No More Learning

ARE POETS BORN OR MADE?

'Tis long disputed whether poems claim
From art or nature their best right to fame;
But art, if un-enriched by nature's vein,
And a rude genius of uncultured strain,
Are useless both: they must be fast combined
And mutual succour in each other find.




_Odes_


A DEDICATION

Maecenas, sprung from regal line,
Bulwark and dearest glory mine!
Some love to stir Olympic dust
With glowing chariot-wheels which just
Avoid the goal, and win a prize
Fit for the rulers of the skies.
One joys in triple civic fame
Conferred by fickle Rome's acclaim;
Another likes from Libya's plain
To store his private barns with grain;
A third who, with unceasing toil,
Hoes cheerful the paternal soil,
No promised wealth of Attalus
Shall tempt to venture timorous
Sailing in Cyprian bark to brave
The terrors of Myrtoan wave.
Others in tented fields rejoice,
Trumpets and answering clarion-voice.
Be mine the ivy, fair reward,
Which blissful crowns the immortal bard;
Be mine amid the breezy grove,
In sacred solitude to rove--
To see the nymphs and satyrs bound,
Light dancing in the mazy round,
While all the tuneful muses join
Their various harmony divine.
Count me but in the lyric choir--
My crest shall to the stars aspire.


TO PYRRHA

What slender youth bedewed with liquid odours
Courts thee on roses in some pleasant cave,
Pyrrha? For whom bind'st thou
In wreaths thy golden hair,
Plain in thy neatness? Oh, how oft shall he
On faith and changed gods complain, and seas
Rough with black winds, and storms
Unwonted shall admire!
Who now enjoys thee credulous, all gold,
Who always vacant, always amiable
Hopes thee, of flattering gales
Unmindful. Hapless they
To whom thou untried seem'st fair. Me, in my vowed
Picture, the sacred wall declares to have hung
My dank and dropping weeds
To the stern god of sea.


WINTER CHEER

Seest thou yon mountain laden with deep snow
The groves beneath their fleecy burthen bow,
The streams congealed, forget to flow?
Come, thaw the cold, and lay a cheerful pile
Of fuel on the hearth;
Broach the best cask and make old winter smile
With seasonable mirth.

This be our part--let Heaven dispose the rest;
If Jove commands, the winds shall sleep
That now wage war upon the foamy deep,
And gentle gales spring from the balmy west.

E'en let us shift to-morrow as we may:
When to-morrow's passed away,
We at least shall have to say,
We have lived another day;
Your auburn locks will soon be silvered o'er,
Old age is at our heels, and youth returns no more.


"GATHER YE ROSEBUDS WHILE YE MAY"

Secure those golden early joys,
That youth unsoured with sorrow bears,
Ere withering time the taste destroys
With sickness and unwieldy years.
For active sports, for pleasing rest,
This is the time to be possessed;
The best is but in season best.

The appointed tryst of promised bliss,
The pleasing whisper in the dark,
The half-unwilling willing kiss,
The laugh that guides thee to the mark,
When the kind nymph would coyness feign,
And hides but to be found again--
These, these are joys the gods for youth ordain.


GOD AND EMPEROR

Saturnian Jove, parent and guardian god
Of human kind, to thee the Fates award
The care of Caesar's reign; to thine alone
Inferior, let his empire rise.
Whether the Parthian's formidable power
Or Indians or the Seres of the East,
With humbled pride beneath his triumph fall,
Wide o'er a willing world shall he
Contented rule, and to thy throne shall bend
Submissive. Thou in thy tremendous car
Shalt shake Olympus' head, and at our groves
Polluted hurl thy dreadful bolts.


THE STRENGTH OF INNOCENCE

The man of life, unstained and free from craft,
Ne'er needs, my Fuscus, Moorish darts to throw;
He needs no quiver filled with venomed shaft,
Nor e'er a bow.

Whether he fare thro' Afric's boiling shoals,
Or o'er the Caucasus inhospitable,
Or where the great Hydaspes river rolls,
Renowned in fable.

Once in a Sabine forest as I strayed
Beyond my boundary, by fancy charmed,
Singing my Lalage, a wolf, afraid,
Shunned me unarmed.

The broad oak-woods of hardy Daunia,
Rear no such monster mid their fiercest scions,
Nor Juba's arid Mauretania,
The nurse of lions.

