La moza de cántaro | Page 3

de Guardo.
Aside from his literary works the following twelve years of the life of
Lope offer us but little of interest. The first few years of the period saw
the appearance of La Dragontea, 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 rôle. 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