THE SHORTER POEMS OF JOAO PINTO DELGADO

The Portuguese Marrano, Joao Pinto Delgado, has been all too little
known to readers of Spanish poetry. References to him by Menendez y
Pelayol and other nineteenth-century literary historians fail to dis-
tinguish him clearly from a grandfather o~ the same name, and most of
what we know of his life was only established in 1935, by Mr. Cecil Roth 2
The poems Pinto published in exile in Rouen in 1627 have up to now been
accessible only in the rare first edition 3 Yet there are many splendid
passages in the series of laments based on the first two chapters of Lamenta-
tions; and the two long narrative poems on Esther and Ruth, with their
curious blend of literary elegance and rabbinic lore, contain much that is
worth reading.
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A useful approach to these main works is provided by the three shorter

poems which complete the book:
Cancion, aplicando misericordias divinas, y defetos proprios a la salida
de Egipto asta la tierra santa;
A la Sabiduria;
Cantico a la salida de Egipto.
~oth the Cantico and the Cancion deal with the Exodus, the one historically,
the other figuratively. The Cantico and A la Sabiduria-both hymns in
praise of God and His attributes-are rather similar in poetic form. Ala
Sabiduria is touched with the personal devotion which vibrates through
the whole of the Cancion. Though all three poems are written in Italian
metres, they illustrate different methods of handling Biblical material.
The Cantico is a paraphrase of a single connected passage of Scripture:
Exodus XV. 1-18; it contains good stanzas-some apparently in imitation
of Herrera4-but the other two poems are more worthy of close study. The
1 Historia de los Heterodoxos V:-in OBRAS COMPLETAS, XXXVIII, Sap.tander,
1947, pp. 309-310; also Estudios sobre el teatro de Lope de Vega :-in OBRAS COMPLETAS,
XXIX, Santander, 1949, pp. 190-198.
... Joao Pinto Delgado-A Literary Disentanglement," in Modern Language Review,
XXX, 1935, pp. 19-25.
Poema de la Reyna Ester. Lamentaciones del Propheta Jeremias. Historia de Rut, y
varias Poesias. Por lOAN PINTO DELGADO. AI ilustrissimo, y Reuerendissimo
Cardenal de Richelieu ... A Rouen. Chez Dauid du Petit Val ... MDCXXVIL
A very good modern edition, just published by Monsieur L S. Revah (Lisbon, Institut
Fran~ais au Portugal, 1954), follows the original pagination, but modernises the spelling,
punctuation, etc. The present article is adapted from my thesis (filed at London University
Library under" Ph.D., 1952; Poems of]. Pinto Delgado ") ; written before the new edition
appeared, it quotes the text of 1627.
'e.g., Pinto, p. 364: Los nobles, los valientes,
Furor del mundo, assombro de la guerra,
Terror de varias gentes,
Dentro en sus ondas el mar roxo encierra,
cf. Herrera, POt' la perdida del Rey Don Sebastidn, ed. Garcia de Diego, Cldsicos Castellanos,
Madrid, 1914, pp. 84-85 :
( Son estos, por ventura, los famosos,
los fuertes i belfgeros varones,
que conturbaron con furor la tierra.
que sacudieron reinos poderosos.
que domaron las 6rridaa naciones ?
127
 l28 BHS, XXXI (1954) A. D. H. FISHLOCK

Cancion is not a paraphrase at all, but a devotional allegory. Ala Sabiduria

might be called an inventive paraphrase, for it combines scattered texts
from the same Biblical book with the poet's original work.
I. A la Sabiduria
From the opening stanzas of this Hymn to Divine Wisdom, the
dominant imagery is that of light :
Tu, que con libres plantas,
Pisando el cielo, humillas las estrellas,
Y el cora'r0n levantas
Aver la luz del, que domina en ellas :
Guiame en este oscuro
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Chaos, pues seguir procuro