Set me where, in the heart of frozen plains,
No tree is freshened by a summer wind,
A quarter of the globe enthralled by rains,
And Jove unkind;

Or set me 'neath the chariot of the Sun,
Where, overnear his fires, no homes may be;
I'll love, for her sweet smile and voice, but one--
My Lalage.


TRANQUILLITY

Should fortune frown, live thou serene;
Nor let thy spirit rise too high,
Though kinder grown she change the scene;
Bethink thee, Delius, thou must die.

Whether thy slow days mournful pass,
Or swiftly joyous fleet away,
While thou reclining on the grass
Dost bless with wine the festal day.

Where poplar white and giant pine
Ward off the inhospitable beam;
Where their luxuriant branches twine,
Where bickers down its course the stream,

Here bid them perfumes bring, and wine,
And the fair rose's short-lived flower,
While youth and fortune and the twine
Spun by the Sisters, grant an hour.

We all must tread the path of Fate,
And ever shakes the fateful urn,
Whose lot embarks us, soon or late,
On Charon's boat--beyond return.


TO A FAIR DECEIVER

Did any punishment attend
Thy former perjuries,
I should believe a second time,
Thy charming flatteries:
Did but one wrinkle mark thy face
Or hadst thou lost one single grace.

No sooner hast thou, with false vows,
Provoked the powers above,
But thou art fairer than before,
And we are more in love.
Thus Heaven and Earth seem to declare
They pardon falsehood in the fair.

The nymphs, and cruel Cupid too,
Sharpening his pointed dart
On an old home besmeared with blood,
Forbear thy perjured heart.
Fresh youth grows up to wear thy chains,
And the old slave no freedom gains.


THE GOLDEN MEAN

The man who follows Wisdom's voice,
And makes the Golden Mean his choice,
Nor plunged in squalid gloomy cells
Midst hoary desolation dwells;
Nor to allure the envious eye
Rears a proud palace to the sky;
The man whose steadfast soul can bear
Fortune indulgent or severe,
Hopes when she frowns, and when she smiles
With cautious fear eludes her wiles.


TO THE FOUNTAIN OF BANDUSIA

Bandusia's Well, that crystal dost outshine,
Worthy art thou of festal wine and wreath!
An offered kid to-morrow shall be thine,
Whose swelling brows his earliest horns unsheath.
And mark him for the feats of love and strife.
In vain: for this same youngling from the fold
Of playful goats shall with his crimson life
Incarnadine thy waters fresh and cold.
The blazing Dog-star's unrelenting hour
Can touch thee not: to roaming herd or bulls
O'erwrought by plough, thou giv'st a shady bower,
Thou shalt be one of Earth's renowned pools!
For I shall sing thy grotto ilex-crowned,
Whence fall thy waters of the babbling sound.


TO THE GOD FAUNUS

O Faun-god, wooer of each nymph that flees,
Come, cross my land! Across those sunny leas,
Tread thou benign, and all my flock's increase
Bless ere thou go.

In each full year a tender kid be slain,
If Venus' mate, the bowl, be charged amain
With wine, and incense thick the altar stain
Of long ago.

The herds disport upon the grassy ground,
When in thy name December's Nones come round;
Idling on meads the thorpe, with steers unbound,
Its joys doth show.

Amid emboldened lambs the wolf roams free;
The forest sheds its leafage wild for thee;
And thrice the delver stamps his foot in glee
On earth, his foe.


AN ENVOI

Now have I reared memorial to last
More durable than brass, and to o'ertop
The pile of royal pyramids. No waste
Of rain or ravening Boreas hath power
To ruin it, nor lapse of time to come
In the innumerable round of years.
I shall not wholly die; great part of me
Shall 'scape the Funeral Goddess. Evermore
Fresh shall my honours grow, while pontiffs still
Do climb the Capitol with silent maid.
It shall be told where brawls the Aufidus
In fury, and where Daunus poor in streams
Once reigned o'er rural tribes, it shall be told
That Horace rose from lowliness to fame
And first adapted to Italian strains
The AEolian lay. Assume the eminence,
My own Melpomene, which merit won,
And deign to wreath my hair in Delphic bays.




