Chapter 16

[449]'Hail, light of Italy, thou brightest of the bards! Thee we worship, thee we adore with wreaths, with frankincense, with altars; to thee, as duty bids, for everlasting will we chaunt our holy hymns. Hail, consecrated bard! No increase to thy glory flows from praise, nor needs it voice of ours. Be near, and look upon thy votaries; come, father, and infuse thy fervour into our chaste hearts, and plant thyself within our souls.'—Poemata Selecta, p. 266.

[450]SeeVol. I.,Age of the Despots, p. 433, note.

[451]quoniam in primis ostendere multosPossumus, attactu qui nullius hanc tamen ipsamSponte suâ sensere luem, primique tulere.Poemata Selecta, p. 67.

[451]

[452]Quumque animadvertas, tam vastæ semina labisEsse nec in terræ gremio, nec in æquore posse,Haud dubie tecum statuas reputesque necesse est,Principium sedemque mali consistere in ipsoAëre, qui terras circum diffunditur omnes.Ibid.p. 69.

[452]

[453]Ibid.pp. 79, 80.

[454]Ibid.pp. 95, 96.

[455]These phrases he finds for a fowling-piece:—Cava terrificis horrentia bombisAera, et flammiferum tormenta imitantia fulmen.Poemata Selecta, p. 101.

[455]These phrases he finds for a fowling-piece:—

[456]Cf. the passage about Alessandro Farnese's journeys—Matre deâ comitante et iter monstrante nepoti—and the reformation in Germany.Poemata Selecta, p. 125. The whole idyll addressed to Julius III.,ib.pp. 130-135, is inconceivably uncouth.

[456]Cf. the passage about Alessandro Farnese's journeys—

Matre deâ comitante et iter monstrante nepoti—

and the reformation in Germany.Poemata Selecta, p. 125. The whole idyll addressed to Julius III.,ib.pp. 130-135, is inconceivably uncouth.

[457]Carmina Quinque Illustrium Poetarum, pp. 4 and 9-11.

[458]Ib.pp. 18-23.

[459]Carmina Quinque Illustrium Poetarum, p. 7.

[460]Ib.p. 23.

[461]None of these things he tried; but only ran,And clasped with his sweet arms the angry man;Hung on his neck, rained kisses forth that HeavenEnvied from those red lips to mortals given;In number like ripe ears of ruddy corn,Or flowers beneath the breath of April born.Still doubting, Maximus? Change place with me:Gladly I'd bear such infidelity.

[461]

[462]Carmina Quinque Illustrium Poetarum, pp. 26-34.

[463]Ib.p. 38.

[464]'When Lorenzo was dead, and Death went by in triumph, drawn by her black horses, her eyes fell on one who madly struck the chords, while sighs convulsed his breast. She turned, and stayed the car; he storms and calls on all the gods for Lorenzo, mixing tears with prayers, and sorrow with his tears, while sorrow suggests words of wilder freedom. Death laughed; remembering her old grudge, when Orpheus made his way to hell, she cried, "Lo, he too seeks to abrogate our laws, and lays his hand upon my rights!" Nor more delay; she struck the poet while he wept, and broke his heart-strings in the middle of his sighs. Alas! thus wast thou taken from us, ravished by harsh fate, Politian, master of the Italian lyre!'

[465]Notice especially 'Thyrsidis vota Veneri,' 'Invitatio ad amœnum fontem,' 'Leucippem amicam spe præmiorum invitat,' 'Vota Veneri ut amantibus faveat,' and 'In Almonem.'—Carmina, &c. pp. 52, 53, 54, 55.

[466]Paolo Giovio noticed this; in hisElogiahe writes, 'Epigrammata non falsis aculeatisque finibus, sed tenerâ illâ et prædulci priscâ suavitate claudebat.'

[467]'Mighty mother, thou who bringest all things forth to breathe the liquid air, who shinest in thy painted robe of diverse budding lives, thou who from thy teeming bosom givest nourishment to trees and sprouting herbs in every region of the earth, take to thyself the fainting boy, cherish his dying limbs, and make him live for ever by thy aid. Yes, he shall live; and that white loveliness of his, each year as spring returns, shall blossom in a snowy flower.'—Carmina, &c. p. 57.

[468]'Ad Gelliam rusticantem,'Carmina, &c. pp. 64-66. 'Iolas,'ib.pp. 66-68.

