,,papers ,,on ,,play-,,making      ,i   
,the ,new ,art of ,writing ,plays       
,,by      ,,lope ,,de ,,vega            
,,translated ,,by    ,,william ,t4      
,,brewster        ,,with ,,an           
,,introduction ,,by    ,,brander        
,,matthews        ,printed for the      
,dramatic ,museum of ,columbia          
,university    in the ,city of ,new     
,york    ,,mcmxiv            ,,copyright
 #aiad ,,by    ,,dramatic ,,museum ,,of 
,,columbia ,,university                 
,,contents      ,introduction by        
,brander ,matthews    ,the ,new ,art of 
,writing ,plays by ,lope de ,vega       
,notes by ,b4 ,m4                       
,,introduction    ,by a significant     
coincidence the marvellous outflowering 
of the drama  is simultaneous in        
,spanish literature and in ,english4    
,spain almost  exhausted her immense    
resources in fitting out the invincible 
,armada2  and ,england strained every   
nerve to compass the defeat of the dread
  fleet4  ,lope de ,vega1 the foremost  

of the ,iberian playwrights1  actually  
sailed as a soldier on the fatal voyage 
to the ,english  channel2 and it is     
dimly possible that ,shakspere also saw 
service on  blue water2 the year of the 
running sea fight is one of those in his
  biography about which we have no      
information1 and his use of  sea-terms  
has been declared by an expert to be    
scientifically  accurate4  ,in this     
simultaneous development of the drama in
 ,england  and in ,spain at the moment  
when the energy of the two peoples was  
aroused to the utmost1 we have a        
confirmation of ,brunetire's theory     
that the foundation of our pleasure in  
the playhouse is the assertion  of the  
human will4    ,shakspere came forward  
after the ,english drama had already    
developed  a variety of forms2 and he   
found the road broken for him by        
,marlowe  and ,kyd1 by ,lyly and        
,greene4  ,at first he followed in their
  footsteps1 however far beyond them he 
was to advance in the end4  ,lope de    

,vega1 on the other hand1 was a pioneer2
 he it was who blazed  the new trails in
 which all the succeeding playwrights of
 ,spain  gladly trod4  ,shakspere seems 
to have cared little for invention1     
borrowing his plots anywhere and        
everywhere1 and reserving his           
imagination for the interpretation of   
tales first told by others4  ,lope1 on  
the other hand again1 abounded rather in
 invention than in  the interpreting    
imagination2 he was wonderfully fecund  
and prolific1  unsurpassed in           
productivity even by ,defoe or ,dumas4  
,it was he who  made the pattern that   
,calderon and all the rest were to      
employ4  ,it  was he who worked out the 
formula of the ,spanish comedia1 often  
not  a comedy at all in our ,english    
understanding of the term1 but rather  a
 play of intrigue1 peopled with         
hot-blooded heroes who wore their       
hearts on their sleeves and who carried 
their hands on the hilts of  their      
swords4    ,where ,lope de ,vega and    

,shakspere are again alike is that they 
both  wrote all their plays for the     
popular theater1 apparently composing   
these pieces solely with a view to      
performance and caring nothing for  any 
praise which might be derived from      
publication4  ,martinenche1 in  his     
study of the ',comedia ,espagnole' 7p4  
#bdc1 note7 dwells on ,lope's           
carelessness for the literary renown to 
be won by the printing of his  dramatic 
poems2 in his non-dramatic poems he took
 pride1 just as  ,shakspere seems to    
have read carefully the proofs of his   
lyrical  narratives altho he did not    
himself choose to publish a single one  
of  his plays4  ,and ,molire1 it may be 
noted1 tells us frankly that he  was    
completely satisfied with the success of
 his earlier pieces on  the stage1 and  
that he had been content to leave them  
unprinted until  his hand was forced by 
a pirate-publisher4    ,shakspere is    
abundant in his allusions to the art of 
acting and  reticent in his illusions to

 the art of playmaking4  ,in fact1 there
  is no single recorded expression of   
his opinion in regard to the  principles
 or the practice of dramaturgy2 and here
 he is in marked  contrast with ,ben    
,jonson1 who had a body of doctrine     
about the drama1  which he set forth in 
his ',discoveries' and in his prologs1  
as well  as in his conversations with   
,drummond of ,hawthornden4  ,in general 
,lope's attitude toward dramaturgic     
theory is the same as ,shakspere's2  but
 on one occasion he was induced to      
discuss the principles of the  art he   
adorned1 and to express his opinions    
upon its methods4  ,this  single        
occasion was when he was persuaded to   
deliver a poetic address  upon the ',new
 ,art of ,making ,plays in ,this ,age4' 
,this ',arte neuvo de hazer comedias en 
este tiempo' was originally  published  
in the ',rimas' of ,lope de ,vega1      
,madrid1 #afji4  ,a facsimile  reprint  
was issued by ,mr4 ,archer ,m4          
,huntington in ,new ,york in #aijc4  ,a 

critical edition with an introduction   
and notes by ,a4 ,morel-,fatio  appeared
 in the ,bulletin ,hispanique for       
,october-,december1 #aijd--;and  also in
 a separate pamphlet4  ,the ,french     
editor accepts the year of  publication 
as probably the year of delivery2 and he
 believes the  ,academy of ,madrid1     
before whom the poem was read1 to be no 
doubt one  of those literary assemblies1
 imitated from those flourishing in     
,italy and holding their meetings at the
 house of some cultivated  gentleman4   
,lope's metrical address is plainly a   
remote imitation of ,horace's  epistle  
to the ,pisos1 the model of countless   
critical codes cast into  verse4  ,it is
 the chief ,spanish example of this     
type1 as ,boileau's  ',art ,potique' is 
the chief ,french example and ,pope's   
',essay on  ,criticism' the chief       
,english example4  ,while most of these 
,horatian  imitations have for their    
main topic poetry and more especially   
dramatic poetry1 attempts were not      

lacking to borrow the familiar  form for
 non-literary themes2 and as a result   
there are a host of  poems in all the   
modern tongues on the ',art of ,war' and
 the ',art of  ,painting1' on the ',art 
of ,bookbinding' and on the ',art of    
,cookery4'  ,even so late as the first  
half of the nineteenth century ,samson  
7of  the ,comdie-,franaise7 condensed   
his histrionic advice into riming       
couplets on the ',art of ,acting4'      
,most of those imitations of ,horace's  
didactic poem which deal with  poetry   
and the drama borrow from the ,latin    
lyrist not only their  method but also  
much of their material4  ,the           
supersubtle ,italian  theorists of the  
theater were relying on ,horace even    
when they  supposed that they were      
interpreting ,aristotle2 and these      
expounders  of ,horace had elaborated   
legislative enactments for the theater  
which  were readily accepted by all who 
desired the purification of the  drama4 
,this ,classicist code of rules for     

playwrights was mainly  negative2 it was
 made up largely of restrictions upon   
the poet's  freedom2 it ordered him to  
do a few things but it forbad him to do 
many things4  ,it prescribed the total  
separation of tragedy and  comedy1      
admitting nothing humorous into the     
former and excluding  everything serious
 from the latter4  ,it insisted severely
 upon the  austere dignity of tragedy4  
,it told the dramatist to avoid all     
scenes of violence2 and it advised him  
to use messengers to narrate  all events
 which might not be exhibited with      
propriety4  ,above all1  it laid stress 
upon the strict observance of the ,three
 ,unities  demanding that the playwright
 should have but one story to set on the
  stage2 that he should show this single
 action in one place only2 and  that    
this single action1 shown in a single   
place1 should be begun and  completed in
 a single day4    ,lope's ',new ,art of 
,making ,plays' is not a familiar       
epistle like  ,horace's ',ars ,poetica'2

 rather is it a familiar discourse      
having the  playful ease of an          
afterdinner speech4  ,it consists of a  
series of  paragraphs of irregular      
length1 varying from four to forty lines
  each4  ,it is written in blank verse1 
hendecasyllabics1 except that  the last 
two lines of every paragraph are in     
rime4  ,these terminal  couplets recall 
the riming exit-speeches common in      
contemporary  ,elizabethan drama2 and in
 both cases apparently the rimes serve  
to  heighten the emphasis at the end of 
the rhetorical period4  ,at the         
conclusion of his address1 ,lope drops  
into ,latin and inserts ten  lines in   
that tongue--ten lines of unidentified  
origin4  ,these ,latin  verses may be   
his own composition or they may yet be  
traced to some  overlooked poem4  ,they 
are brought into harmony with the rest  
of the  work by the ingenious device of 
riming the last ,latin line with a  line
 in ,spanish1 thus making a couplet half
 in the learned language  and half in   

the vernacular4  ,these two hybrid lines
 are immediately  followed by the usual 
terminal couplet1 so that there are only
 three  lines in ,spanish after the ten 
lines of ,latin4  ,in the translation   
which follows the ,latin verse has been 
rendered into ,english rime by          
,professor ,edward ,delavan ,perry4     
,professor ,rennert in his authoritative
 biography of ,lope 7p4 #agi7  declares 
that ,lope's address is written in a    
bantering spirit1 and a  vein of good   
humor pervades the whole poem4  ,lope   
evidently did not  take the matter very 
seriously1 nor reflect deeply on what he
 was  about to say4  ,it probably did   
not take him much longer to write the   
',new ,art of ,making ,plays' than it   
took him to write as many lines of  a   
comedia4  ,the versification1 strangely 
enough1 lacks ,lope's  habitual ease and
 fluency2 it is careless and sometimes  
halting1  while the sense is not always 
clear1--an additional sign that this    
treatise was hastily composed4          