VICTOR HUGO[I]




Hernani


_Persons in the Drama_

HERNANI A MOUNTAINEER
CHARLES V. OF SPAIN A PAGE
DON RICARDO SOLDIERS
DON RUY GOMEZ CONSPIRATORS
DONA SOL RETAINERS

Date of action, 1519.


ACT I

SCENE--KING CHARLES _and some of his noblemen are creeping into the
courtyard of the palace of_ DON RUY GOMEZ DE SILVA _at Saragossa.
It is midnight, and the palace is dark, save for a dim light
coming from a balcony window_.

THE KING: Here will I wait till Dona Sol comes down.
Guard every entrance. And if Hernani
Attempts to fight you need not kill the man.
Brigand although he is, he shall go free,
If I can win his lady.

DON RICARDO: Shoot the hawk
If you would keep the dove. The mountaineer
Is a most desperate outlaw.

THE KING: Let him live.
If I were not so passionately in love
With Dona Sol I would help Hernani
To rescue her from her old guardian.
To think that Don Ruy Gomez should have kept
So beautiful a girl a prisoner,
And tried to marry her! Had Hernani
Eloped with her before I fell in love
I would have praised his courage.

[_The balcony window opens, and as the noblemen retire_,
DONA SOL _comes down_.

DONA SOL: Hernani!

THE KING (_holding her_): Sweet Dona Sol.

DONA SOL: Oh, where is Hernani?

THE KING: I am the king, King Charles. I worship you,
And I will make you happy.

DONA SOL: Hernani!
Help! Help me, Hernani! [_She tries to escape_.

THE KING: I am your king!
I love you, Dona Sol. Come, you shall be
A duchess.

DONA SOL: No.

THE KING: Princess.

DONA SOL: No.

THE KING: Queen of Spain!
Yes; I will marry you if you will come.

DONA SOL: I cannot; I love Hernani.

THE KING: That brigand is not worthy of you. A throne
Is waiting. If you will not come with me,
My men must carry you away by force.

[_While he is talking_ HERNANI _appears_.

HERNANI: King Charles, you are a coward and a cur!

DONA SOL (_clasping him_): Save me!

HERNANI: I will, my love.

THE KING: Where are my men?

HERNANI: In my hands. I have sixty followers
Waiting out there. And now a word with you.
Your father killed my father; you have stolen
My lands and titles from me; and I vowed
To kill you.

THE KING: Titles? Lands? Who are you, then?

HERNANI: But meeting Dona Sol, I lost all thought
Of vengeance. Now I come to rescue her,
And find you in my path again--a wretch
Using his strength against a helpless girl.
Quick! Draw your sword, and prove you are a man!

THE KING: I am your king. I shall not fight with you.
Strike if you want to murder me.

HERNANI: You think
I hold with the divinity of kings?
Now, will you fight?

[_Striking him with the flat of his sword_.

THE KING: I will not. Murder me,
You bandit, as you murder every man
That you desire to rob! Cross swords with you?
A common thief? No; get to your trade.
Creep round; assassinate me from behind!

[KING CHARLES _fixes his fierce, hawk-like eyes on the
young brigand. _ HERNANI _recoils, lowers his sword;
then, moved beyond himself by the strength of character
displayed by_ THE KING, _he breaks his blade on the
pavement. _

HERNANI: Be off, then.

THE KING: Very well, sir. I shall set
A price upon your head, and hound you down.

HERNANI: I cannot kill you now, with Dona Sol
Looking at us. But I will keep my vow
When next we meet.

THE KING: Never shall you obtain
Mercy, respite, or pardon at my hands.

[_He departs. _

DONA SOL: Now let us fly.

HERNANI: No; I must go alone.
It means death! Did you see King Charles's face?
It means death. Oh, my love, my sweet, true love!
You would have shared with me the wild, rough life
I lead up in the mountains: the green couch
Beneath the trees, the water from the brook.
But now I shall be hunted down and killed.
You must not come. Good-bye.

DONA SOL: Oh, Hernani!
Will you leave me like this?

HERNANI: No, I will stay!
Fold your arms closely round me, love, and rest
Your dear head on my shoulder. Let us talk
In whispers, as we used to, when I came
At night beneath your window. Do you still
Remember our first meeting?

[_There is a clash of bells. _

DONA SOL: Hernani,
It is the tocsin!

HERNANI: No; our wedding-bells.

