Chapter 35

[206]"Non vi maravigliate se lo stil comico non s'osserva con l'ordine che si richiede, perchè si vive d'un'altra maniera a Roma che non si vivea in Atene" (Ibid.).

[207]"Io non mi son tolto dagli andari del Petrarca e del Boccaccio per ignoranza, chè pur so ciò che essi sono; ma per non perdere il tempo, la pazienza e il nome nella pazzia di volermi transformare in loro" (Prologue to theOrazia).

[208]"Più pro fa il pane asciutto in casa propria che l'accompagnato con molte vivande su altrui tavola. Imita qua, imita là; tutto è fava, si può dire alle composizioni dei più ... di chi imita, mi faccio beffe ... posso giurare d'esser sempre me stesso, ed altri non mai" (Ibid.).

[209]"Io mi rido dei pedanti, i quali si credono che la dottrina consiste nella lingua greca, dando tutta la riputatione allo inbusinbasdella grammatica" (Prologue toOrazia). "I crocifissori del Petrarca, i quali gli fanno dir cose con i loro comenti, che non gliene fariano confessare diece tratti di corda. E bon per Dante che con le sue diavolerie fa star le bestie in dietro, che a questa ora saria in croce anch'egli" (Prologue toCortigiana).

[210]His tragedyOraziahas just the same merits of boldness and dramatic movement in parts, the same defects of incoherence. It detaches itself favorably from the tragedies of the pedants.

[211]"Egli è uno di quegli animali di tanti colori che il vostro avolo comperò in cambio d'un papagallo" (act i. sc. 1).

[212]Its most tedious episode is a panegyric of Venice at the expense of Rome (act iii. sc. 7).

[213]Act i. sc. 22.

[214]He makes the same point in the prologue toLa Talenta: "Chi brama d'acquistarsi il nome del più scellerato uomo che viva, dica il vero."

[215]Act i. sc. 9; act ii. sc. 6; act ii. sc. 10; act iii. sc. 7.

[216]See especially act i. sc. 7.

[217]Act iv. sc. 6.

[218]Notice the extraordinary virulence of his invective against thetinelloor common room of servants in a noble household (act v. sc. 15).

[219]Act ii. sc. 1; act i. scs. 11-18.

[220]Act i. sc. 4; act i. sc. 11; act ii. sc. 7.

[221]Act ii. sc. 6.

[222]Of all Aretino's plays theMarescalcois the simplest and the most artistically managed.

[223]Act i. sc. 6; act ii. sc. 5.

[224]Talanta's apology for her rapacity and want of heart (act i. sc. 1); the description of her by her lover Orfinio, who sees through her but cannot escape her fascination (act i. sc. 7); the critique of her by a sensible man (act i. sc. 12); her arts to bring her lover back to his allegiance and wheedle the most odious concessions (act i. sc. 13); her undisguised marauding (act i. sc. 14); these moments in the evolution of her character are set forth with the decision of a master's style.

[225]The Prologue to theCortigianapasses all the literary celebrities of Italy in review with a ferocity of sarcasm veiled in irony that must have been extremely piquant. And take this equivocal compliment to Molza from theMarescalco(act v. sc. 3), "il Molza Mutinense, che arresta con la sua fistola i torrenti."

[226]Lorenzino de' Medici, Daelli, Milano, 1862.

[227]The pseudo-classical hybrid I have attempted to describe is analogous in its fixity of outline to the conventional framework of theSacre Rappresentazioni, which allowed a playwright the same subordinate liberty of action and saved him the trouble of invention to a like extent. It may here be noticed that the Italians in general adopted stereotyped forms for dramatic representation. Harlequin, Columbine, and Pantaloon, the Bolognese doctor, the Stenterello of Florence, the Meneghino of Milan, and many other dramatic types, recognized as stationary, yet admitting of infinite variety in treatment by author or actor, are notable examples. In estimating the dramatic genius of Italy this tendency to move within defined and conventional limits of art, whether popular or literary, must never be forgotten.

