quintilla_, but the lines are the Italian eleven-and
seven-syllable (cf. pp. 9-12). Religious poems in more
popular forms are found in the _Romancero espiritual_
(1612) of Jose de Valdivielso, and in Lope de Vega's
_Rimas sacras_ (1614) and _Romancero espiritual_ (1622).

There were numerous secular disciples of Garcilaso at
about the same period. The names most deserving mention
are those of Francisco de la Torre (d. 1594?), Luis
Barahona de Soto (1535?-1595) and Francisco de Figueroa
(1536?-1620), all of whom wrote creditably and sometimes
with distinction in the Italian forms. Luis de Camoens
(1524?-1580), author of the great Portuguese epic _Os
Lusiadas_, employed Castilian in many verses with happy
result.

These figures lead to the threshold of the seventeenth
century which opened with a tremendous literary output in
many lines. Cervantes was writing his various novels;
the romance of roguery took on new life with _Guzman de
Alfarache_ (1599); the drama, which had been developing
rather slowly and spasmodically, burst suddenly into full
flower with Lope de Vega and his innumerable followers.
The old meter of the _romance_ was adopted as a favorite
form by all sorts and conditions of poets and was turned
from its primitive epic simplicity to the utmost variety
of subjects, descriptive, lyric and satiric.

From out this flood of production--for every dramatist was
in a measure a lyric poet, and dramatists were legion--we
can select for consideration only the men most prominent
as lyrists. First in the impulse which he gave to
literature for more than a century following stands Luis
de ARGOTE Y GONGORA (1561-1627), a Cordovan page xxiv
who chose to be known by his mother's name. His life was
mainly that of a disappointed place-hunter. His abrupt
change of literary manner has made some say that there
were in him two poets, Gongora the Good and Gongora the
Bad. He began by writing odes in the manner of Herrera and
_romances_ and _villancicos_ which are among the clearest
and best. They did not bring their author fame, however,
and he seems deliberately to have adopted the involved
metaphoric style to which Marini gave his name in Italy.
Gongora is merely the Spanish representative of the
movement, which also produced Euphuism in England and
_preciosite_ in France. But he surpassed all previous
writers in the extreme to which he carried the method, and
his _Soledades_ and _Polifemo_ are simpl