[469]'Hail, darling of the gods, thou happiest spot of earth! hail chosen haunt of beauty's queen! What joy I feel to see you thus again, and tread your shores after so many toils endured in mind and soul! How from my heart by your free gift I cast all anxious cares!'—Carmina, &c. p. 84.

[470]See the Hendecasyllabics of Johannes Matthæus,Carmina, &c. p. 86.

[471]Basilius Zanchius,Carmina, &c. p. 85.

[472]M. Antonius Flaminius,ib.p. 85.

[473]Poemata Selecta, pp. 203-206. An elegy written by Janus Etruscus, Pope'sPoemata Italorum, vol. ii. p. 25, on a similar theme, though very inferior to Molsa's, may be compared with it.

[474]'I ask for no monument of wrought marble to proclaim my titles: let a vase of baked clay receive these bones. Let earth, quietest of resting-places, take them to herself, and save them from the injury of ravening wolves. And let a running stream divide its waters round my grave, drawn with the sound of music from a mountain-flank. A little tablet carved with simple letters will be enough to mark the spot, and to preserve my name: "Here lies Molsa, slain before his day by wasting sickness: cast dust upon him thrice, and go thy way, gentle shepherd." It may be that after many years I shall turn to yielding clay, and my tomb shall deck herself with flowers; or, better, from my limbs shall spring a white poplar, and in its beauteous foliage I shall rise into the light of heaven. To this place will come, I hope, some lovely maid attended by the master of the flock; and she shall dance above my bones and move her feet to rhythmic music.'

[475]For the picture of the girl dancing on the lover's grave, cf. Omar Khayyam. Cf. too Walt Whitman's metaphor for grass—'the beautiful uncut hair of graves.'

[476]'Alcon, the darling of Phœbus and the Muses; Alcon, a part of my own soul; Alcon, the greatest part of my own heart.'—Carmina Quinque Poetarum, p. 89.

[477]'Alas! poor youth, withdrawn from us by fate malign. Never again shall I behold thee, while the shepherds stand around, win prizes with thy flying shafts or spear, or wrestle for the crown; never again with thee reclining in the shade shall I all through a summer's day avoid the sun. No more shall thy pipe soothe the neighbouring hills, the vales repeat thy artful songs. No more shall thy Lycoris, whose name inscribed by thee the woods remember, and my Galatea hear us both together chaunt our loves. For we like brothers lived our lives till now from infancy: heat and cold, days and nights, we bore; our herds were reared with toil and care together. These fields of mine were also thine: we lived one common life. Why, then, when thou must die, am I still left to live? Alas! in evil hour the wrath of Heaven withdrew me from my native land, nor suffered me to close thy lids with a friend's hands!'—Carmina, &c. p. 91.

[478]Ib.p. 100.

[479]'Hideous is their face, their grinning mouth, their threatening eyes, and their rough limbs are stiff with snaky scales; their beard hangs long and wide, uncombed, tangled with sea-weed and green ooze, and their dusky hair smells rank of brine.'—Ib.p. 103.

[480]'De Elisabetta Gonzaga canente,'Carmina, &c. p. 97. Cf. Bembo's 'Ad Lucretiam Borgiam,'ib.p. 14, on a similar theme.

[481]Ib.p. 95.

[482]'O father, O shepherd of the nations, O great master of the world who rulest all the human race, giver of justice, peace, and tranquil ease; thou to whom alone is committed the life and salvation of men, whom God Himself made lord of hell and heaven, that either realm might open at thy nod.'

[483]'I do not blame thee for delaying thy return, since neither is it safe nor right for man to set at naught a God's command; and yet so great is Leo's kindness said to be that he inclines a ready ear to human prayers.'—Ib.p. 102.

[484]'Therefore shall all our shepherds pay thee divine honours, as to Pan or Phœbus, on fixed days, great Father; and long shalt thou be celebrated in our forests. Thy praise, Julius the Great, the cliffs, the rocks, the hollow valleys, and the woodland echoes shall repeat. Wherever in our groves an oak tree stands, as spring and summer bring the flowers, its branches shall be hung with wreaths, its trunk shall be inscribed with thy auspicious name. As often as our shepherds drive the flocks afield, or bring them pastured home, each one, remembering that he does this under thy protection, shall pour libations of new milk forth to thee, and rear thee tender lambs for sacrifice. Nay, if thou spurn not rustic prayers, before all gods shall we invoke thee in our supplications. I myself will build and dedicate to thee two altars, and will plant twin groves of sacred oak and laurel evergreen for thee.'—Carmina, &c. pp. 58, 59.

