Note 1165 — Chapter XIV

The merit of Spanish poems, says a critic equally candid and well-informed, independently of those intended for representation, consists chiefly in smoothness of versification and purity of language, and in facility rather than strength of imagination. Lord Holland’s Lope de Vega, vol. i. p. 107. He had previously observed that these poets were generally voluminous: it was not uncommon even for the nobility of Philip IV.’s time (later of course than the period we are considering) to converse for some minutes in extemporaneous poetry; and in carelessness of metre, as well as in commonplace images, the verses of that time often remind us of the improvisatori of Italy, p. 106.