Four Plays of Gil Vicente (Classic Reprint)

PREFACE GIL VICENTE, that sovereign genius is too popular and indigenous for translation and this may account for the fact that he has not been presented to English readers. It is hoped, however, that a fairly accurate version, with the text in view 2, may give some idea of his genius. The religious, the patriotic-imperial, the satirical and the pastoral sides of his drama are represented respectively by the Auto da Alma, the Exhortar-ao, the A lmocreves and the Serra da Estrella, while his lyrical vein is seen in the Auto da Alma and in two delightful songs: the serranilha of the Almocreves and· the cossante of the Serra da Bstrella. Many of his plays, including some of the most charming of his lyrics, were vritten in Spanish and this limited the choice from the point of vjew of Portuguese literature, but there are others of the Portuguese plays fully as well worth reading as the four here given. The text is that of the exceedingly rare first edition (1562). Apart f

Table of Contents

CONTENTS; AUTO DA ALMA (THE SOUL'S JOURYEY); PAO; i:; EXHORTA