[228]Cinthio's conduct towards Emilia in theNegromanteis a good instance.

[229]See above,p. 163,note, for Cleandro in theMandragola; and compare Alamanno's conversation with his uncle Lapo, his robbery of his mother's money-box, and his reflections on the loss he should sustain by her re-marriage, in Gelli'sLa Sporta(act iii. 5; ii. 2). Camillo's allusions to his father's folly in Gelli'sErrore(act iv. 2) are no less selfish and heartless. Alamanno's plot to raise a dower by fraud (La Sporta, iv. 1) may be compared with Fabio's trick upon his stepmother in Cecchi'sMartello. In the latter his father takes a hand.

[230]Ghirigoro in Gelli'sSporta, Gherardo in Gelli'sErrore, Girolamo in Cecchi'sMartello. It is needless to multiply examples. The analyses of Machiavelli's comedies will suffice.

[231]It would be easy to illustrate each of these points from the comedies of Ariosto, Cecchi, Machiavelli, Lorenzino de' Medici; to which the reader may be referredpassimfor proof.

[232]Opere di Gio. Battista Gelli(Milano, 1807), vol. iii.

[233]Commedie di Giovan Maria Cecchi, 2 vols., Lemonnier.

[234]Opere di Messer Agnolo Firenzuola(Milano, 1802), vol. v.

[235]E 'l divino Ariosto anco, a chi cedonoGreci, Latini e Toscan, tutti i comici.Prologue toI Rivali.Ma che dirò di te, spirito illustre,Ariosto gentil, qual lode fiaUguale al tuo gran merto, al tuo valore?Cede a te nella comica palestraOgni Greco e Latin, perchè tu soloHai veramente dimostrato comeEsser deve il principio, il mezzo e 'l fineDelle comedie, etc.Le Pellegrine, Intermedio Sesto, published by Barbèra, 1855.

[235]

Le Pellegrine, Intermedio Sesto, published by Barbèra, 1855.

[236]See the "Esaltazione della Croce,"Sacre Rappresentazioni, Lemonnier, vol. iii. Compare those curious hybrid plays,Il Figliuolo Prodigo,La Morte del Re Acab,La Conversione della Scozia, in his collected plays (Lemonnier, 1856).Lo Sviatomay be mentioned as another of his comedies derived from theSacre Rappr.with a distinctly didactic and moral purpose.

[237]See Prologue toLa Strega, and above,p. 124.

[238]I reserve for another chapter the treatment of the Pastoral, which eventually proved the most original and perfect product of the Italian stage.

[239]The titles of hisFarsegiven by D'Ancona areI Malandrini,Pittura,Andazzo,Sciotta,Romanesca.

[240]Prologue to theRomanesca, Firenze, Cenniniana, 1874.

[241]Dolce in the Prologue to hisRagazzosays that, immodest as a comedy may be, it would be impossible for any play to reproduce the actual depravity of manners.

[242]What I have already observed with regard to theNovelle—namely, that Italy lacked the purifying and ennobling influences of a real public, embracing all classes, and stimulating the production of a largely designed, broadly executed literature of human nature—is emphatically true also of her stage. The people demand greatness from their authors—simplicity, truth, nobleness. They do not shrink from grossness; they tolerate what is coarse. But these elements must be kept in proper subordination. Princes, petty coteries, academies, drawing-room patrons, the audience of the antechamber and the boudoir, delight in subtleties,doubles entendre, scandalous tales, Divorce Court arguments. The people evokes Shakspere; the provincial Court breeds Bibbiena.

[243]Cortigiana, act ii. sc. 10.

[244]See Corio, quoted inAge of the Despots, p. 548, note 1. For Milanese luxury, Bandello, vol. i. pp. 219et seq.; vol. iv. p. 115 (Milan edition, 1814). For Vicenza, Morsolin'sTrissino, p. 291.

[245]De Poet. Hist.Dial. 8. Giraldi may have had men like Inghirami, surnamed "Phædra," and Cardinal Bibbiena in view.

