Chapter IX

LUIS DE LEON.--EARLY LIFE.--PERSECUTIONS.--TRANSLATION OF THE CANTICLES.--NAMES OF CHRIST.--PERFECT WIFE AND OTHER PROSE WORKS.--HIS DEATH.--HIS POEMS.--HIS CHARACTER.

It should not be forgotten, that, while we have gone over the beginnings of the Italian school and of the existing theatre, we have had little occasion to notice one distinctive element of the Spanish character, which is yet almost constantly present in the great mass of the national literature: I mean, the religious element. A reverence for the Church, or, more properly, for the religion of the Church, and a deep sentiment of devotion, however mistaken in the forms it wore or in the direction it took, had been developed in the old Castilian character by the wars against Islamism, as much as the spirit of loyalty and knighthood, and had, from the first, found no less fitting poetical forms of expression. That no change took place in this respect in the sixteenth century, we find striking proof in the character of a noble Spaniard born in the city of Granada about twenty years later than Diego de Mendoza; but one whose gentler and graver genius easily took the direction which that of the elder cavalier so decidedly refused.

Luis Ponce de Leon, called, from his early and unbroken connection with the Church, “Brother Luis de Leon,” was born in 1528, and enjoyed advantages for education which, in his time, were almost exclusively confined to the children of noble and distinguished families. He was early sent to Salamanca, and there, when only sixteen years old, voluntarily entered the order of Saint Augustin. From this moment, the final direction was given to his life. He never ceased to be a monk; and he never ceased to be attached to the University where he was bred. In 1560, he became a Licentiate in Theology, and immediately afterwards was made a Doctor of Divinity. The next year, at the age of thirty-four, he obtained the chair of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which he won after a public competition against several opponents, four of whom were already professors; and to these honors he added, ten years later, that of the chair of Sacred Literature.

By this time, however, his influence and success had gathered round him a body of enemies, who soon found means to disturb his peace.[62] A friend, who did not understand the ancient languages, had desired him to translate “The Song of Solomon” into Castilian, and explain its character and purposes. This he had done; and the version which he thus made is commonly regarded as the earliest, or one of the earliest, among his known works. But in making it, he had treated the whole poem as a pastoral eclogue, in which the different personages converse together like shepherds.[63] This opinion, of course, was not agreeable to the doctrines of his Church and its principles of interpretation; but what he had done had been done only as an act of private friendship, and he had taken some pains to have his version known only to the individual at whose request it had been made. His manuscript, however, was copied and circulated by the treachery of a servant. One of the copies thus obtained fell into the hands of an enemy, and its author, in 1572, was brought before the Inquisition of Valladolid, charged with Lutheranism and with making a vernacular translation from the Scriptures, contrary to the decree of the Council of Trent. It was easy to answer the first part of the complaint, for Luis de Leon was no Protestant; but it was not possible to give a sufficient answer to the last. He had, however, powerful friends, and by their influence escaped the final terrors of the Inquisition, though not until he had been almost five years imprisoned in a way that seriously impaired his health and broke down his spirits.[64]

[62] Obras del M. Fr. Luis de Leon, (Madrid, 1804-16, 6 tom. 8vo,
Tom. V. p. 292), where, writing from his prison, he speaks of
“those who in the ministry of a tribunal so holy have wreaked the
vengeance of their own passions upon me.” Elsewhere he repeats
the same accusation against his enemies.

[63] Obras, Tom. V. p. i. and p. 5.

[64] A poetical version of Solomon’s Song was made, not long
afterwards, by the famous Arias Montano, on the same principle.
When it was first published I do not know; but it may be found
in Faber’s “Floresta,” No. 717, and parts of it are beautiful.
Montano died in 1598.

But the University remained faithful to him. He was reinstated in all his offices, with marks of the sincerest respect, on the 30th of December, 1576; and it is a beautiful circumstance attending his restoration, that, when, for the first time, he rose before a crowded audience, eager to hear what allusion he would make to his persecutions, he began by simply saying, “As we remarked when we last met,” and then went on, as if the five bitter years of his imprisonment had been a blank in his memory, bearing no record of the cruel treatment he had suffered.[65]

[65] Villanueva (Vida, Lóndres, 1825, 8vo, Tom. I. p. 340) says
that all the papers relating to the inquisitorial process against
Luis de Leon, including admirable answers of the accused, were
found, in 1813, in the archives of the tribunal of Valladolid,
but were not printed for want of means. They must be very curious
documents.

It seems, however, to have been thought advisable that he should vindicate his reputation from the suspicions that had been cast upon it; and therefore, in 1580, at the request of his friends, he published, in Latin, an extended commentary on the Canticles, interpreting each part in three different ways,--directly, symbolically, and mystically,--and giving the whole as theological and obscure a character as the most orthodox could desire, though still without concealing his opinion that it was originally intended to be a pastoral eclogue.

