ACEVEDO, ALONSO de. - Spanish poet (16th–17th cent.). Of this writer, whom Cervantes recalls as famous, we know only that he was a canon of Plasencia and resided for a long time in Rome, where in 1615 he published a poem in ottava rima on the creation of the world.
Divided into seven cantos, each dedicated to one of the days of creation, the poem derives its subject matter and inspiration chiefly from a French poem on a similar theme (La Semaine by Guillaume du Bartas). A.’s verses are not lacking in liveliness and lyricism, especially where he lingers over picturesque depictions of the flora and fauna brought forth by the power of God. The work may be
read in vol. XXIX of the Biblioteca de autores españoles, p. 245 ff.
BIBL.: M. Thibaut de Maisières, Les poèmes inspirés du début de la Génèse, Louvain 1931; L. Pfandl, Historia de la literatura nacional española en la edad de oro, Barcelona 1933, pp. 565-68. Ruggero M. Ruggieri