Part 26 (1/2)
6. DRAMATIC POETRY.--The drama is quite a barren field in Portuguese literature. The stage of Lisbon has been occupied almost exclusively by the Italian opera and Spanish comedy. Only one poet of any name has written in the Portuguese spirit. This was Gil Vicente (1490-1556). He resided constantly at the court, and was employed in providing occasional pieces for its civil and religious festivities. It is probable that he was an actor, and it is certain that he educated for the stage his daughter, Paula, who was equally celebrated as an actress, a poetess, and a musician. The dramas of Vicente consist of autos, comedies, tragi- comedies, and farces. The autos, or religious pieces, were written chiefly to furnish entertainment for the court on Christmas night. The shepherds had naturally an important part a.s.signed to them, and the whole was pervaded by the pastoral feeling which distinguishes them remarkably from the Spanish autos. But the best productions of this author are his farces, which approach much nearer to the style of true comedy than the plays published under that name.
Saa de Miranda, desirous of conferring on his country a cla.s.sical theatre, produced two erudite comedies, but he was born a pastoral poet, and made himself a dramatist only by imitation. Ferreira belonged to the same school, and the favor bestowed by the court on the dramas of these two poets, was one obstacle to the formation of a national drama. Another was, the pertinacious attachment of the Portuguese to pastoral poetry, and nothing could be more contrary to dramatic life than the languor, sentimentality, and monotony peculiar to the eclogue.
7. PROSE WRITING.--After Camoens, Saa de Miranda, and Ferreira, the language and the literature of Portugal are indebted to no other writer so much as to Rodriguez Lobo (b. 1558). The history of Portuguese eloquence may be said to commence with him, for he laid so good a foundation for the cultivation of a pure prose style that, in every effort to obtain cla.s.sic perfection, subsequent writers have merely followed in his steps. His verse is nowise inferior to his prose. Among his poetic works appears a whole series of historic romances, written by way of ridiculing that species of composition.
Lobo stood alone, in the sixteenth century, in his efforts to improve the prose of his country. Gongorism had, meanwhile, introduced bombast and metaphorical obscurity, and no writer of eminence arose to attempt a more natural style, till the end of the seventeenth century.
Foremost among those who undertook to relate the history of their country, especially of her oriental discoveries, and who communicated to their records an ardent patriotic feeling, is Barros (1496-1571); he took Livy for his model, and his labors are worthy of honorable notice. India was the favorite topic of Portuguese historians; and several similar works, but inferior to that of Barros, appeared in the same age. Bernardo de Brito (d. 1617) undertook the task of compiling a history of Portugal. His narration begins with the creation of the world, and breaks off where the history of modern Portugal commences. It is eminently distinguished for style and descriptive talent. The biography of Juan de Castro, written by Jacinto de Andrade, is considered as a masterpiece of the Portuguese prose.
The conquered Indians found an eloquent defender in Veira (1608-1697), a Catholic missionary, who spent a great part of his life in the deserts of South America, and wrote catechisms in different languages for the use of the natives. Having returned to the court of John IV., he undertook to defend the natural rights of Indians against the rapacity of the conquerors. He undertook also the defense of the Jews in his native country, and showed so much interest in their cause that he was twice brought before the Inquisition. His sermons and letters are models of prose writings, full of the inspiration which springs from the boldness of his subjects.
8. PORTUGUESE LITERATURE IN THE SEVENTEENTH, EIGHTEENTH, AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES.--Portuguese literature during the seventeenth century would present an utter blank, but for the few literary productions to which we have alluded. Previous to that time, patriotic valor and romantic enterprise expanded the national genius; but before it could mature, the despotism of the monarchy, the horrors of the Inquisition, and the influence of wealth and luxury, had done their work of destruction, and the prostrate nation had in the seventeenth century reaped the bitter fruits. The most brilliant period of Portuguese poetry had pa.s.sed away, and no new era commenced. The flame of patriotism was extinct, Brazil was the only colony that remained, the spirit of national enterprise was no more, and a general lethargy overspread the nation. Labor was reckoned a disgrace, commerce a degradation, and agriculture too fatiguing for even the lowest cla.s.ses of the community. Both Spain and Portugal felt the paralyzing influence of their humbled position in the scale of nations, and civil and religious despotism had overthrown, in both countries, the intellectual power which had so long withstood its degrading influence.