Another work on the same subject, but in Spanish, and in some respects like the one that had caused his imprisonment, was also prepared by him and found among his manuscripts after his death. But it was not thought advisable to print it till 1798. Even then a version of the Canticles, in Spanish octaves, as an eclogue, intended originally to accompany it, was not added, and did not appear till 1806;--a beautiful translation, which discovers, not only its author’s power as a poet, but the remarkable freedom of his theological inquiries, in a country where such freedom was, in that age, not tolerated for an instant.[66] The fragment of a defence of this version, or of some parts of it, is dated from his prison, in 1573, and was found long afterwards among the state papers of the kingdom in the archives of Simancas.[67]

[66] Luis de Leon, Obras, Tom. V. pp. 258-280.

[67] Ibid., Tom. V. p. 281.

While in prison he prepared a long prose work, which he entitled “The Names of Christ.” It is a singular specimen at once of Spanish theological learning, eloquence, and devotion. Of this, between 1583 and 1585, he published three books, but he never completed it.[68] It is thrown into the form of a dialogue, like the “Tusculan Questions,” which it was probably intended to imitate; and its purpose is, by means of successive discussions of the character of the Saviour, as set forth under the names of Son, Prince, Shepherd, King, etc., to excite devout feelings in those who read it. The form, however, is not adhered to with great strictness. The dialogue, instead of being a discussion, is, in fact, a series of speeches; and once, at least, we have a regular sermon, of as much merit, perhaps, as any in the language;[69] so that, taken together, the entire work may be regarded as a series of declamations on the character of Christ, as that character was regarded by the more devout portions of the Spanish Church in its author’s time. Many parts of it are eloquent, and its eloquence has not unfrequently the gorgeous coloring of the elder Spanish literature; such, for instance, as is found in the following passage, illustrating the title of Christ as the Prince of Peace, and proving the beauty of all harmony in the moral world from its analogies with the physical:--

[68] Ibid., Tom. III. and IV.

[69] This sermon is in Book First of the treatise. Obras, Tom.
III. pp. 160-214.

“Even if reason should not prove it, and even if we could in no other way understand how gracious a thing is peace, yet would this fair show of the heavens over our heads and this harmony in all their manifold fires sufficiently bear witness to it. For what is it but peace, or, indeed, a perfect image of peace, that we now behold, and that fills us with such deep joy? Since if peace is, as Saint Augustin, with the brevity of truth, declares it to be, a quiet order, or the maintenance of a well-regulated tranquillity in whatever order demands,--then what we now witness is surely its true and faithful image. For while these hosts of stars, arranged and divided into their several bands, shine with such surpassing splendor, and while each one of their multitude inviolably maintains its separate station, neither pressing into the place of that next to it, nor disturbing the movements of any other, nor forgetting its own; none breaking the eternal and holy law God has imposed on it; but all rather bound in one brotherhood, ministering one to another, and reflecting their light one to another,--they do surely show forth a mutual love, and, as it were, a mutual reverence, tempering each other’s brightness and strength into a peaceful unity and power, whereby all their different influences are combined into one holy and mighty harmony, universal and everlasting. And therefore may it be most truly said, not only that they do all form a fair and perfect model of peace, but that they all set forth and announce, in clear and gracious words, what excellent things peace contains within herself and carries abroad whithersoever her power extends.”[70]

[70] Obras, Tom. III. pp. 342, 343. This beautiful passage may
well be compared to his more beautiful ode, entitled “Noche
Serena,” to which it has an obvious resemblance.

The eloquent treatise on the Names of Christ was not, however, the most popular of the prose works of Luis de Leon. This distinction belongs to his “Perfecta Casada,” or Perfect Wife; a treatise which he composed, in the form of a commentary on some portions of Solomon’s Proverbs, for the use of a lady newly married, and which was first published in 1583.[71] But it is not necessary specially to notice either this work, or his Exposition of Job, in two volumes, accompanied with a poetical version, which he began in prison for his own consolation, and finished the year of his death, but which none ventured to publish till 1779.[72] Both are marked with the same humble faith, the same strong enthusiasm, and the same rich eloquence, that appear, from time to time, in the work on the Names of Christ; though perhaps the last, which received the careful corrections of its author’s matured genius, has a serious and settled power greater than he has shown anywhere else. But the characteristics of his prose compositions--even those which from their nature are the most strictly didactic--are the same everywhere; and the rich language and imagery of the passage already cited afford a fair specimen of the style towards which he constantly directed his efforts.

[71] Ibid., Tom. IV.

[72] Ibid., Tom. I. and II.

