eulogy and wealth of phrase in the fourth chapter of In rear of these, there came
at length
this
work
:
—
along
A wondrous being, radiant as the light
The sun emits amid the starry throng The highest beautj' pales before her sight, !
And
she remains alone in her array,
DifFnsing round contentment and delight; She looked the likeness of Aurora gay
When,
'mid the roses and the pearly dew,
She wakes to
life
and ushers
in the
day
;
The garments rich, and jewels bright of hue Which gemmed her person, might hold rivalry With all the world of wonders ever knew.
And
this
"holy maid of loveliness complete," Santa met perhaps unawares on the
hermosisima doncella,
banks of
his
muse near
Henares, as Burns met the Scottish
Doon, was no mere
She followed him ever
visitant.
his
own
the banks of
whole
career,
growing to
after,
casual
throughout and
his fancy brighter
more enchanting as years went on, until he loved her with a measureless passion
at length
— even
idolatry.
som
the
And
she, in turn,
lit
to
up within his bo-
never-dying flame of genius, inspired
his
thoughts and works, and made his life, that was outwardly so cheerless and loveless, a well-spring of in-
ward
gaiety.
This
is
perhaps too sentimental a
way of putting the
xxxi
'Translator's Preface. matter, but
it is
in effect Cervantes'
own.
According
way of thinking, this Parnassus-Journey exists mainly for the sake of the fourth chapter, planted in to our
it. Therein, before Apollo and the and the Muses, congregation of his brethren, seated complacently beneath the laurels, myrtles, and oaks,
the centre of
while he must stand on foot, he delivers an oration such as poet never ventured on before.
have no peculiar modesty from the common herd.
— he claims
His words
to stand apart
He claims to be the man, "who in creative power surpasseth many." He recites before
them the scanty but
precious roll-call of his
writings, beginning with his romantic Galatea;
cluding his Novels, the models of his peerless
Don
all
coming
Quixote, the medicine for
all
in-
fiction
;
time of
minds diseased; and winding up with the philosophical Persiles, which in his opinion was to crown the whole. Immediately thereafter he introduces that sublime True Poesy, which to him was the embodi-
vision of
ment of
earthly beauty, truth, and purity
— the sum
and quintessence of human good ; as if to say to his countrymen, and through them to the world "These are the works by which I shall henceforth be known, :
and
this
is
the divine
of them, from doubt
first
power
in all this there
self-assertion
;
is
and
that inspired each
to last, believe
it
who may
'' !
all
No
a certain air of defiance and
and he had even the hardihood, a few
7'ranslators Preface.
xxx'ii
pages before, to
on Mercury to authenticate the
call
same:For not
in vain
Is
dower
Sire Apollo's
Of gifts to thee, the rare inventor's art, The supernatural, instinctive power.
Many
of his biographers are profuse
in their apologies
But what need ? Cerimmodest boasting. He believed his words to be vantes was no braggart. for such
true then
the world believes
;
over, he had to
tell
them now
;
and, more-
the truth to an unbelieving gene-
who were
only too ready to take his poor and low condition as the measure of his genius. ration,
We take this
fourth chapter, then, to be a kind of
But
personal manifesto. self-laudation.
He
had
not a mere piece of arrived at a time of life it
is
(he was now sixty-seven years of age) when mere He was convanity or lust of fame have little sway. scious of possessing a higher gift than
lows, and he feels free to proclaim
it.
besides that his ideal of perfection
most of his
fel-
But he knew
was nobler than
a mirror to his
he would hold up in his last years as fellow-poets, even at the risk of self-
glorification.
For he was much concerned about the
theirs,
and
this
state
of
own
intellect
his
Strange to say, his was clearer and his fancy brighter in the
country's literature.
three last years of his before.
life,
than ever they had been
His Novels, the second part of
his
Don
'Translator s Preface.
^Ixote,
his
concentrated within this
all
Persiies,
xxxlii
short space, are sufficient to immortalize him.
show him
They
of his genius ; they Of manifest also the exceeding loftiness of his aims. " One bold to I feel his Novels he affirms : say thing in the very strength
:
shade of possibility that these novels might excite one evil desire or fancy in the minds of their readers, I would rather cut off the
was
that if there
a
"
hand that wrote them than give them to the public Of the others he might have said the same with equal !
That
of beauty, truth, and purity, which It inspired him, remained with him to the last. this he would fain leave as his best legacy to his
truth.
ideal
first is
country.
He had
already done good service in finally
ridding the land of the polluting books of chivalry. But there were powers for evil in the State even more
potent than they.
The
stage had
now unbounded
had been for ages sway If these became the very life-blood of the people. corrupt and defiling, the nation itself was doomed to :
their
romances and
quick decay.
It
that he heard
it
ballads
was therefore with no
little
concern
proclaimed by the brilliant wits
ruled the stage, and the masters of song
who
who
delighted
the people, that the pleasure and tastes of the vulgar
were
their pleasure
and
the poet was the art doctrines of
Lope and
taste,
and that the true
of pleasing. his school,
art
of
These were the and the
results
had
xxxiv
Translator
It
is
life
Preface.
There was no pure standard of taste
been disastrous. in the land
s
the blind followed their blind leaders.
:
no wonder that the old Cervantes, whose whole had been a striving after art in its noblest form,
should
feel his spirit stirred
within him at the sight of
such rank idolatry. So like another Paul, in another he to the enlightened wits of Madrid Athens, proclaims that the gods they
were worshipping were false gods, clay, Mammon and Vain-glory.
things of wood and
He tells them
that the image of True Poesy, which had
been the strength and glory of his own life, was the only worthy object of their worship and with a :
power and authority which he could wield when he chose, he calls on all poetic pretenders, the polluters of the stage and the defilers of the wells of song,
who
had become the confess their
maid of
pests and plagues of the nation, to " follies, and bow down before that holy
beauty," or
virgin
sancta simpUcitas ! It
—
die in their
the old role of
sins
!
O
Don Quixote
" Sir Dulcinea over again Knight, thou confess not that the matchless Dulcinea del
and if
is
his peerless
Toboso exceedeth thou It
diest
"
:
in beauty thy Casildea de Vandalia,
!
needed not the wit of Cervantes to see the hopeand also the humour of the situation that
lessness
;
he, single-handed, should dare the unequal combat
with Fashion,
folly, self-seeking,
and presumptuous
xxxv
'Translator s Preface.
Others, like Artieda and Barahona de
ignorance. Soto,
men of true
discernment, had tried to cope with
the degraders of art, but none took the matter so
much
choly weariness, born
throws himself down
on
his bed," in his
dreams a dream to
And
to heart as Cervantes.
—
melan-
"old and sombre home," and dream of the journey
this mirthful
Parnassus; where
realized,
so with a
of poverty and hard toil, he one day " worn and shattered
all
his lovings
and longings are
where the destruction of the False and the
triumph of the True, and the reinstatement of Poesy
on her
—
in
rightful throne, are
an allegory
We
leave
it
all
achieved
gloriously
!
to our readers to appreciate at their
worth the various incidents of the
tale
the gay,
:
fantastic, rhythmic ship that ploughs the Italian and
Grecian gifted,
seas,
with
bound with
its
living freight
fair
wind
of the good and
to Parnassus
;
that other
ship of bulk immense, crammed, poop to prow, with middling poets, tawdry merchandise fit for Calicut or
Goa,
that excites the wrath of
Neptune and
the pity
of Venus; the dazzling vision of True Poesy; the v/eird dream of and finally the famous Vain-glory Battle of of all " Battles of the ;
Books echoed
" :
Parnassus, prototype
whose merry sounds of victory were refrom the mountains of Guadarrama,
in Spain
and caused Pisuerga to smile, and Father Tagus to
xxxvi
Translator s Preface.
laugh, as he rolled
down
to the sea his sands of
All these seem to us instinct with the
gold.
humorous fancy
same
was then engaged in discovering the impossible island of Barataria, and breathing life and spirit into Clavileiio, that wondrous wooden that
But if these content them not, we trust they be charmed with the living portraiture of the Hero himself, that poor son of genius, so mirthful in steed.
will
his
poverty, so proud of his creations,
whom repentant
now
placed on a higher throne than the "rare inventor" himself ever dreamed of. While such is our estimate of the worth of this
Spain has
satirical is
poem,
it is
well to
warn our
readers that this
not the general opinion. Mr. Ticknor, the highest
authority on Spanish literature, very curtly declares ; "This poem of Cervantes has little merit." He
concedes that some of the episodes are of interest, but on the whole his verdict is unflattering.
cannot deny that
this
opinion
is
We
almost warranted by
which the poem has hitherto excited. published in Madrid in 1614, and passed A reprint was issued at through but one edition. Milan in 1624, and this sufficed for the wants of the the
It
little
was
interest
first
Spanish colony in Italy. published in a separate publishers in Valencia,
Campo, who
It
form.
was never afterwards
None
of the pirating
Barcelona, or
Medina
del
reprinted Cervantes' other works by the
Translator
s
xxxvii
Preface.
have thought it worth reproand the same may be said of their brethren
thousand, seem
to
ducing ; in Lisbon and Brussels. afterwards, in
1
736,
it
More was
the Galatea, and again in
than a hundred years company with
issued in
In 1784
1772.
was
it
brought out along with Cervantes' two newly-discovered dramas, El Trato de Argel, and the Nuniancia.
This
is
the edition that had the widest circulation,
The
and since then there has been no other. translators
fought shy of
also
Almost
it.
all
the
other works of Cervantes, except his Comedies, were translated into English, French, or Italian, very soon after
publication
ignored, until
M.
;
but
the
was completely
Viaje
Guardia, in 1864, rendered
it
for the
time into very elegant French prose, with extreme accuracy, and was followed by Mr. Gyll, in 1870, first
who
favoured the English public with a marvellously blundering version, in very indifferent blank verse.
The
is
the third, and
As
for the Critics,
present translation, therefore,
the only one in the original metre.
their opinion has been conflicting, but
on the whole
have either passed it by with a contemptuous shrug, or have dropped on it that faint
adverse.
praise,
They
which
is
who
shown
critic
of note,
of
Bouterwek, and we give counterpoise to that of Ticknor
its
as a
worth,
The
proverbially damnatory.
has
his
is
f
only
a hearty appreciation
:
opinion " Next to
Translator
xxxviii
Don fixate its
it
is
Preface.
the most exquisite production of author.
extraordinary
s
.
.
.
The poem
is
inter-
spersed throughout with singularly witty and beautiful ideas,
and only a few passages can be charged with It has never been equalled,
feebleness or languor.
by any similar work, and
far less surpassed,
had no
it
The Spaniards themselves have been prototype." the greatest sinners in their neglect of the book. It seems to have been quite forgotten till Mayans, in his Life of Cervantes, prefixed
of
splendid edition
cream of
it,
Lord
to
Don ^ixote,
Carteret's
1738, took the
to eke out the scanty records then exist-
Since that time it has ing for a good biography. been extensively used as a sort of quarry of building materials for the
same purpose, and
little
scintillating
So fragments of it may be found in every Memoir. it been, that no one knew till had neglected lately that the editor of the 1784 edition had altered
name, from Fiage
del Parnaso, to
The
first
real title
was
restored to
de Autores Espanoles, 1864.
" "
" Library
Viage it
to his Pen,"
which
is
its
Parnaso.
in the Biblioteca
But even
does not contain the piquant
The Author
al
that famous little
Sonnet,
one of the gems
of the book, but was then unknown. The reason of such neglect seems to
be, that the
Spanish authorities scarcely recognize this Satire as a
poem
at all,
and appear to have grave doubts whether
xxxix
'Translator s Preface.
Cervantes can be regarded as a poet, in the ordinary sense of the word ; or, if so, are not sure in what
Even during the Hfetime of category to place him. It is he himself Cervantes this issue was pending.
who
tells
the story, that,
when he went
to the pub-
to bargain for the sale of his MS. the Comedies, worthy bibliopole informed him that
lisher
Villaroel
a certain "titled" manager had whispered in his ear: " That much might be expected of Cervantes' prose,
Cervantes professed, in but nothing of his verse." own ironical way, to be greatly shocked by such an aspersion, but the opinion nevertheless was pretty his
general
;
and certainly the 'Journey
to
Parnassus was
never thought to have settled the matter in his favour. Thus Sedano, in his Parnaso Espanol, 1768-72, never alludes to
it,
nor quotes from
it
;
though he
inserts
the Canto de Ca/iope, which, with reverence be it spoken, displays more good nature than poetic power.
Parnaso Espanol, 1808, by excluding Cervantes altogether from the ranks of the elite. Even in the present Quintana,
in his Tesoro del
solves the matter
day, in the forty-second Autores Espanoles,
we
volume of the
find
the
Biblioteca de
learned Adolfo de
Castro heading one of his prefatory chapters with " " Was Cervantes a this inquiry poet, or not ? He answers the no poeta f ) {Cervantes, ^ fue :
question in the affirmative, and quotes
d
numerous
Translator
xl
s Preface.
songs from the Comedies, and scraps of declamation from the Numancia, to prove his point, but
little
from the
gives not even the tiniest quotation
Viaje.
We
thought to have gained fresh light on the matter, w^hen vv^e stumbled on a little modern tractate,
by Luis Vidart,
entitled, CVri;^«^(?j Epico Poeta;
argument to prove that Don the Spanish Iliad, and Cervantes its
but found only a grave
Quixote
is
Homer
in prose.
—
In
fact, after patient research
we have come
to the
conclusion, that the Spanish critics either do not satire to
think
to
Satire
be poetry, or do not think Cervantes' It is certainly not for a
be poetical.
foreigner to intervene in such a delicate
decide
what
Spanish
and
affair,
constitutes, or does not constitute, true
poetry.
Whether Cervantes comes up
to
the standard of purism in such matters as smoothness, melodious cadence, rich variety of rhymes or assonance,
our Northern ears
enough
to determine.
case
before
us.
It
may
Nor may
is
be,
not be
sensitive
this essential in the
that
the
genius
of
not take kindly to the fetters of or the rigid rules of art ; but the spirit of rhyme, " rare invention " which he declares to be the livina;
Cervantes did
principle specially, sufficient.
of is
all
poetic
excellence, and of his
there in rich abundance
If
we
;
own
and that
is
compare Lope de Vega's Laurel
'Translator s Preface.
xli
de Apolo with the Pornassus-'Journey,
intended to
rival,
we
feel
how
flat
which
and
it
was
flavourless
of sparkling words and exuberance of imagery, just for want of the divine spark of originality which distinguishes
become
at
length his ceaseless flow
The
the other.
fresh nature
of Cervantes
more
is
precious than the sickly art of Lope. But there is one part of the 'Journey which has
been praised without Adjiinta or
a
Appendix,
dissenting in
prose.
voice, viz., the
For purity of
language, for piquancy of style, for rare quality of humour, it has been reckoned one of the masterpieces
of Cervantes.
And
it is
The
so.
sketch of Master
Pancracio de Roncesvalles, slight though inimitably portrayed that
may
it
it
be,
is
so
take a place, and
no mean one, in the gallery of Cervantic portraits. That the whole conception is instinct with Quixotic
humour need that the
excite
no
surprise,
mind which planned
it
when we
consider
was engaged
at the
very time in calling into being that unique character, the Governor of Barataria This is proved to a demonstration by the fact, that the letter which !
Roncesvalles brought from Apollo, and the letter
which Sancho Panza
sent to his wife Teresa,
from
same
year,
the Ducal palace, have for their dates the
the same month, and almost the same day of the
month.
Those who
are curious
may
verify the fact
T^ranslators Preface.
xlii
In Duffield's translation, however,
at their leisure.
they will find an unfortunate misprint for 26th July,
1
614.
Comedies, published
The in
of 26th June
prologue to Cervantes'
161 5, furnishes
the
best
commentary on the subject-matter of the Appendix.
There our
readers may he went when Cervantes,
to Villaroel, the publisher:
and
I
gathered up
my
learn
how
it
fared
to dispose of his
"He
paid
me
with
Comedies
reasonably,
money pleasantly, without any "
It may also low-comedy higglings or wranglings! scurrilous interest them to know that the Sonnet, en-
closed in the letter taken in unwarily, and paid for,
by
his niece.
extant.
Dona Constanza
It is supposed to
de Ovando,
is
still
have been written by one
of the clique of Lope's admirers, or by the great man himself. It is worthy of a place amongst the Amenities of Spanish Literature.
The
Dedication,
The
Prologue,
and
Introductory
worthy of note for various reasons. Dedication has this peculiarity, that it is
Sonnet are
also
young man, of whom nothing is except that he was the son of his father, a personage holding an important post in the Holy addressed to a
known
conjectured then, that Cervantes at this period of his life was reduced to such straits, that he Office.
It
is
thought it wise to place himself in this roundabout way under the protection of the higher powers.
Translator s Preface.
What
is
more
had come over
known
certainly
is,
with
his relations
xliii
that
and protector, the Count de Lemos. dedicated tinguished nobleman he had published the year before
down him.
The
to the very last
Why, Count,
then, in
;
of
this
and all,
his
were
some cloud
his great
patron
To
this dis-
his
Novels,
subsequent works, also addressed to
break in the connection
1610, had been sent
as
?
Viceroy to
Naples, and had taken with him those two distinguished poets, the Argensolas, to found an Academy
of Wits in that
city.
These
brothers, early friends
of Cervantes, had promised to secure for him some honourable post in the Court of the Viceroy ; but
and hope deferred had made In the third chapter of this Cervantes' heart sick.
nothing came of
Poem he
it,
gives his
own
account of the matter, in a
and humorous way. The dignified words with which he concludes are striking enough:
very curious
I
—
hoped for much, when much protest they made, But it may be, that strange affairs and new Have caused them to forget the words they said.
Whatever might be
the ground of coolness,
it
did
not last ; and Cervantes certainly bore no malice, for in this very poem we are assured that, out of the nine laureate wreaths adjudged by Apollo, three went Naples ; on whose brows to be placed may be
to
easily conjectured.
Translator
xliv
s
Preface.
The vity
;
Prologue is distinguished by its oracular breand for obvious reasons. To venture upon a
critical revievi^ ofexisting poets
was not only a novelty,
but, as Cervantes v/ell
Just thirty
taking.
knew, a very hazardous underyears before he had attempted a
similar ungrateful task in his Canto de Caltope, inserted
and the result, though were uniform and unbounded, was not
in the Galatea,
He
felt
that
it
would be true now,
as
his eulogies
satisfactory.
was then
it
:
—
Some scowl on me, because
I put them in, Others resolve, because I left them out, To make me feel the burden of my sin.
The
best
way, therefore, was to say
little
;
and
in a
single ingeniously-worded sentence he contrives to convey the idea, that the compliments about to be
bestowed were of such doubtful quality, that those excluded might hold themselves equally lucky with the
elect.
To
be called a
Homer
or a Tasso might,
under certain circumstances, be quite as
to be ignored
altogether.
Even
as depressing
in the praises
heaped on such men as Gongora, Herrera, and Lope de Vega, we do not feel sure that a " pinch or two of salt"
is
not mingled with the abounding sugar of That to Quevedo, however, seems as
compliment.
heartily sincere, as
it is
this peculiar quality
humorously conceived.
of Cervantic
the rendering of those crisp
little
satire
that
It
is
makes
sentences of praise
Translator or blame so
word may
difficult.
alter
To
s
xlv
Preface.
miss the point of a single
the complexion of the whole.
The
Sonnet almost explains itself. It is the utterance of Cervantes, for the time being lonely and There is a certain ring of defiance in it isolated. intended for his enemies, and just a shade of melan-
choly protest against the coldness of his friends. In curious corroboration of this, it is worth remembering that just at this very time (July, 1614) the spurious Don Quixote was passing through the press,
and Avellaneda (whoever_he might be) was giving the last caustic touches to his infamous preface, " wherein occur these words Miguel de Cervantes is now as old as the Castle of San Cer:
and so
through weight of years, and everything everybody disgust him; and hath such a lack of friends, that when he wishes to vantes,
peevish
that
adorn
his
them on
books with turgid sonnets, he has to father John or the Emperor of Trebizond,
Prester
seeing he can find
no person of
title
in Spain,
who
would not be offended that he should mouth name."
This
his
gives the necessary touch of reality to
Everyone knows how this anonymous was absolutely extinguished by merciless laughter, in Cervantes' preface to the second part of the situation. libeller
his
Don ^ixote. The Sonnet, however, was suppressed
while the
editio
princeps
was passing through the
xlvi
^translator's Preface.
press,
and only part of the impression contains it. A lines. supplies the place of the cancelled
woodcut
floral
Whether
his
own
better
second thoughts, or the
advice of friends, conduced to this end,
we know
Sonnet was reprinted ; in none of the subsequent editions, and passed out of It found its proper the knowledge of Spanish critics. the first time in the collected edition of for place not
but certain
it is
that the
works, 1863-4; and the notes of Sr. Barrera give an account of the collation he made of Cervantes'
various copies of the
above
facts.
The
poem British
in
Madrid, establishing the
Museum
has
two
copies
of the original edition, both of which contain the In the sonnetless copies the catch-word for Sonnet. it still
remains at the bottom of the previous page
—
a standing memorial of a bit of curious history. be of interest to indicate some of the sources It
may
of which Cervantes availed himself
in this poem. This is true had no Bouterwek says prototype. in the main, though Cervantes himself tells that his it
of Cesare Caporali, journey was fashioned after that of the school of Berni. Italian of Perugia, an poet died in 1601. Caporali was born in 1531, and
and youth he was passionately fond of reading a bon He was Horace. vivant, essentially translating
In
his
and throughout the seventy years of his life, so far as appears, he followed no more useful occupation
Translator s Preface.
xlvli
than that of hanger-on in the houses of several noble
where his sparkling
families,
talents
and witty conver-
made him always a welcome guest. He was member of the Academy of Insensates, in Perugia,
sation
a
where he passed by the name of
To
Rake).
of
his
this
Academy
//
S temperat o
poems, and, amongst others, the
To his credit it may be
Parnaso. are free
from the gross
Spanish
critics praise
(the
he contributed most d'l
V'laggio
said, that his
poems
licentiousness of his school.
his versification as superior to
that of Cervantes, but for superior invention.
award to the
latter
Cervantes, in fact,
the palm borrowed
from him except the title of his book, and the bare idea of such a romantic journey. Caporali's plan is
little
altogether different from that of Cervantes, and
somewhat
after this
fashion.
He
embarks with
mule on board of a merchant vessel bound
to
is
his
Messina
;
thence he proceeds by way of Corfu to the Gulf of Corinth, and so to the foot of Mount Parnassus. There
he
finds
crowds of
poets, trying to scale the steep hill
by the curious process of knitting MSS. into long cords, which they send whizzing to the summit, so as to attach
them
to
efforts are fruitless,
and other
some projecting rock
;
but their
and they are repelled by Disdain
allegorical personages.
Caporali
is
more
he happens to have with him a passport signed by Ferdinando de Medici, afterwards Grand fortunate, for
Translator
xlviii
Duke of after the
of
s
Preface.
Florence, which he carries on his breast,
manner of the Algerine
open, and he finds
At
captives.
and every gate himself on the summit
this every barrier falls,
is
sight
throv^^n
of
in sight
Temple of Apollo, with its four gateways, the Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and Tuscan. The entry
the
to
is
it
through several gardens.
he takes
him
To
explore these
for his guide Poetic Licence,
who makes
mule behind, lest the plants and flowers should be endangered, and says to him: "Let us leave his
march boldly, and if thy feet play thee false, not thy head say that this concerns thee not, " and lay the blame on the correctors of the press enter
:
lose
:
!
In the
first,
or
common
garden, he meets his comrades
of the Burlesque school, Berni, Lasca, Varchi, and Thereafter he others, who spend their time jovially.
and through the Elysian he reaches the of noble delights, where place gate Petrarch dwells with the other deities of the Tuscan leaves Poetic Licence behind,
This
Parnassus. Satire,
and
is
is
the most delightful part of the
worth perusing. While Caporali is gazing,
on the wondrous scene, a mighty clamour heard from without. He rushes back to find that
av/e-struck, is
a curious affair of love has arisen between an ass, the
Pegasus of the bad poets, and his insulted mule. intervenes, and begins to beat his enraged brute. takes to her heels, he runs after, and, as
He She
he humor-
'Translator s Preface.
xlix
ously adds, he has run ever since, without being able to re-enter the Paradise of the Poets, or penetrate, as
he wished, to the Sanctuary of the Muses. All this is sufficiently comic, but it is not the Comedy of Cervantes.
But there is
is
a Spanish author to
more indebted than
He was
Cueva.
whom
to Caporali, viz,,
Cervantes
Juan de
la
a distinguished playwright, epic
poet, critic, and ballad writer of the latter half of the
sixteenth century. in that is
now
A
native of Seville, he published
1587, a book of Romances, which excessively rare, but a copy of which is in
town,
the British
Romances
in
Museum.
It
Historiales.
It
entitled, Coro Feheo de
is
is
divided into ten books,
severally dedicated to Apollo and the
Nine Muses.
In the tenth book, dedicated to Calliope, occur two romances, which evidently suggested to Cervantes a number of his ideas. The first is entitled " How :
the poets pursued Poesy, and what came of it." In this we have a most extraordinary description of the
what Cervantes
calls, "the seven" thousand and also a poets, twenty strong ; curious speech of Poesy to the bad poets, which reminds one of the speech of Poesy to the victors of
ragged regiment
of,
month
Parnassus, in the eighth
The
second romance " How the entitled :
is
chapter of this "Journey,
more
suggestive
still.
It
is
poets stormed Parnassus, and
'Translator's Preface.
1
captured
from." good,
as
it,
and
This
how Apollo and no
the
Muses
fied there-
between the bad poets and the with Cervantes, but a direct attack of the is
fight
scurvy race against Apollo and the Muses. it
In fact
degenerates at the close into a fearful scrimmage.
The
poets let fly at Apollo their Ballad-books and
Novel-books:
—
Cual
le
Cual
le tira el
arroja el Cancionero,
Novelarlo.
Apollo seizes the trunk of a huge oak as a weapon of offence. The Muses ply the heads of the stormingparty with sticks, and awful bloodshed ensues.
But
overwhelming numbers prevail, and the heights of " Parnassus are stormed and won, Apollo, seeing that all is lost
and
Muses
his
steeds, bids the
in danger, harnesses his four
Muses mount
more ado he wings
his car,
and without
his flight to heaven,
and leaves
Parnassus in the hands of the profane barbarians." Cervantes was in Seville when this book appeared, and
no doubt enjoyed
it
and took note of it
for further use.
There is another little book which we fancy must have been used by Cervantes, viz., the first Spanish translation of the It Odyssey, by Gonzalo Perez. was published
in Venice, 1553,
under the
title
of
Z^
Ulyxea de Homero, but contained only thirteen books ; the complete poem was issued at Antwerp, in 1556. It
is
a bald, unpretending translation
j
but clear, and
'Translator's Preface. interesting for
have found
its
It quaint simplicity. may well into the as a "crib" Estudio of way its
Juan Lopez de Hoyos
Madrid, where Cervantes
in
learned his "little Latin and as
it
may, there
is
Be
Greek."
less
that
no doubt that many portions of
and the third chapter
this Journey,
li
The
modelled after the Odyssey.
especially, are
passage of the
between Scylla and Charybdis, with the humorous episode of Lofraso j the description of straits
the heights of Parnassus, presenting a faint reminis-
cence of the gardens of Alcinoiis ; the deep sleep during which Cervantes is transported from Parnassus to Naples
pilgrim
;
all
;
his entry into
Madrid
in the
ventures of the great Grecian hero, and the phrases
and
similes
commend
many of
remind us of the
used
For
language of Perez' version. scription, for
garb of a
these are incidents taken from the ad-
rapid, vivid de-
Homeric picturesqueness of incident, we
this third
chapter to our readers, as one of
the most noteworthy and interesting in the book.
The Spaniards have always lamented that which has been bountiful has denied to Ercilla's is
their
to
them
literature a
La Araucana, though
full
lacking in world-wide interest
;
great epic poem. of poetic beauties,
the
Poema
though a glorification of their national fragment, and
its
Providence,
in other matters,
del Cid,
hero,
is
a
language and versification, albeit
Hi
Translator's Preface.
and
r.acy
resource interest,
but
and uncouth.
vivid, are antique
Don ^dxote,
the
in
is
and quite Homeric both
this alas
is
!
they desire a
in prose.
first-rate
Epic, a veritable
if
it
ready to hand in this
they will only re-christen
Cei-vantea, or
of
search
its
and fimcy,
burlesque
poem of Cervantes, and call it " La :
last
w^e suggest, that if
little it,
in grasp
in
Might
humorous Odyssey, they have
Cervantes in
Their
universal
his
proper
the Journey of place
in
the
of his country." This, in fact, is the true aim and intent of the Satire, and as such it will never literature
lack interest nor admirers.
The lation
Spanish text which accompanies this transis, in the main, that given in the Bihliotcca de
Autores Espamles, prints.
We
1 864, purged of its numerous mishave collated it with that found in the
collected edition of Cervantes' works, 1863-4, which to have corrections from the notes of the late professes
The spelling is modernized, the
learned Sr. Gallardo.
punctuation
is
rectified,
which the sense seems text
is
essentially
For valuable
demand, but otherwise the that of the first edition of 1614.
advice,
in these matters,
and a few alterations are made
to
and
and
in
cordial assistance rendered
the interpretation of the
obscurer passages, we have to ackiiowledge with gratitude our indebtedness to Don Pascual de Gayangos, " the true *' friend in need of all English Cervantistas.
Translator
With
s
liii
Preface.
regard to the Title of the book,
we have of
course retained for the Spanish text that given by
Cervantes himself, Viaje del Parnaso (altered in the edition of title
1784 to Viaje
seems a
little
Parnaso), though that
al
Viaje del Parnaso,
inappropriate.
and the analogous
titles,
Viaje del Jerusalen, Viaje
de la Tierra Santa, are expressive
of the ordinary
round (peregrinatio) which pilgrims made on their visit to holy cities or places but of such
tour or
;
tour or peregrination there is the "Journey of Cervantes. It
little
or
no trace
in
simply a journey, sea and to Parnassus for a land, partly by partly by definite object, the extermination of the bad poets.
We have
therefore thought
it
is
better to translate
it
into English, not by Journey of Parnassus, v/hich
would be vague and equivocal, nor by Tour of Parnassus, which would be misleading to English but by Journey to Parnassus, which ex; with sufficient presses accuracy the main contents of the book. Mr. Duffield authoritatively informs us readers
that Travels in Parnassus
the book.
not
How
It has the
tell us.
is
the only correct
he arrives at
this
title
of
conclusion he does
double defect of being at once Travels in Vesu-
a mistranslation and a misnomer. vius
would be quite
as
intelligible
Parnassus, and much more Finally,
it
as
Travels
in
feasible.
has been our endeavour to present to
Translator
liv
s
Preface.
version of English readers a readable and enjoyable have striven, as far this much-neglected Satire.
We
of the
as possible, to stick to the letter It has
its spirit
text,
and
to
been our aim above
always. to imitate the easy, unconstrained, yet subtle style If there be of the great master of modern humour. in this respect, it has not been through
preserve all
shortcomings want of patient endeavour gift
is
not the
of
fruit
but, unfortunately, such
;
Cervantes himself
effort,
tells
he has but a {Don fixate, Part II., ch. 62) that in general ; that the art of translators of poor opinion us
from easy tongues implies no great amount of wit, or gift of language ; but he at the same tim»e throws them this little crumb of comfort, that they
translating
might
easily
be employed
much worse and
in
less
profitable occupations.
As
this translation
was undertaken mainly
for the
readers to judge of the purpose of allowing English character, and aims of Cervantes under the light
hfe,
which he himself has place to say a
have been especially
word
lately
or
given,
broached
by Mr. DufHeld
translation of
Don
had
fairly
accurate, and
is
think this a fitting certain theories that
concerning them, and
in the preface to his
^tixote.
we would fain much to do with
translation
we
we
two on
Of
speak with it
all
respect, as
in various ways.
purged
new
the merits of this
of
much of
It
is
the
'Translator's Preface.
Iv
grossness of former versions, and for these two good If it had been purged likethings we are thankful.
wise of the added archaisms, which are so profusely it, we should have been more thankful we feel sometimes, on travelling through
scattered over
As
still.
as if
it,
it is,
we were
jolting over
country road, instead of
some
rough,
old,
rutty-
bounding over the smooth,
Cervantic highway. But its easy-going, delightful is its fault over-accentuation of the serious most
Whoever knows anything of humour will feel,
humour of the book.
the peculiar quality of Cervantic that there
define) over
we
a certain limit
is
which
it
find, therefore, the
is
of reserve
(difficult to
When
quite fatal to pass.
somewhat vulgar
eccentricities
of the translator blended
(as they constantly are) with the glorious extravagances of the Knight and Squire,
we
feel in a sort of quandary, and are tempted to ask, " Is this the no very good humour glory of Mambrino's helmet, or is it the glitter of the barber's "
in
:
basin
In short,
?
it is
worst luck that could
a sensational translation, the
befall a classical masterpiece.
But what concerns us most lator
has
manner of Cervantes longer,
it
carried
this
writing
seems,
to
that the
of the purpose of
We
Don fixate. look upon
pleasant pastime, as this "Journey e
trans-
sensational
overstrained,
his into his estimate
in
is,
it
as
tells
us
are
no
book of
a it
is ;
nor
Translator
IvI
s
Preface.
and extermerely as a book designed to replace as Cervantes minate certain bad, corrupting books, himself assures us
whose If
we
real
but as one of those peculiar books,
;
contents must be read between the
and
are very observant,
our instructor's spectacles,
we
especially
if
lines.
we wear
shall find things, it
may
which clearly things, constantly cropping up, show that Cervantes was a great priest-hater, and had be
little
a deadly horror of priestly
somewhat of
fact
ways and things
—was
in
a freethinker in matters ecclesiastic,
and would have been a thorough root-and-branch reformer, if only Fate, or the Inquisition, had allowed.
Throughout the book he may, to our simple eyes, be and wholesome mirth only trying to excite innocent ;
but in reality he
certain slyly infusing
is
little
drops of
will give a explosive spirit which, at the proper time, shake to the foundations of the church, and cause the
throne of the fact, if all
we
Queen of Heaven
the while the
Guy
to topple over!
are to believe our guide, Cervantes
somewhat shady
is
In
playing
part of a Spanish
Fawkes.
In proof of observe,
all
this
how Don
we
are gravely requested to
Quixote's housekeeper implores
the good Curate to sprinkle the Knight's enchanted exorcise the demons ; how library with holy water to the
New Amadis, doing penance in the Sierra Morena,
knots the end of his
shirt-tail to
make
a rosary withal
;
Translator' s Preface.
Ivii
and how Sancho Panza, in loving converse with his chum, Tome Cecial, makes this remark,"//? the sweat " of our brows we eat bread thereby becoming heterobeen has he dox, seeing using the Spanish Reformers' ;
rendering of a Bible phrase, whereas he ought to have " IVith the sweat," in good orthodox fashion.
said,
matters of like importance, for the daring conadmiration excite Mr. Duffield's tempt they show of Holy Church on Cervantes'
and
These,
It
part.
forms
is
sundry
a standing
why
us,
the
wonder
so he in-
to him,
" cold-blooded
and
relentless
"
did not myrmidons of the mangling Inquisition burn the author of that pestilent book on the Plaza del Sol
the
(?)
;
and,
Reformers'
down
may we
be permitted to add, with
Bible tied to his neck, and a leaf
"
noxious passage, "In the sweat In such fashion are we asked to believe, that the
turned
at the
!
mighty wit of the reforming Cervantes pounced
like
an eagle on such small game as this But the utterance of Cervantes, which most excites !
his
astonishment for
doxy,
is
when he
its
daring defiance of ortho-
that placed in the says to
Sancho
" :
mouth of Don Quixote
We cannot
all
be
friars
;
and many are the ways by which God carries his own also rub our to heaven." eyes in astonishment,
We
and ask ourselves what awful mystery underlies this plain theological truism, to which the Pope of Rome
translator's Preface.
Iviii
himself might nod a grave assent. As Mr. Duffield does not seem to comprehend the plain sense of plain words, we offer him a Spanish Commentary of the
which may
period,
While
clear his vision.
lately
reading Guillen de Castro's Mocedades del Cid, we lighted on the following lines, which are not only pat to the point, but quaint and beautiful in themselves.
They
are put in the
mouth of
the Cid,
on
his pil-
grimage to Santiago, in answer to the jeerings of his a fellow-pilgrims, for appearing in the gay attire of knight
:
—
Cid
loquitur:
Precious boon to mortals given,
God, whose guiding hand
is
o'er us.
Sets a thousand roads before us. Leading each and all to Heaven !
Whoso,
in this world of vision,
Would Hath
as pilgrim safe be
guided.
to choose the path provided
Best befitting his condition. So, with honest soul and good. And the light of Heaven upon
it,
May the Cleric don his bonnet, And the Friar wear his hood. 'Neath his
May And
cloak,
of double
the sturdy it
may
plies
ploughman burrow.
be thro' his furrow
Strike a straight road to the skies.
lix
I'ranslator s Preface.
And
the Soldier-Knight mayhap, If his aims be good and pure.
With
And
his golden garniture. with feather in his cap.
he keep the road. with spur of gold. Gallant of celestial mould.
Will,
On
Reach
if so
his steed,
home of God.
at last the
Now with
and
tears,
now
with song,
Suffering some, and fighting others. To the land where all are brothers
One by one
they march along
!
Guillen de Castro was a poor and neglected man " God has a died, but it was not for saying,
when he
He did thousand ways of leading men to heaven." not mean that these thousand ways lay outside of the Church. ignorantly foreign
to
Neither did Cervantes,
Such
insinuates. their Spanish
casion to speculate
upon
an
minds it,
;
as
idea
our
was
critic
quite
they had no oc-
or if they did they kept
their speculations to themselves.
But does not the author of to prove Cervantes to
a sort of glorified this
he
is
Tom
proving too
lie.
sceptic, or
Paine, see that in proving
much
strating that Cervantes a
these childish attempts
have been a covert
t
He
is
simply demon-
was a hypocrite, and
his life
Has he never read the glowing account which
Doctor Antonio de Sosa gives
as
to his religious
Translator
Ix in
bearing
Algiers,
moulded and read
settled
s
when
Preface. his character
for life
Don ^axote twenty
?
He
was being
claims to have
times, has he ever read
That book, written Sigisffiunda once ? when the hand of death was upon Cervantes, proves him to have been to the last the good Catholic and and
Perslles
simple Christian, that Doctor de Sosa affirms
him
to
have been thirty-six years before. To tell us, moreover, that the secret of his poverty was, that he was
hunted down by the clergy as the enemy of their order and faith, is simply to tell us to shut our eyes to the light. Let us take the following plain facts
from the closing years of his life. It was a priest, in the person of the
licentiate
Marquez Torres, who, in his official censure of the second part of Don ^'ixote, bestowed on him and his works, from a Christian point of view, the most glowing and hearty eulogium he ever received in his lifetime.
It
was a
priest, in
nal Archbishop of Toledo, vation,
and made
his last
this benefactor that
the person of the Cardi-
who
saved
him from
hours peaceful.
It
star-
was
to
Cervantes addressed the following
—
touching letter, which has only lately come to light " few days ago I received the letter of your most :
A
illustrious
Grace, and therewith
new
favours.
If the
malady under which I labour could be cured, the repeated proofs of favour and protection, which your
Translator lordship dispenses,
would
But the end advances so
s
for
suffice
rapidly, that
soon be over with me, but not with
May God
Ixi
Preface.
our Lord preserve you
that
purpose.
think
I
my
it
will
gratitude.
executor of so
as
many holy works, that you may enjoy the fruits This is dated, Madrid, thereof in His holy glory." twenty-sixth March, 1616; a
And,
finally,
was
it
a
month
before his death.
Tercero brother
who
laid the
was placed upon
only wreath, save one, that
his
It has generally been reckoned a very poor, tomb. unworthy one but the simple brother gave his best, while the men of light and leading gave ;
nothing
It
!
is
thus entitled
:
—
-
D, Francisco de Urbina to Miguel de Cen'antes famous Christian genius of our day:
:
A
Whom
the
members of the Third Order of St. Francis
to his grave, with uncovered face, as of their brethren.
one
EPITAPH. Tread gently, O thou passer-by, This is the rare Cervantes' shrine
;
His body 'neath the earth doth lie, But not his name, for that's divine. His earthly pilgrimage is sped, But not his fame, nor works are dead
As That
To
find the
He
;
pledge whereof he had this grace. when he sallied forth from this
world of endless
bliss,
journeyed with uncovered face.
carried
'Translator s Preface.
Jxii
So much
for
the
clerical
As
showered on Cervantes.
which was
rancour
for the attitude
which
he in turn assumed towards the Church and Ritual of his
the
country, last
it
is
perhaps not generally
long poem he wrote was
known,
Hymn
a
that
in praise
of the Virgin, and the last sonnet that dropped from his pen was in honour of Christian Rome. They are to be found in the Persiles and Sigismunda, but not in the castrated English versions, from which they have been quietly dropped. They are not the
specimens of his genius, but they are charac-
finest
The Hymn
teristic.
to
the Virgin breathes the
subtle essence of mystical theology. to quote, but the spirit
:
—
Justice
Most
following stanza
It
is
too long
may show
its
and peace to-day in thee unite, blessed Virgin, and in loving trust
The
kiss of peace they give with fond delight, Pledge of the advent of the King august.
Thou art the Dawn that ushers in the light Of that pure Sun, the glory of the just, The sinner's hope and stay, the gentle breeze That
The still
soothes to rest the old tempestuous seas.
Sonnet, striking in
for the curious lines
O
itself,
is
which follow
more it
:
—
striking
powerful, grand, thrice-blessed, and passing To thee I bend the knee, City of Rome !
A pilgrim new, a lowly devotee,
fair
'Translator s Preface.
Ixiii
Whose wonder grows to see thy beauty rare The sight of thee, past fame, beyond compare, !
Suspends the fancy, soaring though
it
be,
Ot him who comes to see and worship thee, With naked feet, and tender loving care.
The soil of this Where blood
now
thy land which
I view.
of martyrs mingles with the clod, Is the world's relic, prized of every land j
No
part of thee but serves as pattern true as if the City of God ;
Of sanctity Had been in
every line
The curious words
model grand
its
that follow are these
pilgrim had finished reciting ' turned to the bystanders and said
the
this
A
:
there
came
and enemy made and composed a
and
" :
When
sonnet, he
few years ago
to this holy city a Spanish poet, a mortal
to himself
city
!
its
a disgrace to his nation,
who
sonnet, reviling this illustrious
noble inhabitants
j
but his throat will
pay the fault of his tongue, should they catch him. I, not as a poet, but as a Christian, as if to make
amends heard.'
for
"
his
crime, composed what you have
The romance
of Persiles and Sigis/nunda
has never yet been well translated, nor adequately interpreted. Perhaps the critic, who has so ignorantly mistaken the character of Cervantes and made him
pose before the British public as a priest-hater and iconoclast, may, like the pilgrim poet, en discuento de su cargo^ undertake the work.
however, that
at the
end of the
We
fifth
warn him,
chapter of the
Ixiv
Translator's Preface.
fourth book, he will find a full exposition of the Catholic creed of Cervantes, which, for beauty of and sonorousness of language, will tax his expression
powers, but will also tend to his enlightenment. But enough on this point. are not greatly
We
concerned Catholic.
Cervantes was a good prove Our Scottish proclivities might have into
that
clined us in the contrary direction, had the truth of
We
things warranted.
are content to
know
that he
was an upright and honest man, whose religion was simply the creed of his country and his comrades ; a part of his second
nature
;
never obtrusive, never
The great avocation of bigoted, but always sincere. Cervantes was that of a man of letters. His own chief pride was to be ranked
of poets, creations.
use the
among
the diviner order
who have enriched the world with their From this lofty elevation he was free to
immense resources of his brilliant wit to
strike
and ignorance, wherever he met them, Church or State, or in the world of Literature ;
at folly, vice, in
and through his laughter the world has grown merrier and wiser. But his wit was ever genial and void of malice
:
—
humble pen hath never winged its way Athwart the field Satiric, that low plain Which leads to foul rewards, and quick decay.
My
And,
better
still,
amid
all
the keenest flashings of his
Translator
s
Ixv
Preface.
humour, he had no covert designs his irony might be subtle, but his aims were straightforward ;
:
Whate'er
betide,
my
—
steps are ne'er inclined
Where travel falsehood, fraud, and base deceit. The total wreck of honour in mankind. In whatever he did or wrote he remained true to the instincts of his
own
traditions of his country
noble nature, and to the best
and
faith.
James Y. Gibson.
ADDENDUM. OF THE PORTRAIT
A was
AND
ITS
PEDIGREE.
of Cervantes by Francisco Pacheco Tradition will long time a desideratum.
portrait for a
was made by Pacheco of Cervantes in Seville (1587during the residence 1600 ? ), and inserted by him in his famous portfolio, " Book of entitled Description of genuine portraits of illustrious and memorable men the likenesses have
that such a sketch
it,
:
:
and
lives
Seville
of
all
the most distinguished persons which
contained."
cious volume
went
After Pacheco's death this prea-missing, and
its
contents were
have been dispersed, or destroyed. In the Spring of 1864, however, that well-known
supposed to
Don Jose Maria Asensio y Toledo, of had the good luck to light on the muchSeville, coveted volume of MS. and drawings j but in a very The original portfolio was imperfect condition. Cervantista,
Ixviii
Of the
known
Portrait.
to contain a
hundred and seventy sketches in black and red pencilling ; but of these fifty-six alone and the portrait of Cervantes vsras not remained,
amongst them.
It contained,
however, one portrait,
that of Fray
Juan Bernal, Father and General of the Order of Mercy, in 1601, which gave an unexpected
clue to the spot,
where a copy
sketch might be found.
dence by which
this
is
The
of the missing curious chain of evi-
at least
established, or supposed to be
established, does infinite credit to the ingenuity, perhaps
a
little
too imaginative, of Sr. Asensio.
The whole
details are set forth in his titled
" :
New
interesting brochure, endocuments to illustrate the Life of
—
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, &c. Seville, 1864." His arguments may be thus condensed : I.
In the Spring of 1850, while overhauling a roll Don Rafael Monti of Seville,
of MS., belonging to
entitled Papeles curiosos,
he came upon one profess-
ing to be a Narrative of Events in Seville from 1590 to 1640, wherein he found the following important " In one of the six entry pictures, painted in com:
petition
by Francisco Pacheco and Alonso Vazquez of the Convent of Mercy (Casa
for the cloisters
grande de Merced), is sketched the head of Cervantes, with other persons who had been in Algiers, and the picture represents the Fathers of Redemption, with other captives." The Casa Grande de Merced is
Of the now them
still
on
Seville,
and these
w^alls.
its
six
Tvv'o of
The
one that most nearly corresponds with description of the old chronicler is No 19,
passages of his Saint, in
Nolasco
"S. Pedro
thus labelled:
as
of
Ixix
are signed with the initials of the respective
artists.
the
Museum
to be seen
the provincial
pictures are
Portrait.
life."
This Redemptorist Father and
company with another Father,
embarking from Algiers lending assistance
lad, are
boat-hook in
his
the barquero — a
hand
;
as the artist
quays of
Seville.
represented
captives,
an
and a small
while at the prow, with
to steady the launch, stands
noble, striking figure
boatman
is
in a small launch, for
Three Spanish
off-lying vessel.
one of the
in
— such a model
never found loitering on the is unsigned, but is
This picture
proved to be Pacheco's by the following evidence " " Book of 2. In Pacheco's there is Description attached to the sketch of Fray Juan Bernal, an :
account of his
and redemptive labours in Algiers; of the many captives he brought home with him to Seville of his election as General of the Order in life
;
1
601
J
and of his death
that
same
him
after death
where trait.
all
year.
" :
in the
Casa Grande de Merced
Pacheco narrates that he painted He lay in a chapel of the cloister,
the religious assembled, and
It is
one of
my
he himself had chosen
as felicities,
me
before
I
it is
took
his por-
also one, that
any other
for the
Ixx
Of the
pictures of this cloister
him
I painted
This
j
Portrait,
and
honour bound, them."
so, as in
to the hfe in one of
portrait, painted
under such peculiar circum-
Asensio found, to his great delight, to be identical with that of S. Pedro Nolasco, in the stances, Sr.
picture
The
(No.
we
which
have
referred.
modern General was made
to do
of the older Father and Saint of the
for that
duty Order.
to
19)
face of the
The
is
picture, therefore,
by Pacheco
its
;
subject corresponds exactly with that mentioned by the old chronicler ; and here, if anywhere, we
may
expect to find the alleged portrait of Cervantes
\
a
of the missing sketch. be true, the matter is narrowed
transcript, probably, 3.
If
all
this
almost to a point
of three
—
to the identification
portraits in the picture.
of one out
Sr. Asensio,
with
a due sense of the importance of the inquiry, assembled around him some of the most distinguished artists
them
and
litterateurs
of
Seville,
to solve the question
decided at once, as in the picture
were
artists
and proceeded with
on the
spot.
only can, that
portraits.
The
The all
artists
the heads
Cervantistas, with
the famous description of the prologue to the Novelas in their hands, compared the handiwork of Pacheco with the graphic delineation of Cervantes himself. After much discussion pro and con. they came at last
to the
unanimous
verdict, that
all
the peculiar traits
Of the
Portrait.
Ixxi
and lineaments of that piquant description were to be found, and found only, in the face of the noble barquero,
who
looks with such a keen and kindly eye on
the embarcation of the Redemptorist Fathers. so the question Sevilian experts
was
settled to the satisfaction
and
;
Seville
was declared
And of the
to be the
happy possessor of the noblest portrait of the noblest How Cervantes himself would genius of Spain. have revelled in the idea of such a solemn inquest on his likeness What a subject for another piquant !
colloquy between Scipio and Berganza, the immortal
dogs of Mahudes One of the company then assembled, D. Eduardo !
Cano, a distinguished
artist,
afterwards took a careful
drawing of the head, which has been photographed, and circulated throughout the land, with much acclaim. Our etching is a faithful transcript of the drawing ; except, perhaps, that the curve of the nose (the nariz. corva aiinque b'len proporcianada of Cervantes,)
is
hardly so sharply defined as in the
original.
These
are the bare facts of this
somewhat roman-
Pacheco's missing portrait. The special pleadings of Sr. Asensio and his fellowenthusiasts, as well as the sceptical criticisms of tic
search
after
we leave for the consideration of That the genuineness of the likeness
their opponents,
the curious.
/
is
is
we do
proved
demonstratively
there
Portrait.
Of the
Ixxii
strong probability in
not aver
favour
its
is
;
that
sufficiently
be
demanded, v^e must be content to remain without any portrait of If absolute certainty
obvious.
Cervantes whatever.
The
in all the bravery courtly likeness, tricked out now adorns the walls of the
of the period, which Academy of Madrid
—the
progeny of throughout the world countless
fruitful
parent
engravings that a pedigree
—has
The
precarious.
deed declared
it
of the circulate
still
more
of San Fernando have
artists
in-
to be of the school of Carducho or
—
of Cajes, in the reign of Philip IV. a copy of a more perfect original and presumably of that which Cervantes himself declared to have been painted by
—
and fellow poet,
his friend
perplexing.
Don Juan
de Jauregui, of
actual history, however,
Its
Seville.
That
it is
is
somewhat
a likeness of Cervantes at
all
depends mainly on the dictum of the dealer, F. Bracho, who (somewhere in the middle of the eighteenth censuch to the Conde del Aguila,of Seville, and affirmed it to be the work of Alonso del Arco,
tury) sold
an it
artist
to the
it
as
who
died in 1700.
Academy of Madrid
ficent illustrated edition
and convinced that
it
The Count
presented
to adorn their magni-
of the "
Don
"
Quixote j was much older and more
authentic than represented, they had
it
sumptuously
Of the engraved, and presented But,
to
Portrait.
Ixxiii
to the world
it
in
1780.
make confusion worse confounded,
engraving, with
such
found to be almost a facsimile of the to the illustrated
this
distinguished vouchers, was
London
portrait prefixed
Edition (Lord Carteret's),
published in 1738, just forty-two years before all the world knows, this likeness was
!
As
avowedly a
pure invention of the clever designer, Kent,
out of his
own
who
with nothing but the description of Cervantes to Dr. guide him. conjured
it
brain
;
Oldfield, the editor, affirms that this
inasmuch for
was necessary,
whole of Spain had been ransacked an authentic portrait, but without success. This as the
perplexing mystery still awaits unravelment, and no doubt there has been hard swearing somewhere.
Madrid and
Seville
were among the seven
cities
that once contended for the glory of being the birth-
place of Cervantes. register
The
discovery of the baptismal
of Alcala de Henares has
for ever.
They
are
now
in
settled that point
friendly rivalry for the
possession of the true likeness of Cervantes
;
the one
The swearing by Jauregui, the other by Pacheco. of certainty rests on neither. But if a choice
light
must be made both),
we
feel
we have had
the privilege of seeing to affirm, that the weight of tempted
(as
evidence, and the force of attraction, incline equally in the direction of Pachcco's noble barquero.
Ixxlv
Of the
This, at
least,
we may
no more admirable
who
captive-poet
Portrait. affirm
with confidence, that
of the portraiture need be desired to Mateo letter wrote the famous
Vazquez from Algiers or of him who, when the use his gold of his beard had changed to silver (to the adventurous own words), essayed Journey to ;
Parnassus.
In
its
homely
garb,
and manly bearing,
forms a perfect illustration of the mingled pride and modesty which characterize Cervantes' pithy speech to Mercury the epitome, in fact, of his it
whole
literary life
My
lord,
;
— —
I'm poor, and
to Parnassus
bound,
And, thus accoutred, seek my journey's end
!
In conclusion, to broach a kindred subject, may our Spanish readers (if such there be)
we remind
that the long-talked-of scale
Memorial
of befitting grandeur,
A
is still
to Cervantes,
one of the
on a
cosas de
certain enthusiastic but critical Scots-
Espana? man, while lately loitering on the Plaza de las Cortes of Madrid, and looking up at the puny statue, with its
appendages, which alTects to represent the grandest
genius of Spain in the very face of
Parliament — and remembering
no
little pride,
what a
veritable
at the
poem
its
enlightened
same time, with
in stone his
own
romantic town has created in honour of the Scottish Cervantes
—could not help indulging
in the following
Of the
Ixxv
Portrait.
simple soliloquy, on the contrasted honours paid to national genius in
EDINBURGH AND MADRID. To
thee, Cervantes, Spain
Owes, than to monarch,
More Her
A
more glory
stately galleons
Our Wizard of
brought from far Peru
we
!
view,
the North, whose teeming brain
Did make poor Scotland
Scott
rich,
and struck the vein
drained the Old World, to enrich the
New
a
King, beneath his Gothic shrine, And proud Edina guards the sculptured stone Can grand Madrid afford no kinglier throne sits,
For thee
O
;
wealth, than ever o'er the Spanish main
true-born son of thine in him
Which
true
priest, or statesman vain
to grace,
soul sublime
!
;
whose works she deems divine
O name
without a blot
!
Receive this tribute from a kindly Scot, J.
Y. G.
?
!
VIAGE
DEL
PARNASO, COMPVESTO POR Miguel de Ceruantes Saauedra Dirigido a den Rodrigo de Tapia^ Cauallero del Habito de Santiago^ hijo del Jenor
Pedro de Tapia Oy-
dor de Conjejo Real,
y
Conjultor
del Santo Oficio de la Inqui-
Jicion Suprema.
Ano
1
614
CON PRIVILEGIO EN MADRID Por
la
viuda de Alonfo Martin
JOURNEY TO PARNASSUS.
DEDICATORIA A
RODRIGO DE TAPIA,
D. CABALLERO
DEL
HABITO
DE
SANTIAGO,
HIJO
DEL
SENOR
PEDRO DE TAPIA, OIDOR DEL CONSEJO REAL, Y
D.
CONSULTOR DEL SANTO OFICIO DE LA INqUlSIClON SUPREMA.
DiRIJO
a
vuesa merced este
V'laje
Parnaso, que no desdice a su edad loablcs y estudiosos ejercicios.
hace
el
ilustre,
que hice al
florida, ni a sus
Si vuesa
merced
le
acogimiento que yo cspero de su condicion t\ quedara famoso en el mundo, y mis deseos
premiados.
Nuestro
Seiior, etc.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
DEDICATION TO
DON RODRIGO DE KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF
ST.
TAPIA,
JAMES, SON OF SENOR DON
PEDRO DE TAPIA, AUDITOR OF THE ROYAL COUNCIL,_^
AND
ASSESSOR TO
THE HOLY OFFICE OF THE
SUPREME INQUISITION.
DEDICATE
your Worship this Journey which one not ill-suited to your to or your praiseworthy and studious vigorous age, I
I
made
to
to Parnassus, as
If your Worship gives it the reception I from your noble generosity, it will become expect famous in the world, and my wishes be amply pursuits.
May our Lord, &c. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
gratified.
PROLOGO AL LECTOR. Si por Ventura, lector curioso, eres poeta, y llegare a tus manos (aunquc pecadoras) este Viaje; si te hallares en el escrito y notado entre los buenos poetas,
da gracias a Apolo por no te hallares, tambien te
la
merced que
se las
te hizo
puedes dar.
y
;
Y
guarde.
