words have a tinge of irony, and however much some readers may admire the hushed rapture of these idyllic scenes we miss the merry author of the _farsas_, and gladly turn to the _Romagem de Aggravados_ (1533) in which Vicente proves that his hand had lost none of its cunning. ‘This tragicomedy is a satire’ says the rubric, and it introduces us to the inimitable Frei Paço, the mincing courtier-priest with gloves, gilt sword, and velvet cap (one of Sá de Miranda’s _clerigos perfumados_), to the discontented peasant who brings his son to be made a priest, the talkative fish-wives, the hypocrite Frei Narciso scheming to be made a bishop, and awkward Giralda, the peasant Aparicianes’ daughter, whom Frei Paço instructs so competently in Court manners. This long play was written for a special occasion, the birth of the Infante Felipe. Gil Vicente for many years, as poet laureate, had celebrated great events at Court. When the Duke of Braganza was about to leave with the expedition against Azamor in 1513 he wrote the eloquent _Exhortaçam da Guerra_, which is introduced by a necromancer priest and ends with a rousing call to war (_soiça_): Avante avante, senhores, Pois que com grandes favores Todo o ceo vos favorece; El Rey de Fez esmorece E Marrocos dá clamores. When King Manuel’s daughter, the princess Beatrice, married the Duke of Savoy in 1521 Vicente wrote the _Cortes de Jupiter_, in which the Providence of God bids Jupiter, King of the Elements, speed her on her voyage, and the courtiers and inhabitants of Lisbon accompany her ship, swimming, to the mouth of the Tagus. The _Fragoa de Amor_ (1525) was written on the occasion of the betrothal of King João and Queen Catherina (who replaced Queen Lianor as Vicente’s protector and patron). Into the forge, to the sound of singing, goes a negro, and then Justice in the form of a bent old woman who is forced to disgorge all her bribes and reappears upright and fair. A similar play, _Nao de Amor_ (1527), in which courtiers caulk a miniature ship on the stage, was played before their Majesties in Lisbon two years later. The _Templo de Apolo_ (1526) was acted when another daughter of King Manuel left Lisbon to become the wife of the Emperor Charles V. The author introduces the play and excuses its deficiencies on the plea that he has been seriously ill with fever. He then relates the dream of fair women--_las hermosas que son muertas_--that he had seen in his sickness. Apollo then enters, and after declaring that he would have made the world otherwise mounts the pulpit and preaches a mock sermon. The world, Fame, Victory, come to his temple and bear witness to the greatness of the Emperor Charles V. A Portuguese peasant also comes and has more difficulty in obtaining admittance. The author called the play an _obra doliente_, and it was propped up by a passage from the earlier _Auto da Festa_ (1525?), edited by the Conde de Sabugosa from the unique copy in his possession.