Luis de Leon’s health never recovered from the shock it suffered in the cells of the Inquisition. He lived, indeed, nearly fourteen years after his release; but most of his works, whether in Castilian or in Latin, were written before his imprisonment or during its continuance, while those he undertook afterwards, as his account of Santa Teresa and some others, were never finished. His life was always, from choice, very retired, and his austere manners were announced by his habitual reserve and silence. In a letter that he sent with his poems to his friend Puertocarrero, a statesman at the court of Philip the Second and a member of the principal council of the Inquisition, he says, that, in the kingdom of Old Castile, where he had lived from his youth, he could hardly claim to be familiarly acquainted with ten persons.[73] Still he was extensively known, and was held in great honor. In the latter part of his life especially, his talents and sufferings, his religious patience and his sincere faith, had consecrated him in the eyes alike of his friends and his enemies. Nothing relating to the monastic brotherhood of which he was a member, or to the University where he taught, was undertaken without his concurrence and support; and when he died, in 1591, he was in the exercise of a constantly increasing influence, having just been chosen the head of his Order, and being engaged in the preparation of new regulations for its reform.[74]

[73] Obras, Tom. VI. p. 2.

[74] The materials for the life of Luis de Leon are to be
gathered from the notices of him in the curious MS. of Pacheco,
published, Semanario Pintoresco, 1844, p. 374;--those in N.
Antonio, Bib. Nova, _ad verb._;--in Sedano, Parnaso Español, Tom.
V.;--and in the Preface to a collection of his poetry, published
at Valencia by Mayans y Siscar, 1761; the last being also found
in Mayans y Siscar, “Cartas de Varios Autores” (Valencia, 1773,
12mo, Tom. IV. pp. 398, etc.). His birthplace has been by some
supposed to have been Belmonte in La Mancha, or else Madrid.
But Pacheco, who is a sufficient authority, gives that honor to
Granada, and settles the date of Luis de Leon’s birth at 1528,
though it is more commonly given as of 1526 or 1527; adding a
description of his person, and the singular fact, not elsewhere
noticed, that he amused himself with the art of painting, and
succeeded in his own portrait.

But besides the character in which we have thus far considered him, Luis de Leon was a poet, and a poet of no common genius. He seems, it is true, to have been little conscious, or, at least, little careful, of his poetical talent; for he made hardly an effort to cultivate it, and never took pains to print any thing, in order to prove its existence to the world. Perhaps, too, he showed more deference than was due to the opinion of many persons of his time, who thought poetry an occupation not becoming one in his position; for, in the prefatory notice to his sacred odes, he says, in a deprecating tone: “Let none regard verse as any thing new and unworthy to be applied to Scriptural subjects, for it is rather appropriate to them; and so old is it in this application, that, from the earliest ages of the Church to the present day, men of great learning and holiness have thus employed it. And would to God that no other poetry were ever sounded in our ears; that only these sacred tones were sweet to us; that none else were heard at night in the streets and public squares; that the child might still lisp it, the retired damsel find in it her best solace, and the industrious tradesman make it the relief of his toil! But the Christian name is now sunk to such immodest and reckless degradation, that we set our sins to music, and, not content with indulging them in secret, shout them joyfully forth to all who will listen.”

But whatever may have been his own feelings on the suitableness of such an occupation to his profession, it is certain, that, while most of the poems he has left us were written in his youth, they were not collected by him till the latter part of his life, and then only to please a personal friend, who never thought of publishing them; so that they were not printed at all till forty years after his death, when Quevedo gave them to the public, in the hope that they might help to reform the corrupted taste of the age. But from this time they have gone through many editions, though still they never appeared properly collated and arranged till 1816.[75]

[75] The poems of Luis de Leon fill the last volume of his Works;
but there are several among them that are probably spurious.

They are, however, of great value. They consist of versions of all the Eclogues and two of the Georgics of Virgil, about thirty Odes of Horace, about forty Psalms, and a few passages from the Greek and Italian poets; all executed with freedom and spirit, and all in a genuinely Castilian style. His translations, however, seem to have been only in the nature of exercises and amusements. But though he thus acquired great facility and exactness in his versification, he wrote little. His original poems fill no more than about a hundred pages; but there is hardly a line of them which has not its value; and the whole, when taken together, are to be placed at the head of Spanish lyric poetry. They are chiefly religious, and the source of their inspiration is not to be mistaken. Luis de Leon had a Hebrew soul, and kindles his enthusiasm almost always from the Jewish Scriptures. Still he preserved his nationality unimpaired. Nearly all the best of his poetical compositions are odes written in the old Castilian measures, with a classical purity and rigorous finish before unknown in Spanish poetry, and hardly attained since.[76]