Vn deficil camino,
Tocando el arpa del cantor divino.
Sabiduria inmensa,
Que los terminos inches de la tierra,
Y eres luz, que dispensa
EI'"Sol supremo, que el horror destierra ;
Inspira nuevo aliento
A mi atrevido intento,
Y con tu luz divina,
Para tratar de ti, tu me encamina. (p. 356)
Since the main source of this poem is the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom,
the texts which Pinto wove into it could only be found in the Vulgate or
one of the two Spanish Protestant versions l . Thus, the proud and graceful
movement of a maiden who walks upon the stars is no doubt suggested by
Wisdom VII. 24 :2
Porque la Sabiduria es mas ligera que todo mouimiento: porque a
causa de su pureza llega y passa por todas las cosas.
Wisdom VII. 29 places Wisdom above the stars:
Porque ella es mas hermosa que el Sol, y collocada sobre todo el sitio
de las estrellas: y comparada a la luz, es hallada primera.
Wisdom lifts the human heart into the light of God's presence; and
Pinto prays that the light which brought order out of the chaos of Genesis
may guide him through the dark chaos of life in this present world and
inspire his psalm of praise. Yet this sense of darkness must lie only in the
blindness of man, for in reality God's spirit fills the whole universe-
" Porque el Espiritu del Senor hinche la redondez de la tierra " (Wisdom
1 These were Casiodoro de Reyna's" Bear" Bible: Biblia, que es, Los Sacros Libras
del Viejo y Nuevo Testamento, Trasladado en Espanol . . . [Basel] MDLXIX; and its
revision by Cipriano de Valera, Amsterdam, 1602. All Spanish Biblical quotations in
this article are from the Bear Bible.
... Pisando el cielo" also recalls a line of Garcilaso, ed. T. Navarro Tomas, Cllisicos
Castellanos. Madrid. lQII. P. 1~7: .. Pisa el inmenso v cristalino cielo."
 THE SHORTER POEMS OF lOAO PINTO DELGADO 129

I. 7). Pinto refrained in the first stanza from making Wisdom more
beautiful than the sun-and now we see that the Sun is God Himself, of
Whom she is but the effulgence.
After a stanza which celebrates-like Wisdom IX. 9-the part played
by Wisdom at the creation, the light image reappears in a stanza based on
Wisdom VII. 25-27:
Eres resplandor claro,
De la inmensa virtud vapor, y fuente,
Sin mancha espejo raro,
Pura imagen del Ser omnipotente ;
Mana, que el delo llueve
AI alma, porque prueve
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Ya de su gloria el justo,
Que en su deseo satisfaze al gusto. (p. 357)
25. Porque es vn aliento de la virtud de Dios, y vn arroyo limpio de
la gloria del Todopoderoso: por loqual ninguna suziedad cae en ella.
26. Porque es vn resplandor de la luz eterna, y vn espejo de la virtud de
Dios limpio de toda mancha, y vna imagen de su bondad. 27; Y con ser
vna, todo 10 puede, y permaneciendo en sf nllsma renueua todas las cosas :
y por todas edades transfundiendose en las animas sanctas haze prophetas
y amigos de Dios.
Pinto's first four lines evidently follow verses 25 and 26 almost phrase
by phrase. In the second half of the stanza he abandons close paraphrase,
expressing the general sense of verse 27 by the Biblical metaphor of " food
from heaven." In the next stanza too, Wisdom is the inspiration of
righteous souls:
Los que fueron llevados
Del Autor de la vida al alto assiento
Por ti fueron guiados ;
Que procediendo del tu fundamento,
Quien tu amparo redve
Cerca del delo vive,
Y el hombre, que, en el suelo,
Lexos te mira, lexos mira el delo. (pp. 357':8)
This apparently combines two texts-Wisdom VII. 8 and IX; 18-19-and
perhaps also echoes some lines of Garcilaso :
VII. 28. Porque a ninguno ama Dios, sino alque habita con la Sabiduria.
IX. 18. Porque ansi fueron endere93-dos los caminos de los que habitan
la tierra, y ansi aprendieron loque te agrada. 19. Y por la Sabiduria
fueron conseruados (todos los que, 0 Senor, desde el principio te agradaron 1.)
Por estas asperezas se camina
de la inmortalidad al alto asiento,
do nunca arriba quien de aqui declina'.
:Re;YU'$ Pr~ts, ~blY' indicating adoubtfu11'UAp. . ed. cit., p. 154
 130 BHS, XXXI (1954) , A. D. H. FIS~LOCK

. Pinto's next stanza is based on Wisdom VII. 9, which shows Wisdom

scorning gold as mere sand. She is like the pillar of fire that accompanied
Israel through the desert, or like a beacon that guides a mariner safe to
port. Better still, if she is at the helm, the righteous man's vessel will
make a happy landing, in spite of all the storms of passion:
El metal, que se estima,
Tu 10 comparas a la humilde arena:
Que el alma en ti se anima,
Y el viI sujeto de otro arnor condena :
Viendo, que al alta nube
Siempre tu fuego sube,
Siendo farol al puerto,
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Norte en 1a mar, coluna en el desierto.

