[435] The specimens of his bad taste in this particular occur but too frequently; e. g. in “El Cuerdo en su Casa” (Comedias, Tom. VI., Madrid, 1615, ff. 105, etc.); in the “Niña de Plata” (Comedias, Tom. IX., Barcelona, 1618, ff. 125, etc.); in the “Cautivos de Argel” (Comedias, Tom. XXV., Zaragoza, 1647, p. 241); and in other places. But in opposition to all this, see his deliberate condemnation of such euphuistical follies in his Obras Sueltas, Tom. IV. pp. 459-482; and the jests at their expense in his “Amistad y Obligacion,” and his “Melindres de Belisa” (Comedias, Tom. IX., Barcelona, 1618). No doubt, indeed, much of his power over the mass of the people of his time is to be sought in the charm that belonged to his versification; not unfrequently careless, but almost always fresh, flowing, and effective. Its variety, too, was remarkable. No metre of which the language was susceptible escaped him. The Italian octave stanzas are frequent; the _terza rima_, though more sparingly used, occurs often; and hardly a play is without one or more sonnets. All this was to please the more fashionable and cultivated among his audience, who had long been enamoured of whatever was Italian; and though some of it was unhappy enough, like sonnets with echoes,[436] it was all fluent and all successful. [436] Sonnets seem to have been a sort of choice morsels thrown in to please the over-refined portion of the audience. In general, only one or two occur in a play; but in the “Discreta Venganza” (Comedias, Tom. XX., Madrid, 1629) there are five. In the “Palacios de Galiana” (Comedias, Tom. XXIII., Madrid, 1638, f. 256) there is a foolish sonnet with echoes, and another in the “Historia de Tobias” (Comedias, Tom. XV., Madrid, 1621, f. 244). The sonnet in ridicule of sonnets, in the “Niña de Plata,” (Comedias, Tom. IX., Barcelona, 1618, f. 124), is witty, and has been imitated in French and in English.