[246]See above,Part i. p. 170, for the Golden Age in theQuadriregio.

[247]The chief sources of Sannazzaro's biography are a section of hisArcadia(Prosa, vii.), and his Latin poems. The Sannazzari of Pavia had the honor of mention in Dante'sConvito. Among the poet's Latin odes are several addressed to the patron saint of his race. SeeSannazarii op. omn. Lat. scripta(Aldus, 1535), pp. 16, 53, 56, 59.

[248]Elegy, "Quod pueritiam egerit in Picentinis,"op. cit.p. 27.

[249]Elegy, "Ad Junianum Maium Præceptorem,"op. cit.p. 20.

[250]I may refer in particular to Sannazzaro's beautiful elegy "De Studiis suis et Libris Joviani Pontani" among his Latin poems,op. cit.p. 10. For their terra-cotta portraits, see aboveRevival of Learning, p. 365.

[251]Sannazzaro's two odes on "Villa Mergellina" and "Fons Mergellines" (Op. cit.pp. 31, 53), are among his purest and most charming Latin compositions.

[252]She is described inProsaiv., and frequently mentioned under the name ofArancioorAmaranta.

[253]See the Epitaph "Hic Amarantha jacet," the last Eclogue ofArcadia, and the Latin eclogue "Mirabar vicina Mycon," in which Carmosina is celebrated under the name of Phyllis. I may here call attention to Pontano's elegy beginning "Harmosyne jacet hic" in theTumuli, lib. ii. (Joannis Joviani Pontani Amorum Libri, etc., Aldus, 1518, p. 87).

[254]InProsaxi. he mentions a vase painted by the "Padoano Mantegna, artefice sovra tutti gli altri accorto ed ingegnosissimo."

[255]Prosaiii.

[256]Prosaiv.

[257]Prosaiv.

[258]Ibid.

[259]Prosav.

[260]Prosax.

[261]Ibid.

[262]Prosaviii.

[263]Ibid.

[264]Even in this Sidney tried to follow him, with an effect the clumsiness of which can only be conceived by those who have read his triple rhyming Englishterza rima.

[265]Eglogavii.

[266]From my chapter on Latin poetry in theRevival of LearningI purposely omitted more than a general notice of Pontano's erotic verses, intending to treat of them thereafter, when it should be necessary to discuss the Neapolitan contribution in Italian literature. The lyrics and elegies I shall now refer to, are found in two volumes ofPontani Opera, published by Aldus, 1513 and 1518. These volumes I shall quote together, using the minor titles ofAmorum,Hendecasyllabi, and so forth, and mentioning the page. I am sorry that I have not a uniform edition of his Latin poetry (if that, indeed, exists, of which I doubt) before me.

[267]Fannia is the most attractive of these women. SeeAmorum, lib. i. pp. 4, 5, 13. Stella, the heroine of theEridani, is touched with greater delicacy. Cinnama seems to have been a girl of the people. Pontano borrows for her the language of popular poetry (Amorum, i. 19).Ipsa tibi dicat, mea lux, mea vita, meus flos,Liliolumque meum, basiolumque meum.Carior et gemmis, et caro carior auro,Tu rosa, tu violæ, tu mihi lævis onyx.

[268]Among the most touching of his elegiac verses is the lament addressed to his dead wife upon the death of their son Lucius,Eridanorum, lib. ii. p. 134. The collection of epitaphs calledTumulibears witness to the depth and sincerity of his sorrow for the dead, to the all-embracing sympathy he felt for human grief. The very original series of lullabies, entitledNæniæ, illustrate the warmth of his paternal feeling. The nursery has never before or since been celebrated with such exuberance of fancy—and in the purest Ovidian elegiacs! It may, however, be objected that there is too much about wet-nurses in these songs.