Passando el golfo ayrado
Del mundo, en mil tormentas de afliciones,
Quien te tendra a su lado,
Que no ven~a los mares de passiones ?
Que quando mas se afiije,
Por ti el timon se rije ;
Si al ayre, si al profundo,
AI puerto lleganis, del mar, del mundo. (P.358)
Wisdom X. 4 refers to Noah's Ark in rather similar language:
. Por loqualla tierra fuc anegada con el diluuio; mas la Sabiduria
la conseru6 otrauez gouernando el justo una poca de madera.
The contrast" ayre/profundo JJ recalls Psalm CVII. 26: "Suben a los
delos, delYienden a los abismos JJ; but in any case the antithesis between
high and low dominates the whole of Pinto's imagination. The image of the
ship is also common in his poems.
The next two stanzas return to the imagery of light and of ascent I
Mas clara eres, que el dia
Mas pura, que del sol es tu hermosura ;
Que en continua porfia
Se alterna el velo de la noche escura ;
Y alfin, porque no pueda
(Aunque a la noche exceda)
La maldad offenderte,
Abres 10 oscuro, rompes 10 mas fuerte.
En el cuerpo no habitas,
Que opprime el vido, atando los sentidos ;
Y al justo facilitas
El alta cumbre, y montes mas' subidos,
Asta gozar la vida,
Del tiempo no vencida;
Y entre perpetuas flores .
Cantando siempre alegresruyseiiores. (p. 359)
 THE SHORTER POEMS OF JoKo PINTO DELGADO 131

Here Wisdom VII. 29 is used again, this time with verse 30 as well :
" Porque a esta (Le. la luz) la noche Ie sucede; mas a la Sabiduria nunca
vence malicia." Pinto does not now avoid the direct comparison of
Wisdom with the sun; he only inverts the parallelism. No veil of evil
can withstand the light of Wisdom. According to Wisdom I. 4, " ... enel
anima maligna no entrara la Sabiduria, ni 'morani enel cuerpo dado a
peccado "; but she leads the just man on his strenuous upward climb to
pastures of eternal springtime.
Four stanzas then complete the picture of Wisdom: she fights death;
she carries the soul to heaven on her wings; the heart from which she is
absent is like a universe deprived of birds, sight, flowers and stars; he who.
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like Nimrod scorns her guidance, " anda en tinieblas en el claro dia "; she
is unmoved by. the vicissitudes of worldly fortune. Pinto then. concludes
with a prayer for her companionship through life and death and for her
divine light, which will gloriously overcome the sorrows of a troubled
existence:
Pues en la vida, 0 muerte
Va contigo contenta, mano a mano
EI alma, y al perderte
Pierde el Iugar del Mundo soberano :
A mis cansados aiios .
(Blanco de tantos daiios)
Muestra tu luz serena,
Senis mi gloria, y venceras mi pena. (P.36r)
Enough of this poem has been quoted to show Pinto's technique of
inventive paraphrase, often applied in the Lamentaciones to passages from
the Prophets. A la Sabiduria begins and ends with Light, and half its
stanzas are filled with it. The last canto of Pinto's Ester is written in the
same mood. The personal note of the final stanza-a melancholy cheered
by faith-is not so obvious in the longer poems, but inspires the greatest
of the three shorter ones-the Cancion. .

2. The Cancion'
The interpretation of the Exodus as an allegory of the soul's pilgrimage
from the slavery of sin to the joyous freedom of God's service is more
typical of Christian than of jewish devotional writers. To pious jews the
Exodus has always been primarily a " mighty act" of God towards a whole
people, a deliverance sealed by a collective Covenant. Pinto knew the
allegorical interpretations of the Life of Moses by the Hellenistic jew,
Philo of Alexandria l ; but Philo's calm philosophical detachment has little
1 OeulJI'e& de Philon fuif . .. Reveues. c01'rigus et augmenUes pat' Fed. Morel. Paris. 1612.
(See my article .. La plainte de Jolo Pinto Delgado sur Ie pillage des Tr~rs .du Temple."
Us 1l_ tU L'ult'tJlul'. Comptwl Paris. Jan.-March 1954. pp. 66-75)
 132 BHS, XXXI (19M) A. D. H. FISHLOCK