[_Shouts are heard. Lights appear in all the windows.
The noise of the bells grows louder. A mountaineer
runs in, with his sword drawn. _

THE MOUNTAINEER: The streets are filled with soldiers.

DONA SOL: Save yourself!
Here is a side gate.

THE CROWD (_out in the street_): Bring the brigand out!

HERNANI: One kiss, then, and farewell.

DONA SOL (_embracing him_): It is our first.

HERNANI: And it may be our last. Farewell, my love!


ACT II

SCENE--DON RUY GOMEZ, _an old, grey-haired, but superb-looking man, is
standing in the hall of his castle in the Aragon mountains. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Only an hour, and then she is my wife!
I have been jealous and unjust, and used
Some violence. But now she is my bride
She shall know how a man can love.

[_A_ PAGE _enters. _

PAGE: My lord,
There is a pilgrim at the gate, who craves
For shelter.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Let him in. On this glad day
Give friend or stranger welcome. Is there news
Of Hernani?

PAGE: King Charles has routed him
And killed him, so they say.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Thank Heaven for that!
My cup of happiness is full. Run, boy!
Bid Dona Sol put on her wedding-gown,
And as you go admit my pilgrim guest.

[_The_ PAGE _retires. _

Would I could let the whole world see my joy!

[HERNANI _enters, disguised as a pilgrim. _

HERNANI: To you, my lord, all peace and happiness!

DON RUY GOMEZ: And peace and happiness to you, my guest!
Where are you bound for?

HERNANI: For Our Lady's shrine.

[DONA SOL _enters, arrayed in a wedding-dress. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Here is the lady at whose shrine I pray.
My dearest bride! Where is your coronet?
You have forgotten it, and all the gems
I gave you as a wedding gift.

HERNANI (_in a wild, loud voice_): What man
Wishes to gain ten thousand golden crowns?
This is the price set upon Hernani.

[_Everyone is amazed. Tearing off his pilgrim robe, he
shows himself in the dress of a mountaineer. _

I am Hernani.

DONA SOL: Ah! he is not dead!

HERNANI: Ten thousand crowns for me!

DON RUY GOMEZ: The sum is great.
I am not sure of all my men.

HERNANI: Which one
Will sell me to King Charles? Will you? Will you?

[_The retainers move away from him.
_ DONA SOL _makes
an imploring gesture; she is speechless with fear. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: My friend, you are my guest, and I will slay
The man that dare lay hands on you. I come
Of noble race. And were you Hernani
Or Satan, I would keep the sacred law
Of hospitality. My honour is
A thing I prize above all else on earth,
And King Charles shall not stain it while I live!
Come, men, and arm, and close the castle gate.

[_He goes out, followed by all his retainers. _ DONA SOL
_remains, her face white with anguish. _ HERNANI
_glares at her_.

HERNANI: So he has bought you, this old wealthy man!
Bought you outright!
Oh, God, how false and vain
All women are!

DONA SOL: When I refused the throne
Offered me by King Charles, was I then false?
Is this an ornament vain women wear
Upon their wedding day?

[_She takes a dagger from her bosom. _

Oh, Hernani,
They told me you were killed! I have been dressed
For marriage, but against the bridal night
I kept this dagger.

HERNANI: Slay me with it, love!
I am unworthy of you! Blind and mad
Was I to doubt the sweetest, bravest soul
That ever walked in beauty on this earth.

DONA SOL (_clasping him in her arms_): My hero and my lover,
and my lord,
Love me, and love me always!

HERNANI: Unto death.

[_As he embraces her,_ DON RUY GOMEZ _enters. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Judas!

HERNANI: Yes. Draw your sword and take my life.
But spare your bride, for she is innocent.
I came to carry her away, but she
Refused to follow me.

DONA SOL: It is not true.
I love him. Slay us both, or pardon us!

DON RUY GOMEZ: You love him, Dona Sol? Then he must die.

[_There is a sound of trumpets outside. A_ PAGE _enters. _

THE PAGE: His Majesty King Charles is at the gate,
With all his army.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Open to the king!

DONA SOL: Nothing can save him now!

[DON RUY GOMEZ _presses a spring in the wall, and a
door opens into a hiding-place. _

DON RUY GOMEZ (_to_ HERNANI): Here you are safe.

HERNANI: Surrender me! I am a prisoner now,
And not a guest.