,morel-,fatio notes that the ',arte     
,nuevo' was reprinted only three  times 
during ,lope's life-time1 at ,madrid in 
#afac and #afba and at  ,hueva in #afbc2
 and he finds in the poem itself ample  
explanation for  its lack of popularity4
  ,lope was the superb leader of an     
astounding  development of the ,spanish 
drama2 and he himself tells us that when
  he delivered this address he had      
already written nearly five hundred     
plays4  ,yet he utters no paean of      
triumph2 he blows no bugle-blast of     
defiance to the defenders of other      
standards than those under which  he    
himself was fighting2 he does not       
anticipate the ardor and the  fervor    
which were to animate ,victor ,hugo's   
preface to ',cromwell'2 he  does not    
stand to his guns and point to what he  
has accomplished on  the stage as his   
own justification and as a sufficient   
answer to the  caviling of criticasters4
  ,his attitude seems to be humble and  
apologetic2 he admits the validity of   

the ,classicist code of rules2  and in  
his own defence he proffers only what   
the lawyers call a plea  of confession  
and avoidance1 declaring that he would  
have obeyed the  behest of the learned  
theorists if only he had been permitted 
by the  public4  ,he acknowledges the   
faultiness of all his dramatic works and
  throws the blame on the depravity of  
public taste1 since      ,we who live to
 please1 must please to live4      ,he  
supports his acceptance of the          
,classicist doctrine with a brave  show 
of erudition and with mention of        
,cicero1 ,donatus1 ,robortello1  ,julius
 ,pollux1 ,manetti1 ,plutarch1          
,athenaeus1 ,xenophon1 ,valerus         
,maximus1 ,pietro ,crinito and          
,vitruvius2 and ,morel-,fatio declares  
that  this pedantic parade has no solid 
foundation of scholarship1 being        
derived entirely from two writers1      
,donatus1 the commentator on  ,terence1 
and ,robortello1 the commentator on     
,aristotle and on ,horace4  ,in this    

second-hand echoing of the codifiers of 
critical theory the  great ,spanish     
playwright reveals no independence of   
interpretation1  accepting without      
question whatever he has found in the   
commentaries  and never asking himself  
whether the commentators had any valid  
reason for the rules they laid down so  
authoritatively4  ,in other  words1 the 
',arte ,nuevo' does not disclose ,lope's
 possession of any  critical curiosity  
or of any critical acumen1 or even of   
any real  interest in the discussion of 
critical theories4    ,we have no right 
to expect that those as richly endowed  
with the  creative faculty as ,lope     
indisputably was1 should also have an   
equal  share of the critical faculty4   
,the analysis of the principles of      
their own special art by the poets and  
painters and playwrights who  venture   
into the critical arena is always       
interesting but it is  rarely           
philosophic and it is generally         
technical4  ,and it is to  technic that 

,lope devotes the most of his discourse4
  ,he trips  lightly down the history of
 the new ,spanish drama2 and then he    
proceeds to bestow practical advice on  
aspiring young playwrights4  ,he tells  
these novices that they must give the   
public what it wants1  and he counsels  
them as to the best methods of tickling 
the taste of  the uncritical playgoer4  
,he descends to minute practical        
details2  and1 in short1 his suggestions
 are those of a veteran of the craft    
supplying lessons in playwriting for a  
correspondence-school4    ,in so far as 
,lope lays down any critical principles 
at all1 these are  but the codification 
of his own instinctive practise4  ,his  
address is  like the speech of a        
carpenter standing on the peak of a     
building he  has just erected--to borrow
 ,richter's sarcastic phrase4  ,lope had
  himself succeeded as a practical      
playwright2 and his plays had  certain  
characteristics and were put together in
 a certain fashion4  ,as these plays had

 pleased the public1 beginners would do 
well to  consider these characteristics 
and to follow this fashion4  ,he utters 
his shrewd recommendations most         
unpretentiously1 with no hint of        
arrogance and with a friendly geniality 
of tone4  ,behind his modest  precepts  
stand his own plays in which his ideal  
is more sharply made  manifest4  ,lope's
 ideal is that of all his               
contemporaries1 including  ,calderon    
7who followed in his footsteps and often
 borrowed his  plots74  ,it is that the 
stage is intended primarily for         
story-telling1 for presenting in action 
a serial tale which shall  excite the   
constant interest of curiosity4    ,he  
bids the beginner to put together his   
story with the utmost care1  laying the 
foundations in the first act1 contriving
 unexpected  complications for the      
second and concealing the solution of   
the  action until the very last moment  
possible1 as otherwise the  spectators  
may get up and go out1 when once they   

can foresee the end4  ,he lays all his  
stress upon adroitness and ingenuity of 
plot-building2 and such casual remarks  
as he makes upon  character-delineation 
seem perfunctory4  ,in thus emphasizing 
the  primary importance of the action   
,lope is only echoing                   
,aristotle1--altho he probably was not  
aware of this4  ,and the  practise of   
the ,spanish playwrights under the lead 
of ,lope was  closely akin to that of   
their contemporaries1 the ,english      
playwrights  under the lead of ,kyd1 and
 again later under the lead of ,beaumont
 and  ,fletcher4  ,like ,lope1 ,kyd in  
his way and ,beaumont and ,fletcher in  
theirs1 were story-tellers on the stage4
  ,poets they were all of  them1 but as 
playwrights they depended on plot1 on   
suspense and  especially on             
surprize--often achieved only by        
contradiction of  character4    ,the    
abiding interest of the ',arte ,nuevo'  
is two-fold4  ,it resides  partly in the
 suggestiveness of the elementary       

lessons in the art of  playmaking1 which
 ,lope here proffers to apprentices in  
the art and  which are invaluable as an 
aid for proper appreciating the methods 
of  the ,spanish playwrights of the ,age
 of ,gold4  ,it resides partly in the   
curiously deprecating attitude taken by 
,lope toward his own works1  altho he   
was approaching the pinnacle of his fame
 when he penned this  didactic poem4    
,is the great ,spanish playwright       
sincere in his  humility before the code
 of the ,classicists8  ,is his          
self-abasement  genuine--or is it       
ironic8  ,morel-,fatio follows ,menndez 
y ,pelayo in  accepting it at its face  
value4  ,guillaume ,huszar1 in his      
useful book  on ,corneille and the      
,spanish theater1 thinks that when ,lope
 pretends  to disparage his own plays he
 is not to be taken seriously4  ,i      
confess that ,i should like to agree    
with this latter view2 and there  is    
some little internal evidence in support
 of it4  ,but the balance  is rather in 

favor of the former opinion4  ,yet      
however honest may be  ,lope's          
willingness to do penance to the        
,classicist code which he  admits to    
have outraged1 his is a proud humility  
after all4  ,he is  not really as abased
 and as plaintive as some of his critics
 have  asserted4  ,modest as he may be1 
he takes care to make his own  position 
plain4  ,for all his easy attitude and  
his tolerant  geniality1 for all his    
lightness of touch on the one side and  
his  pedantic citation on the other1 he 
does not fail to insist on his          
authorship of nearly half a thousand    
plays and to remind his auditors  that  
he has continuously succeeded in        
pleasing the public1 even tho  he had to
 violate the rules in order to win this 
success4    ,lope assumes a detached    
attitude and his tone is bantering1 as  
,professor ,rennert has suggested4  ,he 
does not here display the  intense      
personal interest in the analysis of his
 own work which glows  and burns thru   