[269]Pontano revels in Epithalamials and pictures of the joys of wedlock. See the series of elegies on Stella,Eridanorum, lib. i. pp. 108, 111, 113, 115; the congratulation addressed to Alfonso, Duke of Calabria,Hendecasyllaborum, lib. i. p. 194; and two among the many Epithalamial hymns,Hendec.lib. i. p. 195;LepidinaPompa 7, p. 172, with its reiterated "Dicimus o hymenæe Io hymen hymenæe." The sensuality of these compositions will be too frank and fulsome for a chastened taste; but there is nothing in them extra or infra-human.

[270]Hendecasyllaborum, lib. i. and ii. pp. 186-218. If one of these lyrics should be chosen from the rest, I should point to "Invitantur pueri et puellæ ad audiendum Charitas," p. 209. It begins "Ad myrtum juvenes venite, myrti."

[271]For such glimpses into actual life, seeLepidina, pp. 160-174, in which a man and woman of Naples discourse of their first loves and wedlock. The Eclogues abound in similar material.

[272]Lepidina, p. 168. Capimontius is easily recognized as Capo di Monte.

[273]SeeDe Hortis Hesperidum, p. 139, andAmorum, lib. ii. p. 33.

[274]Versus Lyrici, pp. 91-94.

[275]See, for example, the elegy "De Venere lavante se in Eridano et quiescente,"Erid.lib. i. p. 118.

[276]De Amore Conjugali, lib. i. p. 35. "Hither, and bind with myrtle thy shining hair! O hither, Elegia, with the woven tresses! Take a new form of sumptuous grace, and let thy loose robe flutter to thy snow-white feet. And where thou movest, breathe Arabian nard, and blandest perfume of Assyrian unguents. Let the girl Graces come, thy charge, with thee, and take their joy in dances woven with unwonted arts. Thou in his earliest years dost teach he boy of Venus, and instruct him in thy lore. Wherefore Cytherea gives thee perpetual youth, that never may thy beauty suffer decrease. Come hither, then, and take, O goddess, thy lyre, but with a gentle quill, and move the soft strings to a dulcet sound. Nay, thou thyself hast tried new pleasures, and knowest the sweet thefts of lovers laid on meadow grass. For they say that, wandering once in Umbria, my home, thou didst lie down beside Clitumnus' liquid pools; and there didst see a youth, and dote upon him while he swam, and long to hold him in thine arms. What dost thou, beauteous boy, beneath the wanton waves? These fields are better suited to thy joys! Here canst thou weave a violet wreath, and bind thy yellow hair with flowers of many a hue! Here canst thou sleep beneath cool shade, and rest thy body on the verdant ground! Here join the dances of the Dryads, and leap along the sward, and move thy supple limbs to tender music! The youth inflamed with this, and eager for the beauty and the facile song, wherewith thou captivatest gods, with thee among the willows, under a vine-mantled elm, joined his white limbs upon a grassy bed, and both enjoyed the bliss of love."

[277]I will only refer in detail to the elegy entitled "Lætatur in villa et hortis suis constitutis" (De Amore Conjugali, lib. ii. p. 52). The two booksDe Hortis Hesperidum(Aldus, 1513, pp. 138-159), compose a typical didactic poem.

[278]It was printed in 1486.

[279]See thePoesie Volgari e Latine del Conte B. Castiglione(Roma 1760), pp. 7-26.

[280]To do so would be almost impossible within lesser limits than those of a bulky volume. Any one who wishes to form a conception of the multitudes of pastoral plays written and printed in Italy, may consult the catalogues. I have before me one list, which I do not believe to be complete, in theTeatro Italiano, vol. x. It occupies twenty-seven closely-printed pages, and is devoted solely to rural scenes of actual life. The Arcadian masks and plays are omitted. Mutinelli, in theAnnali Urbani di Venezia, p. 541, gives a list of the shows performed at Doges' banquets between 1574 and 1605. The large majority are pastoral; and it is noticeable that, as years go on, the pastorals drive all other forms of drama out of the field.

[281]See above,Part i., pp. 381,382.

[282]For Berni, see Barbèra's small edition, Florence, 1863. For Buonarroti, Lemonnier's edition in two volumes, 1860.

