Alfred Morel-Fatio and James Fitzmaurice-Kelly

“ His literary culture was chiefly Latin-Italian; and, if he defends the tradition of the nation and the pure simplicity of the old Castilian against “los de la nueva poesia,” that is to say, the innovators of the school of Góngora and against the jargon of the cultos, still he does not wish to be taken for an uninformed person, a writer devoid of classical training: he especially emphasizes the fact that he has passed through the university, and is continually accentuating the difference between the ingenios cientifícos (those who know Latin) and legos ignorantes (ignorant laymen) . ”

“ Among the plays of this class which are those best known in Europe, and most frequently imitated and translated, may be specially mentioned Los Ramilletes de Madrid, La Boba para los Otros y Discreta para si, El Perro del Hortelano, La Viuda de Valencia, and El Maestro de Danzar. In some of them Lope has sought to set forth some moral maxim, and illustrate its abuse by a living example. Thus, on the theme that “poverty is no crime,” we nave the play entitled Las Flores de Don Juan, in which he shows in the history of two brothers the triumph of virtuous poverty over opulent vice ”

“ The last important work which has. to be mentioned before we leave the narrative poetry of Lope is the Laurel de Apolo (1630) . This piece describes the coronation of the poets of Spain on Helicon by Apollo, and it is more meritorious as a bibliographical manual of Spanish poetry at that time than as genuine poetry. One other obra suelta, closely akin to Lope’s dramatic works, though not, properly speaking, a drama, is La Dorotea (1632) . Lope describes it as an “action in prose,” but it is rather a “romance in dialogue”; for, although divided into acts, the narrative Js dramatic in form only. ”

“ VEGA CARPIO, LOPE FELIX DE (1562–1635) , Spanish dramatist and poet, was born on the 25th of November 1562 at Madrid. His father and mother, Felix de Vega Carpio and Francisca Hernandez Flores, originally came from the valley of Carriedo in Asturias, where the hamlet of Vega still exists. Lope began his studies at the Theatine college in Madrid, and according to his admiring biographer, Pérez de Montalbán, his precocity was extraordinary. ”