all ,corneille's ',examens1' in spite of
 the ,french  dramatic poet's occasional
 confession of a lapse from the strict  
letter of the law4  ,lope has none of   
the prophetic fire of ,hugo's  famous   
preface in anticipatory defence of the  
plays he was going to  write4  ,in fact1
 it is difficult to deny that this poem 
is a pretty  careless piece of work1    
tossed off in an idle hour1 evoked by a 
special occasion when it behooved the   
speaker to assume a  self-deprecatory   
attitude4  ,but it is not the lamentable
 palinode  that ,menndez y ,pelayo      
called it2 nor is it exactly what ,mr4  
,ormsby  termed it 7in the ,quarterly   
,review for ,january1 #ahid7 virtually  
the manifesto of a triumphant dictator1 
a dramatic ,napoleon who1  while        
professing the profoundest respect for  
the sovereign will of  the public1      
scarcely cared to hide his contempt for 
its intelligence  or its taste1 which   
foreign critics1 he says1 justly called 
barbarous2 or to disguise the fact that 

he owed his power to his  knowledge and 
adroit manipulation of its weaknesses4  
,that scholars  so well equipt for the  
consideration of ,spanish literature and
 so  well fitted for the interpretation 
of the ,spanish character as ,ormsby    
and ,rennert1 ,morel-,fatio and ,menndez
 y ,pelayo can take views as            
conflicting as those severally expressed
 by them1--this is proof  positive that 
,lope has not taken the pains necessary 
to make his  position clear4    ,while  
,lope was willing at least to render    
lip-service to the code of  the         
,classicists1 one of his followers in   
the theater1 ,tirso de  ,molina1 7best  
known as the author of the earliest     
dramatization of  the ,don ,juan legend7
 in his ',cigarrales de ,toledo1'       
published in  #afbd1 fifteen years after
 ,lope's address1 is bold in denying the
  validity of any rule limiting the     
duration of time or forbidding a  change
 of scene1 7,see ,breitinger's ',units  
d' ,aristote' pp4 #bi seq47  ,but       

,cervantes in the first part of ',don   
,quixote1' published in #afje1  four    
years before the delivery of the ',arte 
,nuevo1' had revealed a  plentiful lack 
of sympathy for the so-called           
,aristotelian rules4  ,there is no      
disputing the irony in his portrait of  
the ,canon of  ,toledo who demanded the 
appointment of some intelligent and     
sensible  person at the capital to      
examine all plays before they were      
acted1  not only those produced in the  
capital itself1 but all that were       
intended to be acted in ,spain2 without 
whose approval1 seal and  signature1 no 
local magistracy should allow any play  
to be acted4  7,ormsby's translation1   
ii1 #chg1 chapter xlviii74  ,earlier    
remarks of  the ,canon show us that he  
was familiar with whole ,classicist     
code2  indeed1 ,ormsby 7in a foot-note  
to his translation of this chapter7     
calls attention to the substantial      
identity of the ,canon's opinions  with 
those expressed by ,sir ,philip ,sidney 

in the ',apology for ,poesy4'  ,in      
another work of fiction written more    
than two centuries later1 in  the       
',nicholas ,nickelby' of ,dickens1 we   
are introduced to a ,mr4 ,murdle  whose 
knowledge is obviously vaguer than the  
,canon's but who is quite  as strenuous 
in his insistence upon the preservation 
of the unities4    ,into the vext       
question of the personal relations of   
,cervantes and of  ,lope1 it is not     
needful to enter here4  ,it would be    
pleasant to  believe that each really   
appreciated the genius of the other2 but
  however pleasant this is not quite    
possible4  ,cervantes seems not to  have
 suspected the greatness of his own     
masterpiece2 and it is plain  that he   
had a special fondness for his plays1   
which had not  succeeded4  ,lope must   
have been conscious of his own position 
at the  head of all ,spanish poets2 he  
might assume a humble attitude when he  
was the author of less than five hundred
 plays but by the time that  he had more

 than a thousand pieces to his credit   
the garment of  humility is no longer   
becoming4  ,martinenche in his ',comedia
  ,espagnole' 7pp4 #aac-d7 follows      
,morel-,fatio in pointing out ,lope's   
later satisfaction with what he had     
accomplished1 even to the extent  of    
claiming for himself the invention of   
the new type of play which  had         
established itself on the ,spanish      
stage4    ,when we consider the         
extraordinary vogue of ,lope as a       
playwright in  the ,golden ,age of      
,spanish literature and the swift       
diffusion of his  fame thruout ,europe1 
when we recall his unparalleled         
productivity1  and when we remember his 
supreme importance as a representative  
of a  superb development of the modern  
drama1 we cannot fail to be  surprised  
to discover that no adequate attempt has
 ever been made to  present him to the  
,english reading public4  ,in ,french   
there are two  translations of          
selections from his dramatic works2 and 

there are  also varied renderings into  
,german4  ,but in ,english there is     
little  or nothing4  ,lord ,holland in  
#aghg analized the ',star of ,seville'  
and  turned the more striking episodes  
into ,english2 and it was on this       
summary and on these fragments that     
,mrs4 ,kemble founded her five act      
',star of ,seville' published in #ahcg4 
,holcroft had utilized ,lope's  ',padre 
,engaado' in the plot of his ',father   
,outwitted1' published in  #ahje4  ,a   
perversion of ,lope's play on the       
',romeo and ,juliet' story  had been    
issued in ,english in #aggj2 and this   
moved ,f4 ,w4 ,cosens to  print 7for    
private distribution7 in #ahfi a careful
 translation of  ',castelvines y        
,montreses'4  ,in the sixth volume of   
',the ,drama1'  edited by ,alfred ,bates
 and published in #aijc1 there is a     
translation  of the ,terro del          
,hortelano1' 7the ',gardener's ,dog'7 by
 ,w4 ,h4 ,h4  ,chambers4  ,these        
scattered versions and perversions      

apparently  represent all of ,lope's    
dramatic work which has found its way   
into  our language4  ,it is greatly to  
be desired that at least one volume     
might be issued in ,english to contain  
the ',star of ,seville1' the            
',gardener's ,dog1' the ',romeo and     
,juliet1' and the ',duchess of ,malfi'  
plays1 and also the ',physician of his  
own ,honor1' and the ',alcalde of       
,zalamea1' of which ,calderon's         
rehandlings are already accessible in   
,fitzgerald's free rendering4    ,a few 
scattered passages from the ',arte      
,nuevo' were turned into  ,english      
couplets by ,lord ,holland2 and some of 
those were borrowed  7without credit7 in
 ,g4 ,h4 ,lewes's stimulating study of  
the ,spanish  ,drama1 issued in #ahdf4  
,an inadequate and incomplete version1  
derived  mainly from the ,french        
translation of ,dumas-,hinard1 was      
included in  an essay on ,lope published
 in the ,catholic ,world for ,september1
  #ahgh4  ,there is a careful abstract  

in ,professor ,rennert's standard       
biography of ,lope 7#aijd74  ,but       
,professor ,brewster's translation is   
the first attempt to render into        
,english the whole of ,lope's advice  to
 the aspiring playwrights of his own    
time and country4      ,,brander        
,,matthews4    7,june #aiad47           
,,the ,,new ,,art ,,of ,,making ,,plays 
,,in ,,this ,,age    ,addressed to the  
,academy at ,madrid4    #a4 ,you command
 me1 noble spirits1 flower of           
,spain1--who in this  congress and      
renowned academy will in short space of 
time surpass not  only the assemblies of
 ,italy which ,cicero1 envious of       
,greece1 made  famous with his own name1
 hard by the ,lake of ,avernus1 but also
  ,athens where in the ,lyceum of ,plato
 was seen high conclave of              
philosophers1--to write you an art of   
the play which is today  acceptable to  
the taste of the crowd4    #b4 ,easy    
seems this subject1 and easy it would be
 for anyone of you  who had written very