[76] In noticing the Hebrew temperament of Luis de Leon, I am
reminded of one of his contemporaries, who possessed in some
respects a kindred spirit, and whose fate was even more strange
and unhappy. I refer to Juan Pinto Delgado, a Portuguese Jew,
who lived long in Spain, embraced the Christian religion, was
reconverted to the faith of his fathers, fled from the terrors of
the Inquisition to France, and died there about the year 1590.
In 1627, a volume of his works, containing narrative poems on
Queen Esther and on Ruth, free versions from the Lamentations of
Jeremiah in the old national _quintillas_, and sonnets and other
short pieces, generally in the Italian manner, was published
at Rouen in France, and dedicated to Cardinal Richelieu, then
the all-powerful minister of Louis XIII. They are full of the
bitter and sorrowful feelings of his exile, and parts of them
are written, not only with tenderness, but in a sweet and pure
versification. The Hebrew spirit of the author, whose proper
name is Moseh Delgado, breaks through constantly, as might be
expected. Barbosa, Biblioteca, Tom. II. p. 722. Amador de los
Rios, Judios de España, Madrid, 1848, 8vo, p. 500.

This is eminently the case, for instance, with what the Spaniards have esteemed the best of his poetical works: his ode, called “The Prophecy of the Tagus,” in which the river-god predicts to Roderic the Moorish conquest of his country, as the result of that monarch’s violence to Cava, the daughter of one of his principal nobles. It is an imitation of the Ode of Horace in which Nereus rises from the waves and predicts the overthrow of Troy to Paris, who, under circumstances not entirely dissimilar, is transporting the stolen wife of Menelaus to the scene of the fated conflict between the two nations. But the Ode of Luis de Leon is written in the old Spanish _quintillas_, his favorite measure, and is as natural, fresh, and flowing as one of the national ballads.[77] Foreigners, however, less interested in what is so peculiarly Spanish, and so full of allusions to Spanish history, may sometimes prefer the serener ode “On a Life of Retirement,” that “On Immortality,” or perhaps the still more beautiful one “On the Starry Heavens”; all written with the same purity and elevation of spirit, and all in the same national measure and manner.

[77] It is the eleventh of Luis de Leon’s Odes, and may well
bear a comparison with that of Horace (Lib. I. Carm. 15) which
suggested it.

A truer specimen of his prevalent lyrical tone, and, indeed, of his tone in much else of what he wrote, is perhaps to be found in his “Hymn on the Ascension.” It is both very original and very natural in its principal idea, being supposed to express the disappointed feelings of the disciples as they see their Master passing out of their sight into the opening heavens above them.

And dost them, holy Shepherd, leave
Thine unprotected flock alone,
Here, in this darksome vale, to grieve,
While thou ascend’st thy glorious throne?

O, where can they their hopes now turn,
Who never lived but on thy love?
Where rest the hearts for thee that burn,
When thou art lost in light above?

How shall those eyes now find repose
That turn, in vain, thy smile to see?
What can they hear save mortal woes,
Who lose thy voice’s melody?

And who shall lay his tranquil hand
Upon the troubled ocean’s might?
Who hush the winds by his command?
Who guide us through this starless night?

For THOU art gone!--that cloud so bright,
That bears thee from our love away,
Springs upward through the dazzling light,
And leaves us here to weep and pray![78]

[78] It is in _quintillas_ in the original; but that stanza, I
think, can never, in English, be made flowing and easy as it is
in Spanish. I have, therefore, used in this translation a freedom
greater than I have generally permitted to myself, in order to
approach, if possible, the bold outline of the original thought.
It begins thus:--

Y dexas, pastor santo,
Tu grey en este valle hondo escuro
Con soledad y llanto,
Y tu rompiendo el puro
Ayre, te vas al immortal seguro!
Los antes bien hadados,
Y los agora tristes y afligidos,
A tus pechos criados,
De tí desposeidos,
A dó convertirán ya sus sentidos?

Obras de Luis de Leon, Madrid, 1816, Tom. VI. p. 42.

In order, however, to comprehend aright the genius and spirit of Luis de Leon, we must study, not only his lyrical poetry, but much of his prose; for, while his religious odes and hymns, beautiful in their severe exactness of style, rank him before Klopstock and Filicaja, his prose, more rich and no less idiomatic, places him at once among the greatest masters of eloquence in his native Castilian.[79]

[79] In 1837, D. José de Castro y Orozco produced on the stage at
Madrid a drama, entitled “Fray Luis de Leon,” in which the hero,
whose name it bears, is represented as renouncing the world and
entering a cloister, in consequence of a disappointment in love.
Diego de Mendoza is also one of the principal personages in the
same drama, which is written in a pleasing style, and has some
poetical merit, notwithstanding its unhappy subject and plot.