in common with Pinto's expression of an intensely personal religious

experience. Although Pinto shews his Jewishness by his omission of
specifically Christian themes, the Cancion has something of the atmosphere
of such Christian devotional passages as this, from Fray Luis de Granada:
... Pues que es esto, sino figura del alegria spiritual que passa
dentro del anima, quando se vee salida de Egypto, y libre del
captiuerio de Pharaon, y de la seruidumbre del demonio? Porque
como el que assi se vee libre, no hara fiesta por tan grande beneficio?
como no combidara a todas las criaturas para que Ie ayuden a dar
gracias a su libertador por el diziendo, Cantemos al Senor, que tan
gloriosamente ha triumphado pues al caua-llo y al cauallero arrojo
en la mar? ... (He goes on to show how God guided the Israelites away
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from the land of the Philistines so that they should not be discouraged by
wars) ... Pues este mismo Senor que entonces vso desta prouidencia
para lleuar a su pueblo ala tierra de promission quando los saco de
Egypto, esse mismo vsa agora de otra semejante a esta, para lleuar
al cielo a los que el quiere lleuar quando los saca del mundo 1
The first stanza of the Cancion almost equals the best work in the
Lamentaciones :
En este fiero Egito
De mi peccado, donde el alma mia
Padece la tyrana servidumbre ;
Del tesoro infinito
DeJu divina lumbre,
A b.li noche, Senor, un rayo embia.
Sea tu santa inspiracion mi guia ;
Que, entre la luz del amoroso fuego,
Me llame en el desierto, no cursado
De mundana memoria:
Alli desnudo, por tu causa, el ciego
Velo de error, el habito passado,
Dichoso suba a contemplar tu gloria:
Donde mi ser, por milagroso efeto,
En si transforme el soberano objeto. (P.349)
As at the beginning of the Lamentaciones and A la Sabiduria, Pinto
prays for the light of divine Wisdom to guide him. Here the invocation is
skilfully combined with the unfolding of the main subject. Egypt clearly
stands for the tyranny of sin; the rest of. the allegory in this stanza is
capable of two interpretations. It may be a summary of the whole progress
of Israel (=the soul) through the wilderness (=worldly trials) to the
Promised Land (=heaven); in that case the rest of the poem is to be
1 Guia d6 PecadoYes, ed. of 1573, Lib. I, pp. IZ3v.-IZ4r. This work must have been
~own to Pinto, and the Marranos were not always avetse to adapting Christian workli of
pIety for Jewish use. See Prof. J. Van Praag, .. Almas en Litiiio," CIClWHlIo, I, 19,50,
 THE SHORTER POEMS OF JoKo PINTO DELGADO 133
understood as filling in the details of this general picture. On the other
hand, this is more probably the" first act" of the drama itself, concerned
with the calling of Moses into the desert to commune with the Lord at the
burning bush (Exodus III. 1-8). The desert-~' no cursado de mundana
memoria"-then appears as the state of solitude and freedom from
worldly cares, in which the soul prepares itself to receive the divine revela-
tion. The stripping off of the" ciego velo de error" does not exactly fit
the case of Moses, but it is analogous with his having to put off his shoes
before he could approach the bush.
There is no trace here of the Christian symbolism by which the burning
bush represented the Virgin Mary; but the image of stripping off the veil
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is to be found in Christian poems, such as Luis de Leon's Al Apartamiento:

