of thought. With her the moving
impulse was love, both human and divine. Her first volume
of poems (1841) probably contains her best work. Her
novels _Sab_ and _Espatolino_ were popular in their day
but are now fallen into oblivion. Some of her plays,
especially _Baltasar_ and _Munio_, do not lack merit.
Avellaneda is recognized as the foremost poet amongst the
women of nineteenth-century Spain.

Two of the most successful dramatists of this period,
Garcia Gutierrez and Hartzenbusch, were also lyric poets.
Antonio GARCIA GUTIERREZ (1813-1884), the author of _El
trovador_, published two volumes of mediocre verses.
Juan Eugenio HARTZENBUSCH (1806-1880) was, like Fernan
Caballero, the child of a German father and a Spanish
mother. Though an eminent scholar and critic, he did not
hesitate in his _Amantes de Teruel_ to play to the popular
passion for sentimentality. He produced some lyric verse
of worth. Manuel BRETON DE LOS HERREROS (1796-1873) was
primarily a humorist and satirist, who turned from page xxxix
lyric verse to drama as his best medium of
expression. He delighted in holding up to ridicule the
excesses of romanticism. Mention should be made here of
two poets who had been, like Espronceda, pupils of Alberto
Lista. The eclectic poet MARQUES DE MOLINS (Mariano Roca
de Togores: 1812-1889) wrote passively in all the literary
genres of his time. VENTURA DE LA VEGA (1807-1865) was
born in Argentina, but came to Spain at an early age. He
was a well-balanced, cautious writer of mediocre verses
that are rather neo-classic than romantic.

A marked reaction against the grandiose exaggerations of
later romanticism appears in the works of Jose SELGAS
y Carrasco (1824-1882), a clever writer of simple,
sentimental verses. At one time his poetry was highly
praised and widely read, but for the most part it is
to-day censured as severely as it was once praised. Among
the contemporaries of Selgas were the writer of simple
verses and one-time popular tales, Antonio de TRUEBA
(1821-1889) and Eduardo BUSTILLO, the author of _Las
cuatro estaciones_ and _El ciego de Buenavista_. Somewhat
of the tradition of the Sevillan school persisted in the
verses of Manuel CANETE and Narciso CAMPILLO (1838-1900)
and in those of the poet and literary critic Jose AMADOR
DE LOS RIOS.

The Sevillan Gustavo Adolfo BECQUER (1836-1870) wrote
perhaps the most highly polished Spanish verse of the
nineteenth century. His _Rimas_ are charg