D.
AUGUSTINI DE CASANATE ROJAS. EPIGRAMMA.
Excute casruleum, proles Saturnia, tergum, Verbera quadrigae sentiat alma Tethys, Apollineum, nova sacri injuria ponti, Carmineis ratibus per freta tendit iter.
Agmen
Proteus requoreas pecudes, modulamina Triton,
Monstra cavos
At caveas
latices obstupefacta sinunt.
tanta; torquent quae mollis habenas,
Carmina
si
excipias nulla tridentis opes.
Hesperiis Michael claros conduxit ab
In pelagus vates.
Imo
pone metus, mediis subsiste Parnassi in litus vela secunda gere. age,
oris
Delphica castra petit. carinis,
si
Dios
PROLOGUE TO THE READER. If haply, curious reader, thou art a poet,
"Journey," should come (be into thy hands,
and thou
it
and
this
even stealthiwise)
find thyself inscribed therein
and noted as one of the good poets, give thanks and if ;
to Apollo for the grace he hath given thee
thou do not so find thyself, in like manner mayest thou give thanks. And God be with thee.
EL AUTOR A SU PLUMA. Pues vcys que no me han dado algun soneto
Que
ilustre deste libro la portada,
Vcnid
vos,
pluma mia mal cortada,
Y
hazedle aunque carezca de indiscreto Hareys que escuse el temerario aprieto
De
;
andar de una en otra encruzijada,
Mendigando alabanzas, escusada Fatiga
Todo
Y
c impertinente,
adorne los umbrales de la
Y
yo os prometo.
soneto y rima alia se avenga,
Aunque dadme vos que
De
sal
Que yo
los
buenos,
adulacion es de ruyn casta
;
este Viaje tenga
un panezillo por lo menos, os le marco por vendible,
3^
basta.
THE AUTHOR TO
HIS PEN.
To deck this frontispiece, since thou dost see No friend hath offered me a sonnet, none, Come
thou,
my
ill-cut
If not so high-flown as
it
pen, and
ought
make me
to be
one,
;
From grave I
anxiety thou'lt set me free, need not then throu^^h court and alley run
To
beg eulogiums ; for I'd rather shun Such vain and humbling search, I promise thee.
Let rhymes and sonnets go,
for aught I care. deck the door-posts of the upper few, Though flattery is at best but common stufl^;
To
And grant me Of pungent I
that this
"Journey
" have
its
salt, at least a pinch or two,
warrant thee
'twill sell
;
and so enough.
share
VIAJE DEL PARNASO. CAPITULO PRIMERO. Un quidam caporal italiano, De patria perusino, a lo que De
ingcnio griego,
y de
entiendo,
valor romano,
Llevado de un capricho reverendo,
Le
vino en voluntad de
Por huir de
ir
a Parnaso,
la corte el vario estruendo.
Solo y a pie partiose, y paso a paso
Llcgo donde compro una mula antigua, De color parda y tartamudo paso :
Nunca
a medroso parccio estantigua
Mayor, ni mcnos buena para carga, Grande en los huesos, y en la fuerza exigua, Corta de
vista,
aunque de cola larga,
Estrecha en los
Mas
dura que
ijarcs,
y en
lo son los
Era de ingenio cabalmente
el
cuero
de una adarga. entero,
Caia en cualquier cosa facilmente Asi en abril, como en el mes de enero.
JOURNEY TO PARNASSUS. CHAPTER A
I.
CorporaP, as I am told, Italian, and by birth a Perusinc, certain
In wit a Greek, and like a
Led by a whim,
To To
a
Roman
bold,
worthy one, ween. mount Parnassus fain would set his flee
I
the court,
face,
turmoil and chagrin.
its
Alone, on foot, he slowly reached a place Where an old mule^ he bought him for the tour,
Of steel-grey So gaunt a
and of jog-trot pace; met timid boor,
spectre ne'er
Nor one Its
colour,
less
fit
to carry
bones colossal, and
Short was
its
Lean were
vision, its
weight along,
its
action poor its tail
though and eke
flanks,
its
;
was long, hide more tough
Than those which to an ancient targe belong Its wit and temper were of such rare stuff. That, be It fell to
it
April month or January,
work
right pleasantly enough.
'
;
lO
Vicije del
En
Parnaso.
sobre ella el poeton valientc
fin,
al
Parnaso, y fuc del rubio Apolo Agasajado con serena frente.
Llego
Conto, cuando volvio
Y
sin
Llcvo
poeta solo blanca a su patria, lo que en vuelo la
el
fama deste
al otro polo.
Yo, que siempre trabajo y me desvelo Por parecer que tengo de poeta La gracia, que no quiso darme el
cielo,
Quisiera despachar a la estafeta
Ml
alma, 6 por los aires, y ponella las cumbres del nombrado Oeta.
Sobre
Pues dcscubriendo desde
alii la
bella
Corricnte de Aganipe, en un saltico
Pudicra
Y
el
labio remojar en ella,
quedar del licor siiave
y
rico
El pancho lleno, y ser de alii adelante Poeta ilustre, 6 al menos manifico.
Mas
mil inconvenientes al instante
Se me
En
ofrecieron,
y quedo
el
deseo
cierne, desvalido e ignorante.
Porque en
Que
la piedra
la fortuna
Mis mal
que en mis hombros veo,
me
cargo pesada,
logradas esperanzas leo.
Las muchas leguas de la gran Jornada Se me represcntaron que pudicran Torcer
la
volantad aficionada,
Journey
On
to
Parnassus.
1 1
this our poet, riding valiantly,
Did reach Parnassus, and Apollo there visage gave him v/clcome
With beaming
When
to his
home alone he
Without a plack, from
I,
free.
did repair.
this to t'other pole
Fame bore the tale he told on wings of air. who ^o toil and strain my being whole
To
shew, what Heaven's grace will not allow. The semblance of a poet's gracious soul,
Was
minded greatly
By
to dispatch
post or through the air,
And
plant
it
mine now
and so
to take
on far-famed Octa's brow
Thence haply spying, through
;
the tangled brake,
W^here Aganippe's charming current flows, I might take one short leap, and forthwith slake
My
with rich sweet draughts, and in repose Might fill my paunch right full, and henceforth be lips
A
poet grand, or leastways grandiose
:
But thousand stumbling-blocks appeared to me To bar the way, and made my purpose slack
A For
fruitless, powerless, senseless thing to see
in the
load
I
bear upon
Which Fortune I
The
Might
And
full
many
;
back.
there has placed with
read the hopes which leagues
my
heavy hand,
all fruition lack.
of the journey grand my bosom with dismay,
well have filled
brought
my
—
darling project to a stand
:
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
2 Si en aquel
mismo
Los humos de
Y
corto
facil el
y
Dije entre mi
En
instante no acudieran
la
:
la dificil
fama a socorrerme, camino hicieran.
Si yo viniese a verme cumbre deste monte,
Y una guirnalda de laurel ponerme No
envidiaria
Ni
el
del muerto
;
bien decir de Apontc,
Galarza
la
agudeza,
En manos blando, en lengua Rodamonte. Mas como de un error siempre se empieza, Crcyendo a mi deseo, di al camino Los pics, porque di al vicnto la cabeza.
En
fin,
sobre las ancas del destino,
Llevando a
Hacer
el
la eleccion puesta
en
la silla,
gran viaje determino.
Si esta cabalgadura maravilla,
Sepa cl que no lo sabe, que se usa Por todo el mundo, no solo en Castilla.
Ninguno
tiene, 6
puede dar excusa
De
no oprimir dcsta gran bestia
Ni
mortal caminante
Suele tal vez ser tan
Va
Y
el aire el
el
lomo,
lo rehusa.
lijera,
como
aguila 6 saeta,
por vez anda con los pics de plomo.
tal
Pero para Siempre
la
carga de un poeta,
lijera,
cualquier bestia puede
Llevarla, pues carece de maleta.
Journey
Parnassus.
to
13
Fame come in to play Their part, to make me realize my vow, And point me out a short and easy way " Could I succeed but now inly said
Had
not the fames of
:
I
:
Upon the top of that steep hill to stand. And press a laurel wreath upon my brow,
ApONTE'S
envy not
I'd
diction grand.
Nor the acumen of GalARZA dead, " With Rodomonte's tongue and woman's hand But as at first we ever are misled, !
Urged on by my
desire,
my
feet
I
gave
The road, for to the wind I gave my head And so in fine, upon Fate's haunches grave. And perched upon its saddle with free-will,
:
I
made
If such a
resolve the journey grand to brave.
mount should men with marvel
Let him who knows not know, that
The
No
fill,
it is
used
whole world round, not merely in Castile
one can be, nor ever
is
excused
From taking scat upon that wondrous brute, Nor mortal traveller has e'er refused At times 'tis wont to go so swift, and shoot :
or eagle through the upper air, then at times to jog with leaden foot But for the poet's travelling weight to bear
Like shaft
And The
To
task
carry
is
light,
it ;
for
and any beast
no valise
is
is
there.
good
;
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
14
Que
es caso
ya infalible, que aunque herede Riquezas un pocta, en poder su3^o
No
aumentarlas, perderlas
Desta verdad ser
la occasion
le
sucede.
arguyo, infundes
Que tu, 6 gran padre Apolo, les En sus intentos el intento tuyo.
Y
como no
En
le
mezclas ni confundes
cosas de agibilibus ratcras,
Ni en
el
mar de ganacia
vil le
hundes
;
Ellos, o traten burlas, 6 scan vtras,
Sin aspirar a
Sobre
el
ganancia en cosas, convexo van de las esfcras,
Pintando en
la
la palestra
rigurosa
Las acciones de Marte, 6 entre las fiores Las de Venus mas blanda y amorosa. Llorando guerras, 6 cantando amores. La vida como en sueno se les pasa,
O
como
Son hechos
Duke,
suele el tiempo a jugadores. los poctas
de una masa
siiave, correosa
Y amiga del hogar de El poeta mas cuerdo
se
y
tierna,
ajena casa.
gobierna
Por su antojo baldio y regalado,
De
trazas lleno,
y de ignorancia
eterna.
Absorto en sus quimeras, y admirado De sus mismas acciones, no procura
Llcgar a
rico,
como
a honroso estado.
Journey Yea,
'tis
God's
Parnassus.
to
15
though a poet should
truth, that
Inherit wealth, he straightway doth incline
To The
lose
it,
not increase
reason of this fact
That
I
it
;
'tis
his
mood.
do divine,
thou, great Sire Apollo, dost infuse
Into their minds a goodly share of thine
;
And as thou dost not mingle, nor confuse The same with business matters of the day, Nor on the sea of commerce vile dost cruise
;
So they, whate'er their themes, severe or gay, Concern them not with trade or balance-sheet.
But
o'er the spheres prefer to
Limning, perchance, of
wing
their
Mars some bloody
way
;
feat
On
foughten field, or else among the flowers The deeds of Venus, amorous and sweet ;
Bewailing wars, or piping
in
Love's bowers.
With them life passes like a dream of earth, Or as the gamblers spend the fleeting hours. Poets are made of cla}' of dainty worth, Sweet, ductile, and of delicacy prime. And fond of lingering at a neighbour's hearth
For e'en the wisest poet of his time Is ruled by fond desires and delicate,
Of fancies Wrapped For
To
his
full
and ignorance sublime
;
whimsies, with affection great offspring, he is not designed
in his
own
'
reach a wealthy, but an honoured state.
;
1
6
Viaje del Parnaso.
Vayan pues Cual dice
los leyentcs con letura,
vulgo mal limado y bronco, soy un poeta dcsta hechura Cisne en las canas, y en la voz un ronco cl
Que yo
:
Y
negro cuervo, sin que Dcsbastar dc mi ingenio
Y
que en la cumbre de
Jamas me pude
el el
tiempo pucdr duro tronco
la varia
:
rueda
ver solo un momento,
Pues cuando subir quiero,
se esta
qucda.
Pero por ver si un alto pensamicnto Se puede prometer feliz suceso, Segui el viaje a paso tardo y lento. ^ candeal con ocho mis de queso
Un
Fue en mis
alforjas
Util al que camina,
— Adios,
dije a la
mi
y
reposteria,
leve peso.
humilde choza mia,
Adios, Madrid, adios tu Prado, y fucntcs
Que manan
nectar, llueven ambrosia.
Adios, conversaciones suficicntes
A Y
entretener un pecho cuidadoso, a dos mil desvalidos pretendientes.
Adios,
Do
sitio
agradable y mentiroso,
futron dos gigantes abrasados
Con el rayo de Jupiter fogoso. Adios, teatros publicos, honrados Por
En
la ignorancia
que ensalzada veo
cien mil disparates recitados.
Journey
So
Parnassus.
saith the vulgar impolite
That I'm
17
mind
patient readers henceforth
my
let
As
to
and coarse
a poet of the self-same kind
— —
;
With snowy hairs of swan, with voice of hearse And jet-black crow, the rough bark of my wit To polish down Time vainly spends its force ;
the top of Fortune's wheel to
Upon
sit,
For one short moment, hath not been my fate, For when I'd mount, it fails to turn a whit ;
But
Might I
if one high thought and great not some happier occasion seize,
yet to learn
travelled on with slow
A wheaten-loaf, Was Good
*•'
all
and tardy
gait.
with eight small scraps of cheese,
the stock
my
wallet did contain.
and carried with great ease ; " Farewell," quoth I, my humble home and plain Farewell, Madrid,' thy Prado, and thy springs for the road,
Distilling nectar
and ambrosial rain
!
Farewell, ye gay assemblies, pleasant things To cheer one aching bosom, and delight
Two
thousand
faint, aspiring underlings Farewell, thou charming and deceitful site. Where erst two giants great were set ablaze
By
!
thunderbolt of Jove, in fiery might!
Farewell, ye public theatres, v/hose praise
Rests on the ignorance I see becrown countless follies of unnumbered plays
The
C
!
!
1
8
Viaje del Parnaso.
Adios de San Felipe
Donde
el
gran paseo,
baja 6 sube
el turco galgo en gaceta de Venecia leo. Adios, hambre sotil de algun hidalgo, si
Como
Que
Hoy Con
por no verme ante tus puertas muerto, de mi patria y de mi mismo salgo.
—
esto poco a poco llegue al puerto,
A
qaien los de Cartago dieron nombre, Cerrado a todos vientos y encubierto.
A
cuyo claro y singular renombre Se postran cuantos puertos el mar bana,
Dcscubre
el sol,
Arrojose mi
y ha navegado
el
hombre.
vista a la campaiia
Rasa
del mar, que trujo a mi memoria Del heroico Don Juan la heroica hazana.
Donde con
alta de soldados gloria,
Y
con propio valor y airado pecho Tuve, aunque humilde, parte en la vitoria.
Alli con rabia
y con mortal dcspecho
J
El otomano orguUo vio su brio Hollado y reducido a pobre cstrecho. Lleno pues de esperanzas, y vacio De temor, busque luego una fragata,
Que
efetiiase cl alto intento mio.
Cuando por la, aunque azul, liquida Vi venir un bajel a vela y remo,
Que lomar
tierra
en
el
plata
gran puerto
trata.
"
Journey
to
Parnassus.
19
Farewell, St. Philip's Broadway of the town,'
Where, as in Venice fl^'-sheet, I can know Whether the Turkish dog be up or down
!
Farewell, some lordling's hunger, keen and slow
;
For sooner than drop dead beside thy door. " This day from country and from self I go !
At
last
reached the port, with travail sore.
I
To
which the men of Carthage gave their name, Shut in from all the winds that scourge the shore
Before whose
Bow down The And,
clear
sun illumes, or sailors
as I cast
The The
renown and peerless fame
whatever ports the sea doth lave,
mine
make
their aim.
e^-es across the wave,
briny plain brought back to mind and heart glorious action of
Wherein, with soldier's
Don Juan
fire,
and
the brave
;
soldier's art.
And I
valour of mine own, on that great day bore a certain though a humble part ;
When, with a baffled rage they could not stay, And mortal spite, the haughty Ottoman Saw power and prestige shattered in the fray. All hopeful, then, and fearless,
I
began
To
look about to find some frigate near, Wherein to carry out my lofty plan ;
When I
on the
saw
sea, so blue
and
silvery clear,
approach a barque, with sail and oar,
Which
right into the grand old port did steer.
:
20
Viajs del Parnaso,
Del mas gallardo, y mas
De
vistoso
extreme
cuantos las espaldas de Neptuno
Oprimicron jamas, ni mas supremo. Cual este, nunca vio bajel alguno
El mar,
Que
No
ni
pudo verse en
el
destruyo la vengativa
armada,
Juno.
fue del vellocino a la Jornada
Argos tan bien compuesta y tan pomposa,
Ni
de tantas riquezas adornada.
Cuando entraba en Aurora por
el
puerto, la hermosa
las puertas del oriente
Salia en trenza blanda y amorosa
;
Oyose un estampido de rcpente, Haciendo salva la real galera,
Que
dcsperto
El son de
y alboroto
la
gente.
los clarines la ribera
Llenaba de dulcisima armonia, el de la chusma alegre y placentera.
Y
Entrabanse
A
las horas por el dia,
cuya luz con distincion
mas
clara
Se vio del gran bajel la bizarria. Ancoras echa, y en el puerto para, arroja un ancho esquife al mar tranquilo
Y
Con Usan
musica, con grita y algazara. marineros de su estilo,
los
Cubren
Que
es
popa con tapetes tales oro y sirgo de su trama el la
hilo.
Journey
Of all
21
Parnassus.
to
that Neptune's shoulders ever bore,
More
gallant and
None
that could rank beside
more sightly none, it
I
wis,
or before
Yea, never on the main swam barque like Not even in the Armada's proud array.
Which vengeful Juno whelmed in the Not Argo's self, upon that famous day It
went
to fetch the fleece,
was rigged
Or with such wealth of grandeur made As into port she sailed, Aurora fair
:
this,
ab3'ss
:
so rare.
display
!
PassedthroughtheEastcrngates the world to cheer. locks and sweetly waving hair
With amorous W^hen
lo
The
!
;
a loud report struck en mine ear.
royal galley giving
That woke
welcome roar
the town, and filled the folk with fear.
The clanging sound of clarions filled the shore With sweetest harmon}^, wherewith did blend The merry songs of those who plied the oar; The rosy Hours did on the day attend, Whose light a great distinctness and more clear Did on the barque and
all its
splendour send.
The men dropped anchor, and made fast their gear, And launched a spacious skiff on the calm sea.
To
sound of music, shouts, and lusty cheer.
With
such array as sailors love to see They crowned the poop with carpets o'er and o'er,
All woven with
silk
and gold embroidery
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
•22
Tocan dc
la ribera los
umbrales,
Sale del rico esquife un cabalkro
En hombros de otros cuatro principales. En cuyo traje y ademan severe Vi de Mercuric
De En el En
al vivo la figura,
los fingidos dioses
gallardo talle
mensajero.
y compostura,
los alados pics,
el
y
caduceo,
Simbolo de prudencia y de cordura, Digo, que
Que
A
al
mismo paraninfo
veo,
trujo mentirosas embajadas
la ticrra del alto coliseo.
y apcnas puso las aladas Plantas en las arenas venturosas
Vile,
Por verse de divinos
Cuando yo revolviendo
En
la
Ante
—
;
cien mil cosas
imaginacion, Ueguc a postrarme
por adorno hermosas.
las plantas
Mandome
Y
pics tocadas
el
dios parlero luego alzarme,
con medidos versos
y
sonantes,
Desta manera comenzo a hablarme i
Oh Adan
de
los poctas,
I Que alforjas y que traje Que asi mucstra discursos
oh Cervantes es este,
Con
al
este aliiio
?
—
su demanda, digo Parnaso, y como pobre
mi Jornada
:
sigo.
—
!
amigo,
ignorantcs
Yo, respondiendo a
— Senor, voy
:
Journey Soon
as the wealthy skiff
There salHed
Whom
Parnassus.
to
forth a
23
had touched the shore.
man
four great chiefs
of high degree,
upon
their shoulders bore;
In whose attire, and gesture firm and free,
Mercarius'
The envoy With gallant
livingr figure I
;
mien, and bearing most refined,
W^ith winged
It
divined.
of the gods of fable he
feet,
Caduceus
in his
hand.
Symbol of prudence and of wit combined was the self-same paranymph so bland, from the lofty Empyrean
Who,
to
Brought lying messages Scarce had I seen him plant
seat,
many
his
;
a land. feet
winged
the yellow sands, that smiled in glee
Upon The treading
When As
To
of such feet divine to greet, hundred thousand fancies came to me,
I stood, and straightway I was fain kneel before that form, so grand to see.
there
quick bade me rise again. sonorous measured verse like Dante's,*'
The spokesman god And,
in
O Adam What
of the poets
!
O
in this strain
Cervantes
wallets and attire be these,
Which I
me
to parley with
Began "
:
!
my
friend.
plainly manifest thy wit but scant
blandly said, that
" is
!
might not offend My lord, I'm poor, and to Parnassus bound, And thus accoutred seek end " I
:
"
my journey's
!
f^iaje del
24
Y
el
a mi dijo
: j
Pam a so.
Sobrchumano, y sobre
Espiritu cilcnio levantado
!
Toda abundancia y todo honor te sobre. Que en fin has responaido a ser soldado Antiguo y valeroso, cual
lo
muestra
La mano
de que estas estropeado. Bicn se que en la naval dura palestra Perdiste el movimiento de la mano Izquierda, para gloria de la diestra,
Y
que aquel instinto sobrehumano Que de raro inventor tu pecho encierra, No tc le ha dado el padre Apolo en vano. se
Tus
obras los rincones de la tierra,
Llcvandolas en grupa Rocinante, Descubrcn, y a
la envidia
mueven guerra.
Pasa, raro inventor, pasa adelante
Con
A
tu sotil disinio,
Apolo
Antes que
Demas
;
que
la
y presta ayuda
tuya es importante
:
cscuadron vulgar acuda de veinte mil sietemesinos el
Poetas, que de serlo estan en duda. Llenas van ya las sendas y caminos Desta canalla inutil contra el monte,
Que aun Armate de
de estar a su sombra no son dinos. tus versos lucgo,
y ponte punto de seguir este viaje Conmigo, y a la gran obra disponte.
A
Journey "
Parnassus.
25
O
superhuman mind," he cried, "and sound, Raised high above Cyllcnian spirit too,
May Thine
fame and plenty aye with thee abound the answer of a soldier true,
To
Thy Yet
valour, testified aright
all b}' that
know It
!
is
Of antiOjUe I
to
maimed hand which now
I
view
:
that, in the naval bloody fight, left
hand shattered
lost the active
power
once possessed, for glory of the right not in vain is Sire Apollo's dower
!
Of gifts to thee, the rare inventive art, The instinct which transcends the passing
hour
;
Thy works, through all the world in every part, Which Rozinante on his crupper bears, Arc known, and stir to strife the envious heart. Pass, rare inventor, subtle in affairs.
Pass on before, and to Apollo lend
Thy
timely aid, so needful in his cares
;
Before the vulgar squadron thither wend Of seven-month poets, twenty thousand told,
Whose
being
Already doth
Throng
all
is
a riddle without end.
this useless rabble
bold
the paths and roads, to storm the hill
Whose
shade they are not worthy to behold. So arm thee with thy verses and thy skill,
And make thee ready to embark with me. And gird thee for the service with good will
;
26
Yiaje del Farnaso.
Conmigo segunsimo pasaje Tcndras,
Lo que
Y
sin
que
te
empachcs,
ni
procures
suelcn llamar matalotaje.
porquc esta verdad que digo, apures, Entra conmigo en mi galcra, y mira Cosas con que te asombres y asefzurcs.
Yo, aunque pcnse que todo
era mentira,
en la galera hermosa, vi lo que pensar en ello admira.
Entre con
Y De
—
el
la quilla a la gavia,
Toda
j
oh extrana ccsa
!
de versos era fabricada,
Sin que se entremetiese alguna prosa.
Las
ballesteras eran de ensalada
De De Era
glosas, todas hechas a la la
que
se
boda
llamo Malmaridada.
chusma de romances toda, Gente atrevida, empero necesaria, la
Pues a todas acciones
La popa
se
acomoda.
de materia extraordinaria,
Bastarda, y de legitimes sonetos, De labor pcregrina en todo, y varia.
Eran dos valentisimos
tercetos
Los espaldares de la izquierda y dicstra, Para dar boga larga muy perfetos.
Hecha
ser la crujia se
me muestra
De una
luenga y
Que no
en cantar, sino en llorar cs diestra.
tristisima elegia,
"Journey to Parnassus.
orj
With mc
No
thy passage shall be safe and free, pother needst thou make, nor question raise,
About thy needful provender
at sea
;
And to convince thee that I do not phrase. Come with me to mj' galley, and strange Thoa'lt I,
though
see, to
I
fill
sight
thy fancy with amaze!
deemed the whole
"
fictitious quite,
Went on with him into the galley fair, And saw what thrilled my senses with delight. From
keel to main-mast top,
O
wonder
rare,
A swarm No
of verses^ formed the whole array. single bit of prose did mingle there !
The port-holes were 0{ Glosses, made
To
a curious to order
compound gay and designed
grace Malmaridada's^ wedding da}'^; of oars was with Romances lined,
The bank
A
daring folk, but needful as a change, And fit for active work of every kind ;
The poop was of material wondrous strange. Of Sonnets" bastard and legitimate, Of cunning work withal, and varied range
Two
Composed
A
;
Tercets, each of power exceeding great, the stroke oars of the left
wider oar-sweep to effectuate
The
right,
;
rowers' gangway came before m}'^ Formed of a long-drawn Elegy and
Designed
and
sight.
drear.
for wailing, not for song's delight
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
28 For
esta entiendo
Lo que Cuando
yo que
suele decirse a lo
se diria
un desdichado,
pasa mal, paso crujia. el cielo levantado
El arbol hasta
De una dura cancion prolija cstaba De canto de scis dedos embreado. El,
y
la
entena que por
el
cruzaba,
De duros cstrambotes, la madera De que eran hcchos clara se mostraba. La racamcnta, que es siempre parlera, Toda la componian redondillas, Con que
ella se
mostraba mas
Las jarcias parecian
De
disparates mil y
suelcn en
Que
Las rumbadas,
el
lijera.
seguidillas
mas compuestas,
alma hacer
fortisimas
cosquillas.
y honestas
Estancias, eran tablas pcderosas, llevan un
Que
poema y
otro a cuestas.
Era cosa de vcr las buUiciosas Banderillas que al aire tremolaban,
De
varias rimas algo licenciosas.
Los grumetes, que aqui y
De
alii
cruzaban,
encadenados versos parecian,
Puesto que como libres trabajaban. Todas las obras muertas componian
O
versos sueltos, 6 sextinas graves,
Que
la galcra
mas gallarda
hacian.
Journey
So might
When " He
The
Parnassus.
29
understand what strikes the ear,
I
sorrows on some wretch's head do pour
'tis the phrase we hear: gangway main-mast, that aloft did soar, !
fashioned of a
stifT
and prolix Lay,
Six fingers deep, pitch-plastered o'er and o'er It,
:
"
runs the
solid
Was
to
;
and the lateen yard that crossed its way. Of hard dry Couplets, to the view did bring Their wooden substance with a clear display
:
The parrels, prattling with the vessel's swing, Were Rcdondillas, and in rows arrayed
To
tinkle forth
an easy rattling ring
;
The
cordage was of Seguidillas made. Bright with a thousand fooleries and more,
That
The
titillate
the soul in serenade
;
prow-ribs, Stanzas honest to the core,
Formed
tablets large,
and ponderous as could be,
With this and t'other poem garnished o'er The flags and streamers were a sio^ht to see. That waved and
fluttered with the
moving
;
air.
Of varied rhymes, a trifle loose and free The sailor boys, that flitted here and there,
;
Seemed
me coupled verses in one stave. each did work with free and jaunt}' air;
to
Though The bulwarks were composed of Sextains grave, Or verses blank, and to the galley bright
A
stouter
and more firm appearance gave
!
Viaje del Parnaso.
3©
En
fin,
con modos blandos
3'
suaves,
Vicndo Mercuric que yo visto habia El bajel, que es razon, letor, que alabes, Junto a si me sento, y su woz envia A mis oidos en razones claras,
Y llenas Diciendo
Y
de suavisima armonia,
— Entrc
:
nuevas en
Veras,
si
en
el
que son raras
las cosas
mundo y
peregrinas,
ello adviertcs
y rcparas,
Que es una este bajel dc las mas dinas De admiracion, que llegue a ser espanto
A No
naciones remotas y vecinas.
le
formaron maquinas Ac encanto,
Sino
ingenio del divino Apolo,
el
puede, quiere, y llcga y sube a tanto. Fcrmolc, oh nucvo caso para solo
Que
!
;
Que yo
Hay
llcvase en el cuantos poetas
desde
el claro
Tajo hasta
Pactolo.
De Malta
el gran maestre, a quien secretas Espias dan aviso que en Oriente Se aperciben las barbaras saetas,
Teme, y envia a convocar la gente Que sella con la blanca cruz el pecho,
A
Porque en su fuerza su valor se aumcnte. cuya imitacion Apolo ha hccho
Que
los
famosos vates
Acudan, que
al
Parnaso
esta puesto en
dure estrecho.
At
V amass us.
to
Journey
^l
length, with manners gentle and polite,
Mercurius, seeing mj' inspection end,
(Herewith thy
Took
seat
praise,
by me, and
O
to
His voice with reasons
Wherewith
Thou'lt
Of all It
this
see, if
That such
Hath
" :
I
invite,)
ears did send
my
forcible
the sweetest
And said to me And novel in
reader,
and
fair,
harmony did
blend.
matters that are rare
'Mong
world, and strange to hear,
thou dost note and mark with care,
a barque, as thou beholdest here.
highest claims the reverence to
command
the wondering nations far and near.
sprang. to being by no wizard's hand. divine Apollo's wit supreme,
But by
Whose
He
will
fashioned
and it
povv^er
that
I,
achieved a work so grand
thoucrh strangle
it
:
seem.
Should bear therein as many poets great As dwell 'tvvixt Ta2;us and Pactolus' stream. Malta's grand master, who hath heard of late. From secret spies, that hordes of Eastern bands
Sharpen
their
In fear hath
barbarous shafts fpr onslaught great, the neighbouring lands
summoned from
The Knights that bear the
To
white cross on the breast,
gain the confidence such force
commands
;
Like him, Apolio now hath given behest, All famous seers shall to Parnassus hie.
Which
stands this day beleaguered and distressed.
Viaje del Parnaso.
22
del doliente caso,
Yo, condolido
En el lijcro casco, ya instruido De lo que he de hacer, aguijo el De Italia las riberas he barrido,
He
visto las de Francia
paso.
y no tocado,
Por Espana dirigido. Aqui con duke y con fclice agrado Hara fin mi camino, a lo que creo, venir solo a
Y
sere facilmente despachado. tus canas tu pereza veo,
Tu, aunque en Seras
Y
el
paraninfo de mi asunto, de mi deseo.
el solicitador
Parte, y no te detcngas solo un punto, a los que en esta lista van escritos
Y
Diras de Apolo cuanto aqui yo apunto. Saco un papel, y en cl casi infinitos
Nombres
vi
—
de poetas, en que habia
coritos. YangiJeses, Vizcainos y
AUi famosos
Y
En
quien vive de asiento la poesia.
Dijo Mercurio
Dcsta turba
La
Yo
:
— Quiero que me nombres
gentil,
pues tu lo sabes,
alteza de su ingenio, con los nombres.
Dire
lo
— De
que son mas graves que supiere, por moverte
respond!
A
de Andalucia,
vi
entre los castellanos vi unos hombres,
:
los
que ante Apolo su valor alabes.
El escucho.
Yo
—
dije desta suerte.
—
I,
Parnassus.
to
Journey
looking on the case with pitying
Put on
my
2>Z
e3'e,
winged cap, and learning plain
What
I
should be done, with quickened pace did fly; coasted all along the Italian main,
The
My
shores of France
But with I'll
saw, but did not land,
I
mission having sole respect to Spain this
bring to happy issue
And
;
meeting, fortunate and bland,
straight
Thou, though
my
affairs,
dispatch them with an easy hand. see scant
I
in
thy grey hairs, Shalt be the paranymph of my design. And rid me of the burden of my cares;
power
delay be fault of thine. to those written on this list convey
Set out, nor
let
And The message
He
shewed the
of Apollo, line for line list
Of poet's names
;
I
" !
and 'mong the vast array
saw Yangucsians
Coritcs" too, and dwellers
in
there,
Biscay;
Of Andalusians many a name and rare, And of Castilians saw I not a few Whose dwelling poesy delights to share. *'
Mercurius said
:
Since thou dost
And I
made
This most distinguished
know
crev/,
them, pray, describe the same.
with their names their height of genius too." " Of those of loftiest name response
I'll tell
:
what
thee
I
know, that thou may'st deign
Before Apollo to exalt their fame."
He
listened
:
and
I
answered
D
in this strain.
CAPITULO
II.
Colgado estaba dc mi antigua boca El dios hablante, pero entonces mudo
Que
al
Cuando
Y
el
que escucha,
di
;
guardar sikncio toca.
de improvise un estornudo,
haciendo cruces por
el
mal
agiiero,
Del gran Mercuric al mandamiento acudo. Mire la lista, y vi que era el primero El LiCENCiADO Juan de Ochoa, amigo Por poeta, y
cristiano verdadero.
Deste varon en su alabanza digo dar la muerte
Que puede acelerar y Con su claro discurso
Y
que
si
no
se aparta
al
y
enemigo,
se divierte
Su
ingenio en la gramatica espanola, Sera de Apolo sin igual la suerte ; Pues de su poesia al mundo sola
Puede esperar poner
De
el pie
en la cumbre
la inconstante rucda, 6 varia bola.
CHAPTER
11.
Upon mine ancient lips all eager hung The speaking god, now mute and at his ease, For he who listens may not use his tongue ;
When
gave a potent sneeze, me for that ill-omened feat, And, crossing
I
all
at once
I
I set myself great Mercury to please, ^^ and first upon the leet scanned the list ;
Came Juan DE OchOA
My
the Licentiate,
most complete can but state
friend as poet, Christian
In praise of such a
That from
man
I
his clear discourse, a blade
of might.
The foe must meet a sure and speedy fate And should his genius well direct its flight,
Now
curbed by Spanish grammar, as
Then would
its
I
;
fear,
height
;
hath no peer, well might gain the top of Fortune's wheel,
For with
He
Apollo's fortune reach
;
And
his poesy, that
plant his foot upon
its
whirling sphere.
Viaje del
36 Este que de
Que
No
el
los
P ama so.
comicos es lumbre,
LiCENClADO POYO
hay nube que a su
es su apellido,
sol claro
deslumbre.
Pcro como esta siempre entretenido
En
trazas, en quimeras e invenciones,
No
ha de acudir a
este marcial ruido.
Este, que en lista por tercero pones,
Que HiPOLlTO
se
llama
DE Vergara,
Si llevarle al Parnaso te dispones,
Haz cuenta que en el llevas una jara, Una saeta, un arcabuz, un rayo. Que
contra la ignorancia se dispara.
Este, que tiene
como mes de mayo
Florido ingenio, y que comienza ahora
A
hacer de sus comedias nuevo ensayo,
GODINEZ
es.
Y
estotro
que enamora
Las almas con sus versos regalados, Cuando de amor ternczas canta 6 llora,
Es uno, que valdra por mil soldados, Cuando a la extrafia y nunca vista empresa Fueren
los escogidos
y llamados
DON FRANCISCO,
Digo que es Las armas y
Que Es
las letras con tal
:
el
que profcsa
nombre,
por su igual Apolo le confiesa su sobrenombre. :
DE Calatayud Con
esto
Pucdo
queda dicho todo cuanto
decir con
que a
la invidia
asombre.
With POYA,
Who
of
Whose But
the Licentiate,
comic writers
brilliant light
as his
By He
all
mind
is
To
deal,
the star
no clouds can
e'er conceal
and whimsies of the
quips, and quirks,
hath no stomach
Third on the
now we
is
37
;
ever borne afar
De Vergara'S
Here
Parnassus,
to
Journey
list
;
for the din
name
and
if
is
brain,
of war.
written plain.
thou should'st decree
bear him to Parnassus in thy train,
He'll be a shaft, a javelin to thee,
An
arquebuse, a bolt, to cause dismay
And
force the hosts of ig-norance to flee.
GODINEZ Is
this
whose wit
;
like montli of
crowned with flowers, and who
in
May
novel style
Brings forth new comedies to suit the day. This other here, whose verses sweet beguile
The souls of men, and from Love's flowing Draw tender thoughts that cause to weep or Is one, who'll for
fount smile,
a thousand soldiers count
When, summoned to the strange assault and rude, The called and chosen stand before the mount 'Tis Don Francisco de Calatayud, ;
Who
both
in
arms and
letters
takes a pride,
And That
holds them with such equal claim and good, great Apollo ranks him by his side ;
I've said enough,
That envy now
and
all
that
I
desire,
her sombre head
may
hide.
Viaje del Parnaso.
38
Este que sigue es un poeta santo, Digo famoso MIGUEL CiD se llama, :
Que
al coro
de las musas pone
es panto.
Estotro que sus versos encarama
Sobre
Tan
los
mismos hombros de Calisto,
celebrado siempre de la fama,
Es aqucl agradable, aquel
bienquisto,
Aquel agudo, aquel sonoro y grave Sobre cuantos poetas Febo ha visto Aquel que tiene de escribir la Have
:
Con
en tanto extrcmo. gracia y agudeza
Que
su igual en
Don
Es
el
orbe no se sabc,
Luis de Gongora,
a quien temo
Agraviar en mis cortas alabanzas, Aunque las suba al grado mas supremo.
O
divino espiritu, que alcanzas
tu,
Ya
Y Ya
el premio merecido a tus deseos, a tus bien colocadas esperanzas :
en nuevos y justisimos empleos, HeRRERA, tu caudal se apHca,
Divino
Aspirando del cielo a los trofeos. Ya de tu hermosa luz clara y rica
El bello resplandor miras seguro En la que la alma tuya beatifica
Y
arrimada tu hiedra al fuerte
De la Mora
:
muro
immortalidad, no estimas cuanto en las sombras deste
mundo
escuro.
to
Journey
Next comes
Parnassus.
39
a poet of the sacred lyre,
Known vvideas MlGUEL ClD/'whoseholy rhyme Strikes terror into
the Muses' quire.
all
This other here, whose soaring verse doth climb
The
very shoulders of the greater Bear, in this our time,
So eulogized by fame,
The
best beloved, and eke most debonnair,
Most pungent, most
Of all
sonorous, most refined,
the poets Phoebus hath in care.
Who
holds the key of writing, that rare kind, Wherein such mingled grace and wit appear
Is
That on this orb its like we cannot find. Don Luis de Gongora,'' whom I fear B}^ such brief praise of mine to have disgraced,
Although
O
raise
I
soul divine
!
who
it
to the highest sphere.
art already
graced
With honours high that to thy worth arc due, And to thy hopes so well and wisely placed !
E'en now,
Thy
in fitting offices
powers, divine
and new,
Herrera,^' move
aright.
With
heavenly glories ever in thy view ; the splendours of thy beauteous Light, Upon So rich and clear, thine eyes with rapture fall,
As And,
seen in her
who
is
thy soul's delight
;
clinging like the ivy to the wall
Of Immortality, it boots not thee What matters in our darkened world
befall.
Viaje del Parnaso.
40
Y
Don Juan de Jauregui,
tu,
El sabio curso de
Que
tu
pluma
aspira,
sobre las esferas le levanto
Aunque Lucano por
que a tanto
:
tu voz respira,
Dejale un rato, y con piadosos ojos la necesidad de Apolo mira ;
A
Que te estan esperando mil dcspqjos De otros mil atrevidos, que procuran Fertiles
Y tu, Su
por quien partido,
Que
Y
campos
ser,
las
siendo rastrojos.
musas aseguran
DON FELIX
ARIAS,
siente.
por su gentileza te conjuran,
ruegan que defiendas dcsta gente sancta su hermosura, y de Aganipe
Non
Y I
de Hipocrcne la inmortal corriente. tii a dicha participe
Consentiras
Del
Que
No
suavisimo un poeta. al hacer de sus versos sude y hipe
licor
?
lo consentiras, pues tu discreta
Vena, abundante y rica, no permite Cosa que sombra tenga de imperfeta. que aqui viene se quite, a Mercurio, que cs un chacho necio. Dije Que juega, y es de satiras su envite.
Seiior, este
Este
si
Que
A
que podras tener en precio, es
Alonso DE Salas Barbadillo,
quien
me
incline
y
sin
medida aprecio.
Journey
Parnassus.
to
41
And thou as well, DON JUAN DE JauREGUI,'' Whose pen with subtle course doth upward speed, And fain would soar above all spheres that be ;
Though Lucan through thy voice doth breathe indeed, One moment leave him, and with pitying eye Regard Apollo For now
in his
time of need
;
thousand spoils are nigh thousand shameless daring ones, who fain to thee a
Of Would rank as fruitful fields, though stubble And thou, whose cause the Muses all maintain,
Don Felix While they
Arias,
wilt give ear,
I
dry.
ween,
entreat thee, in most melting strain,
To
save their beauty from that rabble mean. guard the immortal streams that gushing go From Aganippe and from Hippocrene ;
And
Wilt thou consent
Of that "
Who
Thou
wilt not
;
for
My lord, Who next But
let
thy chastely classic style.
so rare, will not permit
veriest trace of I
Who
said, let
aught that can
him be forced
appears
;
defile
satire
makes a
is
his
wight
hit.
the next find favour in thy sight,
I
!
to quit
he's but a brainless
gambles, and with
De SalaS BarBADILLO Him
glow
with some poet vile, sweats and belches while his numbers flow
So precious and
The
to share the sparkling
rich liquor
name,
regard, and with supreme delight.
?
Viaje del Parnaso.
42
Este que viene aqui,
No
hay para que
he de decillo,
embarques, y Dijoeldios: gusto de
Borrarle.
Es un
si
le
cierto rapaz,
No
asi
puedcs
oillo.
que a Ganimedes
Quiere imitar, visticndose a
Y
asi
lo
godo,
sin el te quedes.
aconsejo que haras con este dese modo,
lo
Que es el gran LuiS CABRERA, que pequeno Todo lo alcanza, pues lo sabe todo :
Es de
Y
la historia
conocido dueiio,
en discursos discretos tan discrete, a Tacito veras,
Que
te le ensciio.
si
Este que viene es un galan, sujeto
De
Y Un
la varia fortuna a los vaivenes,
del
mudable tiempo rico
tiempo ahora de
Y
Mas
rico,
Puedcn
al
duro aprieto.
de caducos bienes,
inmudables
los lirmes e
a tu
mandar
los altos riscos
firme le tienes
:
siempre estables
Ser tocados del mar, mas no movidos
De
sus ondas en cursos variables.
Ni menos Los
a la tierra trae rendidos
altos cedros Boreas,
Quiere humillar los
Y
mas
cuando airado fortalecidos.
que vivo ejemplo nos ha dado Desta verdad con tal lilosofia este
Don Lorenzo Ramirez
cs
de Prado.
to
Journey
Who
hiihcr comes, if
Hath no
right to
Parnassus.
be not to blame,
I
embark, and
strike
him out
Thou mayst quoth Mercury " I think the same." certain urchin he, who loves to flout :
;
A
43
In Gothic dress, a would-be
'Twere best
to turn
him
Ganymede,
to the right about.
The next in turn deserves a better meed. The great LuiS CABRERA, who, though
small,
Achievcth much, for much he knows indeed
A
master he of history, prized
And
;
b}^ all.
in discreet discourses so discreet.
That Tacitus himself seems
at thy call.
Now
comes to view a man of grace complete, Across whose life hath changing Fortune passed.
And
on whose head the storms of
Once was he
Now He
rich in
Time have
beat
goods that last for aye. stands at thy command both firm and fast
Around
richer
still
;
goods that would not last.
in
;
the beetling rocks in fierce array
The sea may rage, and all its billows bound. Nor move them from their solid base away And Boreas, too, may howl and rave around The lofty cedars, but he strives in vain ;
To make
A
their giant trunks bestrew the
living instance of this truth
In
Don Lorenzo,
With
he
we
ground
gain
de Prado
sweet philosophy that makes
it
hight, plain.
;
Viaje del Tarnaso.
44 Deste que
Que
En
es
sc le sigue aqui, diria
DON ANTONIO DE MONROY, que
cl lo
es ingenio
que
mas
Satisfacion al
y
cortesia.
alto deseo
Puede dar de valor heroico y ciencia, Pues mil descubro en el y otras mil creo. Este es un caballero de presencia Agradable, y que tiene de Torcato
El alma
De
sin
alguna diferencia.
Don Antonio de Paredes
A quien En
dicron las musas
tierna
edad anciano ingenio y
Este que por llevarle
Es
trato,
sus amigas trato.
te fatigas,
Don Antonio de Mendoza,
Cuanto en
llevarle al sacro
Apolo
y veo
obligas.
Este que de las musas es recreo,
La
gracia,
Que Es
de
y
el
donaire,
y
la cordura,
la discrecion lleva el trofeo
Pedro de Morales,
:
propia hechura
Del gusto cortesano, y es asilo Adonde se repara mi ventura. Este, aunque tiene parte de Zoilo, Es el grande ESPINEL, que en la guitarra Tiene la prima, y en el raro estilo. Este, que tanto
alii tira la
barra,
Que las cumbres se deja atras de Pindo, Que jura, que vocea y que desgarra,
veo
Journey I'll
to
Parnassus.
who comcth now
say of him
Antonio DE MONROY, Of wit The
and courtesy
in
in
sight,
a very store
him unite
;
proofs of his heroic might and lore
May
satisfy the loftiest desire,
Thousands
I've seen, I've faith in thousands more.
Here comes a
cavalier
Of presence
fine,
whom
all
admire.
and one who holds,
Torquato's soul with unabated fire I
45
Don Antonio de Paredes
I
ween,
;
mean,
Whose tender years his friends the Muses crowned With antique genius, and a brow serene. The next to carry with thee thou art bound,
Antonio de Mendoza, Apollo
The
next,
is
and with right
thy debtor on this ground.
who
Their grace,
is
the Muses' chief delight.
their
charm, their wisdom,
all in
one.
Who bears the palm for goodly wit at sight, Is Pedro de Morales,'" true-born son Of courtly
taste, the sure retreat
always
My
poor luck finds that else might be undone. This, though the part of Zoilus he plays. Is
EspinEL'^
the grand,
whose gay
guitar.
And style so rare, are worthy of all praise. He, who with such a flight can fling the bar As
leaves the heights of Pindus far behind.
Who
swears, and bursts, and sends his voice afar,
46
Viaje del Parnaso.
Tiene mas de poeta que de
Y
€s
lindo,
JusEPE DE Vargas,
cuyo astuto
rara condicion deslindo.
Ingenio y Este, a quien pueden dar justo tributo
La
gala y el ingenio, que mas pueda Ofrecer a las musas flor y fruto,
Es
el
De
famoso
ANDRES DE BaLMASEDA,
cuyo grave y dulce entendimiento
El magno Apolo satisfecho qucda. Este es Enciso, gloria y ornamcnto
Del Tajo, y
Que
con
claro honor de
tal hijo
aumenta
Manzanares,
su contcnto.
Este, que es escogido cntre millares
De Guevara Luis Velez Que
se
Es poeta
puede Uamar
quitapesares.
gigante, en quien alabo
El verso numeroso, Ingenio,
Este es
es el bravo,
si
el
pere^rino
un Gnaton nos pinta, o un Davo.
DON JUAN DE ESPANA,
que
es
mas dino
De
alabanzas divinas que de humanas, Pues en todos sus versos es divino. Este, por quien de
Las musas,
Que
es
Lugo estan ufanas SiLVEiRA, aquel famoso.
por llevarle con razon te afanas.
Este, que se le siguc, es
Gran
el
curioso
DON Pedro DE Herrera,
conocido
Por de ingenio elcvado en punto honroso.
Journey
With more Is
of poet's
to
fire,
Receives
Can
fit
offer to
whose astute
wit I've thus defined. great wit to boot
tribute, and with homage true the Muses flower and fiuit.
ANDRES DE BaLMASEDA, who
famed
With
47
than grace refined,
JusEPE DE Vargas,
And strangely-ordered He, who from lustre and
Is
Parnassus.
judgment, and most pure intent, W^ill great Apollo please, and charm him too. EncisO this ; the pride and ornament solid
Of Tagus and
Who
well with such a son
Here comes
A
of Manzanarcs
live content.
man, amongst a thousand
a
The
valiant
Who
might
giant poet
fair,
may
LuiS DE
GUEVARA
there,
he,
be better styled Kill-care to praise I'm free
in truth
whom
;
For sounding verse, and wit that can outline A Gnatho or a Davus as they be.
Don Juan de Espana More worthy For
this,
of divine than
in his verses
he
is all
a poet
fine,
human fame,
divine.
Comes famed SlLVEl R A, through whom Lugo's name Is
vaunted by the Muses, reason more thou shouldst strive to bear with thee the same.
Why Who follows Great
is
that
man
of curious
lore.
PEDRO DE HerrERA, who
doth shine
Through lofty wit, with honour at the
core.
Viaje del Parnaso.
48 Este que de
la carccl del olvido
Saco otra vez a Proserpina hermosa, Con que a Espana y al Dauro ha cnriquecido, Vcrdsle en
la
contienda rigurosa,
tcme y se cspera en nuestros dias, de nuestra edad poco dichosa, Culpa Mostrar de su valor las lozanias.
Que
se
Pero ^que mucho,
Y
si
cs aqueste el doto
DoN Francisco de FARfAS?
grave Este de quien
j'o
fui
siempre devoto,
Oraculo y Apolo de Granada, aun deste clima nuestro y del remoto,
Y
Pedro Rodriguez De
es.
altitonantes versos
Con majestad
Este es
Tejada,
y sonoros
en todo levantada.
Este, que brota versos por los poros,
Y Y
halla patria
y amigos donde
quiera,
tiene en los ajenos sus tesoros,
que la vez primcra romance de la tumba escura,
Es Medinilla, Canto
el
el
Entre cipreses puestos en hilera. Este, que en verdes anos se apresura
Y
corre al sacro lauro, es
BerMUDEZ, Este
donde vive
DON FERNANDO la cordura.
pocta memorando, mostro de su ingenio la agudeza
es aquel
Que
En
las selvas
de Erlfile cantando.
I
to
Journey
The
Parnassus,
49
bard who snatched the lovely Proserpine second time from dark oblivion's cage,
A
And gave
Spain and Daurus wealth divine, him in the strife where rigours rage,
to
Thou'lt find
(So feared and dreaded in our day, I ween. Fault of our pinched and not too happy age,) Shewing his lusty powers and courage keen ;
But what of
that
the grave and wise
It is
?
Francisco de Farias whom we
Pedro Rodriguez The The
this;
mean.
whose worth
I
prize.
oracle of fair Granada's shrine.
Apollo of our own and distant
Tejada
Who
follows next, as
on
I
skies.
divine.
his lofty-sounding verse
doth soar.
And travels upward with majestic line. The next, whose verses burst from every pore.
Who And Is
finds his
culls
home and
Medinilla, who
To
The This
first
is
store.
propose
tomb
the cypress-trees, arranged in rows.
BerMUDEZ,
who, with
life in
bloom
sacred laurel seeks with eager smile.
cull fresh
Who By
did
sing the ballad of the sombre
Amongst Next comes
To
friends where'er he goes.
from every source his wealthy
wisdom
ere his 3^ears consume.
the poet, noted for his style,
well displaj^ed the sharpness of his wit
chanting in the woods of
E
Erifile.
Viaje del Parnaso.
5©
Estc, que la coluna nucva cmpieza,
Con
que con su ser convienen, Nombrarlos, aun \o tengo por bajeza. estos dos
Miguel Cejudo,
y
Miguel Sanchez
viencn
Juntos aqui, oh par sin par En estos Las sacras musas fuerte amparo tienen. !
;
en los pies de sus versos bien compuestos, Llenos de erudicion rara y dotrina,
Que
Al ir al grave caso seran prestos. Este gran caballero, que se inclina la leccion de los poetas buenos,
A Y
monte con su luz camina,
al sacro
Don Francisco de Silva I
Que
En
sera por lo
mas
?
es por lo
Tiene con
el
la canalla
Apolo
mcnos
cdad madura,
verdes aiios de cordura llenos
Don Gabriel Gomez De
;
Oh
!
viene aqui, segura
la vitoria,
sicmpre necia y dura,
Para honor de su ingenio, para gloria
De
su florida edad, para que admire
Siemprc de
En
este
siglo en siglo su
gran sugeto se
memoria.
retire
Y abrevie la esperanza deste hccho, Y Febo al gran Valdes atento mire Vera en
Un
el
un gallardo y sabio pecho,
ingenio sutil
Con que
le
y levantado,
deje en todo satisfecho.
;
:
Journey
To name
51
who at the head doth sit new column, and the other two
the one,
Of Of kindred this
Parnassus.
to
I
soul,
hardly think
it fit.
MiGUEL Cejudo into view With Miguel Sanchez, pair without a
Now
comes
A bulwark Who, So
peer,
;
feet of their strong verse and clear, of doctrine rare and erudite,
on the full
May This
of the Muses, stout and true
march
cavalier,
combat without
to face the
who
fear.
reads with great delight
And
To
with the grand old poets doth consort, reach the sacred mountain by their light,
Don Francisco de Silva is in What will he be in full ? O age So green
in years, yet full
short,
mature,
of wise retort
!
Don Gabriel Gomez To
gift
hither comes, who's sure Apollo with no triumph mean
Over the rabble
To
crown
witless
and
his genius
and impure ; brow serene
his
With fitting fame that so from age to age. And ever on, his memory may be green. ;
In
In
ValDES, that great personage and sage, The hope of such a deed is at its best, And well may great Apollo's doubts assuage him
A
he'll find a
wise and gallant breast
lofty genius, full of subtlety.
Whereon
his confidence
may
safely rest.
:
Viaje del Parnaso.
52
FiGUEROA
es estotro, cl dotorado,
canto de Amarili la constancia
Que En duke
prosa y verso regalado.
Cuatro vienen aqui en poca distancia
Con mayusculas letras de oro escritos, Que son del alto asunto la importancia.
De
tales cuatro, siglos infinites
Durara
En
la
la alta
memoria, sustentada
gravedad de sus
Del claro Apolo
la real
escritos.
morada
Si viniere a caer de su grandeza.
Sera por estos cuatro levantada En ellos nos cifro naturaleza
El todo de
De
las partes,
;
que son dinas
gozar celsitud, que es mas que alteza.
Esta verdad, gran CONDE DE SALINAS, Bien la acreditas con tus raras obras,
Que Tu,
el
De
en los tcrminos tocan de divinas.
de
ESQUILACHE PRINCIPE,
que cobras
dia en dia crcdito tamaiio.
Que
te adelantas a
Scras escudo fuerte
al
ti
mismo y
sobras
:
grave daiio,
Que teme Apolo con ventajas tantas. Que no te espere el escuadron tacaiio.
CONDE DE Saldana, que con plantas Tiernas pisas de Pindo la alta cumbre, en alas de tu ingenio te levantas
Tu,
Y
;
D
Journey
to
Parnassus.
Comes FiGUEROA, Doctor by
Who
sung
in dulcet prose
Of Amaryllis
Now
53
degree,
and dainty verse
and her constancy. whose names we must rehearse,
four'" appear,
Writ
full
and large
in characters
of gold,
All doubts of their importance to disperse. Of such quartette the glory shall be told
Through
With
countless ages, for their
works remain
massive weight their
memory to uphold Should the grand throne, where Phoebus holds his reign,
Be
seen to topple fiom
These In
four alone
would
its
;
lofty place.
raise
it up again them doth nature bounteously embrace The whole of all the parts, held justly now
To This
merit Highness which truth, great
Dost well accredit Wliich touch the
Thou,
prince of
is
CONDE DE vi^ith
;
more than Grace.
SALINAS,
thy works so
limits of divine,
ESQUILACHE,
I
thou
rare,
trow.
biddest
fair.
From day to day, to rise to such a place That thou th3'self wilt pass and overbear
;
Thou'lt be a buckler strong in that dire case Which Phoebus dreads; arrayed in power complete,
The
scurvy squadron will not brook thy face.
Thou, CONDE DE SalDANA, who, with feet So tender, climb'st up Pindus' lofty height.
And
soarest with thy wit on pinions fleet,
Viaje del Parnaso.
54 Hacha has de
scr de inextinguible
Que De verse
monte,
guie al sacro
Tu,
el
en
cl, sin
que
al
la luz
ViLLAMEDlANA,
de
lumbre,
dcseoso
deslumbre.
mas famoso
el
De
cuantos entre griegos y latinos Alcanzaron el lauro venturoso ;
Cruzaras por
Que
Lleguen a
A
las
sendas
el los
simples peregrinos.
vista destos cuatro
cuya
Del Parnaso caeran
j
y caminos
monte guian, porque mas seguros
al
muros
las arrogancias
De los mancebos sobre necios duros. Oh cuantas, y cuan graves circunstancias Dijera destos cuatro, que felices Aseguran de Apolo las ganancias
Y
mas
si
se les
Marques En Cada
el
Uega
de
el
!
