Tierras Amigas. Poesias de Fernando de Arteaga y Pereira.
(Clarendon Press. 4s. 6d. net.) Coplas sin Nombre de Autor. (Same publisher, Is. net.)—The accomplished Taylorian teacher of Spanish at Oxford has published two little books of verse which will interest his many English friends and the small but growing number of English people who appreciate Spanish
literature. The smaller book contains quatrains in the mediaeval manner--like the " copies " of Manrique, for instance, translated
by Longfellow—expressing scattered thoughts. Thus " De los dial de mi vide, Con excepciones contadas, Los folices son aquellos En que no me pass nada " —the essence of which is that the uneventful days of one's life are the happy days. The larger book contains sonnets and many lyrics, chiefly in the traditional metres, some of which are inspired by the English scenes which the author knows so well.
The Spanish tongue lends itself with peculiar ease to poetry; that is why there are so many poets in Spain. The opening lines of the first poem, suggested by a visit to Cumnor, may serve as an example of this natural music :- " Me agrada, en In primavera, Con la escasa luz primers Que tram la incierta manana, Abriendo la ancha ventana Mirar al campo y la era."
We May note the metrical variety of the verse, the charm of the descriptive passages and the true Spanish cynicism that peeps out in some of the references to Church and State.
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