[283]SeePoesie Pastorali e Rusticali(Milano,Classici Italiani, 1808) for a fairly representative collection of these authors.

[284]Of Molza's many sonnets upon this woman and her death, see especially Nos. cxi. cxii.

[285]In the chapter on Burlesque Poetry I shall have to justify this remark.

[286]SeeRevival of Learning, p. 488.

[287]The best Life of Molza is that written by Pierantonio Serassi, Bergamo, 1747. It is republished, with Molza's Italian poems, in the series ofClassici Italiani, 1808.

[288]Ten apples of fine gold, elect and rare,Which hung for thee, and softest perfume shed,Like unto that which from thy bosom fairDoth often breathe, whence Love is nourishéd,Humbly I offer; and if thou shalt care,To-morrow with the dawn yon fields I'll tread,My great desire some little to requite,Plucking another ten for thy delight.Also an olive cup, where still doth clingThat pure perfume it borrowed from the lathe,Where in the midst a fair youth ruiningConducts the day, and with such woeful scatheDoth guide his car, that to their deepest springThe rivers burn, and burn the grasses rathe;Ah fool, who knew not how to hold his way,Nor by that counsel leal and wise to stay!

[288]

[289]White ivy with pale corymbs loads for theeThat cave, and with thick folds of helichryseGildeth the arch it shades so lovingly;Here lapped in the green grass which round it lies,Thou shalt dismiss grave thoughts, and fancy-freeSpread wide thy skirt of fair cerulean dyes,And with the wholesome airs that haunt the hill,Welcome sweet soothing sleep, secure from ill.

[289]

[290]Her rippling raiment, to the winds a prey,Waves backward with her wavering tresses light;Faster than air or arrow, without stayShe through the perfumed wood pursues her flight;Then takes the river-bed, nor heeds delay,Made even yet more beautiful by fright;Threads Aristæus, too, the forest fair,And seems to have his hands within her hair.Three times he thrust his right hand forth to claspThe abundance of her curls that lured him on;Three times the wind alone deceived his grasp,Leaving him scorned, with all his hopes undone;Yet not the toil that made him faint and gasp,Could turn him from his purpose still unwon;Nay, all the while, the more his strength is spent,The more he hurries on the course intent.

[290]

[291]Revival of Learning, chap. viii.

[292]Ibid.pp. 453-463.

[293]Tu vero nate ingentes accingere ad orsusEt mecum illustres cœli spatiare per oras,Namque aderit tibi Mercurius, cui cœlifer AtlasEst avus, et notas puerum puer instruet artes.Ed. Aldus (1513), p. 2.

[293]

[294]Ibid.p. 138.

[295]SeeRevival of Learning, pp. 471-481, for notices of thePoetica,Bombyces,ScacchiaandSyphilis.

[296]See Morsolin'sGiangiorgio Trissino(Vicenza, 1878), p. 92.

[297]Ibid.p. 245.

[298]SeeVersi e Prose di Luigi Alamanni, 2 vols., Lemonnier, Firenze, 1859. This edition is prefaced by a Life written by Pietro Raffaelli.

[299]Op. cit.vol. ii p. 210. It is the opening of the peroration to Book i.

[300]"But what land is that where now, O glorious Francis, the husbandman may thus enjoy his labors with gladness and tranquillity in peace? Not the fair nest, from which I dwell so far away; nay, not my Italy! She since your ensigns, mighty king, withdrew from her, hath had naught else but tears and war. Her tilled fields have become wild woods, the haunts of beasts, abandoned to lawless men. Herdsman or shepherd can scarce dwell secure within the city beneath their master's mantle; for those who should defend them, make the country folk their prey.... Let Italy's husbandman fly far from his own home, pass the Alpine barrier, seek out the breast of Gaul, repose, great lord, beneath thy empire's pinions! And though he shall not have the sun so warm, the skies so clear, as he was wont to have; though he shall not gaze upon those green Tuscan hills, where Pallas and Pomona make their fairest dwelling; though he shall not see those groves of orange, laurel, myrtle, which clothe the slopes of Parthenope; though he shall seek in vain the banks and waves of Garda and a hundred other lakes; the shade, the perfume, and the pleasant crags, which Liguria's laughing sea surrounds and bathes; the ample plains and verdant meadows which flower beneath the waters of Po, Adda, and Ticino; yet shall he behold glad fields and open, spreading too far for eyes to follow!"