AlcaniCES
insigne, haran (puesto
mundo no mas)
cual de por
si
que hay una
cinco fcnices.
sera coluna,
Que sustente y levante el edificio De Febo sobre el cerco de la luna. Este (puesto que acude
En
que
se
ocupa)
el
al
grave
lauro y
Que Apolo da por honra y
En
oficio
palma
lleva.
beneficio.
esta ciencia es maravilla nueva,
Y en la jurispericia unico y raro, Su nombre
es
DON FRANCISCO DE LA CUEVA.
I
'Journey to Parnassus.
Thou
55
hast to be a torch of quenchless light,
To
guide the pilgrims who would pay their Upon the sacred hill, nor dread the night.
Most famous,
vow
VilLAMEDIANaV thou
Of all, amongst
who
the Greeks and Latins,
Have pressed the happy laurel on their brow Thou must patrol the road and sideways too Which to the mountain lead that safely all The simple strangers may their path pursue
;
;
:
Before the sight of which quadruple wall.
That
girds Parnassus, shall the brainless throng
Of these rude striplings totter down and fall. What wondrous stories might I tell, and long, Of this quartette what gains they have in store ;
For great Apollo in the realms of song But lo if AlcaniCES join the corps.
!
!
Marquess renowned,
Though Each one
in the
five
Phoenixes will
world there be but one
shall be a
column of such
rise,
— no more
size
As Phoebus' mansion singly to sustain. And bear its fabric far above the skies. The next; although his weighty duties strain His utmost powers, Apollo grants Strange
gifts in
still
bears the
palm of fame
for honour and for gain ; such a science hath the same.
In jurisprudence, too, unique and rare,
Francisco de la Cueva
is
his
name.
!
Viaje del Parnaso.
56
Homcro
Este, que con
Es
gran Insigne en Este, que sc
letras,
Sus
y por
su
pluma
en la quinta y cuarta esfera.
tiempo no consuma. de la mano
escritos el
la lista
este punto,
Que Haz que
y
dijo el dios
:
— Con estos
negocio llano.
el
con pics y pensamicntos prestos
Vengan
aqui,
donde aguardando quedo
La fuerza de tan validos supuestos, Mai podra DON FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO Venir, dije yo entonces y cl me dijo
— Pues partirme Ese
:
de aqui non puedo.
de Apolo, ese es hijo Caliope musa, no podemos
Irnos sin el
Y
;
sin el
es hijo
De Es
DE VERA
que per su cspada
has referido esta
—
virtudes claro.
cuerpo y aun el alma bruma mil, aunque no muestra ser cristiano,
Cayoseme
En
y en
el
Este, que
De
compare,
le sigue, es el
Don Juan, Le honran
le
DON RODRIGO DE HERRERA,
el
el,
y en
esto estare fijo.
flagclo de poetas memos, echara a puntillazos del Parnaso
Los malos que esperamos y tememos.
— Oh
senor, replique, que tiene el paso
Corto, y no llcgara en un siglo entero.
— Deso,
dijo Mercurio,
no hago caso.
Parnassus.
to
Journey
He, whom with Homer
I
may
57
well compare,
he Is Don Rodrigo de Herrera Who holds in letters as in worth the chair. Now comes DON JUAN DE VERA, brave and :
Who, Hath This,
in the fifth
who
in soul
free,
sword and lettered plume,
for his martial
and fourth sphere high degree.
and body
casts a
gloom
O'er thousands, though he be no Christian sure. Still
On
may
this
I
works survive
his
dropped the
list
till
doom
crack of
in accents
:
I
pure
Thcgodexclaimed: "With numbers suchand great
As
thou hast
named our
business
is
See that, with ready feet and hearts
They
hither come, while
To welcome " Scarce can FRANCISCO allies
In time," I
He
I
said:
I
shall
secure
keep me
free
"
of such sterling weight
'*
;
elate,
!
DE QUEVEDO'"
Nay,"
quoth he,
"on
do not go, unless he go with me; is
Apollo's son, son of the
Calliope
;
we
cannot,
it is
Muse
clear,
Go hence without him, and I do not chuse He is the scourge of all the poets drear, And from Parnassus, at the point of wit, Will chase the miscreants we expect and "
be
this cruise
My lord,"
I
said,
"his pace
is
most
He'll be a century upon the route
Quoth Mercury;
"
It
;
fear
unfit,
" !
matters not a whit
;
" !
Viaje del Parnaso.
58
Que
cl
poeta que fuere caballero,
Sobre una nube entre pardilla y clara
Vendra muy
—Y
el
que no, pregunte,
Apolo I
Que
?
I
respondio,
tus preguntas
le
Que
y
respondi, se turbo
El mar
Mi
i
le
dromedario, 6 alfana en paso rara
;
— Si hare, pues no Esto
que
prepara que carrozas, 6 que nubcs ?
— Mucho, me En
a su gusto caballero.
cl
mucho
y obedece,
calla
es infando lo
me
algun tanto
como
que jubes.
parece ;
y en un punto
se turba, el viento sopla
rostro entonces,
?
te subes
el
crece.
y
de un difunto
Se debio de poner, y si haria, Que soy mcdroso a lo que yo barrunto.
Vi
la
nochc mezclarse con
Las arenas
A la Todos
Y
del
el dia,
Hondo mar alzarse
region del aire, entonces los
fria.
elementos vi turbarse,
La
tierra, el
Vi
entre rompidas nubes azorarse.
agua,
el aire,
y aun
el
fuego
en medio deste gran desasosiego Llovian nubes de poetas Uenas Sobre el bajel, que se anegara luego,
Si no acudieran
A
mas de mil
sirenas
dar de azotes a la gran borrasca, Que hacia el saltarel por las entenas.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
59
For be the poet gentleman to boot, Upon a dappled cloud, and through the
He
" For him who's none what I
air,
"
shall be borne, his courtly taste to suit
asked,
*'
what
clouds,
What
is
Apollo's care ?"
what carriages
at
Brute of action rare
?
!
hand " ?
?
dromedary "Th}^ questions savour much," he said offhand, ** Of hardihood be silent and resigned " " Since not ineffable is thy command, " I So answered I, and to my mind yield !
;
!
He
seemed somewhat rose the sea,
Rough Then grew my
face, like
Bedewed with
I
irate,
and straight ahead
and blew the gusty wind. visage of one dead.
pallor, for, if truth
be told,
I'm somewhat fearful of the thing I dread saw the night and day together rolled,
The
;
sands of ocean deep began to dash with cold
to the realms of air, that froze
Up Now seemed
;
the elements in rage to clash.
Earth, water,
air,
and lambent
fire,
whose
light
Pierced the rent clouds with intermittent flash. In midst of this confusion and affright,
Clouds
full
of poets sent a pouring rain
[quite,
Down on the barque, and would have swamped Had not some thousand Sirens come amain. And
with their whips, from yard to j'ard, did hurly-burly take to flight again ;
That
it
make
6o
Viaje del Parnaso.
Una, que
De
scr
pense Juana la Chasca,
dilatado vientrc
y luengo cuello, Pintiparado a aqucl de la tarasca,
—
Se llego a mi, y me dijo De un cabello Deste bajel estaba la esperanza :
Colgada, a no venir a socorrello. Traemos, y no es burla, a la bonanza. estaba descuidada oycndo atenta
Que
Los discursos de un
En
Sancho Panza.
cierto
esto sosegose la tormcnta,
Volvio tranquilo
Que
al
reganon
\'olvi la vista,
y
mar, sereno
el
el ccfiro le
vi
en
lijero
el cielo,
ahuyenta. vuelo
Una nube romper el aire claro De la color del condensado hielo. ;
Oh
maravilla nueva
!
Oh
caso raro
!
y he de decillo, aunque se dude Del hecho que por brujula declare.
Vilo,
Lo que yo pude
ver, lo que yo pude que la nube dividida dos mitades a Hover acude.
Notar
En
Quien ha
Con
fuc,
visto la ticrra prevenida
tal disposicion,
que cuando llueve,
Cosa ya averiguada y conocida,
De
cada gota en un instante breve Del polvo se levanta 6 sapo, 6 rana,
Que
a saltos, 6 despacio
el
paso mueve
;
to
Journey One,
whom
for
la
Joan
With paunch
6i
Parnassus.
Chasca
I
did take,
extensive, and long neck and bare.
In fashion like to that of curling snake,
Accosted
me and
That hung Our timel}'
We tarried, That
A On
I
" 'Tvvas by a hair
:
hope of coming, as designed,
succour to the barque to bear;
'tis
no
on the
jest,
this
Sancho Panza told
began sea
wind
fair
rapt attention, while
listless stood, in
certain
The And
the
said
to abate that
his
mind " !
tempest
vile.
grew calm, the sky serene and bright.
Boreas
fled before the
turned to look, and lo
Zephyr's smile.
on pinions light, cloud came bursting through the upper Like unto virgin ice as purely white marvel without peer! wonder rare !
A
air.
:
O
O
I
saw
it,
and must
tell it,
The faith of men in what What I could see, and what
!
Whoe'er has seen
Of power (A From
A
strain
I
now
I
will maintain.
Is that the cloud, careering
Split into halves,
I
though
on
declare
its
and then began
!
way, to rain.
the earth with such array
prepared, that
patent fact that
when
it
rains apace,
none can well gainsay)
every drop, and in the briefest space, frog or toad from out the dust takes birth,
That upward jumps,
or creeps with sluggish pace
;
62
Viaje del Parnaso.
imagine ver (; Oh soberana Virtud !) dc cada gota de la nube Saltar un bulto, aunque con forma humana.
Tal
se
Por no
Mil
crecr esta verdad estuve
veces, pero vila con la vista,
entonces clara y sin legaiias Eran aquestos bultos de la lista Pasada los poetas referidos,
Que
A
cuya fuerza no hay quien
tuve.
la resista.
Unos por hombrcs buenos conocidos, Otros de rumbo y hampo, y Dios cs
Cristo,
Poquitos bien, y muchos mal vestidos. Entre ellos parcciome de haber visto
A Don Antonio de Galarza Gentilhombre de Apolo, y
El bajel
Y su
muy
el
bravo,
bienquisto.
se lleno de cabo a cabo,
capacidad a nadie niega
Copioso asiento, que es
lo
mas que
alabo.
Llovio otra nube al gran LOPE DE Vega, Poeta insigne, a cuyo verso 6 prosa
Ninguno le aventaja, ni aun Era cosa de ver maravillosa
De En
los poetas la
le
llega.
apretada enjambre, muy melosa.
recitar sus versos
Este muerto de sed, aquel dc hambre ; Yo dije, viendo tantos, con voz alta
—
i
:
Cuerp cde mi con tanta poetambre
!
—
Journey
to
Parnassus.
G^,
Such may conceive (O power of sovereign worth!) How from the cloud, and from each drop, he sees
A To I
bulging shape, though human-like, leap forth thousand pleas
credit such a fact, with
did resist in vain
;
for,
void of mist
And
rheum, mine eyes beheld it with great ease. These bulging forms were poets of the list,
Which we have just recited with great Whose energy none living can resist
care.
;
Some, honest men and honoured everywhere. Others, mere swaggerers with flaunting crest,
A
few well-robed, and many more threadbare.
One man
of might
saw among
I
Antonio de Galarza, Apollo's chamberlain,
the rest,
as
I
trow,
in
high request. barque was filled outright from poop to prow. So great its bulk that each one could command
The
A spacious
seat
;
such praise
I
must allow.
Another cloud rained down that poet grand.
Lope de None 'Twas
Vega,"^ whom
in prose or verse
can surpass, nor one beside him stand.
fine to see, to
speak
in
language
terse,
The needy swarm of poetasters try With honied voice their poems to rehearse. This wild with
At such
" Good God
and that with hungry eye loudly made remark
thirst,
a sight !
I
to sail
;
:
with such a scurvy fry
" !
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
64
Por tantas sobras conocio una
falta
Mercurio, y acudiendo a remedialla, Lijcro en la mitad del bajcl salta.
Y
con una zaranda que alH halla,
No
de nuevo hecha, Zarando mil poetas de gramalla. Los de capa y espada no desecha,
Y
sc
antigua, 6
si
dcstos zarando dos mil
Colabanse
los
buenos y
Y queddbanse Mas sin
tantos
;
los santos,
arriba los granzones,
duros en sus versos que los cantos.
que
Que
y
fue neguilla entonces la cosecha.
Que
Y
si
les vallcsen las
razoncs
en su disculpa daban, daba luego
Mercurio
al
mar con
ellos a
montoncs.
oyo un ciego, murmurando entre las ondas iba Que De Apolo con un pesete y reniego.
Entre
los arrojados se
Un
sastre (aunque en sus pits flojos cstriba, Abricndo con los brazos el camino)
Dijo
;
— Sucio
Otro (que
Con
es
Apolo,
al parecer iba
asi
yo viva.
—
mohino,
un zapatero de obra prima) Dijo dos mil, no un solo dcsatino. Trabaja un tundidor, suda, y se anima ser
Por verse a
la ribera conducido.
Que mas
vida que la honra estima.
la
Journey
As Mercury
He He
sought
to
Parnassus.
65
swarm
did mark, with a shout and remedy,
this needless
his
leapt into the middle of the barque
And
;
—
with a large sieve, lying there about Whether antique or new I'm not aware
—
Riddled a thousand slipshod poets out ; Those of the cloak and sword he fain would spare, He sifted out two thousand souls or more.
Yet This
sooth, 'twas but a cockle harvest there
!
good and holy bore, The gritty, husky ones remained behind. Whose verse was hard as millstone at the core
To
crucial test the
all
;
the clamant pleadings they could find.
In their defence, Mercurius gave no ear,
But
to the sea the shouting
mob
consigned.
Of the expelled a blind man I did hear, [cry Who, floanderino- grumbling, 'mid the waves did ;
Shame on Apollo, I renounce him here " "' there, of weak legs and awry, taylor
*'
!
A
Who with his Bawled
out
:
arms made sturdy strokes and great. " " so live I Apollo's naught,
Another one, a cobbler and
long
And yet a moody being all the same. With twice a thousand follies cursed There
toils
!
first-rate,
his fate
;
a shearer, sweats, and doth infiame
waves and gain the beach. dearer far than fame
His
soul, to cleave the
For
life to
him
is
!
F
66
Viaje del Parnaso.
El escuadron nadante rcducido
A la
marina, vuelve a la galera
El rostro con senales de ofendido,
Y uno
por todos dijo
:
—Bien pudiera
Ese chocante embajador de Febo Tratarnos bien, y no desta manera.
Mas
A
oigan lo que dijo profanar del
Con
:
—Yo me atrevo
monte
libros nuevos,
la
y en
grandeza estilo
nuevo.
Callo Mercurio, y a poner empieza
Con gran curiosidad seis camarines, Dando a la gracia ilustrc rancho y picza.
De nuevo
Y
asi
rcsonaron los clarines,
Mercurio lleno de contcnto,
Sin dark mal agiiero los delfines,
Remos
al
agua
dio, velas al viento.
to
Journey
Parnassus.
67
Soon as the swimming shoals the shore did reach They turned them to the galley, and gave vent To their disgust, with gestures and with speech
One
By To But
'*
said for all
Phoebus,
:
it
Thou
was
brutal
Envoy,
surely worth thy while
treat us well, not rouse our discontent
list
The
ye
:
'tis
my
!
sent
purpose
!
to defile
sacred mountain's height, from top to base,
With
novel books, and in a novel style
" !
Dumb was Mercurius and commenced with To raise six stately cabins wondrous rare, To give the better folk a worthy place ;
grace
;
Anew
the sounding clarions smote the air
;
Mercurius stood with calm, contented mind.
And
while the dolphins leapt with
They dipped
their oars,
and
omen
fair,
sailed before the wind.
CAPITULO Eran
los
De
rcmos de
esdrujulos,
la real galcra
y
Se deslizaba por
Hasta
el
III.
dellos el
compelida
mar
lijcra.
tope la vela iba tendida,
Hecha de muy delgados pensamientos, varies Hzos por amor tejida.
De
Soplaban dukes y amorosos vientos, Todos en popa, y todos se mostraban
Al gran Las
viaje solamente atentos.
sirenas en torno naveo-aban,
Dando empcUones al bajel lozano, Con cuya ayuda en vuelo le llevaban. Semejaban las aguas del mar cano Colchas encarrujadas, y hacian Azules visos por el verde llano.
Todos
los del bajel se entretenian,
Unos glosando
pics dificultosos,
Otros cantaban, otros componian.
CHAPTER The
royal galley's oars appeared to be
Of lines It
The
and impelled by these and bounded o'er the sea
dactyllic,
glided forth,
;
main-sail, bellying out to catch the breeze,
Was
formed of
Whose
Now
III.
fancies, culled
from every land.
wove by Love at ease ; blew the amorous winds and bland
varied threads were
softly
Fair on the stern, and
all
combined
to cheer
And speed the vessel on its voyage grand The Sirens gambolled round it far and near. And to the lusty barque gave impulse keen. ;
That
sent
it
bounding on
in full career
;
The
waters of the hoary main, I ween, Seemed sheets of wavy silk that made display Of azure colour through a field of ereen.
Thus whiled Some took
the voyagers the time
away
:
some hard and crabbed phrase, This chanted forth, and that composed a lay ; to gloss
Viaje del Parnaso.
70 Otros de
los tcnidos
por curiosos Referian sonetos, muchos hechos
A
difcrentcs casos amorosos.
Otros alfenicados y deshechos En puro azucar, con la \oz siiave,
De su melifluidad muy satisfechos, En tono blando, sosegado y grave, Eglogas pastorales recitaban,
En quien la gala y la agudeza cabe. Otros de sus senoras celebraban En dukes
versos de la
amada boca
Los excrementos que por ella echaban. a quien amor asi le toca,
Tal hubo
Que alabo los rinones de su dama, Con gusto grande, y no elegancia poca, Uno canto, que la amorosa llama En mitad de las aguas le encendia,
Y
como
toro agarrochado brama.
Desta manera andaba
De uno Este
En
latin,
aquel algarabia.
esto sesga la galera vase
Rompiendo
Que
Y
la pocsia
en otro, haciendo que hablase
el
el
mar con
tanta lijereza,
viento aun no consientc que la pase.
en esto descubriose la grandeza la escombrada playa de Valencia
De
Por
arte
hermosa y por naturaleza.
Journey
Some, who as
to
dilettanti
Parnassus.
71
earned high praise,
Recited sonnets, which behoved
to toy
passion, every mood and phase; with Others, palates they were wont to cloy With sugared sweets, in voice of sweetest sound
With Love's grand
Whose honied accent filled their hearts with joy, And in a tone that lulled the listeners round. Recited Eclogues, of the country sprung, medley of the simple and profound.
A A
certain one in sweetest verses
The And
A
sung
dulcet mouth^' that decked his lad^^'s face,
eke the moisture dropping from her tongue
;
second gave to Love yet daintier place,
And praised the fair one's haunches to the With highest gusto, and no little grace
full
;
A
third
bemoaned Love's
flame, so hard to cool,
That even in mid-water it would blaze. And make him bellow like a goaded bull And so from one to t'other in a maze
Went
To
!
poesy, and this and that would try
chant in Latin or with Moorish phrase.
In such a fashion did the galley fly. And with such speed went cleaving thro' the sea.
That
not the wind itself could pass
In course of time
came looming on
it
by.
the lee
Valencia's plain,"' that vast and fertile floor,
Through
art
and nature wondrous
fair to see.
72
Viaje del Parnaso.
Hizo luego de
si
grata presencia
El gran Do?'J Luis FERRER, marcado De honor, y cl alma de divina ciencia. Desembarcose
A
el dios,
darle cuatro mil
De
su vista
Volvio
y
satisfecho.
reitero los lazos
En Don Guillen de Castro, Deseoso de verse en
que vema
tales brazos.
Cristobal de Virues se k seguia, Con Pedro de Aguilar, junta famosa De las que Turia en sus riberas cria.
No
pudo llegar mas valcrosa Escuadra al gran Mercurio, ni le
Descarla mejor,
Luego
ni
el
pudiera
mas honrosa.
se descubrio por la ribera
Un
tropel de gallardos valencianos,
Que
a ver venian la sin par galera.
Todos con instrumentos en
las
manos
De estilos y librillos de memoria, Por bizarria y por ingenio ufanos, Codiciosos de hallarse en la vitoria.
Que ya tenian por segura y cierta, De las heces del mundo y de la escoria. Pero Mercurio
les cerro la
puerta
:
Digo, no consintio que se embarcasen, el por que no lo dijo, aunque se acierta.
Y
pccho
y fue derecho y mas abrazos,
y su a^'uda
la vista,
el
'Journey to Parnassus,
To
we spied upon the shore Luis Ferrer, his breast
our delight
Great
yj
Don
inlaid
With honour, and his soul with sacred lore Mercurius landed, and with nothing said
He hugged him Right
;
thousand times, and kissed his
glad to see him,
and receive
face.
his aid.
He turned him round and gave an equal grace To Don Guillen deCastro, who was cheered, ;
And proud to find himself in such embrace. Then ChrisTOBAL DE VirUES appeared With Pedro DEAguilaR; both chiefs of fame,
Whom T huria
on her teeming banks had reared great Mercurius surely never came, Nor could he ever hope to find, a corps
To
Of men more
Now
honoured, or of higher name.
presently came trooping
Oi stout
to the shore
Valencians a sturd}' band,
In haste the peerless galley to explore
;
W^ith quaint old instruments they came to hand,
Their
styles
Exulting
and memorandum-books, I wit and bearing grand
in their
—
ween — ;
On victory bent, and all alert and keen, To trample under foot earth's vermin base. And
gain such triumph as was never seen
But Mercury withstood them
them leave the land, said not whj^, but such was e'en the case ;
In sooth, he
He
would not
;
to the face,
let
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
74
Y fuc,
porque temio que no se alzasen, Siendo tantos y tales, con Parnaso,
Y nuevo En
imperio y
mando en
cl
fundasen.
esto viose con brioso paso
Venir
al
magno
ANDRES Rey DE ArtiedA,
No por la edad dcscaecido 6 laso. Hicieron todos espaciosa rueda,
Y cogicndolc Mas
en medio,
le
embarcaron,
de valor que de moncda. Al momento las ancoras alzaron,
Y
rico
las velas ligadas a la
entcna
Los grumetes apriesa desataron.
De nuevo
el aire claro
por
El son de
los clarines,
Vuelve a su
Miro
el bajel
Y dijo
oficio
suena
y de nuevo
cada cual
sirena.
por entre nubes Febo,
en \oz que pudo ser oida
:
— Aqui mi gusto y mi esperanza
llevo.
De remos y sirenas impelida La galera se deja atras el viento, Con milagrosa y
prospera corrida.
Leiase en los rostros
Que
el
contcnto
llevaban los sabios pasajeros,
Durable, por no ser nada violento. Unos por el calor iban en cueros, Otros por no tener godescas galas En traje se visticron de romeros.
—
Journey
to
Parnassus.
75
He
feared lest such a mighty troop and grand Should storm Parnassus, and possess its height, And found thereon new empire and command.
On
came, with gallant step and
light,
ANDRES Rey DE Artieda''
near,
this there
Great
Whom
age could not enfeeble nor affright of the barque came swooping from the
They And
On
;
rear,
him, a willing captive, they conveyed
board, more rich in valour than in gear.
The anchors then with sudden haste they weighed. The yards the main-top sailors gaily manned. And let the sails go free with grand parade Anew the clarions sound on every hand. ;
Awakening echoes in the azure skies, While to their work the eager Sirens
stand.
Apollo from the clouds, with beaming eyes. Beholds the barque, and calls that all may hear '*
By
Here
sail
my
hopes, and
all
the
power
I
prize
:
"
!
oars and Sirens driven, with good cheer
The
To
bounding galley left the breeze behind, its strange and prosperous career.
seek
Upon their faces shone the easy mind Which all the learned voyagers possessed,
A calm
content, but of a lasting kind
Some doffed their garments, by the While those, who had no Gothic
;
heat oppressed. dress to wear,
In pilgrims' weeds were fain to look their best.
Viaje del Parnaso.
76
Hcndia en tanto
las
neptuneas salas
La galera, del modo como hiende La grulla el aire con tendidas alas. En fin, llegamos donde el mar se exticnde,
Y
ensancha y forma el golfo de Narbona, Que de ningunos vientos se defiende.
Del gran IMercurio
la cabal persona resmas de papcl sentada Iba con cetro y con real corona
Sobre
scis
:
Cuando una nube,
al parccer
prenada, Pario cuatro poetas en crujia, los llovio, razon mas concertada.
O
Fue el uno aquel, de quien Apolo fia Su honra, JUAN LUIS DE CaSANATE, Poeta insigne de mayor cuantia.
El mismo Apolo de su ingenio trate, El le alabe, cl le premie y recompense
Que
el
;
alabarle yo seria dislate.
Al segundo llovido, el uticense Caton no no le igualo, ni tiene Febo Quien tanto por el mire, ni en cl piense. Del contador GaSPAR DE BaRRIONUEVO
Mai podra Loar
el
el
corto flaco ingenio
suj'o asi
mio
como yo debo.
Lleno del gran bajel el gran vacio El gran FRANCISCO DE RiOJA
Que
salto
de
la
nube en
el navio.
al
punto
Journey
to
Parnassus.
77
Through Neptune's halls the ship went gliding As sails the crane with motion fine and free,
When At
with
pinions spread
we reached
length
Which That
its
it
cleaves the
fair,
air.
that wide expanse of sea
forms Narbona's gulf: a watery sheet exposed to all the winds that be.
lies
Great Mercury,
in form and grace complete, with sceptre and with royal crown, six good reams of paper took his seat ;
Decked
On
When
lo
!
fine
a pregnant cloud, big with renown,
Produced four poets from To speak more properly,
The
first,
its it
teeming womb, rained them down.
LuiS DE CasANATE, whom
Apollo holds the guardian of his fame. fill a loftier post may none presume
To
;
So highly doth Apollo rate his name. Exalt his wit, and crown him with high grace. That praise from me would sound exceeding tame.
Not Cato, he
of Utica, holds place
Beside the second poet who came down. Nor Phoebus' self has friend of nobler race
:
Caspar DE BaRRIONUEVO'S high renown. As Treasurer, above my mark hath soared.
My The
scanty wit adds
vessel's
When And
little
to his crown.
vacant room was fully stored
FRANCISCO DE RiOJA
came, from the cloudlet lightly leapt on board. great
Viaje del Parnaso.
78
A Cristobal de Mesa vi alH junto A los pics de Mcrcurio, dando fama A Apolo, siendo del propio trasunto. A la gavia un grumete se encarama, Y dijo a voces — La ciudad se mucstra, :
Que Jcnova,
— Dcjesele Mano,
Y siga Hacer
del dios
ciudad a
la
Jano
se llama.
la siniestra
dijo Mercurio, el bajel vaya,
su derrota por la diestra.
Tiber vimos blanca raya Dentro del mar, habiendo ya pasado al
La ancha romana y pcligrosa playa. De lejos viose el aire condensado Del humo que el estrombalo vomita, De azufre, y llamas, y de horror formado. Huyen
la isla
infame,
El suave poniente,
Que
solicita
y
asi el viaje
lo acorta, lo allana
y facilita. Vimonos en un punto en el paraje. Do la nutriz de Eneas piadoso
Hizo
el
forzoso
Vimos desde
Monte que
Mas
alli
y
iiltimo pasaje.
a poco
mas famoso
el
encierra en
si
gallardo a la vista
nuestro hemisfero,
y mas hermoso.
Las cenizas de Titiro y Sincero Estan en
el,
Nombrado
y puede
ser por esto
entre los m.ontes por primcro.
'Journey to Parnassus.
At Mercury's Sat
feet, to
79
give Apollo fame,
Christobal de Mesa, who
in truth
Was but a living transcript of the same. Up to the main-top climbed a gallant youth Lo Genoa comes in Who holloed out '*
:
To '*
!
which god Janus gave
Leave
it
upon the
left,
sight,
"
his
name, in sooth that town of might,''
!
Cried Mercury, *' and turn the vessel's head, To take its course vi^ith bearing to the right " !
Anon we saw
the stream of Tiber's bed,
Fresh from the wide and perilous
Roman
plain,
Glide on into the sea like silvery thread ; Far off, dark clouds seemed rising from the main.
Of densest smoke that Stromboli could vent. Where sulphur, flames, and dismal demons reign. They flee the cursed isle with sweet intent The western breeze begins to woo the barque. Which glides along light-hearted and content. ;
We coasted onward A
and the spot did mark.
Where great Eneas' nurse the passage took, The last, the unavoidable, the dark. little distance off we spied the nook Where stands the famed hill of our hemisphere,
On statelier and on fairer none may look The first of mountains where the ashes dear Of Tityrus"*' and eke Sincerus lie, ;
;
For
this
it
bears the palm both far and near.
8o
Viaje del Parnaso. se descubrio,
Lucgo
De De
dondc echo
el resto
su poder naturaleza amiga,
formar de otros muchos un compucsto.
Viose la pesadumbre sin fatiga De la bella Partcnope, sentada
A la De
orilla del
castillos
y
mar, que sus pics
liga,
torres coronada,
Por fuerte y por hermosa en igual grado Tenida, conocida y estimada.
Mandome el del alijero cakado. Que me aprestase y fuese luego a ticrra A dar a los LUPERCIOS un recado, En que les diese cuenta de la guerra Temida, y que a venir Ics persuadiese Al duro y fiero asalto, al cierra, cierra.
—Senor,
le
respondi,
Otro que
si
acaso hubiese
embajada les llevase, dos hermanos mas Que grato a los
Que yo no
la
—
—
fuese,
soy, se bien que negociase
—
No te entiendo, Mejor. Dijo Mercurio has de ir antes que el tiempo mas se pase. Que no me han de escuchar estoy temiendo, :
Y
ir yo no importa, replique, ya si el Puesto que en todo obcdecer pretendo. Que no sc quicn me dice, y quicn me exhorta.
Le
Que tienen para mi, a La voluntad, como la
lo
que imagino,
vista corta.
Journey
Parnassus.
to
8
i
Bc^'ond, a range of peaks we could descry, Where the remains of Nature's grandeur meet
To
Now
form a composite of vast and high burst upon our view the unrest sweet :
Of fair
Parthenopc, who sits as queen Beside the sea, that laves and links her
feet
;
Fair towers and castles crown her brow serene.
And she Ss held by all a gem complete, Whose like for strength and beauty ne'er was seen
;
Now
gave command, he of the winged feet, That I should haste on shore without dela}'.
And in his stead the two LUPERCIOS"' greet And tidings of the dreaded war convc}'. And bid them with us to the combat hie,
"
To join "
My
our serried ranks, and face the fray ** if there be other lord," I said, nigh
Upon More
Thy
this
embassy of thine
business will be better done, '*
:
I fear," cried I,
!
to go,
grateful to the brothers twain than
Quoth Mercury Thy words For go thou must, and quickly
"
;
*'
they'll give
I
I,
know " !
are strange indeed. too, I
me
little
"
trow
;
heed
Although thy bidding would gladly do. My visit there would have but sorry speed
!
I
;
Some have assured me, though I know not who, That their good will for me has grown as weak As is their eyesight, and it seemcth true ;
G
Fiaje del Parnaso,
82
Que
si
camino
csto asi no fuera, este
Con tan pobre recamara no hiciera, Ni diera en un tan hondo dcsatino. Pucs
si
De
alguna promcsa se cumpliera
aquelias muchas, que al partir
Lleveme Dios
Mucho
si
hicieron,
mucho prometieron,
si
espere,
me
entrara en tu galera.
Mas
podra ser que ocupacioncs nuevas Les obligue a olvidar lo que dijeron.
Muchos,
Que
te
Parte,
senor, en la galera llevas,
podran sacar el pie del lodo, y excusa de hacer mas pruebas.
— Ninguno, Que
si
dijo,
me
hable dese modo,
me desembarco y
Voto a Dios, que me
Con
estos dos
famosos
los embisto,
traiga al Conde, y todo.
mc
enemisto,
levantado a
Que habicndo
Al buen punto en que
Quiercn con pcrezosa tirania Alzarsc, como dicen, a su
Con
la poesia
esta,
como
se
ha
visto,
mano
que a scr divinos guia.
la cicncia
de Apolo soberano mas ; y ardiendo en ira Juro... y no digo Se echo a las barbas una y otra mano.
Por
Y
el solio
prosiguio diciendo
Apostare,
si
Que tambicn
no
lo
:
El
DOTOR MiRA,
manda
el
Conde,
en sus puntos se
retira.
to
Journey
Were
this not so,
I
Parnassus.
had no cause
83
to seek
A
passage here in such a beggar's suit, Nor bear a part in such a foolish freak
Had
one of
all the
:
promises ta'en root
They gave on parting, never God me aid If in thy galley I had e'er set foot ;
I
But
much, when much protest they made, may be, that strange affairs and new
for
hoped
it
Have
My
caused them to forget the thing they said lord, within this galley thou canst view
Enow
to
draw thy
Set out, and **
make
foot from out the hole
of this no more ado
!
;
" !
" said the Speak not so pertly god in dole, " For if I land me, then by Jove I swear !
I'll
seize the
O'i these
Count and carry off the whole I have a fear.
That, having raised
The art They now
To
to such a lofty line
of poesy, as doth appear, with lazy tyranny incline
hold, forsooth, within their sole
The
;
two famous men
lofty science that
makes men
command,
divine.
Now I
by Apollo's throne, the great and grand, swear .... and say no more " and, much !
irate,
He plucked his beard with this and t'other hand. "The Doctor Mira," he went on to state, "
I'll
wager now, without the Count's behest.
Is also
pricked with scruples delicate
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
§4
Senor galan, parczca
Pues a
Que i
Es
fe
ni le
;
i
por Uevarle,
a que se esconde? si el
no gusta,
busque, asechc, ni
ronde.
le
esta
Que
empresa acaso tan injusta, se esquiven dc hallar en ella cuantos
Ticnen conciencia limitada y justa? iCarece I
el ciclo
de poetas santos
?
Puesto que brote a cada paso
el
Poetas, que lo son tantos y tantos
No I
se
suelo ?
oyen sacros himnos en el cielo
?
La
I arpa de David alia no suena, Causando nuevo accidental consuelo
Fucra melindres, y
Que Uegue Fue de
la
al
?
cese la entena,
tope
;
—y luego obedecicndo
chusma sobre bucnas buena.
Poco tiempo paso, cuando un ru'ido Se oyo, que los oidos atronaba,
Y
era de pcrros aspero ladrido.
Mercurio
se turbo, la gentc estaba
Suspensa al triste son, y en cada pecho El corazon mas valido temblaba.
En
esto descubriose cl corto estrecho
Que
Tan
y que Caribdis espantosas temeroso con su furia han hecho.
Escila
— Estas olas que veis En
Y
visitar las
presuntiiosas
nubes de contino,
aun de tocar
el cielo codiciosas,
Journey to Parnassus. Sir gallant,
Yet
if,
i'
where hast thy nest he hath no heart to go,
shew thy face faith,
neither
I'll
85
woo nor
!
wile him, let him rest
?
!
very low That they, who have a nice and narrow creed, Should cast disdainful looks, and spurn it so ?
Is this emprise, forsooth, so
Of holy Bards
When
sprouting from the
Spring up
Have
doth Heaven stand
sacred
in need.
soil at
every pace
as good, and better far indeed in
hymns
Heaven now no
Is not the harp of David sounding Diffusino; comfort round and sweet
A
curse on scruples
And The
:
let
"
?
place
there,
solace
?
the yards go fair,
And, hurrying at his eager crew obeyed, and did not spare. Short time elapsed when on our ears did fall
A
set the sails
?
!
call,
horrid noise, like to the barking drear
Of furious
dogs,''*
most
fitted to
appal.
Mercurius paled the folk grew dumb with fear Before the dismal sound; the stoutest breast :
Beat quicker as the thunder-growl came near ; this we spied that narrow strait compressed,
On
The same which Scylla, and Charybdis fell. Have made so dreaded by their wild unrest *'
These waves ye
To
;
see that in presumption swell.
claim acquaintance with the clouds of light. And e'en to kiss the very heavens as well
—
86
Viiije del
Vcnciolas
cl
Parnaso.
prudcntc pcrcgrino
Amantc dc
Calipso, al ticmpo cuando
Hizo, dijo Mercuric, este camino.
Su prudcncia nosotros imitando, Echarcmos al mar en que se ocupcn,
En Que
tanto que
el
bajcl pasa volando.
en tanto que ellas tasqucn, roan, chupen, al mar ha dc entrcgarse,
Al misero que
Seguro estoy que
Mircn
al
paso dcsocupcn.
pucdc en la galcra hallarse Algun pocta dcsdichado acaso, si
Que
a las ficras gargantas
Buscaronlc, y hallaron a
Pocta
LOFRASO,
a un rincon marchito y laso
a sus dicz libros dc Fortuna
Afiadicndo otros diez, y
Que mas dcsocupado Grito
la
—
militar, sardo, que cstaba
Dcsmayado
Que
pucda darse.
chusma toda
Vaya LOFRASO
:
al
el
:
andaba
ticmpo cscoge,
sc mostraba.
— Al mar mar
se arroje,
sin resistcncia.
— Por Dios, dijo Mcrcurio, que me enoje. I
Como? iy no
sera cargo de conciencia, al mar tanta pocsia, cchar grande, Puesto que aqui nos hunda su inclcmencia
Y
Viva LOFRASO, en tanto que dc al dia Apolo luz, y en tanto que los hombrcs
Tengan
discreta alcgrc fantasia.
?
Parnassus.
to
Journey
87
These waves," quoth Mcrcur}', " were vanquished
By
fair Cal^^pso's lover,
V/hat time he took Let us prepare
And
To
for
this
them a
cast into the sea
worldly
v/isc,
passage
in his flight
[quite
some tempting
bait.
keep them busy while the good ship
For while they
rive,
;
like surprise,
flies
;
and rend, and masticate
The
writhing wretch that wriggles in the sea, I'm sure they'll leave us free to pass the strait
Look now if in the galley ye can see Some wretched bard, who may perchance by
A
in that
!
man, LOFRASO"^
Sardinian martial poet,
Curled *
In his
in
Ten
Immersed
He Cried
who
hjg'it,
nov/ lay
a corner, and in dismal plight ; books of Fortune all the day '
;
to
add yet other ten
to these
strove, to while the idle hours all
right
monsters be "
fitting victim for the
They found him
!
the crew as one
" :
away
LOFRASO
;
seize
!
with him to the deep, and leave him there " " " I do not Perdy," cried Mercury, please
Down
!
!
What? Can my soul the heavy burden Of casting to the sea such poesy, Although
Long
live
its
foaming wrath demands our care?
LOFRASO,
while the day
Spring from Apollo's
And
bear
light,
we
see
and men can smile
hold as wisdom sprightly fantasy
!
Viaje del Parnaso.
88
Tocante a
ti,
oh
LOFRASO,
los
renombrcs,
Y epitetos de agudo y dc sincere, Y gusto que mi comitre te nombres. — Esto dijo Mcrcurio al caballcro, El cual en la crujia en pic se puso Con un rcbcnquc dcspiadado y ficro.
Creo que de sus versos le compuso, no sc como fuc, que en un momento
Y
(O ya
el cielo,
6
LOFRASO
lo dispuso)
Salimos del estrecho a salvamento, Sin arrojar al mar poeta alguno Tanto del sardo fue el merecimiento. :
Mas lucgo otro pcligro, otro importune Temor amenazo, si no gritara Mercurio, cual jamas grito ninguno, al timonero orza, para,
Dicicndo
:
—A
— y todo a un punto
Amaincse de golpe Se hizo, y el peligro ;
se repara.
Estos montes que veis que cstan tan juntos, Son los que Acroceraunos son Uamados,
Dc
infame nombre, como yo barrunto. los remos los honrados,
Asieron de
Los
Y Los
tiernos, los melifluos, los godescos,
los
de a cantimplora" acostumbrados.
frios los asicron
y
Asicronlos tambien
Y
los
los frescos, los calurosos,
de calzas largas y gregiiescos.
'Journey to Parnassus.
To
thee belong,
The
My Thus
LOFRASO
epithets of subtle
89
without guile,
and
sincere,
boatswain henceforth be thy name and style ! " said Mercurius to our cavalier, '
*
Who
in the
gangway quick assumed
his grade,
Armed with a rattan, cutting and severe ; Of his own verse, I fancy, it was made, And in a twinkling, how I do not know. Whether by Heaven's or LOFRASO'S aid. On through the strait we safe and sound did go, Without immersing any poet Such strength lay
But
;
presently there loomed another scare.
Had And **
there
good Sardinian's blow.
in the
not Mercurius shouted with avail.
with a roar that rent the very air
Helmsman,
to
windward
!
:
Easy, shorten sail
At once " And in a trice the whole was done And danger fled, though fiercely blew the gale. !
'*
These
Are
A
hills
ye
styled th'
see, that
seem
to join in one.
Acroccraunian,^" fatal
worse repute,
I
;
name
;
trow, than these have none."
Took to .'.he oars the honoured men of fame. The tender, gothic, they of honied song, And those who cool their drinks to damp their flame The bards cold-blooded, and the frisky throng. The hot-brained also to the work did warm, And those with hosen short, and hosen long.
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
90
Del sopracstante dano tcmcrosos, Todos a una la galera empujan,
Con
flacos
y con brazos poderosos.
Debajo del bajel se somurmujan Las sirenas que del no se apartaron,
Y Y
a
mismas en fuerzas sobrepujan.
si
en un pequeno cspacio la llevaron vista de Corfu, y a mano dicstra
A
La
Y
isla
dando
se dejaron.
inexpugnable
la galera a la siniestra
Discurria de Grecia las ribcras,
Adonde
el cielo
Mostrabanse
su hermosura muestra.
las olas Hsonjcras,
Impeliendo el bajel siiavemcnte, Como burlando con alegrcs vcras.
Y luego
al parecer
por
el oricnte,
Rayando el rubio sol nucstro horizonte Con rayas rojas, hebras de su frcnte, Grito un grumete y dijo
El monte, El monte se descubre, donde tiene
Su buen Por
el
el
monte.
rocin el gran Belorofonte.
monte
Apolo a
:
se arroja,
recebirnos.
y
a pic viene
—Yo
lo creo,
Dijo LOFRASO, ya llega a la Hipocrene. desde aqui columbro, miro y veo
Yo
Que
se
andan solazando entre unas matas
Las musas con dulcisimo
recreo.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
oi
The gloom o'crhanging filled them with alarm, And all, as one, did make the galley go, With flaccid muscle, or with brawny arm. The Sirens in their turn dived down below The barque, from which to part they had no mind, And each with unaccustomed strength did glow And in brief space they bore it with the wind ;
In sight of Corfu left
and upon the right
;
the isle impregnable behind
They And to the left they turned the galley quite, And coasted all along; the shores of Greece, ;
Whcrcbeamsthesky, with beauty wondrous brio-ht. The lightwaves wooed thebarque, and would not cease
With
and soft to kiss its prow. with some stately piece. as the Sun 'bove our horizon now flattering touch
Like wits that
And
Began *'
to
trifle
show
his glorious head, bedight
With ruby rays, the tresses of his brow, The hill, the hill " sang out a watch-boy !
'*
I
spy the
hill,
where that great man,
Bellorophon doth
stall his steed
bright,
ween,
of might!
Apollo down the hill with eager mien Doth haste to welcome us." *' Zounds!
LOFRASO
I
I
believe,"
**
He's got to Hippocrcne almost, jea, I do perceive cried,
From here I The Muses walking on
And
!
the verdant floors.
'ncath the bushes taking sweet reprieve
;
92
Viaje del Parnaso.
Unas antiguas
Y
—
Andan
las cinco
en pic, las cuatro a gatas.
Si tu tal ves, dijo Mcrcurio, oh sardo
Poeta, que
O
me
corten las orejas,
me tengan
Dime,
De Lo
I
son, otras novatas,
todas con lijcro paso y tardo
i
los hombres por bastardo. por que algun tanto no te alejas
la ignorancia, pobreton,
y
adviertcs
que cantan tus rimas en tus qucjas Por que con tus mentiras nos diviertes
De recebir a Apolo cual se debe, Por haber mejorado vuestras suertes En csto mucho mas que el viento Icve Bajo
el
lucido
Apolo a
la
?
?
—
marina,
A
pie, porque en su carro no se atreve. Quito los rayos de la faz divina,
Mostrose en calzas y en jubon vistoso,
Porque dar gusto a todos determina. Seguiale detras un numeroso Escuadron de doncellas bailadoras,
Aunque
pequefias, de
ademan
brioso.
Supe poco despues, que estas senoras, Sanas las mas, las mcnos mal paradas.
Las
del ticmpo
Las medio
y
del sol eran las Horas.
rotas eran las
Las sanas
menguadas.
y con esto Eran todas en todo apresuradas. las felices,
Journey
Some
Parnassus.
arc of old aspect, and
O^ youth
:
some with
foot,
and four upon
" cried Sardinian Bard Mercury *' If such thou seest, may villains !
And
stores
all
Say, scurvy one,
why
off thy folly,
gait
"
fours
!
irate,
my ears, my pate
slit
brand the name of bastard on
Leave
93
and with a slow or lithesome
Five walk on **
to
!
dost not with thy years
and with wisdom scan
What thine own rhymes are chant ing thro' thy tears ? Wh}- with
thy
Of giving
lies
dost thou disturb our plan.
Phoebus a reception rare
For having turned thee out a better man ? " On this, more quickly than the wind could bear,
The
On
bright Apollo hied him to the shore
foot, for
The beams
with
his car
he would not dare
was he
In hose and comely doublet
That simply
dressed he
Behind him came a bevy,
all
seen.
might please the more.
o'er the green.
Of damsels gaily tripping one by one. Of middling stature, yet of sprightly mien I
:
from off his face divine he tore.
;
—
knew these maidens, dancing as they run, Most of them blooming, and ill-fared the rest To be the Hours of Time and of the Sun :
The half-dishevelled were The blooming were the They
the
Hours
unblcst.
lucky ; and withal with measureless unrest. tripped along
—
Viaje del Parnaso.
94
Apolo lucgo con alegre gesto Abrazo a los soldados, que espcraba Para la aha ocasion que se ha propuesto.
Y
no de un mismo modo acariciaba
A todos,
porque alguna diferencia
Hacia con
Que
los
que
a los de senoria
Nuevos abrazos
el
mas
se
'
alegraba.
y excelencia
dio, razones dijo,
En
que guardo decoro Entre ellos abrazo a
y preeminencia.
DON JUAN DE Arguijo,
Que no
Tan Con
cl
sc
en que, 6 como, 6 cuando hizo
aspero viaje y tan prolijo. a su desco satisfizo
Apolo y confirmo su pensamiento,
Mando, vedo, quito, hizo y deshizo. Hecho pues el sin par recebimiento,
Do
se hallo
Llevado
alii
DoN
LuiS DE Barahona,
por su merecimiento,
Del siemprc verde lauro una corona
Le
ofrece
Apolo en su
intencion,
y un vaso
Del agua de Castalia y de Helicona.
Y
lucgo vuelve el majestoso paso, el escuadron pensado y de repente Le sigue por las faldas del Parnaso.
Y
Llegose en fin a la Castalia fuente, en vicndola, infinitos se arrojaron
Y
Sedicntos al cristal de su corriente.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
95
Apollo now, with joy that was not small, Embraced the soldiers, whose embattled host
Had come
for lofty service at his call
;
But not with equal warmth did he accost Each one; a certain shade of difference
Was He
shewn
gave
to such as he affected
most
:
to those of lordly excellence
A fresh embrace; Words
full
and from his mouth there thronged
of dignity and lofty sense.
Don Juan DE
Arguijo'' to this class belonged know not when, nor by what means conveyed, He made the voyage, toilsome and prolonged; With him Apollo in the highest grade Was satisfied, whose thoughts confirmed his own He bade, forbade, unbound, made and unmade. Like matchless favour to that man was shown,
;
I
Luis DE BarAHONA of renown, Who hither came by good desert alone
;
Apollo offered him a laurel crown Unfading, and ajar of water clear
Drawn from Castalia and from Helicon. With stately step he turned and in his rear The squadron marched, the eager and the grave. And by Parnassus' skirts their course did steer ;
;
At length he reached
And
at
Rushed
its
Castalia's bubbling wave.
sight the crowds, with compact will.
to its crystal stream,
and 'gan
to lave
;
:
Viaje del Parnaso.
g6
Unos no solamente
se hartaron,
Sino que pics y manos, y otras cosas
Algo mas indecentes Otros mas advcrtidos,
se lavaron.
las sabrosas
Aguas gustaron poco Espacio
al gusto, a
El brindez y
el
a poco, dando
pausas melindrosas.
caraos se puso en bando,
Porque los mas de bruces, y no a sorbos, El suave Ucor fueran gustando.
De ambas manos
hacian vasos corvos
y algunos de
Otros,
Temian de
la
boca
al
agua
hallar cien mil estorbos.
Poco a poco
Y Y
la fuente se desagua, en los estomagos bebientes, pasa aun no se apaga de su sed la fragua.
—
Mas dijoles Apolo Otras dos fuentes Aun quedan, Aganipe c Hipocrene, :
Ambas
sabrosas,
ambas excclentes
;
Cada cual de licor duke y perene, Todas de calidad aumentativa Del
alto ingenio
que a gustarlas viene.
—
Bcbcn, y suben por el monte arriba, Por entre palmas, y entre cedros altos,
Y entre arboles pacificos de oliva. De
gusto llenos y de angustia faltos, Siguiendo a Apolo el escuadron camina,
Unos
a pedicoj, otros a saltos.
Journey Some, not content
Parnassus.
to
their thirsty
mouths
97 to
fill,
Made eager haste to bathe their hands and feet, And sundry matters more uncomely still ; Others, with higher wisdom and discreet, Imbibed the savoury waters drop by drop,
And
paused and lingered to enjoy the treat
;
many would not stop. Nor quaffed the wholesome liquor with their But bending earthward lapped it like a sop
For
social toast the
lips.
:
Others from hollowed hands took gulping sips, Whilst some, 'twixt mouth and water, on the spot. Trembled to meet a hundred thousand slips ;
The fountain's water less and lesser goL As down the drinkers' gullets it did pour But
still
their thirst
Apollo cried
:
"We
was
;
like a furnace hot.
have two fountains more,
Fair Aganippe and bright Hippocrene, Both good to drink, and both with ample store
Sweet and perennial are
And The
their streams,
each with qualities designed to lofty genius
loftier
and serene
I
;
ween,
make "
!
and up the mountain's slope they take ; Their way, amid the palms and cedars high.
They
drink
And
tramp the peaceful olives quake the full with good they onward hie
at their
Filled to
Behind Apollo
Some jog
in
a lengthened line
—
along, some leaping seem to
H
fly.
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
98
Al
pic sentado dc
Vi a
Una
una antigua encina
AlONSO DE Ledesma,
componiendo
divina.
cancion angelica y y a cl me fui corriendo
Conocile,
Con
los
brazos abiertos como amigo,
Pero no
— ^No No la
movio con
me
ves,
el
estruendo.
dijo Apolo,
Ledesma
esta
Que
A
se
esta fuera de
que consigo
No
ahora?
y
si,
sombra de un mirto,
csta al
conmigo
?
—
verde amparo
Jeronimo de Castro
sesteaba.
Varon de ingenio peregrino y
Un
ves claro
raro.
motete imagino que cantaba ; yo que de admirado
Con voz suave
De
porque en Madrid quedaba. Un soldado entendio, y dijo
verle
Apolo me
alii,
:
Como
este
Entre
el ocio
Yo
le truje,
—
no era bien que se quedara y cl sueno sepultado.
y
se
como
;
que a mi rara
Potencia no la impide otra ninguna,
Ni
En
inconveniente alguno la repara.
—
esto se llegaba la oportuna
Hora
a
mi parecer de dar sustcnto
Al estomago pobre, y mas Pero no
A
le
si
ayuna
paso por pensamiento el cjercito conduce,
Dclio, que
Satisfacer al miscro hambricnto.
;
to
Journey Beneath an ancient oak
I
Parnassus.
saw
99
recline
AlONSO DE LedESMA,
deep in thought, Ancnt some lay angelic and divine ; knew him well ; and running up I sought
I
To
clasp
But though Apollo said to
LedeSMA He
is
friend, with
my I
called he
me
:
open arms and
moved
free.
not as he ought;
" And dost not see
not with himself to-day.
is
beyond himself, he
me "
with
is
!
Beneath a myrtle's shade, with grand array
Of green, Jeronimo DE CastrO A man of wit uncommon in our day
sate,
;
I
fancy he was chanting a motet
With I
dulcet voice
since in
Madrid he
marvelled much to see him here
Apollo answered to '*
It
was not
my
stayed,
in state.
thoughts and said
:
well, that soldier such as he
Should buried I
;
lie in
dreams and
brought him and know how
slothful shade
;
no powers that be Can turn my rare power from its purpose fast, Nor aught malign can hinder my decree " seemed ro me the hour had come at last, ;
!
It
For giving
fresh supply
and nutriment
To my
poor stomach, wearied of its fast ; But Delius' thoughts on higher things were bent,
And,
A
at his
army's head, he would not stay
hungry wretch's cravings to content
!
lOO
Viaje del Parnaso.
Primero a un jardin
rico nos reduce,
Donde
Y
el
el poder de la naturaleza, de la industria mas campea y luce.
Tuvieron
Hespcrides belleza Menor, no le igualaron los Pensiks los
En sitio, en hermosura y en grandeza. En su comparacion se muestran viles Los de Alcinoo, en cuyas alabanzas Se ban ocupado ingenios bien sotiles
No
sujeto del tiempo a las
:
mudanzas,
ano primavera ofrece Frutos en posesion, no en esperanzas.
Que
todo
el
Naturaleza y arte
alii
parece
Andar en competencia, y Cual vence de
las dos, cual
Mucstrase balbuciente y
mas merece.
muda,
adulacion y de mentir dcsnuda.
Junto con
Un
casi
duda
mas cxperta,
Si le alaba la lengua
De
esta en
ser jardin, era
soto,
una buerta,
un bosque, un prado, un valle ameno,
Que en todos estos titulos concicrta, De tanta gracia y bermosura lleno. Que una parte del cielo parecia El todo del bcllisimo Alto en
el sitio
alegre
terreno.
Apolo
bacia,
Y mando que todos se sentasen A tres boras despues de mediodia. alli
loi
'Journey to Parnassus. First to a garden rich he led the
way,
Where Nature's power the palm did fully share With Labour's skill to make a grand array The famed Hespcridcs were not so fair The Hanging gardens held a lower scale ;
;
For
site,
Those of
and
Have
of their
changeth not at
it
;
with changing Time,
all
the j'ear Spring offers, in her glee,
For
all
Not
hopeful blooms, but
Here Art and Nature
And Is
still
master
fruits in all their
the doubt remains, which of the two 3'et,
and which deserves
to be
tongue most practised, and most apt Begins to stutter, crying in the dark
For words
More than
to praise
a garden,
it,
'tis
adequate and
With
all
;
to
woo,
true.
a pleasure park,
grove, an orchard, vale, and
For
prime.
strive for mastery,
The
A
;
were coldly pale
though many wits sublime beauty told a wondrous tale ;
Compared with It
and grandeur rare
loveliness,
Alcinoiis^^
these titles aptly hit the
such superb delights
is it
meadow mark
sweet,
;
replete,
That everywhere, throughout that wonder-land, A part of Heaven itself we seem to meet.
On this fair site Apollo took his stand. And here, that each one should himself install At
three hours after noon, he gave
command
;
I02
Viaje del Parnaso.
Y porque los asicntos senalasen El ingenio y valor de cada uno,
Y unos A
con otros no se embarazasen,
despecho y pesar del importune Ambicioso deseo, Ics dio asicnto
En
y lugar mas oportuno.
el sitio
los laureles casi a ciento,
Llegaban
A
cuya sombra y troncos se sentaron Algunos de aquel numero contento. Otros
De
los
de
las
los mirtos
Tambien
palmas ocuparon, y hiedras, y
Puesto que humildes, eran de
Los
los nobles
asientos cual tronos levantados,
Porque
En
los robles
varios poetas albergaron.
tu,
oh envidia, aqui tu rabia dobles.
primero fueron ocupados Los troncos de aquel ancho circuito, fin,
Para honrar a poetas dedicados, el numero infinito,
Antes que yo, en
Hallase asiento
Despechado, Dijc entre mi
En
:
:
y
asi
colcrico ^
Es
en pic quedcme
y marchito.
posible que se extreme
perseguirme la fortuna airada, ofende a muchos y a ninguno teme
Que
Y
volvicndome a Apolo, con turbada
Lengua
le dije lo
que oira
el
que gusta
Saber, pues la tcrcera es acabada. La cuarta parte desta empresa justa.
?
Parnassus.
to
Journey
103
And that each special seat might well recall The sitters' genius and peculiar grace, And give no cause for strife, nor inward gall, The god himself apportioned each his place, Upon the spot most fitting to his fame, And left Ambition nowhere in the race.
To
full
a hundred there the laurels came,
Beneath whose leafy trunks and shades profound A certain number sat, in happy frame ; Others among the palms a refuge found,
While sundry
poets sought for harbourage
Beneath the myrtles, oaks, and ivy round; The noblest scats were on a lofty stage.