[_He enters the hiding-place. _ DON RUY GOMEZ _closes it. _

THE PAGE: His Majesty, the King!

[KING CHARLES _enters, followed by his soldiers. _ DONA
SOL _covers herself hastily in her bridal veil. _

THE KING (_to the soldiers_): Seize all the keys, and guard the gates!
(_To_ DON RUY GOMEZ) My lord,
I hear that you are sheltering my foe,
The brigand Hernani.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Sire, that is true.

THE KING: I want his head--or yours.

DON RUY GOMEZ: He is my guest.
I come of men who are not used to sell
The head of any guest, even to their king.

THE KING: Why, man, he is your rival! You resolved
To help me hunt him down. You gave your word.

DON RUY GOMEZ: But now he is my guest.

THE KING: He shall be found,
Though every stone in all your castle walls
Fall ere I find him.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Raze my castle, then;
I cannot play the traitor.

THE KING: Well, two heads
Are better, some men say, than one. My lord,
I must have yours as well as Hernani's.
Arrest this man!

[_As the soldiers come forward_, DONA SOL _throws up her
veil and strides up hastily to_ KING CHARLES.

DONA SOL: You are a wicked and cruel king!

THE KING: What? Dona Sol? (_In a whisper_)
It is my love for you
That stirs in me this passion. You alone
Can calm it. (To DON RUY GOMEZ)
Until you deliver up
Hernani, I shall keep your lovely ward
As hostage.

DONA SOL (_taking the dagger, and hiding it again in
her bosom_): It will save him! I must go!

[_She goes up to_ KING CHARLES _and he leads her out. _
DON RUY GOMEZ _runs to the wall to press the
spring. _ DONA SOL _turns as she passes through the
door, and stops him by a wild glance. He waits,
with heaving breast, till the hall is empty, and then
lets_ HERNANI _out. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: The king is gone. Here are two swords. Now fight.

HERNANI: No! You have saved me! No. I cannot fight.
My life belongs to you. But ere I die
Let me see Dona Sol.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Did you not hear
What happened? Till I give you up, King Charles
Holds her as hostage.

HERNANI: Fool! He loves her.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Quick!
Call up my men! To horse! Pursue the king!

HERNANI: Leave it to me. I will avenge us both.
My way is best--a dagger in the dark.
Let us go forth on foot and track him down.

DON RUY GOMEZ: And when your rival dies?

HERNANI (_taking a horn from his belt_): Then claim your debt!
My life belongs to you. At any time
You wish to take it, sound upon this horn,
And I will kill myself.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Your hand on it!


ACT III

SCENE--CHARLES OF SPAIN, _who has just been elected Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire, is kneeling by the tomb of Charlemagne in the
underground vault at Aix-la-Chapelle. _

CHARLES: O mighty architect of Christendom,
Inspire me now to carry on thy work!
Ah, let me with the lightning of thy sword
Smite the rebellious people down, and make
Their kings my footstool! Warrior of God!
Give me the power to subjugate and weld
The warring races in a hierarchy
Of Christian government throughout the world!

[_The tramp of many feet is heard. _

Here my assassins come! Oh, let me creep,
Thou mighty spirit, into thy great tomb!
Counsel me from thy ashes; speak to me;
Instruct me how to rule with a strong hand,
And punish these wild men as they deserve!

[_He hides in the tomb: the_ CONSPIRATORS _enter. _

THEIR LEADER: Since Charles of Spain aims at a tyranny,
We, whom he threatens with his power, must use
The only weapon of defence still left--
Assassination! Here, before the tomb
Of Charlemagne, let us decide by lot
On whom the noble task shall fall to strike
The tyrant down.

[_The_ CONSPIRATORS _write their names on pieces of
parchment, and throw them into an urn. They kneel
down in silent prayer. Then their leader draws one
of the names. _

THE CONSPIRATORS: Who is it?

THEIR LEADER: Hernani.

HERNANI: I have won! I hold thee now at last!

DON RUY GOMEZ: No, I must strike the blow! Take back your life,
Take Dona Sol, but let me strike the blow!

[_He offers_ HERNANI _the horn. _

HERNANI: No! I have more than you have to avenge.

THEIR LEADER: Don Ruy Gomez de Silva, you shall strike
The second blow if the first fail. And now
Let us all swear to strike and die in turn,
Until Charles falls.

