In general, the versification of Berceo is regular,--sometimes it is harmonious; and though he now and then indulges himself in imperfect rhymes, that may be the beginning of the national _asonantes_ (Sanchez, Tom. II. p. xv.) still the license he takes is much less than might be anticipated. Indeed, Sanchez represents the harmony and finish of his versification as quite surprising, and uses stronger language in relation to it than seems justifiable, considering some of the facts he admits. Tom. II. p. xi. “The Life of San Domingo de Silos,” with which his volume opens, begins, like a homily, with these words: “In the name of the Father, who made all things, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, son of the glorious Virgin, and of the Holy Spirit, who is equal with them, I intend to tell a story of a holy confessor. I intend to tell a story in the plain Romance, in which the common man is wont to talk to his neighbour; for I am not so learned as to use the other Latin. It will be well worth, as I think, a cup of good wine.”[32] Of course, there is no poetry in thoughts like these; and much of what Berceo has left us does not rise higher. [32] San Domingo de Silos, st. 1 and 2. The Saviour, according to the fashion of the age, is called, in v. 2, _Don_ Jesu Christo,--the word then being synonymous with Dominus. See a curious note on its use, in Don Quixote, ed. Clemencin, Madrid, 1836, 4to, Tom. V. p. 408. Occasionally, however, we find better things. In some portions of his work, there is a simple-hearted piety that is very attractive, and in some, a story-telling spirit that is occasionally picturesque. The best passages are to be found in his long poem on the “Miracles of the Virgin,” which consists of a series of twenty-five tales of her intervention in human affairs, composed evidently for the purpose of increasing the spirit of devotion in the worship particularly paid to her. The opening or induction to these tales contains, perhaps, the most poetical passage in Berceo’s works; and in the following version the measure and system of rhyme in the original have been preserved, so as to give something of its air and manner:-- My friends, and faithful vassals · of Almighty God above, If ye listen to my words · in a spirit to improve, A tale ye shall hear · of piety and love, Which afterwards yourselves · shall heartily approve. I, a master in Divinity, · Gonzalve Berceo hight, Once wandering as a Pilgrim, · found a meadow richly dight, Green and peopled full of flowers, · of flowers fair and bright, A place where a weary man · would rest him with delight. And the flowers I beheld · all looked and smelt so sweet, That the senses and the soul · they seemed alike to greet; While on every side ran fountains · through all this glad retreat, Which in winter kindly warmth supplied, · yet tempered summer’s heat.