La moza de cántaro | Page 3

an epic poem on Sir Francis Drake, and Isidro, a long narrative poem on the life and achievements of San Isidro, patron of Madrid. These two works were followed in 1605 by his epic, Jerusalén Conquistada, an untrustworthy narration of the achievements of Richard Coeur-de-Lion and Alfonso VIII in the crusade at the close of the twelfth century. Lope left the service of the Duke of Alba on his return to Madrid, or about that time, and during the next decade held similar positions under the Marqués de Malpica and the Conde de Lemos, and during a large part of this period he led a more or less vagabond existence wherever the whims of his employers or his own gallant adventures led him. About 1605 he made the acquaintance of the Duque de Sessa, who shortly afterwards became his patron and so continued until the death of the poet about thirty years later. The correspondence of the two forms the best source for the biography of this part of Lope's career. From 1605 until 1610 he lived in Toledo with his much neglected wife, of whom we have no mention since their marriage in 1598. But in 1610 they moved to Madrid, where Lope bought the little house in what is now the Calle de Cervantes, and in this house the great poet passed the last quarter of a century of his long and eventful life.
The next few years following this return to the capital were made sorrowful to Lope by the sickness and death of both his wife and his beloved little son, Carlos Félix, in whom the father had founded the fondest hopes. Then it was that Lope, now past the fiftieth year of his age, sought refuge, like so many of his contemporaries and compatriots, in the protecting fold of the Church. Before the death of his wife he had given evidence of religious fervor by numerous short poems and in his sacred work, los Pastores de Belén, a long pastoral in prose and in verse relating the early history of the Holy Family. Whether Lope was influenced to take orders by motives of pure devotion or by reasons of interest has been a question of speculation for scholars ever since his time. From his works we can easily believe that both of these motives entered into it; in fact he says as much in his correspondence with the Duque de Sessa. Speaking of this phase of the poet's life, Fitzmaurice-Kelly says: "It was an ill-advised move. Ticknor, indeed, speaks of a 'Lope, no longer at an age to be deluded by his passions'; but no such Lope is known to history. While a Familiar of the Inquisition the true Lope wrote love-letters for the loose-living Duque de Sessa, till at last his confessor threatened to deny him absolution. Nor is this all: his intrigue with Marta de Navares Santoyo, wife of Roque Hernández de Ayala, was notorious." But later, speaking of those who may study these darker pages of Lope's career, he adds: "If they judge by the standards of Lope's time, they will deal gently with a miracle of genius, unchaste but not licentious; like that old Dumas, who, in matters of gaiety, energy and strength, is his nearest modern compeer." We may say further that Lope, with no motive to deceive or shield himself, for he seems to have almost sought to give publicity to his licentiousness, was faithful in the discharge of his religious offices, evincing therein a fervor and devotion quite exemplary. Yet neither does his gallantry nor his devotion seem to have ever halted his pen for a moment in the years that succeeded his ordination. His dramatic composition of this period is quite abundant and other literary forms are not neglected.
Two interesting incidents in the poet's life are never omitted by his biographers. They are the beatification, in 1620, of San Isidro and his canonization, two years later, with their accompanying poet "jousts," at both of which Lope presided and assumed a leading r?le. Before this time he was known as a great author and worshiped by the element interested in the drama, but on both these occasions he had an opportunity to declaim his incomparable verses and those of the other contesting poets, revealing his majestic bearing and versatility to the great populace of Madrid, his native city. He was thereafter its literary lion, whose very appearance in the streets furnished an occasion for tumultuous demonstration of affection.
The last decade of the life of Lope de Vega saw him seeking no rest or retirement behind the friendly walls of some monastic retreat, but rather was it the most active period of his literary career. Well may we say that he had no declining years, for he never knew rest