[485]'Thou whom Rome obeys, and royal Tiber, who wieldest upon earth the Thunderer's power, whose it is to lock and open the gates of heaven.'—Ib.p. 260.

[486]'In this mountain of the Lord shall flocks and herds feed, fat with eternal pastures and golden-fleeced. Living waters too shall leap forth, wherewith the goats shall swell their udders, and the kine likewise.'—Poemata Selecta, p. 132.

[487]'Him with immortal verse the poets shall exalt to heaven, and call him hero, god, and saviour.'—Ib.p. 133.

[488]See above, pp.312,317.

[489]SeeCarmina Quinque Poetarum, pp. 318-336.

[490]A didactic poem in three books; Pope'sPoemata Italorum, vol. i. pp. 211-270. The description of the Resurrection, the Last Judgment, and the entrance of the blessed into Paradise, forming the conclusion of the last book, is an excellent specimen ofbaroccostyle and bathos. Virgil had written, 'Ite domum pasti, si quis pudor, ite juvenci!' Paleario makes the Judge address the damned souls thus: 'Ite domum in tristem, si quis pudor, ite ruentes,' &c. How close Milton's path lay to the worst faults in poetry, and how wonderfully he escaped, may well be calculated by the study of such verse as this.

[491]This epigram on Savonarola shows Flaminio's sympathy with the preachers of pure doctrine:—Dum fera flamma tuos, Hieronyme, pascitur artus,Relligio, sacras dilaniata comas,Flevit, et o, dixit, crudeles parcite flammæ,Parcite, sunt isto viscera nostra rogo.

[491]This epigram on Savonarola shows Flaminio's sympathy with the preachers of pure doctrine:—

[492]'Ad Agellum suum.'—Poemata Selecta, pp. 155, 156, 177.

[493]'Now shall I see you once again; now shall I have the joy of gazing on the trees my father planted, and falling into gentle slumber in his little room.'

[494]'Maidens of Helicon, who love the fountains and the pleasant fields, as you are dearer to me than the dear light, have pity now upon your suppliant, take me from the tumult of the noisy town, and place me in my tranquil farm.'

[495]'I, poor wretch, am prisoned in the noisy town. Kind Jupiter allows you, secluded in your distant farm, to take the joys of peace among Socratic books, among the nymphs and satyrs, unheeding the light honours of the vulgar crowd.'—'Ad Honoratum Fascitellum,'Poemata Selecta, p. 178.

[496]Poemata Selecta, pp. 153, 169, 173.

[497]'Then, when sleep descends upon your eyes, best friend of mine, I'll lead you to a cave o'ercurtained by the wandering ivy's yellow bunches, whereby the sheltering laurel murmurs with her gently waving leaves. Fear no fever or dull headache. The place is safe. So when you are rested, we will read the rustic songs of Virgil or Theocritus; sweet and more charming verse I know not; and after the day's heat is past, we will stroll in some green valley. A light supper follows, and then you shall return to town.'—Ib.p. 174.

[498]'Ad Christophorum Longolium,'Ib.

[499]Poemata Selecta, p. 163.

[500]'No sooner had I left Rome's tainted air for the clear streams and healthful forests of my native land, than strength returned into my wasted limbs; my body lost the pallor and emaciation of disease, and sweet sleep crept upon my wakeful eyes, such as no waters falling with a tinkling sound or Lethe's poppies had induced before.'

[501]Poemata Selecta, p. 162.

[502]'Plato, the greatest of sages, once described in his long volumes the best form of a State; but this from the beginning of the world till now hath never yet been seen, nor will it afterwards be seen in any city. Contarini in his little book has proved that the best commonwealth is that which now for more than a thousand years has flourished in the Adriatic with peace, letters, and wealth.'—Poemata Selecta, p. 162.

[503]'Ad Hieronymum Turrianum,'ib.p. 168. 'Her mind was pure, her manners pure; her virtue lively, her courtesy without a taint of earth; her intellect was heavenly, her learning rare; her words sweeter than nectar; her nobility the highest; her features beautiful in their majesty; her wealth liberally open to the use of good men.'

