Montemayor, Jorge de

Montemayor, Jorge de (1519–61), a Portuguese poet and author who wrote mainly in Spanish. His chief work is Diana (?1559), a prose pastoral interspersed with verses, in which he transferred Arcadia to the heart of Spain. It was extremely popular and was translated into French, German, and English. The English translation was by Bartholomew Yonge (1598); the episode of Felix and Felismena in Yonge's version is almost certainly the direct source of much of the plot of Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The scene is laid at the foot of the mountains of Leon and the pastoral is occupied with the misfortunes of Sereno and Sylvanus, two shepherd lovers of the fair Diana, a shepherdess; and the loves, transfers of affection, and disguises of various other shepherds and shepherdesses. Happiness is finally restored by the agency of enchanted potions.