 few comedies1 and who knows more about 
the art  of writing them and of all     
these things2 for what condemns me in   
this  task is that ,i have written them 
without art4    #c4 ,not because ,i was 
ignorant of the precepts2 thank ,god1   
even while  ,i was a tyro in grammar1 ,i
 went through the books which treated   
the  subject1 before ,i had seen the sun
 run its course ten times from the  ,ram
 to the ,fishes2    #d4 ,but because1 in
 fine1 ,i found that comedies were not  
at that time1  in ,spain1 as their first
 devisers in the world thought that they
  should be written2 but rather as many 
rude fellows managed them2 who          
confirmed the crowd in its own          
crudeness2 and so they were introduced  
in such wise that he who now writes them
 artistically dies without  fame and    
guerdon2 for custom can do more among   
those who lack light  of art than reason
 and force4    #e4 ,true it is that ,i  
have sometimes written in accordance    
with the  art which few know2 but1 no   

sooner do ,i see coming from some other 
source the monstrosities full of painted
 scenes where the crowd  congregates and
 the women who canonize this sad        
business1 than ,i  return to that same  
barbarous habit1 and when ,i have to    
write a  comedy ,i lock in the precepts 
with six keys1 ,i banish ,terence and   
,plautus from my study that they may not
 cry out at me2 for truth1  even in dumb
 books1 is wont to call aloud2 and ,i   
write in accordance  with that art which
 they devised who aspired to the        
applause of the  crowd2 for1 since the  
crowd pays for the comedies1 it is      
fitting to  talk foolishly to it to     
satisfy its taste4    #f4 ,yet true     
comedy has its end established like     
every kind of poem or  poetic art1 and  
that has always been to imitate the     
actions of men  and to paint the customs
 of their age4  ,furthermore1 all poetic
  imitation whatsoever is composed of   
three things1 which are  discourse1     
agreeable verse1 harmony1 that is to say

 music1 which so  far was common also to
 tragedy2 comedy being different from   
tragedy  in that it treats of lowly and 
plebeian actions1 and tragedy of royal  
and great ones4  ,look whether there be 
in our comedies few failings4    #g4    
,auto was the name given to them1 for   
they imitate the actions  and the doings
 of the crowd4  ,lope de ,rueda was an  
example in ,spain  of these principles1 
and today are to be seen in print prose 
comedies  of his so lowly that he       
introduces into them the doings of      
mechanics  and the love of the daughter 
of a smith2 whence there has remained   
the custom of calling the old comedies  
entremeses1 where the art  persists in  
all its force1 there being one action   
and that between  plebeian people2 for  
an entrmes with a king has never been   
seen4  ,and thus it is shown how the    
art1 for very lowness of style1 came to 
be held in great disrepute1 and the king
 in the comedy to be  introduced for the
 ignorant4    #h4 ,aristotle depicts in 

his ',poetics'1--altho obscurely1--the  
beginning of comedy2 the strife between 
,athens and ,megara as to which  of them
 was the first inventor2 they of ,megara
 say that it was  ,epicarmus1 while     
,athens would have it that ,magnetes was
 the man4  ,elias ,donatus says it had  
its origin in ancient sacrifices4  ,he  
names  ,thespis as the author of        
tragedy1--following ,horace1 who affirms
 the  same1--as of comedies1            
,aristophanes4  ,homer composed the     
',odyssey' in  imitation of comedy1 but 
the ',iliad' was a famous example of    
tragedy1  in imitation of which ,i      
called my ',jerusalem' an epic1 and     
added the  term tragic2 and in the same 
manner all people commonly term the     
',inferno1' the ',purgatorio1' and the  
',paradiso' of the celebrated  poet     
,dante ,alighieri a comedy1 and this    
,manetti recognizes in his  prolog4     
#i4 ,now everybody knows that comedy1 as
 if under suspicion1 was  silenced for a
 certain time1 and that hence also      

satire was born1  which1 being more     
cruel1 more quickly came to an end1 and 
gave place  to the ,new ,comedy4  ,the  
choruses were the first things2 then the
 fixt  number of the characters was     
introduced2 but ,menander1 whom ,terence
  followed1 held the choruses in        
despite1 as offensive4  ,terence was    
more circumspect as to the principles2  
since he never elevated the  style of   
comedy to the greatness of tragedy1     
which many have  condemned as vicious in
 ,plautus2 for in this respect ,terence 
was more  wary4    #aj4 ,tragedy has as 
its argument history1 and comedy        
fiction2 for this  reason it was called 
flat-footed1 of humble argument1 since  
the actor  performed without buskin or  
stage4  ,there were comedies with the   
pallium1 mimes1 comedies with the toga1 
fabulae atellanae1 and  comedies of the 
tavern1 which were also1 as now1 of     
various sorts4    #aa4 ,with ,attic     
elegance the men of ,athens chided vice 
and evil custom  in their comedies1 and 

they gave their prizes both to the      
writers of  verse and to the devisers of
 action4  ,for this ,tully called       
comedies  the mirror of custom and a    
living image of the truth1--a very high 
tribute1 in that comedy ran even with   
history4  ,look whether it be  worthy of
 this crown and glory6    #ab4 ,but now 
,i perceive that you are saying that    
this is merely  translating books and   
wearying you with painting this mixed-up
  affair4  ,believe me there has been a 
reason why you should be  reminded of   
some of these things2 for you see that  
you ask me to  describe the art of      
writing plays in ,spain1 where whatever 
is written  is in defiance of art2 and  
to tell how they are now written        
contrary  to the ancient rule and to    
what is founded on reason1 is to ask me 
to  draw on my experience1 not on art1  
for art speaks truth which the  ignorant
 crowd gainsays4    #ac4 ,if then1 you  
desire art1 ,i beseech you1 men of      
genius1 to read  the very learned       

,robortello of ,udine and you will see  
in what he says  concerning ,aristotle  
and especially in what he writes about  
comedy1  as much as is scattered among  
many books2 for everything of today is  
in a state of confusion4    #ad4 ,if you
 wish to have my opinion of the comedies
 which now have the  upper hand and to  
know why it is necessary that the crowd 
with its  laws should maintain the vile 
chimera of this comic monster1 ,i will  
tell you what ,i hold1 and do you pardon
 me1 since ,i must obey whoever  has    
power to command me1--that1 gilding the 
error of the crowd1 ,i  desire to tell  
you of what sort ,i would have them2 for
 there is no  recourse but to follow art
 observing a mean between the two       
extremes4    #ae4 ,let the subject be   
chosen and do not be amused1--may you   
excuse  these precepts6--if it happens  
to deal with kings2 tho1 for that       
matter1 ,i understand that ,philip the  
,prudent1 ,king of ,spain and our  lord1
 was offended at seeing a king in them2 

either because the  matter was hostile  
to art or because the royal authority   
ought not to  be represented among the  
lowly and the vulgar4    #af4 ,this is  
merely turning back to the ,old ,comedy1
 where we see that  ,plautus introduced 
gods1 as in his ',amphitryon' he        
represents  ,jupiter4  ,god knows that  
,i have difficulty in giving this my    
approbation1 since ,plutarch1 speaking  
of ,menander1 does not highly  esteem   
,old ,comedy4  ,but since we are so far 
away from art and in  ,spain do it a    
thousand wrongs1 let the learned this   
once close their  lips4    #ag4 ,tragedy
 mixed with comedy and ,terence with    
,seneca1 tho it be like  another        
minotaur of ,pasiphae1 will render one  
part grave1 the other  ridiculous2 for  
this variety causes much delight4       
,nature gives us  good example1 for     
through such variety it is beautiful4   
#ah4 ,bear in mind that this subject    
should contain one action only1  seeing 
to it that the story in no manner be    

episodic2 ,i mean the  introduction of  
other things which are beside the main  
purpose2 nor  that any member be omitted
 which might ruin the whole of the      
context4  ,there is no use in advising  
that it should take place in the period 
of one sun1 tho this is the view of     
,aristotle2 but we lose our  respect for
 him when we mingle tragic style with   
the humbleness of  mean comedy4  ,let it
 take place in as little time as        
possible1 except  when the poet is      
writing history in which some years have
 to pass2  these he can relegate to the 
space between the acts1 wherein1 if     
necessary1 he can have a character go on
 some journey2 a thing that  greatly    
offends whoever perceives it4  ,but let 
not him who is  offended go to see them4
    #ai4 ,oh6 how lost in admiration are
 many at this very time at seeing  that 
years are passed in an affair to which  
an artificial day sets a  limit2 tho for
 this they would not allow the          
mathematical day6  ,but1  considering   

that the wrath of a seated ,spaniard is 
immoderate1 when  in two hours there is 
not presented to him everything from    
,genesis to  the ,last ,judgment1 ,i    
deem it most fitting1 if it be for us   
here to  please him1 for us to adjust   
everything so that it succeeds4    #bj4 
,the subject once chosen1 write in      
prose1 and divide the matter  into three
 acts of time1 seeing to it1 if         
possible1 that in each one  the space of
 the day be not broken4  ,captain       
,virus1 a worthy wit1  divided comedy   
into three acts1 which before had gone  
on all fours1  as on baby's feet1 for   
comedies were then infants4  ,i wrote   
them  myself1 when eleven or twelve     
years of age1 of four acts and of four  
sheets of paper1 for a sheet contained  
each act2 and then it was the  fashion  
that for the three intermissions were   
made three little  entremeses1 but today
 scarce one1 and then a dance1 for the  
dancing  is so important in comedy that 
,aristotle approves of it1 and          