Thousands of sonnets, chiefly of an amorous nature, filled up the seventeenth century in Portugal, while Spain was exhausting its expiring energies in dramas. Souza, the most eminent of the sonneteers, alone produced six hundred. In the first, he announces that the collection is designed to celebrate ”the penetrating shafts of love, which were shot from a pair of heavenly eyes, and which, after inflicting immortal wounds, issued triumphant from the poet's breast.”
In the eighteenth century, the influence of French taste crept quietly into the literature as well as the manners of the Portuguese nation. Royal academies of history and language were founded, and an academy of sciences, which, since 1792, has exercised an influence over literary taste, and given birth to many excellent treatises on philosophy and criticism.
About the year 1735, the nation seemed on the eve of possessing a drama of its own. Antonio Jose, an obscure Jew, composed a number of comic operas, in the vernacular tongue, which had long been banished from the theatre of Lisbon. In spite of much coa.r.s.eness, their genuine humor and familiar gayety excited the greatest enthusiasm, and for ten years the theatre was crowded with delighted audiences. But the Jew was seized and burnt, by order of the Inquisition, at the last _auto da fe_, which took place in 1745, and the theatre was closed.
Although French literature continued to exert its influence in the beginning of the nineteenth century, masterpieces of English literature at that time found their way into Portugal, and excited much admiration and imitation. Manuel do Nascimento (1734-1819) is the representative of the cla.s.sic style, and his works, both in poetry and prose, are distinguished by purity of language. Manuel de Bocage (1766-1805) is one of the most celebrated modern poets, and though his poems are not examples of refined taste or elegance of style, they evince enthusiasm and poetical fire.
Among the poets of the present day, there are some who have emanc.i.p.ated themselves from the imitation of foreign models, and have attempted to combine the earliest national elements of their literature with the characteristic tendencies of the present age.
FINNISH LITERATURE.
1. The Finnish Language and Literature: Poetry; the Kalevala; Lonnrot; Korhonen.--2. The Hungarian Language and Literature: the Age of Stephen I.; Influence of the House of Anjou; of the Reformation; of the House of Austria; Kossuth; Josika; Eotvos; Kuthy; Szigligeti; Petofi.
1. THE FINNISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.--On pa.s.sing northward from the Iranian plateaux through Turan to the Uralian mountains, which separate Europe and Asia, we arrive at the primitive seat of the Finnish race.
Driven westward by other invading tribes, it scattered through northern Europe, and established itself more particularly in Finland, where, at the present time, we find its princ.i.p.al stock. From the earliest period of the history of the Finns, until the middle of the twelfth century, they lived under their own independent kings. They were then subjected by the Swedes, who established colonies upon their coasts, and introduced Christianity among them. After having been for many centuries the theatre of Russian and Swedish wars, in the beginning of the present century Finland pa.s.sed under the dominion of Russia; yet, through these ages of foreign domination, its inhabitants preserved their national character, and maintained the use of their native tongue.
The Finnish language is a branch of the Turanian family; it is written with the Roman alphabet, but it has fewer sounds; it is complicated in its declension and conjugation, but it has great capacity of expressing compound ideas in one word; it is harmonious in sound, and free, yet clear, in its construction.
The Finns at an early period had attained a high degree of civilization, and they have always been distinguished for their love of poetry, especially for the melancholy strains of the elegy. They possess a vast number of popular songs or ballads, which are either lyrical or mythological; they are sung by the _song-men_, to the _kantele_, a kind of harp with five wire strings, a favorite national instrument. They have also legends, tales, and proverbs, some of which have recently been collected and published at Helsingfors, the capital of Finland.
