Acuna, Fernando De

, a Spanish poet, horn at Madrid in the beginning of the sixteenth century, was at | first remarkable for his military talents in the service of Charles V. but more so afterwards for his poetical merit, which has been extolled by Louis Zapata and Lope de Vega. His first attempt was a translation of Olivier de la Marche’s “Chevalier delibere,” under the title of “El Cavallero determinando;” to which he added an entire book of his own composition, Antwerp, 1555, 8vo. He also composed in Italian verse, sonnets, eclogues, and other smaller pieces, in which the thoughts are natural, and the expression elegant. He succeeded in translating Ovid in verse of nine syllables, which the Spaniards consider as the most difficult in their poetry; and before his death he had begun a translation of Roland from Boyardo, and added four chants, which were thought equal to the original. His translation of the “Chevalier delibere” was reprinted at Salamanca, 1575, with alterations and additions. He died at Grenada in 1580; and in 1591, a collection of his pieces was published at Salamanca, “Varias Poesias.” ¹