Humble, For this,
I
O
ween, but high as thrones in pride. Envy, fume with double rage !
And so, throughout that circuit large and wide. The shady trunks were occupied at last, Which for the poets' use were set aside, Before that
Could
On I
among
find a seat
foot,
inly sa?d
To
I,
:
;
that
number
and
so I stood alone
vast,
with wonder and with rage aghast; *' Is't possible that one
such extremes by Fortune can be stung. injures many, and hath fear of none ?"
Who And
turning to Apollo, with a tongue
Somewhat
confused,
I
said
what may be heard
By him who lists, while part Of this grand work for here ;
the fourth
is
suno-
ends part the third.
CAPITULO
IV.
Suelc la indignacion componer versos
Pero
;
indignado es algun tonto, EUos tendran su todo de perversos. si el
De mi yo
Me
no
mas, sino que pronto hallc para decir en tercia rima
Lo que no
Y
se
dijo el desterrado al Ponto.
asi le dije a
Delio
:
—No se estima,
Senor, del vulgo vano
Y La
el
que
te sigue
al arbol sacro del laurel se arrima.
envidia
y
la ignorancia le persigue,
Y asi
envidiado siempre y perseguido, El bien que cspera por jamas consigue. Yo cortc con mi ingenio aquel vestido,
Con que
al
mundo
la
hermosa Galatea
Salio para librarse del olvido.
Soy por quien
la
Confusa nada fea
Parccio en los teatros admirable, Si esto a su
fama
es justo se le crea.
CHAPTER
IV.
at times will issue forth in verse,
Anger
if
But,
the angry one be light of head,
His rhymes are apt to take a turn perverse For me I know but this by passion led,
;
:
'*
found
me
chanting forth, in tercets free, Things which the Pontine exile never said : " esteemed is he Not the I
mob," quoth
by
Who For
follows you,
rest
Envy and
my
I,
lord,
and leans
his
agaiust the laurel's sacred tree folly ever
dog
back
;
his track,
And, envied thus and driven to distress.
The good I
he hopes for he must ever lack.
cut and fashioned
by
my
wit the dress.
With which fair Galatea'^^ sought the light. And left the region of forgetfulncss I'm he whose La Confusa^ handsome quite. Made in the theatres a grand display, If common fame hath told the matter right ;
;
io6
Viaje del Parnaso.
Yo con estilo en parte razonable He compuesto Comedias, que en Tuvieron de
Y he dado en
lo
grave y de
Don
su tiempo
lo afable.
^uijote pasatiempo
Al pecho melancolico y mohino
En
Yo
cualquiera sazon, en todo tiempo.
he abierto en mis Novclas un camino,
For do
la lengua castellana puede Mostrar con propicdad un desatino.
Yo
soy aquel que en
A
muchos, y
Es
Desde mis
en
Nunca For
el
la
clia
invencion excede
falta en esta parte,
fama
falta quede.
ame
el
agradable poesia,
pluma humilde mia
la region satirica,
bajeza
a infames prcmios
y desgracias
Voto a Dios, que
me espanta
he compuesto Romances
Y
guia.
soneto compuse que asi empieza,
For honra principal de mis
Yo
arte
procure siempre agradarte.
volo la
Que
Yo
que
tiernos afios
Dulce de
Y
al
que su
fuerz'a
la
el
escritos esta
:
grandeza.
infinitos,
de los Celos cs aquel que estimo,
Entre otros que
me
los
tengo por malditos.
congojo y me lastimo solo en pie, sin que se aplique Arbol que me conceda algun arrimo.
For
esto
De verme
'Journey to Parnassus. I've Comedies
To
composed whose
107
style of play
reason so conformed, that on the stage
They showed fair minghng of the grave and gay ; I've given in Don ^uixote^^ to assuage The melancholy and the moping breast, Pastime I've in
my
A way
for
every mood, in every age Novels opened, for the rest,
;
whereby the language of Castile
May season fiction with becoming zest I'm he who soareth in creative skill
;
'Bove many men ; who lacks a goodly share his fame at last will fare but ill ;
Of this, From
tender years I've loved, with passion rare,
The winsome
art of
Poesy the gay.
In this to please thee hath been
my
all
care
;
My humble pen hath never winged its way Athwart the lield satiric, that low plain Which I
leads to foul rewards,
and quick decay
;
penned the Sonnet^'' with this opening strain,
(To crown my writings with their chiefest grace,) / vow to Godf such grandeur stuns 7ny brain ! I've o^ Romances^''
penned a countless race
—
—
The one of Jealousy I prize the best The rest, I trow, are in a parlous case And so I'm very wroth, and much distressed To see me here on foot, alone to gaze, No tree to give me but a little rest ;
;
io8
Yo
Viaje del Parnaso.
estoy, cual decir suelcn, puesto a pique
Para dar a
la
estampa
Con que mi nombre y
al
gran Persiles,
obras multiplique.
Yo
en pensamientos castos y sotilcs, Dispucstos en soneto de a docena,
He
honrado
Tambicn
al
tres sugetos fregoniles.
par de
Fiiis
mi Filena
Resono por las selvas, que escucharon de una y otra alegre cantilena.
Mas
Y en dukes varias rimas se Mis
Que
llcvaron
esperanzas los lijeros vientos, en ellos y en la arena se sembraron.
Tuve, tengo y tendre los pensamientos, Merced al cielo que a tal bien me inclina,
De
toda adulacion libres y exentos.
Nunca pongo
los pics
La De la santa virtud Con mi corta fortuna
por do camina
mentira, la fraude
en
tal lugar,
Con poco me Mucho.
Con
no
me pic,
pondero
ensaiio,
como me
asi
mi
veo,
dafio.
contcnto, aunque deseo
— A cuyas razones enojadas. las
Timbreo
malas suertes atrasadas,
toman tan de
Que
engaiio,
estas blandas rcspondio
—Vienen Y
el
total ruina.
Aunque por verme en
Y
y
Icjos la corriente.
son temidas, pero no excusadas.
:
Journey I'm on the point
—
Parnassus.
to
common
to use a
109
phrase
—
Of giving great Persiles to the press, Which shall my name and works still higher raise I,
with chaste thoughts and
To
scullion beings in a
rival Phyllis^
Hath
;
of subtleness,
by the dozen did array
In sonnets
Three
fall
my
comely dress
Phylena^'^
gay
carolled through the woods,
Gave back
the sound of
;
many
whose leafy land
a merry lay
;
In sweet and varied rhymes the zephyrs bland
Have borne my dreamy hopes away from me, Which sowed their seed on these, and on the sand.
—
Mj^ thoughts were ever, are, and still shall be Thanks be to Heaven that so hath bent my mind
From
every form of flattery safe and
Whate'cr
betide,
my
free.
steps are ne'er inclined
Where travel falsehood, fraud, and base The total wreck of honour in mankind.
My narrow
—
fortune doth not
stir
my
deceit,
heat,
Although to stand on foot, and in this throng.
As now I see me, makes my loss With little I'm content, although I For much."
To such
complete
;
long
mind
proofs of disordered
Thymbrazus answered, with the blandest tongue " Men's evil fortunes swell up from behind, Bringing their current with them from afar, And so are feared, but cannot be declined ;
:
no
Viaje del Parnaso.
El bien
A Y
les
viene a algunos de repente,
otros poco a poco
y
sin pcnsallo,
el mal no guarda estilo diferente. El bien que esta adquirido, conservallo
Con mana, diligencia y con cordura, Es no menor virtud que el granjcallo. Tu mismo te has forjado tu ventura,
Y yo
he visto alguna vez con
te
Pero en
Mas
si
ella,
imprudente poco dura. quicres salir de tu querella, el
Alegre, y no confuso, y consolado, Dobla tu capa, y sientate sobre ella.
Que
tal
vez suele un vcnturoso estado,
Cuando
le
niega sin razon la suerte,
—
Honrar mas merecido, que alcanzado. Bien parece, seiior, que no se advierte,
Le
respondi, que yo no tengo capa.
El
dijo
La
:
— Aunque sea
virtud es un
asi,
manto con que tapa
Y cubre su indecencia la Que
—
gusto de verte.
estrecheza,
cxcnta y librc de la envidia escapa.
—
Incline al gran consejo la cabeza,
Quedcme en Si
el
pic
;
que no hay asiento bueno,
favor no le labra, 6 la riqueza.
Alguno murmuro, vicndome ajeno Del honor que penso se me debia, Del planeta de luz y virtud
lleno.
'Journey to Parnassus.
1 1 1
To some, good comes at once with sudden jar, To others, bit by bit without a strain, The steps of evil no wise diflercnt are The good, that hath been wrested, to maintain With shrewd, firm grasp that cannot be undone, ;
Is
no
less virtue
than the good to gain
Thyself hast fickle Fortune
;
wooed and won,
Oft have
I
But from
the imprudent she
seen thee with her times agone,
Yet would' St thou shew
is
fain to run.
thyself, all
quarrel gone,
Gay, gladsome, not put out in any wise, Double thy cloak, and seat thyself thereon
!
For he, who merits luck which fate denies Without good reason, and in mood severe. Is honoured more than if he won the prize *'
My **
For
No
I
it
!
less,"
virtue
Wraps And so I
hath escaped you quite, I fear, " was possess no cloak my reply ;
lord,
That
is
quoth he,
'*
I'm glad to see thee here,
the cloak which poverty
round her form,
to clothe withal her
the shafts of envy pass her
bowed my head
And
" !
before the court of
stood on foot
;
good
shame.
''
by
!
Fame,
seat hath none
by
right,
If wealth or favour do not urge the claim.
One
near
me murmured,
pitying my plight, of honour which he thought my due. Deprived
Fresh from the orb of potence and of
light.
112
En
Viaje del Parnaso.
que cobro el dia nucvo resplandor, y el aire oyose Hcrir de una dulcisima armonia. csto parecio
Un
Y en csto Del
por un lado dcscubriose
sitio
Con que Venia en
bellas,
y por remate dellas resplandeciendo, como hace
Una El
un escuadron de ninfas
infinite el rubio dios holgose.
fin,
sol ante la luz
de las
La mayor hermosura Ante
ella,
y
estrellas.
se deshace
ella sola
resplandece
Sobre todas, y alegra y
satisface.
Bien
asi scmcjaba, cual se ofrece Entre liquidas perlas y entre rosas La aurora que despunta y amanece.
La
rica vestidura, las preciosas
Joyas que
Con Las
las
la
adornaban, competian
que suclen ser maravillosas.
ninfas que al querer suyo asistian,
En Las
el
gallardo brio y bcllo aspecto,
artes liberales parecian.
Todas con amoroso y tierno afecto, Con las ciencias mas claras y escogidas,
Le guardaban
santisimo respeto.
Mostraban que en
Y
servirla cran servidas,
que por su ocasion de todas gcntcs
En mas veneradon
eran tenidas.
Journey
Parnassus.
to
1 1
3
IVIcthought at once a strange resplendent hue the smitten air O'crspread the sky, and \o !
Was
pierced with sweetest
music through and
And at one side I spied a squadron fair [through ; Of beauteous n3'mphs come dancing to the song, With whom the ruddy god made sporting rare. In rear of these there
A
wondrous
came
at length along
being,^^ radiant as the light
The Sun emits amid the starry throng The highest beauty pales before her sight And she remains alone in her array.
;
Diffusing round contentment and delight.
She looked the likeness of Aurora gay. When, mid the roses and the pearl3' dew, She wakes
to life
and ushers
in the
day
;
The garments rich, and jewels bright of hue Which gemmed her person, might hold rivalry With all the world of wonders ever knew. The nymphs that did her bidding faithfully, In brilliant bearing and in sprightly ease.
Seemed
to
me
all
the liberal arts should be
;
They all with tender love, and joined to these The Sciences, most clear and most reserved, Did pay her reverence as on bended knees Showed that in serving; her themselves were served. ;
And
A
that through her they,
mid the nations
higher honour and respect preserved. I
all,
Viaje del Parnaso.
114 Su
influjo
y su
rcflujo las corricntes
Del mar y su profundo
Y
el scr
padre de
rios
le
mostraban,
y de fucntes.
Las yerbas su virtud la presentaban, Los arboles sus frutos y sus flores, Las piedras
el
valor que en
si
enccrraban.
El santo amor, castisimos amorcs,
La duke paz, su quictud sabrosa, La gucrra amarga todos sus rigores. Mostrabascle clara Via, por donde
Su
La
la espaciosa
hace contino
el sol
natural carrera
y
la forzosa.
inclinacion, 6 fuerza del dcstino,
Y de que cstrellas consta y se compone, Y como influye este plancta 6 sino, Todo La
lo sabe,
todo lo dispone
santa hermosisima doncella,
admiracion como alcgria pone. Preguntcle al parlero, si en la bella
Que
Ninfa alguna deidad
Porque en
Y
en
Del
sc disfrazaba.
fuese justo el adorar en ella.
Que
el
el rico
adorno que mostraba
gallardo scr que descubria,
cielo
y no
del suelo scmejaba.
— Descubres, respondio, Que ha que
Y
tu boberia.
la tratas infinites anos,
no conoccs que
es la Poesia.
journey
The
to
Parnassus.
Ocean's currents at her simple
Their ebb and flow displayed
115
call
the abyss revealed
;
The parent source of waters great and small The herbs their virtues at her touch did yield, The trees their fruits, its sweetest flowers the vale, The stones their inward worth which lay concealed ;
;
To
her did love
its
Benignant peace Terrific
war
its
chastest joys unveil, its
quietude and cheer,
horrors and
its
wail
;
The
spacious path was to her vision clear. Through which the Sun, in never-endino; Unc, Pursues his natural and constrained career ;
The force of fate which makes our wills incline, The elements that form the starry light. The influence of this planet or that sign
—
All this she knows,
all this
That holy maid of
she wields aright.
loveliness complete.
Who
I
claims at once our wonder and delight. asked the spokesman, if beneath that sweet
And
radiant form no
Whom
god lay in disguise, were worship meet
to adore in her
;
Since by the rich adornment of her guise.
And by
her gallant mien and bravery. child of earth but of the skies
She seemed no '*
Thou
shew'st," quoth he,
"
Since thou hast wooed her
And knowest
not that she
now is
:
thy crass stupidity. for
Poesy
many " !
a year.
1 1
6
Viaje del Parnaso.
— Siemprc
la
he visto envuelta en pobres panos,
Le repHquc jamas la vi compuesta Con adornos tan ricos y tamanos ;
:
Parece que la he visto descompuesta, Vestida de color de primavera
En
los dias
— Esta, que La
de cutio y
los
de
fiesta.
es la poesia verdadera,
grave, la discreta, la elegante,
Dijo Mercurio, la alta y la sincera, Siempre con vestidura rozagante
Se muestra en cualquier acto que
Cuando
Nunca
se halla,
a su profesion es importante.
se inclina, 6 sirve a la canalla
Trovadora, maligna y trafalmcja, Que en lo que mas ignora, mcnos calla.
Hay
otra falsa, ansiosa, torpe
Amiga Que ni
No
y
vieja,
de sonaja y mortcruelo, tabanco, ni taberna deja.
se alza dos, ni
aun un coto del
suelo,
Grande amiga de bodas y bautismos, Larga de manos,
corta de cerbelo.
Tomanla por momentos
No
parasismos,
acicrta a pronunciar,
y
si
pronuncia,
Absurdos hace, y forma solecismos. Baco donde ella esta, su gusto anuncia,
Y
ella
derrama en coplas
Campo*" y vereda, y
el
el
poleo,
mastranzo, y juncia.
to
Journey
Parnassus.
1
" she ever did appear In homely clothes, but never met my gaze Arrayed in robes so rich and grand as here
**To me,"
Seems
'tis
I
1
7
said,
her undress
I
;
have seen always.
Picked out with colours of the spring demure, Alike on working as on holidays " !
Mercurius answered
That Poesy
The
'Tis but reason sure
the true, the grave, discreet.
elegant, the lofty,
Should robe herself
For
'* :
all
and the pure. is meet
in vesture that
the actions which her rank become.
For each
in turn appropriate
She never stoops
to serve the
and complete
;
common scum
Of ballad
mongers, impudent and mean. bawl the loudest when they should be dumb.
Who There
is
a false, a base, old, haggard quean.
Friend of the drum and timbrel
Seldom from bench
mummery,
or tavern to be seen
;
Hardly two hand-breadths from the floor springs At weddings and at baptisms she sits.
Though huge her fists, her brains At times she falleth into sudden fits, Cannot
tastes are those of
And She
but scanty be
;
articulate, or if she can.
Her blundering grammar Her
she.
proves her muddled wits
Bacchus and
in her couplets, over
scatters
his clan,
mead and wold.
thyme and mint and
gentian.
;
1 1
Viaje del Parnaso.
8
Pero aqucsta que ves es el aseo, La gala de los cielos y la tierra,
Con quien
tienen las
musas su burco
;
Ella abrc los secrctos y los cicrra,
Toca y apunta de cualquicra ciencia La superficie y lo mejor que cncicrra. Mira con mas ahinco Veras cifrada en
su presencia,
ella la
abundancia
De lo que en bucno tiene la Moran con ella en una misma La divina y moral filosofia, El
estilo
mas puro y
Puede pintar en
La
la
Y Y
estancia
la
ekgancia. mitad del dia
noche, y en la noche
El alba bella que El curso de
excelencia.
mas
escura
las perlas cria.
los rios apresura,
le
detiene
le
reduce luego a
;
el
pecho a furia
incita,
mas blandura.
Por mitad del rigor se precipita De las lucientes armas contrapuestas,
Y da vitorias, y vitorias quita. Veras como
le
prestan las florestas
Sus sombras, y sus cantos los pastores, El mal sus lutos y el placer sus fiestas, Perlas
el
Sur, Sabea sus olores,
El oro Tiber, Hibla su dulzura. Galas Milan, y Lusitania amoies.
Journey
to
Rut she whom thou dost
Parnassus.
see
is,
119
as of old.
The charm and glory of the heavens and earth, With whom the Muses secret counsel hold ;
She
seals
up
secrets
and she
lets
them
forth,
And
of each science scans, in graver mood. once its surface and its inner worth.
At
Survey her person with an eye more shrewd, Thou'it see enshrined, and in abundance great,
The
very
sum and
There lodge with
quintessence of good
;
her, within the self-same gate,
Philosophies both moral and divine,
A
style the purest
At mid-day
and the most ornate.
she can paint in sombrest line
The night, and in the depth of deepest night The rosy dawn that makes the pearls to shine. The river's course she quickens into might, Then curbs she makes the breast with fury rise. Then soothes to blandness with her touch so light. ;
Into the midst of clashing arms she
Where
She victory gives and victory
Mark
flies.
ranks opposing meet with dire intent, denies.
hov/ the forests at her sight present
Their shades, their songs the shepherds of the dale. Sorrow its weeds, and pleasure its content ; Pearls from the south, odours from Saba's vale.
Gold from the Tiber, sweets from Hybla's mount. Galas from Milan, loves from Portingale,
I20
Viaje del Parnaso.
En fin, clla es la cifra, do se apura Lo provechoso, honesto y dcleitable. Partes con quicn sc aumenta la ventura. Es de ingenio tan vivo y admirable,
Que
a veces toca en punto que suspenden, se que de inexcrutable.
Por tener no Alabanse
los
buenos, y sc ofenden
Los malos con
Unos Son
la
su voz,
y dcstos
tales
adoran, otros no la entienden.
sus obras heroicas immortales.
Las
Que
liricas siiaves,
de manera
vuelven en divinas las mortales.
Si alguna vez se muestra lisonjera,
Es con
tanta elegancia y artificio.
Que no castigo, sino premio espera. Gloria de la virtud, pena del vicio Son
sus acciones,
dando
al
mundo
en ellas
De su alto ingenio y su bondad indicio En csto estaba, cuando por las bellas Ventanas de jazmines y de
Que amor estaba a Divisc
seis
—
rosas.
que cntiendo en ellas,
lo
personas religiosas,
Al parecer de honroso y grave
aspeto,
De
luengas togas, limpias y pomposas. efeto i Por que Preguntcle a Mercurio :
—
Aquellos no parecen y se cncubren, muestran set personas de respeto
Y
?
—
121
"Journey to Parnassus. Fall at her feet.
In fine, she
is
the fount
Where blend the sweet, the useful, and the sound. Whence human bliss doth swell its rich account. She
of wit so lively and profound.
is
That
By Her
whose tangled knot cannot be unbound.
oft she touches points,
mortal fingers
voice exalts the good
She gives the bad
;
;
an
evil lot
and at her holy shrine
The
former kneel, the last regard her not. works heroic shall immortal shine
Her Her
:
lyrics sweet obey such sovereign laws, That mortal things they change into divine
;
If she at times with flattery urge her cause. It is v/ith skill so rare
and so
refined.
As deadens censure and demands applause The scourge of vice and virtue's crown combined, Her deeds proclaim to all the world aright Her lofty genius and her gentle mind." I stood entranced, when thro' some loop-holes bright With jasmines, and with roses sweet entwined, Where Love, methinks, might harbour with delight^ ;
I
spied six persons'^ of a clerkly kind,
Who With I
seemed of reverend and grave aspect, long white togas stately and refined.
asked Mercurius
To
:
"Why
do such
affect
hide and burrow in this lurking-place,
Who
yet appear most worthy of respect
?
"
12 2
A
lo
Viaje del Parnaso.
que
el
respondio
Por guardar
—
Que I
tienen,
Quicn
Decirlo
—
?
No
A
se dcscubren
asi el rostro todos cubren.
son, le replique,
es
si
que
te cs
— Respondiome — No por :
Porque Apolo I
—No
dccoro al alto cstado
el
y
:
lo tiene asi
son poetas
?
dado
cierto,
mandado.
— — Pues yo no Si.
acierto
pensar por que causa se desprccian salir con su ingenio a campo abierto.
De I
Para que se embobecen y se anecian, Escondiendo el talento que da cl cielo
A
los
Aqui
O
que mas de
del rey
:
i
que
es csto ?
i
que
recelo,
celo les impide a no mostrarse
Sin miedo ante I
ser suyos se precian ?
Puede ninguna
la
turba
vil del
Con
esta universal de la poesia,
Que
limites
Pues siendo Entre
los
suelo
no tiene do encerrarse?
esto verdad, saber querria
de
la carda,
,:
como
se
usa
Este miedo, 6 melindre, 6 hipocresia
Hace
?
ciencia compararse
monseiior versos,
?
y rehusa
Que no se sepan, y el los comunica Con muchos, y a la lengua ajena acusa.
Y
mas que
siendo buenos, multiplica
La fama
su valor,
Con voz de
gloria
y
al dueiio
canta
y de alabanza
rica.
Journey
He
answered
And
:
to
Parnassus.
"Fain would they
chaste reserve, that
123
preserve the grace
the high degree
fit
" occupy, and so they veil the face are they," cried I, "if 'tis given thee
They *'
Who
!
To tell the same?" "Nay," quoth he, "by my fay, Such
is
Apollo's mandate and decree
" !
"Are they not poets?" "Yea!" "Then sooth to It puzzles me to guess why they should fear
To
Why
bring their genius to the light of day;
Wrapping
Ho!
and ninny here, talent up, great Heaven's
^0 they play the
To
say.
all
their
who
her sons
fool
gift
hold the favour dear?
King's name! what may be their drift? W^hat dread or shame forbids them now to face in the
Earth's scurvy groundlings and their veils uplift science claim to hold a place
?
Can any
Beside the science vast of Poesy, That brooks no limit to its wide embrace If this be truth, then prithee tell to
To
?
me,
such fraternity what end doth serve
This
fear, this nicencss, this
Monsignor maketh
That none
With But be
shall
hypocrisy
?
verses, with reserve
know
it,
and he shares the same
friends; yet will incognito preserve
the}^
good,
it
is
the
!
work of Fame
To
spread their worth, and to their master sing With voice of glory, blazoning his name !
Viaje del Parnaso.
1
24
I
Que mucho
pues,
si
no
se le levanta
Testimonio a un pontifice poeta, Que digan que \o es ? por Dios que espanta. Por vida de Lanfusa la discreta,
me dice quien son estos de bonete Togados y de muceta ; con trazas modos Que y descompuestos Tengo de reducir a behetria Que
no se
si
Estos tan sosegados y compuestos. dijo Mercurio, y a fe mia,
— Por Dios,
Que no puedo Tengo de dar
dccirlo, la
si
y
lo digo,
culpa a tu porfia.
— Dilo, scnor, que desde aqui me obligo De Le
no decir que tu me lo dijiste, por la fe de buen amigo.
dije,
El dijo
:
— No nos cayan en
—
el chiste,
Llegate a mi, dirctelo al oido,
Pero creo que hay mas de
Aquel que has visto
alii
los
Lozano, rozagante y de buen
De Es
el
que
viste.
del cucllo erguido, talle,
honestidad y de valor vestido,
DOTOR Francisco Sanchez
Puede
cual debe
Que pueda Y^aun mas Pues en
Nos da
Apolo
la
alabanza,
sobre el cielo levantalle.
su famoso ingenio alcanza, las verdes hojas
de sus dias
de santos frutos esperanza.
:
dalle
Why this
ado then
Parnassus.
to
Journey
Is't
?
a treasonous thing
To call a pontiff poet, and repeat The name aloud ? By heaven, 'tis Now, by If
Lanfusa's
With
!
these gentry are.
rochet and biretta robed complete,
In boisterous fashion will
And
maddening
the fair discreet,
life,
who
be told not
I
125
I
levy war,
bring confusion on this brotherhood.
seem too quiet and composed by far! " " and all that's God," cried Mercury, good!
Who "By I
may
I'll **
My To
not
tell
thee, but an' if
lay the blame lord,
I
tell to
bind
me now and
do,
:
closer, I will
I,
"of good
may think
whisper
" !
henceforth too
none what thou shalt
'Pon honour," quoth He answered "They
Come
I
upon thy hardihood
tell to
me,
friend
and true!"
our jesting free,
in thine ear;
Faith, there be more of them than thou didst see.
He, whom thou saw'st with
stiff
neck and austere,
Lusty, resplendent, stately to the view, In worth arrayed and modesty severe. Is
Doctor Don Francisco Sanchez, who Will soar
in praises far
above the skies,
now Apollo
gives him but his due ; And higher yet his famous wit shall rise, If
Since in the green leaves of his tender prime
The
pregnant hope of holy fruitage
lies.
I
26
Viaje del Parnaso.
Aquel que en elevadas
Y Y Es
fantasias,
en extasis sabrosos se regala, tanto imita las acciones mias,
Maestro Orense, que
el
Se
lleva de la
mas
en las aulas de Atcnas se senala.
Que
Su natural ingenio con
Y
la gala
rara elocuencia
la ciencia
ciencias aprcndidas le levanta
Al grado que
nombra
le
la excelencia.
Aquel de amarillcz marchita
Que
Y
le
}'•
santa,
encubre de lauro aquella rama,
aquella hojosa
y acopada
planta,
Fray Juan Baptista Capataz
se llama,
Descalzo y pobre, pero bien vestido el adorno que le da la fama.
Con
del rigor fiero de olvido
Aquel que
Libra su nombre con eterno gozo, es de Apolo y las musas bien querido,
Y
Anciano en
el
Humanista El insigne
Un
ingenio,
y nunca mozo,
divino, es segun pienso,
DOTOR ANDRES DEL POZO.
licenciado de un ingenio
Es
aquel,
Como
Ramon
immenso
y aunque en traje mercenario, dan las musas censo
a seiior le
:
se llama, auxilio necesario
Con que
Delio se esfuerza y ve rendidas
Las obstinadas
fuerzas del contrario.
to
Journey His neighbour, who on
And And El
ii";
fantasies sublime
savoury ecstasies doth feast withal, with my actions makes his own to chime,
Maestro Orense To
Parnassus.
is,
with claim not small
plume himself on higher eloquence ever sounded in Athenian hall ;
Than
His native
wit, joined to the sober sense
Which science lends, exalts him to the grade Which stamps him with the name of Excellence. Whose face with saintly pallor is o'erlaid. Of whom that laurel branch conceals the sight, To whom that leafy cup-like plant gives shade.
Fray Juan Baptista Capataz
is
hight;
Barefooted, poor, but well arrayed withal. For fame enrobes him with her vesture bright.
He, who from dark oblivion's tyrant thrall Hath snatched his name, and endless rapture found, Loved by Apollo and the Muses all. In wit an ancient, in his ^-outh profound,
A
humanist divine,
is, let
me
sa}^.
Doctor Andres de Pozo The next, a graduate Of wit, although in
the renowned.
with mighty play Mercy's garb he go.
To him as lord the Muses tribute pay By name Ram6n; whose strength will deal ;
WHiereby Apollo
shall to every
wind
Scatter the stolid forces of the {oz.
a blow,
12 8 El
Viaje del Parnaso.
otro, cuyas sienes ves cenidas
Con
brazos de Dafne en triunfo honroso,
los
Sus glorias tiene en Alcala esculpidas.
En
su ilustre teatro vitorioso
Le nombra el
Siempre
A
el cisne
en canto no funcsto,
primero como a mas famoso. suyos echo el resto
los donaires
Con propiedadcs
al
gorron debidas,
Por haberlos compuesto 6 descompuesto. seis
Aquestas
Como
Y
personas rcferidas,
estan en divinos pucstos pucstas,
en sacra religion constituidas, las alabanzas por molestas,
Tienen
Que
—
les
Llevar
dan por poetas, y holgarian nombre a cuestas.
la loa sin el
Por que, Ic preguntc, senor, porfian Los tales a escribir y dar noticia I
De
los versos
Tambien
Y nunca Que
que paren y que crian
alabanza se desprecia ; al bueno se le debe de justicia. la
Aquel que de poeta no se precia, los dice I Para que escribe versos, y I
?
tiene el ingenio su codicia,
Por que desdcna
lo
?
que mas aprecia
?
Jamas me contentc, ni satisfice De hipocritas melindres. Llanamente Quise alabanzas de
lo
que bien
hice.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
1
29
Of him, whose temples thou dost see entwined With Daphne's arms, and triumph in his face, The glories are in Alcald enshrined ;
Within
famed
the theatre of that
place,
The Swan, with song auspicious, doth proclaim And hail him first and foremost in the race; Upon his piquant jests he staked his fame, With sallies that the college youth befit, Whose wit composed or decomposed the same. These six, whose characters we now have hit.
Who And Esteem
proudly are installed in posts divine. on the high chairs of religion sit, as irksome all the praises fine
That would
To
proclaim them poets, yet delight
have the honour and the
"Why And
then,
my
lord,"
I cried,
notify the verses to
It suits
them
For genius too
to conceive is
name
decline."
*'do such
men write,
mankind and bring
to light
?
greedily inclined.
And will not brook that any praise Which justly falls to merit of high
be
lost
kind;
Who of the name of poet will not boast, Why doth he scribble and the matter tell, Why doth he scorn the thing he covets most ? I
never sat content beneath the spell Of prim mock-modesty ; without pretence I
courted praise for that which
K
I
did well
" !
Viaje del Parnaso.
130
— Con todo quiere Apolo, que esta gente Religiosa se tenga aqui secreta, Dijo cl dios que presume dc elocuente.
Oyose en esto cl son de una corneta, Y un trapa, trapa, aparta, afuera,
Que Volvi
la vista y Del monte un
como
Correr,
Scrvia
afucra.
viene un gallardisimo poeta. vi por la ladera
y un
postilion
cabailero
se dice, a la lijera.
el postilion
de pregonero,
Mucho mas que de guia, a cuyas voces En pie se puso el escuadron cntero. Preguntome Mercurio Quicn
—
£
No
conoces
es este gallardo, este brioso
le
?
le reconoces.
Imagino que ya
— Bien, yo Gran
:
respondi
;
que es
DON Sancho DE
el
famoso
Leiva, cuya espada
Y
pluma haran a Delio venturoso. Vencerase sin duda esta Jornada
Con
tal socorro
;
—y en
el
mismo
instante,
Cosa que parecia imaginada, Otro favor no menos importante Para
el
caso temido se nos muestra
;
De ingenio y fuerzas, y valor bastante. Una tropa gcntil por la siniestra Parte del monte dcscubriosc
Que
: ;
oh
cielos,
dais de vuestra providcncia muestra
!
Journey "
That
1
3
he, the
god who vaunts
" !
his eloquence.
a cornet's sound struck on mine ear,
this
With I
1
these religious folk keep secret here
Quoth
For
Parnassus.
Apollo's wish, take no offence,
It is
On
to
tramp, tramp! stand aside!
lo
!
turned mine eyes, and up the mountain
They
way
on a postilion and a knight
fell
Posting at tip-top speed, as people say
;
He
served as herald, that postilion wight. More than as guide, and at his shouts and cries
The
assembled squadron rose and stood upright; me " Dost thou recoc^nize
Mercurius asked
:
This gallant one, so lordly I
in his state,
fancy he's familiar to thine
I
"
know him
he
Vvxll,
Don Sancho DE And pen Beyond
shall
cj'^es?
famed and great Leiva, he whose blade is
the
make Apollo
fortunate
;
a doubt with such distinguished aid
He'll win the day!" And presently in sight There came unlooked for, and with grand parade,
A band To
A
of
allies as
important quite.
try conclusions with the dreaded foe,
Equipped with genius, solid worth, and might. gallant troop it was, and from below It
up the
Ye
left side
heavens
!
of the
hill
!
ho, clear the
a stalwart poet draweth near
!
[way
did prance
;
what proofs of providence ye show
!
Viaje del Parnaso.
132
Aqucl discrete Juan de Vasconcelos Vcnia delante en un caballo bayo,
Dando Tras
a las
musas
lusitanas celos.
CaPITAN PeDRO
el el
TaMAYO
Venia, y aunque enfermo de la gota,
Fue
al
enemigo asombro, fuc desmayo.
Que por cl se vio en fuga, y puesto en rota Que en los dudosos trances de la guerra Su
;
ingenio admira y su valor se nota.
Tambien
llegaron a la rica tierra,
Puestos debajo de una blanca sena, Por la parte derecha de la sierra, Otros, de quien tomo luego rcsena
Apolo ; y era dellos el primero El joven DON FERNANDO DE
LODENA,
Poeta primerizo, insigne, empero
En
cuyo ingenio Apolo deposita Sus glorias para el tiempo venidero.
Con majestad
Pompa
llcgo,
y
con inaudita
al pie del
los bienes del
Quien El
real,
LicENciADO El que
llcgo,
fue
monte para
monte
solicita
:
Juan de Vergara
con quien la turba
ilustre
En sus vecinos medios se repara. De Esculapio y de Apolo gloria y lustre, Si no, digalo
Y
su
fama
la
el
santo bien partido,
misma
envidia ilustre.
Journey
On
Parnassus.
to
1
2,2
a bay charger, riding in advance,
CameJUAN DE VascONCELOS, shrewd and gay, On whom the Lusian Muses look askance ;
Behind him rode
Tamayo
on the way, That Captain bold who, crippled with the gout, Yet struck the foe with terror and dismay;
At
sight of him fled all the rabble rout.
For
and hand
in a doubtful strife,
Flame
forth his genius
Then by
and
to
hand,
his valour stout.
the right side of the mountain grand.
Beneath the shadow of a banner white.
Came others marching to the wealthy land, Whose ranks Apollo mustered with delight And first and foremost came upon the stage ;
That
A
youth,
FERNANDO DE LODENA hight,
budding poet, and withal a sage,
Within whose wit Apollo graciously Doth hoard his glories for the coming With rarest pomp, and regal majesty,
A
new
To
arrival pranced
up
in state
claim the mountain's hospitality
JUAN DE VergarA
Whom Of all
all
age.
;
he. Licentiate,
the squadron
welcomed with
their dearest rights a
delight.
champion great
;
Apollo's glory, Esculapius' light, In him a man of double fame we hail,
And
Envy's
self proclaims his
honour bright.
Viaje del
134 Con
tl
fuc con aplauso recebido
El docto
Que i
Fam a so.
Juan Antonio de Herrera,
puso en
fil el
desigual partido.
Oh, quien con Icngua en nada
lisonjera,
Sino con puro afecto en grande exceso,
Dos que Uegaron alabar pudiera Pero no es de mis hombros este peso. !
Fueron los que Uegaron los famosos, Los dos maestros CalvO Y Valdivieso. se descubrio por los undosos Llanos del mar una pcqueiia barca Impelida de remos presurosos
Luego
:
Llcgo, y
al
punto della desembarca
ElgranDONjUANDE ARGOTE Y BEGaMBOA En compania de DON DiEGO Abarca, Sugetos dinos de incesable loa
Y Don Di6 un
En
;
Diego Jimenez y de Enciso
salto a tierra desde la alta proa.
estos tres la gala
y
el
aviso
Cifro cuanto de gusto en si contiencn, Como su ingenio y obras dan aviso.
Valle otros Pamones el uno,
Con Juan Lopez del Juntos
alii,
Con quien
y las
es
musas ojeriza
>^
dos vienen
tienen,
pone sus pics por do ninguno
Porque Los puso, y con sus nuevas fantasias
Mucho mas que
agradable es importuno.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
135
Now welcomed we, with shouts that rent the vale, Juan DE HerrERA, learned man and strong, Whose
O
weight alone might turn the unequal who, with fitting and unflattering tongue But with a truthful accent, pure and plain, Shall praise aright these two
But on
my
Anon we
A
little
Which
?
along
shoulders doth not rest this strain,
For these be men renowned
Calvo
who march
scale.
for learned stores,
.
and ValdiviesO, masters twain!
saw, impelled by lusty oars, barque skim o'er the ocean wide.
sought a refuge on the sacred shores;
We spied therein,
as nearer
it
did glide,
Don Juan DE Argote, and a man no Than DON DiEGO Abarca at his side And with them DON DiEGO XlMENES Y DE EncisO from the lofty prow
less ;
;
He gave one leap the sacred land to press To these great three the praise we must allow ;
Of matchless taste, combined
with wisdom's glance Their genius and their works proclaim it now.
With Juan Lopez del Valle two advance, And in their midst may Pamones be seen.
On whom
the
Muses look somewhat askance
For why, he treads where
And
He
with
new
foot hath never been.
fantasies, not void of blame,
wearies more than he delights,
I
ween.
:
Viaje del Parnaso.
136
De
lejas tierras por incultas vias
Llego
Que
bravo irlandcs
DON JUAN BateO,
nucvo en memoria en nuestros
Jerjes
Vuelvo
el
la vista, a
tiene al
Y ha sido Dejaran
Mantuano
dias.
veo,
gran Velasco por Meccnas,
acertadisimo su empleo.
cstos dos en las ajenas
Tierras, contio en las propias, dilatados
Sus nombres, que
Por entre dos (j
tu,
Apolo,
asi lo ordenas.
fructiferos collados
Habra quien
esto crea,
aunque
lo entienda ?
De palmas y laureles coronados. El grave aspecto del Abad Maluenda Parecio, dando al monte luz y gloria,
Y I
esperanzas de triunfo en la contienda.
Pero de que enemigos la vitoria No alcanzara un ingenio tan florido,
Y una bondad tan digna de memoria
?
Don Antonio Gentil de Vargas, Espacio
para verte,
que llegaste
De
Y
gala y arte y de valor vestido aunque de patria jinovcs, mostraste :
Ser en las musas castellanas doto,
Tanto que al escuadron todo admiraste. Desde el indio apartado del remoto
Mundo
Y
el
mi amigo MONTESDOCA, anudo de Arauco el nudo roto. que llego
pido
Journey
By
to
Parnassus.
137
DON JUAN BateO
trackless paths
That sturdy Irishman, across the sea, In this our day a Xerxes new to fame I
me Whose
turn
No
round and patron
is
Mantuano
Velasco
!
see,
the renowned,
worthier Mcecenas could there be
The names
came,
;
of these two worthies yet shall sound
Throughout their own, and foreign lands to boot, Phoebus hath willed it, so it shall be found.
Between two
hillocks bearing wealth of fruit,
(Can one believe
so strange a thing hath been ?)
With palms and laurels crowned from brow The Abbot Maluenda's form was seen.
to foot.
Gilding the mount with light and lustre sage. With hope of triumph in the struggle keen ;
For
what chance hath any foeman's rage
say,
Against that kindly heart, that genius bright.
So worthy of a
place in
Memory's page
Gentil de Vargas, Don Antonio I
crave
With
A
fit
art,
?
hight,
space thy manly form to greet.
and elegance, and worth bedight
Genoese by
!
birth, yet at the feet
Of our Castilian Muses wert thou bred, And so the squadron gives thee honour meet. From India's furthest confines, travel-sped. Came MONTESDOCA to the front, my friend. And he who knit Arauco's broken thread ;
Viaje del Parnaso.
138
— A entrambos toca
Dijo Apolo a los dos Defender esta vuestra :
rica estancia
De la canalla de vergiienza poca. La cual de error armada y de arrogancia Quiere canonizar y dar renombre Inmortal y divino a la ignorancia
Que
tanto pucde la aficion que un
Tiene a
;
hombre
mismo, que ignorante siendo,
si
De bucn poeta quiere alcanzar nombre. En esto otro milagro, otro estupendo
—
Prodigio se descubre en la marina. Que en pocos versos declarar pretendo.
Una
nave a
la tierra tan vecina
Llego, que desde el sitio donde estaba, Se ve cuanto hay en ella y determina.
De mas Que
de cuatro mil salmas pasaba.
otros suelen llamarlas toneladas,
Ancha de Asi como
las
Llegan de
vientre
y de
estatura brava
:
naves que cargadas la oriental India a
Lisboa,
Que son por las mayores cstimadas; Esta llego desde la popa a proa Cubierta de poetas, mercancia quien hay saca en Calicut y en Goa.
De
Tomole
al rojo dios alferecia
Por ver
Que
la
muchedumbre
en socorro del monte
impertincnte, le
venia.
to
Journey
"Ye
Parnassus.
twain!'' Apollo cried, *'must
1
39
now defend
This wealthy land of yours, from the advance Of that most shameless crew who hither wend
!
For, armed with error and with arrogance,
They
fain
would canonize and give acclaim.
Immortal and divine, to ignorance ; For such conceit in human breast doth flame,
That ignorance
To
itself will
make men bold
" deck them with the poet's worthy name!
On this another prodigy, untold And monstrous, met our vision Which For
lo
!
That Its
in
few stanzas
I
will
on the strand,
now
unfold
:
a ship sailed up so close to land. I
could see, from
my commanding
whole contents and wherewith
Four thousand
lasts,
I
ween,
it
w-as
it
site,
manned
;
measured quite.
Or tons, the common word used by the mass, With spacious beam, and spars of towering height; Like
to the ships that
From Eastern It
with their cargoes pass
India to Lisboa's shore,
W^hich are esteemed the grandest of their class ; came, from poop to prow, crammed o'er and o'er
With
poets, goodly merchandise they sell
In Calicut's and Goa's ample store
The ruddy god At
into convulsions
;
fell
sight of such a vile presumptuous crew,
Who
came
to grace,
and save the
hill
as well
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
140
Y
en silencio rogo dcvotamente Que el vaso naufragase en un
momento
Al que gobierna el humido tridente. Uno de los del numero hambriento Se puso en
esto al borde de la nave,
mal contento parecer mohino y ni siiave tierna de en voz que ni
Al
Y
Tenia un tal
(Dijo
solo
:
adarme, gritando
vez colcrico, y
tal
grave)
Lo que impaciente estuve yo escuchando, Porque vi sus razones ser saetas, Que
—O
iban mi alma
y corazon clavando.
tu, dijo, traidor,
que
los poctas
Canonizaste de la larga
For causas y por vias I
Donde
Magances,
tenias,
lista,
indiretas
:
la vista
de tu ingenio, que asi ciego Fuiste tan mentiroso coronista ?
Aguda
Yd
y no niego muchos que escogiste
te confieso, 6 barbaro,
Que
algunos de
los
Sin que el respeto te forzase 6 En el debido punto los pusiste ;
Pero con
los
demas
sin
el
rucgo.
duda alguna
anduviste. Prodigo de alabanzas alzado a los ciclos la fortuna,
Has
De muchos
que en
el
centro del olvido
Sin ver la luz del sol ni de la luna,
'Journey to Parnassus.
And
silently
That
he,
141
he prayed a praj^er or two
who
holds the trident in his hand,
Would sink the ship and in an instant One of the number of that hungry band.
too.
Who
seemed a moping and a peevish knave, Upon the vessel's bulwarks took his stand,
And
with a croaking voice, that never gave
One
note or soft or sweet, his words did
Right
out,
now
choleric,
Whereat my temper
I
now grave
could scarce control.
For, like to barbs, his words were
To
go right whizzing through
"Thou traitor," The poets on
By
cried he, list
"who
my
all
devised
heart and soul
hast canonized
of wondrous size,
thy crooked methods and most ill-advised
ISIagances,
Vv'here didst
Of thy sharp Thou mad'st 1
roll
:
!
thou keep the eyes
wit, that, being stricken blind,
thyself the chronicler of lies?
give thee credit,
man
of barbarous mind,
That, of the many thou hast gathered here.
Without
Thou
request or force of any kind,
hast put some within their proper sphere
But with
Too
;
the rest thou hast been out of sight
prodigal of praises,
it is
clear
!
For many hast thou raised to Fortune's height. Who still in dark Oblivion's den should be.
Without
or
Sun
or
Moon
to give
them
light
;
:
Viaje del Parnaso.
142 Yacian
Fue
:
el
llamado, ni escogido gran pastor de Iberia, el gran ni
Que DE LA
Vega
BERNARDO
tiene el apelHdo.
Fuiste envidioso, dcscuidado y tardo, a las ninfas de Henares y pastorcs
Y
Como
Y
a enemioo les tiraste un dardo.
tienes tu poetas tan peores
Que estos en tu rcbano, que imagino Que ban de sudar si quieren ser mejores. Que si este agravio no me turba el tino, Siete trovistas desde aqui diviso,
A Con
quien suelcn llamar de torbellino,
quien la gala, discrecion y aviso
Tienen poco que ver, y Dos leguas mas alia del
tu los pones
paraiso.
Estas quimcras, estas invencioncs Tuyas, te ban de salir al rostro un dia, Si
mas no
te
mesuras y compones.
—
Esta amenaza y gran descortcsia Mi blando corazon lleno de miedo Y' dio al traves con la paciencia mia.
Y
volvicndome a Apolo con denuedo Mayor del que esperaba de mis aiios,
Con voz turbada y con semblante acedo, — Con bien claros desenganos dije Descubro, que el scrvirte me granjea
Le
:
Presentcs miedos de futuros daiios.
Journey Iberia's shepherd,
Had
in
to
grand
Parnassus.
143
BERNARDO
thy mission neither
lot
he,
nor part.
Who bears La Vega'S surname and degree Thou hadst an envious, careless, sluggish heart, And at Henarcs' nymphs and shepherds fine. As if they were thy foes, didst hurl thy dart; And yet, within that great sheepfold of thine. Worse poets hast thou, who must sweat and strain. ;
If the^f
would
better be, as
I
opine
!
an outrage hath not turned my brain. Seven rhymesters there I see before mine eyes
If such
In
Of the whom Are
Spasmodic order,
it is
plain
;
the witty, elegant, and wise
at their lowest, yet
thou giv'st them place
Two leagues within the bounds of Paradise ; These quirks of thine, these whimsies void of grace, more composedly, one day and shame thee to thy face!" This threat, and eke this great discourtesy. Did in my tender heart much dread inspire, If so thou act not
Will
rise
And made the remnants of my patience flee And turning to Apollo, with more ire Than might be thought befitting my grave years. With quivering voice, and eke a spark of fire, ;
I
said
That
My
such plain proofs it now appears. serving thee makes worse my sorry plight,
"By
:
future loss
I
read in present fears
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
144
6 scnor, que en publico se lea
Haz,
La
Hsta que Cilenio llevo a Espana,
Porque mi culpa poca aqui
se vea.
Si tu deidad en escoger se engana,
Y yo solo I
Por que
lo
aprobc
me
el
que
este simple contra
dijo,
mi
se ensaiia ?
causa y con razon me affijo, ver como estos barbaros se inclinan
Con justa
De
A
tenerme en temor duro y
Unos, porque
los puse,
me
prolijo.
abominan,
Otros, porque he dejado de ponellos,
De darme pesadumbre determinan. no se como me avendre con ellos
Yo
Los puestos
:
no puestos lamcntan, Gritan, yo tiemblo destos y de aquellos.
Tu,
senor,
Que
Y
que eres
dios, dales los puestos
piden sus ingenios
llama y nombra
:
Los que fueren mas habiles y prestos. porque el turbio miedo que me asombra,
No me
acabe, acabada esta contienda,
Cubreme con
O
los
se
ponme una
manto y con
tu
serial
por do
tu sombra.
se entienda
soy hechura tuya y de tu casa asi no habra ninguno que me ofenda.
Que
Y
:
—Vuelve
la vista
y mira
Fuc de Apolo enojado
Que
ardiendo en
ira el
lo
que pasa,
—
la respuesta,
corazon
le
abrasa.
Journey Let them,
my lord,
to
Parnassus.
in public
now
145
recite
The list Mercurius brought with him to Spain, Then shall my slender blame be brought to light If that your godship
And
I
this fool at
me
cause and reason do
To
see
choice and vain,
but echoed what Mercurius said.
Why rails With
made wrong
how men
I
with words insane
vex
my
?
head.
like these, with barbarous din,
Conspire to keep me in perpetual dread Some scowl on me because I put them in.
Others resolve, because
I
left
them
:
out,
To make me feel the burden of my sin How to make peace with all I am in doubt, ;
The
By Thou
chosen groan, the left-out cry apace, both together am I put to rout. who art god, my lord, give each the place
That fits his worth name, summon to thine The ablest and the readiest in the race And lest this turmoil, which keeps me afraid, Should kill me quite, I would be let alone, Cast over me thy mantle and thy shade Grant me a sign, whereby it may be known
aid
;
;
:
That I'm
And " Turn
thine offspring, of thy house
henceforth none at
me
thee to see a sight, and
Apollo
cried,
and name, "
will cast a stone
mark
the
!
same !"
with accents nowise sweet.
While burning
fury
wrapped JL
his heart in flame.
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
146
y vi la mas alcgre fiesta, mas dcsdichada y compasiva,
Volvila,
Y la Que
Mas
el
no
mundo
se espere
Sino en
vio, ni
aun
que yo
la
vera cual esta.
aqui la escriba,
en quien espero Cantar con voz tan entonada y viva,
Que
la parte quinta,
piensen que soy cisne,
y que me muero.
to
Journey I
Parnassus.
147
turned me, and beheld the sweetest treat,
The most distressful too, most worth a tear, The world e'er met with, or again shall meet But
do not think that
But
I
will tell
where
it
here.
hope and plan To sing with such a living voice and clear. That men will take me for a dying swan in the fifth part
;
I
!
;
CAPITULO Oyo
el
Las
senor del humido tridente plegarias de Apolo,
Con alma Hizo de
Y
sin
En un
Y
V.
tierna
y escucholas
y corazon clemente,
ojo,
y
dio del pie a las olas,
que
lo
entendiesen los poetas
punto hasta
por ocultas vias
levantolas.
el cielo
secrctas
el y Se agazapo debajo del navio,
Y
uso con
Hirio con
el
el
de sus traidoras tretas.
tridente en lo vacio
Del buco, y el estomago le Uena De un copioso corriente amargo Advertido
el peligro, al aire
rio.
suena
Una confusa \oz, la cual resulta De otras mil que el temor forma y Poco a poco
En
el
bajel pobre
se oculta
las entrafias del ceruleo
y cano
Vientre, que tantas animas sepulta.
la
pena.
CHAPTER The
lord, that wields the
V.
humid
trident,
heard
Apollo's prayers, and listened to his cries,
With
He
slyly
bosom and a kind regard. winked, and made the waves to
tender
rise
and ere the poets knew, reared their They curling crests to kiss the skies And then, by secret paths and out of view,
By
dint of foot,
;
He burrowed 'neath the ship, where, uncontrolled. He better might his wicked plans pursue. He struck his trident right into its hold. And, through the wound, into its vacant womb
A A
rushing, roaring, briny current rolled.
panic rose
:
and through the
air
did
boom
Of fear and pain a multitudinous cry, [doom. Which sprung from thousand lips that wailed their The luckless barque sinks slowly from the eye, Into the
bosom of the hoary main.
Wherein
so
many
souls sepulchred
lie
;
Viaje del Farnaso.
150 Suben
De
los llantos
el aire
por
Por ver su irreparable
Trepan y subcn por Cual del navio es
Y La
vano
aquellos miserables, que suspiran
en
cl
muchos
fin cercano.
las jarcias, el
lugar
se apifian
miran
mas y
alto,
retiran.
confusion, cl miedo, cl sobrcsalto
Les turba
los sentidos,
que imaginan
Que desta a la otra vida es grande Con ningun medio ni remedio atinan;
el salto.
Pero creycndo dilatar su muerte, Algun tanto a nadar se determinan. Saltan muchos al mar de aquella suerte ; Que al charco de la orilla saltan ranas
Cuando Hicnden
el
Menudean
Y
miedo 6
las olas del
ruido las advierte.
el
romperse canas,
las piernas
y los
brazos,
Aunque cnfermos estan, y ellas no sanas. en medio de tan grandes embarazos
La
vista
ponen en
la
amada
orilla,
Deseosos de darla mil abrazos.
Y
yo bien, que la fatal cuadrilla Antes que alii, holgara de hallarse sc
En Que
el
Compas famoso de
no tienen por gusto
el
Sevilla.
ahogarse,
Discreta gente al parecer en esto;
Pcro
valioles poco el esforzarse
;
Journey to the
Up
heavens
rise
to
Parnassus.
151
the moanings vain
Of these poor wretches as they shriek aloud, To see their end so certain and so plain ;
They clamber up by rigging and by shroud, They seek the top-most point with desperate
And cling together in a seething crowd The flutter and the fear with horror rife Confound
"
How
But
close
their senses, as they
vent the
strife.
;
whim
:
this to t'other life!" great the leap from and closer comes the peril grim ;
And
some, determined further out to spin Their dying, make a bold resolve to swim Into the sea they
jump,
Which make from bank
When
fear assails
them
to
or
pond a jerking bound, some horrid din ;
They cleave the waves and cast They ply their legs and arms Thouo-h
And
feeble these,
;
to frogs akin.
the
foam around,
with
and those
in
eifort sore,
no wise sound
;
as they toil, on to the wished-for shore
Their straining eyes with eager longing pass. Fain would they give it thousand hugs and more. Full well
I
know
that this
doomed crew,
alas
!
Had they the chance, with bounding joy would haste
To
tread again Scvilla's famed Compas For drowning, certes, doth not suit their taste, !
In this their great discretion
But
all in
may
be seen,
vain their waning strength they waste.
Viaje del Parnaso.
152
Qje cl padre de las aguas echo el resto De su rigor, mostrandose en su carro Con rostro airado y ademan funesto. Cuatro
cada cual bizarre,
delfines,
Con cuerdas hechas de tejidas ovas Le tiraban con furia y con desgarro. Las
ninfas en sus
humidas alcobas
Sienten tu rabia, 6 vengativo nume,
Y
de sus rostros
la color les robas.
El nadante poeta que presume Llegar a la ribera defendida, Sus ayes pierde y su teson consume
;
Que su corta carrera es impedida De las agudas puntas del tridente, Entonces
Quien ha
y aspero homicida. muchacho diligente
fiero
visto
Que en goloso a si mesmo sobrepuja. Que no hay comparacion mas conveniente, Picar en
sombrero
el
la
granuja,
Que el hallazgo le puso alii 6 Con punta alfileresca, 6 ya de
la sisa.
aguja
Pues no con mcnor gana, 6 menor Poetas ensartaba
Con
nume
cristal
prisa
airado
gusto infame, y con dudosa
En carro de La barba Con
el
;
risa.
venia sentado,
luenga y llena de marisco, dos gruesas lamprcas coronado.
"Journey to Parnassus.
i
c^'^
For now the briny Sire his rigour keen Will show, and in his car, in state arrayed.
He
shows
his fiery face,
lustiest
along with fierce fanfarronade ; nymphs within their humid alcoves start, it
Drag
The
;
of their grade. cords of sea-weed spun with cunning art.
Four Dolphins, each the
With
and threatening mien
O
thine ire, vengeful Sea-god, when they feel Pale grow their ruddy cheeks beneath thy smart The swimming poet, who with keen desire
Would Pants
For on
A
plant his foot on the forbidden shore,
all in vain,
and spends
I
ween
and sore
—
;
—
ends his short career, and swims no more.
Hast ever watched an Himself o'ertopping
More Spike
his flickering fire
the trident's points, full sharp
homicidal weapon then,
He
!
urchin, brisk
and keen,
in his
greedy glow been hath never apt comparison
—
—
cap the grape-pips all a-row. honest find or filching placed therein.
in his
Which With point of needle, or hair-pin, or so With no less pleasure, no less lusty din, Did Neptune
With
?
spit the poets in his hate.
shameless gusto, and a dubious grin.
Upon a crystal car he sat in state. With flowing beard, all crisp with While two
fat
lampreys crowned
shells marine,
his
ample pate
:
Viaje del Parnaso.
154 Hacian de
La
sus barbas firme aprisco
almeja, el morsillon, pulpo y cangrejo, le suelen hacer en pena 6 risco.