THE CONSPIRATORS: We swear!

CHARLES (_coming out of the tomb_): You are dead men.

[_The great vault is lighted up by torches, and a band of
soldiers who have been hiding behind the pillars
surround the_ CONSPIRATORS.

CHARLES (_to a soldier_): Bring in the lady. (_To_ HERNANI)
What is your true name?

HERNANI: I will reveal it now that I must die.
Don Juan of Aragon, Duke of Segorbe,
Duke of Cardona, Marquis of Monroy,
Count Albatera, and Viscount of Gor,
And lord of scores of towns and villages
Whose names I have forgotten. You, no doubt,
Remember all of them, Charles of Castile,
For they belong to you now.

[_The soldier returns with_ DONA SOL. _She throws herself
at the emperor's feet_.

DONA SOL: Pardon him!

CHARLES: Rise, Duchess of Segorbe and Cardona.
Marquise of Monroy--and your other names, Don Juan?

HERNANI: Who is speaking thus--the king?

CHARLES: No. It is the emperor. He is a man
Different from the king (_turning to the astonished_ CONSPIRATORS);
and he will win
Your loyalty, my friends, and your good aid,
If God in His great mercy will but guide
His erring feet along the pathway trod
By Charlemagne. Don Juan of Aragon,
Forgive me, and receive now from my hands
A wife full worthy of you, Dona Sol.

[_The two lovers kneel at his feet. Taking from his neck
the Golden Fleece, he puts it on_ HERNANI.

THE SPECTATORS: Long live the emperor.

DON RUY GOMEZ: I have the horn.


ACT IV

SCENE--_A terrace by the palace of Aragon. It is midnight, and the
guests are departing from the marriage feast of_ HERNANI
_and_ DONA SOL.

DONA SOL: At last, my husband, we are left alone.
How glad I am the feast and noise is done--
Are over.

HERNANI: I, too, am weary of the loud, wild joy.
Happiness is a deep and quiet thing,
As deep and grave and quiet as true love.

DONA SOL: Yes, happiness and love are like a strain
Of calm and lovely music. Hernani,
Listen! (_The sound of a mountain horn floats on the air. _)
It is some mountaineer that plays
Upon your silver horn. [HERNANI _staggers back. _

HERNANI: The tiger comes!
The old, grey tiger! Look! In the shadows there!

DONA SOL: What is it frightens you?

[_The horn sounds again. _

HERNANI: He wants my blood! I cannot!

[DON RUY GOMEZ _enters, playing on the horn like a madman. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: So you have not kept your word.
"My life belongs to you. At any time
You wish to take it, sound upon this horn
And I will kill myself. " You are forsworn!

HERNANI: I have no weapon on me.

DON RUY GOMEZ (_offering a dagger and a phial_):
Which of these
Do you prefer?

HERNANI: The poison.

DONA SOL: Are you mad?

HERNANI: He saved my life at Aragon. I gave
My word of honour I would kill myself
When he desired.

[_He raises the phial to his lips, but his wife wrests it
from him. _

DONA SOL (_to her guardian_): Why do you desire
To kill my husband?

DON RUY GOMEZ: I have sworn no man
Shall marry you but me. I keep my oath!

[_With a wild gesture_ DONA SOL _drinks half of the
poison, and hands_ HERNANI _the rest. _

DONA SOL: You are two cruel men. Drink, Hernani,
And let us go to sleep!

HERNANI (_emptying the phial_): Kiss me, my sweet.
It is our bridal night.

DONA SOL (_falling beside him on the ground_): Fold me, my love,
Close in your arms. [_They die. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Oh, I am a lost soul!

[_He kills himself. _


FOOTNOTES:

[I] Victor Hugo (see Vol. V, p. 122) occupies an anomalous
position among the great dramatists of the world. He is really a poet
with a splendid lyrical inspiration; but he combines this in his plays
with an acquired but effective talent for stage-craft. "Hernani" is the
most famous play in the European literature of the nineteenth century.
This is partly due to the fact that it was the first great romantic
drama given on the French stage. When it was produced, on February 25,
1830, there was a fierce battle in the theatre between the followers
of the new movement and the adherents of the classic school of French
playwriting. Little of the play itself was heard on the first night.
The voices of the players were drowned in a storm of denunciations
from the classicists, and counter-cheers from the romanticists.