It is probable that the lyric pieces which are annexed to the old edition of the works of Ribeyro, and which immediately follow the poems of Falcam, were written by the latter. They belong entirely to the class of Villancicos in the Spanish Cancioneros. They are, for the most part, cantigas or glossed mottos; but some are entitled _Esparças_, or overflowings of the heart.[51] In all these songs the plays of antiquated chivalrous wit are very affectedly blended with genuine effusions of the heart. They are, however, like the old Spanish canciones, throughout enlivened by a glimmering of poetic truth; and even the old fashioned conceits successfully contribute to express intensity of feeling. This is particularly the character of the mottos, which appear to be more remarkable for far-fetched quaintness, than the old Spanish compositions of a similar kind. The following may serve as examples:--“I saw the end at the beginning; I see the beginning at the end; so that I know not whether I am beginning or ending.”[52] “Since in beholding you, lady, I have lost the knowledge of myself, do not you do against me, that which for your sake I have done against myself.”[53] “At variance with myself, great is my danger, for I can neither live with myself nor fly from myself.”[54] Some mottos are, however, expressed in a more simple and popular form; but it is remarkable that those which are most inartificial, or destitute of point, are precisely those of which the glosses are more particularly distinguished by nature and grace.[55] The Portuguese of this age seem to have been much less disposed than the Spaniards to pourtray in their lyric poetry the continual conflict between passion and reason. Like the Italians the Portuguese gave free utterance to the emotions of the heart, and were only induced to seek after quaint ideas, by an eager desire that the vehemence and depth of their passionate feelings should be energetically and ingeniously expressed. It would appear that at the commencement of the sixteenth century the romantic pastoral and lyric styles were the only species of poetic composition to the cultivation of which the Portuguese directed their attention. No evidence appears to exist of any remarkable essay in dramatic poetry, before the time of Gil Vicente, who will hereafter be noticed. It is probable that unimportant treatises on poetry and versification, in the style of that which Juan del Enzina wrote in Spanish, existed at the same period in the Portuguese language; and on a comprehensive view of the polite literature of Portugal, previous to the introduction of the Italian style, it will be found that like the true sister of Spanish literature, it was, in an equal degree, susceptible of the reform which presented itself to both. BOOK II. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH UNTIL TOWARDS THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. CHAP. I. GENERAL VIEW OF THE POETIC AND RHETORICAL CULTIVATION OF THE PORTUGUESE DURING THE ABOVE PERIOD.