Cual
Era de aspecto venerable y
De
verde, azul
y
viejo
;
plata era el vestido,
Robusto
al parecer y de buen rejo como Aunque enojado, denegrido
Se mostraba en Asi turba
el rostro
el color
como
;
que
la
;
sana
el sentido.
Airado contra aquellos mas se ensana Que nadan mas, y saleles al paso,
Juzgando a
En
esto,
gloria tan cobarde hazana.
;oh nuevo y milagroso caso,
Dino de que
se cuente
poco a poco,
Y con los versos de Torcato
Taso!
Hasta aqui no he invocado, ahora invoco Vuestro favor, 6 musas, necessario
Para
los altos
puntos en que toco.
Descerrajad vuestro
Y el aliento me No
mas
rico almario,
dad que
el
caso pide,
humilde, no ratero ni ordinario.
Las nubes hiende, el aire pisa y mide La hermosa Venus Acidalia, y baja Del
que ninguno se lo impide. Traia vestida de pardilla raja Una gran saya entera, hecha al uso, cielo,
Quele
dice
muy
bien, cuadra
y
encaja.
Journey
Amongst
The Just
to
Parnassus.
155
his locks there nestled all serene
muscle, limpet, crab and polypus. as on reef or rock they may be seen
;
He
was of old aspect and ponderous. With robes of green, and blue, and
And seemed Being
silvery white,
robust withal, and vigorous
;
irate, his visage to the sight
Appeared a swarthy black,
That
fires
for rage indeed,
the reason, turns the colour quite.
Against the stoutest swimmers doth he speed. And, as he passes, ploughs them down in ire.
And
counts as glory such a coward deed.
Now
doth a new and wondrous thing transpire. Most worthy to be sung with great parade, And to the music of Torquato's lyre !
now have I no invocation made. But here, O Muses, I invoke your
Till
The
lofty
theme
I
Unlock and ope your
Not
;
richest treasure-case.
me
with strength for this event so rare. mean, nor vulgar, nay, nor common-place.
Clothe
The
grace,
touch demands your aid
clouds are rent, and, poising in the air,
From heaven descends, unhindered on The Venus Acidalia, wondrous fair
the wa}',
!
She comes arrayed
A
fair
of sack-cloth grey,
wrapped her o'er and o'er, and square, as people quaintly say
goodly gown
And
in dress
that
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
156 Luto que por
su el
Lucgo que
A A
fe
se Ic puso,
gran colmillo del berraco
atravesar sus ingles se dispuso. si el
que
Que Que
O
Adonis
cl
mocito fuera Maco,
guardara
la cara al colmilludo,
dio a su vida
valiente garzon,
y su belleza saco. mas que sesudo,
estando avisado, tu mal tomas,
^Como
Entrando en trance tan horrendo y crudo? En esto las mansisimas palomas
Que Por
carro de la diosa conducian
el
llano del mar,
y por las lomas, Por unas y otras partes discurrian, Hasta que con Neptuno se encontraron, el
Que Los
Y
era lo que buscaban
y querian.
dioscs que se ven, se respctaron,
haciendo sus zalemas a
Dc
lo
moro,
verse juntos en extreme holgaron.
Guardaronse
real
grave decoro, procure Ciprinia en aquel punto Mostrar de su belleza el gran tesoro.
Y
Ensancho
Con Para
el
verdugado, y diole
ciertos puntapics
el
punto
que fucron coces
dios que las vio y quedo difunto. DON QUINCOCES llamado poeta Andaba semivivo en las saladas el
Un
Ondas, dando gemidos y no voces.
Journey
Mourning which she
What From
Had
to
Parnassus.
for her
Adonis wore,
time his groin received the slanting blow the huge tusk of that most savage boar :
but the stripling bearded been,
That tusky on(i had thrust Nor ta'en his life, nor laid
O
157
at
I
him
know,
in vain,
his beauty low youth, of greater hardihood than brain.
!
Why,
shunning counsel, didst thy fate pursue, Courting a risk so monstrous and insane ?
Now
came the
softest
doves that ever flew.
Guiding the chariot of that goddess blest.
By They
plain and steep across the ocean blue hurried hither, thither, without rest.
;
Until they met with Neptune on the main,
The wished-for object of their eager quest. The immortals, as they met, to greet were fain, And making their salaams in Moorish way. Expressed
their
joy at meeting once again
;
With royal gravity their part they play. And at this point the Cyprian had a mind The cream of all her beauty to display ;
She spread her ample
And At
A
skirts before, behind.
with her twinkling toes gave kicks outright
the rapt god,
certain poet,
who saw them and grew
DON QuiNCOCES
Was swimming
half-alive
blind.
hight.
amid the
brine.
Sputtering out groans, not words, with all his might;
1
l^iaje del
58
Con
Parnaso.
todo dijo en mal articuladas
Palabras
Y
:
— O senora,
dc las otras dos
Muevate a compasion
la
islas
de Pafo,
nombradas,
vcrme gafo
cl
De pics y manos, y que ya me ahogo, En otras linfas que las del Garrafo. Aqui
sera
mi
sera
Aqui
pira, aqui
mi rogo,
QUINCOCES
sepultado,
—
tuvo en su crianza pedagogo. Esto dijo el mezquino, esto escuchado
Que
Fue de
Que
la diosa
con ternura tanta,
volvio a componer
el
verdugado.
Y lucgo en pic y piadosa se levanta, Y poniendo los ojos en el viejo, Dcscmbudo
la
voz de
la
garganta.
Y con cierto dcsden y sobrecejo, Entre enojada y grave y dulce, dijo Lo que al humido dios tuvo perplejo.
Y
aunque no Todavia le
fuc su razonar prolijo, trujo a la
Hermano de
quicn era
memoria
y de quicn
hijo.
Rcpresentole cuan pequeila gloria Era llevar de aquellos miserables
El
El triunfo infausto y la criiel vitoria. Si los hados imnudables dijo :
No
—
hubieran dado la fatal sentencia
Dcstos en su ignorancia siempre cstables,
to
Journey
Parnassus.
159
At
length he said with stuttering speech and whine: *'0 lady, thou of Paphos, and of two
More
My
islands
still,
becrowncd with fame divine
now with
cramped condition hand and
In
And drown Here
shall
my
!
pity view
foot, for see I sink forlorn in floods the
pyre be
QyiNCOCES
lit
;
Karaaf never knew here, to
my
;
scorn,
shall lie buried in the main.
had a pedagogue when he was born " So said the hapless one ; and not in vain
Who
!
The goddess listened to his tale complete. As she arranged her much disordered train And presently she started to her feet,
;
And, glancing at the victim of the rod, She cleared her throat to make her voice more sweet;
And
with a certain supercilious nod,
Irate,
and grave, and gracious
all in
one,
She said what much perplexed the humid god And though her arguments were not long-spun,
She yet contrived
to bring before his
:
mind
What god he was, whose brother and whose son "What glor}^," quoth she, "dost thou hope to find In cruel triumphs, of so
Over these wretches,
little
!
weight.
feeblest of their kind
"Had not the
" !
Fates," he said, "with changeless hate Pronounced a fatal sentence on this band.
Whose
ignorance
is
fixed and obstinate,
1
60
Viaje del Parnaso.
Una
mas de
brizna no
tu prcsencia
vicra yo, bellisima senora,
Que
Fuera de mi rigor
la resistencia.
Mas ya
no pucde ser, que ya la hora Llcgo donde mi blanda y mansa mano
Ha
de mostrar que es dura y vencedora.
estos de proceder siempre
Que En
ban dicho
sus versos
mar
A'zotando las aguas del
—Ni azotado,
me
ni viejo
inhumane,
cien mil veces
:
cano.
pareces,
— a Replico Venus, y — Puesto que me enamoras, no enterneces cl le
Que
de
tal
modo
ella
dijo
:
la fatal estrella
tristes, que no puedo despacho a tu querella. Del querer de los hados solo un dedo
Influye destos
Dar
felice
No me puedo
ya
apartar,
tu lo sabes,
EUos han de acabar, y ha de
— Primero acabaras que Le
De
ser cedo.
los acabes,
madama,
que tiene tantas voluntades puerta y Haves
respondio
la
;
hado feroz su muerte ordene, El modo no ha de ser a tu contento.
Que aunque
el
Que muchas Turbose en
De
muertes
el
morir contiene,
—
esto el liquido elemento,
nuevo renovose
la
Soplo mas vivo y mas
tormenta, apriesa el viento.
;
to
Journey
A
single thread held
Linking me,
Might But now
When
curb it
Parnassus.
by thy gentle hand, unto thee,
fairest lady,
my
ruthlessness
cannot
for the
;
i6i
and make
hour
I
it
bland
!
see.
hand of mine must show again masterful and cruel it can be
How
this soft
!
For hundred thousand times,
Have
in
savage
strain.
these bold rh3^mesters sang most spitefully
Lashing the waters of the hoary main ! " Nor lashed, nor hoary, dost thou seem
Responded Venus, and " in
to her
love, yet bland
Though deep
For with such menace doth the
Hang
he said
I
me " !
:
must not be
I
star of
o'er these wretches, that
to
Fates will thou know'st
Nor swerve one jot,
so, please
;
dread
cannot do
bidding now, nor please thee on this head
Thy What the
:
I
;
must pursue.
thee or displease,
" They must succumb and that right quickly too "Thou shalt succumb thyself, ere thou make these !" I
Rejoined milady with no small disdain, many hearts holds gate and keys, For though ferocious Fate their death ordain.
Who of so
*'
The manner For Death
On
of
it
itself
this the sullen
doth not rest with you. many deaths contain
doth
waters restless grew.
Afresh the tempest gathered
And
" !
wild and wilder
still
M
in the
sky,
the strong winds blew
;
1
62
Viaje del Parnaso.
La hambricnta mesnada, y Se rinde
Y i
al
no scdienta,
huracan recien venido,
por mas no penar muerc contenta.
Oh
raro caso
Ni
visto
!
y por jamas
Oh
oido,
nucvas y admirablcs trazas
De la gran reina obcdecida en Gnido En un instante el mar, de calabazas
!
Sc vio cuajado, algunas tan potentes, Que pasaban de dos y aun de tres brazas.
Tambicn hinchados odres y valientes, Sin deshacer del mar la blanca espuma,
Nadaban de
mil talks diferentes.
Esta trasmutacion fue hecha en suma
Por Venus de
los
languidos poetas, hundirlos no presunia.
Porque Ncptuno El cual le pidio a Febo sus sactas,
Cuya arma
A
arrojadiza desde aparte
Venus defraudara de
Ncgoselas Apolo
;
y
veis
sus tretas.
do parte
vejon con su tridente, Pensandolos pasar dc parte a parte
Enojado
el
;
Mas este se resbala, aqucl no siente La herida, y dando esguince se desliza,
Y En
cl
esto
queda de la colera impacicnte. Boreas su furor atiza,
Y iieva Que
antecogida la manada, con la de los cerdos simboliza.
Journey
The hungry Cowered
And
O
came
I,
o'er the scene,
of pain were glad to die.
now
till
invention,
The work For
163
crew, not thirsty then, trow
to be rid
new
Parnassus.
as the hurricane
rare event,
O
to
of her
nor heard nor seen
!
dreamed not of before.
whom Gnidus
hails as
queen
!
a trice the sea seemed curdled o'er
in
With pumpkins, some as stout as stout could That had a girth of twenty feet or more And bladders too went floating jauntily
be.
;
About, of every fancied form and size, Breastino- the white foam of the curlino- sea
:
These were the poor weak poets in disguise, Transmuted then by Venus, in such phase
That Neptune might
not
drown them
b}' surprise.
In wrath to Plioebus for his shafts he prays.
That
he, with cunning shots
Might
frustrate
Phoebus declines
How He
;
and stealthy
too.
Venus and her tricksome ways. and now the old one view.
with his trident, sailing round and round,
tries to
But this recoiled, and that felt
But with
them through and not the wound, [through;
prick and pierce
a sidling motion sought the shore
;
Gods how the wrathful ancient fumed and frowned Now woke up Boreas with a furious roar. !
And
!
drove before his blast that rabble rou^h.
That seemed
like
squeaking brood of bristly boar.
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
64
Pidiosclo la diosa aficionada
A
que vivan poctas zarabandos, De aquellos de la seta almidonada
:
De aquellos blancos, tiernos, dukes, blandos, De los que por momentos se dividen En varias setas y en contraries bandos. Los contrapuestos vientos
A
complacer
Y con Llevando
En
A
un
se
comiden
la bella rogadora,
solo aliento la
mar miden
:
la piara grunidora,
calabazas y odrcs convertida,
los reinos contrarios del aurora.
Desta duke semilla
Espana, verdad
referida,
cierta, tanto
abunda,
estimada y conocida. Que Que aunque en armas y en letras es fecunda Mas que cuantas provincias tiene el suelo, es por ella
Su gusto en
parte en tal semilla funda.
Despues desta mudanza que hizo
O
el cielo,
Venus, 6 quien fuese, que no importa
Guardar puntualidad como yo
suelo,
No
veo calabaza, 6 luenga 6 corta, Que no imagine que es algun pocta
Que
alii
se estrecha, encubre, encoge, acorta.
Pues que cuando veo un cuero (j oh mal vana fantasia, asi engaiiada,
Y
Que
a tanta liviandad estas sujeta
!)
discreta
Journey
The
Parnassus.
to
art-devoted goddess cried
Begged he would spare
165
Enough
:
!
the poets zaraband,
The jaunty ones, those of the starch and ruff, The gay, the tender, honied and the bland, Those who, because they cannot well agree, Split up at times, and combat band with band
The
!
winds of every quarter join with glee
To
grant the lovely plaintiff her request, And with a single breath calm down the sea
Which
bears the grunting herd upon
In shape of
its
;
breast,
pumpkins and of bladders
light.
On to the distant kingdoms of the west. Of this sweet seed, whose fortunes I recite, Spain, of a truth, hath such an ample store That she thereby is known and gives delight
For though
Than any
To
in
arms and
letters fertile
;
more
other province of the earth,
this in part she
owes her tuneful
lore.
Since that great transformation which had birth In Heaven, or Venus, or some source akin
—
A I
nice exactness here has little
worth
—
never see a pumpkin, stout or thin,
But
I imagine some poetic wight Lies curled up, cabined, cribbed, confined within;
Then when
O
I
see a bladder, to
fancy, dost thou soar,
what height,
how
dost thou flout,
Becoming, sooth to say, a wanton light
!
i66
Viaje del Parnaso.
Pienso que
Y
el
piezgo dc la boca atada transformado
Es
la faz del poeta,
En
aquella figura mal hinchada.
cuando encuentro algun poeta honrado, Digo, poeta firme y valedero,
Hombre vestido bien y bien calzado, Luego se me figura ver un cuero,
O
alguna calabaza, y desta suerte Entre contraries pensamientos mucro
Y
no se
En
Y
;
lo yerre, 6 si lo acierte,
si
que a
las
calabazas y a los cueros,
a los poetas trate de
una
suerte.
Cernicalos que son lagartijeros No esperen de gozar las precminencias
Que gozan Piiestas en
De En
gavilanes no pecheros.
paz ya
Delio,
y
los
las diferencias
poetas transformados
tan vanas y huecas apariencias,
Los mares y
los vientos sosegados,
Sumcrgiose Neptuno mal contento En sus palacios de cristal labrados.
Las mansisimas aves por
el
viento
Volaron, y a la bella Cipriana Pusieron en su reino a salvamento.
Y
en
sefial
Lo que Del
que del triunfo quedo ufana, alii nadie acabo con ella,
hasta
luto se quito la saboyana,
Journey
For I
Parnassus.
to
167
puckered all about, loom out some poet's face,
in its mouthlet,
seem
to see
Transformed
And when
I
into that figure ill-blown out
A so-called honoured, solid one, say I, A rhymester trimly clad, and shod with It
seems to
Or
else a
'Mid
me
a bladder
I
pumpkin, and
The
grace,
espy, I
feel inclined
these conflicting thoughts, to faint
Say am I too acute, or am I blind. These pumpkins, bladders, poets
As
!
meet some poet of the place,
and
die
!
to array
natural products of the self-same kind
?
low-bred kites, that on the lizards prey,
Must With
not expect to share the lofty prize the free falcons, soaring as they
Apollo's griefs
The weakly Changed
now
may
!
settled in this wise.
from watery graves, and hollow mockeries.
poets, saved
into vain
The
winds now hushed, and peaceful all the waves, Neptune plunged down, with discontented mind,
And sought a refuge in his crystal caves. The soft sweet doves took wing before the wind, And o'er the silvery sea did Venus glide. And reached her kingdom, leaving care behind. And as a proof her triumph gave her pride,
—
What
—
up till now She straightway put her mourning gown aside she had declined to do
;
1
68
Viaje del Parnaso.
Qucdando en
cueros tan briosa
y
bella,
Que se supo despues que Marte anduvo Todo aquel dia y otros dos tras ella. Todo el cual tiempo el escuadron estuvo Mirando atento
Que
Y
la canalla
la fatal ruina,
transformada tuvo.
viendo despejada la marina, Apolo, del socorro mal vcnido,
De dar fin al gran caso determina. Pero en aquel instante un gran ruido Se oyo, con que la turba se alboroza,
Y pone vista alerta y presto Y
era quien
le
Rica, sobre
El grave
oido.
formaba una carroza la cual venia
sentado
DON LORENZO DE MENDOZA,
De su felice ingenio acompanado, De su mucho valor y cortesia, Joyas inestimablcs, adornado.
Pedro Juan de Rejaule En
le
seguia
otro coche, insigne valenciano
Y
grande defensor de la poesia. Sentado viene a su derecha mano
Juan de De
SOLIS, mancebo gcneroso,
raro ingenio, en verdcs afios cano.
Y Juan de Les hace
Carvajal,
tercio,
y no por
dotor famoso, ser
pesado
Dejan de hacer su curso presuroso.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
169
And
shone in Nature's garb so bright of hue, That Mars, as afterwards it came to light,
Pursued her all that day, and other two. All of which time the squadron stood in sight,
Gazing upon
the fatal wreckage there,
Which left that vulgar mob transmuted quite And when Apollo saw the sea was bare Of these unwelcome allies, far and near,
He made But hark
!
resolve to end the grand affair.
a rumbling sound strikes on the ear.
Whereat
And keep It
;
the crowd
is
moved
their cars erect,
like troubled
and vision
was a splendid chariot that gave Such clattering noise, wherein there
Lorenzo DE MendOZA,
clear
wave, !
sat in state
wise and grave
;
happy wit and great. Adorned with worth and courtesy refined.
Attended by
Most
his
precious jewels, and of sterling weight.
Within another coach
there rode behind
Juan DE RejauLE,
that Valcncian brig
A
poet he, and bulwark of his kind ; Juan DE SOLIS was seated at his right,
A
generous youth with rare wit at his
And
in his tender years a shining light
That famous Doctor,
call, ;
JUAN DE Carvajal,
Made up the third; though ponderous his weight They lessened not their eager speed at all ;
Viaje del Parnaso.
lyo
divino ingenio al levantado
el
Porque
Valor de aquestos
tres
que
No
hay impedirle monte Pasan volando la empinada
el
coche encierra,
ni collado. sierra,
Las nubes tocan, llcgan casi al cielo, Y alegres pisan la famosa tierra.
Con
mismo honroso y grave
cste
celo,
Bartolome de Mola y Gabriel Laso Llegaron a tocar del monte el suclo. las altas cimas de Parnaso
Honra
Don
Y A
Diego, que
de
Silva
tiene el
nombre,
por ellas alegre tiende el paso.
cuyo ingenio y sin igual renombre
Toda
Y
le
ciencia se inclina
levanta a scr
y le obedece, mas que de hombre.
Dilatanse las sombras, y descrece El dia, y de la noche el negro manto
Guarnecido de
Y
estrellas aparece.
escuadron que habia esperado tanto En pie, se rinde al sueno perezoso el
De hambre y Apolo
sed,
y de mortal quebranto.
entonces poco luminoso,
Dando
hasta los antipodas un brinco,
Siguio su accidental curso forzoso.
Pcro primero licencio a los cinco Poetas titulados a su ruego, Que lo pidieron con extraiio ahinco,
Journey
For neither
to
Parnassus.
hillock small nor
brave three
who
i
spoil
in the carriage sate;
They pass the topmost ridge with winged toil, They cleave the clouds, they almost touch the And press with joyful feet the famous soil. With like distinguished zeal, and earnest eye,
BaRTOLOME DE MoLA
sky,
climbs the height.
Gabriel Laso with his Then DON DiEGO, he DE SiLVA While
7
mountain great
Could check the wit divine or valour
Of those
1
friend doth vie. hight,
Upon Parnassus' summit lighteth down, And pays it honour with supreme delight
;
Before whose wit and unsurpassed renown
Each
and gives him homage fine. brow with more than mortal crown.
science bends,
And decks The shadows
his
lengthen as the hours decline.
And, peeping through
the sable cloak of night.
The twinkling stars with heightened lustre shine The squadron, that had been on foot since light, Sunk on
the ground to sleep, as best they knew,
Hungry and
thirsty
and exhausted quite.
Apollo then, whose light
To To But
to nothing grew. realms Antipodean gave a bound. follow there his fated course anew ;
ere he parted he took leave profound
Of the five titled poets who were there, And begged dismissal on most urgent ground
;
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
172 Por parccerles
risa,
burla
Empresas semcjantcs
;
y jucgo y
asi
Apolo
Condesccndio con sus deseos luego j Que es el galan de Dafne unico y solo
En
usar cortesia sobre cuantos
Dcscubre el nuestro y el contrario polo. Del lobrego lugar de los espantos Saco su hisopo el languido Morfeo,
Con que ha
Y
rendido y embocado a tantos.
del licor que dicen que es Leteo,
Que mana de
la fuente del
Olvido,
Los parpados bano a todos arrco. El mas hambriento se quedo dormido
Dos
cosas repugnantcs,
:
hambre y sueno,
Privilegio a poetas concedido.
Yo
quede en fin dormido como un Llena la fantasia de mil cosas,
Que
lefio,
de contallas mi palabra empeno,
Por mas que sean en
si
dificultosas.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
For only smiles, and jests, and laughter
Did such emprises kindle
And
rare
in their soul.
so Apollo stooped to grant their prayer
For Daphne's gallant In
173
all the points
is
;
unique and sole
of courtesy refined,
And
reigns supreme therein from pole to pole. from the murky cave of horrors blind Forth
Came
languid Morpheus, sprinkler in his hand. the senses of mankind ;
Wherewith he drugs
And with Which
the liquor of Lethean land.
from the fountain of Oblivion flows.
He
bathed the eyelids of the wearied band. The very hungriest sank to sound repose Hunger and sleep, two things repugnant quite, :
A At
privilege the poet only knows.
length
I
slept,
and
like a log, that night.
And of a thousand curious Which here I pledge mine However
things did dream.
honour to
recite,
strange or difficult they seem.
CAPITULO VI Dc una
dc
tres
causas los ensucnos
Se causan, 6 los suenos, que estc nombrc Les dan los que del bien hablar son duenos. Primera, de las cosas de que
Trata mas de ordinario
el
hombre
la scgunda se nombre medicina Quiere que Del humor que en nosotros mas abunda :
la
Toca en revelaciones la terccra, Que en nucstro bien mas que las el
mezclar
Suena
el
dos redunda.
sueno la tercera
Dormi, y sonc, y Causa le dio principio
A
:
suflciente
ahito y la dcntera.
enfcrmo, d quien la fiebre ardiente Abrasa las entranas, que en la boca el
Ticne de
Y
las
el labio al
que ha visto alguna fuente.
fugitivo cristal toca,
Y el dormido consuelo Crece
el
deseo,
y no
imaginado
la sed apoca.
CHAPTER From one
VI.
of causes three do night-marcs spring, I should say, for such a name withal
Dreams,
To The
ears polite
first
may have
a finer ring.
concerncth matters that recal
Our
daily
The
second physic wills that
life,
After the fullest
our customary vein
we
;
should call
humour we contain
;
The third with revelations hath to do, Which touch our welfare more than t'other I
and dreamed
and from the
twain.
third cause
grew which had ground enough, I trow, In indigestion and tooth-rasping too. The sick man dreameth, he whose fevered brow slept
;
My dreaming,
Withers with
Some
And
fire,
that near his
mouth
there flows
bubbling stream he knows and covets its fleeting stream he goes.
now
while to sip
His
restless
His
thirst
dreamy
strivings are in vain.
he slakes not, and his longing grows.
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
176
Peka
el
valentisimo soldado
Dormido, casi al modo que despierto Se mostro en el combate fiero armado.
Acude
el ticrno
amante a su
concicrto,
Y
en la imaginacion dormido llega Sin padccer borrasca a duke pucrto.
El corazon
En
la
Que
el
avariento entrega
mitad del sueno a su tesoro,
el
alma en todo tiempo no
Yo, que siempre guardc
le niega.
comun decoro
el
En las cosas dormidas y despiertas, Pues no soy troglodita ni soy moro ; De par en par del alma abri las puertas,
Y
deje entrar al sueno por los ojos
Con premisas de gloria y gusto ciertas. Goce durmiendo cuatro mil despojos,
Que los conte sin que faltase alguno, De gustos que acudieron a manojos. El tiempo,
la ocasion, el
Lugar corrcspondian Juntos y por
si
oportuno
al efeto,
solo cada uno.
Dos horas dormi, y mas a Sin que imaginaciones
El celcbro tuviesen
La
lo discreto,
ni
pavores
inquicto.
suelta fantasia entre mil flores
Me
puso de un pradillo, que exhalaba
De Pancaya y Sabea
los olorcs.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
177
The slumbering soldier fights his fights again, And in his dreaming, as in waking, freaks,
He The
wields his trenchant blade, with might and tender lover gains what he bespeaks, [main ;
For as he
sleeps he nears the wished-for goal.
And without shipwreck makes the port The dreaming miser, in his restless roll.
I,
he seeks
Wraps up his breast within his golden store, Where for all time he hath consigned his soul. who am ever decent at the core. Alike in dreaming as Since
I
am
Did of
in
waking
states,
neither Troglodyte nor
Moor,
soul throw open wide the gates,
my And through the eye-lids slumber entered in, With glorious promise, spite of all the fates.
Asleep, four thousand triumphs did
Which
I
could
tell,
I
win,
without in any case
Missing one single joy that lurked therein Time, opportunity, and fitting place.
Each by
itself
Produced
and
effects
all
;
of them in one.
oi corresponding grace.
Two hours I slept, more soberly did none. No elfish vapours, nor fantastic powers Did through
My loosened
my
Fancy strayed mid thousand
Which decked
Of far
quiet brain unbridled run
a
meadow
fragrant with the scent
Panchaian or Sabaean bowers
N
;
flowers,
;
;
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
78
El agradable
Tras
SI
sitio se
la vista,
Mucho mas que Palpable
vi,
llevaba
que durmiendo, viva, despierta se mostraba.
mas no
se si lo escriba,
a las cosas que tienen de imposiblcs
Que
Siempre mi pluma se ha mostrado esqulva. tienen vislumbre de poslbles,
Las que
De
dukes, de sUaves y de ciertas Explican mis borrones apacibles.
Nunca
a disparidad abre las puertas
Mi
corto ingenio,
De
par en par la consonancia abiertas.
y
hallalas contino
iComo puede agradar un
desatino
Si no es que de proposito se hace,
Mostrandole
Que
el
donaire su camino
?
cntonces la mentira satisface
Cuando verdad
parece,
Con
al discrete
gracia que
y
esta escrita
y simple
Dicro, volviendo al cuento, que infinita
Gente
vi discurrir por aquel llano,
Con algazara placentera y grita Con habito dccente y cortesano
:
Algunos, a quien dio la hipocresia Vestido pobre, pero limpio y sano. Otros de la color que tiene el dia
Cuando Entre
la luz
primera se aparece de la aurora fria.
las trenzas
aplace.
Journey
My
straining vision
to
Parnassus.
179
roamed with great content
Athwart that beauteous
spot, for dreaming sight than more Hath, waking, range and wide extent. What I distinctly saw I fear to write,
For things impossible
My
to mortal
ken
prudish quill hath scruples to indite hath a gleam of possible to men,
What The
;
sweet, the smooth, the certain and the sound,
These
are
fit
topics for
my
blundering pen.
gates unbound welcomes but these incongruous, things Which keep within the range of reason's bound.
My
narrow wit hath ne'er
its
To
How
can Extravaganza hope to please. Unless it hath some aim and purpose meet.
Where humour W^hen
To
likest
charm
Returning
to
leads the
way and
sprightly ease?
conned with zest complete truth, and writ with fitting grace
For Fiction then
is
at once the simple
my
tale
:
A
and
discreet
!
countless race
saw go up and down that meadow green. With jocund clamour and with lightsome pace I
Some
To Of
clad in
homely
dress, of
modish mien,
which hypocrisy lent cunning show poverty, but neat withal and clean ;
Others in colours which the day doih know. When on the fresh Aurora's locks of gold
The
earliest streak
of light begins to glow.
;
1
80
Viaje del Parnaso.
La variada primavera ofrccc De sus varias colores la abundancia, Con que a la vista cl gusto alcgre crece. La prodigalidad, la exorbitancia Campean juntas por cl verde prado Con galas que descubren su ignorancia.
En un (Do
trono del suelo levantado cl arte
a la materia sc adelanta,
Puesto que de oro y dc marfil labrado)
Una
doncclla vi, desde la planta
Del
Que
pie hasta la cabeza asi adornada, el
verla admira,
Estaba en
el
y
encanta.
el oirla
con majestad sentada, en la estatura,
al parecer
Giganta Pcro aunque grande, bien proporcionada, Parecia mayor su hermosura
Mirada desde
lejos,
y no tanto
Si de cerca se vc su compustura
:
Lleno de admiracion, colmo de espanto, Puse en clla los ojos, y vi en clla
Lo que en mis
Yo
versos desmayados canto.
no sabre afirmar
si
era doncclla,
Aunque he dicho que si, que en estos La vista mas aguda se atropella. Son por
la
mayor parte siempre
escasos
De razon los juicios maliciosos En juzgar rotos los enteros vasos.
casos
Journey
to
Parnassus.
8
1
i
The teeming Spring presents a wealth untold Of varied hues, and with such beauty graced The mind is charmed with what the eyes behold; There prodigality and wanton waste, Holding athwart the plain high revelry. Make up in splendour what they lack in
taste.
Upon a throne exalted very high, (Where Art ruled matter with a power confcst, Wrought though it was in gold and ivory,)
A
maid
And The She
I
'saw, in such adornments dressed,
eke
in
every part so wondrous bright,
eye was ravished and the
ear
was
blest.
sat thereon with majesty bedight,
seemed, a giantess. proportions though of towering height greater lustre shone her loveliness
In stature, as
it
Of fine With
When Its
seen from far, for as
we
nearer
;
draw
to fascinate
power grows strangely less. Entranced with wonder, and o'erwhelmed with awe, I fixed my gaze on her, and straight away If
What now m}^ trembling tongue would maid or no, I am not free to say.
sing
Though I've afllrmed it, for in such like The keenest sight may haply go astray
I
saw
case
;
For almost ever those of spiteful
Who
race,
brand the vessels cracked that are
Are scant of reason and devoid of grace.
entire,
:
1
82
Viaje del Farnaso.
Altaneros sus ojos y amorosos Se mostraban con cierta mansedumbre,
Que Ora
los
hacia en todo extreme hermosos.
fuese artificio, ora costumbre,
Los rayos de su luz tal vez crecian, tal vez daban encogida lumbre.
Y Dos
ninfas a sus lados asistian,
De
tan gentil donaire y apariencia,
Que miradas, las almas De la del alto trono en la
suspcndian. presencia
Desplegaban sus labios en razones, Ricas en suavidad, pobres en ciencia.
Levantaban
al cielo sus blasones,
Que estaban por ser pocos 6 ningunos, Escritos del olvido en los borrones. Al duke murmurar, al oportuno Razonar de las dos, la del asicnto, en belleza jamas le igualo alguno, Luego se puso en pie, y en un memento Me parecio que dio con la cabesa
Que
Mas
Y
de las nubes, y no miento no perdio por esto su belleza, alia
Antes micntras mas grande,
se
mostraba
Igual su perfcccion a su grandeza
Los brazos de
Que
tal
modo
:
:
dilataba.
de do nace adonde muere
el
Los opuestos extremes alcanzaba.
dia
Journey
to
Parnassus.
183
Bright as a hawk's, and full of amorous fire, Her eyes had yet such winning softness too,
As made them Whether
beautiful
beyond
desire
;
to artifice or habit due,
Their radiant
flash at times
Then change
to lustre
would grow intense, of a mellower hue.
Beside her stood two nymphs of eminence. Of such a lively air and sprightly mien,
As bound all To her who on
They oped Rich
hearts in
wonder and suspense was seen
;
the lofty throne
their lips, and forth their
words did press
wisdom mean Her titles grand they laboured to express, That stood for little or for naught, I trow, in their sweetness, yet in
;
In the blurred annals of forgetfulncss ; And as the twain did whisper soft and low
Their honied words, she, of the throne on high. In beauty unsurpassed before or now.
Rose It
to her feet
seemed as
To
;
in
if her
twinkling of an eye.
head would soar upright in faith I do not lie ; ;
pierce the clouds
Yet not one
tittle
of her charms so brio-ht
She
lost thereby, for,
She
rose in beauty as she rose in height.
without
stint or stay,
Her arms were lengthened out in such As if they would embrace all things
a
way.
that
Betwixt the springing and the dying day
lie ;
I
8
Viaje del Parnaso.
4
La cnfermedad llamada Asi
le
hincha
hidropesia
el vientre,
que parece
Que todo el mar caber en el podia. Al modo destas partes asi crece Toda su compostura y no por esto, ;
Cual
Yo
dije, su
hermosura
desfallece.
atonito esperaba ver el resto
De
tan grande prodigio, y diera un dcdo
Por saber la verdad segura, y presto. Uno, y no sabre quien, bien claro y quedo Al oido me hablo, y me dijo Espera, :
Que
—
3-0 decirte lo que quieres puedo.
Esta que ves, que crece de manera, Que apcnas tiene ya lugar do qucpa,
Y
aspira en la grandeza a ser primera
;
Esta que por las nubes sube y trepa Hasta llegar al cerco de la luna (Puesto que
Es
la
el
modo de
subir no sepa),
que confiada en su fortuna
Picnsa tener de la inconstante rueda
El cje quedo y sin mudanza alguna. Esta que no halla mal que le succda, Ni le teme atrevida y arrogante, Prodiga siempre, venturosa y leda,
Es
la
que con disinio extravagante
Dio en crecer poco a poco hasta ponerse, Cual ves, en estatura de gigante.
to
Journey
The
Parnassus.
so-called dropsy, that grave
So bulged her stomach
i
malady,
out, that all the sea
Might flow therein so did it strike mine Each part of all her frame in like degree
eye.
;
Seemed
to increase in bulk,
Her beauty,
To
85
though verily
as I've said, ne'er ceased to be.
wait the upshot of such prodigy
stood enwrapt, and would have given my thumb To know the certain truth, and speedily One, whom I know not, to my side did come I
:
And said in clear and quiet whisper Of all that thou would'st know this She, whom thou secst increase in such That
And
Is
"Sta}',
a
the
scale the clouds
to gain
Although her mode of
flight
we do
circle
—
not
know
one who, of her better fortune vain,
axle
— [fast
seek to check the inconstant wheel, and fix,
thus ever to remain.
who hath never felt misfortune's blast. Nor fears it now, so daring proud is she.
She,
Prodigal ever, lustful to the last, one who, with ambition past degree,
Hath
;
and upward go
moon
very
Would
Is
!
way.
would play
fain the highest part of all
of the
Its
sum
scarcely hath she further scope to grow.
She, who doth
The
:
is
set herself to
Until she
is
grow and ever grow,
the giantess
we
see
;
1
86
Viaje del Parnaso.
No dcja
de crecer por no atrevcrse emprcnder las hazanas mas notables,
A
Adonde puedan
sus extremes verse.
has oido decir los memorables
^No
Arcos, anfiteatros, templos, banos,
Termas,
porticos,
muros admirablcs,
a pesar
Que y despecho de los anos, Aun duran sus reliquias y entereza, Haciendo
Yo
respond!
al :
tiempo y a
muerte engaiios
la
— Por mi ninguna pieza
Desas que has dicho, dejo de tenella Clavada y remachada en la cabeza. el
Tengo
sepulcro de la viuda bclla,
Y coloso de Rodas junto, Y la lanterna que sirvio de estrella. el
alli
Pcro vengamos de quicn es al punto Harase luego, Esta, que lo deseo.
—
Me
Y
—
respondio la voz en bajo punto.
prosiguio, diciendo:
— A no estar ciego
Hubieras visto ya quicn es
Pcro en
la
dama
;
fin, tiencs el ingenio lego.
Esta que hasta
los cielos se
encarama,
Preiiada, sin saber como, del viento,
Es
hija del
Deseo y de
la
Fama.
Esta fue la ocasion y el instrumento En todo y parte de que el mundo viese
No
siete maravillas, sinociento.
?
And,
Parnassus.
to
Journey
growth she
to increase her
187
not slow
is
To bring her great achievements to the light, Whence her extreme of darin^^ men may know
!
famed works of might, The arches, amphitheatres, and fanes, Baths, porticoes, and walls of towering height,
Hast never heard
Which
o\ those
stand entire, or show their vast remains,
In spite of gathering years, and seem to hold
Those "
No
I
Well
Time and Death, in chains?" "of what thou now hast told,
destroyers,
scrap," quoth
But
I
fell
do hold
it
I,
in
my memory
right.
nailed and rivetted from days of old!
have the lovely widow's tomb in sight, With Rhodes' Colossus in the self-same row,
And
eke
its
But come we
Who may
lanthorn with the starry light
to the point
acrid voice
"I'll tell thee presently;
Thou
wouldst ere
!
know long of an easy mind to
:
"Be
she be?"
Responded he with
I
" !
and low,
but, wert not blind.
now have
recognized the dame.
But, sooth, thy layman's wit doth lag behind She, who to heaven soareth like a flame,
!
Pregnant, she knows not how, yet by the wind. Is the true daughter of Desire and Fame ;
To
whole or part, must be assigned The cause why in this world we can, and may. Not seven wonders but a hundred find. her, in
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
88
Corto numero es ciento
aunque dijese Cien mil y mas millones, no imagines :
en la cuenta del numero excediese.
Que
Esta condujo a memorables
fines
Edificios que asientan en la tierra,
Y Esta
tocan de las nubcs los confines.
vcz ha levantado gucrra,
tal
Donde
Que
la paz siiave reposaba, en limites estrcchos no se cncierra.
Cuando Mucio en El
las llamas
atrevido fuertc brazo
Esta
el
y
abrasaba fiero,
incendio horrible resfriaba.
Esta arrojo al romano caballcro En el abismo dc la ardiente cueva,
De Esta
limpio armado, y de luciente acero. vez con maravilla nueva
tal
(De su ambiciosa condicion Uevada) Mil imposibles atrevida prueba. Desde
la ardiente Libia hasta la
Citia lleva la
fama
En grandiosas En fin, ella es la Que Que
helada
su memoria,
obras dilatada. altiva Vanagloria,
en aquellas hazafias sc entremete. llevan de los siglos la vitoria.
si misma se promete Triunfos y gustos, sin tener asida la calva Ocasion por el copete.
Ella misma a
A
Journey Short number
A
to
Parnassus.
a hundred
189
should
I say not fear hundred thousand millions, do
That
is
in the reckoning
go
far astray.
finished, while the world did cheer.
She planned and Structures that
And
I
;
sit
enthroned on the ground,
to the clouds their soaring
summits rear
;
Full often hath she levied war around,
Where
gentle peace lay couched with soft desire,
Because her
When
limits
Bold Mucius
'Twas
let
consume
she that tempered
She gave the impulse
To
had too small a bound
to the
his
arm of might,
down
the dreadful
Roman
fire
;
knight
leap into the yawning gulf of flame,
Beclad with flashing Full often, borne
To
;
'mid the flames, and ready to expire.
steel
away by
and armour bright
lust
!
of fame.
tempt the impossible she daring goes.
And on some
novel wonder stamps her
name
;
From burning Lybia to the Scythian snows. Her course is tracked by works immense and hoary, W^hich
Fame
In fine, she
Who And
is
hath decked with
titles
grandiose
;
the arrogant Vainglory,
by her grand achievements stuns mankind, binds the ages to rehearse her story
!
Herself unto herself gives promise kind Of triumphs and of joys ; and in her stress
She leaves bald Opportunity behind.
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
90
Su natural
Es
aire,
sustento, su bebida,
y
en un instante
asi crece
Tanto, que no hay medida a su medida. Aquellas dos del placido semblante
Que Que Su
tiene a sus dos lados, son aquellas
sirven a la
maquina de Atlantc.
delicada voz, sus luces bellas,
Su humildad aparente, y Razones, que el amor se
las lozanas cifra
en ellas,
Las hacen mas divinas que no humanas,
Y
son (con paz escucha y con paciencia)
La
Adulacion y
la
Mentira hermanas.
Estas estan contino en su presencia, Palabras ministrandole al o:do,
Que
Y
tienen de prudentes aparcncia.
ella cual ciega del
mejor sentido, vc que entre las flores de aquel gusto,
No
El aspid ponzofioso esta escondido.
Y
asi
arrojada con deseo injusto.
En
cristalino vaso prueba y bebe El veneno mortal, sin ningun susto. Quien mas presume de advertido, pruebe
A
dcjarse adular, vera cuan presto
Pasa su
gloria
como
el
viento leve.
—
Esto escuchc, y en escuchando aquesto, Dio un estampido tal la Gloria vana,
Que
dio a mi sueno fin
duke y
molesto.
to
Journey
Her
natural food
So
in a
That These Are
is air,
moment
in her
Parnassus.
191
her drink no less
to such height she
measure she
is
;
grows
measureless
!
at her side, with semblance of repose,
the attendants twain she most doth prize.
Who
bear her Atlas-like where'er she goes
;
The thrilling voice, the brilliant beauteous eyes, The seeming humbleness, the dulcet play Of wanton words where passion hidden lies,
A
god-like more than
In sooth they are
human
source betray
;
— with peace and patience hear —
Falsehood and Flattery, twin
sisters they.
Thcj' haunt her presence, and are ever near With sweetly murmured words of high pretence,
That have
And
a ring of
wisdom
to the ear
;
she, quite blind as to the finer sense,
Sees not the venomous asp that lurking lies Beneath the seeming flowers of innocence;
Stung with unhallowed craving,
To
taste the deadly poison in
forth she hies its
Of crj^stal
glass
pure, while flash her eager eyes sooth to Yet, say, the wariest of his class,
Who His
As
drinks in flattery, finds, before he knows,
glories vanish as the light
rapt
And
;
I
listened, lo
!
winds pass! "
Vainglory rose. wondrous loud.
burst with an explosion
That brought my sweet dream
to a bitter close.
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
92
Y
en esto dcscubriose la manana,
Vertiendo perlas y csparciendo florcs, Lozana en vista, y en virtud lozana.
Los dukes pequenuelos ruisenores
Con
cantos no aprendidos
Enamorados Los
decian,
della, mil amores.
silgueros el canto repetian,
Y las La Unos
diestras calandrias
entonaban
musica que todos componian. del escuadron priesa se daban,
Porque no
En
Y
le
los hallase el dios del dia
los forzosos actos en
que estaban.
luego se
asomo su
Con una
cara de tudesco roja,
Por
los
senoria,
balcones de la aurora
fria.
En parte gorda, en parte flaca y floja, Como quicn teme el esperado trance, Donde
En
propio toledano y bucn romance
Les dio
Y Y
verse vencido se le antoja.
los
buenos dias cortcsmcnte,
luego se apresto al forzoso lance.
encima de un penasco puesto enfrente
Del escuadron, con voz sonora y grave Esta oracion les hizo repente :
—
J
Oh
La De
espiritus felices,
donde cabe
gala del decir, la sutileza la ciencia
mas docta que
se sabe
;
Journey
On
to
this the mornino; rose
Parnassus.
193
without a cloud,
Arrayed with liquid pearls and scattering flowers, Proud in her looks and of her virtue proud ;
The tiny nightingales within their bowers, With self-taught song, to echo forth her
praise,
Trilled forth their amorous notes in silvery showers;
Caught up the sound
The And
the linnets on their sprays.
lightsome larks responded from the air, all in
concert sung their morning lays
!
Some of the squadron started from their lair, That the bright god of day they might not meet In the constrained plight in which they were.
Now
at the casements of
With
face of
Teuton
Aurora sweet. I
ruddiness,
His lordship shewed himself
ween,
in
garb complete one side stout, on t'other limp and lean, As one who waits the contest with dismay,
;
On
Wherein
With
as vanquished he
may
soon be seen.
courteous air he wished them
all,
good-day
In proper Spanish, and Toledan true.
And quick prepared him for the coming fray Then from a hillock, with his host in view. And with a voice that rang from side to side.
He made *'
O
them
this oration
impromptii
:
wherein reside spirits fortunate,
The gift of splendid speech, the subtle flow Of untold wisdom gathered far and wide, O
;
!
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
94
Donde
en su propia natural belleza
Asiste la hermosa pocsia
Entera de
cabeza
los pics a la
!
No
consintais por vida vuestra y mia (Mirad con que llaneza Apolo os habla),
Que triunfe esta canalla que porfia. Esta canalla, digo, qi'e se endiabla, Que por darks calor su muchedumbre,
Ya
su ruina, 6 ya la nucstra entabla.
Vosotros de mis ojos gloria y lumbrc, Paroles do mi luz de asiento mora,
Ya I
por naturaleza, 6 por costumbre,
Habeis de consentir que esta embaidora, Hipocrita gentella se me atreva, De tantas necedades inventora ?
Haced famosa y memorable prueba
De
vuestro gran valor en este hecho,
Que
a su castigo
Dc justa
y vuestra gloria os indlgnacion armad el pccho,
Acometed Ociosa,
No
intrcpidos la turba,
vagamunda y
se OS de nada,
(Moncda
lleva.
no
sin provecho.
se os de
berberisca, vil
una burba
y baja)
De
aquesta gente, que la paz nos turba. El son de mas de una templada caja,
Y
cl del pifaro triste
Que
y
la
trompeta,
la colera sube, y fiema abaja,
Journey
To
which
fair
195
poesy, with kindly glow,
Doth lend her native
loveliness divine,
her parts from top to toe
Perfect in all
Do
F amass us.
to
not permit, upon your
!
and mine —
life
•
—
(Mark how Apollo's speech is void of flowers) That that vile crew should sully this fair shrine That
crew,
And
I
with
Prepares
say, its
which girds
its
countless hordes, inflamed with
its ruin,
or
it
may
;
fiendish powers,
be ours
lies,
!
Ye, the fond pride and lustre of mine z^z%. The lanthorns where my light is wont to glow,
Whether by nature, or through exercise Can ye consent that this brute herd and low, !
This knavish, Should beard
Give
to
That
stupid, stufF-inventing race,
me
here,
and
in
my
presence crow?
your powerful arms such ample space, after
ages
Your gathered
may
glor}',
proclaim aloud
and
their fell disgrace
;
With righteous wrath your stalwart breasts enshroud, And charge with fury, that will never cease. That lazy, vagabond, and useless crowd Not worth a rush, not worth a burba piece, !
Of Berber
coins the verv dross
— and scum —
Should ye esteem these folk who
spoil our peace
!
The sound of more than one bemuffled drum. The fife's shrill shrieking, and the trumpet's blare, That
rouse up cholcr, and
make
terror
dumb,
Viaje del Parnaso.
196 Asi OS
incite
Que
En
con vcrtud secreta,
despierte los animos dormidos
que tanto nos aprieta. retumba, ya llega a mis oidos Del escuadron contrario el rumor grande, la facion
Ya
Formado de
Ya
confusos alaridos.
que os lo ruegue 6 mande, cada cual como guerrero experto,
es menester, sin
Que
Sin que por su capricho se desmande,
La
orden guarde y militar concierto, acuda a su dcber como valiente
Y
Hasta quedar, 6 vencedor, 6 muerto.
En
esto por la parte de poniente
Parecio
De
el
escuadron casi infinito
la barbara, ciega
Alzan
los nucstros al
y pobre gente.
momento un
grito
Alcgre, y no medroso ; y gritan arma Arma resuena todo aquel distrito ;
Y
aunque mucran, correr quieren
al
:
arma.
Journey Let these
As
Of I
stir
up your
to
Parnassus.
ig-j
secret virtues rare,
they arouse the courage, drown the fears that vexatious swarm who wait us there
!
hear the sound,
The mighty The hubbub
it
upon mine
strikes
ears.
clamour of the marching foe, wild of martial shouts and cheers
'Tis needful now, and that
full
That each one, with a seasoned warrior's Without allowing vain caprice to show. Should order keep, and stand
And
like a valiant
his
c3-e.
comrades by,
man
his duty do. " conquer or at worst to die by the western side there rose to view
Resolved
Then
!
well ye know,
to
!
A
marching squadron great as could be found, Of barbarous rabble, blind and ragged too ;
Now
from our host there rose a mighty sound, fearless shout To arms they cry, To arms re-echoes all the country round. To arms To arms to do or else to die
A joyful,
:
!
!
!
!
!
CAPITULO Tu,
VII.
tiencs beligera musa, tu que
La
voz de bronce y de metal la lengua,
Cuando a cantar
del fiero
Marte vienes
:
por quien se aniquila siempre y mengua El gran genero humano tu, que puedes Sacar mi pluma de ignorancia y mengua
Tu,
:
:
Tu, mano
rota, y larga de mercedes, hacellas ; una aqui te pido, en Digo Que no Kara que mcnos rica quedes.
La
soberbia y maldad,
el
atrevido
Intento de una gentc mal mirada
Ya
sc descubre con mortal ruido.
Dame una voz al caso acomodada, Una sotil y bien cortada pluma,
No
de pasion Uevada, Para que pueda referir en suma
de aficion
ni
Con purisimo y nuevo sentimiento. Con verdad clara y entereza suma,
CHAPTER fhou, martial Muse,
The
time thou sing'st the feats of savage Mars!
at v/hose call a countless
Consumes M}'
hast, attuned to wars.
voice of sounding brass and clarion tongue.
What rhou,
who
VII.
foolish
human throng
[bless
Thou, who away and make it wise and pen strong
its
strength
canst
!
!
rhou open hand, with favours and largesse So fully fraught, O grant me one, I pray, It will
not
make thy wealthy
The perverse spirit, And bold designs
store the less
of an ill-favoured race.
With din infernal seek the light of day Give me a voice in keeping with the case,
A
!
insolent display.
!
well-cut pen with facile point and fleet,
Exempt from prejudice or passion base. That in one focus I may cause to meet With chastest sentiment of novel kind.
With
perfect frankness
and with grasp complete,
200
Viaje del Parnaso.
El contrapuesto y desigual intcnto De uno y otro cscuadron, que ardiendo en Sus banderas descoge al vago viento. El del bando catolico, que mira
Al
falso
y grande
al pic del
monte pucsto.
Que de subir al alta cumbre aspira Con paso largo y ademan compuesto, Todo el monte coronan, y se poncn
;
A
la furia,
que en loca ha echado
el resto.
Las ventajas tantean, y disponcn Los animos valientes al asalto.
En quien su gloria y su vcnganza De rabia lleno y de paciencia falto
ponen.
Apolo, su bellisimo estandarte
Manda
al
momento
levantar en alto.
Arbolole un marques, que
Su
el
propio Marte
briosa presencia representa
Naturalmcnte, sin industria y arte. Poeta celeberrimo y de cuenta, Por quien y en quien Apolo soberano
Su Era
gloria
y
la insinia
Tan al La voz
gusto,
un
y
cisne
su valor aumenta.
hermoso y cano,
vivo pintado, que dijeras.
dcspide alegre al aire vano Sigucn al estandarte sus banderas
De
;
gallardos alfcreces llevadas,
Honrosas por no estar todas enteras
;
ira,
201
'Journey to Parnassus.
The opposing projects, and conflicting mind Of these two squadrons who, with furious Display
their
banners to the
fitful
cry.
wind.
The catholic band regards with steady e3'e The spurious host that lines the mountain's With foul intent to scale its summit high
base.
;
In
compact order, and with rapid pace. They crown the hill, and to the rage insane
Of these They
insensates
show determined
seize each coign of vantage,
Cool courage
face
;
and maintain
for the onset arrogant,
Where glory and revenge they hope With rage o'erflowing, and of patience
to gain.
scant,
Apollo bids them, with a speedy hand,
His
standard on the summit plant is, and by a Marquis grand,
finest
Unfurled
it
;
Wliose lordly bearing Mars himself might own, Nature's
A
own
gift that art
poet he of mark, to In
whom
Apollo
can ne'er
command
;
fame well known.
sees,
with vigour rare.
Increase the strength and lustre of his throne
;
Thereon was limned a swan, so white and fair, So painted to the life, that one might say Its joyous cries woke up the listless air. Behind the standard came a grand array
Of flags, by For
all
gallant ensigns borne on high.
the rents they show,
more glorious they
!
202 Las
Viaje del Parnaso. cajas a lo bcHco tcmpladas
Al
mas tardo vuclven
militc
presto,
De
voces de metal acompanadas. JERONIMO DE llego en esto,
MORA
Pintor cxcelentisimo y poeta,
Y
Apcles y Virgilio en un supuesto. con la autoridad de una jineta
(Que de ser capitan le daba nombre) Al caso acude y a la turba aprieta.
Y
porq e mas se turbe y mas se asombre
El enemigo desigual y Llego
Y
con
ficro,
gran BlEDMA de inmortal renombre. Caspar de Avila, primero
el
el
Secuaz de Apolo, a cuyo verso y pluma Iciar puede envidiar, temer Sincero.
Llego
De
Juan de Meztanza,
cifra
tanta erudicion, donaire
gala,
Que no hay muerte Apolo
Y
edad que
la
y suma consuma.
arranco de Guatimala,
le
le trujo
De
ni
y
en su ayuda para ofensa
la canalla
en todo extremo mala.
Hacer milagros en
el
trance piensa
CepeDA, y acompanale Meji'A, Poetas dinos dc alabanza inmensa. Clarisimo esplendor de Andalucia,
Y de
la
Mancha
el sin
igual
GalindO
Llego con majestad y bizarria.
Journey
The
to
Parnassus.
203
tambours, mingling with the battle cry, to each lagging son.
Give speed and vigour
While
Up
doth
A A He
the shrill bugles' pealings rend the sky.
Jer6nimo de Mora
run,
painter exquisite, and poet sweet, Virgil and Apelles, rolled in one ;
comes with
armed complete,
his Jineta
Distinction that bespeaks the captain's
To Still
give his aid
more
to awe,
and
— name
—
force the foe's retreat.
and put
to very
shame
The pride of that fierce crowd, there hither sped The grand BlEDMA of undying fame. With Caspar de AviLA, a chief and head Of Phoebus' bodj'-guard, whose winged plume Iciar
might envy, and Sincerus dread,
Juan de MeztaNZA
came, the very bloom
And sum
of so much learning, wit, and grace. That Death can touch it not, nor Time consume;
Apollo gave him a distinguished place. And had him brought from Guatimala's land.
To do despite CepedA thinks
to that detested race.
to
make
In this encounter, and
True
Now
poets both,
came
Mejia
who
GalindO,
a wondrous stand too.
boundless praise command.
peerless to the view,
La Mancha's star, and Andalusia's light, Whose manly stride bespeaks his valour true.
Viaje del Parnaso.
204
De
la alta
Bajaron
A
cumbre del famoso Pindo trcs bizarros lusitanos,
quien mis alabanzas todas rindo.
Con prestos pics y con valientes manos Con Fernando Correa de la Cerda, Plso
Y
Rodriguez Lobo
porque Febo su razon no
Llego con
Con Dar
las
llanos.
pierda,
DON AntONIO DE Ataide
El grande
Las fuerzas
monte y
furia alborotada
y cuerda. y mide
del contrario ajusta
suyas Apolo, y determina
y la batalla pide. El ronco son de mas de una bocina, la batalla,
Instrumento de caza y de la guerra,
De Febo
a los oidos se avecina.
Tiembla debajo de
De
Que dan El
los pies la tierra
infinitos poetas
oprimida,
asalto a la sagrada sierra.
fiero general
Gente que
de la atrevida
trae
un cuervo en su estandarte,
Es ArbolAnches, muso por la vida. Puestos estaban en la baja parte, en la cima del monte frente a frente
Y
Los campos de quien tiembla el mismo Marte Cuando una, al parecer discreta gcnte, Del catolico bando el enemigo Se paso, como en numero de
veinte.
:
Journey
Came down
to
Parnassus.
from far-famed Pindus' lofty height
Three Lusitanians of consummate
Who With
well
ready
205
claim
may feet,
my
skill,
highest praise
and with determined
by
;
will,
CORREA DE LaCERDA lighted there, And with RODRIGUEZ LOBO trod the And
right
hill
;
that Apollo might have force to spare,
Antonio de Ataide joined
the band,
Inflamed with ardour, wise as
was
it
rare.
