Some of Castillejo’s canciones are, however, so exquisite, that it is scarcely possible to resist the temptation of placing their author in the very foremost rank of poets.[266] But in spite of his captivating fluency of style and power of expression, most of his works bear traces of a mental boundary which every great poet oversteps. A sort of affected verbosity often usurps the place of real wit, particularly in his longer poems; and it not unfrequently happens that whole pages of Castillejo’s flowing verse are to the reader nothing more than lively prose. The strong inclination to levity, which he cannot resist, even when he wishes to be serious, is a distinguishing feature in all the poetic essays of this ingenious author, who has thus sometimes given to his works more of a French than a Spanish character. Castillejo arranged his lyric works in three books, and they are so printed under the title of _Obras Liricas_. Only a small portion of these poems, however, properly belongs to the lyric class;[267] and the author doubtless collected them together, under this general title, for the purpose of distinguishing them from his comedies, which are but little known. The first book contains amatory poems, (_Obras amatorias_), songs, jests, epistles, glosses after the old fashion, and in conclusion, a piece which he styled a (_Capitulo_) on love. The songs, for the most part, commence in a serious tone,[268] but speedily assume a comic turn, with which they usually conclude.[269] Some are burlesque parodies on the affected ecstasies and extravagant metaphors of the Spanish sonnet writers. Such, for example, is the “Tower of Lamentation,” or the “Wind Tower,” (_Torre de Viento_,) which is supposed to be built entirely of lovers’ sighs. Some shorter poems, in the madrigal style, are among the best in this first book.[270] There is also an “Exclamatory Epistle,” (_Epistola Exclamatoria_,) the spirit and style of which are sufficiently indicated by the title. Among the popular verses which the playful humour of Castillejo prompted him to gloss in the form of _Villancicos_, is one which merely says, “If you tend my cows, my love, I will give you a kiss; but give me a kiss and I will tend yours.”[271] Productions of this description found favour with the readers for whom they were intended. His humorous poems, which are all more or less disguised under an air of seriousness, contain a tale (_historia_) imitated from Ovid, which may be called an idyl according to the literary terminology of the Spaniards. The second book contains conversational and diverting pieces, (_obras de conversacion y de pasatiempo_.) At the commencement appear the railleries of Castillejo against the Petrarchists. The longest poem in this book is a Dialogue on Women, (_Dialogo de la Condicion de las Mugeres_,) which is here and there enlivened by admirable sallies of wit;[272] but upon the whole it is nothing more than burlesque prose ideas dressed in