[504]'Well and happily hast thou lived, my father; neither poor nor rich; learned enough and eloquent enough; of vigorous body and of healthy mind; pleasant to thy friends, and in thy piety unrivalled. Now, after sixteen lustres finished, thou goest to the regions of the blest. Go, father, and soon greet thy son, to stay with thee in heaven's high seat.'—'Ad Patrem morientem,'Poemata Selecta, p. 157.

[505]Poemata Selecta, p. 166. 'These most graceful poets I give you, the offspring of our too, too happy times, which have produced their Catullus and their Horace, their Tibullus and their Maro. Who could have thought, after so many ages of such darkness, and all the ruin that has weighed on Italy, that so many lights could have arisen at one epoch in one little region of the land above the Po? They alone are enough to put to flight the gloom of barbarism, and to restore its antique glory and own splendour to Latin literature.' After this he goes on to add that these poets will confer eternal lustre on Italy. Not only the northern nations of Europe, but America also has begun to study Latin; and races in another hemisphere will take their culture from these pages. The Cardinal is finally reminded that immortality of fame awaits him in their praises.

[506]'Tam brevi regione Transpadanâ.'

[507]Cf. Bembo'sBenacus, Bonfadio'sGazani Vici Descriptio, Fracastoro'sAd Franciscum Turrianum Veronensem, &c.

[508]'Græculi esurientes.' Lives written by Philostratus.

[509]Aristoph.,Clouds, Speeches of Dikaios Logos; Xen.,On Hunting, chap. xiii.

[510]Progymnasma adversus Literatos.Op. Omn., Basle, 1582, vol. ii.

[511]'Pudet me, Pice, pigetque id de literatis afferre quod omnium tamen est in ore, nullos esse cum omnium vitiorum etiam nefandissimorum genere inquinatos magis, tum iis præcipue, quæ præter naturam dicuntur,' &c.—Progymnasma adversus Literatos, p. 431.

[512]Lines 22-129.

[513]Quinque Illustrium Poetarum Lusus in Venerem, Parisiis, 1791, p. 107.

[514]See above,p. 185,note 4.

[515]See above,Chapter II.

[516]'Perfect nose, imperial nose, divine nose, nose to be blessed among all noses; and blessed be the breasts that made you with a nose so lordly, and blessed be all those things you put your nose to!' The above is quoted from Cantù'sStoria della Letteratura Italiana. I have not seen the actual address.

[517]The phrase is eulogistically used by F. Villani in hisLife of Coluccio Salutato.

[518]See Muratori, vol. xx. 442, 453.

[519]Epist. Rer. Senil.xv. 1. 'Styli hujus per Italiam non auctor quidem, sed instaurator ipse mihi videor, quo cum uti inciperem, adolescens a coætaneis irridebar, qui in hoc ipso certatim me postea sunt secuti.'

[520]See above,pp. 76-78.

[521]Gian Maria Filelfo, son of the celebrated professor, published anEpistolariumof this kind.

[522]Francesco Filelfo, quoted in Rosmini's Life, vol. ii. pp. 304, 282, 448, writes, 'Le cose che non voglio sieno copiate, le scrivo sempre alla grossolana.' 'Hoc autem scribendi more utimur iis in rebus quarum memoriam nolumus transferre ad posteros. Et ethrusca quidem lingua vix toti Italiæ nota est, at latina oratio longe ac late per universum orbem est diffusa.' ('Matters I do not wish to have copied I always write off in the vulgar. This style I use for such things as I do not care to transmit to posterity. Tuscan, to be sure, is hardly known to all Italians, while Latin is spread far and wide through the whole world.')

[523]See Voigt, pp. 421, 422, for an account of Filelfo's, Traversari's, Barbaro's, and Bruni's letters.

[524]SeeVol. I.,Age of the Despots, pp. 216, 217, and above,p. 377.

[525]See above,p. 321.

[526]See the passages quoted by Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. iii. cap. v. 71.

Transcriber's Errata ListPage 8: "Lionardi" should be "Lionardo."Page 97: "or door or key" likely should be "a door or key."Page 295: "general tions" likely should be "generations."Footnote 22: "found" should be followed by "in."

Transcriber's Errata List

Page 8: "Lionardi" should be "Lionardo."

Page 97: "or door or key" likely should be "a door or key."

Page 295: "general tions" likely should be "generations."

Footnote 22: "found" should be followed by "in."

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