,athenaeus1 ,plato1 and ,xenophon treat 
of it1 though this last  disapproves of 
indecorous dancing2 and for this reason 
he is vexed at  ,callipides1 wherein he 
pretends to ape the ancient chorus4     
,the  matter divided into two parts1 see
 to the connection from the  beginning  
until the action runs down2 but do not  
permit the untying  of the plot until   
reaching the last scene2 for the crowd1 
knowing  what the end is1 will turn its 
face to the door and its shoulder to    
what it has awaited three hours face to 
face2 for in what appears  nothing more 
is to be known4    #ba4 ,very seldom    
should the stage remain without someone 
speaking1  because the crowd becomes    
restless in these intervals and the     
story  spins itself out at great length2
 for1 besides its being a great  defect1
 the avoidance of it increases grace and
 artifice4    #bb4 ,begin then1 and1    
with simple language1 do not spend      
sententious  thoughts and witty sayings 
on family trifles1 which is all that the

  familiar talk of two or three people  
is representing4  ,but when the         
character who is introduced persuades1  
counsels or dissuades1 then  there      
should be gravity and wit2 for then     
doubtless is truth  observed1 since a   
man speaks in a different style from    
what is common  when he gives counsel1  
or persuades1 or argues against         
anything4  ,aristides1 the rhetorician1 
gave us warrant for this2 for he wishes 
the language of comedy to be pure1      
clear1 and flexible1 and he adds  also  
that it should be taken from the usage  
of the people1 this being  different    
from that of polite society2 for in the 
latter case the  diction will be        
elegant1 sonorous1 and adorned4  ,do not
 drag in  quotations1 nor let your      
language offend because of exquisite    
words2  for1 if one is to imitate those 
who speak1 it should not be by the      
language of ,panchaia1 of the ,metaurus1
 of hippogriffs1 demi-gods and          
centaurs4    #bc4 ,if the king should   

speak1 imitate as much as possible the  
gravity  of a king2 if the sage speak1  
observe a sententious modesty2 describe 
lovers with those passions which greatly
 move whoever listens to  them2 manage  
soliloquies in such a manner that the   
recitant is quite  transformed1 and in  
changing himself1 changes the listener4 
,let him  ask questions and reply to    
himself1 and if he shall make plaints1  
let  him observe the respect due to     
women4  ,let not ladies disregard their 
character1 and if they change costumes1 
let it be in such wise that  it may be  
excused2 for male disguise usually is   
very pleasing4  ,let  him be on his     
guard against impossible things1 for it 
is of the  chiefest importance that only
 the likeness of truth should be        
represented4  ,the lackey should not    
discourse of lofty affairs1 nor  express
 the conceits which we have seen in     
certain foreign plays2 and  in no wise  
let the character contradict himself in 
what he has said2  ,i mean to say1      

forget1--as in ,sophocles one blames    
,oedipus for not  remembering that he   
has killed ,laius with his own hand4    
,let the  scenes end with epigram1 with 
wit1 and with elegant verse1 in such    
wise that1 at his exit1 he who spouts   
leave not the audience  disgusted4  ,in 
the first act set forth the case4  ,in  
the second weave  together the events1  
in such wise that until the middle of   
the third  act one may hardly guess the 
outcome4  ,always trick expectancy2 and 
hence it may come to pass that something
 quite far from what is  promised may be
 left to the understanding4  ,tactfully 
suit your verse  to the subjects being  
treated4  ,dcimas are good for          
complainings2  the sonnet is good for   
those who are waiting in expectation2   
recitals  of events ask for romances1   
though they shine brilliantly in        
octavas4  ,tercets are for grave affairs
 and redondillas for  affairs of love4  
,let rhetorical figures be brought in1  
as repetition  or anadiplosis1 and in   

the beginning of these same verses the  
various  forms of anaphora2 and also    
irony1 questions1 apostrophes1 and      
exclamations4    #bd4 ,to deceive the   
audience with the truth is a thing that 
has seemed  well1 as ,miguel ,snchez1   
worthy of this memorial for the         
invention1  was wont to do in all his   
comedies4  ,equivoke and the uncertainty
  arising from ambiguity have always    
held a large place among the  crowd1 for
 it thinks that it alone understands    
what the other one is  saying4  ,better 
still are the subjects in which honor   
has a part1  since they deeply stir     
everybody2 along with them go virtuous  
deeds1  for virtue is everywhere loved2 
hence we see1 if an actor chance to     
represent a traitor1 he is so hateful to
 everyone that what he wishes  to buy is
 not sold him1 and the crowd flees when 
it meets him2 but if  he is loyal1 they 
lend to him and invite him1 and even the
 chief men  honor him1 love him1 seek   
him out1 entertain him1 and acclaim him4

    #be4 ,let each act have but four    
sheets1 for twelve are well suited to   
the time and the patience of him who is 
listening4  ,in satirical  parts1 be not
 clear or open1 since it is known that  
for this very  reason comedies were     
forbidden by law in ,greece and ,italy2 
wound  without hate1 for if1 perchance1 
slander be done1 expect not  applause1  
nor aspire to fame4    #bf4 ,these      
things you may regard as aphorisms which
 you get not from  the ancient art1     
which the present occasion allows no    
further space  for treating2 since      
whatever has to do with the three kinds 
of stage  properties which ,vitruvius   
speaks of concerns the impresario2 just 
as  ,valerius ,maximus1 ,petrus         
,crinitus1 ,horace in his epistles1 and 
others  describe these properties1 with 
their drops1 trees1 cabins1 houses1  and
 simulated marbles4    #bg4 ,of costume 
,julius ,pollux would tell us if it were
 necessary1 for  in ,spain it is the    
case that the comedy of today is replete

 with  barbarous things3 a ,turk wearing
 the neck-gear of a ,christian and a    
,roman in tight breeches4    #bh4 ,but  
of all1 nobody can ,i call more         
barbarous than myself1 since  in        
defiance of art ,i dare to lay down     
precepts1 and ,i allow myself to  be    
borne along in the vulgar current1      
wherefore ,italy and ,france call  me   
ignorant4  ,but what can ,i do if ,i    
have written four hundred and           
eighty-three comedies1 along with one   
which ,i have finished this  week8  ,for
 all of these1 except six1 gravely sin  
against art4  ,yet1  in fine1 ,i defend 
what ,i have written1 and ,i know that1 
tho they  might have been better in     
another manner1 they would not have had 
the  vogue which they have had2 for     
sometimes that which is contrary to     
what is just1 for that very reason1     
pleases the taste4        ,how ,comedy  
reflects this life of man1      ,how    
true her portraiture of young and old2  
,how subtle wit1 polished in narrow     

span1      ,and purest speech1 and more 
too you behold2    ,what grave          
consideration mixed with smiles1        
,what seriousness1 along with pleasant  
jest2    ,deceit of slaves2 how woman   
oft beguiles      ,how full of slyness  
is her treacherous breast2    ,how      
silly1 awkward swains to sadness run1   
,how rare success1 though all seems well
 begun1      ,let one hear with         
attention1 and dispute not of the art2  
for in  comedy everything will be found 
of such a sort that in listening to  it 
everything becomes evident4             
7,translated by ,william ,t4 ,brewster47
          ,,notes    #a4 ,the opening   
passage of ,lope's poem is thus rendered
 into ,english  verse by ,lord          
,holland3--      ,bright flow'rs of     
,spain1 whose young academy    ,ere long
 shall that by ,tully nam'd outvie2     
,and match'd the ,athenian porch where  
,plato taught1    ,whose sacred shades  
such throngs of sages sought1--    ,you 
bid me tell the art of writing plays    

