[105] The biographical sketch here given is collected from the well written _Vida do Doutor Antonio Ferreira_, prefixed to the new edition of Ferreira’s _Poemas Lusitanos_, _Lisboa_, 1771, in 2 volumes octavo. This edition, though not remarkable for elegance, is printed with tolerable correctness, and contains also the author’s dramas. Notices extracted from Nicolas Antonio and Barbosa Machado, respecting the older editions of Ferreira’s works, may be found in Dieze’s Remarks on Velasquez. [106] Ferreira in scanning, avails himself of the peculiarity of the Portuguese diphthongs, in order to omit at pleasure, as in latin verse, the _m_ at the termination of words; for the Portuguese _m_ in that situation is not an alphabetic character, but merely denotes the nasal sound which may also be marked by a circumflex over the diphthongs according to the fancy of the writer. Ferreira, for example, thus scans a line in his beautiful elegy on spring:-- Huns s’ou | vem, huns | nos tron | cos fi | cam escri | tos. Here the _m_ in the word _ouvem_ concludes a metrical syllable, which it does not in the word _ficam_. [107] _Poemas Lusitanos_ is a title which in the sixteenth century no Portuguese poet except Ferreira would have applied to his writings. The word _Poema_ has never been received into the language of common life in Portugal. [108] Manuel de Faria y Sousa in his preface to the 4th vol. of the _Fuente de Aganippe_, alluding to Ferreira’s eclogues, says, they are written _con perdurable dureza y poca dicha en pensamientos y afectos_ (with tedious frigidity and but little happiness of thought and sentiment.) As far as regards the eclogues, this observation is not altogether erroneous; but in general Faria y Sousa was by no means competent to pronounce an opinion on Ferreira’s works. See History of Spanish Literature, p. 428. [109] A primeira ley minha he, que de mim Primeiro me guarde eu, e a mim naõ crea, Nem os que levemente se me rim; Conheça-me a mim mesmo: figa a vea Natural, naõ forçada: o juizo quero De quem com juizo, e sem paixaõ me lea. Na boa imitaçaõ, e uso, que o féro Ingenho abranda, ao inculto dá arte, No conselho do amigo douto espero. _Das Cartas Livr. I. Carta 12._ [110] For instance the following:-- Quando entoar começo com voz branda Vosso nome d’amor, doce, e suave, A terra, o mar, vento, agoa, flor, folha, ave Ao brando som s’alegra, move, e abranda. Nem nuvem cobre o Ceo, nam na gente anda Trabalhoso cuidado, ou peso grave. Nova cor toma o Sol, ou se erga, ou lave No claro Tejo e nova luz nos manda. Tudo se ri, se alegra, e reverdece. Todo Mundo parece que renova, Nem ha triste planeta, ou dura sorte. A minh’ alma sò chora, e se entristece. Maravilha d’Amor cruel, e nova! O que a todos traz vida, a mim traz morte.