When
Phoebus had the opposing forces scanned, And weighed them with his own, he in his scorn Resolves to
fight,
and
battle doth
demand
;
The
hoarse rough sound of more than one shrill horn. An instrument of chase and war, I trow,
On
to Apollo's
deafened ears
is
borne
;
The frightened earth begins to tremble now. As countless poets tramp along the plain, And rush to scale the sacred Mountain's brow. The fierce commander of that daring train. Whose standard bears the semblance of a Crow, Is
ArbOLANCHES^ very
One
in
grain.
down below.
at the mountainttop, stand face to face.
While Mars grew
When
rogue
these armies twain, one
So did
faint to see the fearsome
show
a troop, that seemed not void of grace, In number tv/enty, left the Catholic band.
To
lo
!
swell the numbers of the spurious race.
;
2o6
Yo
Viaje del Parnaso.
con los ojos su carrera
Y
viendo
Con cQuc
si^ro,
el
paradero de su intento, voz turbada al sacro Apolo diVo
prodJgio cs aqueste
?
:
Que
?
portento por mcjor dccir, dquc mal agiiero,
O
Que
asi
me
corta
cl
Aquel transfuga que
No
brio
i
y
el aliento ?
partio primero,
solo por poeta le tenia,
Pero tambien por bravo churrullero.
Aquel
En
lijcro
que
tras cl corria,
mil corrillos en
Madrid
Tiernamente habla en
le
he visto
la poesia.
Aquel tercero que partio tan listo, Por satirico necio y por pesado Se que de todos fue siempre malquisto. puedo imaginar como ha llcvado Mercurio estos poetas en su lista.
No
— Yo
fui, rcspondio Apolo, el enganado de su ingenio la primera vista Indicios dcscubrio que scrian bucnos
;
Que
—
Para
facilitar esta conquista.
Seiior, replique yo, crei
Eran de
que ajenos
las deidades los encrafios,
Digo, engaiiarse en poco mas ni mcnos. prudcncia q_-e nace de los aiios,
La
Y Es
tiene por maestra la experiencia, la dcidad advierte destos daiios.
que
—
Journey
to
Parnassus.
207
With straining eyes I marked them on their And when I saw the end o'i their intent, to Apollo cried with accents hoarse
I **
What Or
prodigy
is
That
takes
my
:
what strange event
what omen big with
better said,
That
this,
who
first
?
bale.
me spent?
breath away, and leaves
base deserter there,
course,
turned
tail,
reckoned him a bard, nor that alone,
I
But a brave twaddler on
That
light-toed one,
who
the largest scale!
at his heels hath flown,
I've heard, in thousand circles of
Madrid,
Trill out his verses with the tendercst tone
The
third,
who
Hath by
left
with such
uncommon
Mercury
"I" quoth
"
!
a thing not easily conceived
Why At
speed,
the wise been ever ill-received.
Satiric fool, unbearable indeed It is
!
the
first
inscribed
Apollo,
them on
"was
his roll
" !
the one deceived;
blush they gave such proofs of soul.
That worthy
adjutants they seemed to
To
bring
emprise to the wished-for goal!"
My
lord,
And "
The Is
I
this I
thought that deities were free
safe from such deceptions,"
mean
me
I
replied,
deceptions in the least degree
!
prudence, born of years and knowledge wide, the divinity, within our ken.
That wards
offsuch misjudgments from our side !"
2o8
Viaje del Farnaso.
Apolo rcspondio
Que no
— For mi conciencia,
te entiendo,
For ver de
Tu, sardo
:
— algo turbado y
militar,
LOFRASO,
fuiste
Uno
de aquellos barbaros corrientes.
Que
del contrario el
Mas
triste
aquellos veinte la insolencia.
numero
no por esta mengua
Del escuadron
creciste.
los valientes
catolico temieron,
Poetas madrigados y excelentes.
Antes tanto coraje concibieron Contra los fugitives corrcdores, riza en ellos
Que J
y matanza
hicieron.
Oh falsos y malditos trovadores, Que pasais plaza de poetas sabios, Siendo la hez de
Entre
la lengua,
Anda
los
que son peores
paladar y
!
labios
contino vuestra potsia,
Haciendo a
la virtud cien mil agravios.
Foetas de atrevida hipocrcsia, Espcrad, que de vuestro acabamiento
Ya De
se
ha llegado
el
temeroso dia.
las confusas voces el concento
Confuso por
De Por
el aire
resonaba
espcsas nubes condensando
la falda del
el viento.
monte gateaba
Una
tropa poctica, aspirando
A
cumbre, que bien guardada estaba.
la
Journey
Apollo answered: "On I understand thee not
To
Parnassus.
to
my !
209
conscience then,
" and knit
see the daring of these
his
brow,
twenty men.
LOFRASO, soldier of Sardinia, thou Wert one of those barbarian runaways, That
swelled the numbers of the foe,
But such
desertion
had no power
trow
I
One spark of terror in the catholic band. Well-seasoned poets, worthy of all praise Nay,
!
to raise
;
such resentment did they show off-hand
Against these light-heeled gentr^^, void of grace. That hip and thigh they smote them from the land.
O
false, accursed,
That
troubadouring race.
would pass for poets wise and strong. Being the very scum of all that's base Between the palate, tongue, and lips, your song fain
!
Comes surging
forth in never-ending blast,
Affronting Virtue with unmeasured wrong
Ye
!
poets, in deception unsurpassed.
Beware,
That
for
seals
now
your
the awful threatened final
doom hath come
day at last
The
sounds confused, that wildering winged their Aloft to heaven, condensed in middle air.
!
way
And formed of murky clouds a thick array. The steep hill-side a troop of rhymesters rare Climbcdup
To
like cats, andcleared the
brokenground.
gain the summit, though well-guarded there
P
;
210
Viaje del Parnaso.
Hacian hincapic de cuando en cuando,
Y con hondas de Iban
No
estallo
y con
ballestas
libros enteros disparando.
del
plomo encendido las funestas Balas pudieran ser danosas tanto,
Ni
Un
al disparar
pudiera ser
A JUSEPE DE Vargas Causandole Grito,
De I
y
dijo a
satirica
Por que
Y cual
prcstas.
el
dio en las sienes,
grima y cspanto. un soneto Tu, que vienes
terror,
:
—
pluma disparado, infame curso no detienes
?
perro con piedras irritado,
Que
deja al que las
Cual Entre
mas
mucho mas duro que un canto
libro
si
los
tira,
y va
tras ellas,
fueran la causa del pecado,
dedos de sus manos bcllas
Hizo pedazos al soneto altiv'O, Que amenazaba al sol y a las estrcllas.
Y dijole Donde
Cilenio
:
— O rayo vivo
la justa indignacion se
muestra
En un grado y valor superlativo, La espada toma en la temida diestra,
Y
arrojate valiente
Por
En
esta parte,
que
esto del tamaiio de
Volando un
De
y temerario el
peligro adiestra.
un breviario
libro por el aire vino,
prosa y verso que arrojo el contrario.
Journey
From
to
Parnassus.
1
1 1
time to time they took a leap and bound, [might,
And from their slings and cross-bows, plied with Whole books came flying with a whizzing sound; Not balls of gleaming lead, that fearful sight, Have on their way such dire confusion sown, Norrcached their destined goal with speedier
A
much harder than
book,
JUSEPE DE VARGAS
Struck
on the brow,
And
He
caused him terror grim, and howled, and to a Sonnet cried
many
O
*'
:
a groan
Like pelted dog, that vents
;
thou,
Who hither com'st shot from satiric quill, Why dost not stay thy foul careering now the stones, not
flight.
the hardest stone,
" !
its fierce ill-will
him who threw the same,
Upon As if they were the authors of the ill. With fingers fine he seized it as it came, And into pieces tore that sonnet great, That menaced Mercurius cried
Whose
sun, and
" :
O
moon, and
starry frame.
living bolt of fate.
righteous indignation moves aright.
In lofty sweep,
Grasp now
and with tremendous weight
the falchion in
!
thy dreaded right,
And launch thee, with impetuous bravery. Where peril looms in thickest of the fight! "
On
this
A
came whizzing,
Book
in prose
and
like a bird
on high,
verse, shot
by our
In bulk and height a very Breviary
;
foes,
212
De
Vtaje del Parnaso.
verso
Nos
y prosa
el
puro desatino
dio a entender que de
ArbOLaNCHES
eran
Las Avidas pcsadas de contino. Unas rimas llcgaron, que pudieran Dcsbaratar
el
escuadron cristiano,
Si acaso vcz scgunda se imprimieran.
Diole a Mercurio en la derecha
mano
.
Una satira antigua Hcenciosa, De estilo agudo, pero no muy sano. De una intricada y mal compuesta prosa, De un asunto sin jugo y sin donaire, Cuatro novelas disparo Pedrosa. Silbando
Otro
recio,
y desgarrando
libro llcgo
el aire,
de rimas solas
Hechas al pareccr como al desgaire ; Violas Apolo, y dijo, cuando violas : Dios perdone a su autor, y a mi me guardc De algunas rimas sueltas espaiiolas.
—
—
Llcgo
Y
el
Pastor de Iberia,
aunque algo
derribo catorce de los nucstros,
Haciendo de su ingenio y fuerza alardc. Pero dos valcrosos, dos maestros,
Dos lumbreras de Apolo, dos
scldados,
Unicos en hablar, y en obrar diestros; Del monte puestos en opuestos lados
Tanto apretaron a
Que
la turba multa,
volvicron atras los encumbrados.
tarde,
Journey
Parnassus.
to
213
From its extravagance in verse and prose, 'T was Arbol ANCHES' work, we well could o-uess. His
dull
**
Avidas," heavy to the close. that boded much
Some Rhymes were hurled, And great disaster to the
distress
Christian band, they but gone a second time to press; Mercurius got a blow on his right hand
Had
From an Piquant
old Satire, rotten at the core, in style,
but of unsavoury brand.
Of tangled prose, and ill-digested lore, With subject quite devoid of sense or
Pedrosa With
launched at us his
a sharp hiss, and cleaving
<
grace, '
Novels four
empty
!
space,
Another book, with nought but rhymes, was sped, With modesty self-conscious on its face ; Apollo looked at them, and looking said *' God shrive their author, and preserve
:
From
my
certain Spanish verses, blank as lead
pate
" !
The Shepherd of Iberia
came, though late, Attacked fourteen of ours and beat them too,
A
striking proof of wit
and valour
great.
But now two men of heart, great masters two,
Two Two From
of Apollo's luminaries bright, soldiers quick to
speak and prompt to do.
sides opposing of the mountain's height.
Pressed back the surging mass, which grew so weak That all the foremost turned and took to fli-rht ;
2
1
Es
Viaje del Parnaso.
4
GregoRIO DE AnGULO d que sepulta La canalla, y con cl PEDRO DE SOTO,
Dc
y vena
prodigioso ingenio
culta.
Doctor aqucl, estotro unico y doto Licienciado, de Apolo ambos secuaces,
Con
raras obras
Las dos
Ya
y animo devoto.
contrarias indignadas haces
miden
las espadas,
Duras en su teson y
ya
se cierran
pcrtinaces.
Con los dientes se muerden, y se aferran Con las garras, las fieras imitando ;
toda piedad de si destierran. Haldeando venia y trasudando
Que
El autor de La Picara Justinay
Y
Capellan lego del contrario bando, cual si fuera de una culebrina Disparo de sus manos su librazo, Que fue de nuestro campo la ruina.
TOMAS Gracian manco de A MedinilLA derribo una muela,
Al buen
Y Una
de un muslo un gran pedazo. despierta nuestra centinela le llevo
Grito
Que
:
—Todos abajen
dispara
el
cl
uno
De un
la cabeza,
contrario otra novela.
Dos pelearon una larga
Y
un brazo,
al otro
—
pieza,
con instancia loca
envion, con arte
y con
destreza,
Journey
to
Parnassus.
1
1
5
GreGORIO DE Angulo, and eke Pedro de Soto did that deed of fate, Men of high culture and of wit unique ;
That one
a Doctor, this Licentiate
Of high Great
The
degree, both in Apollo's guard,
in their
works, and
ranks opposing,
in
devotion great.
fierce in their regard,
Now
measure swords, and now keep closer In action stolid and in purpose hard ;
file,
They use their teeth to bite, and in fierce style They rive with pointed nails like beasts of prey, As void of pity as they're full of guile. At tip-top speed, and sweating by the way. La PicARA JuSTINA'S author came,^^ The laic chaplain of the rude array As if despatched from mortar's mouth of flame. ;
He
launched his big and monstrous tome on high, as it fell our camp a wreck became :
And Good
TOMAS GraCIAN
Poor
MedinILLA
an arm thereby, mourned a molar dear. lost
And
A
eke a goodly portion of one thigh. wakeful sentinel of ours gave cheer.
And The
cried
:
" Heads down,
my
foe hath launched another
comrades
Novel here
all.
" !
Two wrestled with each other for a fall. When lo the one, in his insensate rage. !
And
with a dexterous art that was not small,
2
6
1
Viaje del Parnaso.
Scis seguidillas le encajo en la boca,
Con que le hizo vomitar el alma, Que salio libre de su estrecha roca.
De
la furia el ardor, del sol la
Tenia en duda de una y
calma
otra parte
La
vencedora y pretendida palma. Del Cuervo en csto el lobreao estandarte
Cede
al del cisne,
porque vino al suelo corazon de parte a parte. Su alfcrez, que era un andaluz mozuelo,
Pasado
el
Trovador
Con
repentista,
la soberbia
mas
que subia alia del cielo,
Helosele la sangre que tenia,
Muriose cuando vio que muerto estaba,
La
turba, pertinaz en su porfia.
Puesto que ausente
el
gran
LUPERCIO
Con un solo soneto suyo hizo Lo que de su grandeza se esperaba. Descuadcrno, desencajo, deshizo De opuesto escuadron catorce hileras,
Dos
De
criollos
mato, hirio un mestizo.
sus sabrosas burlas
y
sus vcras
El magno cordobes un cartapacio Disparo, y aterro cuatro banderas. indicios de cansado y lacio
Daba ya
El brio de
la
barbara canalla,
Peleando mas
flojo
y mas
despacio.
estaba
Journey
to
Parnassus.
217
Forced down the other's throat, at the Six Seguidillas
,•
on the whieh
last stage,
his soul
Leapt lightly out, and left its narrow cage. There fury raged, here reigned a calm control,
And still through all the ranks the question ran, Which side will gain the palm, the victor's goal
When
lo
the
!
Crow,
that decked the banner
!
wan,
W^ith stricken heart and pierced thro' and through, Fell to the ground and yielded to the Swan !
Its
ensign
A
was an Andalusian
true,
stripling poet, improvising wight.
Whose
pride soared to the sky, and topped
His blood congealed as he beheld the
place.
of his Sonnets did for him a deed,
In keeping quite with It
too;
sight,
And when he died, that pertinacious race Saw ruin face them on the field of fi^ht. Though empty was the grand LUPERCIO'S One
it
broke,
it
its
astounding grace
;
shattered, caused to fly with speed
Fourteen good files of the opposing band. Slew two Creoles, and wounded one half-breed
!
The
great Cordovan, note-book in his hand. Full of his sappy jests and serious wit,
Discharged
Now
tired
it,
and there
fell
four banners grand
and worn, there oozed out
bit
by
bit
The
courage of that barbarous canaille, More and more pithless grew each aimless hit
;
!
218
Mas
Viaje del Parnaso. renovose la fatal batalla
Pvlezclandose los unos con los otros,
Ni
vale arnes, ni presta dura malla.
Cinco melifluos sobrc cinco potros Llegaron, y embistieron por un lado,
Y
llevaronse cinco de nosotros.
Cada cual como moro ataviado, Con mas letras y cifras que una
carta
De principe enemigo y recatado, De romances moriscos una sarta, Cual
si
fuera de balas enramadas,
Llega con
Y
furia
y con malicia
harta.
a no estar dos escuadras avisadas
De
las nuestras del recio tiro
y presto, Era fuerza quedar desbaratadas. Quiso Apolo indignado echar
De
su poder
el resto
y de su fuerza sola,
Y Y
dar al enemigo fin molesto. una sacra cancion, donde acrisola
Su ingenio, gala,
y bizarria
estilo
Bartolome Leonardo de Argensola, Cual
fuera un petrarte
si
Adonde
Mas
esta el teson
Apolo envia
mas apretado,
dura y mas furiosa
la porfia.
Cuando me paro a contemplar mi
Comienza
En
el
la cancion,
lugar
estado^
que Apolo pone
mas noble y levantado.
Journey
But once again
rose
to
Parnassus.
up the
1
1
9
battle's wail,
In confused melee all together strive,
No
armour saves, nor hardest coat of mail.
Astride five colts, five honied bards arrive,
And making quite a sudden They of our men bear off in In robes Moresque they show
With more
of mystic
By some On this a shower
scroll
charge
in flank.
triumph
full
many
five
;
a prank,
than missive sent
old wil}' foe of princely rank.
The
of Moorish ballads rent
That
air, like missiles
formed of chained shot,
rained in fury and with vile intent
;
Had not two bands of ours due notice got Of that most sudden and most bitter fire. Ruin and speedy death had been
their lot.
Now in Apollo's breast raged fierce desire To show the full resources of his might. And crush his enemies with righteous ire An ode divine, where shone the genius bright. The strength and grandeur of that poet true, Bartolome DE ARGENSOLA hight, ;
Apollo launched
;
and
like a
bomb
it
flew.
And ploughed the ranks with most unerring shot. Where fought most fiercely that malignant crew " When I sit down to muse upon my lot"
;
Begins the Song which, by Apollo's grace. Received the crown of honour on the spot.
2
20
Viaje del Parnaso.
Todo lo mira, todo lo dispone Con ojos de Argos, manda,
Y
quita y vcda,
del contrario a todo ardid se opone.
Tan
mezclados estan, que no hay quien pueda Discernir cual es malo, 6 cual es bueno,
Cual
CS
GarCILASISTA 6 TiMONEDA.
Pero un mancebo de ignorancia ajcno, Grande escudrinador de toda historia,
Rayo
en la pluma y en la voz un trueno,
Llego tan rica
el
alma de memoria,
De
Sana voluntad y entendimiento, Que fae de Febo y de las musas gloria.
Con
este acelerose el vencimiento,
Porque supo
decir
:
Este merece
Gloria, pero aquel no, sino tormento.
Y
como ya con distincion parece El justo y el injusto combatiente, El gusto al paso de la pena crcce.
Tu,
Pedro Mantuano
el
excclente,
Fuiste quien distinguio de la confusa Maquina el que es cobarde del valiente.
Julian de Almendariz
no rehusa,
Puesto que llego tarde, en dar socorro Al rubio Delio con su ilustre musa.
Por
las rucias
De
que peino, que
me
corro
ver que las comedias endiabladas,
Por divinas
se
pongan en
el corro
The god
He
with Argus' eyes surveys the chase,
anew,
bids, forbids, disposes all
And
to the
So mingled
To tell
foeman shows
his sternest face.
are they, none have
knowledge true
the good from bad, or to
make known
Who Garcilaso, Timoneda Till
ii\
to Parnass7is.
Journey
came
who;
unknown,
a youth, to ignorance
A
mighty sifter of historic lore, Flash in his pen, and thunder in his tone
Whose memory
That Phoebus and His sound
Thanks
;
teemeth with such wealthy store the
Muses
all
revere
firm judgment, healthy to the core
to his aid, the victory
;
comes near,
For he could say, what none could better know " *' This merits praise, that punishment severe
:
!
And
as the difference begins to
show
Betwixt the boastful champions and the brave, The pleasure grows with each descending blow
O Pedro MantUANO, wise 'Twas thou who,
out of these conflicting views.
Didst separate the true
De AlmenDARIZ
and grave,
man from
the knave!
could not well refuse,
he came, to give his succour free Though with his far-famed Muse. Phoebus To ruddy By the red hairs I comb, I blush to see late
How
the bedevilled
Their heads
aloft
Comedies do
raise
and claim divine
to
be
;
;
Ill
Y
Viaje del Parnaso.
a pesar de las limpias
atildadas
y
Del comico mejor de nuestra Hesperia, Quieren ser conocidas y pagadas.
Mas
no ganaron mucho en esta es discrete el
Porque
Aunque
De
le
toca la
feria,
vulgo de la corte,
comun
miscria.
llano no le deis, dadle de corte,
Estancias Polifemas, al poeta
Que no
os tuviere por su guia
Inimitables sois,
y Gala que descubris en
Toda Con
y
norte.
a la discrcta lo escondido,
elegancia puede estar sujeta.
estas municiones el partido
Nucstro
Que
el
se
mejoro de
tal
manera,
contrario se tuvo por vencido.
su presuncion soberbia
Cayo
Derrumbanse
del
y fiera, monte abajo cuantos
Presumieron subir por la ladera. voz prolija de sus roncos cantos
La
El mal suceso con rigor
la
vuelve
En interrotos y funestos llantos. Tal hubo, que cayendo se resuelve De
Y
asirse de una zarza, 6 cabrahigo, en llanto, a lo de Ovidio, sc disuelve.
Cuatro
un quejigo de enjambre abejas desmandada, estimaron por el lauro amigo.
se arracin?.aron a
Como
Y le
"Journey to Parnassus.
And,
spite
of
all
the pure and high-toned plays
Of our
Hespcria's highest comic son,
Aspire
to solid gain as well as praise
But much
in
222
;
such a mart will not be won,
Our honest town's folk arc too shrewd by far, Although the common stress they cannot shun
Ye
!
Polyphemian stanzas, leave your scar,
And
with the sharp edge, on the poet's face will not take you as his guiding star Your matchless splendour, fraught with hidden grace.
Who
!
Proclaim you as the standard at
To
which
all
all cost.
other elegance gives place
!
Thus reinforced, our strong embattled host Grew stronger still, with such o'erwhelming might, That our dashed foes gave up their cause as lost. Their proud presumption was in woeful plight, For headlong down the precipice were thrown
As many as presumed to scale the height ; Their rude hoarse chaunting, with its dreary drone.
Was changed by the disaster of that day To dismal sobbing, and convulsive moan. One, as he
And,
He
fell,
as to
contrived his
some wild
fall to stay,
fig or thorn he clung.
Ovidian tears away ; Four, like a swarm of bees, suspended hung From a gnarled oak, beneath whose friendly shade melted
They
in
thought themselves the laurel leaves among
;
2 24
Viaje del Parnaso.
Otra cuadrilla virgen, por
Y
la espada, adultera de lengua, dio la cura
A
sus pics de su vida almidonada.
BartOLOME El toque
Tal
llamado
es su ingenio,
Resono en
DE SeGURA
casi fuc del vencimiento
csto por el
y
:
tal es su cordura.
vago vicnto
La voz
de la vitoria repetida Del numero escogido en claro acento.
La miserable, la fatal caida De las musas del limpio tagarete Fue
A
largos siglos con dolor planida.
me !) se mete (; ay famoso su Zapardiel, por pesca, Sin que un pequeno instante se quiete. la parte del llanto
La
voz de la vitoria se refresca,
Vitoria suena aqui,
y
alH vitoria,
Adquirida por nuestra soldadesca, Que canta alegre la alcanzada gloria.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
225
Another company, with virgin blade And harlot tongue, betook themselves
to flight,
To save their lives they called their feet Bartolome, he De Segura hight, Struck the
last note
to aid.
of victory complete,
His wit and wisdom had such wondrous might.
The listening hills unto the The voice of triumph, as From thousand
skies repeat it
rang elate
lips in accents clear
The final fall, the miserable fate, Of these the Muses of the savoury
Was
drain,
for
Zapardiel, renowned for fisher^^ not one instant can her tears restrain
Who
The day
is
ours
From mouth
The
;
many an age with dolour great. (alack !) among this v/eeping train
wailed
There stands
and sweet
;
to
!
and " Victory " is the cry, mouth the stirring accents run.
Victory of our gallant soldiery. chaunt with joy the glory they have
Who
Q_
won
!
CAPITULO Al
VIII.
caer de la
maquina excesiva Del escuadron poetico arrogante Que en su no vista muchedumbre
Un
poeta,
—
estriba
:
manccbo y estudiante,
Cai, pacicncia que algun dia Dijo Sera la nuestra, mi valor mcdiante. :
De nuevo
;
afilarc la
espada mia, cortarc de suerte
Digo mi pluma, y
Que dc nucva excelencia a la porfia. Que ofrece la comedia, si se advierte, Largo campo al ingcnio, donde pueda Librar su nombre del olvido y mucrte.
Fuc
desto cjemplo
Que
Juan DE TiMONEDA,
con solo imprimir, se hizo cterno,
Las comedias del gran Cinco vuelcos dare en
Por hacer
Nombrada
recitar :
el
LOPE DE RUEDA. propio infierno
una que tengo
El gran Bastardo
de Salerno.
CHAPTER When
fell
VIII.
the vast and overgrown machine
Of that poetic insolent array, Whose like for numbers never
A
poet, fresh from school,
was
yet
was heard
seen,
to say:
" Have patience, comrades, trust my valour fine, The time will come when we shall have our day
Anew
My
sharpen up this blade of mine. pen, I mean, and slash to such degree
I'll
Will make our cause with novel For Comedy doth Large scope
To
offer,
lustre shine
for genius,
such as
may
suffice
name from death and darkness keep that TiMONEDA won the prise. thus 'Twas its
Who
pui to press, to his undying fame,
Great
LOPE DE RUEDA'S
Five skips
To '*
g-et
I'd give,
and
;
one can see,
Comedies;
in the nether flame,
recited one that
I
have here,
Salerno's mighty Bastard'^
is its
name
;
free
;
!
228
Viaje del Parnaso.
Guards, Apolo, que baja guarde rcngo El golpe de la mano mas gallarda
Que ha visto el tiempo en su discurso En esto el claro son de una bastarda,
luengo.
Alas pone en los pics de la vencida Gente del mundo perezosa y tarda.
Con
la
No
esperanza del veneer perdida,
hay quien no atienda con
lijero paso,
Si no a la honra, a conservar la vida.
Desde
las altas
De un
Y
salto
cumbres de Parnaso
uno
se
puso en Guadarrama,
Nuevo, no visto y verdadcro caso. al mismo paso la parlera fama Candio del vencimiento
Desde Lloro
la
el claro
la alta
nueva,
Caistro hasta Jarama.
gran vitoria
el turbio
Esgueva,
Pisuerga la rio, riola Tajo, Que en vez de arena granos de oro Ueva.
Del cansancio, del polvo y del trabajo
Las rubicundas hebras de Timbreo, Del color se pararon de oro bajo. Pcro viendo cumplido su deseo,
Al son de Hizo de
Y de
la
guitarra mercuriesca
la gallarda
un gran paseo.
Castalia en la corricnte fresca
El rostro
Como
se lavo,
y quedo
luciente
de acero la segur turquesca.
—
Journey Phoebus beware, from
A
to
Parnassus.
mc
thou hast to fear
sharp back-stroke, the finest and the
That Time hath seen
On
iicj
this a
bomb with mighty
Which urged In
all
first
in all his longr career
" !
clatter burst.
the flight of that defeated race,
the world the laziest and the worst.
No
hope had they to wipe out their disgrace, They fled the spot with swift and smoking
And
A
feet.
not honour, held the foremost place. certain one, from high Parnassus' scat. life,
Reached Guadarrama with one leap
A
new, unheard
in air,
and genuine feat. With equal speed did babbling rumour bear The news of triumph to the listening land.
From
of, ay,
clear Caistro to
Dark Esgueva mourned Pisuerga smiled, old
Jarama
fair
;
the victory grand,
Tagus laughing
rolled
Down to the sea his grains of golden sand. With weariness, and dust, and toil untold, Apollo's locks, that erst were ruby bright, Were dashed with colour of the dullest gold
But
;
well content that all had ended right.
While gay Mcrcurius thrummed
He And
in Castalia's
He As
the light guitar,
danced a galliard with supreme delight
;
stream, the coolest far,
laved his face, which shone as brightly polished steel of Turkish scimitar ;
now
Viaje del Farnaso.
230
PuHose luego, y adorno su frente De majestad mczclada con dulzura, Indicios claros del placer que siente.
Las
rcinas de la
humana hermosura
Salieron de do estaban retiradas
Mientras duraba
la
conticnda dura
:
Del arbol siemprc verde coronadas, en medio la divina Pocsia,
Y
Todas de nuevas
galas adornadas.
Mclp6mcne,Tcrsicore, y Talia,
PoHmnia, Urania, Erato, Euterpe y
Clio,
Y Caliope, hermosa en demasia, Muestran ufanas su destrcza y brio, Tejiendo una entricada y nucva danza
Al duke son de un instrumento mio. Mio, no
De
dije bien,
menti a
la
usanza
aquel que dice propios los ajenos
Versos, que son mas dinos de alabanza.
Los anchos prados, y los campos llenos Estan de las escuadras vencedoras
(Que siempre van a mas, y nunca a m^nos) Esperando de ver de sus mcjoras El colmo con los prcmios merecidos
For
el
sudor y aprieto de
seis horas.
llamados escogidos, Todos a prcmios de grandeza aspiran,
Piensan ser
los
Tienense en mas del
lo
que son tenidos
:
'Journey to Parnassus.
He
23
1
rubbed him deftly down, and decked his brow blended majcst}'- and sweetest grace.
With
Clear tokens of the joy he
felt, I
trow.
The Queens of human beauty left the place, Where they in sure and safe retreat had been, While raged
With
the battle
and the furious chase
wreaths plucked from the
;
tree, the evergreen,
stood encircling god-like Poesy, All dressed in newest robes of brightest sheen
They
;
Thalia, Terpsichore, Melpomene, Erato, Urania, Polyhymnia
fine,
Euterpe, Clio, and Calliope ; Proud of their lithesome step, the tuneful Nine
Tripped
To
new and mazy
lightly through a
dance,
the sweet sound of instrument of mine,
Mine, did I say, Like him who If they be
fit
The meadows
I
do but
lie
perchance,
calls another's
his
honour to
rhymes advance
his
own,
!
and the plain Immense are strown
With the battalions of the conquering powers, That swell and ever swell to force unknown ;
All eager to receive the welcome showers
Of crov/ning Through
The
all
honours, due to
toil
unbated.
the sweat and anguish of six hours
"called" as
**
chosen"
fain
would be
;
instated.
All look for highest places on the roll. And rate themselves far higher than they're rated
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
232 Ni
a calidades ni riquezas miran, su ingenio se atiene cada uno,
A Y
Mas
si
hay cuatro que
acierten, mil deliran.
Febo, que no quiere que ninguno
Qucds quejoso
del,
mando
a la Aurora
Que vaya y coja in tempore oportuno De las faidas floriferas de Flora Cuatro labaques de purpureas rosas,
Y seis de perlas de las que ella llora. Y
de
las
nueve por extremo hermosas
Las coronas
En nada
pidio,
y
al darlas ellas
se mostraron perezosas.
Tres, a mi parecer, de las mas bellas
A
Y
Partenope se que se enviaron, fue Mercurio el que partio con
Tres sugetos Alli en el
Con que
cllas.
las otras coronaron,
mesmo monte
su patria
peregrines,
y nombre
Tres cupieron a Espaiia, y
cternizaron.
tres divinos
Poetas se adornaron la cabeza,
De tanta gloria justamcnte dinos. La envidia monstruo de naturaleza Maldita y carcomida, ardiendo en sana A murmurar del sacro don empieza. Dijo
:
—
Haya
Aha
Sera posible que en Espaiia nueve poetas laureados ?
I
es de
Apolo, pero simple hazafia.
—
Journey
Not
to
Parnassus.
233
rank, nor riches, but the wealth of soul
Is all their claim,
For
they
make no
other, none
:
four that hit, a thousand miss the goal.
But Phoebus, who would fain all quarrel shun, Gave mandate, and forthwith Aurora hies
To
gather, at a season opportune.
From wealth Four
And
He
of flowers on Flora's lap that
lies.
baskets-full of roses purpurine. six oi pearls
dropped from her tearful eyes.
begged the crowns, the fairest ever seen,
The
Nine upon their temples wear. gave them up with sweet and cheerful mien
tuneful
Who
Three, to
my
mind, the
fairest
of the
fair.
To
Naples went, I'm certain of the same ; For Mercury himself conveyed them there
;
Three other poets gained three crowns of fame.
Who
then were pilgrims at the sacred shrine,
With
deathless honour to their land and
Three came
name
;
Spain ; and lo three bards divine Entwined them round their brows ; and verily Upon their heads with fitting grace they shine to
!
!
But now
did Envy, Nature's prodigy.
Cursed, corroding, stung with rage insane,
Against the sacred
"And
is it
gift raise
murmuring cry: possible," she said, "that Spain
Should have and boast nine poets laureate? Great is Apollo, but his judgment's vain " !
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
234 Los dcmas de
la turba,
defraudados
Del esperado prcmio, repctian Los himnos de la envidia mal cantados.
Todos por laureados
En
Y
quejas de su agravio envian.
al cielo
Pero
se tenian
su imaginacion, antes del trance,
ciertos poetas de
romance
Del generoso premio hacer esperan, A despecho de Febo presto alcance. Otros, aunque latinos, desesperan
De
Aunque
del caso en la
Vcngase mcnos
Y
una hoja, demanda mueran.
tocar del laurel solo
alguno
Que de
el
que mas
se toco sienes
se enoja,
y
frente,
estar coronado se le antoja.
Pero todo dcseo impertinente
Apolo
repartio,
Poetas tuvo
De
rosas, de
Flora
Y la
le
el
premiando a cuantos
escuadron valiente.
jazmines y amarantos
presento cinco ccstones,
Aurora de perlas
otros tantos.
Estos fucron, letor duke, los dones
Que
Delio repartio con larga
mano
Entre los poetisimos varones.
Qucdando Con un
alegre cada cual
y ufano
puiio de perlas y una rosa,
Estimando
este
premio sobrehumano
;
to
Journey
The remnant
of the crowd, with looks
Defrauded of
Took up
Parnassus.
their long
235 irate.
expected prize.
the jarring strain of envious hate
;
Before the fight began, their dazzled eyes Beheld them hailed as laureates of song,
And now But
to
heaven
their shouts for "justice" rise.
certain poets of the vulgar tongue
Hope
still,
and soon,
to wrest that
honour
In spite of Phoebus and his tuneful throng
rare, ;
Others, though worthy latinists, despair
To
pluck one
Though Those
least
And As
if
leaflet
from the laurel down.
their
dying day they urge their prayer. avenge themselves who most do frown ;
till
one was seen to press his throbbing brow, he fancied he might touch the crown.
This most unseemly strife Apollo now Cooled down at once, and gave rewards galore
To every poet in the band, I vow ; Flora brought out five baskets from her store. Of Jasmines, Amarynths,
and Roses
fair,
Aurora of her pearls as many more.
These were, sweet reader mine,
Which Phoebus Amongst
the guerdons rare
scattered with a lavish
the most poetic poets there
hand
;
were, in sooth, a proud and happy band string of pearls, and eke a single rose,
They
A
Were
in their eyes a gift divinely
grand.
;
"2
^i^je del Parnaso.
3^
Y
porque fuese mas maravillosa
La
fiesta
For
y
regocijo,
que se hacia
la vitcria insigne
y prodigiosa,
La buena, la importante Poesia Mando traer la bcstia, cuya pata Abrio
la fucnte
dc Castalia
fria.
Cubierta de finisima escarlata,
Un
lacayo la trujo en un instante, freno de brunida plata.
Tascando un
Envidiarle pudiera Rocinante
Al gran Pegaso dc
Y
aun Brilladoro
presencia brava,
el del
senor de Anglante.
Con no se cuantas alas adornaba Manos y pies, indicio manificsto en Hjereza al vicnto avcntajaba. mostrar cuan agil y cuan presto por Era, se alzo del suelo cuatro picas,
Que
Y
Con un denuedo y adcman compucsto. Tu, que me escuchas, si el oido aplicas Al duke cucnto deste gran Viaje, Cosas nuevas oiras de gusto
Era
ricas.
del bel troton todo el her raj e
De
durisima plata diamantina. no rccibe del pisar ultraje.
Que
De la De
que llaman columbina, raso en una funda trae la cola, color
Que
suelta, con el suelo se avecina.
Journey
And
to
Parnassus.
ii^-j
that the joyous festival might close
With one more great and yet more marvellous thing, In honour of that triumph grandiose, Poesy, the radiant, bade them bring
Svv^ect
[light.
The wondrous brute whose hoof-prints brought And made to gush Castalia's limpid spring
to
;
A
lackey brought him in an instant quite. With finest scarlet covered o'er and o'er.
his silver bit of gleaming white Rozinante have envied sore Sooth, might
Champing
;
The mighty Pegasus his matchless breed, And eke my lord D'Anglante's Brilliadore. I
do not know how many wings indeed Bedecked his feet, proof positive and sound, That he could top the very wind in speed ;
To show how quick and agile was his bound. He sprung four pike-lengths from the earth upright. With towering vigour and a calm profound. Thou, who art listening, if thou heed aright The sweet recital of this Journey grand, Shalt hear new things of exquisite delight. This
trotter's trappings, ever^^ plate
and band,
Were sparkling silver, hard as could be found, And fit the utmost tear and wear to stand ;
His
tail in
sling of satin fine
Of colour But
that
is
let it loose
known
was bound.
as columbine,
'twould sweep the very ground
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
238
Del color del carmin 6 de amapola Eran sus dines, y su cola gruesa, Ellas solas al mundo, y ella sola.
Tal vez anda Vuela
despacio,
tal vez,
y
tal
y
tal apriesa,
hace corvetas,
Tal quiere rclinchar, y luego Nueva felicidad de los poetas
cesa.
!
;
Unos
sus excremcntos recogian dos de cuero grandes barjuletas.
En
Pregunte para que
lo tal hacian,
Respondiome Cilcnio
Con no
se
— Esto que
a lo bellaco,
que vislumbrcs de ironia
:
se recoge, es el tabaco.
Que a los vaguidos sirvc de cabcza De algun porta de celebro flaco. Urania de
Que
tal
modo
lo adereza.
puesto a las narices del dolicnte,
Cobra salud, y vuelve a su entereza.
—
Un
poco entonces arrugue la frente, Ascos haciendo del remedio extraiio,
Tan
de los ordinaries difercnte.
— Recibes,
(Leycme
De
los
No come
dijo Apolo, el
vaguidos cura y sana cstc rocin lo
el daiio.
que en ascdio
Duro y penoso comen
Que
amigo engano
pensamiento). Este remedio
los soldados,
estan cntre la muerte
y hambre en medio.
Journey
With
239
hair of poppy-red or dark carmine
Was
decked
his
In all the world
At
Parnassus.
to
mane, and eke his massy was nothing half so fine.
tail,
times he moveth swift, then slow as snail,
Sometimes he curvets, sometimes cleaves the
At
New
times he neighs, and then poet's luxury
For some,
in
is still
Enjoyment
!
rare
and !
two big bags of leather dry.
Collect his droppings with the utmost care
'What
air,
stale.
are they doing?
"
!
" ' and enquired, why?
I
me right brusque enough. with humorous yet glcamings in his eye
Mercurius answered
And
:
" That which they gather
Which
To
for a poet with a
cure
its
Urania makes
That when
He I
*'
giddiness, it,
in
is
my To my
snuff.
weakly brain, rare
good
stuff!
the sufferer's nostrils sniff the scent. is
himself again
" !
brows, and with a shrug gave vent disgust at such peculiar cure.
From those Thou art in
in
common
use so different.
error, friend, this stuff,
said, to
Apollo
Tobacco
such happy vein.
gains his health and
knit
is
whom my
be sure,"
thoughts lay bare,
head-swimmings, and makes health This charger is not fed on such coarse fare [secure As soldiers at some direful siege do eat.
"Cures
all
!
When
death or hunger they are doomed to bear
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
240 Son
deste tal los picnsos regalados,
Ambar y almizde
Y bcbe
entrc algodones pucsto,
del rocio de los prados.
Tal vez le damos de almidon un cesto, Tal de algarrobas con que el vientre
Y
no
— Sea,
se estrifie, ni se le
va por
muy
respondi,
norabuena,
Tieso estoy de celebro por ahora, Vaguido alguno no me causa pena.
La
llena,
esto.
—
nuestra en esto universal senora, la
Digo
Poesia verdadcra,
Que con Timbreo y con las musas mora, En vestido subcinto, a la lijera
—
El monte
discurrio
Hermosa
sobre modo,
y abrazo a todos,
y
placentera.
Oh
sangre vencedora de los godos de aqui adclante ser tratada Dijo
;
!
:
Con mas
siiaves
y
discretos
modos
Espcro ser, y siemprc rcspetada Del ignorante vulgo, que no alcanza,
Que
puesto que soy pobre, soy honrada.
Las riquezas
os dcjo en csperanza, en Pero no posesion, prcmio seguro
Que Por
al rcino aspira
la belleza deste
Que
Un
quisiera al
de
la
monte
inmensa holganza.
os juro,
mas minimo
entregalle
privilcgio de cien mil de juro.
Journey His
Parnassus.
to
241
rations are of daintiness complete,
Amber and musk enwrapped
in cotton
wool,
His drink the dew-drops of the meadow sweet
At times of starch he hath Or else of carobs, which
his hunger stay, do not puff him up, but keep him cool ** answered sharp Let that be as it may,
And
I
;
a basket full.
" !
:
My
brain
till
now
Head-swimmings
On
this our
is
good and sound withal.
cause
me
Sovereign lady,
True Poesy,
the
bosom
not the least dismay!"
whom we
friend
call
by right
Of great With
Apollo and the Muses all. kilted garments, and with speed of
Coursed
o'er the
mountain, and
Embraced each one, and '*
light,
merry vein
in
said with great delight
:
O conquering blood, of purest Gothic strain. Now do hope, and better than before, I
A And
wise and generous treatment to obtain, be respected ever more and more
the dull crowd, who cannot understand That though I'm poor I'm honest to the core
By I
leave
A
you wealth
That do
all
hope, and not
in
hand
!
;
of the highest cheer the realm of Fancy can command
guerdon
Now
in
rich, full
!
swear, and by this mountain dear. That were it mine, I'd give the meanest e'en
An
I
income of a hundred thousand clear
R
;
^
Viaje del Parnaso,
242
Mas
no produce minas cste vallc,
Aguas SI, salutiferas y buenas, Y monas que de cisnes tienen talle. Volved a Del
Y
ver, 6 amigos, las arenas
aurifero
Tajo en paz segura,
en dukes horas de pesar ajcnas.
hacana os asegura Eterno nombre en tanto que de Febo
Que
esta inaudita
Al mundo ;
Oh
aliento,
y luz serena y pura.
—
maravilla nueva, oh caso nuevo,
Digno de admiracion que cause espanto,
Cuya extraneza me admiro de nuevo Morfeo,
AUi
el dios del
se aparecio,
!
sueno, por encanto
cuya corona
Era de ramos de bcleno
santo.
Flojisimo de brio y de persona,
De
la
pereza torpe acompaiiado. le deja a visperas ni a nona.
Que no Traia
al Silencio a su
El Dcscuido
derecho lado,
al sinicstro,
Era de blanda lana
y
el
vestido
fabricado.
las aguas que Uaman del olvido, Traia un gran caldero, y de un hisopo Venia como aposta prevenido.
De
Asia a
Y
los poetas
aunque
En
el
por
el
hopo,
caso los rostros les volvia
color encendida de piropo,
Journey
But
in
Parnassus.
to
243
our vales no mines are to be seen,
We've only waters limpid, good, and sane, And apes that take the form of swans, I ween! Return,
O
friends, to see the sands
Of golden Tagus,
and
ma}'^
again
peace secure
Be yours, and happy hours that know no pain For now to 5'ou these matchless feats assure Eternal fame, while Phoebus holds his reign, To flood the world with light serene and pure
O
marvel new
O
;
" !
novelty most plain dashed with horror too, of wonder Worthy Whose strangeness makes me marvel yet again
Morpheus,
!
the
As
A
!
!
god of slumber, came to view
if by magic on his head was worn wreath of henbane leaves, of saintly hue ;
;
He
had a long-drawn stride, a look forlorn. And in his wake came Sloth, that sluggish
W^ho
At
leaves
him not
at
even-song or
morn
eft, ;
his right side stood Silence, at his left
Was Negligence his loosel}' flowing dress Was woven of softest wool, both woof and weft. ;
Full of the waters of Foractfulness
He bo-e a cauldron, and from bed to bed He came with sprinkler wherewithal to bless Right by
the scruff he seized each poet's head.
changed into the hue pyrop stone, a bright and fiery red.
And, though
Of
their faces
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
244
EI nos bafiaba con
el agua fria, un sueno Causandonos de tal sucrte.
Que dormimos un Tal
dia
y otro
dia.
es la fuerza del licor, tan fuertc
Es de
las
aguas la virtud, que pueden Competir con los fucros de la muerte. Hace el ingenio alguna vez que queden
Las verdades
sin crcdito ninguno,
Por ver que a toda contingencia cxceden.
Al despertar
Ni Ni Por
vi
del sueno asi importune,
monte,
ni
monta, dios,
ni diosa,
de tanto poeta vide alguno,
cierto extraiia
y nunca
vista cosa
;
la vista,
Despabile y pareciome Verme en medio de una ciudad famosa.
Admiracion y grima
Torne
No
Y
el
caso diome
;
a mirar, porque el temor 6
de mi buen discurso
engano
paso tome.
cl
No me engaiio dijeme a mi mismo Esta ciudad es Napoles la ilustre,
:
:
Que yo pise sus ruas mas de un De Italia gloria, y aun del mundo Pues de cuantas ciudades
cl
afio
:
lustre,
encierra
Ninguna puede haber que asi le ilustre. Apacible en la paz, dura en la guerra,
Madre de
De
eliseos
la
abundancia y
la nobleza,
campos y agradable
sierra.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
245
With
water cool he laved us, and there grew Over each sense a drowsiness so long
We slept that day and Such
To
eke another too.
strength, such virtues strange belong-
is its
that rare liquor, that in very deed
The
more
rights of death itself are not
Full
strono-
!
things there be that far exceed
many The common faith, which genius stamps as The vulgar pass them by, and do not heed
Waking
No
true
:
!
from that sound sleep there met my view nor hillock, god nor goddess round,
hill
Nor any
poet of the countless crew. matter Strange truly, passing every bound I rubbed mine eyes, and seemed transported thence !
Into the centre of
With some I
disgust, with
turned to look,
Had And
some town renowned
lest
wonder most
some deluding
gained the vantage o'er
inly said
*' :
'Tis Naples'
Whose
I
my
that city of great fame,
paced
For of all famous
cities
than a year.
for better
Italia's pride, that sets the
Not one
fear
better sense
There's no deception here,
self,
streets
;
intense,
world aflame,
near and far
possesses such a glorious
name
!
Soft in the tim.e of peace, and strong in war,
Mother of all abundance and Elysian
fields,
and sweetest
noblesse,
hills
that are
!
:
Viaje del Parnaso.
246
Si vaguidos no tcngo de cabeza,
Parcceme que
De I
sitio,
esta
mudada en
parte,
aunque en aumento de belleza.
Que teatro es aquel, donde reparte Con cl cuanto contiene de hcrmosura, La gala, la grandeza, industria y arte
Sin duda
el
?
sueno en mis palpebras dura,
este es edificio imaginado, excede a toda humana compostura. Que Llegose en esto a mi disimulado
Porque
Un
mi amigo, Uamado Promontorio,
Mancebo en Crecio la
gran soldado. admiracion viendo notorio dias, pero
Y
palpable que en Napolcs estaba, Espanto a los pasados acesorio.
Mi
amigo tiernamente me abrazaba,
Y con tenerme del estar
Que Llamome
padre,
Quedo con
Que
entre sus brazos, dijo,
yo
y
alii
mucho dudaba,
yo llamcle hijo,
esto la verdad en punto,
aqui puedc llamarse punto
Djjome Promontorio
:
fijo.
—Yo barrunto,
Padre, que algun gran caso a vuestras canas Las trae tan Icjos ya semidifunto.
— En mis horas tan frescas y tempranas Esta
Con
tierra habitc, hijo, le dije,
fuerzas
mas
briosas
y
lozanas.
'Journey to Parnassus. If gidd}' thoughts It
do not
my
247
brain distress,
seems that she hath changed her site to the increase of her loveliness.
in part,
But
What
theatre
is
this,
Such wondrous
within \^hose heart
stores of
beauty seem
to rest,
Such splendour, grandeur, industry and Doubtless
my
For such
eyelids
art
?
with sleep are pressed.
a structure only P'ancy rears.
Not human
On
still
science even at
this up-gliding at
my
its
best
!
side appears
A friend of mine, one PrOMONTORIO hight, A right good soldier, though a youth in years My wonder grew, and to its greatest height,
;
To To
My
him
see
—
the past marvels
friend
fit companion quite. embraced me with a hug full dear.
And, holding me,
Whether 'twas
He
Naples here
verily in
called
me "
I
he begun myself he held so near to question
and
father,"
I
called
;
him " son,"
And so the truth was placed in sudden light. Or sunny light, to use a homely pun Said PROMONTORIO "Tell me if I'm right ;
:
That some
With *'
My
misfortune, father, brings thee here,
hairs so grey,
son,"
I
said,
"
I
and
in this
half-dead plight?"
trod this country dear
In happier hours, and in a merrier vein,
While
yet
my
powers were
fresh,
my vision clear;
Viaje del Parnaso.
248 Pcro
la
Digo,
A
voluntad que a todos el
parte
que me
alegra
rige,
me ha
traido
mas que
afligc.
querer del cielo,
—
Dijera mas, sino que un gran ruido
De
pifanos, clarines
Me Volvi
azoro
el
alma, y alegro
la vista al son, vi los
Aparatos de
En
y tambores
fiesta
Dijo mi amigo
:
oido
;
mayores
que vio
sus fclices tiempos
el
Roma
y mejores.
— Aquel que ves que asoma
Per aquella montaiia contrahecha,
Cuyo brio al de Marte oprime y doma^ Es un alto sugeto, que deshecha Tiene a
en rabia, porque pisa
la envidia
De la virtud la senda mas derecha. De gravedad y condicion tan lisa, Que suspende y
Y
con su aviso
Mas quiero, En ver lo
alegra a un al
mismo
mismo
instante,
aviso avisa.
antes que pases adelante
que veras,
si
estas atento,
Darte del caso relacion bastante. Sera
DON JUAN DE
Tasis de mi cuento
Principio, porque sea memorable,
Y
llegucn mis palabras a
Este varon, en
mi
intentc.
liberal notable,
Que una mediana
villa le
hace conde,
Siendo rey en sus obras admirable
:
'Journey to Parnassus.
But I
that
same
mean
To
The
My
now with said, when
it I
fifes
me bound
greater joy than pain ;" a mighty sound lo !
and horns and kettledrums did
ear to gladden and
turned me, and
I
all wills constrain,
the will of heaven, hath held
seek
More had
doth
will, that
249
I
my
raise,
soul confound
!
saw more grand displays than Rome could show
Of festive jubilee
grandest and her happiest days " He whom thou seest Quoth he, my friend go With ardour to ascend that tortuous hill.
E'en
in her
!
:
Whose
A
vigour gives to
soaring spirit
is,
who
Mars
himself a blow,
treads with skill
The clear straight path that leads to Virtue's goal. And sends through Envy's heart a furious thrill; Of grave demeanour, yet of sweetest soul,
He
fills
And by But
each heart with wonder and delight, his wit doth wisdom's self control!
ere thou passest on to see the sight
That now awaits
On I
this great
thee, if thou so incline,
show
I
Don Juan DE
give In this
fain
would shed some
Tasis
my tale, that it may better ring. And that my words may square with my
This gentleman, of
design.
gifts a living spring.
Whom ViLLAMEDIANA Although already by
his
light
foremost line
made
a Count,
works a King
;
:
Viaje del Parnaso.
250
Estc, que sus haberes nunca esconde,
Pues siempre
Ya
los reparte, 6 los
sepa adonde, 6
Este, a quien tiene tan en
Pucsta
Que
la alteza
liberal
derrama,
ya no sepa adonde fil
la
:
fama,
de su nombre claro,
y prodigo
se llama,
Quiso prodigo aqui, y alii no avaro, Primer mantenedor ser de un torneo,
Que
a fiestas sobrehumanas le comparo.
Responden
sus grandezas al deseo
Que tiene de mostrarse alegre, De Espana y Francia el regio
Y
viendo
himeneo.
este
que escuchas, duro, alegre estruendo,
Es
que el torneo se comienza, admira por lo rico y estupcndo.
serial
Que
Arquimedes
De
el
grande se avergiienza
ver que este teatro milagroso
Su ingenio apoque, y a sus trazas venza. Digo pues, que el mancebo generoso.
Que
alii
desciende de encarnado y plata,
Sobre todo mortal curso brioso,
Es
el
CONDE DE LeMOS,
Su fama con
Y Y
que dilata
sus obras por el
que Ueguen
al cielo
mundo,
en tierra trata
sale el primero, es el
segundo aunque Mantenedor, y en buena cortesia Esta ventaja califico y fundo.
:
to
Journey
Parnassus.
251
He
who, of goods and wealth a very fount, Likes not to hoard, but scatters them with clee. Hither or thither,
He,
to
whom Fame
'tis
of no account
hath given,
in
;
such degree.
To
his clear name a loftiness serene, That he is styled the prodigal and free, Hath so decreed, for honour ever keen,
To be the first defender in the plain Of a grand Tourney — grandest ever His
lofty
To
greatness makes
his desire,
That
the grand
That
well
may
how
the sign
Tourney
will
stun thee with
Great Archimedes' see
!
with joy to celebrate bind France and Spain.
The regal nuptials that The sound thou hearest is
To
seen
the passage plain
this
self
we
wait.
commence amain. its
pomp and
would writhe
in
state
;
pain
miraculous display
Beggars his plans, makes his inventions vain. Observe the youth, the generous and the gay,
Who
Hghteth down, in vigour reaching Above the rest, in crimson bright array
The Count DE Lemos
On
he,
wings of fame through
higli ;
whose deeds do
all
the world
we
fly
see,
Making fleet commerce 'twixt the earth and sky Though first he comes, the second champion he. Which place he takes, if I do err not far.
To
suit the just
demands of
courtesy.
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
252
DUQUE DE NOCERA,
El
Del
Mantenedor deste El
luz
y guia
arte militar, es el tercero
cuarto,
festive dia. ser primero,
que pudiera
Es DE
SanTELMO
Que
mesmo Marte en
al
El quinto
es otro
ArrociolO, Al que
Eneas
el fuerte
el
el
CASTELLANO,
valor prefiero.
troyano,
que gana en
ser valiente
fuc verdadero, por la
mano.
—
El gran concurso y numero de gente Estorbo que adelante prosiguiese
La comenzada Por
esto la pedi
Adonde
relacion prudente.
que
me
pusiese
sin
ningun impedimento El gran progreso de las fiestas viese.
Porque luego me vino
De
al pensamiento en verso numeroso, ponerlas
Favorecido del febeo aliento.
Hizolo
asi,
y yo
vi lo
que no oso
Pensar, que no decir, que aqui se acorta
La Que
lengua y el ingenio mas curioso. se pase en silencio es lo que importa
Y que la
admiracion supla esta
falta,
El mesmo grandioso caso exhorta. Puesto que despues supe que con alta
Magnifica elegancia milagrosa,
Donde
ni sobra
punto
ni le falta,
Journey
to
Parnassus.
DUQUE DE NOCERA,
El
253
guiding star
In military art, holds the third place
As champion in this glorious fourth, who might be first
The
Is
Fort
St,
festive
war
in point
Elmo's mighty Castellan,
Who
Mars himself might vanquish in The fifth is ArrOCIOLO, valiant man
Who
;
of grace,
equals great
the race;
^neas, him of Troy,
And e'en o'ertops him by a goodly span " The mighty numbers, which did there deploy, !
Brought
Whose
On
this I
Where
to a speedy
end
his tale
of grace,
my heart with joy. him he would find a place. begged grave
recital filled
undisturbed, as on some vantage tower,
might survey the wondrous festive race For it had struck me, in a happy hour. I
That
;
might put it into sounding verse. If Phoebus would but kindly give me power. I
This did he I
;
and
do not dare,
And
I
saw what
to rehearse
thought and language keenest wit must suffer a reverse ; for
'Tis needful then that Silence
For, sooth,
it
tell
was a magnifique
fail,
the tale, affair.
And Fancy
can supply each rich detail. Since then I've heard that, with a curious care.
With That
elegance supreme and grandiose.
heightened nothing and
left
nothing bare.
Viaje del Parnaso.
254 El curioso
DON JUAN DE OQUINA
en prosa dio a la estampa para gloria
La
puso,
De
nuestra edad, por esto venturosa.
Ni
y
en fabulosa 6 verdadera historia
Se halla que otras
Ni pueden Desde
alll,
hayan sido, mas dignas de memoria.
ser
y no
fiestas
sc
como,
fui traido
gran DUQUE DE PASTRANA Mil parabienes dar de bien venido ;
Adonde
Y
vi al
que la fama en la verdad ufana Contaba que agrado con su presencia,
Y Que
con su cortesia sobrehumana
:
fue nucvo Alejandro en la excelencia
Del dar, que
satisfizo a
Puede mostrar
todo cuanto
real magnificencia
;
Colmo de admiracion, lleno de espanto, Entre en Madrid en traje de romero,
Que
Y
es granjeria el pareccr ser santo.
desde lejos
me
quito
el
sombrero
El famoso
ACEVEDO,
Vo't state il
ben venutOy cavaliero
So parlar zenoese^
Y
respondi
Sia
Tope
Y
la
a
:
e tusco
— La
y
dijo
ancVio.