,such as the crowd might please1 and you
 might praise1    ,the work seems       
easy--easy it might be    ,to you who   
write not much1 but not to me4    ,for  
how should ,i the rules of art explain1 
,i1 whom nor art nor rule should e'er   
restrain8    ,not but ,i studied all the
 antient rules3    ,yes1 ,god be        
praised1 long since in grammar schools1 
,scarce ten years old1 with all the     
patience due1    ,the books that subject
 treat ,i waded through3    ,my case was
 simple1--in these latter days1    ,the 
truant authors of our ,spanish plays    
,so wide had wander'd from the narrow   
road    ,which the strict fathers of the
 drama trod1    ,i found the stage with 
barbarous pieces stor'd3--    ,the      
critics censur'd2 but the crowd ador'd4 
,nay more2 these sad corrupters of the  
stage    ,so blended taste1 and so      
debauch'd the age1    ,who writes by    
rule must please himself alone1    ,be  
damn'd without remorse1 and die unknown4
    ,such force has habit--for the      

untaught fools1    ,trusting their own1 
despise the antient rules1    ,yet1 true
 it is1 ,i too have written plays1      
,the wiser few1 who judge with skill1   
might praise3    ,but when ,i see how   
shew and nonsense1 draws    ,the        
crowd's1 and1 more than all1 the fair's 
applause1    ,who still are forward with
 indulgent rage    ,to sanction every   
monster of the stage4    ,i1 doom'd to  
write1 the public taste to hit1         
,resume the barbarous dress 'twas vain  
to quit2    ,i lock up every rule before
 ,i write1    ,plautus and ,terence     
drive from out my sight1    ,lest rage  
should teach these injur'd wits to join1
    ,and their dumb books cry shame on  
works like mine4    ,to vulgar standards
 then ,i square my play1    ,writing at 
ease2 for1 since the public pay1        
',tis just1 methinks1 ,i by their       
compass steer1    ,and write the        
nonsense that they love to hear4        
,the two lines in which ,lope declares  
that he locks up ,plautus and  ,terence 

with six keys were quoted by ,victor    
,hugo in the proclamation  of his       
theories of dramatic art prefixt to his 
unactable ',cromwell'  7#ahbg74  ,but   
,souriau in his annotated edition of the
 ',prface de  ,cromwell' thinks it      
possible that ,hugo may have borrowed   
the  quotation second-hand from a       
pamphlet by ,scudery1 ',la ,preuve des  
,passages' put forth during the quarrel 
over ,corneille's ',cid4'  ,it is       
amusing to note that ,m4 ,emile ,faguet1
 quoting these lines in his  ',drame    
,ancien1 ,drame ,moderne' 7p4 #abb7     
inadvertently credits them to           
,cervantes4    ,fitzgerald1 in the      
preface to his translations from        
,calderon1 asserts  that certain of the 
defects discoverable in these pieces do 
not  represent ,calderon's own better   
self1 but concession to private  haste  
or public taste by one who so often     
relied upon some striking  dramatic     
crisis for success with a not very      
accurate audience4  ,it  may be objected

 that this plea is dangerous in that it 
is based on  the unwarrantable          
assumption that ,calderon's private     
taste was  different from that of the   
public to which he appealed2 but it can 
be  urged in behalf of ,lope as potently
 as in behalf of ,calderon4  ,lope's    
own plea that he must give the public   
what it wants is more  effectively put  
by ,molire1 in the preface to the       
',prcieuses  ,ridicules'2 ,i should     
needlessly offend all ,paris1 if ,i     
accused it of  having applauded a piece 
of stupidity2 as the public is the      
absolute  judge of works of this sort1  
it would be impertinent in me to        
contradict it2 and even if ,i had the   
worst possible opinion of my            
',prcieuses' before the performance1 ,i 
ought now to believe that it  has some  
value1 since so many persons together   
have spoken well of  it4    #f4         
,morel-,fatio points out that this      
paragraph is practically a  literal     
translation from ,robortello's          

',paraphrases in libram ,horatii  ,de   
,comedia4'  ,it is mainly from          
,robortello that ,lope derives all his  
parade of erudition4    #h4 ,in this    
paragraph1 as ,morel-,fatio informs us1 
,lope is again  relying on ,robortello  
and also on ,donatus4    #i4 ,at the end
 of this paragraph ,lope1 following     
,donatus blindly1  attributes to        
,terence the loftiness of style to which
 ,plautus  occasionally attained4  ,as  
,damas-,hinard noted in his ,french     
translation of certain of ,lope's plays1
 the ,spanish poet is here  sinning     
against light1 since he had a first-hand
 knowledge of the  comedies of both the 
,latin dramatists4    #ae4 ,professor   
,rennert 7p4 #ahj7 points out that this 
distinction  between tragedy and comedy 
is arbitrary and un-,aristotelian1 altho
 it  was the one that obtained thruout  
the ,renascence and down to the end  of 
the period of ,classicism4  ,it was the 
doctrine of ,robortello and  of the     
later ,italian theorists that it was the

 rank of the  characters1 and this only1
 which distinguished a tragedy from a   
comedy4  ,this is the distinction which 
,sir ,philip ,sidney maintains  in his  
',defence of ,poesy4'    ,here is ,lord 
,holland's metrical version of the      
concluding lines of  this passage3      
,once to behold a monarch on the stage1 
,england1 'tis said1 our prudent        
,philip's rage2    ,or that he deem'd   
such characters unfit    ,for lively    
sallies and for comic wit2    ,or crowns
 debas'd1 if actors were allow'd    ,to 
bring the state of kings before a       
low-born crowd4      ,in his ',hamburg  
,dramaturgy1' 7p4 #cid-e of the ,english
 version in  ,bohn's series7 ,lessing   
translates a score of these lines1      
ending with  ,lope's assertion that     
nature has set us the example of        
commingling  the ludicrous with the     
serious2 and then he asks3 ,is it true  
that  nature sets us an example of the  
common and the sublime1 the farcical    
and the serious1 the merry and the sad8 

,it seems so4  ,but if this is  true1   
,lope has done more than he intended2 he
 has not only glossed  over the faults  
of his stage1 he has really proved that 
these are no  faults1 for nothing can be
 a fault that is an imitation of nature4
  ,but ,mezires in the introduction he  
prefixt to the ,french translation  of  
,lessing's dramatic criticism quotes a  
passage from ,diderot on the  danger of 
uniting tragedy and burlesque3          
,tragicomedy is never be  more than a   
bad species1 because in it are          
confounded two disparate  species1      
separated by a natural barrier4  ,here  
,lessing1 who had  derived so much from 
,diderot1 reveals himself as in advance 
and on  firmer ground than his ,french  
contemporary4  ,it is amusing to note   
that ,diderot1 so often hailed as a     
forerunner of the ,romanticists1 is     
here a belated echo of so strict a      
classicist as ,sir ,philip ,sidney  who 
asserted that the plays he saw on the   
,english stage were neither  right      

tragedies1 nor right comedies1 mingling 
,kings and ,clowns1 not  because the    
matter so carrieth it1 but thrust in    
,clowns by head and  shoulders1 to play 
a part in magestical matters1 with      
neither decency  nor discretion3 ,so as 
neither the admiration and              
commiseration1 nor  the right           
sportfulness is by their mongrel        
,tragicomedy attained4    #af4          
,morel-,fatio notes that this passage   
also is derived directly from           
,robortello4    #ag4 ,these lines ,lord 
,holland turns into ,english couplets3  
,the tragic with the comic muse         
combin'd1    ,grave ,seneca with        
sprightly ,terence join'd1    ,may seem1
 ,i grant1 ,pasipha's monstrous birth1  
,where one half moves our sorrow1 one   
our mirth4    ,but sweet variety must   
still delight1    ,and1 spite of rules1 
dame ,nature says we're right1    ,thru'
 all her works she this example gives1  
,and from variety her charms derives4   
,with this statement of ,lope's may be  

