When Aguirre sang of “amores profanos” he may be thought to have gone beyond the limits of his proper field as a priest, but he took the precaution, as Gutiérrez remarks, to indicate in a note that if he wrote erotic verses it was purely for diversion and exercise, and that they should be considered like the innocent love-talk of Don Quijote with the impalpable Dulcinea.[214] [Sidenote: _A una tórtola quejosa_] An opinion of the quality of Aguirre’s lighter poems may be derived from his sonnet _A una tórtola quejosa_, which a distinguished critic affirms embodies the style and sentiment of Petrarch: Por qué, Tórtola, en cítara doliente Haces que el aire gima con tu canto? Si alivios buscas en ajeno llanto Mi dolor te lo ofrece; aquí detente. Al verte sola de tu amante ausente Publicas triste en ayes tu quebranto; Yo también ¡ay dolor! suspiro tanto Por no poder gozar mi bien presente. Pero cese ya ¡oh Tórtola! el gemido, Que aunque es inmenso tu infeliz desvelo Mayor sin duda mi tormento ha sido: Pues tú perdiste un terrenal consuelo En tu consorte; pero yo he perdido En mi adorado bien la luz del cielo. [Sidenote: Later poets] [Sidenote: _Tucapelina_] The Chilean poets of the later decades of the colonial period lacked the inspiration that the writers of the sixteenth century received from the events of the conquest. They had no longer the spirit that moved Ercilla to attempt to weave the circumstances and happenings of the Araucanian war into an epic. The _Cautiverio feliz_, by Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán, the _Restauración de la Imperial_, by Juan de Barrenechea y Albis, and _Tucapelina_, by a writer who assumed the name of Pancho Millaleuba, reveal a less exalted vision and purpose than the earlier writers, less seriousness of thought and a less effective use of the Spanish language. They drifted towards the expression of subjective moods, and into giving their verses a distinctly satirical tone. “The muse of Bascuñán, with philosophico-moral tendencies in sentiment, was not long in becoming entirely mystical.”[215] The verses of Juan de Barrenechea y Albis are passed over by the Chilean critic as “in reality without animation or sentiment,” leaving the writer with no higher rank than that of a rhymer.[216] The writer of _Tucapelina_ calls his work an “heroic poem.” It consists of ten divisions called _decadas_, and aims, among other objects, to represent the changes that had come over the Araucanian country in the period between the time of Ercilla and the last half of the eighteenth century, when the inhabitants had ceased to be rebellious and the sons of caciques were taking advantage of facilities for education provided by the Spanish government. The critic suggests that the element of burlesque and satire in the poem may have been one of the reasons why the author wished to conceal his identity under an assumed name. [Sidenote: Padre López and his kind]