[301]Vol. i. p. 251. It is the end of the third satire. "He who saw truly, would perceive that thyself brings on thee more dishonor than thy Martin Luther, and heavier burdens too. Not Germany, no, but sloth and wine, avarice, ambition, sensuality, and gluttony, are bringing thee to thy now near approaching end. It is not I who say this, not France alone, nor yet Spain, but all Italy, which holds thee for the school of heresy and vice. He who believes it not, let him inquire of Urbino, Ferrara, the Bear and the Column, the Marches and Romagna, yet more of her who weeps because you make her serve, who was once mistress over nations."

[302]I Dialoghi di Messer Speron Sperone(Aldus, Venice, 1542), p. 146. The passage is taken from a Dialogue on Rhetoric. I have tried to preserve the clauses of the original periods.

[303]Trifone Gabrielli was a Venetian, celebrated for his excellent morals no less than for his learning. He gained the epithet of the Socrates of his age, and died in 1549. His personal influence seems to have been very great. Bembo makes frequent and respectful references to him in his letters, and Giasone de Nores wrote a magnificent panegyric of him in the preface to his commentary on Horace'sArs Poetica, which he professed to have derived orally from Trifone.

[304]Sperone probably alludes to works like Minerbi's Vocabulary of words used by Boccaccio (Venice, 1535); Luna'sVocabolario di cinque mila vocaboli toschi del Furioso Petrarca Boccaccio e Dante(Naples, 1536); Accarigi's dictionary to Boccaccio entitledRicchezze della lingua volgare(Venice, 1543); and so forth.

[305]It should be mentioned that the passage I have paraphrased is put into the lips of Antonio Broccardo, a Venetian poet, whoseRimewere published in 1538. He attacked Bembo's works, and brought down upon himself such a storm of fury from the pedants of Padua and Venice that he took to his bed and died of grief.

[306]The difficulty is well put by one of the interlocutors in Castiglione's dialogue upon the courtier (ed. Lemonnier, p. 41): "Oltre a questo, le consuetudini sono molto varie, nè è città nobile in Italia che non abbia diversa maniera di parlar da tutte l'altre. Però non vi ristringendo voi a dichiarar qual sia la migliore, potrebbe l'uomo attaccarsi alla bergamasca così come alla fiorentina." Messer Federigo Fregoso of Genoa is speaking, and he draws the conclusion which practically triumphed in Italy: "Parmi adunque, che a chi vuol fuggir ogni dubio ed esser ben sicuro, sia necessario proporsi ad imitar uno, il quale di consentimento di tutti sia estimato buono ... e questo (nel volgar dico), non penso che abbia da esser altro che il Petrarca e 'l Boccaccio; e chi da questi dui si discosta va tentoni, come chi cammina per le tenebre e spesso erra la strada."

[307]In the famous passage of theFuriosowhere Ariosto pronounces the eulogy of the poets of his day, he mentions Bembo thus (Orl. Fur.xlvi. 15).PietroBembo, che 'l puro e dolce idioma nostro,Levato fuor del volgar uso tetro,Quale esser dee, ci ha co 'l suo esempio mostro.

[307]In the famous passage of theFuriosowhere Ariosto pronounces the eulogy of the poets of his day, he mentions Bembo thus (Orl. Fur.xlvi. 15).

[308]See Bembo's elegy on Poliziano quoted by me in theRevival of Learning, p. 484.

[309]SeeRevival of Learning, p. 506, for the transference of scholarship to Lombardy.

Back to Index Next