compared the theory set forth by        
,victor ,hugo in the preface to         
',cromwell4'    #ai4 ,here once more1 as
 ,morel-,fatio has shown1 ,lope is      
leaning upon  ,robortello4  ,three and a
 half lines of this passage ,lord       
,holland  translates freely in this     
triplet3      ,who seated once1 disdain 
to go away1    ,unless in two short     
hours they see the play    ,brought down
 from ,genesis to judgment day4         
,this popular liking for the whole story
 without selection or omission  is a    
survival from the middle ages when the  
mystery play began with  ,genesis and   
ended1 if not with judgment day1 at     
least with the  casting of the wicked   
into ,hell-,mouth4  ,to the ,classicists
 this  prolongation of the action was   
always most offensive4  ,lord ,holland  
turned into ,english the four lines in  
which ,boileau denounces the  custom3   
,the ,spanish bard1 who no nice censure 
fears1    ,in one short day includes a  
lapse of years4    ,in those rude acts  

the hero lives so fast1    ,child in the
 first1 he's greybeard in the last4     
,and ,sir ,philip ,sidney had earlier   
expressed his disgust for this  license1
 blaming the ,english playwrights for   
their liberal allowance  of time1 for   
ordinary it is that two young ,princes  
fall in love4  ,after many traverses1   
she is got with child1 delivered of a   
fair boy2  he is lost1 groweth up a man1
 falls in love1 and is ready to get     
another child2 and all this in two      
hours' space3 which how absurd it  is in
 sense even sense may imagine1 and ,art 
hath taught1 and all  ancient examples  
justified4  ,with this may be compared  
,corneille's  opinions in his           
',discourse on the ,three ,unities' and 
in his  discussion of his own ',mlite4' 
,lope's limitation of the duration of   
performance is exactly  equivalent to   
,shakspere's two hours traffic of the   
stage4  ,but  ,shack1 and after him     
,morel-,fatio1 adduce evidence that the 
customary  stay of the spectators in the

 ,spanish theaters was two hours and a  
half4    #bj4 ,lope's advice1 that a    
play should first be written in prose to
 be  turned later into verse1 ,menendez 
y ,pelayo believes to be borrowed  from 
a passage in ,vida's ,latin poem on the 
poetic art1--a passage  thus rendered in
 ,english in ,pitt's translation3       
,at first without the least restraint   
compose    ,and mold the future poem    
with prose1    ,a full and proper series
 to maintain    ,and draw the just      
connection in a chain4    ,by stated    
bounds your progress to control1    ,to 
join the parts and regulate the whole4  
,morel-,fatio thinks this very likely1  
since ,lope was familiar with  ,vida's  
work4  ,oddly enough1 the principle     
,lope here lays down was not  in accord 
with his own practise1 since the state  
of the existing  manuscripts seems to   
show that he composed originally in     
verse1 altho  on occasion he drew up a  
preliminary scenario in prose4  ,it may 
be  noted that the method here          

recommended by ,lope was that actually  
adopted by ,molire1 who 7in his haste to
 meet the wishes of ,louis  ,,xiv7 had  
to call on ,corneille to versify more   
than half of the  ',psyche' which he had
 completely constructed in prose and    
which he  had not been able wholly to   
turn into verse within the limits of    
time  set by the king4    ,lord ,holland
 thus renders certain lines of this     
paragraph into  ,english couplets3      
,plays of three acts we owe to ,virues' 
pen1    ,which ne'er had crawled but on 
all fours till then2    ,an action      
suited to that helpless age1    ,the    
infancy of wit1 the childhood of the    
stage4    ,such plays not twelve years  
old did ,i complete1    ,four sheets to 
every play1 an act on every sheet4      
,and ,ticknor also employs the rimed    
couplet for his translation of a  longer
 passage3      ,the ,captain ,verues1 a 
famous wit1    ,cast dramas in three    
acts1 by happy hit2    ,for1 till his   
time1 upon all fours they crept1        

,like helpless babes that never yet had 
stept4    ,such plays ,i wrote1 eleven  
and twelve years old2    ,four          
acts--each measured to a sheet's just   
fold--    ,filled out four sheets2 while
 still1 between1    ,three entremeses   
short filled up the scene4      ,but    
,camille de ,senne and ,guillot de ,saxe
 in the preface of their  study of the  
',star of ,seville' 7,paris1 #aiac1 p4  
#dd1 note7 assert that  the three-act   
form had established itself in the      
,spanish theater half  a century        
anterior to ,verues4  ,and ,lessing in  
his ',hamburg  ,dramaturgy' 7,dec4 #dth1
 #agfg7 had pointed out the discrepancy 
between  ,lope's assigning the credit of
 this change to ,verues and ,calderon's 
claim1 7in the preface to his comedies71
 that he was the first to  make this    
reduction4    ,if ,lope had been        
familiar with ,aristotle he might have  
justified the  three-act form as simply 
the carrying out the ,greek critic's    
principle that a play must have an      

action with a beginning1 a middle  and  
an end4    ,as ,attic tragedies were    
acted without any intermission they had 
only  a single prolonged act1--altho a  
trilogy was a story shown in three      
acts4  ,yet the traditional five-act    
form of the seventeenth and  eighteenth 
centuries is indirectly derived from the
 ,athenian drama1  wherein the number of
 choral passages came in time to be     
limited to  four1 separating five       
passages in dialog1 which when the lyric
  interludes were omitted1 stood forth  
as five separate acts4  ,horace1        
probably following the precepts of the  
,alexandrian critics1  prescribes five  
acts 7see ,weil's ',etudes sur le ,drame
 ,antique1' p4  #cbe74  ,the ,,mss4 of  
,latin comedy show no division into acts
 7see  ,fairclough's edition of         
,terence's ',andria1' pp4 lii1 liii174  
,it may  be noted that as soon as the   
five-act form was disestablished the    
tendency of the leading modern          
dramatists has been to adopt the        

logical three-act form4  ,most of       
,ibsen's social dramas are in three     
acts1 just as ,lope's are4              
,commenting on ,lope's strange          
prescription of the number of pages a   
comedy should have1 ,professor ,rennert 
7p4 #afc1 note7 tells us that  this     
rule1 as to the length of the comedia1  
which ,lope here lays  down1 was        
carefully followed by all the other     
dramatists of the time1  and deviations 
from it are rare4  ,four sheets--sixteen
 leaves for  each act1 that is          
forty-eight leaves to a comedia4  ,an   
examination  of ,lope's autograph plays 
shows how strictly he adhered to this   
rule4  ,where slight variations are     
found they are due to the difference in 
the size of the leaves--the comedia     
always consisting of about  three       
thousand lines4444  ,on the other hand1 
the comedies of ,miguel  ,sanchez1 a    
predecessor of ,lope1 contain about four
 thousand lines4    ,lope1 like his     
fellow dramatists ,calderon and         

,corneille1 ,molire1  ,voltaire and     
,goldoni1 had been a pupil of the       
,jesuits2 and it was  doubtless when he 
was a youthful student of the ,jesuit   
school in  ,madrid that he became       
acquainted with the critical theories of
 the  ,italian commentators of ,horace  
and ,aristotle4    #ba4 ,the rule       
forbidding the dramatist ever to leave  
the stage empty  ,morel-,fatio traces to
 a passage in ,donatus dealing with the 
omission  of the chorus from the ,new   
,comedy of the ,greeks4  ,altho         
,corneille  does not expressly discuss  
this rule1 he obeyed it2 and it was     
generally obeyed by all the ,french     
dramatists who accepted the  ,classicist
 theory1 possibly because the leaving of
 the stage empty  became the            
conventional signal of the end of the   
act4  ,even today at  the ,thtre        
,franais1 the curtain does not always   
fall on the  termination of an act2 the 
stage is left unoccupied for a moment   
and  then the three raps of the wooden  

hammer are heard1 whereupon the         
characters enter who are to begin the   
next act4  ,on the  ,english-speaking   
stage this rule has never established   
itself2 and  our dramatic poets have now
 and again achieved an effect of        
expectancy by leaving the stage bare and
 letting the spectators  wonder who is  
next to appear4    #bc4 ,a part of this 
paragraph is turned into ,english       
couplets by ,lord  ,holland3      ,in   
ten line staves should wailing grief be 
shown2    ,the sonnet suits a man who   
speaks alone2    ,let plain narration   
flow in ballad lines2    ,though much a 
tale in copious octaves shines2         
,grand weighty thoughts the triplet     
should contain    ,but redondillas suit 
the lover's strain4      ,in the        
introduction to his ',select ,plays of  
,calderon' ,norman ,maccoll  gives a    
clear explanation of the various sorts  
of verse that ,lope  mentions           
here3--,romances are octo-syllabic      
trochaics--the  customary measure of the