:
— A Dio^ ;
—
vostra signoria
ben trovata, padron mio.
Luis Velez,
lustre
y
—
alegria,
discrecion del trato cortesano,
Y abracele en la calle a
mediodia.
Journey
to
Parnassus.
255
Don Juan DE OauiNA And gave
it
told it all in prose, to the press to grace our age.
In this most lucky we may well suppose not in For, story fabulous nor sage.
;
Hath such like festival been ever found, None worthier of a place in History's page. From this I reached, I know not how, the ground Where I could see received, with welcome
grand.
El
DUQUE DE Pastrana
the
renowned
;
Fame, winged with truth, did publish o'er the land How much he charmed with wondrous courtesy.
And stately bearing fitted to command How, like a second Alexander, he With regal hand, where meanness left no ;
taint,
Did carry splendour to the last degree. O'erwhelmcd with awe, and eke with wonder I
reached Madrid
For much
There
it
in
profiteth to
seem a saint
doffed his hat to me, as he
The famous ACEVEDO and
;
came
did cry
"
I
faint,
pilgrim's dress severe.
near. :
A Dio, you are the well-come, Cavalier, speak ze Zenoese, the Tuscan I " !
'*
Padron, you
And
as
I
are the well-found
turned
I
did say
I
met, and eye to eye.
With Luis Velez, model
Of courtly
" !
fine
and gay
and kissed
polished wit, In open street, and in the blaze of
his face
day
;
;
Viaje del Parnaso.
256 El pecho,
Di a
Y
el
alma,
el
corazon, la
alegre rccebi a
el cuello
Y mas que Por
ser
me
gusto
y un abrazo,
JUSTINIANO.
Al volver de una esquina
Que
mano
Pedro de Morales, senti
un brazo
cenia, mire cuyo,
me
causo embarazo,
uno de aquellos (no rehuyo
Decirlo) que al contrario se pasaron, Llevados del cobardc intento suyo.
Otros dos
al del
Layo
se llcgaron,
Y con la risa falsa del conejo, Y con muchas zalemas me hablaron. Yo
socarron,
yo poeton ya viejo
Volviles a lo tierno las saludes.
Sin mostrar mal talante 6 sobrecejo. dudes, 6 letor caro, no dudes,
No
Sino que suele el disimulo a veces Servir de aumento a las demas virtudes. Dinoslo
tu,
David, que aunque pareces
Loco en poder de Aquis, de Fingiendo
el loco, la
tu cordura
grandeza
ofreces.
Dejclos esperando coyuntura
Y
ocasion
mas
Vejamen de
secreta para dalles
su micdo, 6 su locura.
Si encontraba poetas por las calks,
Me
ponia a pensar,
Huidos, y pasaba
si
eran de aquellos
sin hablalles.
Journey
Parnassus.
to
gave, and
warm embrace
To Pedro de Morales,
and with right
heart and hand
My
I
claimed like friendly place.
JUSTINIANO At
me
turning of a street there grasped
Around my neck an arm — And, more
He
Who Two
to
my
right out
I
tight
wondered whose
;
confusion than delight,
cannot well refuse,) was a renegado of the band.
(To speak
I
work
did the coward's
others of these
in
Laics came
coward's shoes. to
And with a grinning, hypocritic And much salaaming, spoke me I,
257
hand,
smile. fair
an old poet, with sardonic wile Returned their bows, with courtesy
and bland.
in chief.
Nor showed my pique, nor raised my brows the while. Let
it
not, tender reader, give thee grief.
Dissimulation hath at times
To
its
place
set the other virtues in relief; tell us,
David,
When
was not
this
thy case.
thou, in power of Achish, play'dst the fool,
And
feigned folly showed thy wisdom's grace them, biding fitting time and cool To brand their folly and their cowardice,
1 left
And
fill
their
cup of chastisement right met mine eyes,
full
;
If in the high street poets
stopped to think if the}' were runaways. And without speech I passed them in a trice I
S
;
?
Viaje del Parnaso.
258
Ponianseme ycrtos los cabellos De tcmor no encontrase algun pocta, De tantos que no pude conocellos, con punal buido, 6 con secreta
Que
Almarada me
Aunque no la
es este el
premio que yo espero
fama, que a tantos he adquirido
Con alma
Un
un agujero
fuese al corazon por via reta,
Que
De
hiciese
grata y corazon sincero.
mancebito cuellierguido, profesion poeta, y en el traje
cierto
En
A mil leguas por godo conocido, Lleno de presuncion y de coraje Me dijo Bien sc yo, sciior Cervantes, :
—
Que puedo
ser poeta,
aunque soy paje.
Cargastes de poetas ignorantes, dejastesme a mi, que ver desco
Y
Del Parnaso
Que
las fuentes elegantes.
caducais sin duda alguna creo
Creo, no digo bien
Que
toco esta verdad,
Otro, que
De Sus
Me
mejer
:
al pareccr,
y que
la vco.
En
sc
lista
y oro
componia,
dijo bravo, cual^orrido tore
—No
—
de argcnteria,
nacar, de cristal, de perlas infinites versos
:
diria
:
yo para que nadie me puso con tan barbaro decoro.
'Journey to Parnassus.
M3'
up on end,
hair stood
in
259
homely phrase,
should meet some poet by the way those I did not know, or did not praise
Lest
I
Of Who, with a poignard, or with secret play Of some sharp dirk, might stab me from behind. And take my life without a moment's stay. Such meed of fame, sooth, fear Who have received so many
With
A
guileless soul
I
in
not to find.
my
day.
and with a grateful mind.
certain stiff-necked stripling stopped the
A
bard to trade, with dress that's
And stamps him Goth
Who "
;
all
way,
the rage,
a thousand leagues awa}'
said with all the pertness of his age
Hark'ee, Ser.or Cervantes,
v.^ell I
:
know
can a poet be, though I'm a page ; W^ith loads of witless poets didst thou go. I
And The I
me
left
out,
who
fain
would
see, I
vow.
dainty springs that in Parnassus flow
do believe thou Believe
!
I
art a dotard, thou
!
;
said not well, I'd better say,
" mark, and see it now Another there, whose verses made display I've hit the very
Of silver, Of pearls
!
mother-o'-pearl, and crystal too,
and gold,
in wildering array.
Like baited bull, came fiercely to my view " With gauds like these, can any tell me wh\' They gave me not a place among the crew ?" ;
;
26o
Viaje del Parnaso.
— Asi A
el discrete
Apolo
lo dispuso,
dos respondi, y en este hecho ignorancia 6 malicia no me acuso.
los
De
Fuime con
—
lleno de despecho
esto, y Busquc mi antigua y lobrega posada,
Y
arrojeme molido sobre el lecho ; Que cansa cuando es larga una Jornada.
FIN,
Journey So
cried he
"
and
;
to
to
both
261
Parnassus. I
gave reply
:
was the wise Apollo's wish," I said, "No malice, nay, nor ignorance had I " It
!
On
this,
And And
with smothered
to
my
flung
ire,
I
old and sombre
mc worn and
turned and
home
fled,
retired,
shattered on m}' bed
For when a journey's long one
FINIS.
feels so tired.
;
APPENDIX TO THE
"PARNASSU S."
ADJUNTA AL PARNASO. AlgunOS viaje, al
dias estuve reparandome de tan largo
cabo de
los ciiales sail a ver
a reccbir parabienes de mis amigos,
y a ser visto, y y malas vistas
de mis cnemigos ; que puesto que picnso que no tengo ninguno, todavia no me aseguro de la comun sucrte.
Sucedio pues que saliendo una maiiana del monasterio de Atocha, se Uego a mi un manccbo al parecer
de veinte y cuatro afios poco mas 6 menos, todo limpio, todo aseado y todo crujiendo gorgoranes, pero con un cuello tan grande y tan almidonado, que crei que para llevarle fueran menester los hombros de un Atlante. Hijos deste cuello eran dos puiios
chatos, que
comenzando de
las
muriecas, subian
y
brazo arriba, que parecia trepaban iban a las barbas. No he visto yo a dar asalto que hiedra tan codiciosa de subir desde el pie de la por las canillas del
muralla donde se arrima, hasta las almenas, como ahinco que Ikvaban estos punos
a
ir
el
a darse de
APPENDIX TO THE "PARNASSUS." Certain
days did
I
remain recruiting myself end of which I sallied
after so long a journey, at the
forth to see
from for
my
and
to be seen, to receive
friends
though
I
and
evil glances
good greetings
from
know common lot.
have none that
I
my
enemies ;
of,
I
do not
me exempt from the And so it happened that,
hold
going forth one morning from the monaster}' of Atocha,*! was accosted by a 3'outh of some four-and-twcnty summers, a few more or less
;
cleanly withal, and arrayed to the full in
garments of rustling silk, but with a ruff" so large, and so bestarched, that the shoulders of an Atlas
seemed needful
two
flat cuffs,
to bear
it.
To
match
this ruff
were
which, beginning with the wrists, went
creeping up the brachial bones, as
if
eager to assail
Never have I seen Ivy more ambitious of climbing up its supporting wall to the topmost battlements, than were these culTs in their eager
the whiskers.
266
Adjunta al Farnaso.
punadas con del
cuello
cscondia
}•
Finalmcrrtc, la exorbitancia
los codes.
y punos
era
sepultaba
el
que en el cucllo rostro, y en los punos
se
tal,
los
brazes.
Digo pucs que el tal mancebo se llcgo a mi, y con Es per vcntura voz grave y repesada me dijo i el sener merccd vuestra Miguel de Cervantes :
Saavedra,
que ha pocos dias que vino del Par-
el
naso?
A
csta pregunta crco sin
duda que perdi
la color
porque en un instante imagine y dije ^Si es estc alguno de los poetas que puse, 6 dejc de pener en mi Viaje, y viene ahora a darme el page que el se imagina se me debe ? del
rostro,
cntre mi:
Pero sacando fuerzas de flaqueza, **
I
Yo,
senor,
lo que se El lucgo en ojendo
que es
los echo al cuello, si *'
le
respond!
mesmo que vuestra merced me manda ? ''
so}- el
y
sin
dice
:
y me
esto, abrio los brazes,
duda me besara en
:
la frente,
grandeza del cuello no lo impidiera, y dijome Vuestra merced, senor Cervantes, me tenga por su la
:
servidor le SO}-
y per
muy
su amigo, porque
aficionado, asi
ha muchos dias que
por sus obras
come
por la
fama de su apacible condicion."
Oyendo
lo
cual
andaban alberetades,
respire,
y
los
se sesegaron;
yo tambicn con recato de no
espiritus
que
y abrazando
le
ajarle el cuello, le dije
:
to
Ap-pendix
come
desire to
to
the Parnassus.
with
fisticuffs
arms
the elbows.
and
short, the enormity of the ruff
that the face lay hid
and buried
267
cuffs
In
was such, and the
in the ruff,
in the cuffs.
As I was saying, this same youth accosted me, and said with grave and quiet voice " Is your :
worship, perchance, the Senor Miguel de Cervantes
who
arrived from Parnassus a few days ago
At
this inquiry
verily believe that
I
colour, for in a twinkling self
or refrained from
who comes now
*'
I,
to
;
pay me
am
the
my
off as
face lost
saying to my-
whom
I
put,
ycurney^ and he fancies I
from weakness,
same of
what would you with
hearing
this,
have kissed
my
hindered, and
whom me ? "
I
replied
your worship
my neck, and
would doubtless
brow, had not the bigness of his said
:
he straightway opened his arms
and threw them round
to
me me
Cervantes, esteem
Seiior
into
my
?
Senor,
On
putting,
c^atherino- strength
speaks
me
"
"
deserve
But
found
this be one of the poets
"Ma}-
:
I
?
:
*'
ruff
Let your worship, and
as your servant
have been these many days your admirer, both for 3-our works' sake, and the wellfriend
;
known
I
seeing
kindliness of your disposition.''
On hearing; this, I breathed spirits
revived
;
again, and
mv disturbed
and embracing him, with due respect
268 **
Adjunta al Parnaso.
Yo
virle
no conozco a vuestra merced ;
las
pero por
vuestra merced es
si
muy
discreto
no es para
me
muestras bicn se
trasluce
y may
sir-
que
principal
:
calidades que obligan a tener en veneracion a la
persona que las tiene."
Con
estas
pasamos otras
corteses
razones,
y
anduvieron por alto los ofrecimientos, y de lance en " Vuestra merced lance, me dijo sabra, senor :
Cervantes,
yo por
que
la
gracia de
poeta, 6 a lo mcnos deseo serlo,
Apolo soy mi nombre es y
Pancracio de Roncesvalles."
Miguel. "Nunca no
me lo hubiera Pancracio.
vuestra merced
?
Miguel.
*'
tal creyera, si
dicho por su *'
i
vuestra merced
mesma boca."
Pues por que no
lo
creyera
"
Porque los poetas por maravilla andan tan atildados como vuestra merced, y es la causa, que
como son de ingenio tan
montados, antes atienden a
altaneros
y
las cosas del espiritu,
re-
que
a las del cuerpo."
" Yo, seiior," dijo cl, soy mozo, soy rico y soy enamorado partes que deshacen en mi la flojedad *'
:
Por la mocedad tengo con riqueza, que mostrarle; y con el amor, con que no parecer descuidado." que
infunde
brio; con
"Las
la
poesia.
la
tres partes del
camino," ledije yo, "se tiene
vuestra merced andadas para Uegar a scr buen poeta."
Appendix
to
the Parnassus.
to the integrity of his ruff,
I
said to
him
:
16^ "I do not
humble servant ; your worship, save as your that you arc assured I am visible but from proofs
know
and distinguished
discreet,
very
me
constrain
:
qualities
respect the person
to
who
which
possesses
them."
On
this
and went
we exchanged
other courteous phrases,
to extremes in compliments, until, from one
thing to another,
he said
Cervantes, should
know
'' :
that
Your worship, Senor I,
by Apollo's grace,
a poet, or at least desire to be one, and Pancracio de Roncesvallcs."
am is
Miguel. " had you not
told
never
should
I it
me
with your
Pancracio. "Why, have believed
it ?
then,
my name
have believed
it,
own mouth." should
you
not
"
Miguel. " Because so finely
seldom or never do poets go arrayed as you do and the reason is, that, as is ever soaring aloft, they pay more heed ;
their genius
to the things of the spirit, than to those of the *'
I,
Senor," quoth he,
in love, qualities
"am
which undo
in
young,
me
body." and
rich,
the negligence
which poetry engenders. My youth gives me vigour, my wealth the means of displaying it, and my love saves me from all appearance of untidiness." " has " Your already gone worship," I replied, three parts of the way towards being a good poet."
Adjunta al Parnaso.
270
"
PanCRACIO. *' i Cuaks son? Miguel. " La de la riqueza y
la
del
amor.
Porque los partos de los ingcnios de la persona rica y enamorada son asombros de la avaricia, y estimulos de
y en
la liberalidad,
el
pocta pobre la mitad de sus
divinos partos y pensamientos se los llevan los cuida-
dos de buscar
ordinario sustento.
el
vuestra merced, por su vida
:
i
Pero digame
de que
suerte de
menestra poctica gasta 6 gusta mas ?" PancraciO, " No entiendo eso de menestra poctica."
Miguel. " pocsia es
Quiero decir, que a que gcncro de vuestra merced mas inclinado, al lirico, al
heroico, 6 al comico."
PANCRACIO. " A todos estilos me amano pero en el que mas me ocupo es en el comico." Miguel. *' Dcsa manera habra vuestra merced ;
compuesto algunas comedias."
PANCRACIO. "Muchas,
pero solo una se ha
representado.''
Miguel.
" ^
Parecio bicn
PANCRACIO. " Al
Miguel. "^
Y
" ?
vulgo no."
a los discretos !"
PANCRACIO. " Tampoco." Miguel. "^ La causa?" " La causa
PANCRACIO.
caron
que
era
larga
en
los
fuc,
que
la
acha-
ra::onamientos,
no
Appendix
to the
Parnassus.
PancraciO. ** What may these be ? " Miguel. "Those of riches and love; fruits
of the
271
for the
enamoured one's genius avarice
rich,
stunts not, but liberality quickens; while the half of
poor poet's divine fruits and fancies miscarry by reason of his anxious care to win his daily bread.
tlic
But tell me, do
for dear life,
3'ou relish
most
?
Pancracio. " by
what kind of
poetic pottage
" I
understand not what you mean
poetic pottage."
Miguel. " Ao you most comic
I
would say, what kind of poetry
affect,
the
lyric,
the heroic, or the
?
Pancracio. " I am apt at all styles, which engages me most is the comic."
Miguel. " Your some comedies ? Pancracio. "
ten
but that
worship, then, will have writ-
"
Many, but
only one of them has
been put upon the stage."
Miguel. "Was it well received?" Pancracio. " By the vulgar, no." Miguel. " And by the enlightened ? " Pancracio. '* As Uttlc." Miguel. " And the reason ? " Pancracio. "The reasonwas,that they blamed it
for
being long-winded
in its verses,
in its speeches, not too chaste
and altogether void of invention."
Adjunta al Parnaso.
272
muy
pura en
los versos,
y desmayada en
la in-
vencion."
" Tachas son
estas," respond! yo,
hacer parecer malas las del
*'Y mas,"
el,
dijo
mesmo
"
que pudieran
Plauto."
"que no pudicron
juzgalla,
porque no la dejaron acabar segun la gritaron. Con todo esto, la echo el autor para otro dia ; pero porfiar
que porfiar
:
cinco personas vinieron apcnas."
Crcame vuestra merced," dije yo, " que las comedias tienen dias, como algunas mujeres lier*'
y que esto de acertarlas bien, va tanto en comcdia he visto yo la Ventura, como en el ingenio apedreda en Madrid, que la han laureado en mosas
;
:
Toledo
:
y no por esta primer desgracia deje vuestra
merced de proscguir en componerlas ; que podra ser que cuando menos lo piense, acierte con alguna que dc crcdito y dineros." " De los dineros no hago caso," rcspondio cl ; " mas cuanto hay; porque es preciaria la fama, que
le
cosa de grandisimo gusto, y de no mcnos importancia ver salir mucha gente de la comedia, todos contentos,
y
estar el poeta
que
la
compuso a
la
puerta del
tcatro, recibiendo parabienes de todos."
*'Sus dcscuentos tienen esas akgrias," le dije yo,
"que
tal
vez suele ser
no hay quien alee el
la
comedia tan pesima, que mirar al poeta, ni aun
los ojos a
para cuatro calles del colisco,
ni
aun
los alzan los
Ap'pendix to the Parnassus.
"Blemishes these,"
I
replied,
"that would have
the comedies of Plautus himself!
damned
"And
all
273
the more," he rejoined,
"
" that they
left
themselves no means of judging it, for they hooted The it off the stage before it was half-finished.
manager reserved
it
for another
worse, for scarcely five persons
" Believe me,"
I
said to him,
their times as beautiful v.'omen
day but worse and came." :
*'
that comedies have
have
;
and chance, as
well as wit, plays a part in hitting these precisely. I
have seen a comedy pelted in Madrid, which was in Toledo. Let not your worship, then, be
crowned
discouraged by the
first failure,
for when you
but proceed to com-
dream of it you may pose others ; succeed with one which will bring you in both credit least
and coin."
*'Of the
"but fame it is
make no account," he replied, would prize, be it much or little. For
coin I
I
a thing of exquisite delight, and no less impor-
tance, to see crowds of people issuing from the comedy, all in fine
humour, and the poet who wrote
it
stand-
ing at the door of the theatre, receiving congratulations from
"Such "
aH around." pleasures have their drawbacks,"
I
said
sometimes the comedy may be so wretchedly bad, that no one will care to cast eyes on the poet, as he rushes headlong five streets' to him,
for
T
Adjunta al Parnaso.
274
avergonzados y corridos de haberse engafiado y escogidola por buena." la rccitaron,
que
*'
*'
I
Y
vuestra merced, scnor Cervantes," dijo
ha sido aficionado a
la caratula?
i
el,
ha compucsto
alguna comedia?" "Si," dijc yo
"muchas; y a no
:
parecicran dignas de alabanza, como
ser mias,
lo fueron
:
me Los
La Numancia^ La gran TurquescOy La Batalla Naval^ La 'Jerusalen^ La Amaranta o La del Mayo, el Bosque amoroso^ La TJnica y la Bt%arra Ars'inda^ y otras muchas de que no me acuerdo mas la que yo mas estimo, y de la que mas me precio, fue y es, de una llamada La Confusa^ la cual, con Traios de Argel^
;
paz sea dicho de cuantas comedias de capa y espada hasta hoy sc han representado, bicn puede tener lugar seiialado por
buena entre
PancraciO. " £ alo-unas?
Y
las mejores."
agora tiene vuestra merced
"
Miguel.
" Seis tengo con
otros
seis
entre-
mescs."
PANCRACIO, " I Pues sentan
?
Miguel. yo
les
*'
Porque
voy a buscar a
PANCRACIO. merced
por que
no se rcpre-
"
'*
ni los autores
me
buscan, ni
ellos."
No
deben de saber que vuestra
las tiene."
Miguel. " Sf
saben, pero
como
tienen sus poctas
Appendix
to the
Parnassus.
275
length from the building ; not even the players thereof, who stand blushing and mortified at their
deception in having accepted the play as good
" Has your worship, Senor Cervantes," "affected the pla3^wright's art?
" !
said he,
Have you com-
" posed any comedy
"Yes," I
mine,
said
I,
?
and, had they not been
"many;
should have held them worthy of praise, as
indeed they were
:
The Manners of Algiers, Nutnancia^
The grand Sultana^ The Naval Combat^ Jerusalem^ Amaranta or the May-flower^ The A7norous Grove,
The rare and matchless Arsinda, and many others that
have slipped from I most esteem,
which
my and
mxcmory. still
But
pride
that
myself
upon, was, and is one styled The Confused Lady, which, with peace be it spoken, may rank as good among the best of the comedies of the '
Cloak and
Sword,'
which
have
hitherto
been
represented."
Pancracio. " Has your worship on hand
at present an}-
" ?
Miguel. "
I
have
six,
and as many more
inter-
ludes."
Pancracio. " Why,
then, are they not being
acted? "
" Because neither do the managers seek me, nor do I go to seek them."
Miguel. come
to
Adjunta al Parnaso.
276
paniaguados, y les va bien con cllos, no buscan pan de trastrigo pero yo pienso darlas a la estampa, para que se vea de espacio lo que pasa apriesa, y se ;
disimula, 6 no se entiende cuando las reprcscntan;
comedias tienen sus sazones y tiempos, como
las
y los
cantares."
con
Aqui Uegabamos
nuestra
cuando
pldtica,
Pancracio puso la mano en el seno, y saco del una carta con su cubierta, y besandola, me la puso en la mano lei el sobrescrito, y vi que decia :
desta mancra
" las el
:
A Miguel de
Cervantes Saavedra, en
Huertas, frontero de
real,
digo diez
Escandalizome
medio
y
el
sicte
real, digo diez
porte,
de
solia vivir
porte
:
maravedis.
y de
sicte.
y
la calle
Al
Madrid."
principe de Marruecos, en
medio
donde
las casas
la declaraclon del
Y
volvicndosela le
dije:
" Estando yo en Valladolid llcvaron una carta a mi casa para mi, con un real de porte recebiola y pago :
porte una sobrina mia, que nuncaellale pagara; pero diome por disculpa, que muchas veces me habia oido el
decir que en tres cosas era bien gastado el dinero: en
dar limosna, en pagar
al
buen medico, y en
el
porte de
las cartas, ora scan de amigos, 6 de enemigos, que las
de
los
amigos avisan,y de
tomar algun
las
de los enemigos se puede
indicio de sus pensamientos.
Dicronmela,
Appendix "
PaNCRACIO. have them
?
their
Hapl}' they
know
277
not that you
"
Miguel. " have
Parnassus.
to the
know
Yes, they
own household
poets,
it
but as they
;
who
bring grist to
I the mill, they do not seek finer corn than the finest. the them to have thoughts, however, of giving press,
that people
what passes
sec at their leisure
may
hurriedly, inaccurately, and often unintelligibly when And comedies have their times acted on the stage.
and seasons
We
as popular songs
had reached
this point
have." of our dialogue, when
Pancracio thrust his hand into his bosom, and drew therefrom a letter with
envelope, and kissing
its
he placed it in my hands. and found it to run thus
I
it,
read the superscription
:
"
To
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra,
a real, I **
I
Madrid."
boggled at the postage, and I
:
" While to
niece of
I
was
my
its
Mohalf
imposition of
mean, seventeen maravedis."
returning the letter to him,
A
For postage
mean, seventeen maravedis.
half a real,
brought
Orchard
where the Prince of
Street, fronting the house
rocco used to live, in
in
I
said
living in Valladolid a letter
house for me, with a real
mine received
it
So,
:
was
for postage.
and paid the postage,
have paid. But she tendered as excuse, that she had often heard me say
which she never ought to
Adjunta al Farnaso.
278
un soneto malo, desmayado, sin garbo ni agudeza alguna, diciendo mal del Don ^ijote ; y de
y venia en
ella
que me peso fuc del real, y propuse desde entonces de no tomar carta con porte asi que, si vuestra merced le
lo
:
quiere llevar dcsta, bien se la pucde volver, que
yo
me puede importar tanto como el medio real que se me pidc." Riose muy de gana el senor Roncesvalles, y " dijome Aunque soy poeta, no soy tan misero que me aficionen diez y siete maravedis. Advierta
sc
que no
:
vuestra merced, senor Cervantes, que esta carta por lo
mcnos
mesmo Apolo
es del
viente dias en
cl
Parnaso, y
vuestra merced la diese
que
le
lo
yo
;
me al
escribio
la dio
no ha
para que a
vuestra merced la lea, que
ha de dar gusto." que vuestra merced me manda," respond! " pero quiero que antes de leerla, vuestra merced le haga de decirme, como, cuando, y a que fue
se
"Hare
yo
:
el la
:
me
Parnaso."
Y
el
respondio
:
" Como
fragata que yo y
Barcelona
;
batalla que
a
cuando se
que poetas ; obligarme a ello
A buen
otros fui,
fu?,
diez
fui,
poetas
y en una
fletamos
en
fue seis dias dcspues de la
dio entre los fue
fuc por mar,
buenos y en
a hallarme
la profesion
los
malos
ella,
por
mia."
*' seguro," dije yo, que fucron vuestras mercedes bien recebidos del seiior Apolo." *'
that
money was
Parnassus.
to the
Appendix
279
well spent in doing three things in a good doctor, and in paying :
in feeing
giving alms, the postage of letters, v/hether from friends or enemies for those of friends give
of enemies
some
afford
may
clue to their designs.
opened the missive, and there dropped from Sonnet
pithless, graceless, pointless
Don
Quixote.'
was
the matter of the real, and
*
the soul
after this
So
if
I
me
in
your worship means
the letter back, for it is
it
in dispraise
I
no
letter
to exact
I
I
a bad,
But what weighed most on
would take
;
goodly counsel, while those
of
my
resolved that
bearing postage. you may take
it,
have strong suspicion that " you ask for it
not worth the half real
to
!
Whereupon Senor Roncesvallcs laughed heartily, and said to me " Albeit I am a poet, I am not so :
badly
about seventeen maravcdis.
off as to higgle
Your worship, Senor Cervantes, must understand that this letter
is
Apollo himself
from no
He
twenty days ago, and gave
Read
for well I
less
wrote it
it
a in
mc
personage than Parnassus not to give to you.
know
it will give you pleasure." " what your worship requests, but, befoie reading it, would you inform me how, " when, and wherefore you went to Parnassus ? " How I went, was by Sea, To which he replied and in a frigate chartered by me, and ten other poets.
"
I
it,
will
do," said
I,
:
In Barcelona
;
when
I
went, was six days after the
28o
Adjunta al Parnaso.
PancraciO. "Si
fuimos, aunque le hallamos
occupado a cl, y a las senoras Pierides, arando y sembrando de sal todo aquel termino del campo dondc sc dio la batalla. Prcguntele para que se hacia aquello, y respondiomc, que asi como dc los
muy
dientes de la
serpiente de
Cadmo
habian nacido
hombres armados, y de cada cabeza cortada de la hidra que mato Hercules habian renacido otras siete, la sangre de la cabeza de Medusa de serpientes toda la Libia ; de la mesma manera de la sangre podrida de los malos poetas que en aquel sitio habian sido muertos, comenzaban a nacer del tamaiio de ratones otros
3^
de las gotas de
se habia llenado
poctillas rateros,
que llevaban camino de henchir toda
mala simiente, y que por esto araba aquel lugar, y se scmbraba de sal, como la tierra de aquella
se si
fuera casa de traidores."
En oyendo decia
:
esto,
abri luego la carta,
y
vi
que
to the
Appendix
waged between
battle
went, was
wherefore
I
on me by
my
"Then
1
good and bad poets
;
to fulfil the
obligation imposed
profession."
b}'
We were
and the
18
of a surety," said
well received
"
the
Parnassus.
I,
lord Apollo
my
indeed
:
"your worship was "
?
though we found
ladies Pierides, very
his lordship,
much busied
in
plough-
ing and sowing with salt that portion of the field where the battle took place. I asked him why he
was doing
this,
and he answered, that just as from
Cadmus there sprung up armed men, and from each severed head of the the teeth of the dragon of
by Hercules seven others were produced, and from the blood-clots of Medusa's head the whole of Lybia became peopled with serpents ;
Hydra
slain
so in like
manner from the putrid blood of the bad field, a whole crop
poets, done to death on that
of
little
peer
poets,
forth,
so
small that
as
the
mice, began already to whole country-side was
threatened with the plague of that evil seed. For this reason, he said, he was the ploughing up spot, and
sowing
On found
it
with
healing its
salt, as if it
this
I
were a house of
traitors
" !
forthwith opened the letter, and
contents to be these
:
2b 2
Adjunta al Farnaso.
APOLO DELFICO A MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA. SALUD.
El senor Pancracio de Roncesvalles,llcvador desta, dira a vuestra mcrced, senor
Miguel de Cervantes,
en que me hallo ocupado el dia que llego a verme con sus amigos, yo digo, que estoy muy quejosa
Y
de
la descortesia
que conmigo
se
us6 en
partirse
vuestra merccd deste monte sin dcspedirse de mi, ni
de mis
hijas, sabiendo
Musas por disculpa que
el
le
cuanto
consiguicnte
Uevo
el
;
le
la acepto,
si
se
me da
por
dcseo de ver a su Mecenas
gran conde de Lemos, en las
Napoles, yo
soy aficionado, y las
pero
y
le
fiestas
el
famosas de
perdono.
Despues que vuestra merced partio deste lugar,
me han
sucedido muchas desgracias, y
me he
visto
en grandes aprietos, especialmente por consumir y acabar los poctas que iban naciendo de la sangred e
malos que aqui murieron, aunque ya, gracias al cielo y a mi industria, este daiio esta remediado.
los
Appndix
to the
Parnassus.
283
APOLLO DELPHICUS TO MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA. HEALTH.
Senor Pancracio de Roncesvalks, the bearer of your worship, Seiior Miguel de Cervantes, how he found me employed on that day when he came with his friends to visit me. Let me say, this, will tell
that I am greatl}^ vexed by the discourtesy with which you treated me, when you left this mount without taking leave of me and my daughters ;
knowing how much I, and the Muses of course, are But if you tender as excuse, that
attached to you.
you were borne away by the desire of visiting your Maecenas, the great Count de Lemos, during the famous
feasts of
Naples,
Since your worship
I
it
and pardon you.
place
many unpleasant me in
accept
left this
things have befallen me, and
I
have found
great straits, especially in putting a final end to the poets,
who kept
sprouting up from the blood of the
bad ones who died here
;
though, thanks to
Heaven
and mine own good husbandry, that damage has been remedied.
Adjunta al Parnaso.
284
No
se si del ruido de la batalla, 6 del
arrojo de
si
contraries,
me
que verdaderamente acierto a escribir cosa
cho
empapada en
vapor que
sangre de los han dado unos vaguidos de cabeza,
la tierra,
me
tiencn
la
como
tonto,
y no
que sea de gusto ni de prove-
vuestra merced viere por alia que algunos poetas, aunque sean de los mas famosos, escriben y :
asi, si
componen impertinencias y cosas de poco los culpe, ni los
con de
ellos
:
fruto,
no
tenga en mcnos, sino que disimule el padre y el inventor no es mucho mentecato, y parezco
que pues yo, que soy
la poesia, deliro
que lo parezcan eilos. Envio a vuestra merced unos
privilegios, orde-
nanzas y advertimientos, tocantes a los poetas vuestra merced los haga guardar y cumplir al pie de :
que para todo ello doy a vuestra merced mi poder cumplido cuanto de derccho se rcquicre. Entre los poetas que aqui vinieron con el seiior Pancracio de Roncesvalles, se quejaron algunos de la letra,
que no iban en Espaiia,
y que
en su Viaje.
la lista asi
Yo
que Mercurio llevo a
;
que
la culpa era mia,
pero que
que procurasen
sus obras, que ellas por
si
claro renombre, sin andar
banzas.
los
les dije,
no de vuestra merced daiio estaba en
de
vuestra merced no los habia puesto
el
y
remedio dcste famosos por darian fama y
ellos ser
mismas
les
mendigando ajenas
ala-
Appendix
Parnassus.
to the
Whether caused by
din
the
285
oi battle
the
or
steaming vapours from the earth soaked with the blood of the slain, I know not, but I feel certain
swimmings of the head, which hold me unable
to
write
one
as
either
for anything find over there So, if you should pleasure or profit. that certain poets (be the}' even of the most famous)
distraught,
writing or composing needless things to
are
little
purpose, do not blame them or esteem them less,
but bear with them
for if
;
I,
who am
the father and
inventor of poesy, seem to be lightheaded,
wonder that they
also should
seem
is
no
send 3'our worship certain privileges, decrees,
I
and warnings, appertaining to the poets. to see that they observe and fulfil them
and
it
so.
for this
purpose
I
invest
Be pleased to the letter;
you with plenary powers
to take all lawful measures.
Of the poets who came hither with
Senor Pancracio
de Ronccsvailcs, certain complained that they were not found in the list of those which Mercury carried
and were therefore not inserted by you in your 'Journey. I told them that the fault was mine and not yours ; but that the remedy for this to Spain,
wrong lay
seeking to become famous through that these of themselves would give
in their
their
works
them
fame
;
and
clear
renown,
about to beg praise from others.
without
gadding
286
Adjunta al Parnaso.
De mano
en mano,
si
sc ofrecicre ocasion
de men-
sajcro, ire enviando mas privilcgios, y avisando de lo que en este montc pasare. Vuestra merced haga
mesmo, avisandome de
lo
los
su salud
y de
la
de todos
amigos.
Al famoso Vicente Espinel dara vuestra merced mis encomiendas, como a uno de los mas antiguos y verdaderos amigos que yo tengo. Si D. Francisco de Qucvedo no hubiere partido para venir a Sicilia, donde le esperan, toquele vuestra
merced
mano, y digale que no deje de llegar a verme, pues estarcmos tan cerca ; que cuando aqui la
vino, por la subita partida no tuve lugar de hablarle.
Si vuestra merced encontrare por alia algun trans-
fuga de los veinte que se pasaron al bando contrario, no les diga nada, ni los aflija, que harta mala vcntura
como demonios, que se llevan la pena ellos mesmos do quiera que vayan. con y Vuestra merced tenga cuenta con su salud, y mire tienen, pues son la confusion
por
SI,
y guardese de mi, especialmente en
culares, que aunque no va en mi mano,
le
ni
los cani-
en tales dias
soy amigo, miro en obligacioncs, ni en
amistades.
Al
seiior
Pancracio de Roncesvalles tengale vuestra
merced por amigo, y comuniquelo: y pues es rico,no se le dc nada que sea mal poeta. con cstonuestro
Y
Sefior guarde a vuestra
merced como puede y yo deseo.
to the
Appendix
Parnassus.
iSj
should find a handy messenger, I shall go on from time to more time, sending you, If
I
privileges,
and apprise you of all that takes place on this hill. Let your worship do the same, giving me tidings of your health, and that of
Give
my
Espinel, as friends
I
my
all
warmest regards to
one
friends.
to the
famous Vicente
of the oldest and
staunchcst
have.
D. Francisco dc Quevedo hath not left for Sicily, where they await him, seize him by the hand, and tell him he must not fail to visit me in a If
neighbourly way; for his late sudden departure gave me no time to talk with him. If your worship should meet with
the twenty
who went
to them, nor
any deserters of
over to the enemy, say nothing
vex them,
for
hard enough
seeing they are like unto demons,
who
is
their fate,
bear pain and
punishment in their bosoms, wherever they go. Let your worship take heed to your health, and look to yourself, and beware of me, especially during the dog-days
days
I
am
;
for
though
I
be your friend, on such
not master of myself, and regard neither
duties nor friendships.
Hold friend,
Sefior
Pancracio dc Roncesvalles as 3'our in him ; and, since he is rich, let it
and confide
not concern him that he
is
a poor poet.
And so may
our Lord guard your worship as he can, and as
I
desire.
288
Adjunta al Parnaso,
Del Parnaso a 22 de
julio, el dia
que
me
calzo
las espuelas para subirmc sobre la Canicula, 16 14.
Servidor de vuestra merced,
Apolo Lucido. En
acabando
venia escrito
la carta, vi
que en un papel aparte
:
PRIVILEGIOS, CIAS,
ORDENANZAS Y ADVERTEN-
QUE APOLO ENVIA A LOS POETAS ESPANOLES.
Es
el
primero, que algunos poctas scan conocidos
tanto por
fama de
el
dcsalino de sus personas,
como por
la
sus versos.
Item, que
si
algun pocta dijcre que cs pobre, sea
luego creido por su simple palabra, sin otro jura-
mento 6 averiguacion alguna. Ordcnase, que todo poeta sea de blanda y de suave condicion, y que no mire en puntos, aunque los traiga sueltos en sus medias.
Item, que si algun pocta llegare a casa de algun su amigo 6 conocido, y estuviere comiendo y le convidare, que le
crea
en
aunque
cl
ninguna
jure que ya ha comido, no se
manera,
sino
que
le
hagan
Ap-pendix to the Parnassus.
From when
I
Parnassus, this 2 2nd
buckled on
my
spurs to
of July,
mount
289 the
day
the Dog-star,
1614.
Your
worship's obedient Servant,
Apollo Lucidus. On
finishing the letter
sheet, writing to this effect
I
found, on a separate
:
PRIVILEGES, DECREES,
AND WARNINGS,
WHICH APOLLO SENDS TO THE SPANISH POETS.
The
any poets may be known, as well by the untidiness of their persons, as by the fame first
is,
that
of their verses. Item, that
if
any poet should affirm that he
is
poor,
he shall forthwith be believed on his simple word, without other oath or affidavit whatsoever. It is
decreed, that every poet be of a mild and
genial disposition, and stand not on points, albeit he
may go
with holes
in his
stockings.
any poet should arrive at the house of a friend or acquaintance, and find him at dinner and be invited to eat, though he should swear that Item, that
if
he has alread}' dined, he shall
U
in
nowise be believed,
Adjunta al Tarnaso.
290
comer por fuerza, que en
tal caso
no se
k
hara
muy
grande. Item, que sea de los
el
mas pobre poeta
mundo, como no
Adanesy Matusalenes, pueda
cnamorado, aunque no
dama como mas
su
del
lo
dccir
que
es
y poner el nombre a a cucnto, ora llaman-
estc,
le viniere
dola Amarili, ora Anarda, ora Clori, ora Filis, ora
FiHda, 6 ya Juana Tellez, 6 como mas gustare, sin que desto se le pueda pedir ni pida razon alguna. Item, se ordena que todo poeta, de cualquier calidad
y condicion que
sea,
sea tenido
le
y
tengan por
hijodalgo, en razon del generoso ejercicio en que se
ocupa, como son tenidos por cristianos
viejos
los
ninos que llaman de la piedra.
Item, se advierte que ningun poeta sea osado de es-
en alabanzas de principes y scnores, por mi intencion y advertida voluntad, que la lisonja la adulucion no atraviesen los umbrales de mi casa.
cribir versos
ser ni
Item,
que todo
poeta
comico, que
felizmente
hubiere sacado a luz tres comedias, pueda entrar sin
pagar en la
los teatros, si
ya no fuere
segunda pucrta, y aun esta
si
la
limosna de
pudiese
ser,
la
excuse.
Item, se advierte que
algun poeta quisicre dar a la cstampa algun libro que cl hubiere compuesto, no se de a entender que por dirigirle a algun mcnarca, el
tal
libro
ha de
si
ser estimado,
porque
si cl
no
es
Appendix
to the
Parnassus.
down by
but be made to
sit
no great amount
will
29
1
force, for in such case
be needed.
Item, that the poorest poet in the world, provided he be not one of the Adams or Methusalems, may declare himself enamoured, though he be not so, and
ma}' give such his
fancy,
name
calling
to his mistress as shall best suit
her
Amaryllis, or Anarda,
Chloris, or Phyllis, or Filida, or even
Joan Tellez,
or at
own
pleasure, without reason given or required. Item, it is decreed, that every poet, of whatsoever
his
quality or condition, '*
an
may be and
should be esteemed
Hidalgo," b}' virtue of the gentle profession he
follows
;
just as children,
—
so-called of the gutter,
—
are held to be sound old Christians.
Item, warning
is
given, that no poet shall dare to
write verses in praise of princes and lords, since
my
it is
declared will and intention that neither wiles nor
flattery shall pass the threshold
Item, that every comic poet,
of
my
house.
who
has brought out three successful comedies, shall have the entry of the theatres without payment, unless for the
poor at the second door,
it
be the pittance
and even
this, if
need
be, shall be excused him.
given, that if any poet shall go he may have composed, he is work any presume that, by dedicating it to some
Item, warning to press with in
no wise
to
is
monarch, said book must needs be applauded,
for,
Adjunta al Parnaso.
292 bueno, no al prior
le
adobara
la direccion,
aunque sea hccha
de Guadalupe.
Item, se advierte que todo poeta no se desprecie de
que lo es ; que si fuere bueno, sera digno de alabanza ; y si malo, no faltara quien lo alabe; que cuando nace la escoba, etc. decir
Item, que todo buen poeta pueda disponer de mi de lo que hay en el cielo a su beneplacito conviene y a saber, que los rayos de mi cabellcra los pueda :
trasladar
y
aplicar a los cabellos de su
dama, y hacer
dos soles sus ojos, que conmigo seran
andara
el
mundo mas alumbrado
y de
;
tres,
y
asi
las cstrellas,
de
servirse
modo, que y planetas puede cuando menos lo piensc, la tenga hecha una esfera
signos
celeste.
Item, que todo poeta a quien sus versos le hubieren dado a entender que lo cs, se estime y tenga en
mucho, atenicndose a aqucl refran
Ruin
:
sea
el
que
por ruin se tiene. Item, se ordena que ningun poeta grave haga en lugares publicos, recitando sus versos; que
corrillo
los
de
que son buenos, en las aulas de Atenas recitar, que no en las plazas.
Item, se da aviso particular que tuviere hijos pequenuelos, traviesos
pueda amenazar y espantar con Guardaos, ninos, que viene
el
el
si
y
se
habian
alguna madre lloroncs,
los
coco, dicicndoles
:
poeta fulana, que os
to the
Appendix
Parnassus.
293
be not good, no dedication will better it, even though it be addressed to the Prior of Guadalupe. if
it
Item, warning to
avow
his title
is ;
given, that no poet shall disdain for, if
he be a good poet, he
is
worthy of praise, and, if a bad one, he will not lack admirers ; for *' with the thistle grows the ass," ^c. Item, that every good poet
and of
all
He may, transfer
that
is
them
dream of
it,
dispose of me,
beams of
own
my
pleasure.
locks,
to the tresses of his mistress
;
he
and
may
her eyes, which, with me, will
world be flooded with
shall the
In like manner
stars, signs,
may
heaven, at his
forsooth, take the
make two suns of make three, and so light.
in
may
he avail himself of the
and planets, and fashion thereof, ere he a whole celestial globe.
Item, that
every
poet,
whose verses give him
reason to think himself such,
may
hold himself in
the old adage
high respect, remembering he who holds himself in low esteem."
" :
Low
is
Item, it is decreed, that no grave poet shall form a circle in public places, reciting therein his verses ; for those which are good should be declaimed in the halls of
Item,
Athens, and not be
it
known
mother have small,
in the city squares. in
particular,
that
if
any
fidgetty, squalling children, she
may frighten them with the bogie in these terms " Take heed, boys, for Mr. poet So-and-so is coming :
Adjunta al Parnaso.
294
echara con sus malos versos en la sima de Cabra, 6 en el pozo Airon. Item, que los dias de ayuno no se entienda que
ha quebrantado ha comido las unas los
el
al
poeta que aquella mafiana se hacer de sus versos.
Item, se ordena que todo poeta que diere en ser espadachin, valenton y arrojado, por aquella parte de la valentia se le desagiie
y vaya
la
fama que podia
alcanzar por sus buenos versos. se
Item,
adviertc que
no ha de
ser tenido por
poeta que hurtare algun verso ajeno, y le encajare entre los suyos, como no sea todo el conccpto y toda la copla entera, que en tal caso tan
ladron
el
ladron es como Caco. Item, que todo buen poeta, aunque no haya com-
puesto
poema
heroico, ni sacado al teatro del
mundo
obras grandes, con cualesquiera, aunque scan pocas, pueda alcanzar renombre de divino, como le alcan-
zaron Garcilaso de la Vega, Francisco de Figueroa, el Capitan Francisco de Aldana y Hernando de Hcrrera. Item, se da aviso que
si
algun poeta fuere favore-
cido de algun principe, ni le visite a
menudo,
ni le
pida nada, sino dcjese llevar de la corriente de su el que tiene providencia de sustentar de la tierra y los gusarapos del agua, la sabandijas tendra de alimentar a un poeta, por sabandija que sea.
Ventura las
;
que
to
drop you, with
or Airon's well
his
bad
verses, into Cabra's cavern,
!
that a poet hath broken
may have chewed
it,
it
shall not be
presumed
because that morning he
his nails in
making
decreed, that every poet,
it is
295
"
Item, that on a Fast-day
Item,
Parnassus,
to the
Appendix
his verses.
who
sets
him-
swashbuckler, bully, and dare-devil, up for that shall, display of valour, be clean emptied of self
as a
the fame he
may have
gained by his good verses.
known to all, that no poet is to be held as a purloiner, who shall take the verse of some one else and insert it amongst his own provided it be Item, be
it
;
not the whole idea or the entire stanza, in which case
he must be branded as a very Cacus. Item, that every good poet, though he
may
not
have composed a heroic poem or given great works to the world's stage, may with any works, however small, achieve the distinction of
"divine;"
in like
as it was gained by Garcilaso de la Vega, Francisco de Figueroa, Captain Francisco de Aldana, and Hernando de Herrcra.
manner
Item, warning
is
of any prince, he
dun him
given, that if any poet be favoured
is
not to weary him with visits, nor but let himself be borne on
for anything,
the current of his luck
worms of
the earth
;
for
he
and the small
be mindful of a poet,
who
caters for the
fry of the sea, will
worm though
he be.
296
Adjunta al Parnaso.
En
suma, estos fucron los privilegios, advertencias y ordenanzas que Apolo me envio, y el senor Pan-
me trujo, con quien quede en dos quedamos de concierto de
cracio de Roncesvalles
mucha amistad, y
los
despachar un propio con la respuesta al senor Apolo, con las nuevas desta corte. Darase noticia del dia,
para que todos sus aficionados
le escriban.
FIN DE LA ADJUNTA.
Appendix Such,
in brief,
to the
Parnassus.
i^'j
were the privileges, warnings, and me by the hand of Senor
decrees which Apollo sent
Pancracio de Roncesvalles. friends
;
and are minded
He
and
I
are
town.
Due
firm
to dispatch a familiar to
lord Apollo, bearing our answer, with the
now
the
my
news of
notice will be given of the day,
so that all his devoted friends
may
write to him.
END OF THE APPENDIX.
LETTER OF CERVANTES TO
MATEO VAZQUEZ. WRITTEN DURING THE SECOND YEAR OF CAPTIVITY IN ALGIERS. 1575-80.
HIS
'Twas
in the fight
when
that
famed bolt of war,
The
Austrian Eagle's son that scorned to Plucked from the Asian King, of luckless
yield, star,
—
Bright leaves of laurel on the billowy field 'Twas then that envious fate, with cruel stroke,
Struck
down Cervantes and bemaimed
his
hand
;
When lo his genius in its strength awoke, And changed dull lead to purest diamond, !
Chaunting such sweet,
As
refined, sonorous verse,
after ages will for aye rehearse
;
For men will tell how one hand, maimed Could give its master an immortal life
in strife,
!
Lope de Vega, Laurel de Apolo. 1630.
PREFATORY NOTE. This remarkable
letter
of Cervantes, addressed to
Mateo Vazquez de Leca Colona, Secretary to Philip
now
II., after the downfall of
of State
Antonio Perez,
is
time presented to English readers in a transcript of the antique text, with entirety, and a literal version in the metre of the original. It for the first
its
was discovered 1863,
among
at
Madrid
in the
beginning of April,
the archives of the Count of Altamira,
by the distinguished academician, D. Tomas Muiioz y Romero, through an official of the household, D. It was found amongst Luis Buitrago y Peribaiiez. labelled " Divers Matters of a bundle of papers,
Curiosity," which also contained an autograph
MS.
Such of Lope de Vega's Comedy, Los Benavides. of this letter the interest did discovery wide-spread excite, that
it
was submitted
for critical inspection to
Hartzenbusch, Director of the Royal Library of Madrid, who, convinced of its authenticity, pubSeiior
Prefatory Note.
302 lished
it
for the first
time in the ninth number of the
"Boletin Bibliografico Espanol " afterwards appended
it
1863.
He
vohime of
his
for
to the fourth
" Don Quixote," charming bijou edition of the (Argamasilla, 4 vols., 1863); and it was finally inserted in Rivadeneyra's magnificent edition of the collected
works of Cervantes (Madrid, 12 " as a relic of the of
vols.,
1863-4), prince Spanish genuine wits." The letter consists of eighty tercets and a
The
quatrain.
last sixty-seven lines, containing the
impassioned appeal to Philip almost verbatim in the first
Comedy, El Trato
are to be found
Act of Cervantes'
de Argel.
Although addressed it
II.,
to Philip's Secretary
of State,
does not seem to have been laid before the
himself,
and instead of being consigned
of Simancas,
it
found
its
way
King
to the archives
into those of the house
of Altamira, with which noble family Mateo Vazquez was connected by marriage. When the library of the family
was dispersed
a
few years ago, a vast
number of Vazquez's State papers and correspondence were ruthlessly disposed of
for the price
paper (nine reals the arroba!).
A
of waste
portion of these
was eventually purchased by the British Museum, but the famous letter is, unfortunately, not among the number. of the
It is at
Duke
present,
of Bacna.
we believe,
in the possession
Prefatory Note.
Such
is
303
a short account of the history of this
which forms a worthy pendant to Parnaso," both from a literary and
interesting epistle,
the
*'
Viaje del
biographical point of view.
It is
the
first
noted
poem
of Cervantes, of any great length, that has come down to us. Though he himself tells us,
From
earliest years I loved
The winsome
art
with passion rare
of Poesy the gay,
yet none of his youthful compositions have survived,
save a few mediocre sonnets and redondillas contributed, curious
when he was twenty-two years of age, to the work of his Master in Arts, Juan Lopez de
" Death and Hoyos, on the Obsequies of Queen Isabella of Valois."
a
mysterious
pastoral
To
poem
He also
gives us in the "\'iaje" of the composition of a in the heyday of his youth
intimation
rival Phyllis
:
my
Phylena gay
Hath carolled through the woods, whose Gave forth the sound of many a merry lay.
But poor Phylena seems woods,
for
to
have
she has never been
leafy land
lost herself in the
seen nor heard of
During his lengthened stay in Italy as a he was a passionate student of the masters of Italian poetr}^, notably of Ariosto, but his own since.
soldier,
poetic genius lay unproductive. say,
was
the cradle of his
of his character.
muse
Even amid
Algiers, strange to as
it
was the mould
the terrible sufferino-s
Prefatory Note.
304
of their slavery, the Spanish captives were in the habit, when occasion offered, of giving dramatic representations,
wherein they recited their national
romances, and danced
their national dances, to
alive the flame of their patriotism.
the
life
and soul of this movement.
keep
Cervantes was In his
Comedy,
Los Banos de Jrgely he gives a mirthful account of the acting of one of Lope de Rueda's quaint colloquies in the country dialect, under like circumstances. "numberless romances" which he tells us he
Of the
composed written to sufferers.
called lupey
in
his
And
most,
lifetime,
amuse and
stir
up
perhaps too that simple
little
drama
The Comedy of the Sovereign Virgin of Guada7niracles, which is now generally attri-
and her
buted to Cervantes, was written by him prison-theatre of Algiers. is
were
doubtless,
his despairing fellow-
But
for
the
his poetical epistle
the finest product of his captive pen.
It
" from out the pathos, a very cry depths."
is full
of
Never
were the melody and power of the terza rima used by Cervantes with more skill or to nobler purpose. The insinuating, yet delicate and ingenuous flattery
with which he seeks to gain the ear of the the matchless vigour of expression ;
royal favourite
with which he goes on to recount the horrors and triumphs of Lepanto, the capture of the galley Sol,
and the intolerable barbarities endured by himself
Prefatory Note. and fcllow-captivcs tone, like
King
crown
to
;
all,
305 the clear ringing
trumpet-call, with which he
a
Philip
come
to
to
the
rescue
summons
of 20,000
Spanish Christians, and attach Algiers to the Spanish crown ; all these combined give a thrilling interest to this unique letter.
The effort
appeal was remains with
might bury the
encomiums of
fruitless,
but the honour of the
Cervantes.
Mateo Vazquez
letter in his portfolio,
and
belie the
noble description
former admirer, but Cervantes' of the "Perfect Statesman " is
worthy of perusal
for itself alone.
remain deaf
his
to the appeal,
Philip, too, might
and waste
his
strength in substance in raising up that of ostentation the Escurial ; but there
petty wars, and
monument
still
his
were some even of
his
contemporaries bold enough to had the one-handed captive been duly say, seconded, Christendom might have been avenacd, and Spain enriched with a new For that
province.
Cervantes was not a
man
of mere words.
He
had
the courage to dare great things as well as the spirit to plan them. In after life he was accustomed to
speak with special pride of the part he played, and the wounds he received in the great combat of
Lepanto ; but his countrymen may be prouder still of the bearing he showed during the five years of his sore captivity. The indomitable daring of the man,
X
Prefatory Note.
306
the steadfast purity of his
life,
the self-sacrificing
generosity he lavished on his comrades, and withal, the inborn gaiety that enabled him to bear all and
dare
all
with a gallant heart
;
these combined acted
magic spell over friends and oppressors, and clearly marked him out as one born to be a leader of
like a
men.
But
neither in the State nor in literature
was such
a leadership ever vouchsafed him during his lifetime.
And
as he himself naively tells us, the sole outcome of those five years of cruel suffering, and fruitless
daring was, that he was thereby enabled during his whole career to reduce to perfect practice the hardest to bear poverty and neglect with of all lessons, viz. :
He might also have
added that the manly independence of thought and action, which pervaded his writings as it did his life, was due in no small
patience.
measure
to
the stern schooling of his slavery in
Algieis,
This idea
is gracefully wrought out in one of the sonnets prefixed to Cervantes' Galatea^ laudatory published in 1 584, four years after his return from
The
captivity.
writer
was a
friend
and fellow-
townsman of his own, author of the Pastor de which received honourable mention
Don
Quixote's library. Although a it has a laudatory sonnet," greater ring of truth-
scrutiny
"
Fil'ida,
in the celebrated
of
Prefatory Note. fulness
and
sincerity than
tribe.
It is
thus entitled
LUIS
belonged
307 to
most of the
:
GALVEZ DE MONTALVO TO CERVANTES.
What
And
time the
Moormen
held tliy
body chained.
pressed thy captive neck beneath their
feet,
Whereas thy soul, with rigour more complete Bound fast to Faith, a higher freedom gained. All heaven rejoiced
;
but this our land remained
Without thee widowed, and the royal seat Bewailed the absence of our Muses sweet,
While
in its halls a cheerless silence reigned
But now thou bringest
j
to our country dear
An
unchained body, and a healthy mind, Freed from the trammels of a savage host, Heaven draws the veil that hid thy merit clear
The
land receives thee with a welcome kind,
And
Spain regains the Muses she had
;
lost. J.
Y. G.
DE MIGUEL DE CERUANTE, CAPTIUO A M. VAZQUEZ, MI Si el
baxo son de
la
SR.
^ampona mia,
Senor, a vro. oydo no hay llegado En ticmpo que sonar mcjor deuia,
No
de cuydado, Sino por sobra del que me ha traydo Por cstraiios caminos desuiado.
ha sido por
la falta
Tambicn por no adquirirme de El nombre odioso,
A
la
attreuido
cansada
mano
encubicrto las faltas del sentido.