En ti, casi desnudo
deste corporal velo, y de la asida .
costumbre roto el nudo,
traspasare la vida
engozo, en paz, en luz no corrompida1
Although this was not published in Pinto's time, he could quite posSibly
have seen it in manuscript. There is of course a difference between" este
corporal velo " and " el ciego velo de error." Is Pinto thinking only of the
weaknesses of the flesh? Or of the" errors" of the Christian faith in
which he has lived for much of his life, acquiescing in Christian practices,
if not to some extent believing in them? But if he is lamenting past com-
promises with Christianity, he still reveals the deep imprint it has left on
his soul.
The final couplet of the stanza has also something in common with
much Christian mystical writing of the time, since the poet prays to be
united with" el soberano objeto." From the poetic point of view, how-
ever, this final couplet hardly does justice to its lofty thought. The words
" objeto " and" efeto " seem too rational and abstract to form the climax
of a passage inspired with such deep and imaginative religious feeling.
This otherwise splendidly constructed stanza reaches its true poetic
climax with the line" Dichoso suba a contemplar tu gloria: ".
The second stanza is not so rich in religious feeling; but it too moves
with a majestic sweep:
Mi obstinado deseo,
Que Pharaon detiene mi alvedrio
En la elecion del alto sacrificio,
Pues tan soberbio veo,
Que en uno, y otro indicio,.. .
Desprecia tu admirable senorio ;
lOZwas PoltictJs, ed. Llobera, 1931, p. a.so.
 134. BHS. XXXI (19M) A. D. H. FISHLOCK

Sienta tu brac;o, desatando el mio

De la fiera prision de mis engaiios,
Que mis espaldas humillando al peso,
Siervo de error me hizieron ;
Entonces prodigiosos desengaiios,
Contra sus culpas formen el proceso ;
Que para tu loor se engrandecieron :
Y si los Magos fueron mis sentidos,
Queda tu vencedor, y ellos vencidos. (P.350)
Here the symbolism is quite plain: Pharaoh is the obstinate human
will which holds back from sacrifice to God (Exodus V); the taskmasters
of Egypt are the delusions that make the soul the slave of error; the
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magicians of Pharaoh, whose wonders are outdone by the God of Moses

(Exodus VII, etc.), are the deceitful senses 1. The prayer that God may
overthrow Pharaoh and his taskmasters by the might of His arm is
doubtless based on the opening verse of Exodus VI (esp. v. 6). The yoke
of bondage is a Biblical commonplace. Both these images are further
developed by Pinto elsewhere; so is the antithesis between conqueror and
conquered in the last line.
The third stanza is based on the overthrow of Pharaoh's host in the
Red Sea (Exodus "XIV-XV) :
En mar deficultoso,
Donde levanta de soberbia el viento
Olas, que suben, necias vanidades ;
Tu brac;o glorioso
Rompa deficuldades ;
Asta juzgarme de su funa essento ;
Mis appetitos, que con fiero intento,
Para mi muerte, con armada mano,
Solicitando el presuroso buelo,
Se juzgan vencedores ;
De tu poder el bra~o soberano
Cierre en las aguas, admirando el suelo,
Quando en su muerte cante tus loores ;
Lexos del mal, que e visto en mi enemigo,
Cerca del bien, pues estare contigo. (p. 351)
The sea is a sea of troubles; its waves, foolish vanities, are whipped up
by the wind of pride; but the arm of the Lord will break through, allowing
the soul to pass unharmed, and then overwhelming the host of fleshly
appetites just when they are confident of victory.. The earth will be filled
with awe, and the redeemed soul will sing a triumph-song like that of Moses
1 This image is not unlike a ~e in Philo (ed. cit., p. 132 et seq.) in which the rod
tamed into & ID&b is .. ]a. volupt6." .
 THE SHORTER POEMS OF JO.aO PINTO DELGADO 136

(Exodus XV)-far from the evil intended by the enemy, and close to the
blessing of God.
This stanza is a model of good construction. The first six lines have an
inner unity of their own, corresponding to the safe passage through the
raging sea. Their climax is the verb" Rompa " at the opening of the fifth
line, and the less dramatic sixth line completes their sense. But the sixth
line is connected by means of the rhyme" essento/intento" with the
opening of a fresh development. This runs from the seventh line to the
thirteenth, and corresponds to the overthrow of the enemy host. Four
lines dilate upon the malice, strength, swiftness and pride of "mis
appetitos." In the eleventh line, God's arm appears poised for the blow
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which is to fall in the twelfth line. There at last comes the main verb to
which" mis appetitos " is object-" Cierre en las- aguas, ... ". The rest
of that line and the whole of the next relax the tension-as did the sixth
line after the phrase" Rompa deficuldades." The final couplet rounds off
the whole stanza with an effective series of antitheses arranged in parallel.
The fourth stanza is based mainly on the events of Exodus XXXII-in
which Moses comes down from Sinai with the Law, only to find Aaron and
the people worshipping the Golden Calf:

