C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Garcilaso de la Vega (1503–1536)
Vega, Garcilaso de la (gär-thē-läs’ō dā lä vā’gä) [Properly Garcias Laso]. A Spanish poet of high rank; born in Toledo in 1503; died at Nice, Oct. 14, 1536. He became of Charles V. ambassador to France and subsequently traveled in Alva’s suite, only to lose the Emperor’s favor and languish long in prison. He naturalized the smoother Italian metres in Spain, and softened the stern outlines of his country’s models into a delicate elegance. Theocritus, Virgil, and Petrarch, he copied gracefully but unblushingly, as in his famed ‘First Eclogue.’ Sonnets, lyrics, pastorals, and canzone were written by him in great profusion, often on the eve of battle. He was mortally wounded while charging at the head of his troops.