The great difference between such a tragedy as Osmia and the dramatic entertainments to which the Portuguese public were accustomed, must have impeded the good effect which under other circumstances might have been produced by the prizes which the academy of Lisbon continued to offer. Osmia was performed; but it did not obtain a favourable reception from the public, and some similar tragedies by which it was succeeded experienced nearly the same fate. The Italian opera maintained its consideration in Lisbon; and the dramas which have since been produced on the Portuguese stage, are for the most part, either imitations of foreign pieces or translations. No modern Portuguese poet seems to have attempted to pursue the path of dramatic composition in the style of the Spanish comedy, and to carry it forward from the point at which Gil Vicente had stopped. Of the modern Portuguese comedies in the French style those from the pen of Guita have the highest reputation. But the Portuguese appear still to cherish as a favourite dramatic entertainment, the burlesque and truly national _entremeses_ (interludes) which have either risen out of the Spanish compositions of the same class, or have with them one common origin.[394] RECENT PORTUGUESE POETS:--IN PARTICULAR TOLENTINO DA ALMEIDA. Among the latest Portuguese poets of eminence, may be numbered Manoel de Barbosa du Boccage, Francisco Bias Gomez, Francisco Cardoso, Alvarez de Nobrega, Xavier de Matos, Valladares, and Nicolao Tolentino de Almeida. The last mentioned writer seems to be greatly admired for his poignant satires, which have for their subject various local relations in Lisbon.[395] The wit of this poet, whose writings betray much dissatisfaction with his lot in life, is not always intelligible to a foreigner; but he evinces a decidedly national spirit, which when combined with the representation of modern manners, becomes peculiarly interesting.[396] In the works of Tolentino are revived most of the ancient national metres of the Portuguese in redondilhas.[397] ARAUJO DE AZAVEDO--HIS TRANSLATIONS OF ENGLISH POEMS. It would be unjust to close this History of Portuguese Poetry, without recording the name of Araujo de Azavedo, minister for foreign affairs in Lisbon, a writer of talent and learning, and a statesman to whom his country and its government is much indebted. His excellent translations of Dryden’s Alexander’s Feast, some of Gray’s Odes, and the Elegy in a Country Church-yard, are truly valuable acquisitions to the national literature of Portugal. His object in making these translations was to direct the attention of his poetical contemporaries to the hitherto unexplored side of the Portuguese Parnassus; and it may be expected that genius will readily follow the tract of such a guide.[398] CHAP. III. HISTORY OF PORTUGUESE ELOQUENCE, CRITICISM, AND RHETORIC, DURING THIS PERIOD. _Further Decline of Portuguese Eloquence._