Siguiendo tu camino,
Dispuesta el alma, como en tabla, escriva
Tu dedo eterno tu precepto santo;
Donde aquel son divino
De tu admirable canto
Me ensene el passo, en que, muriendo, viva;
Mis pensamientos, que tu gloria altiva
Desprecian siempre, idolatrando el oro,
Con dulce aplauso, en apparencia vana,
A morir condenados ;
Mi zelo offenda, y tu piedad, mi l1oro,
Que no descanse tarde, ni manana,
Bueltos ceniza, olvide mis peccados ;
Y asta, que el fin tu voluntad limite,
Cerca del ara de tu Templo habite. (p. 352)

The first three lines recall not only" dos tablas del Testimonio, tablas
de piedra escriptas conel dedo de Dios" (Exodus XXXI. 18), but also
the prophecy of the New Covenant in Jeremiah XXXI. 31-34, which in-
cludes the words" Dare mi ley dentro dee11os, y escreuir laM en su
cora~n." The heavenly music and sacred dance of the next few lines are
perhaps intended to .contrast with the unholy festivities around the Golden
Calf (Exodus XXXII. 18-19). The poet's thoughts, ever obsessed with
worldly riches, are like the worshippers of the Calf; he prays that his zeal
 136 BHS, XXXI (1954) A. D. H. FISHLOCK

may smite them as Moses did the idolaters (Exodus XXXII. 25-28)1. The
passage which hinges on the elliptical line " Mi zelo offenda, y tu piedad, mi
lloro," is presumably to be understood: " May my idolatrous thoughts ...
be smitten by my zeal, and may Thy pity be smitten by my ceaseless
weeping." The note of penitence and intercession-so like that of the
Lamentaciones-is perhaps suggested by the conciliatory words of Moses
after the punishment of the worship of the Calf: " ... mas yo subire aora
a Iehoua, por ventura 10 applacan~ sobre vuestro peccado." (Exodus
XXXII. 30). The phrase" Bueltos ceniza, olvide mis peccados ;" may be
intended to suggest Moses's treatment of the Golden Calf: "Y tomo el
bezerro que auian hecho, y quemolo en el fuego, y moliolo hasta boluerlo en
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poluos ... " (Exodus XXXII. 20). But the imagery of fire and ashes is
common enough in Pinto. In the final couplet Pinto has perhaps no
specific text in mind; but Exodus XXXIII. 7-II shows Moses holding
intercourse with the Lord at the door of the tabernacle.
This stanza contains a further hint that Pinto may have known the
poems of Luis de Le6n. At least twice Fray Luis associates divine music
with the scorn of gold. InM01'ada del Cielo the Good Shepherd
Toea el rabel sonoro,
y el inmortal dulzor al alma pasa,
con que envilece el oro,
y ardiendo se traspasa
y lanza en aquel bien libre de tasa ' .
In the Oda a Francisco Salinas, the music of Salinas, bringing the soul
into tune with the harmony of the spheres, raises it above the deceitful
lure of gold:

Y como se conace,
en suerte y pensamientos se mejora. ;
el oro desconoce
que el vulgo viI adora
la belleza caduca engaiiadora3
The second of these quotations especially is recalled by Pinto's four lines
on " Mis pensamientos ... .o'
The poet's aim is not to give a chronological account of the events of
the historical Exodus, but to trace the progressive liberation of the soul.
The passionate longing to be fed and refreshed by spiritual meat and drink
is no doubt felt. to ~ a later phase of this liberation than the victory over
. 1 Note the similarity of this construction to that of the middle of the previous stanza :
" Mis a.ppetitos ... Cierre en las a.guas"; UMis pensa.mientos ... Mi zelo offenda.,"
. ed. cit., pp. 241-2. .
.',. led. cit., pp. 11~.
 THE SHORTER POEMS OF JOAO PINTO DELGADO 137

the senses and worldly preoccupations. Thus the fifth stanza reverts to
Exodus XVI and XVII;
Quando mi alma hambrienta,
Con la passion intrinseca anhelando,
Clamare a ti, como a refugio eterno;
Del mana la sustenta;
Cuyo secreto interno
Deleita el gusto, el gusto variando.
Quando Ie inflame a mi deseo, 0 quando
Culpe mi error la sed de tu palabra,
Iusta vengansa de un injusto olvido
De ley tan justa, y santa;
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De tu poder, dulces arroyos abra