The great monument of Finnish literature is the ”Kalevala,” a kind of epic poem, which was arranged in a systematic collection, and given to the world in 1833, by Elias Lonnrot (d. 1884). He wandered from place to place in the remote districts of Finland, living with the peasants, and taking down from their lips the popular songs as he heard them chanted. The importance of this indigenous epic was at once recognized, and translations were made in various languages. The poem, which strongly resembles ”Hiawatha,” takes its name from the heroes of Kaleva, the land of happiness and plenty, who struggle with three others from the cold north and the land of death. It begins with the creation, and ends in the triumph of the heroes of Kaleva. Max Muller says of this poem that it possesses merits not dissimilar to those of the Iliad, and that it will claim its place as the fifth national epic of the world, beside that of the ”Mahabharata,” ”Shah Nameh,” and ”Nibelungen.” It is doubtless the product of different minds at different periods, having evidently received additions from time to time.
During the present century there has been considerable literary activity in Finland, and we meet with many names of poets and dramatists. The periodical literature is specially rich and voluminous, and valuable works on Finnish history and geography have recently appeared. Of recent poets the most popular is Korrhoinen, a peasant, whose productions are characterized by their sharp and biting sarcasm. The prose of Finland has a religious and moral character, and is especially enriched by translations from Swedish literature.
2. HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.--The language of the Magyars belongs to the Turanian family, and more particularly to the Finnish branch. The Hungarian differs from most European languages in its internal structure and external form. It is distinguished by harmony and energy of sound, richness and vigor of form, regularity of inflexion, and power of expression.
Towards the close of the seventh century, the Magyars emigrated from Asia into Europe, and for two hundred years they occupied the country between the Don and Dneiper. Being at length pressed forward by other emigrant tribes, they entered and established themselves in Hungary, after subjugating its former inhabitants.
In the year 1000, Stephen I. founded the kingdom of Hungary. He had introduced Christianity into the country, and with it a knowledge of the Latin language, which was now taught in the schools and made use of in public doc.u.ments, while the native idiom was spoken by the people, and in part in the a.s.semblies of the Diet. On the accession of the House of Anjou to the throne of Hungary, in the fourteenth century, a new impulse was given to the Hungarian tongue. The Bible was translated into it, and it became the language of the court; although the Latin was still the organ of the church and state, and from the fourteenth to the close of the fifteenth century remained the literary language of the country. This Latin literature boasted of many distinguished writers, but so little influence had they on the nation at large, that during this period it appears that many of the high officers of the kingdom could neither read nor write.
The sixteenth century was more favorable to Hungarian literature, and the political and religious movements which took place in the reign of Ferdinand I. and Maximilian II. (1527-1576) proved to be most beneficial to the intellectual development of the people. The Reformation, which was introduced into Hungary through Bohemia, the example of this neighboring country, and the close alliance which existed between the two people, exercised great influence on the public mind. The Hungarian language was introduced into the church, the schools, and the religious controversies, and became the vehicle of sacred and popular poetry. It was thus enriched and polished, and acquired a degree of perfection which it retained until the latter part of the eighteenth century. Translations of the Bible were multiplied; chronicles, histories, grammars, and dictionaries were published, and the number of schools, particularly among the Protestants, was greatly increased.
But these brilliant prospects were soon blighted when the country came under the absolute dominion of Austria. In order to crush the national tendencies of the Magyars, the government now restored the Latin and German languages; and newspapers, calendars, and publications of all kinds, including many valuable works, appeared in Latin. Indeed, the interval from 1702 to 1780 was the golden age of this literature in Hungary. Maria Theresa and Joseph II., however, by prescribing the use of the German language in the schools, official acts, and public transactions, produced a reaction in favor of the national tongue, which was soon after taught in the schools, heard in the lecture-room, the theatre, and popular a.s.semblies, and became the organ of the public press.