Mas ya que el valor vio De quien tiene noticia La
humano
sobre
todo
el suclo,
graciosa altivez, el trato llano
Anichilan
Que
el
miedo y
el recelo,
ha tenido hasta aqui mi humilde pluma,
De no quereros descubrir su buelo. De vra. alta bondad y virtud summa menos, que lo mas, no siento Quien de cerrarlo en verso se presuma. Dire
lo
FROM MIGUEL DE CERVANTES, CAPTIVE TO MY LORD, M. VAZQUEZ. low piping of
If the
Hath
time
was not
But
homely reed
failed, Senor, to strike
What It
my
its
that
:
upon your
ear,
notes were sweeter far indeed.
my
wish was dull and
sere.
that the stress of cares hath urged
my
flight
Through strange and devMous paths this many a year;
And haply too, lest I should merit quite The intruder's hateful name, my faltering hand Declined to cypher what I fain would write. But now that I, with all the wondering land.
Your more than human merit reco£:nize. That gracious dignity, these manners bland Bid me throw
Which
To
off the tremor
suffered not
my
and disguise.
pen, in other time.
humble
wing flight before your eyes. Your sovereign goodness, and your virtue prime I can but glance at, for 'twere vain, I know.
To
its
seek to fetter them in bonds of rhyme.
3
1
o
Epistola de Cervantes.
Aquel que
Do
Y Y
el
os mira en el subido assiento
humano
cl se
I
el
fauorable viento,
ve entre las ondas anegarse
Del mar de
O
fauor puede encumbrarse
que no ccssa
la priuanca,
do procura
^ox fas 6 por nefas leuantarse,
" La ventura Quien dubda que no dize Ha dado en leuantar este mancebo :
Hasta poncrle en
Ayer
le
la
mas
alta altura ?
vimos inexpcrto y nueuo
En las cosas que agora mide y trata Tan bien, que tcngo embidia y las apprucuo.'* Desta manera
se
congoxa y mata
El embidioso, que
la gloria
agena
Le
destruye, marchita y desbarata. Pero aquel que con mente mas serena
Contempla
vro. trato
y vida honrrosa,
Y el alma dentro de virtudes llena, No
la inconstante
De
rueda presurosa
la falsa fortuna, suerte, o
hado,
Signo, ventura, estrella, ni otra cosa,
Dize
q. es
causa que en
cl
buen estado
Que agora posseeis os aya puesto Con csperan^a de mas alto grado, Mas solo el modo del viuir honesto, La virtud escogida que se muestra En vras. obras y apazible gesto.
Letter of Cervantes.
The man who
To
sees
3
1
1
as
you upward go summit man can gain,
you
climb the highest
Where the propitious breezes ever blow, And sees himself gulphed in the surging main Of courtly favour, whence to rise at last, Per fas aut
in vain, nefas^ he doth strive
—
Sooth, such an one will say: "'Tis Fortune's cast That gave this modest youth the means to raise
Himself
But yesterday
And now 1
honour unsurpassed
to such high
so
new
to courtly
he treats of high I
envy him, though
;
ways.
affairs right well
be forced to praise
;
" !
Thus doth the envious man to bursting swell With jealous thoughts, and cheapens with dispraise Another's glories which his own excel ; But he who with a calmer mind surveys
The tenour of your life, the soul within, With honour fraught that stoops to nothing Will frankly own
Of
:
Not any
base,
fickle spin
Fortune's wheel, not hazard, luck, nor fate.
Nor sign, nor happy star, nor aught akin. Hath placed you firmly in the good estate
You
have attained and occupy
With goodly hope But That
of station
'twas your honest
And
life,
to-daj^.
still
more great
;
straightforward way.
virtue rare, which, in your every deed
the light of gentle bearing, seeks
day
:
2
1
3
Epistola de Cervantes.
Esta dize,
Y Y I
O
Sefior,
que os da su diestra
OS tiene assido con sus fucrtes la^os a mas y a mas subir os adiestra.
sicmpre
dukes bra^os
sanctos, o, agradables
De
la sancta virtud,
alma y diuina,
Y sancto quien recibe sus abra^os Quien con i
De
tal
como vos camina,
que se admira
Si a la silla
Y
guia
mas
!
el
ciego vulgo
alta se auezina
baxo
?
puesto que no ay cosa sin trabajo,
Quien va
sin la virtud
va por rodeo,
Que el que la lleua va por el attajo. no me engana la experien^ia, creo
Si
Que
se
De vn
vee mucha gente fatigada solo pcnsamiento
y un desseo.
Pretenden mas de dos llaue dorada, Muchos un mesmo cargo, y quien aspira A la fideladad de vna embaxada.
Cada qual por
Do
mesmo
al
bianco
tira
assestan otros mil, y solo es vno
Cuya
Y
si
saeta dio do fue la mira.
este qui^a q. a nadie fue
importuno
Ni
a la soberbia puerta del priuado
Se
hallo, despues
Ni
de visperas, ayuno,
dio ni tuuo a quien pedir prestado,
Solo con la virtud se entretenia,
Y
en Dios y en ella estaua confiado.
Letter of Cervantes.
313
This, would he say, gives all the strength you need, Surrounds you with restraints both good and wise,
And by the hand to higher things doth lead. Blessed are the arms, and passing sweet the ties
Of holy virtue, heavenly and refined. And blessed is he who on her bosom lies Why stands amazed the common herd and That one who walks,
like you,
Should near the throne
Though
and moil
toil
all
!
blind.
with such a guide,
his fitting office find
good
?
success decide,
Who journeys
without virtue goes astray. goes direct who travels by her side. experience err not, in our day
He If
my
Full
many
with but one desire
wc
sec.
whose pursuit they wear their lives away. Some two or three aim at the golden key. In
At
like posts others, while
To Each
one gives
his soul
gain some confidential embassy. a unit in the whole.
for himself,
Covets what thousands wish, though one alone
Can
And
hit the
he,
it
mark, or reach the wished-for goal
may
be, ne'er used whining tone.
Nor
lingered at
His
fast
He
some
unbroken
favourite's portal cold.
day be gone ; haply never gave nor borrowed gold.
Nor from
Of God
till
the
the line of honour true did glide.
and virtue keeping steadfast hold.
;
Epistola de Cervantes.
314 Vos
sois, Sr.
(Y
lo
Que
Y
por quien dezir podria
digo y dire sin cstar mudo)
sola la virtu d fue
v"ra.
guia,
que ella sola fue bastante, y pudo Leuantaros al bien do estais agora, Priuado humildc, de ambicion desnudo.
i
Dichosa y felizissima la hora Donde tuuo el real conoscimiento Noti^ia del valor que anida y mora
En
vro. reposado entcndimiento,
Cuya fidelidad, cuyo secreto Es de vras. virtudcs el cimiento Por
!
senda y camino mas perfecto
la
Van
vros. pies,
que
Y la
que alaba
el seso
Quicn por
A aquel Que
ella
es la
que
mas
el
medio
discreto.
camina, vemos viene
dulcc suaue paradero
la felizidad
en
si
contiene.
Yo que el camino mas baxo y grosero He caminado en fiia noche escura, He dado en manos del atolladero ;
Y
en la esquiua prision, amarga y dura, Adonde agora quedo, estoy llorando
Mi
corta infelizissima ventura.
Con quexas ticrra y cielo importunando, Con sospiros al ayre escuresciendo, Con lagrimas el mar accrescentando.
tiene,
Letter of Cervantes.
Of j'ou,
Senor,
(And That
I'll
maybe
it
repeat
published wide,
now
it
315
nor silent be,)
was your constant guide
virtue solel}'
And this sufficed to compass the degree Of goodly honour where this day you
;
rest,
A
modest favourite, from ambition free Thrice happy was the lucky hour and blest. !
Which
carried tidings to the royal ear
Of that
high merit, which doth build
Within your
Whose
intellect
profound and
its
clear
nest
;
strict fidelity, reserve
complete, one rounded sphere From day to day you tread, with steady feet. That perfect way, which keeps the happy mean.
Bind
all
your talents
Held most
Who
travels
To
in
on
!
honour by the most discreet this
way
at last
is
;
seen
reach that sweet and pleasant resting-place.
Within whose I,
in
joy serene who have trod the vulgar road and base. Beneath a bitter night, where star was not, portals reigns a
!
Have stumbled in the mire, in woeful case And in this gloomy prison, dismal spot, Where now I find me, nought remains to me ;
But I
to
bemoan
my
most unhappy
lot.
weary heaven and earth with many a plea. The air is darkened with my bitter breath,
And
with
my
tears
I
help to swell the sea.
Epistola de Cervantes.
3i6 Vida
es csta, Sr.
do estoy muriendo,
Entre barbara gente descreida
La mal
No
lograda juuentud pcrdicndo. mi venida
fue la causa aqui de
Andar vagando por Con la verguen^a y
cl
mundo
la
razon pcrdida.
a caso
Dicz anos ha que ticndo y mudo
En en
passo
serui^io del gran Philippo nro.,
Y con descanso, Y
el
el
y cansado y
laso
;
dichoso dia que sinicstro
Tanto
fuc el
hado a
la
enemiga armada,
Quanto a la nra. fauorable y diestro,
De
temor y de esfuer^o acompanada,
Presente estuuo mi persona al hecho, de speran^a que de hierro armada.
Mas Vi
cl
formado csquadron roto y deshecho,
Y
de barbara gente y de Christiana Roxo en mil partes de Ncptuno el lecho,
La muerte ayrada Aqui y
alii
con su furia insana
con pricssa discurricndo,
Mostrandose a quien tarda a quien tcmprana,
El son confuso, el espantable estruendo, Los gcstos de los tristes miserables
Que
entre el fuego
Los profundos
Que
y
el
agua iuan muriendo,
sospiros lamentables,
los heridos
pechos despedian, Maldiciendo sus hados detestables.
Letter of Cervantes,
317
but a living death, Where, 'mid a barbarous misbelieving race.
This
life,
My
Senor,
ill-starred
is
youth drags out and withcreth.
random wandering brought me
No No
vao-abond desires with
to this place,
me were
rife,
Right reason gone, nor shame upon These ten years gone I led a soldier's In our great Philip's service
;
now
my
On
!
in state
Of sweet repose, now worn with toil And on that happy day, when dubious Looked on
face
life
and
strife
;
Fate
the foeman's fleet with baleful eye,
ours with smiling glance and fortunate,
Inspired with mingled dread and courage high.
In thickest of the direful fight
My
I
still
stronger than
I
stood.
my
panoply. marked the shattered host melt like a flood.
hope
And
thousand spots upon old Neptune's breast Dyed red with heathen and with Christian blood ;
Death,
Hither and
To
running with foul zest thither, sending crowds in ire
like a fury,
or to speedy rest lingering torture,
;
The cries confused, the horrid din and dire, The mortal writhings of the desperate,
Who
breathed their last 'mid water and 'mid
The deep-drawn
That sped from wounded Cursing their
fire;
and great sighs, the groanings loud bitter
and
breasts, in
many a
detested fate.
throe.
3
Epistola de Cervantes.
8
1
EIosclcs la sangre que tcnian
Quando en el son de la trompeta nra. Su dano y nra. gloria conoscian. Con alta voz de vcncedora muestra, Rompiendo
el aire claro, el
Ser vencedora
A
son mostraua
la Christiana diestra.
csta
duke sazon
Con
la
yo, triste, estaua
una mano de
la espada assida, de la otra derramaua. sangre El pecho mio de profunda herida
Y
Sentia llagado, y la siniestra
mano
Estaua por mill partes ya rompida. Pero el contento fue tan soberano,
Q^a mi alma
llego viendo vcn^ido
El crudo pueblo
Que no echaua de Aunque
si
el christiano,
estaua herido,
mi sentimiento,
me
Que quito todo el sentido. en mi propia cabe^a el escarmiento
No me No me
pudo estoruar que
el
segundo
medroso, pueblo
estrario,
Vi
recogido, triste, amedrcntado,
Y
con causa temicndo de su daiio.
al reino
tan antiguo y celcbrado,
A do
hermosa Dido fue vendida
la
aiio
pusicsse a discrecion del viento,
Y al barbaro, Y
ver
por
era tan mortal
a veces
Y
infiel
Al querer
del troyano destcrrado.
Letter of Cervantes.
The
blood that
What
still
was
left
319
them ceased
to flow,
time our trumpets, pealing far and near,
Proclaimed our glory and their overthrow ; The sounds triumphant, ringing loud and clear.
Bore through the smitten
The
air, in
jubilant flood.
Christians' victory from car to ear
!
At this sweet moment I, unlucky, stood With one hand buckled firmly to my blade, The other dripping downward streams of blood W^ithin my breast a cruel thrust had made
A
deep and gaping wound, and my left hand bruised and shattered, past all human aid
Was
Yet such was
That
I
;
;
the delicious joy and grand
thrilled
my
soul, to see the faithless foe
Crushed by the valour of the Christian band, hardly knew if I were hurt or no,
Although
all I suffered
Which
To And
anguish, cutting and unkind.
times with mortal swooning laid me low. could not move m.y mind.
At Yet
my
led
me
on, within the second year.
yield to the discretion of the
to that people, barbarous
wind
;
and austere,
A cowering, crouching, timid race I came, Who well micrht dread to find their downfall
near.
And in that ancient kingdom, known to fame. Where beauteous Dido to the love did yield Of Troy's great exile, and was put to shame,
Epistola de Cervantes.
320
Tambicn, vcrtiendo sangre aun
Mayor con Por ver Dios sabc
Con
los
otras dos, quise
ir la
ir y hallarme, morisma de vcncida.
quisiera alli
si
la hcrida,
que
alli
quedarme
quedaron esfor^ados,
Y
perderme con ellos o ganarme Pero mis cortos implacablcs hados
Y
;
En
tan honrrosa empresa no quisieron
Q^
acabase la vida y
al fin,
A
por
los
los cabellos
cuydados
me
;
truxeron
ser vencido por la valentia
De aquellos que despues no la tuuieron. En la galera Sol^ que cscurescia Mi Ventura su luz, a pcsar mio Fue
la pcrdida
Valor mostramos
de otros y al principio
la
y
mia
;
brio,
Pero despues, con la cxpcricn^ia amarga, Conoscimos ser todo desuario. Senti de ageno
Y
yugo la gran carga, en las manos sacrilegas malditas
Dos anos ha que mi
dolor se alarga.
Bien
se
que mis maldades
Y
la
attricion
Me
poca
infinitas
que en mi se encierra
tiene entre estos fldsos Ismaelitas.
Quando
llcguc vencido
Tan nombrada Tantcs
en
el
y vi la tierra mundo, q. en su scno
piratas cubre, acoge,
y
cierra,
Letter cf Cervantes.
32
i
Although my ancient wound was still unhealed, With two besides, I joyed upon the spot To see the Moormen vanquished on the field.
God knows
To
share
And But
had earnest wish or not
if I
Should end
To
yield
in the
By my
My At
my
in this
I,
being and
finally she dragged
Whose For
with them, whate'er their
fate. lot
!
destiny, in her relentless hate.
Willed not that
And
and gallant comrades'
my brave
live or die
me
to a
renowned
my
me by I
power
galley Soly
whose
ill-fortune, I
sufferings great
;
the hair
could not quell.
prowess was but
after
affair,
scant and spare
;
lustre fell
was doomed
comrades' ruin, and mine
to see
own
as well.
our valour shone in high degree, Until by sad experience we awoke first
To
see
how mad was
These two long
all
our bravery!
3'ears I've borne a foreign yoke,
And my o'erburdcned neck Of an accursed sacrilegious
My countless I
know
sins
and
full well,
my
hath
felt
the gall
folk.
contrition small,
have bound me, scant of grace,
To grind beneath this Ismaclitish thrall. When arrived in chains, and saw the place. I
So noted
in the world,
Hath nursed
the fierce
whose teeming breast swarms of a pirate race,
Y
Epistola de Cervantes.
322
No
pude a
Que
Me
al llanto detener cl freno,
mi despecho,
sin saber lo
que
era,
marchito rostro de agua llcno. Ofresciose a mis ojos la ribera
Y
vi el
el
monte donde
Leuantada en
Y
el
el
grande Carlos tuuo
ayre su vandera,
el mar que tanto esfuer^o no sostuuo, Pues mouido de embidia de su gloria,
Ayrado entonces mas
nunca estuuo.
q.
Estas cosas boluiendo en mi mcmoria,
Las lagrimas truxeron a los ojos, Mouidas de desgra^ia tan notoria. Pero
alto Cielo en
si el
No
esta con
darme enojos
mi vcntura conjurado,
Y aqui
no lleua muerte mis despojos, Quando me vea en mas alegre estado. Si vra. intercession, Sr.
A
me ayuda
verme ante Philippo arrodillado,
lengua balbuziente y quasi muda Pienso mouer en la Real presencia,
Mi
De
adulacion y de mentir dcsnuda.
Diciendo
*' :
Alto Sr., cuya potcncia
Sujetas trae mil barbaras
Al desabrido yugo de
A
Nacioncs
obediencia,
quien los Negros Indies con sus dones
Reconoscen honesto vassallagc,
Trayendo
el
oro aca de sus rincones
:
Letter of Cervantes.
My bitter And,
lamentation found no rest
ere
I
knew, the
Adown my haggard
323
;
tears coursed at their ease
cheeks, and unrepressed.
My straining eyes were fixed upon the seas, The strand, and hill whereon our Charles the Great Unfurled I
saw
his royal
banner to the breeze
;
main which, chafing 'neath the weight
the
Of so much
glory, rose in fierce array.
And foamed with envious, unexampled And as I mused, and memory cast its ray
hate
;
Upon the scene, my tears seemed charged with fire And shame, at thought of that disastrous day. But
if
To
high Heaven should not with Fate conspire heap still greater sorrows on my head,
And Death should not despoil me in his ire And should, in happier days, my steps be led
To I
;
royal Philip's throne, and by your aid
find
Then ^o
me I
kneeling in that presence dread hope to speak, nor feel afraid.
Though haply with a stammering, Yet not with
lies
;
faltering tongue,
or flattery arrayed,
And thus entreat: "Most mighty Sire, whose strong And powerful arm doth hold in subject sway Of nations barbarous a countless throng To whom the swarthy Indians homage pay. And drag the gold from out its rocky nest, ;
Their wealth of
tribute at thy feet to lay
;
Eptstola de Cervantes.
324
Dcspierte en tu Real pecho
La
el gran coraje soberbia con gran que una vicoca
Aspira de contino a hazcrte
La
mas
gente es mucha,
vltraje.
su fuer^a es poca,
Desnuda, mal armada, que no tiene
En
su defensa fuerte
Cada vno mira
si
tu
muro o
armada
roca.
viene,
Para dar a sus
pies cargo y cura conseruar la vida que sostiene.
De
Del' amarga prision
Adonde mueren Tienes
Todos Las
la
triste
y escura,
veinte mill christianos,
Have de su ccrradura.
(qual yo) de alia, puestas las manos, rodillas por tierra, sollo^ando
Cercados de tormentos inhumanos, Valeroso Sefior, tc estan rogando
Bueluas
A
Y
los ojos
de misericordia
suyos que estan siempre llorando.
los
pues te dexa agora la discordia, hasta aqui te ha opprimido y fatigado, gozas de pacifica concordia ;
Que
Y
Haz,
buen Rey,
Lo que
q. sea por ti acabado con tanta auda^ia y valor tanto
Fue por tu amado padre comen^ado. Solo en pcnsar que vas pondra vn espanto
En
la
Ya
desde aqui su pcrdida y quebranto."
enemiga gente, que adeuino
Letter of Cervantes.
Let the proud daring of that pirate
325
pest,
Who braves
thy potence to this very hour, Rouse noble wrath within thy royal breast
The
!
folk be
many, though but scant their power, Naked, ill-armed, for them no refuge lies Behind the rampart, or the battled tower ;
They
all
across the main, with straining eyes,
Arc watching
thy coming fleet be nigh. With ready feet to save the lives they prize. Thou hast the keys, within thy hand they lie.
To
till
unlock the prison, dismal and profound.
Where twenty thousand Christians pine and They all, as I, are groaning on the ground,
die.
Pressing with hands and knees the cursed place.
With most inhuman
tortures girdled round
!
Most potent
To On
Sire, they beg thee of thy grace and that right soon, thy pitying eyes theirs, whence tears do run in endless chase.
turn,
now from out thy land pale Discord flies, Which hitherto hath wearied out thy heart. And peace unbroken all around thee lies. Be thine the task, good King, with fitting art
Since
To
end the work,
Thine honoured
in
which with courage high
father took the foremost part.
The
rumours of thy coming, as they fly. strike the foe with awe, for well they know The hour of their perdition draweth nigh "
Will
!
Epistola de Cervantes.
326 I
Quicn dubda
q. el
Real pccho benino
No
sc muestre,
En
que estan estos miseros contino
escuchando
la tristeza ?
Bien parescc q. muestro la flaqza. De mi tan torpe ingenio, q. pretende Hablar tan baxo ante tan alta Alteza Pcro
el
Mas
justo desseo la defiende.
.
.
a todo silencio poner quiero
Que temo
Y
.
q.
al trabajo
mi pluma ya os offende, me llaman donde muero.
FIN.
;
Letter of Cervantes
Who
327
.
doubts that through the royal breast will flow pity, while he hears the sigh
Sweet thoughts of
O^ these
poor wretches buried in their woe Although, methinks, I but display my dry
?
And sluggish wit, presuming thus to use Such lowly words before a prince so high,
My just desire Here
will
I
may
well
my
fault excuse!
pause, and henceforth silent be.
Nor with my pen your kindliness abuse. For now they call me to the gang, ah me
FINIS.
!
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIVE
PIECES.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIVE Note
A certain
i.
Page
9.
Cervantes here makes
Corporal. the name of Cesare Caporali,
play on
PIECES.
a punning whose poem,
Viaggio di Parnaso, suggested his own. In English the pun seems rather far-fetched, and perhaps the name itself
had better have been introduced.
first
appeared
a
in
authors, thus entitled
Caporali's
poem
of poems by various Raccolta di alcune rime piacevoU,
collection :
A
Parma, 1582. complete annotated edition of his works was published at Perugia, in 165 1, under the title
of Rime
di
The annotator. Carlo Cesare Caporali. first three lines of Cervantes' poem
Caporali, quotes the as highly
note
da
" :
tal
complimentary to
II
his
kinsman, in
this curious
Cervantes, Poeta non oscuro tra Spagnuoli, ne
guidicio
:
"Un
quidam Caporale, Italiano," &c.
Note Where an
2.
Page
9.
old mule he bought him for the tour.
specimen of Caporali's versification
wc may
As
a
as well give
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
332 his
own
from
which
description of his mule,
that of Cervantes
:
—
Comprai anco una mula, e accio gli Pensief communicar potessi seco
interni
L'accapai da consigli, e da govern!
La
qual, per quel di ella poi disse
varies materially
;
meco,
Scese in Italia gia con Carl' Ottavo, Con le bagaglie d'un Trombetta Greco
Havea una Era
di
Nata
Which may
j
finimento bravo.
sella, e
coda lunga, e vista corta, madre Sarda, e padre Schiavo.
di
be roughly rendered thus
For needful ends
I also
:
—
bought a mule,
that her inmost thoughts might outward leak, hedged her in with sage advice and rule ; With Charles the Eighth she came down, so to speak, Times gone to Italy, and in the hirej
And, I
And
service of a
She had a
a
Trumpeter,
Greek.
saddle, trappings to admire,
Her tail was long, and eke her vision short. Born of Sardinian dam and Sclavic sire.
Note Con ocho
mis de queso.
for maravedis.
in Spain.
in
which
3.
Page
Mis
The maravedi
16.
a colloquial contraction
is
as a
coin
is
now
obsolete
had varying values according to the metal was coined ; the copper maravedi was worth
It it
the thirty-fourth part of this line in
English
:
Note Farewell Madrid.
a real.
With
4.
We may therefore render
eight fnites'
Page
This adieu
racteristic of Cervantes.
to
worth of cheese.
17.
Madrid
is
highly cha-
With afew humorousandpiquant
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
233
touches he presents a complete picture of the surroundings of the city, its humours, its literary life, the state of its theatres, the politics of the hour, the pinched life of its and all in his peculiar in particular poets, and of himself was also a mart}'r to the light-hearted vein. Gongora, who
—
us a curious picture general neglect of literary men, gives of the life of the Court in his celebrated burlesque sonnet on Madrid. As it may be interesting to compare the
and temper with which two distinguished contemporaries treat the same theme, we present it to our spirit
readers.
Gongora
trated bitterness
:
fairly bears off the
—
for concen-
palm
MADRID. A BURLESQUE SONNET. A
bestial life, in witchery enshrined ; Harpies that prey on purses, and all grades Of wrecked ambitions lurking in the shades,
Might make
a grave judge talk,
and
raise the
Broad-ways wiih coaches, lacqueys, pages lined Thousands of uniforms with virgin blades ; Ladies loquacious, legates, broking trades Faces like masks, and rogueries refined ;
wind
;
5
;
Lawyers long -robed, most bare- faced lies that are ; Clerics on she mules, mulish tricks and ways ; Streets paved with mud, and filth of endless smell
Bemaimed and
battered heroes of the
war
Titles and flatteries and canting phrase
This
is
Madrid, or better
said, 'tis
;
; :
Hell
!
This version of the Sonnet is given by Mr. DufHeld without the ("Don Quixote His Critics," &c., p. 93) :
translator's permission.
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
334
Note
Page
5.
19.
The broad-way of the town. battlements of the retaining wall of the Convent of San Farewell,
St.
Philip's
Felipe (now demolished) formed the promenade of the fashionable idlers and scandal-mongers in the time of
Cervantes.
It
spacious flight
San
Its
Felipe.
was approached on
of steps, hence
its
common and more
either
side
by
name Las Gradas appropriate
title
a
de
was
El Mentidero, Lie-Walk or Scandal-Alley.
Note
Like Dante's. able, addition to
only means,
Mercury ;
as,
soldiers
what
addressed
also quite in
book
Page 23. and we hope pardonthe original, under stress of rhyme. It This
is
6.
is a
slight,
Cervantes
him
doubtless
meant,
the finest terza rima.
in
that It is
keeping with other humorous phrases in the when Apollo at the head of his
for instance,
represented
as
addressing
them
—
in
proper
Spanish and good Toledese.
Note
Page
7.
27.
A swarm of verses formed Cervantes did not borrow
the whole array. Though from Caporali the conception
of his rhythmic ship, inasmuch as that daring voyager took passage both for himself and mule in a prosaic merchant-vessel, from the port of Ostia to Messina
and the Gulf of Corinth, yet Caporali has certainly the merit of having first employed the same curious materials, in the construction of the four gates of his
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
335
Temple of Poesy, described in the second of his Vinggio di Parnnso. part It would be out of place to attempt any description of the poetic forms and measures here mentioned by allegorical
The
Cervantes.
literature of Spain
peculiarly rich in
is
Some, like the Sonnet, the Terza and Ottava Rima, are borrowed from the Italians ; others, like the
these.
Redondilla, the Letrilla, the Decima, are exclusively Lope de Vega, in his Arte nuevo de bacer Spanish.
summed up
Comedias, has
the peculiarities of
these in their adaptation to the
drama
:
—
The Decimas are good for plaintive wails, The Sonnet answers well for those who Romances
wait
j
are designed for stirring tales,
Although in Octaves they have lustre great For matters grave the Tercets fitting prove,
And
some of
;
Redondillas for the affairs of love.
Note
Page 27.
8.
The grace Malmaridadd's wedding-day. art of glossing favourite songs and ballads was held in high estimation amongst the Spaniards when the art of Glosses
.
.
.
to
Depping likens
producing original ones had died out. it
to the
absurdity of serving up piquant and savoury
dishes in watery gravy. useful purpose,
lost,
ballads that
and oftentimes
the
Romance of " La
instance.
It
was
bella
helped to pre-
would otherwise have
these
various readings of those that
however, one very It
though undesigned.
serve snatch'^s of old
been
It served,
still
glosses give
valuable
Of
this truth
exist.
Malmaridada"
so celebrated that
it
is
a striking
gave motive to
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
2^6
Duran affirms, that innumerable glosses and imitations. he has been enabled to reconstruct the true old romance mainly through
a gloss,
which
and published in a Pliego
it,
It
Quesada made or was first printed
Romances, nuevamente sac ados de
his
in
by Sepulveda
a certain
suelto.
We
Anvtrs, 155 i. spare our readers and an of the instead glosses, give attempted version any of the original ballad. Its antique simplicity, however, is historias antiguas,
hardly reproduced
:
—
LA BELLA MALMARIDADA. "
O
lady, fairest I have seen, so fair and yet ill-married,
Thy
cheeks are pale with
grief, I
ween,
say, has thy bliss miscarried?
" If thou wouldst burn with other flames, on me bestow compassion, To flaunt and flirt with other dames, thy husband sets the fashion ;
"
court from night to morn, with slander he doth treat
They kiss and thee.
And he hath sworn and thee
"
better sworn,
when he comes home
Outspake the lady with delight, and thus addressed her lover "O carry me hence, thou good Sir Knight, where none discover
*'
Thy home make for
Thy
He
where'er
supper
leads
I shall
more
me
shall us
I
it
be
is
mine, nnd
I will
serve thee ever,
my
;
well prepare, with hands so neat and dainty,
With chickens good and capons "I'll be no
:
thee the bed so fine, where we shall sleep together
I'll
"
to beat
!
rare,
and thousand things in plenty
husband's wife, no more shall stay beside him. " life, I cannot, sooth, abide him
such a dismal
!
;
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
337
They prattled thus in merry mood, and passed the time with glee. When lo her husband near them stood, a furious man was he : !
" What " For
art
thou doing,
what,
"
my
traitress,
lord, for
Myself have never kissed
I'll
bear his punishment as
" With
And
man, although can
" !
!
my
;
horse's bridle thou dost hold,
man
a
hath kissed me,
lord, 1 prithee list
me
!
my lord, I prithee stroke me, my lord, I prithee choke me
to the orange-garden cold, alive, I prithee,
Within
" And
*' '
a I
say? To-day thou hast to die pray ? I merit it, no, not 1
with these cords of silk and gold,
" And
And
I
what,
a sepulchre of gold
place this motto on
reading
The
it
and ivory there bury
my
hurry me.
me
lie,
by her side
Page
9.
it
may read it. may heed it
for very love she died
else for love shall die, be buried
Note
;
tomb, that passers-by
may know my doom, and knowing
flower of flowers here doth
Whoever
;
'
"
:
;
!
27.
This is hardly a legitimate. of the but seems to be the original, rendering Cervantes himself of the set the meaning passage.
Of
Sonnets bastard
and
literal
fashion of the illegitimate form of Sonnet, in his famous
one on the Catafalque of Philip II., which consists of sixteen lines and a half. Quevcdo also wrote sonnets of eleven
lines.
Though Spain
has produced no Petrarch,
the Sonnet occupies a very important place in its poetry. Garcilaso de la Vega, and the brothers Argensola, are specially distinguished for classical elegance
adherence to the Italian method. aspired to the mastery in
this,
Z
and
Lope de Vega, as
in
all
strict
who
departments
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
33 8
of poetry, without conspicuous success, gives the following amusing
SONNET ON THE SONNET. To
write a sonnet doth Juana press me, I've never found me in such stress or pain sonnet numbers fourteen lines, 'tis plain,
;
A
And I
three are gone, ere
can say,
I
God
bless
me
!
thought that spinning rhymes might sore oppress me. Yet here I'm midway in the last quatrain j
And
if
the foremost tercet I can gain.
The
To
quatrains need not any more distress me. the first tercet I have got at last.
And
travel through
That with I'm
in the second
The
now, and
see
how
I
it,
ween
will, ;
fast
!
Note name given
such right good
thirteenth line runs tripping from my quill Count if there be fourteen 'tis done
Hurrah,
Coritos too,
it vv^ith
this line I've finished
Page
lo.
and dwellers
in
in old times to
} !
33.
Coritos
Biscay.
was the
Montaneses and Biscayans.
According to the Academy's dictionary, it is probably derived from the Latin corium, equivalent to the Spanish cuero or skin
their bodies.
—the
material used for the protection of
At present the name
is
given by
way
of
ridicule to the Asturians.
The
Yanguesians, Biscayans, and Coritos, the hardy highlanders of Spain, were more famous as porters and carriers than as poets,
talized
them
in the
and
as
such Cervantes has immor-
Don ^ixote.
And
yet
it is
curious
that in the very heart of the Asturias the people now-a-
days use a dialect, known by the name of Bable, which the represents the very language spoken in Spain during
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
339
middle ages ; and many phrases and turns of expression " found in the " Poema del Cid are familiar in the mouths of the Asturian peasantry.
It
isaverysonorousandsmooth-
going language, though not particularly rich in expression. It has a small literature of its own, composed chiefly of songs and romances, sung by the people to accompany the very ancient circular dance, peculiar to the natives of those regions, known by the name of danza prima. As a specimen of the old Asturian romances we give the fol-
Don Pedro Jose General, Tom. I.
lowing, taken from the collection of Pidal.
Romancero
Duran,
(See
Madrid, 1849.)
ROMANCE OF THE
SAILOR.
Upon morning of Saint John, sailor fell into the sea j a
A
" What From "
wilt thou give me, sailor mine.
out the waves to ransom thee
give thee
I'll
my
all
"
?
sailing ships.
Laden with gold and
silver free
" !
" Not
any ships of thine I want, Nor silver fine, nor gold from thee
"One
I
thing
That thou His
soul,
wish,
list,
day
to
i
i.
Page
commonly
denote
me " !
up to God, !
35.
and first upon the
old Scottish legal term,
present
it
to the salt, salt sea
Note / scanned the
shalt die,
wilt give thy soul to
he gave
His body
when thou
!
a list
leet.
Leet
is
an
used in Scotland at the
or roll of candidates for
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
340
We hope we may be pardoned for
election. it
here, as
the
it is
second
introducing both appropriate and poetical. This is
list
of distinguished
poets
living
which
Cervantes framed in his day. Just thirty years before, in 1584, he published in his Galatea the *' Canto de Caliope," wherein he introduces the names of some eighty whom he covers v/ith indiscriminate praise. This
poets,
was
in the early days of his literary career, before hard
experience had task, as
may
damped
his
enthusiasm.
well be supposed, brought
This ungrateful
him
little
comfort
of mind, giving satisfaction to few and deadly offence to many. The present list contains only eight or nine out of the vast number then commented on
;
most of the
had already gone to the majority. Herrera, Gongora, Lope de Vega, the Argensolas, Artieda, &c., are again
rest
introduced, but
Quevedo
is
the only commandinggenius
Calderon de la Barca that appears for the first time. was then but a youth of fourteen, pursuing his studies at Salamanca.
Out of the 150 names introduced
into the
poem our limits will only allow us to touch on the more eminent, especially those who came into immediate contact
who
Those with Cervantes, either as friends or foes. are interested will find full information concerning
the rest, in the catalogue given at the end of the collected edition of Cervantes' works in twelve volumes, published in
Madrid, 1863-4; and also
French
Note
Known
whom
at the
end of M. Guardia's
translation. 12.
Page
39.
This Sevilian poet, of Miguel Guardia declares he could learn nothing, was wide
as
Cid.
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
341
Mother of God in 1610
celebrated for his "devotion to the
the mystery of her immaculate conception," and in
published the famous coplas beginning
Todo
A
el
mundo en
general
voces, reina escogida.
Dice que sois concebida Sin pecado original.
He was a very pious man, and, though a simple weaver of rugs, he enjoyed great celebrity amongst his townsmen, who often embraced and applauded him in the public
He
streets.
common
died in 16 17, and the
people were
sure he had predicted the day of his death.
He was
The
Chapter ordered that a picture of the Purisma Concepcion should be placed over his tomb, containing amongst other figures a portrait This of the poet, with his famous coplas in his hand. was painted by Francisco Pacheco, and Sr. Asensio buried in the Cathedral of Seville.
assures us that
Lady de
la
it is
still
Antigua.
to be seen in the Sacristy of
our
His collected poems were published death, by his son, under this title
thirty years after his " Sacred Joustings of the illustrious
:
and memorable poet inheritor of the same
Miguel Cid, published by his son, name dedicated to the most Holy Virgin Mary, our Lady, conceived without spot of original sin. Printed at :
Seville,
—
by Simon Fajardo, 1647."
Note Don
Luis de Gongora.
Cervantes' eulogium fine irony.
No
is
13.
Page
It is
hard
39. to tell
how much of how much
sincere praise, and
doubt there
is
a
mixture of both
;
for
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
342
Gongora, though a sort of demigod, was a very Janus. one side of him we see the man of clear subtle in-
On
tellect, yet, withal, curiously sensitive soul,
for vigour
whose
and incisive touch were unmatched
satires
whose
;
odes and romances
cadence
have the true patriotic ring and and whose letrillas and villancicos, now playful,
;
now pathetic, like
the music of silver bells, give us to
know
the resources of the Spanish tongue both in its sweetness and strength. Such was Gongora in the vigour of early
manhood.
On
the other side of him
in his later years
as a very angel of darkness
tongue Cultos
it
a
new
and gave forth
;
terious
founded
;
poems
;
who
we
see a
man, who
mystery and posed invented a new literary
wrapped himself
in
school, the pestilent sect of the
as his
Koran those awfully mys-
called the Polifemo and the Soledades,\N\i\Q\\
required the labours of three laborious commentators
during his lifetime to explain to the uninitiated. the Castilian tongue by Latinizing it'; to banish place
by
the use of metaphorical, uncouth,
To refine common-
and myste-
riously bombastic phrases; and, in fine, to reach the sublime
by a species of mechanical inflation ; these were the chawhat was called in derision Culteranismo.
racteristics of
What led Gongora to such talents
it
would be hard
a perversion of his
consummate
No doubt he was
to say.
soured
by a life of poverty and neglect ; but, after all, there was a kind of literary contagion afloat in the atmosphere of his and ; age Gongorism in Spain, Europe during
Marinism
in Italy,
Euphuism
in
England, were but
dif-
This worship of the ferent phases of the same disease. unintelligible became the fashion, and one of its first converts was the notorious
Count of Villamediana.
Of
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
343
course the wits of the old school (such as Jauregui, Lope and Quevedo) assailed it with their choicest de
Vega,
and
invective
epigrams
:
—
Here
ridicule.
of the current
one
is
Our poet Sokdad, the able, Hath writ a most romantic
ditty,
In dreary length a very city, In sheer bewilderment a Babel.
Lope winds up one of
his
most
" Dost apprehend
"
!
And :
in
—
in this style
:
—
Fabius, be candid."
it?
" Of course I do " For I who wrote it do
rades
sarcastic sonnets, full
most outrageous Gongorism,
of the
O
Fabius, thou
liest.
not understand it."
another place he gives
this advice to his
com-
to shelter our Pegasos the bad odour of the cultish jargon. let us burn pastilles of GarcUasos.
Meanwhile
From Come,
Gongora,
who was
quite a
match
satiric fencing, gave vent to his
for
wrath
Lope
in the art
in this fashion
:
of
—
Dicen que hace Lopico Contra mi versos adversos, Pero,
Con A'
si
yo
el pico
este
versifico,
de mis versos
Lopico lo pico.
Cervantes does not seem to have taken any special war of wits ; though the exaggeration of the
part in this
those points where compliment he here pays him, just in " the was weakest, betrays pinch or two of salt." Gongora
His general estimate of Gongora's powers
as a poet
may
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
344
be learned from the eulogy he passes on him in the Canto when he was twenty-three years of age. It
de Caliope, is
the goddess herself
shepherdesses
:
Don
In
—
who
addresses the shepherds and
Luis de Gongora
I
present
A
quick ripe genius, rare as can be found ; His works do give me wealth and sweet content,
Nor me
me
Give
alone, but the wide world around
one favour for
tiie
}
love I've lent,
Cause that his soaring knowledge and profound Be of your warm applause the constant breath, Defying light-winged Time, and ruthless Death.
The know)
only return which Gongora gave (so far as we handsome compliment was an exceedingly
for this
shabby one.
It
is
contained in that famous sonnet of
which he made on the
festivities
his,
held at Valladolid in
honour of the baptism of Philip IV., christened Felipe Domenico Victor, on which occasion was present Admiral Charles Howard, with 600 English gentlemen, who had to ratify the preliminaries of peace concluded in
come
London with James The
I.
It
queen brought forth.
runs thus
:
—
The Lutheran came
here,
Six hundred heretics and heresies
To boot. In fifteen days a million flies To give them jewels, wine, and all good cheer.
We gave And
To
Who
a grand parade
certain feasts,
—
a farce, I fear
—
which were but flummeries,
please the English legate and his spies, swore on Calvin peace had brought him here.
Then we Born
baptized the babe Dominican,
to
become our Dominus
in Spain.
We
gave a masque might for enchantment pass Poor we became, Luther a wealthy man,
And
all
these feats they bade be written plain
By one Don Quixote, Sancho, and
his ass.
;
Notes and Illustrative Pieces. Except for
this paltry fling at
never have known of the
part
Cervantes,
345 we should
very year when the first appeared, Cervantes was
that, in the
Don ^dxote
appointed pro tern. Court Chronicler ; and actually brought out (though anonymously) a book thus entitled " Narrative of events in the City of Valladolid, from the time of the most auspicious birth of the Prince Don Felipe :
Domenico ties in
Victor,
the conclusion of the joyous festivi-
till
honour thereof.
Valladolid, 1605."
This
is
now
collected works, though being but a barren included record of Court Ceremonial it bears few traces of the in his
hand of at
Gongora was born,
the great master.
Cordova, in the Calle de Marcial.
often style ever,
him
the Martial of Spain.
in
1
56
1,
Spaniards
His works, how-
were published immediately after his death under " V/orks in verse of the title Homer,
this strange
Spanish
:
Lopez de Vicuna, Madrid, 1627."
collected by Juan
Note
O
The
soul divine, &c.
14.
Page
39.
Of Hernando
de Herrera, who,
achieved the appellation of Divine, Cervantes had a most exalted opinion. Born at Seville in the as a poet,
a young man in their were Vega he was career his of active the and ; part during prime the contemporary of Diego de Mendoza, and of Fray He Luis de Leon, who was also a native of Seville.
he early part of the sixteenth century,
when Boscan and
was
Garcilaso de la
series 1597, and with his death ended that, of distinguished poets, who, by the introduction of classical and Italian forms, changed the current of
died in
Spanish poetry from
its
old
homely channel, and gave
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
346 it
fresh spirit and a higher
of Herrera's
style
The
life.
had great
his earlier days, and he thus eulogizes de Caliope:
purity and fervour
attraction for Cervantes in
—
him
in the Canto
now proclaim of Herrera the Divine ;
It little boots that I should
The
praises
If to the fifth sphere I exalt his name, But little fruit will yield this pain of mine.
But
if as friend
I'm jealous
His works will
tell
for his
fame,
this tale in every line:
In knowledge reigns Hernando monarch sole, Nile to Ganges, and from pole to pole.
From
Cervantes also must have had
knowledge of and
a personal
this learned ecclesiastic during his sojourn in Seville,
most
likely
made
his
acquaintance
Pacheco the painter, where in
poetry, art, or science, MS. codex of the year 163
In a
the
in
studio
of
who were distinguished held common rendezvous.
all
1,
which contains various
poems, collected apparently by Francisco Pacheco, there is one by Cervantes on the death of Herrera which has very interesting note appended to it by himself '^ Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote:
this
" This sonnet Herrera, and
I
made on
the death of
understand the
:
—
Hernando de
quatrain I may mention that he used to celebrate in his verses a lady under the name of LUZ. J think it one of the good ones
I
to
have made during
my
life
:
first
—
" The man who climbed, by paths as yet unknown, The sacred mountain to its topmost height ;
Who on And
one Light did lavish all his light, chaunted tearful strains with dulcet tone
;
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
Who
347
from Pirene's spring and Helicon
Drank copious hallowed draughts; and ransomed quite From earthly thrall, did change these waters bright Into divine, with culture all his own ; roused Apollo's envious pique, Because, in union vi-ith his Light, his fame
The man, who
From springing till the dying day did fly The well-beloved of Heaven, on earth unique, ;
Turn'd into dust by his consuming flame, Beneath this frozen stone in peace doth lie."
The name of the lady to whom Herrera was so devoted was the Countess of Gelves. Quintana says " He gave to his affection the heroism of platonic love, and under the name of Luz, of Sol, of Estrella, and :
—
Eliodora, he dedicated to her a passion, fervid, tender,
and constant, but accompanied with such respect and decorum, that modesty could take no alarm nor virtue offence."
His friend Pacheco gave
to the
world his collected
writings in 1619, accompanied by a superb portrait of " the " divine poet, designed by himself.
And thou as
Note i 5. Page 41. Don Juan de Jauregui.
well,
brated man, renowned both
as
a painter
This
cele-
and a poet,
was highly appreciated by Cervantes, and not the This perhaps, for having painted his portrait.
less so,
fact
he
himself communicates in the prologue to his Novelas. Jauregui was born at Seville about the year 1570, and his chief title to poetic fame rests on his translation of Tasso's Aminta,
which
of extolling,
the
as
his countrymen are never tired most perfect in all respects of any
34 8
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
translation
from the
Italian, that has ever
been made
;
as
equal to the original in most passages, and superior in some. He also appeared before the public as a purist, in his " Poetic discourse celebrated attack on
Gongora
cultish
ever, confess that
in
against
:
and obscure speech."
Even
his latest
his admirers,
how-
work, a translation of
Lucan's Pharsalia, the old polemic succumbed to the fascinations of Gcr.gorism, and reproduced it too in its weakest form. Cervantes here makes an allusion to this translation, although it was not published till 1684, fortythree years after the death of Jauregui. As an evidence of the estimation in which the "Aminta" was held in its
we
day,
mention
at
On
whom
Cervantes makes such curious " the end of his " Journey of
;
:
the
—
Jminta of Don Juan de yauregui.
Upon the famous banks of foaming Po, Aminta sprang to life, a noble maid, Whose youth in bloom to Love its homage
And
by Alonso
give the following striking sonnet
de Acevedo
paid,
the smart of his compelling bow. Her sombre life she passed, in friendship's glow, With Tirsis, famous shepherd of the glade. felt
And, through her sounding Tuscan
Her fond complainings never
lyre
conveyed,
ceased to flow
j
Till from the banks of Betis forth did rove
A gallant youth And
of wit and grace supreme. lured by that Sevilian's potent wile,
Aminta
left
And now
her country and
on Betis,
first
love
;
in die
Spanish style, She sings forgetful of her tongue and stream.
It is
somewhat
surprising that Cervantes,
who
eulo-
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
349
many of the poets and artists of Seville, should have omitted to mention D. Francisco Pacheco, whose
gizes so
studio that
was the
central point of attraction to the gifted in
modern Athens, and where Cervantes himself must
often have been an honoured guest.
poet as well as a painter,
and
in his
For Pacheco was a ''
Art of Painting,"
he gives us specimens of his powers, chiefly in the form One of these for its neatness and point (in of epigrams. We give it the original) has almost immortalized him. as a curiosity.
THE PAINTER AND THE COCK. A
scurvy painter drew a cock, to his side a live one flew,
When 'Twas
so unlike the
cock he drew.
It gave the painter quite a shock.
The brute he slew, with little ruth, To hide the scantness of his skill And so the cock, against its will. Became
a martyr to the truth.
" Artists
See Stirling Maxwell's another version
is
j
of Spain," where
given.
Note Is Pedro de Morales.
16.
Page 45.
The man
to
whom
Cervantes
consecrates this short eulogium, one of the most delicate
and touching in the poem, was a famous comedian and He seems to have befriended also a writer of comedies.
Cervantes in the deepest hour of
was not the man
his need,
and Cervantes
to forget either a friend or a kindness.
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
2 so
He
him
represents
welcomed him on
My
further on as being one of the few his return
heart and
To Lope de Vega
hand
I
from Parnassus
gave and
:
—
who
warm embrace
Pedro de Morales ....
praises
him
in his Peregrino en su Patria,
"ready, elegant, and sympathetic " actor ; and Morales was still alive in 1636 to throw a little flower on Lope's grave, in the shape of a touching Sevilla,
a
as
1604,
sonnet contributed to Montalvan's "
Fama Posthuma de
Lope de Vega."
Note
Page 45.
17.
Espinel the grand. Espinel was Spanish poets in the time of Cervantes. Is
the
Nestor of
Born
at
Ronda
about the year 1544, he reached the age of ninety, " " Lope informs us in his Laurel de Apolo :
Noventa Nadie
—
as
afios viviste,
te dio favor,
poco escribiste.
Cervantes and he were staunch friends in their youth, and age were fellow-pensioners of the Archbishop
in their old
Espinel did two famous things in his day. invented, or rather perfected that form of Spanish
of Toledo.
He
versification
usually
He
Espinelas.
also
called
Decimas, or, after
added zffth string
which he earned the thanks of It
is
to this that Cervantes
when he
says,
being the
"en
himself,
to the guitar,
by
a music-loving people.
punningly alludes
in the text
la guitarra tiene la prima^''
or principal string.
the prima
Espinel was also noted for a kind of peevish and sarcastic humour. In first
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
351
book of chivalrous adventure. El escudero, Marcos de Obregon, published in 161 8, he goes out of his way in
his
own work at the expense of Don " " the to his old part of Zoilus friend, when he was dead and gone. his preface to exalt his
fixate ; thus playing
Note
Now
Page 53.
18.
In the time of Cervantes poetry
four appear. was quite a la mode;
and
the gravely
humorous way
which he here eulogizes the courtly poets
Of
taining.
the
Conde de
we know
Saldana
as
little
Salinas or
is
Conde de
the
The Marquis
poets.
in
highly enter-
of
Alcariices contributed a laudatory sonnet to the Novels of
Cervantes, which contains
when he
To
The
at least
one happy thought,
praises Cervantes as one
Whose genius sought, by means of art, conjure hidden truth from fabled lie.
Principe de Borja y Esquilache was a man of a He was at once a great statesman and He is called some the " Prince of
diiFerent stamp.
a
by
great poet.
He even attempted the heroic Spanish lyric poets." " The his but Recovery of Naples," style, epic poem, brought him
little
He is, however, unrivalled and elegance of his minor poems ;
renown.
for the exquisite taste
and he shone especially
in
translation of one of these,
beautiful:
—
the
Letrilla.
which
is
We
The Maid of Bet is. Lucinda, thy home was the mountain brown, more than a year since thou earnest to town
'Tis
give
a
both simple and
j
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
2S'2.
With none
art
thou friendly, on none hast thou smiled,
If starving thou diest,
how
livestthou, child?
In Andalusia was never such
chill,
'Tis found on the ridges of frozen Castile. cradle in Tormes, the snows on its plain, Are one and the same with thine icy disdain.
Thy
The streams Which flow
of Sevilla were ne'er drunk by thee. by its portals, and down to the sea !
A
truce to thy rigour, thy coldness, and spleen, If thou care not to see, be glad to be seen !
To
the sound of
my
breaking of day, wert sleeping, I pray ?
lute-strings, at
I sang thee these verses,
Thine eyes, Maid of Betis, O do not remove. Let them but look loving, if thou wilt not love
Note
ig.
Most famous Villamcdiana.
Page
!
55.
This nobleman, of com-
manding presence and brilliant parts, lived the life of a gallant and spendthrift at Court, and died at last by the Those who are curious about the hands of an assassin. " Memoirs of the Countess details may consult the D'Aulnoy."
As
Gongora, but
his imitations
a
poet he belonged to the school of of the affected style of that
His epigrams, however, master are long ago forgotten. were very celebrated, and deserve to be remembered.
We
give the following one, not for
because satire
:
it
—
refers to
Espana swears, without a lie, He never sups at home, for why His supper he must go without.
When
excellence, but
its
one of the poets mentioned in
nobody
invites
him
out
!
?
this
Notes and Illustrative Pieces. This poor poet, Juan de Espaua, Cervantes sarcastically eulogizes
human
than
divine
praise,
is
2S3
the man whose works " more of
as
worthy
for in his
verses he
is
all
"
divine
!
Note
20.
Page
57.
^evedo. The familiar, yet not unkindly way in which Cervantes here alludes to Quevedo's lameness (which amounted to positive deScarce can Francisco de
formity), and the
warm eulogium
he bestows upon him,
shov/ the existence of very friendly relations between these two great men. Quevedo himself was not oversensitive in regard to his deformity,
which did not pre-
vent him from being a very expert and deadly swordsman. In his first Satire, addressed to a lady, he alludes to his
well-known defects
Como
in this curious
tu alma, tengo la
way:
—
una pierna
Mala y daiiada mas, Belisa Tengo otra buena que mi ser ;
ingrata,
gobierna.
The
complete works of this wonderful, many-sided and politician have at length been given to the poet world in the Biblioteca de los Autores Espanoles, in three They form a perfect mine of wealth to portly volumes. student, which has still to be explored. space only allows us to extract one satirical piece, which, bearing the taking title of Testamento de Don
the Spanish
Our
may
^iijote,
There
which as an
is it
find an appropriate place in this
no indication was composed,
amusing rejoinder
volume.
as to the circumstances
under
we
please,
so
we may
to the
A A
take
humorous
it,
if
personalities of
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
354
Cervantes in the
thus
:
It
text.
lated, and we give
in
it
—
has not hitherto been trans-
an abridged form.
It
THE LAST WILL OF DON QUIXOTE. All his
bruised and battered,
members
Black and blue with sticks and stones, Quijote de la Mancha Stricken lies, and feebly groans
Don
;
With his target for a cover, With his buckler for a bed, Craning
out, like
any
tortoise.
From between the shells his head. With a thinnish voice, and cheeping, As the notary to him comes, In despite of absent grinders Thus he spake from out his gums
"
:
I pray thee, Jot thee down, good knight,
(God thee keep
in quiet
still !)
This the testament I tender As my last and latest will.
Put not therein 'sound of judgment,'
As thou Write
it
oft hast put before
down
rather
;
'
bed-ridden,'
For, in sooth, 'tis sound no more. the earth I give my body.
To
Let the earth
my
body eat
;
Scarcely will there be a mouthful. For its leanness is complete ;
Let them bear
it
forth to burial
In the scabbard of
my
brand.
For by reason of its thinness Such a coffin will be grand I to
Sancho leave the
Which
I
!
islands
gained with
toil
unbated
If therewith he be not wealthy.
He'll at least be isolated.
runs
Notes and Illustrative Pieces. Item, to good Rozinante I the fields leave with their
fruits,
Which
the Lord of Heaven created For the grazing of the brutes ;
bequeath him misadventure. And an old age full of bother.
I
And
therewith a peck of troubles
In the place of oats and fodder.
Of the many
sticks they gave me, Dulcinea good. For her fuel in the winter. I to
Leave a hundred
loads of
wood.
Buckler, lance, Quixotic visor, And whate'er my stock in trade I
bequeath for pious uses In the ransom of high
As
trustees,
Don
is,
ladies.
Belianis,
And the good Knight of the Sun, And Esplandian the doughty, " appoint them every one and answered Sancho Panza, List to what he said or sung, I
!
Up
With an accent rough and ready, And a forty-parson tongue " 'Tis not :
reason, good
When thou To account to Thou As
goest forth,
master,
I
wis,
thy Creator,
should'st utter stuff like this
trustees,
Who
my
name thou
j
the Curate,
confesseth thee betimes,
And Per-Anton, our good Provost, And the goat-herd Gaffer Grimes; Make clean sweep of the Esplandians,
Who
have dinned us with their
clatter
Call thou in a ghostly hermit may aid thee in the matter
Who
' !
" Well thou speakest," up and answered Don Quijote, nowise dumb,
;
355
2^6
Notes and Illustrative Pieces. " Hie
thee to the
Rock
Tell Beltenebros to
of Dolour,
come
" !
the Extreme-unction
Thereupon At the doorway lighted down As his eyes fell on the parson,
With
He
and his gown, was the wizard
his candle
exclaimed
Of Niquea Whereupon
To
;
it
at his bed
;
the good hidalgo
address
him
raised his head.
But on seeing that his judgment, Tongue, and sight, and life were gone, Scribe and Curate made their exit.
And
the Knight was left alone. Obras de S^cvedo, iii. 196.
Note
Page 63. 21. Navarrete and other biographers quote this high eulogium, as a proof of the good understanding that subsisted between Lope and Cervantes. Ber.jumea, Lope de Vega.
however, in his Truth about Don fixate, Madrid, 1878, draws attention to the fact that Lope's position in the roll of poets is not a very dignified one, placed as he is a mere mediocrity like Antonio de Galarza, and the needy swarm of poetasters who are the subjects of Be that as it may, there Cervantes' wrath and ridicule.
between
can be no doubt that, during his whole literary career, Cervantes did ample justice to the claims and merit of
His praise, from first to last, was given As early as 1584, when Lope with no grudging hand. was but twenty-two years of age, Cervantes thus speaks
his great rival.
of
him
in his Canto de Caliope:
—
Experience shows how in a true-born wit, In verdant youth, and at a tender age,
Notes and Illustrative Pieces.
^Sl
High knowledge finds a domicile as fit As in a manhood ripe, mature, and sage.
Who
will not truth so manifest admit,
With such a one will I no battle wage. Nor need I, when he knows that I am free, to say this of thee.
Lope de Vega,
This rather
but not
frigid,
addressed to a precocious youth that "his genius
cradle," wa