La vara en mi, que en piedra convertido,
Asta a mi mismo mi rigor me espanta ;
Y el seco tronco, sin humor enjuto,
En flor eterna offresca eterno fruto. (p. 353)
Pinto prays that his starving soul may be sustained by a heavenly
manna the taste of which will never tire-as the people's taste tired of
manna in the wilderness (Numbers XI. 4-9). When the thirst for God's
word convicts him of sin, he prays that God may strike with the rod of
His power the stony heart, as Moses struck the rock in Horeb; and that
from it sweet rivers (not the bitter waters of Marah, Exodus XV. 23) may
flow, bringing forth from a dry trunk l eternal flowers and eternal fruit.
To illustrate the assaults of the devil on the soul, Pinto bases stanza
VI on the events of Numbers XXII.,XXV;
El comun adversario,
Que tras:as busca, con que tu rebano
Se atreva a maldezir lengua blasfema,
Con tu alivio ordinario,
El tu verdad, ella tu espada tema ;
Y aun muda voz hable el prodigio estrano ;
Quando en su idea este formando el dano,
Que aun, atrevida, articular desea,
Loor refiera, si pretende agrabio,
Para mas gloria tuya :
Loco el cruel, quando su afrenta Yea,
La ceja enarque, y despedace ellabio,
Sin esperansa en la esperansa suya :
Y quando s'arme de atractiva offensa,
Yo, qual Phineas, zele mi defensa. (p. 354)
Balak, King of Moab (" el comun adversario "), hired the prophet
Balaam to curse Israel (" lengua blasfema "). Balaam's ass was miracu-
lously endowed with speech (" muda voz habie el prodigio-estrano ; "), sO
1 Possibly Aaron's rod, which budded.,
 1S8 BHS. XXXI (19M) A. D. H. FISHLOCK

that he should see the Angel of the Lord standing in his path, threatening
him with a sword if he persisted in his blasphemous mission ("ella tu espada
tema: "). In consequence, Balaam blessed Israel instead of cursing them
(" Loor refiera, si pretende agrabio,"). Balak was of course filled with
impotent fury (" Loco el cruel . . . etc."); on the advice of Balaam, he
then used Moabite women to seduce Israel into fornication and idolatry
at Baal-Peor (" atractiva offensa "). The plague which punished Israel
for this sin was stayed by the zeal of Phineas!, who slew an Israelite and
his Midianite mistress. The Old Testament nowhere makes Balak and
Balaam clearly responsible for deliberately corrupting Israel. But an
ancient Jewish tradition to this effect appears in Philo' and also in Revela-
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tions 11.14.
The sense of the greater part of the stanza may be that the devil tries
to make the believer blaspheme against God; more probably, however,
Pinto means that the devil will seek to stir up slanderers and enemies
against him, but God will turn their machinations to His glory. -Though
such attacks fail, the believer must still be ready to deal ruthlessly with
more insidious temptations~ which present themselves in fair and flattering
form.
The seventh stanza brings us within sight of the Promised Land.
Its first few lines apparently refer to Numbers XIII. 17-33 :
La tierra prometida,
Do mi temor, porque mi vida assombre,
Gigantes finge, en fuer~as desiguales,
A mi fee concedida,
Trayga della senales,
Que manmesten tu poder al hombre:
Colunas alce a tu glorioso Nombre,
Donde tu ley, para memoria eterna,
Vltra del tiempo su verdad refiera,
Que 10 humano deshaze ;
Vere tus montes, donde no se alterna
La edad del mundo, y dulce primavera,
Alegre siempre, siempre satisfaze;
Salve a mis ojos nueva maravilla,
Salve mil vezes 6 sagrada silla. (p. 355)
The spies whom Moses sent into Canaan reported that the land was
rich enough; they brought back samples of its splendid fruits (" Trayga
della senales "-?). But except for Caleb, they despaired of conquering the
inhabitants, who included" sons of Anak," or giants (" ... mi temor ...
. 1 C;f. Numbers XXV. II: .. Phinees ... ha hecho tomar mi furor de los hijos de Israef
:&elaDdo mi:&e1o entre ellos, . . . .
II

ed. cit., p. 324.

