Edgar Prestage

“ Gil Vicente perhaps lacks psychological depth, but he possesses a breadth of mental vision and a critical acumen unknown in any medieval dramatist. In his attitude to religion he acts as the spokesman of the better men of his age and country. A convinced but liberal-minded Catholic, he has no sympathy with attacks on the unity of the Church, but he cries out for a reform of morals, pillories the corruption and ignorance of the clergy and laity, and pens the most bitter things of the popes and their court. ”

“ Lobo is also the author of an insipid epic in twenty cantos in ottava rima on the Constable D. Nuno Alvares Pereira, the hero of the war of independence against Spain at the end of the 14th century. The characteristics of his prose style are harmony, purity and elegance, and he ranks as one of Portugal’s leading writers. A disciple of the Italian school, his verses are yet free from imitations of classical models, his descriptions of natural scenery are unsurpassed in the Portuguese language, and generally his writings strike a true note and show a sincerity that was rare at the time. ”

“ He had observed with regret the modest intellectual position of his country, for all her wealth and epic achievements, the latter of which had found no echo in poetry; and if he were to learn and be able to introduce new forms of art fed by fresh ideals, as he desired, he felt he must go abroad. The Cancioneiro de Resende, which represented the poetical efforts of courtiers for almost a century and contained Miranda's early verses, showed the extent of the national poverty by its artificiality, and lack of ideas, of sincerity and of good taste. ”

“ Damião de Goes was a man of wide culture and genial and courtly manners, a skilled musician and a good linguist. He wrote both Portuguese and Latin with classic strength and simplicity, and his style is free from affectation and rhetorical ornaments. His portrait by Albrecht Dürer shows an open, intelligent face, and the record of his life proves him to have been upright and fearless. ”

“ The pest of 1530 drove him from Lisbon to his country house near Pombal, and there he finished a moral dialogue, Rhopica Pneuma, which met with the applause of the learned Juan Luis Vives. On his return to Lisbon in 1532 the king appointed Barros factor of the India and Mina House—positions of great responsibility and importance at a time when Lisbon was the European emporium for the trade of the East. Barros proved a good administrator, displaying great industry and a disinterestedness rare in that age, with the result that he made but little money where his predecessors had amassed fortunes. ”

“ CORTE-REAL, JERONYMO (1533–1588) , Portuguese epic poet, came of a noble Portuguese stock. Of the same family were Gaspar Corte-Real, who in 1500 and 1501 sailed to Labrador and the Arctic seas; and his brothers Miguel and Vasco. Their voyages opened the way for important Portuguese fisheries on the Newfoundland coast (see Henry Harrisse, Les Corte-Real et leurs voyages au Nouveau-Monde, and Gasper Corte-Real: la date exacte de sa dernière expédition au Nouveau-Monde, Paris, 1883) . In his youth Jeronymo fought in Africa and Asia according to the custom of noblemen in that age. ”

“ GARRETT, JOÃO BAPTISTA DA SILVA LEITÃO DE ALMEIDA, Visconde de Almeida-Garrett (1799–1854) , perhaps the greatest Portuguese poet since Camoens, was of Irish descent. Born in Oporto, his parents moved to the Quinta do Castello at Gaya when he was five years old. The French invasion of Portugal drove the family to the Azores, and Garrett made his first studies at Angra, beginning to versify at an early age under the influence of his uncle, a poet of the school of Bocage. ”

“ From being a land of promise, India had become for him, as for Camoens, “the mother of villains, the stepmother of men of honour”; and though the wealth of the East poured into Lisbon, Portugal remained poor because agriculture was neglected and corn had to be imported from abroad. Miranda protested in vigorous terms against the fever of adventure and lust of gold, but few gave ear to his moralizing or had leisure to read poetry, and in 1534 he left the court. ”

“ The first extends to his imprisonment and breathes only love and pleasure, while the main theme of the second part, written in prison, is his saudade for Marilia and past happiness. Gonzaga borrowed his forms from the best models, Anacreon and Theocritus, but the matter, except for an occasional imitation of Petrarch, the natural, elegant style and the harmonious metrification, are all his own. The booklet comprises the most celebrated collection of erotic poetry dedicated to a single person in the Portuguese tongue; indeed its popularity is so great as to exceed its intrinsic merit. ”

“ As a man, Vieira would have made a nobler figure if he had not been so great an egotist and so clever a courtier, and the readiness with which he sustained directly opposite opinions at short intervals with equal warmth argues a certain lack of sincerity. His name, however, is identified with great causes, justice to the Jews and humanity to the Indians, and the fact that he was in advance of his age led to many of his troubles, while his disinterestedness in money matters is deserving of all praise. ”

“ Besides his strong religious faith, Garrett was endowed with a deep sensibility, a creative imagination, rare taste and a singular capacity for sympathy. Thus, though a learned man and an able jurist, he was bound to be first and always an artist. ”

“ A wealthy Portuguese gentleman, married to a lady of colour, charitably received him into his house, and when the poet recovered, he married their young daughter who had nursed him through the attack. ”

“ A man of lofty character, he preferred leaving his children an example of good morals and learning to bequeathing them a large pecuniary inheritance, and, though he received many royal benefactions, they were volunteered, never asked for. As an historian and a stylist Barros deserves the high fame he has always enjoyed. ”

“ It was an onerous undertaking for a conscientious historian, since it was necessary to expose the miseries as well as relate the glories of the period, and so to offend some of the most powerful families. Goes had already written a Chronicle of Prince John (afterwards John II.) , and when, after more than eight years’ labour, he produced the First Part of his Chronicle of King Manoel (1566) , a chorus of attacks greeted it, the edition was destroyed, and he was compelled to issue a revised version. ”

“ Sá de Miranda could only deplore in private the misfortunes of his country and 'devote himself to polishing his verses and educating his children. His life’s work was done, for the year 1550 saw Camoens writing his admirable sonnets, canzons and elegies, and the Italian school had definitely triumphed. The last eight years of Sá de Miranda’s life produced a cycle of beautiful poems evoked by the personality of Prince John, the heir-apparent, who loved letters and especially poetry, and whose precocity of talent made him the hope of all patriots. ”

“ Thereupon the pair separate and enter religion, and Manoel becomes the famous chronicler, Frei Luiz de Sousa (q.v.) . The characters live and move, especially Telmo, the old servant, who would never believe in the death of his former master D. João, and the consumptive child Maria, who helps Telmo to create the atmosphere of impending disaster; while the episodes, particularly those of the return of D. João and the death of Maria, are full of power, and the language is Portuguese of the best.
Entering parliament in 1837, Garrett soon made his mark as an orator. ”

“ NASCIMENTO, FRANCISCO MANUEL DE (1734–1819) , Portuguese poet, better known by the literary name of Filinto Elysio, bestowed on him by the Marqueza de Alorna, was the reputed son of a Lisbon boat-owner. In his early years he acquired a love of national customs and traditions which his humanist education never obliterated, while, in addition, he learnt to know the whole range of popular literature (litteratura de cardel) —songs, comedies, knightly stories and fairy tales, which were then printed in loose sheets (folhas volantes) and sold by the blind in the streets of the capital. ”

“ In his Corte na Aldeia (1619) , a man of letters, a young nobleman, a student and an old man of easy means, beguile the winter evenings at Cintra by a series of philosophic and literary discussions in dialogue which may still be read with pleasure. ”