Portuguese Literature

The best known books of Augusto Gil are Sombra de Juno (1915) and Alba Plena (1916). Teixeira de Pascoaes, a sincere but nebulous pantheist, the inventor of what is called saudosismo, is distinguished by love of nature, but he pays too little attention to form, though his verse has a music of its own. Affonso Lopes Vieira, a writer of exquisite taste and sense of rhythm, trans lated the traditions of the race and the poetry of the sea in Ilhas de Bruma (1918) and produced rifacimentos of two works of world fame in his Amadis and Diana, marked by rare artistry and understanding of the originals. The last publication of the Repub lican politician Joao de Barros, prolific in verse and prose, is a poem Sisifo, in which he treats the classical legend in a novel way.

The Drama.

Garrett took in hand the reform of the stage, moved by a desire to exile the translations on which the playhouses had long subsisted. He chose his subjects from the national his tory, began with the Auto de Gil Vicente, and followed this up with other prose plays, among which the Alfageme de Santarem takes the palm ; finally, he crowned his labours by Frei Luiz de Sousa, a tragedy of fatality and pathos, and one of the really notable pieces of the century. The historical bent thus given to the drama was continued by the versatile Mendes Leal, by Gomes da Amorim and by Pinheiro Chagas, who all, however, succumbed more or less to the atmosphere and machinery of ultra-Romanti cism, while the plays of Antonio Ennes deal with questions of the day in a spirit of combative liberalism. In the social drama, Er nesto Biester, and in comedy Fernando Caldeira, also no mean lyric poet, are two of the principal names, and the latter's pieces, A Mantilha da Renda and A Madrugada, have a delicacy and vivacity which justifies their success. The comedies of Gervasio Lobato are marked by an easy dialogue and a sparkling wit, and some of the most popular of them were written in collaboration with D. Joao de Camara, the leading dramatist of the day, one of whose pieces, Os Velhos, was translated and staged abroad. To Henrique Lopes de Mendonca, scholar, critic and poet, we owe some strong historical plays, as well as several stirring tales of old Portugal. Dr. Marcellino Mesquita is the author of Leonor Teles and other historical dramas, as well as of a powerful piece, Dor suprema. Julio Dantas wrote many plays remarkable for their pliant style and delicate reconstruction of the past, such as A Se vera 0900, Rosas de todo o anno (1907) and Mariana (1915).

Among other pieces may be mentioned 0 herdeiro and Entre Giestas of Carlos Selvagem, a talented prose writer, D. Joao e mascara (1924) and the lyrical play Diniz e Isabel (1919) of An tonio Patricio, 0 Gebo e a Sombra (1923), a tragedy of unre lieved gloom and considerable power by Raul Brandao, and Egas Moniz (1918) by Dr. Jaime Cortesdo.

The Novel.

Herculano led the way in the historical romance by his Lendas e narrativas and 0 21Ionasticon, two somewhat la boured productions, whose progenitor was Walter Scott ; they still find readers for their impeccable style. Their most popular suc cessors have been A Mocidade de D. Joao V. and A ultima corrida de touros reaes em Salvaterra by Rebello da Silva, and Um Anno na Corte by the statesman, Andrade Corvo. The novel shares with poetry the predominant place in the modern literature of Portugal, and Camillo Castello Branco (q.v.), Gomes Coelho and Eca de Queiroz are names which would stand high in any country. The first, a wonderful impressionist though not perhaps a great novelist, describes to perfection the domestic and social life of Portugal in the early part of the 19th century. His remarkable works include Amor de Perdicdo, Amor de Salvacdo, and the series entitled Novelas do Minho. Gomes Coelho, better known as Julio Diniz, records his experiences of English society in Oporto in A Familia ingleza. Portuguese critics have accused him of imitating Dickens. His stories, particularly As Pupillas do Snr. Reitor, de pict country life and scenery with loving sympathy, and hold the reader by the charm of the characters, but Diniz is a rather sub jective monotonous writer and he is no psychologist. Eca de Queiroz (q.v.) founded the Naturalist school in Portugal by a powerful book written in 1871, but only published in 1875, under the title The Crime of Father Amaro; and two of his great ro mances, Cousin Basil and Os Maias, were written during his occu pancy of consular posts in England. The Relic conveys the im pressions of a journey in Palestine and in parts suggests his indebt edness to Flaubert, but its mysticism is entirely new and indi vidual; while the versatility of his talent further appears in The Correspondence of Fradique Mendes, where acute observation is combined with brilliant satire or rich humour. The later portion of The City and the Mountains, in the truth and beauty of its descriptive passages shows him as a more regional writer. Among other novelists are Oliveira Marreca, Pinheiro Chagas, Arnaldo Gama and Luis de Magalh5.es.