 THE SHORTER POEMS OF 10.\0 PINTO DELGADO 139

Gigantes finge ... "). The columns which are for ever to commemorate
God's Name might be the memorial set up by Joshua at the crossing of the
Jordan (Joshua IV, I-g). In any case, the opening of the stanza is a
prayer for proofs of God's power in the poet's own experience, to confirm
his faith in eternal life. The stanza comes to an end with a vision of the
hills of everlasting spring and a salute to the" sacred seat" of heaven.
Perhaps here Pinto is also thinking of the Temple on Mount Zion, which
was to be the crowning achievement of Israel's long conquest of Canaan.
The Temple too is a symbol of heavenly exaltation.
The six lines of the epilogue strike a quieter, humbler note:
Cancion, mientras no puedo
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La voz formar, que el tiempo no corrompa,

Ni tocar con el declo,
Que no se canse, ni las cuerdas rompa,
EI Arpa santa, el son, si diferente,
Siempre al oydo me sera presente. (p. 355)
Whilst he cannot smg with incorruptible voice, nor touch with tireless,
faultless fingers the sacred Harp, its sound-though different (from his own
poor song)-will never leave his ear. Here there are perhaps suggestions
of David the Psalmist; of the Levites who played his divine songs in the
Temple; of the poet's personal hope that he may one day" sing a new
song" in heaven; and of the music of the spheres l
Stylistically, the Cancion is the most ambitious of Pinto's shorter poems.
Each stanza is as intricately constructed as a sonnet; its fifteen lines weave
a complex pattern of rhyme and rhythm; its subject matter falls neatly
into several parts, each possessing an inner unity of its own, but bound up
with the others into a larger whole. The seven long stanzas are rounded off
by a remate in the manner traditional to a Petrarchan canzione. The poem
is not without faults, and does not maintain an equally high tone through-
out its III lines. But here as elsewhere in Pinto, a change of tone is often a
valuable poetic device.
Elaborate as it is, the Cancion is rarely artificial; a genuine personal
feeling redeems its few weaknesses, and accounts for much of its success.
One should note that the whole poem is a prayer and the dominant
grammatical mood is the optative subjunctive. The Cantico celebrates a
past triumph of the Lord; in the Cancion, the poet has scarcely set out on
the hard road to the Promised Land, and humbly begs that the grace of
God may repeat its miracles in his own unworthy life. This poem laments
personal short-comings, as the Lamentaciones lament the sins and disasters
of Zion. Yet it showsan ultimate confidence i~ God's power to deliver the
individual from sin, just as Ester trusts God's power to deliver Israel from
1 cf. Luis de Le6n, Od" " F,."ncisCQ StIlinGS, passim.
 140 BHS, XXXI (1954) A. D. H. FISHLOCK

his enemies. Perhaps the strong emphasis on personal salvation brings the
Cancion nearer to Christianity than any of Pinto's other poems; yet its
omission of unmistakeably Christian themes shows that even so he will no
longer pay lip-service to the Church l
Pinto's three shorter poems illustrate several of his methods of using
Biblical material; they introduce some of his favourite images and
stylistic devices; they pose the complex problem of his religious make-up,
implicitly so Jewish, yet never-in this volume-openly anti-Christian;
and they suggest something of his constant attempt to achieve a synthesis
of religious feeling and artistic perfection. The best of the passages quoted
above will, I hope, encourage the reader to search for many that equal or
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surpass them in Pinto's longer poems.

London. A. D. H. FrSHLOCK.

./

1 He had done so in two laudatory poems attached to Christian works published in

Lisbon in 1616. These are quoted in my thesis (Appendix I) and in Monsieur Revah's new
edition (see n. 3 above). Monsieur Revah quotes, from a very interesting unpublished auto-
biographical MS by Pinto, passages which show clearly that the poet was a Jew at heart
even in his youth in Portugal-e.g. '.' por aver ya mis progenitores plantado en mi alma
los arboles de la Santissima Ley, (ed. cit., p. xx). The sin which later troubled his
conscience was apparently not so much that he had ever really believed the Catholic faith,
as that owing to his worldly literary ambitions he had lingered for years in places where he
was forced to compromise with it. For all the bitter attacks on the Church contained in the
MS. discove!ed by Monsieur Revah, it remains true that Pinto's modes of religious thought
as revealed In the poems of 1627 were to some extent conditioned by the Catholic surround-
iDp in whie1l' he had grown up.