 ,spanish ballads4  ,as in the ballads1 
these  trochaics are sometimes rimed and
 sometimes assonant4  ,redondillas  are 
arranged in strophes of four lines each4
  ,strong endings and weak  endings are 
both employed4  ,the first and fourth   
lines rime together1  and so do the     
second and third4  ,this is the simplest
 of the riming  measures in common      
use4444  ,quintillas are arranged in    
strophes of  five lines each4  ,the only
 rule observed in the riming is that the
  same rime must not occur in more than 
two successive lines4444  ,the  ,decima 
is a combination of two quintillas in   
one strophe of ten  lines4  ,the        
arrangement of rimes is as follows3 the 
first five are  disposed 444 a1 b1 b1 a1
 a1 and the second five are arranged c1 
c1 d1  d1 c4444  ,three other forms of  
iambic verse are borrowed from the      
,italians1 the ,terceto 7the terza rima 
of the ,italians71 the  ,octava 7or     
ottava rima7 and the ,sonnet4  ,maccoll 
in his turn  renders several of ,lope's 

lines into ,english rimes3      ,in     
dcimas finds voice the mourner's wail2  
,the sonnet's fitted for the action's   
stay2    ,romances serve to tell the    
player's tale4    ,yet octaves well can 
stirring news convey2    ,while deed of 
high import in terzas shines1    ,and   
redondillas are the lover's lines4      
,the incessant employment of these      
various lyric measures is evidence1     
were any needed1 of the prevailing      
lyrical quality of the dialog of  the   
,spanish drama when ,lope and ,calderon 
were its chiefs4  ,it may be  noted that
 in ',prunella1 a ,fantasy in ,three    
,acts1' by ,lawrence  ,hausman and      
,granville ,barker1 the authors         
emphasize the lyrical  element in their 
rococo story by scattering riming       
stanzas at  irregular intervals thruout 
the dialog4    ,that the sonnet with its
 artificial and arbitrary scheme of     
intricately interlaced rimes should be  
intercalated into dramatic  dialog may  
seem to modern readers a strange        

suggestion4  ,yet ,lope was  here only  
recommending a practise inherited from  
the medieval  mysteries wherein various 
fixt forms of verse were frequently     
employed4  ,their stanzaic rigidity did 
not prevent the deviser of a  ,french   
passion-play from utilizing the triolet1
 the ballade1 and even  the             
long-sustained and stately chant-royal2 
and the playwright  availed himself of  
their aid not only in passages of       
lyrical emotion  but also in the swift  
give and take of the intenser dramatic  
moments  of the action4  ,this tradition
 of the religious pieces was taken over 
by the founders of the secular drama in 
most of the modern  languages1--in      
,english as well as in ,french and in   
,spanish4  ,corneille's first play      
',mlite' was composed especially to     
bring in a  sonnet2 and even as late as 
the ',cid' ,corneille cast his lyrical  
monologs into stanzas1 for which he was 
censured by the ,abb d'  ,aubignac and  
by ,voltaire2 and ,brunetire 7in his    

annotated edition of  ,corneille's more 
important plays7 likens the lyrical     
soliloquy of  ,rodrigue at the end of   
the first act to the bravura solo of a  
tenor1  coming down to the footlights   
with his hand on his heart 7p4 #fi74    
,shakspere used the looser ,elizabethan 
sonnet for the prolog to ',romeo  and   
,juliet' spoken by ,chorus2 and ,ben    
,jonson employs it for the  ,prolog for 
the ,court of his ',staple of ,news4'   
,the incongruity of the  fixt form is   
least obvious when the sonnet is thus   
kept outside the  play itself and when  
it is utilized only in the address to   
the  audience before the action begins4 
,but ,shakspere did not hesitate to     
employ this fixt form inside the play2  
in ',love's ,labor's ,lost' 7act  iii1  
scene #b7 and also in ',all's ,well that
 ends ,well' 7act iii1 scene  #d7 he    
casts a letter into fourteen lines1 with
 three riming quatrains  and a terminal 
couplet4  ,and again in ',romeo and     
,juliet' where hero  and heroine meet   

and fall in love at first sight1 the    
lyrical  significance of this meeting is
 suggested by the employment of the     
fourteener1 ,romeo speaking the first   
quatrain1 ,juliet the second1  while the
 third quatrain and the final couplet   
are shared between  them1 each taking in
 turn a line or two4  ,m4 ,rostand      
prefixes a  sonnet to every act of his  
',chantecler1' utilizing them for a     
poetical description of the successive  
sets in which the action of  his lyrical
 play is supposed to take place4    ,the
 ballade is to be found in two          
nineteenth century ,french plays1  the  
',gringoire' of ,thodore de ,banville1  
and the ',cyrano de ,bergerac'  of      
,rostand2 but in both these pieces it is
 frankly presented as what  it is1--a   
poem composed in the fixt form by the   
hero of the play4  ,maccoll suggests    
that sonnets were introduced by the     
,spanish  playwright to please the more 
cultivated part of the audience2 and  he
 remarks that from their nature they    

could be employed  sparingly--not more  
than two or three sonnets were usually  
put into a  play4  ,he notes that in one
 of ,calderon's pieces1 ',gustos y      
,disgustos' a duenna who is in doubt as 
to her immediate duty1 begins  her      
speech by saying that she must either   
indulge in a soliloquy or  pronounce a  
sonnet4  ,she elects the former1 and    
proceeds to  soliloquize in redondillas4
    #bh4 ,lord ,holland has turned these
 lines into ,english couplets3          
,none than myself more barbarous or more
 wrong1    ,who hurried by the vulgar   
taste along1    ,dare give my precepts  
in despite of rule4    ,when ,france and
 ,italy pronounce me fool4    ,but what 
am ,i to do8 who now of plays1    ,with 
one complete within these seven days1   
,four hundred eighty-three in all have  
writ1    ,and all1 save six1 against the
 rules of wit4      ,it needs to be     
recorded that ,lope's commentators have 
been sadly put  to it in their endeavor 
to identify the half dozen of ,lope's   

plays  which he here claims to be in    
accord with the theories of the         
,classicists4    ,attention has been    
called also to the similarity of        
attitude between  ,lope here and that   
taken by ,webster in the preface to his 
',white  ,devil1' published in #afab1   
only three years after the ,spanish poem
  had been delivered3--,if it be        
objected that this is no true ,dramatic 
,poem1 ,i shall easily confess it2 non  
potes in nugas dicere plura  meas ,ipse 
ego quam dixi2 willingly1 and not       
ignorantly1 in this kind  have ,i       
faulted2 for should a man present to    
such an ,auditory the most  contentious 
,tragedy that ever was written1         
observing all the critical  laws1 as    
height of style and gravity of person1  
enrich it with the  sententious chorus1 
and1 as it were1 life 'n ,death in the  
passionate  and weighty ,nuntius1 yet   
after all this divine rapture1 ,o dura  
messorum ilia1 the breath that comes    
from the incapable multitude is  able to

 poison it2 and ere it be acted1 let the
 author resolve to fix  to every scene  
this of ,horace1    ,haec ,porcis hodie 
comedenda relinques4    ,b4 ,m4         
,,of ,,this ,,book ,,three ,,hundred    
,,and    ,,thirty-,,three ,,copies      
,,were ,,printed    ,,from ,,type ,,by  
,,corlies1 ,,macy ,,and    ,,company    
,,in ,,november 3 ,,mcmxiv              
,,publications    of the    ,dramatic   
,museum    ,,of ,,columbia ,,university 
,,in ,,the ,,city ,,of ,,new ,,york     
,first ,series    ,papers on            
,playmaking3    ,i ,,the ,,new ,,art    
,,of ,,writing ,,plays4 ,by ,lope de    
,vega4  ,translated by  ,william ,t4    
,brewster4  ,with an ,introduction and  
,notes by ,brander  ,matthews4    ,,ii  
,,the ,,autobiography ,,of ,a ,,play4   
,by ,bronson ,howard4  ,with an         
,introduction by ,augustus ,thomas4     
,,iii ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,the ,,drama4   
,by ,ferdinand ,brunetire4 ,translated  
by  ,philip ,m4 ,hayden4  ,with an      
,introduction by ,henry ,arthur ,jones4 

,,iv ,,robert ,,louis ,,stevenson ,,as  
,a ,,dramatist4  ,by ,arthur ,wing      
,pinero4  ,with an ,introduction and    
,bibliographical ,appendix by ,clayton  
,hamilton4